EWU Swim Photo Shoot

I wanted to briefly share a great little adventure I had recently.  One day while swimming I met Todd, the owner of Todd Conley Photography.  We got to talking about swimming and triathlons and he asked if I was interested in shooting some swimming pictures.  I, of course, was intrigued and thought it would be a fun little adventure.  I had a fantastic time, on top of that, it was a flattering request and compliment. My superstar friend, Taylor, also had a photo session at the same time so we had a ton of fun together, it was a blast.

*Todd telling us the "shot" he had in mind

*Butterfly

*Sweet angle on the freestyle stroke

*Reviewing Taylor's photo

*Don't splash the camera...you can see the splash marks

*Backstroke start, literally bending over backwards to get the "shot"

*Wardrobe change and instructions :)

*Breaststroke, work it, work it. 

*My favorite!

Todd took some great shots, most of which from angles I have never seen.  I tried very hard not to splash water on his multi-thousand dollar cameras, but by the end, he and his camera were pretty soaked :)  Todd, Taylor, and I used our creativity,  had some fun, and laughed quite a bit.  It was great to meet and work with Todd.  I recommend his services to anyone with photography needs. He has a variety of services which you can find on his website.  You can see the entire gallery of Taylor's swim pics here,  my complete photo gallery is here.  A big thank you to Todd and Taylor for another fun memory.

"That's a wrap people!"  :)

Big Finale: Race 5 of 5 - Grand Columbian

Grand Columbian is one of my favorite races.  I had planned to make this race 5 of 6 in the big finale.  The week leading up the race forest fires raged close to the race site, smoked clouded the area, and the air quality was down-graded to "poor."

In the past few races my triathlon-destiny was telling me it's time to "press and keep going."  It was hard at times, but I listened and things turned out fantastic.  My gut was telling me to let go of the dreams of Grand Columbian 2012. There are serious, and long lasting, health consequences to physical exertion in smoke, of which I am not willing to put myself through.  It wasn't a hard decision.

Being lucky enough to win an event here at this race was a dream come true.  I still dream of winning the olympic distance tri.  That doesn't change.  My friend, Ayla, and I agreed that we will pass on the 2012 race considering the air quality.  With a little luck, we will return hungrier, and faster in 2013.

Yeee haw!

Big Finale: Race 4 of 5 - Labor Day Triathlon

After finishing third at Bonney Lake, a spot that was a few steps further down the podium than I preferred, I just needed a big hug, priceless  :)

*Fleet Feet asked if they could post this on their Facebook, sure why not?

This is a unique post, there are things about elite athletes (which I am not, ha ha) that most people don't get to be privy to. This race report is more about the mental challenges I faced before the race, than the actual race itself.  I have said before that if you put yourself in a position to win good things will happen.  The challenge of getting to that position is the hard part.

There is a fine line between pushing yourself to your limits, and pushing yourself into a downward spiral of exhaustion.   For me the signs of overtraining usually show up first in my mental attitude. I was definitely getting worn thin from the amount of racing and hard training I was doing. My body is well trained and it is hard to take it to the exhaustive level that I need for super-compensation.  I need to get to this level of fatigue to breakthrough, but it was tough to push my body and mind to get to this level.  Going into this triathlon I knew I was right there, I just needed to push this last bit.

*It's not a crime to have a sweet kit, lime green!

I felt very anxious right before this race and felt myself starting to build up with anxiety about 2 hours before the race.  My body and mind were tired, I failed to defend my title at Bonney Lake, and I was alone and a long way from home.  I have an eccentric, high-energy personality so I'm not a stranger to anxiety. This was high anxiety though, I could feel that I was getting wound up pretty tightly with anxiety.  Then two great things happened.

The first was Jodi called me.  I told her how I was feeling and she talked with me for a little while saying that she supported me and she knew I would do great.  I instantly felt better as soon as she called.  The second thing that happened was I saw my friend, Will, and his wife, Marie.  In a span of 15 minutes my anxiety was gone.  I was no longer apprehensive about being alone (because I wasn't) and I was ready rip.

*So glad my friend, Will, showed up.

My challenges were before the race, once the race started I went into race-machine mode and started grinding my quickly tiring body and mind.  It was a great feeling to know I had the tenacity to say "I am going to get through this."  It very much helped to know I had some very special people thinking of me.  Will and Marie provided some great cheers and pictures (I am so thankful Marie was generous enough to be my photographer) to keep me going, and keep me pushing.

*It's go time

*Headed to transition one

I said this race report was different, and the majority of my challenge was in the night and hours before the race, so I will try and keep the race report short.  Once I got started I took off in the swim and had a good gap to the strong riders in chase.

I rode hard, but steady on the bike and held the gaps to the chase group.  I hit transition number two with a great opportunity to see what I was made of.  I pride myself on "doing the things that other people don't want to do," this was the time to do those things. 

My tired legs held strong to the run turnaround, but it wasn't pretty.  My legs were tired from the races and training I had completed the two weeks leading up to this moment, but I stayed somewhat smooth.  I took  a few seconds at the turnaround to bend over and stretch my tiring legs.  On the way back I was able to cheer on some of the chasers, cheer on Will (it was great to see him on the course, he darn near won the mid distance tri only getting passed in the final mile), and soak in my accomplishment of simply being a hard, tough individual at this race.

*Sick kit!

*Just keep pushing

I kept it together until the finish line.  After all the anxiety pre race, I was able to convince myself to "just stay here, and keep pushing." I cruised across the line winning and lowering my course record by over  minute.  Last year I felt indestructible, this year I felt anything but, yet I still went faster, so who knows.

*Plodding along :)

A very big thank you to Jodi for calling me at the perfect moment. Thank you to Will and Marie for cheering me on and taking pictures, and to my friends and family for their unwavering support.  This was a challenge that was won before the race even started.  "You can learn a lot about life from sports."

*The bike accents matched the kit accents, that's skill.

I am one tired boy, after a few days of rest my body and mind will recover and be stronger after facing this mental and physical challenge. This was part of "the plan" in building up to the final race stretch.  This is was dreams are made of.

Big Finale: Race 3 of 5 - Bonney Lake Triathlon

I will say right now, that I’m not entirely thrilled with my race, 3^rd  place is fine, but it’s not the same as defending a victory from the year before.  I just didn't "have it," but I did my best, didn't quit, and was able to finish 3rd.

*Courtesy Image Arts

The good thing about 3^rd is it gives me a chance to reflect on other aspects of the race.

*Hammer Nutrition boys, David and Richard Ling

First and foremost, I was treated unbelievably well by some very generous people over the weekend.  Kevin and Anne put up with me again for multiple nights.  They are very generous and I very much appreciate spending time with them and staying at their house.  My welcome wore out about 20 years ago, yet they still let me stay.  I love being at their house and in their town, I see why they like to live in the area they do.  I really enjoy visiting them.

*Pre race ride pic #1

*Pre race ride #2

*Pre race meal, healthy and delicious.

My family, Debbie and Bill, made the drive to my race, cheered me on, and fixed me a salmon dinner.  They also let me crash for a few hours on their couch to rest my muscles.  They are very caring and I appreciate their hospitality and cheers at all the races.  I am lucky to have them come to the races.

Stuart, Renee, and their family took me in after the race like the 4^th brother and treated me exceptionally well.  Stuart finished just behind me at the race and I could hear Renne cheering for him.  After the race she told me with a smile, “Sorry, I couldn’t cheer for you because Stuart was too close.”  We both found that pretty comical.  They were very nice in inviting me over after the race, feeding me delicious food, and providing me with some great pictures for this post

*Who's the random guy in our family portrait?

*Honorary brother for the day, I'm the wimpy brother.

Sometimes the most special moments in triathlon are not the moments, but rather the people you share those moments with.  I had a lot of special moments at the race because of the people I shared it with.  Rory and Deanna of Budu Racing have become good friends of mine.  The first thing I do when I get to the race is seek out Deanna and Rory and give them a hug, they are fantastic folks.  Their youngest daughter, Jenna, has been at a lot of the races and she was nice enough to serve as one of my photographers for this race, which I appreciated.  She even painted “Go" and "Bryan” on her fingers for some extra cheers.  Rory, Deanna, Shila, and Jenna are some of the nicest people.  I am really happy that I have become friends with them.

*Budu Racing family

*My cheerleader, Jenna

*"Go Bryan"

Alright, so now that I have said some of the many things that went well, I would like to take this opportunity to mention a few things that didn’t go well.  I say these things as matter of facts, they are not excuses or anything that would take away or diminish the accomplishments of the other racers, specifically those who beat me, fair and square. 

*Good job to you, sir.

*The podium boys, congrats to Bruce and Eric

The over hanging feeling after the race is that I “gave away” a race that was well within my reach to win.  The gentleman who won, Bruce, beat me by 7 minutes, yes, 7minutes, the last time I raced him, which was in 2009.  He is a super fast guy, but I had him right where I needed to in order to win (in my opinion only).  The top three overall started the bike together and I put a bunch of time into the other two over the first 7 miles of the bike.  I looked back on a straight stretch and they were almost out of sight.

*Warming up the turbos

*Courtesy Image Arts

Then it happened, I hit a few bumps and my seat went “bloop” and dropped, disaster.  I could no longer ride in the aero position, or maintain the power I had before.  Within a mile and half that huge gap I had created was gone and Bruce and Eric had rejoined me.  Disheartening to say the least, but it happens.  I lost to Bruce by 30 some seconds and I know my bike gap that I had created was close to that.  Anyway, I take nothing away from ‘dem boys because they put in on the field pretty good.  It also didn’t help that when they did bridge up to me we went off course and lost time to the remaining chasers.  Luckily, we only lost time and not places, frustrating none-the-less, though.

*Here we come

*My poor bike seat :(

*Bike to run

*Sweet kit!

That’s really all I can say, I think I gave it away and that is what makes my 3^rd place bitter sweet.  As the returning champion I came to win, 3^rd isn’t the same, but it also isn’t the end of the world.  Those sort of things are disappointing in the short to term but motivating and satisfying in the long term after redemption.  I have been there a dozen times, I will bounce back, it’s fine. Overall it was a great day for everyone, I take nothing away from the speed machines who beat me, they deserved to win, and those who were catching me up until the finish. 

*Boy is suffering

*Now I'm just being dramatic

*Now I'm just being a man-diva

You can’t win them all, and you can't say that I quit early J