2012

Those who have been reading for a while may remember that 2012 was a breakthrough year for me racing endurance events. I had an unexpectedly successful year:

• 3 wins
• 9 podiums
• 18 top tens
• 26 total races

2012 Race placings

2013

I hoped I would be able to follow that up with a similarly good year in 2013. In the back of my head I knew I was getting older, and I am susceptible to injury, so success was far from certain. Fortunately I stayed relatively healthy and my fitness continued to improve throughout the year. My results far and away exceeded my hopes (I finished either 1st or 2nd in half of my races):

• 5 wins
• 13 podiums
• 21 top tens
• 23 total races

2013 Race placings

I focused more heavily on running in 2013 and less on cycling and triathlon, though I still competed well in the other events. As far as middle distance racing goes I hit my peak at age 17-18. Now focusing on longer distances, at age 34 I set Personal Records across the board:

• 1 mile road (4:47)
• 5K road (16:37)
• marathon (3:02:28)
• 50 mile (7:24:??)
• 8 hour (53.64 miles)

I continued to gravitate from road events toward off-road events.

I competed in three types of races I’d never before attempted:

• obstacle course/mud run
• mountain bike
• off-road triathlon

Here’s my final training statistics for the year:

Running

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	131.5 Mile	13	10.1154 Mile
February	87.4286 Mile	10	8.74286 Mile
March	162.84 Mile	17	9.57882 Mile
April	169.12 Mile	16	10.57 Mile
May	133.61 Mile	12	11.1342 Mile
June	127.39 Mile	16	7.96188 Mile
July	200.4 Mile	21	9.54286 Mile
August	151.34 Mile	14	10.81 Mile
September	249.57 Mile	26	9.59885 Mile
October	159.17 Mile	16	9.94813 Mile
November	144.46 Mile	20	7.223 Mile
December	176.76 Mile	22	8.03455 Mile
Total	1893.59 Mile	203	9.32802 Mile

Cycling

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	3.7 Mile	1	3.7 Mile
February	15.2 Mile	4	3.8 Mile
March	123.14 Mile	16	7.69625 Mile
April	114.22 Mile	12	9.51833 Mile
May	157.33 Mile	14	11.2379 Mile
June	217.6 Mile	10	21.76 Mile
July	223.1 Mile	8	27.8875 Mile
August	105.83 Mile	10	10.583 Mile
September	56.66 Mile	9	6.29556 Mile
October	16.45 Mile	4	4.1125 Mile
November	60.91 Mile	6	10.1517 Mile
December	9.31 Mile	2	4.655 Mile
Total	1103.45 Mile	96	11.4943 Mile

Swimming

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	0	0	0
February	3950. Yard	3	1316.67 Yard
March	18900. Yard	11	1718.18 Yard
April	15600. Yard	10	1560. Yard
May	13200. Yard	8	1650. Yard
June	11580. Yard	8	1447.5 Yard
July	2093.61 Yard	2	1046.81 Yard
August	0	0	0
September	1943.61 Yard	2	971.807 Yard
October	850. Yard	1	850. Yard
November	0	0	0
December	0	0	0
Total	68117.2 Yard	45	1513.72 Yard

Walking & Hiking

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	37.64 Mile	12	3.13667 Mile
February	50.6 Mile	21	2.40952 Mile
March	92.9 Mile	37	2.51081 Mile
April	41.5 Mile	21	1.97619 Mile
May	91.75 Mile	33	2.7803 Mile
June	32.03 Mile	21	1.52524 Mile
July	14.8 Mile	8	1.85 Mile
August	45.35 Mile	23	1.97174 Mile
September	59.8 Mile	19	3.14737 Mile
October	80.37 Mile	20	4.0185 Mile
November	55.77 Mile	16	3.48563 Mile
December	37.13 Mile	16	2.32063 Mile
Total	639.64 Mile	247	2.58964 Mile

2014

While 2013 was really a more-of-the-same (and then some) type of year, 2014 is going to be quite different. We plan to move from Saint Louis to Colorado this spring, so we have some changes in store. As far as training goes, I expect it to actually improve a little bit. The proximity to the mountains and the high altitude can really only help.

Of course, there are drawbacks as well. First, I’m not acclimated to the higher elevation, and I have little experience running big mountain climbs and descents. With time, both of these will improve. The bigger problem is that Colorado is the fittest state in the U.S. while Missouri is, well, near the bottom. So not only are races in Colorado more difficult, the competition is much, much stronger.

If I can continue to stay healthy and my training improves and I’m mixing in with better competition, I hope I can rise to meet the additional challenges. But it’s not going to happen immediately, and probably not at all in 2014.

So I’m not expecting great results next year, but I am looking forward to the challenge.