Add it up!

No, I haven’t been resting for the last two weeks just been really busy with the usual holiday insanity so haven’t had time to blog.  Things have been going well I am rebuilding after the knee injury and getting back on track for some serious training heading up to an awesome racing season this year. I updated my race schedule on this blog  for the races that I am already registered for and will do this season. I may include some more local races as training for this races as the season progresses but those four races are my big events for the year Tri wise.  During my run outside this morning I was thinking about what I’ve done in the last year and what I have to look forward to for 2012.

2011
1) Raced my first 2 - 70.3 distance triathlons (EagleMan and Pocono mountains) .  Saw significant improvement from my first to my second even with a knee injury hampering a lot of my season.
2) Raced a great sprint tri  (in an hour and a few seconds!) and qualified to go to the USAT - Age group National Championships for Olympic Distance in Burlington, VT.
3)Raced at Nationals even with the knee injury and probably had my most fun race to date. The course itself was tough and the competition was even tougher but that racing environment was super fun. Burlington did a great job of promoting the race and provided a beautiful venue and incredible fans.
4) Started racing cyclocross and had a racing shot of me make the crossfitendurance website

2012
1) improve my time at eagle man / half-iron distance
2) race some “big” oly tri’s in NYC and Philly  and drop my time for Olympic racing. Want these specific races as prep for racing #3 below
3) Race my first FULL IRONMAN Tri in NYC!
4) Compete in more cyclocross races and improve my technical skills.


Overall one of the things I wish to improve from 2011 - 2012 is to be more tuned to what my body is telling me. In the past I’ve ignored that and just pushed through whatever pain and signals to stop my body was giving me. I feel like I missed a lot of time training and racing last season as a result. It wasn’t a terrible season by any means but I could barely “run” with the knee injury. While it is hard to turn off that kind of mental perseverance I probably should have accepted it when I couldn’t even walk down the steps.  Lol. I would like to have a better “base” of run training. Not meaning volume of miles but of consistency of just training running regularly.  I can say I improved my swimming and cycling this past season but I think my running may have gotten worse as a result of the injury. One of the major commitments I’ve made is returning to yoga and actually keeping my body mobile. It’s been wonderful! I also believe it is excellent mental training.
Probably my other biggest training change this year has been the off road riding both cyclocross and mountain biking. Both are incredible for the skill work and it’s so much more fun than the trainer! Got a great 34 mile road ride in today with some friends to roll into the new year. The weather was wonderful for it. I won’t go back and detail all of the workouts I’ve done since my last blog because it is sooooo many but I am moving some seriously weight around again. Not near my old Prs but I  was pulling 220 off the ground yesterday and I’ve had 85 lbs about my head. Ive got connected kipping pullups back too. Starting to feel better at the cross fitting wods that I have been still not great but getting there. I am doing jumps, burpees, lunges etc. The walking lunges are still the toughest on the knee.  In other news I ordered a pair of race wheels for this season and I got a ton of new tri geat for the holidays.  Including the shirt in the pictures above. Another kool thing in the nice TYR Transition backpack.  Im pretty happy that tomorrow is january 2nd and the holiday madness is pasted for another season. So far the winter hasn't been too bad in the NE. I've still been able to get outside on my bikes and to run so that is happiness. Although I did sorta bang up my mtn bike a bit yesterday. Nothing that isn't repairable though just my usual requisite fall. Although this is the first i had to be towed out of the woods. I'm told thats part of the sport. 2011 was pretty awesome and 2012 is going to be even better! much love and thanks for reading! hope to see you out there!