Reflections on 2011

"So long 2011, don't let the door hit ya in the rear on the way out..." - My Sister, as posted to FB.

I'll get this out of the way quickly: as far as triathlon is concerned, 2011 sucked. Even though I crashed in 2010 it was still better than 2011. This year I only finished 1 race. Ugg. What made up for that? CYCLE OREGON 2011. Read on if you dare...

Biking info

Number of rides: 125

Miles biked: 1690.30 (nearly 500 was on Cycle Oregon)

Elevation gained: 108,485'

Total Saddle Time: 138:08:35 (hh:mm:ss)

Run info

Number of runs: 24

Miles: 91.91

Elevation gained: 8,274'

Total Run Time: 17:31:48  (hh:mm:ss)

 

Starting weight: 284.4

Ending weight: 288.4 (net change: +4.0 pounds)

 

Races/Events finished:

Beaver Lake Triathlon (Sprint)

Tour de Blast

Cycle Oregon 2011 - "Going Coastal"

 

Overview: (see the race reports for details)

"Be a man! Take some Pepto Bismol and ________!" (Fill in the blank with every event I missed last year)

No more excuses. This year was lame. Next year will be better.

At the Beaver Lake Tri I learned that my bike training was terrible. I did PR on the swim but came no where close on my bike/run goals. 

On the Tour de Blast I learned that the best weather preparation in the world only works if you actually bring your bad weather clothing on the ride. I won't be making that mistake again. Otherwise it would have been an EPIC bad-weather ride.

Cycle Oregon 2011 once again proved that my bike training this year was poor but that is the only thing bad I have to say about that ride. It was amazing in almost every way. I am waiting with baited-breath for the 2012 kick-off Party where I will finally decide whether or not I'm going to kill myself to get there in 2012.

Lessons learned:

  1. I need to find a new way to deal with illnesses and still train. More to come...
  2. Focus earlier in the year on distance running and cardio volume.
  3. My best and more consistent results are still from bike commuting, which I try to do 3-5x per week during the spring/summer and early fall months.