2013: Looking ahead, and the plan to get faster.

After this year's CX wake up call, it seems appropriate to look back on what whent wrong, make some changes and then get ready to hammer out a new year of goals and a plan to go with them in order to achieve my expectations.

Looking back, the successes this year happen to be all running related.


2012                                                                     2013

PB in the Half Marathon: 1:27:30                           Goal time: 1:22:30  First Half -- February
PB in the 10km:                 38:04                           GT :            36:50  Sandcastle -- June
PB in the 8km                    30:45                           GT:             29:00  Cross Country -- All Fall
PB in the Marathon:         3:11:57                           GT:          2:56:00  BMO VAN -- May
50k                                 6:10:00                           GT:          5:00:00  Chuckanut 50 -- March
80k                               12:21:00                           GT:         10:30:00 MYM 50 -- September

I am happy with how things have gone down here, and in order to meet the goals for 2013, I think that I will need to hit the track, run more mountains, and also switch up the diet to a low carbs high fat concentration in order to tap into the little amount of fat I have, and to stave off the bonk late in the race. Long training miles at a slightly higher intensity will help, along with pushing to eat less on the runs.

My switch to the New Balance MT110 has been great-- I love these shoes for their cushioning and ground feel. The traction and ability for my toes to open up were a revelation during my first run. My feet actually felt the ground, rather than be all bound up in a protective boot like shoe. I think I am done with my New Balance MT910. They are great for wet weather, but are condusive to helping me roll my ankle over. They will be relegated to walking and bumming around in the winter. Minimalist shoes with less drop are my choice going forward. Save for my Salomon Speedcross 3, which will be my MYM50 shoe this year as they have enough cushioning for the long distance. We will see about the toebox. I am hopeful that the size 14 will be the one to work for me. I may try the New Balalnce MT1010 on Chris Barth's recommendation, as he won the 5 peaks series in them.

Cyclocross was the disappointment of the year. With such high expectations moving into Masters 1/2 I thought things would be pretty good. Coming off of the MYM in September, I had a tough time finding my rhythm on the bike. After taking the month of August off for a 3 week vacation with no training it left me hitting September feeling green on the bike. I was left behind the 8 ball for the season trying to recover from the 50 mile run, yet build fitness on the bike. My best/most favorite rides were with my North Delta crew, hammering each other on Saturday mornings. Many more of those to come, I hope.

For the 2012 year thanks are always in order for a few wonderful people who make racing in this region very special.

My wife and family
Sean Baker
Jeff Hanninen
Frank Ammirati
Daryl Evans Mechanical
Sugoi

My fellow racers: Sean Baker, Tyler Dumont, Bob Welbourn, Mike Murphy, Jeff Hanninen. Sheldon Orr, Niels Steiner, Vincent Marcotte, Aaron Weiss, Manny Zupigger, Andrew Pickle and many, many other people that have made this year very much fun. I have had crap even numbered years on the bike, so 2012 will be a much better bike racce year than this one was. 2013 will also be the best run year that I will ever have, as I target XC (run) Nationals, PBs in all distances, and will run 2 more ultra marathons. 2013 looks like it will be a good one!