2012 Review

Ended the year with a game

Phew!

That year is finally over.  Not that it was  distasteful year but it seemed to drag on a bit towards the end.

First of All - Day 38 - 40 or 40 days of ironman training prep

A fast km in the pool left me happy that I am swimming as fast as I was this time last year.  

This time of year is all about offsetting so I declared that the combo of my 21km MTB day in the Peak on Christmas Day and my impending cyclo-cross on sunday subtotalled the equivalent effort of a 40km bimble on peak roads plus a 30 minute easy ride with sprints.  I also declared that the 5 hours slog in the pissing rain with my parents more than made up for a 6 mile run.  I certainly deserve it!

That only left me with a 30 minute run to do on Christmas week so I set out to attack the run again.  I was a bit more careful with steep hills this time and managed to clock 28 minutes 59 seconds.  That did me.  I felt good this time though - not bad.

Day 39 was aforementioned 'cross race which more than made up its element of bike training as well as a sizeable portion of running training both up those cobbles and in the muddy puddles (lakes) of Todmorden park.

Day 40 was the official start to week -5 of my 20 week plan so the swim made it through on the Monday since it's closed today (1st Jan & day 41).  The pool was heaving but I held my own despite bony old lady doing breast stroke in the fast lane kicking me in the knee, elbow and ribs - way to go!  1600m in 34:27 - not bad considering the 'cross race yesterday which only really effected my effort level as I had to breath consistently every three strokes instead of 3 / 4 / 5.  I didn't have my watch with me so I'm hoping I did more lengths.  It always feels like I'm over-counting when I'm in but afterwards it often pans out that I'm not at all, I'm under-counting.

So Day 41 is the time to set Ironman training aside for a moment and look back on the year that was:

Part II - December Review

Swim: 6.3km 2.8kph.  Compares to last month:  7.4 km 2.5 kph. Compares to 2010: 4.85 km 2.6 kph
Bike: 420.9 km 17.9 kmph, 4852 m. Compares to last month: 305.04 km, 16.6 kph, 3833m el. Compares to 2010: 134.2 miles, 20.3 mph, 1142 m el.
Run: 25.8 miles, 5.4 mph, 923m el.  Compares to last month: 25.78 miles, 5.2 mph, 824m el. Compares to 2010: 45.36 miles, 7.9 mph, 1008m el.

Percentages complete: 66%
Week -9: 63%
Week -8: 71%
Week -7: 33%
Week -6: 95%

Time in zone: 4hrs 17min

Part III - 2012 Review

Swim: 30.72 km, 2.4 kph  A summer lost but a speed increase.

Bike: 4370 km, 15.4 kph, 57,900 m el. Further but also slower as I carry more about

Run: 346.38 km, 8 kph, 8608 m el. Again with the wedding excuses.

Which compares with 2011

Swim: 54.78 km, 2.3 kph

Bike: 3386.49 km, 19 kph, 40,547m el.

Run: 520.39km, 6.9 kph, 10,865 m el.  That'll be the Truncing.

And... since I've never done this before, 2010

Swim: 35.19 km, 2.2 kph

Bike: 3357.73 km, 16 kph, 37,752 m el.

Run: 440.03 km, 7.6 kph, 6,627 m el.

So using 2011 as a benchmark for the rest of the year as 2012 is nothing in-particular to aspire to unless you're planning a half-ironman and a wedding.