2011 in Review...

Well I never finished with my Chrissie Wellington post, but meeting her was definitely a highlight. My favorite quote from her was in response to a question about her weekly training hours. When asked how many she logs she simply replied, "it's 24/7. Everything I do is to make me a better athlete because it's what I do. If I'm not out training, I'm fueling, recovering, or learning something new." That's a loose quote because I can't remember what exactly Chrissie said, but the message was the same. I'll also throw in that my buddy Rich thinks we had a moment. Rich said he noticed when I was up there talking to her, she gave me a little extra attention... I don't care if he's blowing smoke up my ass or not, I'll take it! Chrissie is incredible by the definition of the word.

That's the moment!

But moving on to the year in review... Some pretty amazing things happened...

1 - I got engaged! I'm going to marry the love of my life, the most amazing person I know. I couldn't be luckier to have such a beautiful, smart, driven, funny, and loving fianceé.

2 - I became an Ironman at IMLP! After 6 months of training and sacrifice I was able to achieve my goal and have a great day in the beautiful Adirondacks. Not only did I get to hear Mike Reilly yell my name as I came down the finisher's shoot, but I had a near perfect race day according to my projections/goals. It was an experience I will never forget. And when I crossed that line I realized for the first time in my life (that I remember) something that I once thought was impossible, was in fact a possibility.

3 - I got into graduate school and started a MA program at Villanova University. This will inevitably help me in the long term wherever I end up. And despite my less than perfect academic focus as an undergraduate, I can now redefine myself as a student. I'm pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies, and I'm very interested in the material I'm studying. The next 18 months will be busy, but very rewarding.

4 - I was part of a cross country team that placed 3rd in the nation. Seeing these kids work so hard day in and day out might have taught me more than I taught them. It was incredible. I learned from the best coach in the country (recognized nationally as coach of the year), and I connected with a number of student athletes and coaches that I will not soon forget. Not to mention the traveling, racing, and partying that goes with such great successes.

The rest - I set a PR at every distance I raced in 2011. My streak continues - every race I've ever entered at a given distance has ended with a PR. There have been over 6,700 views of my blog! I'll give 4,000 to Maddy and her family members and another 2,000 to me and my family, but there are still a couple of you out there reading this! Lastly, I've had a lot of fun since IMLP. And there are probably some other things that haven't come to me...bottom line, it's been a great year!

Things I learned in 2011 that I hope to do better in 2012...

1 - I need to work on my swim. I'm not exactly sure what needs to be done, but my biggest "disappointment" of the year was my swim time at IMLP. I plan on racing some shorter stuff in '12, which will hopefully force me to improve my swim in order to be competitive. I actually haven't planned out how I'm going to get better just yet, but it needs to happen.

2 - I've just recently learned after completing my first semester in graduate school that for me it is not as easy to get up early or stay up late and study as it is to sneak in an early/late workout. Pushing myself through 16+hour training weeks while working 50 hours is somehow doable, but studying/reading/preparing for class is somehow much harder. My first semester back was tougher than I thought it would be.

3 -  It's all about balance in relationships and life. During my build up to Lake Placid I was selfish, and it wore on Maddy and me. I didn't make time to have fun and do some things that a good partner should do. Next time around I will be more organized, more balanced, and it will be easier on both of us. Not going the iron distance in 2012 though. Maybe 2014?

Coming (hopefully before the new year) will be some goals for 2012...

Happy holidays!

I met Chrisse Wellington

last night. No big deal. More to come later, but I had to post a pic.

I feel cheated...

I pay over $125 per month in health insurance. I go to the doctor maybe once a year. I only keep my health coverage because I've been told it's good, and if I were to have a serious bike accident I would apparently be covered without having to pay thousands of dollars. But today I feel cheated by Blue Cross Blue Shield.

I have a tear in my groinal area known as an "athletic pubalgia". The only doctor that repairs this procedure is right here in Philadelphia, PA. Unfortunately, he's out of network. Well, this wouldn't be a problem for my great coverage, which will reimburse for out of network procedures if there is no one in network that can do it. *However, they will only pay the rate they find appropriate for the procedure, not the rate the out of network doctor charges (*this last tidbit is conveniently unpublished).

Where does that leave me? Well I have the tear. I need the procedure if I want the pain to go away. The surgery costs $9,000. And Blue Cross Blue Shield will reimburse me for ~$2,000. That made scheduling pretty easy... I can't have it done.

This frustrates the hell out of me because there is a  battle going on here between the insurance companies and the doctors, yet I am the one who gets punished. Blue Cross Blue Shield sets the cost for procedures as if they should control everything, and then the doctors rebel by not accepting the insurance because they don't agree on the rates. Surely both businesses are only looking out for themselves, while the consumer is left out in the cold. Should my procedure cost 9 grand? Probably not. Is it worth more than the 2 grand that BCBS is willing to pay for it? Probably. Regardless, I am a paying customer and can't get the coverage I need. I'm pissed.

Is it a necessary surgery? No. I probably tore the ligament in at the Philly marathon in 2010, which means I trained for and raced IMLP already having the injury. However, does it bother me? Yes. It is an annoying, dull pain that I can work through, but I shouldn't have to. I'm 26 years old. I have a long 'career' ahead of me racing and training. Sure I could just stop running (which aggravates it the most), and it would probably not bother me, but I can safely say that I will be a swimmer/biker/runner for quite a while to come. I shouldn't have to stop something I love to do at this age - especially when there is a way to get it fixed, and when I am paying for insurance to protect me from a situation like this...

Sorry I had to vent. I'm also procrastinating by choosing to write a blog post rather than a final paper... I will try to keep things more positive from here on out.

Good news on the horizon - no surgery this winter means I won't have to take any (more) time off, and I have no excuses for not getting after it as soon as finals are over. Even though I don't have IM dreams for 2012, I have a few ideas dancing around my head...

NXN - Nike Cross Country Nationals 2011

This past weekend I flew out to Portland, OR, the home of Nike, for their annual cross country national championship race. NXN 2011 was quite a trip. Portland is one of the coolest towns I've been to in quite a while, and the races were incredible. We brought our SE Regional Champion girls team as well as 1 boy runner - the best in the state of DE and 6th fastest runner in the SE Regional race.

NXN takes place at a horse racetrack called Portland Meadows. Mostly because of the time of year and geographical location it's wet, muddy, and slow. It's a course that levels the playing field a bit. There are hay bails to jump over (twice) and "whoop-d-doos" (small man-made rolling hills) to run over (twice also).

It was Tatnall's 6th trip to the big show, and there were high expectations. However, the number one seeded team out of NY hasn't been beaten in their six straight trips to NXN, so we weren't the favorites.

The boys race was first. It was incredible to see the amount of talent on the starting line. And, some of the best individual runners weren't even there. NXN is a team race. Individual qualifiers are put on a regional team, which can't place in the national competition. Our lone boy representative raced as the SE Regional Team. The best individual boys will race this coming Saturday at the Footlocker Invitational. Anyway, the race went off at 10:05. The start is FAST! There is about a 300m stretch before the first turn, and everyone knows you have to put yourself in a decent position if you want to be able to move through the field at all. A couple guys decided to take it out very hard and pull away from the pack before the first mile. I think the leaders hit around 4:40. By the 1.5 mile mark a lone runner who made his way out early started to fade back and a boy from Illinois blew by him. I thought he too was going too hard too early. However, some other spectators around me informed me that he hasn't lost a race all season, and he was ranked #2 in the country. He pulled far out in front by the 2 mile mark and didn't even look back. He won the race (against the best runners in the country!) by 30 seconds and set a course record of 15:03. Our boy placed #63 overall. A team from the N. Jersey shore brought home the team title - my uncle's alma mater actually.

The girls hit the line at 11:35, racing as Wilmington XC. They got out early with our top runner in a great position to strike. Once again a couple runners went out hard and died off before the 2 mile mark. The front pack was still closely packed coming through 2 miles. In the last 800m it was our #1 and a sophomore from Simi Valley, CA. The young girl from the sunshine state pulled away. 4 seconds later our star senior crossed the line. An amazing finish to her senior xc season. Our number 2 finished in the top 25 as well. The aforementioned girls team from NY remained unbeaten. Second place went to another team from NY, and we took 3rd....in the country. Not too bad.

An amazing weekend. And I got to see/experience an awesome city - Portland. Amazing job, girls (and Sam)!

So now cross country is over. I'll be giving the running legs a break for a little while. It's also finals week at Villanova, Maddy's bday Saturday (!), and there's a pending "athletic pubalgia" surgery before Christmas.

Check back soon!
Happy training!