2013 By the Numbers......

2013 was a slightly different year for me.   For the most part, I had a coach for the whole year, which was a first for me.   I wouldn't say it was a dramatically different change in training, but I certainly did some things different than what I had done on my own in the past.   The number one thing that changed was the approach to doing intervals on the bike all year long, and not just in the winter on the trainer.  

In 2013, I did some of the same races I did in 2012, and I believe I showed some slight improvement over last year.   I also did a number of other events that I had not done before, and that made the year a bit more interesting.

My A race in 2013 was Ironman Arizona in November.   This made for a slightly longer than normal season, but I am happy to say I achieved my #1 goal, and that was to get another chance at going back to Kona.   I did this by posting an Ironman PB of 9:24 at Arizona.

All my race reports are here on my blog, so if you want to know how any of the below races went in more detail, check them out.   Here is how 2013 played out:

• 2nd place in AG (6th overall) at the Re-Fridge-Eighter 8M road race in Waterloo (1st place corporate with H&P);
• A top 10 AG finish and my second sub 2 hour (gold medal and PB) finish at the Around the Bay 30K road race in Hamilton;
• 3rd place overall at the Hamburger Hill 7 mile road race here in New Hamburg;
• An AG win (8th place overall) at Victoria's Duathlon in Waterloo;
• An AG win at the Woodstock sprint triathlon;
• 3rd in AG at the Waterloo Classic 10K Road Race (1st place corporate with H&P);
• 5th place in my AG at the Ironman Syracuse 70.3 (and 70.3 World Championship qualification);
• An AG win and 3rd place overall at the Belwood Triathlon;
• 2nd place overall in the 3rd stage of the EndurRun, a 30K trail race at Bechtal Park in Waterloo (part of the H&P Men's team);
• 36th in AG (top 15%) at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Henderson, Nevada;
• 7th place in my AG and a personal best time of 9:24 at Ironman Arizona (65th overall) and my second Kona Ironman World Championship slot secured!

I said this last year, but none of this came without a lot of training and commitment to the sport.   Without the support of my awesome wife Deanna, I am certain none of this would have been possible.   She's been awesome!

The summary below shows the training breakdown that goes into all three sports.   In addition, the focus on strength training throughout the year goes a long way to keeping me "mostly" healthy and injury free.   I had slightly less volume than I did in 2012 (via less overall workouts), but the intensity of many of the workouts was likely slightly higher.