2012 Winding Down

Looking back, 2011 was a busy race season. I participated in 29 events plus four bike tours. There were 16 5Ks, 2 10Ks, 1 7.45 trail run, 1 15K, 2 10-milers, 2 half marathons, 1 25K, 2 marathon relays, 1 duathlon, and 1 sprint triathlon. It was a year of a few firsts and a few PRs.

For firsts, I finished my first 25K in 2:25:28, placing third in my age group. I experienced my first overall female finish in a 5K and participated in my first marathon relay, duathlon, and triathlon. For PRs, besides the obvious PR in my first experiences, I hit a 23:50 best in the 5K, a 51:57 best in the 10K, a 1:19:05 best in the 7.45 trail run, and a 1:52:54 best in the half marathon.

So after 29 events in 2011, I had no idea what my plan would be for 2012. I knew I wanted to cut back on events and focus on those I really wanted to do. I wanted to focus more on training for bigger events and new challenges. The first half of 2012 was spent pretty much in training for a June half ironman. From February until June, I raced very little as the 18-week training plan dictated 5-6 days a week swimming, biking, and running with most of those days being double workout days. The half ironman training briefly overlapped with marathon training, which just wrapped up with the Chicago Marathon on October 7th. At this point I have competed in only 14 events for 2012. I found that racing just for the sake of racing was taking the joy out of it all for me.

What I enjoyed most and feel most proud of in looking back on this past race season is my half ironman (attempt. I found I have open water issues.), a 2nd place AG finish at the Boiler Sprint Triathlon, a 2nd place AG finish at the Race Around the World Duathlon, a 2nd place AG finish at the Tri the Du Duathlon, and a PR of 4:14:38 at the Chicago Marathon. But, as one of my running friends refers to it, the real "Granddaddy" of the year will be my first attempt at a 50K trail run on December 29. I'm thinking that is going to be one helluva way to finish off the year.

Just check out this video clip of the conditions for last year's 50K:

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