A Look Back at 2015: Part 1, Through the Lens

26 January-

I wanted to take some time and reflect back on my first year racing in the professional field.  I plan to make this a 3 part series, with this being Part 1, "Through the Lens".  Part 2 will take an inside look at the training numbers throughout the year and finally Part 3 will dive into the financials of racing around the world, and the harsh reality of being a "professional" triathlete.  Part 3 is now up "Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Financials of a Pro Triathlete".

So here we go...................

 Started off the season with a top 10 at Galveston 70.3  
photo credit :Zo Mendoza( shooting without limits )

 One of my favorite parts of the year, coaching at the Team RWB Tri Camp!  This is a few of our 40 athletes, we were "Delta Team".

At the Fearless Fundo supporting Team Marsh.

 Inspiring the future of our sport at 70.3 Staffordshire by giving this little guy my medal.  His brother had his Dads and he was a bit upset by it, so I gave him mine.

 A great race venue at 70.3 Staffordshire

 Hila finally was able to come to a race, which just so happened to be a great race at IMUK, always great to have her on course supporting me.  Rough day as a spectator as there was a lot of rain and cold conditions.

 Up and out of the saddle one one of the many punchy climbs at IMUK

Although I didn't win, in Korea EVERYONE is a winner, so they have everyone hoist the banner up.......

IM Malaysia, although a miserable day for me, at least some amazing photos courtesy of Asia Tri

 Finishing off the year with some much needed R&R in Argentina.  This was taken at Iguazu Falls.

Race for Humaity Road Race and Crit

Race for Humanity 11-12 February

Saturday Road Race-

With a big week in the legs from camp I wasn't expecting much but deep down I wanted to have a good race.  I was racing in the combined CAT3/4 race as a CAT4.  We had 7 people total in the race, including 2 CAT3's, 4 CAT4's and a CAT2 Women, Peggy, who is super strong.  Once we got up to the start line they called up our whole team to the front and thanked us for our military service and we got a good round of applause from the few fans and the rest of the racers.  We by far had one of the larger teams in the filled which ended up not working in our favor.  A solo rider went off the front from the gun and never looked back, he ended up winning the race.  With not being a local I didn't know who the strong riders were, and I had already been given the green light to race "freely" by our team manager and director.  I was told if I liked something to go after it.  About 3/4 of the way through the first of 3 laps on the 17 mile course I found myself in a nice 5 man break.  We were doing a good job of opening up the gap and slowly working on bringing the solo guy up front back in.  We stayed away for quite a while and then got pulled back in.  When we got caught 3 guys went off the front again and I wasn't too worried about it as everything kept get brought back in so I didn't think much of it.  They slowly started opening up a gap and for some reason no one else wanted to pull it back in.  By this time we were starting into the third lap and they had 2-3 mins on us.

I knew we needed to get our guys up front as the peloton was expecting us to pull them back.  Well come to find out there were only 3 of us left in the main group so we tried to do some work up front and get some others to join in.  I don't know what it was but no one else wanted to work, it was like they were satisfied to field sprint for 5th.  I made a few attempts to get away in hopes that someone would bridge up with me and we could get away from the group.  Every time I would get off and open up a gap no one would bridge or they would just bring the whole group back, it go frustrating so eventually I just sat in.  With 1.5K to go I attempted to make a move but it didn't stick and at that point I just went off the back and coasted in.  There was no reason to be in a 3/4 field sprint in February for 5th place, besides I still had the crit the following day to get back after it.

After the race I hung out at the race to watch everyone else race.  I went over to help Frank our mechanic out in the feed zone for the P/1/2 race, which all of our elite guys were racing in, the guys I trained with all week.  So I was hanging out with Frank and he was talking to an athletic, good looking girl.  I overheard some talk about the Olympics and asked Frank if I heard that correctly.  He said yeah she is going for Triathlon, I just chuckled, looked at her and said "O you must be Gwen Jorgensen".  She seemed a little shocked that I knew who she was and I told her that I am more a triathlete than a cyclist and that I follow the sport.  So during the rest of the race I was able to talk with her here and there, and I have never found a "bad" pro triathlete to talk with, but she was by far one of the most down to earth triathletes I have talked with.  It was really funny how shocked she was that I knew he she was, I guess it must not of quite sunk in how big of a deal it is to be the top contender for a medal in womens triathlon yet.

After the elite guys finished up myself and Gunny (Don), packed up his car and headed up to Ocala to watch Bryan Clauson race his sprint car.  I grew up racing with Bryan and the last time I saw him race was in Madera back in 2009 I believe.  It was awesome to catch up with him and his Dad, Tim.  I hadn't seen Tim since March of 2007 when Bryan made his Late Model debut in the ARCA car, in of all place FLORIDA.  The running joke now is that I just randomly show up across the country to watch Bryan race, and it is pretty much the truth.  Bryan is set to make his Indy Car debut this year at the Indy 500, now if only I could figure out how to make it there...................Bryan ended up taking 2nd and putting on a great show.

 At the start of the race

 In the 5 man break early on

 Gwen Jorgensen, the Olympic Triathlete who will WIN in London!

At the races with BC and Tim

Sunday Crit-

With a disappointing race the day prior I was excited to get out and race again.  Probably the best part about bike racing other than the team aspect is the ability to race back to back days or multiple days in a row.  This is the one race that I was not expected to do exceptionally well at, I mean I am a "triathlete" and all, which means I am not suppose to have great handling skills ;)  The course was 1/2 mile long with 6 corners, a brick section and a pretty rough corner.  Not the most ideal course for me, but I figured if I was back in the states I was going to race as much as I could.

The race started off pretty slow and then the attacks started happening.  Within the first 10 minutes I found myself in a 4 man break, which turned into a 5 man break when a solo guy bridged up.  We were working quite well minus one guy, and then I started yelling.  There was no way I was going to work my butt off to lap the field and have this guy take the free ride.  The interesting thing with crit racing is once you lap the field you are all on the same lap, except the guys that lap the field will be sprinting for 1st-X (however many people lap the field) and everyone else will be sprinting for the rest of the spots.  So with us being in a break I wanted to make sure we ended up lapping the field and not get brought back in.  This guy continued to not work and was more of liability to our group.  I kept yelling at him and my final words to him were "If you don't start working I am going to ensure you get dropped out of our group".  He looked back as we entered a corner to say something back and well karma must not of liked him in our group because he slid out in the corner right in front of me.  Another interesting part of crit racing, if you go down you get a "free lap" and join back in the race with the group you were in and stay on the same lap as them.

Just so happened when he went down was during the time period that we lapped the field.  So we still had 5 guys sprinting for the win, not all that ideal.  Once we lapped the field we still had about 10 minutes left until we hit the 5 laps to go.  I slowly worked my way back up front and tried to slow the race down and keep it under control.  There was no reason to get taken out at this point, so I wanted to be up front but not to far up front.  Well by sitting up front and controlling the race I found myself in that no so ideal position.  With a lap to go I was still at the front and no one wanted to come around.  I attacked with about 500m to go and 4 corners to go on a slight false flat.  I got a small gap but by the next corner a guy from our break was with me.  Into the next corner I grabbed quite a bit of brake and then accelerated out of the corner to open up another gap and gave it the go from there.  I had 2 more corners to go and just had to go for it.  My sprinting skills in my opinion had been decent in the past, but I am not quite sure what got into me during this race.  The winning sprint of the day found me fully seated and on top of the horns, definitely didn't maximize my sprinting abilities nor did I win any stylish points, however a win is a win.

It was nice to be able to pick up the first win of the year this early in the season, even though it was a CAT4 race.  I look forward to being able learn from this experience and hopefully next time I am in the states I will have some other races here in Korea under my belt so that I can upgrade and be racing with the CAT3's.

Huge thanks to all of the sponsors and supporters of the US Military Cycling Team fueled by FRS: FRS Healthy Performance, American Classic, Lazer Helmets, Chamois Butt'r, Primal Wear, Challenge Tires, SRAM, QUARQ, and Van Dessel.

 

Leading our 5 man break

 Coming through the corner

Putting the US Military Cycling Kit on top of the podium for the first time in 2012!

Misiryung Hill Climb......2 for 2 within seconds

10 April 11- Sokcho South Korea

Well it is 5 days out from the Tour de Korea, so off we headed to Sokcho for a 20K Hill Climb. O yeah I forgot, this is the first some of you are hearing about Tour de Korea. I will be racing the Tour de Korea's "Special" race (Amateur Division). It is a 9 day stage race that has one rest day, so it is 10 days total. More to come on the TDK in my next blog. The Hill Climb was a team bonding/race prep for TDK.

Sokcho is about 4 hours from Osan and about 3 hours from Seoul. We headed over there Saturday and did one repeat of the mountain and a little more riding just to get some miles in. We had a total of 14 people that went and 10 of us were racing. It is quite amazing out in Sokcho as the ocean is right there and the water is really nice out there. It was quite windy though, which made things a little difficult while up on the mountain.

During our ride up the mountain on Saturday myself and Elmer saw a Korean MTB'er come flying down the mountain and about kill himself as he skidded out of control and crashed head/shoulder first into a concrete wall. He bounced up quite quickly and was dazed and confused on what happened, so me and Elmer helped him out and his helmet was cracked in 2 separate places. The guy was alright luckily, as it could have been a lot worse. After our ride I snuck out for a quick 20 min run. I say snuck out because all these "roadies" think I am crazy for running and swimming leading into a stage race. They all understand what my goals are this year and are still allowing me to race with them, so hopefully I can benefit the team. After the run we went out to dinner at a chicken soup place, it was so far out in BFE that they had to send a car to show us the way. It was alright, but for some reason Korean food doesn't fill me. After dinner we went to E-Mart and picked up groceries for breakfast and then some of us got more stuff for dinner #2. I also picked up some beers to enjoy, carbo loading is a key point to pre race prep ;)

After the beers and dinner #2 we sat around and BS'd about life in general and racing. Ended up hitting the sack around 10 and was woken up at 3am to some crazy noises outside. I woke up and the wind was howling outside and the flags outside the hotel were whipping around crazily. It was pretty crazy to think that we were going to race the next day in the same conditions. Sure enough when I got up 3 hours later it was still the same
and I was surprised the flags were still attached to the flag pole.

We rode over to the race and the team event went off first. Our team had 5 guys in that event, with 2nd-4th place times being added up and used for the winner of the team event. They ended up winning the team event and brought home 1 million won (about $950USD). Then we had 5 of us in the AG division. I was the youngest and our AG went off first. It was nice to of already pre rode the course and know how it was going to be. I had asked before hand and was told it was timing off the gun, not chip time. So no strategy needed for the start, just be the first person up the mountain, simple enough. So off I went the first 5K was pretty flat with some false flats in there. I stayed mid pack and then slowly worked my way up before the climb. I started the climb in 5th place and stayed there for quite some time. At 35 minutes in I was 35 seconds down on two guys that got away, and was hoping they would bonk later in the climb. With 1K to go I had moved up to 2nd and was 19 seconds down. The game breaker came when we got to a section of straight up the 20-25% grade or take the outside which was about 10-15%. I had spoken early that night with John about tactics on hill climbs and what lines to take. So obviously the inside lane with the steep grade is the shortest distance, and I had to make a move to make up time so I took that line and the other guy had taken the outside line. I made up about 10 seconds with that and then had about 800M to go of a more gradual up hill. With about 400M to go some guy started running besides the guy that was leading and telling him he was #1, he failed to look back and see me coming for about 2 seconds then when he realized I had a slight chance of catching him started yelling at the guy to do something, not sure what cause it was all in Korean, but I assume it was something to the effect of "YOU BETTER GO FASTER HE IS COMING". Seeing that guy run beside him lit a fire and I chased down this guy and made a strong move past him putting about 5 seconds into him and crossing the line first. Well come to find out beating someone by 5 seconds isn't enough when they start 6 seconds behind you. Lone and behold it was chip timing and not gun time :( So I ended up 2nd in my AG out of 57, but it was a great confidence booster and confirmed to myself that my legs are in some serious shape right now.

I want to give a big thanks to everyone that made this weekend possible: Team Storck/Rapha, Jeremy Moon (our team manager), Helen for taking pictures, Megan for tagging along and crushing the climb with us on Saturday, and everyone else that continues to support me.

Next up TDK........................

At the top on Saturday

Went back to the Statue from the Triathlon and found my name on it :)

About 2K to go!

BRUTAL!

That is part of the route.........

Climb for a Cure 10K

24 Apr 2010-

Well I found a local 10K that fit into my training plan and worked out well for a Saturday morning run. The best part about it was that there was a 1 Mile fun run as well. My Mom and Madyson were able to compete in the 1 Mile fun run, while myself and Steve (my Step Dad) warmed up for the 10K. The reason I liked this race is because we were able to all participate. When the fun run started Madyson was glued to my moms leg and it took here a little while to get going. As we were waiting Steve was telling me that Maddy was fast and they had been running here and there for a little bit, mind you she is only 7 years old. We were waiting and the joke of the day was that Madyson told Mom before the race that she would meet her at location "X" because she was going to beat her. We weren't sure if they were going to start the 10K during the fun run or not so she had a plan to wait for mom at the finish. Sure enough at 9 minutes Maddy was the first "little" kid to come in and finished in 9:20, and was 2nd in her Age Group which was Under 19. She got beat by a 13 year old so that is not really fair competetion in my opinion, and she was 10th overall. Mom finished in 12:51, not bad for not running at all in who knows how long ;) Talk about being proud of my little sister and giving me some motivation for the 10K ;)

The 10K was suppose to be relatively flat according to the website so I was looking for a PR but wasn't really worried about it since Wildflower was the following weekend and I didn't want to put a beating on the legs. Standing at the start line the guy next to me looks over and says "Are you an IRONMAN?", my response which I believe is true is "No, I am to young for that long stuff". We talked a little bit and he knew some of the guys in the race so I asked about how he thought the race was going to go and his buddy was suppose to run 36ish. I figured well I should just run with him and that would keep me on pace for a PR, that is right forgot to mention my Garmin was dead so I ran totally on feel and had not a clue what was going on time wise. Off we went and I figured I would push the pace and see what would happen. Well never looked back from there and 37:41 later I crossed the line of what ended up being a not so flat course that had some decent elevation on it.

For a local charity run it ended up being GREAT! Winner of each 10 year age group received a bottle of wine, minus my age group because we had 20-29, so they have us a $15 gift certificate. Cannot complain about that, and then the best part was for winning Overall I received $100 gift card to Royal Robins here in Modesto. For a $28 race entry it was a great deal!

http://www.shadowchase.org/2010_CFAC10K_Overall.HTM

Below are some Pictures of the Family! We all took podium spots: Mom 1st in her Age Group, Madyson 2nd and Steve 2nd (45:04)

Coming to the finish line!

Overall Male and Female Winner showing off our $100 gift cards!

The Family all happy after a good morning workout!

Day 3 in FL........

12 Nov- Clearwater Beach FL-

Well today was another disappointing day in Florida in terms of weather. Woke up to head out for an early 830 swim and once again the surf was bad and we decided to not swim. So I just walked around Ironman Village and did a little shopping. I got a new bike jersey and a visor along with a bag since the race bag we got with our race stuff was not that great. After doing some shopping I went and checked in and they took down my weight. I will be racing at a whole 170lbs which is 5lbs heavier than China and 10lbs heavier than Germany. So I am thinking that it will equate to more power on the bike but that is a long shot ;) Looking for excuses on why I put on 10 pounds, but it will all work out.

After check in we headed over and had brunch on the beach and I enjoyed some mahi-mahi. After brunch I enjoyed a short nap and then headed out for a 20 mile ride. It was extremely windy but was good to get out on the bike and have the legs moving. Once back from the ride I headed to the Carb Loading Dinner with Petra and Gary. We decided to ride our bikes since it was about 2 miles away. On the way over we got to see the sunset and it was really cool minus the fact of all the clouds. The awards dinner was down on the beach and it was really nice but once again the weather put a damper on the night. It was really windy and cold. However they did mention me in the race introduction. They only talked about a few people and since I am military they had a special Thank You to all the military members. They announced athletes from each branch of service and the Air Force has 4 or 5 members here. It was really cool to here my name announced and the people I was sitting with all clapped and thanked me for my service. Really cool experience and enjoyed it very much. Well it is late and this is the most important night for sleep so I better get to bed since I have an early attempt at a swim tomorrow, weather pending.

The three of us all dressed up and riding our "race" bikes to the dinner.

The awesome sunset. Where the palm trees are is where the dinner was and where the awards banquet will be.

Hanging out at the dinner.

The bike, myself and Petra walking to the dinner on the beach.

Day 2 in FL......

11 Nov- Clearwater Beach FL-

Well Ida is really showing some effects all the way down here in Clearwater. Woke up this morning to go swim @ 0800 and well the ocean sure did not want any swimmers in it. It was really rough and not to pleasant. I wouldn't really call what I did out there swimming, more like just splashing around. It was good to get out and into the rough water just in case it doesn't calm down by Saturday at least I will know what to expect. After the swim I headed over to IHOP to hopefully get what I attempted to order yesterday because I was quite hungry. Below is a picture from breakfast, and it was a breakfast of champions.

After breakfast I headed over to Clearwater Country Club for a round of golf. I figured it was a good way to stay busy and have a little fun on this vacation. It was a decent course and I think the guy hooked me up since it was veterans day. On top of the normal military discount I do not think I got charged for the "rental" clubs. I only pad $38 for 18 holes of golf, I brought my own golf balls but forgot to pack my glove so that was included in the $38. I also brought my golf shoes and some tees to prevent having to buy all kinds of golf stuff. Well planned out and turned out to be a good time.

Once back from the round of golf I decided to head out for a 30 minute run. It was nice and shot and was a great run. I ran out along the city strip and then came back running on the beach. It was funny watching all the "surfers" try and surf on the small waves that were crashing right on the shore. The run ended up being a little over 4 miles and my legs felt really good. After the run I headed out to dinner with Petra and Gary, Gary was also in Germany and is racing on Saturday.

Dinner was good and I have started my carb "loading" process, well actually just an excuse to eat a lot and not feel bad about it. Had a few Blue Moon draft beers and now I am back here just writing this pre race report and going to hit the sack. We plan on swimming around 830 tomorrow and then ride for a little while tomorrow. I also need to check in and get my race bag and then tomorrow night is CARB night and MOM gets into town around 10pm or 11pm.

Myself and Petra getting ready to rough it out on the brutal swim.

The Breakfast of Champions. (2 eggs, 2 sausage, 2 pieces of ham, 2 strips of bacon, hashbrowns, french toast and a big glass of OJ.)

Out on the tee box getting ready to golf.

Riding around in the golf cart, a somewhat relaxing day on the course.

First track meet= realizing im not all that "fast"

15 July 2009, Incirlik AB Turkey-

Well I had known about this track meet for a few weeks and was excited to have something competitive to look forward to. So I decided well lets make it a workout and just not a race. So I signed up for every event I could that was not a sprint or Shot Put. Here is the list of events they had at the race:

100M
200M
400M- Raced
800M- Raced
1.5 Mile- Raced
4X400- Raced
4X100

They were in that exact order except between the 400 and 800 they did the sprint finals. So I raced in 4 of the 7 events and well it made for an interesting night!

400- They had 2 heats of 6 people. So when they said heats I thought we would get to have a Final but that was not the case. They just used our times and decided where we placed. So off the start the guy to the inside of me in lane #1 was fast. We came out of turn 2 and he was already even with me, it was a staggered start. So I let him go and stuck even with the other guys till the 200 point. At that point I decided to kick it up and see how the rest of the group held on. Well I bridged myself a gap and put my eyes on the guy in lane 1. I tried to kick it up in the final 75M and could not reel him and realized that with about 30M to go and just backed off since I still had 3 more events. I ended up going 1:03 and that guy went 58secs and took 3rd in the 400 too 2 other runners in the 2nd heat. So I ended up 4th overall with a 1:03.

800- There was only one heat in this event and we had 7 people. So one guy took off and I hung with the second pack which included myself and 2 others. We stayed together and let the leader go and with 50M to go the sprint was on. The 2 of them were side by side and when I went to make my move I passed to late and could not get both of them and ended up losing 2nd by 2/10 of a second. So I placed 3rd in the 800 with a time of 2:13.

1.5 Mile- Well this is the event where I knew for sure we would have the most competition. My legs were shot and sore but figured I would give it my all. Ran really well considering the past 2 events on my legs. Ended up running an 8:48 and taking 3rd place. The winner was the meet organizer and he ran a 7:44, but that was his only event. He is really fast and I wish I could of just raced him heads up in the race but figured just running 1.5 miles would not be enough of a workout for that night so entered 4 events instead of just one.

4X400- We had a squadron team with 1 Senior NCO, 2 SSgt and myself. The "old" guy actually ran quite well and was surprised how they held up considering the competition. My legs were pretty shot so I ran 3rd and with having to pass of the baton I was not able to clock my time. I think I ran right around the same as my first 400 due to the simple fact that it was a team event and I did not want to let our team down. We placed 3rd in this event with a time of 4:27. Good overall time considering all of us had ran multiple events.

So overall it was a great night and fun event. Ended up with 3 podiums, all of which were 3rd place but it was still a great time. Thanks to Seth from the Health and Wellness Center along with the Gym for putting on such a great event.

Below are a few photos from the event:

Coming across the line for the 400.Right before I went to pass the 2 guys in the 800. Should of squeezed the inside instead of going outside.

The start of the 400.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last minute decision by my leadership in my squadron has allowed me the opportunity to race Germany 70.3. The race was full but I sent an email to the race organizers explaining my situation with being military and just getting here to Turkey and not being able to register in time for the event. They were kind enough to let me in. So I will be departing for Germany on the 12th of August and racing on the 16th. I will then return to Turkey on the 20th. I am excited about this race as it will give me a good experience with the 70.3 distance and be a good prep for the World Championships. I have 24 days left till race day so my schedule is packed with training. For more information on the race visit: www.ironman703.de. This race will have live tracking so check back for more details on that.

Wildflower, Wildflower, Wildflower!!!!!!

3May09- Avia Wildflower Olympic Distance-

Once again I dont know where to start. It all started off with a 4 hour drive with my buddy OC that was stationed in Korea with me. He is now in Idaho and made the trip out for the race. So once we arrived at the race site we had to set up camp. Luckily I had made some friends in China that were going to be at the race as well so they already had a camp site picked out for us. So we got the camp all set up before the Friday afternoon rain rolled in and just hung out on Friday. Once we decided to go to bed the rain stopped.

So OC was racing Long Course on Saturday so that meant an early wake up. I got up and cooked some oatmeal and had a good breakfast myself. 515 was quite early but it didnt really matter because at 615 some garbage truck came into our area and woke up the whole damn city dumping the garbage. So I headed down to the race around 730 and was able to watch OC start his swim at 815. For the rest of the day I just hung out and got a light swim in and got a feel for the water. Later on in the day I went back up to camp to catch a nap and ended up sleeping in the tent which turned out to be like a sauna. Well about an hour into my nap I was woken up to someone telling me OC had just ran by so I figured well I havent road the bike yet so I hoped on the bike and caught up to OC and cheered him on for a little while. After that I grubbed out on the Carb load party and then had a 2nd dinner with the family up at camp. So with a full stomach and having nothing to do we just hung out at camp and told stories until it was bed time. Got a decent amount of sleep and was wide awake at 0600 the following morning.

Well I stuck with the same eating plan as I had in China and woke up and ate some oatmeal and banana's. Sipped on some Gatorade and water and made sure to take care of the morning "business". So once all of that was taken care of and I got everything ready I headed down to transition area and set things up.

I started the swim in the 3rd Wave behind the College Men and Women. I started 10 minutes back from the official race clock and had 2 waves of people ahead of me. So by the 1/4 way mark I started catching people and the course got a little more congested. When I hit the last turn and headed home for the home stretch I felt really good and picked it up a bit. When I hit the boat ramp I looked over at the clock and it read "36:14", so that meant I had completed the swim in 26mins which was about a 2min personal record for me. So I came out of the water feeling really good and was pleased with having such a great swim. I had a decent transition from the swim to bike and did not have any problems getting the wetsuit off.

Onto the bike. Well let me tell you what..........A 1 MILE climb after just swimming .93 miles is not fun at ALL!!!! Known as "lynch hill" this thing was a beast and made me appreciate the hill work I had done in Korea. So this course was by far the hilliest course I have ever raced on and I thought it was going to take a lot out of me. I did not push extremely hard on the bike but kept a constant pace and really watched my cadence and tried to keep it up above 90 the whole time. I did not want to exert all of my energy on the bike and not be able to run on the hilly run course. I was only passed by 2 people on the bike which made me feel really good. I did a lot of passing but since there were so many people on the course I did not know if I was passing people in my Age Group or just the college people. So overall I was really pleased with the bike.

Now to the run......Well just like the bike course this was the hilliest thing I have ever raced on. I was tired of seeing hills on the bike let alone the run. So I just went out there and ran. I tried to find my legs early and they actually came to right off the bike and felt good. So I had a great run in my opinion and was very thankful for all of the college students out there at the aid stations especially the one at mile 3 that handed me a Coors Light which I happened to take a swig of. It was refreshing and I think it was the extra kick in my step from there on out...hint hint COORS LIGHT SPONSOR ME ;)!!!! At the other aid stations they were very willing to hose you down with cool water and had all kinds of gatorade and water. Sadly enough the mile 4 aid station was "closed" and I did not get to see what I had heard so much about. Overall the run was great and getting to come down lynch hill on the run course was great. A complete mile decent that I was able to fly down and have a nice last mile split.

So overall it was a great race and I had an awesome time and weekend. I was able to PR my OLY course record on one of the hardest courses out there which just showed me how much all the training for China helped out. Below are the split times and stats for the weekend along with some pictures.

Swim-26:17 (526th Overall)

T1- 2:32

Bike-1:13:01 (50th Overall)

T2-2:00

Run- 41:09 (60th Overall)

2:24:17** The official results are posted wrong and are in the process of being corrected. My official time shows 2:26:17 but is off by 2 minutes. This moves my overall finish up, but not my age group placing.

4th Place Age Group out of 54

67th Place Overall out of 2,603

I would like to give a big THANKS to my family for coming out and supporting me at this race. Mom, Steve, Madyson, Mamma Weez, Aunt Vicki, Aunt Debbie, Cousin Blake, OC and then the people from "Camp WONGSTAR". Also big shout outs to Amy Chow and Jocelyn Wong from our camp for Amy taking 3rd in her AG and the Wongstar winning her AG.

Our Camps Bike Stable

Madyson with her "GO BUBBA" sign

Getting ready in transition area Coming up the boat ramp...
Out on the bike.....

Out for the Run...
The final kick down the finishing chute
Checking some numbers post race
Mom and Me

Myself, Amy, Jocelyn, and OC

Post Race China

23 Apr 09-

I really don't even know where to start this post race report so I am going to try and back it up and start it from Sunday morning. I will warn you now that there will be some graphic photos at the end that if you have a weak stomach make sure you watch for the WARNING before looking all the way down. 0500

19 Apr-

Woke up bright and early and made a few phone calls home. Sat there and ate 4 instant packs of oatmeal and drank a completely disgusting cup of coffee. The best part of the morning and the thing I was most worried about got taken care of, the bathroom.........That could hurt your race time by upwards of 5 minutes if you cant take care of business before race start. Then got everything packed up and checked over to make sure I was not missing anything. Sat around the room and just relaxed until 0640.

Once on the bus headed for the transition area we were able to see all the Ironman athletes lining up on the beach and getting ready for there 0700 race start. We arrived and were able to watch the start of the race and notice how strong the current was compared to other days and I knew I was going to have to sight really well to make sure I made all the buoys. Once the Pros came out of the water I went over and got the bike setup and all of my fluids filled. Our race did not start till 0900 so once everything was completed I went and found some shade and relaxed for awhile. Around 0815 started to put on the dreaded wet suit. After that I went down to the water and got in a quick warm up swim and then headed to the beach for the start.

Swim- Talk about having to aim so far right of the buoy's and then still missing them. That's how strong the current was, luckily I only miss judged the first buoy by about 5ft and had to swim upstream for that minimal of a distance. Was I noticed how strong the current was, I realized I would not push to hard on the swim as it could possibly ruin my day. Down the backstretch with the current to my back I found someone to draft off of and stayed on there feet for about 400M and conserved a lot of energy for the dreaded up current swim that would soon be coming. This is where I had to use quite a bit of energy or else I would have just been looking at the same building off in the distance when I breathed for quite some time. It was the craziest thing every couple strokes I would look up and it seemed like I only would have moved 5ft. This up stream section probably took me 20mins and was one of the shorter sections of the swim. I ended up coming out of the water right at 35:05, 5 secs slower then my goal but it was a hard swim so I was fine with that. I was 54th out of the water which I did not mind because that would give me a lot of people to pass on the bike. Below is a picture of the swim course and you can see what I am talking about.

T1(transition from the swim to bike)- Went really well and slipped out of the wetsuit quite quickly. Once I got to the bike I checked the competition and realized I was 2nd out of the water and did not know how much time I was back.

Bike-

Once on the bike my legs felt great and I took off. I started passing people left and right. I hit the first aid station and my aero bottle still had quite a bit in it so I realized I needed to start drinking more. By mile 12 I had caught the other guy in my age group and was still feeling good. At the second aid station I road through and got a water bottle to mix with my cytomax special mix and was on bottle 2. I kept on going through the course and was feeling really well. By mile 45 I had caught the female pro that was in the field and I knew I was having a good day on the bike at that point. A majority of the course was on the main highway which was freshly paved but at mile 45 is right when we hit the village which had a pretty bumpy road. For those 4 miles I sat up out of the aero position and just kept my cadence up. Once out of the town I was back at it and felt really strong. Now here is where I started to get confused. Mile 50 or 51 my right leg started cramping; my legs have never cramped on the bike. So this is when I knew the heat was getting to me and I could be in some trouble on the run. I took 2 extra salt tablets and drank quite a bit more for the next 20 minutes. I ended up consuming 5 bottles of cytomax on the bike and took about 7 salt tablets. The cramps slowly went away and only came back when I went to get off the bike at T2. I hobbled into T2 trying to make sure I did not cramp. Below is a picture from my training software with a breakdown of my bike.

Click Picture to Enlarge

T2(transition from bike to run)- Went extremely well minus stepping in the mud pit that caked mud all between my left foot and toes. So I took some time in the tent and got all of that crap out of my foot and toes and then was on to the run. Also while in T2 the male pro from the full distance tent who ended up winning the race came into the tent and was putting on his running shoes at the same time.

Run-

Well this is where I started to fade due to the heat. Well it was not heat it was a scorching 113 degree's. I did not think it was that hot until later on when I realized how bad my sunburn was. I had put sunscreen on in the morning before the swim and once I got on the run course I layered myself in it hoping to keep the sun off of me and keep me cooler. Well that did not work out to well. I felt decent for the first 2 miles but it was just way to hot to be running. So for the first half of the run I would trot for a while then walk or walk for awhile then trot. I call it a trot because it was no where near a run. Now for the 2nd half of the run I thought to myself what are you doing stop walking and start running. Well I sucked it up and started trotting/running, every aid station I would get drenched with sponges of cool water and for about 3 minutes after that I could really run. After 3 minutes my body was back to being hot and would just slow way down. Below is a picture of my run breakdown along with mile times for every mile. This was by far my weakest run to date but everyone else had bad runs as well so I was pleased with a 2 hour half marathon.

Click Picture to Enlarge

Finish-

WOW, the one time in a race where I almost came to tears when I saw the finish line. It was so hard to hold it in but I manage to not let it out. I had put 19 weeks of solid training in for this and to be able to cross that finish line still in good shape felt great. They took me to the massage tent after the race and that was by far a great massage. After the massage and post race food we had a BBQ for all the 70.3 athletes. So I managed to get some food in my stomach then along with a well deserved beer so that was nice. It had been 20 weeks since I had drank a beer so that by far was one of the greatest tasting beers I have ever had.

The Final Stats-
Swim- 35:05/54th Overall/2nd Age Group
T1- 3:31
Bike- 2:33:57/7th Overall/1st Age Group
T2- 2:52
Run- 2:01:11/9th Overall/1st Age Group
Finish Time- 5:16:34
1st Place Age Group--QUALIFIED FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CLEARWATER FL--
4th Amateur Overall
7th Place Overall Finisher
**NOTE- When results first came out I was 8th overall. When final results were posted someone was DQ'd ahead of me so that is why I moved up.**

Below are 2 links to some stories that were published online about the race:

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/china/mccormack-and-balding-claim-ironman-70.3-china-titles-kevin-mackinnon-recaps-the-exciting-day-of-racing

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/McCormack_Balding_supreme_at_China_70.3__766.html

Post Race Recap-

Alright now to the fun stuff. Since it was 113 degrees out I received 2nd degree burns on my shoulders and back. We joked on Monday night that you could of fried eggs on the road out there. Well Tuesday when I got back home I had 2 sunny side eggs that had cooked on my back and decided to become blisters. These are the graphic photos that I was talking about so if you have a weak stomach they are posted at the bottom and you may not want to look.

This was by far the best race to date in my short triathlon career. I was overwhelmed by my performance and by all of the support I have received. Everyone back in Korea and the states that followed my race I appreciate it. To Kayla for sitting in your room and yelling "RUN BRAD RUN" at your computer, maybe that is the point where I started running and stopped walking.LOL. I still do not think it has set in how big this was and what I have accomplished. I just know it would not have been possible without everyone behind me and supporting me. To everyone that I have trained with here in Korea you guys have been great. Without having you to ride with or run with or go up to the pool with I don't know if I would of rolled out of bed on those early 0430 runs or 9am Sunday rides. Thanks again to all of you for your support.

Below are some pictures from the race:

The start of the Ironman Race

In transition area getting ready

Eric and myself getting ready. Eric was 11th Overall and had a bad day in the heat. Eric and I roomed together and he was my mentor and helped me out quite a bit with everything throughout the weekend. THANKS ERIC!!

Dreyfus and me, he was in my Age Group and we have connected on Facebook and will keep in touch. Triathlon is great for making new friends from all around the world. Dreyfus lives in Hong Kong.

Receiving my trophy. The stage was right next to the Ironman finish line so that was really cool.

You can tell how burnt I got in this pic. I think my Bryan Clauson Racing hat brings me luck, I have not missed a podium finish in my Age Group since I started wearing that thing!!!

An awesome pic of Jocelyn Wong, myself, Donna Phelan, and Tereza Macel. These girls are on Team TBB and are Pro Triathletes. Awesome people and they will all be at Wildflower as well.

WARNING DO NOT LOOK IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH!!!!!