2013 in Review; 2014 Goals

 

2013 in Review:

First, let’s see how I fared against my 2013 goals set a year ago:

·         2012 Highlights: Run 2,200 miles.  Failed this one, falling about 95 miles short.  Part of this was certainly due to adding on more bike miles, so it’s all good.  Happy to have run more than 2,000 miles for the second year in a row.  Average weekly miles:  38; minimum 24; maximum 62.

·         PR in every distance I attempt.  Mixed results:  succeeded in 6 out of 8 distances attempted; coming up short only in the elusive mile and the 10K.

·         Half Ironman in 2013 as a precursor to a full in 2014.  Success!  Wasn’t sure if I’d try this again after my 2011 debut had me hurting for days, but glad I did as I not only finished it again, but took more than 35 minutes off my 2011 time.

·         50K Trail Race.  Didn’t happen.  Would still like to get this done, ideally with a WTAC teammate, but easier said than done given conflicting schedules and the fact that they’re all out of state.

·         Keep it fun.  Success!  This included decreasing the number of races run; from 38 in 2012 down to 34 in 2013.  Not much of a dent, but freed up more weekends for group runs and just reduced the burnout and stress factors.  Also really enjoyed more bike rides, and just a lot of fun group runs.

2013 Highlights: (so many,  but I'll just recap a few)

·         Lowering my marathon PR not once, but twice, and by almost eight minutes.  2012 was the first time I broke three hours, and lowered it to 2:56:16 (Boston, April) and then to 2:51:55 (Smuttynose, October).

      ·         Running in far away locales.

Harmondsworth Moor, England

Klamath Falls, Oregon

·         Getting in more bike miles.  I really enjoyed biking for probably the first time, and got some long quality rides in with Mike B and FiveK.  The stop along the way for iced coffee became an engrained tradition and something to look forward to after what were some grueling rides, at least from my perspective.

Early in the bike season, on a ride with FiveK

At the  Crabman Tri



·         Watching my two boys’ sports successes.  Mark broke the YMCA record in the 100 butterfly that had stood for 13 years previously (1:02.02).  Matthew made his debut into the half-marathon at the young age of 13, and ran one of my favorite hometown races, Surftown, in 1:27:53 (6:43 average pace, good for 25^th out of 1,613).

Matthew tearing it up at Surftown

Mark's YMCA butterfly record
 

·         WTAC team running.  2013 was another year of explosive membership growth, including Chris, Nate, Beth, and many others.  We had another very successful year of fun runs, and just had so many great team races and group runs.  The December social events (WTAC holiday party and post-Newport 10K lunch) capped off a great year for the club.

Team WTAC at Brrr-lingame Snowy Sufferfest

Team WTAC at State Police 5K

2014 goals:

Our goals at work each year are supposed to be "SMART":  Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound.  For example, don’t say “run faster” as it's too vague, but perhaps “run a road 5K at an average pace of 5:40 or less in 2014”.  Let me try to weave those principles in here:

·         Run 2,000 miles in 2014.  Less miles than my 2013 goal, but I think more realistic given that I want to spend more time on the bike, and need (not want) to spend more time swimming.

·         Achieve at least one of three very ambitious race goals:  run a mile in sub-5, run Li’l Rhody sub-50, or run a full marathon in sub-2:50.  Yeah, them’s fightin’ words, and I’m ready to train and fight for those.

·         Distance events:  Run at least two events of marathon distance or longer.  Participate in one tri event of Half Iron distance or longer.   (Still have that full Ironman on my bucket list, but not sure my body is ready for that).

·         Keep it fun.  This is again my most important goal.  As most of you know, I’m turning 50 next year (and if you didn’t know, Mike B is actively broadcasting it!).  I’m looking forward to celebrating not only the specific day with family and some running friends, but also competing in a new age group with renewed successes.  Beyond that, hopefully a lot more group runs and hopefully group rides.

Surftown 2013 finish and PR

Happy New Year, everyone, and best wishes for much fun and success in 2014!