Sounds like an awesome first season! Im in the boat with you on this being a good year for the most part. At the new year I was drunk about 80% of the time, especially when i had to go to work. I was smoking a pack to a pack and a half of camel reds a day depending on the day, and just in general hated my life.

I have now completed 4 sprint triathlons, 2 competitive 10k's, and a full marathon. Being able to check off 2 things ive always wanted to do but never thought i would (a triathlon and a marathon). I'm sure you can imagine i no longer smoke, and my drinking has been kept to an occasional leisure activity.

I think even more important than looking back on the year, is looking forward to the next one. I'm looking forward to starting my tri season with a oly, and finishing with a half iron. I'm also hoping to cut an hour or two off of my marathon time at the end of next season. Other big goals for the year include getting a friend ive been training in running to do a triathlon, and drop her 5k time by a few minutes. As well as training my father for his first 5k in july. It should be a fun year. How about you guys?

-Alan

The first week in January 2007 I decided to weigh myself. I was shocked to see that I weighed 220lbs. That's not really that bad considering I'm 6'2" and carry my weight pretty lean...but just 6 years earlier I was at 185lbs. That was it. I told my wife the old "I need to start working out" business was just not working. So, I set a goal....a July Sprint Triathlon.
That did it. I did that sprint and one other. Did four 5K's and placed in my age group in 2 of them. Being a pretty good high school cross country runner, I was shocked at how much I had lost in the past 15 years.....just shocking, just forgot how fast 17 minutes in the 5K really is. I haven't come close to that. But it's out there and it's getting closer.

I'm just getting over a broken foot, plan on buying a new bike over the winter, have 2 early sprint triathlons on the calendar, I'm planning on 2 late summer Olympic triathlons and a late fall 1/2 marathon.

This stuff has changed my life.

What has changed...A LOT.

Great idea for a thread azstinger - looking back on accomplishments and hopefully learning from mistakes made along the way and of course, looking forward to another year of racing :)

After doing a bunch of sprints over the years, I finally decied to bump it up and did my first (and second) olys last year - what a confidence booster! I did my first with TnT, which for me was a great and rewarding experience. Now I'm already registerd for two 1/2 marathons, and am setting my sights on a full marathon and a HIM.

Wow, 2007 will be a tough act to follow for me! 2006 was my first year of triathlon and running races with the highlights being finishing my first marathon and 4 tri's including a Half.
I came into 2007 with the goals of going sub 3 hours in a marathon and qualifying for Boston, a sub 10 hour IMAZ and qualifying for Kona, a 2 hour Olympic, and a solid perfromance in Hawaii if I made it. I got my 2:59 marathon in Jan., my 9:43 and qualifier at IMAZ, I missed my 2 hour Olympic by :33, and had the race of my life in Hawaii. It has been an amazing year and I am still enjoying the feeling and will for some time. :)

I was just thinking about this yesterday too when the topic of a New Year's party came up.

Last January 1: very little exercise, couldn't run more than 10' without losing my breath, hadn't ridden a bike in a decade.

Since then I've done 3 5k's, 2 10ks, the Urbanathlon, got my road bike, got my g/f to do 2 5k's, her mom to do 1 5k, and her mom's b/f to do 2 5k's. All with plans for more before the year is out.

Looking to next year I've got 6 sprints, 1 oly, and a half marathon (with the g/f) planned and anything else I can find in between.

These thoughts have been swirling around in my head for the past week too. Last year this time I was soaking up all the info I could on this site and getting ready for my first sprint in August. It was amazing and I am totally hooked on it all. After the sprint I left for a week vacation in NY and had a great time with my husband seeing the sites. Back home two days and my dad passed away suddenly. I remember watching on Wide World of Sports years ago Iornman and he thought that was so amazing- I think that was the idea that set it all off years later. Anyhow- funeral and grief just took it out of me--then came home to 9hr shifts at work instead of 8 which was my window to run, bike--whatever for this busy mom. That left 4am- not my fav. time of the day.
Thanksgiving weekend spent in the amazing N. Bend OR area found me with free time for the first time in weeks. I got up early and walked to the end of the street messing with my watch, then I just ran- ran like a kid being chased, like I just couldn't go fast enough. Made me laugh so hard I had to stop. I just ran and ran each morning of our trip- to the bay, up and down hills, to the airport. I cried, laughed, was sore and exhausted---and got it all back again.
So as I plan for this next year's events I am going to remember my Dad and how excited he was back in August when I called him that Sunday morning and about screamed " I did it"--and how I found out later how he bragged to everyone how I did it and in my goal time. Life isn't easy but a good full out run down the street with nowhere really to go sure puts things in perspective.

Bummer, I didn't realize that I put a sub-12 as my IMWI goal.
I guess I set a more realistic target as I progressed through training.
So more motivation for this year as I missed it by 12 minutes.

2007 was a great year for me too!
Sub 2:25 Oly (3x)
Took my first overall win :-)
A handful of race fastest transition splits (sub 1:00 t1+t2)
Sub 45 10k run split
20:30 5k split
1st sub 20 open 5k since high school
Qualified for Worlds 2008

Met all my goals!

Haven't thought of 08 goals yet (I'll do that in 3 weeks after finals), but the season will be centered around:
Collegiate Nationals (4/19)
Worlds (6/8)
Age Group Nationals (9/20)
Sub 2:20 Oly is probably the next step for me.
(oh and how about a sub 1:10 bike - that's my limiter now)