With eight weeks until my first race of the season I'm starting to get excited. I'm feeling stronger and more fit than ever. In the past two weeks I've set both 20 minute and 60 minute lifetime power records on the bike and my running has continued to slowly progress. Swimming has always been a challenge for me, but I'm not far off from where I ended last season so I'm happy to be sitting where I am.
Surprisingly I ended up placing third overall in the local winter running series. I never in my wildest dreams thought that would be remotely possible since a majority of the best local runners participate. The two athletes I finished behind had both won the series in the past, and I finished ahead of a few athletes that would consistently gotten the better of me in prior years, including some former series champions. Nine years ago when I started this crazy journey in the endurance world I was consistently in the back of the pack while pushing myself to my limits, so to be in the record books with a 3rd place overall finish is a huge accomplishment in my eyes. I never finished any of the four races higher than 6th place, but the series scoring rewards consistency and in order to keep pace with the leaders you need to show up at every race. This small victory has me looking forward to the triathlon season with my new found weapon, the run!
I still haven't been able to crack the 170 lb mark, but my body fat has come down and I can definitely tell that I am getting more lean. I was able to sneak under 170 after a longer bike workout but the water weight needs to be replaced so that didn't last long. As long as I continue to get stronger I will continue to try and drop some more weight strategically as the season approaches, but not in favor of my recovery. I have a few more running races on the docket but I cant wait until I can put it all together down in Knoxville.
Summary Stats
Weight on 9/24 184 Lbs 12% body fat (start of "off-season" break and gluten free eating)
Weight on 11/5 176.6 lbs 9.6% body fat
Weight on 12/5 174.0 9.6% Body Fat
Weight on 1/8 /13 171.8 8.8% Body Fat
Weight on 2/8 /13 171.8 8.8% Body Fat
Weight on 3/8/13 172 8.0% Body Fat
20 min Power on 10/2- 295 watts 3.55 watt/KG
20 Min Power on 11/23-324 Watts 4.08 Watt/KG
20 Min Power on 2/27- 345 Watts 4.49 Watt/KG
5k Time 10/28-18:05
5k Time 12/16- 17:51 (5:45 Pace)
5k Time 1/6/13 17:30 (5:38 Pace)
1/2 Marathon Time 11/11- 1:25:34
10k Time 1/6/13 36:51 (5:56 Pace)
100 SCY Sprint 1/3/13 1:15/100