My review of 2012. What a year it was!

2012 promised to be a very exciting year for me from the perspective of sporting endeavours.

Obviously the big goal on the looming horizon was my first attempt at the Ironman in Frankfurt on 8^th of July.  However, in between the start of the year and that event lay another 6 months of hard training and a few warm up events that needed to be successful for me to both learn from and perhaps even more importantly to gain confidence from.

As I look back now on 2012 from the sporting perspective I am spoiled for choice in picking out the highlights.

I can honesty say that every single event that I entered went very well for me and in most cases actually better than I could have dreamed and this led to a wealth of PBs when I really wasn’t expecting them.

The obvious highlight was Ironman Frankfurt in July.  Without going back over old ground again here, the whole experience will stay with me forever and in all honestly I don’t think I will get the same feeling in completing another event like it.

The support and friendship from my Pal Alex Buchner, his lovely family of Andrea Bittner and little Aileen also helped to make the event, not just for me but also the Curry family.

Even if I complete another Ironman, I am sure that the feeling will be one of sheer exhilaration but I know that nothing will ever fully compare to the first time and the special place that is the Romerberg in Frankfurt on the evening of 8^th July 2012.

For that reason I will leave this event in a little box by itself and not try to draw comparisons with any other events as it just simply isn’t fair.

There were many other events in 2012 that delighted me, either for the performance, the event itself or the company I had during the event.

Performance Highlight

Surprisingly this is not a Triathlon.  This is a toss up between the Lisburn Half Marathon or the Seeley Cup 10K.

Both events threw out a PB for me over the distance and both were unexpected.  Lisburn saw me hit 1.50 for a half Marathon for the first time and Seeley Cup saw me crack the 48 minute mark with a 47.45 PB.

Simply because of how unexpected it was and that it was something I knew I was capable of but just not at this time, I would place the Seeley Cup 10K at the top of my performance pile for 2012.  I think that race was symbolic of the “strength” that has become a feature of my running recently.

Iron distance training may not build outright speed but it certainly engenders the ability to hurt yourself for long periods of time and this strength can sometimes translate to speed when you need to call on it.  I think this was one such case.

Event Highlight

I competed in a hell of a lot of events this year and was lucky to have enjoyed them all.
There were straight running events, cycling events, Duathlon and of course Triathlons.
Some of these are made special because of the course, some because of the organisation and crowd.
For me the highlight was the Warrior Triathlon in Camlough.
This end of season event was a complete monster in all respects.
The 2.9K swim was in a stunning location, albeit completely freezing.  The 50K bike was tough and the 5K run up and down Camlough Mountain was one of the hardest runs I have ever done – over any distance.

This race stands out for a number of reasons.  As I mentioned, the course was beautiful but I choose this race for more than that.  This was a test the whole way through and one which pushed me at the end of a hard season. 

Even deciding to get out of the car and do it was tough given the awful conditions but I was rewarded with memories of a great day.

I also choose this one because of the great atmosphere created in a rural environment and the sheer friendliness of the organisers in Camlough and Newry Triathlon Club.

What other event finishes in the beer garden of a Pub and you get your medal engraved as you wait with a bowl of soup in your hand.  Pure genius.

People

Again, it is difficult to pin this down as I have been privileged to train and race with some great friends and also to meet new ones along the way.

Some highlights were:
Lapping the Lough on a training ride with Jim Heaney and Donald Smith.  A great experience and made even more memorable by Jim’s four punctures en-route.

The Dromara Coastal Challenge and North Down Coastal Cycle with Jim Heaney.  Both events were terrific and the great company from Jim meant that they were enjoyable and memorable.

Tri an Mhi Half  Iron distance Triathlon where I met David Patterson and Marie Gorman.  Two fellow Ironman virgins in 2012.

Stena Triathlon in Newtownabbey racing with Paul Brannigan, Donald Smith, Simon Cummings and Stuart Lynn.  A great event and good company.

Tri Limits Duathlon at An Creagan with Mark Vaudrey, Mark Crawford and Darwyn Young from our new Lisburn Triathlon Club and Frank McVeigh a new Facebook friend.

All of these were great but I single out a couple of races as my favourites. 

One of these I didn’t even compete in.
RunHer in October was fantastic as my Daughter Erin completed her first 5K with Keara and she did really well.  She even trained for it and did a great job on what is not an easy course.  Whether she repeats this or not is yet to be seen!  It was also a good day as Ben won the kids race for the 3^rd year in a row after a terrific sprint finish.

The other event  was the Creeslough 5K in August as it was just me and Ben.

Getting to run with Ben is great and he holds a lot of potential and without doubt will be a far better runner than I ever have been or will be.
This is a challenging little route and the last mile or so is up hill on tight little Donegal roads.
Ben worked really hard on this run and was rewarded with a 25.04.  It was great to be there as he worked so hard and pushed hard to the end and was delighted with his time.  Not a PB but it felt like one for him.

The numbers for 2012

Swimming: 60 Swims covering 84 miles

Cycling: 98 rides covering 2498 miles
Running: 120 runs covering 728 miles

Overall 336 Hours of training to cover 3310 miles.

PBs set in 2012

5K                               22:40
10K                             47:45
Half Marathon          01:50:57
Sprint Triathlon        01:20:08

The biggest thanks of all for the support in allowing me to do all of this goes to Keara.  I have put huge demands on family time through 2012 and it simply would not have been possible without her amazing support and patience.

2013 will not be anything like 2012 in terms of training demands and time but the ongoing base levels of training and the odd Marathon or 2 and triathlons still eat up quite a bit of time, and the ongoing love and support is worth everything to me.

2012 also saw a bit of a dream come true for me with the creation of Lisburn Triathlon Club.  Having a new club full of great people in my home town is amazing and I am delighted to be part of this new adventure.

Huge thanks to Neil Beck and Arran McKee for all the hard work in getting it up and going and I am really looking forward to racing in the club colours in 2013.

Looking ahead to this year, I have some goals in mind and the main one is to go Sub 4  Hours in a Marathon.

Hopefully it will be at the London Marathon on 21^st April but if that doesn’t work out then I will look at another one and have another crack at it,

Having done 4H44mins for the Marathon in Ironman, I can’t help but think that a stand alone Sub 4 must be achievable for me.

I will continue to do Triathlons and cycling sportives through this year and the hope is that I will gain entry to Ironman Kalmar (Sweden) for 2014 – entry opens in July but sells out pretty damn quick.  If I am lucky enough to get entry, I will start training for that event in November / December of this year.

It has been a wonderful year full of highs and I look forward greatly to the year ahead and the challenges that it brings.