Recently I was in Theoden' Janes blog in which he ask me several questions about the sport of triathlon and what I would recommend for those people who are giving it a shot for the first time. It was a pleasant surprise to see that some people had a few comments which were jabs at me. The pot got stirred, and then the other comments poured in, all of which were very interesting.
As a whole I would find it hard to pressed to meet many people who would think of me in a derogatory manner. I have always been friendly as well as encouraging to other runners and triathletes, no matter their skill level. So to see that merely a couple people decided to rip into me a bit I wanted to discuss my inconsistent 2009 and even back to my inconsistent 2008 racing year. This blog post was reviewing part of my 2008 and 2009 race years, just a few things that happened along the way.
2008:
Sarasota Half Marathon - 1:13:19 PR; 1st place by nearly 2 minutes; 3:10 off my previous half marathon PR
Duke Twilight 5k - 15:42 PR; 26 second PR from my college years, total shock
Skyline 5k - 16:01 Road PR; This was the first time I actually ever challenged Tim Budic and Bob Marchinko during a race. They both got me but it was a good step for me.
Twilight 5k - 16:22; 2nd overall in a grand prix race, tactical race between Paul Mainwaring, so our time was slow but it was a lot of fun, to push up front of a big race.
Turkey Trot 8k- 26:34 PR; Cody blew my doors off but I was pleased to run this at my level of fitness, another PR.
CTTC Championship Mile- not sure on time, it was slow I am sure but I won again. Usually people just sit on me then I gun it.
2009
Charlie Post 5k- 1st place 15:56 Road PR; Solo race, dropped sub 5 on the last mile.
Sarasota Half Marathon- 2nd overall 1:12:40 PR; The most tactical race I have ever been in and we both still managed to PR. Wished we had one more in the mix so that we could have both went sub 1:12.
UNCC 49'er classic- 15:27 PR; signed up at the last minute because I was focused on firefighter training. I kept the pace steady at 5:00 pace and then kicked a 63 to pass 8 people in the last 1/4m.
Shamrock 4 miler- 2nd overall 21:19 PR; This was about 10 hours after my UNCC 5k PR, so I took it out easy to see how I felt. I remember passing Alana Hadley about 1/2 mile into the race and seeing the stream of people ahead. This was the smoothest race I had ran in quite awhile.
Cooper River Bridge run 10k- 33:40 PR; This was a weak PR, I enjoyed my self as usual too much the day before, but hey not bad to still set a PR.
Duathlon Nationals- 10th in my AG; Qualified for the world championships. this was my 2nd duathlon ever and making worlds was a LONG SHOT. Finished the day with the fastest 10k overall and the 6th fastest 5k.
King Tiger 5k- 16:16; Not a fast time but my first Grand Prix victory after several 2nd's and 3rd's.
CTTC Championship Mile- 1st overall; set my official full mile PR of 4:27 running with Bert before the championship.
UNC Wellness Triathlon- 2nd overall; I was pleased with the race, as I haven't done tri training in 2 years. Fun race.
Duathlon World Championships- Horrible placing(not even sure on place but I wasn't last!); too much going on, I was flustered before the race even began and the results showed.
Take Flight triathlon- 2nd overall; Lance Leo whooped me but I was glad to finish off in 2nd place, with a solid swim, ride and run.
LungStrong 15k- 5th place 53:38 PR; This was was used as a progressive workout, I started off at 6:03 1st mile and worked down to pass lots of people and averaged 5:46 pace. weak PR, but that will change in 2010.
Turkey Trot 8k- 5th place 26:20 PR; highest placing at the turkey trot ever and ANOTHER PR to wrap my year up. Should have pushed harder the last mile but it is what it is.
2008 = 4 PR's and several overall placings.
2009 = 8 PR's, World Championships and several wins.
All in all the goal for 2010 would be to stay as inconsistent and undedicated as I did in 2008 and 2009. I guess setting a PR in every event basically is fairly inconsistent.
- One thing I want to acknowledge is that I enjoy racing, if I am not in prime shape I will still race to push myself and enjoy it. it's all about having fun, some people race like 3 times a year when they are at their prime racing level, well i choose to race more simply because I enjoy it. No I can't PR everytime, but every race makes for a learning experience! I cheerish the great people that I get to surround myself with on many weekends a year.
