Silverman Half Iron- The Final Race of the Season!

In this sport it is easy to work hard. Its easy to work too hard in many cases. The difficult part is accepting the fact that most everyone else you race with has probably worked just as hard as you. Sometimes I find myself cursing other athletes inside my head during a race. I get mad that the really fast swimmers have a 5 to 9 minute lead on me out of the water. I feel like swimming is just the "easy" part of the race for them, and I am left in their wake, getting kicked, punched and swallowing water with my heart rate at 190 beats per minute...hurting, exhausted! These "swimmers" then can go on to maybe bike just as fast as me, but can run 4-8 minutes slower than me in a half ironman and still finish in front of me. But when I stop (not a complete stop) to think about it, these guys have worked just as hard. Actually, most of these guys were swimming countless hours staring at the bottom of a swimming pool, day after day, week after week, year after year in middle school, high school and even college! I really respect the "swimmers" when I look at it this way. They put in their "hard work" years ago, and they deserve to reap the benefits. The same goes for those that ran and even cycled when they were younger. However, I can no longer call myself a "newcomer" to this sport. Silverman 2010 capped off my final race of my fifth season racing Triathlons......time flies when you are having fun!

Me and Big Aaron pre race

Silverman is a tough ass race! I was pumped to be able to race the course this year and get a preview for what the Ironman 70.3 World Championships course is going to be like starting in 2011 (and hopefully for many years to come). The hills on the bike and run are relentless. They never, never NEVER stop. This race  really puts your body and mind to the test, and I was ready for it on Nov. 7th

Before I go any further, I want to really thank everyone who supported me this year. My girlfriend, Ashley, has been so supportive and enthusiastic about my goals and drive to succeed it really makes everthing just seem so easy at times.
Pops, Mom, Uncle Terry, Grandparents, ALL my family and friends- THANK YOU for cheering me on.
Athletes Lounge- You guys have done so much for me this year, thank you!
GU Energy- You've stuck with me for 3 years now and I'll always be spreading the GU love.
Coach Ciaverella- I got all my faith in you man. Thanks for teaching me so much and helping me realize my potential.

SWIM- 33:54 (66th place out of the water): Yeah swim was rough and it hurt and I kept swimming of course. The start of the race was really cool, as we started under the pedestrian bridge in a fresh 65 degree Lake Las Vegas. Hundreds of spectators were up above our heads cheering us on before the horn sounded and then I began the usual routine of swimming over and getting swam over by people. I started out really REALLY hard like I usually do, and when I felt the oxygen debt kick in I fought the normal regrets and doubts that go through my mind as I tried to muscle through the water. But, as always, 5-10 minutes goes by, the field thins out and I'm able to get into a rhythm. I had a little trouble sighting and never really found anyone that I could trust drafting off of. I knew my swim fitness was not exactly where it would normally be in a big race like this, but I worked with what I had and was ready to get down to business as I pulled myself up onto the dock and out of Lake Las Vegas, 1.2 miles later.

T1- 2:28 (3rd fastest and only 7 seconds off of IM World Champ- MACCA, yes!)- Wetsuit strippers at this race. Sweet! Pointed at strippers, laid on my back and let them rip away. Passed maybe 10 or 15 guys in the transition tent and headed out and grabbed my bike. This transition area had a little 150meter hill you had to run up with your bike before mounting which made it interesting.

Going up one of the "3 Sisters"

BIKE-2:39:58 (21.0 mph) 9th fastest split- I passed maybe 25 athletes in the first 5 miles as I settled into the long hilly ride. I remember my shoulders and neck being really sore and stiff and I was not comfortable in the aero position for the first 20 minutes of the ride. But that went away, and I started getting my nutrition in and sticking to my goal watts. At about 12 miles in I got caught and passed on the bike by a sharp looking athlete. He didnt pass me very fast however and we ended up playing the pass and repass game every 15 minutes for the next 30 miles. This occupied my mind and made time go by much quicker. I was patient on all the uphills, riding up them in low Z5 watts at 65 rpms, and I would fly down the hills but also make sure to coast a little towards the end of each downhill. This is NOT a technical course. There are no trees and the downhills are pretty straight, so that helped me since I suck at downhills. I saw big Aaron on the two out and backs and timed myself about 4-5 minutes behind him both times. Still in striking distance, I thought to myself. At mile 38 we hit the "3 Sisters" (3 consecutive climbs, about 1minute in length and averaging a 15% grade) and I pulled ahead of the guy I had been riding with, for good. On the 3rd Sister there were about 25 rowdy fans yelling and cheering me up the top of the hill. It was sooo exciting having them there! I looked at my power meter and it read 550 watts....Ooops, just burned a match there, but it was worth it :-)  The hardest part of the whole day was the 5mile false flat immediately following the 3 Sisters, directly into the wind, on a lonely bike path with NOBODY in sight. The last 16 miles of a half ironman bike course is where I really start to lay the hammer down on the bike. While my power meter was showing the effort, the MPH reading was like 14mph! This is where one can really benefit from a power meter. If I had not been able to get that feedback,  I might have killed my legs trying to go 16 or 18mph on that section. Regardless, that 5 miles took forever. Towards the end of the bike there was a nice section of about 2miles downhill at 40+mph (the wind made it a little sketchy at times with the disk and deep dish front rim at that speed) but I went for it anyways. The last half mile I saw big Aaron on the run already. Crap, I thought, he must have put some big time on me at the end of the bike. I caught and passed one more guy, Michael Ingardia (last years overall winner), right before the end of the 56mile ride.

T2- In and out, and ready to go hunting!

Out onto the Run, Pops, Ash, Uncle Terry and Aunt Marilyn cheered me on. Pops informed me that I was in the Top 10 overall (I was 9th overall and 6th amateur) and six minutes behind Aaron. Big Aaron is my training buddy, but we are fierce competitors. So, of course, Pops made sure to give me those splits heading out onto the run. I love to see my good friend do well, and there is nobody else that I would want to do kick everyone's butt when I am having an off day.....but I was running for him, HARD!
The first mile of the run is all downhill, ran it in 5:20 and my body just felt great. Second two miles are all gradually uphill, and I was holding a steady 6:40ish pace that did not hurt too much. Towards the end of mile 3 I got the (oh "so familiar") cramps in my inner thighs. I've had them in EVERY SINGLE Half Ironman that I have done and I always get them when going uphill or shortly after a hill. As always, I just slowed to an easy 9 minute pace for about 30 seconds and patiently allowed the knots to disappear. As soon as they did, I had caught my breath a little and was ready to turn the burners back on. However I was a little concerned is that I was running so well but had not caught anyone on the run yet.... Mile 4 was mostly down hill. Ash and the fam were waiting for me there, encouraging me while giving me a split of only 3 minutes to Aaron. Good, I thought, I've gained 3 minutes on him in 4 miles so I must be gaining on others too. At Mile 5 I passed a strong looking guy, who just looked like he was going through a bad patch. I was too focused to say anything to him, just ran on. A half mile later I saw a tall guy up the road as we started another long uphill stretch. As I got closer to him I realized it was my boy. It was obvious by the way he was running, he wasnt having his best run. He seemed to be cramping a little, so I pulled out my pouch with salt pills as I had planned to offer him one when I caught up to him. Right before I caught him Macca ran the other way by us (in first place of course), smiled and shouted  "Good job guys"! Man, that was so inspiring seeing him out there!! As I passed Aaron I ran with him for 15 seconds or so, offered him salt (which he kindly declined), asked him how many in front of us and he told me maybe six guys. I took off on the hunt. It turns out at this point, halfway through the run, I was in 7th place overall and was the 4th overall amateur. I could see 3rd place up the road in the distance and he seemed to be running really well. I just kept my eyes on him, up to the challenge of catching and stayed locked in the zone. It is such a great feeling when running really well in a race. It hurts, but its a good hurt because you are making progress. Mile 8 came and it was time to really pick it up as this guy still had 30 seconds on me. My body responded. Still, I did not catch 3rd place until Mile 10. Right before we crested a small hill, I surged passed him...fast....and then on the downhill I just let it rip and turned my legs over as fast as I could. The last 3 miles were pretty uneventful. I was gaining time on 2nd place but could not see him and still  would end up 3 minutes back at the end. The last mile hurt bad. It was all uphill, and it was feeling hot outside, but I knew the finish of my season was right up the road and that I was about to cap it off with a great result!!...

They held the tape up for EVERY finisher at this race, COOL!

Final run split- 1:25:44 (only 2minutes slower than Macca and the second place Pro). 

Finish time 4:43:44, 1minute under the old amateur course record, 3rd place overall amateur, 6th Overall, 1st place M25-29.

Full Results here

For anyone racing 70.3 worlds next year, expect a finish time at least 20minutes slower than your PR, OR about 30-40minutes slower than your Clearwater PR, hahaha!

The race director puts on a great race at Silverman. All the Iron distance and half Iron distance athletes were treated like stars all weekend!

A little tired

Three days in Vegas prior to race, had me ready to drink immediately after the finish! Free beers by the way,  LOL

To me, the hard part about this sport, is no matter how well you train, how dedicated you are to the sport, on any given day it could be the day you've trained for OR things may just not go the way you have visioned it--You just never quite know until you put yourself out there. But, the thing I love about racing Triathlons, is when you have that day where everything clicks and you hold it together throughout the race. When you overcome the obstacles and adversity that is thrown your way throughout the day.... and you cross that finish line knowing damn well you left it all out on the course and there is nothing else you could have done, under your control, to go any faster. This is how I ended my season

Ashley being a good sport about all the sweat I'm dripping on her

Top 3 M25-29 finishers, and Top F25-29

Aaron and I both finished with AG Victories!

Next to come:

Holidays with Ashley, Gain 10 pounds, and look forward to starting 2011 with my new team Pace Multisport! Oh and for a recap of the rest of our Vegas trip go to our blog here

Nevada Silverman Triathlon this weekend!

Almost "showtime" in Vegas :-)   Ashley and I begin the drive down in the morning. Stay tuned for Race Report and a Trip Report on http://www.joshandashleysworld.blogspot.com/

Ironman Hawaii 2010 - Macca vs. Raelert

Tha past few months:

Yes, yes it has been quite a long time since I have posted. I haven't gone anywhere, I am still as dedicated and consistent with my training. But its been nice to take a step back from being so focused and competitive with the sport and hit the "refresh button".  Here is a recap of whats been going on since June, this is kind of long!

JUNE:

T1 at Ironman CDA

Pops, me and Uncle Terry, day b4 race

Ironman Coeur D'Alene- The day did not go exactly as I envisioned it during the hundreds of training hours leading up to the race. I needed to finish top 4 in my age group to qualify for Kona. I had an ok swim-1:06 (27th in Age group). I cruised through transition and quickly found myself on my bike rolling through the field. This was my first Ironman and my coach and I were just a tad too aggressive in our gameplan on the bike. While I climbed my way up towards the front of the race, I was burning a long fuse that was about to reach its end before I blew. At mile 90 of the bike I was on track to go sub 5:05 for the 112mile ride--way too fast for me. I started hitting the wall, with very low energy, lots of sweating, aching eyeballs, man it sucked. I putzed through the last 22 miles and ended up riding a 5:15 bike split (21.30mph for 112miles). This is not a bad time at all, especially for my first Ironman. However I did not evenly pace myself to a 5:15 split, I fell apart into a 5:15 split---big difference! And I still had to run 26.2miles after. A little concerned, I still flew through transition and onto the run course with the new game plan to run about 30second per mile slower than I had planned for the first 5 miles to see if my body would bounce back. It never bounced back. The damage I did to it on the bike was too much. I hung tough, and finished 5th in my age group with a time of 10hrs 10min 29sec. I ended up in the medical tent with 6 doctors trying to find a vein that was not too dried up to stick an IV in. I made the podium in my age group, got a cool trophy, but missed out on the World Championships by one spot, and walked away a humbled athlete with some valuable experience and much respect for the distance and my fellow competitors..... Coach has analyzed the data and we know what I am capable of come my next Ironman in May (IM Texas)

JULY
I took two weeks off of training and paying any attention to my passion and the best thing ever happened to me. I met Ashley (thanks for the matchmaking Paul & Annie). I cant put into words all the great things about Ashley and still do her justice. She is that great. Lets just say, she is the best thing that ever happened to me, she makes me a better person, she supports everything I am about, I support everything she is about, she balances out my life. Everyday I am thankful to have her in my life...I am in love...a new "passion & dedication" in my world.

Ash & I @ Lake Shasta

Ashley, her bff Ashley, and bff baby Mackenzie

On July 5th, I officiated my first wedding. My best friend Adam Rich and his new bride Misty Rich. What an experience! It was an incredible feeling playing a huge role in the most important moment of their lives. Cheers Adam & Misty!

AUGUST
With Ashley now a huge part of my life, I still was getting the training in, but did not have quite the "tunnel vision" I once had for Triathlon training and racing. I now had balance in my life. I really credit her for my race result at the Midsummer Olympic Triathlon at Blue Lake. I ALMOST broke 2hrs. But had a great race (biking 57:25 and running 36:16- both pr's at the distance) and finished 3rd overall, with Ash and her fam cheering me on throughout the day. Craig Dean has a great race recap here:


I also wrote a guest article, in defense of Alternative Schools in Portland that was published on the Oregonian website. You can see it here

By the end of August I was gearing up getting good training in and feeling fit to race another Iron distance race- Rev3 Cedar Point- which GU Energy had set me up with a "comp entry" into. All cylinders were firing! Then I got into an unfortunate bike accident that would sideline me for 3 weeks w/ a badly bruised left shoulder. To make a long story short, I crashed into an older woman named Shirley, who was walking down a bike path. It was the fault of no one, but we collided hard. She would go on to tell me "you are the sweetest man I have ever ran into"  :-)

SEPTEMBER
I will not lie, after a long season with a lot going on it has been a little tough to have the same "go get it" attitude that I had when I was training my ass off for the first Ironman. I never stopped training. I still dont miss workouts, dont party a lot and I recover well. But I honestly hardly ever lay in my bed at night and fall asleep visioning myself sprinting through that finish chute to take first place. Sometimes I find myself on my bike rides and long runs never even thinking about a race. I have always, always, ALWAYS thought about my races in training. Instead, I think about the future for Ashley and I. I think about my growing business. I think about my role on the Board of Directors at Open Meadow. This is a good thing, I am sure of it. This does not mean I am any less competitive. This does not mean that I have stopped Reaching, Believing, and Achieving in this sport. I think maybe I am just pacing my mental strength and saving it for race day......


OCTOBER
Beaver Fever Duathlon (Corvallis, OR)- 5k run, 18mile bike, 5k run
Thank you ATHLETES LOUNGE! Saturday before the race, Chris Bodreaux (co-owner and Pro Triathlete) offered a chance to win a new pair of Oakleys if I could beat two young guns (who were doing the race as a relay) into T2. All I had to do was come off the bike ahead of Dave (my go-to bike mechanic) after Eric Lagerstrom (a very fast young triathlete, with a remarkable racing resume) ran the first 5k. I really wanted to win this race, but I may have wanted those Oakleys more! I surged on Eric, Jaysun Pyatt and Joe Tysoe after about 1.25miles of pack running, and came into T1 with a nice lead in first place in 16:18 (5:15 pace). I was excited and motivated throughout the day to win this race wire-to-wire with my girl and her family there watching and waiting for me. During my T1, Dave (who was waiting for Eric to finish the run and tag him), yelled to me that he was going to catch me. I was also worried about my training partner, Aaron Jenniges, catching me on the bike, but I had about 90 second lead on him after the run. I kept my focus and hammered the bike at the front of the field. I rode hard up the two mile hill on the course and was determined to stay in first place through the end of the bike and get those Oakleys! Aaron had gained a minute on me and was only 30seconds down. Starting the second run (5k cross country course), I knew I would win the race and was thrilled about my new pair of Oaks I would be getting. I cruised through the fun two loop course, zigzagging through trees and around the school. The finish was 300m on the track where Ashley, her dad and brother were waiting, cheering me on as I broke the tape at the finish line. First win of the year.
 Vancouver, Washington athletes, Aaron Jenniges and Jaysun Pyatt rounded out the podium.

Eric and I on right, pre game smack talk!

and we are off!

Running hard into T1 (16:18 for 5k)

First into T2, I want my Oakleys!

Chattin' with the boyz after race

Next up is the Silverman Half Iron in Las Vegas on November 7th. This is arguably the toughest triathlon course there is. Next year it will be the site of two world championships, so there should be plenty of competition showing up to test out the terrain. Aaron and I will show up again, hoping to put Vancouver, WA near the top of the race results.

WILDFLOWER!

While I have done a couple road running races and a duathlon this year, Saturday was my first chance of the year to race a Triathlon and get a good idea of where I am at in my fitness and what else I need to work on to snag a Kona slot at Ironman CdA in June.
I travelled down to the race with first year Pro- Damian Hill (Alaska's first ever Professional Triathlete) who trains and races with the Skyline Racing Team out of Portland, OR. Since he was able to score me a VIP pass as an "Elite Guest" (not "Guest of an Elite", my name tag said "Elite Guest" lol). And so I was priveledged to be able to eat in the VIP tent amongst all the other Triathlon superstars who I have looked up to for years. This was really fun for me, although I tried to play it cool and didn't ask for any autographs. Instead of camping at Wildflower, we got to stay in a vacation rental home about 6 miles down the road with two other veteran Pro Triathletes. One was Peter Clode (he's too old to blog I think, so no hyperlink for him) a professional triathlete for 19 years, who was racing  his first race after a 2 year hiatus from the sport.
The other was Donna Phelan of Team TBB. I was really excited to meet her, as I have been a big fan of Team TBB and follow all of their athlete's results for a couple years now. It was a great experience and humbling to surround myself with such elite athletes in the days leading up to the race. The only negative is Donna may have been a bad influence on me since she eats like every 15minutes, and she rubbed off on me over the weekend, so now I am starving trying to get back to my "eating every few hours routine"!

RACE DAY:
Swim- 32:29 (239th place)- Ewww, not a good start to the day, I was expecting my first sub 30min swim! Not sure if it was the pink goggles I borrowed from Krazy Kat, or if I just did not push hard enough, or if I was just a little rusty swimming in the open water my first time since November. Last year I swam a 30:30 on this course. I think I just did not push hard enough, especially the first 400 yards where I usually swim all out and then settle in to my race pace. Another problem I have is my eyesight is not the greatest, so I have to look up and sight more often to figure out where the next buoy is and make sure I am swimming on course.
A couple things I will work on: 1- Go out HARD, then if anyone passes me after 400 yards in, I know they are a strong swimmer and can trust to get on their feet and catch a draft. 2- Get comfortable with drafting in the water. It is perfectly legal to do and it will give you free time. All the great athletes do this. 3- Get prescription goggles to help with the "sighting" in open water.
One thing I didnt do when I got out of the water and looked at my watch, was my dissapointing swim time get to me. Its a long day out there and going 2 or 3 minutes slower in the water is not the end of it....

T1- 2:01- 5th fastest of the day. Up a very steep ramp and a long run through transition to my bike.

Bike- 2:36:32- 17th fastest split and 3.5minutes faster than last years. Last year I was much more agressive the first 40miles of the bike and paid for it big time the last 16miles. This year I stuck to the game plan religiously. The plan was to capp my wattage on all uphills and stay conservative the first 25mile and then start pushing it the next 26miles, then ease up just a little the last 5miles to prepare for the run. This was a very lonely bike ride for me. I passed maybe 10 guys in my age group the first 20miles, but I never had any one around me that was riding a similar speed and no one came up from behind me so the last 36miles I would pass up women pro's and even a few pro men but I was usually all by myself. On the big five mile climb up Nasty Grade I felt GREAT. Completely opposite of the way I felt last year when I was struggling after pushing too hard early in the race. It was such a good feeling to be able to push big watts late in the 56 mile ride and feel good vs. trying to push big wattage and just really struggling and feeling like crap going into the run. Being conservative and not burning too many matches early on is the way to go in a race like this!

T2- 1:19- Not the fastest. But I had to put on a fuel belt and socks to get ready for this run

Run- 1:26:23 (6:35/mile pace)- 7th fastest of the day and 8 minutes faster than last years time! I am really really happy with how my running is coming along. Damn, I felt great and like a champ out on that tough run course. And I even think I could have gone a little faster on this run had a couple things not happened.

I was racing with a fuel belt with 3 doses of nutrition to take 20, 40 and 60 minutes into the run. This was my first time racing with a fuel belt on and only my second time running with one on (the first being a week prior to the race). My coach and I agreed that it would be a good idea to get some race experience with the fuel belt on since I will NEED to race with one at Ironman CdA. It is really too much to write in this blog, but long story short is I made an error on my nutrition and did not get my first full dose in until 40minutes into the run. Its my fault and I accept responsibility for it. I also accept responsibility for the full flask that flew out of my fuel belt at mile 8. A was running hard hard hard and just kept running, but a volunteer picked it up and sprinted to catch me and give it to me. I wasnt even thinking about the "no outside assistance" rule because it was an aid station volunteer. But just as he handed me the bottle a USAT official was riding a bike my way and saw it and was shaking his head. I asked if it was ok, he said "not really" so I threw it back down on the ground and kept running. I borrowed the fuel belt and flasks from my coach, so I owe you a flask coach!
The run was pretty lonely too. I was passed by no one. I passed maybe 10 or so guys in my age group or the 20-24 age group. But other than that the only time I had company and would gain extra inspiration to keep pushing was at the aid stations with all the energetic volunteers. The rest of my motivation was all in my head. The plan was to take it conservative up the hills and really let my legs go on the down hills. Then after 8miles in, I would really really let my legs go. I did just that, and really pushed those last 5miles, but the lack of calories on the run I feel did slow me down just a little. But that is all part of the race. (I plan on running with a fuel belt, nathan or amphipod on all my long runs leading up to Ironman so I will not have to deal with this stress in the big race).

Altogether, it really was a great result for me. I am finally running really well off the bike and feeling incredibly confident out there. I am really thankful for my Coach right now.
I  finished 10th Overall Amateur, and 3rd in my age group. This is a huge race with a long history and some of the best athletes in the country come out to compete, so I feel great about the Top 10 result. Last year I was 46th overall and 11th in my age group... I went a whole 10minutes faster than I did last year, and beat a handful of guys who finished well ahead of me last year as well. I also came in just a little over 10minutes behind overall winner Tim Hola, and last year I was a good 26minutes behind him! The guy that was first in my age group and 5minutes ahead of me, went 9:07 at IM Arizona in November for good measure. So the HARD WORK is paying off, but still more to do.

I really want to thank all my family and friends for their support and encouragment and belief in me, you all know how much I appreciate you.
I feel blessed to race with the big "a" on my back (Athletes Lounge), and would be a complete wreck if I didn't have the shop to lean on when it comes to getting my bike ready to go and having anything I need for raceday and training at the store.
And of course thank you to GU Energy for being there for me for the 3rd season now.

Finally, here is a short video clip of me on the podium (#3) in my Age group at Wildflower awards ceremony:

How 'Hard Work' became Easy- Part 3

Heading back home, it was time for my new goal to become a succesful member of society, to be put to the test. I would have to deal with the temptations that had once got me into a lot of trouble. I would have to ignore and steer clear of some of the (so-called) friends that I had been "up to no good" with.

I had already been expelled from all portland public schools (blessing in disguise), so I was enrolled at Open Meadow Alternative Schools (where I now serve on the Board of Directors). I had a lot of momentum already going for me, so my next goals were to graduate from High School early (after skipping out the entire first half of my freshman year) and get off of probation ASAP. With the help and support of the teachers at Open Meadow, and an a mentor outside of school Fred Woods, I continued to work hard and do all the extra little things on top of everything I was supposed to be doing. To earn extra credits I would: work after school and on the weekends at a Shell Gas Station, attend ITT Technical Institute as part of a partnership program with the High School, serve on the Student Review Board, speak on behalf of Open Meadow at fundraising or community events, landscaping at the school during the summers..on the weekends I would also participate in a program called Project Payback, where I would do community service type work and earn money that would go to pay back damage that had been done to others property.....It all kept me very busy, but also helped me stay away from all the negative influences that would try to pull me back down. When I wasn't busy with school, and the extra activities, I would go to counseling and youth empowerment groups that my Mentor Fred Woods was holding. Fred had overcome a lot of mistakes he had made on the Portland Streets in the past and was dedicating his life to help save as many of the "at risk" youth in N. Portland as he could.

When it was all said and done, I graduated high school from Open Meadow at the age of 17 after only two and a half years of attending Open Meadow. I believed I could do it from my very first day away from the group home, but my teachers also backed me and let me know they believed in me too. I knew if I screwed up again, I would not just be letting myself down, but letting down all the others that had cared about me and worked so hard to support me in this journey.

A month or so into my final year in High School, I experienced something amazing. I had a Probation Court Hearing to try and get off of probation a year early. I had to face Judge, Katherine English, who had a reputation in the juvenile courts of being one of the toughest Judges there were. She had scorned me already on multiple occassions, sent me to JDH, sent me to the group home, etc., and now I would be going in front of her to request getting off probation early! I was lucky to have my probation officer on my side, and Fred Woods there to speak on my behalf. When Judge English heard about all the strides I had been making, I saw something I had never seen on her face...a smile :-)  In front of the entire court room, I received praise and applause from her. She spoke directly at me in front of everyone and told me about her retiring soon and this is the exact thing she needed to hear to help close this chapter in her book. She then proceeded to invite me to her house sometime for coffee and doughnuts! Seriously! So, yes I was let off of probation a year early.
I thought to myself, wow getting invited, in front of the whole court room, to go hang out with my hard ass Judge.... at her house..........hard work must be paying off!

How 'Hard Work' became easy- part 2

Unfortuntely, as I got older and into my early teenage years and started hanging with the wrong crowds I found myself a very very troubled young kid. After being given a few slaps on the wrist, the courts eventually ordered me to go to a boys group home/ranch in Oregon City for a 12-18month treatment program.They also put me on 2 years probation. I was 15.

Once into the group home I noticed how immature many of the boys were, they had a lot of trouble obeying the staff, and threw temper tantrums frequently. I didn't have these kinds of problems, I didn't have any sever attention deficit disorders I just had issues with making bad decisions and hanging with the people that were a bad influence on me. Very quickly I snapped out of it, and had a "wake up call" as I was laying in bed one evening about a week into my stay. I had finally realized I was headed down a wrong path...thinking of all the people that had been hurt or affected by my actions. That night  I promised myself that I would find a way to work my way out of this place within 6 months. I wasn't going to be the bad child my parents were embarrassed to talk about, I wasn't going to harm others or their property like I had been guilty of doing without remorse so many times, I wanted to be a good person.

Man I worked my butt off. I did everything in treatment above and beyond what was expected of me. My behavior and actions in the group home were "poster boy" material. I talked to counselors and found out all the little steps that needed to be completed to finish the entire program, and was one, two, three steps ahead at all times. Besides issues with alcohol and smoking pot, and hanging with older kids who had terrible track records with the courts, I was diagnosed by my main counselor with "impulsive decision making".
A lot of our conversations were based on my impulsive decisions and why I did not think things through. On my own I took initiative and decided to make a secret journal of all the decisions I made throughout the each day to see if they were "impulsive" or "thought through" decisions. I did this for two weeks, jotting down in the journal at the end of each day all of the dozens the decisions that had been made to make it through that day.

After two weeks of keeping this journal I finally showed it to my counselor, and I'll never forget the look on her face as she opened it up to see what was in it. To her surprise that one of her kids cared that much about their treatment and was holding himself accountable. She actually cried in front of me, in turn that made me cry. Making someone so happy that they cried was an unbelievable feeling at my young age. I had become so used to making people mad or sad, but now I knew I was doing the right thing. It felt so good to make people proud, I knew I did not want to go back to the person that I had once become, ever again.

Fast forward a few more months and I had completed the entire program and was being released from the boys home after only a 4 months stay. I had completed the program faster than anyone had in the group home's 15 year history.  During those 4 months I sacrificed a lot.... when all the kids that didnt really care were goofing off during leasure time and playing games or sneaking out to smoke cigarettes, I was writing essays and completing questionaires that would have to be done eventually to complete the program. I worked the kitchen and served all the meals which earned me extra points, I volunteered for yard work around the ranch, did every little extra thing I could. I had won the staff over and they beleived in me, and as long as I was working hard at it, they let me continue to get ahead of the curve.  My hard work had paid off..... I was going back home

How 'Hard Work' became easy- part 1

Going back to when I was in 4th grade, I have had personal experiences that tought myself and engrained into the person that I have become, that Hard Work pays off.
In 4th grade we had an assignment to read a biography of a famous person of our choice, and give a book report on it in front of the class. I chose Martin Luther King, Jr. and read the book on Dr. King's life, did my report of all the defining moments that made him the important historic figure that he had become on this planet. But I didn't grow up with much money and couldn't afford the fancy poster boards and pictures that the other kids in class would have with their presentations. My Mom worked until 10pm every night as a 911 dispatcher (had to tuck myself into bed back then), so she couldn't help give me any ideas. So all I was left with, the day before the presentation, were some sloppy, 4th grade, left handed notes on ripped out spiral notebook paper about Dr. King's life. I remembered in the book I had read there were two pages that had the entire second half of King's "I have a dream speech" word for word in it. I thought that it would be cool to recite the speech during my book report. But I did not want to read it off of paper, I knew I could make an impact on my grade, the teacher, my classmates if I memorized it and made eye contact with everyone in the room during my presentation. So I dedicated the next 7 hours of my life that night to memorizing the entire second half of the speech. Over and over and over I read the speech out loud to myself. Then I started memorizing two sentences at a time. Once I had the first two sentences memorized, I would memorize the next two and so on and so on. I kept this going all night until I was exhausted, but I had that speech wired into my brain. The next morning I did a couple more rehearsals before I took off to catch the bus, and was pleased that I had mastered this.
Later that morning, I got a little nervous as I sat through book reports that seemed like they had a lot of money put into it. Costumes, fancy colorful posterboards, supersized pictures, handouts for the kids, and I started to get a little nervous. However, when it came time to give the report and Dr King's speech to the class, I delivered. Not looking down at the papers in front of me once, I did my best to lower my voice and speak his words, Word for word. Everyone was amazed, the teacher was teary eyed, I even got called on for an encore after the last presentation of the day to recite the speech again. I did not have one picture, no handouts, it was just myself exposed to the room. My hard work from the night before had paid off....my grade on the book report- A+   
HARD WORK

Some props, and my sacrifice

In my mini race report of the Duathlon last weekend, I forgot to give props to an athlete who had an outstanding race and held strong in third place the whole event, fending off a trio of legit Seattle athletes who made the trip down to try and blitz our home course.
I was reminded of this when I did 14miles of my 18mile long run today with Jake Barakat. Jake is coming on strong and will continue to be more and more of a threat at the races. Dude is strong (physically and mentally) and ran stride by stride with me for 14miles at an impressive pace. It was great to sweat it out for 90minutes with him today.
Also, its cool to note that Jay, myself, and Jake are all coached by Summit Performance Coaching.
I look forward to getting some good training in with both these athletes as I build for Ironman.

Speaking of training partners, I do most of my long rides with Aaron Jenniges. Big Aaron, I should say BIG Aaron, or BIG AARON is a machine on the bike. He bike commutes 120miles/wk for work, and then gets long rides in on the weekends. Having him around on my long training rides has really helped keep me focused the last part of each long day in the saddle. Aaron is 6'6" & 190 pounds. Watch out for him this year as well. He can swim a sub 21minute 1500m (with no swimming background as a kid), bike with  some of the best, and just today ran a 1:22:08 half marathon (7minute pr). Running is no easy task for a big man like that, so my hats off to him. He has really made an effort to improve his running form and economy this year, and its showing!!
Congrats to all my other friends and training partners who had great races today at Race 4 the Roses. Aaron, Paul Shoen, David Embree, Don Ollila, Alana Kent, AJ Kemp, Sue & Don Moote and others (sorry if I'm leaving anyone out)

I am also happy to say that USA Triathlon officially posted the All American and Honorable Mention honors online. HERE  For the second year in a row I am top 5% of my age group (25-29yr olds) in the Nation and have been named All-American. I am ranked 87th overall (107th place got the last All American honor) out of over 2,000 ranked athletes. I'm in a very competitive age group.

Now its back to the grind this next week with more solid training and recovery. I need to continue to remind myself that I need to be willing to suffer & sacrifice more than my competitors. This does not neccessarily mean training more and harder than everyone, that has proven to NOT guarantee success and will eventually lead to "overtraining". I'm talking about the "no alcohol", eating healthy, getting to bed EARLY, resisting the temptation of chocolate ice cream, not staying out super late, completing all my workouts, completing all my workouts the way coach tells me too, taking care of the body, taking i easy when coach tells me to etc etc etc
I'm competiting with the top amateurs nationwide and worldwide, not just in races, but in all the decision I make throughout the day. My goal is to beat all these guys in the races. But in order to get to that goal I know I need to be willing to beat all these guys in my dicipline, determination, and sacrifice made throughout the day, every day, leading up to June 27th.
Its going to be a long, painful, mentally challenging day at Ironman. And I am preparing myself for that now..

SACRIFICE!!

Spring Classic Du

Just haven't had time to write anything about this race. I was happy with my performance although I did not defend my title. Jay Cech showed up again (after a little smack talk between us), and clearly was a better, faster athlete than me than he was last year. Congrats to Jay, and I look forward to our "rubber-match" in 2011!
Coach says I'm not supposed to be Fast right now, because of so much bike focus on long long rides in hard gears training my Slowtwitch muscles for Ironman. But still, hate to lose and I showed up to win (especially this race which favors my strengths). But if I'm going to lose to anyone at this race, I'd rather it be Jay who holds the course record from 2006.
I was able to bust out a 16:29 first 5k and a 17:33 second 5k. Bike times were slower for everyone due to constant winds and rough roads on the bike course. My time was slower than last years due to this and due to some mental errors, that I dont usually make in transitions....lost me about another 20seconds. Oh well, I feel good about my effort and am satisfied, but still hungry. I'll save the big feast for my big race in June.
Fellow Triathlete Dave Campbell did another writeup on the race this year HERE  (he got a little mixed up with the first names, but no biggie Dave. We appreciate your race reports!)

I've now gone over 7 weeks without drinking, so no late nights on the weekends. This has been huge for me, since I am rested, hydrated and ready for my big weekend workouts. I really have dedicated myself in training and recovery more than I have my previous four seasons doing this sport. Looking forward to showing everyone what I can do.

Also, I want to thank Chris B. (co-owner of Athletes Lounge and pro triathlete) for setting me up with an Athletes Lounge race kit this year. Looking forward to representing the shop with class. All the employees at AL really do a great job of taking care of all the Triathletes in the area, and Portland is lucky to have a Triathlon dedicated store. The bike mechanics are actually very friendly, helpful and thorough. I lean on them a lot and they always come through!

Three weeks to go before the next test Wildflower Half Ironman......stay tuned!

Shamrock Run 15k

Had a pretty good race on Sunday at the Portland Shamrock Run. More than 21,000 people registered to participate in the 15k, 8k, 5k and kids run (about as many people who run the Boston Marathon!! GO PORTLAND!). I ran the 15k (which is the first race I EVER ran five years ago), and clocked in a 52:32 (5:38 pace). My time was good enough for 17th overall (only 9th in my age group though) in a field of almost 4,000 runners. The front end of the field is pretty damn competitive with plenty of dedicated runners who run on Nike sponsored teams and such. It was both humbling and confidence building to be able to run amongst some of them. This is a pretty challenging race because from .5mile in to 5.5miles in, its pretty much all uphill (where I was averaging about 5:59 pace), then you get to go downhill the rest of the way until about .8miles to go where it flattens out. I was able to hammer out  a 5:26, 5:14, and 5:11 for my last three miles! Coach had me hold back a little the first 3miles and keep my heart rate in check. After that the leash was off and I was able to let loose. This was a good confidence and strength building race, but will likely be the last 'just running' race I'll do the rest of the year as Triathlon season is right around the corner.

In other news, training has been going extremely well. I am not putting in HUGE 20hr plus training weeks, but I have been getting consistent 16-17 hour weeks in and have not missed a scheduled workout in months. I'm taking great care of the body as far as recovery and resting goes. I've also been very dedicated about eating healthy, and have made a personal goal to give up alcohol completely until after Ironman CdA (its been four weeks now). I have gone out a few evenings with friends and had a great time, laughing and joking around with everyone completely sober. Since the waitresses and bartenders are annoyed by the "water guys", I still tip for good water service! I've never been a huge consistent drinker but if I did go out and drink on the weekend I would usually drink a lot and it affects my big weekend workouts the next day. This year I owe it to myself to see how great of an athlete I can really be. Since I am single or the first time since I took up this sport, I can keep a simple life of training, eating, working, training, eating and sleeping. And I am completely happy with that!!
Up Next: Spring Classic Duathlon- 5k run, 15mi bike, 5k run  Saturday, April 3rd

2010 baby!

Whats up! I've been training strong, steady and consistent so far this year. Most importantly I have been recovering/bouncing back from big workouts very well. While I do have some added stresses in my life with the new business, new office, new employees for GrindStone, life at home is quiet and stress free.

On Jan 24th I pr'd at the V Lake Half Marathon in 1:14:09 (5:39 pace), a 1:02 improvement from 2009's race. I had to fight and pass two guys in the final two miles to take 10th place overall. Only two years ago I would have won the race by a minute with that time, but that race is getting more and more competitive each year!!

Ironman training is underway. The big race this season is Ironman CdA on June 27th. For the first time, I do not have any races on my schedule for July and beyond. Everything I do in training and the lifestyle sacrifices I am making are all about this race. If all goes as planned, I will only have one more race after June 27th......and that wont be til October!! ..Stay tuned...

Until then, I'll be running strong at the Shamrock Run 15k on March 14th. This exact race is the first race I ever entered (after 3 months of training myself running, not knowing what the heck I was doing)....On 3/13/05, I dragged all 204 pounds of me through that race at a 6:55 pace, finishing in 1:04:32. I was so happy and fell hard for endurance sports on that day.

April 3rd- Spring Classic Duathlon- Going try and win this race for the 3rd year in a row! I should have some tough competition so it will be interesting and I do not expect to run away with this one....it will be a fight.

May 1st- Wildflower Half Ironman- Looking for some redemption at this race after last year. I felt I had the fitness and strength to finish at least 10minutes faster than I did. But I raced the course the wrong way, attacking the bike way too early and paying for it the rest of the day. This year I'll be playing my cards right, and will look to make an early statement two months before CdA.

-Monda