End of Year Review

So Covid has screwed a second year in a row so a lot of these make no sense. So I have gone for a four colour approach: 

Green - Did make it. 
Blue - A 2021 target got pushed to 2022 without my intervention. 
Red - Didn't make it but had a reasonable chance. 
Orange - Didn't make it but never had a reasonable chance.

All the blurb is at the bottom.

Targets by numbers

Represent GBR age-group at an international event. - All deferred.

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2022 European Championships. - Rollovers plus an additional selection for Cross Duathlon.
Finish top-20 at European Aquathlon Champs. - Deferred, and would have prequalified anyway.
Finish top-30 at World Aquathlon Champs. - Deferred, and would have prequalified anyway.

Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2022 European Champs. - Aquathlon and Cross Triathlons completed (with prequalifying performances).

Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2022 World Champs. - Aquathlon and Cross Triathlons completed (with prequalifying performances).

Swim 130 miles. - 103 miles

Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m. - 6:30 at Kings Aquathlon

Swim under 11:45 minutes for 750m. - 12:19 at Dundee Aquathlon

Swim under 25:30 minutes for 1,500m. - No races.

Ride 2,000 miles. - 2,011.1 miles.
MTB 500 miles. - 554.0 miles.

Run 1,000 miles. - 1,357 miles.
January run 170 miles. - 169.4 miles

February run 180 miles. - 217.1 miles

Run a 5k in under 19:30 mins, or 10k in under 42 mins. - 5k 19:51 at Aberdeen Parkrun.
'Run my age' for 10k. - No 10k races.

>52 Yoga sessions - 52 sessions

>52 Stretching and rollering sessions. - 52 sessions.

>40 Core sessions. - 33 sessions.

>40 Weights sessions. - 33 sessions.

>50 Run reps or ‘fast’ sessions. - 26 sessions

<45 ‘Junk’ swim session. - Unknown. Honestly lost count.

Stretch Targets

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a second 2022 European Championships. - Deferrals x3

Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2022 World Championships. - Deferrals x2 (maybe a 3rd qualifier?)

Medal at the Scottish Aquathlon Champs. - Bronze

Finish top-20 at World Aquathlon Champs. - Deferred.

Swim 136.5 miles. - 103 miles

Swim under 6:00 minutes for 400m. - Not enough races to even attempt this.

Swim under 11:30 minutes for 750m. - Not enough races to even attempt this.

Swim under 24:59 for 1,500m. - Not enough races to even attempt this.

Ride 1,575 miles. - Typo in target setting post, should have been 2,200 miles. Did 2,011.1 miles.

Run 1,050 miles. - 1,357 miles. 

Run a 5k in under 19:00 or 10k in under 40 mins. - Not enough races. 

Run another 5k in under 19:20 or 10k in under 41:30. - Second best 5k was 19:55.

>78 Yoga sessions - 52

>78 Stretching and rollering sessions. - 52

>52 Core sessions. - 33

>52 Weights sessions. - 33

Breakdown

It is hard to make any sense of this again without the context of racing. And Covid again has removed that context.

Swim

If I take off the extra 38 days for the pools being closed longer than I had predicted, and the corresponding 15.7 miles, that I lost before my first swim of the year, that would change my target to 114.3.

I then lost another 23 days, and 11.1 miles, to my pectoral injury would take me to 103.0. I am actually spot on target for swim miles for the days I was actually able to swim. 

I only made it over the 100 mile mark on Christmas Eve, I am going to keep this target the same for next year and see how it goes. 

Race-wise, I just didn't get enough opportunities. I had four races late in the season. They weren't spaced out enough to react in between so when I realised I had no pace, and my turns were untidy, I had no time to fix anything. Even more frustratingly I did a 6:29 in training, then a 6:30 in a race, then a 6:33 in training. All in the same pool in consecutive swims. Great consistency, but I should easily have gone those 15 seconds faster on race day.

I also managed to get in with the Aberdeen Uni Triathlon Club for swim sessions and they have helped me make some minor changes to my technique that I think will be helpful.

Bike

 

My plan was to do about 1/4 of my miles on the mountain bike trying to prep for Euro and World Cross events. That started well, but very quickly became pointless as it was evident those races were going to get cancelled. I kept riding the mountain bike to keep the numbers, but very little of it was actual mountain biking after March. It was mostly commuting. 554 miles sounds like a good amount, but I would think >500 of them were on the road or paths so weren't really achieving what they were meant to. Next year, mountain biking needs to actually mean trails and off-road. 

In a similar vein the weather this year wasn't great and I didn't do much outside on the road bike.  The counter says only about 287 miles. 

The rest (~1200) were on the turbo trainer. I am getting better at spending time on the trainer, as much as I hate it, and the new garage has made that a much less hate-filled experience. 

Run

After the ridiculous excess of 2020 I was still running every day coming in to 2021. I continued that until May 25th and did a huge February as I tried to compete single-handedly in a mileage challenge against teams of 5. I ended the year more than 30% over target. Again this was partly  due to using running to deal with my mental health during all the Covid restrictions. I would rather get back to some more normal life and get the number back down to around 1,000. And to be better at organising this sessions rather than just putting in regular miles. 

My run-only races were not good. I did a few Parkruns, Aberdeen in October and Elgin on Xmas Day both managed to go under 20 minutes, but only just. I did a cross country race in October but apart form the first and last miles it was just a jog round a forest. Nothing I did during a triathlon or aquathlon was worth recording.

Race

Not much to say. I medalled at the Scottish Aquathlon Champs with no prep, then won my next two races, then won my age-group at the other two while getting beaten by younger and fitter people. They were all small races with little or no competition (even the Scottish Champs was only half a normal field).

Other

You know the story by now. I skipped these more and more as the year went by, like I do every year. I do yoga when my hip gets too painful not to, or when I want to do something fast or long the following day and need to mitigate the pain. I do bits of stretching and rollering every week, but nowhere near enough. And I can always find an excuse to miss out on the core and weights sets.

Somehow, despite doing lots of training this year, I managed to get my weight up to 80kg in mid year. It wasn't until I saw some race results that I realised I was carrying all that extra weight. I went on a proper diet for the first time and have brought my weight back down to 71kg at the turn of the year. My plan is to try and stay y between 70-72kg but I am not going to be rigid about that if I feel I am gaining useful muscle.

Basketball came back late in August and I only missed a single week from then on. it is good to have an activity where I am competing with people rather than against them all the time and to have a sport that I am not focused on competing at. 

My relationship ended somewhere between January and March. It sort of dribbled to an end. I haven't dated any one else since. Partly because I judge everyone against her now and the is a much higher bar than I previously set. Partly because Covid is discouraging people from actually meeting. Partly because I just don't have the willpower for online dating any more. 

My extension was completed and I love the larger home, especially the new office. I still have some minor jobs to finish; installing light fittings and redecorating some of the older rooms, but it is complete for the most part.