Quad Cities Marathon Pacer

For the 3^rd year in a row, I had the privilege of pacing the 3:40 (8:23/mi) group at the Quad Cities Marathon. With the race being 2 weeks after Ironman Wisconsin, I had a rough time closing out those final 6 miles in past years. As a precaution, I worked with the pacing director to have someone take over at mile 20 this year.

Attempting to spew wisdom on my fellow athletes at the expo =)

The weather was looking pretty rough with a 100% chance of rain from 3AM-6PM. As we were driving to the start, there wasn’t any rain. As everyone lined up in the starting corral, still NO RAIN! It wasn’t until 6 miles in that any rain fell, and at that point it was perfect for cooling us off.

Using that pacer sign as a prop for photographer

For me, this was one of those days that I didn’t internalize I was running a marathon until the Anthem was being sung. I found myself lost in conversation with my pace group, and after a few introductions the cannon went off. The first few miles are always a little tense as I focus on hitting the pace, but once we settled in, we were on target. This year, my group had TONS of energy and positive vibes. We learned everyone’s name, where they’re from and who had the most interesting job (hypnotist and poison control were the top 2). We even talked about how most of our conversation will probably be forgotten (as I now struggle to remember what else we talked about). The rain came heavy at mile 8 and everyone’s shoes were soaked, but I just kept hearing how good everyone was feeling. I have never had a group so positive.

Leading my tribe through the rain

I always try to do a little coaching and encouraging as we are running, giving advice on breathing, run cadence or staying on the tangents. Every mile I’d update the group on our previous split and where we stood on pace. Up until mile 17, I had 3 guys, 1 girl and a relay runner going strong. At that point the group started to get a little quiet and I was doing most of the talking. We had 1 slowly drop off at 17 and another around mile 20. I always struggle seeing someone fall off knowing I can’t slow up for them. Up until this point, I was feeling strong, but some GI issues had been nagging since mile 15. Once I got to mile 20 and handed the pacer sign off, I took care of business. I caught back up to my last 2 runners with 5 to go. At mile 25 I told them to leave the nest and to soak in their finish.  Within a minute, they were fading off in the distance

Jay ran a 3:43 last year and wanted to PR by
running under 3:40. Way to crush it!

Why I love being a pacer.

The opportunity to help others reach a goal

Getting to know fellow athletes that I wouldn’t normally meet

Supporting the local community (go QC!)

FREE supported training run!

Not sure why I'm grimacing so much at the finish 

At the end of the day, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions considering the forecast. This was my 3^rd year pacing the marathon within 2 weeks of an Ironman, and I felt so much stronger than the previous years. I think this is an indication of how much stronger I am and how much harder I’ve been training this year. Louisville is in less than 2 weeks now, and I’m ready to being my final taper.

Giving Credit

A lot of my posts have been about me and what I’ve accomplished so far. I reach my goals through hard work and sacrifice, but I’m not alone in this. There are many people chasing this dream alongside me, and that’s what this post is all about. Here are a few special shout outs.

God

I thank God for giving me both the body and mind to do what I love. 95% of my training is done alone, and I spend a lot of that time with Him. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Without getting too preachy, it is my prayer that my training and goal setting inspires others to become the best possible version of themselves, however that looks for them.

Ty - Girlfriend

My girlfriend of almost 2 years has been my rock on this rollercoaster of training. I have my good days and bad days, but her support and encouragement remain the same. Most days she has more confidence than I do. She rides with me on long runs to provide nutrition, music and moral support. She even knows when to let me be pissed about a poor workout or to shake it off. I have remained mostly* injury free this season with her fixing me up every week.

Mom and Dad

I am beyond fortunate to have an incredible relationship with my parents. When I visit they alter schedules, Sherpa my long rides/runs and give up valuable time with me so I can train. They are truly my biggest fans and are fully committed to seeing me achieve success. Whether it’s booking the hotel room, driving the bike course, or wearing a ridiculous inflatable costume, they will do whatever it takes to get me to Kona. 

 

This message from my mom sums it all up and reminds me that I’m still their baby.

Family and Friends

The biggest group by far. I have two older brothers that remind me how proud they are. My friends and extended family send encouragement before a big race, and so many others follow every split while I compete. To say it means the world is an understatement. I push that much harder knowing so many believe in me and are out there watching. 

And finally, to everyone reading this, YOU keep the dream alive by letting me ramble on and on and on. I hope to one day have sponsors that believe in me the same way you do.

Thank you so so much <3

Ironman Wisconsin: Race Report

There is a lot to unpack from my race this past weekend, so get ready for a long read!

Finish time: 10:00:33    /    5^th place age group    /   51^st overall (including Pros)

Overall, I cannot believe my own performance. I hit every goal except for improved swim time, but I’ll dig into that later. The weather was perfect and favored some very fast times. I didn’t think I would be in contention for a Kona slot this race. It turned out that 3^rd place got a rolldown, and I was 36s behind him. A tough one for me to swallow, but it's additional motivation going into Ironman Louisville this October.

Race morning:

I learned from my race last year that I needed to get to the start sooner to self-seed for the swim. I arrived with plenty of time, but the gates opened up on the opposite side. I was boxed out from the faster swim groups and ended up starting with athletes closer to a 1:30 projected swim time instead of 1:05. With a few hundred slower swimmers seeded in front of me, I knew my swim was going to be affected.

Swim: 1:06:17 (115^th overall)

As I mentioned earlier, my swim time was affected by the poorly designed self-seeding. Aside from that, I thought I had a great swim under tough water conditions. With 2ft waves and slower swimmers in front of me, sighting was extremely difficult, and I accidentally swam to an orange kayak at one point.  Overall, I’m happy with that swim and know I can do better when properly seeded.

T1: 5:44

First transition is always long at IMWI with the parking garage helix. Looking through other T1 times, I was one of the fastest athletes through transition. Unfortunately, my bike was on the first rack in a 200 meter long transition area, so I had a long way to run with it. Last year, I opted to carry my shoes to my bike and put them on there. This year, I ran with my shoes and bike until I was closer to the mount line, leaned the bike against a garbage can and slipped my shoes on. This was a huge time savings since IMWI doesn’t allow flying mounts unless you are a pro.

Bike: 5:30:14 (83^rd overall)

This was where I put most of my focus all summer.  I interval trained to simulate hills and did everything I could to get my strength up and hit higher speeds. I went out a little strong at the start, but even by mile 40 I was still feeling fresh. It was also at that time that I discovered I was 5^th in my division! With that boost, I kept pushing and wouldn’t back off. Around 70 miles the hills started taxing my legs and started to become a concern for the run. I backed off slightly and just tried to maintain my goal of 20mph. The last 5 miles I backed off even more to prepare for the run and was very satisfied with almost breaking the 5:30 mark.

T2: 2:48

Once again, the flying dismount came in handy running barefoot and not removing shoes in transition. Something I hadn’t experienced before was lower back tightness and I couldn’t run. I did an awkward speed walk to the changing tent, got my shoes on and speed walked out until my back loosened.

Run: 3:15:30 (51^st overall)

Usually my time to shine is the run, but I had struggled the past 2 years running a 3:47 both times. Despite knowing not to go out too fast, I clocked back to back 6:45 min/miles out of the gate. I ran the first 8 miles around a 7:00 avg and knew I needed to back off to avoid walking. Once I calmed myself down, I tried to hold 7:45. Several times my legs started to lock up and I thought I was done. Each time, I pushed through and focused on form until they loosened. I finished the first half in 1:35 and knew I was well ahead of pace. As everything was starting to shutdown on me, I looked to Red bull and bananas at the aid stations. I also focused on getting to my family and other high energy places on course. My parents did not disappoint wearing an inflatable ostrich costume as well as my brother in his batman footy pajamas. Even though they barely got a smirk from me, it pulled me away from those dark places.  My last focus was to get within 5k of the finish and push it from there. It wasn’t until 1.5 miles out that I boosted my pace, and my last mile was around a 6:40.

Finish: 10:00:33

It’s amazing how much pain we are willing to put ourselves through. It’s even more amazing how all the pain melts away as that finish line comes into view. After the race I saw my final time and 5^th place age group. As friends and family surrounded me, I just broke down at the accomplishment and being with those who supported me through the entire journey. I wasn’t expecting to qualify for Kona at this race, but to come that close makes me that much more hungry for Ironman Louisville.