Another Bad Day at the Office: IMNZ

After departing from Wanaka, it was time to get some R&R in between the two races.  With 14 days between two IRONMANs, I was going to be asking a lot from my body.  This is the second time that I have done something crazy in terms of racing IMs close together.  The last time was back in 2013 when I raced Kona, 14 days later 70.3 Austin, and 6 days later IMFL, you can read about that HERE.

Needless to say, I thought there was a chance that this could go well.  I had some good training while in California and then a good 70.3 in Dubai.   I thought that Challenge Wanaka full could give me another boost in fitness and I could show up to Taupo hopefully somewhat recovered from Wanaka and have a good race.  I spent the 14 days in between taking it pretty easy and just enjoying the sites of New Zealand with my wife.  We spent some time in a van, down by the river, and then after 2 nights of that upgraded to an AirBnB in Taupo.

When I originally planned this trip and race schedule I thought there was a chance both Wanaka and Taupo would have fairly small fields, but then IM Melbourne was canceled, which had people changing up their race schedules and a big field assembled for IMNZ (Taupo).  Since the trip was already planned and the tickets were booked I just rolled the dice and figured we would see what happened.

I woke up on race morning feeling pretty good and ready to race.  I slept a lot in the previous 14 days and really took care of trying to recover from Wanaka.  I just didn't know how the body would react until the gun went off.

Swim- 53:12

I really started to believe that my swim was coming along and I was confident in how I had been swimming given how Dubai and Wanaka went.  I lined up near Matt Hanson hoping that I would be able to swim with him.  I got out to a good start and found some feet to stay on.  After about 200-300m I had gotten popped off of the tail end of the first pack, I was "that guy" that let the gap open.  Around 400-500m the women started coming by us in ones and twos.  First was Lauren Brandon and then MBK, and then a small pack of 3.  Matt Hanson and I were able to get onto those girls' feet and swim with them for a while.  I got popped off of that group at the half way point, and shortly after joined another small group of women who were towing a few other men along.  One of the guys ended up being Joe Skipper.  I exited the water in the second main pack of guys and was happy with where I was at.

Bike- 4:47

Coming out of the water better than I normally do meant that the possibility of getting passed by more people.  This is something that typically doesn't happen due to my poor swim and somewhat strong cycling ability.  However, with the improved swim I was now facing guys behind me being strong bikers.  So one by one a few guys came by, with the likes of Matt Russell, Joe Skipper, and then Dougal Allan (who had just won Wanaka).  I couldn't quite hold pace with any of those guys so they went by pretty quick.  I rode a pretty solid first 90 km and then literally at 90 km, my power dropped from 260 W to 230 W.  There was nothing I could do, not really sure what happened, but I would like to think that something about that race 14 days ago happened to hit my legs.  From that point on, I was pretty much stuck at 230 W and couldn't seem to put out more power consistently.

Run- 3:45

I came off the bike pretty much out of the race, but I wanted to see what I had in my run legs so off I went.  I settled into a good pace and was feeling good.  I went through 21 km in around 1:32 which is where I was hoping to run for the whole marathon, a low 3 hour marathon.  I continued to push on and then around 30 km, the legs just didn't want to cooperate.  The body was drained and I was mentally checked out.  Meredith Kessler had caught me around that point and she went on to win the race leaving me in her dust after running with her for about 1 mile.  I ran, jogged, trotted and walked the last 12 km and finally got across the line.  It was a rough day to say the least.

Swim - 53:12 / Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/509574460

Bike- 4:47:47 / Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/508790003
Training Peaks: http://tpks.ws/oY1R

Run- 3:32:07 / Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/509574583
Training Peaks: http://tpks.ws/vuUfg

Total- 9:32:59 / 20th Pro

(Results Link: http://ap.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=newzealand&y=2016#axzz46Ipnw3F6 )

Like every race, I consider it a success as long as you learn something.  Lesson learned here is that I currently am not capable of backing up 2 IMs within 14 days of each other.  So chalk it up as a learning experience and a long 9+ hours spent Swimming, Biking and Running to see the great town of Taupo.

Even though the racing did not go as planned down under, it was still an amazing experience.  I had never been to Australia or New Zealand and Hila had never been to New Zealand.  We were able to get some amazing sight seeing in and see a part of the world that I had never seen.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Why did you take your Pro Card?

21 April 2015-

I figured since I have been asked "Why did you take your Pro Card?" quite a bit over the past few months, I would take the time to expand upon that frequent question. I used to ask professionals the same question when I was an age grouper dreaming of one day racing as a "professional" athlete. I would get various responses from "I want to race the best", "I want to start first and get done early", "I want to save money on entries" to "I want to have a reserved porta potty and avoid the lines".

I have written about this twice before, back in 2011 "Kona Post Race Thoughts" and in 2013 "How I qualified for my Pro Card and Why I Will Still Race as an Age Grouper". Looking back and reading through those posts a lot of the reasons that I wasn't ready to turn pro have been "solved", and it seems that now the time is right.

Timing was one of the biggest reasons that I waited. After qualifying twice in 2013, I did not believe I was ready, which I elaborated on in the above mentioned blog. The timing finally came together, and in my opinion, the stars aligned. I transitioned out of the Air Force in August of 2014 and the transition to start training and racing full time was the best time for me to make the jump to the professional start line. I waited until after Kona as I wanted one last crack on the big island.

When I made the decision to take the jump to be on the start line with the best in the world, the main reason was regrets. I didn't want to look back 5, 10 or 15 years from now and go "Man, I could have raced with the best in the world, but I didn't". I want to look back and go, "I had an amazing opportunity and I gave it everything I had". So that is what I did, I left the Air Force last summer and did not seek another full time job. I did not leave the AF for the simple reason of wanting to race professional, I left the AF because I was waking up every morning not happy with having to put on my uniform and go to work.

If I was happy with my career in the Air Force I could have very easily stayed in and raced professionally, however that was not the case. The Air Force left a very bitter taste in my mouth the last 1.5 years in, but that will have to wait for another blog. I was however very fortunate while I was in the AF and they were very supportive of my triathlon endeavors, and I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my support network within the service. So for that, I am thankful to the AF.

I now wake up every morning and am happy. I have the amazing support of my wife and family as I take this leap into the pro ranks. If it wasn't for them, I would not be taking this chance, but luckily my support system is amazing. The plan is to give it a go for 2 years and see where things shake out at that point. If I am still progressing upwards and our lives can still support my racing, then I will continue on.

So here we go.............Only time will tell how this goes.

 My first "pro" race was in Lanzarote at the Spanish Long Course National Champs. I hadn't technically taken my elite license from USAT, but the race had an Elite field. Ended up 8th on the day just 3 weeks after Kona.

2014 Year in Review in Pics and by the #'s

Looking back at 2014, well it sure was a busy year.  To think that all of this happened in a 365 day period is pretty crazy.

- Deployed to Afghanistan (Jan/Feb)
- Traveled to Japan to visit Hila (Feb)
-  Separated from the AF (Jul)
- Traveled to Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, Canada, California (Jul/Aug/Sep)
- Had a wedding for our family AKA "Got married again"
- Raced Kona (Oct)
- Moved to the Oxford, England (Oct)

 Training while Deployed to Afghanistan.  This was a joke, although they did make me put on my PT Gear over my cycling kit.

 Traveled to Japan to visit Hila in February and we got dumped on with snow.

 Attended RWB Tri Camp w/ the wife and met this inspirational athlete Rachel and her dog Kalev!

 Finally raced NYC Tri and had the honor of guiding Aaron again.  This was the only time ahead of him, he drug me around the swim and run course.

 

2014 by the Numbers
Swim: 258 miles (415,000 meters) / 134 hours- AVG 9,801 meters/wk (+40km from 2013)

Bike: 6,646 miles / 353 hours- AVG-  134 miles/wk (-1,010mi from 2013)
Run: 1,611 miles / 211 hours- AVG-31.5 miles/wk (+9mi from 2013)

Commuter Miles: 228 miles / 23hrs (Oct 25th - Dec 20th)
Total: 8,743 miles / 721 hours / 13.84hrs/wk
Raced:  1 Sprint Tris, 3 Olympic Tris, 5 70.3's, 1 Long Course Tri, 1 Full IM, 1 Half Marathon, Total=12 races
Amateur Placings: 2 Overall Wins, 4 AG Wins, 6 Top 5's 
69 Days Off of Training, Longest Streak 28 days, and 5 Countries Visited
 

 Pie Chart Breakdown by % of Time

 Swim Chart by Meters / Week

 Bike Chart by Miles / Week

 Run Chart by Miles / Week

 Total Hours by Hours / Week

 Workout History Snapshot from TrainingPeaks

 PMC Chart (Dots = Daily TSS, Dots at bottom = off day)

 Getting married to Hila, again, with all of our family and friends present this time.

 Some R&R up in Tahoe before the final build into Kona.

 Finished off Kona crossing the line with Reilly Smith, who I ran the last 10K with.

And the start to a new beginning, my first pro race in Lanzarote.

Thanks to everyone that has continued to support me over the years.  I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life and it wouldn't be possible without all of my family and friends!