Looking back

Well, 2007 was a great year both personally and from my athletic endeavors perspective, capped most certainly by finishing the Ironman in Lake Placid at the end of July. Ironman was a goal I thought about almost 4 years ago, and it felt pretty great to achieve it. In fact, it was such a relief that I spend much of the rest of the summer in a bit of a lull trying to find something next to pursue. Much like my wife called post-partum depression, although I will probably get in trouble if she thought I was denigrating what she went through :) In some respects, I still don't entirely feel back on track but I've started to get some consistency back with my workouts which will help I'm sure.

With the Ironman looming over much of the year, I achieved my highest totals in workouts since I started tracking them.

Swim -- Bike -- Run
102,500 yds, 44:28:00 hrs -- 3,057 mi, 176:35:00 hrs -- 335 mi, 59:43:00 hrs
Total Time
371:14:00 hours

Here's 2006 for comparison
Swim -- Bike -- Run
43,200 yds, 13:26:00 hrs --2,046 mi, 121:21:00 hrs -- 463 mi, 86:36:00 hrs
Total Time
276:51:41

Almost a hundred more hours overall, one thousand more miles on the bike and a doubling of my swim mileage! Not too bad. As I've mentioned previously, the running is down and I attribute it to not staying consistent with running after the race in July. I hope at some point these numbers will be an inspiration to myself or someone else and help in putting my year in perspective.

Overall, I would consider 2007 the year of reconnecting with my family in sport. There was not a single race or competition that I participated in where there was not another family member present, and the group has gotten larger. It's no longer just my brother-in-law anymore, more uncles have gotten involved with both triathlons and hiking trips, my brother has done a lot with me as well. Cousins, friends and other relatives have also joined me at different points to mountain bike, ski, play volleyball and hike and it's been really great. I've reminisced a bit in the past about my childhood spent playing sports or other games with family, and I feel a bit of that has come back this year.

Here's looking forward to another great year, I'm hoping for more consistency but realistically less volume than last year.