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After a tough 2020 without many racing opportunities, at the start of 2021, I would have never thought I would be able to race 16 times this year. For someone who loves competition, it was amazing to be back at the starting line of major races again. I wanted to recap the year from my perspective and take a retrospective look on the year for what went well and what I could learn from. First, a couple of key highlights:
What were some surprises of the year? First, running 13:48 on the track for 5,000m well surpassed my expectations. I had run a PR of 14:02 at the rabbit track classic in 2018. But in April of this year, I was just starting to really get fit again and during the Trials of Miles KC Qualifier, I pretty much PR’d in every split leading up to the 5k and had an amazing last lap to get 4th place. Second, after a somewhat disappointing track 10,000m in May, I made a decision to have fun and race the Vail GoPro Games 5k and 10k - a mountain/trail race at high altitude. I knew my fitness and speed were awesome, but I had not been running any hills. I wanted to do it for fun and enjoy the weekend with the family in Vail and just test myself in something that wasn’t too calculated. I ended up winning the 5k and coming in 2nd in the 10k to Joe Gray, which was a pretty great result. It inspired me to do a few more mountain races including a win at the Rendezvous Mountain Hillclimb later in August. Third surprise was definitely the USA Club Cross Country Championships just 6 days after the marathon. The Fort Collins Running Club put together a team and it was a blast to race as a team and come away with a 14th place finish. I couldn’t run for a few days following the marathon and then ran in the final few days before the race. XC races always start so fast, but I did a nice job putting myself in the race but not at the front. I started in 81st place at the 1k and moved up throughout the whole race, passing between 4-9 people every kilometer and ended up in a very respectable 24th place - way better than I had expected to finish. What were the downsides of the year? Overall, it was a terrific year but there were certainly some bumps along the way. While 28:50 was a 10,000m PR on the track, I also knew I was in shape to run significantly faster. At the Portland Track Festival in May, I went through 5k in 14:06, and faded over the second half. So while you can’t really be upset with a PR, I certainly didn’t hit that one out of the park. Entering the year I thought it would be less likely to have track races cancelled due to COVID, so I set a stretch goal of making the Olympic Track Trials, which I thought would take around 28:20 (it ended up taking closer to 28:01). I didn’t get that close to achieving that goal, but I’m proud I took a crack at it and still came home with a new PR. Then, at the USA Mountain Running Championships in August, Joe Gray and I were side-by-side in the lead at almost 3 miles (nearing the highest point) in the 6 mile race, but I faded and made a small wrong turn on the downhill that added a bit of time and ultimately finished 10th place. In hindsight, I simply got too aggressive and too excited on the uphill, had a breathing issue and paid the price for poor race execution. In the race following, I DNF’d at the USA 10 Mile Championships on the road - my body telling me I needed to hit the reset button. Finally, the California International Marathon was both a great race and a disappointing race. I knew where my fitness was, and it was well ahead of when I ran 2:12:28 in 2017. As described in this blog - http://www.tylermccandless.us/blog/cim-recap, the race didn’t play out ideally like it did in my PR, and I just didn’t have the legs in the last four miles. My split at mile 20 was a minute faster than my split when I ran 2:12:28, and I was still on 2:11 pace at 22 miles…but that’s how hard the marathon is to nail, as I toughed it out across the line in just over 2:14. Ultimately, the 10,000m on the track, the USA Mountain Running Champs and CIM were three of my top goal races and I didn’t achieve my stretch goals, but also still ran pretty well. Having your best performance in your most important races of the year is challenging and it’s something I look to be working on accomplishing in 2022.
What’s Next?
You’ll have to read the next blog!
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