Over Already?

2008 is in the books. The year, the season. As I look to 2009, it helps to look back and see what went right, what went wrong, where you can improve, etc. But, I try not to dwell too much on the past. History does tend to repeat itself, but it's a new year.

2008 was a successful season. With the exception of a 33rd at IM Arizona, all of the finishes are in the top-10, and I went to some pretty solid races. The highlights of the season were finishing in the Top-5 at the 70.3 Buffalo Springs in Lubbock and finishing 7th at one of the tougher 70.3 events in Austin. I just missed the top spots in the two local races CapTex and The Austin Tri. So, that is a little bittersweet.

Other than that, the year ended on a really good note at IM Arizona. The 33rd place finish doesn't show what I feel my potential is, but it was a vast improvement on my previous "PR". And, if you've read this blog before...you know that there are NO PRs in the sport of triathlon. Anyone who tells you there are PRs is mistaken.

My training went well and was very consistent year round. I mixed it up a little in the training and continued to improve. I felt that the last 1/2 of the season, things started going particularly well. I took a little bit of a departure from what 'science' says works and just did what works. If that makes sense? My biking improved quite a bit during this time and my overall fitness continued to improve as well.

So, as I look to 2009 racing and training...there will be some similarities and some differences. I don't know my race schedule just yet, but I suspect the first part of the season will look something like this...

April - 70.3 California
May - Possibly Memphis or 70.3 Florida, CapTex (depends on if it is ITU or not?)
June - 70.3 Eagleman/Kansas if I don't do IM Coeur d' Alene
July - IM Lake Placid if I didn't do IMCdA
August forward - TBD