The End of 2008

2008 was one of the most successful years I’ve had for racing. I competed in running (5K to ultra-marathon), cycling (road, crit, time trial, cyclocross), swimming (50-1000 yard), triathlon (sprint & olympic), and duathlon races. I set new PRs (personal records) in 5K time, ultra-marathon time and distance, olympic distance triathlon time, 40 KM cycling time trial time, 1000 yard swim time, and yearly cycling distance.

In case you missed them, here were a few of the highlights:

• 1/26: Riddle Run. After 3.5 years off running and six months on again, not only did I complete this ultra-marathon, but I ran it faster than ever before.
• 2/17: Tour de Groundhog. I rode this sloppy, muddy cyclocross race at a slower pace than I had recently run at the Riddle Run.
• 3/8: Earth, Wind, & Fire. I ran a strong 5K to finish 5th place overall.
• 3/29: Hillsboro Roubaix. My Wild Card Cycling team dominated the cat 5 race, finishing 1, 2, 6 (me), 7 out of 50 or so.
• 3/30: Aid to Ecuador. Here I ran another strong 5K, this time finishing 3rd overall.
• 4/4: Rode highest point in Pennsylvania.
• 4/7: Rode highest point in Maryland.
• 5/10: Race for the Cure. I ran a fast 5K to finish 6th overall.
• 5/17-5/18: Tour de West Lafayette. This bicycle stage race consisted of a criterium, a road race, and a time trial. Several Wild Card teammates and I did quite well.
• 6/7-6/14: Lots of fun riding in San Francisco.
• 6/21: Indy Triathlon. This was my first triathlon in five years and I did well enough to win an age group award.
• 6/29: Proctor Classic. I got separated from the leaders by a crash in this criterium. I finished all by myself just behind the leaders.
• 7/4: Freedom 5K. I (and everyone else) set a personal record at this 5K which wasn’t really 5K.
• 7/5: Mattoon Beach Triathlon. A super fast run split helped me finish 2nd place overall.
• 7/12: Blue Island ProAm. I finished at the back of the lead pack as I helped teammates place 2nd & 3rd in this criterium.
• 7/19: Evergreen Triathlon. A PR at this olympic distance triathlon (which I hadn’t been planning to do) qualified me for the national championship race.
• 9/20: National Age Group Championship Triathlon. I set another olympic distance triathlon PR on a very tough course.
• 9/27: Charleston Challenge. A wrong turn at this sprint duathlon didn’t keep me from placing 3rd overall.
• 10/19: Carpenter Park Cross. I stayed upright during the two cyclocross races in which I competed.
• 10/26: Allerton Park Trail Run. I finished 6th place out of 400 finishers in this muddy trail race.
• 10/26: 30 miles on 30th birthday run. This was the farthest I’ve ever run.
• 11/22: Run for the Library. A 5K PR led to my first overall race victory (of any type) in 12 years.
• 12/4: Masters Swimming Practice Meet. I raced many strokes in distances from 50 to 500 yards.
• 12/6: Tecumseh Trail Marathon. I nearly ran a marathon PR on this very slow, snowy, & hilly trail marathon.

Stats

This was the worst December weather I’ve seen in 30 years living in Illinois. Everything (streets, sidewalks, & grass) was continuously covered in ice for several weeks.

As a result I only did one recreational bike ride in December and fell short of my best case scenario year end cycling goals for 2008: 6,000 miles total & 366 separate rides (2008 was a leap year). For the purpose of my records, separate rides are two consecutive rides on different days, on different bikes, or wearing different clothes. This means I count riding to work in the morning and home from work in the evening as one single ride. I probably would have been closer to 600 or 700 separate rides using a different standard.

Despite not making my best case scenario goals, I’m still quite pleased with these numbers. 5,838 miles is much higher than my previous highest yearly total of around 4,600 miles.

Cycling: December 2008 by Bike

Cycling: 2008 by Bike

Cycling: 2008 by Month

In early December I ran the Tecumseh marathon, which was my big goal for the end of the year. Then I eased up a bit on the running in order to recover.

Running: 2008 by Month

I did very little swimming in December. I will probably not do a whole lot in January either, given the restricted pool hours on campus during winter break.

Swimming: 2008 by Month