Category Race Reports

It’s Quite Nice!

October 12, 2019 70.3, Race Reports  No comments

As with all race reports I write, if you just want race report details scroll down to RACE DAY:

Joy and I left San Jose International just after 8pm. The
goal was to sleep a little arrive in London and withstand the long layover that
would put us in Nice at around 9pm. Luckily we had lounge access while at
Heathrow, which made the layover comfortable. We had upgraded to Premium
Economy, which I highly recommend when flying over 10 hours. However the flight
to Nice was a bit crowded and did not offer the amenities we had just been
accustomed to. However, it was a short flight and we were soon waiting in
baggage claim.

In 2008, which was the last time we had flown to Nice, so I
could compete in Ironman France, my bike did not arrive with our luggage and
after at

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And Then It Happened: Ironman Santa Rosa – A Race Report

May 30, 2019 Ironman, Race Reports, Uncategorized  No comments

Yes... It's been nearly 3 years since my last post and for a good reason but finally, I'm back. As always should you only want race details scroll down to Race Day.

PRE RACE: Leaving our house I did double inventory of all the things I would need for a successful race in just a couple days. The trip is only 2 hours up the 101 Freeway into Santa Rosa. Assured I had everything I needed, I soon pulled into downtown, walked to the race expo and quickly registered. I was able to spend time with one of my athletes I coach, also was racing on Saturday. Though a couple weeks prior he wasn’t sure he would be healthy enough or ready due to some personal setbacks leading into the race, I assured him all the data revealed he’d have a good day.

Since my wife, Joy was taking

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What a Day – Ironman World Championship 2016

October 26, 2016 Ironman, Race Reports  No comments

We arrived on the island of Hawaii, Wednesday morning, October 5th… Our 31st wedding anniversary! It was our goal to be on the Big Island last year for our 30th but a little thing called a “broken hip” got in the way. Now once again driving into Kona, a short seven mile trek from the airport, it was very clear the Ironman was just days away. From the yellow road signs that read “CAUTION Ironman Athletes Training” along the Queen K to the dozens of runners along Ali’I Drive you’d think the competition had already begun.

First thing Joy and I did after we parked our car was walk over to the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel to register. As usual, it is a very well organized process that respects the athletes for achieving the honor of racing the Ironman World Championship. Next up, lunch! So,

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Three in One – my last three race reports

October 24, 2016 70.3, Ironman, Race Reports  No comments

Since it’s been a very busy season, I’ve had very little time to actually take some time and write down my most recent experiences racing and leaving those thoughts here at Ironman Faith. So, I’ll do my best to recall those experiences and make a few brief reports.

The race was held on July 10th. The day of our first daughter’s birth and it just happened to be her 30th birthday! Both of our girls were in town for her birthday as well as their grandmother (Joy’s mom, Kathy). During the lead up to the race we checked into our typical accommodations at the World Mark, just two miles away from Windsor High School, where the race concludes. The day before were the typical prerace workouts… swim at Johnston’s Beach at morning start time, a little tune up on the bike and a short run to

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Making ZERO Difference in a Year!

June 16, 2016 70.3, Race Reports  No comments

Last year, on June 10th, while finishing a 94 mile ride through the Santa Cruz mountains during an unusually rainy day, my bike slid out from underneath me on what would be the final steep and sharp turn before heading home. The result was a fractured right hip that left me on crutches for the next three and a half months and subsequently caused me to cancel the remaining 4 races I had coming up. But racing wasn't the only thing affected by my now sedentary ways. My Ironman race, scheduled for late September in Chattanooga, Tennessee was also a race I had planned to do for ZERO Cancer, an organization dedicated to raising awareness, providing education and research and ultimately seeing a generation of men with zero prostate cancer. It too, now was on hold.

Since my last post back

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2014 Racing from the Rearview Mirror

December 20, 2014 70.3, Ironman, Olympic, Race Reports  No comments

I began my triathlon career in 2001 with my first race being a sprint distance race in May followed by a slightly less than Olympic distance race in June and two Olympic distance races in July and September respectively. None of those races ended in podium finishes but the bug had set in with goals to complete my first Ironman in 2002.

In the new year, I trained for and raced my first marathon in Los Angeles with hip bursitis which flared up a week prior at the end of February. Then a half ironman race in May and finally my first Ironman on June 8th: Ironman Utah. If you are a geek about Ironman and know the sport’s history you’ll recall Ironman Utah was not an Ironman in the 2.4/112/26.2 mile sense. A freak storm came up that morning as the race began and athletes (me included)

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Live Low, Race High: Ironman Lake Tahoe Race Report

September 24, 2013 Ironman, Race Reports, Uncategorized  14 comments

(For just the race report open this entire post and scroll down to RACE DAY)

When I found out there was going to be an Ironman race in Lake Tahoe, becoming the first Ironman branded race in California since Ironman California back in 2001 (the year I started in the sport), it had already sold out and there was a lot of speculation about how difficult it would be to race an Ironman triathlon at elevation. With the race sold out and my 2013 season pretty much a bust due to continual injuries and months of physical therapy, I thought little about competing in the race that was “in our back yard” until an opportunity presented itself; more on that in a bit.

At the beginning of 2012, I began to notice little pains in both my right knee and ankle. As the year progressed the pains would

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If You Can Make it There: Ironman US Championships Race Report

November 4, 2012 Ironman, Race Reports  5 comments

In 2011 three friends got the news they had prostate cancer. Each dealt with the news differently as progression, treatment and quality-of-life decisions dictated each course. Then in the fall my friend David, who's family attends the church I pastored and fellow triathlete told me his father had prostate cancer. Was this just bad timing or am I at that age now where my friends and I are at risk and this is now the new normal?

Prostate Cancer is considered one of those "Silent Killers" because symptoms are often undetectable. Add to that, it's a disease among men who are less prone to go to the doctor and more likely to "man up" to the pain. Men tend to ignore personal warning signs while running to the alarm of everyone else's trouble. This is truly unfortunate when it comes to

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Blown Away: Ironman World Championship a Race Report

October 27, 2012 Ironman, Race Reports  10 comments

When I raced in New York City, mid August, I had it in my mind that should I qualify for the Ironman World Championship I would not take my spot and let someone else go by grabbing the roll down slot. But Qualifying for Kona is no easy task and after seeing my name listed above the line, declaring that I had indeed received the golden ticket, all I could say to my wife upon getting back to our hotel room was, “I did a bad thing.” She thought that I had left early simply to retrieve my bike and gear only to find I returned with an obligation to take another trip to Hawaii… She wasn’t too disappointed.

When we arrived on the Big Island I noticed immediately the tell signs that the race which, defines all other races had unofficially started. The Queen K already had streams of cyclists

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Let It Stay in Vegas: 70.3 World Championship Race Report

September 12, 2012 70.3, Race Reports  2 comments

I've come to admit that I don't care much for Las Vegas. There used to be a time when going to this unusual city was a cheap getaway but not any more. For a short season they touted it as a family destination, uh nope; tried that. It was hardly family friendly as my daughter offered to shield my eyes from the billboard advertisements, raising her tiny hand saying, "Don't look daddy, I'll protect you!" Today, it's high fashion mixed with super sensation. It's a town that thrives on excess and lures you in through a wide entrance promising to shut the door behind you so no one can look in.

When the WTC moved the Ironman 70.3 World Championships from Clearwater FL to Las Vegas I was happy. I wasn't willing to go to Florida for the race but Nevada? Yeah, I'd make that trip. So last year I

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