2019 Year-End Training Totals

Here are my 2019 training numbers:

• SWIM: 206,170 yards (117.14 miles)
• BIKE: 546.34 miles (19.48 mph average), with 2 rides of that pulling the boys.
• RUN: 691.1 miles (7:14 / mile ave), 55.35 of that with the double stroller, and 103.28 of that with Charlie in the single stroller.
• BIKE TRAINER: 38 hours 8 minutes (only a few mins of that on a spin bike), equaling 724.53 "miles"
• STRENGTH / CORE: 294 hours 7 minutes
• AQUA JOGGING: 6 hours 4 minutes
• WEIGHT: 161 start, 165.4 finish, 167.8 high (Dec), 157.2 low (Aug), 161.39 yearly ave
• BODY FAT: (monthly ave) 14.9% high (Dec), 13.1% low (July), 13.73% yearly ave


SOME NOTES ON THOSE YEARLY NUMBERS:

• SWIM: Biggest year ever (out of 14 years of racing triathlons)!! I TRULY did nothing special here. I was CONSISTENT all year. (Well, I started slower and ended stronger, but there was no other secret here.) This is even considering that I took off 4 weeks in December to see if that would help my injured foot. For the year, I got in 27,500+ more yards than my previous biggest year (which happened to be 2018).

I also did a LOT of kick drills in 2019 (as I first noted in this late October post). In 3 months (Sept, Oct, Nov) plus the last week of August, I kicked just over 13,000 yards in drills at the end of my workouts! In the first 7 months of the year, I kicked nearly 3,000 yards, so I have a 2019 yearly "kicking" total of 15,875 yards. That's a BIG PR. I noted at the end of 2016 that it was "EASILY the most kicking I've done in a year, and that was 6,700 yards. Nearly 2.5 times that for 2019.

• BIKE: On track for an OK year before my foot injury in August. The intensity wasn't as high on the bike in 2019, and I was OK with that. I did more of "oh, I had a hard run yesterday... I'm just gonna spin out my legs today" than in year's past.

• RUN: On track for a record year before my foot injury in August. (But it was SMART miles, so don't think that more miles is what injured me - none of the specialists I've seen have thought that.) I noted in this post from August that from mid-Aug 2018 through my injury in mid-Aug 2019 (364 days), I ran 1,073.40 miles. That's a lifetime yearly PR.

As noted at the top, 158+ of my 691 miles were with a stroller. Charlie and I went on a lot of springtime runs, with 6 runs that were 10+ miles (longest being 11.37). And before getting injured in the summer, I hauled the double stoller for a number of runs with 2 of those being 10+ miles.

I didn't race a ton, but I started adding in some speed work. I hit the track a few times in 2019, and that was fun. Otherwise, it was a year with just consistent runs and nice distance. I really loved the regular long runs I was getting in.

Long runs over the last 70 weeks. Consistent until August.

• STRENGTH: Another biggest year ever!! The last 4 years have been my 4 biggest years. (2019 is first, then 2017, then 2016, and then 2018 - all over 200 hours.) Like swimming, this built as the year went on as I was no longer running. To put this in perspective, in 2010 before we had kids, I did LESS strength work ALL YEAR than I did in the last TWO MONTHS of 2019: 2010 was 65 hours total, and Nov and Dec of 2019 was 66 hours.

• WEIGHT: I was feeling pretty bad about this lately as I've been gaining weight since I stopped running, but I also know some of that has been muscle. As I looked back, I saw that my average in 2019 was better than the previous 3 years! That's the first time it's went down in a few years! (And the "lightest" yearly average since 2015 when it was 158 lbs.) Now I just need to keep it in check throughout this year.

TIME spent swimming, biking, running, strength training,
and "sports" (bike trainer or aqua jogging) by month.


DISTANCE by month.


DISTANCE by month once I Photoshopped in trainer miles
(at 19 mph) and aqua jogging miles (at 7:30 pace).


Average weight by month, climbing out of the 150s after I got injured.


Lowest in July, then gaining. Still a yearly average that's less than the previous 2 years.

Three things worth noting that didn't QUITE make my "highlights list" for the year are that I figured out the cause of my 2013 long-time nagging injury (THAT was a "lightbulb" moment!), I BARELY got my sub-5:00 goal at the TC 1 Mile, and I hit 30,000 yards in the pool for a month to hit my biggest swimming month ever. And in non-athletic things, I also really enjoyed the 3 days I spent in a remote WI cabin (as seen on my "Photo Blog") working on some photography lighting skills paid for by the University where I teach.


HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2019:
(There are 6, so let's count down to #1)

• SIX: Lots of gym time. Look at the blue bars BALLOON on that first graph in this post of "time" spent on each discipline each month starting in September. I've done more pull ups in the last 4 months than in my lifetime previous to that! All this gym work even lead to 2 semi-embarrassing post-workout flexing selfies. (#SorryNotSorry) I really saw gains in what I was lifting, and I think I plateaued a few weeks back. Lifting last semester after classes at the university weight room really pushed me too - I don't have much of a "weight room ego," but I still find myself pushing a bit harder when surrounded by 20-year-old super buff men. I recently had 2 "gym buddies" who I hadn't seen in a while tell me I was looking buff.

• FIVE: Racing with the boys. I always love to share my races with my boys, and it always leads to good memories. We did the icy Lake Johanna 4 Mile together in March, and we BARELY broke 6:00 pace: we finished 8th overall in 23:59.

Rough roads, and lots of ice behind me.


Spotting the clock and realizing I could break 24:00.
Here's my race report, and here are more photos.

• FOUR: Running near the front of some races. At Goldy's Run 10 Mile in April, I finished 9th out of 2,400+! (And 3rd in my age group.) That was fun. Even MORE fun was taking home a silver medal at the USA Track and Field MN Masters Outdoor Championship for the 1500 meters, finishing 3rd or 4th in my heat - much closer to the front than I thought I'd be! And then racing a small town race at the Litchfield Watercade 4 Mile while my boys and I were camping where I finished 3rd overall out of 166.

Finishing in TCF Bank Stadium at Goldy's, finishing the first lap at the
USATF MN Masters Meet, and finishing (ugly and hot) at the Litchfield 4 Mile.

Huh... all in different shirts AND shorts! That's rare!

• THREE: Lots of treadmill runs! I noted earlier about doing more pull ups in 2019 than ever before. Well, 2019 also held a lot of treadmill miles. I got into a good rhythm after class at Hamline University where I'd go hit a treadmill in their gym. I did a LOT of my long runs on a treadmill. We had a really snowy February in 2019. And I finally ran 2 long runs outside at the end of March before doing Goldy's Run 10 Mile in early April. I really started to enjoy all those treadmill runs. I always descended my middle miles and averaged around 6:20 - 6:30 pace for those "faster" miles. I'd be HAPPY to get back to treadmill running anytime soon!

• TWO: Making the podium at my only triathlon of the year. (Well, technically I won the YWCA Indoor Triathlon last winter, but I don't really count those as "triathlons.") Racing Heart of the Lakes Triathlon for the first time was a blast - great venue, good friends there to race with, a fast bike split (23+ mph), and the 2nd fastest run split of the year. That got me up to 3rd overall out of 260.

Artwork from a local artist. In gold, sliver, and bronze frames. Awesome.
(See more in my race report.)

• ONE: Being injured for the last 5 months. This is definitely a "low light," but it's one of the first things I'll always remember about training/racing in 2019: this nagging foot thing that has yet to be fully figured out.

I saw my regular "A.R.T" Doc, my regular chiropractor, THREE different PTs (at 2 different orgs) who all said I had all the strength and flexibility I need, and a podiatrist.

I stopped running right away in mid-August, and stopped biking shortly after. I tried taking 4+ weeks off from swimming in December (not swimming, biking, OR running).

I've tried "toe yoga," golf ball rolling my foot, suction cupping techniques, gel heel lifts, metatarsal pads, and got new orthotics fit to me from the hospital (not OTC). I had an x-ray that was clear, and then an MRI that showed something, but not much.

I've had 4 treatments of iontophoresis, acupuncture, tried stretching MORE (at the podiatrist's recommendation), tried stretching LESS (at my most recent PT's recommendation), wore my shoes more, wore my shoes less, wore a "night split" for 6 weeks, tried rigid strapping tape, tried kinesio tape, tried a ibuprofen regimen for 2+ weeks (as "prescribed" by my pharmacist wife: 600-800mg 2-3x each day), iced, heated, and had a steroid shot.

I stopped doing all weight-bearing leg exercises early on, and I try to stay off my feet as much as possible (while stilling trying to have a "normal" life with my boys).

Nothing's working. I'm still in pain daily (most moments of every day). I'm heading to a different podiatrist later this week, but I'm not holding my breath that he'll have anything new for me.


As for 2020 goals?... I think this is a pretty obvious one. And ONLY one. Fix this foot and start running again. If I can get in an actual race in 2020, that'd be icing on the cake! (Even if it's not with the amount of training I'd perfer to have under my belt.)


And as always, here's a year-in-review of family photos from each month. Just fun memories. (18 photos, because I couldn't narrow it down to 12.)

Jan: a family trip to Mexico!


Feb: winter camping with the boys.


March: at the orchestra with my cutie.


Also March: Charlie trimmed his hair himself...


... which lead to me giving him his first buzzcut.


April: a quick night at Afton State Park.


April: the best stroller run of my life (the middle 7 miles at 6:23 pace).


April: I taught Henry to play cribbage, and he beat me in our first game.


May: a long stroller run while "running" errands in Eagan.


June: camping in WI and canoeing the Kickapoo.


June: lots of camping this summer (this night at Fort Ridgely).


July: my cousin's wedding, then camping with family at Whitewater State Park.
(July also contained the Litchfield 4 Mile and the Heart of the Lakes Triathlon.)


Aug: the boys finishing the YWCA Women's Tri with Mama!
(That was also my sister-in-law Steph's first tri, and then
we headed to St. Croix State Park with them for 3 days.)


Sept: first day of Kindergarten!


Oct: my wife's 19th TC Marathon in 20 years!


Oct: our 8 state parks trip covering 1000+ miles in 5 days.


Nov: a steroid shot for my injured foot. (Helped for 2 days, but that's all.)


Dec: sledding at the park a block away...


... and working on some snowboard skills!

Here's to more family fun in 2020!!