2016 Year in Review

My training in 2016 was a lot less than the past couple of years.  I guess that is to be expected as I focused on the Half distance as opposed to Full Ironmans.  It was also by design.  I did not care to put in the long hours of training that the full distance requires.

Overall I was pretty consistent.  My running kinda took a hit in August as I strained my calf.  

 Interesting that June was my biggest month (by time). Usually it is July (sometimes August).

SWIM:
Yards: Actually Unknown. Garmin Connect no longer allows you to go in and change your swim distance. So everytime I do drills or kicks it doesn't record it properly.  And I stopped logging everything into Slowtwitch.  It just got to be too much to keep up with.
Time: 138:59 (Down 2:23 from last year or 2.4%) Not too bad really
Biggest Week: June 27th (4:29)
Biggest Month: November (13:57) Getting motivated for Sunbelt!

BIKE
Distance: 4,987.7
Time: 261:29
Biggest Week: 248 Miles August 22nd
Biggest Month: 782.1 Miles in June
Longest Ride: 90 Miles on April 30th

Down 800 miles from last year, but . . . only down about 16 hours from last year, so a lot more trainer time in 2016.  I did six rides over 80 miles.  Basically I felt like I didn't need to ride more than 4 hours in training for a 70.3 race.

RUN
Distance: 1,269.6 Miles
Time: 155:21
Biggest Week: 50.4 Miles June 13th
Biggest Month: 171 miles June
Longest Run: 17 Miles
Significant drop from last year, almost 400 miles less.  Partly due to not training for a 140.6 and partly due to injuring my calf after Lake Logan.  So I should be fresh for the upcoming season, right?

TOTALS:
Time: 555:59 down from 642:28 or 11.0%
Distance (Bike and Run):6,258 down from 7,424 or 15.7%
Biggest Month: June 72:30
Biggest Week: June 13th with 20 hours 5 minutes

2016 Races:
01.09 Joe Davis Memorial 10K
Fun local race. Was happy to get 1st Masters.

03.05 SunBelt Swim Meet
My first swim meet. Not a total disaster.

03.26 Know Your Craft 5K
Another fun race with a lot of friends.

04.02 Cooper River Bridge Run
Kind of a Bucket List race. Interesting Experience.

05.22 IM Chattanooga 70.3
Good start to the tri season at probably my favorite venue. Best finish in an Ironman Brand race.

07.09 IM Muncie 70.3
Mission accomplished to Qualify for 70.3 worlds against a stout field.

07.26 Cane Creek Sprint
A sprint, on a weeknight. Fun for all.

08.06 Lake Logan Half
Tough course and didn't feel rested.

09.25 IM Augusta 70.3
The wheels finally came off.  Still a fun weekend.

11.12 Charlotte Marathon Relay
Not too shabby for being pretty out of shape.

11.19 Waxhaw Beer Mile
My first beer mile. It will be on like Donkey Kong next year.

3 for 3 Division I Tri Club Champions

In 2016 I finally achieved Ironman Brand 70.3 All World Athlete Gold. Mostly due to the fact that I actually did 3 races in the 70.3 distance.  The last 2 years I was silver on 2 races.  So in part it is a frequent flyer program, as I don't think that many people do 3 expensive Ironman brand races in one year.  This past year was the first time that I did. But I was kinda pleased to see that I was ranked 23rd in the world and 8th in the US in my age group.  That's gotta count for something, right?

2016 USAT Ranking a little lower this year.  Ranked 2nd in South Carolina and 3rd in the Southeast Region with a 95.713 (down from my 97.3 last year).  So my nationwide ranking fell from 44th to 78th in M40-44

Overall pretty happy with 2016. Got an AG award at all 3 Ironman 70.3's I did.  Qualified for Worlds at each one.  In those 3 races, Big Sexy Racing also won the Division I Tri Club Award.  Hard to complain about that.

So what does 2017 Hold? More Ironman 70.3's, a race I have to fly to, a World Championships, and an Ultra Run.  Hopefully also some sweet placings in my new AG: 45-49! And hopefully that will help me not embarrass myself at 70.3 Worlds this year.

Green Lightning Coming to a Race Near You in 2017