CAM DYE TRI

Off Season Update #1

2011-11-03T11:18:00.002-06:00

This year the off season came a little earlier than usual with the arrival of my son Liam. After finishing off the season well at Dallas things around the Dye household have been crazy to say the least.

It started off pretty innocently the first couple weeks after Dallas with me taking my two weeks of absolutely no training and trying to just enjoy the new little man and some much needed down time. After those two weeks completely off, starts the next two weeks of what coach calls "transition" time. Not as in changing shoes, but as in slowly getting back into the water and on the bike and out for a run here and there. Nothing hard, no more than a couple workouts a day. Also getting to add in lifting again which I love from my days as a swimmer. I feel like for me lifting adds just enough of a strength element that I see big gains on the run and bike every year and it also keeps me injury free over the winter when I am putting in long base miles.

Unfortunatley, my transition training was interrupted but an extremely 4 day stay at Children's Hospital in Denver. What started as a couple of worried parents taking a son with a distended belly to the ER, turned into a helicopter ride for the lil man to Children's and a subsequent 4 day stay. During that time there was a surgery that went from "absolutely necessary" to "nothing was wrong with him". There was a round of antibiotics that were started for an infection that didn't exist, and finally a diagnosis of a virus that Liam just had to fight off on his own.

Now that probably sounds like the Dr's were crazy and did a poor job, but quite the contrary they were wonderful. Apparently Liam just displayed this virus very differently than most, and produced some alarming X-rays that turned out to be just fine. The Doc's and nurses at Children's were amazing, and my wife and I owe them the biggest thanks for taking such good care of us in such a scary time! In the end Liam is perfectly healthy and now I guess has a stronger immune system for his trouble.

Training has been going just fine. Still haven't done anything hard but have gotten in some good longer rides and some good runs. Just built up a new cycle-cross bike which after watching last weeks Boulder Cup I am extremely excited to get out on. Not sure if I will do any races, but should be a great extra bike to spend some time on this winter.

Other than that it has been the off season as normal so far. Eating some unhealthy food, drinking a few more beers, and enjoying some college football.

Check out the Q&A fellow pro Andrew Starykowicz and I had on his blog about past success' and next year's plan for more - http://astarykowicz.blogspot.com/2011/11/cameron-dye.html

I will try and add three tips for off season success at the end of each of these, here are the first:

1. Let yourself get out of shape. Being too fit for too long is hard on the body. You need to rebuild at some point so you can make gains on all your hard work.

2. Spoil yourself. If you want an extra scoop of ice cream or an extra beer have it, you hold yourself back enough during the season.

3. Cross train. We swim, bike, and run all season find something else to help with the boredom of the same ol same ol. XC ski, hike, cycle-cross, just something a little different.

Enjoy the off season, have a beer, and GO HAWKS!

US Open Toyota Cup Finale

2011-10-04T14:56:00.004-06:00

This past weekend was the last race in the Chase for the Toyota Cup at the US Open in Dallas, TX. Going into the race I was coming off the emotional highs of winning the LA Triathlon as well as the birth of my first son a couple days later. That said I have to say a huge thanks to my family, in particular my wife Natalie for letting me get some sleep over the days leading up to the race as well as her mother Cindy who stayed with her at night in the hospital.

Going into the race much had been made about the tight battle for the series crown between myself, Andy Potts, and Greg Bennett who were all separated by only a couple of points. I tried to minimize my thinking on that and just concentrate on going out and tearing up the race. You win the race and the rest will take care of itself. Also, my parents came down to watch me race and although they were at HyVee earlier in the year it was great to have their support at the race.

Friday and Saturday were standard pre race. Normal meals, meetings and workouts and a great stay at the race hotel. If there is one thing that the Lifetime Fitness Series does really well it is take care of the athletes! Race time was set for 7:20 Sunday morning so it was Hawaiian pizza for dinner Saturday night with Mom and Dad and then early to bed.

4:45 wake up call came early but I never seem to have any trouble waking up for race morning. Instant adrenaline combined with a nice hot shower gets the body going. Lemon Lime EFS with a little pre-race and a couple packs of instant oatmeal and then it was time to get to transition. After a solid bike/run warm up I grabbed a towel and jacket and headed down to the water. It was surprisingly chilly race morning and although I thought twice about it I decided to get in for a swim warm up. The water was great, however, after getting out I was freezing even in my clothes and did my best to stay warm for the 15 or so minutes until the gun. Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain in Texas this summer the water was really low so instead of the normal dock start that all us swimmers love so much, we were in the water for a deep water send off.

The horn went off and I got a good start, getting into some open water and then slowly working my way over to Andy's feet. Gomez was blazing up the inside line and it looked as though we would come together right at the first turn buoy. The good news was that we did, however, the bad news was that right about then was when I got dropped. It doesn't happen very often but sometimes you just lose the feet in front of you and then no matter what you do you just can't get back on. At that point I just tried to stay calm, keep rolling and stay positive. I just tried to keep in mind that I have never won the swim in a race that I eventually won, so it was certainly not the end of the world. By the time we hit T1 I was 15-20 sec back which wasn't too bad, but the fact that even I had 30 seconds on the rest of the field was definitely a positive heading out on the bike.

As we rolled up the hill and off on the bikes I tried to mash the pedals and reel in Gomez and Potts as fast as I could. I caught and passed Andy at about mile 3 but it wasn't until almost mile 6 that I caught Gomez. I know he is a great athlete and rider, but the ITU guys get a bad rap as not being able to ride hard on their own. In some respects it was nice to see someone proving them wrong, although with him the bigger the head start on the run the better. As we rolled through the first turn around I was really hurting. Legs didn't feel that good and I was laboring pretty good just to keep my pace. Luckily u-turns give you a read on the field and as I headed back around I could see I had a decent lead and I needed to dig deep to build it over the last 7 miles or so. Before the race I had taped the hospital bracelet for my son to my bike and as I hammered home I just kept looking at it and thinking about him for a little extra motivation!

I came into T2 1min up on Gomez and about 1:10 on Bennett and I did my best to imitate LA and throw down a good run. The effort was there but on a really tough run course against two of the best in the world it just wasn't meant to be that day. At the turn around I was in third but by a good margin over Andy in 4th and I knew to stay in 2nd in the series I had to finish ahead of Andy if I was behind Greg. In the back of my mind I also knew that if Filip or someone could sneak by Andy I would move into first overall in the series, so there was plenty of reason to power home.

Coming to the line I was in 3rd, and although the margin had dwindled it was enough. By beating Andy and staying one behind Greg I had secured 2nd in the Chase for the Toyota Cup! Of course winning would have been better but considering the middle of my season and the two major problems I had during the season I was extremely excited about the result. Not only had I established myself as a real player in the world of the non-draft olympic distance I had finally finished a season as strong as I started it.

After the amazing week I had already had, finishing on the podium at US Open and getting 2nd in the Chase was the perfect end to the season. Great results, plenty of room for improvement and a great time for a little rest!

Liam Robert Dye

2011-09-29T19:14:00.002-06:00

On Sunday I got home from the LA triathlon at about 12am and Natalie was having some stomach pain. We tried to get some sleep but she woke me at 6am and we decided to head to the hospital. She wasn't due for another 3+ weeks but we just wanted to make sure everything was ok. Good thing we did too because once we got there and they lessened her pain some they did some blood work and found out the baby was ok but needed to come out. Luckily our OB decided that it would be worth trying a natural delivery before doing doing surgery so they induced her at about 10am.

Sparing you the details, my wife is my hero! She had the baby with 3 epidurals that all wore off and at 2:51 Liam Robert Dye came into the world at 6lbs, 18.75in. Not too bad for a 36 and 5 baby. The doctors say that he is in perfect health and that mom is doing just great, especially considering that the way she gave birth was probably the worst way possible. I am so proud of my baby and so happy for my new baby. I will post a pic as soon as I have one on the computer, but for now I gotta figure out how to get focused on tearing up the race in Dallas on Sunday! Thank you for all kind words of support and congratulations!

Third time's a charm...

2011-09-29T18:46:00.003-06:00

In more than one way this past weekend was the third of something. It was the third race since my crash in Minnesota in July, and it was also the third time that I have done the LA Triathlon. Since anyone reading this probably knows the outcome of the race they know that the third time was a charm!

LA was exactly what I needed. It was the confidence booster I was in need of as well as the proof that my training was working and that everything I had put into the last three months had not been for nothing.

The weekend started out great as my friend Allen and I were lucky enough to be hooked up with an awesome homestay in LA. Our host for the weekend Greg was great and he made the weekend super easy. His family are the proud owners of the last single family home left on Ocean Ave at Santa Monica beach. It is the bright yellow one story with a little yard out front and a nice porch where I spent a good deal of time enjoying the ocean and the Cali weather. We were about a two mile ride from the race start so it was a great base camp for the weekend.

Race morning we got up about 2.5 hours before race start and I jumped in a hot shower as has become my routine. Followed that up with a big bottle of EFS and some maple-brown sugar instant oatmeal and then it was time to head down to the race start. We rode to transition, set up our spots a little bit and then I headed back out for some more warm up on the bike. I have noticed lately that I seem to do better with a little bit more warm up so adding in a bit extra has become a part of my pre race.

After the ride and a quick jog to shake out the legs it was in to the Blue Seventy Helix and out to the beach. The waves were not too bad and the water was brisk but not too cold. After a little swim warm up we headed back up the beach for the start. One of my favorite parts of the race in LA is the swim because you have to run in about 100m and then dolphin dive your way out until you can swim. Once we were out and swimming I took control of the pace and lead the boys around the L shaped swim course. Unfortunatley, the swim at LA is also one of my least favorite parts because you have to surf the waves back in and if you miss, you will definitely not win the swim and as I watched Greg go sailing by me I was kicking myself for not spending more time in the ocean.

It was still a good run up the beach and I came out of transition in first and began to hammer out a good tempo. Bennett stayed with me for about 3 miles but then started to fade backwards and I tried to put in a little extra effort. The bike course is a false flat uphill which is great for my style and by the first turn around I realized I had a big gap over Greg and then another good gap to the next chasers. I tried to pound some First Endurance Hulk Juice (EFS/pre-race/EFS gel) and keep the legs moving. Nothing is more motivating than a big gap and once I saw that I tried to find just a little bit more to make this as big as possible heading into T2. I had a good transition and was off and running and feeling really good.

As I headed out I felt better than I usually do and was confident in the way I had been running during training. After hitting the big hill on Grand St. the first time and getting to the top with a substantial lead I tried to not relax keep hammering out a good pace. By the time the second lap began I knew my lead was starting to slip. Greg is a fantastic runner and after watching him run down Waldo so many times over the years I knew I really needed to hoof it back to the top of the hill. Hills are hard because they obviously take a lot out of you, but when you get the chance to go up AND down, you have to take advantage. When you are in the lead if you can hit the downhill before the chaser does it is an easy way to squeak out a bit more, or in this case hold on for dear life. Rounding the final corner I took a peek over my shoulder and knew I had done it! The feeling of knowing you have won a race without sprinting to the line is amazing and I tried to soak in the crowd and enjoy the chute on the way to my second Toyota Cup win of the year.

Once it was all done I looked back and realized that for the first time in my career I was able to break the 33 min mark in a legit 10k as I had run 32:45. Now that is not the 31:04 that Filip ran, but it is a significant improvement over the past and a big move in the right direction. At the time I was excited about the race and excited to get home to my pregnant wife, but little did I know the excitement I was in for...

On to the next one...

2011-09-11T21:14:00.003-06:00

Luckily for me Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines exactly one week ago was not my last race of the season. It was by far the biggest focus of the year, and probably the biggest race of my life thus far but at least not the last.

Anyone who knows me or knows how my racing has gone knows that the season started great and was going along perfectly until my untimely incident in MN in July. After a couple weeks off and a couple weeks back on track the focus remained to tear it up at Hy-Vee. Going into the race I felt good physically, but mentally was a bit frazzled after my less than amazing performance in Chicago the week prior. I knew my numbers were where they should be in training but the lack of a solid ride in Chicago, the one thing I always do, had been a bit of a mental set back.

Now when you have a bad race there are plenty of reasons. You can be unfit. You can be tired or sick. You could be injured. You could just have a bad day. Or you could absolutely fry yourself with nerves in the days leading up to the race, which is more of less the diagnosis my coach and I have come to. I always put huge expectations on myself, and for the most part it is a good thing. But there are times where the weight of the world does nothing but break your back, and in this case that seems to be the outcome.

The race itself started well with a good start and a solid swim leaving me in 2nd heading out of T1. It is exactly where I wanted and expected to be and as I rode away thought it was gonna be a good day. However, as soon as I started riding I felt like I had no pop in my legs. Almost as though I was stuck in 2nd gear, and when guys started passing me and my best effort did little to stay with them I realized it was gonna be a long day instead. Despite my best efforts to chase on the bike and then run hard throughout the 10k my best was simply not good enough. In a field of 30 of the worlds best, racing for huge money, if you are just a little off you are out of the game, and I was at best just a little off.

This blog is a full week post race and to be honest it is simply that I spent the first half of the week in a depressed funk about the race, and the second half actively trying to determine where it went wrong. Gotta say a huge thanks to my wife and family for supporting me, and to all my friends that came to the race to cheer me on.

I love Iowa. The fact that the biggest, richest, most well run professional non-drafting race is in Des Moines doesn't shock me a bit. Iowa knows what's what, and they showed it again last Sunday. The fans were amazing, the course was great, and the athlete support was second to none. At this point I am chomping at the bit for next years race already, but in the mean time have to get in some good training and try and race myself into better position in the Toyota Cup. I am still in 2nd with 2 races to go including the double points finale in Dallas. Catching Andy is not likely, but it is possible, so for now its back to the grind. Like Jay-z says, "It's on to the next one..."

Gotta do better than that...

2011-08-29T21:57:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was the Chicago Triathlon. To be honest when I think of the race I always think of good things and how much I love the city of Chicago, but in reality my experiences there never seem to go quite as planned. This last year I led the whole race until mile 2 of the run and simply bonked, didn't eat enough, and crashed. This year was supposed to be a sort of redemption, both for last year and for the wreck I was in 6 weeks ago in MN.

After the accident I took some time off of training to repair the body and had put in a good block of work leading into Chi-Town. My expectations were high as I felt like my cycling was at an all time high and my swimming and running had returned most of the way to the pre-wreck form. But in all honesty I knew in the back of my mind that I wasn't resting much for this race and that it was really a dry run for this coming weeks big money show down at Hy-Vee.

That said, I came to race. I felt a bit sluggish the couple days before and the morning of but did my best to get in a good warm up. The temperatures were much better this year and I just excited to be back racing. Unfortunately, about 200m into the swim I knew something wasn't quite right. I consider myself a top level swimmer, and even amongst other good swimmers I think I have a lot of speed. So at 200m in when I realized I was still in the front row moving down the harbor wall not getting any separation I had a bit of a sinking feeling. The water was super choppy, which is never really great for a long swim stroke and in this case I felt like I was getting beat around in a washing machine. I did my best to keep my head in the game, focus on the feet in front of me and try and work forward in the group. Although it felt like I was losing minutes to the lead and must be in 30th place I came out around 7th only about 15 sec down, and after the long run to T1 I was right in the mix.

Then it happened again. About 2 mi into the bike I just had the feeling that my legs weren't gonna have it today. I was putting in the normal effort but wasn't gaining any ground and in fact was slowly being dropped by the leaders. Now its not like I was getting dropped by scrubs, guys like Charbot, Bennett, Starky, and Matthews can definitely ride, but so can I and this was not how this was supposed to be playing out. Again I tried to keep my head in it, get in my fluids and plug away but with the big wind it was really shortening the bike and cutting my time to make up ground. With a big head/tail wind the problem is that you can really only make up ground in the head wind, because the other way everyone is spinning their biggest gear and going roughly the same speed. By the time we got back to T2 I felt like I was miles behind and doing my best to remain in 6th.

Threw on the shoes and away we went, at first feeling solid but slowly realizing I was way behind the guys in front, solidly ahead of most of the guys behind, and already starting to think about the next race. Now...that is unacceptable! I know that. This is my job, every race needs to be my absolute best and up until that point I had given it. In some races in the past I have sort of cashed it in and settled for where I was in the race. It is something I desperately need to work on, and something that I have been working on. However, on this day my inner demons got the better of me and all I could think about on the run was the hot spots on my feet, and the next race. I finished 9th. It's not awful, but its certainly not good, and its not what I expect from myself. When I toe the line I am there to win, and Chicago was no different, but I let my mind get the better of my body and my effort just wasn't good enough.

In racing as in life you get better by realizing your mistakes, learning from them, and moving forward. At Chicago I wasn't very rested, coming off and injury, having an off day and I let my mind sabotage what was left of the race. I know that was not the best I can do, and heading into Hy-Vee I am all the more fired up to get it right. I am excited to be going back to Iowa where I spent some of the best years of my life and see some of the people that were there for them. I am excited to be racing in the best non-drafting olympic men's field the world has ever seen, and I am excited about my abilities to throw down a big race. There are 30 guys racing, and 15 at least have a legit chance to win this race. I am one of those 30, and plan on making damn sure my mind does not get in the way of my body making that happen.

Hy-Vee Elite Cup Championship

Des Moines, IA

4pm Sunday Sept. 4th 2011

Better get ya popcorn ready...

Half way to Hy-Vee

2011-08-07T17:01:00.002-06:00

Well its been a month since my crash at Lifetime and we are about the half way point between there and the big race of the year, Hy-Vee, so thought it might be time for an update.

The ribs are healing. Once I had x-rays done they confirmed there were no breaks in the bones.They think the pain and trouble breathing and exercising is due to cracks in the cartilage along with some bruising of the muscles and bones. So it's not worse case, just painful, and the worst part is rest is the only real treatment. I have been going to Ti-Massage here in Boulder to use the cold laser and the e-stem machines on it as well as some soft tissue work to help speed up the process.

I took that initial week completely off and enjoyed a wonderful pre-baby road trip around the mountains in CO. Got to see some beautiful scenery which helped take my mind of the ribs. Once I got back it was two weeks of pretty much biking only, with some very short swims and some water running. Finally, this past week I was able to get in a couple decent runs, and some more substantive swim work which has boosted the fitness and the confidence a bit. The whole time I have been riding a lot, including winning yesterday's Lookout Mtn Hill Climb in the Cat 4's followed by a 5.5 hr ride in the hills.

Now I have three weeks to put in some good hard work before blowing out the legs at Chicago and then a final week of prep for the throw down in Des Moines. Now that I have gotten more back into the swing of training I am feeling better mentally about getting ready and the body doesn't seem to far behind. I know injuries are bound to happen and I know you are supposed to only worry about the things you can control, but that is always easier said than done. Especially when you are expecting a lil man in about 3 months!

On other fronts, Natalie and I have been busy starting to get ready for the baby. Spent a solid 4hrs at the newly opened Ikea in Denver and now have a lot of boxes in the house that need assembly. Lucky for me the swim team is on their break so I have a few more afternoons now to get things done, and just rest up around my workouts. Natalie is at 30 weeks this week and although tired a lot now, the baby seems to be doing awesome.

I am starting to get the itch to race again and really look forward to the next few weeks of prep work and then the racing. Not a lot of races left on the calendar but they all matter now for one series or another so its time to up the game. Its been great to watch the swimming word championships and the ITU races in London for motivation and inspiration these last few weeks.

Game time 27 days and counting...

3rd time not a charm

2011-07-10T07:04:00.004-06:00

So far I have been to Minneapolis for the Lifetime race twice and both times there has been a bit of an issue, which is most definitely not to say anything bad about the race because I actually really like the race. Last year I went there as my first race back from a stress fracture in my foot and I was on course record pace until the run, which I hadn't done in 6 weeks and, needless to say didn't go well. This year was a bit of a different story as going in I was running better than ever, riding and swimming well and really looking forward to a great race!

Race morning started well, good breakfast of EFS and oatmeal, hopped on the bus and got to the Lake plenty early for a good warm up. I actually didn't feel good during the warm up but from past experiences with swim meet and races, feeling bad during warm up is almost a good thing for the race. The weather was cool and windy and it rained a bit right before the swim start, just enough to get the oil to the surface of the roads and make the the rough roads that much trickier.

Lifetime brought back the equalizer this year so the men started 10:43 behind the women and on the horn I ran into the water and jumped right on Andy's feet. I had a good swim exiting right with him and we had put about 30 sec into the the other guys which is a solid effort. Once on the bikes I slammed some Hulk Juice (remember 1 EFS vanilla gel, 1 EFS lemon lime scoop, 1/2 scoop pre race) and took off. I got away from Andy pretty quickly and by the half was point had a decent lead. When you race in urban areas there are lots of cops stopping traffic for you but some times they aren't paying attention. My first incident was coming up to a crossing I had to start screaming at a cop to get him to stop the cars, and luckily he did, first crash avoided!

Then about 1/2 way through the bike a dude out for a ride got an ear full from me as he came to a screetching halt just shy of T-boning me at another intersection, 2nd crash avoided.

I hammered out a good pace for the second half although I was a bit cautious around some turns because of the wet which I know cost me a bunch of time. I had passed a few more girls and was heading back into T2 in the lead, feet were on the pedals, 100 yds from the dismount and then incident number 3. An age grouper came out of transition and tried to do a flying mount onto his bike, however, from lack of practice or body control he began to go through the line of cones and into my lane. I slammed on my breaks and road over to the left as far as I could to avoid him but my C75 met the curb and I did a slow motion flip over the bars and onto said curb. 3rd crash NOT avoided!!!

I jumped up looked at the bike, seemed to be ok. Felt for issues with my limbs, seemed to be ok so I jumped back on the bike only to find the chain off. So I hopped off and ran the last 100yds into T2. To add insult to my injury Matty rode by me during my jog. Mentally I was absolutely pissed and physically so jacked on adrenaline that I could have fought Tyson. Racked my bike and started running with Matty and a couple girls. As we exited T2 I could feel I had bashed my hip pretty good but running didn't seem to make it worse so I kept going. I ran well for about 2 mi and then slowly the hip started to hurt more and the boys began to get closer behind me and my mind started to fight me as to whether it was worth it to continue. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and trying to focus on my running form.

Half way through the 2nd lap I realized I was still in 5th and there was no one really that close behind so it was time to shut up and finish. I got home with no more incident and headed straight to the med tent. Pulled my suit down a bit and had a personal best strawberry on my hip and a pretty awesome bruised feeling in my ribs. I tried to stay calm and luckily no one ever told me who had wrecked me. I am guessing that exchange would not have been good for anyone.

After a bit of time to cool off, and a change of clothes I was over it, or at least a little less pissed. The race director and the Toyota Cup people both sincerely apologized, which after the incidents already this year at Cap Tex was greatly appreciated. I am still young and I tried to take something away from the accident for future use. Here is what I have so far:

- #$%& happens when racing. Control what you can, hope for the best.

- If you can physically finish, DO. One DNF can lead to a lot, not a habit I want to start.

- At least I fall well, my helmet has no scratches and the body could def be way worse!

Not sure if the USAT officials ever found out who hit me but to all the age groupers out there please, please stay on your side of the road. You are out there competing and racing and I love that, but as someone who does it for a living and needs to be in one piece these kinds of incidents are scary!

Now its time for a road trip with Natalie, luckily had planned an easy week for this one so letting the ribs and hip heal will fit right into the plan. Next up Chicago and Hy-Vee...the big ones are about to start!!!

Philly Tri weekend

2011-06-28T12:08:00.002-06:00

The third stop on the Race for the Toyota Cup was in Philadelphia, PA this past weekend. For me it was a chance to race again after a few good training weeks at home and also an opportunity to hang out with and meet the people from my bike sponsor, Kestrel, which along with Fuji is based in Philly. The people of the Advanced Sports team not only make the best bikes out there but they are definitely some of the best people in the sport!

Going into the weekend I was really pleased with the way training had been going and was excited to toe the line again with Andy, Matt, and the rest of the usual suspects. The couple days before the race went great with some light workouts, a lil party at Cadence cycles and the the VIP dinner at the St Joe's boat house.

Race morning came bright and early at 4am and after my standard oatmeal and EFS breakfast rode down the hill to the race start with Matty. After setting up the transition and a quick warm up it was onto a bus that took us up the river a bit to the start. Now I won't say the Schuylkill river is certainly not the cleanest water on the planet but since the rain held off it was just a nice muddy brown color. If you ask Pip Taylor, who had a rough go with some swallowed Schuylkill, it was awful but I luckily had no such mishaps.

Once the gun went off I got out fast and once I was clear of most of the group dropped in behind Potts and held on for dear life. The guy was an all-american in college and still swims like it. I held his feet for most of it and then lost a bit of time near the 1k mark but coming out was only down about 10 sec which I knew I could make up in T1. The best part was that we had separated from the main group and were leaving on the 4000's on clear road. As we rolled out we both put in good efforts on the first hills and went back and forth for the majority of the first lap. I was able to finally get some time up Lemon hill and then hold on as we bombed back down Black's road to complete lap one when I realized I wasn't able to shift my rear derailleur,CRAP!

So after a quick mental pro's/con's list I decided I had to stop and fix the cable or I was gonna toast my legs on the climbs the 2nd lap. So I slammed on the brakes, watched Andy fly by, and jumped back on. Lead gone, now playing catch up, and trying to keep the adrenaline under control. I hammered away but didn't catch him until Lemon hill again and although I was able to get a bit of a lead into T2 it was certainly not the substantial one I was hoping for.

I tore out of T2 dodging age groupers coming out of the water and doing my best to find some relaxed speed. Problem was I didn't seem to have either. As we neared mile 2 Andy caught and passed me and when I tried to step on the gas there just wasn't anything there. At the turn around I could see Bennett and Reed hammering out a fast clip and by mile 4 they had gotten me as well. I was struggling to stay relaxed and when I get tired I had a bad habit of leaning backwards, which I am sure I was doing the whole run.

Luckily, I had done enough on the swim and bike that my less that awesome 10k was enough to keep me in 4th. I am certainly not happy with the result but the effort was there and in a series that has 7 races and you can score 5, I think 4th was good enough to not have to throw away. Only time will tell, but I am excited to be heading back to Minneapolis in a couple weeks, and unlike last year coming off a stress fractured foot this year I will be ready to run! I was also happy that even with the quick pit stop on the bike I got the bike prime which is good. You never know when you will need that extra 1/2 a point!

Thanks to the race organizers for putting on a wonderful event, and to the guys at Advanced Sports for being awesome hosts! A weekend in Boulder and then as Jay-Z says, "It's on to the next one..."

It's a BOY!!

2011-06-14T12:13:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I did not race. In an effort to write about something other than a race this is the most exciting news I have gotten recently. Last Tuesday, Natalie and I went in for the 20 week untra sound of our baby. We had decided we both wanted to know the sex so we were excited to finally be able to call the growing baby a he or she. Almost as soon as the tech started she paused on a screen and said, "Yes that is definitely a boy!" As we looked closer we realized that our lil man has potential to be a swimmer as he is not very modest at all, just sort of sprawled out with it all hanging loose. The best part is that everything else seems to be in the right place and as of now he has a clean bill of health.

I gotta say I am psyched to be having a boy. I feel like a boy is sort of the like the training wheels of parenting. Now that's not to say boys are easy, but I feel they are definitely easier. They seem a little less breakable, and have way less drama. Although lately I had been looking for shot guns and rocking chairs and watching Bad Boys II. There is a great scene in their where the two guys grill an unsuspecting kid that came by to pick up the daughter. If you have ever seen my brother it is easy to picture the two of us having a similar discussion.

Oh well. Now I guess its all about getting this lil guy some good Hawkeye onesies and deciding what professional sport he will play when he grows up. Oh and a name, still gotta find a name...

CapTex, from bee sting to podium

2011-06-02T21:21:00.003-06:00

I guess one of the bigger parts of the race happened on Friday last week the day before I flew down to Austin. I was out for a tempo run and 15 mins into a 60 min run got stung by a bee right between my head band and glasses. I have no bee allergies and forgot about it when I went to bed that night. However, when I woke up the next morning to finish packing my eye was swollen a little and very tender. No big deal, just go through the routine and it will pass with some Benadryl.

WRONG...over the course of Saturday it got progressively worse and when I woke up Sunday morning it was shut. The following pic is from about 10 am on Sunday. I think I look like Sloth from the Goonies but whatever. When I woke it was completely shut but luckily started to open a bit. I was gonna race if it was open enough that I had depth perseption so it was game on as usual, get the pre race workouts in, meeting attended, pizza enjoyed and early to bed. I just hoped the next morning it would be ok.

Race morning the eye was swollen pretty good but not shut so pre race oatmeal, First Endurance EFS and Pre Race and on the bike to ride to the race. I always love races I can ride to. Some people worry about popping tires but I just love the early morning rides through cities and the warm up. At the race site, got things settled in transition, did some loosening and headed to the water for the pontoon start. Thats when it was all about to get real interesting.

On the gun thirty or so guys hit the water and headed to the first right hand turn buoy. The course was just a big rectangle, simple right? Well yes, at least until a See Doo pulls in front of us and tells us we need to follow the paddle boarder and that we were off course. I was annoyed but whatever so we headed after the boarder. Unfortunately, that guy didn't have any idea what was going on and moments later I hear him say I'm wrong head back. WHAT? A professional race was just sabatoged by a couple volunteers??

Dustin and I charged hard and we were able to get all the way back to the front of the group with just a little bit left, or at least we throught. Everything was good until I got to my rack and Pott's Kestrel was gone! I was pissed, totally confused and wondered how a guy that big and fast in the water had disappeared? Now we know he fought the See Doo and went the right way, sometimes it pays to not listen.

On the bike I was mad! At myself, at the volunteers that sent us off the right course, at Andy for somehow getting it right, so I did what I am trained to do, ride as hard as I possibly can! I just started hammering. The bike was a little hilly and really windy but I did everything I could to catch the big guy out front. Lately I have prided myself on the fact that I lead the bike but honestly it was kind of nice to have a carrot dangling out there to chase. It was hot so I was hitting the First Endurance Hulk Juice pretty hard and trying to turn it into the jet fuel to get back the 2:45 Andy started the bike with.

Glad to say it paid off. I got away from the crew, caught Pott's on the last lap and rode the fastest 40k by almost 2 mins over the next best split. As is sometimes the case really hard riding makes for a tough run but I battled hard when Andy caught me and then again when Hunter came by and was able to put in a good blue collar 10k good enough to stay in 3rd. Another podium, made 4 top 3's in 5 weeks, definitely the best month of my career to date. I am making a name for myself, enjoying occasionally rocking the numero uno, and racing fast.

Best part of the trip was my beautiful wife finally felt good enough to make a trip and my lil bro Brandon who recently graduated from CSU came along as well. It was awesome to have a wife and a body guard and all the support I could wish for. Now I have a good 3 weeks to train before the Tri-Wars Battle Royale in Philly on June 26th!

Lessons to learn from the race:

- Roll with the punches, don't get discouraged because something goes wrong, you can still turn in a good result.

- If you are not yet at the start line, don't freak out about things that can possible prevent your race. My eye got better and I raced well. You and your mind can be your best friend or worst enemy.

- Race hard...no matter what. Feel good great. Don't, too bad. You still gotta give it your best.

Rain, Lightning, and a couple stray dogs...MIM

2011-05-24T21:10:00.002-06:00

I just got back from my week in Tennessee and I gotta say that southern hospitality lives on. Not only did I have an amazing homestay with my man Tom in Memphis but all the people at the race, the hotel, the restaurants are just plain nice. Not to say Boulder is a hard knock place but it put BOCO to shame...anyway back to the race that was Memphis in May (In Tunica MS).

After a couple good days of race prep in Memphis Tom and I headed down to the Harrah's Veranda hotel for the MIM triathlon. It is an old race that has been going on for years and put on by the same fine people of Start2Finish Racing but this was the first year in a new venue. On the whole I don't think it was better but just different and the guys put on another great race.

Because of the points that were available for Hy-Vee the race was way bigger than normal and quite stacked with good athletes. The catch at MIM is that it is the only race that plans a TT start with 10 sec going between each pro. It doesn't sound like much but it really does split things up over the 1500 and make for a truly non-drafting race.

The forecast was for hot and humid with a chance of rain, so of course we woke up to lightning, thunder and pouring rain. By the time our race was supposed to get underway at 10:30 the rain had come and gone and come again and with it some pretty gnarly lightning. After talking it over the directors decided to wait a bit and try again and then after some coaxing from us point hungry athletes we were gonna just do a bike/run in the TT start if we couldn't swim.

Luckily the weather broke just for a bit and we started the full triathlon about an hour late. I gotta say the TT swim start is really hard because with no mad dash to the water it is hard to get going right away and then just push yourself for the whole swim. I started number 23 but by the time I exited I was in fourth and headed out through a muddy transition onto the bike. After slamming some First Endurace Hulk Juice I hammered the pedals and caught and passed the other riders to take the "lead." The thing about Tunica is it is flat. I mean like salt flats, speed record setting flat. I averaged almost 30 mph and while I consider myself a strong rider thats a solid number to chuck up for 40K. I built a solid lead and felt ok, but after dodging 2 stray dogs, and riding through an inch of standing water and rain the last few miles I didn't feel great starting the run. Once out on course I knew I was in a good place but I was having a lot of trouble breathing.

Not sure if it was the humidity or what but I started to have side stiches and then full on chest cramping making it really hard to breathe while trying to run fast enough to maintain my stagger on Gemmell, Fleischmann, and the other top runners. I never felt good but was able to pound out good enough for 2nd place, even if it was by tenths in an essential tie with Flash. Funny how the first sprint finish of my career never happened because we started 50 sec apart.

It was a tough day, in some crazy weather but I gotta thank the guys at Start2Finish again for getting a full triathlon in for us. I know sometimes race directors have to make tough calls but these guys really had the athletes, and the interests of the Hy-Vee qualifying's best in mind.

Now it is a week here at home before heading down to Austin to Cap-Tex to hopefully keep and add to my lead in the Toyota Cup series. Excited to have my brother and Natalie traveling with me, and excited to redeem my sub par run from this past weekend.

PS. I miss you Grandma, may you rest in peace

Rev3 Knoxville

2011-05-18T11:26:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was the second running of the Rev3 olympic distance race in Knoxville, TN. Now those of you that know much about me know I have some southern roots, a grandmother still in TN, and a soft spot for southern cuisine. This trip afforded me an opportunity to take advantage of all the above with a post race trip to Grandma's and some good eating. Unfortunately I was solo for the trip because Natalie is still not feeling great and a week long trip to the south didn't seem like a great idea.

If you have never done a Rev3 race I seriously suggest you check them out! They have trucks, and jumbo-trons and all the bells and whistles of a major organization and they put on some great races. This year that had a TV crew on hand to catch the action and put out little clips both before and during the race in preparation for a syndicated airing later on.

I got to Knoxville on Friday and true to southern hospitality was given the keys to an awesome loft right next to the finish line. A huge thanks to Peter Quinn for generously providing an awesome place to stay! After building the bike it was time to meet up with Greg and his TV crew to film some pre race interviews and some b roll stuff for the tv show. It was nice to see the crew again and talk a little bit about the sport, how to make it better for TV and how this telecast was gonna go. They did a good job of hyping up the race between Leanda/Julie and Matt/Me and at least on the guys side we gave them the show they were looking for. Unfortunately I didn't come out on top, but it was another really solid performance and some motivation for the future.

Morning of the race was cool but the rain was holding off so it was setting up to be good weather for some fast racing. Similar to marathons, if it is warm enough that you are not actually cold, about 60, then it is prime weather for fast racing. Woke up and downed the now ritualistic breakfast of maple and brown sugar oatmeal, EFS lemon lime with a half scoop of First Endurance Pre-Race. I LOVE coffee but just never drink it before a morning race, so gotta get my kick start for somewhere. Then it was time to ride around a bit and end up at transition to set up the bike and go for an easy jog. The weather was chilly and had been for a week so the swim was gonna be a wetsuit one. As a swimmer I would prefer to not wear the wetsuits but since it was so cold glad to have my Blue Seventy Helix.

Before the gun went off we were only allowed about 5 mins in the water so wasn't much of a warm up but got in a few strokes, lined up, and hit the gas. Had a good start going straight to the front and then settled into a good rhythm an led the train out to the first buoy. About half way through the swim I was comfortable leading but the chop on the river once we turned to head back was pretty solid so when Flash came up on my hip I glady dropped in on his feet and took a ride to the dock.

Once on the bikes I slammed some Hulk Juice ( 1 scoop EFS LL, 1/2 scoop Pre-race, 1 vanilla gel) and started to hammer out a good cadence. I caught Flash about 3 miles in and from there on it was time to put the boys in the hurt box. I knew Matty and Yoder were fairly close behind but I kept it moving really trying to hammer the uphills and stay aero on the down hills. For the record, this is the most honest, technical non-draft bike course out there, I LOVE IT! At the one turn around I saw Andrew and Matt and then the main chase group a bit back and knew that there was still room to build a lead so heading into the last major climb I planned on hitting the gas. Ironically, that was the same time when Andrew came up next to me and the video that has been going around of me shaking my head came about. I saw him come up on me and pretty much decided that just was not gonna fly. So in an effort to squash the pass right away I hammered into and up the climb, making sure to rep the 303 as best I could. By the time I got to T2 I didnt know how big a lead I had but it never really matters you still gotta haul on the run so into the Pearl Izumi Transitions I went and onto the run.

Honestly, I have rarely felt better than I did at the start of the run and all the way to the turn around I felt in control. When I hit the turn around I knew I still had a good lead on Matty, but I also know how fast those long ass legs can run and I did what I could to keep upping my effort. With about a mile to go I hit an aid station and just as I was getting out of it I heard them yelling at someone else, NOT GOOD! Matt had run me down in a hurry and as we headed back to transition I could hear the foot steps. When we came by me we were on a slight downhill and I did my best to surge and stay with him. After about a quarter mile though the bike effort set in and I just could not hold the pace. I did what I could up the hill to the line but could never quite make up the gap again.

2nd place is sort of like a back handed compliment. Its good, I mean you need to be happy about beating the quality of people I did and riding as well as I am, but at the same time, that's two in a row where I got caught within the last 2 miles. My running is improving. I ran similar to everyone but Matty so its not like I was slow. You don't like to lose to anyone but I respect Matty and the work he has put in to become the king of this distance and I know what it will take to overthrow him. I was happy but not satisfied and now have plenty of motivation to keep working hard and find a way to hold on to that 9 seconds next time.

Now I am spending the week in Memphis at anther amazing homestay with Tom O'Kelly. Will be a good chance to get in some time in humidity, cut out a trip back and forth to CO, and think about how to best attack this weekend at MIM.

Miss you Natalie!

Rule #87: No excuses, play like a champ

2011-05-03T12:24:00.004-06:00

That was the motto as I arrived to transition for my first ever title defense and found out that as they were afraid of the wind was howling and the swim course had been shortened and moved. My first thought was CRAP! Now there is a shorter, easier swim. AND a long long run to T1. Could they make this any more runner friendly????

I stood around with some of the other strong swimmers and we bitched and moaned, talked about how Philip, the awesome race director( I really mean that!!!) was screwing us, how the pts for Hy-Vee would be messed up and basically whining like some rank amateurs.

Post bitch session, I realized I was still wearing #1 and should get my head on straight and do what I can. Always better to control what you can, so went out on my warm up and tried to start thinking positively about the race, especially about my favorite bike course!

As the sun came up and we headed to the swim start we saw that the first buoy was barely in the water, awesome long run in and out, but at that point it was gonna be what it was gonna be so, NO EXCUSES!

They held us a long time at the start but once they unleashed the hounds it was a mad dash to the water in what I would argue is the most competitive and deep mens field ever assembled in a non-drafting olympic distance race. The guy that got 9th has 3 Olympic medals...

The swim was choppy but not bad and we made it back to shore rather unscathed. Side note, first time my hair has ever been a factor was when my cap came off with about 300m to go on the swim, nothing like a lil hair to block your view of the shore. Anyway, starting sprinting down the sidewalk knowing some of the worlds greatest runners were on my heels. I was in 4th and believe it or not only lost one spot to Gemmel at the end of the run. Needless to say I was quite pleased with that as we grabbed the machines and headed out.

This is becoming my element. I am a swimmer, but my bike is improving and I am starting to really enjoy getting strapped into the PI kicks and smashing! I hit it hard and by mile 2 had a lead that I decided I was gonna try and maximize over the 40K. I really like this course. I really like my Kestrel 4000. I really like my Hulk juice from First Endurance( 1/2 scoop pre race, 1 scoop Lemon-lime EFS, 1 vanilla gel package, shake and serve cold). All the things I like really came together and I felt strong and in control the whole ride. I knew I needed to put a hurt on the boys as they were all pacing each other in a group and I was out breaking the wind solo.

By the time I got to T2 I heard I had 90 sec, which was nice to hear but in reality it was more like 65. I threw on the lime green and black PI Transitions and we headed out, this time with my headband! Yes that is a big deal. On the run I felt strong and the thousand fans or so lining the sidewalk heading out really helped me get in the zone. Time to hammer and see what I could maintain through the turn around. Turned out to be about 40 sec I guessed which was good, but Filip can run and so can Matt, so it was head down time. My mantra when I run is "run tough" so I did was I could. The big man and the Czech caught me with about a half mile to go and I did what I could but didnt have the wheels to stay with them. I sprinted in and held on for third which all things considered I was really pleased with.

Obviously, I would have loved to defend the title. I think I really could have if the swim had been normal length and rough in the bay but no excuses, they were better than I was on Sunday. I gave it my best and came away with my best ever legit 10k off the bike and my head held high.

If Memphis in May goes well I will be all set for Hy-Vee and I still made some good money, including the bike prime. I love that race, and Philip does an outstanding job of the directing this race. Next year hopefully we will be in the bay no matter the weather but a short swim is way better than no swim!

Now, 12 or so days of good training and then on the road for 3 races in 3 weekends. I love the racing season, makes all those cold rides in the winter worth it!

PS. I got one of the best compliments I have ever received after the race. A coach of another athlete came up to me and said he knew I would have loved the longer swim, but he really respected the way I race, and loved watching it. That means a lot. I know I can't run with the best yet, but as Prefontaine always said, might as well win the race from the front!

D-FENCE! D-FENCE

2011-04-25T13:40:00.002-06:00

If I were a football player, as I often am in my dreams, this would be the week where all I herat practice is DEFENSE! For the first time in my five year career I will be attempting to defend my title at the 2010 St Anthony's Champion. On top of that I am coming off a win at LTF South Beach a couple weeks ago, so trying to keep that ball rolling as well.

During these past three weeks I have continually tried to remind myself that this is the exact same race as any other, 1.5K/40K/10K as fast as possible. Doesn't matter what number you have on your arm, or who is behind you on the start list you gotta show up and race. I saw a great quote by the greatest b-ball coach of all time, John Wooden, the other day that really struck a cord with me.

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

I sort of took that and paraphrased it a bit to be: you can't let your good or bad workouts/races get to you. No matter the previous outcome you still gotta show up.

Now, I am no one famous and that is certainly not a new quote or thought but I think it helps keep things in perspective. I just won a race, so what! I just had an awful workout, so what! The bottom line is that no one race or workout mean anything by themselves so you have to be able to refocus and keep your goals in mind. Quotes are cheezy, especially sports ones, but I love 'em. They always hit home and get you thinking.

So going into the weekend of a big race, sporting the #1 its still all about racing, gotta show up and make something happen. Really excited to be heading back to St Pete. Lots of good friends, and will get to introduce everyone to Natalie.

Safe travels to those racing St A's or anywhere else and I will see you on the beach Sunday morning!

Big News...and South Beach W

2011-04-11T20:30:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I won a big race in triathlon, and for the second victory in a row my now wife was not in attendance. Last year at St Anthony's she had to work and couldn't go and this year for South Beach she just wasn't feeling very good. However, this time the not feeling very good made a lot of sense, which leads me to the big news...

Natalie is pregnant!!

I always wonder who is on the other end of my ramblings, so some of you know this already but those of you that don't there it is. So far this has been an amazing 2011. I got married on the first of the year, started another successful season as a pro triathlete living a dream, and now my lovely wife is pregnant.

Anyway, on to the weekends happenings. As I have already said this trip was supposed to be a bit of time for the two of us to hang out as well as me to start off this years Toyota Cup/Lifetime Fitness series with a good showing. Since Natalie couldn't make the trip I had an awesome king sized bed, a big rental car, and really no plans for the weekend. Got into Ft Lauderdale Friday afternoon and drove down to Bike Masters in Miami for a little shin-dig with the other Advanced Sports athletes and the patrons of this awesome bike shop in Miami. Post party it was back to the hotel for some relaxing.

Saturday I got up, grabbed some breakfast in the lobby with I think every person in Miami headed out on a cruise ship that day, and then headed over to South Beach to meet up with my boy Justin and get in some warm up workouts. We did an ez spin/run around the south beach neighborhoods and then did a quick swim out on the beach. Then it was time to grab some lunch before hanging at his homestay's place till the pro meeting. And let me tell you about the $125 burrito I had for lunch...

If there is a tiny parking lot that says will tow unless shopping in one of the three shops there, believe them! We parked, ran around the corner and figured we will get burrito's to go and be back before there is any way a tow truck can get here....WRONG! Luckily for us we did get back in time to see him hooking me up, and then after a very polite discussion about my car were told he would unhook for $115 or take it for $205. So Justin and I hit the ATM and kept the car. Not sure exactly how that would have gone in Miami without it but just glad my burrito didn't take any longer than it did to make.

Chilled for a couple hours, watched some golf, and then went to the pro meeting. Nothing unusual there so then it was back to my hotel for my standard pre race dinner...hawaiian pizza! Ate some 'Za watched some tube and then tried to get some sleep. Which is always rough the second night going east but you do what you can.

Next morning was a standard pre race. Get up, hot shower, eat some oatmeal from a hotel coffee machine and head out. Got in a little bike warm up riding to transition and then a quick jog and it was time to walk up the beach to the swim start.

Usually I am not a fan of two turn, straight away swims, but this one was actually alright. I lead out to the first buoy before Andy took over and Ben and John and myself just stayed in a pack a bit behind him. I came out of the water with Ben and hammered up the beach to get to the bike. Threw on the helmet and it was time to let the 4000 fly.

It is always interesting being the first biker out because cops aren't ready, cones aren't out and you never really know when a city bus will block your path heading over a one-way causeway causing you and the other leader to veer into the wrong side of the bridge, unclip, hop a grass median and continue on. Anyway, once we got going again I tried to slowly turn the screw on Andy and the other guys and by the half way point myself and Andrew Yoder and gotten a significant gap on the main pack. Over the second half I tried to continue to accelerate and by the time I got back to T2 I was well ahead of everyone including Andrew, found out later he got a penalty. Threw on the shoes and number belt and took off. Unfortunately, my trusty headband apparently was taken during my absence so I blame that person for my ridiculous flopping hair in all the pictures.

The run was survival as I knew many a fast runner was coming for me, but I know I have put in the work to ride like that and still finish so I did what I could to continue to push the pace. At the turn around I still had a decent lead but knew it would take some guts to maintain it and luckily I had just enough making it back to the beach in time to throw out a couple high-5's and grab the tape before Andy and Filip came blazing in.

I was really really happy with the race. It is not often that you can sit down with a coach, lay out a plan and then execute it. I mean we always try, but its nice to know that it can and does come together sometimes.

This got long, but there were hopefully some funny parts. Now its a couple weeks to train and then rest for my first ever attempt at a repeat victory and wear #1 at St Anthony's 2011 on May 1.

Miami International Recap

2011-03-22T14:11:00.002-06:00

This past weekend marked the start of the non-draft season for myself and the start of the much hyped chase for points to get into Hy-Vee in September. The weekend started with my travels on Thursday because of the ridiculous ticket prices to get to Florida over the spring break weeks. I stayed in a room with fellow Kestrel and First Endurance man Brian Fleischmann a little bit north of downtown Miami.

First part of the weekend was pretty standard with a good warm-up out on Key Biscayne on Friday and then a little bit closer to home Saturday morning before we headed back downtown for the race briefing Saturday evening. Our hotel was great because we had a Denny’s across the street, a Quizno’s up the block and a pizza joint next to the dinners. I won’t go so far as to say that I pick my hotels based on proximity to food but this one was pretty awesome.

Sunday morning’s wake up came early at 4:40 but since we had been there for a few days I think my body was pretty well on eastern time by that point. Got up, took a hot shower to warm up and made the standard maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal with hot water from the room’s coffee maker. Paired that with a nice tall glass of First Endurance EFS, lemon lime of course, and it was just another regular race morning.

We headed out about 5:15 and got to transition about 80 mins before the gun, which is pretty standard for myself if I have to drive. I always like to ride to races when possible but since we were a bit far away I took the 4000 out for a spin through downtown before racking the bike. Since this is my first season with First Endurance I am still trying to nail down my nutrition on race day but on Sunday I went with a vanilla gel EFS mixed in my bottle with some lemon lime EFS and a half scoop of pre race for a lil kick on the bike. I used to tape gels to my bike so having it all in a bottle was actually really nice. So after a short run, half of a Breeze Bar and a mini shot Red Bull it was down to the water.

The swim start was a little crazy as there was only one buoy to line up on and people kept creeping forward but once we got things under way it was just hammer time to the first buoy. I got a little smashed at the corner because of my start position but by the third turn I had gotten to the front of the group and got out of the water comfortably and sprinted for the bike. Once on the bike things got a little more interesting.

We headed out with a nicely staggered group of about 8 and hit it hard for the first half lap, before my shifting disappeared. I realized the bolt holding tension on my rear shift lever was loose, but all it took was losing a thumb nail and we were back in business. Unfortunately, I had some catch up to do and spent the majority of the ride pulling Kyle back in before briefly taking the lead and then following Lieto into T2. As I headed out I thought I had done a good job consuming most of the gel/EFS mix and would be good on the run.

I have been putting in some good work running and was excited to see what would happen off the bike even with only a little speed work. We went out hard and I think I stayed pretty consistent for the run ending up with a solid 4^th and a good early season run split for myself. On the whole the race was a good opener for the year, plenty of good things, but plenty of work to be done. Excited with all the new stuff, 4000 rode great, First Endurance was awesome, and there are lots of big things to come for 2011!

Next up is Nautica South Beach, the first Lifetime Fitness race on April 10…

Recap of Carolina trip and Clermont ITU sprint

2011-03-12T09:08:00.002-07:00

This is about a week overdue but none the less figured I would fill everyone in on the 2nd half of my trip to Carolina that included the inaugural USAT Sprint National Championships.

After some really good training with Justin, my knee had gotten a bit sore so I backed off the last couple days before Clermont. Still not sure exactly what the issue is or was but it seemed like the very beginnings of tendinitis. That said I pretty much laid low on Thurs and Friday and Justin and I drove the 8 hours from Chapel Hill to his cousin's house in Sanford. It was awesome to have a house to stay at and since it was a 1:30 start on Saturday the hour drive wasn't too bad either.

As I said the race was Saturday afternoon so we enjoyed sleeping in a bit and then lounging around before the race. There are not that many things that I like specifically about ITU races, but the late start is always a plus. Had a good breakfast, along with some First Endurance EFS to make sure I was hydrated. Amazing how even in March, coming from CO, Florida seems like the jungle with humidity. We got to the race and set up shop in transition. There were races going on all morning so no bike warm up, but as I was looking at this as a training race to end the camp that wasn't a big deal. I went for an ez jog and surprisingly was pain free. This was a nice lil surprise since the next 50 some minutes or racing were full gas.

Did a bit of a swim warm up, but really it was mostly dolphin dives as the "swim" was barely 3 min long during the race. Not exactly what I was hoping for to try and split up the 75 man field. Once the horn went off 75 dudes ran on water and splashed a bit for 7 or so minutes, came out in a huge line and got on the bike course all together. So far the knee was still good but wanted to let it warm up a bit on the bike before hammering too much, so I sat in the group...not my best idea. All weekend Justin and I had talked about staying at the front to stay out of trouble, so of course I wasn't and I had to dodge a crash at the very first turn. Now I realize its first race for most people, first pro race for some but come on guys, crashing on a u-turn when you are almost stopped????

So instead of taking my plan at the front I dropped directly to the back, the way back, and began yo-yoing myself off the corners to get in the effort I wanted without risking any incidents. With MIT on the 20th I just wanted to ride hard and then try and have a good run. Which I feel like I did. Its not often that I pass a bunch of people in an ITU run so I was happy with my effort, and although 31st isn't exactly a stellar result it was what I needed. An effort that is harder than training and a chance to get a race under my belt before I do one that counts.

After the race, knee stiffened up a bit but was ok. It still is a bit of a bother today but I have been able to mostly train through it and hopefully it will fade out as I rest a bit for MIT next weekend.

Post race Justin and I had to jump in the car and make the drive back up to his place because I was flying out the next day. Not the best race recovery but we got in a good cool down, threw on the compression socks and hit the road.

Really good trip in all, got in some good run training and reminded myself how much I love training with people that are faster than me. Big thanks to Justin and his wife for their hospitality, check him out at www.justinparkracing.com and @jparkracing on twitter.

First big go next week in Miami, first stop in the quest for Hy-Vee...

Training in Tar Heel country

2011-03-01T18:34:00.002-07:00

If you follow Slowtwitch, or my twitter then you know that I have been down in North Carolina for about a week now training with Justin Park leading into this weekends race. The real reason that I came down here was to run with one of the better runners in the sport and try and log a good little run block here at the end of the base season. Things on that front have been going really well and I am starting to get excited for the start of the season.

On Thursday Justin and I will be heading down to Claremont, FL for the Elite Sprint Nationals. It is the same race that I did last year as a season opening development race but this year there are actual ITU points on the line and a start list worthy of at least a mid season world cup. Its certainly not the focus of the season but will be a good hit out leading into the first major of the year in Miami in about 3 weeks.

Also since I have been here Herbert, from Slowtwitch, was kind enough to come over and spend the day with us this past Friday for the above story. It was a bunch of pictures from an average day in my training regimen and even though I am not ever in NC it covers the basics. That is one of the best parts of this job, that it can be done almost anywhere.

Only bad part of the gig so far has been missing my lil Natalie. I know sappy, but I'm a newly wed so deal with it!

Now the question to answer as the season is here, is how long to let the hair grow?

Winter Update

2011-02-14T13:02:00.003-07:00

First off, apologies for the long gap between posts, not really sure where all the time went but things have been going great since, so no lack-o-blogging injury to report! Wedding photo is overdue but its the only one on my computer.

Also of great importance Happy Valentines Day to my wife Natalie! It is our second V-day together and first one as a married couple and I couldn't be happier!

As far as training goes things are moving along really well. Today marks the first day I have had off in 28 as I just finished a 4 week block of good solid base work. Now its time to continue to build the base and slip in a little speed to get ready for the season.

First race will officially be the USAT Elite Sprint National Champs in Clermont, FL on March 5th. Before that I will be spending a week or so in Chapel Hill cranking out some efforts with Justin Park. Looking forward to getting to sea level for a bit and although the weather in BOCO has been nice taking a break from the snow and cold.

After that I will be back in Boulder for a couple weeks and then back to the Sunshine State for M.IT. to start my qualification push for Hy-Vee. This year the biggest money race in the world is going to be a qualified only non-drafting olympic with some serious cash and incentives. although I am bummed I never got to see it in its ITU format, still very excited to get back to Iowa for a race and have family and friends there to watch.

Other random thoughts:

- The looming NFL lockout is a joke. A bunch of billionaires arguing with a bunch of millionaires over money that the average thousandaire can't even fathom is absurd. I wish I could say if they lock out I will never watch again, but like every other pissed off football fan they will call our bluff. Although, have you ever seen The Replacements... I have always wanted to be a wide out, and I would do it no question for say 100K?? Jerry Jones, call me!

- The Red Sox will win the world series

- Triathlon really does need a Million dollar race to become legit. Every other wealthy country club sport, golf, tennis, etc draws attention because of the money to win. Even Poker is on ESPN. My only fear is that as involved as major CEO's are in the sport it hasn't happened yet. What will it take for a Rolex, or BMW to take an interest in a sport where the average athlete is a six figure earner that buys all new stuff every year. We are a better market than tennis or golf!

- Lately I have been pretending to put my finance degree to use and mess around a bit on the stock market. Now if I could only get someone to lend me the cash so that I could actually be making the money my imaginary portfolio is racking in!

I, Cameron R Dye, vow to post more often and attempt to keep whoever is reading this amused and thinking.

Sincerely,

Cam

New Sponsor

2011-01-07T12:26:00.003-07:00

I am really pleased to announce that for the 2011 season and beyond I will be partnering with First Endurance to continue to improve my training and racing nutrition. I have used some of their products in the past such as OptygenHP and Ultragen, but am really excited to use them all in conjunction to maximize their benefits. Throughout the year I will be posting updates and nutrition tips and thoughts so stay tuned. As for now I am just really pleased to be a part of such a great company and work with so many other great athletes.

http://blog.firstendurance.com/2011/01/2011-first-endurance-triathlon-team-announced/

The year that was All In...

2010-12-30T13:41:00.003-07:00

As I look back on 2010 I gotta say it went really well. The slogan for the year was "All In" and considering I won my first major race, was consistently in the top 5, and recovered to form again after a stress fracture I would say it was an accurate tag. Then on top of all that I am getting married in two days to my beautiful fiancé Natalie here in Boulder. If that isn't all in, then I guess I don't know what is.

After the proposal in November it has been a bit of whirl wind to get the wedding planned, try and get my sponsors locked down for next year, and attempt to put together a race schedule based on the never ending changes to races and series'. The off season was great with an awesome trip back to Iowa City for the OSU football game and a good catch up with the old crew. Then the next weekend Natalie and I took an engagement celebration trip to Vegas and had a wonderful time losing money and relaxing.

I have been back to training for about three weeks now and things are slowly coming back. It always amazes me how you can go so quickly from a highly tuned athlete to a weekend warrior. Although this year I only put on about 3 lbs in my weeks off, which versus the 10 I accumulated last year was a nice bonus trying to run again.

The way the schedule is setting up it looks like my first race will be the US Sprint Championships down in FL in March followed by a couple more trips to the Sunshine state for Miami Int and South Beach. There are just so many races this year that even limiting myself to sprint and olympic distance stuff doesn't really narrow it down much.

The wedding is this Saturday and will be followed by a couple no training days in Santa Fe. I am really excited for the ceremony and the fact that a couple of my college buddies were able to make the trip on such short notice is awesome. Just a small ceremony at Natalie's parents place but it will be a good time no doubt.

Then it will be time to get serious about training and start cranking things up for the season. There is definitely a balance of base/speed and too much too early but the way this sport is becoming more and more competitive you have to be ready in the spring or you will get thumped.

Gotta finish the last minute wedding stuff, and then get in one last good swim before I head to the airport to pick up the Fella's. Happy New Year to all and hopefully 2011 will be even bigger and better than 2010!

Why we race...

2010-12-03T12:45:00.003-07:00

Buddy of mine Nick Vandam put this video up on twitter today and it was exactly what I needed. One of those quick slaps on the butt, that keep you going and remind you why it is you train all winter for a race in the summer. Why you still gotta get out the door when its cold and don't skip that last set of drills just because you are tired. Nothing is guaranteed...except that if you don't try you will fail.

Super Sprint Triathlon...the real deal

2010-11-17T09:28:00.003-07:00

Triathlon in the mainstream!

My season was a doughnut...

2010-11-15T14:53:00.003-07:00

This past week was the first week of my two weeks of no training, and I gotta say it was awesome! Don't get me wrong I love my job, love training and racing. I love the travel and all the other parts of the triathlete lifestyle, but about Nov 1 every year I just need a break.

What did I do in my week off, well I did a lot of nothing. I spent some quality time on the couch. I ate a lot of doughnuts. I had some beers, and even went out a couple different times. Seeing as I just got engaged, and then moved the wedding up to Jan 1, I have been running around a lot trying to get that planned out, and I gained roughly 3 lbs. I was ok with that, but it is going to make my initial goal of gaining ten lbs in the down time pretty tough this week. Although I am going to Iowa for the OSU game, so nothing is impossible.

Also, this past week I tried to reflect a bit on the year as a whole and over a meeting came up with my general thoughts on the year from a training/racing viewpoint. Ironically enough, my view of the year was that it was a really good one, but like my new favorite food had a sizeable hole in the middle.

The year started off great with a 2nd in Mazatlan, winning St Anthony's and a couple other top fives, but then hit a sudden wall when I stress fractured a metstarsal in my right foot and couldn't run for 6 full weeks. After I came back the going was slow with some ok races, and then the season ended with good ones in Dallas, the Super Sprint, and Amica. Most importantly I got engaged to the love of my life, so racing aside it would have been an amazing year.

Sat down with Coach this last week, started designing a plan and a schedule for next year, and starting to think how to improve for 2011. We came up with the basic outline of the year and now just have to fill in the details.

Now I have one more week to relax, plan, and get fat and then it is back to work. Might be tough the week of Thanksgiving but you gotta start sometime. Its mostly base volume and technique anyway to start so the goal will be to find the fun in it.

Will try and get wedding updates and weight gains on here with some regularity, but the wedding is going to be a small family/friends affair here in Boulder on New Year's Day 2011. Figure what better way to start the new year, and I will absolutely never forget my anniversay!

Most memorable race ever...

2010-11-08T14:12:00.002-07:00

This past weekend was the conclusion of the 2010 racing season for me, and it went down at the Amica 19.7 Sprint Championships in Phoenix, AZ. Needless to say the race, while well run, was not the reason that this is the most memorable race I have ever done. That distinction lies with the fact that it was the race at which I sealed the deal and proposed to my girlfriend Natalie Cables.

The race went well, good swim, strong ride, and a decent run, but about half way through the run my mind shifted gears when I realized I was not going to be able to catch Ben and therefore should probably move on to thinking about the next, and more important part of the race.

I had been thinking for about a month that this race would be a good opportunity to ask Natalie to marry me. It gave me just the right amount of opportunity for embarrassment, and call it selfish, but it gave me a guarantee that no matter how the race went it would be a great day. Early in the week I sucked it up and talked to Natalie's parents and asked about marrying their daughter. Luckily, they were all for it and so I spent the week making sure Natalie had no idea. Once I had talked to Rick and Cindy, which was probably the most nerve wracking part, I started to think of ways I could get the ring to finish line for the proposal. Since I wasn't sure if I would know anyone there that I trusted with the ring, and that wasn't also racing, I decided to take my chances and slip it in her bag with some of my clothes. At least that way, as long as she was at the finish, so was the ring.

So, after crossing the finish line I congratulated Ben, and headed straight for my girl. Hugs and kisses...a couple deep breathes, and down to a knee. I mumbled something about how it was the end of an amazing season and she was such a huge part of it and I wanted her to be there every season to come, will you marry me. I knew no matter how many times I ran through it in my head it wouldn't come out right, so went with what I had and spit it out. Luckily she said yes, or at least teared up and smiled and that was that. Pull the ring out of her bag, and I am now engaged to the most beautiful, amazing woman I know, Natalie Cables.

She was completely surprised and the people at the finish were great. A few took photos and everyone was extremely excited. Big thanks to Liz Hichens and her husband for sending me some photo's including the one above.

Also, my apologies to Ben if I took anything away from his victory, certainly not my intent. Obviously we race to win, so I had hoped to come away with the W in the race too, but was going to propose either way, and thanks to him for being so supportive of the effort.

Now a couple weeks of off time, doughnuts, and beer and then back to the grind for 2011.

Hopefully, getting married sometime next July depending on the race schedule. Thanks for all the love we have gotten on Twitter and Facebook, the triathlon community is amazing!

Short, Awesome and Painful

2010-11-01T09:39:00.002-06:00

That pretty much sums up what is the Super Sprint Triathlon Grand Prix that took place in Oceanside, CA yesterday.

Myself, along with 17 other of the worlds best toed the start line for an exciting new triathlon format that will be coming to the states next year. For this race we started on the beach and executed a 300m swim/5mi bike/1.5mi run and then right back in the water to do it again. 5 transitions, 6 all out components.

Not really knowing what to expect, other than tons of pain, I was really excited to try the new format. Some of the older gentleman, Matty, Macca, Richie, and the likes had done these races in Australia before so although some were at a bit of a speed disadvantage, experience proved to be just as important.

The first time through was like any other sprint race, really fast, transitions are important and you have to be near the front the whole time because there isn't enough time to make up much ground. And then we hit T3. I gotta say taking off the shoes, neatly of course so I could grab them again the next time, and running off putting my goggles back on was probably the strangest feeling I have ever had in a race. My legs were dead, I was trying to swing my arms to get the blood back in them, and meanwhile trying to run down the beach and crash back through the surf. Hardest thing I may have ever done in a race was fighting the waves to get back out for the 2nd swim. I stayed in good position but didn't catch a great wave on the way back in and had to do some catching up on the bike.

Unfortunately for me as I caught back up to the two leaders I towed with me the eventual 1st and 2nd place guys. On the run I slipped a bit from 3rd to 5th but managed to stay right with the leaders and finish the race top 5. All things considered, one of them being this was my 5th race in 6 weeks, it was a good effort and a ton of fun.

Best part, it was over in 45 min, and although I am sore I am not all that much worse for the wear today.

Huge thanks and congrats to Marc Lees and his team for pulling off a great race and putting on a first class event with some great competition. I for one can't wait to find out what five cities will be hosting these awesome events next year!

One more week, one more race till the end of my season. Off to Phoenix on Friday for the Amica Sprint Championship. Stay tuned for one last triathlon race report of the year.

Super Sprint Grand Prix Oceanside

2010-10-29T09:05:00.002-06:00

This weekend will be the test event for the new triathlon Super Sprint Grand Prix series that will be coming to the US next year. It will hands down be the most exciting, spectator friendly event the sport in the States has ever seen. This weekend's race will consist of 300m swim/5mi bike/1.5mi run and then do it again. That's right 5 transitions, six legs, all at a full gas sprint. Check out the website for details at:

http://www.sstrigp.com

The course will be as close to NASCAR as triathlon can get with tons of turns, accelerations, and lots and lots of speed. Some of the best in the world from all distances will be there including Macca, coming off Kona win #2, 3 Oympians in Shoemaker, Reed, and Ospily, along with a cast of young guns including myself, Ben Collins, and Steve Sexton.

Should be great racing, and if you are in the San Diego area come up to the Oceanside Pier and check it out.

Also, on a much sadder not my belated condolences to the Crippen family and USA swimming. Fran's death was the saddest thing I have ever heard about in the sports world as it seems it would have been so easily prevented!!

Four races, 4 lessons

2010-10-19T12:41:00.002-06:00

This past weekend was the end of my four races in four weekends and it went fairy well all things considered. This time I was down in Pueto Vallarta, MX for the Pan American Championships and my final ITU race of the year. Last chance to score some much needed Olympic and ITU pts going into next season.

Travel was smooth and leading up to the race the only thing I was concerned about was the fact that the day before the race we still didn't know what the bike course would be due to poor roads and last minute paving/construction. The weather was gonna be hot. We knew it, everyone had to deal with it, but the roads were definitely an issue. I did the course preview of one of the options the day before and although it was a bit sketchy in parts wasn't too bad.

Race morning they announced that they had finished the work and we would be going with option A. or the course we had previewed which was good I guess, and I made sure to ride the technical parts on my way to the start. There were still gonna be plenty of slick spots, rough spots and u-turns, but we were all doing them, so if nothing else it was extra motivation to be out front.

Due to low tides we were forced to do an in water start, which I definitely don't like as I can't use my swimmers background at the start but in this case it was a fair good one and I got out in front of most people quickly. I settled in as the third swimmer and went around the loops trying to do as little as possible while maintaining my position in the bath tub of an ocean we were swimming in.

Exiting the water I was in a small break and once on the road we were about 8 deep. I was psyched to see Matt Chrabot in the group and a few other guys that I knew would ride hard. By the time we hit the second lap we were down to a foursome and we were working together well. My legs took some time to come around, probably from the last three races, but they did and we hammered away a good tempo the whole ride building ourselves an almost 2 minute lead going into T2. For me though the biggest thing was to ride hard for myself, but also get Matt in a position to assure an American victory. Some may say I need to be more concerned with myself, but that is in my mind what makes ITU great, in that I can help a teammate, put myself in the best position all at the same time. I rode hard but knew the run was going to be a battle of heat and legs so I pulled on my Pearl Izumi Transitions, and gave it my best.

Luckily, there were 12 aid stations in the 10 K so there was plenty of water to be dumped, but I was dealing with tired legs, and a cramping side and wasn't able to drink much. I did what I could, and out sprinted a guy at the line, but it was for a mildly disspapointing 21st place. But more importantly I made the 5% cutoff time and therefore achieved the goal of pts on both lists.

Now... as the title says I raced four times and learned four different lessons.

Pro Nationals - drink more in the heat, and make sure no matter what I race my race, even if it kills me.

LA - anti-biotics and me don't get along so if something comes up, i.e. an ear infection be more pro active early on.

Dallas - need to improve my downhill running

Pan Am's - more sleep and rest in between consecutive races, and work on running tired

The last two races of my season will be the Super Sprint Grand Prix in Oceanside on Halloween, www.sstrigp.com , and then the Amica sprint in Phoenix the following week. Hopefully end on a positive note with some FUN short races.

Another weekend, another race

2010-10-11T11:15:00.002-06:00

As has become the Monday tradition of the past three weeks it is the weekly race update, this time for the LTF finale at the US Open in Dallas.

Real quick before the update a sappy comment. Just want to say a special thanks to my girlfriend Natalie for her amazing support throughout the season! She was there when it was great, helped me through my injury and has been at the last three races with me. A wise man once told me a great girl makes racing well that much easier, he was definitely on to something!

Back to the race. We got into Dallas on Friday afternoon for the race meeting and had a great dinner and VIP party at the Hilton in Rockwall where the race was being held. Amazing hotel right on the lake, and had I entered soon enough would have been a great place to stay. But entered late so we were staying just up the road. Anyway, Saturday had a good pre ride of the course with some locals and some pro's and then had my standard hawaiian pizza dinner with Natalie and Kyle on Saturday night.

It was another early start, which I have often said I like better, and I was putting the bike into transition about 6:30 am. Got in a good pre ride, some good run drills and then headed down to the water. Air was a bit chilly, but the water wasn't too bad, just glad it was a non-wetsuit swim. Got to wear my Blue Seventy PZ3 for the second week in a row and definitely think its the fastest swim skin out there.

The start was a lil hectic as they didn't use the starting boxes as they had said but towed the line and had a good dive off the dock. LOVE dive starts! Apparently Hunter had a bit of a false start over to my left but they let us go and I quickly got over onto his feet. The swim was just a simple triangle and fairly uneventful. Stayed on Hunter's feet when I could but he kept swimming off course so I was on my own for most of it. Pulled along a pretty good train of the guys, but with so many ITU guys there it was certainly expected to be a good swim group.

Bit of a concrete run to T1, got there just on Hunter's feet and we headed out of T1 and straight up the first of quite a few small steep hills. The course was great in that is had some good corners, lots of up and down, and plenty of flat and fast the only downside was it was never more than 1 lane which in a non-draft race causes stager and drafting issues. No commentary but it would be great if they could widen the course next year!

I had a good ride, starting near the front, taking the lead about mile 5 and then never looking back. Finished with the fastest split on the day and a 40 sec or so lead on the chase group of the big guns.

The run too was fairly hilly, nothing long just short and up and down. I ran well, or at least better than I have been and lead through mile 2.5 when Stuart and Filip caught me heading up the hill toward the turn around. I stayed with them as long as I could and at the turn knew Matty and GB would be hot on my tail. Did what I could on the way back trying to stay with Matty when he got me at mile 5 and then GB when he caught me on the last downhill but again learned that my biggest weakness as a running is downhills. I finished strong and in 5th with the 2nd best swim, best bike, and 10th best run.

Good finish to the LTF series although having gone well here really made me more bummed that I couldn't have held it together better in Chicago. One more race in the set here in Puerto Vallarta this coming Sunday and then a much needed week off. Really liking the race/rest weeks but 4 is a lot.

Side note, hope Hunter is feeling better as he had a tough crash on the the ride as well as Kristen Peterson who had some mishap with a car on the bike as well. Both seem to be ok for the most part, hope for a quick recovery.

3 down, 1 to go...

Bummed I will miss the Hawkeyes game at the Big house this weekend, maybe Mexican TV will be nice and carry the game!!

Back in the right direction

2010-10-04T13:52:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was the 2nd leg of my four weeks of racing and it was a significant improvement over the first. For starters the weather was a whole lot better and the race was non-draft which is still a considerable advantage for me. I have done the LA Triathlon three times now and this was my best finish, first time being in the money. Which as a pro I guess you could say is the ultimate goal at any race.

The day started off well, really early waking up at 3:45, but well. Got to transition, plenty of warm up and had a good swim start. At LA it is a beach run in, which is always interesting because not only are you fight for position amongst the racers but also with the waves to get out to the first buoy. I didn't have a great run in but was able to swing wide of the guys and get some clean water heading out through the surf. About the first turn, Gomez and myself were at the front where we stayed for the entire swim. However, as with coming out going back in is a battle of the waves and usually ends up as much luck as skill. If you miss your wave or get pummeled, lead lost. I came out right on Javier's feet and had a decent transition onto the bikes. Gomez, myself and Docherty hammered the first part of the bike and were able to gap a few guys that had come out near us. I lead for a solid part of the first half of the race but was soon caught by Andrew and he blew by me. Legs felt ok, but no real pop to try and stay with him. I maintained my position about 45 sec ahead of Docherty but had unfortunately given up almost 90 sec to Starky. Beginning the run I felt good, which after the last couple races was great, but with the giant hill we go up and down twice that feeling quickly vanished. I made it up ok the first time but coming down began to struggle with some side cramping as well as my quads starting to lock up. Definitely need to work on my downhill running!

Finished the day in 6th, which wasn't what I had thought possible but certainly the guys that out ran me are some of the world's finest. Either way it was a positive step in the right direction leading into Dallas this weekend. Neal Henderson, my coach, and I were smack talking about the Iowa vs. Penn St game Sat night, both our aluma maters, and he had some wise words. "It's not how you always start but rather how you finish." Now we was referring to the beginning of the Penn St beat down by the Hawks but I will take the words and apply them to these four races. The start was poor but it is improving and the end will be the best part!

Next up... Dallas US Open on Sunday. Stay tuned...

Tough day at the office

2010-09-27T14:34:00.003-06:00

Well I have now completed the first leg of my four races in four weekends and have to say its not exactly the start I was looking for. US Pro Nationals were in Tuscaloosa over the weekend and for the first time in my pro career pretty much everyone who races ITU in the US was there. The weather was ridiculously hot and humid and like it or not that dictated much of the race.

Going in I have been feeling extremely fit and ready but in the back of my mind I knew the heat would be an issue for myself and for the way I wanted the race to go. As we all know, a good ITU race for me requires a fast swim, an early break away, and then ideally an even smaller break on the bike leading into T2 with a significant lead. Saturday was pretty much the opposite of all that.

The swim started well and I got myself into a great spot on Dustin and Kalen's feet but we just weren't going anywhere. There was no current but the water was so warm, about 85 degrees, that swimming any faster than the pedestrian pace we were rolling would have meant heat stroke before the race even started. Unfortunately, a slow swim means a big crowd on the bike and with all the guys that made the group a break away was going to be nearly impossible. I stayed in the first 5 or so guys for the majority of the ride but no break away attempts worked and we spent the main part of the ride just rolling along on an up tempo group ride. If you live in Boulder and have ever done the bus stop ride, this was no where near the intensity of that weekly hell on wheels.

We hit the run in a group of 20 or so and on top of that I was already experiencing some major cramping in my legs and low back. I thought I had eaten and drank enough during the ride but the heat and humidity are just so far out of my element I'm not sure I could have executed much better. I started out ok on the first lap of the run but faded quickly and slogged through a painfully slow 10k to finish in 20th.

To my credit I finished the race, and I still believe there is something to be said for that. I got in a solid workout, hopefully not putting myself in a hole for the next 3 races, and my parents got to see me race, although not as well as I had hoped.

The trip was a learning one, complete with some good southern eats at Dreamland BBQ and another nationals under my belt. Now it is time to switch gears to non-draft and get ready for LA and Dallas these next two weekends. I am excited to get back on the TT and hopefully throw down some solid performances to round out the season. Thanks to all my friends and family that were in AL cheering me on!

Labor Day Camping/Training trip

2010-09-09T18:10:00.003-06:00

Over the weekend, Natalie, myself and Diesel jumped in the truck and headed to the mountains for some camping. We headed towards Aspen and camped on Independence Pass. The weekend was a good relaxing vacation but as it turned out a good training weekend too. Matty Reed happened to be up in Aspen for a wedding so he and I did a good long ride on Saturday and then a long run on Sunday. It was a nice weekend away from home, that was unfortunately brought to a reality check halt when we were driving back towards Boulder and saw what looked like a volcano cloud coming out of four mile canyon.

Since Monday at least 69 homes have been lost in what is being deemed the worst fire in CO history. My heart goes out to those that have lost their homes and the brave men and women in the canyon trying to save the ones still standing. Hopefully the wind doesn't kick up again and they can get it under control soon. Remember to be thankful for what you have...

Chi-Town fly and die...

2010-08-31T14:52:00.002-06:00

Well this past weekend was one of my favorite races of the year every year, but as the title to this post implies it was a fast start with a painful end.

Coming off of a week in Europe and this being the 3rd race in eight days I knew I was putting a little bit out there but after a solid week of training, and feeling like I was over the jet lag I was really excited for race day. I was again staying in one of the awesome condo units in Lake Shore East and a big thanks to Magellan owner David Carlins for allowing us to stay in his buildings. The location is great for the race, right next to transition, and the places are super nice. Definitely would be a top choice if I ever decide to again call the midwest home.

Anyway, morning of the race I felt great and got in a good pool warm up with Eric Limkemann, and thought that everything was on track. Problem was the race wasn't until noon, which is an odd time as far as food goes, and as the race was about to start I realized I was in a bit of trouble because I already felt hungry. Also if you have ever done Chicago you know that transition and the swim start are about a mile apart so running back and grabbing a gel or a bar was out of the question. So, with an uneasy feeling we started the race, and it started great. My pool warm up had been a success and I jumped out in front before the first buoy and then used the long back stretch to open up a gap on the field. I have never before won the swim at Chicago, so coming out first was a solid start and then tried to maintain over the course of the 800m run to t1. Once on the trusty Kestrel Airfoil it was onto Lake Shore Drive for an out and back bike.

Oh and did I mention it was hot. About 95 with some solid humidity, which for a CO kid is not ideal, and so I spent the whole bike trying to drink enough and eat the gel that I had to get ready for the run. I rode hard, and was able to maintain or grow my lead until I came off the bike with a 40sec gap of Fretta, and almost two minutes to a group of 5. T2 went fine, but three steps into the run I knew it was gonna be a long one.

Almost immediately I realized my turnover was really low and no matter what I did my legs just felt like bricks. As I went by Natalie at the 1/2 mile mark she was very encouraging but I knew my day was almost over. Mark caught me about mile 1.5 and then slowly the rest of the field came and went as I crept along. I have done some painful runs before but this ranks right at the top. Overheating, hungry, and dead I actually came to a stop at an aid station for the first time in my triathlon career. Drank about 5 cups of water and started jogging again. It was the longest 10k ever, but I managed to get it together and at least run in the last mile, finishing 15th.

Post race I was pissed! There is nothing worse than having a bad race and knowing exactly why and that it could have been avoided. Now I knew the racing the week before was tough, and that the flight from Europe can leave a mark, but I will chalk up this poor run solely to my lack of planning my food out!!

Race day tip... no matter what time of day the race is, make sure you have a plan for what you are going to eat, and more importantly follow your plan. I would rather have been a little full to start the swim than hungry.

To end on a positive note, the trip was fun. Natalie got to see Chicago for the first time. I met up with a college buddy for dinner Sunday night, and I learned a few more lessons. Plenty of racing left in the year and a little bit of extra motivation heading into a big racing block in 3 weeks. It all starts with Pro Nat's in AL on the 25th...

ITU Team Relay Championships

2010-08-24T08:16:00.002-06:00

The second leg of my journey to Lausanne was the team relay competition. The race is formatted as two men and two women from the same country each complete a super sprint triathlon, in this case a 280m swim/6k bike/ 1.35k run. Now if you know me at all you know that is the absolute definition of my wheel house, the triathlon equivalent of the 200free in swimming!

Anyway, the format first debuted last year at Hy-Vee and was a big success and this time around the IOC was at the race to watch and determine if the event will be added to the 2016 Olympic program. The Swiss were the reigning champs and favorites going in but with all the things that can happen, not to mention it is draft legal, it was anyone's race.

The American team consisted and was ordered as Amanda Felder, Dustin McLarty, Jen Spieldenner, and myself. The race started well but the top two or three ranked women in the world led off for their teams so Amanda did a nice job of keeping us in the race during the first leg and then Dustin threw down on the swim to pull us back into the race. Jen held her own and I inherited the race in 14th place with the eventual 3 podium teams way off the front and a large group about 45 seconds up.

I hit the water and immediately passed the South African's and set my sights on the larger groups ahead. As we exited the lake I had moved up considerably and within the first kilometer on the bike had caught and passed the Aussie's and Brit's. I hammered the bike and reeled in the big group right before T2 coming in at the front and headed out for the run. Now I am still working on my 10k but my 1k is solid and I was able to run with the group and stay in the top 3 positions heading to the finish bringing the USA in in 8th. The team put in a solid performance, especially considering the team was assembled basically on site, and I came away with the fastest triathlon split of the day, which considering the guys on the winning team was definitely an accomplishment!

I absolutely loved the team race! It brought me back to my swimming days of relays and it was just really fun to be directly on a team, in a huge race with short splits just going as fast as you possibly can. I really hope the IOC liked what they saw as the team relay would certainly enhance my chances of making the 2016 Olympic team and it brings a whole new, short, fast, spectator friendly aspect to the sometimes boring and hard to watch sport of triathlon. Not to knock Ironman in any way, but it is just not fun to watch.

ITU Sprint World Champs

2010-08-24T08:02:00.002-06:00

Just got back from my first trip to ITU Sprint World Championships and have relearned the definition of intense. As if a normal ITU race wasn't tough enough, this one was the same guys covering half the distance, so it was a full on sprint effort for the better part of an hour in the draft legal format of the ITU. Oh, and I forgot to mention for this lil event I was in Lausanne, Switzerland, which I will easily say is the most beautiful place I have ever visited, but anyway, back to the race.

I knew the warm up was going to be incredibly important since the race was going to start and end at full speed with no time to get warmed up once the gun went off. I rode a lot and did a bit of running and swimming but in hind site don't think I put in enough efforts to get my HR comfortable being elevated. When the gun went off I had a good dive off the pontoon and some good dolphin kicks but after about 100m started to tie up a bit and was subsequently kicked in the teeth which threw me off a bit. I didn't have a bad swim, but rounding the last bouy and heading for home I was in a single file line about 10 deep. Problem was with 100m to go the two guys directly in front of me slowed up leaving a gap that I couldn't close before exiting Lake Geneva.

On the bike I did my thing and immediately went to catch the break, but in the end all I did was successfully tow the entire race back together. On lap 2 I attempted a break away through transition but the legs just didn't have the kick and the guy that went with me couldn't pull through so we were gobbled up and spend the last two laps just in the group.

Once on the run I did a reasonable job of holding my own, but I still struggle getting out of transition at 3:10 pace or whatever the Brownlee's are running and it takes me a while to settle in. I actually felt better on the 2nd loop and for the first time in my life wish the run had been longer than it was. On the day I was 39th, which considering it was a world champs, and a full 75 man field wasn't a bad result, it just wasn't the breakthrough I had been hoping for.

But the next day was the relay so it was easy to warm down and get ready for race number deux...

Quick update

2010-08-13T20:25:00.002-06:00

Since the last post I have been busy working on my speed for the upcoming races. Did a little trial run down at the USAT development race in Colorado Springs a couple weeks ago, and things went well. Had a solid swim, worked on cornering on the technical bike and then tried to hammer out a good fast 5k. Came away with a good victory and some confidence leading into these last couple weeks of training before heading to Sprint Worlds on Tuesday.

This week has been a really good week of training so far. Had a tough run session on Tuesday with the crew down at Viele Lake with 1mi and 1k repeats and then a good hard hill set of intervals on the bike on Wednesday, again with the BCSM crew. Big volume swim with some good pace yesterday and then today was up at BCSM in the pain cave working on my foot speed on the treadmill. Did a set of 30x 30sec@race pace/30 sec recovery and since it was on a treadmill it was a great chance to work on my foot speed while trying to stay relaxed.

Coming out of the week I am really excited about next weekend, especially the sprint relay on Sunday, and then psyched to get back state-side for Chicago the following week.

Foot is in good sorts, training is well, the remodel of the house is going nicely and the dog is...well a puppy. Check back for a post trip recap next week.

Back to sprinting...ITU style

2010-07-26T15:12:00.002-06:00

Well the latest development in my race plan for the year has been that it is time for me to once again be a sprinter. Now its not quite the same as when I pretended to be a sprinter in the pool years ago, but this is triathlon sprinting, 45 mins of pure fury!

This weekend I am heading down to C Springs to do the elite development race and hopefully help my boy Allen line up his pro card for next year. After that it will be time for some speed work as I will be heading to Lausanne, Switzerland in 3 weeks to take a crack at the big boys of the ITU at Sprint Wold Championships. Then the best part of the upcoming races I think will be the second day of racing in Lausanne, which will be the sprint team relay. Two men and two women on a team each tearing apart a tiny course for 15 or so minutes.

Then it will be back to the states for a trip to Chi town, one of my favorite races! So now gotta keep the foot healthy, find some speed in the legs and harness my inner Popov-Cavendish-Bolt!!

Colorado Centurion recap

2010-07-21T10:14:00.002-06:00

So this past weekend, I decided to expand my horizon of athletic endeavors and I took on my first century road race here near home in Lyons, CO. The race was the Colorado Centurion, which is part of the Centurion Cycling series that goes around North America and does 100 mile road ride/races. Now I would consider myself a very solid cyclist and among triathletes somewhere in the upper echelon, but make no mistake triathletes are not cyclists. Especially over 100mi.

Also keep in mind the race that I was doing went up through Ward, and up Super James, and for those not familiar with Boulder area riding that means we did 9,000 ft of climbing in 100 mi. The race started easy enough with a neutral roll out of Lyons, and then a fairly mild pace around the flats before we headed up hill. However, it was apparent 5 miles in when I watched a guy eat road shoulder going down a little hill that I would have to be paying attention if I wanted to stay rubber side down. About 3/4 of the way up the canyon to Ward I put myself in good postion for when the hill tipped up and the pack would split and sure enough when it happened I was right in it and feeling good. However, as I went to the front with about 1 mile left in the climb thinking maybe I could steal the King of the Mtn, when the offical car rolled up to me and informed me there was a solo guy 5 min up the road. Bummer. So I shut it down, coasted back to the group and got in a break of 6 when we hit hte Peak-Peak highway. The group included the eventual winner and obviously the best riders in the race...and myself.

I held strong down the canyon and then through Lyons but as we rolled out for our second loop I began to realize my pull-throughs were getting slower and I was in trouble. Not a good feeling knowing you have 40 mi and a ridiculous climb left. I was stubborn enough to hold on till mile 60 and then let go, but now I was in the middle of no one, it was getting really hot, low on water and totally mentally crushed.

I kept pedaling, although it very slow up to Jamestown but I gotta say I have never almost turned around so many times in my life. I just kept thinking I was gonna hit the steep climb, cramp and have to turn then. Somehow when I got to the steep part I did cramp but was able to shake it out and get a bit of a second wind to get up and over, and then luckily met up with a buddy and a couple 0thers guys and was able to work with them back to Lyons.

I learned two things by doing this race: First, a good triathlete rider is not even remotely the same as a legitimate cyclist. Second, my body is stronger and more resilient than my mind sometimes thinks. I will definitely keep that in mind next time a 10k is killing me at a race.

Good day in all, solid training, something different and dare I say fun, and it was a wonderful event put on by Len Pettygrew and his team. Maybe next year, pace myself a bit more...

Lifetime Fitness Recap

2010-07-12T14:07:00.002-06:00

Well for starters Keving Collington's blog earlier in the year about athletes not posting when injured is pretty much right on. I have spent the last 6 weeks rehabbing a stress fracture in the middle metatarsal on my right foot, and finished my longest run in 6 weeks during the 10k portion of Lifetime. The good news is that even after pounding out a relatively slow 10k I am glad to say my foot seems to be pretty much healed up and hopefully ready to train again. Anyway, on to the race...

Spent the weekend in Minneapolis with my girlfriend in my first ever trip to the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon. I have never done it in the past because it always coincides with the Boulder Peak, and being from Boulder that race will always have a place in my heart. This year I decided to persue the Lifetime series a bit and that meant hitting up MN. Weather wasn't too bad although it was definitely humid on race day and the crowd was awesome, with at least a couple thousand people on the beach to watch the start.

I had a good lead out in the swim and spent the whole time at the front trying to be as relaxed as possible but knowing I needed to lay down a good split to break up the field. Once on the bike I hung back a bit for the first 5 miles letting Matt Chrabot dictate the pace and get my legs under me. But around mile 5 it was time to make my play and take advantage of all the riding I have been doing while not running. Picked up the pace and never looked back being able to put a full minute in between myself and Matt Reed and Chrabot when I hit T2. As I was running through transition I heard the announcer say that through the ride I was actually on course record pace, which considering who has done that race made me very pleased.

The run was a bit of a struggle and when I got caught at mile 2 I had no answer but really just tried to think about form and do the best I could with some pretty dead legs. I faded all the way down to 6th but was still able to out sprint David Thompson which was a good sign. Foot was good, and I am back racing. Now it is just a matter of figuring out what race is next.

I promise, more blogs to come, and hopefully no more injuries. Back on track and ready to go...

Bulldog added to Cam Dye Racing

2010-06-18T13:46:00.002-06:00

This is Diesel... he is my new running mate, and my running I mean more sprinting and sleeping. he's a 9 week old English Bulldog puppy. He is smarter and more athletic than expected which has made for some interesting times already but in the end he will be an awesome dog. More pic's to come as he will be changing a lot shortly, he's already doubled in size in 10 days.

On another note, watching the World Cup has been good entertainment between training sessions and meals, and although the US is still well in it they have a knack for playing heart attack futbol.

Hardcastle Photo Shoot

2010-06-03T14:37:00.002-06:00

Did a photo shoot with Allen Krughoff, a buddy of mine from high school and CEO of Hardcastle Photography here in Boulder, CO. Here is a lil video from the photo shoot.

Bolder Boulder Recap

2010-06-03T14:23:00.003-06:00

As any Boulderite knows Memorial day means the Bolder Boulder 10k. It is one of the longest running and largest running road races in the country and is always a good time as well as a chance to throw down a good 10K at altitude. This year I ended a 4 year hiatus from the race and went in with the idea of seeing where my run fitness was at, having a good training day, and enjoying the atmosphere that goes along with this one of a kind race.

Honestly, I didn't think about the race a whole lot leading up to it and can't say I rested for it much since I was up helping my girlfriend move until about 10:30 the night before, but come race morning I was excited and ready to give it a rip. Being a triathlete I figured the perfect warm up would be a little spin on the bike before doing some running pre race. The weather was perfect, about 50 and sunny and the gun went off for the first citizen wave at 7am sharp.

As we know, Boulder is never short on talented athletes and as such the A wave of the race is ridiculously fast. Put that with a slightly down hill first mile and you have the ingredients for a real quick pace. I tried ot hold back the first couple of miles and get into a groove. Going through the 5k in about 16:30 I was feeling strong but the legs were definitely feeling the touch course with tons of hills and turns. Miles 4 and 5 were really rough as it became a battle to maintain my form and try and hold the pace, but once I got to the last mile I was able to give it a little more. The race ends inside CU's Folsom Field, and if passing a statue of the great Frank Shorter as you enter the stadium doesn't get you moving the entrance on to the field does. I finished strong with a good kick passing a couple people at the end and finished in a respectable 33:57. That got me 48th place overall, and considering the 54,000 entrants I guess that's not bad for a swimmer. Good training run, lots of fun, and good measure of where my running is at...still improving.

If you are ever in Boulder over Memorial day weekend make sure to do the Bolder Boulder, definitely a must do for any serious or fun loving runner.

Colorado Triathlete interview

2010-05-15T10:10:00.001-06:00

Rev3...great race, expensive water bottle

2010-05-12T09:57:00.003-06:00

This past weekend I flew down to Knoxville for my first Rev3 experience with their olympic distance race. Made the trip with my girlfriend Natalie, and it was the first time she has been to a race so the whole trip was a lot of fun. Getting to Knoxville was pleasantly uneventful as my boy Nate drove my bike and that part of Tennessee was unaffected by the recent flooding. Flew in to Nashville, grabbed a car, and headed a couple hours down the road. Once there we settled into the room, drove around a bit to see the course and headed to Calhoun's which is some really good BBQ if you are ever in Knoxville.

Saturday started with a quick swim in the river, which was pretty boring as the TVA had used the dams to essentially eliminate the current. Followed that up with some breakfast and a quick brick to get the legs popping and then it was off to the Rev3 expo for my first ever press conference. Gotta say it was pretty cool to be on a stage answering questions and sitting between Chis Lieto and Terrenzo Bazzone, two of the best in the game. After that was a short pro meeting and then grabbed dinner at the Mellow Mushroom, awesome pizza, with Brian Fleischman. Early to bed and then up and at 'em for the 7:45 start.

When we woke up Sunday the weather was cold, probably low 50's, which sucked but was definitely better than the projected low 40's and the sun was coming up so there was hope of some warmth by race time. Usual bike warm up to the start and then went about the routine in transition and headed up the river a bit to where the start was. Water was chilly but luckily not a wet suit race, which is big for us swimmers, especially in a field that contains so many major cyclists!

Lead the swim wire to wire and got out of transition in good time just behind Matty. However, that was the last of the smooth part of the race. About mile 4 we headed down a really rough, steep hill into a construction zone and the water bottle that was mounted in between my aero bars just popped out. But going 35mph I decided I couldn't stop without endangering myself or someone else and continued pedalling...oops. About a minute later I was standing on the side of the road having my numbers X'd and watching guys go by as I took my penalty for abandoning equipment. Now I understand the rule, but this was not in the spirit of it...all I am gonna say.

Once I was riding again I hammered to catch the guys that had passed me and did the best I could to regain position. The course was amazing, very rolling and hilly with some tough climbs and harsh decents that made for a really fun, slow bike leg. Didn't have any water so at that point just hoped the cramps would stave off till after the run.

I ran well, only being passed by Terrenzo and finished 5th just 20 seconds behind Bjorn which was a bit frustrating but I guess thats racing. In the end the water bottle cost me a couple bucks and some places but I maintained my consistent top 5 results and beat some really solid competition. Rev3 put on a great race and I definitely recommend doing one of them just for the experience. The jumbotron and the staff make for a great experience.

Post race Natalie and I drove to the TN-KY border to see my grandma, check out the 'ol family farm, relax and chow down some good southern grub. Great trip, good race.

Now just gotta decide whats next on the schedule...

Biggest win of my life...thanks to my support crew

2010-04-27T15:07:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday was unequivocally the biggest moment in my sporting career. I took on some of the absolute best racers that triathlon has ever seen and beat them at one of the biggest races in the world. Crowie is the two time defending Ironman World Champ. Greg Bennett has won just about everything under the sun shorter than an Ironman, and Matt Reed is the most dominant short course racer maybe ever...and I beat them!

It is just now really starting to sink in what I was able to accomplish this past weekend and as I look back on it, it makes me think about all the hard work I have put in to get here and all the people that have supported me along the way. So this will be a very short race recap and a much more thorough thanks to those that have helped along the way, and I apologize beforehand if this gets long. No one succeeds without a lot of help and guidance.

Swim - got out well on Dustin and Matt's feet and held on the whole way for a strong 2nd place exit.

T1 - solid run, speed suit off, off we go on the cobbles

Bike - caught Matty at mile 3, felt great, dropped the hammer...needed a big head start on runners

T2 - nice and smooth, headband on off we go

Run - great through 5k, suffered a bit the next couple, wheels started to fall off but form work and consistency gave me the strength I needed

Finish - Yeah the pic's look like I might eat a baby, but hey never won anything like this before!

Thanks:

-First and foremost to my Family. Mom and Dad for your never ending support and encouragement, from 8&U swimming all the way till now, and Brandon for always telling me the truth.

- My friends, who although they didn't always understand why I would get up that early or why I would ever want to swim after college was done, for your belief in my abilities and encouragement to follow my dreams

- My coaches/mentors...Neal for the science that drives the train, Grant for the pool work and the much needed slap in the face sometimes, Tim for the encouragement and advice all along the way.

- My sponsors

- Kestrel ( Thank you Kelly and Matt)... make one hell of a fast bike

- Blue Seventy, longest standing relationship and really good people

- Pearl Izumi (Thanks Tim)... an amazing company that makes the absolute best gear in the world!

- Breeze Bars... killer nutrition on the go

- Clif Shot and Shimano for good eats and the best in bike components

-Tri-Massage... Josh for keeping me going and helping me solve the foot!

There are plenty of other people and companies that have helped me along the way and thank you to all of them as well.

Hopefully, this doesn't sound like a retirement speech because I'm not going anywhere but Sunday was a huge moment for me and it took a lot of help to get there and acknowledgement of them is important.

Next up for me is Rev3 Knoxville... another lil showdown on the TT and a chance to take my girlfriend on her first trip to the south and see my grandma.

More big things to come... still ALL IN!

St Anthony's 2010 Champ

2010-04-25T16:00:00.002-06:00

WOW... can't really say that I thought I would be leaving Florida with a classic title win to my name but I can tell you that it feels amazing! Just had the race of my life against some of the biggest names in the sport and was able to do enough to hold on for the win. Recap and pics to follow, just wanted to say thanks to my family and friends for their amazing support, and my sponsors for allowing me to chase my dreams. Still at a bit of a loss for words to describe it!!

Monterrey World Cup recap

2010-04-19T09:09:00.002-06:00

This past weekend it was back to racing down in Mexico, this time in Monterrey for my first ITU World Cup of the year. Flew down on Thursday and stayed in what turned out to be a pretty nice hotel with Brian Fleischmann. We hung out and did some light training until the pro meeting on Saturday which was relatively painless but then unfortunately my trip took a bit of a short turn for the worse as I must have eaten something bad at lunch because right before bed on Saturday I was started spending some quality time in the bathroom. My biggest fear was that I had gotten in a bit of a battle with Montezuma's revenge but luckily once I fell asleep I was good till the morning and when I woke felt a bit off but not bad.

Race morning went ok, tried to get some food in me but was hesitant to eat my normal pre race because of my stomach so stuck with light food which in the end may have been part of my problem on the run. Got to the race on time, had a solid ride/run warm up but didn't get in the water until pretty late and wasn't able to do as much as I would have liked.

The swim was in a man made canal that was really shallow, just above waist deep, and really narrow at places so we knew the start was going to be important. I had a solid dive, but with the shallow depth couldn't do many dolphin kicks and had to really lay in on to get out ahead a bit before the bottle neck. I hit the first turn around in 4th spot, good position but knew that I was working way too hard for only going as well as I was. Jsut one of those days, so I put my head down and tried to grind it out as best I could. I got gapped by the 3 leaders but luckily once on the bike was able to work with 4 other guys to join the first break and start to work together. The bad part was that only 5 of us were working, and we were not being very efficient at first so out lead started to dwindle before we got it right and ended the bike about 40 seconds up on the large chase group.

I had a decent transition but once on the run knew I was in a bit of trouble. My legs felt ok but just didn't have any pep and I was losing time in a hurry. It was a four lap run and by the second lap the entire chase group had caught and passed me so I just did my best to hold my form and try and get something going. Just one of those days where it feels ok but not fast, and after the previous night and really tough swim I just made sure I was under the time cut to get some points for my effort. Ended the day in 26th, not bad but not great, same as my start number. Moved up to 138th on the world rankings, but unfortunately probably came up short for a getting a start at Hy-Vee.

Now it is time to get the Kestrel Airfoil Pro TT bike dialed in this week before I head to St Anthony's this week for the first non-draft of the year. Excited to be heading back, have a good homestay, like the race, and at least everyone will have to do the work for themselves on the bike!

126th in the world...

2010-03-29T09:46:00.003-06:00

The latest ITU rankings just came out and after a solid effort in Mazatlan I have almost cracked the all important "top 125" of the ITU list. Really excited to get to Monterrey now and keep on climbing the ladder. Here is another pic from Mazatlan by one of the Mexican photog's Alejandro Ramirez. I look like a ghost...I was kind of tired!

Mazatlan 2010

2010-03-25T08:19:00.003-06:00

First international podium! Not bad standing with a couple 2008 Olympians. Monterrey World Cup in three weeks...

All In... in Mazatlan

2010-03-23T17:36:00.002-06:00

The 2010 ITU season is now off and running and it couldn't have started any better...well not much better anyway. Went down to Mazatlan this past weekend for a continental cup and looking at the start list it looked like it would be pre season US pro nats. I was really excited to be racing in Mexico for the first time but a bit apprehensive because mexican races are notorious for being bunched rides and just coming down to the 10K. Obviously not what I was looking for. So as it turns out took the season motto to heart and went ALL IN.

Race started really well, with a good start spot and about 5 guys coming out of the water and the half way point with a decent lead. The water was really choppy the whole way around and was making for a tough swim which is always a plus for me. As we exited the water at the end of the 1500 there were 4 of us heading up the beach to T1. No problems there and got out right on someone's wheel and got right into my shoes. Then the race started for me.

As I pulled through on my turn I had no intention of making a break but no one got on my wheel and I slowly started to roll away for the other 3 guys. After about 2 mins of steadily pulling ahead I decided I would try to get away for a lap and see if I could make a dent. There were 2 U-turns which are good for breaks because they slow up groups and by the time I made it back to transition after the first lap I was gaining time. At that point I decided there was no turning back and I was going to fight the wind in my mini aero bars for the full 40k and see who could catch me. All those winter rides were paying off as I slowly pulled away from the small chase group but more importantly steadily putting time into the big group with Jarrod Shoemaker in it.

By the time I got to T2 I had 1:05 on the small group and 2:30 on the big group and just took off. Tried to stay relaxed in the first of four laps and by the end was still holding my own with only Jarrod and Mexican Fransisco Serrano gaining on me. The legs felt much better than I expected after the solo bike and I was really just focusing on the form changes I have been making lately. I was slowly losing ground to both runners but only Serrano was able to catch me with about 1k to go and I go into the chute with a very solid 2nd place, and a spot on the podium with two 2008 olympians.

Huge thanks to Pearl Izumi for the awesome custom race kit and Kestrel bikes for giving me my getaway machine. Now on to the world cup in Monterrey and a shot at a field of the big names. Will post pics soon, stay tuned...big things happen when you go ALL IN!

New ride

2010-03-15T15:18:00.002-06:00

This is my new road bike for the 2010 from Kestrel....RT-900. Awesome bike!

2010 is underway

2010-03-08T08:37:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was the official start of the 2010 race season and it was exactly what I needed. Flew down to Clermont, FL last Wednesday to train with Jarrod Shoemaker and his crew down here for a couple days before doing a USAT draft legal sprint on Sunday. Got in a couple good days of outside riding and running, not real warm down here but definitely warmer than Boulder. Didn't rest much for the race as I was planning to train through it so showed up yesterday unsure of what was gonna go down.

Race day was perfect weather, apparently more what FL is supposed to be like, but it was sunny and low 70's. Water was still a really cold 55 but with wettie's and the sun it wasn't so bad. Since it was a pro/am draft race had a good start number in spot 3, and took advantage and went way wide with Brian Fleischmann to hopefully get a quick swim start and try and break the race open early. Swim was really short, only 750m, and even shorter because the first and last 150m was running and dolphin diving. I got out well, came out of the water in second with Flash on my heels and had a good run to transition. Off with the wettie, and on the bike...then it was time to burn rubber.

We headed out hard and by the first turn around Brian and I had a solid lead that we would continue to build on throughout the bike. It was a nice re-creation of Musselman a couple years ago, and hopefully a good preview of some breakaways to come this year. By the time we hit the run we had a large gap and I was able to hold on for a second place finish with a solid run. Brian only put 30 seconds into me which is a solid improvement over years past and any time you can stay ahead of runner like Jarrod its a confidence booster. Run is coming along, got some real positive feedback from some knowledgeable spectators, and am really excited for Mazatlan ITU on the 20th to see what I can do with a little rest, and a little less beard. Thats right...I raced with a beard and hairy legs, but hey still gotta stay warm training in the 303.

In all, solid training week and good race start down in Clermont. Huge thanks to Jerry Brown for putting me up for the week! Good times with Training Camp South...now home for some work and then to MX for the real deal! I promise, pics of my new racing suit and bike when I get home.

Kestrel Bikes in 2010

2010-02-26T08:41:00.002-07:00

Latest big news for the 2010 season is that I will be racing on Kestrel bikes this season. Really excited to be racing for the originator in the all carbon bike. Will be riding the RT 900 on the road...matte black, hte best color scheme ever. Then on the TT will be on the Airfoil Pro, again in sick black and white. I will post pics of them as soon as they are built.

Training is going really well, foot still coming along and running is really improving. I am heading down to Claremont, FL next wednesday to train with Jarrod Shoemaker and his crew for a bit, and do the USAT draft-legal sprint as a bit of warm up for the ITU in Mazatlan on the 20th.

Recently, spent some time with the design team at Pearl Izumi and was able to get fitted for an awesome ITU suit for the year that I will test drive in Florida.

Big things setting up for a big year.

Pearl Izumi on board

2010-02-15T14:01:00.002-07:00

I am really excited to announce my newest sponsorship partner for the 2010 season and beyond is Pearl Izumi! It will be awesome to work with a company that has the reputation of Pearl and is also located right here in my backyard so that I am able to be a contributor to where their clothing and racing gear goes in the future. Just got my first couple boxes of gear this last week and the stuff is amazing. I love the PI Streak training shoes, and the cycling gear is by far the most comfortable stuff I have ever worn. It is really nice to go out for four hours and not be uncomfortable in my shorts or freezing because the six layers I have on aren't quality stuff. The best part is that Pearl Izumi makes everything I need from racing suits, to training gear, to cycling and running shoes. Huge thanks to Tim DeBoom for helping me get my foot in the door, and to Geoff Shaffer and the other great people at Pearl Izumi for opportunity.

-Bullet pts

2010-02-02T09:49:00.002-07:00

- Colorado Mammoth lacrosse is a must see...incredibly entertaining, cheap, no bad seats in the house.

- Even though the pro bowl had its highest ratings ever, who cares if the real pro bowlers aren't playing. Just make it a selection without the game.

- Just read an article about youth athletics, based on the idea that it takes 10,000 hrs or roughly ten years to reach your full potential in a sport. Totally buy the idea, still gives me hope for running!

- Allen "The Answer" Iverson is not an All-Star...period. Apparently educated fans don't vote.

- I ran 15 miles on Sunday, my longest run yet, and although foot is a bit sore really good to be putting in the miles.

- Sponsorship is still up in the air but shout outs to my 2010 partners in crime thus far...Mix1, Rudy Project, Breeze Bars, also psyched to be back on board with Blue Seventy.

- Best drip coffee in Boulder... Peet's and Ozo...you were right Tim

- My boy JD White just started up his newest real estate business. If you are in the Denver/Boulder area and need to buy or sell hit him up. Got me my place... www.theedgedoes.com

- Training is going well, life is great, awesome to be happy and healthy right now, getting psyched to throw down in Mazatlan March 2oth

Solid weekend

2010-01-24T20:25:00.002-07:00

Just finished up a good weekend complete with a great concert, good movie, awesome run.

-Friday night headed down to the Grizzly Rose for a Cross Canadian Ragweed/Randy Rogers Band concert. Now if you know me, or have ever known me you know I have always been a bit more of a hip hop fan than a country guy, but I gotta say this was an awesome show. The Rose is awesome, huge place, great concert venue, and you can buy your beer by the six pack at the bar. It was my present to my bro for his birthday and we had an awesome time

-Saturday had a good long ride with Lance, and then went out to dinner and drinks with friends. Shot some pool, and grabbed some ice cream.

-Sunday had the best long run I have had in a long time if not ever. The foot is continuing to come around, but my legs feel great, have leaned up a bit and am starting to be able to put in some more miles. Getting really excited for the season. Then this afternoon finally got to see Avatar 3D...we have tried 3 times and it was always sold out. James Cameron is amazing, the movie was ridiculous and I have a feeling my dreams will be pretty crazy for a while to come.

Big week of training ahead...starting to get ready for race season!

Gotta love a rodeo

2010-01-14T08:26:00.003-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the sport of triathlon, but sometimes I wish it was just a little more badass; kind of like say, bull riding. Tuesday night my brother and myself headed down to Denver to the National Western Stock Show. We were down there to wander around the stock yards, eat some quality food, and most importantly watch 175lbs men try and sit on 2000lbs bulls for 8 seconds. The second qualifying go-around was Tuesday night and we got to see some amazing athletes. We got to see the reigning world champ, who happens to be from Longmont, as well as a slew of other top riders battle the beast. In the end I determined one thing. Bull riding is AWESOME!

These guys are some of the toughest athletes in the world and probably some of the most fearless. It is funny how when you watch sports center and Kobe goes down hard, the mc talks about a major scare. What he might have rolled an ankle? Tuesday night I watched a guy get his helmet smashed and he walked away. I saw a guy get drug around by his hand, and I saw a guy that had broken his neck the night before walking around the chutes. Cowboys are tough, makes me really feel like a bit of a pansy having dealt with a measly little foot problem this last year. If you want to see some amazing athletes, both the cowboys and the bulls, go check out the PBR, or watch it on Versus. In another life, maybe I will try my hand at it. I'm tough right?

Read Born to Run

2010-01-10T19:34:00.002-07:00

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is a great book. I have been working on my running form and playing around with barefoot running for a couple months now but reading this book really put some science behind the whole idea. The theory that people were made to run without orthotics and big shoes makes perfect sense. But we have been so ingrained with the need to buy bigger, more supportive shoes that it almost seems counter intuitive. This book talks about the tribe of super runners in Mexico that are arguably the worlds greatest endurance athletes, but it also touches on America's best, and makes a heck of an argument about the large decline in physical and mental health in America because we have gotten away from barefoot running. I think every rec runner, pro triathlete, and average joe should read this book. For me it was huge motivation to continue to work on my form, my foot, and chase the desire to be the best I can be. But for the average 9-5er I feel like it could be the spark they need to stay in the gym past February every year, or to get back to the days in high school when they really liked running. Running can be so much fun if you just get out and enjoy the scenery. Today I had an amazing run, best one in a long time and there are only a couple things I know of that can top a good runner's high. Read the book and get out and start moving. Ha I know, not what you expect from a swimmer!

Great day to be a Hawkeye

2010-01-06T11:39:00.002-07:00

Just needed to throw up some quick props to my boys in black in gold. Last night Iowa took on Georgia Tech in the Orange bowl and going in were the unanimous underdogs. Pretty much sounded like every other big win we had this year. No matter, with the best college coach in the country and a defense that is second to none the Hawks went down to Miami and stopped the best rushing attack in the country. The offense actually looked competent and Ferentz locked up another 11 win season, in a huge bowl win for Iowa and the Big Ten. After a couple less than awesome bowl seasons the Big Ten regained some swagger by having four teams knock off top 15 teams in one bowl season.

Looking to next year, should be a good one. The running attack is back. Our best defensive player Clayborn is coming back, and we can all hope Ferentz will again politely decline every available pro job. Great day to be a Hawkeye!

1st and 10 in 2010...

2010-01-01T19:56:00.002-07:00

Yes, I know I am a triathlete but I live my life in general sports metaphors not limited to endurance sports. That being said, it is the first day of the new year and as an American I figure it is my duty to come up with my resolutions for the coming year. However, I can't really think of a major problem I need to change so instead of a resolution, I am just making a list of things that will help the overall success of my plans for 2010.

As I have said in previous posts, my motto for the year in 2010, both for racing and life, is "ALL IN" So here is a bit of the ground work for my All In year:

-Do everything "ALL IN"... live, breathe, eat, train, race, travel, love, and learn

- Continue to climb the triathlon ladder, both in world rankings and prize money

- Do a better job of staying in touch with friends and family... hopefully get to more weddings and alumni gatherings

- Be a more influential part of the continuing growth of the sport of triathlon and its healthy lifestyle, both locally and nationally.

- Keep the fantasy league in a strangle hold, 4peat is a dynasty right?

- Appreciate everyday that I get to continue chasing my dreams. As Lance Armstrong said, "No bad days, just good ones and great ones."

- Make sure the people that mean the most know it

There, I have fulfilled my duty of determining how I will better myself over the next year. 2009 was a huge step in the right direction for me in a ton of ways. It was certainly not always easy but in the end I would have to consider it a success. 2010, look out, gonna be a big one!

Coolest X-mas gift

2009-12-27T13:06:00.005-07:00

Christmas was this past Friday and it was another great day with the family. Spent the morning cutting an awesome mullet-hawk in my bro's hair before heading to the parent's place for breakfast and presents. Always love my Mom's rolls on X-mas morning and then after presents we went and saw Invictus. Follow that with an awesome prime rib dinner and X-mas was an awesome day of relaxing with the family. Like my Mom said, its great to all be able to still spend a full day together on X-mas!
Now the reason for this blog is because my brother gave me probably the coolest X-mas present ever, not only because it in itself is amazing, but the meaning behind it is what keeps me chasing my dreams! It is a piece of blue stain wood that he got in mountains this year that he wood burned some stuff into. There is a picture of the flatirons, the always present symbol for my hometown of Boulder, CO. One of my favorite nicknames of all time from college, "BOCO Fury," which came from an ability to always seem to be able to find a way to through down at the end of swim practice no matter what had come before. Finally a verse from the Bible, " Rise up: this matter is in your hands. So take courage and do it." That sums up my relationship with my family and racing...full, undying, unwavering support! Without it I would never be able to dream as big as I do and put everything I have into it. Thanks B-rand!

All in...

2009-12-22T12:56:00.002-07:00

Just had the best run of recent memory and it was just one of those times when I couldn't imagine doing anything else right now but racing and training. Woke up, had my coffee and breakfast and headed to Rally to hit the weights. I was supposed to do a 30 min run to warm up so as per the recent usual started with 5 min barefoot, then 20 with shoes, and then another 5 barefoot. Now it wasn't a fast run, probably averaged 7:20 or so, but everything just felt great. I had my headphones on, staring at the mirror and just ran. The foot wasn't perfect but it wasn't an issue and as my playlist rolled on I got to one of my most recent favorite songs called "All In" by Grouch & Eligh. Its a great song but as I ran I was hearing the words and decided this is my new approach to training, racing, and more or less life.

"All In" G&E
It’s all or nothing, gotta be all in
Be all in, gotta be all in, be all in
Yeah it’s all or nothing!
Be all in, gotta be all in, be all in
Yeah it’s all or nothing

Do everything with a purpose, and full steam ahead!

Look around...

2009-12-17T14:56:00.004-07:00

Now, Christmas is almost here and for whatever reason it seems like it is this time of year when the corny sayings and stories are in full effect. Today I had the day off running but needed to do some cross training so I headed up to NCAR to go for a little hike. Now I grew up in Boulder, so hiking the Mesa trail should be nothing new, but to be completely honest I've only done it maybe a handful of times.

Unfortunately, growing up here I realize now that I really took Boulder's Best for granted when I was younger. I mean, my HS CC team used to run 10 mins and we were on some of the nicest trails in the world, but that was what we did every day so I never really thought twice about it. Once I went to college and came back I really started to realize how cool of a place Boulder is and how many unique opportunities it has. Now, there are definitely some things about Boulder I dislike but lately I have really noticed a lot of the awesome things we have here.

Slow down, look around, and make sure you are enjoying where you are. You never know when you might decide 4 years in Iowa City is a good idea... haha I'm just kidding, IC is the greatest college town in the world!

Its really cold...so what

2009-12-11T10:42:00.003-07:00

After college I left Iowa City behind and moved back to Boulder to start my triathlon career. In that move I thought I had left the weeks of non stop bitter cold behind me in the midwest where they belong. However, this past 10 days or so have been brutal with an average temp of probably around 10. Simply put this is not Boulder weather, and it is certainly not good training weather...or is it?

Now I will be the first to admit that this morning when I headed to the gym to lift and run and it was -2 outside I did some bitching. But one of the guys at the club threw out a pretty good question, is there some advantage to trianing in the cold?

I wouldn't go so far as to say there is an advantage, I mean I haven't ridden outside in over a week and running has to be done slow and carefully, but maybe there are some good things that come of it. I mean I love the part of Rocky IV where Rocky heads to Siberia to train in the snow and chop wood. It makes you tough and it makes you use different muscles and strategies than you might otherwise. When fast isn't an option you are able to work on form and strength, really dial in the things that will help once the snow clears. I don't enjoy the trainer any more than the next guy, but I am caught up on 24, have seen some good movies, and will be that much more excited when I can put rubber to the road again.

Do I still want to go somewhere warm for a training camp, of course, but while I am stuck here in the tundra I think maybe I will try and do a better job of focusing on the training and the reasons behind it, and less on the fact that my beard freezes solid during a 20 min run.

Train smart, be safe, and find your inner Rocky!

Random thoughts

2009-12-03T14:28:00.002-07:00

#1 Training is going well. Had a good session in the pain cave yesterday doing some power profiling. It was the first time I have put in any hard efforts on the bike in about 3 months so it was rough, but not feeling it as much today as expected.

#2 Just started doing some of my running in the Vibram 5 finger shoes, and am really liking it. I have been doing some barefooting for a few weeks now and it seems to be helping strengthen my foot, and thereby alleviating some of the plantar issues. I would recommend it as something to try but be VERY CAREFUL, and start really SLOW and SHORT!!!

#3 The Big Ten just knocked off the ACC in the yearly basketball challenge and it was the first time in history. Came down to a great game between Wisco-Duke and the Badgers pulled it off. I know I am not support to root for anyone but Iowa, but hey we lost our game so became a conference pride thing. Plus, I have always been a Duke fan, however, watching last night that may be fading.

#4 I don't care about Tiger Woods private life, and the fact that ESPN has become E! over that situation really bothers me. Did he do a good thing, no. Is he still a rolemodel for millions of people, absolutely. Would any of the kids, who everyone claims are the ones getting screwed by a role model, even know about this if it weren't for the media, no way.

#5 Happy Birthday J-Rock, yeah its a day early but should be a good concert tomorrow night. Going to see Grouch at the Fox Theater.

#6 I hate teasers but big meeting tomorrow for my near triathlon future, could be big things.

Thanks I should be giving

2009-11-27T18:48:00.002-07:00

I know it is a day late, but none the less I feel like I should do the standard "Things I am thankful for." For starters I am living a dream. Every day I wake up and get to continue chasing my dreams of greatness as a triathlete and there are plenty of people I need to thank for that.

Most of all thanks to my family, Kit, Bob, and Brandon, for their never ending love and support. They have backed my decision to forgo a 9-5 and chase my dreams, and for that I will forever be grateful. Thanks to my friends for supporting me and always making sure I remember how good I have it. Thanks to my coaches, Grant and Neal, for continuing to help make my dreams a reality, and my sponsors for making sure I have the tools I need. Finally, thanks to all the people that have ever believed in me and my dreams, and when those little doubts creep in, for making sure I always think it all the way through.

I am thankful for my health and that of all my friends and family. I sometimes wish I could get a replacement foot, but it is getting better all the time. I am thankful for the wonderful role models I have, who keep me on the right track and help me along the way. I am thankful for being a Hawkeye and love being a part of everything IOWA. I am thankful for having the ability to live every day to the fullest, and making the most of every situation.

What are you thankful for? Have you told them lately...

A bulldog and a big truck

2009-11-24T14:30:00.004-07:00

The two things that I wish I had right now are:

#1 an english bulldog...his name would be Diesel
#2 a large pick-up truck

To elaborate I have wanted a bulldog for some time now, but they are very expensive and to have a dog means you have to be around all the time or have someone who can help take care of them. Now it is the off season, so when I get one, this will be the time of year, but as of now not sure I have the financial resources or the help to make that one happen.

Its funny how I always come back from my trips to the south having picked up something. When I was little it was a southern accent, which I thought was awesome, but my parents were never very crazy about. Now that I am older I can control not picking that up, but having seen a ridiculous number of awesome lifted pick-ups, I got back and decided I need one. It could also be all the time I have been spending with my southernesque brother, and my man beard which has been coming in quite nicely. Nothing says man like a big truck, but also few things are hotter than a good looking girl in a big truck.

Alas, at this point I can afford neither so both remain things I want.

Winter running...with a beard

2009-11-16T13:17:00.005-07:00

This is the view across the park just outside my condo. For all the things I love about Boulder the views are definitely up there. Running in the snow is also awesome!

Also a quick pic of my beard in its current state half way through no-shave November. If you like the shades (which I definitely do) check out www.zealoptics.com

Foot keeps improving

2009-11-15T13:18:00.003-07:00

Just finished up some good running in the snow, which is definitely one of my favorites ways to do an easy run. Not too cold, sun out a bit and plenty of the white stuff to plow through. It was my longest run since coming back almost 5 mi. I know HUGE Sunday run, but its baby steps at this point still. Foot is continuing to improve, been spending a lot of time barefoot and doing some barefoot running at the end of all my runs. Seems to really help keep my foot loose and landing the way its supposed to. Trying to overcome all the over-compensation of the past year plus.

Congrats to Michael Raelert and Julie Dibens for big wins yesterday at 70.3 World Champs. Raelert dropped a 69 on the half-marathon to run away from the field which is just ridiculous.

Iowa played a great game and had a big day from a freshman quarterback in his first start but came up a bit short in overtime at OSU. Still a great season for the Hawks!

Still enjoying the off season, good training, relaxing, trying to get things lined up for next year.

70.3 Champs predictions

2009-11-13T22:04:00.002-07:00

Well last big race of the triathlon season for 2009 is upon us. Should be a great race with some of the best guys to ever take on the distance. My top 3 on the men's side goes something like this:

1. Matty Reed
2. Tim O'Donnell
3. Joe Gambles

I know, I know the first two are everybody's favorites but I think they are just that good, and Joe is a bit of dark horse but he has been laying it on thick this year and should for sure be in the mix. It's a shame they moved the swim into the harbor and out of the ocean, come on its world champs let them swim in the waves!

Oh yeah and Hawkeyes v. Buckeyes 1:30 mtn time...for all the marbles. Hey, maybe you can win with a bunch of freshman, after all it is Iowa football.

Weekend thoughts

2009-11-08T20:12:00.002-07:00

Well the undefeated streak has come to an end, but the season is far from over for my Iowa Hawkeyes. Lost a really ugly game and our starting quarterback to Northwestern on Saturday leaving us at 9-1, dropping to 10th in the BCS but still leaves us with a shot at the outright Big Ten title if we can roll up the Buckeyes in Columbus next week.

Went and saw the new Warren Miller film last night and was really impressed. It has been a couple years since I have gone to the opening weekend viewing they have in Boulder every year and I was glad to be back. The footage was sick, the subjects were really interesting and to be honest the lack of Warren Miller's voice was actually really nice. Its not that I have anything against him, but by the end of his movies his voice just isn't what I want to hear anymore. Not to say that Johnny Mosely is the greatest MC ever but he wasn't bad and it was a nice change.

On a more personal issue, but foot is still improving and I almost his double digit miles for running this week...ha. Tweaked the cleats on my bike shoes off of a tip from Tim DeBoom who had been dealing with plantar this year so we will see if that continues to help.

After seeing the results from Huatulco World Cup today I am really bummed I wasn't able to go help the Americans, but Matt Charbot threw down a big move on the bike to get away and secure victory and Jarrod Shoemaker had a great run to lock up third. Although it was hot and humid the course and the tactics would have definitely played into my favor. Still on the schedule for next year so thats hopefully where I will be ending the 2010 campaign.

Can't get no respect

2009-11-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

The Iowa Hawkeyes are undefeated, a clean 9-0. Yet somehow after watching them stomp IU on Saturday I didn't hear the Hawks come up again during any discussions of undefeateds or national title contenders. In fact I watched an entire segment on ESPN about the 7 undefeateds and they talked about all 6 except IOWA...not even a mention.

If you like numbers we are #4 in the BCS but the computer using all its infinite wisdom has us at #2 ahead of both Alabama and Texas. We have beaten all 3 top 25 BCS teams we have played with Ohio St coming up in 2 weeks. Did I mention we are 9-0... as in no losses unlike Oregon or USC. And that 2 of those big wins were on the road.

Iowa wins games in the 4th quarter, and we find a way to win when maybe we shouldn't. Kirk Ferentz is the greatest coach in the game right now hands down taking the players he can get and getting the most out of them. No its not the SEC, but a win is a win so at least give us credit for what we have done, and don't count us down until, as you are positive they will OSU actually beats us. Which by the way will be a huge dissapointment for the Buckeyes. Hawks stay undefeated...I'm not Rodney Dangerfield, but we can't get no respect.

Heading down south

2009-10-29T12:02:00.000-06:00

Leaving today to go to Tennessee to see my grandma and watch/run a 10k with my Dad. Looking forward to the trip. It has been far too long since I last saw my grandma and considering the 20in of snow we have on the ground here it will be nice to run outside if the foot permits. It is always interesting to head south. The food is awesome, and by awesome I mean tasting, not good for you. The people are really laid back and friendly and the weather is for the most part pretty good. Hoping I can get in some good fried food, get a chance to see my grandparents farm again, and maybe put in some work on the place. I used to love my trips to the farm. Not sure if it was the novelty of the idea, or just being outside working with my hands, but growing up those were definitely some of my favorite vacations. Should be a good trip, spend some time with Dad, and see some relatives.

Sidenotes:
- Iowa is #4 in the BCS and barring a collapse in Columbus in 3 weeks will be playing for the national title.
- I hate the Yankees, so watching Cliff Lee demolish their "unstoppable" offense was great.
- My beard is still coming along nicely, I'll throw up a pic soon.
- My foot is getting better and will hopefully get in my longest run recently on Sat. in the 10k

Athlete's toughest test

2009-10-22T20:25:00.001-06:00

Whether you are an athlete of the professional variety or simply a weekend warrior to me it seems that injuries and coming back from them is the hardest part of training. Everyone knows how to put in the hard work, and do the extra little things to get to their goals, but it is holding back, or doing a little less that always seems like the really hard part.

My foot is definitely on the mend, and I have solved a lot of the problems, however, now that I am trying to get back into running a bit things are not progressing as fast as I would like. But then again do they ever? It isn't quite as pain free as I would hope, and I can't seem to find the right shoe combination to give me the cushion and support I need but allow my foot to move so as not to cause a return of plantar. At this point it is a work in progress but none the less their is progress. Stay focused on the positive and keep riding and swimming hard. Spend plenty of time on the run this winter.

Denver Donkey throwbacks are great

2009-10-19T21:11:00.001-06:00

To be quite honest I am not a die hard Denver Broncos fan. I know I have lived my whole life in CO and should therefore be a lifer, but for whatever reason only got excited about them when they made the playoffs, I mean I guess I like them more than any other team. But my love of the Donkey's grew dramatically when they wore throwback uniforms last week from I believe '62, and '63. Hopefully you all saw them as they beat the Patriots but if not enjoy the pic. These uniforms are so ugly that they are awesome. What I really want are a pair of the brown and yellow vertically stripped socks...come on what would those not go with! Anyway, this week they are on MNF rocking the away version which is white and brown, also cool but not quite ugly enough for me.

They are playing the powder blues of SD which are probably my favorite uni's of all times, but the brown and mustard were great.

Side note the beard is going on 11 days and is coming along nicely!
Second side note...the Iowa Hawkeyes are #6 in the first BCS poll. Go Hawks, enough said

It's beard season again

2009-10-16T14:05:00.000-06:00

Once again fall is here, and although it has felt like winter in Boulder, that means some major changes are here. The leaves are falling, everyone is pulling out the leg warmers and gloves for riding, and most are putting away the board shorts, or at least wearing them less. Baseball playoffs are here, but this year who cares with the Sox and Rockies out, and fantasy football is once again a daily adjustment in prep for Sunday's battles. But most importantly a large population of the men in this country decide it is once again time to give there testosterone a boost and grow the most manly, Paul Bunyanesque beard they can. I for one am going all in this year. In the past the girls I have dated have denied me the opportunity to reach my beards full potential, but seeing as they are all now ex's maybe this is just the thing I need to get back on track. A big man beard.

So in the spirit of beard season I say let you man flag fly proudly and grow what your momma gave you. If it's patchy who cares, at least you are trying, and if you have the ability to grow the king of all mountain man beards, then by all means let 'er rip. I myself fall somewhere in between. With my white hair I hope someday I can get a part time gig as Santa Clause, but for this year I am doing it for those not fortunate enough to yet have the capacity (do work Bdye) and to keep my face warm on those long winter rides. I'm just not a big fan of the balaclava so I am growing my own.

Happy Beard Season Gentlemen...make your cave man side proud

Riding in circles is fun

2009-10-15T12:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterdays cycling workout was to get my first taste of the Velodrome here in Boulder at Boulder Indoor Cycling. It has been around for about a year now but I had never made it in there. So went in there with Allen, Neal, and Grant and got a bit of a tutorial on how to ride really fast in a circle on steeply banked turns. Needless to say when you first go in there having never been on a velodrome before it is a bit intimidating. The track at BIC is only 138m long, which is quite a bit shorter than the Olympic sized one of 250m. With a short track comes shorter straight aways and more importantly steeper banked turns, in this case about 45 degrees.

After Neal went of the basics of track etiquette and how to get on and off the track safely my heart was racing as I was staring at the banked corner trying to figure out how I was going to go around that without falling over. In track riding it is actually way more dangerous to go slow than it is to go fast. Once you are up to speed, about 15mph, you have no problem navigating the turns. Unfortunately Neal needed a reminder of his own lesson when he took a spill sliding off the wall going too slow in a turn. Talk about making you second guess. If the guy that races the track just fell, I am totally screwed. From then on I was very careful to error on the side of too fast.

The track is awesome! After getting the hang of it and then doing some good exchanges and pacelines with Allen and Grant I just had the urge to go really fast, and so I tried to crank as much as I could around the thing. It was definitely a battle to mentally stay calm as you are cranking around the wall basically parallel to the ground and not freak out but it was fun. I can't wait to go back and get more comfortable on it, but I can't imagine being out there for a race with 20 other guys. Maybe on the big track, but track cyclists I'm pretty sure have no fear.

Recap of recent events...

2009-10-14T10:18:00.001-06:00

I have done a poor job of updating this recently as there have been no races, and I took some time off of training, but now training is back on, without running still, but its coming along. A lot has happened recently in the world of triathlon. This last weekend was Kona, which for most people is still the definition of the sport of triathlon. Congrats to Crowie for a comeback repeat performance, and to Chris Lieto for the ballsy ride he threw down. I know what it feels like to be out in front and get run down its hard, but with that effort its got to be nice to know that he could win it. On the shorter front the Lifetime Fitness Series finale was in Dallas last Sunday where I am happy to say my boy Matty Reed threw down the gauntlet and stayed away from the boys beating out GB and a hand full of big name ITU guys. So he won the race and the series, big money, big things.

Since I called my season about a month ago now I obviously was not in Dallas where I would have otherwise been, but was instead making the yearly pilgrammage back to Iowa City with my brother. Since I wasn't racing we went back this past weekend for the Homecoming game against Michigan. It was great trip. Was nice to spend some time with Brandon on our drives to and from KC, and it was great to see a lot of the old college buddies. Nothing like football and tailgating in IC. Also if anyone reading this works for an airline could you please tell them that Denver to Cedar Rapids or Des Moines is a good flight and they should start it. United is just too damn expensive! Hence the fly to KC and drive to IC.

On the foot, have been working a lot with Josh Shadle of Tri-Massage here in Boulder and seem to be making some headway. The plantar is for the most part gone, although I am still in a boot, and now just trying to right the lateral part with all the edema and inflammation. He works with a cold laser that seems to be helping.

Today should be a good day. Had a good swim this morning, speed seems to be slowly returning in the water and am headed in a bit to the indoor cycling track for a workout. Haven't ever ridden on it, so we will see how that goes!

Go Hawks 6-0 baby!!!

Foot update

2009-09-30T20:31:00.000-06:00

Yesterday started really early, up at 4am to catch a 6am flight to Chicago for my MRI. Big thanks to Dr Hunt of the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute for helping me out with that. After racing at worlds and talking to a lot of people it became apparent that the only way to really diagnose my foot was going to be the MRI. So got that done and found out the really good news that I don't have any breaks, fractures, or tears. In fact ironically enough I went and had the most advanced look at my foot to find out that it was in fact the thing that I originally tried to treat, plantar fascitis. Now it is a little strange because it is only the medial cord of the plantar fascia but the treatment is the same, so I am back in a night splint for awhile and hopefully this time it will fix the issue. The other newer issue on the outside of my foot is still a bit foggy, but from the first examination of the MRI it seems to just be some serious edema around the peroneal nerve that is causing the pain. Get the fluid and inflammation to go away and hopefully goes to the pain. Anyway, good trip to Chi-Town nice to see an old swimming buddy, and thanks again to Dr Hunt.

As far as training goes, I had my two weeks completely off...which were awesome, and am now slowly getting back into things. Started riding and swimming this week and will get on the elliptical tomorrow for some simulated running. Hopefully be back to the real thing soon! Obviously I would rather be heading to LA to race this weekend but the break was good and now I can start training for next year.

ITU season review video

2009-09-27T16:40:00.000-06:00

This year was the first year of the Dextro World Championship Series in ITU triathlon and on the whole it was a great success. It was able to bring more publicity and money into the sport and grow the sport world-wide by hosting races in major, iconic cities. At the world championship finale they should this video to the athletes at the athletes meeting and I think everyone was really impressed, and honestly really psyched up to go race. I think the Brian Mahoney and the rest of the people in charge of publicity and media for the series did an outstanding job for a first year series and I think it will be that much better in years to come. More major cities, prize money, and publicity for the sport. Check it out:

The flip side of the race...

2009-09-20T14:48:00.000-06:00

Since my race season is unfortunately over, and I happen to know a couple of guys that put on races here in Boulder today I was out at the Oktoberfest Sprint Tri to volunteer. I got stationed at the mount/dismount line and had a really good time, cheering people and helping make sure the beginnings knew what was going on. I gotta say I really applaud the people that did the race this morning. It is really cool to see so many beginner triathletes out there just to have some fun and accomplish a goal, in this case finishing a triathlon.

I had an interesting conversation with Dick, a member at Rally who was working with me about a comment he had read in some triathlon publication. Basically a woman had told someone she knew that she was proud of being a triathlete because she had just finished her first race. the person that she said this too asked what race she had done, and when the woman responded just some local sprint, the other woman said, "Oh you're not a real triathlete unless you do Hawaii."

First off, to the woman who finished the sprint, congratulations and welcome to the community that is triathletes. To the woman who said all of triathlon is the hawaii ironman, get over yourself. You mean to tell me that the reigning triathlon gold medalist, Hunter Kemper and any other number of Olympians and world class athletes aren't triathletes because they don't do Ironman? I hope that lady isn't so ridiculous and closed minded about all things in life. A triathlon is an event consisting of three things usually swimming, biking, and running, and if you finish the race, you are a triathlete.

That said I want to say congrats to the guys and gals at Without Limits Productions for another great season of races. You guys do a tremendous job of bringing new people to the sport, and making sure everyone is having fun. I will definitely try and do at least one of your races next year. Congrats to all the people that finished and Kirk Nelson for breaking the course record.

It was nice to be able to help out at a race since I annually do so many and so many people volunteer at those races. I need to do more giving back, but I really enjoyed the change of scenery and the commeraderie of all the triathletes, new and old....yes even at a sprint!!

World Champs recap

2009-09-15T21:09:00.000-06:00

So I have been back in the US now for a little over 24hrs and my body has no idea what time it is, when I should eat or sleep, or even what day it is. I slept 13 hrs last night, haven't done that since college, and I ate 1 meal today. Those of you that know me know that has never happened, not ever! But the trip was great and the experience was worth so much for me and for my racing.

The Race
World Champs, definitely never thought I would be ending my season there this year, but after a great season I found myself as the last entrant into the WCS finale, as a domestique for the USA. I can't even explain how cool it was to rock the red, white and blue!
Race started ok, I was the last one on the line so I took the one spot left which was unfortunately right in the middle. If you don't know, that is the worst place to be if your claustrophobic or don't like being punched and kicked a lot. I'm not the first but I am the later so I tried to get out hard and clear the field. I did some of that, but the first turn bouy was only 260m out so I got there at the same time as 20 other guys and we mauled each other around it and all the way around the course. The second lap of the swim was the same. A crazy 10 wide pack of froth. I got kicked in the tooth, punched in the back of the head, and pulled under, but rubbin's racing right!
But in the end I did my job and came out in the top 12 or so wiht the leaders in a great position to help the squad.
My job in this race was to set up the runners, in particular Jarrod Shoemaker, and if Matty Reed where able to get away, either go with him or try and slow the field up in their chase. As far as tactics the race went down to plan. I towed Jarrod to the front and got him in position, spelled Fretta and some of the guys that had to bridge up to the group, and got my mug on TV leading the chase group trying to let Matty get off the front. I went there to do a job, and that is exactly what I did.
The run however, did not go quite to plan, but that is ok because I wasn't brought there to run. After I did my job I was supposed to do the best I could to run fast enough to stay in the 5% gap and score some pts for myself. I just didn't have the running legs that day and finished well off pace, but I didn't finish last, and for what it was worth that was something.

My Foot
The run was not great for a ton of reasons, flogging myself on the bike, foot problems, but mainly I think the biggest thing was run fitness. Because of my foot I haven't been able to do a ton of miles this year and because of that when I race 3/4 weeks and travel a lot I don't have the base to go off of and it shows. That is why after talking with that team doc's they suggested it would probably be in my best interest to just hang it up for the year and figure out the foot issue so I can fix it and train hard all winter. So that is the plan, get an MRI, rule out stuff, get a diagnosis and solve it. Its a bittersweet finish because I was really excited about going to LA and Dallas, but there is always next year and I will be even better and more prepared for that if I stop now and do the smart thing.

Thanks
Huge thanks to all of my supporters! My family of course for always being there for me and giving me their unquestioning support. My friends for keeping me in line, Neal and Grant for their coaching expertise. Thanks to the med staff on the trip to Worlds, Diane and Camille you two are amazing. Thanks to USAT for believing in my ability to help the team, and the guys for keeping my head up. Lastly, but definitely not least, thanks to all of my sponsors: Blue Seventy, Zeal Optics, Specialized, Mix1, Shimano, Kiwami, Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, Boulder Cycle Sport.

Down Under

2009-09-09T19:16:00.000-06:00

So far this trip to Australia has been great. Gold Coast reminds me a lot of Miami/Ft Lauderdale area with the nice houses, big sky rises, and intercoastal type water ways. The hotel we are at is ok, we have little kitchenettes and decent size rooms. The running has been great at Coombaba Park, I saw a koala bear yesterday and some more kangaroo's. Swimming is ok in the local pool but the water is still way too hot. Today is the course familiarization for the swim so we will be in the ocean. Be nice to check out the current and see what that will be like as well as finally see how warm/cold it is and whether it will be wettie or not.

Unfortunately right after Chicago I started struggling with a new foot issue that has been a real pain as far as running but fortunately we have an amazing team of massage and chiro here that has been a huge help! Chamille, and the crew have been great and they think my new problem is a compensation issue from my long standing foot issue, but they have been amazing trying to treat it and help me figure out what to do when I get back. I don't think it will be an issue for the race but I need to get it right before start hammering out the training again next week.

Since today is 2 days out of the race is will be a really light training day with just the swim and then the elite briefing tonight, but in the meantime think I will head down to the beach and watch some of the surfers, read a bit and relax.

I am really bummed that the rugby match on Saturday night between Gold Coast and Brisbane sold out in less than an hour but I am still psyched to catch it at a bar after the race. Getting really excited about the race now as it wis getting closer and we are starting to talk more about tactics and strategy. Hopefully everything is firing on all cylinders by then and I can crush the swim and ride and help put someone on the podium.

All is well down under, cheers

Gold Coast

2009-09-06T04:31:00.000-06:00

So this will be quick as I am on a hotel computer that costs a lot and I am running out of time ha. Getting here was long but ok, slept most of the plane rides and once we finally got to GC things have been good. I am rooming with Matt Charbot and that is working out fine. Today was our first full day here and we went for a run this morning in a national park that was really nice. It was crazy because we saw a couple kangaroos not more than a minute into it. Then we swam at a nice 50m saline pool and did a ride through the area. Tomorrow probably more of the same, still getting aclimated and trying to sleep a lot. Cheers

Headed Down Under

2009-09-03T07:52:00.000-06:00

Today I am off to Australia to eventually race the WCS finale in Gold Coast. I can't tell you how excited I am to have the opportunity to be racing in the biggest ITU race of the year, but also to go to the race as a cog in the wheel to try and get one of the Americans on the podium. With guys like Jared, Matt and Mark all going well this could be the best chance an American team has had to podium and also get a couple guys in the top 10. My job will be to try and make sure every one is safe and in the group and then who knows...you'll have to watch the race, ha.

It will also be a cool trip because as I said I leave today but the race isn't until the 12th. Meaning I will be in Gold Coast for about a week just training and hanging out. It should be an awesome trip, hopefully will get to see a little bit of what is there, although don't think I will be doing much surfing until after the race.

Hopefully, there will be a computer in the hotel or one of the guys is bringing a lap top ( I live in the dark ages with a desktop) and I will be able to let everyone know how it is going. You will be able to keep track of me here, my twitter at camdyetri, and make sure to watch the race on the 12th. For those in the states that will still be the 11th. Wish me luck, GO USA!

Chcago report

2009-09-01T09:31:00.000-06:00

Spent the weekend in the Windy City, that is a great place. If I were going to move to a major city other than San Fran that would be it. Great to see some of my college buddies and met a former Hawkeye swimmer which is always cool. Also HUGE thanks to David Carlins, the head of Magellan Development, and the owner of the amazing condo that I stayed in for the weekend.

Anyway, back to the reason for the trip which was the Chicago Triathlon, in its 27th year one of the oldest and greatest races in the sport. Of course being old and great means really good money and subsequently really good fields and this year was no different as ever major player in the drafting and non drafting world came to town for a bit of throwdown...wow rhyme time, anyway focus.

The weekend was definitely not Chi town weather in August. I did the dumb thing and didn't really check the weather and simply expected hot and humid like always, WRONG. The whole time we were there I don't think it broke 70, and it was cloudy and windy for most of the trip. I wish I had taken more clothes but came out alright, at least I took my wetsuit.

Race day was sunny but only about 60 and a 20 mi/hr wind didn't help anything. I have never seen waves like that in the harbor and the swim was choppy. Pre-race was ok, wished for more clothes during warm up but got through and walked the mile from transition to the swim start inthe wet suit. Swim start was a bit rough because of the chop, but kicked and punched my way up and got on Andy Pott's feet. Rode them for the out portion, but when we hit the one turn bouy he jumped and I couldn't keep pace, so I ended up a ways back of him but ahead of everyone else in a solid second. Then did the long run to T1, better this year than in the past as I held my place, and got right out on the bike and into the bars.

Did I mention the 20mph wind? Yeah Chicago is two loops of an out and back, headwind one way, tail the other. Of course you start with the headwind so first 5k was a bit rough on the legs but I got going and felt good. Ended up being in a non-drafting group with Reed, Potts, Charbot, and myself and we clipped along until about halfway back the first loop. Then things took a short but terrible turn.

This year there were a lot more age groupers out on the course with us than in past years and it was causing us to have to bob and weave while we raced, and in the aerobars that is not easy or really very safe. As we were clipping along with the tail wind the worst possible thing happened right in front of me. I am not sure how but somehow Andy and an age grouper just ran straight into each other's sides, bounced off and hit the deck. I jumped on my brakes and narrowly avoided a sliding Potts as his day came to a terrible end. Hope you are doing ok Andy! I was able to get around but needless to say it was way to close and not what I needed to see. The rest of the ride was luckily uneventful and I came off in 3rd.

Starting the run I felt good, and with a tail wind took off relaxed. I made it to the turn around in 4th, but when I did the 180 into the wind, my form fell off, back tightened and I toughed it out back to the finish. Never totally collapsed but really tightened up and finiished in 7th. Held off some good guys, and finished strong, but obviously still gotta change my MO of fading on the run.

Overall, a very solid race in an extremely good field. Another big top ten, and a trip that got covered in winnings. Got to see some hawkeyes, had a few beers in Wrigleville and very much enjoyed the city. Just wish I had had a hoodie.

Now three days in BOCO and then off to Australia...wow that sounds so crazy, but I am so psyched to be a part of a legit Worlds team and hopefully have the opportunity to help one of our boys to the podium. Off to train...be safe...best wishes to Andy and a speedy recovery!!

Gold Coast baby!

2009-08-29T08:59:00.000-06:00

So it is official...ITU has approved the switch and I am officially going to Gold Coast Australia for the World Champs Series Finale to represent the USA!! I am going in a domestique role to help make sure the big boys are in the right places on the bike and maybe try and help someone break off the front. This is an awesome opportunity for me to get to travel, represent the US, and continue to gain experience in the crazy world of draft-legal. I am so stoked to get to go, but for now have to stay focused because I am in Chicago and racing the Chicago Triathlon tomorrow at 11:15 CST. Should be a good one, all the big names are here but I am feeling good and think that this could be a good showing for me.

Last night Kristen, Jimmy, and myself went with Jenna Shoemaker and Blue Seventy to the Fleet Feet store in Old Town to do a Q&A with people here in town. There was an MC that asked us all a bunch of questions and then we took questions from the audience. Most of them were first timers or less experienced racers but it was great. They had some really good ?'s and I think that we were able to give them some good answers. If nothing else, it was fun and we met some really nice people who are extremely excited about our sport. Afterwords, went out for pizza with Shawn of Blue Seventy at Bacino's, awesome pizza!

Today, get in a good warm up sesh, dial in the bike, and head over to the expo to meet some people and go to the pro meeting. Excited for tomorrow...let you know how it goes.

Chicago this weekend

2009-08-27T09:58:00.000-06:00

Well after a day off on Sunday, I was straight back to work getting ready for the Chicago Triathlon this Sunday. Back to back races have gone well so far this year so I am expecting more of the same this weekend. Especially after doing a dry run last week riding and running all by my lonesome. I am definitely excited to be back on the TT bike this year, my Transition is crazy fast and every race on it this year has been a good one. Also with the way I ran last week, finally breaking 34, I am psyched to see if that was the running breakthrough I needed. For some reason I have always likes Chicago, from 3 years ago when I won the overall amateur race, to these past two years when I have had very solid showings amongst extremely good fields. I would expect this year to be no different, but hopefully I can finally crack the top ten as a pro.

Also, not to sound cryptic like Lance Armstrong does some times, but I have some big news coming about racing that I just want to get finalized before I throw out there as official, gonna be a huge step for me though if it goes down!

Chi-Town here I come...hopefully get to see some of the Hawk's from back in the day!

US Pro Nationals

2009-08-23T17:16:00.000-06:00

Just got back from Tuscaloosa, AL where age group and pro nationals was held yesterday. The weather was my biggest concern going in, but after the race I should have been more worried about the current in the river.

Day of the race started well, got to sleep in, but it was hot early and I was worried that it would be a really hot, muggy race. But once the afternoon rolled around we got some clouds and a breeze and the weather never really was much of a factor. I had a good warm up on the bike although my legs were a bit sluggish so I did a good swim warm up, although in hind sight I should have put more thought into my preparation as during the warm up it became evident that there was a big current that hadn't been there the day before. When it was time to line up the first few guys went to the slots closest to shore, but myself, Matty Reed, Eric L and some other decided to head to the far side to get away from the congestion, big mistake. As anyone who thinks about it knows the current is strongest in the middle of the river where it is the deepest, and therefore it is most advantageous to stay close to shore and out of the current. That was my first mistake was starting in the middle, but my second was staying there instead of heading to the outside but by the time I realized the mistake there was a train of people streaking down the side and I was getting rolled. I was working way too hard to not go very fast and wasting tons of energy trying to catch up after the first bouy. I exited about 30 sec off the leaders and that was as close as I would get to them. Matty came out a bit ahead of me but with a better transition spot he got out fast and was able to hook up with Mark Fretta and they worked up to the group. This left me just off by myself, where I stayed the whole 40k . I maintained a 1 min gap the whole ride but couldn't close it, and spent the whole time in my aero bars hammering away. Guess I will be ready for Chicago next week. I was worried that the exertion would hurt my run but I actually felt pretty strong throughout and although the course was a bit short, nice to see a 33 run split for the first time. Came off the bikes in 9th and passed one guy that stopped for med reasons and did the whole run in 8th. Actually held my own on the run and finished strong which gives me some good confidence heading into next week.

Considering it was about as bad as I can swim and I still finished top 10 and got goo points it was a successful trip. Just another learning experience in a never ending string of lessons. Now a good week of training and rest and get ready to head up to Chi-town to put in some work on Lake Shore.

Crit... take 4

2009-08-16T16:50:00.000-06:00

So this morning did the Niwot Criterium in lovely downtown Niwot, CO. The course was a one mile loop and we covered all of downtown, ha. Anyway, got to the start line about 3 min till the start and as anyone who has ever done a bike race knows that means I was in the third row back. What is it with these guys getting to the line 15 mins early. They need to Southwest bike races and give everyone a number to pick your spot. Anyway, had a slow start and sat in the first lap. This course is crazy tight, really sketchy and has two back-back 120 degree turns. As we went through on the first lap the awesome cat 4 gents who don't ride much all decided to take a corner wide, so they just ran into each other to get outside, crash #1 averted. Had to come to a stop and throw down to catch back up but considered it the end of my warm up. Sat in the back for a couple more laps and about 15 mins in threw down an attack and jumped off the front. Got a good gap but realized getting back on after the crash had taken more out of my legs than I thought so after 2 laps in the lead sat up and waited. The good news was I had destroyed the peleton and it was only about 25 guys now, no more rif raf, or so I thought. Had a good couple laps and then we were at 5 to go so it picked up a bit, but stayed with it, was going well until wiht 1.5 laps to go someone else slid out, took out two dudes and pushed me to the barrier, but I stayed up, just once again stopped. More chasing to do. I got back on and when I did said what the heck and went on the attack. Led through the first half of the lap but knew I couldn't hold on so I considered myself lucky, sat up, and stayed out of the way. Finished a bit off the group but in one piece and feeling like it was a good effort. One of the strongest riders but if you have any reservations you will not win and with 2 races the next two weeks figured it was better to stay on the bike. Got in a good 1 mi fast brick run, then headed home. Good day at the office.

Classic

2009-08-14T12:26:00.000-06:00

This is quality music...who doesn't love spandex

Euro Trip '09

2009-08-12T08:05:00.000-06:00

Back in the states after an extremely long travel day yesterday and my body officially has no idea what time it is. I went to bed last night at 10:30 which is 6:30am in Budapest where I woke up, and then I got up at 4:30 because I couldn't sleep anymore. My body thought it was 12:30pm...this is so weird. Anyway, the trip was awesome, great experience, so much fun.

Leading up to the race I spent 4 days in Tiszy lounging, working out, eating, sleeping, and watching the people that live there go crazy every night at the week long triathlon festival leading up to the WC races. It is awesome how excited these people get for our sport. Seeing the fans on race day almost gave me chills on the bike, and probably has a big part in me leading the lead pack through the stands on 3 of the 7 laps! The race was Sunday afternoon and it was supposed to be hot, but honestly it wasn't as bad as I had expected. Everything went well in the morning, ate, warmed up and headed out to the swim area which is a bit outside of town.

Once I got out there it was a good warm up, got everything set and the uni checked and then got in to swim. Had a good warm up in what basically amounts to a small pond, we swim almost the whole perimiter and actually have to swim between bouys at one part to make sure you don't go too close to shore and ground yourself. Then back to transition to get lined up for the start. They called everyone down by name, and I got a great start spot more or less a straight shot from the first turn bouy. There were 80 guys so it was a huge race and I knew I would have to get out fast, and try and get on Varga, a Slovakian swim stud's feet and see how it goes. Had a decent start, a bit slow off the dock but made up for it with some good dolphin kicks and put my head down and sprinted for about 75 meters before even taking a breath. When I did I was a bit clear of everyone and in some open water. I saw Varga off to my right cutting in and a big Russian train off to my left, so things were setting up perfect. I got in behind Varga and let him pull me around the first lap. Then got out, dove back in and did it again, this time I actually had to keep tapping his feet though to make sure he didn't ease off the pace. I was hoping we would be able to get away. Didn't have a great transition as I had trouble with my helmet but got the bike on the road and we hit it hard.

It was a pretty cool feeling to sit up and take a drink and wait for the Russians to catch on at the start, these dudes are the best out there, and once we started we hit it good. 9 man break and we were working together ok. There is a long stretch into town and then 7 laps of a technical 11 turn crit course, and by the 3rd lap we were 1:20 up on the chase. I was feeling awesome, spending all my time in the front 5 and taking good pulls trying to keep the pace up, but as we went through the stands on the 3rd lap I realized I had pulled away becasue the Russians had decided to sit up. I have no idea why, I assume to let the other Russians catch up, but then our group was 25 and not in a real hurry anymore. Now hindsight is great, and maybe I should have tried a solo break to see if anyone would join, but I waited and spent the next 4 laps making little mini breaks with different people but no one wanted to go completely in so we all just stayed together into T2.

On to the run we went and I was in about 25th and felt awesome going out of transition. Now, the plan had been to let people go the first 2 laps, relax and try and get people as they faded at the end, but when you are in the race, with all the big players AND you feel great...letting people go is HARD. I felt awesome so I just ran. I tried to stay relaxed but went out a bit fast and started to fade a little on the 3rd lap. I held it together well throughout, form was good and felt ok, just don't quite have the legs yet to run that fast after doing too much work on the bike for no break. I ran a 34, solid for me but not ITU level yet, but there is plenty of time to improve. Finished 50th, top American in a big world cup...not a bad first try!

Overall, the race was great! It was the most fun I have had racing in a long time with the atmosphere and the strategy and I learned a lot. Thanks again to Kiwami for the last minute suit, it was great. Thanks to my Dad for going with me and showing me around Hungary. Thanks to my parents for all the continued support! A down week and then its off to nationals, gotta get my body right so I can do some training now.

Shout out from Tiszuajvaros...

2009-08-07T05:27:00.001-06:00

So I have been in Europe for about 2.5 days now and am starting to feel good again. Have been sleeping a lot and my stomach was a bit off but didn't feel the time change too much. Didn't really have any trouble sleeping on the plane and we ran through Heathrow following a guy from British Air and made our plane to Budapest. Unfortunately none of the bags or the bike made it to Budapest so we headed to the hotel in Tiszy and the bags were supposed to come the next day. They didn't come as easly as promised but they did get here and the bike was in good form. Did an easy swim and run yesterday and then today got out on the bike course and did an easy jog as well. The bike course is cool but different. It has an 8k lead out from the lake to the town and then a 7 lap crit loop that has a lot of turns. In the past there haven't been many breaks at this race, but looking at the course I can't quite figure out why. The start list is crammed with swimmers so hopefully we can make something happen.

Hungary is pretty cool. Tiszy is a small town so not much to see hear but the food is alright, been drinking lots of bottled water. Looking forward to checking out Budapest after the race and getting a better feel for the place. I go off at 1:30pm on Sunday so for those of you back in the states that is 5:30am so make sure to set your alarms early and check out the race live on triathlon.org

Phelps has class...

2009-08-01T17:20:00.000-06:00

In the end I guess it still is the swimmer not the suit they are wearing. So Phelps got beat in the 200 by a guy wearing what will soon be an illegal suit. His coach said he would pull him from international meets, but what did Mike do? He turned to Speedo and said thanks for everything your suit is just fine with me and went on to set a new world record in what is arguably his best event the 200 fly. Gotta admire a guy for sticking with his guns, going with what he knows works and banking on his talent as a swimmer and his hard work to win races. Then today he showed again why although he has made some mistakes in his personal life, he is hands down one of the classiest athletes in the world, and one that every young swimmer and athletes in general should look up to.

Today was the rematch of the 100 fly from the Olympics last year. The race where Michael came back to beat Milorad Cavic by .01 and claim his 8th gold of the games. It was the impossible finish and the perfect end to that memorable quest for gold, however, apparently a year later Cavic still thinks he won and had no problem telling the world that he thought so. Come on dude, it is a timed sport. The clock isn't biased. It doesn't care who wins, you just didn't finish well and you got beat, get over it. Then you add in the drama from this years worlds, where so far 36 WR have been set, Cavic saying he will buy Phelps a suit if that is the problem, and more or less just talking trash. I am not a big fan of Rowdy Gaines as a commentator, but he said it best when he said, "Don't poke the tiger in the cage."

Phelps very cooly went about his business, got ready for the rematch and sported the old school suit. Cavic went out fast. I mean ridiculously fast. Phelps, went out fast too. Although not as fast, when he was out within 7 tenths you knew he had a shot, and he reeled Cavic in the whole last 25 meters. It was a thing of beauty. The loud mouth trash talked getting stalked down by the greatest swimmer the world has ever seen. Phelps never said a word. In fact when asked about last year he said no comment. He just went out and beat him in the pool where it counts. I don't often cheer at the TV but I was standing up and yelling at the end of the race, and I am sure the first few minutes of my workout right after where a bit harder than usual because I was juiced after watching that race.

Phelps is the epitomy of sportsmanship. He used the trash talk for fuel, did what he does and proved he is the faster swimmer. My favorite part was after he repped Speedo by pulling the suit off his chest for the crowd, he shook hands with Cavic. Nothing hurts worse than someone being nice!

2 good days of speed

2009-07-29T16:01:00.000-06:00

Tuesday is run day and Wednesday is bike day. Both days are really fast. This week both days were really good. Yesterday we were down at Viele doing hills mixed in with 1k repeats. If you know the area, you know the grassy hill near the FHS teachers lot, where the cross country course goes. We were doing two reps up that hill, hard up, ez down, then jog over to the start of the 1k loop by the SBRC parking lot and fast 1k around the lake. I had a great workout, doing four rounds of that going 3:02 on the final 1k. The hills do a great job of simulating the bike and make the 1ks much more like race efforts, not just a fast 1k. They were great for me because it forces me to learn to run tougher, and relax when I am hurting. Both will be huge skills come the flying pace that heads out of T2 at World Cups.

Today was another great day of workouts that started with a good speed session in the pool and followed right away by a ride, and then a brick run. On the bike, Grant and I warmed up and rode 36 out to Lyons. Then starting at the quarry heading back to Boulder we started the 30 min tempo ride. Grant was supposed to do the whole thing at about 330 watts and I was supposed to sit in and then sprint ahead, come back, do it again, working on breaking away. We started the effort with me going 1:15 behind G, and having to throw down to catch up. Once I got him I felt good and threw in some wicked sprints to break away. Legs feel really good, especially considering yesterday getting really psyched for Tizy. Thanks to G for doing his best Rehnshaw impression on the lead out work. Tomorrow is a big swim, hopefully get rolling good in the water too.

Look the part...

2009-07-27T21:43:00.000-06:00

Here is a pic of my new ITU suit. Big thanks again to Kiwami for hooking me up. At least now I will look like I know what I am doing when I take to the streets of Tizzy to rep the USA. Check out the Amphibian and their other suits at www.kiwamitri.com

On another note, Contador had secured his spot as extremely questionable and for all intensive purposes a real poor champion of the sport of cycling. And its a shame the the ridiculous all rubber suits in the pool have finally toppled the worlds greatest record. Last night Ian Thorpes amazing 400m free record was broken by a 22 yr old German. While the guy is not unheard of even he said afterward that the suit gave him at least 1.5 seconds. Now credit to the guy for being honest about the suit, but its got to be somewhat bittersweet for him to know that he broke the unbreakable record because of his suit, even if it was legal at the time.

Swimming is such a pure sport that is really seems sad to see it go the way of baseball in that we now need asterisks for the records. Because of FINA turning a blind eye on the problem of the beginning it snowballed and now there are going to go retroactive by almost a decade to back when jammers were the suit of choice. Its amazing how much technology has impacted a sport that can be done in your birthday suit.

BVSSL Finals and crit/run

2009-07-26T00:16:00.000-06:00

So the big event of the day was the BVSSL finals meet. It is an all day affair that culminates the summer league swimming season. The Rally Sport Manta Rays, the team I coach, had a great meet topped off by winning performances by PJ and Logan, both of which ended up with a high point award. The team finished in 11th, which was a huge improvement over last year and a big step in the right direction for the future of the program. This was I think the 7th summer that I have been involved and this was one of the best seasons yet. Tomorrow we have our end of season team banquet which should be a good time.

However, before I even got to the meet this morning, I headed down to Lakewood to the Denver Federal Center for a crit bike race. I am a cat 4 so we were the first ones to go at 8. I got in a good warm up but never really felt like my legs had much pop. The course was almost 4 miles long with 20 turns and because it was so many turns the field decided to do the first lap as a neutral lap with no real racing, sort of a preview. Then the race started on lap 2 and as we started it they announced there would be a prime for that lap, first one around gets a 12 pack from the beer sponsor. About 3/4 of the way around I made a move to try and go catch a single guy that had broken away but just as I neared him I didn't have that extra gear and the field brought me back ending my chance of my first real sprint victory. After that my legs were good enough to cover moves and stay in the group but not get out ahead or work a break away. I think on the whole my power was good but no pop. Then of course being a triathlete, while everyone else headed out for a cool down lap I rushed to the car, stowed the bike and threw on my running shoes. Did a 10 min 10k effort which went ok, didn't feel great to start but kind of worked into it, and then a cool down before hopping in the car and jetting to the meet. All in all a good workout, one that can't be mimicked in practice and a good day at the meet.

One of my fav's

2009-07-22T22:04:00.000-06:00

Today is Wednesday so that means that it is bike interval day. Most of the time we roll up to BCSM to the pain cave and throw down on the computrainers. Today though we were outside doing one of my favorite cycling workouts. It is repeats up to NCAR in south boulder. Do a warm up ride down to SOBO and up Table Mesa till you get to about Lehigh and then crank it at LT wattage up to the top of the hill right at the beginning of the parking lot. Then you turn around, haul all the way back down to Lehigh, flip a U and head right back up. Works out to be about 7-8 mins of effort 2-3 rest on the decent. Today we did it 5 times for a good lil effort and some solid power work. I was really stoked with how strong I felt all the way through and I think my position on the my road bike is better now that I changed the seat post around. Bottomline, if you are training in Boulder for any amount of time I suggest you give it a go. A must do Boulder classic if you will.

Back in the hood...

2009-07-21T12:37:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while I have these weird moments where I feel like I am in such a different place in my life but at the same time I am where I have always been...if that makes any sense. Today we did some mile repeats around Viele Lake by Fairview High in SOBO. I was doing my warm up with Ouier, one of Neal's athletes who is from Spain and he was asking me where I grew up. I said Boulder and we were running right by Fairview and I pointed at the building and said that's where I went to HS. So I was running along the lake that I ran along 9 years ago during high school cross country. Strange how many places I have been, lived, traveled and all the things I have done and yet I am still doing a workout in the same place almost a decade later. Glad I am at least running faster...ha

Good session, 4x1mi repeats descending down to under 10k pace, went 5:19 on the last one so that was a solid set. Legs never felt great after a long weekend, 5 hr ride and 1:45 run sat and sun, but also standing at a swim meet all yesterday didn't help either. This is prelims week for summer league so there is a meet each day for the different age groups and then it culminates in a finals session all day Saturday. Right now I am supposed to be doing a crit in Denver Sat morning and then will be at the pool the rest of the day.

Get in another good training week this week. Last week was big miles on the bike and quality run time, this week a bit less volume and more speed. Getting really excited to go to Tizzy for the World cup. I leave on the 4th so its coming up. Gotta find just a bit more run speed.

Old school....Go Knights