2021 Year In Review

Over the next couple of weeks I plan to post a series of "Year-in-Review" updates as well as pivot towards my plan for 2022.  First up is a summary of my total training volume in 2021 as compared to the prior 10 years: 

Several points are probably worth highlighting:

1. 2021 was a year where I made a concerted effort to ramp up my swim volume.  I popped over 300,000 yards right before Christmas on a swim with Anders at his health club in Cali.  I'm taking this week off from swimming as my local pool is undergoing its annual maintenance, but I plan to hit the swim hard again in 2022--right from the get-go.  In early 2021, I wasn't able to swim much due to CoVid and so comparatively I would expect to have a much stronger first quarter in 2022.  My expectation would be to set a new annual swim volume record this year (359,000 is my current record) and perhaps get close to 400,000 yards.  I'd like to average over 40,000 yards/month for the first three months in 2022.

2. My run volume was off dramatically in 2021, which was a conscious choice.  My knee really needs to be replaced (hopefully after Kona in late 2022) and so I had decided to mostly focus on swim/bike with a plan to ramp up my run volume during the summer.  I had begun to do that when Kona was cancelled again in August and I stopped running and pivoted to mostly hiking/walking/climbing.   My plan is once again focus on swim/bike during the 1st quarter in 2022 as I think that's my best bet as far as getting ready for Kona, with my knee.

3.  I had another big bike year and probably would have surpassed 2020 if Kona had stayed on.  As it was, I did 12,791 miles on the bike, which is an average of 35 miles every day in 2022.  I'm going to hammer the bike again ("bike monster") in Q1 with the majority of that in Delaware on my Zwift Kickr bike.  Given CoVid, I'm currently not planning any Q1 warm-weather camps at this time.

4.  I'd also point out that 2015 was low due to my back problems that year and the need for me to take the year off from training...

2021 Training phase review and initial thoughts about 2022 training plan

Find below weekly (trailing 4-week average) Training Hours, Swim Yardage, and Bike/Run Mile charts.  I also highlighted, what I would call different "phases" to my training as the year unfolded.  Here is that interpretation:

1.  Started the year with a major focus on the bike, as part of my "Bike Monster" strategy.  I ramped up to my highest volumes very early in the year as I had set the foundation for that in Nov/Dec 2020 out in Palm Springs.  I actually had my biggest bike mileage the week of 1/18 where I hit 375 miles (including a 164-mile day).  I wasn't able to get into the pool (due to Covid) until that same week and began a big swim surge then.  Due to my knee, I limited my "run" to an occasional hike.

2.  My bike volume began to dip a bit in February as I surged my swim and I had my biggest swim week the week of 2/22 (15,000 yards).

3.  Decided to do Eagleman with Anders as it seemed like Covid might recede a bit and we had our vaccinations and so beginning the week of 4/26 I actually began to run some and ramping that led to lesser volume on the bike/swim.

4.  Generally, from mid April through mid August I was in an Ironman build phase (first to get ready for Eagleman and then get ready for Kona).  My volume didn't really jump (20-25 hours/week of training) but I began to do longer bikes and swims (and rarely longer runs).

5.  In the middle of this build, I threw in a taper/recovery phase around Eagleman, which was a real success for Anders and I.

6.  On 8/19 Kona was cancelled for 2021 and I basically pulled the plug on serious training in 2021.  I still rode a fair bit (because I always do) but my swim began a pretty steady fall-off.  In contrast, I started hiking/walking more (my "run") as I no longer needed to save my legs for Bike Monster.

7.  I basically just exercised (and not that much) from mid-October to mid-November as we had Alex' wedding, Anders IM down at IMFL, and then a mini-vacation down in Florida.

8. Beginning mid-November I began ramping up the bike (especially) and lately the swim (while maintaining a fair amount of hiking).  This has led to a ramp in my total training effort and I actually had my 4th biggest week just this past week--I'm basically replicating the foundation work I did in Nov/Dec last year, but starting just a couple of weeks later.

Here's what all of this looks like in charts:

Looking ahead to 2022, I have decided to do a big Swim/Bike block (with limited run work) during the 1st quarter.  This will look similar to early 2021 but hopefully with more swim volume.  More on my plans later...

One possible blip is we were at a party this weekend and in close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid.  We are fully vaxed, and in pretty decent shape, so hopefully this won't become an issue.  In the mean-time we are laying a bit low and following CDC guidelines....

Onward and upward (I hope)!

 

OK, it's on. I'm going to give this one last time--it's all eyes on KONA 2022

 Sorry for being so radio silent for so long.  With this post, I promise that will change (not that it really matters!)

Quick background/bring up to speed:

--I really need to get a total knee replacement of my left knee.

--Anders and I qualified for Kona at IMAZ in 2019--plan was to do Kona in October '20 and then get the kneedone and move on to the next phase of life (trans-continental bike ride at the top of the list)

--COVID

-And this year COVID again....

--Meanwhile, my knee has really deteriorated.  I mean it has got to the point where I really can't sleep for more than say 30 minutes.  GRRRRR...

--Anyways, it is what it is.

--Kona is "on" for next October and so for the second year in a row, I'm postponing my total knee replacement (in part because my surgeon says no Kona if I get it done).

--Not looking for sympathy nor for you saying I should do something different because:

--I'm full send on Kona 2022!

--I'm now on that path...going to be tough but its not a sacrifice because its what I want to do with this one crazy life I have.....

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So, I though I'd bring you up to date on the whole training thing and you know me--that means data and graphs....

So, find below an analysis of this year versus 2019 (when I qualified--but also climbed some big mountains in Bolivia) and 2020, were I tried to get ready but got COVIDED...

So this first chart is my monthly training hours over the last 3 years.  Bottom line, is my knee is really beginning to limit me...

You can see this as well in the graph below.  Having said that, I'll be over 1,000 hours training this year again, and for a 64-year old, at the end of the day, that's still exceptional.

OK, let's look at the 3 disciplines.  First the swim:

Monthly swim volume varies a lot for a variety of different life things--so no worries if you you find this next chart confusing!

The cumulative chart below illustrates better what has been going on in my swim life.  2019, the year I qualified for Kona was a pretty typical swim year for me...lots of swim volume concentrated in the back half of the year.  2020 brought us COVID and I had a hard time finding a "safe" place to swim.  I tried to build my swim in 2020 once I was able to access open water swimming in June but Kona 2020 was cancelled and I never really saw the point in building my swim volume in 2020.

In Dec 2020 I cranked it up and I was full-on to intent on doing 400,000+ yards for 2021 in prep for KONA and then on Aug 19th, that dream was crushed again.  Note, the slowing in the green line after June.  further, I basically stopped swimming mid-September...(I'm back in now--see below)

My bike strategy for 2021 was a continuation of "BIKE MONSTER"--let's face it, I ride a lot of miles on my bikes.  I tried, vis-a-vis 2020, to do more quality work so I biked a bit less through mid-year, but I was well on my way to having the bike fitness I needed to execute Kona when it was shut down again in August.

Still, once again, I will do over 12,000 miles in 2021 and (see below) I'm already on it for 2022...

The big thing for me is the run (walk/climb)--so painful now.  I've gone from it being a competitive disadvantage I could work around to something I hope I can skate by at Kona next year.  It sucks (and its very painful, but there you go...)

So, I've just got back up on The Ironman horse and I'm committed to making it work one last time (Kona 2022).  I'm back in the pool this week.  I'm up above 20 hours training time.  I have a full-on PT attack and injections/draining on my knee (plus a new high-tech brace).  Perhaps, my weekly bike volume illustrates this best:

OK, it may not be very smart, but I'M ALL-IN.  ONCE AGAIN. FOR THE LAST TIME.

onward and upward!!!!

check back in the next couple of days and I'll finally update my (very surprising) 2021 racing results...

rc