Final 2017 Goal Complete

It took longer then the rest, but I managed to finish my goal of completing 150 strength training sessions in 2017. Prior to this year, I have never really cared for weight or strength training, and to be honest, it still isn't my favorite thing. However, I have learned how valuable it is to include strength training sessions to improve my triathlon performance as well as my overall fitness.

I have always had weak upper body strength, but this year I mad a lot of progress on that front. I am able to see definition in my arms, chest, shoulders, and back for the first time in my life. Here is to continued success in 2018!

2017 Running Goal Finished!

2017 miles in 2017 was officially accomplished! Erin and I set out to combine to run 2017 miles in 2017 and we finished that goal up yesterday with 2 weeks left in the year. Better yet, both of us held up our end of the deal as we nearly split the miles in half. Okay, so maybe Erin edged me out a little bit...

Erin - 1,014.43 miles on 239 runs (4.24 mi/run average)

Patrick - 1,009.16 miles on 203 runs (4.97 mi/run average)

Total - 2,023.59 miles on 442 runs

So here are my takeaways:

• My wife is awesome! She has only been running for a couple of years and the most miles she had run in a year prior to 2017 was 250. If you are looking for how to accomplish a goal right, look to her. She took a slow and steady approach to the year and stuck with a consistent 20 - 25 miles per week...every week...all year long. There were a lot of days that I'm sure she really didn't want to run, but she did it anyways.
• Just like everyone else, we have busy lives too but we were still able to accomplish this. Better yet, it gave us a chance to work towards a goal together. Don't let family, friends, work, or anything else deter you from setting goals and working hard to reach them.
• This goal really helped bring us together. Working together towards a shared goal and purpose (that didn't have to do with our kids for a change) really gave our relationship a little something extra this year

2017 Season Review

It is hard to believe that another racing season has come and gone. The year started out with some crazy goals and a busy race schedule. It was also full of huge successes and a few devastating heart breaks but in the end, everything turned out even better than I could have hoped.

Training began early in the year for an early season marathon. The miles piled up quickly throughout the winter months and as spring approached I ran my first race of the year at the Des Moines Leprechaun Chase 10k on March 11th. An overnight snowstorm forced the race to be shortened to a 5k, although I wasn't aware of it until almost 2 miles in. Either way, it turned out to be a great start to the season.

Wearing my green and ready to go

Next up was the Drake Relays Road Races half marathon. This race was just over the half way point through my marathon training program and was to be my warm up race. Training had been going even better than expected, that was, until the weekend prior to the race. That weekend I ran 18 miles, which is the farthest that I had ever run and shortly after finishing, I noticed that the heel on my right foot had started to hurt. It did not get better throughout the week but I decided to run through the pain the following weekend. 

I ended up running an unexpected PR half marathon time of 2:16:39 but it came at a cost as the pain in my foot became unbearable. Within the week I made it to the doctor with a diagnosis of  plantar fasciitis and instructions to completely rest for at least a week while doing a series of stretches 3 times a day. Although I was able to gradually start running again after a week off, it took about 2 months for my foot to completely heal. I had to make the difficult decision to not run my first marathon this year. That decision still stings to this day, although I know that it was the right one to make. I did end up racing on that very hot and humid Saturday in June, but opted for the half marathon instead. 

Waiting at the start of the Marathon to Marathon half marathon course

With 3 road races in the rear view mirror, it was time to shift my focus to triathlon. After how well I performed at the Des Moines Triathlon in 2016, I was very excited to compete in several more races this year starting with an Olympic distance race at the Accel Triathlon in Waterloo. This was the same race that was cancelled the previous year due to a severe thunderstorm that came through at race time. Leading up to race day, Erin and I spent a week on vacation in Madison, WI and I knew that I wasn't in peak racing condition when I arrived in Waterloo for the race. I raced well until about half way through the 10k run when I began to fade. My mom and oldest daughter, Abigail, came out to watch me race and I was happy with my performance for the first race of the season. 

Out of the water and headed to T1 at the Accel Triathlon

Accel gave me a lot to evaluate, and with only 2 months until my planned half Ironman distance tri, I knew that I had some work to do. I trained extremely hard throughout the months of July and August, putting in a lot of miles on the bike and a lot of time swimming in open water. My focus was purely on long distance endurance and not speed at all. I was feeling good heading into the Crossroads triathlon the first weekend of August. Crossroads was the first sprint distance triathlon that I competed in and I absolutely loved it. 

It was a beautiful day to do pretty much anything outside and I put in a great performance. The race started off rough as I nearly lost my goggles jumping into the water for the swim, but it only got better from there. I put in a good time on the bike and a fantastic time on the run course with a 5k time of 29:54. I finished 65/118 which was my best finishing position of the entire year, and better yet, I had a ton of fun racing.

With just a few weeks left until the big race, my nerves were starting to get the best of me and for about 3 weeks leading up to the race, I couldn't sleep at all. I really lost a lot of confidence during this time as well and I think it was mostly nerves but also, it may have been a bit of over training as well. Through all of this, I did have one last warm up race at the end of August at the Bluff Creek triathlon. 

The day started off with a bit of chaos, but I think this ended up being my favorite race of the year. I was originally planning to race in the Olympic distance race, but after a long weather delay, they cancelled that distance and all racers were moved to the sprint distance race. My parents, sister with 2 of her kids, and my wife and kids all came up to watch me race. The field at Bluff Creek, which included collegiate athletes, was stacked and combining the races made it even more that way. Crossroads may have been my best finish of the year, but this was my best overall race of the year. I averaged 2:07 min/100 yd for the swim which is the fastest pace that I have ever kept in open water. The bike course was flat and I took advantage, averaging 19.3 mph and both transitions were flawless. Having a big cheering section sure helped keep me going during this race.

Finishing up the run

The best cheering section

 Next up was the big race in Lawrence Kansas on the 2nd weekend of September. With no marathon, this was the biggest race left on my schedule and I put all of my energy into it. The race itself was well documented in another blog post but I will say here that I have never been more proud of myself then I was that day. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. This is the first time that I ever started a race without the confidence that I would for sure be able to finish it. I had a great swim and powered through the bike, but by that point I had used up everything that I had in me. I was tired, I was hurting, and I was emotionally spent. After 2 laps of the 4 lap run course, my body started to break down and I literally hobbled my way to the finish line. Even though I didn't come anywhere close to the time I was hoping for, I did manage to finish and win my division. I will never ever forget the way that I felt in that moment that I crossed the finish line. 

Extremely proud finisher and division winner

I will openly admit that returning from the race in Lawrence I was less invested in the remainder of my season. It isn't like I started skipping workouts, but my heart just wasn't in it as much as I would have liked. I wrapped up my triathlon season with the Cyman sprint triathlon in late September. I did not perform very well at all at this race, but I did get to spend some time chatting with some co-workers from Pioneer. Although I didn't perform well, it was a pretty small field so I did actually finish in 2nd place for my age group (male 30 - 34) and was only a couple minutes off of 1st. 

With my triathlon season over, I dialed back my swimming and cycling and focused more on running.  In mid-October I put another team together to run the Des Moines Marathon Relay and it was a blast, yet again. After running the 2nd leg of the relay, I even spent some time helping out at an under-manned water station handing out cups of water to the marathon runners. Even though it was a relay, this turned out to be my best performance of the year. My leg was extremely hilly and 6 miles long but I was able to average 9:39 min/mi. If I would have run an additional .2 miles, I would have blown away my previous 10k PR. 

Des Moines Marathon Relay Team 2017

With my season nearing the end, I did set one more goal to run a 5k PR at the Des Moines Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day. After focusing on long distance endurance for the entire year, I started incorporating 3 days of speed work each week. 4 weeks before the race, I did a 5k time trial and ended up breaking my current PR with a time of 28:13. I wasn't able to beat that time at the turkey trot on Thanksgiving (although I wasn't too far off) but was still happy with how my season ended. 

It was a long year with a lot of ups and downs. I really feel like I learned a lot this year and look forward to implementing some changes and setting new goals going into 2018. 2017 was a great year for me (possibly my best one so far) and a made a lot of memories along the way. I do plan to create a "top 10" style list at the end of the year, but for the most part, I'm beginning to transition my focus to setting new goals and challenges for 2018. 

I hope that you have enjoyed my posts this year, I know that I have really enjoyed writing them. Keep an eye out in the upcoming weeks for more information on the plans that I am making for my 2018 season. For now, I hope that everyone enjoys time with friends and families during this holiday season. I would encourage all of you to carve out some time for yourself to start dreaming about what you can do to make your 2018 better than your 2017. 

Cycling Goal Complete

With the cold weather taking over outside, all of my cycling miles have been coming on my spin bike in the basement. Although they have come at a slower rate since moving indoors in early October, I finally managed to surpass my goal of cycling 2,500 miles in 2017.

With 3 weeks left in the year, I have passed my goal of cycling 2,500 miles

With my swimming and cycling goals complete for the year, I only have my running goal with Erin and my strength training goal left for the year and both are set to fall in the very near future. 

Swimming Goal Accomplished

At the beginning of the year, I set several goals. One of those goals was to swim at least 75 miles in 2017. As of this morning, I have officially accomplished this goal and it isn't even December yet!

Over 75 miles with a month to go!

My other goals aren't far behind as I am on track to finish those early as well. 

Des Moines Turkey Trot 2017

It was a cold morning with temperatures in the low 30s and light winds. The conditions were good for me to have a great race but a PR just wasn't meant to be today. My official time was 28:48 which was 35 seconds slower than my current PR of 28:13.

My overall place of 546/2,301 put me in the top 1/4 of all 5K finishers which is one of my best places ever. Although I am disappointed that I didn't break my PR, it really was a good race to end my year.

I have a lot of big plans for next year and "post season" training starts on Monday, but for the next few days I'm going to take some time to reflect on the past racing season. It was my longest season to date and there were a lot of highs and lows along the way. Look for a post reflecting on the top moments of my 2017 racing season in the next week or so.

I hope that you all have a very happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all of you who take the time to read my posts and provide encouragement along the way.

Swim Stroke And Planning For Next Season

With my triathlon season a distant memory and my racing season coming to an end a week from today, my focus has started to shift to the off season, or what I'm now calling my post season. I have spent a significant amount of time over the last couple of months reading books and articles from some of the top triathlon coaches in the world to help improve my knowledge base as a self-coached athlete.

My post-season will begin the last week of November and run through the end of January. My focus for that time frame is to focus on my biggest weakness, swimming, and to try a variety of workouts with decreased load and varied intensity. 4 weeks ago I started to work on completely overhauling the pull of my swim stroke. I'll spare the details, but my focus has been around developing a high elbow catch and a better feel for the water. Erin gave me a book on swimming that was written by a former Olympian and I have learned A LOT from that book. The author suggests giving it 2 - 3 months to focus purely on form using a variety of drills and techniques both in and out of the water. I am only 1 month in and happy to already be seeing good progress.

Improving my swim is my biggest goal for the post and pre-season, but that is playing into my larger goals for next year which are starting to take shape. I'm still working out the specifics, but the high level goal is to lose weight and to get faster. It is difficult to focus on all 3 disciplines, so my primary focus will be to improve my swim and run times (the bike is already my strongest leg).

My schedule for next year is starting to take shape as well and I will be racing A LOT. My current plan is to have only 1 "A" race for the year, and that will be the Olympic Distance at the Des Moines Triathlon, which is usually held on Labor Day weekend. In addition to that race, I plan to focus on shorter distances next year for both triathlon and road races. At this point, my season will kick off in April with the Drake Relays Road Races 5k and the Grand Blue Mile.

For triathlon, I am going to try to compete in the entire Heart of America Triathlon Series. That is a series of triathlons around the state of Iowa. The first official race of the season, which doubles as the championship race from the previous season, was the Cyman Triathlon held in September. The series will come back in mid-May and run all summer including about 7 - 8 different triathlons. I competed in a couple of those triathlons last year including Accel in Waterloo as well as Bluff Creek near Ogden. The top 3 overall men and top 3 overall women as well as the top scoring man and woman in each age group will qualify for the championship wave at next years Cyman. I am planning to compete in the sprint distance for all of those races and my goal is to qualify for that championship wave. That is correct, I plan to, at a minimum, win my age group for that series. 

I really feel like going into year 3 of triathlon training, I have a good foundation and know what I need to do to improve my speed in all 3 disciplines. The difficult part for me will be staying disciplined enough with my nutrition to lose the weight that I want to. I am currently just over 250 lbs and want to be below 225 lbs going into my first triathlon in May. That is as far as I have planned so far, but am thinking there will be even bigger aspirations by the time the Des Moines Tri comes around.

More to come on goals for next year in the coming weeks along with the plan to get me there. For now, it is back to work because I still have 1 last race left this year.

5K Time Trial

Today marked the half way point of my 8 week training plan. That means that it was time to run a 5K time trial to evaluate my progress toward a 5K PR. The result of my time trial run was a new 5K PR

New 5K PR

My time of 28:13 bested my previous PR of 28:39, set in September 2016. With just under 4 weeks to go until race day, I'm certainly on the right track!

IMT Des Moines Marathon Relay

For the second year in a row, I competed in the marathon relay at the IMT Des Moines marathon, and for the second year in a row, we had a blast on race day. The relay is the same distance and course as the marathon, but is divided up between 5 team members. This year's team consisted of 3 returning team members, Megan (a co-worker of mine at Pioneer), Erin (my lovely wife), and me. In addition, we had 2 newcomers in Dan (Megan's husband) and Justin (a friend of mine from middle school and high school).

The weather could not have been more different than last year. Last years race was humid with fog and got quite warm by the end of the race. This year it was cold and very windy. Erin started us off running the first 4 miles that included a big hill at the end. I ran the next 6 miles before handing off to Dan to run mile 10 - 15 that included a lap around the blue oval at Drake Stadium. Megan took the baton from Dan to run the big down hill into Water Works Park before handing off to our final runner, Justin, at mile 20. Everyone on the team ran fast today and we ended up finishing in 4:20:02.

Freezing and wishing the race would start

Time and pace is a personal thing, so I can only truly speak for myself, but I was EXTREMELY happy with how I ran today. My average pace for my 6 miles was 9:39/mi which beat the 9:45/mi that Erin challenged me to this year. In addition, it was faster then the 9:53/mi that I averaged for my 6 mile leg last year and is the fastest 6 miles that I have run in my entire life. If that didn't make me happy enough, when I got home and uploaded from my watch to Garmin Connect, I saw that my leg included 352 feet of elevation gain. That is 120 feet more than the route that I ran last year.

Crushed it!

Transition 2 and 3 were less than a mile apart so after I handed off to Dan, we walked to the next transition. With about 40 minutes to wait, I noticed that the water station that was at this transition was very understaffed and they were struggling to even get cups filled to keep up with the runners coming by. At this point, the marathoners were almost 15 miles into the race and I know from experience what can happen when hydration is compromised. Since we were waiting anyways, I decided to spend the next 30 minutes or so helping to hand water to the runners as they came by. 

Working the water station

The sun finally came out late in the race, and we all joined Justin around mile 26 to cross the finish line "together" (ok, so maybe we spread out a little bit, but we all found each other after finishing). 

The proud finishers

I can't state enough how fun it is to compete in a relay. This will most likely remain a staple on my race calendar every year, and it has me looking for more relay opportunities. In fact, I'm currently working to put a team together for the Market to Market relay next May. 75 miles from Jefferson, IA to Des Moines, IA split between 6 - 8 runners. In fact, I still have a few spots to fill out, so if this is something that you would be interested in doing, be sure to let me know. Runners of all experience levels are welcome!

It is hard for me to believe that we are already half way through the month of October. With only 1 race remaining on my schedule for the year, things are really winding down and the time for reflection, as well as planning for next year is upon us. For now though, it is time to get back to work. 

2017 Goals Update

The end of September marked 3/4 of the way through 2017 so I thought it would be good time to provide a status update on my goals for the year. Note this progress is through the end of September and does not include the first 3 days of October.

Goal 1
This goal was to run a combined 2017 miles with my wife, Erin. We are absolutely crushing this goal! To date, we have combined to run 1,686.2 miles leaving us with just 330.8 miles left for the year!

Goal 2
This goal was to bike 2,500 miles. I am currently at 2,131.52 miles and well on my way to completing this goal as well.

2017 Cycling Update

Goal 3

Swim 75 miles. This might be the one that I am most proud of as I am still very new to swimming, but I am furthest along in this goal as I have already completed 64.67 miles combined in the pool and open water.

2017 Swimming Update

Goal 4

Complete 150 strength training sessions in 2017. I am happy to say that even though I was behind where I should have been at half way through the year, I have managed to catch up since that time. As of the end of September I had completed 114 strength training sessions and am happy to state that I am the strongest that I have ever been in my life. 

2017 Strength Training Progress

Even with the good progress so far, I have no plans of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, I'm hoping to finish off my goals early so that I can take a short break from training around the holidays to let my body recovery leading into all of the big plans that I have for next year. 

Planning For A 5k PR

For the past 4 years my focus while training has been to increase the distance that I can run. During that time, I have become a stronger and more efficient runner and naturally have become faster. However, I have never actually focused on developing speed. During that time, I have really enjoyed pushing myself to go farther and farther, but after checking several races off my bucket list it is time to start shifting my goals to running faster.

To get things started off, I have set a goal to run a 5k PR by the end of the year and am targeting the Des Moines Turkey Trot 5k to do just that. My current 5k PR of 28:39 was set during a 5 mile training run on September 10, 2016. I have been training about 1 minute per mile slower than I was at this point last year, and I am about 15 - 20 lbs  heavier (mostly muscle) so I have some ground to make up.

With all of that in mind, I have set up an 8 week training program that, along with good racing conditions on Thanksgiving, should give me a good chance at breaking that previous PR time. My training program will include several days a week of high intensity running while mixing in plenty of recovery time. I have spent most of my year splitting time between running, cycling, and swimming but with my triathlon season in the rear view mirror, I will only be including 2 days of swimming and 2 days of cycling per week. Those 4 workouts will also have the intensity and distance/time dialed back significantly. In addition, I will be shifting from training 6 days a week down to only 5 days a week to allow for extra recovery. I have laid out my run training program below:

Monday:
Tempo Run (30 - 45 minutes)
Strength Training
Lap Swim (Easy)

Tuesday:
Rest and Recovery

Wednesday:
Interval Run (Progressive 200 or 400 yard intervals)
Strength Training
Lap Swim (Sprints)

Thursday:
Run (3 - 5 Miles Easy)
Bike (15 - 20 Mile hills or intervals)
Strength Training

Friday:
Rest and Recovery

Saturday:
Pace/Fast Run (4 - 6 Miles)
Bike (15 - 25 Miles Easy)

Sunday:
Long Run (60 - 90 Minutes Easy)
Strength Training

As mentioned in a previous post, my off season this year is going to involve getting refocused on losing weight and getting lighter. Although my off season won't "officially" start until after Thanksgiving, I am already planning and starting to implement my off season nutrition to support weight loss. The reason that I bring this up is that it will probably take awhile for me to find the correct balance to fueling the more intense running workouts while trying to lose weight. My hope is that by starting early, I will go into the holidays with a solid plan and a good head start on my off season plans.

I will keep you updated on my progress throughout this training cycle and hopefully I will be sitting atop the PR mountain come Thanksgiving day. For now, time to get back after it!

Thank God It Was Me

Let's start off with the most important fact of the night and that is I crushed my training run tonight! This is the last week of my 3 weeks of "unstructured training" so I didn't even know how far I was going when I ran out the door. I ended up running a little over 5 1/2 miles keeping an average pace of 10:05/mi. The weather was perfect for running and I really enjoyed not having a preset route or distance. 

Running in the dark

So I do have a goal of trying to keep my blog posts positive, but I also believe it is important to be as honest as possible when sharing my journey. I'm sure all of you will have different thoughts about what follows, but if you like to stick with the positive, then you should probably stop reading here.

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For those that know me, or have been keeping up with my blog posts, it is no secret that I am an overweight individual. You also know, that for the past 4 years I have been working very hard towards changing that. For the first time in those 4 years I had someone yell a derogatory remark at me out the window of a truck that was driving by as I was running. I was over 4 miles into my run when it happened and very much "in the zone" so it took a second for me to process what had happened and my thoughts were as follows:

Thought #1: Well duh? Like I don't know that? Why do you think I'm out here running?

Thought #2: Thank God it was me that they decided to yell at. I am at a point that although I desire to improve my body composition, I am very confident with my body (have you seen what I wear for my races?!?). 

They could have been yelling at an obese middle aged man who just had a wake up call when his aging dad had a heart attack and decided to give running a try out of desperation. Or maybe it could have been a mother of 4 who is embarrassed by how she looks and finally built up the courage to ask for some "me time" to go for a run. Or maybe it is a single guy in his 20's that has always been made fun of and is choosing to run after dark to avoid being seen and judged. 

Thank God it was me and none of those people, because I know that I can brush something like that off and keep going. Everyone is on a journey in life and everyone's journey is different. If you take something away from this post, don't let it be anger, frustration, or embarrassment. Instead, I ask that you do your best to be kind to others even when it is not easy or even when they don't seem deserving. I challenge everyone reading this blog post to do 1 extra nice thing for someone tomorrow. Something as simple as saying hello or holding a door, or even better yet, ask someone how their day is going or tell someone they are doing a great job. If we do that, then we will all help make tomorrow better than today. 

Cyman Triathlon

My 2017 triathlon season came to a very HOT end at this morning at the Cyman triathlon in Bondurant. To avoid a trip up to Ames on Saturday, I decided to take advantage of the race morning packet pickup so I arrived bright and early at 7:00 am. This is the latest race start that I have had this year. The first Olympic distance wave started at 9:00 am but I was in the last wave, with the sprint males, that didn't start until 9:40 am.

New tri bag packed and ready to go

I was one of the first people into the transition area and was surprised to run into a co-worker who was running the same race as me. He set up in transition next to me and we spent the next hour chatting about our recent big races (he competed at the Madison full Ironman triathlon 2 weeks ago). I also got to meet another co-worker that he knew was racing. It was nice to have some people to talk with as we killed time waiting for the race to start. 

Racers are starting to trickle into the transition area

The race start was new to me as it was an in water start, which means that we all entered the water and walked/swam out a little ways and waited for the horn to start swimming. The swim course was modified due to an algae bloom on half of the lake. I will add that the water conditions were also pretty disgusting as most of the lake was covered in vegetation of some sort. The altered course was a basic out and back but we had to complete 2 loops. The distance was 750 meters and my official time was 21:29, which is not great, but not my worst either. 

View of the swim course

I was very happy with a time of 1:40 for T1 (again, putting socks on wet feet takes a little bit of time). Since I was in the final swim wave, there wasn't many bikes left in transition as I left on the bike. With the wind at my back on the way out on the bike, I had an outstanding first 5 mile split, but that was offset with some hills on the back side of the course followed by a few miles directly into the wind on the way back. I finished with a time of 45:17 (18.5 mph average) for the 14 mile course which was the 43rd fastest time on the bike out of 84 racers. I can't say I was overly thrilled with that time, but it is on par with previous races this season. 

T2 off the bike was 1:05 which is also slower than I would like although, thinking back, I'm not sure where I lost time. Either way, as I headed out on the run course, I was feeling pretty good, but it was getting very hot and the sun was really getting high up in the sky. I felt fine on the run but I just wasn't running very fast. I finished with a disappointing time of 33:07 on the very flat 5k course. My overall time was 1:42:40. A solid performance to end the year, but certainly not my best. Overall, I placed 61/84 and 7/9 in the male 30-39 division.

I'll admit, as the race came to an end and I was loading up my bike to come home, I felt a bit sad. It has been one heck of a triathlon season for me and I am disappointed that it has come to an end and my next triathlon is nearly 8 months away. For now, it is time to get back to work. I still have a goal of setting a new 5k PR this year and an entire off season schedule to plan. My mantra for this off season is going to be "Get smaller, get faster." Weight loss is going to be my primary focus while also working hard to improve my swim time throughout the winter months. With 5 more races under my belt, I learned a lot this year and have started to get more comfortable with racing triathlons, but I still have a long way to go.

Thanks for following along with me this season, and keep checking back for more updates on my quest for a 5k PR. 

So, Now What?

This is a question that I have found myself pondering each of the past 4 years as my racing season starts to wind down in the fall. With my "A race" for the year  in the rear view mirror, what do I have to look forward to now?

From early on, I knew that the most important thing for me was to have a plan in place for the end of my season and off season. It is fairly common for athletes to focus and train hard for a race, only to not have a plan to keep their fitness level up throughout the off season. Often, this even results in not getting back into racing shape at all. For me, triathlon and running is now part of my life and not just a one time occurrence.

That being said, my racing season isn't quite over as I still have 3 races remaining on my schedule. The finale of my triathlon season will come next Sunday, when I race in the Cyman triathlon in Bondurant.  In mid-October I will be joined by 4 other teammates to complete the IMT Des Moines Marathon Relay for the 2nd year. I will finish off my year with the Des Moines Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving day where I will attempt to set a 5k PR.

After my big race in Lawrence a week ago, I took 2 days completely off of training before getting back after it. I kept things easy for the remainder of the week as my body continued to recover. In fact, I would say that even today I am only about 80% recovered. I purposely left 3 weeks of unstructured training to finish out the month of September to not only allow for physical recovery, but mental recovery as well as I have been following a strict training schedule since last November.

Beginning October 2nd, I will start a new 8 week training cycle that focuses on developing speed for the 5k distance. At the same time I will be dialing back my swimming and cycling mileage significantly to accommodate the increased running load and intensity. In addition, beginning this week I am refocusing on my nutrition and starting prepare for an off season of weight loss (more on this in future posts).

What an amazing year it has been, but it is not over yet. I am excited to see how the remainder plays out.

Legend Ad Astra Triathlon

1.2 Mile Swim
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56 Mile Bike
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13.1 Mile Run
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70.3 Miles in total make up a long course/half Ironman distance triathlon and I fought my way through every inch.

With my in-laws in town to watch the girls, Erin and I headed for Lawrence, KS bright and early on Saturday morning for packet pickup. We arrived just before 10:30 am to pick up my packet and get some details on the race.

At packet pickup, I was number 349

After getting my packet, we headed out to Clinton Lake on the West side of Lawrence to check out part of the race course. On the way in, it struck me that the bike course was a lot more hilly then I expected. That started to make me a little nervous as most of my training in central Iowa does not include much for hills. As we drove into the beach parking lot at the lake they were already beginning to setup for the following day. The lake was beautiful as was the campground and surrounding roads that were part of the run course. 

After checking out the course, we headed back to Overland Park to stay with John and Susan (Erin's aunt and uncle). We ate lunch at Johnny's Tavern and spent the afternoon in their pool before heading to church. After mass, we relaxed with some games, supper and a visit from Erin's cousin Sarah. 

Hydrating at lunch

Pre-race dinner

I slept well, but the next morning came quickly as my alarm went off at 4:00 am. After loading up the truck, we were off to Lawrence and arrived well before the sun.

Setting up transition in the dark

Checking the water temp and admiring the sunrise

It probably comes as no surprise that I prefer to arrive at the race as early as possible. This gives me plenty of time to set everything up, handle any issues, and calm down and spend time doing visualizations of the race in my head. To me, it is all part of the race experience and I just want to soak it all in.

My beautiful wife and I before the race

Before I knew it, they were announcing the close of transition and we were being sent to the beach for the swim start. I was in the first swim wave, but due to some technical difficulties the race was delayed by about 20 minutes. As we stood in the starting corral, I took the extra time to look over the swim course and try to memorize the pattern of buoys. With early morning races, it can sometimes be very hard to sight buoys, but as it turned out, this course was laid out perfectly and I had no problems sighting at all. 

Anxiously awaiting the start

And we are off!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming

So I'm not going to lie, 1.2 miles in the open water feels like it took forever. If you recall back, I was expecting my swim to take about 57 minutes (2:45 min/100 yds), so I was surprised when I got out of the water to look at my watch and see a time of just over 50 minutes (2:26 min/100 yds). I was smiling big as I headed up into T1. 

Erin made everyone smile with this sign
designed by her mom for a race last year

Out of the water and heading to T1

I took my time in T1 as I downed some extra nutrition and Gatorade before heading out on the bike course. And oh, what a course it was. The 56 mile course had 2,700 feet of elevation gain and it kicked my butt. There were several points throughout the bike course, starting from as early as mile 15, that I wasn't sure that I would be able to make it. With the exception of 3 very short flats, I was either going up a hill or down a hill. With the course being made up of 4 out and back sections, I started to count hills on the way out and then count down on the way back. This seemed to help as I at least knew what to expect.

Even with the extremely challenging bike course, I managed to finish in a time of 3:29:24 which was just under my goal of 3:30. Through 2 legs of the race, I was still slightly ahead of pace, but I knew that I had used up a lot of my legs on that bike course and was unsure of how the run was going to turn out. Either way, I was sure glad to be off the bike. As I came into T2 Erin asked how I was doing and all that I managed to get out was "That was really rough!"

Glad to be finishing the bike course

Again, I took some extra time in T2 to take in some nutrition and Gatorade before heading out on the run course. As I headed out on the run, I could tell my legs were going to be too tired to run the entire half marathon, but I still felt pretty good. The sun was high in the sky and it was starting to get pretty hot out by this point as well. 

Heading out on the run course

The first lap went very well as I only took a few short walking breaks. By the end of the 2nd lap, I was on a steady pace of alternating between running for 5 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. I was pacing about a minute per mile slower than I wanted to, but with a "built in" extra 30 minutes of time to finish in under my goal of 7:30 I wasn't too worried. 

Just finished lap 1 (3.25 miles)
and coming in for a high five

Finishing lap 2 strong (6.5 miles)

About a mile into lap 3, my calves started to cramp up, and around mile 8.5, both of them cramped completely. It was easily one of the worst pains that I have felt in my life, and even worse, I started to get emotional as the realization that I might not finish started to hit me. But, I had come too far to not keep trying so with some encouragement from a fellow racer (who was now a spectator) I worked out the cramps and started walking. I did attempt to run a couple of more times but each time I felt my calves start to cramp up again. Luckily, as long as I was walking, I was able to keep my feet from flexing too far and was fine. 

By the end of lap 3, I accepted that the only way that I could finish was to walk the remaining 4 - 5 miles. As I finished up the last lap, Erin put down here camera and walked with me for about 100 yards encouraging me the whole way. I was putting all of my energy into holding back tears as in the moment I was very discouraged. This was the first time in my racing history that my body started to give out before my willpower and my energy.

Throughout that last lap, I really got the chance to experience the best side of humanity. From random spectators, aid station workers and other athletes still on the course, EVERYONE had an encouraging word for me. I dug down deep and gave it everything I had to finish out walking that last lap. My focus had gone from worrying about my pace to just trying to finish the race. Before I knew it, I was headed back down the last straight away towards the turn into the finish line. Now, I don't know how to finish a race other than giving it everything I have in the final stretch, so as I turned the corner, I dug down deeper than I ever have before and started running (not fast mind you, but still running). My calves cramped up instantly but I pushed through until I crossed the finish line. 

I crossed the finish line with a final time of 7:47:06. It was longer than I had hoped but I didn't care (and I still don't). I had finished and I have never felt so proud of myself then I did in that moment. All of the sacrifices that I have made and time that I have put in paid off big time. In addition, I had won the Clydesdale division (for those wondering, this is a division for male athletes that weigh more than 220 lbs). It is the first race that I have ever placed, but I will admit that it was mere icing on the cake and the award paled in comparison to just being able to finish the race. 

I learned a lot about myself my competing in this race and most of it would have never come had I not faced some adversity. I am more confident in myself today than I ever have been and I have the sport of triathlon to thank for that. If you take one thing away from my post, let it be this. Don't wait for anything in life to come to you because chances are it never will. Instead go out and make life what you want it to be. Through hard work and dedication, pretty much anything is possible.

Now I am also not full enough of myself to think that I could not have done this without plenty of help. For starters, I would like to thank all of the spectators, racers, and staff at the race. It was an awesome race with an excellent atmosphere. Thank you to all of my friends and family that showed interest and support leading up to the race as well as on race day. Thanks to Kurt and Mary (my in-laws) for staying with the girls so that Erin could come to the race with me. Thanks to John and Susan for the pre-race entertainment and a place to stay. Thanks to my 2 girls, Abigail and Bridget for all of the encouragement I get when returning home from hard workouts and the patience that they show when daddy isn't around some evenings and weekends. 

Most of all, however, a big thanks to my wife, Erin. Not just for coming to the race with me and cheering me on, but for being the most loving and supportive spouse EVER. There is no way that I could accomplish any of this without your love, patience, and support. You are my rock and for that I am most grateful. 

Now the plan is to rest and recover for a couple of days before getting back after it. My next race, and last triathlon of the year is the Cyman sprint triathlon on Sunday, September 24 in Bondurant, IA. I hope to make it a great end to what has been a fantastic triathlon season. 

Race Strategy And Other Pre Race Ramblings

Three days from now I will be competing in the longest and most challenging race of my life. The Legend 70 triathlon in Lawrence, KS is a long distance triathlon that includes a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. Over the past 4 years of racing, I have always done a great job of ensuring that I am very well prepared for every race on my schedule. I can honestly say that this race has me a little nervous. I am confident in my physical ability to complete each of the 3 legs individually but at this point I am just hoping and praying that I can put it all together on race day. 

Although my only goal is to finish the race prior to the course cutoff time of 8.5 hours, my training and previous race experience allows me to calculate an estimated finish time for myself. My current estimation has me finishing between 7 - 7.5 hours broken down the following way:

Swim: 1 hour 

• 58 minutes puts me at a 2:45/100 yard pace which is probably on the slow side, but I don't plan to push it very hard

Bike: 3:18 - 3:30 

• This would be averaging 16 - 17 mph, again a conservative estimate based on not wanting to abuse my legs too much on the bike
• If I were to pull a surprise out of my hat, it would come on the bike as I always seem to perform much better on the bike during competition

Run: 2:27 - 2:44

• This would be an average of 11:15 - 12:30 min/mi 
• This is the leg that I am most unsure about as I'm not sure how much my legs will have left by this time in the race. In addition, I have some past experience of fading late in half marathons. 
• I am fully prepared to include walk breaks during the run
• Lastly, it will be approaching mid-day when I start the run which means that I will be running in the heat of the day with the sun high in the sky. This has also caused me issues before

With a lot of practice I have worked out a fueling and hydration plan for the race. My in-race fueling will include granola bars, Nutrigrain bars, Jelly Belly Sport Beans, Boom Energy Gels, and Gatorade Endurance Chews. I plan to have a bottle of water and bottle of Gatorade in transition. On the bike I will have 2 bottles of Gatorade as well as my hydration pack with water. The bike route is a "+" with an aid station at the cross roads. I should be able to refill water bottles at least 1 time passing through that aid station. There are plenty of hydration stations along the run route and I plan to stop at most of them to take in just a little water or Gatorade at each.

As for fueling, my current plan has me taking in 200 - 250 calories during both T1 and T2. On the bike I will take in a gel, packet of sports beans, or sleeve of energy chews every 10 miles. During the run, I will take in 1 item every 3 - 3.5 miles (at the end of each of the 4 laps through the course). 

So there is the plan. Besides staying on time with fuel and hydration, there are a couple of other key items that I need to remember during the race:

• Stay calm during the swim and try to manage my adrenaline level and breathing
• Don't push it too hard on the bike and keep a steady pace
• Go out very easy on the run, if I have anything left in the tank, push it hard during the last lap through the finish

So this brings me to my request to all of you reading this blog. On Sunday morning, any thoughts or prayers sent my way would be greatly appreciated. I'm also well aware that many factors associated to the race are out of my control. Flat tires, high winds, heat and humidity (as well as a million other things going through my mind) are all out of my hands. For me to succeed, I will need everything to come together that day. 

Now, all there is left to do is to relax, rest, eat and give it my all come Sunday. 

Bluff Creek Triathlon - 2017

The day got off to a rough start as I woke up before my 4:45 am alarm to thunderstorms rolling through. A quick check of the radar showed that they wouldn't be ending anytime soon. Either way, I got changed into my tri suit, ate a quick breakfast of a bagel with peanut butter and a banana and hoped in the truck to drive the 45 minutes to Don Williams Lake. It wasn't a lonely ride as my mom and dad had come down to attend my race and rode with me to the race. Upon arriving (in the rain) I checked the races Facebook page to see a message that the race was being postponed. In addition, the Olympic distance race, the one that I was signed up for, was cancelled and all racers would participate in the sprint distance.

As you can imagine, I was having flashbacks to the Accel Triathlon last summer, which ended up being cancelled. After a stop at the campground bathrooms, we sat in the truck and waited for the rain to stop before heading to check in and setup transition. My sister was planning to come up with 2 of her kids and my wife, Erin, was going to bring our girls to the finish as well so I texted to let them know about the delay and change in race. While I waited, I reviewed the sprint distance maps on the race website. Unlike the Olympic bike route, the sprint was a 15 mile straight out and back with very little elevation change. The swim was 500 meters straight across the lake, and the run was a single 5k loop of the same course. The distances of this race were nearly identical to the Crossroads Triathlon 2 weeks prior.

I'm not going to lie, with the wait and change in race distance, I wasn't feeling nearly as motivated. In fact, the only thing that probably convinced me to not just head home was that so many people were coming to watch me race. Luckily, my focus returned as we lined up across the beach and sprinted in the water to start the swim. Boy did I get off to a good start! As I got out of the water on the other side of the lake, I looked at my watch and was surprised to see a time of 9:34. Transition was quite a ways up the hill from the lake so my official swim time was 11:33 which put me at a 2:07/100 yard average. To put that into perspective, I averaged about 2:45/100 yards during my last 3 triathlons.

Out of the water and headed to T1

Before I was even out of the water, I could hear the cheers coming from my sister, Melissa and her kids, Aubree and Brycen. Having a cheering section made the race even more fun. The race continued to go well as I headed to transition 1. I made it out of T1 and onto the bike in 1:39. My previous T1 PR was a little over 3 minutes. 

Headed out on the bike course

There were a few small hills on the bike course, but for the most part it was flat. Unlike past races, I didn't pass many people on the bike. I suppose this was in part due to my faster swim and starting out ahead of more people, but the field for this race was certainly more competitive over all than my past couple of races. Even though I wasn't passing a lot of people, I managed to finish the bike in 47:04, which was a 19.3 mph average (another triathlon PR for me!). As I was turning back into the park, I got to see Erin and the girls as they had just arrived. 

Back in the park and finishing off the bike

T2 was another good one as I got through in 48 seconds (my previous best was over a minute). I really liked the run course as it had a couple of challenging hills as well as some grass and gravel portions and took a route through the woods. I didn't push very hard on the run (a little by design, and a little because I was getting tired) but ended up with a decent time of 31:58 which is a 10:17/mile average.

Home stretch

Final turn into the finish line

Finishing strong

My official time was 1:33:04 which was nearly 4 minutes faster than the 1:36:59 of the race 2 weeks prior. I'm continuing to see improvement, not only in the 3 different disciplines, but also in my overall race strategy and pacing. These are things that take practice and experience which I keep gaining with each race that I complete. After my 2nd strong sprint distance race in a row, I really think that I have found my groove. 

I was also excited to be greeted at the finish line by the best (and quite possibly loudest) group of fans!

With my mom, dad, and oldest daughter, Abigail

With Erin, Abigail, and Bridget

With my sister, Melissa and her kids Brycen and Aubree

Next up on my schedule, in less than 3 weeks, is the biggest race of my season. On September 10th, I will be making my first attempt at completing a long distance/half Ironman distance triathlon at the Legend Ad Astra Legend 70 in Lawrence, KS. The race includes a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. To be honest, I've been getting more and more nervous about the race as it gets closer, but I'm going to give it my best effort. More on that race in a future post. 

Difficult Workout And Another Race Week

You read that correctly, tomorrow morning marks the start of another race week. Next Sunday morning I will be competing at the Bluff Creek Triathlon at Don Williams Park near Ogden, IA. The Olympic Distance bicycle course is an out and back course that is mostly flat with the exception of a very large hill leading down into and back out of the Des Moines River Valley. The run course is similar to what I faced at the Accel triathlon with 2 laps of a 5k course.

Although I am very excited for the race, it is not my A race this year, so I do not plan on going all out for the entire race. I have not yet decided what my strategy will be but my focus will for sure be on a solid swim, efficient transitions and not getting hurt.

This week of training was quite interesting. Although I have not had issues with allergies in the past, this year they are really causing me some issues. With extreme nasal congestion all week, I was not able to get good sleep which is vital to train hard. Luckily for me, I was able to figure something out by the end of the week (I'll save you the details) and I'm breathing much better and sleeping better too.

This weekend was a hard one for training. It started with a run/swim workout at Raccoon River Park yesterday morning. I really enjoyed spending time there and am planning to return for more workouts soon. I started with a 4 mile pace run around the lake and followed up with a mile open water swim at the beach. Erin and the girls met me at the park after my swim and we had fun playing on the playground before heading home for lunch.

Of course, that workout was nothing compared to the brick workout that I completed today. In preparation for my Legend 70 race in September, I've been ramping up the distance of my brick workouts. Today I completed a 30 mile ride followed by an 8 mile run and it was HARD. With the longer workouts I've been playing around with my fueling and nutrition as well and learned a valuable lesson. I need to fuel a little more before and more frequently during my workouts. In addition, I thought I could get away without taking water along on my run, which I regretted around mile 6.

Solid, but not great pace on the bike

Went out a little too fast and faded late, but still a good pace on the run

All of that said, I made it through and learned a few things, which is really the goal of these workouts. With only 4 weeks until the race in Lawrence, I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting better one day at a time.