Now that 2016 is upon us, it's time to reflect on what happened in 2015 that got me to where I am now.
Going into 2015 I had some goals that I hoped to accomplish. These included:
Finish in the top 30 at the USAT Collegiate National Championship (finished 22nd- check!)
Run the Bayshore Marathon under 2:30:00 (ran 2:28:37- check!)
Win the Grand Rapids Warrior Dash for the 4th year in a row (check!)
Win the Reeds Lake Triathlon to be the back-to-back champion (check!)
Finish in the top 10 of my age group at the USAT Age-Group National Championship so I would qualify for the ITU Age-Group World Championship in 2016 (finished 7th overall- check!)
Finish in the top 10 at the Warrior Dash World Championship (finished 11th overall...for the 2nd year in a row after being passed with less than 50 yards to go...also for the 2nd year in a row- not check :/)
Help my dad qualify for the Boston Marathon at the Grand Rapids Marathon (on his birthday!) so we can run Boston together in 2016 (I ran with him for the last 5 miles and he qualified- check!)
Even though I accomplished most of my goals for 2015 (see my race results here or click the link in the blue column on the left side of the screen), I still had some disappointments. However, these disappointments led me to one of the best decisions as a triathlete: hiring my coach, Barb Lindquist. Even though we've only been working together for a few months, I can already see it paying dividends. The quality of my training has increased exponentially. I went from looking up workouts online and trying to adjust them to my training, to now having someone who takes the time to personally write workouts for me based on my current fitness level and ability in each of the 3 disciplines. I can't wait to see what I'm able to accomplish in 2016!
Which brings me to my goals for the upcoming year (not just limited to racing):
Write (or say) an I-Like-This-About-You note/text/email each day for someone. Being a good person should be at the top of everyone's goal list and I'm going to try and do this. Hopefully it will bring a smile to people's faces :)
Pass my PhD comprehensive exams (hey I'm a student too! These are basically everything I've learned in the last 2.5 years as a doctoral student and are pretty intense. Oh and they start next week!)
Run the Boston Marathon under 2:25:00 or a 5:32 min/mile pace [my dad thinks I can run 2:22:00 (5:25 min/mile), but I'm not so sure about that!]
Win the Michigan Warrior Dash
Go for the 3-peat at the Reeds Lake Triathlon
Finish in a time of 1:54:00 or faster (which should put me in the top 5 overall) at the USAT Age-Group National Championship
Finish in a time of 1:53:00 or faster (which will hopefully put me in the top 10 of my age group) at the ITU Age-Group World Championship
Finally finish in the top 10 at the Warrior Dash World Championship
Eat some darn good cinnamon rolls!
Have fun! What's the point of doing something if you can't enjoy it? :)
In 2014, I traveled 5,687 miles swimming, biking, and running. That's just farther than the distance from San Diego, CA to New York, NY (2,759 miles) and back. In 2015, I almost added another trip across the country stacking up 7,857 miles. This took me almost 736 hours. That's 30+ FULL DAYS of training and racing. Who does that? haha. Take a look below to see the stats for yourselves (just click on the pictures and they'll blow up :D)
I think the coolest thing for me about all of this is that I was able to do it while pursuing my PhD in Exercise Physiology which is no easy task in itself. I take classes, teach classes, do research, and serve as the Exercise Physiology Lab Coordinator where I test many of the MSU athletes and keep everything in the lab running smoothly. All of this takes up time and energy so to be able to accomplish everything I have in racing and school is pretty darn cool (hey that rhymes! :P).
Last year was full of big accomplishments. Racing allowed me to travel to some pretty cool places. So to end it out, here is a look back at my races from the beginning to the end of 2015! Here's to an even better year in 2016!
