The best way to describe my 2011 season is 'OK'. I had mediocre results, but nothing to really write home about. Status quo, so least I didn't go backwards. My approach for the 2011 season was to recover from three straight years of Ironman and relax a little, so in that sense, mission accomplished. Yea!
But, the competitor in me knows that I can do more. One of my takeaways is that I need to stay aggressive when I race. At Musselman, I laid up on the bike too much and gave away too much time. I knew I would melt on the run anyway (which was an accurate prediction), so I should have just gone for it on the bike and survived the run as best possible. I was able to correct that at Syracuse 70.3 and at Poconos 70.3, where I took both bikes really aggressively and managed to have decent runs on top of it. Lesson learned: Ignore watts on race day. I think next year I'll use Race Day Wheels to get some speed and not worry about my actual wattage. Instead, I'll practice with watts (on course) to learn what I can do/can't do, and then on race day race by RPE.
Mussleman was an awesome race experience. Everyone should do this at some point.
I also had a hamstring injury right after Musselman that has stayed long past it's welcome. It turned more into a low back issue in late August and prevented me from doing some run miles. I could feel it in the two 70.3 races, but mainly on the bike (from being in aero position for so long). I had to lay up a bit toward the end of the bikes, but once I got on the run it was ok. Lesson learned: Flexibility and core training year-round. It's a non-negotiable for me.
Right now I'm training for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20, which will be my first stand-alone marathon in four years! The last one I did was Flying Pig in 2007. Actually, it will only be my third marathon (outside of IMs). I'm enjoying training for it a lot, getting back to basics. More on this later, as I have lots of thoughts about transitioning to being a pure runner again.
At Philly, I would LOVE to go under 4 hours, which I think is do-able I'm stoked that my bro-in-law is signed up for the race, as it'll be fun to have him and my sister down for the race. He can suffer through the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot in Baldwinsville with me after the marathon. No free pass just because of the race! Traditions are traditions for a reason! We can just do the 5K instead of the 10K...I'll grant that reprieve.
Yea Philly!
This weekend I'm working on planning my 2012 season out, so stay turned for an updated race list. I'm thinking of trying some new races in prep for Ironman Lake Placid (take #3!) to wake me up a bit. Official training for IMLP will probably start mid-March/April.Enjoy this beautiful weekend!~
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