It is the tragedy of professional athletics that often our best performances are crushing disappointments. While I finished as the 3rd US athlete and recorded a 15th place finish at one of the most competitive triathlons in the world, I missed out on qualifying for the Olympics by a mere 19 seconds in a 2hr race. Although I had the fastest run of my life off a difficult bike, when the results are pass or fail there is no consolation prize. All that you win from that breakthrough performance is the knowledge that you’re on the right track. Unfortunately, the right track is not always where you want to be. There are platforms when you want to disembark the train to collect your reward.

Yep. The US suit is easily the most stylish.

In the weeks leading up to the San Diego Olympic trials I was training better than ever and I knew I was in for a special race. My swimming was good enough, my riding was strong so that a hard bike with an incredible amount of surges wouldn’t roast my legs, and I had finally discovered a new level of running. Come race day, everything came together and I dismounted the bike right there with a chance to qualify. I knew that I could run with and possibly beat the best US guys. I knew that I could go to London.

I started out the run with Kemper and decided that his old man wisdom would trump my often incredibly poor pacing skills. After about 3k, though, I got impatient. We were still in about 12-15th place and Huerta was in front looking to lock up the top American spot. I thought to myself “I don’t think Hunter’s going to make up this distance. After all, this guy was doing algebra while it was still okay for me to go into a women’s bathrooms.” I mean, really, how was I supposed to know that Hunter would go on to absolutely dominate the second 5k of the run? Old man wisdom clearly trumps youthful exuberance. Anyway, I tried  to make up the ground between our pack and Huerta’s. Unfortunately, my version of a surge works in a world cup or continental cup race, not in a race where literally everyone is running around 30:00 10k pace for at least the first half of the race. I didn’t make it, and over the next bit I’d fade from second American down to 4th, behind Shoemaker, Hunter, Huerta.

I recovered after a bit and ran strong over the last 3.33k lap. I passed Shoemaker and finished 3rd US at the Olympic Trial. I felt awesome and left everything out the course. I found a little bit of speed as I almost kicked down Tony Moulai and Courtney Atkinson in the finish chute.

I couldn’t have tried harder and I am happy for Manny and Hunter, two guys I like and respect. They earned their spots with the best US performances that we’ve had in a long time. I’m glad that the selection process isn’t going to discretion, because it means that the US is performing well enough to earn its stripes. I’m thrilled to now be a part of what looks like the start of a revitalization of US performances.

Finishing 15th, however, is not why I represent the US. I want that American flag to fly. And right now it feels like I can make that happen. I’m not just improving myself anymore, I’m getting better compared to the moving target of international triathlon. It’ll take gallons of blood, sweat, and tears along with some more breakthroughs, but I’m excited to see where I take myself over the next four years. I know I’m on the right track, so I’ll keep fighting until I can finally step onto that platform of success.

Update Coming Soon!

First, I’ll focus on the positives:

U23 National Champ!
4th place in US Nationals!
3rd race in a row staying upright on the bike!

I did have a great start in the swim, which is a very positive change. I was in a good position pretty much the entire time I was wrapped in rubber and was out of the water in the smaller front pack, even if I was at the very back. That position proved unfortunately problematic when I wasted about 5-10 seconds extricating myself from the left leg of my wetsuit.

Combined with the fact that I can’t average 600 watts for 5 minutes, my poor preparation for T1 made me miss the front biking pack. After a couple laps in a futile hunt to catch the leaders, Paulo Sousa gave me the wise suggestion to surrender. My small group of riders and I were promptly enveloped by much larger chase pack. After that, it was just a question of waiting for T2 and being careful on the corners.

It was surprising to not feel stupendous during the run and things could have turned out much worse had Paulo Sousa not been there. Even though he didn’t wear the aviators I brought him, he definitely helped me refocus during the run. I was able to perform my best for the day, even if I didn’t finish where I had expected. It was great to have a practical reminder that especially when races aren’t perfect, I still need to relax, have patience, and make the most of my opportunity.

My preparations weren’t what they should have been and coach Paulo certainly made that clear. I’ll undoubtedly be practicing my wetsuit transition before my first World Cup in Tongyeong. I need to rethink my prerace routine and make sure that I have it down pat, especially because everything is a bit more complicated in foreign countries.

The week after Buffalo was probably the best segment of triathlon training I’ve ever put together. I swam well, was running a lot with intensity, and still logged hard time in the saddle. This year it’s great to be able to continue racing triathlons well into Autumn, even if I do miss running with the all guys back at Wake Forest (except Garret).

In the immortal words of Paulo Sousa, “fourth place sucks.” I remember in the middle of July while I was still in casts I told Matt Chrabot that “if I get 6th or 7th at U23 Worlds like Seymour and Huerta did in ’06, I’m going to be ecstatic.” I suppose it’s impressive how quickly I can change my expectations.

I arrived in Beijing about 7 days before my race in order to better acclimate to the massive time change. Although this made training inconvenient for longer, I did become adjusted to the time zone and was able to see a small portion of the Great Wall. I also perused much of the Chinese menu, which turned out to be a little too exotic for my pre-race stomach. My personal favorite was the chicken feet and pig ears.

Nutritious and delicious, tastes unlike chicken

I definitely have to thank Keith Dickson and MMTT for organizing training during my first few days in Beijing. Keith was great with finding places to swim, run, and ride.

The most incredible part of Beijing was the traffic. The dividing lines simply showed the easiest way to thread the needle between two cars, the hard shoulder was the fast lane, and stoplights were just a reminder of Christmas back in the US (minus the yellow lights of course). Driving on the right was also completely optional, especially if someone was parked in the middle of an intersection.

The race itself was exciting. These past two races it’s been great to actually be racing, instead of just being a participant. In Kelowna I could picture myself catching Kyle Jones especially and I ended up on the podium. In Beijing I was there in the front and with the leaders the entire race. I was able to run with the winner for 8k and was strongly convinced I could take home some hardware. According to the timeless wisdom of Nate Kortuem, “you’ve got to race the top guys before you can beat them.”

I'm gonna win, I'm gonna wi... ooh

Fourth isn’t where I want to end up, but I’m enjoying moving forward. I know that I just need to keep putting in work and following Paulo Sousa’s advice. My next race is US Nationals in Buffalo, NY and I’m looking forward to executing quality racing strategy and taking another step forward.

First continental cup podium!

After a 4.5 month cast enforced hiatus, it felt great to finally be on my way to a race. The nerves didn’t really hit until the bike course preview when I looked around and thought ‘I want to beat all of these people, but they look so fast!’ Coach Sousa’s last nugget of wisdom while I was in Colorado Springs was to ‘relax and think of this race as a first step where you can execute the fundamentals. And, oh yeah, don’t crash.’ This advice proved quite prescient and helped keep me from stressing out too much over the race weekend.

I had a great home stay to prepare for the race. Fellow Triathlon Squad members Kevin Collington, Jen Spieldenner, and I stayed with Heather Wurtele‘s parents, the Danforths. Not only did Kevin Collington’s neurotic preparations make the week go very smoothly, but the Danforths loaned us their entire basement along with a fridge stocked with delicious dried dates, peaches, and cherries (the consumption of which did cease in order to prevent race day calamity).

Last year’s race ended up having a swim bike breakaway, so I knew I had to start fast and attach myself to some fast feet. That, unfortunately, did not happen and by the time I exited the water, I couldn’t even see the front swim pack. On the first big climb in the bike I was stunned to hear a guy calling out ’86, 87, 88 seconds back from the first group!’ At this point I reminded myself of Coach Paulo’s advice and focused on staying upright, trying to help pull back a bit of time, hiding in the pack, and making sure I stayed upright. There was a breakaway from my group in the final lap that I let go, but somehow I ended up only being about 40 seconds down from the leaders after the ride.

In accordance with good ITU strategy, I promptly took the run out at an entirely unsustainable pace. I made great headway through the field until I was in third at about the halfway point. Unfortunately, despite having an awesome cheering squad in the form of my Dad, grandparents, the Danforths, and Heather Wurtele (who appeared at about 300 places during the run), I couldn’t quite reel in either Kyle Jones or Simon Whitfield over the last bit of the course.

Kelowna is definitely the most encouraging race in a long time and I was very happy to stay upright on my bike. Paulo Sousa has been awesome in helping in me gain back the fitness I lost after my fist fight with the pavement. I still have a long way to go, but I’m happy to be improving.

Rubberside down, rubberside down, rubberside down...