The 2012-2013 race season is over, and looking back on it, i’m pretty happy, though i think i definitely burned out towards the end, and didn’t put in a hard enough effort in some races.  In particular, i think my hancock, stratosphere, and big climb results were pretty lame.  

BUT i did hit my goal of increasing all my times generally by 10% which is pretty great.

Race	2011	2012	improvement
sears	21:02 ( 1262 seconds )	19:21 ( 1161 seconds )	8%
aon	14:45 ( 885 seconds )	12:55 (775 seconds)	14%
hancock	15:32 (932 seconds)	13:40 (820 seconds)	13%

Some observations:

1) I did better in the shorter races.  My improvement at sears was less than in other races, and i think i did relatively poorer yet in the power hour climbs.  

2) Even more so, it seems the races i did after the power hours, i did quite poorly.  Although i improved almost as much at hancock as at Aon, the year before at hancock i’d had the flu and had spent the night before throwing up, so the improvement there was not as drastic.

3) I didn’t hit the start of the season quite where i wanted to be, and trained during the season to improve my condition, which combined with races, travel, etc, left me pretty burned out and tired by the end of the season.  

4)  I definitely felt trashed by the power hours, especially when i did one six days after the other.  I definitely overestimated my ability to recover during race season.

5) I finished too many races fresh.   Late in the race, i was unwilling to pass someone even when i should have.  

So, with that mind, i am going to work all summer trying to hit the season in better shape, so i have less need to improve & lose weight during the season.  My goal is to take 10% off all of my times, which would mean:

race	2012-2013	2013-2014 (10% improvement goal)	Would have placed / what i got
US bank	13:20 (800 seconds)	12:00 (720 seconds)
Sears tower	19:20 (1160 seconds)	17:24 (1044 seconds)	21st / 69th
300 n LsSalle	9:45 ( 585 seconds)	8:46 (526 seconds)	5th / 13th
Aon Chicago	12:55 ( 775 seconds )	11:37 ( 697 seconds )	9th / 23rd
Hancock	13:40 ( 820 seconds )	12:19 ( 738 seconds )	22nd / 67th
Stratosphere	10:45 ( 645 seconds )	9:40 ( 580 seconds )	21st / 34th
presidential towers	20:43 ( 1243 seconds )	18:38 ( 1118 seconds )	10th  / 20th

What am i going to do differently?

1) Starting my high intensity workouts now, which will allow me to aim for a much slower increase in my high-intensity fitness.  Ease into the season fairly fresh

2) Work more on muscular development, and muscular endurance, My legs were used up before my cardio was.  Go way deeper in yoga poses, lift, climb stairs in a weighted vest.

3) Edge weight from 181 to 170.  Don’t attempt to lose weight during the season, even allow a pound or two to creep on during the season, if that’s what my body is asking for.

4) Focus more on between-workout recovery, eating super clean, anti-inflammatory recovery meals, lots of carbs & moderate protein right after workouts.  i had been too carb-phobic, and i think it hurt me, as i was not able to work out at a high enough intensity often enough.  

5) I need to do more tortuous workouts to build the mental fortitude to suffer and even pass someone at the late stages of a race.   With even a long race being under 20 minutes, it’s only a tiny blip in my day/week/month.