Well, as they say in show business, "That's a wrap!"
2011 was an interesting year. Professionally it was one of my worst.
I travelled to Taiwan and China more times this year than any previous for a project that was ultimately canceled. It mostly felt like wasted energy, but I guess it was a good learning experience. I'll sum it up with this quote.
"Failure is the only opportunity to begin again more intelligently"
- Henry Ford
- Henry Ford
Personally, 2011 was one of the best from a fitness standpoint. This time last year, I committed to another attempt at the Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell or ORAMM. I registered for the race in January just to make sure I wouldn't back out on the training. It was essentially my Tour de France. I did this race back in 2009 without much of a training base. I guess you could say that I didn't know what I was getting in to. I finished the race, but I felt terrible. I remember leaving the race in 2009 feeling like I had failed. I shouldn't have been so hard on myself. Just finishing this mountain bike race is a feat in itself. I guess I didn't want to leave that as my final performance because I knew I could do better. Here are the results:
I pulled 2 hours out of my time and couldn't be happier. I credit this performance to 3 things:
1. My fluid trainer, the Kinetic Road Machine
2. Spinervals - Coach Troy is the man, a sick man, but a virtual coach that delivers!
3. My wife - I spent a lot of time training for this race and she donated many hours to the cause.
The crazy part is that I want to do this race again, just not in 2012. It's too much of a commitment to do this race every year. Maybe when the kiddos get a little older.
I also had another great time at the yearly Bear Rock Blitz (BRB) trip to Pisgah in October. I had delusions of riding 100 miles of Pisgah over two days. We called it BRB 50/50. It should have meant that you have a 50% chance of finishing the ride. I think we ended up with 40-45 miles total which was far short of the goal but still a totally awesome ride. That's the way it goes in Pisgah. The best part was hitting some trails that I hadn't been on before like Bennett.
After BRB I tried my first triathlon in late October. I was a little apprensive about this since I've never swam 1 inch competitively and I had only run twice in the past 2 years. Luckily, I was in shape for the bike portion and it contributes the most to your overall time.
Reflex Sprint Triathlon Results
17th place overall
200 yd Swim: 5:24 (28th)
16.2 mi. Bike: 56:31 (18th)
5k Run: 24:23 (22nd)
I was totally surprised by this result. Clearly my biking led me to a higher finish, but it gave me some motivation to improve on running and maybe learning how to swim. The swim portion was a total disaster, but I was expecting that for my first tri. I set low expectations and had fun despite the freeeezing conditions on the road ride. Brrr. Maybe in 2012 I can focus on my (lack of ) tri skills. We'll see.
Here's to a great 2011 on the bike. According to Garmin Connect, I destroyed my yearly mileage from 2010. Almost 1,500 miles on the bike and a BIG smile to go with all those miles. Wheeew, I'm tired.
| Count: | 81 Activities |
| Distance: | 1,481.43 mi |
| Time: | 125:39:24 h:m:s |
| Elevation Gain: | 82,125 ft |
| Avg Speed: | 11.8 mph |
| Avg HR: | 156 bpm |
| Avg Run Cadence: | -- |
| Avg Bike Cadence: | 72 rpm |
| Calories: | 83,587 C |
Goodbye 2011.
I guess the good and bad is a perfect illustration of the Taijitu or the yin and yang concept. Here's to a great 2012. I guess I need to make a plan. :-)
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