Taper Time!

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IMWI 2010 5th Place Professional

I cannot believe it's almost race week and more importantly I cannot believe I get to race an Ironman again in my home town. I raced IMWI 2002 through 2014, then without a men's Professional race, had to skip out on 2015 and 2016. Now that it's back for 2017 and I am grateful to simply be on that starting line once again.

Ironman for me represents something different than any other race distance, because it was such a challenge for me to be competitive at and because it is so different than any other race distance out there. There is no faking the distance, there is no Tour d'France mentality of "create a gap" that others miscalculate. The race is more like the boxing the match from a few weeks ago, or the US Open 2nd Round match from last night with Nadal. What is the condition of your body late in the game; round 10, 2hrs into a match or 8hrs into the race while at mile 20 of the run. Of course we all have bad days, we all make mistakes and $#*! happens, but for the most part Ironman is different. It's not about going fast, it's about not slowing down.

The above picture was taken in 2010 when I finished as the 5th Pro at IMWI. This race represented my first breakthrough Ironman and how I was feeling is pretty obvious in the picture (side note that Max Longree, in the background, missed the swim start by a few minutes).

10 days from now, MY GOAL, is to have that expression on my face when I cross the line...regardless of the placing. If I can get the most out of myself, be grateful and realize how far I have come since I started doing what was so hard for me 15 years ago, I will be satisfied.

I have had a lot of support from my inner circle, from my awesome team of athletes at BBMC, as well as from Peak Performance Massage, Trek, Blue Seventy and Endurance House of Madison. Last, but not least, I had a great plan and guidance from my coach Cliff English. Thank you!!!

Always remember that it's a privilege to race...for all of us to race. Next Sunday, I will be leading 32 other BBMC athletes on the race course, many of them for their first time. I couldn't be more stoked for each of them to be out there doing what they love to do for their own reasons and with their own goals.

My biggest piece of advice to them, regardless of their goal, is to find the joy in their race. That's where that extra 1% comes from and that's how you get the most out of yourself.

Happy Taper!





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