2014 in Review (Total Training Numbers)

- Swim: 142,339.98 yards (80.88 miles, 1.89 mph ave)
- Bike: 770.90 miles (18.69 mph ave)
- Run: 560.78 miles (7:18.0 / mile ave)
- Bike Trainer: 38 minutes (1 duathlon workout over the summer)
- Mountain Bike: 2 hours (in Israel last January)
- Spin Class: 4 hours, 28 minutes (all early in 2014)
- Strength / Core: 212 hours, 06 minutes
- Random: Elliptical: 7 mins. Stairclimber: 20 mins (2x10 min sessions).
- Weight: 159.0 start, 155.6 end, 165.6 high (April), 154.0 low (Oct), 159.97 average
- Body Fat: (monthly ave) 13.9% high (Feb), 11.4% low (April), 12.84% yearly average
(My monthly body weight ave was over 160 lbs from Jan-Aug, and then finally dropped down.)


SOME NOTES ON THOSE YEARLY NUMBERS:

- Swim: Just shy of my biggest year ever (2010: pre-kids). Almost 4x my total of 2012, and about 1.6x farther than last year. I didn't do a ton of swimming right after I sprained my ankle in April (because I couldn't kick without pain), and I cut back in Aug and Sept as I was running more (and as I could only go to the Y for 60 mins at a time because that's all the longer I could leave little Charlie in their Kids Care until he was 6 months old - that's the rules). But I've been swimming a lot since then. I've actually started to like swimming.

- Bike: HIGHEST mileage since 2010!! (Pre-kids.) I biked a lot in May to be ready for the Trinona Time Trial (and the showdown with the race founder), and then I biked a fair amount (for me) as Pharmie was home on maternity leave with Charlie. I also got better at biking EARLY in the morning where I don't have to bother my family. This was the first time in 5 years (since 2009) that my biking mileage was more than my running. I actually started to like biking more too! (But I haven't touched my bike since my last race in Sept...) I learned the obvious fact that you can get a lot better at something (like my swimming and biking) by just getting out and doing it MORE - it's not always about the "workout." It's just about "doing." (And only 18.45 of these miles were with Henry: 1 trip to the Y and back, and one to the State Fair and back.)

- Run: LOWEST mileage since 2006 (which was my first year of triathlons where I didn't even go 200 miles). I was coming back from my hip/sacrum injury from Aug/Sept 2013 through the first part of 2014, and then I got that bad sprained ankle in April. I didn't run again until July, and then I built miles quickly to be ready for the TC 10 Mile in October (39 miles in July, 68 in Aug, and 102 in Sept - see graph below). Then I took it easy after that, and now I'm just in "base" phase running only moderately - nothing too hard. (Oh, and just to keep track, I ran 9.26 of these miles with Henry in the stroller, 36.3 with Charlie, and 5.72 with BOTH of them during 1 run in Nov.)

- Strength / Core: MOST EVER. About 25% more than 2013, and 2013 was a big year. A lot of this is less intense physical therapy exercises for my weak quads, butt, and lower back. But I did a lot for upper body and core too.

- Weight: 2013 was the first year my overall average dropped - I'm used to getting fatter and fatter. In 2014, I spent the most of the year heavier than I've ever been (with a heavier average than ever before), but I can blame SOME of that on the extra strength work (muscle). My body fat percentage went slightly down in all 3 areas: lower "high," lower "low," and lower "average" than in 2013. Sweet.


Here's my training numbers from 2014 as a graph from BeginnerTriathlete:

Noteworthy: bad ankle sprain in April, quick build of running miles to the TC 10
in early Oct, then easing back on the running while swimming more.

RACE COUNT:

- Duathlons: 1 (individual)
- Triathlons: 7 - 3 individually and 4 as relays (all as the swimmer due to injuries)

- 1 Mile: 1 (as a "kitten mile")
- 5K: 2 - 1 as part of the Loony Challenge, and 1 WITH HENRY
- 10K: 1 - as part of the Loony Challenge
- 10 Mile: 1 - as part of the Loony Challenge

- 1 Swim Meet: 50, 100, and 500 yards
- 2 Time Trials

In 2012, I did 20 races. In 2013, I did 12 races (falling injured in the last half of that year). And in 2014, I "rebounded" a bit with 14 races. Hoping to race a bit more this year!


HIGHLIGHTS:
(There are 6 for 2014)

- ONE: Getting sent to Israel to race the Israman 70.3 Triathlon back in January. That was a once-in-a-lifetime event. What a trip! I swam (very poorly) as part of a relay with 2 awesome Israeli men:

Me, Rany, and Sharon.


Swimming with 1,000 of my best friends in the Red Sea.


Checking out the Red Sea the day before the race.

Here are a few links from my Israel trip: my Israman race report, more photos from the race, photos from other people found on Instagram from the race, and a collection of my Instagram photos from my Israel trip (this shows the overall trip really well).

- TWO: 4 triathlon relays! Relays are great, but I've been used to duathlon relays in the past. Being I was injured and not running much early in the year and early summer, I did 4 triathlon relays as the swimmer (normally my weakest leg).

Top: Israman and Trinona. Bottom: North Mankato and Waconia.


Jeremy, me, and Jenn winning at Trinona.


Pharmie, me, and Steph taking 2nd in N. Mankato (as "Team Pregnant, Post-Partum, and Injured").


Jeremy, Devon, and I winning in Waconia.

Related to that last pic: Devon just ranked me as his #1 best friend in his year in review post. Jeremy, our relay partner, was #2. And Devon himself was #3 because, in his words, he's "perhaps luckiest man alive to have #1 and #2 as his best friends." We'll see if the "best friends relay team" can make a comeback in 2015.

- THREE: Finishing 3rd overall at the Lake Marion Triathlon. This doesn't seem like too big of a deal, but racing at the front of this race was something I'll never forget. If you'll remember in my race report, I had a decent swim and then hit the bike. After a mile or so, I realized I could see the lead car just a few blocks in front of me. I biked most of the race in 3rd or 4th, and was the 2nd to cross the finish line (finishing 3rd overall because someone in the next wave finished faster than me). I've been able to race duathlons near or at the front before, but this was my first experience doing that in a tri, and it was awesome. AND it was my first big ass trophy.

- FOUR: Trying (and winning) the Loony Challenge. This was a blast. In 1 weekend, I ran a 10K at 7:30 a.m. and a 5K at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, and then ran a 10 Mile at 7 a.m. on Sunday.

4 of us after the first 2 races in the "Loony!"


Still smiling at mile 9.5 of the TC 10 Mile.

Here's my 10K and 5K race reports from the Loony, and here's my TC 10 Mile race report.

- FIVE: Winning with Henry! The weekend after the Loony, Henry and I took on a race around Lake Phalen, and we ran a 17:56 certified 5K together to take the win:

Looking like hell in the closing meters of the ALS SuperHero Dash.

- SIX: It was another year of placing pretty well at my races! Let's take out my 70.3 in Israel, my swim meet, and my TTs (which are all known "non-strengths" for me). I won the YWCA Indoor Triathlon in March. Then I had 3 sprint triathlon relays in June with 1st, 2nd, and 1st place finishes (see photos above). Then I wrapped up the summer finishing 8th overall (2nd in AG) and 3rd overall in my final 2 tris of the year, finished 7th overall (2nd in AG) in my only duathlon, won the "Loony Challenge," and won the ALS SuperHero Dash with Henry. No complaints there.


AS FOR 2015? As I say every year, I just hope to kick this injury this year and run/train relatively injury-free! I haven't registered for anything yet, but I'm hoping to have a good year at some duathlons. (Which means I need to start hitting my bike.) We'll see what the year holds in store. Happy 2015!

p.s. This doesn't count as an "athletic" highlight, but 2014 had another great moment when we got to welcome boy #2 (Charlie) into our life:

May 2014 (full birth story here)


Christmas morning just a few days ago!