2009 in Review, ONE Goal for 2010

>> Monday, January 04, 2010

Here are my 2009 year-end totals, to keep me honest:

- Swim: 72,882.92 yards (or 41.41 miles)
- Bike: 808.94 miles (outdoors)
- Trainer Rides / Spinning: 19:58
- Mountain Biking: 2:00
- Run: 607.37 miles
- Lifting Weights / Core: 118 times
- Weight: 156.6 start, 156.6 end, 158.8 high, 150.4 low

Some notes on those numbers:

- Swim: better than last year, thanks solely to Julia!
- Bike: quite a bit better than last year (yes, 800 miles NOT including trainer time is MUCH better than last year). But I still need to do much more bike work.
- Run: 100 miles short from 2008, but I was training for a Grandma’s Marathon in 2008.
- Lifting Weights / Core: similar to 2008.
- Weight: similar to 2008.

- Duathlons: 5 total (3 individual, 2 team)
- Triathlons: 6 total (1 Half Ironman, 2 Olys, 1 sprint, 2 indoor)
- Half Marathons: 1
- 10 Mile: 2
- 5K, 4 Mile, or 10K: 5

Highlights:
- Ran my first ever stand-alone 10K.
- Biked in my first ever Time Trial.
- Smashed my previous Olympic Distance PR with 2 olys in 2:23 this year (2:23:06 and 2:23:00).
- Won my first “triathlon.” (Triathlon is in quotes because it was an indoor event with 60 athletes.) And had my first triathlon AG finish (2nd in the 20-29 AG at the St. Croix Valley Olympic Distance Triathlon).

Looking back, I think the best part of 2008 was watching the students from the College of Visual Arts “Triathlon Club” finish their first event. I don’t know how many times I’ve went back to look at the post where they all tell their story of their first sprint triathlon. Click here to read their stories and see them in action in their first triathlon.

So this past year, I put up this image and was going to try to avoid finisher’s photos that looked like this:



I was sick of seeing me finishing with one leg (a “one-legged pirate finish" as I call it), and I hated seeing photos of me stopping my watch as I hit the finish line. I did NOT do a good job of fixing that in 2009 because I still came up with all these photos below!!

First, here are some of me hitting my watch:


Winter Carnival 10K


Ironman New Orleans


MDRA Mudball


Chisago Lakes Triathlon

And here some of me as a “one-legged pirate” during my final kick:


Cannon Falls Duathlon


Gear West Duathlon


Monster Dash 10 Mile

Finally, here are some of BOTH a “pirate” finish AND hitting my watch at the same time:


Winter BeGone Duathlon


Apple Duathlon


Twin Cities 10 Mile

I’m DONE trying to avoid these photos! So my single New Years Resolution is to get a photo at the finish line of every race this year with me as a pirate, stopping my watch, or (the best possible image) as a pirate WHILE stopping my watch!

Screw you, 2010. If I can’t get the finisher’s photo I want, I’ll start “wanting” what I get. Bring it. ;)

21 comments:

Maria 8:06 AM, January 04, 2010  

Nice numbers and great goal! You sure have a talent for those finishers pictures!

Relentless Forward Commotion 8:07 AM, January 04, 2010  

hahaha I have the opposite problem, I always go for the good finisher picture and forget about the garmin-usually remembering about a minute after the finish and getting all pissed off that I ruined my stats, LOL! Happy New Year!

jen 8:12 AM, January 04, 2010  

Haha, nice photo compilation. Good luck on your goal in the new year! :)

teacherwoman 9:38 AM, January 04, 2010  

Nice numbers, Steve! Good luck with your goal this year! :)

George Houston 9:53 AM, January 04, 2010  

I've always said, If you run slower you'll look better in the pictures.

Good Luck in 2010!

Chic Runner 10:26 AM, January 04, 2010  

Ha ha ha, I did a whole post dedicated soley on how to take good race pictures. Did you not see that! come on steve! :)

Tri-James 10:26 AM, January 04, 2010  

You mentioned this last year and it helped me immensely with my finisher photos - thanks. I learned to not care about the 3 or 4 seconds on the watch after finishing.

Now the pirate leg is a total other issue.

GoBigGreen 10:57 AM, January 04, 2010  

Happy to have another lane mate anytime Steve!
as for the pirate goal, you are on your own:)

Carolina John 12:26 PM, January 04, 2010  

sweet goal. posing for the finish line is usually reserved for slower people, but when you put your pirate touch on it really makes it special.

Sarah,  1:35 PM, January 04, 2010  

You truly are a dork. But I guess thats why I read your blog.

That Runner Chick 3:50 PM, January 04, 2010  

I, for one, am happy youre setting a one legged pirate goal because I enjoy those pictures. I sincerely hope you dont have to hop the last 7 steps of a race to meet that goal though...AWKWARD!

Unknown 4:20 PM, January 04, 2010  

Looks like 2009 was a good year. I love your race pictures... they always make me laugh (that's a compliment!)

Darcy Franklin 4:43 PM, January 04, 2010  

It's good to want what you get. Then you are NEVER disappointed.

Mike Russell 5:42 PM, January 04, 2010  

You just have a frantic kick at the end of your race! Great photos...

Julie 8:08 PM, January 04, 2010  

Greetings Steve in a Speedo,
I just came across your blog...I must admit that I have seen a few of your comments on other blogs but imagined Steve in a speedo as....umm... older, bigger, and possibly wearing a very tight red speedo for real! You know the kind of older men you see walking the beaches in Florida. Anyway, the jokes on me:) Those are great pictures of your races this past year! It looks like we hail from the same state too... although, something tells me we do not run in the same arenas. Anyway, I enjoyed reading some of your latests posts:)

Julie @ ROJ Running 9:46 PM, January 04, 2010  

Ok so it's great you're just going to love your pics instead of changing them! I hate so many of mine but then again it's a memory so that's the more important thing

EndorphinBuzz 6:40 AM, January 05, 2010  

The pirate photos are so funny, I never noticed the missing leg before!

Anonymous,  1:58 PM, January 05, 2010  

In half of these you appear to be auditioning for a special on amputees. I mean, your lower is MISSING. Sometimes the right one, sometimes the left. Never both at once, I note. Now, that would be something.

Just call you HOPPY, right?

T 4:30 PM, January 05, 2010  

eh, none of us can avoid one or the other. i don't have a watch that i use in training/racing ... but a friend of mine got a one-legged pirate shot of me during my tri this year. yep. so, it's nice to hear you embracing it. :)

JB 12:23 PM, January 11, 2010  

Hey Steve,

First time I comment here (I think), but I thought you'd be proud of me :
http://www.promclassic.com/v11/webcam/DL/DL_10-34-34_0.jpg
(I'm the one on the right. This was a 10K in Nice, France - in 34'36'').

A reader from France,
JB

Marianne 9:03 PM, January 28, 2010  

Argh! (that's my pirate sound by the way)
Just discovered your blog and have been laughing my butt off!! Love the pirate/watch checking pics. Mine race photos always look like I am barely moving or flaring my nostrils....which could be true ;-)
Thanks for the laughs and I will keep on reading.

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