Not an Easy Pill to Swallow

This past weekend I lined up to start 144.6 miles and what was to be my A race of the season, Ironman Chattanooga. I had trained for the race all year.  You could count the number of workouts missed on one hand with missing fingers.  I crushed all my prep races leading up to this day and was able to maintain an injury free status.

Some fast guys and XTERRA Suits

Toeing the swim start I knew I was in the best shape on my life.  All that remained was to execute the race plan properly and I would put myself in contention to compete with some of the best age groupers out there. Little did I know that some 9 plus hours later when I thought I would be crossing the finish line I would be laying in the med tent, taking in an IV, and coming back to my senses trying to remember what just happened. Before I try to remember what happen let me recap my race until collapse time.

Swim (54:18, 16^th age group):

Coming into the race I knew I wasn’t as fast in the swim as the top guys I would be competing against. However, with the water current and my swim fitness I knew I would not be too far off their feet and there would be a lot of miles to inch them back in on the bike and run.  My initial plan to start the swim was to jump in, follow the feet of my friend and teammate, Steve Smith, through the first few hundred yards, settle into pace and work with Steve throughout the swim. (No, this is not cheating but working within the race rules).

Well, that plan was hosed from the start.   As we started down the ramp I see the start mats and I looked back at Steve and asked if that was where our time starts.  It was.  Once I crossed it I immediately jump in and started swimming, never letting Steve get in front to startL.  A hundred yards into the swim I looked back and did not notice Steve on my feet. So, I settled into pace, got the buoys on my left shoulder and started to look around for someone to pace with as I swam down river. Unfortunately the only swimmers I saw swimming around my pace were way out and I did not want to veer off course to catch them. I ended up swimming the entire 2.4 miles by myself and only having to move off course maybe 10 times throughout the swim to get around other swimmers. All together, outside of the start, the swim went great. Coming out of the water in 54:18 (16^thage group), I was a little shocked as I thought I would be around 55-57, and I even lost what felt like was 30 seconds to a minute waiting to get up the stairs.

T1 (4:04):

Running up to T1 I had to un-politely, sorry guys, nudge a few competitors who where clogging up the swim exit walking around. Nothing too eventful happened in the tent but I struggled running to my bike and getting my bike out of transition. The first problem was all my nutrition fell out of my back pocket not once but twice. Then my bike was crammed so tight between other bikes that I had to ask for help from a volunteer to un-wedge them to get mine out, frustrating. Added on top of that my bike was one of the furthest ones from the bike start, which made for a long transition run with the bike.  Once finally on the bike it was smooth sailing to start.  

Bike (5:22:14, 11^th age group)

Feeling Good Still

 I started the bike off great. My mood was at the highest point of the day. I had just got on the bike under an hour with no cramps coming out of the water (for some reason my hip flexors and lower back seem to cramp on continuous swims longer than 30 minutes. Any advice on what could cause this would be great to hear).  The weather at that point felt great. The weather would change in the blink of an eye later in the day though.  I rolled through the first 50 miles with ease, staying within my power range, rolling through the slower bikers, and I thought hitting all my nutrition just right. Coming through the small city of Chickamauga I got to see my family for a quick wave. This boosted my spirits a little more and helped with the climb out of town and to the start of lap 2. 
Lap 2 is where everything started to unwind. About mile 70ish I started cramping in my inner thighs. My mood went from you’re rocking this to what is going on. I tried my best to keep a positive outlook and kept telling myself “relax everyone is going to go through a hard moment or two in the race, take in nutrition, and relax again.” From that point on the cramps never stopped. I eased them by backing off my power 20-30 watts and just rode myself in.

Trying to remember what I actually took on the bike has been a hard task. I believe that I drank at least 4 bottles of EFS and 2 bottles of water. Plus, whatever water I sprayed in my mouth and head at each aid station. Throughout the bike I did not feel too hot but did notice I wasn’t dripping sweat, which I normally do, but rather the sweat was drying fast enough to leave a noticeable dried sweat ring around my shorts. Based on how I rode the bike my first inclination for the start of dehydration and cramping was not due to power or surging but neglecting proper hydration and sodium for the weather conditions.

T2 (2:51):

The smile is deceiving

I got off my bike the best I could and cramped ran into the changing tent. While putting on my socks and shoes I felt pretty bad. There wasn’t just cramping but dizziness and my heart was racing. I ask the volunteers to throw some water on me and I set there for about 1 minute before I got up and made my way to the run start.

Run (DNF):

As I started the run I got passed by Snapple Pro Lori Sherlock and tried my best to just run with her. That lasted a whole 100 yards before my inner thighs side no. At the point I was forced to walk and then run for the first 11 miles. At every aid station the only thing I could take down was water. Any nutrition, liquid or solid, would just make my stomach cramp.

At mile 11, just before we crossed the pedestrian bridge to make our way to the second loop of the run is when things got interesting.  I hit a spot in my health that I have never been before (this year, not proud to say, I have experience severe dehydration twice and not one of those time did it compare to the state I was in at IM Chatt). Things just went into space, I felt myself staggering over the bridge, my heart was racing while walking, I could barely talk and I didn’t know what to do. As I made my way to the end of bridge I knew I would see my wife and I did. Once I got to her I thought “please just hold me and take me home” but I gave her a hi and said “see you in about 2.5 more hours because this is going to be a struggle”. I also saw Steve’s wife and asked where he was and to my surprise she stated “he is behind you about 1 mile or so”.  “Steve’s behind me, what?” I had not seen him since the start and had figured he beat me out of the water and was going to lap me on the run. 

Not feeling so good

As I made my way to mile 14 aid station things got even worse. I started to severely cramp throughout my body when just walking. I walked through the aid station and made my way to an overpass and stopped. I went to the guard rail, sat and thought “I am just going to sit here until Steve catches up because I need help getting to the finish line and if he hasn’t caught me yet he must be struggling too”.

When I sat everything seized up and the next thing I recall I was getting shoved into the back of a gator. I remember people saying “sir you need to get in we have to take you to medical” and me saying “I can’t I am cramping and can’t move”. Then several minutes’ later things started to become normal again. I am lying in the med tent, IV in arm and wondering what just happened. Come to find out after the race Steve did catch me on course and said he grabbed my foot and asked if I was okay in the gator. He said I was out of it and was just sprawled out in the back and did not reply. I was in a bad place I should not have been health wise.

So what did just happen? It is pretty simple. I clearly ignored all the warning signs that I was starting to get dehydrated on the bike and chose to ignore them. I eased the pain a little instead of fixing the problem. I didn’t even make an attempt to adjust my hydration needs before the race, knowing good and well it was going to be a barn burner and humid day. I pushed myself through the beginning of the run hoping for some saving turn around when I should have just stopped for a good 15 to 30 minutes and got my body into a condition where I could have at least finished.

Not to mislead my statement above but I don’t believe that race day nutrition has been the key factor in my suffering from dehydration in long races. Rather just the finger that bushed the clasping structural wall down. This offseason will be spent dissecting what I can improve on outside of just doing what is written down for a workout. So next year I come back stronger than ever.
 This season though was not doom and gloom. It has been my best racing and training season to date, though the ending was not the icing on cake finish wise. I notched 2 age group winning podiums, my first overall win and finished in the top 10 in all my races this year, with the exception of IM Choo. I had the honor of representing Snapple Triathlon Team and its sponsors – Xterra Wetsuits, First Endurance, Garneau, Sweatvac, Rudy Project, and Trainingpeaks this year as an ambassador and hope I represented the team well. A huge thank you to my coach Adam Otstot for continuing to push me and bringing me to the start lines at each race in better fitness then I ever thought I would reach. The biggest I love you to my wife, Kristi, and my girls for always being there and being supportive of my goals.

What keeps going and more important then a race!!

Finally, don’t think IM Choo got the last of me, as I will be back to demolish the course and leave on my terms.

2016 Rev3 Williamsburg Olympic

Sometimes Luck Plays into a Win

Rev3 Williamsburg Olympic was suppose to be my first triathlon of the 2016 season (and first olympic distance race) but 4 weeks earlier I made a race morning call and decided to go and race the Jamestown International. While my mom was in town. That call turned out to be a pretty good one as I placed 4th overall with little training in the books and coming off a marathon break period. Based on how I raced I knew with an additional 4 weeks of healthy training I was going to give some guys a run for the money at Rev3.

Race
Race morning began pretty early with my one my training partners and teammate Steve Smith and his wife picking me up at 4:30 to head to the race site. We arrived around 5:15 and once there we headed over to transition to set up the our bikes and layout the shoes, which took a whopping 15 minutes. Being that my race did not start until 7:40 I had a lot of time to kill. I walked around and scoped out some of the competition, chatted with fellow Snappler's and training partners and made my way to the swim start to watch the half distances athletes. At the half swim start I caught up with my coach, Adam Otstot, and chatted briefly about my race. Essentially the conversation was "the heat looks like it is going to hold off so should I go for it or lay back some as planned?" "Go for it",was the response. Given those words I was off to start my warm up and get ready to race.

After completing some warm up stretches and a jog I zipped on my speedy XTERRA Speedsuit and jump in the water for a quick swim warmup before the first wave of the Olympic begin, Pro Women. While warming up I noticed the current was ripping in favor of the swim. I didn't notice this for the half athletes but apparently it was there. A few hundred yards of swimming and I made my way back to the dock to wait for my wave to start. Once my wave was called I positioned myself in the front row and middle of the pack. This is where I wanted to be to start the race. At all my other open water starts I have tentatively positioned myself in 2nd or 3rd row settled for a slow start and swimming mediocre throughout. But, what I have learned as I have progressively gotten faster is if I want to be competitive I have to come out of the water closer to the top swimmers for any chance at a top spot.

As we waited for our horn to go off the ripping current made it a challenge to stay behind the start line. I think I swam a hundred yards just trying to stay behind the start line. Once the horn went off I went out hard, maybe to hard, determined to stay with the top swimmers at least for the first 200 - 300 yards.

I think I lasted 200 hundred yards before I wanted to gasp for a breath every half stroke. Once I told myself too fast I calmed down and went about my swim pattern, stroke, stroke, stroke, breath, repeat... The only eventful thing that I remember from the swim was as I made my way around the first turn buoy I noticed someone under it and also a kayak with a women yelling something and noticing other competitors cutting the turn short. The guy around the buoy would come into play later in the race and women happen to be Steve's wife Kelly who was volunteering as a swim lifeguard.  (Swim: 18:22, 30th overall)

Coming out of the swim fellow training/teammate Adam Frager shouted out top 10. I thought to myself "man I don't see anyone in front of me going to transition how far are they ahead?" I made quick work in and out of transition and made my mind up I was going to press and go after the leaders. Once out on the bike I quickly remembered there is no way I was going to be able to tell what position I was in and if I was catching the lead riders until the last few miles of the bike. As the olympic and half bike courses took the same route for the first 15 miles and we would riding through the slower half athletes from bike start to the splitting point.

I pressed the first few miles passing several half and a couple olympic athletes which livened up my mood even more. As I started to settle myself down in the wattage my uber biking/tri mate Steven Keller came flying by me. My thoughts "WHAT???" before I could react he was a good 10 seconds ahead of me. Then came another right by in a blue tri suit. It took me a few seconds but it dawned on me I knew or remembered that suit from somewhere. Randomly I spent the next mile or so trying to remember where I knew the guy or suit from. Then it hit me that was Christopher Stock, he won Rev3 Half last year, and I rode most of the half with him until my knee started to act up. Once I remembered who it was and with Steven slowly riding away I had to up my game. It took a little bit to catch up but once I did I decided to pass. As I did Steve gave me the comment "if your passing me you better go", in a stern tone:) I knew it meant business so I put my head down and went.

The 3 of us would exchange positions all the way until we made the left back unto Rt. 5. Once we hit Rt. 5 we caught the lead rider. We quickly learned he was a bit of a wheel sucker!!!  As one of us would pass the guy would draft for a while then try and pass and slow down cause he couldn't hold the wattage. It got very annoying so once I made my way to the lead I put in a big surge to try and break him but it didn't work. Keller passed me saying he is still sucking your wheel but we were gaining some time on Stock. Coming into the last the miles of the bike I pressed pretty hard to try and gain a little more time. (1:04:15, 3rd Fastest/First of the bike)

Into transition Adam was there again to give me a heads up yelling out first off the bike. Just like T1 T2 went smooth with the exception of putting on my race belt. One piece of advice my coach as given is always try to keep moving in transition. So for this I always put my race belt on while I am running out of transition instead of putting it on in transition while I am stopped. This race I decided to carry a bottle of water and trying to run and snap the race belt around me with only one full hand was a pain. I took me until about half way up the bridge until I had the race belt on. But once on it was go time.


As I made my way down the hill I could hear foot steps. I turned around and looked to see the wheel sucker a few seconds behind me. Really I just killed my legs to drop this guy and now he is going to out run me. Ahhh. As we passed mile 1 (6:10) I could barely hear the foot steps and I settled into a good hard breathing rhythm. I knew from training runs I could not use my watch for pace as it would fluctuate bad through the trees. I used the mile markers and effort for pacing . I clocked passed mile 2 (~6:14) and hit the turnaround. Coming back I had 20 second lead over 2nd place at the time. As I passed mile 3 (~6ish pace) I noticed a runner coming towards me who was absolutely flying. He looked at is watch and then me and said he was coming. Man calling me out. That made me turn up clocking in my fastest miles 4 and 5 at around the 5:45 range. I as came to the backside of the bridge I looked back for the first time since coming down and the guy who said he was coming sure was at about 30 seconds behind. I made my way up and to the bottom. Once at the bottom the volunteer said turn around here and go back up and I did. I took about 5 steps up the bridge and seen 2nd place coming down and I knew something wasn't right. I turned back and came back  yelling I am an olympic athlete which way. Everyone was confused then finally someone said just keep running around transition. By that time 2nd place as at the bottom so it was an all out sprint to the finish. As we rounded transition and down the back straight I got a little gap back. Turning into the finishing straight I could here the announcer "From team Snapple you first male finisher from Newport News Virginia Jason Bridges". The chills came down my arms and legs. My wife holding one of my kids, Dinah Oliver holding the other, and Adam Frager all yelling I as I crossed the finish line just 13 seconds ahead of 2nd. (37:14, 1st overall)

I finished 2:01:31 setting a huge PR of over 5 minutes from previous just 4 weeks earlier. On a course that was 3 miles longer on the bike and was my first ever overall triathlon win but like my first overall running race win I did not get to break the tape :( As this time the Pro Woman got to break it and with my half marathon I was finishing with 5k runners who already broke the tape. Hopefully I'll get to break some tape one day.

Before I get to my race takeaways I revert back to the guy on the buoy. It turns out after chatting with the finishers the guy on the buoy was the 2nd place finisher Robert Fain. He had gotten tangled with the buoy rope and a boat member had to jump in and cut him away from it. At that time Kelly was on her paddle board yelling at athletes to cut around the buoy because they could not get to him. I talked with Robert some more and it turns out he is an elite swimmer (he still beat me out of the water even after being tied up) and runner (I call that Otstot running speed) and had it not been for the buoy mishap who knows if I would have beat him.
Sometimes Luck Plays into a Win

Race Takeaways
1. My swim is obviously the worst of the 3 sports. If I want to be competitive for top finishes the swim needs be an area of concentration and not just maintenance in the future.

2. Continue to start with the top swimmers. That is the best way to get a good start. 

3. My new bike set up, courtesy of Dave Luscan, is a whole new world. I have never felt so good running after biking. My previous 2 seasons I have struggled with tired legs no matter what the distance on the run and so far I have felt great on all my bricks and races

Huge thanks to my wife and kids for their support, my coach Adam Otstot for the continued pushing and guidance (Got my first win!!!!!), the Snapple Triathlon Team, Xterra Wetsuits, Rudy Project, First Endurance, LG, and Sweatvac.

Congrats to all the other Snapplers and Otstothotshots we crushed some dreams on the course and took several podiums.

Whats Next?
Another rematch with Rev3 Pocono Half and then IM Chatt.

What's the Big Deal Boston??

September 30, 2015 post Boston qualification release when I suspect 99.9% of the people who made the final cut were head over heals I had mixed feeling spurred by a few factors. 1. None of the people I knew who applied got in.  :(  Meaning I would be enduring most of the build up and racing the Boston solo. 2. I had just signed up for Ironman Chattanooga 2016 and I knew trying to race a marathon and an Ironman in the same year was going to be really tough.

Training
My training for Boston went extremely well. I hit all my key workouts and crushed all the lead up races. I even incorporated several key changes in my training that I think will benefit me huge as I continue to progress in the endurance world:

1. I increased my average running cadence from mid 160's to high 170's. This was something I did on my own with a lot of patience and having new found running partner, my watch metronome.
2. I did substantially more PT/strength training and countless hours of rolling out those nagging knots and tight spots.
3. I adapted some "free" running at least once a week without a watch. If I did have a watch I only used time. A quote from Allstar Coach Adam Otstot,  "Don't become a slave to your watch."
I challenge everyone to try it out. It is very enlightening once you start to do it routinely.
4. The most important change made was my approach to easy/routine runs. I went much much easier on all of them this year. As opposed to last year I would force myself to run every single run at or right above the high end of the prescribed pace no matter how I felt. This year I let the easy runs be easy and challenged myself on the interval, tempo and pace runs.

Race Morning
If you have never been or read about the Boston Marathon, the race starts at 10:00 a.m.  There is a catch, however, you "have to" ride the school bus from Boston Commons to the start in Hopkinton. The buses leave as early as 6:30a.m. depending on your wave. So 10 a.m. seems like a day to sleep in but that is not the case. The early bus ride to the start line begins the surreal day. When you arrive in Hopkinton you are staged outside in a field and treated with some music, water, food and other runners' stories as you wait  2+ hours for the start of the race. 

5 o'clock wake up!!

The Race
This year's race weather was on the warm side starting in the high 60's to low 70's.  There was not a cloud in site, beautiful beaming sun, and about 13-17 mph NE wind, head wind for the race. A spectator's dream weather.  :)

Walking up to the start I kept telling myself,  slow for the first 4 and then into pace. I was in wave 1, corral 3 to start. I was not fast enough to get lined up in the front and was forced almost to the back of the corral. This made it difficult during the start of the race to get any running room.

Miles 1-4: Easy, Easy, Easy (6:53, 6:40, 6:33 & 6:39)
The first 4 miles were congested, which would be the case until about mile 10, but it made running easy to begin  with no problem. I checked off the first 4 miles right where I needed to be. Yessss!!!! I didn't PR my 5K going down hill!!!!

Miles 5-8: Searching for a Partner with no luck (6:28, 6:27, 6:24, & 6:26)
Once I clicked past mile 4 and into 5 I started to open up the legs into marathon pace. In doing so I found out real quick that finding a rhythm and a running lane was going to be difficult with 3,000+ runners in front of me.  Also, starting in the back of my corral put me with a lot of runners pacing slightly slower then I had planned. As I bobbed and weaved through the stampede I searched and searched for a running partner or group at my pace but had no luck. I made it through 8 slightly slower than goal pace but felt smooth and under control.

Miles 9-11: You should have paid more Attention, Running Partners at last and clearing of the sea!! (6:23, 6:26 & 6:27)
At the mile 9 nutrition station I had 2 things happen that I distinctly remember. First, I started to notice runners around me drenched in sweat and complaining about the heat. However, even though I noticed this I still didn't think twice about what my sweat or body was doing. Mentally and  physically I thought I felt fine, so I keep going. Oh, I did start by saying there was not a cloud in the sky, nice beaming sun, 70°, and a 13-17 mph head wind, that is probably a good combination for sweat to dry quick into that granular salt that sticks to your cloths and makes your body a human salt stick.

The 2nd mile 9 memory was I over heard a pair of guys running by me saying they were pacing 6:20 until mile 17. "Yes!" I made my way to them.  I did a quick meet and greet and off we went. Finally as we clicked through mile 10 the parting of the sea happened and there was day light for running room. We continued pace through most of mile11 with no problems.

Mile 11.7: Please No :(
Mile 11.7 is the first on-course gel station. As I went to grab a gel I dropped it. Being kind, I guess, I stopped to pick it up instead of grabbing one from the next volunteer. As I bent down my left hamstring cramped up and almost brought me to my knees. I stood up and tried running a few steps but couldn't. I stopped and stretched it out until the cramp went away and I went on. All I could think was, "No, please no."  I just wanted to catch back up with my pace group and see what happens.

Miles 12-15: Maybe it was just a Glitch? (6:29, 6:25 & 6:24)
It took me about a half mile to catch the 2 guys I was running with, but once I latched on I was able to kind of recompose myself and asses the situation. I checked myself by touching my hat.  It didn't feel wet. My jersey felt dry and my face had no sweat. "Maybe the cramp was just a glitch. Refocus on running ,Jason," I told myself.

I passed the half way mark clocking in at 1:25:30 and I thought, "You are killing this. Right on pace for sub 2:50:00." The cramp had not came back so I figured I just had to keep the groove and get ready for the up hills.

Miles 15-16: Not a glitch and something is not right (6:33 & 6:38)
During mile 15 the hamstring cramp came back and I had to detach from my new running friends.  I made it to 16 fighting the cramp on and off with a my mood turning from your killing this to what is happening. As I continued my limp run down mile 16 I came to the, "You're entering Newton" sign and my mood shifted even worse. "I can't believe this. I put in months of training, killing workouts and now there are so many tracking me and watching my pace fall as I'm cramping, and now I have to go up these hills." As I got to the bottom of 16 I could see the first hill going up and around a bend and I told myself to just make it through the hills and I'll be okay on the down hills. With a hamstring cramp I would be using more of the quads.

Miles 17-21: Man that hurt but I made it! (6:39, 6:46, 6:42, 6:55 & 7:58)
Up the first hill I went, Mile 17.  Up the second, a little slower and little more painful, Mile 18. As I came down the second hill I couldn't believe my eyes. I had caught, gave a little "let's go", and passed my 2 pacing pals. Up the third hill I went, man that was a steep short one, Mile 20. Then Heart Break tore my cramp up but thankfully I made it dragging my legs with me, Mile 21.

Miles 22-23: ,down hill and starting to bring it home (7:07 & 7:27) 
Made it over the Heart Break Hills and started the decend into Boston. I thought I would be able to run a little faster using my quads but the cramps in my hamstring really didn't go away and slowly moved into my back and forearms (a good sign that I missed on my nutrition somewhere along the lines).


Mile 24: When is this going to be over (8:22)
As I hit mile 24 I was greeted with a huge gust of cold wind from the bay that just rocked my body and I came to a complete stand still on the course.  I took a few steps hearing the cheers and numerous people yelling, "Go Snapple. You're Almost There" and "I Love Snapple". All I could think was when is this going to be over. I took a few more strides but couldn't shake the cramps. I went to one of the course barriers and stretched my hamstrings, back, and forearms for what seemed like forever and then continued my march to the end.


Miles 25 to the Grand Finale (7:45, 7:34......2:59:19)
When I hit the final mile I yelled out, "Thank Goodness", and got some laughs from those around me. As I made my way down Boylston I did my best impression of a runner with a little limp jog finishing in 2:59:19.

As I made my way down what seemed like a mile long walk from finish to where I was meeting my wife I had a lot of emotions and personal thinking going on. At first as I was bummed with how 40% of the race went and that I didn't even come close to what I wanted to run.   But then about half through my walk I was over taken by what I had really just done. I ran the Boston Marathon!!   How many people can say that?? Well, probably a lot but I ran most the course with a relentless hamstring cramp, still finished under 3 hours, and made another BQ.   I would say that's pretty respectable for an okay age grouper!  So I was pretty stoked with the results even though I obviously struck out on my nutrition and paying attention to my body and thoughts early on. The race weekend was an awesome experience from start to finish.

Post race able to stand.

Race take aways/suggestions
1. I need to figure out my cramping/nutrition issues during longer warmer races. I kind of had the same thing happen at the One City Marathon just several miles later into race. A puzzle I need to work with my coach on.

2. I need to pay more attention to my body and weather conditions. Even though I didn't feel wet or really bad until the ending miles during the race, afterwards my face and arms were covered in dried sweat and my jersey was starched stiff from the dried sweat. It was pretty apparent that the wind was drying the sweat as I ran and I didn't take notice of it.

3. Enjoy the moment it may only happen once.

4. Every race needs spectators like Boston!! They literally lined the course from start to finish.

5. I would highly recommend doing a lot of long downhill running. Not 1/4 mile or so repeats but a mile or 5k repeats at race pace or faster on a treadmill or if your lucky enough to have down hills that mimic Boston go do them.

What's the big deal Boston?
April 19, 2016!  Why in the world did I have mixed feelings? That was the most amazing experience I have ever had racing!! The Boston Marathon experience is a big deal and if you get the chance go relish it because it could be a once in a lifetime experience.

The "Green Monster" was so big!!

What's Next
A good whole 1-2 week break, getting back with my true love triathletes :) , and focusing on IM Chattanooga.

Huge shout out to my wife and kids, Kristi, Kenly & Kayden, for always supporting my goals and hobbies. Thanks to the Snapple Tri  team and sponsors! It is always fun representing such a great team. As always got to give respect to a great Coach Adam Otstot. Thanks for continue to push me and we got some work to do for Chattanooga!!!