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