2012... By The Numbers!

I've seen some tri-geek diehards posting yearly totals on Facebook today... thought that was kinda fun and I readily admit I'm a tri-geek diehard too... so even though I don't really keep track of volume/totals anymore, Training Peaks does... and I log everything in there so these numbers weren't too hard to figure out. :) Every once in a while I'll plan a big week in one of the sports and shoot for a volume goal but most often I just plan out the workouts I want to do (and feel like I can handle) and whatever it adds up to, it adds up to. I do believe volume plays a part in performance but it's just one piece of the puzzle. Still though, kinda fun to look back at the end of the year and see how far I swam, biked, and ran this year. I also started thinking about some other numbers from the year so I'll put 'em out here just for fun. :)

Yards swam: 524,934. I think it's funny TP calculates this in yards since I swim meters all the time. I converted it though and it was 480,000M. Yards sounds more impressive though, no?

Biggest week: 19,400M

Weeks with 15,000+M: 4

Weeks I did not swim at all: 0

Miles Biked: 7,090. I wonder how many miles I drove? It might actually be pretty near the same. :)

Hours spent inside on a trainer: 0

Biggest Week: 268 miles

Weeks with 200+ miles: 8

Weeks I did not ride at all: 2

Cracked frames sent back to Cervelo: 2

Flat tires: 2- one of which was at Boulder 70.3.

Times I fell off my bike: 0 (knock on wood!)

Miles run: 1482

Biggest Week: 55 miles

Weeks with 40+ miles: 11

Weeks I did not run at all: 1

Biggest week in terms of total hours: 26.83 hours (last week of June)

Weeks with 20+ hours of training: 14

Average week: 16 hours

Hours spent racing: 33.4 (consisting mostly of 1 Ironman and 2 x 70.3's)

Racing PR's: 2- at an Olympic Distance race in Oregon in late July, then again at Ironman Canada. Though in my head I also count Boulder 70.3 as a PR because except for the flat tire, it would have been. Flawed logic? Maybe. But it was my best 70.3 performance even though the official finish time was not my fastest ever. Given that all 3 of these races were within ~5 weeks, I think I can say that August 2012 was my best ever racing month!

Interestingly, these numbers, pretty much across the board, are smaller than 2011. But not by a lot. What I see when I step back and look at the big picture is consistency. I've now got several years of fairly consistent week in and week out training which sets me up nicely to handle, absorb, and benefit from the significant intensity that is being thrown at me now by my new coach. If I don't crumble under the new load, I think 2013 is going to be a good year! My motivation is high and I feel awesome! :)

Happy New Year!