While 2020 quickly became a shit show for racing after what was a great start with a PR at Rock N Roll AZ marathon. Besides the IRONMAN VR races, it was just YoungLife in DL for a triathlon and that is simply not enough racing! I had made the decision to do my 3rd full IRONMAN in Madison in September and of course, it was cancelled due to COVID-19. I had sent a few emails to IRONMAN trying to defer to IMAZ, even the 70.3 race here on October 18th but got nowhere fast. Hope to at least transfer to IMAZ for 2021!

Incase you missed it, I moved to Scottsdale and am enjoying killer views like this! Looking forward to and excited to bring my training to a whole new level. While IMAZ is now on the radar, qualifying for Boston is still a priority and having 365 days to train outdoors now, I'm ready to put in the work!

With this, I also took advantage of my discounted price for Grandmas Marathon and am officially signed up. That fresh crisp Duluth air might seem a little chilly this year! Again, aiming for a new PR at Grandmas and to sort of determine a baseline/evaluation of my training.

We are 8 days into october and the 1st really was my first day down here after the drive and unpacking. I've been atop Camelback twice and was 25 seconds short of breaking the 1 hour mark for a round trip on the Cholla side. The 106 degree day probably wasn't ideal for setting any PRs but heck, I'll get it next time! These 8 days have brought just over 44 miles of running and I've been able to get a great start on my base mileage. 

New concept I need to actually follow. The bigger the base, the higher the peak. Not all miles need to be fast, smart miles are needed as well!

On a side note. Still pursuing the passion and not chasing a paycheck. While eventually I might have to just settle, I am determined to find a meaningful career path related to the multisport industry. Have visited a few bike shops and working on making connections. One of these days, I'll cross paths with the right person! I did manage to come across this killer old Schwinn the other day, check it out! I would totally ride this bease around!

Peace out! Train hard my friends.

Saturday marked the 228th day of 2020. A year we can all agree has sucKed more than the worlds Most powerful vacuum! My triathlon season lasted a blissful 1:10:33 at the YoungLife triathlon in Detroit Lakes. My summer is usually filled with over a dozen triathlons and numerous marathons and IRONMAN races. Ironically, Saturdays race was also my 228th activity according to my Garmin. Those 228 activities equal out to be over 2,070 miles. I am no training expert but that seems to be an extreme amount of overtraining for a sprint triathlon!
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The drive up to DL is always scenic and race morning was no different. I managed to not get ran over while I stood in the middle of the highway to take the above photo. The day was off to a great start! Once I arrived at the race, it was pretty "normal" considering this "pandemic" we claim to be in. Sorry, not trying to pick any fights but I'm calling BS on COVID-19. ANyways, the race, mask were required while we checked in and in transition while we set up. A few extra bike racks allowed for our bikes to be socially distanced as well, crazy. The morning was truly picture perfect and once we got the pre race meeting and national anthem over with, it was time to jump in the lake. 

The day prior the area got about 5-6 inches of rain so I think that made the lake a little colder than normal so I went with the wetsuit even though they are a bitch to peel off in T1! My moto is to "survive" the swim so my pace of 1:41/100Yd was good enough for me and was happy to get onto Stealth for a ride around Detroit Lake. Back pedaling to the swim start, I was placed into the elite wave so I was first out of the chute. Still not sure how or why but I just went with it and hung out with the big boys. So, with this, I was back of the pack taking off on the bike. After a few miles on the bike I finally was able to spot other riders and tried to pick them off one by one. I was able to pass a few on the bike and put down the 9th fastest bike time with a 22MPH average. I'll take that!
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The problem with a fast bike time is that my legs were toasted for the run. Also the fact that I kinda forgot to train or practice any brick workouts with some bike to run transitions. So, legs were a little pissy but it was only a 5k to run. By this time in the race there wasn't too many people in front to chase down for motivation. I had maybe made it a few hundred yards out of T2 and they announced the race leader had just made the turn. The run portion was an out and back for those not familiar with these events. I was about 99.99% sure this was Branden they were talking about how was on his way to setting a new course record i think. Damn that boy is fast, even if he's having an "off day"

Think I passed 3 runners on the run and the last being a few hundred feet of the finish. Emptied the tank completely to make that pass! Settled with a 6:52/mi pace which I should be happy with but know it should have been closer to 6:30 pace. regardless, an absolute perfect day to race. It was great to see all the familiar faces and chat with a few fellow racers. While the event staff made everyone feel safe and took all the NECESSARY precautions, sure was nice to be able to race outside in a real event!

If there is one thing we like besides bright colored clothing and expensive bikes, it would be "refueling" after a hard race. Everyone has thier goto after a race and for me that was a cold beer and taco at Zorbaz. It was forkin' delicious!

Back on a serious note. Can't thank Scheels and all the other sponsors of this event. Proceeds from the event help offset the cost of programs that YoungLife puts on during the year. makes an already great event even better! As always, also great to catch up with the Scheel tribe and they all crushed it out there. 1st place overall finishes for Branden and ALexa, congrats!

While the future is unknown and ever changing, if that happens to be my only triathlon of the year, it couldn't have gone much better. I was smiling all the way!

YoungLife Sprint | 1:10:33 | 18th OA | "2nd AG"

#TrekBikes #WattieInk #Wattieinkhitsquad #jakesbikes #swimbikerun

We have all heard the line, "What could POSSIBLY go wrong?" Well, I think 2020's response to that was, "Hold my beer and watch this." Excuse the colorful language but damn, what a shit show.

I never thought Rock N Roll Arizona would be my first and last race of 2020. While the future is unknown, I pray everyday that IRONMAN WIsconsin gets the green light and I also just signed up for Younglife in DL. Other than that, it's been a spring filled with trainer rides, treadmill runs, virtual runs and digging deep for motivation. The IRONMAN and ROck N Roll VR races have been great to somewhat stay on track for training. What is truly impressive is this guy Arne. He is batshit crazy passionate about running and the running community. He received his few moments of fame the other day, I'll post the video below!

Grandmas Marathon is NORMALLY my favorite weekend of the whole year but guess what, nothing is normal in 2020. Duluth and UMD is where this whole running journey started. What once was my roommate Drews idea to get to know the neighbor girls, I am now 45 marathons deep with 8 IRONMAN races thrown in the mix. While I didn't get to stay in Griggs Hall, ride that school bus up to Two Harbors or run along side the greatest lake in the world, I do still get that free t-shirt! 

I'll be brutally honest, I sandbagged the run. Yes I could have ran faster but have you ever set off on a 26.2 mile run alone, with no aid and no fellow runners to motivate you? At least running on a treadmill you can watch TV, this running around the lakes solo was flippin' brutal! With a glass half full approach, the great thing is that I felt like a 3:40 marathon was a subpar performance. Each race I chip away a few minutes and will eventually be booking that trip to Boston. That will be the day, then I can die a happy guy!

So ya, Grandmas was a virtual run this year and I am patiently waiting for my finisher shirt and medal to arrive in the mail. At least we are still able to run and compete against each other. The running community is RESILIENT and we will continue to train, race and support each other. It is truly great to see how we have embraced the new VR series of runs and the various social media platforms are great for keeping on track and motivated. From facebook groups to Strava, us runners love to talk about our runs and workouts. 

There you all go, if you feel the urge to run a marathon in the Alexandria area here is a course! Packed in as many lakes as I could to trick my brain into thinking I was on the grandmas course.

I'll leave you with one final thought/image. Sure 2020 keeps throwing us curveball after curveball. Find a way to be positive and motivated. If life gives you lemons, make forking kick ass lemonade! Be as happy as this doggo is, use your imagination to your advantage. Celebrate the small wins, they are building blocks for something greater.

2020 numbers through June | 1,547 total miles