Rock the W volume 2

I'm super pumped to be back with Wattie Ink for the 2013 season as a part of the Wattie Ink Elite Team. Last year was a whirlwind of awesome. I had a few results go south as I tried to figure out how to race in the Tennessee heat and I had a few results surprise me. But one thing was constant. I always felt great in my Wattie gear. The kit always got compliments and drew many questions. You see here in the south triathlon just isn't that big. So to be on a team like this that hails predominantly from Cali has me explaining the kit a lot. "No it's not a tattoo shop","No it's not a printing company"...those were my most common. At least people around here know the products of our sponsors (Blueseventy, ISM, Kask Helmets, Speedfil, Fuelbelt) so I didn't have to explain them. This season Powerbar and 454 Tattoo have joined us as well. I can imagine that with 454 on the kit it's really gonna confuse these southerners.

My Memphis buddy Damie made the cover.

So what to expect in 2013. Well simply put...more W!! The team jumped from about 40 to 100 strong. The new kids are super pumped and will be a great addition. With the expansion comes more exposure on the East side of the map. Not sure where yet but Wattie has an east coast team race planned which will be awesome!!! He already nabbed a 3 year deal with Wildflower for the west coasters. The man has no limits. Details if you click the pic below.

Finally, I leave you with race goals. Last year I didn't have any goals, at least not clear ones. So my training wasn't the smartest and I raced a little too much. With no goals I had no purpose. I'm not making that mistake this season. I want to go to the Vegas World Championship 70.3 race. That's it. That's all I'm training for right now. Yes, it's only December but I'm back at it now. My first race is the Ironman New Orleans 70.3 in April. It's the only race I'm thinking of at this time. I have to qualify for Vegas and since I'll be in the 30-34 AG I'm thinking I'll have to be able to go sub 4:30. Honestly that is huge for me. My PR is 5:07 and I've only done two 70.3s. However, I think it's doable because of that little thing I mentioned above, FOCUS. I'm swimming smart, I'm riding much smarter than ever before, and my run looks to be on target to make a 4-5 minute improvement. I'm looking forward to April and hoping that my 4th season is magical. After April I'll relax and race here and there but nothing serious until Vegas. 

Hope this hasn't been a bad read for you. It's a bit early and I tend to write fast and think slow. Happy training and Happy Holidays!!

"Stay stubborn, don't quit" - my road id

LeadmanTri Epic 250 - A Deep Dark Place of Victory and Perserverence!

It's been a week since the Leadman race and I still can't quite believe that I finished it. Even as I sit here looking down at the belt buckle that I earned I'm still not sure it was real or a dream. This will be hard to write as I went through so many highs and lows during the race. I litterally went to the point of failure and still came out a victor. This won't be my normal race recap. It's just too much to remember. The swim was so beautiful. Two laps in Cultus lake in 58 degree water with 44 degree air temps and it was simply amazing. The water so crisp and clear. It was a relaxing swim and much faster than I had anticpated, swim data. The bike was an epic journey all on it's own. It started great, had some rough spots, almost ended, then was amazing again. The views were breath taking. You just don't get these kinds of views in Tennessee. The run was very challenging but so fun at the same time. I was lucky to make it to the run. I'll explain.

As athletes we love motivational quotes and mantras. Any groupset of words that will give you the motivation and extra push you need when the going gets tough. For me it was a tweet my brother posted the day before the race and a hash tag that saved my race. "#proudbrother" I can't type it without tearing up. Just as I teared up on the side of the road when I thought my day was over.

So what happened? Well somewhere around  mile 106 of the bike, which was somewhere in the range of 6-7 hours of total race time for me at that point, I hit the wall. I mean everything shut down. I was getting ready to climb Mt Bachleor for the second time and it all came crashing down. My heart rate went up, I was short of breath and weak, and mentally I was done. I pulled off the side of the road sat down and pulled my helmet off. I sat there thinking of what it was going to be like to give up. How was my team going to think of me. At this point we had already lost three other guys due to flats and bad course markings. Chirs Masilon was probably still going for all I knew but I had heard he was hurting. Which looking back. WE ALL WERE!! So I could be the only Wattie left to finish for all I knew. I sat there thinking of Kayla. I wanted to see her I wanted to hear her say to get back up. But instead I sat in silence somewhere on a mountain road completely defeated. Soon some officials on a motorcycle showed up, as well as another racer who was a doctor, and then just a passer by in an suv. The doc noted my paleness but said my pulse felt strong. The biker officals let me know that the guy in the suv would take me back to town. "Is this it!? Is this how I'm going out!?" I looked up the mountain which now looked so much taller and steeper. I thought of the struggle it was to climb it the first time around mile 60. Then I looked deep into myself. I was searching for any part of me to agree to get back up. I was digging and digging deeper and deeper and all I found was silence and darkness. Then out of the back of my mind in my brothers voice I heard "#proudbrother". Just like that there was a spark inside. As the guys were telling me I needed to make a choice. I stood up. I put my helmet back on. and I said "I'm going to try to get to the top". Every move I made brought more energy and life back to my bones. They let me know there was one more aid station up ahead. I said I would stop if I didn't feel right. But I had no intention of stopping. I didn't fly across the country to quit. I didn't train through burnout to catch a ride back to town. and I didn't grown such a massive man beard to not cross the fnish line. At this point it wasn't about a buckle. It wasn't even about finishing. My race conisted of the 10-15 miles left to get to the top of Mt Bachelor. I knew if I could get to the top then I could finish. I could coast the last 16 miles back down the mountain into town and I could walk 13 miles if I had to. So they wished me luck and I clipped in and started pedaling. I don't know how long it took and I don't even know how hard it was. I just looked at the white line and pedaled. I didn't look at my computer or up the hill to see how much was left. I just looked at the white line. Eventually I passed the doctor. She said "you're back!!". I said I found a second wind. As I rounded the last corner and saw the road start to level out I thought I had reached the false flat right before the final pitch. But when I looked up I was shocked to see that it was the top. I had made it. I felt alive again. I told myself I would cross that line! I reflected on the race thus far on the ride back into town. How I had come so close to never finishing! I thanked God for the friends praying for me, for my wife, and of course for that tweet. here is my bike data. The doctor lady later saw me at the finish line. She was so excited I had finished.

When I got off the bike I had been racing for about 9 hours and 21 minutes. I had spent 8 hours and 5 minutes on the bike!! I had literally been to hell and back. I had been knocked down lower than ever, but still got back up. This race will be a defning moment in my life. It was more than a race. It was a testament to the human spirit that defies to be broken. That the will within really can move mountains. and that through HIM all things are possible, Philipians 4:13.

I ended up run walking the 13 miles in 2:03. I joked with everyone at the aid stations. I smiled and was amazed by the beauty of the world around me. I surprisingly ran the first and last mile in 8:02 and 8:01 and all the miles in between were all over the place. Here is my run data. Around mile 6 another guy in my age group went by me at his mile 4. He yelled out to go get the buckle. I told him I had missed that window a long time ago. He said the cut off had been extended to 12 hours. I had 7 miles to go and 90 minutes to spare to make that cut off. That was just the spark I needed to put a little pep in my step. I did some rough math and figured as long as I didn't die or go slower than 12 minute miles I would make it. Around mile 10 my legs came back to life. I was running between 7:30-8 pace but still was stopping at any up hill or aid station. When I rounded the last corner and saw the line I was so happy. My team was there waiting. All I could do when I crossed was let out a big celebratory scream and smile some more. It was awesome to have Heather Jackson come up to me and congratulate me, then Wattie, then the team. Chris Masilon had finished about 15 mintues before, wearing an awesome speedo!! He is my tri idol lol. Maybe because he is the beards #1 fan. So to be the two lone Wattie finishers and proud buckle earners was pretty awesome.

Sean got this pic of me acting a fool after finishing

 Me and Chris at dinner two nights before the race. Finally united!

The bling. Yes it's ridiculous looking. But what it means so much to me.

"earned with guts, warn with pride"

 Pre race ride with the team

An epic shot that Paul Lieto got of me!

The thrill of finishing!

11 hours and 31 minutes. There are so many other things you can do in that time. So many things that are more fun and easy. But I'll never trade what I learned and what I found on the inside in those 11 hours and 31 minutes. I found a fire. I found strength. I found a warrior.

So with that I end my 2012 season. It's the end of my 25-29 AG "career" as well. Next year I return with a new passion and get to battle the 30-34 AG. I'll be a bit wiser, a bit more prepared, stronger and faster. But I'll have a secret weapon. Leadman will be with me. No race has ever been close to dealing out the punishment that Leadman did. If that didn't break me, then what will? Perhaps Vegas will get to take a shot at me. That is where I turn my focus to now. I want to race with a purpose and I want to race and train smart. No more of this racing every month sometimes twice a month with no breaks. No more of this bring my "A" game for 9 months straight. No more training constantly just so I can brag about how many miles I swam biked or ran in a month. I'm going to build for IM 70.3 New Orleans and take a shot at earning a Vegas spot. Then I'm going to shut it down. Then I'll ramp back up for IM 70.3 Steelhead for a second shot at Vegas if NOLA falls through, or I'll ramp up for the Vegas 70.3 World Championship!! If I miss at NOLA and Steelhead then I will be unleashing a war on IM Augusta to take a shot at Vegas 2014.

Finally, thank you so much to all my Wattie Ink sponsors. Without you this season just wouldn't have been the same. Thank you to Sean Watkins for the amazing experience. I look forward to next season and to growing the market in the south. Thank you to my teammates this season for everything. I look up to each of you in one way or another. Thank you x 100 to Peter and Tina Leavitt for your hospitality and support in Bend and the entire season. Thank you to my friends here in Tennessee who put up with my posting and triathlon talk and to my training partners who share the road and water with me. Most of all thank you to my beautiful wife Kayla. She is my rock and partner. She gives me strength and inspires me everyday. I love you so much babe!!

"STAY STUBBORN DON'T QUIT" - my road id

Not Las Vegas, but Nashvegas will do for now

This past weekend I traveled up the road a bit to Ashland City for the Nashvegas 70.3. I would have rathered travel to Las Vegas for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships but you have to earn your right to race there and I haven't done that yet. My race was a good sign that it might be a possibility next season though.

All week the forecast for race day was thunderstorms. This was going to be my only 70.3 of the season and just my second time at that distance. So I didn't like spending all week worried that the swim would be canceled or the race shortened. As race day got closer the forecast did improve some.

When I got up Saturday morning I checked the forecast and it said the thunderstorms would be around 5am and after that just rain. However, when we got to Ashland City there were no storms or rain. So I opted to take my training wheels off and put my race wheels on. BAD MISTAKE. but at the time it seemed like a good call.

I was a little rushed but was able to get transition set up and into the porta potty line and into the river for a very brief warm up. I felt good on the warm up. Of course my swim plan was to get out front of the washing machine of the wave start then swim Leadmen pace. LM pace for me is quite slow, it's my all day long pace. So I made the decision to not get caught up in chasing or going for a certain time. I knew I would be no where near my PR time since my only other 70.3 was Augusta. I swam a 24 there! No way I would swim a 24 in choppy water against a current without a wetsuit even if I had of been trying. Because of the recent rain and the wind starting to pick up the water was very choppy. That doesn't bother me but it does slow you down regardless of your ability.

Swim : 32:xx (Blueseventy PZ3TX and Vision goggles)
I did exactly as planned. I sprinted hard for the first 20 or so yards, saw that I was clear and shut it down lol. A whole 10-14 seconds of hard swimming. I got into my LM pace almost instantly. A smal group of 3 to 5 had formed up a head and the rest of the field was right behind me. I ended up leading the rest of the wave for the rest of the swim. Had this been an A race I would have been with that front pack and we would have pulled way clear of the rest of the wave. When we finally turned to go back up river to the dock I felt smooth still and could feel a bit of current. Then a bigger guy started to make his way past. He didn't blow by so I figured he wasn't swimming but maybe a second or two faster than I was. So I decided to get on his feet. It was nice because he cut the current for me and I just chilled behind him for the last 1000 or so yards. I got out of the water feeling pretty much fresh. That was a super easy swim with just about no energy expended. PERFECT. I was happy with my time though because I've never swam faster than 34 minutes at the lake that I swim in.

As I made my way into T1 I was feeling very relaxed and the weather still seemed pretty decent. It was raining now but not heavy. I decided to not wear sunglasses which was a good call.

Bike: 2:46 (Easton EC90 TT, Speedfil A2, ISM Prologue, Base Performance Amino)
The bike started out great. Or at least the first 12 miles did. It started with a nice rolling section with a tail wind. I was pedaling smooth and avgering 22.5. My bike goal was similar to my swim goal. Go slightly above LM pace. I feel like I can avg 20mph at Leadman. So anyway I made the first turn around and headed back into the head wind. It was from this point until about 14 miles to go that I hated life, thought of quitting, wished I could crash and get it over with, told myself to relax stay calm and be smart, just quit, get off the road and wait for a SAG vehicle, no we can do this, O GOD I'M GOING TO DIE OUT HERE. The rain got harder and harder and the wind got worse. It went from just a hard wind to gusting swirling wind. I would get hit from the left then from the right. I was scared plain and simple. My pace was quickly shot in the face. I decided around mile 20 that pace was no longer the concern but safety was instead. I had just crashed two weeks ago at Storm the Fort and I had a crash about 4 weeks before that in wet conditions on a training ride. The conditions I was dealing with now were 10 times worse. My disc wheel was like a kite and my mind was going crazy. I just knew the wheels were going to get blown out from under me. I couldn't get into my areo bars but for maybe a minute at a time then a gust would hit me and I'd freak out and sit back up. Going downhill was worse. If I got over 25mph the bike got crazy wobbly plus I didn't want to go fast into any of the curves so I was on my brakes a ton. So much so that my hands cramped twice. Pretty sure I was white knuckled the whole time. I wanted to quit so bad. But I just kept thinking of all the benefits I could gain by persevering. The confidence boost I could get if I could just get myself to the run. I knew I wasn't burning much energy since I was hardly riding. However, I wasn't sure how much the stress was taking out of me. I was so tense that my shoulders and neck were killing me by mile 40. I ended up getting passed by several, which never happens to me. Even two others on a disc came by me with no issues. I'm sure it was mostly in my head and I could have ridden a little harder but it just wasn't going to happen and I was ok with that. Making it to T2 was the only goal even if that took 3 hours!! Finally towards the end the rain let up. I was getting more side wind now and I was comfortable in the areo bars for longer periods of time, but still each gust would cause me to sit back up and slow down. But then the magic happened and we made a beauitful left hand turn around 16 to go and it was a tail wind. I told myself it was back on. I could ride a tail wind. I was still cautious on the downhills and turns but I was back to my normal speeds. I did some quick math and figured I could probably get back around the 2:45 mark. Not the end of the world, I could work with that. What's funny is I barely noticed any of the climbs and there were a lot of them because of the stress of the weather conditions. It was a tough course and on a dry day I bet I could have gone around 2:30-2:35. Probably would have been a fun course if dry as well. When I finally got back I was so relieved. My grip at this point was pretty much gone though. So instead of my normal dismout of taking my feet out of my shoes and swinging a leg over. I just came to a stop and unclipped and jogged in my shoes. I was fairly certain I would go down if I had of attempted my normal dismount.

T2!!! I'm surprised I didn't bend down and kiss the ground lol. I didn't fly through this transition by any means. I wanted to clear the negative tension out of my head and get on the run in good spirits.

Run: 1:43
I got out of transition and off on the run and I felt pretty good for the most part. Right away I noticed my right leg between my ankle and bottom of my calf was tight. Like really tight! I used to have this a lot two years ago. Similar to compartment syndrome but not bad enougth to warrant a hospitial visit. Well I thought I'll do like I use to and run it out. I ran a great opening mile but could not get my leg to loosen up, instead it got tighter and tighter. I was going to lose ankle mobility if it didn't let up soon. I think I stopped 3 or 4 times to stretch and do this ankle wiggle thing I used to do. Finally towards to end of mile two it was starting to fade. I think it was the GU roctaine kicking in that I had taken in right towards the end ot the bike. I was on my horse now. I was shocked by how good I felt. I was clicking off in the low 7 minute range and wasn't getting out of breath. I figured I would ride the wave and then slow down to the mid 8s once the ship had sailed. Again the goal here was to run at least a 1:50. I wasn't trying to crush the run. The whole day was a Leadman rehearsal of sorts. I didn't want to dig into the reserve or put myself too far in the box. But I wanted the confidence that I could run a halfway decent 13 miles on tired legs. Although this wasn't after 138 bike miles, but I did not taper for the race and was already on tired legs going into the day. Coming off the bike I hadn't seen anyone in a long time so I didn't think I would see anyone on the run until they were coming back by. But at around mile 3 I could see a runner way up the road and he had a slow turnover. I eventually caught him and then there was another two runners nearly 1/2 mile or more up ahead. I eventually caught them as well. What a feeling. I was catching the guys that some how found the nerve to ride hard and now had no legs to run on. Meanwhile my run stride resembled my 10k stride and I was oozing confidence. Around 2.5 until the turn around the first runner came back by with the second guy right behind. Then the 3rd and 4th and so on. So I started counting. Maybe I could get top 20. As I got closer and closer to the turn around I spotted a few runners that were clearly out of juice. I had about 7 miles to get them. Challenge acceptted!! (In the voice of Barney from How I Met Your Mother). I made the turn around and I was #21. #20 was a barefoot runner that I knew I would catch while were on the gravel trail but I also knew he would come back by once we got back to the pavement. #19 and #18 were the next two that were going to get picked off. I passed #21 around mile 7 and he let me know he would come back for me. Kind of cocky but hey if you can back it up go for it. Once I got to the pavement my breathing was getting labored and I was getting closer to #19 and 18, but I was starting to slow up. So I walked and waited for barefoot guy to catch me. I had just taken my last GU roctaine so I knew it would kick in around 9-11 miles. Until then I needed something else. I was going to let this guy catch me and then run with him as long as I could. He caught up and I said let's go run these guys down. So away we went. We were running a bit faster than I had been but I knew that was going to be case. After about a mile of that I told him to finish strong but that I was going to settle back into my race. I was back to being #21 but now 19 and 18 were 20 and 19. 20 was about 100 yards up. He stopped at the next aid station which I skipped so that he wouldn't get the idea to try and run with me. About 3 or 4 minutes later I caught the next one. I was #19 now! However I was out of guys to run down. Then around mile 10 I spotted another kit. This guy had blown by me on the bike like I was sitting still. I could tell he was trudging more than jogging. I caught him at mile 11. Sweet Now i'm #18 and nobody behind me was going to catch me. I had seen strong runners go by but they just had too many miles to go to be able to make up any ground and somehow I wasn't fading much. I was still running around mid 7 pace...at mile 11! I was so happy with myself. I did the math and determined that I had a PR if I didn't get hit by a car or make a wrong turn. I didn't think there were any more runners so I just ran comfortably. But just short of mile 12 I rounded a corner and there was a guy walking and looking back. Bad sign for him. Great sign for me. He was done and he knew it. You don't look back unless you want to know who is going to catch you. He had blown by me in the 2nd mile of the run. He looked strong when I saw him again coming back the other way when I was almost to the turn around. I quickened my step and picked him off just after mile 12. I told him we were almost home and he said he was bonking. No fun. I was now #18. Solid! I rounded the last corner and back into the park and finally to the finish line. A finisher and not a quitter!! I had done it. An 8 minute PR. A solid run! That's the result I needed for Leadman.

I ended up with a 5:07 and 2nd in my AG. Not sure if my 18th spot held up since the official results aren't posted but I'm happy either way.

I have to thank Kayla for spending the day with me. Had she not been there I would have quit. But she knew to expect me around 2:30 hours on the bike. If I had of quit it could have been much longer until I would have been delivered back to transition and I did not want her worrying that something had of happened to me.

Thank you to Wattie Ink team as well. Thoughts of all your hard fought races and those racing in Las Vegas helped keep me going. I did not want to let the team down.

As always thank you to the sponors who make this possible. Blueseventy, Easton, Speedfil, ISM, KSwiss, Xendurance, and Base Performance.

"Stay stubborn don't quit" - my road id

I'm a Storm Trooper and a Cannon owner

If that title didn't grab your attention then you must be lame. If it did and you are expecting a write up about light sabers and death stars then you will be let down. But if you are here to read a mental unloading of my memory from this past weekends triathlon, then you are in luck.

The place is Kingston TN and the event is the Storm the Fort Triathlon. It is an advertised olympic distance tri but it falls short in both the swim and the run. This all took place in East Tennessee. If you are from around here you know how country this was, if you aren't from around here then just insert whatever country sterotype into your mind that you have. I'll give you a picture. While setting up in transition a guy in a truck drove by, he screamed something country that even I couldn't understand. In his truck he had two four wheelers and on his trailer he had what sounded like at least 8 coon dogs. All were barking as if they had caught the scent of a fox in a meadow.

Anyway, I hadn't originally planned on doing this race, but because of some scheduling conflicts I chose to come here instead of a Sunday race, since I had been training for this weekend already. I have raced with Race Day Events before and have experienced courses that are not accurate and have heard many others say the same thing. So even though this was supposed to be a PR weekend for me I knew that there was a big risk that it would have an asterik beside it. Unfortunately it does. I raced a career best time of 2:13, which is 9 minutes off my best correctly timed and measured event. It would be a 7 minute PR if my time had ever been recovered from the Rev3 tri. but that's another story of frustration.

The day started out smooth. I was nervous leading up to Saturday but my nerves always settle on race day. I was calm and lazy almost. Since I wanted to do well and place well I decided to go back to having headphones in. That used to be a staple but in an effort to relax and enjoy racing I hadn't been listening to music this season. But this day the pressure was on. I was going to have fun but I was going to be in fight mode too. Transtion was set up right next to the river so it was easy to look out over the course. When doing so it was clear that the course was short.

The course was short the year before and a lot of people were saying it looked the same as last years. At that point there wasn't anything I could do about it. You just make the best of the day. I was in the first wave which was 40 and under. While everyone in this picture were at the race meeting I was actually in the water warming up. Probably not the best idea as I probably would have know where the bike turn around was had I gone to the meeting. But don't worry we'll get to that.

SWIM - 17:16 (1122 yards) WAY SHORT!

Once in the water it was clear how the day was going to play out. We were not even told here the actual "start line" was. We all just assumed in line with the doc even though there were guys wading out about 20 feet ahead of the "line". We were told with 10 seconds to go to listen for the cannon. When it shot off most weren't even ready. I shot off in a mad sprint. I don't mind mass starts, actually I prefer them. But I'm not about to get caught behind the pack. I sprinted for at least a minute before trying to start settling in. By this time I was somewhere around 6th or 7th. It was hard to tell because I had a guy on both sides of me still. Thanks to my new Garmin 910xt I always know how far I've gone because I have it set to vibrate every 200 yards. So it was just after the 400 yard mark that I had freed myself from the two beside me and I could see 3 to 4 up in front of me. Shortly after 400 we were already turning around the first bouy, it was another 100 or so yards to the second bouy and the turn for home. The finish was maybe 50 yards passed the start "line" so I knew at this point the swim was for sure short. During the two turns I passed two more guys, one had sputtered out and the other had decided to go way wide around the bouys. I had two guys up ahead of me and guessed that they had about a minute on me. No way I was going to make that up and there was no point trying. You can't win a race on the swim for the most part, but you sure can lose a race on the swim. When we reached 800 yards I had made up a little ground, or water I guess. By 1000 yards I guessed that I was now about 30-45 seconds back. Fine with me, I could run them down on the bike. My arms were killing me since I hadn't let up like I usually do. I had let my legs relax a time or two but my arms were going full bore. I ended up coming out of the water third which was really cool. It's the first time I have come out of the water in a good place when starting in a mass start. Gotta thank Blueseventy for the PZ3TX. That thing is the second fastest thing they make with the Helix being the fastest. Can't wait to break that out in Bend!

Coming out of the water. The volunteers had to help because the ground was as slick as ice.

BIKE - 1:10:59 (26.72 miles) LONG 

 I had a great transition and somehow passed somebody in transition. So that just left one guy to run down.

When I got out on the main road I could see the lead rider just going up the hill which was probably 3 tenths of a mile ahead. I chased for a while but eventually over took him 4 miles in. The first few miles were hilly so that slowed me down. I wanted to ride 1 hour flat and once I came off the last hill I laid the hammer down. I was perfectly content to burn my run legs to the ground in an attempt to PR the bike. The course was mostly flat with a few small rollers. The big climbs were at the beginning and end. Well I looked back a few times and never saw anyone. It's the second time I've led the bike portion and it's such a cool feeling. I fed off of it and just kept saying there is no way anyone is catching me, NO WAY! Around mile 12 I hadn't seen a sign or volunteer in quite a while and was starting to wonder if I had missed a turn. We had only made one turn so far it was marked pretty well. Then up ahead I spotted two volunteers sitting in lawn chairs about 20 feet off the side of the road. They were in a parking lot and it looked like they had an aid station set up. Now I had read the race overview and thought I remembered seeing something about a bottle station at the turn around. However, there was no cone or u turn sign and they didn't have any flags and were sitting. I kept looking over waiting to see some type of hand gesture. All I got was a wave as I flew on by. In hindsight I wish I had of yelled out if that was the turnaround. because it was!! As I pushed on I started wondering if I had passed it. When I looked down and saw that I had gone 13.2 miles I knew something wrong. So I looked back, of course no one was there so I figured I had definitely messed up. I pulled a u turn and started heading back. About a minute later I saw the next biker coming. Now I was worried that I hadn't gone far enough and had now short cut the route. Another set of about 5 riders went by and I contemplated making another U turn and following them. But something told me that the bottle station was the correct spot. So I kept on. I decided if I had made the wrong call and had turned around early that I would DQ myself at the end. When the bottle station came into view I was relieved to see bikers making the Uturn. I hadn't short cutted and I could get back to racing and not worrying. The two girls must have let about 10-12 guys go by though. As I was approaching a cop was pulling out of the parking lot heading out to go wrangle the rest of the guys that had gone too far. Unfortunately for them, they went even farther than me. Because they saw me they thought that I had reached a turn around so they kept going. I feel bad that I didn't tell them to turn around as I went by. But I wasn't sure I had made the right move at the time. So I wasn't about to tell a bunch of other folks to turn around and ruin all of our races. At this point I knew my PR was out the window. I assumed I had now added about 4 minutes to my time and I still had the last climb to deal with. But I loved the feeling of leading so I was determined to get that back. Like a shark who had caught the scent of blood. I was on a mission. I tore into my pedals and told myself to just take the cards that were dealt and go all in. Now I don't consider myself a cyclist. I have only been riding for three years actually. But for some reason I find amazing confidence when I'm racing. Even when I know better cyclist are around, for some reason I know I can hang with them. I passed about 8 guys like they were standing still. Each pass bringing more satisfaction and more steam to my engine. When I passed the last guy I was feeling on top of the world. I had passed with much more speed that he was going and knew once again. Nobody was going to catch me today. NOBODY! When I made it to the base of the hill I was happy for all the hills I had been working. This was a steep grade but I was perfectly ok to tackle it. By this time I was about 1.5 miles away from transition. There was a short steep climb then a flat tenth of a mile then a long climb. As I approached the last climb I could tell I was going to have to cross a 4 lane highway but wasn't sure if I was turning or not. There were no markings. But a cop was kind enough to get me a little nod and finger point to let me know I was turning left. It didn't bother himself to get out of his car and actually make sure it was safe for me to cross this four lane though. Don't worry ranger Rick I can do this myself is what I thought. I made sure the road was clear and darted over the right side. I later found out that he didn't help any of the other riders either.

 Coming down the final hill on the way to transition. Getting speed wobbled by the wind at the same time!

As I approached transition I got out of my shoes and slung my leg over my seat so that I was standing just on my left shoe with my right leg hanging off to the side. Now there was a slight downhill right before the dismount line and this is where it all came crashing down....litterally. I'm still not quite sure how it happened. This is just what I think happened. As I went to put my foot down I either hit a bump or I hit the break too hard. I usually give the breaks a squeeze right before I step off the pedal so that the bike doesn't take off on me. Well thanks to my new grips which are quite slippery when wet, my right hand went right off the handle bar and I must have done some kind of ninja roll. Because I hit the ground and rolled and was suddenly back on my feet in a daze. But I was more worried about my bike which I had just heard make the loudest thud ever. As I stood there dazed taking inventory of my body and bike my amazing wife yelled out "You're ok, shake it off!!" Usually I have no clue where Kayla is or even hear her. But somehow this day, hers was the only voice I heard and it snapped me back into gear. I picked my bike up and had to carry it back since the back wheel wasn't rolling. I took my time getting my shoes on as a volunteer checked on me. I told him about the turn around not being run very well, said I was ok, and took off. This is when I noticed the whole crowd going nuts. They wanted me to get going just as badly as Kayla. No matter what your beliefs or political views are, we all deep down inside want to pull for an underdog. We want to see people get knocked down but we want to see them get back up just as bad. That will to fight on is a fun thing to watch. For me it was a reality. I wasn't about to quit. I got my feet moving and that was that. Thank you to Easton Cycling for the amazing EC90 TT wheel and the Attack areo bars. Thank you Dave with ISM saddles for not only the best saddles in the biz but for letting me rep the race tats as well. It was an honor.

RUN 43:07 (5.8 miles) SHORT!

Once onto the run I knew the adrenaline of leading and crashing would carry me for a bit. I decided to go with it. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep the pace but I wanted to try to keep my lead as large as I could. I didn't think anyone could run me down, but I knew most of my legs had been left on the bike course. I would probably not be extending my lead but bleeding it away instead. I clicked off the first mile in 6:50 which was about the time the adrenaline wore off. The first mile was around the edge of the lake. I could look back and see one other runner maybe 1/2 mile or more behind. What a feeling. I thought am I going to win this overall?!?! It was a fun feeling but in looking at my watch I thought there was no way a 2:10 or more would hold up. There were a few steep quick climbs on the run and what seemed like a million turns. There were also more volunteers that were completely clueless. Two different stations asked if they were supposed to hand the water out or let us take it off the tables. I love volunteers, without them a race just doesn't run. But we have to do a better job of educating them. If you are at a key turn in a race you have to know that you CANNOT let people keep going. Yes we are supposed to be educated on the course but most of the time we are not. Anyway, just after mile three I had to take a quit walk break to catch my breath and then get back on it. I made the turn around and was on my way back. After about 4 minutes I passed the first runner, then the second and third and another group of 3. No one was moving any faster or looked any better than me. Which had me confident. I knew I had my age group in the bag, but still doubted that my time would hold up overall. Never the less I kept on. During mile four my GU roctain kicked in. Boy did I surge here. I was feeling great and getting tons of encouragement from the runners coming the other way. This was the section along the lake so it was narrow. Most looked surprised to see me and others looked pumped. Either way I was happy with it and rode the wave of enthusiasm. As I passed back by transition I got more shocked looks. That made me wonder if I had done something wrong, had I missed a turn? It was pretty confusing but There were always volunteers at those spots pointing me in the right direction. But I had noticed that my watch was not lining up with the mile markers anymore. After talking with some other runners who also had 5.8 on their watches. We all pointed out a random set up cones that we had seen at one point off to the side around mile 2. We think we were supposed to have be routed back to those on the way back for a quick little mini turn around before heading across the street and back around the lake. But the volunteers at that point just waved us across the street. Anyway at mile 5 I realized it was mile 5 and told myself just one more mile. My legs were shot and I knew the hills were coming back. It's called Storm the Fort because the finish line is at the entrance of an old fort...AT THE TOP OF A HUGE HILL!!

No this is not a camera trick. This is actually how steep one of the hills in the 6th mile were.

After I gutted out the last hills and saw the fort off in the distance I was so relieved. I just wanted to be done. I had been alone since just past the midway point in the bike. What a cool feeling it was. But I found it mentally draining to constantly have the pressure of knowing everyone was coming for you. I rounded the last corner in the parking lot and head past a little house before making my way up the last hill to the finish.

I crossed the line, nearly threw up, then collasped. I just lay there looking up at the sky recounting what an odd sureal journey I had just made to get to this finish line. I caught my breath then got back to my feet. There Kayla was. She was so excited. Smiling ear to ear she said "You did it!" To which I said something about my bike being jacked up lol. I was immediately more worried about my bike and not excited at about about the race result unfortunately. I think the next finisher showed up about a 2 minutes or so after I did. We stuck around for what seemed like forever for the awards. Eventually my time was replaced by 3 faster times from the wave behind me. Then the what ifs started. I missed 3rd overall by 21 seconds. I easially wasted about a minute with the crash. I missed 2nd overall by a little over 3 minutes. I lost about 4 minutes on the bike. The winner ended up with a 2:09 and change. Had I not gone long on the bike and not crashed. Maybe just maybe I could have won. But we'll never know, and that's ok. I still got one of the coolest trophys ever.

A cannon!!

Hanging out afterward. You can't tell but Kayla was rocking her W top as well.

In the end it was a fun day. My bike was ok. I think. Still need to take it to the shop just in case. I had finally found the podium at the Olympic distance and I had learned a lot about myself. 1) I can go much harder on the bike than I thought and still run fairly decent. 2) I still need to improve my run. 3) You don't get any faster at swimming if you don't ever swim. 4) A race, even a short not run so well race, can be forgiven if the trophy is cool enough!!

Thank you as always to Kayla. You really did keep me going and I really could not have done it without your support!! Thank you to Sean "Wattie" Watkins for this awesome experience. More people were interested in the kit and the team at this race than any of my other races combined. It was great to finally get to promote you and your vision. Thanks to all my Wattie teammates who have provided great encouragement and support during this up and down season and my struggle with burnout. Without all of you my season would have been over already.

Hope you enjoyed the read!!

"Stay Stubborn, Don't Quit" - my road id



Rocked the W - Earned the W

Yesterday Was seriously the best ever complete race I've had in my short "career". It was only my 12th triathlon and my second ever overall Win. I did this race because I Wanted to defend my "title" from last year. Only problem is the venue backed out so the race Was moved to a neW location. So I Won the race tWo years in a roW, but not at the same place. I probably Won't do it again next year because it's technically a beginner targeted race and I felt kind of silly doing it again. I didn't taper the Week before and didn't change any of my training. I actually did intervals the night before. I ended up Winning the race by 1:55 Which is tough to do over a short distance. Which is another reason I probably Will not come back. I Would only be trying to increase that margin, and to me that is cocky to do. That's just not me. So let's get to the race.

First, thank you to my amazing Fiance Kayla and my mother for coming out to support. It was great to share that with both of you.

Second, thank you so much to Sean Watkins and the Wattie Squad for your support, inspiration, encouragement, and advice. It is truly a privilege to get to race With all of you.

SWim 200 yards (3:10) - Blueseventy Vision Goggles

So sWimming is my strong point but for some reason I decided to just take it easy. I took it a little more easy than I had intended though. Actually sWam it 12 seconds sloWer than I do during my Warm up lol. I Was third into the Water and the tWo guys in front of me Were very confident that they Would sWim faster than me. Turns out the first kid did, the second kid I passed in the first 50 yards, then sWimmer 4 passed me around 75 yards and that Was all the passing that happened. The reason I decided to just chill Was because it Was only 200 yards. At best a strong sWim Would only save me 15-30 seconds. That can be made up in transition. So I let myself go easy and just kept reminding myself that was the plan and that the bike Was Where the fun Would begin.

T1 1:54

It Was quite a run from the pool up to transition. I just stayed calm.

Bike 10 miles (23:33) - Easton EC90 TT, Renn 555 disc, ISM Prologue, Challenge Tires Triathlon Tubulars, Speedfil A2, CytoSport Cytomax and Base Performance Amino mix

The course Was a tWo loop course and very fast! I passed the first kid during transition and caught the second kid at half a mile. For the rest of the time I just tried to catch the motorcycle lol. Obviously that Wasn't going to happen but it Was fun to try. My computer Was being strange so it Wasn't telling me my avg. So I sWitched it to current speed. I saw speeds anywhere from 22-33 mph! Which Was aWesome. There Were stretch's that I stayed betWeen 28-30 mph. I Was loving it, I felt like a kid at Christmas. I've Worked my butt of this season to be a better cyclist and I really am starting to see it pay off. Mainly because of using trainerroad.com. It's virtual power and it has given me real workouts instead of just getting on my trainer and watching the time go by. I have a poWer test in tWo Weeks and I expect to see some major progress from Where I started 5 Weeks ago. Anyway, I ended up having the second fastest bike split, someone beat me by 5 seconds. The gap I had coming off the bike Was huge though. I didn't even see the next runner until I had already hit a mile and Was on my way back to the finish.

T2 :47


Run 2 miles (13:22) - K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5, Tifossi Sunglasses from Hibiscus iWear 

The second big change I've made this year is Working with a running coach. Mainly because of the terrible run I had at IM Augusta 70.3 last year. Coach Scott has increased me from struggling to hit 25 miles a Week to feeling like a slacker if I haven't even run 30 miles a Week. My running has gotten 10 times better. So to run this split after the beating I put myself through on the bike Was a huge confidence boost. It Was a tWo mile out and back course With one little loop into the camp ground during the second mile. Which kind of sucked because of the smoke from camp fires. Like I said before, I didn't see another runner until I Was over half Way finished. I Wasn't Worried about being caught, but I Wasn't about to let up either. Last year I let up in the same situation and ended up Winning by only 4 seconds. A feW more seconds of shoW boating could have cost me my first ever WIN. That Was my motivation to keep running. I kept saying "just 4 seconds". The last climb to the finish was punishing to say the least but I kneW I Was almost done so I didn't care. Once I crested I got myself back up to speed and kicked in the last .2 to the line. I Waited for about 4 minutes before the next runner finished. Honestly that felt pretty good so I let myself enjoy it for a bit. I think I had the 3rd or 4th fastest run split.

All in all it was a picture perfect day. I had hit the race just as planned. Cruise in the pool, SMASH the snot out of the bike, and Work With Whatever legs I had left on the run. Honestly I'm more excited about the run. I Want to Win overall places in the races I enter plain and simple. The only Way to do that is to have a great bike and run combo. I Want a sub 40 min 10k this season in an Oly and I Want a sub 1:30 in a 70.3 this season. Both will be difficult to do because of heat but I knoW I can do it With the Workouts that coach puts me through. So I'm pumped I ran the Way I did after that bike and on the feW hills that the run course offered.

Next up I have a 100 mile ride and 10 mile race in early June then I'm getting married!!! In July I start back up with an Oly in Chattanooga and an Oly in Nashville. They will be my Warm ups for my Oly in August that I really Want to smash. I have sprints mastered, Oly's are still proving difficult but I'm close I can feel it. In September I have a warm up 70.3 in Nashville then IM Augusta 70.3 Where I really Want to qualify for the 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championships. I have a Ways to go to get to September and June-August will be the toughest. Last year I burned out during that time span. It's tough to run in 100 degree temps with humidity. This year I have no plans to. I want to continue to build on this season and get another W if possible!!

Thanks for reading!!

2012 ADPI-Athlon

Yesterday was my first triathlon of the 2012 season. This will be my third season. The ADP is a local sprint race run by the ADPI chapter at MTSU. It's a 300 meter pool swim, 10 mile bike, 5k run format. Unfortunately the day did not go well for the race director and most of the racers. The bike was royally screwed by the city police, who kicked the county police off the course with claims of the race not having the proper city permits to run a race. Due to construction the run was also only 2.9 miles. Many of the racers were left to fend for themselves and had to wait at traffic lights or were told to turn around and go back. Some that tried to continue were actually blocked. Some were sent off in completely wrong directions. Luckily no one was hurt. I did see one guy with a pretty busted up face but I think that was from a transition fall. In the end the results were a mess because of the folks that didn't actually complete the entire course. The top 3 times were recorded wrong because of that. Another unfortunate thing was that they sent out the "results" last night, knowing that they were wrong. On paper I was 9th overall and 3rd in my age group. Take out the top 3 and I'm 6th overall, 1st in my age group. Make it a sanctioned event and i'm 4th overall and 1st in my age group. That gives you an idea of how bad things went, for the race director. Most of the people I talked to had the same mindset as me. It's a non sanctioned  sprint run by a sorority in April. It's a tune up and nothing more. You can't take it that serious. Yes I had to weave through some traffic at the light, but that was an improvement from almost getting hit by a car the previous year at that light. If you aren't getting paid and you aren't having fun, then don't race. I also know that's easy to say since I was not affected by the chaos. I can hope that my attitude would have been the same had I been affected.

So let's get to the race. I was pretty pumped to find out a local pro would be racing. On race morning I found out several other pros showed up. Some didn't like this. I love it! No better way to improve then by going up against people better than you.

Swim - 300 meters - 4:00 (3:53 in the pool) PR!! 2011 swam 4:05

Thank you Blueseventy for the amazing gear! I was seeded 4th which was a shock. I didn't sand bag my time to get up close. I'm pretty sure I said 3:50. Number 1 and 3 didn't show so I went in 2nd. That was awesome. There were some strong swimmers behind me and I did not want to get caught. We were started at 10 second intervals. As always I could not breath and had to resort to breathing every stroke. Not sure why this happens during pool races. I felt good and just told myself to stay relaxed.

exiting the pool. stupid ladder!

Bike -10 miles - 25:20 PR!! 2011 rode 26:14

Thank you Speedfil, ISM Saddles, Easton Wheels and Challenge Tires for some amazingly super fast products. I rode an Easton EC90TT front/ Renn 555 disc combo with the Challenge tubulars, Adamo Prologue saddle, and the Speedfil A2 hydration system. I had an absolute blast.  

Didn't look at my time on my computer so not sure about this split. My average coming off the bike was 24.5 I know that much, and the distance with transitions was 10.4. The course, if you were able to ride it, was an out and back loop. Head wind going out, tail wind coming back. I exited T1 first with one of the pros right behind me, Craig Evans. This was a sloppy transition. I got on my bike fine but had to mess with my shoes quite a bit. In the fiddling Craig passed me. I tried to stay with him but quickly knew if I did I would have no run. I did keep him close for a mile or so. Then was passed by the second pro, Andrew Hodges. Once he caught Craig they started battling and slowly getting farther and farther away. On the back stretch I did look to see my actual speed and I was sitting around 32 mph with a cadence of 95-100. I held that for about 2.5 miles. What an amazing feeling to have a fairly relaxed spin going and that kind of speed at the same time. Thanks mostly to the tail wind and my wheels. However, I have stepped up my bike training a lot so I know a lot of this was my fitness as well. So at least the toys don't get all the credit.

coming in from the bike. loved my bike set up!

Run - *2.9 miles - *18:43

Thanks to K-Swiss. My trusty K-Ruzz did not let me down! They are perfect for a forefoot/midfoot strike!!

T2 was pretty funny. I got my socks shoes and head band on...but not my watch. Now most would say just leave it, it's only a sprint. I however turned around before hitting the mats and sprinted back for it. Here's why. My heart rate coming out of the pool was super high, on the bike I didn't get it much lower. I needed the watch more for bonk management. For whatever reason, if I get over 180 my day is done shortly after. I was at 174 coming off the bike. 

So anyway, at this point it had started to heat up some so parts of the run were hot, but it was less than three miles so no big deal. I got right into my groove and had to work to settle my heart rate. My legs felt pretty good despite what I considered to be a huge effort on the bike. More testament to my fitness and my running coach. He's got me accustomed to running a LOT of miles and I know how to dig even on tired legs. I saw Craig and Andrew on the first out and back. Was definitely not going to catch them. They were flying! So step two was to not let anyone catch me. When I turned around I had a few folks behind me. Only the first guy behind looked strong enough to challenge. the rest looked spent. I stayed around 6:15-6:30. I figured he was gonna have to throw down to catch me in a short time. There were a few chances to see his progress as we had a lot of corners to navigate. He was not gaining much at all. I used every slight downhill to pick the pace up without spiking my heart rate much. I stayed around 178-180 the entire time. At mile 2, and the last little downgrade, we had the last turn around. I could tell the guy behind hadn't closed much if any so I knew I was safe. I ran the last .9 in 5:38. 

In the end I finished stronger than last year and with a about a 1 minute PR, kind of. With the run being short I can't call it a race PR. 

chillin after the race, that's not Kayla though lol.

It was amazing to race as a Wattie Ink Elite Team member. I've been so inspired by the times that the other men have thrown down already this season. Including one teammate who has already claimed a Vegas World Championship spot for the 70.3!! I'm looking forward to a great season. Next stop is the Rev3 Knoxville Olympic distance race. I have some major revenge to take out on this course.

Thank you to all that support me, especially my soon to be wife Kayla!! 

Going for an easy run

So Kayla got me a GoPro for my birthday and I love it. I have used it for a few short video experiments to see what it's capable of as well as some picture taking. I took it out on my easy run yesterday. I kind of want to video document some of my training this season. So here is the first installment. I did this one with my Wattie teammates in mind. Since GoPro is one of our sponsors several people were wondering about quality and what it looks like on a run. I think next I'm going to take it to a B race and capture that. Check out the video below.

Easy Run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl0A8Pr9rzo

I also took one in the pool a week ago. check it here

2012...year of the W!!

So I’m finally getting around to a proper blog for 2012. Obviously if you haven’t figured it out already from the header, I have some pretty exciting news. I was 1 of the 50 picked for the Wattie Ink Elite Team!! When I applied I never thought I would get picked. My only results worth mentioning are at the sprint distance. However I was given the opportunity and I’m going to take full advantage of it. It’s been pretty exciting since finding out. Twitter and Facebook blew up with follows, RTs, and friend request as we all found each other and went nuts about how exciting this all is.

I had already planned to go big in 2012. This will be my third season so I feel I’m ready to capitalize on the lessons learned from the past two seasons at the Olympic and 70.3 distance. I’m also going to stick with my original plan to wait until 2013 to do a full Ironman.

This season I will be working with a running coach since that has been the weakness so far but should be my strength. I’m a decent open runner but have not been able to carry that over to triathlon. I had some great momentum leading into December but wound up with a stress fracture and missed three weeks. So we’ve been slowly adding my mileage back since I came back about 5 weeks ago. It wasn’t until this week that we even brought back speed work and hill work. All I had been doing previously was easy running. I know from what I experienced before the stress fracture and from results of some of the other guys being coached by Scott that I’m going to have a breakout season. I have set lofty goals for my triathlon running. I want to go under 40 minutes at the Olympic distance and I want to go under 1:25 at the 70.3 distance.

As far as swimming and biking go I am still self-coaching. Which means I pick up any tips I can along the way. This is where my new team has already begun to help. We have some pretty stout guys on the bike so I know I can learn from them. My swimming is going great as well. I changed my stroke mentally during my break from the pool and started working on it once I came back. I saw a detailed analysis of Andy Potts and liked what I saw so I went with it. I’ve only been back in the pool full time for three weeks and already I have had PRs for a few of my pool distances. I know that with my improved swim, improving cycling, and my run being coached that I should have some great times this season as long as I stay strong and healthy.

I have to thank Sean for giving me the chance to rep his Wattie brand (www.wattieink.com) as well as the amazing line up of sponsors that he has brought on board. I’m still in shock that this is all happening and I may not completely believe it until the team kit arrives in the mail. It really has been a new source of motivation. I came from team sports so this team mentality is really helping me. I haven’t thought once about skipping a workout, and everything I feel like slacking I think of the rest of the team out there hitting it hard. Also let’s face it, if you look good you feel good, and if you feel good you race good! We are going to stand out this season for sure. From day one the team has rallied around each other with encouragement, jokes, and insight. You would think we all knew each other already. Look for us on a podium near you.

Lastly and most importantly, Kayla and I are getting married in June and I could not be more excited. She is such a support and inspiration in my life. She has been to a few races already and is the first person to ever make me a sign. She keeps me grounded, keeps me happy, and absolutely completes me. When we met she was struggling to even run for 10 minutes. Now she has run a 13.1 a 10k a 4 miler, and this weekend her first 5k. It has been so fun to watch her develop. It inspires me to keep pushing when I feel like I can’t do something in my training and racing. I know she will always be there for me and always support me. I love you Kayla.

Well that’s about it. I’m going to make a better attempt at updating this season. Can’t wait to see this season start on April 1^st with the ADPI-Athlon at MTSU. Starting off the season by going for a W.

See it. Believe it. Do it.

Pumped for 2012. Gonna rock the W!!

I was picked to the Wattie Ink Elite Team and I'm pretty excited about that. Other than that, training is going well and I have even more motivation now.

http://wattieink.com/2012/01/2012-wattie-ink-elite-team-roster-announced/