And just like that... everything has changed

This is a post I meant to write up after the first weekend of June, so my apologies on the delay... however the remainder of the month has played more towards what I was going to write about anyway.

So the first weekend of June I was set to do 2 sprint triathlons in 2 days. Blalock Lakes (part of the Tri the Parks Series) on Saturday and Sweetwater Tri on Sunday. I won't go into too many details because I don't want to go off on a tangent. However I ended up getting 2nd in my AG and 9th Overall at Blalock Lakes and the very next day I got 2nd in my AG and 3rd Overall (they only gave 1st overall then went into AG, and 2nd overall was in my AG haha). In Blalock lakes I also threw down the 3rd fastest overall run split, which is kind a of big deal, at least for me!

I have been working with my new coach, Matthew Rose (owner and head coach of Dynamo Multisport), for only 6 weeks, 6 weeks!!! And I was able to throw down these results and times. He has done a good job of outlining a path for me and I'm holding up my end of the bargain by completing almost all of my workouts (I've missed 1 or 2 to sickness). So I have to give him a quick shout out for the quick turn around. We've talked about what I want to try and accomplish in the future, and it is a long term project, but we're both pretty excited about where it's headed.

But the biggest change for me was now that I have performed well in a race or two the expectation levels in my head have grown significantly as well as what others expect from me on race day. It's a different type of feeling going into a race that I'm not used to. I'm used to strolling in, not in really good shape, and putting together an alright performance and just joking around after the race. So for things to change so quickly and drastically, it's really hard for me to wrap my head around. I can no longer slide under the radar, I am now a marked man! It's weird but at the same time pretty cool. Since the change has come so quickly it'll take some time for me to adjust and wrap my head around. I need to get back to a balance of having fun, training hard, but not taking racing too seriously. I mean go hard as shit when you do race but not be a dick about it! Luckily I do have a very laid back personality so after the race I can turn off the switch, hand around the finish line, congratulate others and shoot the shit with my competitors.

I'm not trying to be a pompous ass here and be like "oh woe is me" ... that is not my intention, it's just has always helped me to be vocal about my feelings in order to help me sort shit out but to also get others opinions on the matter. And my main goal is to not become some cocky a-hole that takes Triathlon too seriously and brags about their results, because I am not a fan of that type of individual. So please keep me in line!

.... So now on to the rest of the month. I had a good weekend but thought it was kind of a fluke... and honestly I still do! I still haven't gone up against the "big dogs" in my AG or in the overall so I take my awards with a grain of salt and know that there is a lot more work to be done! So on 6/11 I raced the Mud Run, which is the solo version of the Muddy Buddy event... in which you just run the entire event. I rolled up with a tiger speed on and matching headband...

So I came obviously to party! However upon showing up and getting a few miles into the course I realized I was a threat to get on the podium for an overall spot! So the above pic was taken right after the 2nd to last obstacle and after a big uphill where I surged to drop the other 2 guys I was running with, about a 1/2 to 1 mile to go. I ended up crossing the line in first place and taking the Overall Mud Run victory...

And yes I know, those kids are scared for life and I am sorry!
So now onto this past weekend... I raced Callaway Gardens Sprint, and there was some fun shit talking going on pre-race with a few bets, all in good fun of course :-) I ended up getting 1st in my AG and 5th Overall in this race! Making my 4th podium in 3 weeks... mind boggling!!

In conclusion, it's been a crazy month with too much racing and really I'm just trying to process all of the good results! I'm excited for June to end and my last race of the month, Philly Tri, to be over so I can take a small break and get back into day in and day out training without the crazyness that a race brings into your weekend! As I said, there's still a lot of work to be done... and I'm ready to get to it!

And here's your song...

Been a long time

I'll admit it has been a hella long time since I've written on this thing. Too much to detail so I'll just recap shortly these past few months and make it a goal to become better from here on out.

January: I ran the Mountain Mist 50K in 7:42. It was my first ever 50K so kept it conservative and took my time at aid stations and enjoyed the shit out of it!

February: Ran the Breast Cancer (Half) Marathon in 1:36:31 which was the exact time (To the Second) that my buddy Jacob Evans thought I should run it in... just baffled that I nailed it, to the T! I will always do this race because it's for a great cause and the support on course is amazing!!!

March: On March 5th my Nephew was baptized and I have the great honor of being his Godfather. Donovan is uber cute and I will be making it a point to go visit him as much as possible, which means scheduling races so I can go down there. This was also on the end of my Spring Break so I was able to make a few good connections in Jacksonville, FL because... well you just never know ;-) .
On March 19th I walked the Shamrock 8K with my Parents. It was a great experience to be able to do that even with my parents. It was my Dad's first ever race and my Mom's longest ever. We finished in 1:42:00, yes that's one hour and forty two minutes.
March 20th I ran the Shamrock Marathon in 3:44:45 which was a PR of about 58minutes! I guess great things can happen when you actually kind of train for an event. I made this trip with Brett and Pike who are both Athletes on Team EC. Pike's boyfriend also came... before the trip I was not very found of him, well actually I though he was a big ol' douche. Luckily we were both able to relax a bit and ended up getting along quite well, guess that can happen on a 10 hour drive :-)

April: On April 1st I took a V02 max test in my Exercise Physiology Lab. Turns out I scored very well, an 80.7, which is World Class Athlete level... this kind of freaks me out haha. This comes after I did a Blood Lactate running test in Early May in which my IAT was a 6:22 pace... which dropped my running zones by about 1min per zone... 1 minute is a pretty big jump! This shows (even if the V02 wasn't 100% accurate) that I have been WAY under performing to my potential. This needs to change... and it will change!

So I am going to post a song with every blog... because well shit, I love music! Enjoy...