As the year 2013 comes to a close I’d like to hear of your
accomplishments no matter how big or small. Please take a second to share a
story or two and post it on my timeline https://www.facebook.com/TriLifeBlog or the Tri Junkie FB page timeline https://www.facebook.com/groups/TriJunkie/.
You deserve the recognition, you worked hard for it!
I've been fortunate to be able to live this healthy
lifestyle and to share my experience and thoughts with others. I enjoy hearing
about other’s success stories and being able to help out where I can to get
them to their goals.
Bandera 50k |
This year I had a couple goals not all were met, but I'm
still grateful for being able to do what I love. I initially wanted to spend
the first half of the season doing triathlons and the second have of the season
focusing on trail running. Texas
was going to be an A race for me and as luck would have it I ended up being ill
the week leading up to IM Texas. I would have to settle for a training day
effort.
I ended up competing in 31 events in 2013 made up of 5
triathlons, 4 duathlons, 2 off road triathlons, 9 road runs, and 11 trail run
races. Several of these races were to support friends or non profit
organizations I’m associated with. I ended up with two “A” races for the year.
Both were trail running events, Bandera 50k and Vermont 50. I ended up approaching all other events as a
hard training day. For a complete listing of my 2013 events please visit this
link. Ignore the 2012 in the link it will take you to the right page. J
http://www.trilifeblog.com/p/2012-race-schedule-and-results.html
Vermont 50 |
There was a lot less swimming for me after May which I’ve found
I’ve missed doing. My training also took a turn in October. For the first time
I hired a coach. The approach is much different than what I’m used to. The
training volume is much lower, but the intensity levels are higher. I’m using
this training to prep for Bandera 100k and Rocky Raccoon 100 mile trail run. I’ve
had a few set backs in my training with an ongoing knee issue that surfaced a
week before Vermont
50 mile run. I’m hoping it will be a non issue in a few weeks.
Xterra Cameron Park |
This year I also ventured into my first off road triathlon,
Xterra Cameron Park. I put this guy on my calendar to help me prep for the off
road bike portion of the HHH Triple threat. I had no off road bike experience
and wanted to get some race experience before the HHH event. Several
Tri-Junkies made the trip to Waco
for the Xterra event. It was quite an experience as we found ourselves on one
of the toughest off road bike courses in Texas .
We all suffered some scrapes and bruises, but in the end it was a good time had
by all. Most of the same group also raced the C ME Dirty Off Road Tri a couple
months later.
I had one more first which I must mention, Spartan Beast. I
knew going into this race that it was going to be a challenge. I had done a few
mud races in the past, however when comparing the obstacles and the course,
well there is no comparison. If an obstacle was missed your gift was 30
burpees. Each set easily tacked on 2 ½ to 3 ½ minutest to your overall time.
Spartan Beast in Glen Rose was just that, a Beast. There was
no course description, aside from 12 plus miles, and yes, the plus came into
play. The course length ended up being closer to 15 miles. Several sections of
the course were freshly bushwhacked for the race. I’ll try and get a blog entry
out on this race that will go in more detail. For now I’ll just say this course
ranked up there as one of the toughest events I've done.
2013 training/race year was solid all the way around. It was
filled with good friends and great times. I’m looking forward to training,
racing, and seeing you all reach your 2014 goals.
Xterra Cameron Park Off Road Triathlon |
Head for the Hills |
Vermont 50 Trail Run |
..ej
ej@trilifeblog.com