Let’s do a quick recap of the 2011 season. My two main goals were to find ways to give back to the triathlon community and qualify for USAT Age Group Nationals.
Giving back? I think I did pretty well. I loaned out my old trainer to a friend training for Rev3 Cedar Point, volunteered at Quassy and another local sprint. Gotta think of some more creative ways to give back for next season.
Nationals? Done. I went, had a blast and improved my olympic-distance PR by about 15 minutes! It was a lot of fun, and I hope to make it back. The one thing that I didn’t like was the whole qualifying process. The qualifying criteria was fair, but it was just a big psychology change for me to be competing against the top guys in my age group instead of just myself and the clock.
I’m very competitive, but I’ve never cared about what anyone else in my age group was doing while I raced. I rarely ever looked down at people’s calves to see if they were in my AG. I just stuck to my own race and tried to meet or beat the standards that I set or myself. My competition used to be all internal. This year, it was all about competing with other M25-29ers. I wasn’t used to it at all. I ended up turning into “that guy” walking around transition before a tiny local sprint, nervously stalking the competition. Even at a tiny local sprint triathlon. Not awesome.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just different. And I wasn’t used to it at all. If I continue down the route of being more competitive within my age group, I’ve gotta get my head straight so I don’t let that get away from me and ruin my chances before the gun even goes off.
Other accomplishments this year? I trained hard enough to be FAST on the bike and had a ton of fun.
I got a sweet new wetsuit that I lovelovelove. Plus it makes my ass look hot.
I went swimming outside a lot, made stupid faces underwater in front of my camera, and found a secret outdoor pool.
I did post-race cool downs in the ocean.
Oh, and I got to interview Natalie Coughlin.
I think I’ll chalk up the 2011 season as a win. Now I need to sit down and do some serious goal setting for 2012.
What are your big goals for next year?
