By the Numbers
- 33 races (most in a year, beating out 15 in 2023)
- 1,139.46 miles run (most in a year, beating out 1,049.42 in 2023)
- 2,733.79 miles biked (most in a year, beating out 2,599.11 in 2017)
- 61:23:04 strength training (most in a year, beating out 40:59:03 in 2017)
- 471:53:33 time training and racing
- 10 age group podium finishes
- Best overall sprint triathlon finish (31/100)
Highlights
I am an extremely sentimental person so every race and every year creates a long list of memories, both good and bad, for me. With 33 races and so much time training, it will be hard to pull out the highlights from 2025 but I'm going to try. In no particular order:
Hip Injury
In late February I was building up mileage with the intention of running a 10k and maybe even a half marathon. I started experiencing pain while running in my right hip. Sometimes it was worse than others, but eventually it got bad enough that I was cutting my training runs short. After a trip to the doctor I was diagnosed with hip bursitis. Anti inflammatory medication, at home physical therapy, and significantly reduced mileage during the first 2 weeks of March were the suggested course of treatment. It took about 6 weeks for the pain to fully resolve and be back to 100%. This impacted my early spring race schedule a bit and ultimately was the reason that I stuck to shorter distance races for the year
Annual Good Friday Ride
As has become tradition, I went for a bike ride on Good Friday with Kyle and Adam. This year it was rainy and windy as we set out to log some miles on the Chichaqua Valley Trail. It was on this ride I realized exactly how out of shape I was. It was surprising for someone who was a couple hundred days into a run streak to be struggling so much, but for the first time ever, Kyle and Adam were having to slow down and wait for me. It was miserable and embarrassing, although neither of them complained once. It was this ride that made me reevaluate where I was and it became the turning point of my year.
Beer and Bagel Run
My first ever trail run was a Jester Park in April. While I didn't instantly fall in love with trail running, I did like the variation in my schedule and the extra challenge that comes with running on trails.
Race for Hope 5k
This race was on a Saturday of a 2 race weekend. It was windy and cold but I ran absolutely lights out. I finished with a time of 33:02, which made it my fastest 5k since 2019! It wasn't so much the race itself that made this a highlight, but instead how this race changed the trajectory of my year. I came away from this race with a huge boost in confidence and it was the first time I thought "maybe I should try to beat my 5k PR this year".
Double Duathlon
I had 2 triathlons on the schedule in May. Admittedly, May is pretty early in Iowa to jump into a lake for open water swimming, but some years it is fine. This year, however, the weather was cold. In mid-May the Des Moines Corporate Games triathlon was switched to a duathlon (run-bike-run) due to cold air temperatures. Surprisingly, this is the first time that has happen and thus marked my first duathlon ever. The following weekend I was set to race Tri Clear Lake and that was switched to a duathlon as well due to the cold water temperatures. It all worked out well for me in the end as I finished on the podium in both races.
The End of a Great Race
June marked the final running of the Quad Cities Triathlon. This race had become a staple on my schedule and I absolutely loved the course and the community. I am sad to see the race end but I made sure the last one was a memorable one and raced very well.
Triple Race Weekend
Late in June for the first (and likely last) time ever, I raced 3 times in 1 weekend. To make things extra challenging, the weekend was super hot and humid. On Saturday morning I traveled to Madrid to run the Trestle Hustle 5k. In the afternoon I drove to McFarland Park in Ames to run the Mid Summer Night's Run trail 5k. I didn't race particularly well in either race, but was also trying to conserve some energy. I stayed with a friend in Ames on Saturday night before racing the Ames triathlon on Sunday morning. By the time I got to the run, my legs had so little left and heat was really getting to me but I managed to finish anyways. I think I officially found my limit for races in a weekend.
My 100th Race
It was my 1st race in 2014, and my 100th race in 2025. The Bix 7 was delayed due to rain and involved running through what felt like a raging river. The unforgiving hills didn't disappoint either but at least it wasn't extremely hot. I didn't race as well as I had hoped, but this race was special for so many reasons. I've never made the Bix a target race, and it won't be in 2026 either, but I think I might go for it to see what I can do on that course not too far down the road.
My Best Sprint Triathlon Ever
My focus on training in July and August was centered around a autumn 5k PR, but that focus produced gains elsewhere as I found a level of fitness that I had never seen before. With only a moderate focus on the bike, and very little swimming at all I still managed to put together a couple of VERY good triathlons. In early September I headed to Waterloo to race in the Black Hawk County YMCA triathlon. It was my last tri of the year and I really sent it in this race. I absolutely crushed it on the bike with an average of 19.7 mph and the 11th fastest bike split on the course. Putting myself so far up in the field going into the run ended up paying off as I managed to run fast enough to mostly hold my position and finished 31st overall, my best sprint triathlon finish of all time.
5k PR and Consistency
The biggest highlight of my season was running a 5k PR at the Hillbilly Hike 5k the first weekend of November. I don't think I've ever trained so hard for a goal before and I certainly earned it. I won't go into details because this was well documented in an early blog post, but even sitting here nearly 3 months later I am still very proud of that moment.
Maybe even more impressive than the PR was maintaining the same level of fitness over the next several weeks as I essentially matched that time again at the Turkey Trails 5k the weekend before Thanksgiving and then even raced well at an easier effort at the Ankeny Turkey Trot a few days later on Thanksgiving. I really ended my 2025 season at a peek level of fitness.
Wrap Up
It is so exciting to think back on all of the great memories that I made while training and racing in 2025. I'm not sure that I will ever see a year with 33 races again, but it really was fun. I fell in love with shorter races and realized that will likely be the direction that I head in 2027 again. It is fun knowing that the success that I had in 2025 will always rank up there with the success of 2019. It also helped to rebuild my confidence that I haven't peaked yet and there are more great things to come.
2026 is going to look A LOT different than 2025 and training is well underway for my first full Ironman. Here is to hoping that the success I had in 2025 leads into a very successful 2026.
2026 is going to look A LOT different than 2025 and training is well underway for my first full Ironman. Here is to hoping that the success I had in 2025 leads into a very successful 2026.
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