MIM, Escape from Alcatraz, Boise 70.3, and more

It has been awhile since my last post and that has mainly been because of a continuously (and somehow getting worse) crazy schedule and also some challenging times as an athlete. Since my last post I have competed at the Memphis in May Triathlon (7th place)(also shout out to my amazing home stay Jeff Fejfar), The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon (10th), and Boise 70.3 (not worth mentioning...except 1st out of the water).

What has been progressively challenging so far this year is the amount of racing that I have attempted this spring with my work and training schedule. I think that I underestimated how difficult it would be to fly across the country, race, fly home the same day, work the next morning, and then repeat that for 3 months while trying to train and maintain fitness in between. This spring has been a good learning experience, albeit of what not to do, but an experience nonetheless. When I put my racing schedule together back in the winter I had the goal of racing a lot during the spring, qualifying for Hy-Vee and 70.3 world championships, and then being able to take a break during the summer to train for those events. However, after some uncontrollable events (flats/cancelled swims) and some poor racing performances on my behalf, I am in a situation where I have raced (and worked) myself into a state of physical and mental exhaustion and have not qualified for those races.

After having a very poor and flat performance in Boise I decided that I needed to take a quick mental break and re asses what I was going to do with this season. I realized that I did have some good early season races coming off what was a great winter of training. It was really the second half of my 3 month spring racing season that took a dismal turn. I am going to spend some time just training (and of course working) and cut back on the amount of racing that I plan on for the rest of the season. I still think that I can qualify for some of my goal races but I am not going to sacrifice training and kill myself to get to those races. So until now its just training and trying to learn this crazy life of being a (for now) pseudo-professional triathlete

St. Anthony's and Beyond

I had pretty high expectations for myself going into the race at St. Anthony's last weekend. I had raced well in my two previous races which were half ironmans, I had done well at MIT, and this race had the largest point total for the 5150 series. (Because of the high point total this race did end up being one of the most stacked fields ever for a non-drafting olympic distance race). I knew that a strong finish here could set me up for Hy-Vee qualification.

Unfortunately, I somehow managed to hurt my back on Thursday morning before the race. I'm still not exactly sure what happened, (nor does my back feel right), but I was about half way into a ride when my back started to tighten up. By the end of the ride I couldn't stand up straight. I had a couple of massages and some ART therapy in the two days prior to the race and my back started to feel a little better. However, the familiar tightness came back again when I was trying to transition from bike to run. I was able to hobble through the first few miles of the run but by the time I was able to run again I had given up a lot of spots. I actually felt really strong at the end of the run, possibly because I wasn't able to push myself early, and I ended up finishing 16th. Which was not what I was expecting or planning on; but with the hurt back and shortened swim I will take the 100 points for Hy-Vee. Hopefully I can get my back figured out, get a little training, and perform the way that I know I am capable of in Memphis. (assuming its still happening with all the flooding that is going on right now).

After this race I was very open about my frustration and disappointment. It has been a tough year for me in racing so far. I have had a few results that have not been indicative of where I believe I can perform and it was really starting to wear on me. Even with the troubles I have ad so far this year, I realized that triathlon is what I want to do with my life right now. After the race, I was sitting in my homestay's hot tub (after taking and ice bath), I noticed that in my short time as a triathlete I have met so many amazing people that all share the common bond of being involved in triathlon. I truly enjoy training, competing, racing, coaching, and being immersed in this sport. I am extremely excited about the opportunities that are ahead of me and look forward to being able devote myself to something that I truly love.

Oceanside 70.3/New Orleans 70.3

"You don't need good luck...you just don't need bad luck" -Sherpa

This was told to me by my friend Sherpa from Davis Wheelworks after my last race in New Orleans. It is something that has helped to continue to motivate me through what has been two of the most difficult races I have faced in my young triathlon career.

My 70.3 world championships qualifying season started with Oceanside 70.3 I was extremely excited to race this event after doing very well there last year in what was my first ever half ironman distance race. I felt very prepared to have a better result than I did in 2010 and was looking forward to doing my first half ironman of the season; and get some 70.3 points in the process. I won't necessarily go into too many details about this race but I ended up getting 2oth place after a flat tire took me out of the lead group of cyclists at mile 40. One good thing I can take away from this race; my half marathon split ranked in the top 10...I might be learning how to run after all!

My second 70.3 of the season was scheduled to be New Orleans 70.3. While I raced in New Orleans I didn't exactly do a 70.3. My second run of "bad luck" in a row resulted in a canceled swim the morning of the race.

(I will go on a short rant here because I truly believe that canceling a swim in the conditions that were present on race day morning for the professional field was extremely unprofessional by the race organization. As a professional athlete I have swam in some pretty bad swimming conditions and the wind created chop that was present on the lake race day morning would not have even ranked in the top 5 of my hardest swimming conditions. Many professional triathletes are competing as their means to make a living, some are competing for valuable points (myself included), and to not be prepared to host a swim in those conditions is embarrassing for the organization)...end rant

I went through a wide spectrum of emotions on race day morning in New Orleans. After talking with my coach we decided not to race, then we decided to do the race but as a planned workout with intervals, and then after passing some athletes while warming up on the bike for the first 10 miles I decided I should probably just race it. I ended up finishing 10th overall with the 6th fastest bike split and another top 10 run split. (I still think it would have been a much different race if there was a swim...especially with that obviously being my strongest leg)

I know that "bad luck" can happen in races. There are things in the sport of triathlon that are going to continue to occur that are completely out of my control. I am happy with how I was able to deal with some of these new challenges and hopefully I can take away the valuable experiences. In what I hope to be a long career as a professional triathlete I can be guarantee that this will not be my only run of obstacles...Bring on St. Anthony's!!!