2014 Ironman 70.3 Augusta

Adios 2014! Thanks for the good times. I don’t think any of us really expected me to have this successful of a first professional season. 8 top-ten’s, 5 top-five’s and 4 races where I earned prize money- it is really unbelievable. In January of this year I was still debating whether or not to even turn pro in fear of not being even remotely competitive. But I made the bold move and went for it, jumping in head first and toeing the line at seven highly contested half ironman races and two Olympic non drafting events. Not only did I accomplish more than I ever thought possible, but I also proved everyone who thought I was too young, too slow and not ready very, very wrong. This weekend I wrapped up my 2014 campaign with 70.3 Augusta outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Here is the recap of one of the most hectic 48 hours of my life but a fitting end to a fantastic year.

After a tough race at Princeton last weekend, I was more motivated than ever heading into Augusta. I had done the hardest training in my life preparing for these two races and not being able to give Princeton full gas due to a pesky chest cold left me hungry for one more crack. Friday morning I got up and headed out for a pre-flight jog only to come back to find that a fire in the air traffic control center outside of Chicago had cancelled all Friday flights out of all Midwest airports. Additionally, there were absolutely no flights for me to get on for Saturday at any airport around Iowa City. Speechless and depressed I sat on my futon coming to terms with the fact that I was not going to be able to get to Augusta and it was completely out of my control. But I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. After 5 minutes of sulking, I went into hyper-mode frantically researching options and talking with any Delta call center employee who would listen to my feverish rambling. After some serious finagling, I somehow managed to get myself on a 5:30am flight on Saturday morning… out of Minneapolis. So, I went from eating lunch, unpacking my things and researching other races for next weekend to loading up my car and making a 5-hour road trip north. Not optimal, but I was (hopefully) going to get there.

Unexpected weekend bonus was crashing at Jillian's place in Minneapolis. I asked for a towel, this is what I got. #college 

I wasn’t really expecting to be chillin’ with the sis just a few hours prior, but it was a pleasant surprise in a rather unfortunate situation. After not seeing each other for two months, it was great to catch up and hang. I grabbed a few hours sleep and was up at 3:00am on Saturday morning, hauling a cab and making my way to the airport for the first flight out. Thankfully, Mom had flown into town the day before and was there waiting with the rental car when I landed in Atlanta. Already fairly exhausted, I grabbed an hour snooze in the car while we made the 2.5-hour drive to Augusta and I was building my bike in a random gravel parking lot by noon.

I've put my bike together in worse places but this certainly wasn't the best

I got my bike situated at 12:58pm and then hauled ass over to the pro meeting/ athlete check-in which started a 1pm. The race directors went over the course briefly but without previewing the highlights in the morning like I would normally do, I left the meeting feeling pretty confused. By 2:30pm Mom and I wandered around attempting to gather our bearings and eventually landed at the swim start. I was able to hop in for a quick swim, roll out for a short bike ride and then finish up with an easy jog to make sure the legs were still in functioning order.

Tired, dehydrated and hungry we eventually made it back to the hotel around 5pm where I was able to whip up a quick dinner, organize my gear for the morning and fall right asleep in an attempt to get as many hours in as possible before the 4am alarm.

My best attempt at keeping things chill

Although I was a more tired than usual come Sunday morning, I was still feeling pretty wired from the previous 36 hours and race morning went by quickly. Really, despite all of the craziness, I was feeling relaxed with my only concern being that I STILL had not shaken that chest cold I had in Princeton last weekend. It certainly had improved since last Sunday but I was coughing enough to the point that it felt noticeably annoying. Obviously, I was still going to give it my best shot and as the sun came up over the river, I found myself on the pontoon waiting for the dive in start.

The cannon fired and the line of us sprinted for the first buoy, fighting for front position. I had an exceptional start and quickly found myself right on the front of the main group, comfortably drafting off the lead athlete. I was swimming very hard but fairly in control as the river current pushed us 1.2 miles down stream. I emerged the water in a blazing time of 20:01 in 3^rd position right behind Victor Zyemtsev (last week’s Princeton winner) and :60 down from a 2x Olympian who had gapped the field early on and would go on to win the race wire-to-wire. I knew at this point, it was going to be a battle for spots 2-10.

Charging up the hill to T1 

It was a long run out of the swim exit and the flying Ukrainian (Zyemtsev) gained a few seconds on me. After a smooth first transition I was out on the bike course with Victor still in my sights but he quickly started to pull away. In the first mile I was unsure of my ability to ride at his pace and let him gain on me even further. But then I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it- I had nothing to lose. I put in a few minutes of very hard riding and eventually caught back up to him. Although it was a tough decision to make that hard of an effort so early, it was critical as I ended up riding the remainder of the 50 miles or so queuing off his every move- 12 meters back, outside of the draft zone. Around the 10-mile mark, another athlete, Justin Park, came through Victor and I and took the lead of our three-man trio. Our select group charged through the remainder of the ride on the rolling backcountry roads around Augusta and came into the second transition together, only separated by a few seconds each.

Victor’s 20 years of elite triathlon experience allowed him to dart out on course first followed by myself and Park hot on my heels. As one of the best runners in the sport, I knew better than to go with Victor so early and let him gain about :15 seconds on me. As we made our way onto the course, Park sprinted up and latched onto Victor’s shoulder with me holding that :15 second gap behind.

Baller aerial shot of it all going down early on

As we cruised through the early miles, I settled into my tempo and decided to run my own pace, almost 100% sure that Victor would chew up Park and spit him out the back. But to my surprise, Park held strong and as we passed through the 5 mile mark, Park and Victor were still running side by side and I still held that :15 behind. I remained calm, running in 4^th position, just patiently waiting for one of them to blow up so I could make my move.

I was hammering, running 5:40 min/mi pace for the first 7 miles just waiting to pounce when I saw even an inch of weakness in either of them. But as I turned the corner around the 7.5 mile mark, both of my hamstrings, both of my calves, both of my adductors and both of my glutes seized up in cramps and I was forced to stop and let them calm down. I was stuck on the race course, watching the two pull further away up the road. After about :45 of stretching and calming down my muscles, I was able to slowly work into a jog and then a run. Their small lead that I was closing down was now :75 seconds, a gap that I still considered reasonably bridgeable if one of them really fell apart. That gave me enough incentive to keep pushing the gas but I was never quite able to ramp it back up to that high end 5:40 pace I was holding previously. Every time I tried, I would feel my muscles tighten up again and would have to back off slightly. I cruised home on the final 4 miles, realizing that I had a formidable 12 minute lead on 5^th place behind me. 

HOLD IT TOGETHER 

I crossed the finish line in 4th place overall in a new personal best time of 3:52:08 while putting up a 1:16:47 run split despite being stopped on the road for almost a minute. I was 1:12 down from third place and 1:41 down from second place but I had put it all out there throughout the entire ride and the first half of the run, crossing the line with no regrets. I was in the game, at the front and in the mix- trading blows with seasoned professionals, duking it out for podium spots and prize money.

Casual race debrief with some very fast dudes 

Could this race have gone better? Absolutely. I certainly would have loved to be 1:41 faster on the run and snagged 2nd place but with all the variables that went into this race, I have to be happy with the result. On a perfect day, I am there but no matter how you slice it, I'm damn close. Give me one more winter of hard work and I guarantee you will see me on the top steps of the podium. 

I first want to give a huge thank you to the best Mom on earth who was with me through every step of this crazy weekend. I'll remember this race forever and you being there made it not only possible but actually enjoyable. Not to mention she is a pro at keeping our phones charged. Mild OCD ensuring this blog has adequate photo/ video content! 

Other huge thanks have to go out to Sammy, Leslie and Flick from Sammy's bikes and Alicia/ Kyle from the EGO side of the team. Also, thanks to Jay from Xterra, Craig from Precision and Tony from The Wellness Revolution. 

I spent 14 hours traveling from Atlanta to Minneapolis and then Minneapolis back to Iowa City only to rush to class this evening. I haven't really had too much time to let this race sink in but will take the better part of this week eating as much as possible and working out as little as possible (as in not training at all!) which will give me adequate time to absorb this event and the 2014 season as a whole. 

Clearly, I have had some help from my loyal sponsors and earned a few small paychecks but breaking even as a pro triathlete is tough! I think it will be especially tough next year, as I plan to take my domestic schedule to the next level, adding in a few critical international events. I am always looking to discuss possible future sponsorship opportunities so if anyone, anywhere knows a guy who knows a guy who has an idea, please hit me up! 

Finally, I want to thank all my family, friends and loyal fans who tune into all of my post-race jabbering sessions, follow my races live and generally track my whereabouts. Your support means everything and gives me the motivation to keep pushing forward, striving to one day be the best in the world. 

Feeling very loved today. Thank you. 

Justin 

2014 Ironman 70.3 Princeton

Despite moving back to Iowa City, starting my classes and even knocking out the first round of exams, the main focus for the past four weeks has been putting together the best (and hardest) block of training I have had in my entire career. I won't bore you with the details but 100,000 yards of swimming, 1100 miles of cycling and 350 miles of running in 28 day's does a pretty good job summing up how hard I pushed myself. As an amateur, I have always had a late season championship event to get ready for and without one of those in the cards for 2014, I had to reassess and find a challenge that would get me charged up to cap off my rookie season campaign. The carrot I decided to chase after was a string of two races at the end of September, starting with 70.3 Princeton this past weekend and ending with 70.3 Augusta next weekend. Here is the recap of a tough day at the office but an amazing, worthwhile and much needed weekend with the best people on earth.

Can't say that I haven't enjoyed the Iowa training grounds 

Although I grew up outside of Chicago, my parents recently re-relocated back to New Jersey where they were raised and where my entire extended family is based. So, a race in Princeton offered up the opportunity to put on a show in front of a huge entourage. The guarantee of a massive cheering section paired with the confidence I had coming off the past four weeks left me feeling like a million bucks as I boarded my flight out of Moline early on Thursday morning en route to Newark. After a cool 8 hours of travel, I finally made it to my grandparents house on the Jersey Shore Thursday night, got out for a quick jog and then hit the hay feeling pretty beat from the day of cross country transit.

I woke up Friday morning knowing something wasn't right... I had ignored it since Wednesday and figured it was no big deal but when I could barely get a word out uninterrupted by a coughing fit, I realized that I was about to start a 12-round battle with a nasty chest cold- the slightest glimpse of illness I have had in probably three years. I knew that I was not at 100% but I continued my ignoring strategy and pushed onward with my normal pre-race routine. 

After a fairly mediocre run in the morning and ride in the afternoon, I was in need of a serious pick-me-up come Friday night. Thankfully, at 8pm, this LEGEND walked in the door. After not seeing Dad for 2 months since he left for New York, just kickin' it together was exactly what I needed. 

The view from his new pad, overlooking the Hudson and NYC

When I woke up on Saturday morning my 25% chest congestion/ 75% nasal congestion had flip-flopped and as we headed over to the race course, things were certainly not moving in the positive direction. At this point, my hopes of waking up feeling good to go on race day were looking less and less likely which in turn pushed my recent sky high confidence down into the dumps. Dad helped keep things light and with Mom flying into town that afternoon, I decided I was going to toe the line no matter what and put on a show for the people who support me the most. 

Attempting to sneeze before my pre-race ride but not being able to. You know what I'm talking about. 

Saturday morning came early as usual but this one certainly felt earlier after an uncustomary restless night. I downed my pre-race quinoa, headed over to the race site and set up my gear next to some serious top-flight guys all coming off their 70.3 World Championship fitness. I got out on my customary run warm up and although it felt as though my congestion was manageable, my energy levels were much lower than normal. I didn't really have that pre-race jittery, jump out your skin feeling and honestly, a nap felt more appealing that four hours of all-out racing. Nevertheless, I tried to keep myself relaxed and in the moment- taking one step at a time. I threw on my wetsuit, walked down to the swim start and got ready to start the race.

I was feeling optimistic after downing a caffeinated gel on shore but once I flipped myself horizontal and swam over to the swim start, my chest re-filled with congestion. They barely gave us any time to warm up and before I knew it, the horn went off. Despite the breath-face-in-water-cough-breath routine that I was rocking for the first 400m or so, I was able to have a descent start and put myself in a solid position despite feeling awful. I was able to settle into a solid rhythm on the back half and after what seemed like a terrible start, I began to think a little more positive. I ended up coming out of the water in 7th position, sandwiched between Jordan Rapp and Jesse Thomas- right where I hoped to be. 

After a quick transition, I mounted my bike right behind Jesse and ahead of Jordan. I knew the leaders had about :90 second on us which was small enough for me to think about immediately bridging the gap with both of these guys (who I knew would ride all out to catch the group). I got my feet into the shoes and started putting some power down on the pedals, only to watch both Jesse and Jordan quickly drift off into the distance. My legs had nothing and could not go with them. Once the adrenaline from the swim wore off, some of my chest congestion returned and I spent the remainder of the ride mostly on my own, attempting to get something going but never feeling good at any point. I was giving a mental push at 100% but the body was saying "we've only got 85% for you today buddy." I dismounted the bike in 8th position, fairly far down from the next guy up the road but still well in the mix for spots 8-12 on the road. 

As I came into transition another guy came by me and we ended up exiting T2 together. After how I felt on that ride I seriously considered pulling out of the race at the start of the run- something I have never even remotely though about at any other race in my life. I watched this guy blaze out of transition and speed up the road while I seemingly jogged out, simply trying to just get my bearings straight. 

Notice how Dad says "you guys are in 8th," accurately predicting that this guys 15:00 opening 5k would not stick for the entire half marathon. And he was right, I ran the first two miles feeling pretty down but told myself to at least get through the first loop, run past the cheering section and then reevaluate from there. Around the 4 mile mark I came up on that guy who had passed me out of transition, walking with cramps on the side of the road. That gave me a nice little boost as I made it to the half way point where I had 15 people cheering for me. I hit the gas a little bit as I ran past them and that ignited my legs just enough to feel halfway descent. 

At this point, I just told myself to run hard but conservative. I had more or less secured my 8th place position and sprinting the final lap was not going to do anything but hurt my performance this upcoming weekend in Augusta. Proving just how good my run fitness is at the moment, I cruised home with a 1:17 run split, high-fiving the crew as I ran down the chute. 

Going into the race, I knew grabbing a top-5 would be incredibly difficult even if I was firing on all cylinders. The top-6 guys at the race were all contenders for the win which left spots 7-10 up for grabs. Snagging 8th place on a day where I was nowhere near my best was commendable and I walked away from the race relatively satisfied. Still, I was disappointed that I couldn't lay it all on the line and compete at the front. 

Although the race didn't go exactly as I had hoped, I put that behind me quickly and spent the rest of my time in New Jersey loving life with these fine folks. 

I'm not sure who's idea the 6:15am flight out of Newark was on Monday morning but I was back in Iowa City by noon only to spend the rest of the afternoon taking a 4 hour nap. My chest cold is almost completely gone but I'm still feeling fairly run down. I'm keeping the rest of this week very easy leading into Augusta in hopes of toeing the line ready to give it 100% full gas for the final race of my 2014 campaign. 

As always thanks to these amazing people: 

• Gram and Pop- who not only picked me up from the airport and set me up on Thursday and Friday but they also had both of their fridges stocked with endless fruits and veggies. Love you guys. 
• Lily, Larry and Lisa- seeing you out on course gave me that spark needed to fly on that second run loop. Especially Lily's poster. So awesome to see you all. Hopefully there will be more of that now that we are NY neighbors 
• Mom and Dad- for keeping me level headed when I started to stress about feeling crappy and for just being awesome in all other aspects of everything. Even if I never started the race this weekend, the 18 hours of travel would have been worth it just to see you 
• Sammy, Leslie, Flick- although the engine was running a little low this weekend, the bike was wicked fast as always. Thanks for the support. 
• EGO, Xterra, Precision, The Wellness Rev- I couldn't get to the start line and compete without your help! Thanks. 
• Jeff D.- My 2015 triathlon sponsorship confidant. Your help and belief in me has been amazing. I can't thank you enough. You're the best! 

Look out for another post after Augusta next weekend. 

Thanks for tuning in, 

Justin 

By the way, kaleamole fixes everything