2010 Feel Good Highlights

At the end of each season I like to reflect on my best moments in triathlon. Here is my top ten list (although it’s more than 10) of feel good moments of 2010 as an athlete and a coach. They are in chronological order. Every one of these felt like a victory and put me on cloud nine. These kinds of moments are the things that get me through long and hard training blocks. They are confidence building and make all the hard training completely worthwhile. They also leave me hungry for more!

1- Hyannis Half marathon. I ran 1:18 here which was a breakthrough race for me. It was a new PR and was 3 minutes faster than last year on the same exact course- very similar conditions.
2- RunVermont Unplugged half marathon. I ran 1:16:57 here which was another breakthrough and over a minute faster than my last half marathon. This was a USATF certified course and also my Garmin had it at 13.15.
3- One of my athletes ran 2:50 in his first marathon as a 47 year old dad and teacher. I couldn’t have been more proud. By the way- he did zero speed work (because he was relatively injury prone at the time). Just goes to show how fast you can get on aerobic run training (QT2 zone 1). It makes perfect sense since the marathon is 99% from the aerobic system.
4- 3rd overall at the inaugural Rev3 half ironman. Looking to improve there this year and go for the win.
5- 4th overall at Mooseman Olympic distance with the fastest bike split of the day and backed it up with a fast run. I hadn’t had the fastest bike split at any race for years. My bike training was really paying off. Couldn’t have been happier.
6- Ironman Coeur D Alene. I came into this race with a 500 pound gorilla on my back. After many attempts at qualifying for Kona I still hadn’t made it there. At each previous attempt I either had an injury or botched my race execution (pre-QT2 days). I nailed this race and when I hit the final finishing stretch of the run I can honestly say it the most intensely overwhelming feeling I’ve ever experienced in my athletic career. You can see the finish from about a half mile out ---very wide long straight section. The road is lined with hundreds of spectators. With about a ¼ mile to go and knowing roughly what my time was going to be I completely burst into tears. I had left nothing on the table---I raced as fast as I could have on the day and that’s all I can ask for. When I crossed the line and pretty much collapsed- they brought me to the med tent area where I sat down and proceeded to cry as hard as I think I’ve ever cried. I’m talking loud extreme crying- completely uncontrolled that you can’t hold back. All the years of hard work, sacrifice, failed Kona attempts, all the time away from friends and family all culminated in this one moment of severe catharsis. There was a volunteer with me who witnessed this and said “you probably want to call someone”. I said yes and she handed me her phone. This was as close as I’ll ever get to having to a Rocky Balboa moment (yes this sounds cheesy but I don’t care). I called Lindsay who didn’t come to Idaho as we were trying to save money and I was on a sole mission to qualify for Kona. That call was my “Adrian I did it call”. I lost it again on the phone with Lindsay. I really did it. By the way I didn’t know yet if I actually qualified or not but I knew I had the best race I could have had. I found out the next day that I qualified!!
7- VT sun sprint distance- 3rd overall here and went 1:00:52. This was 30 seconds faster than last year and as best I can tell it was the 4th fastest time in the history of this race. Looking to break an hour there next year. By the way- I had done zero speed work up to this point but yet was holding 5:40 pace off the bike.
8- Seeing an athlete of mine break the women’s course records in the sprint and Olympic races at VT Sun. So proud!!!
9- Riding 100 miles in 4:29 (22.3 mph av speed) at ironman heart rate. Breakthrough!!
10- Seeing one of my athletes break 5 hours at Vineman and then backed it up with another sub 5 performance at Timberman.
11- Setting a new bike course record at the Waterbury long Time trial (14 miles).
12- Racing Ironman Hawaii!!!!!!!!!!!!! Need I say more? This was a triathlon orgasm.
13- Seeing one of my athletes finish his first ironman in Florida. So happy and proud!!!
14- Seeing Lindsay absolutely crush a half marathon. She got 7th in a field of 1200 women and broke 1:32 on a certified course which was a PR!! Felt so good to see her nail this race!!
15- Seeing an athlete of mine get second in the world in her age group at the Half ironman world championships (Clearwater). Can’t wait to her see her fly in 2011!!