Sub-2 Adieu

I first had the notion that I wanted to break 2 hours back in 2005. I hired my coach Matt Eagan, and about a year later I started this blog to help keep me focused and motivated. Training through college in Boulder Colorado was an absolute dream. Beautiful roads, mountains and trails, perfect weather and best friends. I was getting fitter every month. Despite believing that I was fit enough to break 2 hours, the performance never materialized. On a grueling course at Age Group National Championships in 2007 I came painfully close to the mark, and afterwards I vowed that I would come back stronger to have even better races in the future. I was going to break 2 hours.

For the next two years, graduating school, broken bones, moving cross country and a new job kept me from really training much at all. I was no longer in Boulder and my coach Matt was no longer a coach - he was now a horse trainer. Spring of 2009 I was in pretty poor fitness, but I called up my old coach and asked if he wanted a side project. I told him I was gunning hard for the 2hr mark again; I needed help. May 26th, 2009 we officially started working together again. Exactly 52 weeks later I had the fastest race of my life - a 1:56:18 finish at an Olympic distance triathlon. I did it! After thousands of hours of training, thousands of dollars, and great personal sacrifices I finally broke 2 hours on an Olympic distance triathlon.

What next? While I love triathlon and I will never leave the sport for good, I have decided to put my efforts towards another challenge. The complexity of having to train for three different sports is a strain on personal time and pocketbook. I am going to take a sabbatical of sorts from triathlon for several years and pursue road and track cycling while I live in a city with a velodrome. I'm guessing that in a few years I'll get bitten by the triathlon bug again, and I'll be back.

This concludes a 4-year story. I will likely post nothing else here for some time, if at all. Thanks for reading!