Knowing that I wanted to spend more time with my family than I did in 2013, all while continuing to race competitively, I was struggling to come up with a race schedule. I didn't want to just do 1 or 2 races, but at the same time I didn't want to do too many races. I tried coming up with some goals for the upcoming season. First, the goal that will remain in the forefront until I can cross it off, will be running a sub 3:00 marathon. Now, I just needed to find a goal race for my triathlon season. I saw post of Facebook about the 2013 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships, which were held in Milwaukee, that they were voted the best race of 2013. The post also mentioned that they race would be returning to Milwaukee for 2014. I immediately had my goal race for 2014.
After doing a little research I learned that the Age Group National Championships is the qualifying race for the 2015 World Triathlon Championships. I looked into how realistic it would be for me to qualify for Team USA for 2015 by looking at the 2013 results. During a normal year, Team USA takes 15-18 athletes per age group, but during a year when the World Championships are held in the United States, Team USA is allowed a few extra athletes as the host country. The 2015 World Championships are scheduled to be held in Chicago. This will be the first time the race will be held in the US in several years, let alone the fact that the race will be held within driving distance from my home. Based on times from last year, I figured that if I were to finish the race in under 1:08:00 I would be sitting in a great position to qualify for Team USA. And just like that, I had a goal for 2014 - I would focus my training towards qualifying for Team USA for the opportunity to represent The USA at the 2015 World Triathlon Championships.
So, to start 2014 off, Sarah and I planned a final get-away trip to Chicago in January. This was our last trip as a family of four. We stayed right in downtown Chicago and planned on just having a relaxing weekend. We went to Shedd Aquarium, Ed Debevic's, and to Millennium Park to see the "jelly bean," and even did a little ice skating in the park. It was a great weekend away and something different for the kids. Both Maya and Delaney still talk about our trip to Chicago.
Before we knew it Harper was born. As I write this she is just 9 months old. It's kind of odd, but a part of me feels like she was just born yesterday, while on the other hand it feels like she's been a part of our family for much longer. I will say this though, a third kid is much more taxing then I imagined. I had no clue what to expect going from 2 kids to 3, but my free time has dwindled to just about none and our lives seem to be just that much more stressful. It has been such a change to our family. Suddenly, simple errands have become larger undertakings, getting ready for bedtime has become a project, and just about everything takes considerably longer. It's funny because when it came out that Sarah and I would be having our third child, people would joke saying that we would need to switch to zone defense. Since Harper's birth, life is just not as simple as one parent dealing with one kid, it is now a full team effort. It is truthfully a zone parenting scheme.
Once I started my triathlon specific training I was getting used to being a father of three. Sarah and I were starting to figure things out. Basically, for the two of us, I would generally take care of the older two girls, while she focused on caring for Harper. It seemed to be working. As for my training, it didn't take me long to realize that just because I was training for a much shorter race, the training didn't necessarily become any easier. Yes, the training was shorter, much shorter, but it in no way was it any easier. I feel in love with this style of training. Majority of my weekday workouts were between 45-90 minutes and pretty much always included some intensity. My weekend workouts were anywhere between 1-2 hours. It was perfect. I enjoyed the balance of intensity and duration. My weekend workouts fulfilled my love of going long while the weekday workouts were challenging enough that I was glad they were shorter than my usual workouts.
My first multisport race of 2014 came in June, with the High Cliff Sprint Triathlon. I was a bit hesitant going into this race since it was just a few weeks after I pulled out of the Green Bay Marathon. I was worried that the intensity of the 5k run would bring back the issues in my calf. I was especially concerned because the first half mile of the run was straight up a steep hill. The race went great and I had no issues with either calf. I finished the race in 1:22:14 and placed 10th overall, 1st in my age group. The best part of this race was my age group award of a screen printed pint glass! This race was held over Father's Day weekend and to take advantage of the opportunity, we camped right at High Cliff State Park for the weekend.
The very next week I scheduled a race in Pleasant Prairie, WI. It was going to be my longest triathlon of the year. I raced in the Olympic Distance race and would be my first time racing this distance since 2008, when I was first getting started in triathlon. I was excited to race this distance as it is very indicative of your ability as this is the most competitive race distance out there, IMO. The race ended up being postponed about an hour or so due to dense fog. Once the race started, I gave it everything I had with hopes of placing in my age group. I ended up falling short placing 5th in my age group but 14th overall. It was a competitive race at the top, but I was extremely pleased with my race. I finished in 2:04:39, but the bike course was cut a mile or two short due to road construction. Here is my race report.
My third race was my last race before Age Group Nationals and was going to be final tune up race. The race I scheduled was the Ripon Medical Center Sprint Triathlon. The race was 2 weeks before Nationals. My hope was to literally go 110% throughout the entire race with hopes of having no energy left at the end. I wanted to use this as a practice race to see how hard I can go and how it will feel having the throttle wide open for an entire race. My biggest concern was how hard the run would be after mashing on the bike. Turns out, the race went WAY better than I ever imagined. I ended up placing 1st overall and it honestly wasn't even close. I won by over 6 minutes! At no point in this race did I ever take it easy. This was my first ever overall win in a triathlon. I was stoked! You can read my race report here.
Coming off my first ever overall win, I was feeling fast and confident. The week before the USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee, we had a family vacation in Rhinelander with the Nissen's. I went into the race feeling fresh and fast. On race morning I was the most nervous I think I had ever been for any race. No, it wasn't going to be a long grueling race, but there was so much at stake. This was my first race were there was no real joy in simply finishing. I had a very specific time goal in mind and even if I achieve my time goal there was no guarantee that I would qualify for Team USA. My strategy for the race was to do the same as I did in Ripon and give 110% the entire race and never let up. The race went well, it was one of my favorite events I've done to date. I stuck to my plan and felt pretty good all day. I ended up finishing with a time of 1:07:08, nearly a full minute faster than my optimistic goal of 1:08. I was most impressed with my effort on the final home stretch of the run, where I had an average pace of 4:52/mile throughout the final tenth of a mile. My race report can be found here.
Unfortunately I did not qualify for Team USA. I finished 28th in my age group and missed qualifying by about 30 seconds. Evidently my estimate of finishing with a time of 1:08 would leave me sitting pretty fell a bit short. But after thinking about it after the fact, I think this year saw a much more competitive race for several reasons. First, I think the success of last years race lead more people to racing it in 2014. Secondly, the 2015 World Championships are held in the USA for the first time in several years, bringing out a ton more athletes. And finally, I truly think the proximity of the 2015 World Championship (Chicago) to the National Championships (Milwaukee) brought out more people too. This is due to the belief that if you're able to race in Milwaukee, you should be able to race in Chicago the following year. Comparing the two years, 2013 had a total of 55 finishers in the M30-34 age group while 2014 had 114, over double! So in short, I am not at all bummed with my finish. I am actually pretty proud of myself. I know that I did the best I could and gave it my all. I finished just outside of qualifying for Team USA and was the first guy from Wisconsin to finish in my age group....for what that's worth.
So, to start 2014 off, Sarah and I planned a final get-away trip to Chicago in January. This was our last trip as a family of four. We stayed right in downtown Chicago and planned on just having a relaxing weekend. We went to Shedd Aquarium, Ed Debevic's, and to Millennium Park to see the "jelly bean," and even did a little ice skating in the park. It was a great weekend away and something different for the kids. Both Maya and Delaney still talk about our trip to Chicago.
Before we knew it Harper was born. As I write this she is just 9 months old. It's kind of odd, but a part of me feels like she was just born yesterday, while on the other hand it feels like she's been a part of our family for much longer. I will say this though, a third kid is much more taxing then I imagined. I had no clue what to expect going from 2 kids to 3, but my free time has dwindled to just about none and our lives seem to be just that much more stressful. It has been such a change to our family. Suddenly, simple errands have become larger undertakings, getting ready for bedtime has become a project, and just about everything takes considerably longer. It's funny because when it came out that Sarah and I would be having our third child, people would joke saying that we would need to switch to zone defense. Since Harper's birth, life is just not as simple as one parent dealing with one kid, it is now a full team effort. It is truthfully a zone parenting scheme.
It was shortly after Harper's birth that I realized that my training and racing would take a hit. I knew it was going to take extra planning in order to get in my longer workouts. Either way, I was still determined to train just as hard as I did in previous years. I jumped right into training in January with hopes of finally nailing my sub 3:00 marathon at the Green Bay Marathon in May. Unfortunately, my training took a huge hit in February when my calves started to give me issues. I had no idea specifically what the issue was. I even saw a sports medicine doctor thinking it was a possible stress fracture in my right calf. After my appointment he assured me that it probably was not a stress fracture. I took a couple weeks off from running and started back up easing my mileage back to where I wanted it. After my break I was able to ease back into training and ran in the Oshkosh Half Marathon in April, finishing 12th overall and 2nd in my age group with a time of 1:24:31. It was the day after the Jailbreak 5k (one week following the half marathon) I suddenly had a new issue in my left calf. It was right in the belly of the muscle and felt like a giant knot, almost like a painful cramp. This occurred during an attempted long run the day after the Jailbreak 5k in April, just a few weeks before the Green Bay Marathon. The good news is I, once again won the Bloodhound Challenge as the fastest Cop in the race, for now the 3rd year in a row.
With hopes of still toeing the line at the Green Bay Marathon, I was desperate for just about any quick fix to help my calf heal. I made an appointment to receive some Dry Needling treatments at a local physical therapy office. It definitely helped, but I think the damage was done just a little too late. I was able to at least try finishing the race, but fell just short and pulled out around mile 17. This was my first ever DNF (Did Not Finish). It was hard, but Ithink know it was the right decision, regardless of how much it sucked walking off a marathon course. My choice to walk off proved to be the right decision, because after just a few days of rest and recovery from the marathon, I slowly eased back into running with sprint triathlon specific training. Even though I was unable to finish the marathon, I still think the Dry Needle treatments helped immensely. You can read more about my experience with Dry Needle treatments here.
With hopes of still toeing the line at the Green Bay Marathon, I was desperate for just about any quick fix to help my calf heal. I made an appointment to receive some Dry Needling treatments at a local physical therapy office. It definitely helped, but I think the damage was done just a little too late. I was able to at least try finishing the race, but fell just short and pulled out around mile 17. This was my first ever DNF (Did Not Finish). It was hard, but I
Once I started my triathlon specific training I was getting used to being a father of three. Sarah and I were starting to figure things out. Basically, for the two of us, I would generally take care of the older two girls, while she focused on caring for Harper. It seemed to be working. As for my training, it didn't take me long to realize that just because I was training for a much shorter race, the training didn't necessarily become any easier. Yes, the training was shorter, much shorter, but it in no way was it any easier. I feel in love with this style of training. Majority of my weekday workouts were between 45-90 minutes and pretty much always included some intensity. My weekend workouts were anywhere between 1-2 hours. It was perfect. I enjoyed the balance of intensity and duration. My weekend workouts fulfilled my love of going long while the weekday workouts were challenging enough that I was glad they were shorter than my usual workouts.
My first multisport race of 2014 came in June, with the High Cliff Sprint Triathlon. I was a bit hesitant going into this race since it was just a few weeks after I pulled out of the Green Bay Marathon. I was worried that the intensity of the 5k run would bring back the issues in my calf. I was especially concerned because the first half mile of the run was straight up a steep hill. The race went great and I had no issues with either calf. I finished the race in 1:22:14 and placed 10th overall, 1st in my age group. The best part of this race was my age group award of a screen printed pint glass! This race was held over Father's Day weekend and to take advantage of the opportunity, we camped right at High Cliff State Park for the weekend.
The very next week I scheduled a race in Pleasant Prairie, WI. It was going to be my longest triathlon of the year. I raced in the Olympic Distance race and would be my first time racing this distance since 2008, when I was first getting started in triathlon. I was excited to race this distance as it is very indicative of your ability as this is the most competitive race distance out there, IMO. The race ended up being postponed about an hour or so due to dense fog. Once the race started, I gave it everything I had with hopes of placing in my age group. I ended up falling short placing 5th in my age group but 14th overall. It was a competitive race at the top, but I was extremely pleased with my race. I finished in 2:04:39, but the bike course was cut a mile or two short due to road construction. Here is my race report.
My third race was my last race before Age Group Nationals and was going to be final tune up race. The race I scheduled was the Ripon Medical Center Sprint Triathlon. The race was 2 weeks before Nationals. My hope was to literally go 110% throughout the entire race with hopes of having no energy left at the end. I wanted to use this as a practice race to see how hard I can go and how it will feel having the throttle wide open for an entire race. My biggest concern was how hard the run would be after mashing on the bike. Turns out, the race went WAY better than I ever imagined. I ended up placing 1st overall and it honestly wasn't even close. I won by over 6 minutes! At no point in this race did I ever take it easy. This was my first ever overall win in a triathlon. I was stoked! You can read my race report here.
Coming off my first ever overall win, I was feeling fast and confident. The week before the USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals in Milwaukee, we had a family vacation in Rhinelander with the Nissen's. I went into the race feeling fresh and fast. On race morning I was the most nervous I think I had ever been for any race. No, it wasn't going to be a long grueling race, but there was so much at stake. This was my first race were there was no real joy in simply finishing. I had a very specific time goal in mind and even if I achieve my time goal there was no guarantee that I would qualify for Team USA. My strategy for the race was to do the same as I did in Ripon and give 110% the entire race and never let up. The race went well, it was one of my favorite events I've done to date. I stuck to my plan and felt pretty good all day. I ended up finishing with a time of 1:07:08, nearly a full minute faster than my optimistic goal of 1:08. I was most impressed with my effort on the final home stretch of the run, where I had an average pace of 4:52/mile throughout the final tenth of a mile. My race report can be found here.
Unfortunately I did not qualify for Team USA. I finished 28th in my age group and missed qualifying by about 30 seconds. Evidently my estimate of finishing with a time of 1:08 would leave me sitting pretty fell a bit short. But after thinking about it after the fact, I think this year saw a much more competitive race for several reasons. First, I think the success of last years race lead more people to racing it in 2014. Secondly, the 2015 World Championships are held in the USA for the first time in several years, bringing out a ton more athletes. And finally, I truly think the proximity of the 2015 World Championship (Chicago) to the National Championships (Milwaukee) brought out more people too. This is due to the belief that if you're able to race in Milwaukee, you should be able to race in Chicago the following year. Comparing the two years, 2013 had a total of 55 finishers in the M30-34 age group while 2014 had 114, over double! So in short, I am not at all bummed with my finish. I am actually pretty proud of myself. I know that I did the best I could and gave it my all. I finished just outside of qualifying for Team USA and was the first guy from Wisconsin to finish in my age group....for what that's worth.
Initially, my race season was going to end after the Age Group National Championships. But, as I mentioned, I pulled out of the Green Bay Marathon, therefore obviously, not achieving my goal of finishing a sub 3:00 marathon. So, immediately getting home from the Green Bay Marathon, Sarah jumped online to find a redemption race for me to complete sometime down the road. She found a race in Ashland, WI in October. Conveniently, her parents have a cabin in a small town about 20 miles south of Ashland and I was already off the weekend of the race. She gave me the almighty blessing to register for the race that day, literally just hours after walking off the Green Bay Marathon course.
Coming off the National Championships, I took a few days off to just kick back and relax at my family's cottage and then jumped into my marathon training plan. My training plan was very run heavy (imagine that!). My training better than expected. More than ever, I felt like this was going to be the time I would run a sub 3 hour marathon. I was hitting all my predetermined marks in training and feeling great throughout. We had made arrangements to spend an extended weekend at my in-laws cabin the weekend of the Whistle Stop Marathon. The race was on Saturday, so we would then celebrate my daughter's birthday that weekend with our families on Saturday night. It was a great plan and everything was all shaping up to be a perfect opportunity to meet my #1 goal.
Once again, unfortunately I did not achieve my goal. For one reason or another, I once again blew up in the later miles of the race after sustaining an appropriate pace for more than half the race. I finished in 3:16:28 and placed 4th in my age group. I was left with a feeling of confusion. I honestly do not know what I need to do, or what I need to not do. I do know that I want, more than just about anything, to run a sub 3:00 marathon. The race itself was a great race and was extremely scenic, especially during that time of year with the fall colors at their peak.
2014 was a much better year than I had expected coming off the year I had in 2013. I was able to experience some great new races and found new ways to challenge myself without sacrificing a bunch of hours away from my family. I have become even better with my time management skills. Our family took some great trips both short and long. So, with no doubt, I would say 2014 was a great year, even when I thought it would be impossible to even come close to the year I had 2013.
In the next week or two, I will be writing Part 2 of my Looking Back and Moving Forward. My next post I will look ahead to my plans, goals, and resolutions for 2015. I have huge plans for 2015 that I have been working out the details for. I want to really work on not only becoming a better athlete next year, but more importantly a better father, husband, and person. So, until then, I hope you all have a great holiday season!
