PB252 wrote:
Nice race and congrats on your year. Not so much a single question, but I’d like to hear about your progression from 2017- present. After a quick search it looks like your improvement over the years is pretty outstanding, going back to the start with some very average performances, avg bike and mid 1:30s 70.3, runs before some real solid races in 2020-2022. Was there Aha moment or is it a combination of consistency, experience, coaching, time, etc?
Short answer: consistency + balance + coaching. No a ha moments, but a few race performance that were step-function "jumps" that validated the approach. St. George 2018: went 4:27 and it was my first time breaking 5 hours after 6 month off season I think. Then 2019 Honu I went 4:14, 13 mins faster on a hard hot course. 2022 Oceanside confirmed my off season made me faster. Then Santa Cruz 70.3 in September & Indian Wells showed that actual 4 week blocks of massive volume at HOME before races was indeed much better than traveling, work trips, social stuff, and then training through all of that into a race. kind of a bummer actually, turns out that a boring life at home of just sleeping eating and training with low stress and travel actually makes you very fast lol. Longer version is here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKcpn2JAyyk
2016: first 70.3 was 6 hours in 2016 with a 2:10 run at age 22 on zero training after college. I was a fat frat boy working 70 hours/week in consulting with no other goals besides working and making money. I needed something else going on.
2017 was low 5 hours, swimming 30, biking 2:25, running 1:45-1:55. Worked with purplepatch fitness on their "Squad" program following templates pretty much training every day from day 1 8-10 hours per week.
2018 was first consistent year of training 10 hours a week mostly with people faster than me (learned about Every Man Jack team and loved those guys and made it my goal to make the team). I got down to 4:30 70.3 after riding as much as I could. Lost some weight, ran more often, slower, and easier. 28, 2:20, 1:35.
2019 Made Team EMJ. Got smoked by everyone, was fueled. I went 4:15-4:25 a few times in 70.3, did first Ironman in Kona going 9:52 after qualifying in Honu, raced Nice and got smoked at my first worlds and ran 1:30. It was my first ever 14 mile run in the Kona marathon lol. Ran 3:45 marathon. I was still a noob this year, but was showing signs to myself that I could actually be an elite amateur some day..
2020 COVID. Trained and stayed fit cuz I loved it and had extra time. Did long stupid multi day rides, ran 50 miles through grand canyon, hiked some of the PCT for 17 days... swam like 15 times all year once pools closed.
2021 huge year. Fiance started grad school and had I had a lot of time when I moved to Henderson. Started skipping social time (I train with my friends and training partners 75% of my workouts...) drinking, etc. I moved to Henderson NV in May '21 and then pretty much just worked and trained. 15-17 hours/week. Got down to 4 hours or so in 70.3, 2nd AG at St George 70.3 worlds, 4:03 at oceanside, ran 2:37 at CIM marathon in first marathon on 25 miles/week of training. Knew If I started training harder.
2022: I have been very very consistent. Have almost not missed a single day of training and my volume is way way up. 9k miles biked, 1200 miles run, 700k swim or something. Basically 18 hours/week with some bigger. Added DL and squats 1x/week for strength work Feb-May before St. G. Got married, raced a ton including both Ironman Worlds. Didn't ski, didn't travel outside of triathlon or work (still flying about every 2 weeks all year, travel a ton which is hard on training. Currently writing this 2 beers in on a work trip in Ohio, I haven't trained since the race Sunday...) Worked from home full-time which was massive for training volume and boost. long rides became longer, upped my swim volume from 12-15k week to 20k week, increased running mileage from 25 miles/week from April to 40 miles. Tested Vo2MAX (80) after kona, and realized I just needed more threshold run and bike work. incorporated lactate training 4x/week to get very exact with intensity. Cut drinking during the week. Nailed 4-5 x 20 hour weeks in a row and saw massive fitness boost. Bought fancier and faster bike gear... Nailed pro debut.