2015 was great, but it was not without a few challenges. Those challenges were outside of the Running and Triathlon world though and I guess that’s called ‘life.’ The challenges faced in the Running and Tri world were brought on myself, because I signed up for a boatload of big races with big expectations.
Abbe and I signed up for the Paris Marathon and both of us got in. I then decided that I wanted to PR the race with a time of 2:50, shaving 4 minutes off my previous PR. I changed my training strategy completely and worked harder than I ever had. I ran heavy volumes day and night and in all conditions, something any of you runners reading are all to familiar with. On race day I ran a 2:51 and change which I was very happy with. The hard work paid off and my training strategy was on point.
The next challenge of 2015 was to race my third full Ironman distance down in Louisville with my friend Dougie. The goal here was to train smart and finish strong. We trained our asses off every weekend. So much so that we had to move long runs (18-20 milers) to Tuesdays! Saturdays were long bike rides (80-100 miles) followed immediately by 1-2 hour runs. We had Super Secret Tri Training camp out in New Jersey at my Aunt Margie and Uncle Johns house where we were doing 2-3 mile open water swims every Sunday. The race went according to plan and we both had fun. Mission complete.
We had a few other races mixed in as you can see from my helpful diagram.
I also made the decision to leave the Gotham City Runners and form my own team, The Battalion. I will miss the friends I made on GCR, but it was just time for me to do my own thing.
I was injury free thanks to intelligent training and visits to see Dr. Levine for ‘tune ups.’
2015 wouldn’t be what it was without all the friendships and camaraderie. Thanks to all of you who were a part of making my 2015 great.