2008 by the numbers

Shawn set the example for me, so here it is:

All distances down this year:
Swim: 59,082 yards or 33.6 miles (1136 yards/wk)
Bike: 1660 miles (31.9 miles/wk)
Run: 580 miles (11.1 miles/wk)

Rounds of bronchitis that halted training: 3
Pukes during races: 2 that I recall (Eagleman)

5ks: 3
5-milers: 1
10ks: 1 standalone
15ks: 1
10-milers: 1
Half marathons: 4 (#33-#36) including 1 half-iron duathlon
Marathons: 0

Olympic tris: 3
Half IMs started and not finished: 2 (1 DNF, 1 turned into duathlon)

PRs: 4 running (mile, 5k, 5 mile, 15k), 1 Olympic swim split; 1 half IM cycling split; 1 Olympic 10k split

New events: 5k, 10k, 40k ITT; 40 k road race; Muddy Buddy (not counted for PRs until they're repeated and bettered)

Tequila shots: 0
Yummy margaritas: Maybe 4 or 5 this year
Pounds lost: I think I broke almost exactly even for the year

2008 totals

Somehow I've logged 52 weeks of workouts in my sidebar, though the year isn't quite over yet. I'm not sure these numbers add up but these are the 2008 totals that I have on my Excel log:

• Swim: 59,082 yards or 33.6 miles (1136 yards/wk)
• Bike: 1660 miles (31.9 miles/wk)
• Run: 577 miles (11.1 miles/wk)

I can't find my 2007 totals right now, but those are all way down from 2006 when I was training for Ironman Florida.

2006 swim: 90 miles (3040 yards/wk)
2006 bike: 2776 miles (53 miles/wk)
2006 run: 713 miles (13.6 miles/wk)

Those numbers took some big hits this year for 3 rounds of bronchitis, and the swimming has been down lately because of nasty reactions to poolwater, so hopefully we will avoid those problems in the new year. Additionally, I have essentially stopped doing longer 2-hour-plus workouts. I will crank up the volume again in 2009 for sure when I expect to exceed those 2006 numbers. The year-end totals sound like a lot of distance to make up, but with only 3 more hours of workouts per week I would get there.

Those pesky goals (here we go again)

I had a truckload of process goals for 2007. Frankly, way too many to track and pay attention to very well. But things were going along well enough until I had a major computer crash in midsummer and lost the Excel spreadsheet on which I had been keeping my records. I think I have it back now on a rebuilt computer, but the recordkeeping ground to a halt when that happened.

I started just logging my workouts in the sidebar, and totaling them manually, which was such a pain that I developed an enormous backlog of un-summarized records that I still have to clear up. Right now I don't even know how far I swam, ran, or rode in 2007, although I believe my totals ended up lower than the previous couple of years.

I enjoyed my events this year quite a bit, and made lots of progress in my speed and fitness levels - setting a total of TEN PRs while maintaining my body weight. My 2008 season is going to look a lot like 2007, with a few more running events. I plan to complete (carpooling with my training buddy Dave) an 8-race Championship Series put on by one of our local running clubs, Annapolis Striders (at least 7 of the races, that is - I may have at least one date conflict with a triathlon, but 7 races should be enough for me to make the top ten in my age group and work up from there in the 2008 standings).

For right now I'd like to keep my 2008 process goals simple and pegged on simple weekly goals, which seems to keep me on track in continually improving my fitness and performance:

• Log my intake at least 5 days per week, striving for a 500-700 calorie daily deficit until I hit an 8% body fat reduction (from January 1st, 2008).
• Swim at least 2500 yards per week.
• Run at least 12 miles per week.
• Ride at least 25 miles per week.
• Count the weeks for each of the above, striving for 80%+ completion (42 weeks out of 52).

Those swim, bike, and run workouts should include at least one long less-slow distance workout (1+ hour swim, 2+ hour run, 3+ hour bike) and a set of high-intensity intervals (speedwork) every 7-10 days, but I'm not going to quantify that right now, just work it into the routine.

I think I'm going to start this year keeping my Excel workout log on Google docs to crashproof it and keep it in a place that I can get to from any computer.