Chattanooga Waterfront Tri 2011

July 10th marked the long awaited race on home turf. My last race before leaving for SEAL training. I was very anxious to see how much progress I had made in a years time. Competing with my buddies Dan and Cardon held the excitement high also. My goal for the race was to cross the finish line with the tank totally empty, and smash my time from last year. From my experience a lot of the intimidation of triathlon stems from the unknown of the course. Having never run a certain course or climbed a certain hill on your bike leaves a lot of questions about how the legs will feel afterward. Just how hard should I push it on the bike in order to have a good run? What mile should I hit the gas on the run and give it all you have? Having done this race before, running this course on a weekly basis and doing the swim 15+ times I had most of those questions answered.Overall this was my favorite race this season. I learned how much better I could be on the bike leg, its pretty humbling when people twice your age blow by you on the bike, and your only hope is that you're going to catch him on the run.  My only regret from this race was not putting socks on. My feet were completely blistered and I ended up changing the way my feet planted on the run in order to reduce friction. I placed 7th in the 19-25 age group which qualifies for the age group national championship and beat my time from last year by more than 20 minutes!

Dan Waddell bringing it home.

Tsali Xterra 2011

Dan Waddell and I competed in the Tsali Xterra June 4th, 2011. Ive always enjoyed spending time around the Nantahala. Although the race was a blast and the weather was great, this was not my best race. My nutrition was a long way from optimal. The run was very challenging and my stomach was knotted the entire time. Getting a podium spot was awesome but a little bitter sweet, I think Dan and I could have 1-2 finished the race on a better day. We left in high spirits, I guess you cant feel your best every race!