2009 is coming to a close and thus far it has been an awesome year. I have had the opportunity to race 20 times covering over 15km in the water, 540km on the bike and 251km running on race days alone.
Training has included a lot more miles and enjoying the process as well as the racing is always important and this year I have had had a lot of fun training both on my own and with others. This has included swimming, riding and running in all conditions from snow in the Vancouver Winter to scorching hot days in the Okanagan Summer.
Thank You
To work toward your goals requires the support of others and at the risk of missing out people here goes a short list;
Leslie (My wife) – Puts up with 4:45am alarms and long training days on the weekends. She also took up running in 2009 and completed her first 10km run.
Family & Friends – From my parents in Australia who watch online for split times during races in the middle of the night, to those who supported me up in Penticton, gave me a place to stay and sent messages of support.
Forerunners – For continued support from this awesome locally owned Vancouver running store.
Newton Running – I have run with my Newton trainers and racers all year in all conditions and these shoes have helped propel me to top 5% run times in most of my races.
Jerry – For all the help with the running in 2009 including some awesome sessions in the lead up to IMC.
Dr Carla Cupido - For keeping me healthy in 2009 and teaching me a lot about how to manage my body through the volume of training that is associated with triathlon.
Training Partners – All those who have suffered with me or made me suffer in throughout the year. Learned a lot form everybody I trained with and had a lot of fun.
Season Highlights
The main thing about the year was and had a lot of fun and I have definitely achieved that getting to meet and hang out with great people along the way. However there were definitely some highlights that are worth pointing out.
New Personal Records
2009 saw me PR across all the distances I competed at some point during the year. It definitely showed the base work over winter was worth it and I hope to be able to replicate this achievement in 2010. My new benchmarks to target in 2010 are;
Running
5km - 17:00 @ 2009 Mothers Day Spring Classic (May, 2009)
8km - 27:13 @ 2009 Icebreaker 8km (Feb, 2009)
10km - 34:51 @ 2009 Chilly Chase 10km (Jan, 2009)
Half Marathon - 1:19:32 @ 2009 San Diegeto Half Marathon (Feb, 2009)
8km - 27:13 @ 2009 Icebreaker 8km (Feb, 2009)
10km - 34:51 @ 2009 Chilly Chase 10km (Jan, 2009)
Half Marathon - 1:19:32 @ 2009 San Diegeto Half Marathon (Feb, 2009)
Triathlon
Half Ironman - 4:30:26 @ 2009 Victoria Half Ironman (Jun, 2009)
Ironman - 10:26:07 @ 2009 Ironman Canada (Aug, 2009)
Ironman - 10:26:07 @ 2009 Ironman Canada (Aug, 2009)
The A race for 2009 was Ironman Canada. This one went good but not great, after a slow swim of 1hr 18mins (lots of room to improve there) I passed 1300 people on the bike with the 100th fastest bike split of 5 hours 14 minutes before hitting the run course with the 150th fastest split of 3 Hours 46 min which included picking up 2 spots in my age group in the mile. Although the run was not what I was hoping for, I held it together on a tough day in Penticton and came in 143rd Overall and 13th in the M25-29 Category.
I learned a lot throughout the day and the training leading up to it and had a lot of fun even through the painful parts of race day. With this knowledge and another 10 months of training and experience under my belt I am aiming to get fast for Ironman Coure'd'Alene in June 2010 and see what I can do.
Sometimes going into a race with no expectations can be a good thing. Oliver was a "c" on the schedule and given a lead up week that included a crash and a 160km ride the day before race day I was more just seeing it as an experiment about racing on tired legs.
In the end I had an awesome race which included a my fastest ever average bike split covering 93km in 2hour 28 minutes (Avg Speed 37.5km/h) followed up by the 11th fastest run split (including pro's) at 1:25:16 for the half marathon. This brought me in for a total time of 4:36:40 and 24th place overall. This race gave me belief that I could push hard on the bike and still execute a fast run at the Half Ironman distance.
Epic Days that were part of the Process
Sometimes it can be a solo session; sometimes it can be session with friends. Regardless training sometimes brings some of the most enjoyable experiences. Some of the highlights this year have included;
- Taking the road bike up through the snow at Mt Laguna in San Diego with Kevin and Madelene to finish 4 hours worth of climbing to get to about 6000ft from close to sea level
- Flying past people on the Stanley Park seawall at the end of a 3 hour run trying to hit the last 5 minutes at 5km pace.
- My second annual solo "queen stage" up and down Seymour, Grouse, Cypress on the north shore for approx 13000 feet of climbing and 200km of riding.
- Circumnavigating Skaha Lake on foot in a pre Ironman Training Run with Doug, Cam and Rachel
- Getting to help pace parts of the run leg for Wolfgang at Ultraman Canada
- Starting to get some good work down in the pool post Ironman Canada and starting to enjoy my time in the water
The Plan for 2010
2010 is approaching and the main goal is pretty simple - Get Faster!!!
To do this will mean focusing to working hard consistently day in, day out, improving my technique and trusting the process. In the end I am already enjoying being back training and believe that if I focus on the key things will have a successful and rewarding 2010. I am heading to Australia for the first time in nearly 4 years on New Year's Day for five weeks to visit family and friends. While I am there I will have an opportunity to train in the summer weather and get to do a couple races.
At the moment the main races for the first half of 2010 are;
Cadbury Half Marathon in Hobart, Australia on January the 10th
Geelong 70.3 in Geelong, Australia on February the 7th
There will be others in the gaps and the second half no doubt, however Ironman Couer'd'Alene will serve as the A race for the first half of the year. It will also be how I am going to celebrate my 30thbirthday which falls on race day. This could turn out to be a regrettable decision but I figure most birthday's involve the possibility of passing out, sitting in the gutter etc. So doing an Ironman on my birthday shouldn't be a stretch
The Blog and Twitter – It Has Been Fun.....
........ and will continue to be.
Firstly before I get into some stats one may ask why blog and tweet. I have never kept a paper journal but I see the blog as something like that but even better. As you get feedback and energy from the online community and end up meeting and interacting with some great people.
From 2009 here are some stats from the blog and my twitter presence;
- 91 Posts
- 4131 Visits to the blog with an average visit time of 2:02 minutes
- 6271 Page Views
- 993 Unique Visitors
- Visitors from 35 Countries and all 5 continents
- 2647 Visits form the Lower Mainland & Victoria
- 166 Followers
- 1086 Tweets
Thanks again for everyone's support and looking forward to good times in 2010.
You had a fanstastic season Jeremy, thanks for sharing. Best of luck in your 2010 endeavours!
ReplyDeleteTurkey, hold the mayo!
~ Doug
Based on your PB in the San Diego Half Marathon you would have finished the 2009 Cadbury Half Marathon in 12th place.
ReplyDelete