So while most people head south for the winter's and north for the summer's, I seem to be doing it in reverse. I'm spending the beginning part of the winter up in Calgary and then heading down to Texas for the spring and summer months. I think I may have gotten this a little backwards. Haha. At least it was finally above freezing yesterday, first time in about two weeks, but only lasted for the day. Today back down in the low 20's with chindwills in the teens. I guess that 12 mile run will be on the treadmill after all
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
2014 Race Schedule
While this will always be a work in progress my tentative 2014 pro race schedule is as follows
- April 6th - Galveston 70.3
- May 3rd - St. George 70.3 (US Pro Championships)
- June 15th - Boulder 70.3 (tentatively)
- July 13th - Vineman 70.3
- July 27th - Calgary 70.3
- September 7th - IM Wisconsin
Kona Race Recap
Well it has been a long time since I've written on my blog so I won't try to cover everything. Following IMTX back in May I resigned from my full time engineering position at ExxonMobil and began to pursue my dream of being a full time professional triathlete. My girlfriend and I began a 6 month trek throughout the United States moving from race to race and finding some pretty amazing places along the way to train and travel. We started out in Wisconsin staying in Devil's Lake State Park for about 2 months during July and August. The area was a great place for hill training compared to Texas and the State Park is one of the premier rock climbing areas in the Midwest which was a great cross training activity and a shared passion for my girl friend and I. I raced at Racine 70.3 at the end of July and had a very disappointing at 4:16 due to an IT band injury on my right leg, that I would come to find out would stick with me most of the summer. After Racine I raced at the USAT Age Group Olympic National Championships in Milwaukee, WI and had a PR at the olympic distance of 1:58:21 and finished just of the podium in 6th place.
Next we headed to the western US out to Colorado to stay with my uncle just outside Colorado Springs. While I have been to Colorado dozens of times on family vacations growing up and for work, I've never been able to train in the mountains the way I did this time. Getting to do 130 mile rides in the mountains outside the Springs and Denver where absolutely beautiful. I can definitely see why all the pros move to Boulder to live and train. The most epic ride I had was riding from Denver out through Golden and along the peak to peak highway, down through Boulder and back to Denver. It pained me to see all the reports on the flooding that was going on there knowing how beautiful on area that is. The flooding also affected us over in the Springs area with the pool in Manitou Springs getting closed due to the flooding and much of the downtown area was heavily damaged. While we were there we managed to make several day trips to Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Open Space, and even hike up to the summit of Pikes Peak. What a view!!
After four weeks in Colorado we headed off to Utah to see Moab, Arches NP, and Zion & Bryce NP's. We started off in Moab and got to spend a week roaming the area and seeing both Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks. Moab was probably my favorite part of our trip and had some of the best road biking I've ever ridden on. We definitely plan on going back next year but will be bringing mountain bikes next time!! Next up was Zion and Bryce National Parks. While I was hoping for some heat training we seemed to have missed the heat and were hit with some pretty cold days and especially nights. I was finally thankful that we had been carrying some extra blankets for our trip or it would have been mighty cold in that tent. Haha. I had been to Zion & Bryce in 2010 but had forgotten just how beautiful it was. We also made several new friends at the campground we stayed at for almost two weeks and even meet some other pro-triathletes, Heather and Trevor Wurtele. Very nice people. Our trip to Zion and Bryce got cut a little short due to the government shut down but luckily we got to see all of the major attractions we wanted to see.
So finally after almost 4 months of traveling we headed to Seattle to fly out to Kona. The flight out and days leading up to the race were just a blur of trying to stay relaxed and getting mentally prepared to race. Going into the race I knew that I was most likely not going to be able to showcase my true fitness due to my right IT band flaring back up only a few weeks before the race. Race day couldn't have been better weather if we had planned it. The swim start was the most hectic that I have even been apart of. Luckily after months of training with Tim Floyd I was able to get out in the front of the swim pack and was able to get into the lead pack. My swim time wasn't the greatest at 56 but after looking at everyone's times it seems like the swim was a little slow this year. I came out of the water in 10th in my AG and headed out onto the bike to see what my leg would let me do for the day. Apart from a bit of a head wind on the way back into town the winds were pretty light and the temps were pretty cool. Unfortunately I couldn't hammer the bike without risking locking up my right leg completely and not being able to complete the run. I had a very disappointing bike ride at 5:16 but luckily I was able to get off and by really holding my form as solid as I could run a 3:35 marathon. All in all I don't consider my first trip to the Big Island as any kind of success apart from being exposed to the course and atmosphere that is out there and that is something worth it's weight in gold for years to come. I accepted my pro card based on my race result at the beginning of the year at the IMTX 70.3 in Galveston where I finished as the 3rd overall amateur and went 4:08:49 (PR at the 70.3 distance). After Kona we headed out to Maui for a little over a week to enjoy some of the island fun and relax after such a hectic year. The snorkeling and hiking were just amazing and the weather was perfect. or in other wards Hawaii haha, for our whole trip. Can't wait to start it all again in 2014 with the Galveston 70.3 as my debut pro race.
Next we headed to the western US out to Colorado to stay with my uncle just outside Colorado Springs. While I have been to Colorado dozens of times on family vacations growing up and for work, I've never been able to train in the mountains the way I did this time. Getting to do 130 mile rides in the mountains outside the Springs and Denver where absolutely beautiful. I can definitely see why all the pros move to Boulder to live and train. The most epic ride I had was riding from Denver out through Golden and along the peak to peak highway, down through Boulder and back to Denver. It pained me to see all the reports on the flooding that was going on there knowing how beautiful on area that is. The flooding also affected us over in the Springs area with the pool in Manitou Springs getting closed due to the flooding and much of the downtown area was heavily damaged. While we were there we managed to make several day trips to Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Open Space, and even hike up to the summit of Pikes Peak. What a view!!
After four weeks in Colorado we headed off to Utah to see Moab, Arches NP, and Zion & Bryce NP's. We started off in Moab and got to spend a week roaming the area and seeing both Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks. Moab was probably my favorite part of our trip and had some of the best road biking I've ever ridden on. We definitely plan on going back next year but will be bringing mountain bikes next time!! Next up was Zion and Bryce National Parks. While I was hoping for some heat training we seemed to have missed the heat and were hit with some pretty cold days and especially nights. I was finally thankful that we had been carrying some extra blankets for our trip or it would have been mighty cold in that tent. Haha. I had been to Zion & Bryce in 2010 but had forgotten just how beautiful it was. We also made several new friends at the campground we stayed at for almost two weeks and even meet some other pro-triathletes, Heather and Trevor Wurtele. Very nice people. Our trip to Zion and Bryce got cut a little short due to the government shut down but luckily we got to see all of the major attractions we wanted to see.
So finally after almost 4 months of traveling we headed to Seattle to fly out to Kona. The flight out and days leading up to the race were just a blur of trying to stay relaxed and getting mentally prepared to race. Going into the race I knew that I was most likely not going to be able to showcase my true fitness due to my right IT band flaring back up only a few weeks before the race. Race day couldn't have been better weather if we had planned it. The swim start was the most hectic that I have even been apart of. Luckily after months of training with Tim Floyd I was able to get out in the front of the swim pack and was able to get into the lead pack. My swim time wasn't the greatest at 56 but after looking at everyone's times it seems like the swim was a little slow this year. I came out of the water in 10th in my AG and headed out onto the bike to see what my leg would let me do for the day. Apart from a bit of a head wind on the way back into town the winds were pretty light and the temps were pretty cool. Unfortunately I couldn't hammer the bike without risking locking up my right leg completely and not being able to complete the run. I had a very disappointing bike ride at 5:16 but luckily I was able to get off and by really holding my form as solid as I could run a 3:35 marathon. All in all I don't consider my first trip to the Big Island as any kind of success apart from being exposed to the course and atmosphere that is out there and that is something worth it's weight in gold for years to come. I accepted my pro card based on my race result at the beginning of the year at the IMTX 70.3 in Galveston where I finished as the 3rd overall amateur and went 4:08:49 (PR at the 70.3 distance). After Kona we headed out to Maui for a little over a week to enjoy some of the island fun and relax after such a hectic year. The snorkeling and hiking were just amazing and the weather was perfect. or in other wards Hawaii haha, for our whole trip. Can't wait to start it all again in 2014 with the Galveston 70.3 as my debut pro race.
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