My Path to Kona: Part 1

30 Sep 11-

As I sit here and get ready to fly out of S. Korea over to Hawaii, I wanted to take a minute and start the blogs that will lead up to the Kona Pre Race Blog.  A lot of people dream about getting to Kona and attempt year after year to get to the "Big Dance".  I wouldn't say I "dreamed" about getting to Kona, until I made it a goal of mine.  I walked into this sport a little over 3 years ago now not even knowing what an IRONMAN was or what the difference between a triathlon bike or road bike was.  I came into the sport with no knowledge of anything and looked for guidance from many people.   I couldn't tell you who Chrisse Wellington was or who Team TBB was.  I couldn't even tell you how far a marathon was, but somehow 4 months later I was running one.  I showed up to my first sprint tri and a guy showed up on a Felt DA (tri bike) with a disc wheel, deep front Zipp and an aero helmet.  Me and my buddy were laughing at this guy wondering who the heck he thought he was.  10 months later I was rooming with this said guy at China 70.3, picking his brain on everything and he has become a great mentor.  Step back and looking at myself I am a spitting image of that guy, and I am sure there whispers at the small on base tris when I show up with people saying the same thing.

The path that I took to get to Kona is unique in my opinion, as is everybody's.  Some people are realistic and know what it takes to get to Kona, they lay out a plan that will work for THEM.  Others don't have a clue what it takes and they think they "know" what they need to do.  I have seen and read about these people and they wonder why year after year they don't reach their goal of getting to Hawaii.  I by no means knew what it took to get to Kona, but I was surrounded by people that know what it takes.  I was surrounded by mentors that have led me down the path to success.   I used those resources to make sure that the goal I wanted to achieve was attainable and I laid out a plan to achieve that goal.

I am fortunate enough to be in Asia, which means IM China was not going to cost me a fortune to get to (IM China was my original plan of my first IM, until it was canceled).  I then switched it up to IM Korea.  When you have a goal that is thought to be the top of the sport, people will think you are crazy when you tell them on your first IM you are gunning for a Kona slot.  If you pick the right race, in the right location, that suits you, anything is possible.  To make things even better, the cancellation of IM China brought a total of 75 Kona slots to IM Korea,  that is a very very BIG number.  So that was step 1, choosing a race that suited me.  Why did China and/or Korea suit me?  The races are known to have small fields which mean a higher chance of qualifying.  Some may call this cherry picking but when you are aiming for a goal that has so many variables in it, you take control of the things you can control, the race selection being one of them.

The other thing that had to be done, was I needed to hire a coach.  There was no way I was going into my first IM with ambitions of qualifying for Kona and coaching myself.  I lack the knowledge and experience in the sport to coach myself, and even the best coaches still need to be coached.  I had been following Team TBB for quite sometime, well since China 70.3 in April of 2009.  There had been talk that they would be doing online coaching and it was something that I kept my eye on.  I frequented there forum regularly looking for all the "free" advice that I could and just taking it all in.  When I made the decision to do the IM and they launched there online coaching I knew that is who I was going to put my trust in.  There are a lot of people out there who go out and get a coach, just to have a coach.  They don't do their homework, they don't know the history of the people and they just assume because they are a pro they are a good coach.  Team TBB has a proven track record and I liked the coaching model that they laid out, where their online coaches had the capability to seek advice from their head coach if need be.  The only way a coach/athlete relationship works is if you fully trust your coach and don't second guess his thought process and training plan.  What is the point to pay for a coach and then not even believe in what he is providing you?

The last big thing that I did was get a powermeter.  I got a wired SRM and really started focusing on power on the bike.  It has been the second best investment I have made in triathlon other than my coach.  Training by power is a great way to measure your fitness and track your progress.  I use WKO+ and it is something that I have enjoyed studying and watching over the course of the season.

Lastly, the thing that is out of everyone's control is the athletes you are surrounded by.  I say athletes, because you can't control the caliber of people you are surrounded by in terms of athletics, but you can control the other people you surround yourself with.  Being on a military installation where a majority of the base is on a 1 year tour, it is completely out of my control.  However, I have been very fortunate to have some great people to train with.  They know who they are, they are the guys that road in the freezing cold weather or came over on Xmas and put in a 3 hour trainer ride or anyone who just put in time in the pool, on the bike or on the run with me.  If you weren't there to hold me accountable I could of just blown off the workout, or I may not of been pushed as hard.  It is because of the people in my life that have led me to where I am at today.  It is not necessarily because of all the positive people, although they have a huge effect on it, the negative people are important as well.  The people that question what you do or the goals you aim for, thinking you are just flat out crazy.  Those are the people that push you to do better and reach higher each time.

I can't thank everyone that I have been surrounded by for the past 3 years and especially those that have been around these past couple of months leading into Kona.  You have been a crucial part to my training environment and have pushed me to where I am today.  And then as always if it wasn't for the great family members that I am surrounded by that continue to support me, I would not be on this plane to the big dance.  The Love and support they have for me is incredible and I am not sure if they will ever know how appreciative I am of it, words can't describe what they have done and what they continue to do for me.

In Part 2 I plan on talking about the lifestyle I lived this past year and the financial obligation that an IM has on someone.

Not really sure what picture to put to this blog, but since it is about the Path to Kona, here is a look back from January 2010, probably around 170-175lbs........

Camp Humphreys Sprint Tri- AF Still on Top

10 Sep 11-

Sorry this blog is so late, the Army news paper was suppose to do an article on the race but it never came about :(

Well since I have raced the Camp Humphreys race 3 times previously and was undefeated I wanted to make sure I showed up again to keep the winning streak for the Air Force.  I missed the race in June due to being home on leave, but luckily my good friend David Temple was here to keep the streak at least with the Air Force.  It is always fun to go to an Army base and take the title, so even with Kona on the horizon I asked coach to try and fit this in the schedule.  The conversation normally goes something like "Coach I want to race this weekend." Coach- "Ummmm we need a big weekend of training and that doesn't really fit" Me- "Come on coach I like racing, I will do the race and then do whatever else afterwards.".......Then I get the schedule and it has no taper into it, I don't think I have ever been able to taper for a sprint, and then on top of the race there is normally another workout in the afternoon.  So I always get a big training day in and get some good publicity for the Air Force.

We headed down to Humphreys with a big group from Osan, I think we had 15 people total.  I was glad to be going down with a big group as we always have a good time down there.  It is a well run race and they even have timing chips.  They close the roads off to traffic and the course is typically accurate to the distance advertised, which is getting hard to find these days.

Swim- It was nice to get a good feel for where my swim fitness is, and a 400 meter all out swim was a good indication.  I haven't been in the pool near as much as I should of been, but I was pleased with how the swim went.  I was first out of the water in the first wave, but we did not all start at the same time.  It was 16 people and they started down lane to lane one right after the other with about 5 seconds in between each lane.  They didn't want the timing system to get messed up. Time-5:50(1:27per/100m)

Bike- The transition was smooth from the pool to the bike and as I was headed out the second guy out of the water was just coming out of the pool.  I really just wanted to focus on my power and try and get into the 300's, since it was only 20K.  There was a weird wind and it seemed like we were always riding into it and never had a tail wind, even though it was an out and back. Lap 1 I split 15:04, with 283Watts.  Lap 2 I split 14:48, with 280Watts, ahh the numbers and how they are confusing.  And then the course was a half mile long so I had a "3rd Lap"(I had my garmin set to auto lap each 10K) of 1:24.  Time-31:18 (24.7mph/avg-281Watts,Norm Power-289)

Run- This is what I was really excited about.  I have had quite a few brick workouts this year and my legs are really starting to run well off the bike.  They come to me really quick and there isn't a lot of adjustment time like I use to have, it use to take a mile or two before the really started feeling like running legs.  The course has some small rolling hills on it but it is pretty fast in my opinion.  I hit the first mile in 5:48, then 5:57, then closed with a 5:48.  I was really happy with my run, but it was .08 short, so just under the 5K, but I guess that makes up for the "long" bike ;) Time-17:40 (5:51min/mile avg)

Overall Time-56:01/1st Place Age Group/1st Place Overall

I was really pleased with the race and how it went.  A good friend of mine Aaron tried to stack a relay team to beat me, as I was being a little cocky and told him I had never lost the overall race, even to a team.  So we made a bet of some beer and wine and he showed up with a team.  Come to find out after the race, I didn't know what there team name was till they showed me the results, it was "BEAT BRAD WILLIAMS", but somehow the results showed "BEAT READ WILLIAMS", my name gets butchered more and more, IM Korea Kona Qualifying list, IM 70.3 Germany Medical Form, who knows what it will be in Kona.  Anyways Aarons team is the closest that anyone has come to beating me and was withing 2 minutes, it was nice to drink some beers on him that Saturday night ;)

Thanks again for all the support, Kona is 13 days out and I fly out in 5, can't wait to get there and be surrounded by the worlds best triathletes!

Here are some pics from the race:

 

Coming out of the pool

The bike all setup in T1

  

The homestretch and yes I am a heel striker ;)

 

The Finish line, with wave starts you never know if you actually won or not.  However I was the first across the line.

 

The Osan Mulitsport Athletes cleaned house on awards!

DMZ Half Marathon/1 Year in Korea

4 September 2011-

Well this weekend marked 3 days over 1 year in Korea. I actually raced this race last year, but it was on the 12th of September. With it being 6 weeks out from Kona I was looking for a half IM but there were none in Korea. So I talked it over with my coach and he thought a half marathon would be a good race. I was looking to PR for the half marathon, since I knew the course and it was flat and super fast.

I headed up to Seoul the day prior to hang out with some guys from the cycling team and attend a BBQ put on my our team owner. It was a great time to hang out and get out of Osan and away from all the military people. We hung out at the Hamilton hotel and enjoyed some pool side eye candy. It was nice to just relax talk cycling and enjoy a few beers prior to the race. After the pool we met up with Norah and Elmer and grabbed some dinner. They were kind enough to put me up for the night so that I could catch the bus up in Seoul instead of all the way down at Osan. Made the trip up to the race a bit shorter.

I had very little sleep as I stayed up late into the night BS'ing with Elmer and Norah as I hadn't seen them in awhile. Always good to catch up with fellow athletes and teammates. Luckily the 2 hour bus ride left for plenty of time to sleep. The weather was great, a little overcast and cool in the morning. The wind was blowing but was hoping it would die off.

The race started the wind stayed the clouds parted and off we went. There was a head wind/cross wind for probably the first 11K of the 21K. I made the mistake of starting the race an my Garmin was not synced up with the satelittes, so for the first 1/2 mile I had no GPS. It also threw off my mile splits for the whole race, but at least I was getting splits and was able to monitor my pace after the first half mile.

I was a little worried as a big group went out hard and I lost ground on them through the first half of the race. My pace was not where I wanted it to be, but the head wind was pretty strong so I knew that was the cause. I just focused on keeping a steady pace and once I caught the tailwind I was going to drop the pace down and hopefully make up some ground on the group that went out hard. My coach has been having me progressively run harder in some of my workouts and that is how he wanted me to race. It is hard to hold back but I am slowly learning how to let it rip the last portions of races and my legs are really learning how to go into the hurt locker.

With 12K to go Elmer came up from behind on a bike and asked how I was doing. I told him I felt good and asked if he could go up the road to find out where I was placing wise. They paid out top 10 so I was gunning to get into the money and top 10. He informed me I was in 15th at the time, so I just kept at it and slowly kept picking guys off. With a mile to go I had 2 guys in my sights and I kept pushing harder and harder trying to catch them. With 200 meters to go I had a guy with in striking distance, an older guy to say the least. I am normally pretty solid when it comes down to out kicking someone. I really let the legs go and just could not catch this guy, he literally ran away from me and I was giving it all I had. This is the hardest that I have ever ran at the end of a race and I felt like I was red lined and could of passed out at any moment. It was a crazy but amazing feeling to know that you can really push your body to the limits and I think I was on the verge of that limit.

All in all it was a great race. I missed PR'ing by 27 seconds, but the conditions were a little worse this year. I managed to take 12th place, which was 1 place better than last year. There is one thing that a lot of people don't understand, there are a lot of things in racing that you can't control. You can't control who shows up and you can't control the weather. Those 2 things can have a huge impact on every race and where you place. The one thing that YOU can control is the effort that you give prior to the race and at the race. If you give it 100% and you take dead last then you gave it your best, if you give it 100% and you win the race then you still gave it your best. Just go out there, give it 100% and whatever the outcome is that is what it is.

Time: 1:19:21
Place: 12th/1157

Thanks again for all of the support! I can't thank all of my family, friends and supporters. Also a big thanks to Elmer and Norah for giving me a place to stay the night before the race.

The Seoul Flyers Running Group! A fast group none the less!

The closing stretch!

A little post race recovery trying to get those white legs a little sun.

Ever Raced in the East Sea? I HAVE :) :)

12-14 August-

I will forewarn you that this will be one of my longer blogs. If you want the short version here it is: I drove 4 hours, got on a ferry for 3 hours, checked in, woke up, raced, ate lunch, took another ferry for 2 hours, swam 800m total going to and from both Dokdo islands, took a ferry 2 hours back, awards, beers, slept, rode for 3 hours, relaxed, took another ferry back for 3 hours, got stuck in traffic for 6 hours, got home at 330am, went to work...............Now for the long version, if you care, I will say this is one of the coolest things I have been able to do.

And if that wasn't short enough here are the 2 media releases so far. There is suppose to be a documentary coming out in September of the weekend.

Video in English (starts at 2:30)
News Article in Korean

Thursday afternoon I headed out for a short training ride here in Osan, easy 1h30m then back for a short run. Right before coming back on base some guy flung his door open in front of me and I went over the bars. Got a little banged up but nothing was broken and the BIKE was fine :) So I still got in my run and then packed up for the weekend adventure.

Friday was an early wake up of 0430 so I could meet up with my Korean friends and we could make the 4 hour drive out to the east coast. Once there we got on the ferry for 3 hours and headed out to Ulleung Island. The ferry was just a passenger ferry and was setup like an aireliner. The water was pretty smooth on the way out there and I caught a little bit of sleep. Once we arrived to the island it was race check in and getting our bikes to transition area. It was a point to point swim, so T1 was in a different place than swim start. I wanted to get in a pre ride but they were wanting to transport our bikes to transition area, it took me a little while but I convinced them I would get my bike there. So I got checked into the hotel, put on bike kit and headed out to pre ride the course. The roads were HORRIBLE, my one big complaint of the weekend. But how can you complain when you are on an island in the middle of the East Sea and the view is gorgeous. The ride was good, got the bike to T1 and then headed to the race briefing.

I had a friend of a friend that came on the trip as the foreign assistant, but his translating skills were not all that great, or in his defense my Korean is about as good as his English. So I heard a girl speaking a bit of English on the boat and went and sat with her and her family at the race briefing. We got to chatting and she actually lives in NY but her parents live in Seoul. She was out here visiting and her mom signed the both of them up for their first tri. Pretty cool place to do a first tri, but a damn tough one for a first one. She helped me out quite a bit with translating for the race briefing. This is where the interviews started and were pretty much continuous throughout the whole weekend. Being one of two foreigners there, they took a lot of footage of me and asked a lot of questions. It was kind of interesting, and to say the least I am glad I am just a normal guy at all the big races, because I need some work on my interview/speaking skills.

Waking up bright and early Saturday morning for the race was no problem. Got down to the race start and sure enough more cameras, more questions. Asking about the competition was kind of interesting, I knew who the 2 pros were that were there and was already told they were going to be my competition. It was kind of cool to be included in the "pro wave", although there were only 4 of us, to be held in that regard is an honor. I knew the ITU guy was going to take it ot me on the swim and the only way I had a shot at beating him was if he flatted or had a mechanical. It is hard to go into a race knowing that but when you know your competition it is easy to figure out a strategy. So knowing what I knew here is how the race went:

Swim 2K- Well that sucks when you are swimming against an ITU guy and the swim is longer than the typical Olympic distance. I bet he would but 6 minutes into me on the swim. Sure enough after the race the splits came out and he put 6m27s into me. We all know that I am not a great swimmer by any means, well if you didn't now you do. But I was second out of the water, and had 2 minutes on third. Kind of a crappy transition as it was confusing and I got to my bike then they directed me back to a mat. No big deal took my time and made sure I had everything.

Bike 40K- Here is where I thought I could make up sometime on the pro and possibly give myself a shot at putting some doubt into him. Well the roads were bumpy, the scenery was beautiful. I took some splits on course and I was slowly gaining on him. At mile 15 my Garmin popped off from the bumpy roads and I had to stop. I would assume this cost me 1m30s. Slowing down, turning around, picking it up, getting back up to speed. At that point I knew I just need to keep riding strong and stay out of trouble and not crash or flat. There were some sections of dirt and rocks and some through tunnels so I took it easy there and just kept it upright. Had a good transition to the run and off I went.

Run- The first 8K was a 4 out and 4 back. Then the fun begin and it went up 800m then down 1.2K to the finish. At the 4K turn around I was able to get a split and he was up on me by 5m30s. Hmmmm what could possibly happen for me to catch this guy? He would have to get cramps and not make it up the beat of a hill. I kept running hard and got to the hill. Then reality set in and there was no way I was catching him and this hill was a beast, I had a big gap on 3rd so just settled in and power walked up the hill. It averaged 9.5% incline and was brutal! The downhill to the finish was nice and fast but then you get to the finish area and have to go up some stairs into a high school track. Luckily no one was around to make a sprint finish with because up those steps would of been crazy, but the last 200m was on a track with a small seating area. There were quite a few people in there and when I was heading for the finish line my translator friend (the friend of the friend, Soon Kim) told me to jump over the banner/ribbon. It actually turned into a pretty cool picture.

Swim 2K- 29:17
Bike 40K- 1:09:13 (Included T1 and T2) Garmin had the bike at 1:03:48
Run 10K- 44:12
Overall: 2:26:21-2nd Overall/112 starters/92 finishers
Gap between 1st-me=8mins36secs Me-3rd=14mins59secs

Overall I was extremely pleased with my results. Some may have read earlier that there was suppose to be prize money but due to the lack of participation in our "elite" wave they pulled 2nd and 3rd place money. I wrote a post on SlowTwitch about this . What it comes down to is in reality I am not fast enough to be earning a $2,000 pay check for that performance. They advertised the money and did not pay out, but at least they said something Friday night and not after the race. I can't complain as they paid for everything and I was taken care of while I was on this trip.

So after the race on Saturday we had about 3 hours before the next adventure began. We headed out on another ferry ride for 2 hours to an island called Dokdo. These places were so special to the Korean's and I felt very honored to be able to go to both Ulleung and Dokdo . We were suppose to swim 2K around Dokdo but the water was really rough so we swam between the two "rocks" in the middle of the ocean. The water is absolutely beautiful in both Ulleung and Dokdo, clear and you can see the bottom most of the way. We only got to swim about 800m but it was really cool and a once in a lifetime experience. I told some of my Korean friends back here at Osan about the weekend adventure and they were all in shock that I had went there. Many Koreans never have the opportunity to visit either of these places so I feel really lucky for this opportunity.

Saturday night was the awards ceremony and there was a big stage set up down in the harbor and they put on a short performance. It was really cool and sat around afterwards and had a few beers and just enjoyed the night. Don't be fooled though, not to much beer as coach wanted me to "see some more of the island" via a bike ride in the morning. Up bright and early Sunday morning to get in some time on the bike. There was some really good climbs so I headed out with Tom, the other foreigner and we explored the island. It was a good time and road some really rough but great climbs. The rest of Sunday we just hung out and relaxed and caught a ferry back Sunday afternoon.

The journey back home was not a fun one at all. The ferry ride was very rough and a lot of people were getting sea sick. My stomach was not happy but I was able to hold it all in. We got back to main land about 9pm and headed for home, it took 6 hours to get back due to traffic. By the time I got to bed it was 0330 and I had to be up at 0530 for work. To say the least Monday was not a fun day at work. But the adventure of this weekend made it all worth it!

I just want to say thanks to everyone for all the continued support and for following along on this journey!

THANK YOU!

Here is a link to the Photo Album on Facebook from this weekend as I have a lot of cool photos. But below are a few of my favorite:

The Map

Where we had lunch on Saturday, this guy wasn't to sure about taking a photo with me but the tree was pretty cool how it went through the restaurant.

Eveyln and myself. She won her AG in her first tri ;) And she has even said she is going to train harder to beat me next time. She was pretty close to me on the swim........

The top of one of the climbs on Sunday!!

Jumping across the finish line, this white boy still has hops ;)

First Big Win :)

17 July 2011- Seolobong Olympic Distance Tri

Exactly 14 days after IM Korea there was a local Korean Tri. I figured it would be a good way to get going again and keep me motivated right after the IM. Well my body/mind didn't quite agree with the keep on going and staying motivated. I believe all of the travel and then having to come back to reality of working made the adjustment hard. It was nice to be home and just eat, train, sleep and repeat. So coming back from IM Korea I was un motivated and just did a little here and a little there. I wasn't keeping up with all the workouts that my coach had planned, but when I did the workouts I felt good. It is now 4 weeks later and I am still struggling to get it together, but I wake up every morning believing that today will be the day that it all comes together. I went out last night and drank way too much and slept most of today away. I think it is safe to say that going out every now and again is a good thing, it reminds me why I don't do it as often like when I was here before. I accomplished absolutely nothing today and that is never a good feeling. But I promise tomorrow will be the day that I get my ass in gear, because believe it or not Kona is 68 days away :) Alright so that was the long part of the blog here is the short and sweet part about the race.

Swim-
It was a 2 loop swim course and I got a good start. Couldn't really find any feet for some reason, but I guess that is what happens when you are in the top 3 of the swim and the other guys out swim you by 2 minutes, I was more less in no mans land. I swam a pretty disappointing 25:18, but who knows maybe the course was long.

Bike-
Wasn't really sure how the legs were going to feel, I think I only biked 2 or 3 times since IM Korea. I went out and tried to find a rhythm, but took a wrong turn about 3 miles into the ride, lost some ground and had two guys pass me as I was getting back on course. I made up some ground and started feeling good on the second loop and about half way through it I took the lead. I negative split the bike in terms of power with 238 for the first 30mins and 268 for the remaining 33 mins. My official split was 1:05:20, and that included T1.

Run-
The first time I have actually had a lead biker. Pretty cool to say the least. Only problem was this run course was no joke, I think the guy on the bike even struggled. It was 4 loops and was HILLY. I had a method for the one big hill though, I power walked it and on the last lap I was passing some of the pro women, they had a 10 or 15 minute head start on us during the swim. I tried to convince them to power walk with me as they were in a running motion but not moving at running speed. They just looked at me like I was a crazy foreigner, but hey my power walk put me on top of the podium, so no way they could knock it ;) Run time was pretty disappointing, but what can you expect 2 weeks after an IM and some crazy hill every lap. 43:44 was the time and it was 3rd fastest on the day with the fastest run split being a 40:27.

Swim-25:18 3rd Overall
Bike(T1 Included)-1:05:20 3rd Overall
Run(T2 Included)-43:44 3rd Overall
Total-2:14:21 1st Overall out of 262/1st Place AG

Overall I was really happy to get a big win in a race with over 100 people. I ended up winning 14Kg of rice, 10Kg for winning and 4Kg for talking about the race. Yeah I forgot about that I had to give my first speech, well they had the 4 foreigners that were there come on stage and talk about the race for a bag of rice. Lastly I would like to say THANK YOU to the Corbin family for giving me a ride to the race and cheering for me as well. Since I don't really cook I gave them my 14Kg of rice, I don't think they will be needing to buy rice for awhile. They also got 4Kg so in total we walked out with 18Kg of rice.

Here are some pictures from the race as well as the run course elevation chart.

Coming in from the second loop.

Out on the run suffering!

On stage with the big bag of rice

Click to see a more in depth view with HR and pace.

IM Korea Race Report-KONA BOUND!

6 July 2011-

It really hasn't quite set in what happened on Sunday. I would like to say it was the toughest thing I have ever done but quite honestly it was just a long training day. The thing about IM is it is just a constant grind at the same "slow" pace. But first off, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone that was following along on race day. Luckily my buddy John was there to update Facebook via twitter as I had a feeling that IM Live was going to be crap. So a BIG thanks to John for keeping everyone updated and for all the support during and after the race.

If you would like a more technical and "tri geek" race report check this one out on Slowtwitch: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3420518;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

The day started out just like every other race day, except a lot earlier. I woke up at 0345 and ate the normal breakfast of 2 instant packs of Oatmeal, 1 Banana, and then a new addition of a thin sliced whole grain bagel. I went to bed having the race day business looming, but I was able to hold it off and actually woke up and took care of business first thing in the morning. Always a good sign when you have a long day ahead of you.

We left the hotel early and got to transition area right around 0510. Started off by dropping off the special need bags and body marking was right there as well. After that it was off to find a bathroom, well the line was ridiculous but we found a bathroom in the coffee shop. They weren't letting athletes use the bathroom though, so we sat down bought a coffee and then I slipped into the hallway where the bathroom was when they weren't looking. Taking care of business was accomplished twice before the race so I felt confident in being good for the whole race. After coffee I headed over to transition area and got everything setup. Then I had some time to just relax before race start. The race jitters were there but I wasn't feeling too bad.

Myself and David Temple, a good friend and training partner here at Osan!

Swim- I just hung out on the beach and didn't get a warmup in. I knew the swim was a long 2.4 miles so figured I would slowly get into my rythym. Well the swim start was pretty brutal, I got kicked, punched, tugged, but luckily after 500 meters of the washing machine effect it all cleared up. I found some feet to draft off of and then found some clean water to swim in. I felt comfortable on the whole swim other than bumping into the rope and buoys a few times, which is equivelant to getting punched. I came out of the first loop grabbed some water and headed back in. I didn't get a time split which I didn't mind as I figured I was on pace. Second loop was un eventful, couldn't find anyone to draft off of and just swam on my own. Overall I felt good about my swim, but even when coming out of the water I still hadn't got a split. So up the beach and in to T1 I went.

The "washing machine" of a swim start!

T1- I had no problem finding my bag on the rack and I was right into the changing tent. No wetsuit strippers were available which kind of sucked but I managed to get it of quite quickly. Got on the helmet and off I was out to the bike. Luckily John was outside of the transition area next to my bike and told me I swam around 57 minutes. First words out of my mouth were "That had to be short"(the course). Had a good exit out of the transition and off I went on the bike.

Headed out on the bike

Bike- I went out and had a plan to take the first hour easy. This was a big mental thing that I had to accept as quite a few people went fyling by me for the first hour. I waited about 30 minutes until I started taking in my calories in. Once I started eating all was good and my stomach was happy to have some food. I stayed on top of my nutrition and continued to monitor my power meter to make sure I was not pushing too hard. By the half way point I was slowly passing all of those people that went flying by me. The bike was pretty un eventful for the most part, I just concentrated on eating and hydrating. By the 150K point we had a line of about 15 guys that were riding legal for the most part, although it was hard as some guys would sit up and then the group would bunch up. Then a climb or two would come and the group would come together up the climb. But other than that I would say the bike course was pretty clean and they actually handed out a handful of penalties which was a suprise to me but I was happy to see it happen as Korea is known for it drafting with no penalties.

Cruising along the coast, beautiful bike course!

T2- John was there and told me I was holding my own and was in the top 6. I knew there was a guy who was a beast on the bike and I asked John where he was and he was 35 minutes up on me. Luckily I was prepared to know he was going to crush the bike and was just hoping I could have a good run and he would have a bad one. Unfortunatley he just crushed the whole course and had a great day, more to come on that later. Our "group" that came into T2 had some problems getting off their bikes and I was about 6 back and watched 3 guys pile up and fall of their bikes, pretty comical to say the least. I took my time getting off the bike, I was already off to one side to do a flying dismount but there wasn't enough bike catchers so I had to wait a few seconds to pass my bike off. Then I was into my run shoes and off I went.

Run- I knew with it being pretty hot and humid my run pace was going to have to adjust. After about the first mile I was aggrivated with my Garmin telling me to speed up, so I turned off the pace alert. I just kept my head in the game watched my nutrition and pushed on, just at a slower pace than planned. The first lap went pretty smooth and I didn't walk much, other than the waterstops. On the start of the second lap the first hill really took it out of me. The sun had just come out and it got HOT, I felt my body temp rising and was in a world of hurt. It was 2K till the next water stop and a majority of it was uphill. A guy that was in our group on the bike came by me and got me going with him. The good thing was it got me to the water stop quicker the bad thing was it was just out right painful. I got to the water stop drank some pepsi and just drenched myself in cold water. Then at that point the 2nd place female pro passed me, Maki who is on Team TBB and is from Japan. I had met her in Singapore and she remembered me from there. We ran together for about 4 or 5 miles, until the last turn around which was about 10K till the finish. I broke down again and started walking and she just kept on trucking on. I got to the turn around after walking about 1/2 mile and got drenched with cold water again drank some pepsi and took in some calories. Some other guys from our ride came along and got me back to running. We ran the last 9K together and up the last hill they continued on and I slowed back to a walk. I had mentally checked out as I did some math an my Garmin said 25 miles and the time of day was 1657, meaning I was not going to break 10. I glanced back around the same time and realized a guy in my AG was coming. I was not sure if he was on his first lap or second so I started running again, well it was more like a trot. I came down the last hill and there was John, Brett and Madden. Brett is my friend from Japan and Madden is his son, they handed me the US Flag and I rounded the last corner. I got to see the 2 guys that I had ran the last 9K with cross the line in what looked like sub 10. The one guy crossed it in 9:59:59, but the official time ended up being 10:00:02, I felt pretty bad for him as he was pushing it hard at the end. At least his finishing picture will show sub 10 ;) As for me I crossed the line at 10:00:31 officially and couldn't of been happier, my first IM was complete!

I look tiny next to that statue!

I had the American flag flying behind me until the last 10 meters and I haven't found a photo of it yet :( This one still turned out good! PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

Run Stats:


Splits: Placings with just Amatuers
Swim-58:35-39th Overall/7th AG
Bike-5:15:57-29th Overall/5th AG
Run- 3:40:54-41st Overall/8th AG
Total: 10:00:31* Kona Qualified :)
AG-4th/35(finishers)44(starters)- The top3 in my AG M25-29 were also in the Top 10 Overall including Pros, the Amateur winner was in my AG. I would say our AG was quite stacked, well those first 3 guys ;)!
19th Overall Amateur out of 806 Starters
27th Overall Including Pros
(The results did not have T1/T2 times in them and athlete tracker was not working)
Finish Picture:

And that is the Golden Ticket to Kona :)!!!!!

Gear:
Wetsuit- 2008 Zoot Zenith
Kit- Kiwami Konami (AWESOME!)
Shoes- Zoot TT 4.0
Glasses- Oakley Jawbones
GPS: Forerunner 305

Nutrition:
Pre Meal- 1 Banana, 2 packets of Quaker Instant Oatmeal (Apple Cinnamon), 1 Thin Sliced Whole Grain Bagel, 1 Cup of Coffee.
Swim- 1 cup of water after first loop
Bike- 2 Concentrated Bottles (1 at start/1 at special needs which was frozen night before) of 4 scoops Perpetum+5oz of EFS Liquid Shot+1 Hammer Gel, 1 packets of Honey Stinger Organic Chews, 2 packs of Clif Blocks, Approx 5 sport bottles of Gatorade, Approx 2 bottles of water. Total Calories: Approx-2800
Run- 2 Gel Flask of 3oz EFS Liquid Shot+2 Hammer Gel, ½ bottle of Coke at Special Needs, Aprrox 12 small cups of Pepsi, Approx 6 small cups of Gatorade, Approx 12 cups of water, and 20 Gallons of Ice cold water poured over head/body!

I can't THANK everyone enough for all the support that was sent my way during and after the race. Truly amazing to have such awesome family and friends in my life. I am looking forward to the journey to Kona as it is only 95 days away. I look forward to sharing some stories along the way with everyone and hoping to just inspire 1 person at a time to begin a healthy lifestyle. THANKS AGAIN!

If you remember my medical form in Germany I was "Bread" and now I am "Bard" hmmmm....Wonder what I will be in Kona B-Rad?

Some huge crabs in Emart!The view from the hotel room...

Recovering the day after the race with some great food and friends, and of course BEER!
World Cup Stadium on Jeju Island!

IM Korea Pre Race

2 July 2011-

Well the big day is just a wake up away, that is if I fall asleep. I am pretty tired so I should fall asleep no problem. WOW it is really hard to believe that tomorrow is the big day, it seems like just yesterday I started this journey...........

It has been a long journey that has been filled with ups and downs, definitely more ups. I can't thank everyone enough that has supported me throughout it. I appreciate everyone that has followed the blog, FB, and now TWITTER. As I mentioned in my last blog my buddy John is down here, he rode with us in the TDK. He will be helping me out on course with some splits and will also be keeping everyone around the world up to date with how the race is going. Those of you that follow IM Live and the Athlete Tracker know it is hit or miss, so I figured since he had a smart phone we would throw some "tweets" out there and link it up via FB. So that is the cool thing that will be happening tomorrow is no matter how bad or good the IM coverage is you will still have some updates from John.

I have been racing for a purpose over the last couple races and it really makes these races mean a lot more. I feel like racing for someone/something else makes the race special, and being out there for a purpose gives me a reason to push hard. I have decided to race this IM in honor of a former teacher Carolyn Searway. She was diagnosed, in January-2011, with duodenal cancer. This has hit home and I often pray for her and her family. They are a family of 5, Mike who is the same age as me, Robby who is a year younger than Bryan (my brother), and Katie who is going into the 8th grade and then her husband Ben. They are very similar to my family in that we are all close in age. I cannot understand at times why God does the things that he does, but I continue to pray for strength for their family and for Carolyn. She is making progress and I was fortunate to visit with her while I was home on leave. I hope to go out there and race hard for her and her family. I ask that anyone that would pray for me on race day would channel your prayers to her and her family. IM is tough, but it cannot compare to the battle with cancer. Please take a minute to look at the website that has been setup and if you can please take a minute to pray for her and her family.

http://www.prayforcarolyn.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/msearway

The race starts at 7am(GMT+9) tomorrow morning, which will be 3pm California time. It will all begin with a 2.4 mile swim/112 mile bike/26.2 mile run. So I figure I will throw some guesstimates out there of how the day could play out. If it gets hot, windy, rainy, cold or any abnormal weather things can go off plan. It is a long day anything can happen but here are some goal/rough estimates.

Swim- 1:05-1:15
Bike- 4:55-5:25
Run- 3:10-3:30

I also have some other goals listed in order of importance:

1. HAVE FUN!
2. FINISH
3. Sub 12 Hours
4. Sub 10 Hours
5. KONA!!

Yes those goals are pretty aggressive when you get towards the bottom. I believe that I have put in the work and have made some sacrifices to accomplish those goals. It will take a good day and executing the race plan, but anything can happen as it is a long day.

I had a funny conversation with my Mom when I was home. It was before the tri at home and she asked me if I was going to WIN my AG at that race. I looked at her and told her that I was in the best shape of my life and I was going to lay it all out there, and if that was good enough to win than I would win. But there are things you cannot control, I cannot control who is going to show up and I cannot control the course or weather. Everyone will have to battle the conditions, but if 4 other guys show up and they are just out right faster than me well then the beat me to the line. So I will go out there and control what I can control and whatever happens happens. I know where I am, I know what I have put in and tomorrow is just another day of proving to myself where I am.

Here is the information for following the race for tomorrow:

www.ironman.com or www.ironmanlive.com should have an "athlete tracker" up. As of right now it is not up. My bid number is 38.

Like mentioned above John will be updating Twitter so checkout: www.twitter.com/afbadbrad and those tweets will also be going over to my FB account.

Thanks again for all of the support and look forward to making everyone proud tomorrow!

The Road to my First IM..........Part 3

2 July 2011-

As I sit here in the hotel the day before my first IM I figured I better finish up this series that I started. If this is the first post that you have stumbled across check out Part 1 and Part 2 first. It has been interesting to reflect back on things and I have really enjoyed thinking about everything and looking back through some old photos. So here we go on the final portion of this............

I departed Turkey the end of August and found myself back in South Korea. I was pretty happy with this move as I was familiar with Korea and knew that the racing scene was a lot better than Turkey. Luckily I had already been here before and knew my way around logistically and already had some in's into the local tri scene. I would say I hit the ground running as in the first 9 weeks there I raced 8 of those weekend. It was not the brightest idea on my part as I had the big marathon coming up, but I raced some of the races a little smarter than the others and in the end it all worked out. Could the marathon of went better? Who knows, but I sure enjoyed the journey that took me up to that race.

I went into the marathon wanting to break 3 hours. That was the big goal of last year was running a sub-3 marathon. I had some great indicators going into the race with a 1:18:55 half marathon and then averaging 2:48 for 10X800's, AKA the "Yasso 800's". Well I am not sure if it was all of the racing or the tough course, but I didn't quite hit the low 2:50's that I was aiming for but still managed the sub-3, so the big goal from 2010 was completed. Where do you go from there? It was a late season marathon so I took about 2 weeks off and then the real journey began.

During the Chuncheon Marathon!

Yes, believe it or not I have been training for my first IRONMAN since beginning of December. I made the plunge and went full board ahead into this big race. I started out by seeking out a coach, and ended up going with Team TBB Online Coaching, and went with Scott DeFilippis. Having a coach has been awesome, it is great to have someone to hold you accountable and watch your training. I have been around for a short 3 years, so I have a brief idea of "what to do", but going into my first IM I didn't want any excuses. We have really made some great progress with my swim and bike, and well my run has stayed the same but has become really good off the bike. It has been awesome to have structured plan that every workout has a purpose and everything builds into something bigger. I use to just go out and swim, bike and run without much focus, other than my run workouts. Now everything has been very structured and it has made things really focused and with a purpose. I also purchased an SRM (power meter for the bike), and that has also been a great training tool that has helped my cycling fitness and power.

So this year I have cut back on the racing and stayed focused on IM China, well now IM Korea. I had some great adventures along the way, traveling to Singapore, around Korea for a few races and then of course the Tour de Korea. The TDK was probably the highlight of the year thus far, but all of that could change tomorrow.

Suffering in the brutal humidity of Singapore.......Team Storck/Rapha during the TDK.........

These last 10 months have been an amazing journey and there have been some great friends that I have met along the way.

Zach/Aaron- Thanks for always coming out and riding even on some of the craziest days. You guys have been a key reason why my cycling fitness has taken off. Can't thank you enough for all you guys have done for me and helped me progress as an athlete.

Dave- Meeting you within the first 48 hours on base was awesome! Can't say I have ever met another triathlete so quick on a new base. Best of luck to you tomorrow!

Des- Once again we cross paths and you are always around to help out with the little logistical ins and odds throughout Korea. Thanks again for all of the help you have provided me along this journey.

Team Storck/Rapha- Pablo, Jeremy, and all the guys on the team, thanks for the opportunity to ride the TDK with you guys. I know it was probably a headache having a triathlete on the team, but man was the TDK a blast. Can't wait till next year, it is going to be a blast!

Traci- Life is not complete without a swimming partner, hahaha......Actually I think that is true because once you got deployed going to the pool really sucked. It was always good to continously get my butt kicked by you and have some great swim sets! Thanks for all your help, I would say you are one of the reasons I am slowly becoming a "swimmer".

John- The TDK was a blast and having someone like you to mentor me through the process was great. Thanks for coming down here to Jeju to help me out. Makes a huge difference to actually have someone here supporting.(John came down from Seoul to hang out and "vacation", he is going to hopefully be able to give me some splits along the course and be able to tell me to HTFU and push it when the going gets tough.)

Pyeongtaek Tri Club- Once again you guys have been a huge help. I don't know to many people that will load up a foreigner and give them a lift all the way back to base from down in far south korea. You guys are truly amazing and some great people. Best of luck to those of you that are racing this weekend, Mr. Yu go and get your VEGAS SLOT!

Work/Chain of Command- It is always great to have the support of the higher ups. They have given me the opportunity and supported me with my racing. Without their support I would not have been able to take part in the TDK or receive PTDY for this race. Thanks for supporting me in my athletic endeavors.

Family- As the journey along this crazy lifestyle that I live continues, tomorrow is a big day. I thank each and every one of you, without you I don't know if I would be where I am today. THANK!

Bryan, Steve, Maddy, Mom and Me a few weeks ago at the Silicon Valley Race.Brenda, me and Dad at the Silicon Valley Race

The Road to my First IM..........Part 2

29 June 2011-

If you didn't read PART 1, here is the link: PART 1 LINK

As I sit here already packed 3 hours early for the departure back to Korea I figured I could knock out Part 2 of the 3 possibly 4 part series. So lets see, I left off with China 70.3 and leaving Korea. Seems like that was forever ago and in reality it was just 2 years ago, guess that is quite awhile.

So in transit from Korea to Turkey I had planned to come home and race some race called "Wildflower". I had heard so many great things about it I figured I should throw it on the schedule and go experience what everyone was talking about. OC had left Korea a few months before me and was out in Idaho. He made the trip over and we headed to WF to experience it the "right way", I say this because all first timers to this race should have to camp, but some people get RV's and live the "rich and famous" lifestyle while most people just camp. During this experience, which is by far one of the greatest races around the world, I met some great new friends. I had previously met someone in China just a few short weeks before the race and she was going to be there at Wildflower. We all camped together and I met one of her really good friends Amy. Amy has ended up attending WF the past 3 years now and has become a great family friend. The great thing about triathlon is all the great people that you meet along the way. So Wildflower was awesome and then off I went to Turkey.

WF #1, camping and this is OC crashing out in the camp site.....With aero helmet and all!

I had done a lot of research before getting to Turkey, and to my dislike there was not much of a racing scene. There were a few races on base here and there, and then I managed to find one triathlon about 7 hours away from base. I started up a local Time Trial series while there and we had a small group of riders and it was always a good time. I had 2 friends, who I became good friends with over my time in Turkey and we primarily trained together just running. So I was left out on the bike and the swim on my own. With the small amount of racing in Turkey, I managed to get into IM 70.3 Germany even though it was sold out. It was a great opportunity to travel up to Germany and stay with a previous friend from Korea. Shauna opened up her house and was my first official "home stay", her and Lucy were super excited for the race and were a huge help. It ended up being quite the journey as this is when I broke my radius in my right arm and Shauna had to play Dr. post race. This is when you know you have great friends, not only do they open up there home they take care of you when you get injured and then end up being high on percocet (Dr. prescribed of course). I would of been SOL if I was there in Germany all on my own, so I owe a huge thanks to Shauna and Lucy for taking care of me.

Leaving the race site I was able to grab a sign, definitely a race I will never forget! Thanks Shauna for taking care of me, O the memories of Germany!

After arriving back from Germany an advertisement popped up on the base website saying that USAFEurope was looking for runners for the AF Marathon and it was a paid trip back to Ohio. How could I pass up an opportunity like this? Well being young and dumb, marathon 4 weeks out, broken right radius, sure why not lets apply and see what happens........I go in way under trained but luckily had some early season miles in the legs and came out with just missing a Boston Qualifier Time, 55 seconds to be exact, but managed to be the #1 runner on the team. Awesome opportunity met some amazing people and had a great time.

Team USAFEurope at the AF MarathonBerlin and me with the guy that carried the flag for the whole marathon!

Then came my trip to Florida for the 70.3 World Champs, another great experience. Mom made the trip out from Cali and we got to hang out in FL for a few days. I also met up with Eric who I had met in Korea and raced with in China. Then there was Gary and Petra, who were out in Germany for the 70.3 who also made the trek to FL. It is amazing how some relationships are formed in such a short time and you can become great friends. Florida was a real eye opener for me showing me just how good the best in the World are at our sport and how hard you have to work to get to that level. Completely got my butt handed to me, but still walked away learning some key lessons.

Gary, myself and Petra in Florida!

After that winter hit and training became pretty boring. I had to commute 10 miles each way through some crappy parts of town to get to the university to swim. I rode my bike and it was always an adventure. I needed to stay motivated so I signed up for Wildflower Long Course, and planned my vacation around that race so that I could make it home for it. I had convinced Gary, who I met in Germany and then hung out with in FL to make the trek out for WF. It was a race that was on his to do list. Gary is in his mid 50's and is quite the inspiration. If I can be in shape like him when I am "that young" I will be very happy! Then Amy also joined in on the fun, she didn't like the camping scene too much the year before but luckily my parents came out and camped this year so we did it up like the "rich and famous" and went with an RV. It was actually quite nice to have a bed to sleep on, but like I said the first time WF people have to camp so they get the full experience. So back home to Cali and once again another eye opening experience getting my butt handed to me. I had heard the bike course was hard on the Long Course, but it wasn't the bike that was bad it was the pure misery of the hilly run course. All in all another great WF experience.

WF #2 with an RV and all! Myself, Amy, Gary

I got back to Turkey and well just when I thought the whole tour was a lost cause an awesome runner showed up. I already had Seth and Berlin to run with, but they were both married and I have a firm belief that family comes first and I completely understand that so there were times when they couldn't run due to family duties. Well Elissa showed up and she was single and an awesome runner. She has ran for the AF Academy and then for the AF Cross Country and Marathon Team. It was amazing to have someone with that kind of talent and experience on base to train with. I only had 3 months left but to be able to pick her brain on training ideas and actually be able to run with her a few days a week made things a whole lot better. When you have someone holding you accountable to show up it always makes getting out of bed easier. I was able to have her sit me down and lay out a training plan for my next marathon, which was suppose to be AF Marathon but that got changed due to having to head to Korea. We made some adjustments to the plan when AF Marathon feel through and I headed back to Korea to do my 3rd marathon with a goal of breaking 3 hours (if you don't remember how that went, it will be in part 3).

So all in all Turkey had its up and downs. It was not the best place to be for training/racing, although I met some great people out there. I was able to focus on school and take quite a few classes due to having a pretty laid back job. I was also fortunate to have a very supporting chain of command which allowed me plenty of opportunities to train and race and follow my passions.

Thanks to all of those people that were along for this part of the journey:

Family- You guys are there 24/7-365, anytime I need someone you are just a phone call away. You have been so supportive through this whole thing it is amazing!

Seth- Thanks for always giving me a run for my money and kicking my @SS! I will never forget us bartering with each other on what race to do so that we could both walk away with a new pair of shoes ;)

Berlin- Man did we have some good adventures, wish AF Marathon would of worked out for 2010. But I think the first one was quite a good time and then your first triathlon experience was another great adventure. All the best to you and your family and I look forward to training/racing with you in the future.

Elissa- What an awesome opportunity to be able to train with you and pick your brain on everything. It was amazing to be able to train with someone of your caliber and have someone constantly pushing me! Right now you are "faster" than me with your Marine Corps Marathon time, but I tell you I am gunning to take that record back ;) Keep up the hard work and look forward to our paths crossing again.

Gary- Pretty amazing how in less than a year we can race 3 different races together and become good friends. You are a true inspiration and I look forward to future races with you. I might just have to put IM Wisconsin on the list ;)

Amy- Pretty crazy how we met, but you are an awesome person. It is always great to chat it up with you and share stories. Thanks for filling in for me this year at WF and taking care of the family and sharing a few glasses of wine with my mom. Possibly next year I will be out for it??

Here are some pictures from this portion of the Journey:

Wildflower Prep race, UVAS Olympic distance race. Getting the bike ready with dad.

Part of the Incirlik crew at one of my last races before leaving. Berlin, me, Chad, Elissa, Jim.

The Road to my First IM..........Part 1

21 June 2011-

With IRONMAN Korea just 12 days away I figured I better get started on this blog that I wanted to post before I started my first IM. I think I will break it up into 3 or 4 parts and explain where I came from and where I plan on going. I will break it down into the last couple of years of training and where it all started. I figure the easiest way for me to reflect back is to do it by military assignments, and fortunately there has only been 3 since I started all this craziness. One of the most frequent questions that I get is, "What/How/Who got you into this?"

So the journey began in December of 2007, well that is when the thoughts of doing a tri crossed my mind. I got a random email with a flyer about a tri on base in June of 2008. I thought perfect, I have leave planned to go home in June and I was getting on the chunky side, yes for some of you that is hard to believe but I was close to 185lbs. I was staying somewhat active my first year in Korea, well if you consider playing Volleyball once a week and then drinking 2-4 nights a week active. Yes, Korea is known for its drinking, I can tell you skip 4 years of college partying go to Osan for ONE yes ONE year and you will get 4 years of college partying out of the way. So I drank quite a bit, wouldn't say I had a problem, but I was just tired of waking up hungover wasting the days away and not being productive.

I found a beginner tri plan online, picked up a cheap $250 bike and it all began in March 2008. I started riding with the local group of roadies and was getting my legs torn off for the first couple rides, well months. They all feared the beater bike that I had as the rear wheel was so out of true it wobbled from side to side and creaked like crazy. No one wanted to ride behind me as they feared this wheel was going to just come apart right in front of them. I finally upgraded two weeks before the first tri and did my first century on the Trek 1200 that I had purchased used. On that first century, me being the newb I was fell over about 25 miles into the ride, since I wasn't use to being clipped in. Pretty comical as everyone looked at me like I was a complete idiot, but I guess everyone has done it at least once ;)

Really, Who rides in basketball shorts, a t-shirt and reflective vest? I am surprised they even let me ride with them ;)The first bike, AKA A POS, A CLUNKER!

The first tri came and went and then I really got the bug. I went home on leave and lined up a bike to borrow from my uncle and signed up for another tri. That was my first open water swim, and both of my parents feared that I was going to drowned, well I thought it was a possibility as well as I was out there doggy paddling, side stroking, treading water and so on. Yes the swim has been my weak point since day 1! I got back from leave and met an awesome guy, which I have referred to before as "my logistical manager", Des. This is when all hell broke lose. From June-November I raced 16 different events, which included my first Marathon. To look back on that experience and how DUMB it was, click HERE. I didn't include it in there, but the longest run I had before that Marathon was an 18 miler, 4 days before. Then other than that was a half marathon the weekend prior and a few 5-6 miles run before that. Yes, I was young and dumb, well I still am, but I am slowly learning ;)

The first race, really who races topless? What a newbie!

All of my races throughout 2008 took place in Korea with one race at home while I was on leave. I was scheduled to depart Korea in April of 2009, so I signed up for my first Half IRONMAN with China 70.3. I came across a great deal over the winter and picked up my first tri bike with the Cervelo P3C. I got it on closeout and could not believe the deal I got on it and was really happy to be on a fast bike for my first big race. I went to China somewhat prepared as I had been training with some great people all winter long and was probably not properly trained, but I followed once again an online beginner plan and then did some other stuff on my own. I went to China really wanting to qualify for the World Championships, I had no idea how hard or easy it was going to be. I just thought I was in good shape, little did I know how rough of a day it was going to be and in what decent shape I was in. The one thing that saved me is that it got HOT, if you don't remember check out the race report and pictures. So I got that slot to the World Champs and had a great race for my first 70.3, well a great finish, I wouldn't call it much of a race.

Picking up the AG Win in China and the WC Slot to Clearwater!

So with all of this time spent in Korea there were some very very inspiring/influential people that impacted me and that have contributed in someway to where I am today. I owe it to them for shaping me into the athlete I am today, this has been a journey and without them it would not have been possible. So in no particular order, the people that were along for this portion of the journey:

Family- You guys have been along for this crazy ride the whole time. The support that you have provided is amazing and of course I would not be where I am today without you!

Col Becker (now General Becker)- For starting the sprint tri on base and being a mentor for me throughout the whole stay in Korea. Truly inspiring to see you at your "young" age still take it to us young guys and tear our legs off. To have a second family in Korea was really nice, for you and Sherri to open your house up for the Holidays really made me feel like I was at home, Thanks!

Mark- Once you arrived in February, everything went into fast forward and we trained HARD. You pushed me day in and day out and it was always a guarantee that you would show up for a workout. Crazy how fast two people can become great friends, but I guess when you spend crazy amounts of hours putting miles in that tends to happen. You and your family are truly amazing and you are an awesome role model that I look up to!

OC- Man o Man did we have some journeys throughout Korea. For making the trip out to Cali for WF and for all the memories, it was a good time.

Super Dave- For kicking my rear end on the bike day in and day out and teaching me the beginnings of becoming a cyclist.

Jeff- Man I was scared a few times you were going to run me off the road. You had to been tired of my newb ass the first couple rides always asking dumb questions ;) Thanks for making some awesome journeys throughout Korea and mentoring me on the tri scene!

Des- Dude you have been along on this whole journey. You have to be tired of all the favors I ask from you, but a lot of this wouldn't of happened without you there at Osan. I mean not being able to walk for a few days after my first marathon, I can thank you for that. Who convinces someone to run a marathon with no training...........YOU!

Eric- For making the journey out to China with me and experiencing that hell of a race. You have been a great mentor throughout this whole journey, thanks for all of your knowledge and expertise! Hopefully someday we will both be racing Kona together!

Tim R.- Once again another roadie that taught me about biking. Always good to share the road with you and enjoy some of Korea. I will never forget our stop at the Korean soup place out by the Ocean and how you didn't like sea food but still ate it.

Jess- For showing me what it was liked to constantly get "chicked" on group rides as you would tear my legs off. I was scared to go ride with you as it was never fun getting my legs torn off by you!

Shauna- For trying to make me a swimmer, I have come to the conclusion that it is a lost cause ;) I will get more into how great of a person you are in the next blog. But thanks for the great memories in Korea, and always telling me to get off the wall and swim more!

Tim L.- For being like Shauna and trying to make me a swimmer. I have come to the conclusion it is a lost cause!

Pyeongtaek Tri Club- These guys have been a huge help throughout all of my travels and racing in Korea. Without Mr. Yu and Bobby I would not have made it back from a few races or of gotten into some races. They have been an incredible group of people!

The Girls ;)- I won't name any names, juts that there were a few, very small number that put up with my craziness. I mean what kind of guy gets out of bed to go ride his bike and leaves a girl in bed on the weekend? Well I can say that the stupidity of that has paid off with the training and results, but not with the girls as obviously I am still single. But for the ones that put up with it for the time while I was in Korea I appreciated it!

Anyone else that I left off, I am sorry. It was a few years back and I am getting old so my memory is slipping me. The first couple of months were really just a blur as it seemed all I did was just race, well more than train, it has been said that when starting out you can race your way into shape, and it seems that I successfully did that without getting injured, lucky me!

So that was the first portion of the journey in a nutshell. I tried to keep it short and sweet and I am sure I left out some funny stories, but man it seems like that was a long time ago.

The group ride where everyone got to see me topple over. For some reason whenever we would have a century ride massive amounts of people would come out. I don't think we have this many roadies at Osan right now. Maybe all it takes is putting together a century and they will all come out.

Meeting Triathlon Olympic bronze meadlist Jan Rehula.

My first podium and AG Win!

Myself and Mr. Yu, this man speaks very little English, but he has taken me in as one of his own team members and has helped me out throughout all of my time in Korea. Great man and kick as Triathlete!

Well until I get around to typing up Part 2, this will have to do...........