I trained hard for the CB&I triathlon in May and was eager to improve on the previous year's results. The weekend, I did a practice half-ironman open water swim, and I had been swimming 500m in the pool in about 9:30. And then everything fell apart. On the Wednesday before the Saturday race, I got strep throat. Only partially recovered, I still decided to race. The swim was the only highlight. I still managed to break 10 minutes at 9:54, but I was exhausted by the time I hit the bike. The bike course was shortened to 10.6 miles, but I only managed 18 mph. The run was tough - while the official time was a reasonable 26:47, I am confident that course was only 2.9 miles.
After that, returning from a short break was hampered by the fact that my swim group changed times and location, reducing how much I was able to swim. At the last minute, I decided to race Shadow Creek Ranch triathlon to do it with a friend, but I was underprepared. The swim time dropped to 12:08, the 17 mile bike was at 17.74 mph and the run was searingly hot. I decided that I wasn't getting enough fluids so I walked the aid stations in order to consume more liquids. This reduced my pace to 10:46/mile. Given that a guy died of heat stroke at Towne Lake a few weeks later, I didn't have any regrets.
In June I "won the lottery" to race the Houston Half Marathon in July, so I began trying to get some longer runs in. I started with about 6 miles and was diligently adding 1/2 mile per week until I was at 8. Then I ran with another group and ended up doing 11 miles. While I was tired, I ran two days later and hurt my calf. It was feeling better a few days later so I decided to run. I initially dismissed slight twinges of pain for it being psychosomatic - this was a huge mistake. By the time I decided to turn around, I was a few miles from home. The injury kept my out for two weeks and I missed my most important runs. I was signed up for 10 for Texas and only managed one more long run of 10 miles beforehand. I started out okay, but for the last several miles, while I wasn't out of breadth, I just could move my legs any faster. My lack of long runs result in a 10:56/mile overall pace.
In late September, we had a silly parent's volleyball tournament for my daughter's school. After playing, I woke up the next day with a sore should. I figure it was a movement I hadn't done in a while so the muscle was sore. While I still found it hard to lift my arm a week later, I knew I messed up my rotator cuff. After not healing in 2 months, I started physical therapy. While I have been improving it is not better enough to restart swimming. This has dampened my visions of grandeur of doing the Galveston half-Ironman in April. I'm not signing up for it if I won't be ready. I did sign up for CB&I again as I imagine I will be able to muster 500m by then.
In the meantime I've been diligently training for the Half marathon in a few weeks. In the last 6 weeks, I've managed 4 long runs of at least 11 miles, getting 13 twice, though I've been very cautious about reinjury. My legs are still limiting my speed at the end, so I'd like to get one more in before the big day.
Lastly, do you know what I got for Christmas? Fat. I got fat for Christmas. The new year will begin with an effort to curb eating. While I've been exercising, I'm consuming too many calories.
2014 totals
Running: 79.8 hours, 393.4 miles (up 39% from 2013)
Biking: 49 hours, 686 miles (down 54% from 2013)
Swimming: 20 hours, 48,400 yds (down 56% from 2013)
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