2010 Half the Year in Review

I can't believe today is July 1st. The season and year is halfway over with! Some folks are just getting their first races in for the year. I have been going strong since January, and I still feel like I am still only just getting warmed up for bigger things to come :)

First, the nitty gritties. You don't know where you are going unless you know where you have come from. In ALL of 2009, I went this far:
Swim: 191,007 yards
Bike: 2,787.46 miles
Run: 686.54 miles

So far in 2010, I have gone this far:
Swim: 137,840 yards
Bike: 2,252.33 miles
Run: 499.38 miles

My volume is way up this year and I am *knock on wood* still injury free!!! I account the larger volume for allowing me to go bigger and faster.

So lets start reviewing 2010, the first half:
Started 2010 with an injury! I thought it was a knee joint issue, but really it was due to being unaligned and tight quad muscles. After many painful visits to "The Elbow" and aligning myself before running coupled with lots of stretching and foam rolling, the knee issue went away.

Before I knew it on January 10th, I was running around Central Park in freezing cold conditions for a 5 miler, The Fred Lebow Classic. Remember what 23 degrees feels like? I sure don't! I just remember my hands going numb by mile 2 and I was wearing thick Ski gloves. haha!

By the end of January, my mission to break 2 hours in a half marathon became a religion. I wanted sub 2 hours SO BAD!!! So @ the Manhattan Half Marathon in Central Park, I dug deep and went 1:47:58 and smashed my old half marathon PR by 12 mins and 12 seconds. Mission accomplished!

After 4 weeks of no racing and volume building, I attemped not only my longest run ever, but my longest race ever over some SUPER hilly terrain against an all Boston Marathon running field. So @ the Silvermine 25K, I went 2:13:28, negative split it and had the most consistent pacing in my life. I paid deeply for that one. Running downhills does a LOT more damage than running uphills.

By March 21st, spring had arrived waaaaaay too early and we had some incredible conditions for the NYC Half Marathon, my favorite Half Marathon course to date. Another PR showed up in the form of 1:45:19, my current half marathon PR.

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever will I hold "it" for that long, if you know what I mean ;)

Ironman New Orleans 70.3 was only a month away at that point, so the increase in volume was starting to go through the roof. Next up was a 15K, the Colon Cancer Challenge, the following week in the same place, Central Park. I went even faster for a 1:15:18, and new 15K PR, and this was done the day after a 57 mile ride. I was nearing "well done" by that point! haha!

After a two week break from racing, I hit up a 4 miler in Central Park and PR'ed again for a 29:08, one week out from New Orleans. Needless to say, my run confidence was sky high for New Orleans.

And then Ironman New Orleans 70.3 finally arrived as my first big "A" race of 2010. I just wanted a sub 2 hour run @ New Orleans and to redeem myself from the disasterous run @ Timberman in 2009. I got it and then some, and took off 23 mins from my overall time from Timberman. The swim sucked in New Orleans due to huge swells, but I had a very consistent bike and run. All of my hard work and my doubts about myself in the Half Ironman distance were squashed!!! I also got the coolest race photo taken of me. I am so proud of it!!

After New Orleans, I took a long 4 week break from racing to regroup. The Harryman Sprimpic Triathlon and Ironman Mooseman 70.3 were up next and both the Harryman and Mooseman courses were the polar opposite of New Orleans. I went from below sea level pancake flatness to NY & NH hills!

Before I got to those two races, I had a somewhat ridiculous thing happen to me. I got bit by a dog while out reconning the Mooseman course in 47 degree pouring rain conditions. If anything could get worse than riding for 3+ hours in 47 degree pouring rain conditions, it did. That little dog had sharp f-ing teeth. Needless to say I am up on my Tetnus and the dog has a police record.

It doesn't look that bad, but you should have seen the bruise that showed up later!!!

Afer mentally recovering from the dog bite, it was back to business. Harryman was my test to see if a race @ speed done 2 weeks out from a Half Ironman did anything positive. I guess it did? I still don't know, but I enjoyed myself out there during that race and put up a solid bike split. It was a training race. Nothing more and my first triathlon in awhile that was shorter than a Half Ironman.

Mooseman 70.3 finally arrived as Half Ironman #3 overall and #2 for the season. I was as ready as I could have gotten for those hills and I learned a lot about gearing choices that day, especially when I was breaking my back up that f-ing hill (I was using too agressive of a gear set). I am also glad that I reconned the course in 47 degree pouring rain, because on the Mooseman race day, it was 62 degrees and pouring rain. It sucked, BUT! I had the run of my life and dropped a 1:50:03 Half Marathon on the run. Talk about going from death off the bike to rejuvenation!!!

Had no idea that my legs were about to "wake up"

After Mooseman the summer heat and humidity showed up early and with a vengeance. I wasn't acclimated to running in the heat and "fumidity" yet and I got my ass handed to me in a 5 mile race around Central Park. I have come back swinging since and have beat the heat now knowing what to do in those conditions. This will likely describe the rest of the summer's racing conditions!

Wow, I have been writing this forEVER. I tried to summarize everything as briefly as possible, but I guess I have done a LOT this season so far!

Now for the rest of 2010, whats left is:
Lake Placid weekend to volunteer and sign up for Lake Placid 2011
Timberman 70.3 in August
The NYC Marathon on November 7th. (my first marathon)

I am sure a few races will sprinkle throughout, but those are the three main goals left for this year.

Hope you have a good rest of 2010!