Reflections on the 2011 Season

Wow, I cannot even believe that it is December 20th! Santa Claus will be here in five days! And I haven't updated my fitness blog since June (gulp...don't judge!)I can at least throw out some lame excuses like starting a new job and getting married or better yet TRAINING! Clearly one of my 2012 resolutions is to update my fitness blog more regularly!

So, for those of you who wonder if I just fell of the map after June, I assure you I was busy racing. Additional races completed since the last post in June were as follows:

• 6/26/11 - Akron Crossfit Sprint Tri - bombed the swim on this and had ridiculous cramps during the run. Should have most definitely won age group but was 4th in age group. Fail.
• 7/17/11 - Milton Man Sprint Tri - decent swim, decent bike, decent run. Took first in age group. 
• 9/11/11 - Revolution 3 Cedar Point 70.3 - finished first 70.3, had a blast. Swim was decent, bike was decent, dogged the run but had fun finishing with hubby.
• 9/18/11 - Portage Lakes Sprint Tri - swim was off, bike was terrible. legs sore from previous week's 70.3 so walked some of the hills, run was fine. Not happy here but managed third in age group.
• 10/9/11 - Towpath half marathon - Great race, crushed my old half PR by finishing with a 1:39:37 despite lack of serious training. Was 13th of 581 women. Not too shabby. Fantastic race course and weather conditions. definitely doing this one again!

I had a very up and down season with the heel stress fracture in April/May and came back to race strong in June-October. I am happy with how the year ended given the circumstances and learned some things along the way. Overall I feel my biggest successes of the year were The Twinsburg Duathlon, Miltonman Sprint, Completing the Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3 and finishing strong in the Towpath 1/2 marathon. 

I am training strong right now in the off season and gearing up to train for some serious stuff in 2012! watch for my next post NEXT WEEK (promise) about the 2012 schedule!

Portage Lakes Triathlon Was a Success!

Well I made it through my second official triathlon successfuly! And it was so much fun! I absolutely love everything about this sport! My performance was much better than at Milton Man. I finished in 1:30:14, a time worthy of third in my age group. Not bad for a newbie I suppose!

The race was well organized and well attended. I enjoyed the course. My only complaint is that the water was chilly to swim in...but on September 19 in Akron, Ohio that is to be expected. Next year I will likely wear a wetsuit to this race!

I arrived at Portage Lakes State Park about an hour early and had plenty of time to pick up my packet, timing chip and set up my bike and transition kits.

I actually felt surprisingly calm considering it was race day --and a triathlon race at that. I'm sure my boyfriend had something to do with that as he was very helpful in getting me ready and keeping me relaxed.

As I said, the water was cold but when the race started I soon forgot about the temperature and tried to focus on finishing the 1/2 mile swim. There were a lot of people and so I wanted to pay close attention so I didn't get kicked. My time was a couple of minutes slower than at Milton Man. I finished in 18+ minutes whereas at Milton Man I was around 16:30. Some people said that the swim course at Portage Lakes is longer than it should be so that could explain my lackluster time on the swim.

The first transition went pretty smooth as I ran to get to my bike. I could have been a little faster and hope to improve on these transitions as I gain more experience racing next season.  The bike portion of the race was only 12 miles but it was a challenging, hilly course! I was happy with my 42-minute time considering and really had fun getting the bike up to speeds of almost 40mph on some of the downhills!

The second transition I was slow and lazy. I sat down and took a few minutes getting ready for the run, which was inefficient.  But once I got going...I got going! I had a blast on the 5k run! Because running is my main sport, I usually feel really good here even after the bike. My first mile was 7:04! Finished in 23:27 so not my best effort but I was okay with it.  I felt great at the end and had a nice sprint going on so I think I could have kept going for a while!

After the race I felt good. I had some food and water and was really looking forward to that hot shower so I could get the lake smell off of me! It was a great race and I will do it again next year.

Where Are You Going?

As summer comes to a close and fall gently knocks at your doorstep, have you asked yourself where you are going?

Maybe you're getting ready for a fall marathon or marathons or your last outdoor triathlon of the season...and that's awesome! But what comes next? What's your plan for the fall and winter? Do you hibernate? Or will you adapt your training to the changing weather conditions and push on racing through the cold, snowy days and forging through to the spring sprints or marathons?

This will be my second year of serious year-round training. No longer do I "take it easy in the winter". Not that there is anything wrong with that approach, it's just that for me I have no desire to stop or lose endurance, which we all know takes time to build.

So I'm curious. Where are you going? What is your plan for the colder months? How will you stay in shape and if you're an endurance athlete, how will you maintain your fitness especially through the laborious months of Jan-March?