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Annual Summary – 2011

Looking back, 2010 was a year marked by consistency in training and racing but inconsistency in the rest of “life”. In 2011, on the other hand, life was pretty consistent, but training and racing were really just all over the place. 2011 was the first time in at least six years that I didn’t ring in the new year with at least one “A” race already on the calendar. And without that key race to both motivate me and structure my training, for most of the year I was not in much of a training rhythm. It wasn’t necessarily bad though – in some ways and at some times, it was liberating to train without racing goals.

But it did become pretty evident that I’m a happier athlete with a little more structure. During October and November when I put a training plan in place for The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Race, I was running really well and felt more fit than I had all year.

I’d love to take that lesson any apply it to 2012 by finding that “A” race for the year, but I’m prepping for some potential “life” instability and really can’t make those race plans until life gets ironed out.

Here’s 2011 in more pictures and fewer words:

In January, I “graduated” from six weeks of radiation therapy which started in late 2010.

In March, we launched the Pablove Triathlon Team and then Mike, Warren and I went to Wildflower and did our best to represent the team.

In April I ran the Pasadena Half Marathon and with Kate dragging me along, I broke the 1:30 barrier for the first time.

Later in April, I picked up my new Franco Balcom bike. It’s a beautiful bike!

Then, in early June, I got invited up to Agoura Hills to participate in photo and video shoot for Franco. Riding around the Santa Monicas with those guys and the camera crew was a blast!

Our Backyard from Franco Bicycles on Vimeo.

A few weeks later, 60 miles into a Saturday ride and a half mile from home, I broke my clavicle and had surgery to repair it with a long metal plate.  I actually only “lost” a few weeks of training, but the interruption was more than enough to throw off my summer training plans.

In July, we took a fantastic trip to Maui.  We hiked and relaxed and went scuba diving and read and ate.  I biked to the top of Haleakala and suffered most of the way.

In August, I did my one-month Vegan Challenge, which has turned into a full-time plant-based diet, centered around my morning fruit and veggie Vitamix shake.

September was a two-week trip to New York and the Hurricane Irene/Tropical Storm Lee modified Survival of the Shawangunks (SOS) Triathlon.

After SOS, we stopped in East Hampton for a few days and the boys got to run run run on the beach.

Then, I really started training for some fall running races and racked my bike for a few months.

In November, I grew a mustache (or tried to at least) for Movember.

And we spent a great weekend in Avalon, Catalina Island. The Eco Marathon was great fun (and I raced really well), but spending the weekend with that group of friends kicked ass.

On December 3, I ran the The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Race.

It was a pretty great year.  Thanks for following along!  Here’s to a fantastic 2012!  (Whatever it might bring…)

Since I diligently keep track of this stuff, here are my 2011 totals (all in all, a pretty balanced year):

Swim: 163,482 meters (101.5 miles)
Cycling (outdoors): 2,263.5 miles
Cycling (indoors): 47:03 (hours)
Run: 1,286.3 miles
Strength Training: 68 sessions
Approximate annual total training/racing time: 532 hours