2013 in Review

It is that time of the year again.  I am officially done racing and can take some time off from exercising.  This means I won't be swimming, biking, or running for any reason at all.  The next few weeks I'll be refreshing my mind, evaluating the year, and looking forward to 2014 races.  Here is a brief summary of all the races this year and some lessons I learned:

March Triathlon Series (San Luis Obispo, CA)

This was going to be the earliest triathlon I've ever done in a year.  Since it was cold in Iowa all winter I hadn't got out on my bike a lot and likely showed in my handling.  In the past year I hadn't had to deal too much with the physicality of a triathlon swim and this was an awakening of that.  Main thing I remember is that just being out in the sun the day before (which was a change from the cold March we had in Iowa) can cause  your muscles to get fatigued and sore.

USAT Collegiate Nationals (Tempe, AZ)

Collegiate Nationals

Tough run to push through.

I had never had a good race at nationals so this had to happen.  My swim focus over the winter allowed me to come out of the water in a group, finally. The technicality of the bike course showed that I still hadn't been able to be on my bike too much all year.  The run really had been my focal point for this race due to the fact that years past caused me to give up on it.  Keeping my pace up was extremely tough but I was able to hold on and kick just a little too soon which caused me to not remember much of the finish chute.

RiverRun 10K (Iowa City, IA)

This race was going to be a build race into my next few races.  I did a strong block of training the days leading into it to make it a sore and hard run.  This also began the downfall of my IT band injury as I could feel it warming up.  When the gun went off the adrenaline kicked in and I forgot about the soreness and injury until I crossed the finish line in 1st place.  First time I've ever won a race, it was nice to savor that moment for the closing miles.

RiverRun

Kansas 5150 (Lawrence, KS)

Picture doesn't even begin to describe the frustration.

A bad day for me to race.  Swim cancelled, two flats on the bike, and quitting the run within a half mile due to the pain.  It was frustrating to make such a long drive to have this kind of a result but hopefully that'd be the last time for the year. This race was more influential than most in that is helped me realize what was important and to keep composed with regards to things I can and can't control.

Kansas 70.3 (Lawrence, KS)

Going from having this as my one and only goal for the year for nine months, thinking everyday about this race, preparing for this one race, and then having to settle for just trying to finish was tough.  I was able to see the months of preparation on the swim and bike really shine out. Even with little run training and injury I was still able to put out a respectable run, showing that the months leading up to my injury were not completely wasted.

My plan to "Chris Lieto the bike" seemed to work well.

Evergreen Triathlon (Hudson, IL)

First time racing Elite. Brutal swim, got punched which caused me to bleed for the whole race.  The bike course I found out why I needed to taper and the same carried into the run.  More than anything though was I realized the mindset you have to be in to race at this level.  You can't let somebody just run in front of you; you have to work to get past them even if you don't want to go.

Omaha Triathlon (Omaha, NE)

My first time doing a race just to do it.  I let my racing mindset go and just enjoyed the day.  It was quite fun to be singing along during the bike but after a while I really wanted to get off the bike (I'm not sure why 1.25 hours seemed so long being as I had all of RAGBRAI to do still). Also would like to point out that my ENTIRE warm-up for this race was a not so graceful cartwheel walking to the swim start.

Bluff Creek Triathlon (Ogden, IA)

Bluff Creek

Finally racing back in Iowa where I know what to do. Swim came out amazing! Top 10 swim for first time ever.  This was a big realization that I wasn't tapering right and had nothing in the tank for race day.  My mind wanted to go but the legs just couldn't do anything. My motivation to make a change in my last few races.

Pigman Olympic Triathlon (Palo, IA)

Not the swim I wanted but finding the legs on both the bike and the run were huge.  It is amazing how much different I felt just a week earlier. Having a kick to really dig in the final miles of the run started to show in this race.

US 5150 National Championship (Des Moines, IA)

Overall, I never gave up.  Really happy with how I refused to go down without a fight.  Letting the mind go and just digging deeper when I knew it was necessary.  I took the kick from my last race and made it even bigger.

US 5150 National Championship

Indian Summer Distance Classic (Solon, IA)

I think WAY too much about what is going on.  Sometimes you just have to trust in what you've done and just go.  Know your strengths and use them.

IMT Des Moines Marathon (Des Moines, IA)

The intensity is a different level and style than a triathlon which would take the same time.  Never before have I had a pace feel so easy that I could carry on an easy conversation at one point be the same pace where I had to grit my teeth and bury myself a few miles later. The transition of different muscle groups throughout a triathlon allowed me to work harder overall where this caused more muscle fatigue than I'd ever experienced.

Overall, it was a great year.  I'm quite happy with how it all turned out overall.  I'd like to believe that any setbacks were able to spring me into my next accomplishment and will help to in the upcoming season as I prepare.  Thanks for checking in!

IMT Des Moines Marathon: Chasing Fears

One of the things that I feel limits us is our goals.  There are many things we want to accomplish but sometimes we are too afraid to reach for them.  It isn't that we don’t want to reach these goals, it is more that we know there is a risk to going after them.  If we choose to go after our goals and come up short, we will have that stuck in our mind.  Alternatively, if we don’t risk it, there is still that possibility that it were possible had we chosen to go after it. We fear the idea that we might not be able to reach these goals, that we've set them too high. It is more satisfying to know there was still a chance than to find out that sometimes it just wasn't meant to be.

I thought a lot about this over the summer.  What were goals that I had that I was putting off because I was worried I couldn't reach them or that I would come up short?  One thing that I continually mentioned to people was that when I run my first marathon, I plan to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  There was no reason to believe I couldn't do it but I was still scared I would come up short so I had put off doing a marathon for a few years.  One of the quotes that I've really clung to this year was, “Let your fear cause action, not adversity.” in an idea that instead of worrying about your fears you should do something about it.  If something is worrying you, take the steps to rid yourself of that worry. This was one of the determining factors for me to sign up for my first marathon.

With such a vast amount of knowledge around me, I decided not to try and go through this alone. Over the past few months I got a lot of advice from some of the local runners who also had experience doing marathons.  They gave me workout tips, race tips, mental strategies to make sure that I made it to the finish line in one pieces.  Heading into the weekend I felt my speed was there, it was going to be more of a mental effort than physical.

Empty streets at mile 10 before heading down to the start.

I crashed at my teammate, Brad Johnson’s, house the night before the race.  He actually lived right on the course so it turned out to be an easy drive down to the race start.  We got there about an hour early and then sat inside to stay warm.  We found a gym where we could just sit down in some open space.  I stayed bundled up since I would be ditching almost all of my clothes for the race.  With about 30 minutes to race start I did a nice easy shake out inside to warm up the legs.

Getting the blood flowing.  Might as well looked jacked at the race start right?

We found some hoops so obviously the only thing we should do is try to see how high we could get. Not sure why I couldn't rotate this picture either.

We got into the start area about 13 minutes before the race start.  I made my way to the front which was a lot closer to the front guys than I expected.  My start position was about the fourth row, right behind all of the elite runners, it was intimidating.  We chatted among ourselves as we waited for the start gun to go off.  They say that there are two halves to a marathon, the first 20 miles and the last 6 miles, and I was about to find that out.

The first half of the marathon

Mile 0-3.5:  Pace 6:40/mile
As the race started out I spent about every other second checking my watch to make sure I didn't go too fast.  My speed was starting close to 6:00/mile which felt really easy but I knew there were a lot of miles to go.  During the first few miles there was a lot of chatter between racers trying to distinguish what time everybody was shooting for and who they needed to get next to for the rest of the run.  When the half split from us at mile 3 the course got very deserted at the front and we instantly hit a half mile hill.  I was able to get into a good rhythm as I climbed the hill.

Mile 3.5-8: Pace 6:20/mile
When I reached the top of the hill another runner approached me and we discussed our times we were shooting for.  He wanted a 2:50:00 but was going to reevaluate at the 13.1 mile mark.  This seemed a little slow for me but he kept up the pace and we started working through the hills.  This portion of the course had all of the hills for the day and there were certainly some rolling hills.  I didn't expect there to be this many but luckily my training had me prepared for some challenging hills so they didn't faze me.

Mile 8-11: Pace 6:10/mile
At this point I find out the runner I’m running with is Brett.  We both are feeling good and notice that we’re catching other runners that are fading early in the race.  Brett and I have a really good system of working together and not having to worry about pacing off of the empty road ahead of us like everyone else.  Besides the lead pack of elite men, there was nobody else who was running as a group up near the front of the race.  We got to hop on the track and take a lap on the Drake track.

Mile 11-18: Pace 6:00/mile
While exiting the track there is a race course bicycle up ahead of us. I jokingly ask the cyclist if he is going to be our pacer which he agreed to do.  Brett and I were tearing up the course. As people were heading out on the run they saw two guys running stride for stride with a lead cyclist.  I’m pretty sure a few people probably got confused thinking we might have been in the lead but they had already seen the lead group a while before.  Brett and I made multiple mentions of how good of a pace we had and how great our legs felt.  As we ran by the crowds everybody was yelling at how smooth the two of us looked running.  We smiled as we worked our way past some mile markers that we had seen earlier and were happy to announce we had single digits of miles left.  By the time we hit about mile 16 our cyclist informed us that we had a HUGE gap behind us and we saw a guy up ahead who was walking; likely due to the fact that he went out too hard and was paying for it now.

Mile 18-20: Pace 6:00/mile
As our course joined back up with the half marathon Brett mentioned that his feet were starting to hurt.  Once he mentioned this I started to realize the pain in my feet.  This carried on to realizing that my legs were really getting sore from all of these miles.  Suddenly, I became aware of the fact that I had been working a decent amount for most of this marathon.  In about a half mile Brett started to get a step on me.  I worked to keep up the pace knowing that if I fell off the back it was going to downhill fast.  If we could just stay together our pace would stay strong and we would have an incredible time. The fact that we hadn’t seen any marathon runners for the last three miles was not helping either.  When we hit the 19 mile aid station I sat behind Brett and drafted off of him for the next mile.  As we approached the 20 mile mark I mentioned that he was dropping me to which Brett said he was going to try to hold this pace and finish out the race.

At this point I would like to show the difference in my expression between the first and second half of this race but due to copyright I can't actually put the pictures on here....... so you can look at them here.

The 2^nd half of the marathon

Mile 20-22: Pace 6:15/mile
I watched as Brett and the cyclist started to pull away. It is safe to say that I hit the wall at mile 20 and the wheels started to come off. For the first part I thought for sure my pace went to pot and I looked down to see that I was still holding a 6:15/mile.  When I ran by spectators and they cheered for me my pace would easily drop 10 seconds and I could hold that for about 100 yards before settling back into my 6:15/mile.  I knew I had less than a 10K left to go and my legs were hurt a lot.  There was no longer a smile on my face but instead a clenched face of pain. Knowing it was only going to get tougher I did the one thing that I am good at doing late in races, running for people.

I like to pose awkwardly whenever possible.  Yes, there is supposed to be an awkwardly large gap between us.

I ran mile 21 for my friend, Steph Lash.  Over the past few years she has shared her experience of trying to play sports collegiately. She always has worked hard and done everything she can to better herself and the team.  For that mile I tried to set an example of what it meant to run hard.

Mile 22-24: Pace 6:30/mile
I ran mile 22 for my friend, Meredith Stamberger. In 2012 I volunteered with her and we could not stop laughing the whole time.  We kept it good contact over the year so much so that we had weekly phone conversations.  Whenever I had things come up in my life she would be the one that I would talk to about them.  Meredith is a runner as well and has found a way to enjoy her running and have a good time running. For that mile I tried to embrace the satisfaction of running and enjoying it.

The two most overly enthusiastic fans I had this year without them even knowing what was going on during the race and being up since 3:45am.

The course took us across the course that I raced almost two months ago at the U.S. Championships.  As we made our way across the bridge where I really dug deep in the race my determination started to pick up.  There was no way I was going to walk this race.

I ran mile 23 for my friend, Nicole Woodall. Nicole runs cross country and college and is a beast at it.  She has expressed her doubts to me at times that other runners were faster than her and she wasn't good enough.  At the beginning of the season she didn't know if she would be very fast on her team because there were so many other fast girls. I always told her to work harder and to never doubt herself.  Currently, Nicole holds the school record for the fastest time for a freshman.  For that mile I tried to run with confidence and believe that I could keep up the speed.

Mile 24-26: Pace 6:45/mile
I ran mile 24 for my friend, Katie Kustra.  Katie has had to deal with things that nobody her age should have to deal with.  The attitude she displayed when she was going through a rough patch really inspired me then and to this day.  I still remember not being able to focus at school all day and then going and absolutely destroying the spin bike during class on a day that was supposed to be an easy day.  Her ongoing positivity has been a great thing to look forward to when I hear from her each time.  For that mile I tried to carry a positive attitude and keep pushing hard.

Still refusing to take normal pictures.

At this point things were getting real tough.  I felt like I was shuffling along.  My head was buried to the ground and it took a lot of strength to even look more than 10 yards ahead of me. I didn't check my watch as much due to the fact that I didn't like seeing 6:35/mile or 6:40/mile when I looked down. Instead, I was looking at my overall time.  I kept telling myself that I had less than 20 minutes left to survive.  When I saw mile 25 I told myself I just had to run my standard warm-up and I would be done.

During the last mile I realized that Jessie was also on the run course of her triathlon in California and thought how adorable it must be that we are both running thousands of miles apart. Obviously I was focused on MY race at this point.

I ran mile 25 for my girlfriend, Jessie Blakely.  Back when we had just met, she already believed I was basically the most dominate triathlete she knew.  She has told multiple people that I could go pro if I wanted to.  I also found out that she tells people that I am a professional triathlete…..which I am not.  It is scary to say that she believes in me more than I believe in myself.  For that mile I tried to run with a purpose and run like a champion for her.

Mile 26-26.2: Pace 6:15/mile
The streets were lined with people cheering everyone on.  I looked at my watch and it said 8:40/mile?!  That can’t be right! I looked again, ten seconds later, and it now said 2:03/mile so I’m pretty sure my GPS failed once we got downtown.

I ran the last .2 miles for my mom.  She has been to more races of mine than anybody else by far.  She has supported me from the start even though it probably sounded like a stupid idea the first time I announced I was going to do endurance races.  Even if she isn't at my race she sends me words of encouragement the morning of.  For the last .2 mile I tried to not let her down.

Pretty sure my mom has acquired a lot of miles flying around to cheer me on.

As I took the last turn I saw the finish up ahead.  I gave one last push and my pace quickened!  The pain was supreme but I was within steps of the finish.  I kept digging as I made my way across the mats and just froze up. I had just finished my marathon!  All of the volunteers in the finish area just stared at me, uncertain of what I would do.  I worked my way to a chair to sit down as they removed my chip and helped me to my feet.

Final Time: 2:47:29

Looking at the finish I had there are a few things that are worth noting:

•  I PR’d my half-marathon at 1:24:02
•  I PR’d my half-marathon in the second half at 1:23:27
•  I negative split my first marathon!
• When I hit the wall my pace slowed by less than a minute
• I broke 2:50:00 which was my goal
• I qualified for the Boston Marathon

Indian Summer Distance Classic 10 Miler: Alex's Amazing Thought Process

Some of the thoughts that run through my head just don't make sense.  After a little while I'll look back and ask myself what on earth I was thinking?! During races I typically talk myself out of a race and try to convince myself to quit quite a bit.  Hopefully this will give you an insight at just the ludicrous thoughts I think about.

The very large medals given out at the race.

Leading into this race things didn't go as I had hoped.  The past Sunday, my right shoe seemed a little too tight around the ankle but I was determined to get my long run in so I ran.......22.4 miles......with a throbbing ankle.  By the time I got done my ankle was swollen and a bruise was now forming.  Walking for the week was quite an event.  I put some ice on it, took ibuprofen to reduce the swelling, and I took a day off of running to allow the pain to go away.  Well one day led to two, which led to three, which lead to all week of no running due to the pain.  By Friday, I put on my running shoes and since there was still a little pain I decided I wouldn't run and instead wait until the race.

Somehow I got this BRILLIANT idea that it was the fact that my quick laces were too tight and constricting the tendon on the top of my foot.  It also was about the time I needed to get new shoes so I figured I'd knock two birds out with one stone.  I stopped at Running Wild to get a new pair of shoes but they were out of my size........so I just got a pair of shoelaces.  I can just imagine the discussion after I left: "Yeah he wanted shoes but instead just go shoelaces?!" Anyways, I swapped out the laces and went to bed to get ready for my Saturday race.

My preparation for this race wasn't amazing by any means.  Our Wednesday night swim practice had us doing lunges around the entire pool which left me sore all the way to race day.  I probably should have not done that on a race week and rested instead. I tried some foam rolling to loosen everything up but wasn't too successful.

Race morning came and my alarm went off at 6:30am but I was in no hurry so I hit the snooze until 7:00am.  Being as you don't need to set up transition at a running race I didn't need to show up hours before the race.  I got up and got on the road about 7:40.  For some reason, I felt it was necessary for me to use GPS to find the race, which required three turns......total.  Turns out that the address was NOT where the race was actually at so I drove around in the park lost for a good ten minutes until I found the race.

Yes I did use GPS to find a race in the town over from where I live.

I did some light jogging for a warm-up along with some dynamic stretching.  I could feel my ankle, even with the loosened shoelaces (failed plan), especially on the downhills.  After a little bit I went to the start line and just sat on the ground and waited for the race to start.

This is what happens when I have no spectators to take pictures for me: Seflies. 

When the race started I got into a good group of about ten guys as we made our way out to the road.  We had a good downhill before we hit the trails.  I was not expecting such steep grades of downhill to start the race as the group really found out quick who knew how to run on gravel.  Luckily, I was able to work my way up to third place as we made our way out to about a mile.  For the next mile another runner came up next to me and started chatting with me, hoping the runners ahead were doing the 4-mile race.  When we hit the 2-mile turn around spot nobody turned.  I asked the runner what our time was and he said 11:30......that's a 5:45/mile pace.  I was aiming for sub 1:05:00 which is below 6:30/mile so we were WAY up on my pace.

I got comfortable as the runner took off and two more guys moved past me.  I knew what my pace was and there was no need to kill it any more on the first half than I already did.  For the next three miles to the turn around I was in no man's land, running by myself and just waiting to get to the turn.  I thought about making sure to take the inside lane of each corner so as not to run further than I have to during the race.  

The engineer inside of me came out when I started to consider: "Am I using too much energy running on loose gravel instead of compacted gravel?  Would I be able to run just as fast taking the outside corner on packed gravel than taking the inside lane on loose gravel?  How much extra energy am I expending due to the loose gravel?" 

There were a lot of points that I thought to myself, "Nobody is around you right now; you can walk and nobody will know." and it took a lot of mental talking to keep moving forward.

As we hit the turn around I was in 6th place.  I saw that there was a runner about 15 seconds back on me.  I tried to keep my pace up as the fear of getting caught started to sink in.  When we took corners I would try to get around tight ones quickly so he couldn't see me up ahead but the longer ones there was no point in doing so.  I continued to panic that he was catching me and I was fading.  All I really wanted was him to just pass me so I wouldn't have to keep worrying about him.

The night before the race I went to go watch my friend, Nicole, race in a XC race.  She didn't know I, or my friend Ashley, were coming so when we started screaming at her along the course she worked harder.  After the race Nicole told me that she wanted to quit until she saw me cheering for her along the course.  With two miles left, I tried to harness that same attitude to keep the runner at bay.

Ashley, Nicole, and I at Nicole's race.  Nicole has the third fastest freshman time at St. Ambrose of all time after only three races.  I'm so proud of how hard she works even when she doesn't feel like going hard.

One mile left and I had a ten second lead.  This is the thought process that went through my head: "Could I hold on to the gap or was he going to pass me?  Was he saving for a kick at the finish?  Have I saved enough for the hills come back to the finish? Hills, HILLS! Alex, you train on the worst hill in the city.  You pass every runner up that hill, any cyclist that rides up it you pass, and last week you passed cars up it.  If anybody can run hills, you can!"

When we hit the first of the hills I did what I knew how to do, I climbed, hard.  The hill was steep but I've ran on steeper.  As I got up the short hill I looked back and the runner was just starting it.  I made my way onto the road and the long gradual hill was ahead of me.  I'm not sure exactly how it worked but my legs felt better going up that hill than any portion of the course.  I caught my stride and ran up that hill with a purpose.  As I crested the top I turned to look back and the 7th place runner was gone.

Probably should take a normal picture near the finish.

The last quarter mile had a slight hill but nothing compared to what I just hit and I cruised over the top of it.  I came across the line in 1:02:03, very much ahead of my goal time. Crossing the line I was tired but had plenty left in the tank to keep going, which is exactly what I need for my last race of the year.  I ended up placing 6th overall and 2nd in my age group.

My medal that I give to my mom while saying, "Congratulations mom!" She has become very decorated in the men's field of local triathlon/running races.

Race Results posted.

U.S. 5150 National Championships: A Neverending Battle

Every race I do I have regrets.  There are things that don't go the way I want.  Afterwards I'll look back and wish I could have given a little more instead of saving it for the finish.  From my race experiences I've grown to know that I have more regret on not pushing hard on the run more than anything else.  I hold back because I fear what is going to happen as the race goes longer and I get more tired. Heading into the US 5150 National Championships I didn't want any of that to happen.

Training was great the week out from the race.  I put in a lot of hard efforts really focusing on the run and finished my training week pretty sore.  Taper week was challenging with the heat wave that struck us with heat indexes over 100 the whole week but as long as I played it smart when I wasn't working out I would be rested for a great race.

Race morning came as usual and I stepped outside the hotel to a surprise rainstorm and wind.  I was not prepared for this?!  Jessie and I headed to the race site and arrived around 4:45am but with all the storming there was no point going to transition so we just stayed inside and waited.  I finally went over to figure out what was going on and by 6:00am I was able to make my way back with my stuff to get set up for a delayed race start. My warm-up felt really good on the run and I wanted to tear into it.

Warming up and getting ready for a fast swim start.

A few weeks before the race I did some research to get an idea of what I was to expect.  Based on other qualifiers times, I was likely to finish about 9th in my age group at the national championships.  Prize money was given to the top 10 places so I was in a good spot to win some money.  If I executed I could move further up in the field but everybody else was likely thinking the same thing.  Basically, it was going to be a battle to move up.

I got over to the swim start and got ready for what I knew was to come.  The second half of my season took a bit of a change when I didn't qualify for World's due to my injury and this was my last 'A race' of the year.  I remembered all my times from last year on this course and wanted to PR every one of them.  I had put in so much hard work leading up to this race that I knew I could have a great race if I let myself.  More than anything else, I couldn't be taken out of the mental game.  My head needed to stay on and fight for every second. The run was going to be the toughest effort I've ever put in.

Preparing for a tough two hours requires a good game face.

The gun went off and I stormed the water.  I got right into the mix and prepared for a physical swim; something I hadn't had for a while.  We were in a tight group all fighting for position and within about 150 yards I got on some feet and settled in, perfect. 

When we made our way past the first turn buoy I got a look ahead and realized there was a group ahead of us by a few yards that was slowly pulling away.  Knowing my race mentality and all the work I put in on the swim this year I refused to let them get away without an effort.  I dug my face into the water and surged ahead.  It took a good 50 yard all out sprint but I moved up the field and onto the feet of the other pack, perfect.

 For the rest of the swim I sat right on those feet and felt really comfortable.  I remember last year the last 500 yards of the swim my head lost focus and I wanted out of the water bad.  This year my mind was right where it needed to be and I kept my mind on staying in the moment.  We rounded the last buoy and I got up and on my feet heading towards transition.  My legs got under me and I passed quite a few guys heading into transition, perfect.

Exiting the swim and beginning to move up the field.

In transition I made a quick note of how many bikes were gone.  There were some but not too many to worry about.  I was likely already in the top 12 guys as I grabbed my shades and helmet and blasted out of transition.  There was a long run to the mount line but I was efficient and executed one of my best flying mounts I've ever done.

It took me about 200 yards to find my cycling legs.  I have never felt this ready to tear into a bike course more in my life.  This was going to be GOOD!  I wasn't allowed to pass the cyclist infront of me as we moved through the park due to ruling of the race so I stayed right on his heels.  Another cyclist moved past us which was a little frustrating so once we exited the park I moved on up past both of them.

Starting the bike with my cheering section right there.

There was definitely some wind on the course this year.  I was fighting to hold a good pace as a rider came past me about mile 2.  As he pulled away I again reminded myself that I wasn't going down without a fight and picked up the pace.  As we made our way through the park in the next section of the course I moved on up and tried to get a gap.  We were moving on to the second of four portions of the bike: Hills.

The first portion of hills we had a good tailwind as I worked quickly up the hills trying to drop this rider behind me.  No matter what I seemed to do I couldn't shake him and he stayed with me until the turn around. As we approached the turn around I noticed the other riders were not happy coming back and I knew that the wind was going to break apart the pack.  At the turn a strong rider passed me down the hill and I focused on keeping him insight.  The wind was big and the legs took a lot of strength to fight.  During this portion of the bike, I spent a good amount of time talking to my bike, Allison, reminding the both of us of all the work we've put in (yeah......I talk to my bike).

As I turned back off the hills I took one last look back for my other rider; he got dropped hard on the hills.  My confidence shot up and I was killing the back portion flying down the road at 30 mph.  Heading into the park I was passing elite women and men who started 6 and 9 minutes up on me respectively.

I dismounted the bike and was at almost an all-out sprint right away heading to transition.  I had to get over to the right side as other racers were coming out on their bikes.  I made a quick count of the other bikes in my age group back and I estimated I was in about 7th place at the start of the run. Time to let the legs fly.

When I turned the corner out of transition there was a mob of people down the exit chute and my game face was on!  This was going to be my run and my mantra was clearer than ever, "Set the pace." I wasn't going to wait around for my legs; it was go time.  As I headed out I quickly saw Steph come across with two guys and realized that Tom and Cole were able to make it to the race.  I didn't even take a second to acknowledge them as I was pushing about a 5:20/mile pace as I started the run.

As we got out to the open road the sun was coming out.  Although it wasn't extremely hot, you could still feel it bearing down on you.  I set my eyes on the runners in front of me and refused to let up. All year I've wanted to break 37:00 on the run and run a sub 6:00/mile pace and haven't gotten it.  I was not going to let this race be the same.  Luckily, the aid stations had sponges and I took one as often as I could.  One runner came blazing by me but other than him I was easily progressing the field. When I hit the turn around of the run I decided to fight even more.  I picked up the pace and dug down to close in on more runners.

Late in the run.  The end of my game face before I began digging deep.

When I came by about the 4.5 mile mark I saw my support team yelling for me.  I passed a runner who told me to keep up the pace but I was working so hard that I turned to him and yelled, "We got a mile left, you come with me right now!" Sadly, he didn't want to run.  As I crossed the corner the only audible person I heard was Jessie who yelled, "What quarter are you in?! Let's go!"

And with that, I was gone.  I passed the last age group elite lady which meant I was 6 minutes ahead of the fastest female and my game face was gone.  For the last mile of the run my breathing got heavy and I dug even deeper.  My game face was quickly replaced with a face of pain.  I kept passing more and more people until I hit the final road.  Up ahead was one more runner who felt out of reach yet I told myself there was no promises of what was to come, just go for it. I picked it up even more, likely dropping to about a 5:15/mile pace coming down that final stretch.  I was so far gone that one of the arches had a picture of aperson on the side and I actually thought there was a spectator standing there.

I came through the finish chute and took all my strength to stay standing. There was no volunteers to catch me or take my chip so I had to keep moving.  I got two bottles of water and dumped one of them right on my head.  I fought for every second of the race and came away with the best effort I had ever given from start to finish. 

My support team who all came to cheer for me. Cole, Tom, Jessie, my mom, my dad, and Steph. They really helped me dig when I didn't want to fight anymore.

Afterwards I got my results and saw that I PR'd on all my times from last year.  My swim dropped by 40 seconds, my bike by two minutes, and my run by another 45 seconds!  I finally broke 37:00 on the run and my unofficial final time was a 2:05:15.  At the awards ceremony I was given 6th place which we found out was due to the fact that I received a penalty somewhere on the course. This was likely during the first mile of the bike in the park when I was unable to pass leaving my official time at 2:07:15.

Got to love getting prize money.  Going to be getting some swim gear now.

 Looking at the results of my last triathlon of the year, I've come a long way. My comfort on the swim is a lot better and I'm able to get out on a hard start and settle in. My bike is stronger than ever and continues to put pressure on being my best sport. My run has been a struggle, I started the year with a lot of promise but a midseason injury left a log of question as to whether I'd be able to come back.  With this performance it is safe to say my running is back on top.


Myself, overall female pro winner, Emma Moffatt, and my teammate, Brad.


For now, it is time to get off the bike for a few months and focus on some running races to finish off the year!



Pigman Olympic: Positivity

Many people have mentioned to me the very optimistic personalities that they've experienced whenever they've met triathletes.  They've seemed confused at how a group of athletes can be so happy and grateful when their sport causes them to do such ludicrous events.  I always tell them the same thing: There is so much that can go wrong during the race that you HAVE to be positive to not let the setbacks bring you down. You can get punched in the swim, pop a flat on the bike, have muscle cramps all over on the run that you can't move, and this could be all in one day.  No matter what happens though you have to keep moving forward and a bad attitude isn't going to help the matters.  I've never had the perfect race; something has always gone wrong and I accept the challenge to overcome and keep moving forward.   The Pigman Olympic race this weekend was a reminder of why I love the sport I do.

After my sub-optimal performances on the bike and run last week I spoke with Alex Libin, the fastest triathlete I know personally, about what I can do to fix it. We rearranged my taper week workouts and I went into the weekend almost forgetting I had a race due to how much more I trained than the week leading into Bluff Creek.  My friend, Amanda Jacobsen, allowed me to stay at her house the night before the race which cut my morning drive in half and let me sleep in until 5:00am again.

Early morning caravans are a common thing for my races.

I got a great spot in transition and went out for my warm-up jog.  The legs felt great and my pick-ups really had me moving good.  Coming back in I saw that Peder Skoog, the winner of last weeks race, was set up right next to me in transition.  We talked for a little bit and then I took my bike out for a warm-up as well.  Legs were feeling good and I was able to talk to my teammates Brad, Allison, and Leah before the race but never saw Matt. I found out that I wouldn't have a cheering section at all during the race as I made my way down to the swim start.  It was then that the day started going great; Allison's dad, whom I've never met, cheered for me as I walked out of transition and I realized that there was going to be a lot of people at this race who knew me and the community of spectators was going to be my cheering section.

Making my way down to the swim start I talked with Peder as we plotted out some strategy. We stood in a group of three with a guy that I talked to at my first race I ever did back in 2009.  Back then, I buddied up with him at the swim start because I was race #324 and he was #325 and for some reason I thought that was really cool.  At one point during our talk he looked over at me and said, "You've come a really long ways in five years." This statement rocked my world. I still don't know this guys name, a lot like other racers I usually race, but you remember the faces and apparently mine has become a face to remember at races in years past. I lined up about 10th or so in line at the start and hopped in without too much of a warm-up.

Creeped a picture of the Olympic racer who was racing.  She got 20th at the London 2012 race and beat EVERYBODY on the swim.

The swim went pretty smooth compared to years past.  I passed the guy who started right before me pretty quickly and I was able to sight fairly well as I worked my way directly into the sun.  My pace was solid and it gave me time to reflect on the progress that I made this year on the swim.  Nobody was catching me and I was making up ground on the guys ahead.  As we rounded the first turn one swimmer past me and I planned my draft.  I got a good elbow right to the eye and sat on his quick feet for about 50 yards before I decided to keep my pace and not red line the whole swim.  The rest of the swim I continued my progress of passing swimmers and feeling very comfortable. I finished with the 17th fastest swim with 23:59, over a minute faster on the same course last year.

Coming out of the water I jumped up and started taking off my wetsuit.  I made a good transition with the 7th fastest of anybody in the race and made my jog up to the mount line.  As I exited transition I jumped past Spencer Holten, the current leader of my age group, and made a great flying mount to get going on the bike.

Last week my legs were shot the whole bike.  I gave the best effort I could but it just didn't have the juice I needed.  As I got onto the main part of the park one of the two riders I passed out of transition came right past me.  Not ready to try to chase him, I sat right behind him a few bike lengths and paced off him.  Within the first mile I realized he jumped the gun too soon so I passed him as we made our way up the hill out of the park for the second mile.  As I turned out of the park a mile later he was out of sight.

Getting out into the open I cruised down the hill and started trying to find my pace.  First I was driving at 30 mph so I shifted down a gear.  Next I was hitting it at 27 mph so I had to back off again; then I saw 26 mph so I dropped again until I found myself comfortable right between 24-25 mph.  We had 24.8 miles of it to go so there wasn't any need to try to crush mile 3 of the whole race.  At this point I was sitting in about 11th place in the men's race and there was a gap between myself and the next rider.  For the next three miles I kept a good pace and began reeling in the guys in front just like I always do.

As we turned onto the second main road I got caught in some rough patches.  Soon I had nowhere to go but to try and jump across the tough terrain to smoother road.  As I jumped across my bottle bounced around and then shot out the front of the cage right onto the road!  I had 18 miles to go and all of my nutrition just went crashing to the ground!  I had to slam on my brakes and stop my bike, walk over to the bottle, put it back on my bike, and finally clip back in and go uphill from a standing start.  Luckily, I had made a good gap on the other riders that nobody  was near me while I pulled over but I knew my frustration was going through the roof.  My pace was going great, I was right behind the chase group, and I was going to set a PR on the bike course. 

As I got back going I had to talk myself down from taking the hill hard.  I new my frustration wanted me to just kill it but I knew there needed to be patience right now. When I hit the summit I saw that the riders had gotten a gap again but not too much.  I used the next mile to close the gap and then pass the four riders who had made a group as we turned onto the last main road.

I approached the turn around in 6th place and my legs were feeling great.  As we began working back I felt perfectly fine pumping out some power and I started to see if I could bridge the gap on the leaders and get them within striking distance.  They had a really big gap at the turn so it was going to be an effort.  As my teammates rode by the other way I made sure to cheer for all of them.  I wasn't able to get anybody on the 2nd half of the bike but my pace was still doing great as I approached transition.  My bike spit was a 1:02:40 which STILL was a bike split PR for me after having to stop.  This was the 5th fastest bike of anybody for the day and my time improved by 1:00 from last year.

Coming through transition I had to focus myself.  I wanted to go because I had some time to make up on the run.  My legs felt great through the bike so I was excited to see what happened on the run.  As I got moving I heard somebody on the side yell, "Murphy what kind of a pace is that?! You call that running?" I looked at the guy in confusion and took off running towards the course with the 13th fastest T2.

Run time! My run has been disappointing this year compared to the potential I know I can do.  My legs have felt like tar and just haven't had the kick I knew I needed.  Making my way onto the run there was a great spectator group alongside the road cheering me on.  When I hit the half mile mark a guy came running beside me which I couldn't believe.  I was having a great run and here comes a guy passing me?! I let him go, knowing my limits and keeping my pace.  I hadn't had a good run yet this year so I wanted to see what I could do here.  Remembering the course from last year I shouted ahead to the guy about the hill we were going to face. 

As we passed mile one I saw Dwayne come in on the bike cheering for me which gave me a motor for the next mile out of the park.  There I spotted the next runner who I passed going down the hill, moving back to 6th place.  My legs were feeling great and I knew this was a good day to run.  As I neared the turn around I saw Peder and gave him a shout of encouragement along with a high five to keep him moving.  I got turned around and started thinking about the last two miles; there was going to need to be a push to bridge the gap up into a top 5 spot as the other runners were still holding a good pace.

When I approached the hill at mile four I was feeling good.  I saw 5th place ahead of me working up the hill and I could tell he wasn't enjoying it.  My mantra for the hill was, "The aid station isn't the crest." because in years past I've pushed hard to the aid station and then felt gassed trying to get up the remainder of the hill.  I kept my pace contained and worked up the hill the whole way.  I spotted 5th place looking back and I knew he saw me.  Coming over the top I saw Michael Ritter who cheered for me as I kept a strong pace closing on the runner.

There was a little over a mile left and about 10 seconds separated me from a top 5 spot.  Dwane came out on the run and told me to hammer down.  As we came past the mile 5 marker I moved into 5th place with ease.  One look ahead and I saw 4th place about 300 yards ahead.  My legs have felt all day, can I give a charge for the next spot? I decided to give it a go and took off with a mile left.  My pace dropped and my breathing got heavy.  One last hill and hopefully the runner will fade.  I reached the top right as he was rounding the next corner; he still had a good gap.  Not wanting to back off I kept working hard and really pushed for the last mile.  I saw Steve Davis, the guy who yelled about my pace earlier, who again harassed my pace for being "too slow".  I took the last turn and finished the race in strong fashion.  My run time of 37:39 was the 2nd fastest of the day, even beating the pro who won the race. The time was 30 seconds faster than my time last year and only 15 seconds slower than my run PR on a much flatter course.

Allison and I after the race.  Sadly, I couldn't get my bike, Allison, in the picture with us.

I never caught the 4th place racer on the course.  The race started in a time trial format though so it turns out that he started much earlier than I did and my final kick allowed me to beat him by 10 seconds.  My final push moved me up to a 4th place finish in the race!  My final time of 2:07:04 is a new PR for me along with a 3:00 improvement from my time last year!

My time listed as the 4th fastest male. Mainly, this picture was taken to show off my run being faster than the professional triathlete.

My effort overall was great.  I found my paces and settled into them.  I finally found my kick at the end of the run. The spectators were great and I had a lot of friends who I was able to talk with and enjoy the day with.  There was a positive feeling throughout everybody after the race.  I even felt good enough to eat the food!  Three plates of foot to be exact, mainly because I couldn't leave the race site for a while.

M20-24 awards. Sadly I wasn't awarded a 4th place overall award but given 1st place in my age group instead.

Bluff Creek Round 5

Bluff Creek Triathlon has been a race I've looked forward to for a few years now.  I know the course and it always seems to be a battle of the elements.  Cold weather and windy days are always expected on the course.  This was to be my 2nd year racing the Olympic distance and I was the fastest returning racer.  I was excited to see what I could do on the course with the improvements I've made over the year.
I had some difficulty with registration before the race started.  Apparently, my name wasn't on the start list a few days out even though my check had been cashed.  I had to do some explaining at the packet pick-up and they cleared me up to go.

I was actually surprised at how late I got to sleep in on race day.  I basically woke up at my regular time of 5:00am and got ready to go.  It was a little chilly getting to the park.  My bike pump had a little difficulty pumping up my tire so I had to borrow somebody else's pump.  I got to transition and got one of the best spots in transition.  Warm-ups went smooth on the bike and run so I was excited to see what I could do.  My warm-up for the swim was to swim across to the beach.  I've never done this before but always wanted to so I felt pretty cool when I got to the beach.

77.8 degree water? Very questionable temperature.......

My wave was all the Olympic males.  I lined up next to Peder Skoog, the guy who I knew was going to be in contention for the win. When the gun went off we ran into the water for quite a ways.  Most of the racers weren't expecting to run in so far so somehow, within 25 yards of the race, I was in the lead!  I got excited and dove into a pile of algae.  For a little bit I struggled swimming through it all so I quickly jumped behind Peder as he cleared us a path.  Shortly after this, he was gone.

You can see me leading the race! This lasted only a little bit.

As we made our way on the swim there was about three of us battling for 2nd position swimming side by side.  I had no intentions of keeping the fight up so I instead took a quick break and hopped on the other swimmers feet.  The pace was controllable and I soon realized I was in the lead pack!  I was sitting in 4th place on the swim.  I did an amazing job of drafting for the first half of the swim until we made the turn at the furthest buoy.  When we hit the buoy, another swimmer came by and my pacer hopped on his feet which meant go time.  For the next 300-400 meters I was swimming pretty hard trying to stay on the feet.  As we made the final turn with about 200-300 meters to go I was in a world of hurt.  I wanted out of the water more than anything.  Luckily, I kept it together and came out of the water still on some feet as the 5th guy out of the water.  This is the first time I've ever been so close to the front out of the water!

Best swim position ever!

Running to transition was miserable.  I wanted to sit, I wanted to quit, I wanted everything but to get on the bike.  I knew my plan was to rip the bike and the run but right now I didn't want anything to happen.  I got through transition but dropped my bottle and had to grab it on the way out.  I got on the bike and got my shoes on pretty smooth.

Making my way out of the park I could see two riders up ahead.  I passed one pretty quick but the other guy was on a mission on the bike.  He pushed it hard and I was still recovering from the swim.  I wanted food and my legs were aching.  This turned out to be the story for a lot of the bike.  For some reason the gear I needed wasn't there.  I was struggling with hills and couldn't push the pace I knew I needed.  When we hit Twister Hill (because you know it's a bad hill when it has a name) I was happy to get some momentum.  Heading down I was zipping around cracks to not make the 40+ mph speed any more worrisome.  As I got to the climb I finally saw 3rd place up ahead.  Climbing got difficult as I got to the bottom gear and worked going uphill at 8mph; not as fun as the other way down.

As we approached the halfway point I was demoralized.  My bike effort was struggling.  Not having any riders to chase made the ride seem a lot tougher and slower.  I spotted Peder up in front and then the next two riders were still within striking distance.  I made the turn and the bottle feed station had waters with a screw top bottle.  Luckily my handling is good enough that I could ride hands free and open the bottle.  I quickly caught 3rd place and kept working forward.  On the way back tied my top speed of 48.5mph down Twister Hill and realized I had a good gap on 4th the rest of the way.

Coming into transition I was ready to run.  One of the volunteers called out, "You're eight minutes back!"  This is exactly what I didn't want to hear. How was I going to make up that time on the run? I knew if I just held it together on the run I would easily claim 3rd place.

As I made my way out on the run course I was not feeling hot.  My mom was alongside the road and yelled some encouragement while my dad asked where my visor was.  I haven't worn that for two years dad! T.J. Tollakson was also there and I recognized him right away.  He said, "You're running a lot faster than he is." which was EXACTLY what I needed to hear.  My legs got strong and my attitude changed: it was time to chase them down.

As I made my way out on the course I saw Peder had a huge lead.  Within 1.5 miles I caught sight of 2nd place and sure enough I was gaining.  When we hit the 2.5 mile mark he struggled up the hill and I made the pass.  We came back to the turn for the second loop and I knew I had it all locked in as long as nothing bad happened. 

My bodily expression pretty much sums up how I was feeling during the whole race: not good.

I kept a strong pace until mile 4 where I decided to start emptying the tank.  As I approached mile 5 something bad happened: my body started to get cold.  On a hot day I knew this meant I was bonking, my body was running out of calories and starting to shut down.  I had a mile left and I had to keep it together. My mind was focused on running the course and keep moving because I had enough of a gap I could easily take it no problem.  Doing the run course 4 times before makes it a little easier as well.

Holding everything together for the last few steps.

I came across the line and just fell down.  A volunteer came over me and I asked for water which she pointed out was 50 yards away at the food station.  I refused to get up so they sent somebody to go get it for me. Slowly, I got back on my feet and welcomed the other racers as they came in.

Didn't make it far from the finish line.

Here is a video of me finishing.  Three things to note: My mom correcting them where I'm from, the lyrics "if I just lay here" playing as I lay down, and my reaction when the volunteer points to where I have to go to get the water.

After the race I talked with a few other top finishers and we discussed the race.  Apparently I had come out of the water only two minutes behind Peder who beat me out of the water by five minutes last year.  This was a major accomplishment along with coming out of the water in the top 10.  The run and the bike were a little on the slow side as I just felt my gears were not there.  I have a week to prepare and figure out the problems there as I'll be racing back to back weeks!

Support team who comes to cheer me on no matter where I go!