Ahhh, yes...another season firmly under my belt. Which literally is evident by the couple of extra pounds I've added whilst taking in the 'off-season'. In the great race of life, 2009 was filled with its share of fast downhills, painful uphills and a couple of sharp turns that weren't clearly marked.

2009 IN GENERAL
I struggled a bit in 2008 trying to figure out what was going on with my small but noticeable drop in speed until my pulmonologist diagnosed me with 'allergy-induced asthma' in August of '08. He said that asthma can stay dormant in a person that might be predisposed...until (and if) an event triggers it. For me, that was getting mild pneumonia twice. We immediately got it under control for the final couple of months of 2008 and I was poised to live happily ever after.

What I never saw coming was the fact that I had yet to go through a Spring blooming season with asthma. The weekend of March 1st, it snowed in Greenville. 6 days later it was nearly 80 degrees, EVERYTHING was blooming...and I was running the Reedy River 10k. It was really quite a horrifying experience. I ran several minutes slower than capable that day and spent the next month struggling to move at 80% of my 'old speed'. I remember doing a team Fleet Feet run one morning and feeling like we were running a 6:00 pace...the Garmin said 7:30 and I was about to die. I cancelled a handful of races and just told myself to keep pushing through it. And then one day in early April - almost as quickly as it came - it was nearly gone.

Since then, it still seems to affect me to a small degree; especially in shorter races where the heartrate is much higher. My throat also gets tight whenever I drink or eat anything really cold. When the weather is cooler, I have to spit A LOT. I know, it's gross for me too. But at least a 7:30 pace now feels like a 7:30 pace and not a 6:00 pace.

Another 'sharp curve' in 2009 was my birthday. Yeah, I pretty much have one every year but this year I turned 45 and that moves me up into another age group bracket. I feel like I just became a Master competitor just a short time ago (Master = over 40). Has it already been 5 years? Oh, they grow up so fast. I continued to forget for most of the year that I had moved up. I kept looking at the results in the 40-45 age group only to realize that both my age AND my mind are slipping

STATS
So far in 2009, My training stats are: (approximately)

Swim: 175.2 kilometers
Bike: 5048 miles
Run: 1432 miles
Gym work: 30 hours

Races completed:

11 running races
3 duathlons
5 triathlons
1 epic ride (our annual Ride to Atlanta)
This is 5 more events than last year. Surprising considering I cancelled a couple of triathlons because of my allergy problems in the Spring.

RUNNING
Aside from the Reedy River 10k - which I talked about above, my running year was fairly stellar. I took the SC State 5k Master's Championship and was the 1st overall Master in all 3 other local/regional running races. On the larger stage, I took home the USA Track & Field 10k National Trail Championship for the 40-44 age group. As usual, I excelled at my distance events and pulled off an amazing coincidence: 41st overall at the Virginia Beach Half Marathon (1:16:49-PR) and 41st overall at the Marine Corps Marathon (2:43:13). Both events had 20,000+ participants and in both events, I was top 5 Masters.

This year, I completed 2 relay running events - one competitively and the other for fun. At the Atlanta Ekiden, our group of local 'old guys' schooled about 30 other teams to take first place overall and the 208-mile Blue Ridge Relay was an adventure that allowed me to do some unbelievable training in the mountains...and at the same time, enjoy an adventure with friends.

DUATHLON
I pretty much went 3 for 3 in duathlon this year. 3rd overall in an early season, regional du followed by a National title in the 45-49 category and culminating in September with a World Championship title. I felt amazingly fast at Nationals - about 95% of what I might have done 5 years ago. My performance at World's waned a bit but was good enough to hold off 2nd place

TRIATHLON
My sprint triathlons were a pain point for me early in 2009. In 3 sprint races, I finished 15th twice and was able to pull out a 6th overall at the Greenville Sprint Triathlon - although still not up to par. In my 'highlight' events for triathlon, I fared well. The Chattanooga Waterfront Tri, which is an olympic-distance event and typically not one of my better formats, saw me take home the win in the 45-49 category and a respectable 21st overall out of an extremely competitive field.

It was unfortunate that I had to cancel one of my half-iron distance events this year because this is where I typically excel. In July, I took 4th overall at the High Cliff Half Iron Triathlon with a time of 4:18. I consider it one of my top 3 performances of the year.

MISCELLANEOUS
In the world of retail sales, they say it's "location, location, location". In the world of multi-sport racing it "support, support, support" and I think I'm safe in saying that my family, friends, teammates and sponsors can all raise a glass and cheer a successful 2009 season. GoTriSports, Fleet Feet, Rudy Project, Nutrifit and others stepped up to the plate in 2009 and I hope I represented them all in proud fashion. Extra thanks to my wife Janis and my training partner, Dan Moss. I also had a chance to help out Richard Osborne with some articles for GO Magazine this past year - I'm never at a loss for something to say.

LOOKING FORWARD - 2010
So what about 2010? Well, the big news for me is that after doing this solo for nearly 30 years, I decided to try someone else's plan. Rick Kattouf will be coaching me in 2010 and I look forward to contrasting my wisdom with his and reaching new heights. There are a lot of great coaches in the area and I selected Rick mainly because he provides 'nutritional coaching' as well and to be quite honest, this is one area that I could stand to improve. Rick is also fairly close by and has past success as a Duathlete so we have a bit more in common than some of the other area coaches.

Some people like to focus on their strengths and others on their weaknesses. In 2010 I am going to run the gammut and hit them both. I am scheduled to do 3 half-iron events in 2009 and may also refocus locally since the SC Triathlon Series will be adding a category for 'Elite Masters'. I'm hoping to get a chance to hone some of my new swimming skills I acquired late this season and if scheduling allows, compete in the USAT National Triathlon Championships in Tuscaloosa, AL. My big running focal point will be the Master's National Marathon in Minneapolis. Now that I am racing in the 45 age group, my marathon time is right on the edge of a medal.

My full schedule is forthcoming and will be posted on my website in a few weeks.

I'm excited about this upcoming year - both for myself and all my active friends.

Chris "G-Man" Giordanelli