As 2012 comes to a close and we managed to survive the end of the world, I thought I should see if I achieved all of the goals I had set for the year. Looking down the list I realized that I only achieved 4 of the 8 goals. This may seem to some like I did not fully accomplish what I set out to do. But, of the 4 I didn’t achieve, 2 of those came very close to achieving and the other 2 I did’t get worse. I think setting challenging goals is important for growth. I could threw down a bunch easily accomplished goals, but that really doesn’t help me grow. A little bit of “failure” is important to keep you improving. When I got to the point where everything is being achieved then it is time to do something else.
Run 9 min/mi or less pace for half-iron distance runs(8:30 for olympic dist).
Achieved. I had a 8:12min/mi pace for the Steelman 10k run and 9:02min/mi pace for the Muskoka half-ironman run. I am going to count this one pretty much a success since 2 secs/mi is close enough in my book and for the Olympic distance run I was well below the 8:30 pace I set.
Get down to 165 lbs.
Mostly achieved. The week before my A race I was down to 168.5 lbs, so technically I did not hit my goal weight. Sitting here 3 months after my last race and well into my off-season I am only 5 lbs heavier than I was going into my last race. My change in eating habits are fully ingrained now and maintaining a consistent weight has become a piece of cake. I am starting to ramp up training again so not having to dump 20 lbs right off the bat will get me off to a good start this coming season.
Consistent strength training and especially core work throughout the season.
Partially achieved. During the 1st nine months of the year I did not meet this goal at all. However the off-season has been a different story. I joined a local fitness center that set me up with a nice strength training plan and I have been consistently executing it 2-3 days a week. The only exception was the 2 weeks I was sick. I hope to keep this up for the next few months, but may taper down a bit as my training increases.
Maintain 20+ mph average speed for all races.
Not achieved. In order to achieve the 9 min/mi run pace for my Half-Iron distance race I really had to cut back on the bike speed. In addition, the Ironman Muskoka 70.3 bike course was an extremely challenging(it was either up or down) bike course which also cut into this goal a bit.
Decrease Transition times by 20%.
Not achieved. The only real “apples-to-apples” comparison I could do for this is looking at my Steelman transitions. As you can see from the table below(using seconds), I only improved by an average of 3%. It was an improvement, so that was good. My Steelman transitions are not horrible to begin with, so there isn’t much room from improvement anyway. I tried to compare both the half-Ironmans, but their transitions were so totally different it is impossible to put them on the same level. The big takeaway here is that I really didn’t have any major screw-ups in Muskoka so that is really what I was trying to accomplish here.
| 2011 | 2012 | %Change | |
| Steelman T1 | 117 | 115 | -2% |
| Steelman T2 | 92 | 88 | -4% |
| Cum Total | 209 | 203 | -3% |
| Miami | Muskoka | ||
| T1 | 246 | 301 | 22% |
| T2 | 250 | 135 | -46% |
2:00 min/100 yds pace or less for swims.
Achieved. Paces for each of my 3 tri’s were 1:27, 1:57, and 1:45(per 100yds) so I can safely say I nailed this one. Even with a bad swim at Steelman I still managed to stay under 2:00 which is cool. My Ironman Muskoka swim was probably one of my best long swims ever. The Independence swim was so short that it was just an all out blast. I don’t think I could have maintained that pace another 2 feet! Swimming is really starting to gel for me and I really enjoy it now.
Dial-in on long course nutrition.
Achieved. I am really digging the real foods now as opposed to all the processed crap. I didn’t get that nasty feeling in my gut this year from all the gels and I feel good. I didn’t bonk at all and with increased sodium intake I am not cramping at all. This is something that I will continually try to dial in especially with a full Ironman coming.
Continue to Have Fun!
Achieved. 2012 was a great year and I think all the past years experience is really starting to sink in a bit. Endurance wise I have developed a ton of confidence for the upcoming season. I thoroughly enjoyed all the races this season I the half-Ironman distance doesn’t see as huge an obstacle as it did before. [singlepic id=137 w=320 h=240 float=right]
