Ironman 70.3 World Championship 2014

As some of you know, about a week before the race, I decided 70.3 Worlds was going to be my last triathlon for a while. Really, the decision had been made a few weeks ago, but it took some time to be okay with the decision. A lot of people were shocked and wanted to know why. I had many people tell me, "But you love triathlon." True, triathlon can be fun, but my heart/mind just has not been in it. After a long talk with Coach Steve, I have decided to purse other adventures next year.

Thursday - Travel

Fly and drive in Canada. Dad picked me up from the airport,

Friday - Travel & Check In

Finished the drive to Mont Tremblant. Checked in for the race. (One thing I found to be odd is that they weigh you at check in. I had not been on a scale in months leading up to the race.) Went to the rental house and put my bike together. Welcome banquet. Fireworks.

Saturday - Pre Race

Gear bag check.

Bike check in.

Grocery shopping.

Short run & ride.

Dad made his famous spaghetti sauce for the pasta dinner. He says it was "just alright" but I disagree - great as always!

The Race

I woke up at 5:25 on race morning and felt decent. I had my usual breakfast (oatmeal with raspberries) and was out of the house by 6:00. Dad & I walked down the hill to the transition area. I pumped up the tired and went to swim start.

Swim - 34:41

Place after swim: 71 AG, 1127 OA

I had not been in the water since the Boulder Sunset Triathlon 8 days prior. Standing on the beach I was excited to race. Right before the cannon went off, Sebestain Hayes came over and introduced himself - always fun to meet a fellow IG'er. I don't really remember much about the swim besides feeling comfortable. I really had no contact until the turn for the finish. At that point the AG behind me had caught me. I was shocked it took them that long. I exited the water in 34:41 and thought "it's not over yet." I had been in the water 3x in the past 15 days and somehow pulled off a PR swim.

T1 - 3:40

As soon as I was out of the water I had a wetsuit stripped help me out. We had a nice run to the gear tent and then to the bikes. I don't mind the long T1!

Bike - 2:24:48 (23.2 mph)

Place after bike: 45 AG, 635 OA

I really don't have much to say about the bike course besides, "WOW!" If you are looking for a stunning course...Mont Tremblant is it. The scenery is awesome. I'm not sure there is a flat spot on the bike course, but it is so much fun. I rode without a power meter, so I have no idea what kind of wattage I was hitting. I just know my legs felt comfortable spinning and I am 99% sure I used every gear at some point. Of the 3 hills course I have done (Branson x2, Vegas, and MT), Mont Tremblant is my favorite for sure. The pavement quality is awesome, the crowd support is sweet, and it is an honest course.

My favorite sections of the course are the out and back through the town of Mont Tremblant and the last 20km on the bike. Ride hard for 70km, but to better save something for the last 20km and the run. The hilly last 20km is just getting your legs warmed up for the run rollers on the run.

T2 - 1:03

In and out. No need to sit down!

Run - 1:24:37 (6:27/mile)

Place after run: 25 AG, 328 OA

A lot of people seem to think I am a runner, but I like to think of myself as a bike/run guy. I usually have a strong bike but still set myself up to run well. This time I did not necessarily pay attention to nutrition the last bit on the bike and it showed late in the run.

My plan was to take the first 6.55 mile loop comfortable, then pick it up on loop two. There are very few flat sections on the run. Everything is either rolling or gradual with the exception of a semi-steep downhill and a steep uphill though the village.

I started out running 6:00s and dipped a little under. By 10k in I was comfortable but I knew loop two could be rough. I had two issues going on - a) I had to pee b) I needed solid nutrition. Normally I could take care of issue A while running - if you are relaxed it should not be a problem. Apparently I was not relaxed and I finally had to stop around 15km into the run and go. B, on the other hand, was a major issue. I was hungry and a liquid would not fill the void. I basically had a coal/perform cocktail from 14km on and could not shake it. Was I happy with a 1:24 run? No, but I was happy with the race I put together overall. I knew I had just PR'd, the question was by how much?!

Total - 4:28:49

25th M18-24

328 OA

I was stoked to find out I had a 10 minute PR at the 70.3 distance. I went to the race to enjoy myself and soak in the experience. I had no idea I would be heading back to Boulder as a sub 4:30 guy! It was honestly a dream come true and the perfect ending of this chapter.

I am not going to read too much into the results and try to say "if this, then that." I am happy with the race and enjoyed the day.

People have been asking me if I am stil taking a "gap year(s)" and pursuing other adventures next year(s). The answer is still yes. I went out with a bang, but it has not made me hungry for the sub 4:20 - it only made me feel better about choosing to take time off. Colorado (Boulder) is a wonderful place and I look forward to seeig what is out there. I picked up a pair of cross country skis right before Worlds, so I am actually slightly excited for snow. There are also many mountain bike/run trails I cannot wait to explore. I am thankful/greatful for the opportunities I have had by racing triathlons, but now is the time to explore.

After the race dad and I did a little tour of Canada and VT/NH/MA/NY before heading back to IL/CO. Another awesome trip!

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Hope to see you on the trails!

The Move

Timeline of the week:

June 9 - Arrive back in Greenville (IL).

June 10 - Move out of house in Greenville. Go home to Ottawa (IL).

June 11 - Unpack, repack, sleep.

June 12 - Drive from Ottawa to Estes Park...950 miles in one shot.

It has been a crazy few days. So far I have been able to get in some short rides/runs, a decent swim, okay longer ride, and preview the Estes Park Half Marathon course. I thought it might be easy to jump right back into things since I was only back in IL for 3 nights...we'll see how this coming week goes.

Shakeout ride

VFuel - Maple Bacon is legit!

32 degrees for my long run? What?!

Chillin' by the pond

That doesn't look too steep...

Bear lake!

Good night!

Colorado - High Altitude Camp 2014 - Pt 2

The rest of my Colorado trip was pretty interesting. I was able to meet a lot of cool people and see a lot of neat places.

Tuesday 6-3

Swam in the morning. This was the 2nd day of swimming at altitude, and it was a little rough. I am used to bilateral breathing, but I had to switch back to one side.

I ended up going for a walk Tuesday evening. I figured after the super long run the day before, I needed a recovery day.

Wednesday 6-4

I had the brilliant idea to ride from the house to the Alpine Visitor Center via Trail Ridge Road. This made for quite an interesting ride. It was basically a couple hours of climbing, then it took less than an hour to get home.

As I was riding up, I had many people in cars say, "you're crazy" or "I wish I had your strength" or "you know, it is much easier to see the view from the top in a car." Obviously it is easier to see the view from the by car...but when have I ever done things the easy way?

Wednesday also happened to be National Running Day, so I wet out for a 1 mile run. I was kind of spent after the ride, but I figured a short mile couldn't hurt anything. I even got to see a decent sunset at the pond.

Thursday 6-5

The day started out with a swim. Swimming seemed to get easier as the week went on. The pool heater was also fixed and running again...so that may have had something to do with it.

Thursday evening I went mountain biking in Pinewood Springs. I don't remember the exact trails. We started at 6:30pm and ended around 11:30pm. We made it to Stony Pass for the sunset. It was pretty neat to be able to look out and see Boulder lights from the top of the mountain. We then made our way back down using headlamps. Round trip was almost 5 hours of riding. This was one of my favorite experiences of the trip.

Friday 6-6

I slept in Friday. My normal routine has a 5:30 am wake up call, but that was not happening. I went to the noon lap swim and relaxed for the rest of the day. Well...most of the day. My aunt and uncle picked me up in the afternoon and we went back into Rocky Mountain National Park.

First we went to Alluvial Fan to check out the waterfall. It is pretty crazy how all of the rain/flooding last year caused the river to make it's own path.

Then we went up to Bear Lake for a partial loop around the lake. I feel like that could be a fun loop to run some mornings.

Saturday 6-7

Our last day in Estes Park. I ran a nice, hill 8 miler in the morning. We went back to the waterfall to explore for a bit.

We finally had to say goodbye to Estes Park and made our way toward Westminster to visit family. After dinner I met up with one of my old high school teammates, Jesse, that I hadn't seen in 9 years. It is always fun to catch up with old friends.

I had a great experience out in Colorado. I am very thankful for Joe and Audrey for opening their home to me. They are always such great hosts. I had a lot of fun meeting new people, seeing new sights, and challenging myself on runs/rides. I liked it so much that I decided I should stay! I was offered a job and found a place to stay, so I will be moving to Estes Park next week! I can't wait!

There will be some new challenges that come with this decision. Training at 7500 feet will be a new adventure. There isn't really anything too flat in the area - everything is uphill then downhill.

I said I wanted to get back to short course racing this year - short, fast stuff. It will be interesting to see if the altitude slows me down at sprint/Olympic racing. There is only one way to find out!

Thanks for reading! Good luck to all racing soon.

Colorado - High Altitude Camp 2014 - Days 1-3

I had the opportunity to go to Estes Park for a week. I love Colorado, so I was not going to pass it up.

Friday we drove to western Kansas.

Saturday morning we drove to Colorado. 

Within an 30 minutes of unloading my stuff, we were already heading out on a trail run. The nice thing about Estes is the Rocky Mountains are right there. We took a trail off Trail Ridge Road.

Sunday

Sunday morning I met up with my buddy Mark and a new friend Alan for a trail run. We met up with the Estes Park Trail Runners and went out to Cow Creek Trailhead. From there we did the out and back to Bridal Veil Fallls, and the added on a couple extra miles. Mark was saying he was still tired from the marathon he ran the week before...but he sure put the hurt on, on the way up to the falls.

Sunday afternoon I had my first real mountain biking experience. Mark took me out on a trail and it was rough. A lot of up/downhill and "ballsy" sections... Great for a first timer...right? Riding up to 9000+ feet sure made for an interesting time. I was starting to get a little too comfortable descending and I flipped over my handlebars on a technical downhill section. It was awesome! Let's just say I am in love with mountain biking!

Monday

I had my first swim in Estes on Monday. The pool is located at 8,000ft. I did my normal warm up and was about 6 seconds/100yds slower during the warm up. For my main set so did 2x[10x100 on :15 RI]. I was able to come within about 3 seconds of my normal times...but it was not pretty. I felt tired and could definitely tell the difference between CO and IL.

In the afternoon I met up with Mark and Alan again for a trail run. It was supposed to be the Twin Owls Loop from the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead - maybe 11 miles. I am not the best with directions and ended up going way off course. I finished with 13 miles...and 2:26 run time. So that ended up being my longest duration run...ever. I'm not so sure I really ran everything - there were some pretty wicked hikes out of some sections. Either way that was a lot of time on my feet.

The log run was fueled by a new product I am trying called ViFuel. It is made lin Estes Park. It would be along the same lines of most energy gels, except better. They taste great (Maple Bacon is my favorite...and saved me 2 hours into the run) and they go down so smooth!

Anyway. The Monday log run may have been a little (or a lot long) but it has been fun so far. Can't wait to see what other exciting things happen in the next 5 days of CO! Thanks for reading and have a great   week!

April and May 2014

After 70.3 NOLA I decided to go back to short racing for a while. I like the 70.3 (and think it will be my best distance someday), but I really love speed! So...I decided to put together a string of some shorter stuff.

Litchfield Spring Duathlon

2nd OA

6 days after NOLA I was on the start line of a 2 mile run/12 mile bike/2 mile run. I knew I was not fully recovered, but I love a good duathlon, so I could not pass it up. I also made the decision to be aggressive on the first run to and see what happened.

I was first onto the bike. I was in the lead until mile 5 or so, then Randy Murdick came flying by me like I was in slow motion. He's known for being a great biker, so I was just hoping to stay close for run #2. I was passed again by another guy. We ended up going off course and adding about 3/4 mile to the course. Randy was too far gone as I came off the bike in 4th. I ran my way back to 2nd with a mediocre run. It was a fun event and I would go do it again!

Try Tri SIUe - 1st OA

Short stuff hurts! I went into the race wanting to just focus on doing the small things correctly: quick transitions, no dropped bottles, no wrong turns, etc. The course is a simple pool swim, out and back bike/run. I had a good swim (4th), solid bike (4th), and okay run (1st) to pull off the OA win. This was my first time winning a tri with more than 75 people in it.

North Central College Gregory Invite

May 15 (5k), May 16 (1500m)

My running had been feeling a little "off" for a while, so I decided to race a couple short things on the track. Thursday we drove up to Naperville for the 5000m. I ran 16:06 and felt pretty good about it...I had forgotten how much the 5k can hurt. The next day so raced the 1500m. I was nowhere near my PR, but I ran a pretty evenly paced 1500m, so I was happy to have a consistent race. I ran 4:14.

Rockford 10k

They were offering prize money to the top 3 in the 10k and half marathon, so I decided to try and go win some grocery money. I had no idea who was in the race, I just wanted to go have a solid day. I still felt like I was in a rut, but I was determined to break out of it. I took the lead early and never really looked back. There are a couple out and back sections, so a couple miles in so decided to pus the pace and open up the gap even more. I knew I was running faster than I should be, but I wanted to give myself a cushion if I blew up. The last 2 miles were into the wind, and tr last mile is ahead hal uphill..I was starting to feel it. I ended up hanging on for the win and $100.

Streator Family YMCA Memorial Day 5k

Should I have raced 2 days in a row? Probably not...but what fun is it doing what you're supposed to do? This race got ugly quickly. I had planned on going out in 2nd until the turnaround, then trying to take the lead. I hadn't realized Matt Morse was in the race.. My first 1/2 mile was 2:24 and he already had a couple seconds gap in me. The 2nd half of this race is also hilly/uphill. It made for a long last mile haha. I took second place as Matt continued his domination in the Illinois Valley!

So what have I learned over the past few weeks? I'm not sure. I do know that it has been a lot of fun and I am liking forward go many more races.

So yeah, that is what has been going on in with me. Thanks for reading and hopefully I'll see ya out there!