The Basics

This year has brought many changes to my life and whether good or bad change is a stressor that the mind and body must adapt to. I am very fortunate in that my changes are nearly all good but somehow they managed to all happen within a few weeks of each other! My wedding, finishing school moving into a new apartment, and accepting my pro card all happened in quick succession of each other and all of a sudden I found my self living a completely different life than I had a few months ago. I am absolutely happy and content with where my life is right now and knowing that God is working in me and guiding my steps. However, my training and racing was a bit up and down all spring. I struggled with motivation in my training and a lot of fatigue. I had some decent races but others weren't quite what I was hoping for. 

My wife and I took a trip to Idaho a month and a half ago to see her sister and it was a great time of refreshing for us. I like to say that we came back mentally refreshed and physically exhausted! We did a lot of hiking up mountains in the snow on top of some running and swimming but we had a blast. That time was just what I needed to refocus and look at what God is calling me to do in life and in sport. My goal for this fall is to "get back to the basics." I love cliche's and that's about a cliche saying as it gets. 

I tend to think too much in my training and so I'm swimming with a master's group now. I just show up and do what they tell me when they tell me to do it. Simple and it's fun. I'm running and biking with people and trying to listen to my body. I love the sport of triathlon, it's fun and I think sometimes I forget that in the midst of "getting the work done." So now I'm having fun and that same philosophy is what's guided my race planning for the fall.

Essentially I'm going to stick to local races but one's that will still have a competitive field and other pro athletes from the state and region. It's a lot more fun trying to pr while fighting for a podium spot then to do it while your 5-10 minutes down from the front of the race. I've done a lot of the big, national level races and I they are a lot of fun but I've done that scene and for this fall and I want to travel to places that are close and see people I know. With that being said my lineup for the fall is going to look something like this-

August 5th- Bridgeland Sprint (Cypress, Tx)

September 15th- Rose City Triathlon (Tyler, TX)

September 16th- TriFecta (Possum Kingdom, TX)

September 30- Houston Triathlon (Figure it out...)

October 21- Tri-Tyler HALF 

I personally know some of the race organizers for these races and they put on excellent, quality, fun races. I really love what Steve Farris, who puts on Rose City and Tri-Tyler, is doing with his races and am excited to come support his half iron race in Tyler. It's going to be fun and I'm really looking forward to this fall. Hope to see you at one of these events!!

Back from My Leave of Absence

So apparently I'm really, really bad at blogging. Three months since my last update is completely unacceptable, I know. I'm sure the sparse readership I had has now completely left for more active and interesting blogs. In spite of the very real possibility that no one reads this post I shall do my best to give a brief glimpse into where I stand in life and training.

COLLEGIATENATIONALSKemahSWImLessonsDALLASITUidahoJCC6monthanniversaryWORKANDTRAINrunningcamp.EATANDSLEEP


Yep, that pretty much sums it up. I had a decent race at Nationals and a good swim at Kemah. Then a DNF in my first ITU race in Dallas after I got lapped out on the bike. MAN those guys can swim! I had a little break after that and went on an amazing trip to Idaho with my wife to see her sister. That place is so beautiful and the weather was amazing. We went hiking almost every day and saw a grizzly bear on one of our runs! We came back physically exhausted and mentally refreshed.

Since then we've been back at the grind and I've been training pretty solid. I started swimming with the master's group here which has been a lot of fun and very refreshing. On top of that I've been coaching a running camp for high schoolers this summer. We meet four times a week for 2 hours to run and do drills, stretching, core, etc. The goal is to prepare the kids for cross country season and help keep them running through the summer. It has been a lot of fun and I'm learning that my passion truly is coaching, teaching and developing young talent! I'm loving every minute of it.

Next up- The fall racing season will begin soon and I'll provide some updates about my schedule in a few days.

"Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort."       -Epictetus