So here are the basic numbers with the targets in black, revised targets from June in blue and the actual results in red or green.
Swim 92.6 miles. 97.7 miles. 102.3 miles.
Bike 2,268 miles. 2,477 miles. 2194 miles.
Run 688 miles. 773 miles. 842 miles.
Swim race 400m under 6 mins. 6:32 at Alford Novice.
Swim race 750m under 12 mins 30. 12:28 at Westhill Sprint.
Swim race 1500m under 26 mins. 25:15 at Knockburn.
Optional - Swim race 5k under 1 hour 35mins. Not attempted.
Bike race - Any time trial. Started 8, completed 6.
Bike race - Any sportive. KT Bike run.
Run race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Run another race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Optional - Run a championship race.
North Champs 5k in 19:37.
Elgin 10k in 42:19.
Moray 10 in 41:41.
North XC Champs.
I am going to split the analysis into two separate posts. The pure mileage targets I am going to cover in a separate post and this one is going to cover the rest.
Swimming
Starting with the red number, my 400m time from this year was a bit disappointing. Not only was neither attempt anywhere near my target, I was actually slower than 2014. It is also a bit of a fudge to claim the 1500m swim time from Knockburn Standard as it was unlikely to have been the right distance, and my other 1500m at Huntly Standard was slower than 2014. However, both standard races I came out of the water in good shape and went on to fast bike and run sections so I am probably swimming more efficiently if not obviously faster.
The 750m time which I am safe to claim was only a scrape under my target at the fourth attempt. it was a tough target when I set it. Almost a second a length faster than my 2014 PB.
I have plenty to be happy with on the swimming front though. Despite the technicalities I did get two of those three racing targets. I also now have a working tumble turn, which could still do with some tidying up, but is a huge improvement on previous years. In training, and for spells in races, I have the pure speed to go much faster, I just have to tie together enough of those fast laps into one race. Consistency and speed endurance are areas for me to work on in 2016.
Cycling
Still my weakest sport, by a margin. And because of that I set my targets to just take part in a Time Trial and a Sportive. This was just to push me to take the bike a little more seriously than I have in the past. They were very easy targets so it is almost meaningless to have beaten them. I set the Time Trial target on the basis that I would be able to do a single Deeside Thistle race as a 'guest'. I then joined the club to get access to the whole series. I started 8 of them, got lost twice, and finished 6.
I also knew that the KT sportive was a definite as it is one of my favourite fun events. No pressure and a nice course.
2016 cycling targets will come with times attached.
Running
Probably the most sensible set of targets, but that is little wonder as I have 20 extra years of running experience when I am setting them. I set these to be fairly tough, and then I had plenty of extra time to run this year so I beat them all by a decent chunk.
I picked Elgin 10k in March partly because it is one of my favourite races and it does also happen to be quite a fast course. But I also picked it so I could do a straight comparison against 2014, only for them to change the course again and render that comparison invalid. I ran my fourth fastest 10k ever almost by accident.
I entered the North District Champs with a view to getting a decent 5k run on the track and just set a time for comparison. And to have some fun trying to get over the sprint hurdles. I had hoped to go close to 19 minutes and at the time I wasn't entirely happy with 19:37. Against my target though it is almost 2 minutes under so with a bit of perspective I am really pleased with that.
And that meant by May I was already done with running race targets, even the optional ones. So the additional run at Moray 10k which produced my third fastest ever 10k and running at the North XC Champs just added a lot more icing and a handful of cherries to an already nice cake.
Triathlon
I didn't actually set any triathlon targets as I cut everything up too small and didn't even think about the bigger picture, trusting that it would take care of itself. In effect it did take care of itself as I regularly raced faster and placed higher than previous years. Just relying on that as a product of the sections is not smart enough though. Particularly when it completely ignores the transitions, which I have done a decent amount of work on this year and have improved significantly.
So in 2016 there are some try-specific targets to be added. Although the variability of courses and conditions makes those very hard to write in a S.M.A.R.T fashion.
To Part 2.
Bike 2,268 miles. 2,477 miles. 2194 miles.
Run 688 miles. 773 miles. 842 miles.
Swim race 400m under 6 mins. 6:32 at Alford Novice.
Swim race 750m under 12 mins 30. 12:28 at Westhill Sprint.
Swim race 1500m under 26 mins. 25:15 at Knockburn.
Optional - Swim race 5k under 1 hour 35mins. Not attempted.
Bike race - Any time trial. Started 8, completed 6.
Bike race - Any sportive. KT Bike run.
Run race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Run another race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Optional - Run a championship race.
North Champs 5k in 19:37.
Elgin 10k in 42:19.
Moray 10 in 41:41.
North XC Champs.
I am going to split the analysis into two separate posts. The pure mileage targets I am going to cover in a separate post and this one is going to cover the rest.
Swimming
Starting with the red number, my 400m time from this year was a bit disappointing. Not only was neither attempt anywhere near my target, I was actually slower than 2014. It is also a bit of a fudge to claim the 1500m swim time from Knockburn Standard as it was unlikely to have been the right distance, and my other 1500m at Huntly Standard was slower than 2014. However, both standard races I came out of the water in good shape and went on to fast bike and run sections so I am probably swimming more efficiently if not obviously faster.
The 750m time which I am safe to claim was only a scrape under my target at the fourth attempt. it was a tough target when I set it. Almost a second a length faster than my 2014 PB.
I have plenty to be happy with on the swimming front though. Despite the technicalities I did get two of those three racing targets. I also now have a working tumble turn, which could still do with some tidying up, but is a huge improvement on previous years. In training, and for spells in races, I have the pure speed to go much faster, I just have to tie together enough of those fast laps into one race. Consistency and speed endurance are areas for me to work on in 2016.
Cycling
Still my weakest sport, by a margin. And because of that I set my targets to just take part in a Time Trial and a Sportive. This was just to push me to take the bike a little more seriously than I have in the past. They were very easy targets so it is almost meaningless to have beaten them. I set the Time Trial target on the basis that I would be able to do a single Deeside Thistle race as a 'guest'. I then joined the club to get access to the whole series. I started 8 of them, got lost twice, and finished 6.
I also knew that the KT sportive was a definite as it is one of my favourite fun events. No pressure and a nice course.
2016 cycling targets will come with times attached.
Running
Probably the most sensible set of targets, but that is little wonder as I have 20 extra years of running experience when I am setting them. I set these to be fairly tough, and then I had plenty of extra time to run this year so I beat them all by a decent chunk.
I picked Elgin 10k in March partly because it is one of my favourite races and it does also happen to be quite a fast course. But I also picked it so I could do a straight comparison against 2014, only for them to change the course again and render that comparison invalid. I ran my fourth fastest 10k ever almost by accident.
I entered the North District Champs with a view to getting a decent 5k run on the track and just set a time for comparison. And to have some fun trying to get over the sprint hurdles. I had hoped to go close to 19 minutes and at the time I wasn't entirely happy with 19:37. Against my target though it is almost 2 minutes under so with a bit of perspective I am really pleased with that.
And that meant by May I was already done with running race targets, even the optional ones. So the additional run at Moray 10k which produced my third fastest ever 10k and running at the North XC Champs just added a lot more icing and a handful of cherries to an already nice cake.
Triathlon
I didn't actually set any triathlon targets as I cut everything up too small and didn't even think about the bigger picture, trusting that it would take care of itself. In effect it did take care of itself as I regularly raced faster and placed higher than previous years. Just relying on that as a product of the sections is not smart enough though. Particularly when it completely ignores the transitions, which I have done a decent amount of work on this year and have improved significantly.
So in 2016 there are some try-specific targets to be added. Although the variability of courses and conditions makes those very hard to write in a S.M.A.R.T fashion.
To Part 2.
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