Focussing on areas of improvement

So as the season comes to a close, I am looking back at what I and others are referring to as a breakthrough season for me. I got two 4th place finishes in my age group in my last 2 races of the season and consistently finished within the top 15 overall.

I have seen huge improvements in all areas of my triathlons, especially my my bike leg and transitions. I am now up with the fastest in these areas. My run was by far my weakest part last year but I did see encouraging improvements over the season. Finally, my swimming seems to have improved greatly in the pool but for some reason in the open water I am about the same as last year.

So taking a look at where I am, I feel that I have 2 main areas or improvement for next year. I need to be up with the first pack of swimmers from the start so I really need to nail what is slowing me down in the ocean. It could be a comfort thing, or a lack of racing experience in the water. It could require a better warmup structure before the race, or just better technique in my stroke. Lots of areas to look into.

The second area of improvement is in my running. Although I have increased in pace from 8:00 miles last year to 7:00 at the start of the season and then a peak of 6:35 at the end, I need to get under the magic 6:00 by next season to be able to hold off the fastest runners at the end of the race. 6:00 pace for a 5k would be great. 6:00 for a 10k pace would be even better.

As priorities go, I am going to focus on my running first while trying to keep a base level of swimming and cycling going over the winter and we will see how things go from there.