December and 2014 Round-Up

Oh, end of year posts ...

Let's start with December first, shall we?

Running: 1.6 mi
Swimming: 0m (0mi)
Cycling: 28.86 mi
Lifting: six sessions (3:34)
Other: one boot camp session (60:00), four walks (1:40)

Did I do something non-S/B/R related?: If we count the boot camp class like we did back in July, yes.

Am I strength-training regularly?: Yep.

Am I injury-free?: Thankfully, yes.

December ended up being a crapshoot for the final few weeks. I decided to say "screw it" when it came to working out so I could get a lot of personal stuff done (projects around the apartment that I've been meaning to do for YEARS; essentially cleaning out some clutter). It lifted an unknown weight off my shoulder, so the stress release of stress I didn't even know I had? Totally worth it.

As for 2014 ...

Did I get a new 5K PR? Unfortunately ... no. It still lives on.

Did I continue to keep PRing at the BolderBOULDER? Nope. I was on pace to until my butt decided otherwise. Stupid colon.

Did I get any closer to 2:00 in the half-marathon? Ha, no.

Did I get any closer to 1:30 in the sprint triathlon? Technically ... yes. Thank you Lakes Country Triathlon and your short, short swim.

Did I get any closer to 3:00 (but stay under 3:30) in the olympic triathlon? Ha, no.

Did I get any closer to sub-7:30 in the 70.3 distance for triathlon? Still nope. Almost pulled it off with lack of training though ...

 Am I back into the 8:00/mi range running? Not consistently. I have flashes of it, but only flashes.

Did I learn to tolerate hills on the bike? Actually ... yes! Only one hill mentally killed me, and if I'm being honest, it was the hill plus lack of training plus heat plus a headwind. Horrible combination for anyone, really.

Did I ride more than last year? Oh, not even close ...

Do I suck less in the pool? Maybe? Hard to quantify ...

Did I strength-train regularly? Yes! 58 total sessions this year means I did.

Am I injury-free? I am. I had periods off from training, but it was due to stupid things, like shingles, not injuries.

 Did I do at least one non-tri related activity a month? I got a little technical with some, but almost. April was the only month I didn't, but I had extra in August, so we'll say it averages out to yes?

Did I blog more? I actually blogged less than last year ... but I was on pace for it. Travel makes blogging rough. As does not doing anything. And getting burned out.

******

If you go straight by my goals I posted on the blog last year, the year actually ... kind of sucked. I hit maybe three goals this year? I trained so much less and got horribly burned out and spent a lot of time not training.

That being said ... I learned a ton this year. 

- I learned that I can podium.
- I learned that half my problem is a fear of success.
- I learned that a super-heavy early racing season? Is no bueno if I want to do ANYTHING the rest of the year.
- Conversely, I learned that I can handle a heavy race load and race consistently and not kill myself.
- I learned that I am enough, but I want to be more. I want to DO more.

It's hard to say that 2014 was a good year because 2013 was so great. Compared to 2013, 2014 was very, very meh. And if 2015 goes to plan, 2014 will continue to be even more meh in the rear view mirror. 

Still, if you learn from a year, it can't be all bad.