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LOOKING BACK ON 2014...

Wednesday, 15 October 2014 00:10

By Heather Lendway (heatherlendway.com)

Now that the season is over it’s time to step back and reflect on the year. What did I accomplish? Did I reach my goals? What did I learn? What went well for me and what didn’t? What do I need to improve on for next year?

What did I accomplish?

In a 19-week season, I raced 13 times. I won all 12 of my non-drafting races and I placed second in the one draft legal race I competed in.   I won the USAT Olympic Distance National Championship for the second year in a row in the fastest time in championship history, breaking my previous record. A few weeks later I won the Olympic Distance World Championships overall.   I set nine course records, breaking them by close to four minutes, on average. I was the fastest female swimmer at every race except Nationals.  I ran sub 6:30 pace for every sprint race, I broke 6:00 pace on a sprint 5K and was finally sub 40 (sub 6:30) for a 10K.

Did I reach my goals?  ....

Goal setting for triathlon has been a bit challenging for me. You can say you want to get an Olympic distance PR, but the course layout and conditions will affect that greatly. Even PR-ing on the same course isn’t all that exact, the buoys could be different, the wind could be blowing harder or it could be 90 and humid or 50 and raining. All of this will play into what you actually accomplish. You may want to win your age group or overall, but sometimes the field of competition is deep or small so it can be hard to have that as a reliable ...READ MORE