Alexa's post inspired me to return to my blog. It's been crazy for the past month or so in my world. The family stuff that comes with the holiday season, along with driving back and forth between Rochester and Buffalo what seems like a billion times, beginning research, and wrapping up my coursework for the semester all rolled into a big ball of stress. Now that I'm on break, I'm finally back on track with training after failing to execute a couple training weeks. It feels good. Now time to look back on the past year of my life...
Last November I began training with Mary, and Train-this. This was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The past year training with that group was amazing. I've met some of the nicest people I know, and I'm always looking forward to seeing them at races, or any group training opportunities that may arise. One of the biggest cons to living in Buffalo, is missing opportunities to see my train-this crew more often. I began the year with a 2ish minute 5k PR of 20:08 on January first. I built through the spring, gaining speed that I never expected that I would have.
I ended the spring training season with Flower City Challenge weekend. I raced the River Challenge Du that Saturday (my first race in my snazzy Train-this kit), and did surprisingly well. I spent the day sitting and recovering for the next day, when I was looking for a Half-marathon PR. I dropped about 15 minutes (1:30). I followed this up with a strong performance at Fly by Night a the end of May. June began with Keuka Lake Tri, where I met the awesome Travis as we exited the water together. I put in a stong bike and held on for a solid run for an AG podium spot, and probably my best executed race of the year (2:14).
I followed up Keuka with Tupper Lake Tinman 70.3. This was supposed to be a tune-up for Placid, and the race itself was challenging. I neglected nutrition a bit on the bike, which led to a torturous run. The weather sucked. I loved every second. It was my second 70.3, and solidified that I love that distance. At that point I was a month out from Placid, and I already knew that the ironman distance definitely wasn't my "thing." Leading to an early decision to focus on 70.3 this year.
Tinman was followed by mini-Mussel. I was up against Matt Curbeau for the first time head-to-head. I didn't have any illusions that I was going to beat him. The goal was to try to stay as close as I could for as long as I could. I put down a 9:46 swim split, which should've bought me a minute or so over him, but didn't. HE also had a great swim, and flew by me as he destroyed that bike course, on his way to 2nd OA, and 4th OA the next day at the Musselman 70.3, for the double-Mussel win. I was happy with another AG podium spot!
Two weeks later I drove up to Placid on my birthday, and my first Ironman race-week adventure began! I stayed relaxed and had some fun the week leading up to the race. My parents drove up the night before the race, so I had my full support crew there. Amanda freaked out about the forecast of rain for our wedding that was a week later. Ironman was a looooong day. I wasn't too happy with my swim, as I got boxed in, but I executed my bike according to plan, then suffered through 26.2 miles of vomiting. I was happy to finish though, and even happier to find out that my Keuka buddy Travis punched his ticket to Kona!
The week after Placid, I married my amazing wife! Alexa, Matthias, and Ken came ti the wedding! It was a great time, and was a ton of fun when Alexa came bowling with us after the reception! We left for our almost two weeks in Amsterdam and Paris, just after we finished moving out of out apartment in Rochester where we had lived for the past four years. Amanda moved into her new apartment, and when we got back from Europe I moved into my new apartment in Buffalo. The next 3-4 months were pretty rough. It's hard living apart from your new wife! I started my PhD at Buffalo, and I like the program. I got into a great research group, and I'm genuinely excited to really get going. However, I hate living in Buffalo. I miss Rochester all the time. Where I live I can't really ride from, and my run routes are limited if I want to avoid pretty major roads. So I'm looking for a better area for next year.
In November I began training with QT2 after Mary switched to coach for them. The training is good. I do, however miss Train-this. I really don't think I'm going to ever be able to find a group that felt as much like home as Train-this. QT2 as a whole is a bit impersonal. I imagine it's probably different if you can afford their 1:1 coaching, but I can't. I can barely afford the mission plan I'm on. As a result, although I still am able to keep in contact with Mary a good amount, I really don't feel like part of the organization.
Earlier this month, I ran my first race of the new training season. The Jingle Bell Run 5k in Brighton, the result was a new 5k PR of 19:23. It feels like I'm heading into a good season. Let's hope so!
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it's hard to write, isn't it?! we are going to kick so much ass next year! I can't wait!!!
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