i thought i'd wrap up my years training again, with a bit of reflection and some idea of what 2014 might bring.
as far as the training itself goes, the biggest shift i have seen is in my running. in 2013 i ran a great deal more (1600km as compared to just over 1000 for 2012 and 2011), and also was more disciplined in terms of speed/intensity sessions. in the spring of 2013 i was running 18miles on a weekend and also doing 2 intense sessions a week. i honestly didn't think my body would cope with it and expected more injuries than i got. cycling was more of the same - 8000km again - almost all of it commute mileage (or 'hidden training'). i've had a steady tumble of pb's - 5km and 10km are tidy and i think there is a little more to come. my half mara time is due a kicking and i harboured dangerous thoughts of marathons that i'm trying to calm down.
reading back over the 2012 review i mention strava and i've pretty much stopped using it now. it was ruining my rides and i think i'd benefit from focussing on the whole ride i'm doing rather than battering myself for a climb and slacking off after. my commute in particular was suffering for this - i'd ride 5miles hard and then spin out, whereas i should be hitting all 11miles hard. i feel like my cycling has taken a back seat this year to running. it's not that i've got worse at it, but i don't feel quite as tuned in to it as i was. the experience at sweden was psychologically fairly grim - i was weakest at my normally strongest discipline - and it hurt me mentally more than i'm ready to admit i think. shall i promise to ride my turbo more? oh go on - i do every year!
swimming was another round of thu club/sun on my own sessions, although up to july i was adding in extra sessions to support the rehab of my shoulder injury. i ended up pretty much at the same mileage and time as in 2012. i'm still about 10s over 400m slower than at the end of 2012, but my distance time (t20 and 3.8) are very comparable. basically - i have a tidy technique and a shortage of power. buggering my shoulder hasn't changed that fundamentally!
in terms of events there were 4 really, and i started with the big one - IM Sweden. i'm still to race rep this, but basically i swam much, much better than i thought i would, then cycled okish and ran very well. an upside down tri in some ways. a week later i relayed at the club champs and swam badly, cycled pretty well and ran superbly. any race where i post a pb can't be bad, but to out-pace clump (even if he wasn't at full gas), well. at the start of that race i didn't know if i could run at all, but i did, and did well.
3 weeks after than i raced a local sprint and again - poor swim, very tidy bike and then cracked a very good run. and a prize! i'm disproportionally happy about my free socks! i felt like i redeemed my cycling that day, as well. and then, finally, i rode 115miles on a brompton. in terms of overcoming a mental challenge i think that it was tougher than IM.
as for 2014 - i am really looking forward to racing a bit more and hopefully earlier in the year. after the IM comedown faded and i stopped thinking about marathons and going long again the idea of racing olympic distance really appealed. i'm not done one for quite a while and i think it might be a good experience to go back to. it'll encourage me to push harder for longer in training without having to pretend to conserve (as i would do for middle distance). part of me still wants to do a marathon but i'm not sure how or when. it can wait i think. few sprints, few olys. i might do bridge-to-bridge again.
something happened to me in 2013 - i became a runner. not a brilliant one, but a much better one. it also made me a much better triathlete, and that really cheered me up at the end of a long and trying season. i'd still love to be a better swimmer if i could, but i'm not sure how that will happen at the moment so i'll stick to just loving time in the water instead. i will try to be a better cyclist in 2014, if only because i enjoy being a cyclist so being a good one is rewarding.
my highlights of the year - there are three.
firstly, the magnifitwat ride with tritans and bop. glorious weather and great company.
secondly, the entire sweden adventure. there was something serendipitous about it - what should have caused strife and pain was actually a source of strength and delight for more people than i considered it would. i'm grateful for those days.
thirdly - those socks. 3rd in my agegroup - never would have imagined it.
some numbers (2012) [2011]
bike
distance 4980mi (4900mi) [4998mi]
time 287h (285h) [289h]
mph 17.3 (17.3) [17.3]
run
distance 1012 (659) [678]
time 132h (84:30) [84:28]
ave pace (will check sportstracks) (7:29) [8:18]
ave speed 7.7mph (7.8) [8]
swim
distance 364k (361) [340]
time 137h (135) [127]