Rev 3 Cedar Point-Knocking on the Door

This past weekend was my third consecutive year racing the Rev 3 Cedar Point full iron distance triathlon and my fourth go at the Ironman distance.  Coming off the win at the Steelhead 70.3 I had high hopes of being in the hunt for another win.  I am very happy to come away with a runner-up finish, new PR, first sub-3 marathon, and overall my best Ironman execution and performance to date.

Swim: 59:51  12th fastest split
All of my swims in 2012 have either been really good in the front pack, or terrible.  Unfortunately this was a terrible swim for me, by far my worst Ironman swim of my four races at the distance.  Race morning we had a water temp of 73 degrees and air temps in the 50s.  For the pros we were about a degree over the wetsuit cutoff, no wetsuits.  I've had a history of struggles in colder swims and the frustrating thing about this one is that 73 degree water isn't that cold.  I started fine but 10 minutes in I started getting cold chills throughout my body and pretty soon I couldn't even hold the feet of guys who I ordinarily beat out of the water.   One of the things I'm most proud of with this race is how I was able to hold my composure during the swim.  It didn't take long before I knew the swim was going to be really bad, and I recognized I would exit the water several minutes down on guys I anticipated starting the bike with.  But it really never bothered me that I was having such a bad swim.  I never tried to force a harder pace than I planned, I never really entertained any thought of starting the bike harder than I planned to make up the lost time.  I basically just decided that I would execute the bike and run exactly as I had planned going into the race, and I accepted the fact that my finish time would be a couple minutes slower as a result of the swim.  In the end I was around 3 minutes slower than I would anticipate based on where others I have raced exited the water.  3 minutes in itself is not a huge deal, the thing that hurts more is that the stronger cyclists in the race were all out of reach and I ended up riding 111 out of 112 miles of the bike solo.

Bike: 4:35:22  24.4mph  3rd fastest split
I started the bike in 12th position, a full 7 minutes back of the lead, I knew I was in for a long lonely ride.  I basically just spent the entire ride executing my plan for the day.  I went in to the bike with the notion that 75 miles was halfway.  I knew that the entire final 35 miles would be a headwind and that it would be critical to be strong through those miles.  I steadily rode my way up through the field and was up to 6th place by 75 miles.  The headwind was tough as expected but this was the best I've ever paced 112 miles and I stayed strong and in control the entire way.  If there is one benefit to being alone the entire bike it is that I was never tempted to push someone else's pace, and never had to put in surges of any kind.  With less than a mile to go I caught Viktor Zyemstev which was a nice confidence boost since I knew there was no better person to start the marathon with.  This was also the most fresh and most ready to run a marathon I've ever felt at the end of the bike, I hit T2 looking forward and excited for the opportunity to finally push a sub-3 marathon.

Run: 2:57:20  3rd fastest split
I'd never raced Viktor head to head before but am very aware of his ability to run 2:45 Ironman marathons like clockwork.  We made some small talk the first mile, he told me the wind on the bike crushed him, and I told him I wouldn't be a threat to him at the end of the run, but I was going to try to use him to carry me up into the top-3 before he dropped me.  I let him set the pace and we hit each of the first 3 miles in almost exactly 6:10s and it felt comfortable.  The only issue I had running with him was we had to spread out going through aid stations so we could both grab what we needed.  It was the gap after the 3rd aid station that I never closed but still kept him reasonably close for a while.  5 miles in I moved into 4th and at 10 miles I moved into 3rd splitting the first 10 miles in 64 minutes.  Through 13.1 in 1:25 and it was the best I've ever felt through halfway.  At that point I told myself I would destroy 3 hours and really thought I had sub-2:55 in me.  16 miles in the fun stopped and I finally started having to work.  18 miles in a surge of adrenaline as I got word that Eric was cracking in the lead after racing gutsy leading the race for 7.5 hours.  Through 20 miles in 2:12 and shortly after I pass Eric to move in 2nd.  22 miles in I was 3 minutes down on Viktor in the lead, and had a 4 minute cushion on third.  This was where Ironman became Ironman and it got really, really hard.  Soreness flooded my quads, calves, and hamstrings.  I started feeling twinges of shooting pain and felt like I was one misstep away from a full body cramp.  I probably cut my stride length in half and there was no thought of trying to race for the win, it was just grit your teeth and finish.  Finally I was able to make it without any last mile drama.

Daniel Bretscher 2nd place - Cedar Point 2012 from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

Overall: 8:35:32  2nd Place, first American
This race was a huge breakthrough for me and validates the results from the training sessions I've been seeing this summer.  The bike split was a PR, the marathon was a PR, and overall a 13 minute PR.  Second place is my highest finish ever at the 140.6 distance, my previous three races were 9th, 5th, and 5th.  In addition I ended up less than 4 minutes out of the win whereas in my three previous races I'd never been within 20 minutes of the win.  And Viktor is no slouch either, this was his 11th Ironman win.  With all of that said I can definitely see some major flaws in my game, the biggest lesson being do not ever surrender a race to a competitor without making them earn it.  Mentally I gave the race away to Viktor in the very first mile of the run based on what he had accomplished in the past, not making him earn it on the day.  In reality he didn't have the run I think everyone expected him to, he was vulnerable on the day.  Looking back I don't believe I could have matched his pace, but in the future I will not mentally surrender to a competitor until they prove they have what it takes on the day.  I also still feel I'm under performing in my marathons.  I was happy to finally break 3 in the marathon, but I'm not very impressed with my splits 1:25/1:32.  I feel I should be capable of 4-5 minutes faster the last 13 miles.  Whether it's a nutrition issue, bike pacing issue, lack of experience issue or just needing to learn to suffer more issue, I'm not sure.  But when there's world class pros running 2:40s in harsh conditions, my 2:57 in near perfect conditions isn't in the same ballgame.  As always it's a work in progress and so long as I continue to chip away I'll eventually get where I want to be.
I'm taking this week mostly entirely off for recovery and a mental break.  I'll get back into training next week and will play the remainder of my race schedule this year by ear.  Most likely my next race will be on September 30, either the Pocono or Augusta 70.3.  I have no clue what the fields for those races look like, but I hope to compete for my third consecutive podium!  Finally thanks to the Rev 3 event organization and staff, there's a reason 3 out of my 4 Ironmans have been with Rev 3.  Hope to be at some more series races this season.

Race nutrition:
Bike: 13 powergels, 66oz Perform.  Total: 2000 cal, 434 cal/hr
Run: cup of coke, cup of water every mile, 7 powergels throughout.


2012 REV3 Cedar Point - PRO Race Recap from REVOLUTION3 Triathlon on Vimeo.

Steelhead 70.3-First Major Win

I've been bad with my blogging this year but finally have accomplished something that deserves an update.  I picked up the first major win of my professional career a couple weeks back at the Ironman Steelhead 70.3 in Michigan.

The race itself was actually one of my less adventurous and more boring so I'll keep the report short.  After sitting on the feet of the leader for the first 10 minutes of the swim and realizing the pace felt too easy I took the lead and never gave it up the rest of the race.  I pushed hard the second half of the swim and was able to open up a 20 second gap on the main pack behind, my first time ever to post the fastest swim split in a pro race.  I got on the bike and was pretty confident the group behind me would, as usual on a flat course, form their pace line, push the limits of the draft rules, and work together to catch me.  Fortunately for me I am significantly faster than I've ever been on the bike this year, I've been riding very strong the entire summer.  After the first 10-15 miles of the bike I managed to get out of sight of everyone behind and at that point there was no debating about a race strategy, I was committed to pushing the pace out front the entire way.  I ended up with the day's fastest bike split, and a 6 minute lead into T2.  At the time, however, I had no clue what my lead was and that lead to me running frantic and scared out of T2 not wanting to let this opportunity, that I've waited so long for, slip away.  After really pushing hard the first 10k I started getting multiple reports that my lead was in excess of 5 minutes.  I was able to relax a bit, but never let my guard down until I was positive I had the race secured with a mile to go.  Then the last mile it was party time, first major win in the bag!

This first win came 6 years and 3 months after I committed myself to seeing what I could do in the sport of triathlon.  That's 6 years 3 months of investment in myself that it took to make this happen.  Over that time frame I had imagined countless times what it would be like getting the first win, sometimes wondering if it would ever happen.  I always imagined an epic head-to-head battle the entire way coming down to the last mile, possibly a sprint finish.  The way it actually happened wasn't so exciting but looking back on it I think it's pretty cool to lead wire-to-wire, nose to the wind full throttle the entire way just like the sport should always be, complete domination.

I'd reflect more on Steelhead and the past 6 years, 3 months but that's what the end of the season is for.  Right now my mind is in the moment and focused on this weekend.  I've got another big race coming this Sunday, the Rev 3 Cedar Point full iron distance.  I'm really looking forward to this one and to testing my fitness against the competition and the 140.6 miles.  This is the third straight year I've done this race, I know the course well, I've had good races the past two years, and feel good about my chances this year.  If I can execute a 'good' race I think I should be racing for a top-3 finish, if I can execute a 'great' race then I think it's possible to be racing for the win and pushing an 8:30 finish time.  Excited to see what I can do!

The weekend on my Steelhead win was also a huge weekend for the Bretscher Multisport squad.  Ron Gierut (Cedar Rapids IA) claimed his first National Championship winning the 55-59 age group at Age Group Nationals in Burlington VT.  Ron's been knocking at the door for a while now and finally broke through!  In addition Andrew Person (St Louis) also raced to a 70.3 PR of several minutes at Steelhead finishing in 4:21, good enough for the 7th overall age grouper on the day out of 1500+!  Both Andrew and Ron have been with Bretscher Multisport for 3-4 years and their long term commitment has really shown.

Below is a link to Ironman's instagram pic from my Steelhead finish.

Finish Pic

0 for 3 in Knoxville

Rev 3 Knoxville
Swim: 18:20  20th fastest split
Bike: 59:45  24.4mph  20th fastest split
Run: 33:43  9th fastest split
Overall: 1:54:59  18th place

This was my third straight year racing Rev 3 Knoxville, one of my favorite venues and courses.  It also ended up being my third straight year to come away with a disappointing result although the difference is the past two years my result came from being out of shape, this year my poor result came mainly because of not giving the effort I am capable of after getting hit with a penalty early in the race.

One of my biggest pet peeves with professional triathletes is hearing everyone who gets dinged with a penalty complain that they were unfairly targeted. Collectively as a group, the pros in this sport are constantly advocating for more officials and greater enforcement of the rules, yet when a call is made, according to the culprit, he/she did not do anything wrong and was the victim of negligent officiating. It sometimes gets annoying hearing the same athletes who are so vocal about rules enforcement be so vocal against a specific call or official when the call is made on them. With this said, I got hit with my first ever bike penalty last Sunday, a position foul I was in full violation of, and a correct call by the official.

The penalty came just 3 miles into the bike course, while navigating through a section of Knoxville highway full of expansion cracks heading out of town, I became too consumed with trying to avoid the expansion cracks and debris on the shoulder, stopped paying attention to the position of the rider in front of me, and before I even realized my mistake was being ordered to 'stand down' by the official, stagger rule violation for riding out of position. The penalty was 60 seconds on the side of the road, which when you take into account the time it takes to slow down to a complete stop, dismount the bike, serve the penalty, remount, and finally get up to speed again is probably more like a 80 second time loss.

Fortunately for me I have very limited experience with penalties, this was just my second ever and first since 2007. Unfortunately for me I do have a fair amount of recent experience going off course. And similar to when I added a full 6 miles onto the 112 mile bike course because of an errant arrow this past September at Rev 3 Cedar Point, I really found it difficult to mentally move past the penalty and return to the aggressive mental state which is required to race well at the olympic distance. As hard as I tried to keep my mind in the moment on the task at hand, I kept thinking about the penalty and the time I had lost. This was the race I had been focusing on for the majority of the offseason, wanting to get the year off to a great start. I had been riding in the midst of some quality riders, and now I was well behind, riding solo the entire final 20 miles. Penalties always hurt, and in this case having it occur so early in the race really hurt. I've raced enough olympics to know how they should feel, and in looking back on this one I definitely did not get the most out of myself on the bike.

The good news to take away from the bike is my fitness relative to last year.  Including my minute standing on the side of the road I still rode a minute faster than I did on the exact same course a year ago.  And I followed that ride up with a solo 10k in which I split 1:40 faster than last year and 9th best split on the day despite not having anything to race for.

In summary 18th place was very disappointing.  Having put in what I would consider to be a pretty solid offseason I would have been extremely disappointed had you told me I'd get 18th before the race.  But given my penalty and my inability to execute to my potential following the penalty, I know that my fitness right now is far better than 18th.  And that fitness will be around for the next race, and the one after that.  I'm riding strong and running fast right now.  My swim was not good, and reality is I probably wasn't in a position to challenge for a top-10 spot even without my penalty given how I swam.  Just have to get better.  8 races still to go in the Rev 3 series, right now I plan to be at all 8 of those.  I need to have 4 quality finishes out of those 8 races if I want to place overall in the series which one of my biggest goals this season.  Next up, Rev 3 Quassy on June 3.  Likely the toughest course and toughest competition I'll face all season.  A top-10 in Quassy would easily make up for a disappointing day in Knoxville.

2012 Race Schedule with Commentary

My number one goal in this sport for 2012 is the same as it has been for the past few years:  Make a living in the sport.  I've been doing so for a couple years now but that doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen in 2012 or beyond, I have to make it happen.  Whenever I'm helping the athletes I coach to form a race schedule I always try to push them towards the races that will give them the best chance of accomplishing their goals for the year.  With making a living being the number one goal for me, this is what I take into consideration the most when planning my race schedule.  Prize purses, race distance, course type, travel distance, race enjoyment, these are all variables I take into consideration.  In the end, what it comes down to is a balance between which races give me the best opportunity to get good results and make money while minimizing travel time and costs as much as possible.

For 2012, I've currently decided that it is the Rev 3 series which gives me the best opportunity to make a living.  The series has expanded to 10 races with prize money in each and a pretty substantial additional payout to the top-5 athletes in the series at the end of the year.  The Rev 3 series is a good choice for an Indiana based pro as 7 of the 10 races are within driving distance whereas those based further west would have to fly to nearly every race.  I'm very much considering going "all in" with the series, doing every race, and skipping the Ironman circuit entirely for 2012.  It's a bit risky to do so though, as I'd be skipping the "local" Ironman races in favor of traveling for Rev 3.  For the time being though, Rev 3 is the mindset I'll take into the 2012 season and this is the race schedule I'll pursue until I have reason to stray from this plan.  I very much like the idea of supporting Rev 3 over Ironman as they are two different series I see heading in opposite directions with how they value and treat the professionals in the sport.  Here is my race preliminary schedule.


3/18 Rev 3 Costa Rica?
I want to race Rev 3 Costa Rica, but probably won't make the trip solo.  Thus I'll probably only go if I can find someone to travel with.  Anyone want to travel to Rev 3 Costa Rica with me?


3/25 Powerman Alabama Du  AL
Regardless of whether or not I race the weekend before, I plan to be at Powerman Alabama.  This will make for the earliest I've ever kicked off the multisport season.

4/15 Carmel Sprint Tri  IN
My traditional local season kickoff.  Won overall past 5 consecutive years, going for 6 in a row this year.  Only age group race I have on the schedule right now

5/6 Rev 3 Knoxville  TN
Very fun, challenging course, with a tough pro field.  I plan to actually be in shape for this race this year.

6/2 Rev 3 Quassy  CT
Probably the toughest course I'll race all year, toughest field I'll race all year, biggest prize purse of the season.  What more could I ask for?  Got my butt kicked here last year by both the course and competition, can't wait for this year.

6/8-10 Triathlon Camp Muncie
Looking forward to working with Muncie Multisport at this camp.  For $155 campers will get the 3-day camp plus entry into the MuncieMan Tri (3k/60k/15k).  The camp is open to anyone, the main focus will be on preparing for a half distance tri.  Perfect opportunity for those racing the Muncie 70.3 to train and race on the course, learn the ins and outs of the race, and work with a coach to develop a race plan.

7/8 Rev 3 Portland  OR
Tough call here.  My "hometown" pro race, the Muncie 70.3 is the same weekend.  But the Rev 3 series is my main focus for the year.  So do I give up a short drive and inexpensive trip for a long expensive trip across the country to do a race with the same purse?  Right now that's the direction I'm leaning.

7/22 Ironman Lake Placid  NY
Another tough call I'm still not sure about.  LP is my favorite race and favorite venue I've ever raced, the emotional side of me wants to be there in great shape.  But I'm not sure if the race makes logical sense.  With the prize purse being cut this year, a long trip, and my focus being the Rev 3 series this year I don't know if this race will remain on the schedule.

8/12 Rev 3 Wisconsin Dells  WI
First year race, don't know anything about the course, but the venue looks to be another Rev 3 hit.  Bretscher Multisport will have a large contingent at this race

8/26 Rev 3 Maine  ME
Another first year race for the Rev 3 series, and I've always wanted to visit Maine.  What a great reason to visit.

9/9 Rev 3 Cedar Point  OH
For the third consecutive year, my biggest race of the season.  The race itself has big points towards the overall series, hopefully I can stay on course this year.

10/7 Rev 3 Maryland  MD
Race just announced a few days ago, don't know many details on it except it uses the same venue as Columbia which is a pretty fun, honest course

10/14 Rev 3 South Carolina  SC
Second to last race in the series, I was unable to race in 2011 due to injury, but it sounds like the course is not short on challenging, just the way I like it.

10/28 Rev 3 Florida  FL
Rev 3 series finale, big points on the line, and a big season long series prize purse gets awarded at this race.  Hopefully I can have the season I strive for and take a slice of that pie.

My New Friend

I've made a new friend this winter, a borrowed Trek 4300 mountain bike complete with badly worn platform pedals, kickstand, and wheel reflectors.  Brand new this is a $400 bike.  I acquired this one far from brand new.  In addition to the worn pedals the front suspension is completely frozen and not functional.  The back of the saddle also appears to have been the choice snack of some household pet at some point.  But even given all of these annoyances the temporary acquisition of this bike has been great and has energized my winter training.  Never have I ever put in anywhere close to the outdoor riding hours in a December that I logged last month.  I've really enjoyed the change of pace, offroad riding, and general change in routine.  I've found offroad riding to be very challenging, there's no way to coast or ride easy through loose gravel.  I'm sure my heart rate stays far higher on a mountain bike ride than an easy spin on the road bike.  Having never spent any real time on a mountain bike before this winter I have no idea how this training will translate to my tri racing next summer, but I'm excited to find out.

2011 Bretscher Multisport Wrapup

It's that time of year again when I brag, not about myself, but about those I have the privilege of coaching.  Coming off of an overwhelmingly successful 2010 season I am happy to report a crew of established Bretscher Multisport veterans, and newbies, of all abilities were able to put up equally successful results in 2011.  Here are the highlights of the year.

Muncie 70.3 2011-all about the team

Andrew, St. Louis:  Coming off a successful 2010 campaign as BMS athlete in which Andrew was awarded USAT All American honors, 2011 was Andrew's best season yet.  He kicked off the racing season early in February with a 3:02 in the Austin TX marathon, went to the New Orleans 70.3 for his first tri of the year (although there was no swim) and came away with his highest placing ever in an Ironman event, 6th in the 25-29 AG.  Followed that up with a new PR and 2nd AG at the Memphis in May Triathlon.  Unfortunately Ironman Couer d'Alene did not go how Andrew envisioned, getting sick midway through the run while on pace to break 10 hours, but credit to Andrew he did not allow his Ironman fitness to go to waste and capped off his season with his first ever triathlon overall win in the Big Shark Triathlon.  Andrew will return for his fourth consecutive season as BMS athlete in 2012, race schedule TBA. 

Billie, Plainfield IN:  Billie joined the team in 2011 looking to take his tri game to new heights.  He raced a shortened season as he had twins arrive in August.  Billie put up quality results in local early season races Terre Haute and an age group victory, 2:14 PR in the Muncie Olympic Tri.  He capped his season off in July with his best performance of the year, the Muncie 70.3 with a 50 minute PR of 4:51.  Billie will be back on the squad in 2012.

Dana, Chicago:  Like Andrew, Dana returned to Team BMS in 2011 for his third consecutive year on the squad coming off a 2010 season which saw him named USAT Age Group All American.  Dana had a solid season with an early season age group victory in the Kansas 70.3, and then later in the year bettered his 70.3 PR twice at the Muncie 70.3 and then again in the Pigman half with a 4:14.  He went under 2 hours in an olympic distance for the first time ever in the Pleasant Prairie Tri with a 1:59.  Finally Dana finished his year off with his first Iron distance in many years at Rev 3 Cedar Point.  Dana's 9:20 finish landed him 4th place overall and narrowly bettered his previous PR of 13 hours.

Greg, St. Louis:  Greg joined the BMS squad in 2011 after signing up for Ironman Florida.  He raced many local early season races consistently finishing 20 minutes faster than previous years and towards the top of his age group.  He managed an olympic PR of 2:23 and a 5:18 finish at the Racine 70.3, a 30-minute PR.  Greg finished the year on the highest note at Ironman Florida with an 11:03 debut at the distance, good enough for 407th overall on the day.  Greg will return to the squad in 2012, Ironman Arizona will be his focus.

Jen, Zionsville IN:  Like Greg, Jen joined in 2011 with Ironman Florida as the major goal.  She won her AG with a 2:36 olympic distance performance at Tri Indy.  She had what was likely her best performance of the year at the Steelhead 70.3 and did something she didn't plan on: qualified for the 70.3 World Champs.  Catching the flu 7 days before Ironman Florida made things difficult as Jen couldn't workout 6 out of the last 7 days leading into the race but a gutsy performance still yielded a 12:53 finish, within minutes of her PR.

Julie, Chicago:  After many years in the sport and 2 previous years on team BMS, Julie entered 2011 with her much anticipated Iron distance debut on the radar.  In the leadup to that race Julie couldn't help but set PRs in every other distance she competed.  This included a 2:22 olympic distance PR, and a 5:12 70.3 PR.  Julie also finished 2nd place overall at the Green Bay Triathlon, her highest overall finish ever.  And then at her much anticipated Rev 3 Cedar Point she put together what was likely her greatest athletic performance ever going 11:26 in her first Iron distance, good enough for 7th place overall on the day.  Julie was pretty excited.

Mike, Brownsburg IN:  "Racing machine" Mike was back on the squad in 2011 with more race results than I can mention.  Highlights for Mike include his highest overall finish ever with a 2nd at the June Muncie Sprint Triathlon, along with another overall podium, 3rd place overall at the Hoosierman Triathlon.  Add to that a 1:33 half marathon PR and a 21st place age group finish at the Steelhead 70.3, Mike's highest age group placing ever in an Ironman 70.3.  Unfortunately Mike's Ironman Wisconsin got a little ugly as he fought issues on the run which prevented him from being able to run but credit to him he didn't pull out and walked it in to finish the race.  I know Mike and the race will only fuel his fire when he goes to Ironman Louisville and Florida in 2012.

Moira, Decatur IL:  New to the squad in 2011, Moira raced a series of successful local sprints followed by her peak for the season, and half distance debut, the Racine 70.3.  In Racine she had her best race of the year finishing in 5:21, good enough for 14th place in her age group.  Moira will return in 2012 with Ironman Wisconsin on the radar.  

Paul, Terre Haute IN:  Paul joined team BMS in 2011 with Muncie 70.3 as the focus.  At Muncie Paul recorded a 5:18 finish, a lifetime PR at the age of 53, and 21st out of 127 in the 50-54 age group.  Paul will return in 2012 with another Muncie PR planned along with select races in the Rev 3 series.

Ron, Cedar Rapids IA:  Ron returned for his second year on the squad in 2011 coming off a 2010 season which saw him named age group All American after finishing the season ranked 2nd in the 50-54 age group.  Ron started 2011 hot with an age group victory at Memphis in May, finished 2nd place overall at the Door County Sprint, and went a lifetime PR for the half distance at the Pigman Tri with a 4:30 finish.  Ron's major focus for the year was the highly competitive HyVee Triathlon where he finished in 2:11 on a tough course and yet another age group victory.  Ron capped off the season earlier this month in Las Vegas at the ITU Long Course World Champs.  His first appearance in a World Championship and significantly further than he had ever raced, Ron brought home the age group bronze medal in the 50-54 age group.

Suzanne, St. Louis:  Coming off a successful 2010 season with team BMS and the "gutsy performance of the year" at Ironman Wisconsin, Suzanne was back for more in 2011.  She put together successful results in the Austin Marathon, New Orleans 70.3, and a 4min PR with a 2:44 olympic distance finish in tough conditions at Memphis in May.  But the focus all year for Suzanne was the Vineman full-Iron in California where she recorded a massive 57 minute PR with a 12:26 finish.

Thanks everyone for another fantastic season.  Look for more of the same in 2012 with a team as strong as ever and a growing team presence at the races.  Who wants to be apart of this?

2011 Wrap

My 2011 season is complete.  After dealing with a pretty significant calf pull suffered during the run of the Westchester Triathlon and, consequently, having to withdrawal from the start list of the Pocono 70.3 and Rev 3 South Carolina, my focus races for the end of the season, I ended up deciding to call it a year and not chase a late season race.  I had the desire to race more, but couldn't really find another race option to warrant traveling to.  I tossed around the idea of a November Ironman for a while, but that would make 3 Ironmans in a 5-month span and having only raced one Ironman prior to 2011 I thought it might be just a bit much.  Mainly though I just wasn't fully committed to racing another Ironman this year and probably the biggest lesson I've learned in my short stint of Ironman racing is the importance of being completely committed to the task at hand heading in.  I am heading into the offseason hungry and excited for next year, something I haven't felt heading into the winter months in a few years.

My 2011 season didn't start or end well, but all in all I feel pretty good about what I was able to accomplish this season.  I started this race season embarrassingly out of shape and it took a lot of mental strength to stick to the training plan through those initial race results.  But I stuck to the plan and by the time July came around I was rolling and gaining momentum with every race.  Looking back and comparing my May-June race results with my July-September results it's hard to believe that these results all came in the same season.  Highlights for the year were my three separate 5th place finishes at the Muncie 70.3, Ironman Lake Placid, and Rev 3 Cedar Point.  Cedar Point was without question the best shape I was in all season and my best performance of the year, unfortunately riding 6 miles off course on the bike cost me what most likely would have been a finish time in the 8:30s and a potential podium finish (and not to mention the money).

Looking ahead to next year I think my first priority has to not be so much getting faster, but being fit for a much longer stretch.  My main goal in this sport right now is simply to make a comfortable living.  Getting faster will only help my cause but mostly I need to be in shape for longer than just 3 months.  If I can replicate the same fitness I had in the late season this year and maintain that fitness for 6-7 months instead of 3 then I'm in for a really great year.  I don't have to be faster, just race fit for longer.

All in all I feel really good about where I'm at in life right now.  A year ago I was coming off of my second consecutive rough year of under performing, my team had just announced it would no longer exist at the end of the year (all my sponsors gone), my job as triathlete was feeling more and more like a burden, I wasn't having fun, the 9-5 and steady paycheck was looking very appealing, and I had begun applying to some real world jobs (gasp) with the intention that I would take a year sabbatical at the very least or quit the sport entirely if I landed a job I wanted.  It was during that stretch last winter that I quit exercising for several months, got way out of shape and I think it was the best thing for me.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder as they say, my mind rebooted during the down time, I got excited about training, racing, and triathlon again, signed on with a new team, and approached the season with a brand new, healthier mindset.  I learned to embrace the setbacks and disappointments along the way as simply an unavoidable and sometimes necessary part of the process towards being great.  All the time off certainly put me way behind the game at the start of the season, but I think I was also better towards the end, and will be a better athlete and person in the future, because of it.  Today I'm really enjoying my career as pro triathlete and coach.

I look forward to getting just mildly out of shape this offseason and coming in hot to 2012!