REV 3 Rush- 3rd Place

To begin, this is my first true podium in a professional triathlon race, so I am really happy with that. Coming into this weekend, training had not been going great because I was busy with school finishing my thesis proposal and finals, but I was excited to race the super sprint distance as I really love the high intensity heavy breathing feel of it. REV 3 was having the elite race be broken down into prelims on Saturday consisting of a 250 ish meter pool swim- 5 mile bike- 1.5 mile run and Sunday doing the course twice. Top 7 in each heat would advance to finals. The pool was a bit tricky to navigate with nothing on the bottom for depth perception, you needed to count strokes and/or sight to do turns but that was helped in the finals with putting cones near the walls. The bike course was simply around the NASCAR track, which was pretty sweet! flying around those banked turns in a group at 30 mph was great, and the run zig zagged two laps inside the track where you always had spectators cheering.

This picture gives a good idea of how the pool was different from a competitive swim race but I liked it. It was nice to still get waves and have some elements of open water in the swim.

Prelims on Saturday are always a bit nervous as the goal is just to advance as easily as possible to finals but you still have all the nerves because this race location and all was so unfamiliar. The first swim ended up going really well and I exited the water 5-7 seconds back of Eric Limkemann and Colin O'Brady- two former all american (I believe) swimmers in college. I chased hard for two laps but did not get any closer than 10 meters behind them. I looked back and saw a group of three were coming up, so I sat up and was absorbed and figured it would be better to relax before the run especially with knowing I could outrun many in the group. After a bit of confusion on the number of laps, we got into T2 and off on the run. I ran about 800 meters pretty hard and just cruised in the rest for 3rd in my heat and advanced to finals.

The pack from the first day. We worked pretty well and was nice to be feeling spry heading into finals.

That night, I slept 11- hours and woke up feeling pretty refreshed. I went for an easy 20 minute run in the morning since finals weren't until 1:30 pm and felt fantastic.

Finals were going to be much more competitive and had 15 pretty strong athletes on the line with a combination of fast runners, swimmers, and bikers. I lined up in lane 6, in between John Kenny and Colin O'Brady and we were off. I got out hard the first 50 and flipped even with Colin and John and had delusions of grandeur that I would stay swimming with them. In the end, they put 8- seconds on me in swim number one, but I just began drilling it on the bike and caught to lead pack of 7 two laps in with two really hard solo laps with my feet on top of my shoes. I went straight to the front as I wanted to keep the pace on knowing some fast runners were behind me. I got a few shout outs from the announcer for immediately going to the front and we had a few guys really willing to take hard pulls like John and Colin and Eric but we also had guys that would only attack on their pulls going off to the side and trying to take a flier. Not really a great strategy in ITU because 1. the pack does not appreciate it and 2. it hurts the pack. None of those stuck and we were caught by three others, making a pack of 11 heading into T2.

I got out of T2 in 5th or 6th and made my way into 3rd feeling very comfortable but running hard. Knowing the second swim is important in these races, I did not want to cook myself too early. Three of us had a solid 15- second gap (Justin Roeder, Jason West, had 10 seconds to myself) as we got to T3. When I went to put my goggles back on, they snapped and I did the second swim with no goggles. The second swim already hurts quite a lot but with eyes burning, it hurt a little more. I lost some valuable time due to that and exited the swim with my lane buddies, John and Colin. We bridged back up to Eric Limkemann and Justin and entered the final T5 together in a pack of 7 or so. We had lapped a few guys who were in our group, so it was a bit hard to understand who was a lap down or not. I made sure to get some water in on this ride and get ready to run. I got into T5 and instead of racking our bikes, volunteers were taking them from us! I ended up getting hit by a bike from an over eager volunteer so I think it would behoove them to keep a standard racking procedure in the future. T5 was further worsened by my racing flat insoles being bunched up, so I took both of them out and into the basket and ran without them. Got out of T5 in 7th with Jason West having been in a break on the bike. I moved into 4th relatively quickly and slowly reeled in 3rd with about 800 meters to go. I tried to really sprint with 400 to go as 3rd was a podium and double as much money as 4th.

My Mom still does not know how she made this video go into slow motion, but it ended up looking pretty cool as I was mid sprint for the line. I ended up having been in the fastest bike group for both rides and running the 3rd best combined run splits (7:08 first run and 7:01 second) for 1.5 miles (4:45 and 4:41 pace). Finishing 3rd was pretty sweet and was a great way to start off the summer season.

2014 Delaware Half Marathon

Question from a reporter after that race, "Why did you do this event if you're focused on triathlon?"
Me: "You have to be good at running and suffering in triathlon, so a hilly half marathon is good practice!"

So i decided to sign up for the Delaware half marathon for a few reasons, one of which was that it was great to race a local event that has grown by leaps and bounds. There were 1300 half marathoners, 700 marathoners, and loads of 4- person and 8- person relays. There was also a good prize purse for first and extra incentive to run fast.
I had not done a specific half marathon prep at all, actually, almost the opposite where I came off a taper for a sprint triathlon two weeks ago in Barbados. I wanted to put in a big training block from now until mid June, so I figured this would be a good way to kick it off. I was trying to keep it in my mind that this was essentially a long tempo run, and although it would be aerobically fairly easy, it would pound the legs pretty well without the specific long run preparations. I had run one 10- mile tempo the week before at 5:35 pace so I figured it would be reasonable to run 5:20-5:30 pace for this race, although it is fairly hilly in the second half.

Here is a nice text description of the race and a bit of an interview where I was on the news:
http://www.delawareonline.com/videos/news/local/2014/05/11/8969527/

My goals for the race were: first to win, second to set the Delaware resident record on the course (1:14), and third, if I felt good, go for the course record of 1:10:32.

Here is my Strava page for the run: http://www.strava.com/activities/139996836

This shows the course elevation profile and splits, but for those without Strava, here is a brief synopsis. the first 5- miles are very flat, mile 6 rolls a bit, mile 7 climbs 200 feet (about 3-4% grade steady) with some on cobblestones then just have rollers until mile 10 where you get a downhill to 12 and finally a nice .5 mile hill at 4-5% to get you close to the finish.

For the first 5- miles, I ran evenly 5:15-5:22 pace and felt conversational. At this point, I had a 35-40 second gap on second and was passing by marathoners who started 15 minutes before us. I had to consistently remind myself to not ease up as I was running past others quickly, but it was not a realistic representation of what my competition would be doing.  I seemed to be getting cheers the whole race either from marathoners I was passing or spectators, which was a really fun experience. Also, the two police escorts and a cyclist were incredible so I did not have to do much bobbing around the course. I'd like that for all my training runs! They did a great job. I passed the 10 in 32:50 and 11.25 km mark (half way) in 35:15- but this being the flat half knew I would be hard pressed to come back at the same pace.

Mile 7 got ugly with a 5:50 up the big hill, but I just tried to stay out of the red line and keep the same effort. At the top, I think I relaxed too much and recovered too much because at the 8 mile mark, somebody told me that another competitor was 45 second - 1 minute back so I picked it up pretty comfortably. At mile 9, I was running a little scared as I had no idea how much of a gap I actually had and was getting pretty hot out there, but Melissa was standing there and gave me a good pick up and reality check to continue pushing. I tried to really use the downhill miles from 10-12 well and get to the "King Street hill" comfortably and fly down to the finish. The strategy worked and about 1/2 mille from the finish, I had somebody yell "hey that' s my TA!" So that was pretty funny and nice motivation.

I finished in 1:11:45, a Delaware resident record and a minute off the course record, and 70 seconds in front of second. I am happy with this, but I know I can run a lot faster over a half distance- one day I want to really give a good half a shot but not for a bit.

It was really nice having my Mom there for Mother's Day too, and some other family and my girlfriend came out plus lots of locals that I knew from training were on the course, so it was really a fun event.
Always great to be able to break the tape!

Next race is a change up with the super sprint, draft legal, REV 3 rush with a trials and finals format.

Barbados Continental Cup 2014

For the second year in a row I traveled to Bridgetown, Barbados for the ITU pan am cup. It is a great race and the race director, Peter Gibbs, does an excellent job coordinating rides for every athlete from landing at the airport until they take off. It is a first class race!

Going into the race, I felt really strong biking and running but my swim just felt "funky" as I have been working on a slightly more efficient technique over the last month and it just was not clicking.

I stayed with 7- other US athletes, which was a super fun time and we were staying right on the bike course at a sweet condo set up called Paradise Villas. Was great having other to ride with before the race as the roads are pretty sketchy here.

To the race:

Swim: As soon as it started, we hit a wave, which I dove over but hit the sand right after as it was still quite shallow. I am top left of this picture diving with the navy suit on. This gave me a rough start and I got pinched out from swimmers colliding with one another until the first bouy. Usually, I get out a bit better so this certainly did not help my prospects. Not really sure why I swam so slowly after, exited the water 15-20 seconds behind athletes that I have consistently beaten out of the water, so that was very frustrating. Splits on triathlon.org are incorrect for some reasons including it was hand timed, but I know I was about 5- second behind Brent Poulsen out of the water.

Bike: Felt super strong and went straight into TT'ing to try and catch the bunch. Caught Brent Poulsen and John Slaney by the hill on the first lap and we soon caught a Mexican athlete. Unfortunately, Brent and I were the only two athletes able to pull hard enough on the bike so we were the only two working. Made for a very long ride. We caught Colin O'brady on the third lap but we still did not have a motivated and strong group. Finished with only having 40 seconds put into us from the 15- man group ahead but I was pretty fried.

Run: Went out hard and was able to immediately drop my group. Ran up to three athletes from the front pack and ended up racing well on the run despite doing a lot of work on the bike. Even had an athlete from Canada apologize for not being able to help on the bike- so at least I know I am biking and running strongly. Just need to fix this swim!

2014 Delaware Valley Duathlon and Looking Ahead

Saturday, April 19th marked one of the first duathlons on the mid atlantic calendar every season, the Delaware Valley duathlon. I raced and won last year, and it was a great tune up for the Barbados continental cup the following weekend. My schedule is taking the same form as I race in Barbados on April 27th, so this race served as a great way to stay sharp and tune up. Also, my big points from Barbados last year at this weekend will be cut in 1/3 so it is important to get back up on rankings!

This year was much more pleasant weather than last year and we had 45-50 degree weather at the start compared with 30 degrees last year. 

I knew from many races around this area that Dave Slavinski would give me good competition on the bike as he always seems to be a strong rider. The run went off and I took it out relatively comfortably running Just around 5 minute pace for 2- miles and the last mile easing off a little to prevent cramps that I am so akin to getting during duathlons. Came in at 15:56 for the first 5k and did not see the second runner while I was in T1. 

I got going not the out and back course for 25K of rolling hills. We had a strong wind going out but I just focused on staying aero up and down the hills. At the turn, I saw I had about 20-25 seconds on Dave and I tried to really push with the wind at my back until the second turn around at 11 miles (past the park). I had opened up a slightly larger lead on Dave and we both had been pretty clear of the field. I easier off the gas a little heading into T2. Split 39:10 to Dave's 39:00.

Got out on the run course and had a slight miscommunication from a volunteer but only ran a few seconds the wrong way. Got out and avoided calf cramps, thankfully, and hit the mile in 5:20 and pushed the second mile to 5:04, at which point I was getting some side cramps but nothing terrible. I cruised in the last mile in 5:20 with the goal being having a great race next weekend. Ended up running about 16:30 for the second 5k. Happy to get a really solid workout in heading into one of my favorite continental cups of the year.

It was also great to race with some of the local members of Team Philly Pro Tri, who has been a sponsor and team of mine since this race last year. Finally, had a great time the Thursday before representing Powerbar at Middletown Bike line for a group ride and nutrition talk! Now it is time to gear up for my first research pretension this week at University of Delaware on Wednesday and flying to Barbados on Friday.

March Review

It seems like the off season gets shorter every year, but the new racing season brings about exciting times. I opened up my season in Florida for the Clermont and Sarasota Continental cups the first two weekends in March.

Neither event was much to write home about. I had a solid race in Clermont but with the deep field, I did not perform up to expectations. I rode well and felt strong going on a break from the 2nd chase pack with Jason Pedersen, but we did not quite catch the primary chase.

I closed the race with a 16:50 for the 5.3 km course, only finishing 27th just ahead of 2012 Olympian Manny Huerta.

The next week in Sarasota, I wanted to really push the swim and just hang on. I thought I was doing that and exited in good but not great position. There was a large main chase pack forming and myself, Justin Roeder, Brandon Nied, Graham Leitch, Taylor Reid and a few others chased hard and just latched on. I had just pulled through when we made connection and as we went through transition, a Canadian in front of me fell and I got stuck behind that. I never went down, but lose valuable time after just putting out 6.3K of extremely hard work to catch the bunch. I ended up TT'ing with Graham the rest of the race and it was over from there. 34th place is not what I look for, but I have no choice to keep my head down and keep working.

The next week, I raced the Adrenaline 5k in Haddonfield, NJ to get a good workout in and keep feeling sharp. I ends dup running 15:19, so not bad but I really fell off pace the last mile. My running has been a bit behind from having an injury that kept me out of running until January 1 of this year.

I am excited to get going with the rest of the season. Next big ITU race is in Barbados where I had a great race last year. Happy training!

Physiology of Run Training

     Since it's the end of my semester, and I am just starting training again, I decided to make a series of posts regarding the training for triathlon (or the sports individually) from a physiological perspective and how it relates to what we as athletes do every day.

     I want to start with running for a few reasons. First, it's usually my favorite activity, I am currently coaching at high school team, and I have read a lot into the physiology of it and include that in my master's thesis.

     For triathletes, usually the "season" takes off in early spring and culminates around the fall. Most athletes, myself included, will train for two peaks within a season; one in the late spring, and the second in the fall. Because of this, I think it is very important to start finding the events in which you wish to race early, and you can plan your training from there.

     I think it is rudimentary to look at phases of training as black and white. Traditionally, a season of run training may look something like: 6-8 weeks of base, 4-6 weeks of aerobic specific training (tempo runs, fartleks, etc), and finally shorter speed training for the last few weeks of the season. While this is a pretty good plan, I think it is important to blend each of these phases while training.

    Backing up, lets delve into some of the physiology behind running fast. Your training should reflect well upon your racing goals. The first variable of importance will be lactate threshold. This is the point where your body cannot buffer lactic acid anymore because you are consuming more oxygen than you can take in and process. When exercising at a lower intensity, you are generally in what is known as "aerobic" exercise. Enough oxygen is present to fulfill the requirements of glycololysis (the method for which ATP is produced). As the intensity increases, the body requires more oxygen to keep up with the muscles' increased work load. At a certain point, the intensity crosses a point known as the lactate threshold, and the lactic acid produced as a byproduct of glycolysis can no longer be "buffered" by carnosine, and the body can only exercise in this "anaerobic state" for a few minutes. Because this lactate threshold pace is a pace that many 5k-10k runners and spring to olympic distance triathletes must operate in, I think it is very important to be cognizant of it and how to improve it.
   
    In order to improve lactate threshold, it is good to run at or around that pace for an extended period of time (no surprises here). The best way to know this pace would be from a lactate analysis in a physiology lab, but it can be reasonably estimated from various online calculators. One of my favorite ones is http://www.mcmillanrunning.com. I think it can overestimate training paces at times, but it is not a bad idea to follow. To improve lactate threshold, tempo runs can help tremendously. During the winter or build season, I like to do longer tempo runs of 8-10 miles slightly slower than lactate threshold pace because it works a bit more on strength that will be called upon later. I will shorten those tempo runs to the calculated lactate threshold pace as the spring comes and races are closer. These workouts are a staple of my "base training" plan. I like to try to get on soft surfaces and run them off the track during the winter, but as they approach pace, I think they are good to do on a track where you can consistently measure times. Keep in mind, these runs are getting faster through the year, and by race season, they are to be done at a pace that will lower your lactate threshold or "LT". If you run way faster than your threshold, you will be unable to complete the 20-30 minutes of LT running, so it is good to lock into your goal LT pace. This is generally slightly slower than goal 10K race pace. Keep in mind, these runs at LT are only a piece of the picture.

    Next up is the long run. For triathletes, I think it is important to get a long run in for musculophysical reasons. Running long (25% or so of your weekly mileage). The long ride for triathletes takes care of some advances of long runs because your body becomes more efficient at fueling itself, but I think they are both necessary. For running specifically, the long run is a great workout and should be a staple of most build phases. Not only does it make the legs stronger physically (often a limiting factor in races 5K and up), but it also is a good mental test. I like to get 2- hour long runs in the winter at a pretty good base pace. You can find some recommended base paces, but from a physiological perspective, you want to run fast enough to be working, but not getting close to LT or a workout pace. From early Lydiard running days, the long run was emphasized for all runners racing events from 800 meters to the marathon. I believe there is a good reason to develop the aerobic system for all athletes as well, and the long run is a good method to improve musculoskeletal fitness. Furthermore, for marathon and ironman athletes, the long run allows for practice of proper fueling for the race. Practicing eating those foods which you hope to consume in the race. The long run can continue well into the season, but during the race season, the total distance should decrease with the intention of maintenance rather than lengthening.

     VO2 max is sort of a "buzz word" in running physiology. VO2 max is the maximal uptake of oxygen your body can consume during exercise. There are a number of apparatuses a VO2 max test may be done on, but for most, a treadmill will elicit the highest number (because more muscle groups are being worked, and therefore more oxygen must be proliferated). The VO2 max test consists of slowly increasing the grade and speed of a treadmill while monitoring VO2 and respiratory exchange ratio. (the ratio of oxygen consumed and CO2 expelled). A VO2 max test may also be estimated from an all out 6-8 minute run. There are more tables that will estimate VO2 max from 5K times. I do not think the actual number is completely necessary, but rather training of this "physiological ceiling" is important. Your VO2 max is as efficient as your body can be, and it is not highly trainable. When you do VO2 max workouts, they are very high intensity, and should be introduced about 3-4 weeks before your races start. As the season goes on, it is important to work more on VO2 max workouts than the others. An example of a VO2 max workout that I like is 6-8*600 or 5* 1000 meter repasts around 3200 or 3k pace. This should be a pretty intense session, and the rest should be 3 minutes or so. I like to get the 'feel' of running at this VO2 max pace. it is pretty well corroborated with 3K race pace, so it is likely faster than you will ever be running in a triathlon, but it is important to be efficient at this pace, so slower paces also become more efficient.

     The last topic I want to mention is maximal speed. I think there are usually two very polar schools of thoughts on this. One thinks it is of upmost importance in olympic distance racing and 5k-10k work, and the other thinks it is completely unimportant. As usual, the truth lies in the middle. It is important to have a fast top end speed for efficiency, but should not be the top point of emphasis. For this, during the build phase, 6-10 strides after maintenance runs help to maintain foot speed. Later in competition, workouts such as 10 200s with 200 recovery at mile race pace, followed by 10 200 uphills are good ways to maximize neurological efficiency and maximize your speed. These fast pace efforts can include "hill sprints' or 10- second hard efforts up hills at the end of maintenance runs to improve biomechanics and neurological efficiency.

As a finishing part of this post, it is important to run fast if you wish to race fast! Just consistent slow running can only get you fit, but not sharp. Doing faster pace efforts are beneficial to everybody! But, caution should be taken to ensure proper recovery from them.

Here is a sample outline of a mini season (6 month block) of just the run training.
Weeks 1-6 include building mileage and varying the paces of runs. Not every run should be the same pace! Strides should be done every run and hill sprints 1-2 times per week. A weekly long run should be added (20% of total mileage for runners only, and likely more for triathletes since they are not getting high running numbers). On days when you feel good, pick up the pace and see how it feels. Designate one or two days where you can do a fartlek such as 1 minute on/1 off, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4 and back down.
Weeks 7-12 Should continue emphasis on strength with longer LT runs. Find the level for which you are comfortable to run a bit slower than your LT pace for 40-60 minutes. Long runs should stay at a good distance. Strides should be continued. Hill repeats are another good workout to do for strength during this time. I would structure a week something like
     M- Maintenance run with 6-10 strides, T- Hill repeats, W- X train or easy run Th- Maintenance run with strides, F- 40-60 minutes slightly slower than LT pace Sat- Easy and Sun- Long run
Weeks 12-16 Now, racing is usually looming, and it is important to begin running at a pace where you want to race. Tuesdays can be switched for harder VO2 max type work, and tempos can be slightly shorter but faster. The long run is less important to be lengthy, and recovery becomes more important.
End of the cycle Continuation of what you are doing with the inclusion of some fast efforts well below race pace and all other workouts look to recover. 10- days out of a peak race, I like to do a hard session to lower muscle pH and simulate the race conditions well.

That is my running philosophy and some vague ideas about running. If you have any specific training or physiology questions, please do not hesitate to e- mail me at dan.feeney31@gmail.com

2013 In Review

So it has come to the end of the triathlon season where seasonal reports abound and mixed feelings about the season usually hover in the air. It is a time for reflection on the year, your career thus far, and what you hope to accomplish in the future. Here is a short recap after I graduated undergrad at University of Delaware in Exercise physiology with minors in chemistry and spanish.

During the early season, I opened up at two continental cups in Florida, with a 29th in Clermont and a flat out in Sarasota. Pretty bummed about those, but prior to flatting in Sarasota, I had been in the mix for a top 10 finish. That gave me confidence moving forward.

Following those races, I had a fire inside me from a missed opportunity. I raced the Delaware Valley Duathlon, a local duathlon on a hilly course in 30 degree tempos. I won and set a current course record in the process, opening with a 15:39 5k leg on a hilly XC type course and gaining a minute on the closest racer.

Myself, Dave Slavinski (2nd), and Holden Comeau (3rd)

Following that, I raced in Barbados for my highest ever continental cup placing, 7th with the 3rd fastest run split. A recap of the race is shown here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTg4GZXQjXw

It was a rainy and difficult race, but I had a great outcome and I was excited.

Coming out of the chase pack racing hard

I ambitiously raced two non drafting races following Barbados in Knoxville for REV 3 knox and the 5150 Colombia Triathlon placing 19th and 12th respectively. Those were tough races for me with not having the top end 40K bike to really compete. I was still very happy with Colombia and loved the REV 3 vibe.

Highlight of REV 3 knox was coming out of the water next to Conrad, the Caveman Stoltz, 2* Olympian and multiple world champ in XTERRA

I traveled to the ITU continental cup in Dallas two weeks after Colombia 5150, but my rear deraileur got banged and damaged on the way there, causing major problems after swimming with the second pack. This was a pretty tough race for me. I did get to stay with three Canadian friends, Andrew Bysice, Aaron Thomas, and Emma Lujon, showing how ITU brings people together!

I took a mid season break before racing Philly Triathlon (or Tri Rock Philly), coming 7th professional in a not- so- great mid season race, where I just was happy to get it done. From there, I went to NJ for the NJ State triathlon to race some studs on the bike. I came 3rd in a race where I just did not have the run legs to close after a very hard 26 mph average bike.

Back to ITU racing in August for Elite Under- 23 World Duathlon Championships in Ottawa, ON, Canada. A few weeks of run specific work had me working hard, but not quite making the top group. A first 5k of only 15:20 did not make the cut, and I was chasing hard. I ended up 12th overall, not a bad result, but not what I had hoped for. Still a great race at a high level.

Above, on the second run leg and below working hard in the bike group as shown by the grit!

I then traveled north to Maine for REV 3 maine in probably my best non draft race of the year, despite only coming 15th. I swam well, biked a very solid 60 minutes even on a fair course, and ran 33:50 off a non draft bike. I was again happy, but not satisfied. Also, the day after the race, I began formal studying for my Masters in Biomechanics and Applied Physiology. Hopefully, once I am done that, I can afford to just train without school and maximize my potential.

In early September, I raced a local 5k with good prize money, Teri's Run, where I came 7th in a time of 14:59. First time breaking 15 in awhile, so that was good news!

I had two plane bad races in September including a hasty attempt at Savageman half iron distance race, while being quite underprepared. I had the race lead 30 miles into the bike, but by mile 40, I was toast. Then, I traveled to San Juan for a continental cup where I received a swift kick in the head and raced the rest of the event in a fog, later to find out, I had a minor concussion. I again roomed with three Canadians, Andrew Bysice, Tyler Bredschneider, and Domi Jamnecki. It's cool making friends across countries!

I did a hard effort on a 10- mile "light trail" race only 2 miles from my house in Newark, De where I ran mostly with my roommate, Andy Weaver for a 53:09 finishing time (2nd to him, and faster to the previous course record). It is mostly crushed rock and dirt trail along a river.

Myself, Andy Weaver, and Mike DiGenarro at the start

I shook that  mini concussion off for my final race of the year, the F1 double- super sprint triathlon in San Diego. I got to stay with two friends who live out there, and everybody racing knew one another. The individual event was extremely difficult, I do not think my HR has ever been that high for that long. With 800 meter bike loops and 6- corners, it was quite hard to get a break. Then we raced again in a relay format. I raced with my friend, Jason Pederson and we came 4th in another very hard effort. These races are definitely not friendly to runners, but an awesome opportunity to get better at ITU racing. I look forward to racing in more.

I am finishing up the 2013 season with Rothman 8K in Philly, November 16th with the hopes of running 24:45 or so. I feel like my run fitness is really high, and I'd like to end with a good 8k time. Looking forward to getting training for 2014 and a schedule on the way.