Life and Triathlon...

Since the World Championships last year I did not retire, but I have been bringing it down a notch. After having a great 2010 triathlon year, I made my family a promise that I would ALWAYS put family first over my triathlon's. They have supported my selfish goals for multiple years now. I've been proud of the fact that, other than Kona and Clearwater, I haven't placed lower than 5th in my age group in any triathlon in about 3 years. In my mind I really thought that I could still do top 5 in my triathlon efforts regardless of my change in focus. I was wrong! The truth is, to compete at the highest levels, triathlon pretty much has to be your primary focus. I don't want to offend any of my fellow triathletes, but you have to be a self-centered workhorse to be in the upper eschelon in our sport. Unfortunately for my triathlon life, but fortunately for my family I'm a better Dad and Husband!

I was the head wrestling coach for the Legend Jr. Titan's from November 2010 until March of this year. That cut into my training more than I ever imagined. I then focused on my oldest son and his track season as well as my two other boys and their lacrosse season's. I also missed quite a few long workouts while attending my daughter's dance recital's. Not once did I miss my kid's major (major to them especially) events. It really hit home when I was taking my son Adin to one of his lacrosse games and he said, "Dad, where is your bike?" I said, "I'm not bringing it today." He said (with a lot of enthusiasm), "Finally, I have a NORMAL Dad!"

Two weeks after Oceanside, I finally fulfilled a life-long dream of doing the Boston Marathon and I even broke 3 hours (2:59:26). I did it without all of the pressure I've felt over the past couple of years in triathlon and it was very refreshing. It turned out to be a GREAT day for a marathon! My wife was right there cheering for me yet again!

So, lacrosse and track ended (both very successfully I might add) at the end of May and I had to fulfill my selfish triathlon needs as best as I could. I entered the Pelican Fest Sprint Triathlon on the Saturday before Memorial day and much to my surprise I finished 1st in my age group and 4th overall! Wow! What I loved more than anything was competing with my oldest son Connor. He finished that race 3rd in his age group and 13th overall AND he had the 2nd fastest overall run time of the day! That was truly fun!

On Memorial Day my whole family competed in the Bolder Boulder 10k and it was a blast! Every single one of my kids posted a PR (personal record)! Connor actually WON his age group with a blistering 37:06 10k! I did ok myself placing 8th in my age and doing a respectable 39 minute 10k.

The Friday after Memorial Day we both competed in another sprint triathlon called the Metro Broker's Sprint Triathlon. I took 3rd overall and 1st in my age group! Connor placed 1st in his age group and 6th overall! It was so much fun! In fact, it was one of the most fun event's I've ever done! This time Connor had THE fastest run time even beating the triathlon legend Tim Hola's run time (Tim was 2nd overall)!

Yesterday was the Boise 70.3. This is where my training or lack thereof really reared it's ugly head! I had a respectable race, but NOT a podium finish like I'm used to in the 70.3 series of races that I've done of the past couple of years. My time was nearly 20 minutes slower than my time here in 2009 and I placed 8 places lower at 10th in my age group! The most disappointing was my relatively slow run at 1:34. It was the most disappointed I've been after a race in a long time.

Putting things in perspective, I'm still a competitive triathlete, but I am NOT in that upper tier like I was even a year ago. You know what though? My family still seems to love me a lot! AND, my wife is MUCH happier, my kids are MUCH happier, AND that makes me MUCH happier. Triathlon is a narcotic and right now I'm going through some withdrawals...