Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year 2015!

 Wow, another year gone by! 2014 was an interesting year - 2 Ironmans (Lake Placid and Florida) with awful weather for both. Placid saw the swim shortened for most (I was able to complete my swim) due to lightning. The bike ride in Placid was the worst I've ever encountered. I do not plan on doing Placid again anytime soon (I've done 6 of them - that's enough for now).
  

 Florida was COLD!! It started out at 4C with 40-60km winds. The swim was cancelled due to rip currents so it became a time trial start based on race number. Due to my number (1113) I was guaranteed to be running in the dark before the end of one loop of the run. It got cold once the sun disappeared and the wind never let up all day. Florida, although I will put an asterisk next to it, was my 10th Ironman.

 When I did my first Ironman in 1989 at age 23 I set out a goal to do 10 in my lifetime. I'm at 10 now and I fully admit the last two years have not been fun. I know now that I'm not made for multiple Ironman per year. I enjoy training but work stress, meeting the needs of the family and trying to get proper recovery is tough. Recovery is the biggest challenge. I travel a great deal, Sara and I work opposite schedules and Logan always wants Daddy time (I gladly do the Daddy time!!). Currently I'm signed up for IM Mont Tremblant 2015 but I'm unclear at this point whether I will be toeing the line or not. I did take 6 weeks off post Florida and got some proper rest which has helped. I've slowly eased back into light training and so far, so good.

 
 My training totals for 2014 are as follows:
 
swim = 127,300m
bike = 3, 956 miles
run = 1, 027 miles
 

 My main goal this year is enjoy! I want to enjoy whatever activity I'm doing and not be worried about results. I did this in 2011 and had my most successful season ever. The past 2 years have felt like work and has taken the fun out of it. I vow to have fun and enjoy the process and the journey.
 

 My other goal is to try surfing. You read that right - I said surfing. I skateboarded a lot when I was young, did some skim boarding and have surfed once - the feeling is unbelievable. I have researched this and the Great Lakes actually provide decent surfing and there is a growing surfing community out there. I've been thinking about this for the past couple of years but have never acted upon it - 2015 will be the year! I plan to take some lessons in Toronto and see what I can do. I don't expect to get great at it - it's just something that I think will be fun.


 Read these to the left - it is quite accurate.

 We can always use more cowbell. Finally I think I need to go somewhere tropical in 2015. Not clear as to when and where but it will be done! Finally this post is my 200th - either I must have time on my hands or I enjoy doing this sort of "time capsule". Either way thanks for reading! Have a fantastic 2015!
 
Happy New Year 2015 - Cheers!

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