Team RWB Tri Camp / Selection to AF Tri Team / USAT Military Sports Award

15 May 13-

A little on the late side for this blog, well at least for the Team RWB Tri Camp.  After returning back to Texas from South Beach Miami back in April I didn't even have time to unpack and I was headed out the door again.  I headed down to Austin to help out and volunteer at the Team Red, White, and Blue Triathlon Camp.  I was really looking forward to this opportunity to be able to give back to our Veterans and current military members that are wounded not just physically but mentally.  The mission statement of Team Red, White, and Blue is to "enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity".  Back in 2011 the morning after the IM World Championships I woke up with an email from Mike Erwin, the founder of Team RWB.  He asked that I consider getting involved with the organization and becoming an athlete ambassador.

I did a lot of research before committing to the organization.  I wanted to make sure it was something I was passionate about and something I believed in.  I talked to a few friends that were involved and I sent Mike an email back letting him know I wanted to get involved and help out anyway I could.  So here we are about 18 months later and I have been back in the states for about 6 months.  When I was in Korea I did as much as I could but it was more less just reaching out to people and trying to spread the word about the organization.  Now that I am back in the states I have got involved with our local chapter and I am seeing first hand how big of a difference this organization can make in peoples lives.

Now back to camp.  So I arrived down in Austin early morning on Thursday and linked up with David Wenger of Durata Training for a bike fit (blog to come on that soon).  Spent about 3 hours tweaking both the P3 and S5, and then went out and met up with Jeremy Brown for a ride on MOPAC Loop.  That afternoon there was a BBQ and introductions with everyone that had already arrived.

Friday morning the camp officially started and each day was about the same.  We had Jess Jacobs, Jess Meyers, Timothy O'Donnell, and Logan Franks there who are all pro triathletes.  They would lead small groups of athletes.  We had a few introductory clinics for each sport and then did some small amounts of training.  The main focus of the camp was focusing on the little things as we had a lot of first time triathletes there and I think overall everyone enjoyed the clinics.  There was not a lot of volume in terms of training but a lot of great bonding and sharing of knowledge going on.

I lucked out and was able to spend a good amount of time with Tim.  We had to drive quite a bit from place to place and basically I was his  personal taxi, no worries though just a small fee of having me pick his brain for knowledge the whole time.  It was great to get his opinion about the whole going pro thing since South Beach was the weekend prior.

I had an amazing time down at camp and was glad to be able to help out some of our nations finest veterans.  It was great to see first hand how effective sports and social activities are for those that are struggling with physical wounds and PTSD.  An AMAZING experience that made me realize I am involved in an organization that has a great mission and is something I am even more passionate about now.

Shifting gears........................A few weeks back Air Force Sports made the announcement for the 2013 Triathlon Team.  Looking at the list of guys and girls we are taking this year, I am excited to see what kind of damage we can do this year.  Last year we were unable to defend the mens title, however our girls pulled off the 4th title in a row.  With 2 "new" guys on the team, they are actually veterans of the team, but were not there last year, we are looking to have a solid team.  I am excited to be on the team again this year and looking forward to Armed Forces Championships on June 1st in Pt Mugu, California.  Going to be a busy 7 days, with CapTex on Memorial day down in Austin.  Driving back up to Ft Worth, work on Tuesday, fly out to Cali on Wednesday and race Armed Forces on Saturday.  Really looking forward to it and seeing how my body reacts to racing back to back like that.

Back in April I was notified that I received the USAT Military Sports Award and was an honorable mention.  Robert Hilton from the Marine Corps won, congrats man on a great honor.  Rob has beat me the last 2 years in Hawaii, and I am hoping he makes it back this year, hopefully the third time is a charm ;)  I did not race 3 races that were USAT races last year so was not eligible for Age Group All American or Honorable Mention, looking to take a shot at All American honors this year.

As always thanks to everyone for all of the support.  I couldn't do it without the amazing family and friends I am surrounded by and the great support of my sponsors.  THANK YOU!

Here are some pictures from Camp:

 Mike Durner (The US Paracycling Team Coach) and myself

 Bike Skills Clinic out in a huge park

 Logan, Scott, Jess, and myself at lunch

 Carloline thought I was modeling and snapped a photo ;)

 Practicing swim starts.  We swam all weekend at Austin Pure Quarry, and it was awesome!

 Austin Veolway for some loops

 Jess and myself before my near death experience on the Austin Veloway, those corners can sneak up on you there.

A picture from last weekend, not at camp just out on a training ride.  #WEARTHEEAGLE #ITSOURTURN #DRINKFRS ;)

St Anthony's Race Report

28 April 2013-

Seemed like it was just the other day that I was in Florida.  3 weeks flew by really fast and next thing you know I am back in FL to race St Anthony;s Triathlon.  Part of the plan for this season was to race some of the biggest short course races in the nation and then finish off the year with some long course racing.  So race #2 on the tri schedule was St Anthony's.

I arrived into Tampa mid day Friday and my AF Tri Teammate and roomate from last year at Armed Forces, Mr. Boobs (Nick Chase) picked me up at the airport.  He is by far the best homestay I have had to date.  Took great care of me, kept me fed and had a great location within 2 miles of the race.  I was able to get a nice swim in on Friday and then build the bike up.  We had quite a few AF members and Team RWB members in town for the race so it made for a fun weekend.  Friday night myself, Nick, John, Ryan, Amanda, Nicholas, Heather and Hila all met up for dinner at an amazing place called California Ciccios.  It was AMAZING!

Saturday was the typical pre-race day.  Got up early went and got an easy spin and easy run in and then headed down to the transition area to drop off the bike.  I met up with a new sponsor, the guys from Clever Training, Matt and Andrew.  We had lunch at another great place Tryst, about 1/2 mile from the race expo.  Great lunch and great meeting!  I then headed back down to the expo area and met up with Dave from ISM Saddles and got educated on their saddles.  I have been riding ISM Saddles for over 4 years now and have always been extremely happy with them but wanted to know more so I can help other people when they ask about the great saddles.  After that I headed back to transition area and went out for a short swim.

Saturday night was another great dinner with Team RWB this time and some great people.  John, Nick, Hila were all there again and then my teammate from Kona, Jolene showed up and the Team RWB awesome Kona Sherpa Donna joined as well.  Some other Team RWB people were there as well and it made for a great night.  Thanks to Kelly Williamson for recognizing the eagle and stopping by to take a picture of our group (which is below) and for supporting Team RWB.  Her husband Derrick runs the Team RWB Tri camp down in Austin (which I still owe a blog about) and they are great people!

Then came race morning and another typical race morning.  Honey Stinger protein bar, can of FRS Healthy Energy and the typical bowl of Oatmeal and then a banana.  Seems to do the trick so I keep things consistent.  The rest of the morning was uneventful until we got to the swim start.

Swim- 10:42

Yeah that is a super quick swim for an Olympic distance race, I told everyone I was going to work on that swim and boom mission accomplished!  Well actually here is where the eventful part started.  The pro men and women went off and then the race director got on the PA system and started talking to everyone.  He informed us the swim was being cut short to 750m due to the choppy and rough conditions.  I was completely fine with this because 2304 pissed off triathletes is better than 2303 "happy" triathletes and 1 dead triathlete.  I am sure there were only a few hundred pissed off "swimmers" about it being cut short.  At first I was happy it was cut short, but more on why it may not have been the greatest thing later on.  So for safety reasons the swim was cut short for the amateurs but the transition run was extended from about 50m to 600m.  I had a decent swim in my opinion and lost 1:23 to the leader and only 46 seconds to Jake Rhyner, who had put 3 minutes into me at SoBe in 1500m 3 weeks ago.

Bike- 57:27

I got on the bike and knew I had some work to do as quite a few athletes were ahead of me.  I got into a groove and just keep pushing hard.  There was a few "groups" of athletes out ahead of me and I slowly started making my way up.  Around mile 15-18 I made a pass and moved up 13 spots.  That is how big the "group" was.  I will not comment on the "groups" because for the most part I didn't see any blatant drafting, however I was on the move the whole time and was never in a "group".  From what I heard by some other guys on the move they saw some pretty close wheels.

Overall I was happy with how the ride went and how the new "David Wenger" fit is working out.  I will write up a review off that whole process and some comparison data in the coming weeks.

Run- 36:27

I started the run in 3rd/4th with Nat Glackin.  He slowly pulled away from me and just kept increasing his lead over the run course.  Shortly after leaving transition area Randy Arriola went flying by me and ended up with an amazing 34 minute run and finished third.  I would then get passed by a few more guys and ended up finishing 8th.  I was not happy with how my run went, not sure exactly what happened but felt like I should have been down in the 35's, but you can't have great days everyday.

Total- 1:49:25

Overall I was happy with how the day went.  I went into the race wanting top 10 and would have been really happy with a top 5.  This is one of the biggest amateur races in the nation and draws one of the best fields for an early season race.  Being down in Florida to race twice this early in the season at top notch events was a great way to start the season.  I have never been able to race these type of quality fields this early in the season before, one of the reasons I am glad to be stationed back in the states!

Swim (750m) - 10:42 / 25th Elite Male / 55th Amateur 

T1- 4:01

Bike (40K) - 57:27 / 4th Elite Male / 4th Amateur (http://app.strava.com/activities/51464731#)

T2- 0:49

Run (10K) - 36:27 / 12th Elite Male / 15th Amateur (http://app.strava.com/activities/51464152)

Total- 1:49:25 / 8th out of 54 Elite Male / 8th out of 2404 Amateurs

Lastly, I just want to once again say thank you to everyone for all of there support.  Also, a huge congrats to Jake Rhyner on leaving the amateur ranks of triathlon with 2 back to back wins in 2013 and I wish him all the best in the pro ranks.  A great athlete and humble dude, looking forward to racing against him again in the future.  Thanks to Clever Training for a great lunch and meeting on Saturday and too Dave from ISM for educating me on the product line and for some sweet socks.  Then of course FRS Healthy Energy, Honey Stinger, Kiwami, HED Cycling, Zoot, teamTBB, Fort Worth Cycling and Team RWB for all of the support!

Here are some pictures for everyone to enjoy!

How I Qualified for my Pro Card & Why I Will Still Race as an AG'er

17 April 2013-

10 days ago I raced the Nautica South Beach Triathlon in Miami Florida.  I qualified for my pro card there and mentioned I would elaborate on why I will continue to race as an Age Grouper.  In my race report which can be found HERE I mentioned I would talk about why I am not going to turn pro.  Going to try and keep this short but it might end up being a little lengthy.

I got into triathlon in 2008 and did my own thing for the first 3 years.  I raced quite a bit but had no structured training or coaching.  December of 2010 I signed up for my first IRONMAN and got a coach and power meter.  Scott Defilippis has been coaching me since then and we have seen steady improvements over the last 2 seasons.  I moved back to the US at the end of September 2012 and was excited to be able to put together a solid schedule for 2013 in the US.  I sat down and put together a schedule with some of the bigger short course races in the US on the calendar and started prepping for the 2013 after a short break after Austin 70.3 last October.

I showed up to the start line in Miami feeling really good and that the winter training had went well, minus a few hiccups of illness and a little bit of travel.  I ended up finishing as the 2nd Amateur behind Jake Rhyner, which qualified me for my pro card.  USAT Pro Qualification Standards are listed HERE, and with South Beach having a $40,000 pro prize purse that meant I qualified under Criteria F.

Even though I qualified for my pro card I still feel I am not ready and below are the reasons why I am going to continue to race amateur.

(These are compared to Nautica South Beach)

- My Swim- I was 4:56 down on the lead pro swimmer and 3:00 down on the top amateur swimmer.  I have known from the beginning that the swim is my weakness and I have not fully committed to fixing that.  I have sought out instruction from some top swimmers and they think my swim stroke/technique is not bad, although we are adjusting a few things.  The biggest thing is I need to swim more, so that is an area of focus in the future and something that is being addressed.  I need to start swimming with fast people and swimming with a group, however with my work schedule it does not line up.  I am going to try and figure something out to make that work.

- My Bike- The one area I am not as concerned about.  I had the 8th fastest bike split at South Beach and was 4:25 down on the top bike split and 1:47 down on the 2nd place bike split.  For Olympic Distance I feel confident I can bike with the pros, but for HIM/IM I feel I am still quite a ways off and over time that gap will close.

- My Run- I was 4:52 down in terms of the top run split.  My run is progressing quite a bit and I am happy where it is headed, but 4:52 is a lot of time over 10K.  I PR'd the 10K run by over 30 seconds compared to past open 10K, so things are looking good here but still a lot of work to do.

- Overall- I lost to Jake, the top amateur by 5:41 and to the top pro by 12:49.  The USAT Criteria talks about 8% within the winning time at 3 events with over $5,000 in prize money to meet criteria A.  8% would be approximately 8mins30secs, so as you can see I am a little ways from that as well.

(Other reasons)

- The Pro Women / Amateurs- I have used the pro women's times as a gauge of knowing when I am getting in good race shape.  Kind of a crazy way to judge things, but usually when I am finishing right up with the top pro women I am finishing towards the top of the amateur ranks as well.  I know there is a decent amount of pro men that get chicked now and again but that is good indicator in my opinion that if it is consistently happening it is a good sign you should be staying in the amateur ranks.  Helle Fredericksen won the race and beat me by 2 minutes.  I also don't want to be the guy that is always getting beat by amateurs.  I think that is also a good sign that you are not ready to be a pro or that you should consider going back to the amateur ranks.

- Timing- I am still serving my country in the US Air Force on Active Duty and am committed to that for another 16 months.  I plan to apply to OTS in December and that is the main priority right now.  I would rather serve my country in the capacity of a leader and officer for the next 10 years rather than turn pro in triathlon.  However, if that falls through I plan to get out and pursue a masters degree and/or turn pro in triathlon.

- Listening to Mentors- I still feel like I am new to the sport and have a lot to learn.  I am surrounded by some amazing people and have some great mentors in the sport and outside of the sport.  I have spoken to all of them about the decision to turn pro and they all agree with my decision and think it is best to continue racing as an amateur and focus on the areas that need improvement.  All of them believe in me and know that I have the ability to turn pro, it is just a matter of time.

- The Big Picture- Obviously being a professional triathlete sounds like an amazing job looking in from the outside.  However, there is a lot that the outsiders do not understand.  The money is not great in the sport and that is not a reason to make the jump to the pro ranks.  It would take a lot of sacrifice for me to make this jump, but I believe following a dream and going for it is something that I would never regret.  When I decide to make the jump I want to go into it 100% and make it my focus.  I want to walk away from this journey one day knowing that I gave everything I had to being the best that I could and not questioning the decisions or ways I went about it.  I want go all in and see what can happen and where I can go with giving it everything I have.  Right now I am not ready to do that while holding down a full time job and full time student status.

Above are the main reasons on why I am making the decision to continue racing as an amateur.  I was talking with Jake when we were down at South Beach and we both agree that everyone turns pro for different reasons.  I have heard a few of those reasons from others such as: "Free" race entries, home stays, getting to start at the front of the race, the chance to compete for money, etc etc.  Everyone does it for their own reasons and I don't knock them for that.  When I make the jump, I want to do it because I am ready to compete at that level and want to be competitive not just another pro in the field.

I can't thank everyone enough that has continued to support me through this journey.  There have been some key people along the way that have helped pave this road.  There are some that have believed in me from the beginning and there are some that are probably in a little bit of shock that I have progressed the way I have.  The support that I have received this year has been amazing.  Special Thanks to: Honey Stinger, FRS, Ft Worth Cycling, Zoot Sports, HED Cycling, ISM Saddles, and Clever Training.  And as always my family and friends have been a huge part of this journey and their continued support is amazing.  I was talking with my Dad the other day after South Beach and asked him "Did you ever think you would have a son that could be a "professional" athlete? " He just laughed and said "I have told you and your brother from day 1 that you can do whatever you put your mind to."  So with that being said I have focused on triathlon and continued to work hard, so we will see how far that hard work and dedication can take me.

Going back to my "Post Race Kona Thoughts" from 2011 I mention not rushing things and looking at the pro thing come 2014.  Well things sped up a little bit in terms of results and here I am making the decision now.  But I would have to say that October of 2014 will probably be a good time frame to re evaluate this decision.

Nautica South Beach Tri 2013

7 April 2013-

Finally the 2013 Tri season is here and getting started.  I was really looking forward to the start of the season as I had been getting in some pretty solid training and consistent workouts.  Due to some scheduling conflicts with work I had to make it a pretty short trip to the race.  Not ideal, but I figured it would be alright as my flights were not all that bad.

I flew out of DFW on Saturday morning around 6am, which meant a 3am wake up to make it to the airport on time.  I arrived into Miami around 10am and Nicholas Sterghos and his girlfriend and amazing sherpa Heather picked me up at the airport.  I had another friend from Clermont put me in contact with someone looking for someone to split a place with and next thing you know we have 2 bedroom penthouse suite.  I ended up staying with Jake Rhyner, who is that ended up beating me and then Sarah Haskins and her husband Nate.  Jake is coached by Nate so that is how all of that worked out.  Pretty crazy to be staying with a prior and hopefully future US Olympian, but the amazing thing about pro triathletes, they are always awesome people.  Sarah and Nate were awesome to hang out with!  Jake was cool as well and had previously been in the AF for a short while before getting out and his brother is currently in the AF, so small world to say the least.

Saturday was pretty low key.  Was able to get the bike together and headed out for a short spin with Nicholas and Heather and then a short run.  Picked up the race packet and then headed back to the place to relax.  Ended up ordering in some amazing pizza and then went out and grabbed some gelato.  Then just hung out and watched the college basketball game.

Race morning was a pretty early one with a 0430 wakeup.  I had the typical instant oatmeal, banana and then a Honey Stinger Protein Bar and washed it all down with an FRS concentrate shot.  Then headed down to transition area as all of the party people were headed back home at 530 in the morning.

Swim- 23:31

The water was pretty choppy and the water temp was "cold" enough to still be wetsuit legal for the amateurs.  I was racing in the Male "Elite" wave, so we were the third group off, 3 minutes behind the pro men and 2 minutes behind the pro women.  The first buoy was only 150-200m out and then you took a right turn and went from 14th Street all the way to 5th Street where T1/2 was.  I stayed with the group for about 50m and then we were all scattered out.  There was only about 30 people in the wave including the elite females as well.  I ended up swimming the long stretch side by side with another athlete but then lost contact with about 400m to go.  The run from the beach to T1 was quite long and they had the timing mat toward the entrance to transition, so the actual swim time was probably more around 23 flat, still not great but I wasn't worried about it.  I just knew I had my work cut out for me.

Bike- 56:19

I got on the bike and knew I had my work cut out for me.  Come to find out I was all the way back in 11th in our wave.  I just put my head down and started riding hard.  I kept the wattage a little lower in the tail wind sections and a little higher in the head wind section.  Over the Florida Hills (bridges) I went a little harder.  I slowly started picking off people and at one point I was able to take a split off of Jake and was 2min30secs down on him and he was the leader at the time.  I then started biking through the women's field and right before entering T2 passed Matty Reed who was having mechanical issues / tire problems on the side of the road.

Run- 36:14

I came off the bike and Lauren Goss and the 2nd place AG'er were about 400m up the run course on me.  I kept them in sight on most of the run and slowly started bringing them back as the run went on.  The run course was pretty congested with tourist and beach goers so at times it was hard to see how far up the path they were.  At the turn around they still had a pretty big gap on me but I had closed it a little bit.  I was starting to get worried that I wasn't going to catch them, but as we got around mile 4.5 they really started coming back.  A little after mile 5 I was about 50m back from the guy and then I started contemplating how I was going to make the pass or if I was just going to run on his heels or right beside him.  As i got a little closer I decided I would put in a hard surge and make sure I passed him strong hoping that would take any hope he had of going with me.  Well  I went by him and he didn't respond so I made sure I got a big enough gap and then backed down to the pace I had been running.  I passed Lauren in the process and tried to get her to run with so I would have someone to run the last portion hard with, but she didn't follow and in all honesty she didn't need to as she had 3rd place locked up.

Swim- 23:44 / 11th Elite Male / 44th OA (http://app.strava.com/activities/47806681)
T1- 1:57 / 15th Elite Male / 65th OA
Bike- 56:19 / 1st Amateur / Elite Male / 8th OA (http://app.strava.com/activities/47803848)
T2- 1:27 / 4th Elite Male / 25th OA
Run- 36:14 / 4th Elite Male / 22nd OA (http://app.strava.com/activities/47806686)
Total- 1:59:43 / 2nd Elite Male / 20th OA

Overall I was really happy with how the race went.  I knew Jake was going to be really tough to beat and it was going to take something going wrong for me to beat him.  I didn't know about anyone else but I had heard another athlete telling one of the pros he was there to qualify for his pro card, so figured he would be fast as well.  The race was an "Elite Qualifying" race under the USAT Elite/Pro qualification process as it had over $20K in prize money, so the top 3 amateur athletes qualified for their pro cards.  I planned out the race schedule this year with that in mind and almost all of the races meet that standard, which means it should be a big race with some top amateur athletes at the race.  I went into the race with that being a goal to finish in the top 3 and have the fastest amateur bike split, so I was happy to achieve those goals.  Although I qualified for my pro card I will not be turning pro anytime in the "near" future.  I will write up a blog about that in the coming days.

Thanks again to everyone for all of the support.  I am still in disbelief at how many companies have stepped up to support me this year and I am thankful for that.  I would not be able to race the schedule and amount of races this year without all of their help.  Every little bit helps and I am thankful for that.  A huge thanks to my coach for getting me in some great shape this early in the season and for believing in me and telling me a few days before the race that I might surprise myself and be one of the "big dogs" down there.  It was during a conversation when I was telling him about some of the other athletes that were going to be there and how I was pretty sure it was going to be a tough race.

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone that has been along for this journey and that has believed in me and supported me throughout.  Since arriving in Texas I have met some amazing people in the local community that have started following and supporting my racing.  It is really great to be the "new" guy in town and already have so many great friend and supporters.  Also a big thanks to Barrett for actually putting up with me and training with me a few times a week, makes those hard sessions quite enjoyable and it is always nice to beat up on each other at times during training.  Special thanks for the great company this weekend Sarah, Nate, Jake, Nicholas, and Heather!

                                  Myself and Sterghos before the race (Photo Courtesy of Heater Cox)

                                                                        The long run to T1

                                                                              Out on the bike

                                                                     Up the Florida Hills!

                                     Coming down the finishing chute (Photo Courtesy of Rich Cruse)

Jake, Nicholas, and myself.  Heather wanted to ensure that mine and Jakes heads didn't get cut off in the picture ;) (Photo Courtesy of Heather Cox)

'12 vs '13 Quarter 1 Training (Cycling vs. Tri Focus)

31 March-

I like to look back at my training data and compare how things are going to the past year.  Last year was a unique year, I took a 5 month break from being Coached by Scott DeFilippis and had Zach Garrett coach me with a focus on cycling.  He still had me running and swimming 1-2x a week, but the focus was the bike.

Below is a breakdown in pictures of how things compare: (Click the picture to Enlarge)

 2012

2013

 2012 Total Training Hours

2013 Total Training Hours

 2012 Fitness Summary

 2013 Fitness Summary

 2012 Swim

2013 Swim

 2012 Bike

 2013 Bike

 2012 Run

2013 Run

  

2012 PMC (Swim, Bike, and Run)

 

 2013 PMC (Swim, Bike, and Run) 

 

2012 PMC (Bike ONLY)

 

 2013 PMC (Bike ONLY)

 2012 PMC (Bike and Run)

 2013 PMC (Bike and Run)

 2012 TSS (Swim, Bike, and Run)

 2013 TSS (Swim, Bike, and Run)

 2012 TSS (Bike ONLY)

2013 TSS (Bike ONLY)

Looking at all of the charts above basically confirms what I already knew.  I have been training more consistently across the board this year.  I would say being back in the US and being stationed in Texas, which has a mild winter compared to S.Korea is really helping the training.  Not to mention I have a solid training partner in ITU Pro Barrett Brandon who lives here in Ft Worth.  We try and train together 1-3 times a week depending on if our schedules line up.  Luckily for me he has been kind enough to let me chase him around on some solid run workouts and then we both dish it out on the bike.  Our swim times don't match up which really sucks because him and his wife are both amazing swimmers, so hopefully in the near future things will change and I can start swimming with them as well.

The run mileage is up quite a bit compared to last year, 20 mile a week average increase.  I peaked so far with a 55 mile week of running and the legs didn't fell that bad at the end of it.  I am seeing run times that I have never seen before and am feeling great.  I am also maintaining power on the bike and although my "snap" and short power bursts are not there like last year when I was focusing on cycling I am starting to feel that I can sustain power longer.  And well the swim is the swim, I am trying to swim more but it hasn't quite happened yet.  I have been working on my technique and it has improved a little bit, now it is just time to get a lot of work done in the pool and hopefully come June the hard work will start to show.

In late December and early January I was sick off and on and it was quite frustrating.  Eventually I got over all the sickness and started to put in some solid training.  I showed up to cycling camp in Tampa and that is where I put in a huge week, actually the biggest week of training to date.  It took about 2-3 weeks after camp to realize it, but that week is what really launched this early season fitness into high gear.

Overall I am really pleased with how things are going and looking forward to race season kicking off next weekend.  I will be headed down to Miami Florida to race in the Elite Amateur Wave at Nautica South Beach.  Looking to start the season off strong, so we will see where all of this early season work lands me.

Thanks to all of my sponsors/supporters for the continued support.  I am still in a little bit of shock by the amount of companies and individuals that have decided to partner with me this year.  I was not expecting it and am truly grateful for all of their support.  And then as always I couldn't do this without the amazing support of my family and friends.  Special shout out to Training Peaks for making this super easy to accomplish by pulling all of this data and being able to analyze it.

Fayetteville Stage Race

16/17 March-

So once again I found myself trying to be a cyclist,  but in reality I am still a triathlete at heart ;)  This race was a good one for a triathlete as it was a Road Race, Time Trial, and Road Race.  Funny how since Mineral Wells I have received a few comments from fellow cyclist and friends telling me that Crit racing isn't my thing, so Fayetteville would be good for me.  Funny thing is last year I picked up 6 wins in Crits, granted they were CAT3 crits but none the less I wouldn't say I am a horrible Crit racer.  But yes, Fayetteville suited me a lot better than Mineral Wells, as that was not a typical Crit course and obviously did not suit me well.

Fayetteville was about a 3.5-4 hour drive and since I had to work Friday night I decided to get up early Saturday morning and head down.  Luckily another cyclist from Ft. Worth wanted to car pool, so bright and early at 0430 we were on the road to Fayetteville, which is in the middle of no where Texas.  The first Road Race did not start until 1010.  We got down there with plenty of time to spare, I ended up sleeping in the back of the car for about 40 minutes.

Stage 1- 68 mile RR-

Great weather for the race, sunny, not a cloud in the sky and just an overall great day to be on the bike.  I sat in for quite a while and then decided to attack a few times.  The Garmin Devo kids didn't want to let anything get away so they controlled the race up front and kept bringing everything back.  Then about half way through they put their whole team up front and just kept the tempo up and guys started falling off the back.  On the first lap I got dinged by the referee with a warning for going over the "centerline" which is usually the yellow line, but there was no yellow line as it was a narrow country road that was about the width of one lane.  I swore at the race brief they mentioned they would be less strict on this road, but no worries just a warning.  I stayed in the bunch and on the last lap went to move towards the front with about 3 miles to go.  Sure enough the referee saw a different centerline then I did and got me again, but this time gave me a 30 second penalty.  It was a judgement call, and as always the referee is always right.  In the final stretch I lost contact with the group and lost about 16 seconds, and then add the 30 second penalty and I was 46 seconds off the lead.

After the race I had a friendly chat with the moto referee.  He is a retired Army Warrant Officer, and I had met him at Mineral Wells.  We talked about the call and he explained how his number one priority is rider safety.  I told him that I respected his decision and that it was a judgement call.  Great guy and I have learned in a short amount of time to never argue with the ref, especially during the race.  So we talked after and were both very calm.  I appreciate the work he does and he had his belief of what the ceneterline was and I had mine, obviously I think center is a not 50%, but hey we agreed to disagree ;)

Category: Elite CAT2/3-
Results: 41 out of 61 (https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZdjdlU3BodmdIMmM/edit?docId=0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZQ2I1Nlc2MmRFaG8)
Link to ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/44856555

Stage 2- 9 mile TT-

The winds got pretty nasty in the afternoon and I was a little worried.  I had not ridden my new Jet Disc and Jet 9 in windy conditions.  I figured they would be alright and I would be able to handle the Jet 9 in the cross winds but wasn't sure.  I felt pretty good in the TT and the wheels handled really really well.  The Garmin Devo kids destroyed it and  I ended up just outside the top 10.  I finished 10th in Mineral Wells and figured I would be around the same even though it was a bigger field.

Here is the setup that I used for the TT:

 Category: Elite CAT2/3-
Results: 11 out of 61 (https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZdjdlU3BodmdIMmM/edit?docId=0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZSFFyWkNZdzJpcVk)
GC Standings After Stage 2: 22 out of 61 (https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZdjdlU3BodmdIMmM/edit?docId=0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZR3R3dGFDTm0tTWc)
Link to ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/44856523 (If you look at the guy that Strava says I rode with he is the one that won the TT, if you want to look at his file)

Stage 3- 80 mile RR-

We got the early start time on Sunday and it was a little chilly, not bad though.  Around mile 1 a guy from Dallas Bike Works went off the front and everyone let him go.  He opened up a big gap pretty quickly.  I got antsy, and being a little cold figured I could use it as a chance to warmup.  I chased him down and also brought a guy along with me, which was his teammate.  We stayed up the road for quite awhile keeping a good size gap.  Then a group started to chase and eventually after about 20-30 minutes they caught us.  We had a break of 13 guys and we started working together, well I wouldn't really say together.  The break had a Garmin kid in it and was represented by the other teams as well.  We started building up a nice gap and around mile 50 it was at 4 minutes.  I don't really know how we got ended up with that big of a gap, because quite honestly our break was worthless at working together minus about 5 of us.

I felt really out of place in the break being a triathlete and knowing how to do a rotating paceline.  8 of the 13 guys didn't know what the heck was going on and couldn't figure things out.  Garmin kid wasn't working but everyone kept letting him in the paceline, and when I say everyone I mean the 8 guys, not the 5 of us that knew how to ride a bike like a cyclist.  There was one guy that was completely clueless, he would sit on the back then come to the front then ride so hard he would end up off the front.  Then he would come back ot the group and wonder what happened to everyone.  Then back he would go to hang out on the tail for 20 minutes then he would do the same all over again.  He didn't know how to work with the group.  Finally I told him "I don't want to be an A-hole, but you need to just sit on the back and enjoy the ride you are screwing everything up and you don't know what you are doing".  He looked at me like I was the crazy one.  The 4 other guys laughed and told me thanks because they were about to throw him off the road.

So back to our 4 minute gap at mile 50.  All of the sudden Garmin goes to the front of the peloton (heard about this after the race), and they started drilling it.  Our 4 minutes went to two minutes in a matter of about 20 minutes.  Then next thing you know we are at mile 75 and the whole group is back together.  Talk about a demoralizing moment in a bike race, being away for 73 miles and getting caught with 5 to go.  It sucked, I was mentally out of it at that point.

And here is where I screwed up.............I gave up positioning, I went to the back and never gained positioning back.  Going into the final 3K things really picked up and out the back I went.  I lost quite a bit of time and a shot at the top 15, more than likely 9-12th in the GC.  But I showed up to the race to get a good workout in, and I definitely got that.  I like to get results and represent the military team, but the end result is to have a great triathlon season, and the bike racing is just a stepping stone to that.

Category: Elite CAT2/3-
Results: 32 out of 61 (https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZQUxjNlJwZnVYNEk/edit?docId=0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZQy1WckZuV0ZCb28)
Final GC Standings: 24 out of 61 (https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZQUxjNlJwZnVYNEk/edit?docId=0B3Cxm-Sg4gYZazNqaVJkT1luak0)
Link to ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/44856553

 Photo of our dysfunctional break (Photo Courtesy of DNA Racing's Chad Hodges, well actually his wife)

Overall it was a great weekend of training and I was really happy with getting some high intensity miles in.  Unfortunately I think this will be my last bike race for a while as triathlon season is coming to a start.  I may do a TT in the future and possibly one more race towards the end of the season, but have to focus on the priority and that is swimming, biking and running.

James McCowen and his crew put on an amazing race.  Very safe and fun environment.  I appreciate his support of the military and allowing me to come down and race a great event.  Looking forward to racing down there next year and hopefully I can get a few more guys from the team to come down.

Thanks for all of the support, especially to HED Cycling for taking care of me and allowing me to be a part of a great organization.  They have been supportive last year and then this year were able to help a little more, and being a little guy in the big picture it means a lot.  The HED wheels performed amazing in the cross winds of the TT.  Special thanks to Fort Worth Cycling for getting the bikes ready for the weekends races and also to Honey Stinger and FRS for the nutrition support.  Big thanks to all of my family and friends for the continued support!

Next blog should be a good one, going to be an inside look at the transition from an early season cycling focus (last season) to a triathlon specific early season focus (this year).

Play Tri Collegiate Draft Legal Tri, I mean Duathlon

Play Tri Collegiate Draft Legal Tri Duathlon- 10 March 2013-

Earlier in the year I came across this race online and liked the idea of being able to race an ITU style event early in the year.  With Armed Forces Tri being draft legal I thought it would be a good idea to have another draft legal race on my application for the AF Tri Team.  Applications are due 15 April, so most of the races on there come from the year prior, so having some current races can give the coach a good idea of what kind of shape you are in.  They only select 10 males and 6 females, so it is pretty competitive.

I know you are wondering how I am able to race a collegiate race.  Well the only requirement was to be under 29 and be a full time student.  Embry Riddle considers someone full time if they are taking 2 online classes at once and since they are in a 9 week period, let me tell you it is a lot of work.  I also contacted one of my AF teammates and told her about the race.  Erin is currently in a program for Physical Therapy that is ran by the Army and Baylor University.  So she is in full time student status as well.  In her words, we were the "Old kids crashing the college Tri".

The race was on Sunday and they held a race brief on Saturday.  They decided earlier in the week to cancel the swim due to the water being in the high 40's and replaced it with a 1.5 mile run.  They also opened up the race to the public and not just college kids, and with that a local pro from San Antonio showed up with his wife who was a college student.  The womens field only had 8 girls and the men had 25, so they decided to combine the field.  They wanted to move the start time up of the mens race but I asked to keep it the same so that it would be a little warmer and the winds would hopefully be a bit stronger.  I had found out that the two other "fast" guys were superb runners, which meant I would have to have a heck of a bike to try and get a win.  We pre rode the course with a few others after the brief and that is where I got the intel on the other two guys.  I talked with both of them and they both said the other guy was the one to beat.

Run 1- 1.5 miles-

They started us outside of the transition area about 200m down the road from the park trail.  Most of the run was on single paved trail through the park, so getting a good start was crucial.  I got out front and then about 1/4 mile in was passed by the two strong runners.  I didn't go with them and stayed back with a few other guys.  I came into T1 19 seconds back on the two leaders and was fine with that.

Bike 20K-

I did not strap into my shoes for about 5 minutes.  I worked on bridging to 3rd place and had already dropped the 5th place guy that came into T1 with me.  Once I got strapped into my shoes I attacked the 3rd place guy and it took me about a lap to bridge to the first two guys.  I was going to wait till 2 laps to go to attack them and try to get a gap but at the start of the 2nd lap we went to pass a lapped rider and I looked back and already had a decent gap coming out of the corner.  At that point I thought it was a good opportunity to attack and I kept the gap and kept building it over the remaining laps.  I came into T2 12 seconds up on 2nd and 1 minute 32 seconds on 3rd.

Run 5K-

I was quickly passed by 2nd place and just stayed focus on running a solid 5K.  I didn't know how big my gap was on 3rd kept checking over my shoulder.  I did not see him when I looked back during the first lap so did not know what happened.  On the second lap there were more people on the course and I couldn't find him.  With a little over half mile to go all I heard was some heavy feet stomping behind me and someone panting heavily.  I was under control but did not know where he came from.  We ran side by side for the last half mile and I out kicked him in the last 100m to end up 2nd on the day.


Run 1-1.5mi - 8:41 (4th) (http://app.strava.com/activities/43978053)
T1- 0:26 (2nd)
Bike 20K- 32:09 (1st) (http://app.strava.com/activities/43976128)
T2- 0:29 (5th)
Run 5K- 18:09 (4th) (http://app.strava.com/activities/43979109)
Total 59:55 (2nd)

Overall I was really happy with how the day went.  I thought I played my cards right and did what I had to do to try and win.  I just wasn't the best athlete out there, and I got beat by a great college kid Scott Wilkinson.  I think he will have a great race a collegiate nats and has a bright future in triathlon ahead of him.  I also realized that I cannot get complacent on the run and have to stay focused, I almost lost 2nd place by not focusing on the task at hand and just settling for 2nd.  I should have continued to push hard knowing that the 3rd place guy, Mark Saroni was charging hard.

Training is going well and looking forward to the upcoming races!

Thanks again for all of the support from my family and friends and from my sponsors/supporters!  HED Cycling, FRS, Honey Stinger, ISM Saddles, Clever Training, FW Cycling and Fitness, and of course TEAM RWB!

 The top 5 men and women!

In Erins words "We crashed the college Tri Du and cleaned up"  Congrats on taking 3rd Erin, on a bummed knee and all!

How was your day? This might put your "horrible" day into perspective...........

4 March 2012-

I had the day off today because I test for E-6 tomorrow.  Most people spend the whole day studying and prepping for the test, but the other night my Dad asked me if I had been studying leading into the test.  I looked at him in shock and said "Really Dad you have to ask me that?".  After almost 27 years of him knowing me, he for one should know my study habits are poor and I have never given 100% when it comes to academics or studying for anything.  I don't really have an excuse other than I have other priorities right now.  I am in "full time" student status (2 courses at a time that are 9 weeks long), working a 40 hour work week, and training 15-22 hours a week for triathlon.  I think my education and achieving my bachelors degree is higher on the priority list at this point than E-6 as it will open more doors on either the military side or the civilian side if I end up getting out in 2014.  Anyways enough about that, back to my day.

I woke up at 0600 to depart the house by 0630 to meet up with local pro triathlete Barrett Brandon.  I have been training with him 1-2 times a week since December.  Really just depends how our schedules match up.  It is nice to have someone that can kick my rear in all 3 disciplines and to have someone that can train in the morning / middle of the day.  We got in a solid 3 hours of riding which included some solid intervals.  I then came home and had a snack and a quick shower.  Then proceeded to a great 2 hour nap, life couldn't get much better ;)

Then I got up and went and put in a quick 2400yds in the pool testing out my new wetsuit(s) (yesterday was the Zoot Prophet, today was the Wet Zoot 4.0), I think I am leaning towards the 4.0.  I then left from there to go help out at Daggett Middle School here in town.  The tri club I am a member with, FW Tri Club, has a volunteer program set up with the middle school which has started a "Tri Club" within their after school program.  Myself and a teacher headed out with 6 kids for an hour ride on the Trinity Trail.  We got in 12 miles and it was a great time.  I stayed up front with one kid who wanted to go faster than everyone else.  It was just me and him so we were able to talk for most of the ride.

I was asking him about the upcoming Triathlon in June that they are training for and he was telling me that he was looking forward to it and that today he was giving it "everything" he had because he wants to do good at the tri.  I asked him what his parents thought about him doing it and he said they were really happy for him.  Then he made the comment that he really wanted his father to go to the race but it was on a Saturday and his Dad always worked Saturdays.  Then he perked up and said "He promised me he will be there though, he is going to skip work to come watch me race".  I hope his father can hold that promise and be there for his sons first triathlon, the kid is training hard and I can just tell how big of a let down it will be if his Dad is not there.

After the ride I wanted to go get my car washed but also wanted to grab something to eat.  I was going to go to Chipolte as I had a coupon for buy one get one free, from the CowTown 1/2 Marathon.  I found one that was closer to the car wash than the typical one I got to, so I plugged it into the GPS (yes I still use GPS here as I can't seem to find my way around town).  On the way I ended up taking a wrong turn due to some road construction on the freeway and ended up going to the typical Chipolte anyways.  There was a reason I took a wrong turn.......

As I was getting out of my car there was what I assumed to be a homeless man digging through the trash.  The lady that was just entering the restaurant was laughing at him.  He stopped and was just standing by the door when I approached.  He looked at me and all he said was "Here sir let me get that door for you".  That buy one get one free coupon said on it "Bring a friend for buy one get one free", but I was just going to use it for myself and hopefully they would ignore the friend part and I would have a burrito for tomorrow or later tonight.  Well obviously there was a reason I took the wrong turn, a reason the coupon said bring a friend, and a reason that lady laughed at my new "friend" Tyron.  So after he opened the door for me I asked him if he was hungry, and he just looked at me shocked.  I was like crap hopefully he isn't offended by this.  He was more shocked that a young guy would offer to buy him dinner.  Little did he know I had my buy one get one free coupon ;)  So we started talking while in line and he told me the people there didn't like him and we might get yelled at.  I told him not to worry about it and that he was my guest and they weren't going to do anything.

We went through the line and I told him if he wanted a beer it was on me as well and I would even join in and have one.  When I ordered the beers the cashier made the remark "You know the alcohol has to be consume here".  Really? You had to say that, if it was just me would you have said that?  I wanted to say something but told her no problem, Tyron and myself would enjoy dinner here and we would drink our beers at the restaurant.

We sat down and got to talking and he was really thankful, he enjoyed his beer before even touching his burrito.  He then had maybe two bites and said he would save the rest for later.  He couldn't understand why someone my age would be doing something so good for him.  I just asked a question back instead of answering the question and said "Tyron, what have you done to me that gives me a reason not to buy you dinner?"  He just looked at me and though for a second, then he said well good point I never thought about it like that.  He then went on to explain how he spent the 15 years in prison, has been out for 10 years and can't get on his feet, $20 can keep him fed for 10-14 days by eating .99 cent hamburgers and a local night club pays him in beer for cleaning up around there but they won't pay him in cash.  He lives on a porch and is the only homeless guy in the neighborhood and he still couldn't figure out why the lady was laughing at him for digging in the trash can, "I was just trying to get food for dinner tonight".

As we were finishing our beers he asked for money, I responded with "Sorry Tyron that is the one thing I will not due, however I bought you dinner, I bought you beer and next time I am in the neighborhood I will do the same".  He explained he just needed it for the bus.  Said he needed to go to Lancaster, it is a street in the town.  I was wondering why and asked.  He said he needed socks and there was a place there that gave clothes out to he homeless.  Well lucky for Tyron I had a pair of socks in my swim bag, because I am lazy and hadn't taken them out along with my Cervelo beanie.  So I gave him the pair of US Military Cycling socks I had and then asked if he had been cold at night (it has been in the 30's lately at  night) and he said yes, so I gave him the beanie as well.  I just got an awesome HED beanie so no longer need the Cervelo one ;)  We went our separate ways and I told Tyron next time I was in the area dinner was on me as well as a beer or two.

It is the experiences like this that really open your eyes and make you reflect on what you have and what hand life has dealt you.  By all means my life hasn't been 100% amazing, it has had its ups and downs, but I will be the first to tell you that there are far more ups than downs in my life and I am thankful to have every bit of what I have.  I think all of us take for granted the roof over our heads, the heater that turns on when it gets cold, the running water, the many pairs of socks that we have and the car that gets us around.

I was raised by amazing parents, all 4 of them, I have amazing family and some truly amazing friends.  Looking into the kids eyes when he was telling me about his Dad being there for his first race, I never had to worry about that, it was something that I never thought of, my parents were always at every event myself and my brother did.  It was the day like today that makes me really appreciate everything that I have.  I have been dealt a great hand so far, there is more I want to do with it, there is more I want to achieve, but tomorrow is not guaranteed and I realize it could all end today and I could look back and realize it was one heck of a ride, even if it was only 26 years.

So if you are struggling today, just think about Tyron digging through the trash can, or the kid that is worried that his Dad might miss his first triathlon.  These are the things I take for granted, and in reality they are never a guarantee.