Hero Hustle Sprint Triathlon 2023

This morning I competed in the Hero Hustle Sprint Triathlon in Manchester, IA. Last night I stayed at my parents house to cut 2 hours off the drive this morning. I got a good nights sleep which was even able to sleep a little extra since the race didn't start until 9:00. the Hero Hustle Triathlon is in its 8th year and raises money for the Firefighters, EMS, and Police Officers in Delaware County. Some of my favorite races are those found in small town Iowa put on by the communities. Just like so many other races I've done, the town showed up to volunteer, race, and cheer on the athletes all morning. It was amazing!

With the later race start, I was very happy that the hot and humid weather of last week was behind us. We were greeted with temperatures in the mid-50s, very little humidity, and light winds out of the NE. Parking was right next to registration and transition which made setup a breeze. A short walk to the beach for the pre-race meeting, the national anthem, and we were off. There were about 180 athletes total between the triathlon and duathlon but the time trial/rolling start went very quickly. 

The water was quite warm (81 degrees) and I felt pretty good on the swim. I was a little disappointed when I got out of the water to see 10:40 on my watch and still had to run up the hill to transition. My official time in the swim was 11:40 which is pretty darn bad. I really need to spend time working on my swim this off season. 

Once I got into transition I took a play from my last race and sat down to get my socks and shoes on. Once again it paid off as I got out of T1 in a time of 1:35 which is a season best and one of my best all time. I got out onto the bike course quickly. The course headed South with a partial tail wind. It was an out-and-back course with a turnaround at 8 miles and some rolling hills with no big climbs. I pushed hard from the start as I wanted to take advantage of the 6 miles with a partial tail wind. At the 5 mile mark I was averaging > 19mph which made me very happy. I lost some time once I was headed back into the wind but still was able to finish the 16 mile course in 51:52 which was an 18.5mph average. Another season best time. 

I thought I had used my legs a little too much on the bike as I had caught myself mashing the pedals several times on the bike, but it turned out I was wrong. I got through T2 in 1:07, another season best. There was a water station about 1/4 mile into the run course and they were handing out small water bottles that were being kept cold in a cooler. I was overjoyed. I kept the bottle with me and decided to take the GU gel I had thrown in my tri suit. I don't normally take in nutrition during a sprint triathlon but I was feeling low on energy and knew it would give me some extra pep for the last 2.5 miles. As I hit the turnaround at about 1.25 miles I really pushed hard down the hill. My 2nd mile came in at 11:09 which is my fastest mile of the year. As I got into the park, the run finished with a lap around the lake on a gravel trail. The gravel did slow me down a little bit but I ended up finishing with a time of 34:44 (11:11/mi average). This marked my fastest 5k of the year, beating out the Rexy Run 5k last weekend by 11 minutes!

Very happy with how I raced today!

Transition all set up nice and early

Spacious transition meant everyone had plenty of space

Beautiful view of the swim course

After the race I got everything loaded up and made the 2 hour and 45 minute trip home. I stiffened up a little bit on the drive so after a quick shower Bridget helped me out with some PT. 

"Don't worry daddy. I've got this!"

I know that I still have a lot to work on, but everything really came together today and I am extremely pleased with my performance. My next race will be the Gateway Challenge Sprint Triathlon in Marengo, IA on September 16th. I'm really excited to see what improvements I can make in the next 3 weeks. 

Weight Loss Milestone

Let me be real for a moment. After so many years of hard work and success from 2014 - 2019 it sucks that I am once again be on a weigh loss journey. I have done a lot of deep thinking and soul searching this year and the reality is that my weight is always going to be a struggle. There may be a day where I am living at a more comfortable and healthy weight but the journey and struggles will never end. 

Now, onto the great news and progress update. I've written a lot in past posts about my run streak that started in February 2022 and more recently about all of the training and races that I've been competing in. So far, I have purposely not spent much time writing about weight loss. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the primary one is that until recently it really hasn't been something I've focused on. 

At the beginning of February this year I stepped on the scale for the first time in a LONG time. The number that I saw, 324.4 lbs, made me sad. The silver lining in that number is that it is 25 lbs lighter than I was at my heaviest in 2014. As I set out on the journey to return to racing I focused more on the training than I did the weight loss but would still step on the scale every once in awhile. I was consistently losing a few pounds each month and was happy enough with that progress because I was feeling better, getting fitter, and having fun.

After the Quad Cities Triathlon in June I couldn't stand to see myself in the race photos. The combination of wanting to continue improving my speed and wanting to look better forced me to shift my focus to weight loss and my diet. I've made some incremental changes throughout the summer and it has made such a huge difference. Not only is the number on the scale dropping, but my energy levels, mood, and fitness have all seen monumental improvements. 

When I stepped on the scale the morning of Friday, August 25th I saw the number 274.4 lbs. This means that I have managed to lose 50 lbs since the beginning of February. This downward trend mimics the gradual weight loss that I had from 2015 - 2016. It has been a slow journey but everything that I have been doing is 100% sustainable long-term. I sure do have a long way to go and have set some big goals for myself but with time I think I can get there. The hardest part for me is the patience. I am not naturally a patient person so it is a big struggle to see such slow progress BUT I am very grateful to come this far. 

Numbers on a scale really only mean so much, so I thought I would look back at pictures to see what the difference over that period of time looks like. I really haven't had many people comment on my weight loss so I wasn't sure how noticeable it has been. I dug up some pictures that Erin took of me during a basketball game last February and then put on the same clothes for some comparison pictures today. I am very pleased with the difference that I can see. 

Slow and steady

While you should absolutely be impressed and amazed by my progress, the real reason that I wanted to share this with you is for everyone out there who is like me and lacks patience. Everyone is on a journey of some kind and the truth is, for most things, it just takes a long time of being consistent to get there. It isn't always easy to wait or keep going but if I can do it, so can you. Whether it is weight loss or something else entirely, find ways to measure your progress and celebrate milestones along the way. 

Rexy Run 5k

Time continues to fly by as tomorrow marks the end of summer vacation and the start of a new school year for my girls. This past weekend we were invited to Kansas City for an Engelmann family gathering so we decided to turn it into a long weekend to enjoy some extra family time before the school year officially started. 

My uncle, Mike, also lives in the KC area and runs A LOT of races each year so I reached out to him to find out what races were going on in the area this weekend. I ended up signing up with him to run the Rexy Run 5k in Lawrence on Saturday. After getting an early morning 4.5 mile run in on Friday and a long day that included a lot of walking around the zoo and art museum, I managed to get a good nights rest before the race. Uncle Mike picked me up at 6:10am on Saturday to head for Lawrence. With temperatures already in the upper 70s and high humidity I was very thankful for the early 7:30 start time. 

I'm not much for warm ups, but walking to packet pickup and back to the car gave my legs a chance to stretch out. After waiting in line for the bathroom it was time to line up for the race to start. There was a 5k and 8k option and the field was relatively small with less than 300 total racers. 

Lining up at the start line

Before I knew it, the horn sounded and the race was underway. I pushed hard from the start as we followed the road through the park, along the road, and out into the wetlands. There was a slight uphill climb to end mile 1 and begin mile 2 before heading back down hill and onto about a 1 mile stretch of gravel trail. Running on gravel brought back some not-so-great memories of the last time I raced in Lawrence at the Legend Ad-Adstra 70.3 triathlon in 2017. My mile 1 and mile 2 splits were 11:26 and 11:22 respectively. I was relieved to finally get back on the paved trail with about 3/4 of a mile to go. As we got back into the park I really put the hammer down and finished very strong with an 11:15 split for mile 3. Mike had crossed the finish line a few minutes before I did and came back to cheer me on and run the last 1/10 with me. 

I was relieved to be done and absolutely dripping with sweat. After I finally caught my breath, I took a look at my watch and was instantly overcome with joy. Not much to even nit pick on t54.6his race. My best 5k of the year and it isn't even close. My official time was 34:54.6 and I finished 65/174. I've questioned my true effort after nearly every race this year, but not this one. I gave it everything I had and the results spoke for themselves. 

Official Results

Super proud of myself

Quick picture with Uncle Mike after the race

I love having the opportunity to race with family and friends and this was the 2nd time I was lucky enough to join my uncle for a race (and hopefully not the last). It's also a lot of fun incorporating races like this into a vacation weekend as it is an opportunity to run in a new a new location. 

I have a quick turnaround as my next race is this coming Sunday. I will be racing in the Hero Hustle sprint triathlon in Manchester. I'm looking forward to another opportunity to race in a triathlon this year but hoping the forecast holds and the temperatures drop for the weekend.