2014 Training Year in Review

It's finally over.  2014 that is.  A year that I knew I would have to train more than I ever have before.  As I've said many times before, fear is a great motivating factor.  Fear of swimming.  Fear of losing. Fear of letting people down.  Fear of the Ironman.  Fear of Failure.

So how did we do?

 
Swim
Yards: 391,873 (or 222.7 miles)
Time: 137:32
So this was easily my biggest year of swim yardage.  It was 15% more than each of the last two years.  I only had one big week (16K in the first week of January), and that helped me get in 64,000 yards in January.  After that, it was usually mid 30K yards a month.  I swam 110 times this past year. The biggest reason I got so many yards in was that basically every Monday and Friday I did at least 4,000 yards (42 swims over 4K yards).  I was only swimming 3 times a week, so I wanted to make sure that those sessions counted.  I also felt that since the race distance was 4,212 yards, that I better get some swims in at that distance.  My longest single swim session was 5,000 yards. I only did 1 open water swim training session.  I would like to do more in 2015.

Bike
Miles: 5,289.7
Time: 258:44
Also my biggest bike year, but not by a lot, 150 miles more than 2012.  I got in 856 miles in July and 301 miles the first week of September.  About 123 rides total.  I did get in 6 rides over 100 miles (not including IM Chatt).  Previous to this year I had only done one century ride.  My longest ride was 137 miles.  I was pretty happy with my bike shape this year.  I could race hard in my halfs when I had to.  I raced smartly in Chattanooga and had plenty left for the run.  The big thing this year was the power meter.  It made every workout more focused.  I believe I got more out of my mileage this year than in the past.  You can't beat a PM for doing intervals, tempo, or steady state rides.

Run
Miles: 1,441.8
Time: 173:47
I ran a little less this year (70 miles less than 2013) as last year I was doing more early season miles leading up to Boston.  My biggest month was in August where I logged 192 miles.  Not surprisingly, my biggest week was in the first week of August where I ran 60 miles.  I tried to run 5 times a week and I did 5 weeks over 50 miles.  I had 4 runs over 20 miles (not including IM Chatt), which helped at the end of the Chattanooga run. My run shape really didn't come together until August, but that's better than burning out in September like I did last year.

Strength
Sessions: 62
Time: 20:30
Almost the exact same as last year
Again: Blasphemy for some, but #beachbody #abs #core #willcontinue

Total
Miles: 6,954.1
Time: 590:34

The biggest week was at the beginning of September.  It consisted of 12,200 yards swimming, 301 miles on the bike and 53 miles running for 25 hours and 11 minutes of SBR'ing.  That's a serious week. #pro Biggest Month was July with over 77 hours.

So I reached nearly 600 hours in training this year.  Maybe that's a goal for next year.  That put me at nearly 7,000 miles for the year (another 2015 goal?). I don't really get into too much mileage training goals anymore.  I just do what needs to be done for the race.  Some weeks that means more intensity, some weeks more miles. 

Since we have another Ironman on the schedule in 2015, I would think that 2015 will be similar to this year.  I don't really plan on changing much. I will use the same training plan as last year.  I do think I will try some more intensity in some of my Bike and Run workouts, but not really more mileage.  Who has the time?  At the moment, I think I'm pretty close to maximizing my time management.  So here's to a successful 2015!  May all your pools open on time, all your tires remain inflated, and all your feet be blister free.