Racing Update

I'm back! I haven't been blogging lately because I've been racing! My last update was right after one of my biggest disappointments in triathlon. My new new focus on shorter distance has been a positive experience thus far. I have to admit that I miss the Ironman races. You just can't beat competing against the very best in the very hardest race known to man, but withdrawal and re-hab is going well!

Part of what has made my re-hab process go smoother is being with my son Connor at the smaller races! He's absolutely killing it and I think that it might even be more fun than doing well myself! I'm loving being the father to a triathlon prodigy!

Anyway, here's what has happened since my Boise 70.3 10th place finish...

1) Last weekend I competed in the USAT Regional Championship in beautiful Coalville, Utah at Echo Lake! I wasn't quite sure if my training was up to par, but my son and I made the trip out there and had a great day! I had a good swim, my best bike of the year so far, and a decent run to finish 7th overall and win my age group! My son was 3rd overall and DOMINATED his age group in the sprint distance! Being there together was priceless!

2) Today I did the X-terra Mountain Championship here in beautiful Beaver Creek, CO. I didn't have a lot of expectation for this race either. Last year I placed 10th in my age group here and did it in 2:50. Today, I just wanted to place higher and faster. I did both! I placed 5th in my age group and did it in 2:44. I felt great about my swim, awesome about my bike, and basically just hung on during the run. Let me explain this course, the swim is flat (ha, ha), the bike is STRAIGHT up and absolutely BRUTAL! I climbed like a mountain goat today, but I was overly cautious on the little amount of downhill that was there (I haven't been mountain biking quite enough I guess and my wife and four kids seem to enter my mind more than ever). The only time I got passed was during downhill sections. Then, the run/walk. The first 2 miles of this 5.45 mile course are so brutal that you can speed walk it better than run it. I actually passed a lot of people in these first 2 miles, but I cannot say that I was feeling good, I was surviving better than others around me is all. Luckily the last mile is pretty much downhill because I needed it. I think that if I had been mountain biking and doing more X-terra's I would have had a chance to go top 3, but my focus hasn't even been as strong on triathlon let alone X-terra's. Needless to say, it was a beautiful, great day!

What made the day even better was that my son Connor WON the Sport division overall! He came out of the swim in 1st place and then came out of the bike in 3rd before totally dominating the run and winning by over 4.5 minutes! This was his first ever off-road triathlon!

I want to thank my sponsor PowerTri and my family for allowing me to continue to race, even if it isn't the awesome Ironman or even 70.3 races. What next for me? I might do another X-terra, but I haven't signed up yet. My next race is my big one of this year, the USAT National Championship in Burlington, VT on August 20th. I'll have a week of some recovery and then the hard push to do well there! I'll keep you posted.