What did you do (not do) in 2014 that you will change in 2015

What I learned from 2014 is that I should not schedule back to back races 6 months in a row--for me that was just too much and I burned out a bit.  However, I also learned that I am as consistent as hell--I am very disciplined when it comes to my training--even when training just to train.

What I didn't do in 2014 is get picked for some Ben guy's training scholarship...haaaa, kidding! What I didn't do well in 2014 is take enough rest days.  At 44 I have to be a bit kinder to my body if I want to continue with this tri lifestyle for years to come.  I will have to find that balance as I'll begin Ironman training in January.  I welcome the challenge and am totally excited, but I also know it will be a long haul and I'll need to listen to this body of mine!

I trained & raced very little in 2014, partly because I had peroneal tendon surgery on January 10 which affects me to this day, and partly because of changes in my personal life.

In 2015, I am going to train consistently and wisely to enable a good race at Musselman with the goal of a new PR there.  I'm also going to be making the decision in the next month and a half or so about racing IMMD, since I haven't done a full IM since 2010.

I had a big year planned for my final year in the M40-44 AG.

The original schedule was:

April - Kemah Olympic & Texas 70.3

June - Ironman Couer d'Alene

August - Ironman Mont-Tremblant

November - Philadelphia Marathon

Had to DNS the two April races because I developed an infection that took 2.5 months to clear up.  Infection also caused me to transfer from IMCdA to IMC.  DNF'd IMC due to medical.  DNS'd IMMT for a different medical issue.  DNS'd the Philly Marathon due to surgery... unrelated to all the other medical issues.  Go figure.

So I was basically 0-6 for 2014.

So my one change is to actually start and finish a race next year. 

Tomorrow will be my first workout since I DNF'd the run at IMC.  That 1.5 mile run tomorrow morning will be some kind of moral victory.

2014 was my 1st year doing tris, so my focus was simply to finish. Most of my learning is pretty basic stuff and there's definitely room for improvement. 

• Getting my wetsuit stuck on my timing chip really slows down my T1 time.  Will spend more time practicing transitions.
• DQ'd in 1 race because I got disoriented after getting bounced around in a jet ski wake and missed a buoy.  I'll be working on sighting.
• I haven't been pushing myself hard enough in the bike or run.  Both races, I finished feeling fairly fresh and even got a 5k PR in my last sprint.  If I can do a 5k faster in a tri than I do a standalone 5k, I can definitely pick up the pace in my tri.
• I don't deal well with heat and trying to run speed intervals when it's 90* makes me feel like throwing up.  I'll definitely back off on the effort on the hot days so I can at least finish the workout.

I have a coach now and I'll be doing more drills rather than just swimming, biking and running set distances.  We're also doing video analyses of my running and swimming and I'm really curious to find out who much faster I'll be.

I learned a few things, or rather didn't learn from them:

1. I learned that bike racing hurts. crashed 4 times, got an ambulance ride, and will be getting my 2015 kits shortly. 
2. Don't over commit.  I picked up a cycling team, triathlon team, and coach that all want me to wear their stuff at all times.  Sometimes this creates problems.  I only committed to wearing stuff from the cycling team. 
3. It's possible to make huge gains on the bike without increasing FTP.  My FTP was stagnant all year and never really went down, but up less than 10 watts.  While I didn't gain any power I didn't increase my cycling base a lot by doing over 200 miles a week almost all year.  I cruised very easily to a top 10 OA bike split at my only Ironman half this year. 
4. I didn't run enough.  That's all there is to it.  I needed to be in better running shape all year.  I increased my bike and swim fitness but my run times kept my year to year race results pretty much the same.
5. Strength training is crap.  Just don't.  Take the extra 45 minutes and do some trainer intervals or do an easy run and build that running volume up.  I saw a huge negative dip in performance when I added weights into the mix.  It took me two rounds of starting back going to the gym to finally admit this to myself.  Once at the start of the year and then again at the end.
6. Drink more fluids in racing and training.  I've never had a workout I wish I had consumed less, but I have had workouts and races where I wanted a lot more. 

That's it.  I'm done. 

i did a lot of things.  I did your basic endurance athlete full body approach at light weights, and i did the strength building approach which used only olympic style lifts which included squats/deadlift/bench/overhead press ect... all just seemed to sap resources that would have been better spent cycling/running/swimming.  

prior to doing tri's I was a gym rat and only lifted.  from that I had a pretty strong muscular frame going in and thought that it was great.  once I dropped the weights completely I saw a huge swing in performance.  if you want to get fast then just do S/B/R... if you are interested in general aesthetics and health throw some weights in there, but don't expect it will help your race results. 

One thing I did in 2014 was focus on volume targets through frequency sometimes at the expense of a needed rest day.  I was able to build a very solid base and increase my running strength pretty dramatically.  Alas, this was at the expense of some speed.  I did some track work to try to compensate for this but cummulate fatigue continued to hold me back.

For 2015, I plan to go from 6-7 runs per week to 4-5 by cutting out the "recovery" runs.  I began this transition several weeks ago with taking every third day off.  The change in how I feel has been significant.  My pace for the same RPE has increased.  I have to be very careful to keep my easy paces truly easy and on the other side hit my tempo/interval/repeat work hard.  There seems to be a tendency to naturally end up in a gray zone somewhere in between.  Must remember to execute each session with a purpose and stick to it.  

That while I enjoy triathlon, I LOVE running. The year 2015 will see mostly a 100% focus on the run for me. I'll dip into the pool here and there and may even ride for crosstraining but the focus will be solely on running.

I decided this year to focus on what I like doing the most, which is cycling.  I'll probably race in one or two of the local tri's, but I'm looking forward to giving road racing a go.