2009: A Year of Racing that Wasn't...

As the holidays are upon us and the New Year approaches, people start making there resolutions. If you are a triathlete, most likely you will be making race-olutions. What is a race-olution? For me, it is a time when I reflect on the past year, and start thinking about my goals and races for the following year. It is a time to envision PRs, crazy scary distances, and perhaps getting better at a certain sport(s).

2009 for me can best be summed up as a year of good intentions but bad circumstances. I also had a slight hangover this year from the intensity of 2008 in which I participated in 17 races. Of those races, 3 were half-marathons, 7 were triathlons, and one was swimming Alcatraz. The big events of 2008 were crashing my bike at Barb's, but eventually finishing my first 1/2 ironman at Big Kahuna.

I went into 2009 with a semi-realistic goal of improving my 1/2 iron time by attacking Barb's again. I was going to be an awesome cyclist. I was going to crush my half marathon times and finally break a 2 hour race. I was going to be a lean, mean, racing machine.

Unfortunately, 2009 turned out to be quite sucktacular in terms of races and enhancing my athletic prowess. I tweaked my back in early February, putting a damper on my training for the Mermaid 1/2 in March. The Mermaid half was a brutal race this year what with the rain and wind, and I had my slowest half ever. I squeezed in a couple 5ks in, and did the Cinderella ride again. Towards the end of April, I really started to amp up my training for Barb's in August. Unfortunately, I attempted to bake that fateful batch of cookies in May and dislocated my knee and spent my summer in physical therapy and being grouchy on the couch.

arggg. Once I was given the green light to run again, it was very tough for me to get back into the groove. I did a couple races post knee injury, but they were all lackluster. My training was sporadic, and as a result my race experiences were bland.

The problem? My heart was not in it. I also took on a new job in November and my focus turned to my new responsibility and the idea of training was super overwhelming.

So, basically, my goals for 2010 are the same as 2009: Improve my half-ironman time; be a better cyclist; and be a lean mean racing machine. It is also a time to think strategically about my racing calendar. Here is a general idea, though nothing is set in stone because life can sometimes take you off track:

January
-Start January 1 with the Resolution Run in Los Gatos. A nice 5 mile hilly race that I will do with some mermaids. I am also thinking about doing another race in Castro Valley on January 2, as my nieces live up there and would be fun to get them involved.
-Swim class at De Anza.
-Spinning class.
-Work on increasing mileage for 1/2 Marathon in February.

February
-Kaiser half marathon (no goal time. It is on Super Bowl Sunday and is a great way to rationalize eating buffalo wings and Tostitos cheese dip while watching the game)
-Mermaid 10k in San Francisco (no goal time as well, since this will be a week after Kaiser half marathon)
-Mid February start to amp up cycling
-Join Team Mermaid and torture my core

March
-Continue bike, run, swim training
-St patricks 5k in Los Gatos. Goal: 5k in less than 30 minutes

April
-Cinderella bike ride: do the long route (80-90 miles)
-TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN for wildflower
-Mermaid run---do the 1/2 but as a training run, not a race.

May
-Wildflower 1/2 marathon. Goal time: 7 hours 30 minutes. Ideally 7 hours, but not sure what a realistic goal is.
-Remainder of May take it easy to recover

The summer I would like to concentrate on cycling. My friend and I are thinking about doing a 2 day bike ride that goes from Seattle to Portland, so I will definitely need to train for that.

August: recover from bike ride and start training for a marathon in October.

September: Mermaid Olympic Tri. Goal: PR for olympic distance.
train for marathon

October: Silicon Valley Marathon. I am really wanting to do a marathon again, and I like the idea of one that is small and not far away. Goal: beat my Eugene time. Ideally, race a 4:30. Yikes!

November: recover, recover, recover. Turkey trot.

December: reflect on 2010 and maybe take it easy with yoga.

OK, so this may be a little ambitious for 2010...but we will see. I am ready to be strong again. I am ready to say, "Take that 2009!"