2018 Highlights and 2019 Goals

I'm not sure how it happens, but each year seems to pass faster than the last and 2018 was no different. For those that followed along this year, you know that I faced many mental and physical challenges throughout 2018. In the end, I'm proud to say that I succeeded in ending the year on a positive note. Looking back, I think the biggest take away from 2018 for me, was learning how to find motivation even when the excitement of preparing for a big race isn't there. Below, I have listed my most memorable moments (both good and bad) of 2018...

• Weight Watchers - You can look back at previous posts to read more, but let's just say that Weight Watchers has been a live changer for me. Eating well has always been a struggle for me in my adult life and WW gives me the structure I need to do just that. 
• Back Injury - Again, you can look back at previous posts for more details, but injuring my back in late June almost forced me to throw in the towel on the rest of my season. Dealing with that injury was an emotional roller coaster that I hope to never have to live through again.
• Des Moines Corporate Games - I represented Dupont Pioneer (Corteva) at the Des Moines Corporate Games this year in triathlon (4th place finish), 5K road race, and 4K Cross Country Race (2nd Place finish). I had A LOT of fun along the way

Dupont Pioneer Cross Country Team

• Countless Races - By my count, I raced 12 times this year
• Drake Road Races 5K
• Pioneer Healthy Living 2 Mile Run
• Hickory Grove Sprint Triathlon
• Pigman Sprint Triathlon
• Quad Cities Sprint Triathlon
• DSM Corporate Games Sprint Triathlon
• DSM Corporate Games 5K
• DSM Corporate Games Cross Country 4K
• Bluff Creek Triathlon
• IMT Monument Mile
• Cyman Sprint Triathlon
• Jingle Bell Run 5K
• National Runners Month Challenge - I logged 103.12 miles running during the month of May landing me in the top 10 of all runners at Pioneer
• Heart of America Triathlon Series Championship - Again, this is well documented in other posts, but I actually managed to win my age group. Going into the last race in the series, I was in 3rd place and still rehabbing a back injury. I raced very well at Bluff Creek to earn the series win. This was also one of the 7 goals that I set for 2018

3rd Place Finish at Bluff Creek

• Cyman Triathlon and Party - I ended my season with the Cyman Sprint triathlon and more than a dozen friends and family came out the cheer me on. It ended up being my best race to date and the perfect way of ending my season

Strong run at the Cyman Triathlon

Very supportive coworkers came out to cheer me on

• Sub 8 minute mile - Another one of my goals for 2018, this was set at the IMT Monument Mile with a time of 7:51
• Almost meeting my swim pace goal - At the Des Moines Corporate Games Triathlon in July I nearly met my goal of 2:00/100 yards when I finished with an official pace of 2:01/100 yards. So close!
• Successful Off Season - I had an extended off season this year and managed to dial back my training significantly and allow my body time to rest and heal itself. If allowing myself a break isn't a big enough accomplishment, I also manged to maintain a high level of fitness and only gain 4 - 5 lbs over the course of 3 months (including the holidays!!!!). Over the past 2 years, I had gained about 30 lbs during my off season and had to start my base training pretty much from scratch. I'm only 1 week into my first training cycle of the year and have been running at a similar level to where I ended last season. 

With another successful year in the books, it is time to turn my focus towards making 2019 even more epic than 2018 was. In case you missed it, I posted my early racing schedule back in late October (2019 Race Schedule). Since that post, I have added a few additional races into my schedule:

• February 3 - Kickoff 5K (Leawood, KS) Ever since my Uncle Mike started racing last year, I have wanted to do a race with him and this will be my chance
• May 4 - Tri By Knight (Waverly, IA) I am doing this sprint triathlon with my friend, Justin. It will be his first ever triathlon!
• November 30 - Hungry Turkey Half Marathon (Des Moines, IA) This should be a great way to end my season next year

I have also set my goals for 2019 and they are simple but challenging for sure.

1. Complete my first full marathon
2. Set a PR for all distances/categories listed below (I have listed my current PR for each below)

• 5K - 28:00 (Cyman Sprint Triathlon Sept. 2018)
• 10K - 1:02:35 (Training Run Sept. 2016)
• Half Marathon - 2:16:18 (Drake Relays April 2017)
• Triathlon (Olympic) - 3:09:46 (Des Moines Triathlon Sept. 2016)
• Triathlon (70.3) - 7:47:06 (Legend Ad Adstra Sept. 2017)
• Triathlon Swim Pace Per 100 yards - 2:01/100 yards (DSM Corporate Games Triathlon July 2018)
• Triathlon Bike MPH Avg - 19.4 MPH (Cyman Sprint Triathlon Sept. 2018)

As of this morning I have officially completed the first week of my 2019 training program and am looking forward to the weeks ahead. I am only 3 weeks away from my first race of the year, which will kick off 4 straight weekends of racing to start my 2019 schedule. I hope you're ready to get after it, because I sure am!

2019 Race Schedule Preview and Off Season Updates

I'm 4.5 weeks into my off season and so far, I have been surviving. It isn't easy for me to feel comfortable living without a training schedule, but I have taken advantage of the flexibility to spend time deer hunting and more time playing with my girls. I'm also happy to say that I have managed to NOT gain weight during the past month. This may not sound like much, but typically my off season involves packing on the pounds. As of this morning, I weighed in at 231.8, a couple pounds less than the morning of my last race.

As for workouts, I have spent the past month including a variety of things but have spent a lot of time walking and strength training. I've even started walking with coworkers over lunch most days. I've only been running a couple of times each week but my fitness level hasn't seemed to decrease much in that time. I've also spent a lot more time at the YMCA but can't seem to get myself out of bed in time to make it to the 5:00 am classes like I was hoping. About a month from now I am planning to start increasing my running, biking, and swimming load leading up to Christmas Day, when my training schedule resumes.

That brings me to my race schedule for next year which has me very excited! I know that I say this every year, but 2019 is shaping up to be my most epic season yet! My 2019 season will include 3 "A" races spread throughout my longest racing season to date. I had 2 big take-aways from my 2018 season:

1. I really missed training for longer distance races
2. I really enjoyed racing often throughout the season

With these 2 things in mind, my 3 "A" races for the year will be spread out evenly from early spring through fall and will challenge me with longer distances. However, in addition I will include several "B" and warm up races throughout my season as well. 

2019 "A" Races

• March 16 - Des Moines St. Paddy's Half Marathon
• https://iowaruns.com/desmoinesstpaddys5k
• Getting my season started off early will help me to stay focused and motivated through the winter months
• Preparation for this race will be a great build up for beginning the 16 week training program for my 2nd "A" race
• July 14 - Door County Triathlon - Half Ironman Distance
• http://www.doorcountytriathlon.com/
• You read that right, I'm planning to take on my 2nd half Ironman distance triathlon this year!
• I learned a lot from my first half Ironman triathlon last year and am ready to put those lessons to good use. In addition, I will be using an entirely new training style with the Ironfit training program
• October 20 - IMT Des Moines Marathon
• https://www.desmoinesmarathon.com/
• I'm FINALLY getting a full marathon back on my race calendar and I couldn't have picked a better race. I absolutely love the IMT races and really missed not participating this year. 
• I'm extremely familiar with the full marathon course and should be starting off my marathon training in late July in the best shape of my life and, fingers crossed, at my goal racing weight which should help keep the injury bug away this time around

My goal for all 3 races is to set a new PR. For the marathon, that will mean just finishing the race since I've never run a marathon before. My current PR for a half marathon was set at the Drake Relays Road Races in April 2017 with a time of 2:16:39 while my current PR for a half Ironman triathlon is 7:47:06 set at the Legend Ad Adstra in September 2017. I don't just want to beat these current PRs, I am planning to absolutely crush them. 

2019 "B" Races

•  January 20 - InCydeman Indoor Triathlon
• My first attempt at an indoor triathlon, hoping to knock off some rust from the off season
• January 27 - Walnut Creek YMCA Ice Breaker Triathlon
• Another local indoor triathlon to fight the winter blues
• February 9 - Welmark YMCA Red Flannel Run (5k)
• https://runsignup.com/Race/IA/DesMoines/RedFlannelRun
• This actually has an option of an indoor triathlon with a pool swim and spin bike prior to the start of the 5K, but I'm opting for just the road race
• April 20 - Drake Road Races 10k
• https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/2015/11/30/DR_1130155307.aspx
• I love these races enough that I just can't pass them up. This will also be a good way to use some of the fitness that I built up from the half marathon a few weeks prior
• June ??? - Quad Cities Triathlon (sprint)
• http://www.qctriathlon.com/
• Although the date has not yet been announced, this will be my warm up race for Door County. This will also give me a 2nd chance at a course that I didn't race well on last year
• August 18 - Bluff Creek Triathlon (Olympic)
• http://www.bluffcreektri.com/
• I have raced extremely well at this race the past 2 years. This year I'm hoping to conquer the big Des Moines river valley hill that is part of the Olympic bike course. A chance to capitalize on the fitness that I built up for Door County

Other Potential Races

• Sprint Triathlon Relay TBD
• We haven't selected a race yet, but I'm planning on doing a triathlon relay with my friends Matt Russell and Michele Anderson 
• Sprint Triathlon TBD
• My friend Justin wants to break into the triathlon world and I just wouldn't be a good friend if I wasn't willing to race with him.
• May - Waukee YMCA Piathlon (sprint triathlon)
• Since this is my new place to train, it would make sense that I compete here but I will decide based on how my training is going. Also, I think Erin is going to do this race and it would be fun to tri alongside her
• July - Des Moines corporate games triathlon/road race/cross country race
• Assuming my company participates again next year, my participation will be based on when the races fall compared to my other scheduled races
• September - Cyman Sprint Triathlon
• I like this race, and although I won't be training for triathlon at this point, my September is pretty bare. Again, I will see how things are going with my marathon training
• November - Des Moines/Scott County Turkey Trot
• Can't see all of that hard work from the marathon go to waste!

Speaking of other races, if anyone reading this has an interest in racing with me in a triathlon or a road race next year (either in a relay or along side) please let me know. I would be willing to fit some other small races into my schedule or coordinate with you on races that are currently on my schedule. I will also put a plug in here for my unofficial coaching services, if you want a completely biased review of me, you can reach out to my wife, Erin. If you want to start racing and don't know where to begin, have questions, or need help putting together a training schedule, know that I am here and willing to help. 

2019 is going to be another special year and I can't even wait to get started! But for the next 9 weeks I'm going to enjoy deer season and a little more relaxation before all of the fun begins on Christmas Day. 

2018 Season Recap

It is hard to believe that my 5th racing season has come to an end. At the same time, it is hard to believe that I have been racing for 5 seasons!

2018 certainly did not turn out the way that I envisioned for many reasons, and looking back I have several regrets. Early in the year I laid out several goals and stated that my focus for the year would be on racing short races and increasing speed while losing more weight (2018 Goals).

The off season got me off on the wrong foot for sure. The weather, including the winter that just wouldn't go away, was not good for training outside. I did well to keep up with my training inside but it quickly zapped my motivation. On top of that, I had a major goal of losing weight this year but I never actually laid out a plan to do that and instead ended up gaining about 15 - 20 lbs in the off season.

As February and March passed I found out that my "A" race for the year actually wasn't going to happen and this took the wind completely out of my sails. I sulked and pouted about the Des Moines Triathlon for far too long. I also found out that my goal of winning my age group in the Heart of America Series was in jeopardy after finding out that I wouldn't be able to race in 3 of the series races. My last race of 2017 was on Thanksgiving Day and my first race of 2018 wasn't until the end of April, which meant that I had 5 months between races which is a long time for me. I would love to say that I don't need to race to stay motivated but I think that this off season showed me that is not the case.

My first race of the year was the 5K at the Drake Relays Road Races. I knew that I wasn't in great shape going into the race and ended up being sick the week leading up to the race. Surprisingly I ran pretty well finishing with a time of 30:48, but didn't even come close to the 28:48 that I ran in November on a much more challenging course. Looking back, I don't know why that time and race made me so down, especially since it was still one of my better 5K times of the past 5 years.

A few weeks later I competed in my first triathlon of the year at Hickory Grove and the disappointment continued to build. I had only 1 open water swim and 3 outdoor bike rides logged for the year going into that race. In addition, I felt really out of shape and unprepared. Things didn't get better when I arrived at the race and realized that I forgot my race bib holder. My bike time was absolutely horrible for me, as I averaged 17.6 mph. Having my friend's Megan and Dan with me kept me from getting too frustrated with myself and I was hopeful that I could still turn things around with such a full season of races ahead of me. There was another silver lining from this race as well, I logged my 2nd fastest swim pace at 2:08/100 yards.

Crossing the finish line at Hickory Grove

With just 2 weeks before my next race, I was hoping to build on my swim success at the Pigman Sprint and hoped that more outdoor bike rides would improve my bike split as well. It turned out to be a horrible race day for me. Winds were high with gusts from 25-30 mph which resulted in another horrible bike split of 16.9 mph even though the bike course was extremely flat. Additionally, even though I felt good on the swim, I ended with my slowest pace ever in a race of 2:49/100 yards. I was able to end the race with a decent run time but once again I headed home very disappointed. 

Forcing a smile after finishing at the Pigman Sprint

Again I had only 2 weeks until my next race which left me scrambling to find things that I could fix with my training. After Hickory Grove I was hoping for improvement with each race, but as it was turning out I wasn't improving at all. At this point my confidence had taken quite a hit and I was spending a lot of time in my own head with a lot of negative self-talk. 

My motivation was at an all time low going into the Quad Cities triathlon on June 16th and I'm ashamed to admit that it was the first race that I nearly gave up. In fact, even though I didn't quit the race, I pretty much quit trying. After riding the bike as hard as I could, a horrible time got me down going into the run. That paired with an extremely hot and humid day resulted in stopping to walk less than 1/4 mile into the run. I walk/ran the rest of the race and ended up logging my worst overall race pace ever with the exception of the Legend 70 last September. 

Ready to head home after finishing the Quad Cities Triathlon

Disgusted is the only word that I can think of to describe my feelings after the QC Tri. Here I was, half way through the year and half way through my racing season and not only had I not improved, I was actually regressing. For the first time in the 4 years that I had been racing I actually was starting to question why I was even bothering to do this anymore. Half way through the year and I hadn't accomplished a single goal and it was beginning to seem that all of them might be out of reach.

2 weeks after the QC Tri, I woke up one morning with an injured back that got much worse over the next week. I did not train at all for over a week and had a much decreased load over the following month and a half. If you remember back to mid-July, I actually wrote a blog post about how much I hated 2018 (Writing off 2018). As it turns out, that back injury ended up being the turning point of my entire season. At the time it seemed like more bad luck, but it turned out to force me to re-evaluate a lot of things and acted like a reset button.

A lot went through my mind during the 4 weeks leading up to my next race. I was actually starting to think about what life would be like if I had to stop racing all together. I realized that I had been focusing on a lot of the "wrong" things and I had lost my reason for doing all of this. A trip out of town and family time gave me time to clear my head and remember that I'm really doing all of this for me to feel good about being me. I read back through all of my blog posts from the past few years and could feel the emotion coming through in my words and feel the accomplishment that I felt with each race and along each step of this journey. I wanted to be a better me and I wanted to inspire people.

The second weekend of July I was scheduled to do 2 races on back to back days. With my back still recovering and the lack of training time, I opted to do something that I have never done before, skip a race that I signed up for. I skipped the Accel Triathlon on Saturday and opted for the Des Moines Corporate Games triathlon on Sunday. Although humid, it was a pretty decent day for a race and with the help of Erin and my girls there to cheer me on, I ended up racing better than I had all year. I set a swim pace PR of 2:01/100 yards (nearly making my goal of breaking 2:00/100 yards) and I also managed to bike a much improved 18.4 mph pace.

Abs giving me a high five before the finish line

This race really did a lot for my confidence but I was still experiencing back pain and my weight was still an issue. The following Tuesday I scheduled a doctor appointment to check up on my back and ended up chatting with the physicians assistant for a couple of hours. I won't go into the details of what happened at that appointment as it is documented in a previous blog post, but I will say that the appointment was life changing for me. I joined Weight Watchers the next day and the weight loss success was nearly instantaneous. 

My back was recovering slowly but my fitness had certainly taken a hit due to the lack of training. On the 3rd weekend of July I was supposed to run a 10K at the Des Moines Corporate Games road races, but opted to race the 5K instead. I finished the race in 32:16 and was happy that I was able to run the entire way after having to walk portions of my last 2 races. Even better yet was that I did not experience any back pain during the race. 

At the last minute, I decided to sign up for the Des Moines Corporate Games cross country race the last weekend of July. I hadn't raced a cross country race since high school and I absolutely crushed the 4.4K course with a time of 27:01 which earned me a silver medal. I was finally starting to see some week over week improvement and my improved nutrition was having a really positive impact on my mood as well as my training. 

Racing well at the DSM Corporate Games Cross Country Race

 By this point I was logging a good number of miles running and having some decent training swims but I was still not back on the bike because it was the only thing still causing me back discomfort.  Early in August the Heart of America Triathlon Series standings came out and I was very surprised to see that I was in 4th place in my age group with only 1 race to go. I wasn't sure what to expect going into the Bluff Creek triathlon on the 3rd weekend of August but I was feeling pretty good and had lost about 18 lbs since beginning Weight Watchers. Needing to score a little over 600 points to take the series lead I was planning to race my heart out. My sister and nephew drove up to cheer me on and I always race better when family and friends are there watching. As it turns out I had a crazy good race which included a PR of 19.3 mph on the bike and a podium finish. I placed 3rd in the Clysdale division! 

Truly feeling at the top of my game after a strong
finish at Bluff Creek

At this point I was not experiencing any back pain while training and decided to go all in for my last triathlon of the year. I had 5 weeks to train and decided to try out a completely new training philosophy that I learned from the "IronFit" book that I had recently purchased and read. The workouts were time based instead of distance based and were performed based on heart rate zones. It took me a few weeks to get used to not worrying about pace while training but I started to notice that my workouts were feeling easier and I was recovering from workouts much more quickly. 

Shortly after Bluff Creek the final standings for the Heart of America Series came out and I ended up winning my division by scoring over 700 points at Bluff Creek! I beat out 106 other racers to take that crown and it qualified me for the Heart of America Series champions wave at the Cyman triathlon in September. 

It wasn't until the IMT DSM Monument Mile on September 20th that I realized just how effective the training was for me. On that night I managed to shatter my previous mile PR time by running a 7:51 mile and reaching my goal of a sub-8 minute mile this year! I felt so good coming off this race that I didn't even care how the Cyman triathlon turned out the following Sunday. Just 2 months prior I thought there was no way that I was going to reach any of my goals for the year and in less than a months time I met 2 of them!

I don't think I have ever gone into a race with as much confidence as I did the Cyman triathlon this year. I invited a bunch of friends and family out to watch me race and to celebrate my success with a cookout at our house after the race. 14 people came out to watch me race and several others joined us at the house afterwords. I even got a text message from my sister in KC before the race. The weather was perfect for racing and I knew that I was in the best shape that I have ever been going into a race. I stepped on the scale that morning to see a weight of 233 lbs, a weight that I haven't seen in 15+ years. 

I'm getting chills now just thinking about how well that race went. I managed to set a PR pace on the bike of 19.4 mph and followed that up with an all time 5K PR of 28:00. I didn't even come close to making it on the podium, but that didn't even phase me. I had just finished the best race of my life and I felt absolutely amazing. After this race, I am completely sold on this new training philosophy and look forward to fully implementing it next season. 

Looking great and finishing with a calm confidence

The outpouring of support that I received for that race also made a difference. For those that came out to watch me race, celebrate with me afterward, or provide positive thoughts or words I am absolutely grateful. There were many days this year that I was only able to get through with your love and support.  

Very supportive friends willing to get up early on a Sunday

The most supportive and loving family that I guy could ask for

Even Ellie came out to watch me race...and she
brought her mom

Making my parents proud

So you are probably wondering what is next for me, but I'm going to have to keep you in suspense for a little longer. I am still working on my schedule but will put out a post sometime soon with what my plans for 2019 are. I will tell you that there are some pretty big things in store for next year and my training schedule starts back up on Christmas Day. 

I am forcing myself to take the next 12.5 weeks off of scheduled training and enjoy the positive end to my season. I will still be working out plenty with a focus on walking and strength training but I am planning to try some new things as well. This will also allow me to enjoy my hunting season without worrying about fitting in certain workouts and will allow enjoying some extra family time around the holidays. 

Thank you all for following along this year!

Cyman Triathlon 2018

It is hard to believe that my 2018 season has come to a close. I will write a blog post in the upcoming weeks highlighting my 2018 season. This post, however, is a recap of the Cyman Sprint Triathlon that I competed in today. I went into the race today feeling very confident. Over the past 5 weeks, since the Bluff Creek Triathlon, I have had quite possibly my best 5 weeks of training ever. On top of that, I am coming off my best performance of the year at Bluff Creek, the news that I won my age group for the Heart of America Triathlon Series, and blowing away my 1 Mile PR on Thursday night at the IMT Monument Mile.

In addition, I stepped on the scale before the race for my mid-week weigh in (my weight watchers weigh in day is Wednesday) to see a weight of 233.2, down from 249.4 when I raced at Bluff Creek. The Weight Watchers program is continuing to work wonders for me! This is the lightest that I have ever been for a race since I ran track in middle school and it is making a big difference.

The weather was nearly perfect with temperatures starting out around 50 degrees and climbing into the low 60s with low humidity, sunshine, and light winds. A later race time and short drive to the race meant that I didn't have to get up super early. My alarm went off at 5:45 am, after changing and grabbing a quick breakfast, I headed to Bondurant with my mom and dad in tow to get ready to go. We arrived plenty early and I had a lot of time to stand around after getting my transition set up. I had a large group of work friends as well as family come out to cheer me on for the race.

After a quick warm up run around the lake, I made my final preparations and got ready for the race to start. The water temperature was 67 degrees, meaning that the race was "wet suit legal" which made me very happy to hear.

Putting on my wet suit as race time approaches

The race started at 9:00 am with the collegiate wave followed by my wave, the Heart of America Champions Wave at 9:03. The swim course was a straight out and back with a distance of 750 meters and I had an excellent swim. I came out of the water in a time of 17:48, more than 3 minutes faster than my time at the Cyman last year. The 2:10/100 yard pace is one of the fastest of my career.

Waiting in the water for my swim wave to start

Finishing up the swim

Out of the water and heading to T1

This is my first race using clip-less pedals and cycling shoes. Even though it added some additional complexity and preparation, it ended up not having a large impact on my transition times as I managed to get through T1 in 1:32 which was just seconds off of my current PR time. 

I was feeling very good as I headed out on the bike. Although the bike course was only 14 miles long, it did include several smaller hills on the back side of the course. In addition, we faced a head wind as we headed back into transition. None of that mattered much as I managed to set a PR for my bike split pace at 19.4 mph, cutting almost 2 minutes off of my time from last year. 

Clipping in and heading out on the bike course

Off the bike and headed for T2

My T2 time was a little longer than normal with the additional shoe change, but still a really good time at 1:06. As I headed out on the run, I was feeling pretty good. As I passed the first mile marker I could tell that I was running at a faster than normal pace and was even happier when I tried to push that pace a bit during the 2nd mile and my legs responded without any complaints. As I headed around the lake and up into the finish chute I couldn't believe the time that I saw on the clock. I quickly checked my watch to see that I had run the 5K in 28:00 flat. That not only set a triathlon PR, but set an overall running PR for me. My previous PR was a training run last October when I ran 28:13. 

Heading out of T2 onto the run course

Heading into the finish line

Getting some high fives from my girls at the end of the course

My official time was 1:31:43, 11 minutes faster than the 1:42:40 that I posted for the same race last year. I had a top 100 bike split and finished 138/240 total racers. I felt great the entire race and couldn't have asked for a better way to bring my 2018 season to an end.

Official times

As icing on the cake, I had a lot of support at the race today. Several coworkers, both former and current, as well as family came out to support me today. Their support and interest goes a long way to help me along in my journey and means more to me than any of them will ever know. 

A whole bunch of friends from work

Sister-in-law Jess and Niece Ellie came out to
cheer me on

Always excited when mom and dad get a
chance to watch me race

Me and my girls. For as much as they drive me
crazy, they are my biggest cheerleaders.

My wife Erin and I. None of this would be
possible without her love and support

After the race, we headed back to our house to meet more friends and family to grill out and celebrate another successful season. Everyone had a great time enjoying chicken and burgers along with the beautiful early fall weather. 

In-laws in-driveway

Girls having fun with the neighbors

Brother and sister-in-law, sadly Paul's attire
wasn't enough to will the Packers to a win

Words cannot express how high I am feeling right now. 2018 ended on such a high note and I am looking forward to what is to come in 2019. For now, I'm going to shift my focus to recovery, family time, and deer hunting season. Thank you all for your support throughout this year, as well as over the past 5 years. It had been a great run and I'm still just getting started. Keep your eye on my blog and Facebook for my season wrap up and information on my plans for next year, chances are, 2019 will be even more epic than 2018 was. 

Putting the Pieces Together

I have been looking forward to writing this post for the past several weeks but I feel that tonight is finally the right time. A little bit of a warning that this post will probably turn out a little longer than most. To start, we need to take a brief look back at where I started and how I got to where I am today.

History
In March of 2014 I started an 8 week 5k running program and fell in love with running. At the time I topped the scales at 346 lbs. Over the next 2 years I ran several races, including my first 2 half marathons in the fall of 2015. At the time I had brought my weight down into the 290's with no additional effort beyond running a few times a week.

During the winter of 2016 I really started to focus on weight loss. I adopted a restrictive diet (as I had done in the past with temporary success) and switched my focus from road races to triathlon. By June of 2016 I managed to drop my weight down to around 240 but I had lost all motivation to continue with such a restrictive diet and by consuming drastically fewer calories then I needed to train it just wasn't sustainable. As my very successful racing season came to an end, so did my drive to continue losing weight. By the end of the year, my weight had creeped back up into the 260's. I will still training, and had big plans for 2017, but I wasn't training at nearly the rate that I had been during the spring and summer months and didn't change my diet at all to compensate.

As the winter months wore on and my marathon training program started, I was very frustrated with myself. I had set a goal to be around 220 lbs by the time I ran my marathon but I was sitting in the 250's instead. Things came to a head when I injured my foot in April and ended up having to bow out of the marathon in June. Deep down I knew that the plantar fasciitis was due to running so many miles while carrying too much weight. After failing to meet that goal, I was determined to not miss out on my 2nd major goal of the year, a Half Ironman distance triathlon in September. I worked my butt off training for that race but the scale didn't budge and my diet did not improve.

Again, going into the off season, I had some BIG goals around finally losing weight and coming into this racing season lighter than I had ever been. Just as had happened at the end of 2016, my weight slowly climbed back up into the 260's where it stayed throughout the winter. The only difference is that 2018 didn't include any long distance races and ridiculous amounts of training. With each month, and each race that past, I became more and more discouraged. I was racing very poorly and the confidence that I had the prior 2 years was nearly non-existent. I knew that something was missing, but either didn't know what it was or was in denial about it. When I injured my back in late June, I had all but given up on the season and even blogged about it (I Am So Over 2018).

Things begin to turn around
If you don't remember back to my original blog post, about how I got into running, let me jog your memory. My running journey began with a simple question from a co-worker during the winter of 2018, "Does anyone want to train to run a 5K with me?". It turns out that I seem to find inspiration in the most unexpected places. Now, if you ask my wife, she will tell you that I have talked about going to the doctor to discuss weight loss for the past 3 years. She will also tell you that I am stubborn and like to do things on my own even if it means learning the hard way. Well, as it turns out, I probably should have followed through a lot sooner.

On July 17th, I walked into an appointment that I had made at the new Mercy Clinic in Grimes to see the Physicians Assistant at that office. The primary reason was to have a follow up on my back, but as luck would have it, I was her last appointment of the day and she ended up spending over 1 1/2 hours with me. We talked about pretty much every medical issue that I have had in recent memory, walked through my progress over the past 4 1/2 years (including past physicals and blood work) and she commended me on how far I've come. I don't know why, but receiving reassurance from a medical professional made something inside my brain click. She referred me to a dietitian at the Mercy Weight Loss Center but also provided a suggestion. She said that based on how much of a self-starter I have been with running and triathlon, that I should consider giving Weight Watchers a try.

As I left her office, I wasn't so sure. At the time, my perception of Weight Watchers was that it was for women, specifically women who tended to be stay at home mom's that weren't morbidly obese but just wanted to drop 20 lbs. I honestly don't know where this perception came from, but it is what I thought. At home that night, I decided to check it out and sign up. Now I'm not going to get into details about how Weight Watchers works or anything like that (if you want to read more, their website has a lot of information), but it didn't take long for me to figure out that it is the exact piece that I had been missing for these past 4 1/2 years. I opted for the "Online Only" option which does not include the weekly in-person meetings, but does provide me with access to the website, and Android app for my phone to track my food.

I officially started WW on Wednesday, July 18th and during my 1st week I lost 6.6 lbs. This was no surprise because every time that I had started a diet, I had great results early. During week 2 I lost another 4 lbs, but that wasn't even the best part. I was still unsure about the plan during the first week as it was a little hard and I was still getting used to it. By the end of week 2, it wasn't feeling difficult at all (I mean that literally....not difficult AT ALL). Week 3 was a 5 lb weight loss and things really felt like they were cruising.

My progress so far

It was also in week 3 that I met with a dietitian at the Mercy Weight Loss center. I was excited to share my early success and even more thrilled when she told me that I am making excellent decisions and handling this transition very well. We spent an hour together talking about many things, such as my triggers for eating and how to create a sustainable diet (more specifically what that entails for me), but my biggest take away was our discussion about mindful eating. I have thought about this a lot since that meeting and it really makes sense. I am a very habit and pattern oriented person and I truly believe that the reason that I am succeeding with WW is that it gives me a plan to follow that I can easily stick to. I thrive on the structure of it to the point that it has become extremely easy for me to follow it. 

At the same time, I know that everyone is different and different people find different ways to succeed at the same things. There are a lot of diet options out there and even more diet advice. From rules such as "Don't eat after supper" to "Eat 5 small meals a day", the Keto diet to tracking calories with an app such as My Fitness Pal. Oh, and everyone knows the person who lost weight by just drinking more water too. However, when you look to the heart of every piece of dietary advice out there, they all point back to 1 simple principle, and that is mindful eating. When we pay attention to what we put into our mouths, we make better decision.

My meeting with the dietitian included some biometric measurements as well as some physical measurements. In addition, she encouraged me to take the physical measurements every couple of weeks and to stop in every month for the biometric measurements as well (offered free of charge in their office). She emphasized that sometimes the scale might not go down (or even on occasion go up) but that is just one measurement of success and that I should look at them all together.

Today marks 4 weeks since I met with her and 7 weeks since I met with the PA and began WW. Below I have taken a picture of the 2 biometric measurement printouts, on the left is from 4 weeks ago and the right is today.

The difference that 4 weeks has made is outstanding and really shows the progress that I have made, as well as how much farther I have to go. The bullet points below are my biggest take aways:

• Fat mass dropped from 82.6 lbs to 65.6 lbs
• Muscle mass actually went up from 166 lbs to 167 lbs (by the way this is a crazy high number which makes me super proud)
• BMI is a crap measurement (which is not entirely a surprise) for me because my ideal body weight is 153.4 lbs even though I have 175.6 lbs of non-fat mass on my body. To drop out of the overweight category, I would need to be below 180 lbs which would leave me with less than 5 lbs of fat
• A lot of people claim that when you lose a significant amount of weight, it is usually a lot of "water weight" but my hydration percentage actually went up from 48.8% 4 weeks ago to 51.2% today

In addition, with the help of Erin, I have taken 4 physical measurements of my body and the difference there has been outstanding as well.

8/7

• Neck: 16 inches
• Chest: 50 3/4 inches
• Waist: 51 1/4 inches
• Hips: 46 1/2 inches

9/4

• Neck: 15 inches
• Chest: 47 inches
• Waist: 49 1/4 inches
• Hips: 42 1/4 inches

The dietitian was right, putting these numbers together is really telling the whole story. The good news for me, is that the scale has been at a steady decline as well. 

Weekly Weigh Ins

My official WW weigh in days are on Wednesday, but I also weigh in on Sunday as well. I find that twice a week is often enough to keep me looking forward to the next opportunity to see progress but not so long that a "bad" weigh in can't be thought about for too long. 

Final Thoughts

Proper diet and nutrition was the puzzle piece that I have been missing for the past 4 1/2 years and I feel like I have finally found it. Using Weight Watchers seems to be extremely sustainable for me and will not only compliment my training regimen, but will also help prevent me from gaining weight during the off season. I don't feel overly restricted, which is key for me, and I have already had the opportunity to overcome nearly every food trigger that I had identified with the dietitian. 

I finally feel like I am transitioning from being "The fat guy who is in pretty good shape" to an athlete that can compete and has a bright future in the sport of triathlon. Success builds on success, and I can honestly say that I can never remember a time in my life where I have felt this great and this confident in myself.

As a disclaimer for this post, I am not a believer that Weight Watchers is some sort of quick fix for weight loss, nor do I believe that it would work for everyone. I think that everyone out there has some puzzle in their life that they are missing a piece. After reading this post, I hope that you know that no matter how long you have been looking, and even if you have given up hope, that piece is out there for you too. You just have to keep looking for it and listen to those people around you (including yourself sometimes) to help you find it.

There is certainly more to this story, but for now I will leave some of the finer details for future posts. Please keep following along on my journey. I have been filled with new hope and motivation and things are really looking up again!

Back on the Bike

After nearly 2 months of drastically reduced training and only a handful of very short bike rides, I have resumed my full training regimen this past week and it feels great! Even better yet, is that my back has held up pretty well with only 2 days in the past week with any sort of significant pain and 1 day that was completely pain free.

To finish out the year, I built a schedule around a new training philosophy that I'm going to implement next season.  I will blog more specifics later, but there are 2 major distinctions compared to how I train today. The first is that training is time based instead of distance based (think in terms of minutes and hours instead of miles and yards). The second is training in zones based on heart rate instead of perceived effort.

Tonight I headed out to the High Trestle Trail for a brick workout. I started with a 1:15 bike ride and finished with 20 minutes running. The calm winds were great on the bike and the shade on the trail was perfect for the run. I am happy to say that the workout felt GREAT and felt surprisingly easy. I'm really looking forward to training over the next 4 weeks prior to my season coming to a close. I've really been missing it!

Bluff Creek Triathlon - 2018 Version

I am so excited about how well I raced today that I don't even know where to start this blog post. I have had a smile on my face the entire day and I don't think that it is going away anytime soon. I apologize in advance if this post ends up sounding like a bunch of scatter-brained ramblings, but so many story lines went into the race today.

I'm going to kick things off with the fact that I actually made the podium in my division! I placed 3rd out of 7 and this marks only the 2nd podium finish in my triathlon career so far.

Top 3 finishers in my division

It was a REALLY tight race as less than 9 minutes separated 1st from 7th place. Furthermore, if I had raced a similar pace to my first 3 races this year, I would have finished in last place instead of 3rd. I had a lot of things going for me today that contributed to my success.

• The weather was outstanding for racing, from the water temps to the air temp and hazy conditions blocking out the sun
• I was familiar with the course after racing there last year, that familiarity brought me a lot of confidence
• My sister, Melissa, and nephew, Brycen, came to cheer me on. I always race better with a cheering section
• I have managed to lose 18.2 lbs since the Iowa Games Triathlon last month (more on this in a later blog post)
• I was focused on keeping the gap with the overall race leader to a minimum to maximize my Heart of America Triathlon series points and give myself a chance to finish in 1st place for the year (and to earn a spot in the championship race/wave at the Cyman Triathlon next month)

Ok, so now onto my usual recap of the race. The day started off well as I got a great night sleep and jumped out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:30. Everything was ready to go so I got changed, got my breakfast ready and loaded everything in the truck. The trip should have taken about 50 minutes but I was stopped by a train in Ogden, which was followed immediately by a 2nd train (on the other set of tracks) and resulted in a 15 minute delay. This is why I always give myself plenty of time on race morning.

Waiting for a train

After getting parked and finishing breakfast, I got my packet picked up and everything set up in transition with plenty of time to spare. My race number was "1" so I got a lot of comments from volunteers, spectators and other racers. I decided to hop on one of the first shuttle buses over to the beach to give myself time for a warm up swim. After warming up I spent time talking with other racers on the beach and just enjoying the beautiful morning. Once the last shuttle arrived, they got things started pretty quickly. The only part of the race that I didn't enjoy very much was the swim. There were over 80 people in my swim wave and with such a short course across the lake (500 meters) we never got spread out. This resulted in a lot of kicking/hitting/bumping into other swimmers which made it very hard to settle into a grove. My swim time was not great but I did average under 2:30 min/100 yrds. 

Happy to be out of the water

T1 is where things started to go very well for me. I managed to get through T1 and out onto the bike in 1:28 which blows away my previous PR. Once on the bike, I was very happy that my back was not bothering me, I was also happy at the 5 mile split when I was averaging 20 mph. That success carried throughout the entire bike as I managed to set another PR pace of 19.3 mph. I beat out my time from Bluff Creek last year (my previous PR) by 18 seconds. This was a HUGE surprise to me because of how little training I have done on the bike this summer. Due to my back injury, I have only been on my bike 5 times in the past month and a half but apparently that had no effect on this race. 

Heading out on the bike

My bike split placed me 53/155 which is ridiculously good for me. My good race continued in T2 where I registered a time of 0:44. Not quite as good as the 0:41 at the Iowa Games last month but pretty darn close and put me at 32/155. 

Although I love running, it is no secret that I am not very fast. In nearly every race, the lead that I build on the bike quickly disappears on the run. This race was no different but the good news is that unlike the last 2 triathlons, where I had to spend time walking, I managed to keep my legs moving the entire time and I believe that is really what won me the podium spot today. 

Heading out on the run

Finishing strong

Official results

As mentioned above, my sister and nephew drove up to watch me race today. It means so much to me when people show an interest in my racing and I am truly lucky to have so many friends and family members who support me on this journey. 

Brycen and I after the race

I won't know the final standings for the Heart of America Triathlon Series for a couple of weeks, but I sure feel like I did everything with in my power to earn my spot in the championship wave at the Cyman Triathlon next month. Even if I didn't quite make it, I will be racing no matter what. I have put together a great training plan for the next 5 weeks and hope to make that race the best one of my career so far. For now though, I'm going to spend some time enjoying this one. 

Proud to wear the #1

The placement "medals" were actually made out of wood
and painted. Very unique and I really liked them.

Thank you all for reading! Check back over the next month as I prepare to finish off my 2018 season on September 23rd. If you are in the Des Moines area that weekend, please consider coming out to Bondurant to cheer me on. As a little incentive, we will be grilling out back at our house after the race. 

Iowa Games/Des Moines Corporate Games Cross Country Race

This morning I participated in the Des Moines Corporate Games Cross Country 4.4K race. The race was held in conjunction with the Iowa Games on the Iowa State cross country course in Ames. With Erin out of town (running the Bix 7 actually), I dropped the girls off at my sister's house and headed for Ames.

I don't think the weather could have been any more perfect for running, especially considering the time of year. There were fewer runners then last week for the road races but it was still a great turn out. They had a longer, 8K race that started at 8:00 am followed by the 4.4K at 9:00 am. Many of those who ran the first race opted to run in the 2nd race as well. The Pioneer runners had a great showing in the first race with many runners taking home both Iowa Games and Corporate Games medals.

Dupont Pioneer/Corteva Cross Country Team

As we lined up for the 2nd race I had flash backs to high school, which is the last time I ran in a cross country race. The course was a little damp, but other than that was in great condition for running. As we approached the back half of the course there were some pretty good hills that posed a bit of a challenge but it flattened back out nicely for the finish. I had forgotten my watch at home so I had no clue what my pace or time were until I approached the finish line. I crossed the line with an official time of 27:01, an average pace of 9:54 per mile. Last week for the 5K road race, I averaged 10:20 per mile so I was very happy to see that improvement. I ended up finishing in 2nd place (out of 2) for my age group scoring 85 points for Pioneer. That brings my total points contributed this year up to 140, fairly insignificant compared to our company total but I was really proud to represent my employer for the games. 

Dug this gem out of a tub in the basement, this
was from junior year of high school and the last
time that I would have run a cross country race

I have a few weeks off of racing as I build up to the Bluff Creek Triathlon on August 19th. Due to my back injury, I am not able to spend time on my bike, which is very disappointing. I'm hoping to get some good training for the swim and run in prior to that race to help make up for that and to keep my overall fitness level up.

I only have a few races left for the year as I am planning to wrap up my season by the end of September. I think that my body is in need of a couple months rest to heal up and prepare for what lies ahead in 2019 so the timing should be perfect.

Des Moines Corporate Games 5K

The Des Moines Corporate Games 5K and 10K road races were held this morning in conjunction with the Clive Running Festival. After originally signing up for the 10K race, I decided to switch to the 5K this past week due to the issues that I have been having with my back.

It was a beautiful morning for a race and I ended up with an official time of 32:16 which I was happy with. I was disappointed, however, that I placed 5th in my age group which is just one place out of scoring additional points for Dupont Pioneer/Corteva. No worries though because the 10 participation points that I did receive contributed to a HUGE day for Pioneer that grew our 1st place lead over Pella Corporation who is currently in 2nd place.

Garmin Race Overview

Leader board after the 10K and 5K Road Races this morning

Next up, I will be participating in the Des Moines Corporate Games Cross Country Races next Saturday. I will be racing in the 4K and it will be my 3rd weekend in a row representing Pioneer for the Corporate Games.