New Partnership...Russell Construction

Jen and I are thrilled to announce a partnership with Russell Construction for the 2011 season! Russell Construction has been providing quality contstruction to clients in the Quad Cities and 28 states throughout the United States since 1983. Russell CEO Jim Russell and his wife Michelle have been extremely active in the community not only through business but also through giving back. As a company Russell Construction encourages employees to be active in giving back to the community they serve. Jen and I are thrilled to begin a campaign for Russell Construction called "Live Uncommon". The idea behind "Live Uncommon" is to encourage people in the community to be actively involved in making our world a better place to live. Jen and I hope to inspire members of the community to live active, healthy lifestyles, while giving back through volunteer opportunities. We are both extremely busy individuals holding full-time jobs, parenting two awesome children, and volunteering at numerous community events. Despite the business of our lifestyles we are also very active individuals. Being pysically fit is a high priority for both of us and we aim to inspire others to believe that being pysically fit is not only possible with a busy schedule, but something that is very important, not only for ourselves, but also for the example it sets for the youth in our community. In 2011 we will "Live Uncommonly" and hope that you will do the same. This week was a recovery week of training. I ran 29 miles, biked 151, and swam 13,500 yards. My goal was to take care of the pulled glute muscle I suffered last Sunday while running hills with my brothers. It has gotten much better but still isn't quite 100%. Getting that glute to 100% will continue to be my goal as I get closer to Ironman St. George which is now less than 3 weeks away. I had a great day of training today with Adam Bohach. I ran 9 miles with him this morning before deciding to stop. My glute wasn't hurting but it was clear to me i wasn't yet 100% and I didn't want to risk further damage to it as our pace was nearly 6:00/mile. Adam finished the run with 11 more miles. After that we had a great swim workout split between the Fitness Center and Augustana College. We started at the Fitness Center in Bettendorf where I wanted to try out my new Xterra Vendetta wetsuit. The suit is amazing! We did 11x 100's on 1:25 and I started off with a 1:07. It didn't feel too hard but I began slowing down as I was getting quite warm in the wetsuit while swimming in a pool that is 84 degrees. Through the 11 I averaged about 1:13-1:14. Compare that to 2 weeks ago when I did 10 100's on the 1:30 with no wetsuit and averaged 1:23. It is safe to say I'm 10 sec./100 faster with the Vendetta on which is significantly faster. What I found with the Vendetta is that it's quite obvious from the moment I jumped in that I am extremly bouyant. I swam much higher in the water than without the wetsuit on. The suit has 5 mm of neoprene which helps but what sets this suit apart from others is that it has tiny air bubbles throughout the suit that make it more bouyant than any other suit on the planet. The wetsuit rule is 5 mm of neoprene but with the added air bubbles the suit is much more bouyant than any other suit with 5 mm. The other thing I noticed that separates the Vendetta from other top of the line suits is that the arms are composed of 6 separate pieces of material which make them more flexible than other top of the line suits. Having flexible arms in a wetsuit is a key to keeping the arms from tiring quickly. It fits great and if it didn't Xterra would allow me to send it back for a free exchange of a different size. See if any other companies out there will do that. The answer is no! If you decide to purchase an Xterra suit at http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/ enter discount code SA-JPaul and you will receive a nice discount.
Following our swim at the Fitness Center we drove over to the pool at Augustana College to meet with my swim coach Stacey Zapolski. Stacey coaches a youth clinic there on Sundays and worked with us for about 30 minutes on technique before the clinic began. After the clinic we went on a 66 mile bike ride from the house. Of course the first half was into the wind just before we made the turn we realized the wind had died down to almost nothing so we wouldn't have the free ride home we were expecting. With 3 weeks to go before Ironman St. George this next week will be my last really big week of training before beginning to back things down to rest up for the race. I won't do a full 2 week taper for this race since I tapered for Ironman San Juan but I will back things down for 10 days to ensure my legs are really rested for the Ironman. I'm really excited about this challenge. I keep emphasizing to myself that I need to be able to get off the bike with good run legs. It will be a challenge as the bike course is tremendously hilly but I feel the outdoor work I've gotten in the past 4 weeks has made a huge difference in my cycling compared to Ironman San Juan. The entire race will be televised on the internet at http://www.universalsports.com/ I hope to finish at around 5:55 p.m. central time which would be 9 hrs. 10 minutes. I'm hoping to improve on my San Juan race by placing in the top 1/2 of the pro field. I can't wait! This week I ran across this video that I found tremendously inspiring. It shows the importance of living active...being healthy. It shows there are no shortcuts to being healthy. I showed it to my class this week at school and told them there was no "magic" pill that can lead to weight loss. It takes hard work, smart nutritional decisions, and a belief that anything is possible. Enjoy. DREAM BIG!!

Week 23 Training Summary

Only 4 weeks to go until Ironman St. George...I had a great week of preparing myself for the race. My biggest focus since San Juan has been to get outside on the bike and the weather has been cooperating nicely for me. For the week I ran 53 miles, biked 230, and swam 7,000 yards. I also lifted weights twice this week and did speed drills, strides, lunges, and jumped rope. As stated however my biggest emphasis has been on the bike. Tuesday I rode up Wilkes Hill in Davenport 12 times and felt stronger than ever on the hill. I feel stronger each time I'm on this hill early in the year. It's crazy how one week to the next can make such a difference. Wednesday was my favorite group ride ever! There were at least 60 riders who showed up for this one and there were some great riders in the group. I knew it was going to be a fast ride. About 10 miles in the pace got going really hot. I stayed up front taking turns with about 12 guys leading the way through the paceline. After we came to a halt at about mile 15 I decided to work on some triathlon specific riding and stay 10 meters behind the last guy...the legal draft distance in the pro races. I noticed within a couple miles that the leaders were really starting to push the pace and the peloton was getting shelled. I kept moving up to pass the guys who were falling off. We were going nearly 30 miles per hour and I was struggling to stay in contact. Just when I looked up I saw three guys make a break off the front. I was way back and knew I needed to try to close the gap quickly or I'd be left behind. I floored it for about 5 minutes and came up about 40 yards short of those three riders before running out of gas. After 8 miles of time trialing and killing my legs they let up and I caught them. Before the ride was over there would be another 9 mile stretch of absolute killer pace. Two of the riders got away from me and I stayed with the next group of 3 about 30 seconds back as we finished the ride. This group ride was awesome because I felt like I was in a stage of Tour de Quad Cities. It was a great workout.

Since the day I decided to do an Ironman I had planned out a key workout that I wanted to complete about a month before the race. I wanted to go at least 120 miles on the bike and follow it up with a 10 mile run to see what my legs would feel like after such a long ride. The weather cooperated beautifully and I picked Saturday to be the day for this last big test workout. I did something similar before my first 1/2 Ironman 2 years ago but then I was only riding 60 miles before the 10 mile run. I began the day Saturday with a 3,500 yard swim workout. When I got home I packed my nutrition for the ride and set out solo for 120 miles. In the 120 I did 10x 10 minutes at Ironman effort followed by 10 minutes of normal mileage riding pace. My nutrition plan worked to perfection and I actually was feeling stronger near the end of the ride than when I began it. I looked at the clock when I hit mile 112 (an Ironman distance) and I was at 5 hrs. 14 minutes. I was really surprised by this since my goal in St. George is 5 hours on the bike. I couldn't beleive I was only 14 minutes off in a training ride with most of the miles at a really easy pace. I do know however that even though I chose about the hilliest route I could find it will not compare to the huge hills I'll be climbing in St. George. Immediately after the bike I took off on a 10 mile run. I picked the hilliest run I could find from my house for my best St. George simuation. The 10 miles took me up and down 14 hills. My legs felt great. I went through the first 5 miles running each of them between 5:58 and 6:04. I was 30:10 at the turnaround. On the way back I was getting really thirsty since I didn't carry anything with me for the run. I suffered a bit without nutrition and finished the 10 miles in 61 minutes 32 seconds...about 6:09 pace. It gave me great confidence that if I can keep myself from riding too hard in St. George I should be able to get off the bike ready to run a good marathon.

Sunday I was pretty sore from Saturday's big effort but my entire family got together to celebrate birthdays and my 3 brothers who are preparing to do a triathlon together this year all decided we should run a hill workout. I couldn't pass up the chance to run with them. I think it was the first time the four of us have ever worked out together. We ran to a hill not far from Justin's house and did 6 hill repeats. On the 2nd one I felt something pretty painful in my glute muscle. I should have probably stopped but I didn't want to back out on the chance to work out with them. I don't know if I pulled my glute or if it's just really sore from Saturday's workout. I'll have to monitor that this week and also make sure I keep the volume low to recover from that big day. It was awesome to see my brothers all running hard up the hill! They have really inspired me.

Jen won another race on Sunday morning in the QC. She actually only got beat by 1 guy in the race! She was under 18:00 again for the 5k. It was great seeing so many runners from the QC at the race enjoying the warm weather Mother Nature decided to bless us with. Less than 4 weeks to go...I'm really excited about this race. I think about my strategy every day. I plan to swim pretty hard early to see if I can hang with any of the guys. I hope to be under an hour for the swim in my new Xterra Vendetta wetsuit. On the bike I'll make sure to ride the 1st loop pretty comfortably hoping to keep my average speed around 22.5 mph. I would like to come off the bike in 5 hours but more importantly is to have my legs ready to run so I can go under 3:05 for the marathon. That isn't too fast of a time but this run course in St. George is ridiculous from everything I have read about the race.

One last thing to note...my massage therapist, Laurel Darren is entered in a Max Muscle "Best Legs in America" contest and she needs your help to win the vote. Laurel is working incredibly hard to prepare for the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike race and is in great shape. You can vote here. Thanks for reading! DREAM BIG!!

Ironman St. George...5 weeks away

On November 1, 2010 I began training for the 2011 season with a goal in mind of racing my first ever Ironman and marathon on May 7th in St. George, Utah. I was coming off 6 months of minimal running following achilles tendon surgery last April 27th. There were many days when I wondered if my achilles would really hold up for a full Ironman. I wasn't sure if it would when I began but I knew I wanted to keep St. George as a big race on the calendar. Many people have asked me how I picked St. George. I've been questioned about why I would want to do an Ironman in May when I live in Iowa and winter and spring training for an Ironman isn't done in ideal conditions. I later learned from others that St. George is rated the toughest Ironman in North America and I was questioned why I would want to make it my 1st.

This St. George idea all began last year on May 1st. I was 4 days removed from surgery and was still wearing a big cast on my lower leg protecting my surgically repaired achilles tendon. I was instructed to elevate as much as possible for the 1st week to reduce swelling so I found a nice spot on the couch where I spent most of my time with my left leg propped up on the back of the couch. The Saturday of May 1st I knew Ironman St. George was happening so I logged onto the computer and watched nearly all of it live through the coverage put on by Universal Sports. As I was watching I got hooked. By the end of the day I decided that if I was healthy in 2011 I was going to race in St. George to celebrate 1 year post-surgery. I'm now less than 5 weeks away and I'm growing more anxious for this race every day. I've been preparing myself mentally for how I'm going to handle this tough course. I've read race reports, talked to people who raced it last year, and analyzed race times. I'm anxious to find out where I will stack up with the rest of the souls brave enough to conquer this beast of a course.

Over the past week I've really had a shift in my training. Through most of the first 20 weeks I was constantly pushing my body to the limits. I've worked out every day but 1 since November 1st and through most of the first 20 weeks I was taking 1 really easy day each week and the rest were filled with pretty high volume. The volume was definitely not always intense but even 3 hours of workout time was not uncommon during the easy days. This past week I began taking more really easy days between key hard workout days. With the big race fast approaching I want to make sure my key days are good ones. Although my total volume was nothing to be amazed by this week (62 run miles, 154 biking, and 12,000 swim yards) I had some really good days. Tuesday I did my first hill interval of the year on the bike at the legendary Wilkes Hill. Those are absolutely awesome for building power quickly on the bike. I have been able to see and feel improvements each week that I do this ride in the past. Wilkes is a hill that is not much longer than 1/4 mile but the grade is ridiculous! My average power output through the hill when I'm standing out of the saddle is about 650 watts to the top. Every 4th hill we stay seated and my power output is about 500 watts. This is nothing crazy but when I'm used to peaking out in the 350 range on the trainer all winter these hills really help me boost my power in a hurry. Tuesday was also a 30 minute time trial swim in the pool that my new coach, Stacey Zapolski had me do. I swam 82 lenths in 30 minutes and 1 second. That is only 65 yards short of a 1/2 Ironman distance in a pool where I have to stop and turn around every 25 yards. It is 3:00 less than I swam the 1/2 IM in Puerto Rico which tells me I'm a better swimmer than I showed.

Wednesday night I did the "group ride" in the Quad Cities which was well attended for a cold night. There were between 40 and 50 riders who began the ride. I took turns with about 7 other up front sharing the load on the pace setting. I have come to really enjoy this ride. It is really like doing a fartlek workout on a bike. The effort is constantly changing based on my position in the rotation. Near the end of the ride I like to empty the tank with a big lead out heading to the final sprint. The group always has a sprint finish near the end and I realize I'm probably never going to win the sprint but I love to see if I can reduce the number of challengers by making a big breakaway long before the sprint. I thought we had about 5 miles to go so I jumped to the front with a single goal of putting myself through shear pain for 5 miles. I knew some of the guys would get on my wheel and be able to hang. I hammered as hard as I could until my legs were fried. Just before where I thought we were finished one of the 2 guys who stayed on my wheel yelled that we were turning which meant the sprint wasn't actually for another few miles. I was shot. I had put in my solid 5 miles and had little left in the tank. After the ride finished up I got off my bike to do a 4 mile brick run at goal 1/2 Ironman pace (5:45/mile). I got into a good rhythm and ran the 4 miles in 22:14 (5:33/mile). It was a big confidence booster. Thursday and Friday were both really easy days in preparation for a big weekend of training with Adam Bohach.

Saturday I had a really tough swim workout first thing in the morning. After that I got on the bike and rode toward Clinton while Adam rode toward Le Claire. We met about 12 miles into the ride and did a 90 mile ride in super tough wind. It was awesome having Adam along to share the workload and he even added on to get over 100 for the ride. Sunday morning I drove up to Clinton to meet Adam for a long run. Jen went with since there was a 4 mile road race in Clinton. She dropped me off at 8:00 and I went with Adam for 2 hrs. 30 minutes covering 23 miles. Adam doesn't have a slow pace and we held under 6:30 pace for the majority of the run. It was hard for me to believe I was only 3 miles away from a 2:50 marathon time in a training run. We even went through the course Jen was running and saw her during our run. She won her race in a great time of 23:20. She actually only lost to 2 guys in the race. The 23 mile run was my longest ever and will be the furthest I go before St. George. The way I felt even in the last 3 miles made me realize I need to get off the bike feeling strong. If I can get to the run with good legs I should be able to have a great race. Running with Adam on these long runs has been tremendously beneficial to me. Following my run on Sunday I got to the pool for some solid drill work. After that I was got a massage from Laurel Darren and she told me if I rode my bike that evening after the massage she was going to "punch me in the face" and since I know Laurel is tough as nails I listened to her advice and didn't ride. She is smart about knowing the importance of letting me rest after getting a deep tissue massage. Good advice.

My 1 year old son Owen is obsessed with my bike. I think he has 3 shirts that have the big ring imprinted on them from falling into the grease filled crank on my bike. Our amazing daycare provider Jeanette Cotton got Owen his first bike trainer to ride for his birthday a few weeks ago. Both kids enjoy riding it next to dad when he is on the trainer. Payton hasn't quite figured out how her helmet is supposed to go yet but she's loving the trainer and I'm not too worried about her needing the helmet indoors. 5 weeks to go...the reality is here that I'm in this race...I'm 100% healthy...100% in the best shape I've ever been and I couldn't be more excited. Thanks for reading! DREAM BIG!!

Week 21 Summary...Update on my Brother

Week 21 was spent trying to recover from the race in San Juan early in the week and then back to big training late in the week. It worked well to get some easy and short workouts in early in the week because Super Mom was out of town on travel for work so I had both kids to pick up and entertain through the week. This task is quite exhausting...possibly more exhausting than the regular training. To add to the task, Owen was sick on Tuesday and Wednesday so I had to stay home from school with him both days. I was feeling really sore early in the week but pretty good by Wednesday and more or less back to normal by Thursday. I put in a big weekend with some outdoor rides. Unfortunately it is still really cold and windy here in Iowa. On my ride Saturday it was under 30 degrees with the wind chill factored in. I rode 40 miles after running 15 miles with my good buddy Randy Bill who was in town for the weekend. Randy is a 2:22 marathon runner who I ran with in collage at Augustana. I had some help keeping my hands warm on the bike ride with some awesome new gloves I got from Healthy Habits on Friday. I have also begun to work with a swim coach. Stacey Zapolski has coached youth swimmers for a long time and agreed to take me under her wing for a while. I was thrilled she agreed to help me with my stroke and I learned a lot in our first meeting. Stacey even coached olympic swimmer Aaron Piersall and his professional triathlete sister when they were young. Sunday was a tough day of training. I swam for 1 hr. 15 minutes in the morning and then did a 60 mile ride in the afternoon with a 7 mile brick run to follow. I nearly bonked on the run which had me a little worried about an Ironman that is only 6 weeks away. I'll have to make sure I'm taking in plenty of calories and that I pace myself cautiously on the bike.

This past October my oldest brother, Jason, was nearly killed in a car accident. He lost his left arm in the accident but miraculously lived through it without any other life threatening injuries. When I saw the pictures of his car I knew God had a plan for Jason when He kept him alive on that October day. When I saw him the day after the accident he was still not awake but as I stood next to his bed in the ER room I told him I expected to see him do another triathlon someday. He had taken up triathlon 2 years ago as a way to live a more healthy lifestyle while setting a positive example for his kids. I was so proud of the work he had done. Jason nodded his head from the hospital bed with his eyes still closed. I am so proud to report that Jason is back on the bike, in the pool, and out on the roads training for the 2011 season. He is going to race a small triathlon in Newton, Iowa on May 14th and even though it's the week after Ironman I am super excited to race alongside him to help celebrate his recovery and life. I'm equally excited to report that my 2 other brothers have decided if Jason can do this sport with 1 arm that they can also do it. They have both been training extremely hard and I couldn't be more proud of them. They are getting into better shape than they've been in such a long period of time. Jason was fitted for a prosthetic arm that he uses when he rides the bike. The arm helps him balance his weight on the bike. He was super excited to get outside last week for the first time on his new bike. He has been fixed up with a bike that has the shifters and brakes all on the right side so he can activate them with his arm. He is proof that life is full of possibilities. In my journey I hope to inspire others to believe that things once thought impossible are not. With enough hard work and a big enough dream obstacles that once seemed insurmountable can be conquered. My brother Jason is inpsiring me every time I hear of the workouts he is doing to prepare for his return to triathlon. I couldn't be more proud. Thanks for reading! DREAM BIG!!

Ironman San Juan 70.3 Race Report and Results

On Wednesday Jen and I caught an early flight from Chicago to San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was worried about flying with my bike not knowing quite what to expect for airline costs to ship the bike. The website was unclear and I was expecting anything from $100.00 to $200.00 just for the bike! It ended up being on the lower end...$100.00. I never thought I would feel good about paying that much to fly my bike to a race but I felt like I dodged a bullet as they never weighed the bike box and if they would have I could have been charged much more. A big thanks goes out to Healthy Habits for getting my bike tuned up and ready for this race as well as for arranging for me to use their bike box. That definitely alleviated some of the stress of traveling to a race. I also have to thank Dr. Kaminski and Laurel Darren for getting my body ready for the race with ART and massage on Tuesday before we left.

The weather in San Juan was awesome. I was able to get a swim in on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in the ocean we would be swimming in. On Thursday I got my race packet with number 16. There was a big pro field entered for the race with 29 guys on the start list. It turned out that only 24 of them showed up to race. Friday Jen and I attended the pro race meeting where they went over all the rules and the course setup. I was not overly nervous for the race despite it being my first one at the professional level and my first half ironman in a year and a half. I kept thinking about how good my fitness currently is and tried not to think of the world class field that had shown up to race in San Juan. After the pro race meeting I laid out all my GU Energy products I had brought along for the race and picked my favorite ones to stockpile onto my bike. It is always tough figuring out which of the awesome flavors to race with when they have so many great options. I enjoy racing with Roctane gels but add in some of my other favorite flavors so I'm not eating the same flavor throughout the entire race. I got great sleep on Wednesday and Thursday night but Friday was much less. I was so excited for the race I think I only slept about 4 hours before my 3:15 wake up call. Since no one is open for breakfast at that time of the morning I made my own waffles using the iron in our hotel room. I had checked my bike in on Friday night but needed to get to the transition area to get my fluids on the bike and make sure my tires were at the right pressure and my shoes were set out for the run. We made the 15 minute walk from the hotel to transition and I got there at about 5:10. I was able to get everything ready to go and get a good 1.5 mile warm up run in with some speed drills and strides to help loosen up. After this I would get to the ocean for a warm up swim. The temperatures were pretty nice...in the mid 70's. It was pretty windy even early in the morning with wind blowing about 15 mph off the ocean from the east.

The water temperature was about 80 degrees which is too warm for a wetsuit. I knew this would be the case. I had my Kiwami Amphibian 008 speedsuit on which is perfect for a non-wetsuit swim. Ironman changed skinsuit rules last September and will no longer allow skinsuits with neoprene or any rubberized material. The rule states that the material must be synthetic woven material. This is one reason I like the Amphibian suit. It weighs less than a pair of underwear and it is very good for swimming in non wetsuit events because it has no pockets to create drag.

SWIM: My plan was to get out really hard to see how long I could stay with the group trying to draft. I realize I'm not a good swimmer and knew I was probably going to give up substantial time in the swim. I had mentally prepared to not let this bother me. I have only done one other non-wetsuit swim in the past and it was the Hy-Vee Olympic distance race 2 summers ago and the swim was a disaster. I was hoping to swim under 31 minutes and keep the gap under 6 minutes to the leaders...more like 4 minutes to the main field. The national anthem played and they announced the pro field as we entered the water. There was some commotion from some of the pro athletes who realized a few of the guys were wearing the illegal skinsuits they had just told us in the meeting on Friday we could not wear. Nothing was done about this since they had already lit the fuse for the cannon to fire and when it fired the swim started at a blazing speed. I felt like I was swimming a 100 yard all out swim and within 100 yards I was already off the back. I stayed relaxed trying not to let it bother me. I know my strength is on the bike and run and I didn't want the swim to psychologically wreck my race. I thought I was in a good rhythm but about 700 yards into the swim just before the first turn I realized things were not good. This realization came from a person in a kayak who hit me with their paddle. I was a little confused why I was being attacked by the volunteer in the kayak and after I got hit the second time I stopped swimming and asked what was wrong. Speaking in Spanish...which I could not understand any of I realized they had hit me because I was swimming for the wrong turn buoy. This was not good. I had to backtrack to the correct buoy and swim around it before continuing on to the next turn buoy. I didn't realize how much time it was costing me at the time but I now hope it was more than a minute based on how slow I swam. At about 1400 meters I was passed by a group of 3 women and I just got out of their way because they were going much faster than I was. I had hoped to get done swimming without being passed by any women since they started 5 minutes behind the guys. Nothing I could do about it now...I just had to stay focused on getting out of the water and to my bike. By the time I got out of the water about 7 of the female pros had passed me. I climbed down the stairs after exiting the water and saw 33 minutes. This was not good. Mentally I tried not to let it affect me as I made my way to the transition area. It was a good haul to transition. We had to run about 600 meters through the city streets without shoes on. I knew the more running the better for me. I passed a couple of the ladies on the run to transition but stepped a rock that I could not get off my foot. It hurt bad to step down on that foot and Jen caught a picture of me grimacing in pain from this damn rock. My foot is sore today and I think it's from running on this rock for a quarter mile.

BIKE: Finally I had made it to the portion of the race I felt was a strength of mine. I was unsure how far up the road the guys were but I knew it would be awhile before I saw any of them. I began passing the women early on in the bike and I was moving well. The course started with a tail wind so my speeds ranged from 27 to 32 mph for the first 10 miles or so. By mile 10 I had passed all the females who had gotten out of the water ahead of me. I was riding harder than I ever had in a 1/2 Ironman thinking I had nothing to lose by going really hard on the bike. It was my only option to get back in the race. At mile 15 I spotted my first male competitor, Tim Snow. He had gotten out of the water about 5 minutes ahead of me which I didn't realize at the time. I went by him and was feeling great. I gave him some encouragement and kept riding hard hoping I was gaining on the field. We traveled to the end of the course where we would ride two loops of about 12 miles each. At the half way point in the first loop Jen was there with some friends of hers who live in Puerto Rico. They told me I was in 21st place. I passed two more guys in the next loop and was still riding very strong through about mile 40. That is when things began to fall apart for me. I was averaging 26.2 mph through mile 40 but then I started to experience some really terrible cramps in my glute muscles (butt muscles for those who don't study biology). It was quickly becoming super uncomfortable to sit on my seat so I was forced to stand up and ride the majority of the last 16 miles. I lost all my power that I had in the saddle and I knew this was not good. I have never experienced cramping in my glutes on a ride before this. I took in more fluids and tried to stretch them while on the bike but this is a tough muscle to stretch while riding. I still passed one more guy to move into 18th place but I knew I was not making up time on any of the main pack and the guys who I had passed were probably gaining time back on me now. Worse yet, by standing to pedal the last 16 miles I was trashing my run muscles in the quads and hamstrings that would be needed when I got off the bike. My average speed was dropping fast. By the time I reached T2 my average speed was down to 24.8 mph and I finished the bike with a time of 2:15:50.

RUN: Right when I got off the bike I knew my body was in a world of hurt. My muscles were screaming in pain at me. I knew this was not going to be the 1 hr. 17 minute run I had thought I had in me. My body was not cooperating at all. I began the run at a normal mileage run pace...just a little under 7:00/mile. I was hoping that the cramping would disappear and I could settle into a normal race pace. Things only got worse. My breathing began to cause great pain to my abdomen and I realized I was also suffering from some GI (gastrointestinal) distress. I had this for a couple miles in my last 1/2 Ironman in Texas. I don't know why it happens but it is something I need to have not happen in the future. It is very painful to take deep breaths of air and when you can't breath normally it makes for a tough run. The course also didn't help things as it was very hilly on the run and the sun was now beating down making it feel very warm. I was plain suffering. I was passed early in the run by 3 of the guys I had passed on the bike. I made my mind up early that I was not going to quit. 4 guys who started the race dropped out and I knew I was not going to be another one. I had worked too hard for this day...it has taken me so long to get here. There was no way I was going to stop regardless of how bad I was racing or how much it hurt. I learned over the past year through injury first, and through my brother's terrible car accident this fall that you never no when something you love will be taken away from you. For all I know this could be the last race I ever compete in and I was not going to let it end with a DNF. I would suffer my way through this one way or another. When I saw Jen at the turnaround 1/2 way into the run she asked me if I was okay. At this point things were beginning to get better. The biggest thing that had calmed was the GI distress. My breathing had returned to normalcy and that made a huge difference. I told her things were getting better and I began running about 6:15 pace for the 2nd half of the run. My average pace at the turnaround was 6:45 and by the time the race finished I had gotten the average pace down into the 6:20's. I managed to pass one of the guys who had passed me on the first lap and I tried to keep pushing as much as my body would allow me to. I finished in a time of 4:17:25. My run time was 1:24:13...about 7 minutes slower than the previous two 1/2 Ironman runs I've had. I finished 19th overall. I was the 18th pro to finish but unfortunately for me I got beat by the top female. Complete results with split times can be found by clicking HERE.

I was pretty disappointed in how the race went for myself. My swim was terrible...my bike started well but the cramping caused it to be much slower than I anticipated, and the run was pretty much the same pace I go on my Sunday long runs. I was over 10 minutes off the time I was hoping for. Within about 30 minutes however my feelings of the race began to change. It would have been easy to stop after the swim when I was down by so much. It would have been an easy excuse to stop when I was having cramping problems on the bike. By the run I was out of the picture and I could have stopped then as well. I wouldn't have been the only one to stop. I was proud that I hung in there and battled to the finish line. I was proud that I showed up to the race without being afraid of the guys I was lining up next to. I also believe that I will race better at Ironman St. George on May 7 because of this experience. I learned some valuable things. I will have to pace myself better on the bike at St. George so I can still have a strong run. I will have to swim better and I know I'll be in the Xterra Vendetta wetsuit in St. George and I've always had a much smaller gap to the leaders in wetsuit swims. I also found when I packed my bike up after the race that my seat height was 1.5" lower than where I normally ride. This was my biggest mistake of the trip. When I put my seat on the bike after arriving I didn't tighten it enough and every time I hit a bump it probably went down a little bit. By moving 1.5" through the course of the race I was way out of my normal position and that could have been a big contributor to the glute problems which ultimately caused a bad run. I still think that is probably a minor contribution compared to the effort I was putting in on the bike. I had only ridden outside 6 times this year before the race. I plan to put a great deal of emphasis on the bike between now and May 7th. I will be stronger on the bike and I won't fade at the end of that race. I've never had a race where I fell apart on the bike. I normally get stronger near the end of the bike course. I have always negative split the bike course and I think I will in St. George as well. This race was a great learning experience for me. It was my first 1/2 Ironman in a year and a half and I needed to get the rust off. All the training in the world cannot simulate the race experience and I found that to be the truth on Saturday. I know I have lots more work to do. At the top of my birthday wish list is a swim coach who can help me with my technique. I don't see myself ever being out of the water with the main pack but I do believe I'm strong enough on the bike and run to work my way up to a top 8 finish at a race like this. The other confidence booster I got when I saw the results was that I beat all 1,500 amateur athletes despite suffering through the greater part of the race. It tells me I belong in the pro field. I still don't think I have proven that however and that will be my goal on May 7th...I can't wait. As for now I'll need to get recovered and get my butt out on the roads putting in big bike mileage.

Congratulations to American Tim O'Donnell for winning the race against such a tough field in Puerto Rico. He was kind enough to take a picture with me after the race. Also, congratulations to all the finishers in this race. The run course was challenging and the heat made it a big accomplishment for all who participated. The event was extremely well organized! I had a great time in Puerto Rico with Jen. We enjoyed the experience despite the race not being what I had hoped for. The local support for the race was absolutely tremendous!! There were more volunteers than racers I believe and they were awesome at every corner and every aid station...even if I couldn't understand a word of what they were saying...I could sense their enthusiasm. I guess I could understand when they cheered me by name (written on my jersey) and when they said, "Go USA" as I biked and ran by. I was overwhelmed by all the texts, phone calls, e-mails, and facebook posts from friends and family wishing me luck in San Juan. I think back to the quote on my workout book...the fun is the journey of getting in great shape...and I'm in the best of my life. I'm looking to redefine that by May 7th. Thanks to all the help I get from sponsors. Healthy Habits had the bike ready to roll. The Zipp wheels were awesome in the winds. I loved my jersey from Kiwami. I'm thankful that I had GU Energy to fuel me through this tough event. Those guys have been tremendous in their support for my training and racing. Laurel Darren and Bob Kaminski have worked so hard to take care of getting my body ready to compete. I can't thank all of them enough for helping get me to the starting line in this joureny. More than anything I have to thank my wife Jen for making this an awesome experience. Without a doubt in my mind if I didn't have an awesome wife to share this journey with it would not be happening. None of this would be possible without her enduring support through all the good moments and bad. Thanks for reading!! DREAM BIG!!

Xterra Partnership! Theory...

I'm thrilled to announce a partnership with Xterra Wetsuits for the 2011 season. With swimming being the biggest challenge of the three triathlon disciplines for me it was important for me to find the best wetsuit on the planet to help me minimize the time gaps leading into T1. For 2011 I will be swimming in the Xterra Vendetta! It is an amazing suit. Why I chose to apply for sponsorship with Xterra was not only because they have the best wetsuits however. Triathlon is a sport I have grown to love and it is one I aim to help grow. Triathlon is the fastest growing sport in the United States but what scares many away from getting into the sport is how much it can cost. This is the exact reason I wanted to enter into a partnership with Xterra. Hands down they provide the most affordable wetsuits in the sport. How can a company provide the best wetsuits at a lower cost than competitors? It is a pretty simple economic concept. Xterra sells directly to customers eliminating the "middle man" mark up which nearly doubles the cost of other wetsuits. I taught this lesson to my 8th grade students who fully understood how the British East India Tea Company could offer tea to the colonists by selling it directly off their ships without sending it to colonial merchants. It didn't take them long to understand the concept of how eliminating the middle man helps lower costs substantially. Last year our local triathlon club Team Tri-Fit was sponsored by Xterra and I heard great reviews from numerous club members who were not only impressed with the wetsuit they purchased but also with the customer service that Xterra provides to customers. Xterra works so hard to ensure that customers get proper fit that they will gladly accept returns for different sizes (without a restock fee other companies charge). I even heard from one club member that they paid the return shipping!! Most companies will not take returns after a suit has been worn! How bad is that! How are you supposed to know if it fits properly without trying it on? I am thrilled to be in a partnership with a company that keeps the cost of wetsuits low while still providing a top of the line suit along with the world's best customer service. I am excited to be part of the Xterra family and really have to thank Liz Barlow from Xterra for helping make this happen. If you are in the market for a new wetsuit for 2011 please take a look at the line Xterra offers. E-mail me if you have any questions. If you want to purchase one of their suits you can enter a discount code they provided me with of SA-JPAUL to get an even better price! I can't wait to debut the Vendetta at Ironman St. George on May 7th!

I backed training down this week to help get ready for my pro debut next weekend in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I didn't back down as much as I would for a peak race but I could tell the last two weeks of high volume had me pretty tired so I backed down a little more than I anticipated to make sure I'll be ready to go full-till next weekend. I had a tempo run planned for Friday but I decided to move it to Saturday so I could run with Jen in the St. Patty's Day 5k. Jen is in tremendous shape and was hoping to run a new PR. Her 5k PR before this race was 17:40. It was super windy on Saturday morning and pretty cold. The first half of the race was right into the teeth of the wind. We went through the first mile in 5:45 and then only had another 1/2 mile before making the turn and heading home with the wind at our back. Jen's 2nd mile was 5:30 and then she ran the 3rd mile in about 5:20 before finishing the final .1 of the 5k in a total time of 17:16! The effort earned her $100.00, a 1 hour massage, and a custom designed winner's jacket with her name and time embroidered on it. Pretty awesome prize!! The race was sponsored by Russell Construction and they put on a spectacular event! Over 1,400 people braved the cold weather and were treated to a 1st class race thanks to Russell Construction. Our daughter Payton ran the 1/4 mile and it was a milestone race for her. In the two previous races we have entered her in she has screamed and cried refusing to run. On Saturday she was really excited to race and she ran the entire way with a smile on her face. The pictures show her on Saturday at the St. Patty's Day race compared to last July when she screamed and walked her way through the Jr. Bix. Jen and I were really proud of her for overcoming her fears of running in a big crowd. I hope to race in San Juan with that same fearless attitude that she showed on Saturday. She said it was fun and she wanted to run more races. She's getting quite used to the active lifestyle that mom and dad live.

Theory- An untested idea or opinion created through the use of known facts.

In theory I should be faster in the 1/2 Ironman than when I earned my pro license nearly a year and a half ago. Due to my achilles tendon surgery I've built my confidence heading into San Juan according to theory. When I earned my pro license by winning the Longhorn 70.3 amateur race on October 25th, 2009 I raced faster than 7 of the 24 professionals. Although winning the race would qualify me for turning professional in the sport it wasn't the deciding factor. Meaning more to me than the win was that I beat 7 of the guys who were already professional. That however is not what my goals would be. When I opted to turn professional I had a deep belief that there was so much more to my potential than what I had in 2009. I was ending my first season of year round training devoted to this sport. I realized the human body is capable of doing incredible things...when one is willing to take great risks, put in a tremendous amount of work, and have an unwavering belief of what is possible...hence the phrase "DREAM BIG!". Here I am just 6 days away from finding out if I really belong. Just being in the race isn't what I'm looking for. Belonging in the race is much more what I am out to prove...not to others, but to myself. It was a goal I had in August of 2008 when I went to Jen with this crazy idea of resigning from 3 sports I coached so that I could find out what my body was capable of if I woke up every day with a purpose and a belief. Seeing myself as a professional triathlete took time...lots of hard workouts...completing tasks I never thought possible before. The injury and surgery in 2010 was a bump in the road. It certainly tested my resolve as it took nearly 6 months before I was able to train without any pain. I began preparing for the 2011 season on November 1. 133 days have passed and I've used 132 of them to get into the best shape of my life. It's been nearly 18 months since my last race and in theory I should be faster. I'm going into this race nearly 10 lbs. lighter than when I raced in Texas. My bike fit has seen huge improvements with a much more aero and powerful fit by the legend John Cobb. I have run the fastest times of my life in workouts and even in a 3k race...(24 seconds faster than in 09' over a distance of less than 2 miles). In the weight room I've seen tremendous improvements in strength. On the multi-hip machine three of my lifts have increased from 80 lbs. to 120 lbs. The other has increased from 140 to 200. Single leg extensions and curls have increased from 70 lbs. to 90. My single leg press has increased from 220 lbs. to 330! My Zipp wheelset has been upgraded to new custom wheels with ceramic bearings and dimpled hubs. My aero helmet is better. All these little things lead me to the theory that I'm going to be faster than ever before. Theory really doesn't matter however. That's the reason they have the race. It will be the test of my theory. 4:05...top 1/2 of pro field. 31 minute swim, 2:14 bike, 1:17 run...3 minutes in transition= 4:05. What started with a dream of seeing if I could compete as a professional triathlete two and a half years ago is about to be realized. My body has changed. My confience has changed. I have always known that God gives humans much greater potential than most ever realize. I intend to find mine in this one small aspect of life. I hope you'll do the same in some aspect of your life. Dream big...work hard...believe that anything is possible. Over a year ago I put a quote from 2x Ironman champion Craig Alexander on the cover of my workout book. "But as far as the race goes, I'll just try and do what I always do, which is control what I can control-my training--and I think a lot of the fun is just getting in great shape." I couldn't agree with Mr. Alexander more!

The first two pictures below are of me in 2005 (view with caution...). I weighed 196 lbs. I don't have one from January of 2008 when I weighed my all-time high of 203 lbs. but just imagine 7 more lbs. on top of what you see. The 3rd picture is from November 1 this year when I began training for the 2011 season after a frustrating season of injury and surgery. I began the 2011 journey on midnight of Nov. 1 with a goal of transforming my body into a race machine. This final picture is 6 days before I take the starting line for my first professional race. The fun is in the preparation...in getting to the starting line...getting in great shape. No doubts about it...that is the journey...the journey to physical and mental fitness that God has blessed all of us with. December, 2005

December, 2005

November 1, 2010

March 13, 2011
Unleash your potential!! DREAM BIG!!

Week 18 Training Summary...New GU Product!

Week 18 was my second great week in a row training. I was at 27.5 hours of total training time. I ran 70 miles, biked 200, and swam 13,000 yards. In addition to those totals I lifted weights, did speed drills, strides, lunges, push-ups, and jumped rope all three times, plyometrics twice, and core work 12 times. I am feeling fitter than I've ever been in my life with just 13 days to go before my first professional race in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After 2 big weeks in a row I'm not quite ready to taper since I'm also 2 months away from an even bigger race...Ironman St. George. I will however back things down to about 20 hours this week before throwing in a really aggressive 6 day taper before racing on March 19th.

I had some great workouts this week that left me realizing I've never been in this kind of shape before. On Tuesday I had an awesome 40 minute tempo ride on the bike alternating 5 minute periods between 240 and 270 watts. It was easier than last week when I did the same workout. Wednesday I ran a 7 mile progressive tempo run where I get faster each mile until I run the last mile at 10k pace. My mile splits were 6:00, 5:58, 5:51, 5:48, 5:45, 5:36, and 5:23 for a total time of 40:25. It never felt tough. After a great massage on Thursday with Laurel Darren I was ready to run some really fast 300's with our high school track team on Friday. I knew they would make me a little sore for the weekend but I still managed a huge weekend of training. On Saturday I had my single biggest day of training yet this year at 7 hours 20 minutes. I had my longest bike ride yet that morning of 3 hours and then went straight to a 3 mile run in 18:21 that had me really excited about my fitness. It wasn't the time that was exciting because that isn't really that fast but it was how easy the pace felt. I think I've played games of Candy Land that were easier than the 6:07 pace off the 3 hour ride. Sunday morning I ran my longest run since 1999 when I went 20 miles with Adam Bohach in 2 hrs. 15 minutes. I'm thrilled to be able to train with someone who is so good. We are enjoying our St. George preparations together.

I recently received a new product from GU Energy...Electrolyte tablets. They are awesome. They come in a small dispenser and the tablets are super convenient to drop in a bottle of water to give it flavor but even more importantly is that the tablets will dissolve a nice mixture of carbs, potassium, and sodium that the body rapidly loses through sweat loss. These tablets will definitely be part of my Ironman arsenal of GU products to help me to a high finish. I can't thank the awesome crew at GU Energy enough for providing me with the nutrition necessary for training and racing at a high level. Jen says I'm a GU addicts as she finds gel and Chomps wrappers littered in the car. I often use the products between workouts when I need a quick burst of energy or a quick recovery. Healthy Habits, the bike shop that totally takes care of me carries a long line of GU products. When I'm in there this week I'll check to see if they have the electrolyte tablets yet.

I couldn't ask for more right now from my body. I've gone 18 weeks and transformed myself from 171 lbs. and nearly a year away from race shape into the best shape of my life. I've gambled on training at a really high level and it's paid off. I'm going into my first pro race in the exact kind of shape I had dreamed about being in. I'm super stoked to find out how much fast I am right now than a year and a half ago when I earned my pro license. Next week I'll highlight some of the transformations that have taken place physically and gear wise that lead me to believe San Juan will be the best race I've ever had. I know going into this race it will be difficult not to think about my placing with the other professionals but I intend to keep the emphasis only on the things I can control...which is my own race. That point was reminded to me this week by pro triathlete Daniel Bretscher, who I highly regard. I know the swim will be a low point for me. I've only done 3 half ironman races and the first one had a really short swim. The other two I've done I swam 29 and then 28 minutes. Those were both in wetsuits which help me considerably. San Juan will not be wetsuit legal so I'm hoping for a swim of 31 minutes or under. The bike course is pretty darn flat with not many turns so I'm hoping to put in a bike split of 2 hours 14 minutes. I know I'm in shape to run at least a 1:15 half marathon but I'm going to put 1:17 for my goal time due to the heat and difficulty of the run course. Add in transition and I'd be thrilled to go 4:05. That is cotrolling my own race and it is something I'm absolutely 100% capable of doing. I have to finish within 8% of the winner to extend my pro card another year and I intend to do that in San Juan. 8% is a big chunk of time and something that shouldn't be terribly difficult to do. If I go 4:05 I should be within 8%. With the fitness I'm in right now I don't think I'm 8% slower than anyone...but with a slow swim that may not be an accurate statement. I'm looking forward to enjoying the moment...when you're in the best shape you've ever been races tend to be really fun. The work has been done...it's now time to execute the plan to perfection. I CAN'T WAIT!! Thanks for reading!! DREAM BIG!