2011 Goals Completed and Goals for 2012

Below is the table of my 2011 goals and my actual results.  The goals I completed are in green, no color indicates I missed the goal.

Getting that T1 time under 1:50 is tough, I struggle to get my wetsuit off fast enough.  I need to practice stripping my wetsuit and getting on my bike faster.  I have gotten much faster in T2.  Into T2 I have been performing flying dismounts and I am able to quickly get in to my running shoes.  Finishing goals are tough, because some of it will depend on the race and competition, so I am very happy to accomplish these goals.  The cyclecross was pure hell.

Two of the goals I "missed", biking 10+ miles at 24+MPH and a 10K <45min have been around for awhile.  Since my stress fracture in 2009, I have not put in the run time/intensity and I have not done an open 10K.  The 10k goal is back in 2012, and will be a goal forever, or until I complete it, whichever comes first.  My closest time is in 2008, when I went 46:36, so I think going sub-45 is a possibility, I just have to put the running time/intensity in to get there.    The closest I have come to my bike goal was in 2008 was 23.5MPH at T'N'T, in 2011 I posted a 23.1MPH at a T'N'T, so I am not that far away.  I adjusted this goal down slightly, much like running, I think I am capable, I just need to get the time/intensity in when training.

Below are my 2012 goals, very similar to 2011. I try to set goals that challenge me, but are doable based on the amount of racing and training that I will be doing.  The new goal is for an Olympic Distance race under 2.5hrs.  I will not count the Twin Cities Triathlon towards this goal since the swim is so ridiculously fast.  I have knocked the 24MPH goal down to 23.5MPH for 2012.  See if I can pull that off.

I typically try to put reasons for my goals.  I read somewhere that having goals without reasons, is pointless.  I agree with this.  The reasons for my goals have typically been very global and much the same from year-to-year.  I love racing, because I like to push myself, the feeling of accomplishment, the rush from racing, the way that racing allows you to quantify your performance like nothing else in life, and waking up to watch the sunset and start a race is always an amazing feeling.

OHP Indoor Triathlon - Working and Racing

On Sunday, I worked the CompuTrainer portion of the OptumHealth Performance Indoor Triathlon.  It is the second of four indoor triathlons that OHP is putting on this winter/spring.
The race consists of a 500 yard pool swim, a 5 mile bike on the CompuTrainer (first race was 10 mile, but that was deemed to long and changed to 5 miles), and a 2 mile treadmill run. 
Coach Kris was gone, so I was selected\asked to setup, with help, and run the CompuTrainer.  The 5 mile bike course is actually pretty challenging, not flat.  There are 2%, 5%, and 6% climbs, the climbs are fairly long.  I would estimate that at least half the course is climbing, at least it feels that way.  I think my time and average speed are an indication of the difficulty of the bike. 
There were seven people who did the race, and I think it went well. 
When the last person got off the treadmill I did the race on my own, and I was pretty happy with how it went.

500yd swim - 7:21 (1:28/100yds)
5 mi CompuTrainer Course - 17:44.28 (16.9MPH)
2mi run - 15:35 (7:47 min/mi)
Total Time - 40:40.28

My time did not get included with the rest of the group.  I did it to get an idea of my fitness level and how it would feel going about race pace in February.  My 500 was pretty fast, I just got in, did a warm-up 50, and then swam.  I hopped out of the pool and into the locker room, grab my shoes and socks, and headed into the studio.  Once in the studio, put on socks, wrote down swim time, got on bike, spun for about a minute and then started the bike.  The bike felt difficult, as it should.  Coach Kris and I did the bike course a couple of weeks ago, on a Monday night.  That night I went 16:54, about 50 seconds faster than the race, but that night I did not swim first.
Once done with the bike, I got off and wrote down time and speed, put on shoes and hopped on treadmill.  I started the treadmill slow, slow enough that first mile was over 8:00min/mi, maybe about 8:10, so I picked it pretty good on the second mile by negative splitting it at about 7:25min/mi pace.  This is easier to do on  a treadmill when you get an adjust your speed almost to exactly where you want it.
So, all in all it went pretty well.
If I am available next month, March, I will sign-up and do it "for real"
I recommend that if you can do the one at OHP, do it, or if you cannot and there are local ones in your area, I know that LifeTime has them and the Y also has them, you should at least do one over the winter.  They are fun, and a good way to get an idea of where you are at during the winter.

2012 January Training Summary - More Run than Bike for First Time in 3+ Years

Below are the totals for January of 2012 compared to past Januarys.  I also put in about 25 minutes on the elliptical that is not included in the times below.  This January had the most swimming of any January and almost the most running.  The last time I ran more than I biked was in Novemeber 2008, before my stress fracture.  Biking was down, but I wanted to focus on running, which I did, in January.  Feb will be a bike focus month and I hope to get in 10+ hours of biking.

Below you can see how I ramped up in January compared to the previous 3 months.  I went from averaging 16 hours each of those three months to 22+ hours in January.  Most of that came from upping my swim and run.  I felt tired in January, which is to be expected in when you are ramping up.  There was nothing I would call a "breakthrough" in January.  I did run for over an hour, 70 minutes, in one training session. It has been awhile since I have run that long.  I also had a couple of runs longer than 40 minutes.

Below are my totals and averages since 2007 and below that are my totals for this year, 2012, and since 2007.  In terms of total time, January 2012 was an average month.

Totals and Averages Since 2007



YTD Totals and Totals Since 2007