My plan is that this will be a 2 part post. I want to use the new year to be an opportunity for me to not only reflect on this past year, but to also look ahead at 2014. This will be part 1 of my "Transitioning to 2014" post. Because, I believe that you cannot successfully move forward, change, or improve, without examining, assessing, and learning from the past. So here we go...
A few weeks prior to ringing in the new year, I found out that I was selected as a member of the inaugural TheTriShop.com Triathlon Team. Over the past couple years, I have applied for many sponsorships with triathlon websites and nutrition companies only to get the, "thanks, but no thanks" letter. This year, though, was different. I was ecstatic to be selected by The Tri Shop and felt honored to be one of about 50 other triathletes across the country. From the get go, I established a new goal along with my already ambitious endurance goals. My new goal was to represent The Tri Shop the best I could and be an enthusiastic ambassador not only for The Tri Shop, but the sport of triathlon.
I was left with a new sense of motivation coming out of the St. Pat's Day 5k which propelled my training into the warmer weather. I started to bring my cycling training outdoors on a more regular basis toward the end of March. This was the earliest I have ever forced myself outside to ride my bike. I was going out for rides longer than 40-50 miles. It was cold, some days were miserable, but I stuck with my plan and kept my eyes on the prize. I then followed up my St. Pat's Day 5k with a new first for me at the Jailbreak 5k in April. I won the race outright with a time of 19:07. Regardless of the number of finishers that day, I was the fastest that day at that race, which I am still proud to say. After the Jailbreak 5k, I raced my first multisport race with the Paper Discovery Duathlon in Neenah in early May. After the duathlon, I started to focus on the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon which was just a couple weeks after. The marathon had beautiful weather in the morning but got hot quick. I didn't reach my goal time of finishing under 3 hours, finishing in 3:10. I still remember driving home from the race and getting a text message from my brother saying that I had placed 3rd in my age group. I couldn't believe it. Not to down play any other place in a previous race, but to place in my age group at a larger scale race such as the Green Bay Marathon meant just a little bit more. Immediately after getting home and showering, I headed down to Milwaukee to join up with my in-laws for my brother-in-law's graduation dinner. He had his graduation ceremony earlier in the day, shortly after I finished the marathon.
To start, Sarah and I were fortunate enough to bring in 2013 with our good friends from Minnesota, Dave and Liz, who came to the Fox Valley for Sarah's sister's wedding which was a couple days before the new year. As we do each and every winter in Wisconsin, we just strive to survive the brutal months of January and February. March 2nd was my 29th birthday this year and we spent the evening with Pat and Melissa and had dinner at Titletown Brewery in Green Bay. I can still remember exactly what I ordered, since it was a rare choice. I ordered a Peanut Butter and Bacon Burger (the PBB Burger). The burger was soooooo good, The combination of the greasy salty bacon with the sweet nutty flavor of peanut butter matched perfectly with their high quality beef. March is usually the turn-around month in Wisconsin for the transition from winter to spring. March was also my first race of 2013 with the St. Pat's Day 5k which was bitterly cold. My feet were numb in my light weight racing flats at the start of the race and never really unthawed. I don't recall my exact race time, but remember it was nothing to go home and brag about, most likely due to a relatively poor, early season fitness and the bitter coldness of the race, but was still good enough that day to finish 3rd overall. This was my first race which I placed overall.
The spring continued and eventually turned to summer. As the triathlon season got into full swing across the country, I started to form "friendships" with other The Tri Shop athletes. We created a group online to interact with each other to give us a forum to motivate each other, ask questions, and just get to know one another. As the season continued, our friendships continued to grow and we shared in successes, frustrations, failures, injuries, and life experiences. It was special to have a group of people who share the same passion for triathlon and endurance sports as you. There are team members who are younger, older, brand new to triathlon, experienced athletes, and are found all across the country from Alaska to Florida. I have meet some great triathletes that I plan to stay connected with for years to come.
I continued to race throughout June with a few more triathlons until my last triathlon before Ironman Wisconsin. My last race was the High Cliff Half Ironman in mid June. I had a great race and surprised the hell out of myself with a 2:30:48 bike split, or a 22.3 average MPH. I finished in 4:45:06 coming in 18th overall. Coming off this race I was left confident and excited for Ironman Wisconsin.
The remainder of my summer was filled with long training, longer training, and even longer training. I missed family camping trips, nights out with friends, weddings, and family day trips that we have usually made in past years. We had one big weekend which we got together with all of our old high school friends. We got together on a Friday night for dinner and then spent the night around a fire sharing memorable stories from high school and college. We then got back together on Saturday for a Timber Rattlers baseball game (Class "A" affiliate to the Milwaukee Brewers). It was a fun weekend away from the usual weekend full of training.
In August, Sarah and I each took a week's vacation from work and spent a full week at my family's cabin on Lake Poygan with my parents. It was fun to get away from work, but still was not away from my training. I spent over 22 hours that week either swimming, biking, or running. I was even stung by a bee while I was biking early in the week and had a nasty localized reaction on my lip. I was forced to cut a huge day of training short, but instead of a long bike and run brick workout, I just pushed my run back to a day that was set aside for rest. Coming off of the week of vacation with my family, I was refreshed and re-energized.
Shortly after our family vacation, I found myself down in Madison for the event I had been dreaming of for literally years - Ironman Wisconsin. The entire extended weekend, Thursday through Monday, is an experience worth seeing, regardless if you are racing or not. The entire weekend went by in the blink of an eye and was an experience I will never forget. Race day was such a fun day. It was long and challenging, but with out a doubt, it was literally one of the coolest days of my life. I don't want to downplay my other big life events such was my marriage or the births of my children. But as far as my selfish, racing life, racing my first Ironman Wisconsin will go down as the best day of my life. The best part of it was the fact that I got to share that day with my family and friends who all came down to support me that day. It still gives me chills thinking of that day.
The Monday following race day, Sarah and I brought the girls to the Milwaukee County Zoo and then flew out to Mexico on Tuesday for a true family getaway. Our trip to Mexico, although rainy, was much needed and extremely enjoyable. It was the first time we brought our daughters out of the country and all 4 of us had an absolute blast. The girls loved being able to swim every single day for the entire day. The trip was really all about them.
After coming back from Mexico, it was back to reality. I did continue to run, swim, and bike, but nothing anywhere near the volume I did the months prior. Pretty much from September through December, I really let myself go. I ate what I wouldn't before, ice cream, candy bars, chocolate, backed goods, doughnuts, you name it, I ate it. I went through various states of what I called "post Ironman depression" shortly after returning from Mexico. I had gone the entire year with a very strict plan to follow and followed it to a T. I had a huge goal to keep me focused, but after coming home from Mexico, I had no goal. I had no plan. I had a rather large empty feeling inside. I was different, I hated it. But soon those feelings would subside, and I found a new joy of spending a lot of time with my daughters and Sarah. It was great to spend so much time with them, especially considering all the time I missed out on the past year. But much of my "depression" was cured when I was able to watch Maya run her first every real kids' race at the YMCA Freaky 5k in late October.
Just before the holidays came, we were able to get up to the Twin Cities and visit our good friends, Dave, Liz, Erik, and Dana along with their kids. It was a much needed trip, as the last time we were able to get together was on New Years almost a full year ago. The holidays had come and gone, as they so often do. The 2013 holiday season will go down as one as the best I can remember. Both Maya and Delaney are at that right age that makes the holidays so enjoyable. I honestly think I enjoyed doing the "Elf on the Shelf" this year as the girls did. I was lucky enough to get both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off from work this year, which allowed me to spend the entire holidays with my families for the first time since I stared working for Winnebago County. With out a doubt, 2013 will go down as one of my best years yet. At the same time, even though I accomplished my biggest goal to date this year, I promise 2013 will not be a peak. I still want to accomplish many other things and want to use all my successes from 2013 to learn from and build on in the future.
Just before the holidays came, we were able to get up to the Twin Cities and visit our good friends, Dave, Liz, Erik, and Dana along with their kids. It was a much needed trip, as the last time we were able to get together was on New Years almost a full year ago. The holidays had come and gone, as they so often do. The 2013 holiday season will go down as one as the best I can remember. Both Maya and Delaney are at that right age that makes the holidays so enjoyable. I honestly think I enjoyed doing the "Elf on the Shelf" this year as the girls did. I was lucky enough to get both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off from work this year, which allowed me to spend the entire holidays with my families for the first time since I stared working for Winnebago County. With out a doubt, 2013 will go down as one of my best years yet. At the same time, even though I accomplished my biggest goal to date this year, I promise 2013 will not be a peak. I still want to accomplish many other things and want to use all my successes from 2013 to learn from and build on in the future.
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