Ironman Austria!

Hola!!

I had to double-check to make sure I still had the rights to this webpage before starting this, and got a bit caught up in nostalgia (took me 13 days to read all my old post-race blogs lol), but I decided to bring this back to recap the latest race!

Reading the last entry in here from 2021 and seeing where I’m at right now in 2024 is honestly kind of crazy. The highs and lows of the last three years have made it a wild ride and it would take much more than one blog or YouTube video to outline all of the changes that have happened in my life, but luckily my Instagram story highlights cover most of the obvious changes, so just go look at those if you have no idea what has been going on!

On a post-race/food poisoning hike in Girona!

So Ironman Austria :) 

One of my goals over the last few years has been to target 1-2 long-distance races per year and learn as much as I can. The 70.3 distance, especially in Europe, is extremely competitive… Meaning that if you don’t come in with a borderline ITU swim background you are unlikely to be able to win any race, let alone make some money. The shift to a long-distance focus has put me in a position where tactically I can find myself around other athletes of similar ability for most of the day, hopefully being able to use them to launch myself into as high of a finishing position as possible. In December when looking at the race calendar I knew I wanted to do a June-July Ironman, but I also know that historically I’m pretty burnt out by the end of June… So choosing between Challenge Roth, which was in early July, and Austria in mid-June was kind of easy at that point. The guarantee of a wetsuit-legal swim in Austria also helped!

The view from my kitchen in Austria

The race takes place in Klagenfurt, about an hour north of Slovenia, and there are some pretty spectacular mountain ranges in the area, which also always draws me to a race. Honestly, getting to look at a sheet of paper that has a bunch of really nice locations and be like hmmmmm yeaaaaaa think I’ll go there is a pretty crazy thing… something that 8 years ago I probably would have thought was impossible and I am extremely privileged to be in a situation where I can live anywhere I choose, do basically any race I want, and have the opportunity to make some cash doing it!

I’ve spent the last few years dialing in a really solid race morning routine (my sherpas can confirm, it’s pretty dialed), and so for whatever reason, I woke up less nervous on race morning than I ever have in my life for event. I knew that the last 6 months of training had gone as perfectly as they possibly could have, I don’t think I missed a single session the entire time (including yoga!!), and had the best winter/spring of my life. That coupled with a few solid results in some really competitive European 70.3s had me feeling like I had done everything in my power to set me up for at minimum a really good day.

Racked up the day before the race!

Fast forward a few hours to the start, things got a little bit chaotic as they lined us up with only 90 seconds to go, and I quickly realized that my plan of starting on the far right was also everybody else's. I knew that historically this race has a giant group around 3 minutes down from Lukas Wojt (former Olympic swimmer), and my race plan involved trying very hard to make it into that group. When the gun went I found myself getting absolutely buried by the boys. It was about 1300m to the first turn buoy, so I knew that it really didn’t matter what happened in terms of positioning immediately, as we all had such a long way to go. That said, it’s still kinda shitty when a bunch of grown men are more concerned with moving up for zero tactical reasons and grabbing at legs than actually making forward progress (lol). Eventually, the group settled in, and I found myself around some colored caps. I had a minor mental breakdown when I thought I was swimming next to somebody who I will not name and potentially having the worst swim of my life, but luckily it turned out to be Milosz Sowinski, who will later on in this story become a hero who I owe dinner. 

I am somewhere on the far right

Honestly, the swim course was pretty sick. The lake is spectacular, there are tons of spectators at the start and along the canal where we exit. It was pretty uneventful and boring once I was in the group, and I really tried to just switch off, stay relaxed, and use as little energy as I could. The biggest focus for me was also figuring out the size of the group where I was, and how I could have the best possible T1 to position myself for the start of the bike. When we exited it seemed like we had a giant group of 10 or 15 guys, and I saw some very strong bikers (Weiss and Horseau) who I knew were going to absolutely crush the course. I also wish I had kept more of an eye on Tim van Hemel and Lukas Stahl, who went on to have some excellent races, but overall I was just focused on being super smooth and fast through T1. Milosz and I made it onto the bike in 2nd and 3rd in the group, and Horseau was right behind me.

Heading out of the water

Onto the bike with Arthur

The bike course starts along the lake we swam in, then heads into the mountains for a short loop, followed by another bigger loop with a few steeper climbs before heading back into town. Then we repeat ;). On my recon ride, I found it was actually pretty fast despite each loop having around 3000ft of climbing since most of the descents didn’t require any braking, and there were only two U-turns on each lap (3 total for the bike). I also finally got around to setting up my eTap groupset, and wow, that made a massive difference being able to shift on the basebars! Timmy, if you’re reading this, it’s finally happened.

Our peloton rolled out, with Horseau and Weiss quickly getting to the front, and our speed hovering over 30mph for most of the way out. I found myself in 5th wheel, but the guy in 3rd wheel was really struggling to maintain a consistent gap, which was causing a bit of stress for most of the people behind us, as nobody wants to let a gap open up early on in the bike. I could tell you all about my watts and the intensity factor, but I know that all you really care about is that my power balance was 50.3/49.7.

Weiss, Horseau, Van Hemel, and Stahl pulled away doing some large numbers up a hill, and once they were gone, our group of 4-5 finally settled into what I felt was a really sustainable pace. I focused on eating and drinking and staying out of the wind, while a large German just crushed himself on the front keeping the pace high. It was honestly the best-case scenario for me, where I knew the pace was fast, but with the legal draft you get at 12ish meters, it’s easy enough to sit in without pushing yourself too hard. Up the climbs, Vincent (Belgian dude) and I would set the pace to make sure we didn’t lose too much time, and I thought we were riding pretty solid. Jon Breivold came by our group maybe 90 minutes in, and I already knew that going with him was absolutely not the move, so I just kind of let him ride away as it didn’t make sense. He went on to outbike us by 15 minutes, so I think that I made the right call there, as it likely would not have ended in a great race for me had I tried to match him (if I could have).

bikin

On the second lap of the bike, the rain began, and while none of the turns were particularly sketchy, there was a lot of age group traffic. I had a minor incident where I grabbed a bottle at an uphill aid station going like 8 mph, and then looked up to run into an older fellow who had decided to full-on stop right in front of me. Luckily my body and bike were OK (he didn’t fall), and I was able to chase back on after about 7 minutes of adrenaline-filled angst. Once back in the group, I realized I still felt quite good, and did a bit of work here and there at the front. But not too much, because I need to reserve my passenger princess elite status. 

In the rain on lap 2

Eventually, I found myself on the wrong side of a split in the group with maybe 10 miles to go on a downhill thanks to our buddy who couldn’t hold the gap losing the wheel, but I was able to salvage a decent gap and drop the rest of the guys, so rolled into T2 about a minute down from Milosz and co.

Normally in a 70.3 I put a ½ bottle with a bunch of electrolytes, etc so I can take it when I start the run. But during a full, my plan is to crush 2 bottles with 30 minutes to go on the bike. Unfortunately, I had ejected a bottle with 7 or 8 miles left, which foiled my plan. I still had a special snack baggy with some pretzels (ironically the only thing I’d be able to eat in about 3 hours) so I slammed that and then headed out onto the run. I started out running a bit too fast, as one does in an IM, and was dramatically passed by a French athlete. After 1km he began to slow down, and I passed him again. I’m not really sure why he thought he was a 2:25 marathon guy for 750 meters, but I did see him again, this time crying under a tree about 7km in, a nice reminder that slowing down isn’t always a terrible idea…

I tried to take the first 10km pretty easy, but I felt quite good and hadn’t had any signs of cramping or fatigue from the bike or run so far, which meant that I had probably been getting the pacing and nutrition generally right. Around 10km in I still felt OK, and reminded myself that there were literally 20 miles to go and that 20 miles is a super long run. At that point, I just stopped looking at my watch and focused on making the effort feel as easy as possible and trying to trust that my body would keep running fast. The goal was to use as little mental energy as I possibly could between 10-30km, and almost keep it on autopilot, with a pace that MIGHT be too easy. I figured that if I was fresh going into the last 12km, that was when I’d be catching guys anyway. I had no idea what position I was in, but I could tell I was running pretty well, and could also see that a lot of guys were working super hard.

Passing swim leader Lukas Wojt

The run course also required quite a bit of thinking… So while it was extremely flat, there were a ton of random turns, mixed surfaces, narrow paths, and neighborhoods to navigate. The first highlight probably came around 2km in when I saw the Fischer family (one of my Mom’s work friends) who live in Austria! Another was 18km in when running through downtown Klagenfurt when they began to plan Born in the USA. Needless to say, several choice words were included in my compliments to the DJ, and quite a few high 5s to drunk strangers were given out. I managed to get to 25 km before my brain was pretty worn out. My legs weren’t feeling great, and I was just kind of holding out for a hero. I could see that I was looking better than a lot of people ahead, though, and decided to keep pushing, knowing that if I just made it to 5km to go I’d be ok and probably survive. At a around 31km, something switched, as it usually does in an IM, and I went from feeling OK to absolutely terrible.

Feeling good going through town

It’s honestly hilarious how you can go into a race with a plan for how you’re going to handle these tough moments. But when they come, and you try to think of all those thoughts, all that really happens is you basically go: “F this, I’m so over this, this is so dumb. I cannot believe how much time and money I have put into feeling this terrible (even though 7ish hours of the day felt great).” Unfortunately for my body, I was also catching people. And catching people is very motivating… So I kept pushing, and realized I wasn’t really slowing down very much, eventually getting 4 or 5 guys in that last 10km. I had no idea what position I was in, and could not wait to get across that line and lie down. There is a part of my subconscious that always wants to try and at least remember a bit of the last 3 miles of an IM, as it’s a really special experience. Being 8ish hours into a workout, absolutely destroying your body is honestly quite an experience, and taking in the crowds, people screaming, other competitors, etc is really special and something that you do want to absorb, so I do my best to not black out at these races! 

Starting to get ugly

I technically crossed the finish line in 11th position, and immediately laid down on the ground, before going to the medical tent where I got some help. I wasn’t able to eat anything but pretzels for the next 12 hours because my intestines had shut down and was in a lot of pain. I remember calling my brother after the race, somewhat dejected. Sometimes during the race, you think you’re being soft, and I know I had those thoughts for sure during the last 10km, where you really are just trying to make yourself go faster and motivate yourself and nothing seems to work. But it turned out I had actually just put my body through some shit, and it just wasn’t able to push anymore. Getting 11th place is especially demoralizing, as it’s 1 place out of the prize money (the official Mantell curse).

Final U-Turn before the finish. Very over it.

The next morning I got a message from Milosz saying that I should probably go to awards since the athlete who had originally finished in 10th had cut the course, and I was probably going to get a plaque. I immediately began to not regret anything I had done to myself the day before. Pushing myself past that guy 24 miles into the run was totally worth it now. Not being able to eat for 12 hours and having a stomach completely crushed? I’d do it for 48 if it meant $1000! Basically, a lot changes when you throw in some cold hard cash, even if it is 15x less than what the winner got ;)

Realizing I'm going to get under 8:14 if I go a bit faster!!

To make it simple, I got 10th and then spent the day hanging out with my friend Yannick at the Strandbad (local beach) where we just chilled and ate and talked and it was super nice. The next day I took a chill day on the road and stayed at a nice Airbnb on the way to the Vienna airport, before heading back to Girona!

best fashion tho

This has been a very long write-up, almost as long as some triathletes' Instagram captions, but I hope that if you’ve taken the time to read it you enjoyed hearing my perspective on the race, the dynamics, and maybe have a shred of desire to see a new cool place or challenge yourself to do something you think you can’t.

I also have a lot of people to thank for helping me get to this performance who have been massive enablers of my life over the last 7 years since I decided to chase this moving target. A lot of the time I feel like a dog chasing a car; I have no idea what I’m going to do once I get it (or if I even can), but I’m having a really fun time going after it, so for now I’m going to keep doing that! I’ve been really lucky to have such great friends and family in my life, and I appreciate everybody who reached out before or after the race - it really means a lot!

I’m finishing up a bit of a break right now (which is how I’ve had the energy to write this post), and my next race will be on 8/18 in Czechia with Yung Blake Peiffer, followed by Ironman Barcelona on October 6th.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions - and thanks for reading!

Also - thanks Sportograf for the photos!!

Back to Arizona :)

 2020… am I right?

It’s been a while since I’ve used this space to put my thoughts into words. Some people can just absorb everything that happens in their life to them in their own heads. Some put everything in the form of 14 paragraph Instagram captions. Others tweet to the point where they literally get banned from all social media platforms and lose a presidential election. I like to write, and sometimes publish my thoughts on the internet for 6-10 people (mostly immediate family) to see.

My life for the past... 48 months?

The past year wasn’t an easy one for me, or really anyone in the world. The pandemic put me in situations I never thought I would be put in, and forced me to make some challenging decisions I was not emotionally expecting to make at this point in my life.  After some stressful months, I recognized where my headspace was at, and realized that I wasn’t happy with the track that my life was on. I felt like I had so many things that I wanted to do, places I wanted to live, people I wanted to spend time with, and I needed to take action. I want to be able to look back with no regrets.

Crocs store... Yeah I got new ones!

Without going into too much detail, In early September I packed up what I thought I might need for races and for training, and headed back to Fort Collins to go live with some generous friends. My overall stress levels shot down. I started to feel more confident in myself as a human and as an athlete. And while mental health doesn’t improve overnight (it takes a loooong time) I did notice more positive thought patterns and slightly more optimism. So I decided to race Memphis 70.3 and just see what would happen.

Up in the mountains 

I started writing this blog on the plane on the way home from Memphis 70.3 - a race that while originally I was incredibly embarrassed by - I’m now actually pretty proud of. After reading through some of my old blogs I noticed some patterns. My mindset played a massive role in how I perceived myself and my performance, and my actual performance from a results standpoint. So while I was feeling really positive about moving back to Fort Collins and confident that my body was in a good spot, I know that in the days leading up to the race I had an incredibly negative mindset about the potential race dynamics that might unfold. The reality is, I’m not an awesome swimmer - especially without a wetsuit, or bike rider in the rain. And in the days leading into the race, I realized I was probably going to have 1-3 people to swim with, and it was going to be raining the entire time during the bike, and I don’t ever ride my bike in the rain! In my head, the field was stacked against me, and I was already anticipating getting embarrassed before the event had even started.

Rolling back in at Boulder 70.3

Physiologically, the race went OK. I had a swim where I came out further back than I’d like, but also not necessarily around poor swimmers (Taylor Reid, George Goodwin). I rode behind George Goodwin for like 12-15 miles, and averaged like 310w for the first 30 mins, got dropped like a bad habit, and then rode my own pace for the rest of the bike - bleeding time, especially on anything that remotely resembled a turn. I got off feeling pretty demoralized, and down on myself for being so far behind the lead group. Which obviously I have no control over how hard or fast they bike. I wanted to drop out after 3 miles, peed, then somehow went on to run the last 8 miles under 6-minute pace - and didn’t really even feel like I was racing.

On the run at Boulder 70.3

But the bigger thing was this: I was mentally defeated during most of the race. I was in a negative headspace, and it was really not very enjoyable. I felt a lot of not great emotions, self doubt, and like I was generally a terrible athlete who will never be competitive. Looking back at everything now, I’m proud that I didn’t quit. I know that those thoughts and that negative self perception will return again - but next time I have a plan for how I’ll handle them. I remember before the races where I have the most fun, and usually feel best about my performance, I just trust myself to show up and turn it up. It feels like I’ve been trying to force an amazing performance at every race I do this year, fighting myself and not really trusting my ability to compete. It’s significantly more fun to compete and battle than it is to chase an arbitrary time, or finishing place. I think that everyone performs best and feels happiest under different circumstances, and I think for this year, I’ve been trying to fit a square peg in a round hole when it comes to my mental thought process with how I am approaching races. Another reality is that I’ve been stressing myself for too long of a period of time, with a variety of different stressors (work, school, exercise, etc.), and need to eliminate some in order to perform at a higher level and to feel good!

Guardsman Pass w the $quad

My original master plan included racing the LA Triathlon / Oceanside double, but I’ve decided to head into the off-season to give my brain the mental space it needs to recover. I’m loving the fall here in Fort Collins, but pretty soon it’s going to be winter, and I have every intention of riding and swimming outside this winter for the first time in years. So in a few weeks, I head down to Tucson Arizona, where I will be positioned firmly between the pool and the bike path. I’m looking forward to the chance to improve all around as an athlete, and spend the winter working hard with my friends in a place that I love to be!

Wattslayer Camp 2020... Good memories

2021 Slayer Camp - Loveland Pass

I will not miss the snow in Utah

Waco 70.3 and What's Next!

Another weekend of touring a city in spandex has come to an end, and I had a blast! This last weekends race was in Waco, Texas - about two hours south of Dallas. Luckily, my father decided that this weekend would be a good time for some bonding, so decided to make the trip down from Minnesota to help sherpa me around for the weekend! We crammed all of the luggage into the back of his rental, then paid our $2.00 that Dallas charges you to leave the airport, and began our drive down to Lorena.

We stayed on a quiet farm about 15 miles out of Waco, which means about 10 minutes of driving at Texas speeds. I was alarmed at a sign that said there have been over 2500 deaths on Texas roads this year so far... In Utah this morning there was a sign that said there had been 25 during the month of October, and was discouraging drunk driving. The farm was really peaceful, and had everything we needed for the weekend.

Father, thanks for being there this weekend!

On paper, Waco looked to be a stacked race, however before the race there were a bunch of question marks as to who would start. Would Starky really race just 7 days before he does IM FL?? Would Joe Gambles do this just 2 weeks post Kona?? Metzler is on like 4 published start lists this weekend, will he be at this one, or the other one, or the one next weekend?? Would Sam Appleton really have to embarrass everyone and win by an unreasonable margin (again)?? Then there are always the people you've never heard of on the start list... Basically at this point, I've learned that the only thing you can count on is the people who are physically in the water with you also peeing in their wetsuits when the gun goes off are the ones you're racing.

People who put themselves on every start list

Summer seems to have come and gone without a Fall period here in Utah, so luckily this race would have a high of around 75 degrees. The swim was wetsuit legal, and the water was nice and brown. I would have liked to see how I fared in a field like this in a non-wetsuit swim (probably would have gotten dropped), but that will have to wait again until next year. It was a point to point adventure - and I managed to get off to a great start and found myself somehow sighting off  the person who was sighting off the person who was sighting off a group of people who were directly behind the lead kayak. I filtered around, and just did my best to hang on to feet and get as much of a tow as possible in order to conserve energy, knowing that if this group all came out of the water together I would probably be towards the back, and that is not a great spot to be in at the start of the bike.

As we came out of the water, we were about 20 seconds down to a group that contained Timmy Winslow and Elliot Bach, but I had exited the water with Steve Kilshaw, who I really needed to get away from in transition if I wanted to have a chance at staying in the group once we got onto the bike. Kilshaw has had some of the top bike/run splits at races this year, and I knew that people would try to hang on to him as long as possible. If I could get a jump on him and be in the group before he got to the group, then when he went to the front of the group I could just sit in, as opposed to trying to bridge to a group that he was towing, which would be basically impossible. I got a jump on him and a bunch of other guys in T1, and road aggressively until I caught the group with the guys I knew, and waited for Kilshaw. It took him about 5 more minutes than me to close the gap, and by the time he got to the front of our group I had recovered for the effort and was ready for battle.

Up until that point, the power had been relatively sustainable for a 2 hour pack ride, but once Kilshaw got to the front it was either 350w+ or 20w... I was not having a fun time, and knew that the speed hadn't risen enough to warrant these massive surges I was having to put in just to stay in contact. I reflected on previous groups I had been in where this was the case, and tried to move up in the group hoping that it'd be a bit steadier. After trying that and still being disappointed with the effort, I decided that I had to pee and would just let the group go. I used a downhill and lost a bit of weight, and then basically road my own power for the rest of the race. I could basically see the group the entire way to the finish.  By the end they had only put around 1 minute on me, and I had ridden relatively steady. I was proud of my tactical decision making considering how hard I've blown myself up in races earlier this year - I knew that I could have burned a lot of matches considering how hard the run course would be, and I hadn't cramped or imploded, so was probably going to be OK. The downside was I had already peed twice more (lots of vibrations from the chipseal in TX), and decided to not drink a water bottle I grabbed at the last aid station, so I didn't feel awesome getting off the bike like I had in Augusta.

In the mountains prepping for some cold weather racing

Looking back, if I had to change anything about my race - it would be to chug that damn water bottle and see if I could have run better! It's not that I felt "bad", I just could tell my body was already a bit closer to the thin line than it needed to be coming off the bike, and literally every race where I've had that extra bottle I end up feeling good on the run for at least a small period of time. During a 1/2 on the run off the bike, you never are going to ever get enough water/fluids in unless you stop at aid stations, and even then you'll still probably get dehydrated. Luckily, I'll have more opportunities to put that theory to the test...

Stole this pic

Anyways, the run course was pretty tough, and I was happy to be coming from a place like Salt Lake where we have giant hills we can run up to prepare mentally for the misery that is lap 2 of the Waco run. I came off the bike with Ben Deal like I have basically every time we raced, and this time I decided to see how long I could stick it to him out of T2. He's usually one of the strongest runners in the field, so if I could hang with him and feel comfortable I knew I was in a great spot. I quickly realized that it was not my day to do this, and committed to an effort I knew I could sustain for at least 10 miles.

Crossing the bridge on the way to the finish

I got some splits from my dad, was still down from quite a few guys, and making up time. But not as much as I hoped I would. I crossed my fingers that the all of the dudes ahead of me would all have to take a porta potty break at the same time and be stuck in line, or that they would all be walking up the hills, and eventually at like mile 10 I finally had another pro within reach. We ran shoulder to shoulder for around 800 meters before coming to an aid station, where I was able to pull away from him. Once we hit the out and back with around 800 meters to go to the finish I could see I had put a gap into him, and allowed myself to enjoy the bridge across to the finish, which was lined with spectators.

Post race chat about how we spent way too much on our sneakers

After the race, I ran into Erin, who was the president of the ASU Tri team back in the day (like 2 years ago). She's living in Texas, and works for every endurance athletes favorite company, active.com. After crushing some pizza and burritos, My dad and I headed back to the ranch to pack up and head back to our respective home states. On the list of the worst things to have to do directly after a race, packing up a bike and driving 2 hours to an airport is definitely up there. To make matters worse, when I arrived in SLC, my gate-checked carry on (you know, when they say hey we want you to check a bag for free) was missing. The lady made me sit around for another hour waiting for it, and when it didn't show up after an hour they finally filed a claim. TBH I just wanted a cheeseburger and a nap at that point and was basically acting like an adult sized toddler who hadn't eaten in the last 30 minutes (just ask Emily). The next morning my bag magically got on a different plane from Dallas and appeared at our apartment door.

Hangin with Erin!

Overall, I had a great time in Waco. The race was well organized, I got to spend some time with my dad, and ate some solid food. Experience participating in a tactical race and making decisions while under pressure was gained. At the end of the day, Elliot and I have focused this year on beating as many people as possible. And while I haven't really won anything big, each race has been super important and each time I've learned what I can do to potentially beat people who are actually better than me but just race like idiots. at the end of the day, I think now I've got a good idea of tactically what it takes to put yourself in a position to perform, and now it's all about just getting more fit and continuing to learn what the dynamic is like at the top level.

Thanks, Delta...

The next race on the calendar is Challenge Daytona, out in Daytona Beach Florida! The race takes place at 4:30 PM on December 14th, and is sure to be pretty sick! It's a 1500m swim, 37.5 mile bike around the race track (15 laps), and then an 8 mile run. I'm still looking for a Sherpa for that race, so if you would like to hang out with me and buy me food for a weekend, you can apply here

A week works wonders

No swim pics? no problem

As this 2019 exercise competition season is only a few races from completion, it's nice to reflect on my activities, accomplishments, and failures. It's been a great learning experience this year by showing up to some really competitive races and trying to compete with some really good athletes. I've had some really disappointing and negative experiences that have been insanely frustrating, and some awesome moments like getting a fat paycheck ($750, but more like $450 after taxes) from Ironman. Above all, I've found that one of the best ways for me to refresh my brain after a $hit race is by writing a blog. Even if I don't end up publishing it (i.e. Post Santa Rosa/Boulder).

some solid photographers out there in Santa Rosa

It's not a giant secret that I just didn't come to play at Santa Rosa and Boulder 70.3 Relative to how I performed in St. George and CDA. I was about a minute back from the swim to where I need to be (hanging on for dear life to the 2nd group), and just never made up any ground and made all around stupid decisions. At the end of the day I was really not stoked on my results at those races, but the positive takeaway was that my body could handle racing two half ironmans back to back weekends, and I got a bunch of tactical experience and fitness after it even though they weren't exactly great race results on paper.

Forced Talbot to get a sick transition shot for me

For your entertainment, I'll have a 1 paragraph summary of each race listed below:

Santa Rosa was all around depressing. Between driving two hours to the race site from the airport, finding a chicken nugget under my bed, and just general exhaustion I was not in a mental state to be racing. The pro meeting was impossible to find, the swim course had a turn buoy 200m in which means bad things for a sub-front pack swimmer like myself, the bike course had without a doubt the worst pavement I've ever ridden on, and the run course was littered with actual litter and homeless people, and barely any crowd support (which is something I absolutely rely on to get through races - especially miles 11-13). Basically, I showed up and got destroyed, and cried myself to sleep after the race, then got charged a bike fee for my Hen House, which is literally designed to avoid bike fees. After trying to reason with them they said they could cancel my flight if I wanted to continue to argue with them, and then I proceeded to be in such a hurry through security that I lost my laptop case and a bunch of charger cords in my rush to be the last person on the southwest flight. Sick.

Stick with the Next %'$

Boulder was a slight improvement. I was able to stay with Timmy Winslow, who also lives with Rudy Von Berg and Nick Granet, so I was just praying that some of their speed would rub off on me. I found myself hanging on for dear life to Kennett Pattersons feet during the swim. About 800m in, I called it off, realizing I was killing myself. I swam easy for the rest of theswim, hoping I'd be able to work with some guys around me on the bike and do OK. Long story short, I rode with Sam Long for about 30 miles before absolutely imploding. I cramped so hard in the last 5 miles that I was literally unable to pedal at one point, and was re-passed by everyone I had passed earlier in the bike, and a grandma on her first lap of the bike course also passed me :). I figured I'd be totally screwed for the run, but I had also just dropped like $250 on some Nike Next %s so figured I'd do at least a lap and then see if the 20 people ahead of me were all going to drop out of the race and maybe I could win it. The run wasn't terrible, but it was outrageously hot, and I was basically jogging every single aid station beginning at mile 1. Overall, I had a lot more fun, especially post race, and was just ready for a week off!

Photo - Paul Higgins

Thanks Kenny Withrow for the pic(s)

After a week off, I came back an entirely new man. There were probably 7-10 more hairs on my chest/legs, and I was feeling like a functional adult both at work and at triathlon. My swimming rapidly progressed back to the level it had been at before St. George and CDA, and I finally got my road bike built up, which meant I could do some 4-7 hour adventures in the mountains. Generally speaking, I actually trained pretty chill between Boulder and Augusta. I knew I was already fit, and that a lot of my poor results were due to me being tired leading into the race and being tactically an idiot. I just needed to get to the start line ready to race and trust my body.

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Steady rides in the mountains are my fav

Emily and I went to Colorado Springs one weekend for the Pikes Peak Ascent, and my brother Steve was also going to be out there for the marathon. It was an awesome time, they both crushed it, and it got me motivated to just keep training consistently and developing my skills slowly and then applying the tactics during the races. Steve decided to come out to Augusta with me, and that made my trip about 100x more enjoyable. I didn't have to drive for the entire weekend, had a hotel, pool, food, and etc. He made sure that everything I needed was taken care of, and made sure I was doing as little as possible, including taking the elevators, which is basically unheard of in our family.

Bae won her age group

Steve before dying

The race itself in Augusta was just a reflection of my mental strategy since I had taken the week off. I was totally recharged and just stoked to be out there. I practiced a lot of positive self talk in training, and found that even when I really didn't believe what I was telling myself, if kept doing it I could get through whatever I needed to get through. The final reinforcing point on this was watching Rohan Dennis absolutely crush the TT world championship despite going through some serious adversity - you can read that article here. Before the race had even started I didn't care how it would go, just knew that I was happy to get out there with my family watching and would do my best and that was it.

One of the memories I like to think about that gets me stoked - 3rd at coll nats, but 1st in the hair competition

I lined up between Hunter Lussi and Nils F., with Lionel pretty close by. The swim didn't have much of a downstream current like I had been promised, but I found myself holding onto the front group a lot longer than I had ever thought possible. About 700m Lionel came around, and I sat on his feet for a bit, before slipping back to Paul (former ASU teammate)'s feet, before realizing that we were all swimming massively off course, so I swerve'd aggressively towards the "sighting" buoys. Turns out that the only buoyed that mattered was the turn buoy, which was actually way to the right, where the group was heading. I had gone off course, losing probably 20-30 seconds by the end of the swim.

Has anyone noticed that I've got a new helmet every race?

I wasn't super stoked about that, but after stalking a lot of power files from Augusta last year I found that people just blitzed the first 20k and then died slowly after that, so riding alone might actually be a smart move for the first part if it meant that I could just roll at my own effort. I was rolling with Lewis Elliot, a former pro cyclist, and he wasn't coming around, so I figured the pace was probably solid enough. The gap stayed the same until about 20k, before all of the sudden I made up 30 seconds in like 2 miles, and found myself at the back of a 6 person group. I had been riding at a conservative effort doing my best to keep them in sight and just take in nutrition, but not push the hills too much since it was only going to get more steamy out as the day went on, and any time above 300 watts would probably be burning a match that I just didn't need to burn if I rode efficiently on the downhills and maintained my power. I put in a few surges to try and drop the group, but eventually just gave up. I'd let the group pull away on the uphills and then catch back on with the descents, just doing my best to stay within myself and take in as much fluid as I possibly could, knowing that dehydration would be the only thing stopping be from having a fast run after this ridiculously easy ride. The 12 meter drafting rule continues to be an absolute joke, but as long as that's the rule I will continue to save 30 watts by riding in the group. Side note - the bike course here was amazing. 10/10 would recommend.

As we hit the run, I could tell I had some awesome legs. I saw Steve at mile 2 and had already caught everyone in our group except for Paul Stevenson and Sean Daugherty. He gave me some positive reinforcement and told me that most people did not look good. Awesome. Lewis Elliot caught up to me around mile 3 and him and Paul and I ran together for a couple hundred meters - which was pretty neat. Lewis was stopping to get ice at every aid station, but I had a flask with redbull and another with gels, and had drank like 5 bottles of various fluids on the bike (and even peed while riding!) so was doing alright. We kept the pace honest, and at mile 5 I saw Steve again and he said someone was walking, and 6-8 were right ahead of me. Lewis started to fall off the pace here, and I opened up a solid gap on him. As we hit the aid station at mile 7 I pranced past 8th (he was stopped stretching his hamstrings), and then watched as 6 and 7 stopped at the aid station to get water. I jumped through a sprinkler I was so stoked, and grabbed some water. I felt amazing from miles 7-10, but knew that 11-13 would be rough so tried to not blow it. the last thing I needed was to get passed in the last mile because I got too carried away with 10k to go.

Cruising in to the finish line

Around mile 11 I saw Steve for like the 45th time (run course was very spectator friendly) and was now struggling, and asked if I could chill. He gave me the thumbs up, and I backed off the pace and enjoyed the last two miles. The crowd out on the run course was spectacular - without a doubt the best support I've ever had on a run. The streets were shaded, and the aid stations had ice and sponges. Maybe it also helps that I was in a way better mood, but overall I would say that Augusta 70.3 will probably always be a special race for me. Even though I got beat by 5th place by like 8 minutes and Lionel curb stomped me by 18 minutes, I felt like I raced tactically the best I could have. Maybe I could have gone 12 seconds faster and broken 4:00 and 1:20 for the run, but at the end of the day I wouldn't have placed any higher and probably wouldn't have enjoyed the race as much!

Steve came through clutch for helping advance my ironman paycheck, as you can see above.

I've noticed a solid trend on races going well when I have support in place (Emily came to St. George and CDA, Steve at Augusta), so I've recruited my Dad to come out to Waco 70.3 next month and help carry me around pre race so that I don't have to walk anywhere.

No laws when you're drinkin claws

Basically a summary of my 1-1 meeting with my boss this week