Now that 2015 is underway, it seems like a good time to look back at 2014 and make some plans for the coming year. (I have deliberately waited a few weeks so as not to get swept up in the New Year’s Resolution wave of excitement).

2014 was a very up and down year for me; the highlights were very high, but the ‘lowlights’ very low.

Let’s start with the bad and get it out of the way. If you have been reading the blog, you already know…

I developed a stress fracture in my ankle.

Yes, I haven’t shut up about it for months!

I was off training for weeks, and it pervaded everything I did (training and otherwise) for months – the entire summer. I was really miserable, as many of my friends will likely attest!

But every cloud has a silver lining…

In a strange way, the injury motivated me to achieve even more than before. Perhaps because I always had an excuse for any failure (which it turned out I didn’t need, but offered a psychological safety net).

I got to focus on swimming, and made some exciting advances.

I reintroduced myself to cycling, met some great people, and started to learn to love it again.

I learned many lessons about perseverance and some about patience.

I watched  more television (and learned a lot of really useless facts and a few useful ones too).

Which leads me to the highlights:

I completed 19 events including:

9 runs of varying distances

3 open water swims

4 sprint distance triathlons

My first ever 100km cycle ride

7PB’s (plus a bunch of firsts)

I found new friends, and new focus

I signed up for Ironman Canada!

Pretty good for such a *bad* year…

So now to look forward.

I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. They rarely get kept, and sometimes even turn into demotivators as I realise my failure, so I have simply chosen 3 areas that I would like to work on throughout the year.

To train harder, but with more focus and consistency.

Well training harder probably goes without saying, especially with the Ironman goal hanging around, but now that my capacity is growing, harder comes more naturally. More important I feel is to improve the consistency with which I train and to train smarter, to maximize improvement whilst minimizing injury.

To make better nutritional choices.

This was also a goal in 2014. I did better last year but I think there’s still room for improvement – there probably always will be.

To enjoy the journey – not just the destination.

This is the most important of the three goals. I have a tendency to be rather ‘end-point oriented’ causing me to miss much of the beauty along the way (it can also be crushing if for some reason one cannot reach said end point). Ironman training is going to be long and hard. Merely enduring this (and putting all my eggs in one basket for one 17 hour day in July) would be such a waste, not to mention, incredibly boring.

Well, you probably guessed that my major race goal this year, is indeed those 17 hours (hopefully less) in July, other highlights will hopefully incude:

My first Olympic distance triathlon at UBC in March

A half-iron distance triathlon, location TBD

Granfondo Axel Merckx Okanagan (160km)

Across the Lake swim

A swim from Alcatraz

A sprinkling of sprint triathlons and maybe some runs, if it feels good.

A whole plethora of new experiences – because you should never turn down a chance to try something new! (Unless it’s drugs – don’t try those kids!)