2013 Training and Racing Recap

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
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
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:

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

2012 2013

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

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.

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