Nine questions for 2006

On the TRI-DRS list, Cathy Morgan posed 9 year-end questions recently. These were my answers. What are yours??

1. What one word describes your 2006 season?

* Priceless!

a) Does it match what you said last December in anticipation of 2006?

* Not really. I didn't expect to have as much fun as I did.

2. What one word are you looking for to describe your 2007 season?

* Mo'fun. That's a word, right? Or funner. Or funnier.

3. What did you accomplish during 2006? (can be both triathlon and not)

* Gained condition, confidence, and competencies.
* Swimming and cycling both drastically improved in quality, speed, and volume over 2005.
* Will end the year well over twenty pounds lighter than last year.
* Started living full-time (as a "single" parent of 3YO twins for five days/week with husband commuting on weekends) on the Eastern Shore in June, and still managed to juggle in some of my training.

4. What was the most fun or biggest surprise you had all year (in an athletic setting)?

* Had FUN during the swim at Steelhead Half IM in Lake Michigan in August, plus my best open water swim time yet.
* The Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World way last January was loads of FUN too!
* NOT fun, but a pleasant surprise: had flats during two half Ironman races and still kept a level head and kept going.

5. What was your favorite race in 2006?

* It was the best and worst of times: Ironman Florida. I loved training for it with my local training buddy throughout the year; the surrounding festivities; my six wonderful, fantastic friends who traveled there to volunteer and cheer; plus meeting lots of fellow triathletes. I didn't love a lot of participating in the day itself, particularly my DNF at halfway through the marathon. I'm concluding that either running or cycling for well over 3 hours at a stretch is not often something that I have a lot of fun doing. But IMFL was an incredible experience, all in all.

6. What is your race schedule for 2007?

- Still in progress:
* National Half Marathon, Washington, DC: 24 March 2007
* Oxford 10K (local): April 5?, 2007
* Columbia Triathlon, Columbia, MD: 20 May 2007
* Eagleman Ironman 70.3, Cambridge, MD: 11 Jun 07
* Blackwater Duathlon, Cambridge, MD: 8 Jul 07
* Chesapeakeman (one of the events OTHER than the full), Cambridge, MD, late Sept.

7. Did you meet your goals for this year?

Arguably, yes. My major 2006 objectives were:
* Train intelligently and effectively for an iron-distance triathlon while keeping my life in balance with my other responsibilities.
* Get to the Ironman Florida starting line (Nov 4) in the best shape of my life (age-adjusted, this is probably true)
* Enjoy every race day as a celebration of my training, bringing away lessons from each race.

I'll meet or exceed three out of four of my process goals for the year, though I'm still finishing the running.
* Run: 10 miles per week or more for 42 weeks
* Swim: 1500 m or more for 42 weeks
* Bike/trainer: 20 miles (or 80 min trainer) or more for 42 weeks

* Nutrition: Keep detailed food log at least 5 days per week for 42 weeks - no, I think I'll only have a total of 38 weeks in the nutrition discipline by New Year's Eve. Had I kept with it better, I would have lost more weight.

8. What are your goals for 2007?

* Still being formulated. I'll review and re-emphasize the weekly process goals, since they helped my consistency and training balance in 2006 enormously, and kept me from abandoning one triathlon discipline while focusing on another. Probably my best new tool in my bag o' tricks. My training will probably be less total volume (i.e., less time per week) in 2007 than in 2006, but hopefully emphasizing quality and speed at shorter distances.