It’s early November, and as the year winds down to it’s inevitable conclusion, I have found my self reflecting on my 2023 endurance sports journey. It has been a strange year, as I feel as though triathlon and endurance sports have taken a back seat to ‘life’. At one point, I didn’t know what races I would do this year. In the end, I raced twice and had a couple of my best ever performances since the journey began almost ten years ago. I have one more race to go; more about that below.
My wife and I moved from Pittsburgh to Colorado in April this year and it was only in May, that I was able to start focussing of training again. Those first few workouts were tough and it was clear I had a long road back to fitness. To give me time to regain race fitness, I chose to wait until September to race again. That race would be Ironman 70.3 Washington in Maple Valley.
The 60-65 Male Age Group Podium At Ironman 70.3 Washington
Ironman 70.3 Washington turned out to be a great race for me.
I had one of my better swims in a 70.3 distance event. This was likely because I seeded myself well at the start, and was able to swim without a lot of stress. I didn’t go all out in the swim, but swam under control and was very happy to come out under 40 minutes.
I think the bike leg is turning into my strength these days and I had a great ride. The course in Maple Valley, was surprisingly hilly, which I think helped me go relatively fast. I seemed to overtake a lot of riders on the uphill sections. In the end, I wound up with the second fastest bike split in my age group. This meant a good run would put me in line for a podium slot.
Coming down from the altitude of Denver really helped my run. I was able to hold a decent pace without feeling out of breath. Despite short stops for a bathroom break and to remove a large stone from my shoe, I completed the half marathon in 1:50:51.
My overall time was good enough for fourth place in my age group. This got even better, when one of the two Ironman 70.3 World Championship slots in my age group rolled down to me. I’m going to Taupo, New Zealand in 2024 !!
My 2024 Ironman 70.3 World Championship Qualifier Coin
Having hardly raced all year, I decided to sign up for another race just three weeks after Ironman 70.3 Washington. It was not another triathlon, but a 50K trail ultramarathon. The race was local to me in Castle Rock and even though the field was small, I was able to finish third overall and second male. This was the first time I have ever been on an overall podium. It was one tough race, but the result was worth it.
So now, it’s almost time for my final race of the season. My wife and I are heading to Texas to take part in the Otillo SwimRun Austin race. This will be our second SwimRun event together and I am sure we will enjoy it as much as our first. You can read about that race here. Our goal for the Austin race is to have fun and hopefully not finish last this time around (although that was actually fun last time).
I’ll post another blog next week, to let you know how our race went.
