what did you learn in 2011? (Page 2)

1. That a triathlon is not swim, bike, run.  It's swim, transition, bike, nutrition/hydration, transition, run, nutrition/hydration.  And it's best to train for it with that in mind.

2. Hills are your friend.

3. Running 5 or 6 days a week is easier on my body than running 3 days a week.

Ride/train the bike more and when I think I am good, ride the bike some more!!

Also beware of fecal matter in the pools!

That two months spent building up to multiple slow 100+ mile rides with the wife, training for her first IM relay, does not translate into podium worthy bike splits at Oly and HIM distances for me...

(I.e., sometimes it's "Go fast or go home")

Truly wish more people I know had this on their list...

^^^ This. 

I assumed I was physically invincible.  Not so.

Does that include whip cream?

That I need more OWS practice.

That I can finish a sprint in 2 hours with very little training.

I learned:

Spending the time with my family and being successful at works means no IM distance for a couple of years for me.  And I can be happy with that decision.

That recovering from my knee surgery has taken a lot longer than I thought but I can run and am getting faster very slowly.  Late 2012 looks to be a chance to do well at running.

I spent too much time just riding, running, and swimming and not enough time worrying about the goals for each of those and working to improve them.

Jorge can be very cruel with his bike plan

I can have a job where I am happy and productive and I don't have to work with an abusive senior VP.

My kids are growing up fast and my time with them, before they move out, is getting shorter.  I make a point of hugging them everyday.

This year I learned...

...that adding a fourth run per week, even just a comfortably paced 4 miler, led to more speed gains than anything else I'd tried on the run previously.

...that riding more (and longer) on the bike did not necessarily make me faster but sure led to a much better start to the run (and overall run).

...that I still hate swimming, but am determined to do more of it this coming year as it's dragging my overall performance down like a 500 lb anchor.

...that every September I will question why I do this and if I want to continue with it going forward, then step away for a couple of months to do other things (basketball, weight lifiting, continue running), then feel the itch and burning desire to get back at it come mid December.

...that watching my oldest son (now 10) become an excellent soccer player and also coaching him currently in basketball (his first year) have been far more satisfying than anything I might accomplish in tris.

Time goals in races are important to me. Blowing up during a race because of one hurts.

A bunch of other stuff about fecal matter I really didn't want to know.

Triathlon is not the end all/be all.  When it's taken away due to injury, it's so important to have other things in life (family, friends, relationships, other forms of entertainment, etc...).

The back is a very important part of the body.  Take care of it.

Despite the fact that I don't care for swimming... I CAN swim from Alcatraz to shore without getting lost!  And, I can do it a lot faster than a lot of aero helmet clad men on super expensive bikes!  

Appreciate very minute you're out there.  You never know when triathlon, running, cycling, etc. will be taken away from you.

I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.

Weighing 30 pounds less makes it easier to come back to cycling after almost a 2 year layoff.

Tae Kwon Do is excellent cross training.

I need to run and swim more then once a month if I want to become a triathlete again.

Yeah, but I'd like to do it in about 1:30....so I guess I should train :-)