2008 Season Recap

I wanted to take some time and reflect on my 2008 triathlon season.

My main goal for this year was to finish 2 Half Iron races and 1 Full Distance race.
Let me tell you that this goal sounded absolutely crazy at the beginning of 2008, especially since last year I had only done 2 Sprint Distance triathlons. I was so hooked on the sport of triathlon after last year that I really had to step it up a notch in 2008. So when I started thinking about the races I wanted to do, which was in November / December of 2008, I had definitely decided that I wanted to do 2 Half's and then shoot for a Full in 2009. That goal quickly changed once I spoke with Scott DeWire and he told me about Beach 2 Battleship in Wilmington, NC and that if I was going to do 2 Half's, why not just do a Full in the same year since training for a Full is just a little more volume. Trust me, it didn't take much convincing on his part! I think I thought about it and made a final decision in a day or two. I was scared, nervous, excited and overwhelmed at what training lie ahead all at the same time after I signed up for that race.

Now if you know anything about setting goals, you have to set small goals to achieve the main goal you are after. With that said, my small goals were to use the sprint triathlons as training races and improve my times at races and/or distances that I had done the previous year. The first real race of the year was the Great Bay Half on April 6th and the purpose of this race was to see where my training stood at that point, since I started training for my First Half Iron on January 20th. This race was a great first goal or milestone for me to reach in my training since I was able to PR my Half Marathon time by 6 minutes! After such a great PR for this race, I was really excited to see how I would make out at Mooseman, my first half iron race. After the Great Bay Half I used the JCC Sprint as another measuring stick for how I would make out at the Spring distance this year and yet again I surprised myself with good results by placing 3rd overall and 1st in my Age Group. With these small goals and sticks of measurement met and Mooseman less than a month away I was ready. As you may or may not have known, the goal at Mooseman was to A) Finish and B) try and finish under 5 hours. Even though I was very close to making my B goal, the weather didnt quite cooperate that day so I was very happy with how I performed, but also knew that I could have had a much better race in more ideal race conditions.

With the 1st goal met, it was time to switch training plans and start the Iron Distance training plan, which I thought was going to a very daunting task. B2B training started about 2 weeks after Mooseman and it wasn't long before I had my next race, The Powow Triathlon. This race was the 2nd time I had done this one and was the last race of the year last year. I was excited for this race because I knew that with all the base I had I could really improve my time this year from last year. I ended up improving by 4 minutes, which was great and I moved up in the standings and once again won my age group. After doing well at Powow I had some fill in races to keep my race fitness up and then I had the Firm Man Half, which I had scheduled in as part of my B2B training plan as another goal and measuring stick of performance. Firm Man ended up being an awesome race! Not only was this a huge PR for me, but it was the most comfortable I've ever felt racing. There were many factors that had helped me in my favor, the race was postponed a week because of a hurricane so I had to take a 2 week taper in lieu of a 1 week taper. Also, the weather was perfect and the course was flat. After a such an awesome performance at Firm Man I was even more pumped for the upcoming B2B race. Firm Man ended up having a few goals as well A) try and break Scott DeWire's PR at the 70.3 distance, sorry Scott, and B) Win my age Group and guess what, I did both.

With my 2nd season goal meet, it was time for B2B. The training that lead up to this was by no means easy, but would I do it again, most certainly!! I can honestly say there is nothing more exciting and thrilling than finishing an Iron distance race. B2B training consisted of some very long and mentally tough rides and swims. There were times when I wondered why the hell I was doing this in the first place. There were also the times I didn't even want to train or talk about triathlon. In fact, I think I ended up taking 2 or 3 days off in a row because I was so sick of the training routine, but hey sometimes you just have to listen to what your body is telling you. I've found that you learn so much about yourself, your body's limits not only physically, but mentally as well.

Now that B2B is over, it's now officially the off season and it feels like such a huge relief off my shoulders to be done with this season. All and all this season was an amazing experience and I can't wait for what next season holds in store for me.

Thank you!
Now, I just have to finish this post with a HUGE, I mean HUGE thank you to Jess who absolutely had to deal with my high training volumes during this season. I also have to give a GINORMOUS thank you the support my Parents, Mr. & Mrs Ellis gave me as well. Without them I wouldn't have been able to do what I did this season. My dad was a great support for me and has been for quite sometime. For those of you who don't know, they made it to all of my track and cross country meets in high school to support me and have been to every major triathlon event I've done. The exception to that was my 1st ever triathlon because I was superstitious about them being there since the first one I signed up for I ended up getting injured.