Update

It's almost spring time which means triathlon season is quickly approaching! I could not be more ready, driven or straight up pumped for the first race of the year at USAT Collegiate Nationals on April 21st. 

Training has been going great over the last few weeks. We have hit some really key sessions and I can feel my fitness coming back to full form.  Without a real swim focus I have dropped my times in the pool and I am feeling more confident than ever that I can swim with the lead pack and get out onto the bike in good position. I also think that I will have an edge on my competitors after backup timing at the Big 10 Swimming and Divining Championships the last two weeks. I may have picked up a few tips that will come in handy later this summer. 

As for the bike, I have been crushing it on my CycleOps Fluid Trainer with my Power Tap Pro and Joule 2.0.  I have never been able to push myself so hard and I can see my strength improving. In the past I have only been able to gauge my fitness gains on feel, but having real numbers to show improvement is reassuring that training is paying off. Also, the University of Iowa Cycling Team organized a team studio in the field house for the winter months.  It is nothing special, just a room where everyone sets up their trainers and hammers out winter miles.  It really helps having people there to ride with and it beats sweating up my 9'-8'' dorm room at 6 AM. 

Running has been very strong and I have hit some really solid efforts while putting in good miles on the road. Right now I am finding the balance between strength and speed while incorporating a lot of brick work to get ready to run fast off the bike. You have to run fast in training to run fast in the race! 

I also was recently notified that I finished top-20 in my division in the final 2011 rankings and I have been invited to represent Team USA at the 2012 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand.  Team Metzler may be heading down under mate! 

If you are looking to do something for a great cause check out http://eleonorerocks.org/. Any donation is much appreciated.  

That's all I have for now. Happy training. 

CycleOps

I would like to welcome my latest partner, CycleOps Power. CycleOps is a leader in the cycling industry producing top of the line power meters, trainers, stationary bikes and accessories. I am currently using the Fluid Trainer and I have come to see it as more of a necessity to my training rather than a luxury. I will soon be set up with a PowerTap which will be the next step in my training technology. I look forward to working with CycleOps products! You can check it out for yourself at www.cycleops.com

Eleonore Rocks

I am proud to announce that I will be racing for a cause this upcoming season.  I have been selected to be part of the 2012 Eleonore Rocks Ambassador Triathlon Team.  I will be fundraising for this foundation and will be supporting them through my races across the nation. Eleonore Rocks donates rocking chairs to families with sick children and supports them during their struggling times. I would appreciate your help and any donation will make a difference in the lives of many families. Please visit their website to donate and get more information!

http://eleonorerocks.org/

2012

2011 was arguably one of the best years of my entire life. I broke barriers that I never thought possible and I reached limits beyond my own expectations. From the year 2011, I was able to reflect and set some goals for this upcoming season.  I have decided to fully dedicate myself to the sport and pursue a passion that I have an absolute love for.  My dream is to become a professional triathlete and an Olympic athlete in the 2016 games.  I am aware that this is not a simple feat to accomplish but I am ready to give 100% of myself in order to achieve success in the sport of triathlon.

I have come up with a racing schedule that is mostly composed of Olympic distance, non-drafting events.  I will be traveling across the nation from April to September, racing within the 5150, Lifetime and Rev3 series. I will also compete in a couple draft-legal events in addition to a number of early season duathlons, road running and cycling events. Here is a look at some of the races I will be competing in throughout the 2012 season.

USAT Collegiate National Championship (Olympic non-drafting) (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
USAT Collegiate National Championship (draft-legal team relay) (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
5150 St. Anthony's Triathlon (St. Petersburg, Florida) 
5150 Memphis in May (Tunica, Mississippi) 
5150 Washington DC Triathlon (Washington D.C.)
Lifetime Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)  
Lifetime Minneapolis Triathlon (Minneapolis, Minnesota) 
USAT Age Group National Championship (Burlington, Vermont) or Rev3 Wisconsin (Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin) and 5150 Columbus (Columbus, Ohio) 
5150 National Championship (Des Moines, Iowa) 

I will be racing many of these events in the Elite division and I will be shooting for high placements in the overall standings in order to improve upon my 2011 USAT Honorable Mention status, being ranked 20th in the nation.  


I would also like to thank my first official sponsor who will be supporting this upcoming season. Commercial Arts is a group of Real Estate and Financial Graphic Experts.  They have specialized in the real estate industry for over 20 years and offer exceptional service.  You can visit their website here! 
http://www.comarts.com/

I appreciate the support of my family, friends and sponsors.  Without all of you, my passion, drive and focus to succeed would not be as strong. I look forward to a successful year and will be sure to keep you updated.

Justin

Hot Chocolate 15K Race Report

This was the first race of my unofficial 2012 breakout season. I took about a month off after the 2011 season to let my body recover and come back to full strength after Nationals.  I had the conversation with my coach and I was back at it October 1st.  We have set some lofty goals for myself for this upcoming season but I do believe that I can achieve each and every one of them with some hard work and dedication.  It all starts with improving myself as an overall athlete.

I took two weeks to work into a routine again and then we got right into it. Running fast, anaerobic and high cadence workouts that pushed my limit and threshold further than ever before. 1 mile repeats, 800's on the track and 3:00 repeats at 12 MPH. These were the staple workouts in my program for 4 weeks in preparation for the Hot Chocolate 15k. 

My friend and I left Iowa City late Thursday night and got into Union station around 11:30 PM. The 4 hour bus ride flew by with a little help from Sherlock Holmes and having two seats all to myself. Also I had one of my best friends from school in town with me for the race which added some extra excitement.  

I slept in to about 9:00 am Friday morning to catch up on some lost sleep from the night before. That morning I was out of bed and straight into the running shoes for a shake up 5 miler with some sprints to open up the legs. A nice stretch and a foam roll, then it was back downtown to pick up the race packets. 

After sitting through what felt like 10 hours of traffic, we were back home enjoying some down time before a delicious pre race meal prepared by my mom.  (you really do not realize how much you miss your own bed and your own food when you live 220 miles away) 10:00 pm hit and we were off to bed before the 5:30 am wake up call. 

The alarm rang and I got in some breakfast right away with some oatmeal and peanut butter (always a favorite of mine) We got into the car and headed downtown for the third day in a row. I have to add that this trip has required an unfavorable amount of driving especially for my friend who came with me due to his motion sickness. Funny enough, the friend that came with me his name is also Justin which causes some funny confusion amongst the people back home. 

Getting back to the race, we got to the gear check and I saw my friend and sister off to their 5k race. Both of whom crushed it by the way. But from this point on, I was totally focused on my race and what I had to do for myself. 

10:00 warm up and a bit of stretching, flats go on and a caffeinated gel. Walk over to corral A and wait for a few minutes trying to keep my nerves in check. The gun finally went off at 8:30 am. 

My plan was to not worry about anybody but myself and focus on the strategy that I had played out in my head before the race.  I wanted to run even splits and feel strong the entire way through.  And this is exactly what I did.  Even splits the entire way through and I felt amazing. My legs were fast and my cadence was high.  I kept a solid form and worked on clicking off the miles. No true packs formed so I was on my own but I did not mind one bit, I was in my zone. My original goal was somewhere between 1:00-1:02 and to be top 5 in my division. You can say that I was happy with the result. 

5k in 19:11

10k in 38:59

15k finish time in 58:11

3rd out of 60 in my division 

60th out of 13500 overall

A solid performance on a great day.  6:15 min/miles for 9.3 miles. A good day in the office to say the least.... it is nice to see the training paying off. 

Stay tuned for some updates coming soon. Sorry for the lack of posts as of late but school has been getting tough and I am buckling down on my school work before semesters end (while also training full time). 

A 2012 race schedule is about to be released and I am in the process of working on some sponsorship opportunities for the upcoming season. (it gets a bit pricy traveling around the nation racing as a jobless, student elite triathlete) If you or anyone you know may be interested in teaming up for the 2012 season, contact me! 

Other than that, wish me luck in the upcoming training and school work.  

I will leave you with this.... get excited for the 2012 season, I am not going to disappoint.  

TriHawks Triathlon Race Report

This was a really great way to end the season. 1st place overall in a local Iowa City race put on by the University of Iowa triathlon team. I did this race mostly for a good time and to have a nice weekend with the family who was also coming up to do the race.  It was Jillian's first triathlon on a real road bike and it was the finale to Dad's season as well.

It was a 6:45 AM wake up for the 9 AM start time.  I changed up the pre race nutrition a bit for this race with all the cramping issues I have had over the past few races. I went with some oatmeal with banana and blueberries.  I also did not have anything but water before or during the race. The plan seemed to work right because not even a slight cramp and my body felt great!

We headed down to Coralville Lake and set up transition. As my friend and I went out for our warm up the rain started to come down. It was not coming down hard but it was heavy enough to make the roads slick and the air cold. I took the conditions into consideration and planned accordingly. I was going to be careful and not risk injury but I still was there to compete.

I was the third wave off, 29 and under.  The gun went off and I was immediately at the front with my good friend Alex Libin. We exited the water side by side and got onto the bike course.

The course is hilly and it was wet due to the rain. I just worked on putting my head down, hammering it out and passing the people who started in the earlier waves. Feeling pretty strong, I biked past a good number of the first wave elite's and gained some confidence.

I hit T2 and flew out onto the run.  I knew I had 5k in my legs. I flew through the tough course, including a 50+ stair section, and finished the race in 1st overall. After crossing the finish, I went back to help Jillian finish it off. Around mile 2.5 dad met up with us and the three of us crossed the finish together. A good day and a fun weekend.

I will post about 2012 plans soon. The schedule is forming nicely, get excited. I am already.

5150 National Championship Race Report

I am the 5150 19 and under National Champion. It feels pretty good to say it too. I was thinking about how much I have accomplished over the past three seasons, how far I have come and how much work I have put in to get here, it is really unbelievable. 

I want to thank a few people who helped get me to this point...

First and foremost, my family, Mom, Dad and Jillian. My coach, Craig Strong. Mark Kolar, Chase Baraczek, Mark Frick, Claire Geiger and all of my other training partners who were there through the painful computrainer sessions, the 5AM sunrise workouts and the 100+ mile long rides. Without all of you I do not think I would have come so far in such a short amount of time. 

Now as for the race itself. I had a conversation with my coach a few days before the race and he reminded me of a few things that stuck with me the entire race, leave everything you have on the race course.  I have nothing to loose. My season ends with this race and I am there to win.  

The day started with a nice 4:20 AM wake up call and the traditional banana/ Clif bar combo.  We made our way to the race site and I set up my transition area. At the race briefing the night before we were told that the water was a balmy 85.4 degrees and it would be NO WETSUIT. I thought of this as an advantage and I was pleased.  As I was checking the last minute details on my bike I heard over the loud speaker, "the impossible has happened, with the heavy rainfall last night, the lake has dropped 10 degrees and the race will now be wetsuit legal." Wow, this would have been fine if I hadn't left my wetsuit in Iowa City thinking there was no way the lake could even possibly drop 10 degrees in 1 day. Well I got on the start line, no wet suit and all and put this behind me.  I was not going to let it ruin my day. 

Mom and Dad surprised me with a new race suit too!

The gun went off and I was in the front pack. Trailing some of the faster swimmers and working hard. The 1.5k flew by and I hit the final turn in no time. I exited the water and then it happened again. Cramps, both hamstrings and calves. I limped out of the water and started running. It was 60 degrees outside and I had no idea why this was happening. I made my way over to my bike and the cramps went away. I spun out my legs for the first few miles and the legs came around. Now I was truly off on the 40k and ready to work. 

I had driven the course the day before and had known that it was going to be hilly and challenging, that is why it is the National Championship.  I really had no idea that it was going to be this tough.  It was up and down, rolling hills and the winds kept everyone honest. I quickly realized that my bike split was going to be slower than I had planned but again, it did not matter, I was not there to set a 40k best bike split, I was there to win.  As I made the turn around at the high school I was able to see my competition. Not far behind I saw what I was up against. A few strong bikers and an up and coming ITU star, all in my division. I knew now was the time to tuck and go. I ended up passing four athletes in my division on the ride and did not let a single competitor pass me. I came into T2 feeling strong and in 1st place. 

I was onto the run and feeling good. My dad stayed around to see me off the bike and he reminded me of a few things as I passed by, high cadence, head position and forward lean. He also yelled out one thing that really got to me. "Sub-40." So far this season I had yet to accomplish one of my goals and this was to break 40 min for a 10k run in a triathlon. I took my gel and got some energy. I flew through the 1 mile in 5:52, the 2 mile in 11:55 and did not look until mile four where I was at 24:31.  I was right on pace to do it but then realized that it would not come easy, the last two miles of the run are the most challenging and they are mostly up hill. My form was still strong and I had some left in the tank.  I knew it was time to go.  As I made the turn around with about 1 mile to go I saw my closest competitor about 800m behind. I knew if I stayed strong I would have it. I killed myself in that last mile.  That is the most amount of pain I have experienced in a run.  I went up the first of two hills towards the finish and as I rounded the corner to finish on the blue carpet, I was reassured that I had done it. 19 and under National Champion with a 38:00 10k run. As I ran across the finish line, the feeling is really indescribable.  I just new I had made it. 

The prize for the days efforts was a gold medal and a $650 dollar gift card to Orbea/Orca. All I have to say is it was an easy drive back to Iowa City.... 

Also, I want to say thanks to all my fans! After a little break I will be back at it again training for next season. Expect some big things coming from Team Metzler. Stay tuned for 2012....

Some more race pictures: