The End of 20226 Race Season

I have been informed that I haven't updated this blog in a while. So here you go.

2025 was incredible. Everything went right. A solid performance in Oceanside. Earning a slot to 70.3 World Championships Marbella at Rockford. Competing in Spain. Nearly breaking 5 hours at La Quinta. I was on a high enjoying this great sport.

Looking ahead to 2026 I wanted some down time at the beginning of the year and had ideas of qualifying for World Champs again. Everything was going well and at the end of December we traveled out to Wisconsin to visit family for the holidays. I was excited to do some training in the cold weather. I ran in the deep snow and loved it. The sounds of the crunch of snow, the steam off the top of the head, and even wearing pants and hoodies for a run. A very different and novel experience for me.

Near the end of the trip I wasn't feeling well. I thought maybe it was fatigue from the long year but it didn't really make sense. It turns out I likely had a sinus infection that lasted 2 weeks. Then I got back to it training again. It wasn't a big deal two miss the time as my first race wasn't until May. But then a month later I was sick again with another sinus infection. Another 2 weeks to recover and then I got back to work. Yet another month goes by and I was out again for 2 weeks. This time I consulted with a physician and got some antibiotics which has seemed to do the trick.

I was finally able to train consistently. But it was now March and time was running out but still had enough time to get ready for 70.3 Chattanooga and 70.3 Happy Valley.

70.3 Chattanooga - short recap

I flew out to Tennessee as ready as I could be. This would be the first time I've traveled to a race solo. Every other race I've had a support person around to help with some logistics things and really a distraction from the nerves that naturally build up. For this race, it just made sense to do it alone and it was mostly fine. Quite boring, though, to be honest.

The travel was easy and my Airbnb was less than a mile from the athlete village. The major downside to the spot was the noise. It was in an old building and Chattanooga is a noisy place. Loud cars and trucks all night long and I was near a major road. It was bad enough that I booked a hotel for a night so I could get some rest. Every night I was restless and never really slept much. Part of it was likely nerves but the other part was timezone. I just never fully adjusted and that made it hard.

The race itself was good overall. Considering the lead up, I thought I was in the best shape possible. Swimming felt really strong. I was excited for a down river swim but as it would turn out, there was no "down". It was currentness and long. I estimate, had it been the accurate distance 1.2 miles, I would've had a PR for the swim. It felt smooth and effortless.

The bike was fun. It's a rolling bike through Tennessee. I felt pretty strong throughout. I thought I nailed my nutrition and strategy. My coach is based in Tennessee and was able to give me an idea of all the important areas to push. We had a goal of averaging 22 mph and I was right there. For power, my normalized power was spot on. I think my biggest gain on the bike will be losing weight and improving my power to weight ratio.

The run. This was tough. There are 3 solid climbs plus 2 relatively decent climbs. The initial one out of the gates really sets the tone. Just off the bike trying to get the legs moving and it just slaps you in the face. From there it's a long flat downhill that is easy to overdo it. I stayed in control and tried to keep things in check because I knew there were 4 more climbs left. Thankfully that first one was not repeated. The next hill was unassuming. It's not very long but it can take your soul if you're not careful. I was careful. I kept moving and didn't worry about pace. I refused to walk. After climbing that hill you make your way across a bridge and down under it. The next climb is not steep at all and this was lap one. I had no problems the first time around.

On lap two I started to push a little harder. I needed to if I wanted to hit my times. I wasn't going sub 5 for this race as the swim and bike were both off pace. I pushed harder and got to the next climb. It was markedly harder but again I refused to walk it. I got to the top and readied myself for the final 2 miles. They were not going to hard. A half mile later though I would get the hit with bad cramping in my hamstring. It was terrible. It was at the same point I experienced cramps in Spain. 11 miles in and everything locked up. I nailed my plan for nutrition and electrolytes this time and yet it still happened. You can see the bottom fall out in my graph.

It was frustrating to say the least but the race was still good. Figuring out the cause of these issues are part of the fun of this distance. I'm convinced it's not a nutrition issue but rather load on the muscle group. That's just speculation though because it's not really a solved thing in sports. Everyone is different.

Ultimately I was disappointed in the race. I thought it might be better but that's racing. It was also a rough start to the season being sick.

70.3 Happy Valley + Injury

I had to move on from the Chattanooga race because I was headed to Pennsylvania in 4 weeks. I got a super good deal on the race and couldn't pass it up. I would also be able to go a bit earlier and see a good friend and acclimate to the timezone sooner.

After Chatt I spent a few days recovering. It went well. The soreness was gone in just a few days and I was able to start doing a bit of intensity again for a week and a half before tapering.

Everything was going well until my last long run. Two weeks removed from Chattanooga I was out on my long run and about 8 miles in I experienced a really bad pain in my foot. The type of pain you just know you can't go on. I tend to push through things but as I've gotten older I've been better about not. I called my wife to pick me up and I went home.

Initial x-rays were negative for a stress fracture but x-rays don't always show. I waited and decided to go out to Happy Valley and plan to race but DNF on the run. I've never DNF'd but this made sense. Even though my assumption was "no fracture" the pain was consistent and I couldn't hop on one leg if my life depended on it. I was hopeful though.

The day before the race I woke up not feeling well. A bit of a sore throat (not uncommon when traveling) and tired. I checked in and built my bike. While I was prepping to take my bike to the transition area I decided to see if I could get a flight home that day. I thought "maybe I just skip this race get home to see my daughter's soccer tournament". I was able to get a flight home from Pittsburgh. I'd have to hustle and not have any issues with traffic. I'd be in late but I could make my girl's tournament. I was feeling shitty. My foot was hurting. My heart just wasn't in it.

I rushed home. I got in super late. Got up early and made it to the race. I felt like shit but I was happy to be home. Later that day I just collapsed into bed and slept. I was sick...again.

This sickness was a little different, though. I had a bad sore throat. It felt like strep but I wasn't sure. Went to the doc and they said it wasn't strep. 11 days later I was still stick. My foot still hurt and I was out of it and on the verge of full on depression.

Finally after a couple of weeks I was feeling better. I got in for a swim but I noticed a rash where my HR monitor usually sits. Not uncommon but I hadn't worn it in weeks. Then my feet had the rash. Next were legs and scalp. It was everywhere. Now I headed in to see the dermatologist. What the hell was going on??

The rash was likely a result of having strep throat. Of course it was. It felt like strep and I'm pissed I just had to suffer through it. But now I have this rash that needs to clear up. It was itchy and embarrassing. Eventually it cleared up enough to swim again. While dealing with all of that I was able to get an MRI of my foot.

After 3 weeks of waiting the MRI revealed I HAD A STRESS FRACTURE.

70.3 Santa Cruz

The next race on my plan was Santa Cruz. I had just a few weeks until the race and I was determined to do it. But I hadn't actually run much yet. After finally getting an appointment with a podiatrist, they confirmed there was bony overgrowth showing the doc there was a fracture. 2.5 weeks out from race day I wanted to race still.

I started to do the work prescribed by my coach and within a few days I realized I was delusional. There was no need to race. Yeah it's lost money but it wasn't worth it and possibly re-injuring myself would make for an even longer offseason.

End of the Season

After talking it over with my coach I decided to change directions with season. I'd do Mission Bay in October if I could and I'd build back slowly with the run. 70.3 La Quinta is sold out (thankfully) and I'm not interested in traveling for the race. There's no rush.

I've learned a few things through all of this. The first is just how much I love this sport. It's not even the sport but the process of getting fit for races. The grind of pushing my limits every day for weeks on end. It's special in that way. I have so much to improve on and it's just a matter of time and consistency. This season is pretty much over. I don't know how I'll do in the sprint and to be honest, I'm trying not to care. I'm just happy to race and go through the motions. I'll have some athletes I coach there with me and that will be a lot of fun.

Looking Ahead

The same goals exist for 2027. It's harder to qualify for World's now but I'm hopeful. I'm running it back 2025 style. 70.3 Oceanside and Rockford are the two main races. Those will dictate my end of the year plans. If I don't qualify for Worlds maybe I'll finally do a full Ironman 😉.