Tyson Wieland Racing

So I've had a pretty good summer of racing as a whole in my mind. I've had a few times where I would have changed a few things, but no races that were "bad". Nationals and the Super Sprint were rough, and by default two races with in a couple hours of each other should be. However, I could have thought through exactly what I was getting into before the race instead of just banking on my endurance to make doing two races back to back easy. To go along with the double a few other factors were at hand in my race results. Normally Nationals has naturally been my goal peak race of the season, but this year was more about the spread throughout the summer. I wanted to perform at every race I could, and not really focus in on one. So with such a great summer under my belt and cross country season already underway nationals kind of got put on a back burner. The week preceding the race I had cross country camp in northern WI, so I Friday I just had to drive down to Milw...

My training on the bike and in the water for age group nationals was quite minimal. However compared to Hy-Vee 5150 National Championships it was pretty large, with cross country in full swing I had to focus on running and hadn't swam or bike for 3 weeks. So it came as sort of a relief when they announced it was being cut down to a sprint Triathlon even though I love the added distance usually. So the day before the race was getting back on the horse right before the derby with anytime to really seeing what my fitness levels were in each discipline. I did this with Connor Dilger at the race venue, Beautiful downtown Des Moines at Grey's Lake/Waterworks which I train at all the time. So you could say I had a home field advantage. The ride goes pretty good, my legs move smoothly through the pedal strokes. We get a solid ride in and take our bikes to the bike check in, something I have become familiar this year since moving out of the Junior Ranks. After the ride we aim to go swim...

So with my world record the 18-19th I ran out of time to write this blog and have taken a mental break from that point to now to just focus on training. Now with school started and my brain working again, I am ready to write down my reflection of Boulder Peak 5150 (and nationals soon). This race did not to take as much explaining or thinking as Chicago because it was pretty straight forward what went well and what I need to improve. So here we go on my first race at altitude! The adventure to CO starts Wednesday afternoon where we drive part way and stay at a hotel in Kearney, NE. The hotel was a bit too small for our expanded travel group (my step-mom and two younger brothers came with my dad and I), but we make it work. We hit the road the next morning and arrive in Longmont, CO in the afternoon. The last time I had been driving through CO I was sleeping so I this was my first time really seeking CO breathtaking landscape. Luckily since we arrived early I was able get dropped...

So I've been waiting to write this until my long ride to Boulder, CO. Not just because I was putting it off, but I wanted to really take the time that had with my first weekend off of the summer and reflect on the race and triathlon in general. I have perplexed many people with my disappointment in my performance. (Spoiler Alert) A 9th place overall finish and a 2nd place AG finish to the Overall winner. I also got a personal best time for the Olympic distance by cutting off about 8 minutes from my 2:06 performance in Trinona earlier this summer. The reason I am torn about my performance boils down to a few key points. I want more and always want more. Being that this was my first race after earning my Pro card, I wanted to prove why I earned it. I wanted to Win it all. I will tell you the other reasons throughout the post. So the journey starts the day before the race as my Dad and I set out on the drive to Chicago. This goes pretty smooth and without any real events besides a qui...

For three years in a row I have been blessed to be able to travel out to Monroe, WA to compete in TriMonroe. It is by far one of my favorite races and it is bittersweet that this is my last time competing in it. This year was am EDR race in comparison to Junior the last two years. After finishing 4th last year, this year was a chase for a top 2 podium and a pro card. The weekend kicked off bright and early with a flight that landed us in Seattle Thursday morning. WA is just as beautiful as I remember and breath of fresh air for sure. Arriving so early made for a pretty long relaxing day off. I get pretty antsy on days off, this one especially since I hadn't had a full day off in months. My teammates filter and in and I assembled my bike so it was ready for my Pre-race Friday. I also get some food for the weekend as well as my stable Pre-race hydration Nuun. One of those pretty flight pictures Friday rolls around and after sleeping in a bit. I grab some food off the hotels complimen...

Beautiful Winona, MN is the location of my first Olympic distance triathlon. However, before we get to the race I'm going to start with the events leading up to it. This weeks training leading up to the race was better than last weekends, but still a rough one for me with a few unexpected events coming up. I had some really good runs lately which is really the key to my races. Once I arrive the day before the race, I pick up my packet, listen to the race briefing, and head to the race course to do my pre-race. Upon arrival of the course I am greeted by a beautiful lake with a bluff to match. I snap a quick picture and take it all in before staring my warm up. Lake Winona I warm up all three disciplines without anything out of the ordinary, except a bit of fatigue in my legs. I check out the transition area and finish line quickly before heading off to dinner by myself. I enjoy some of the local food and head over to my gracious host family Kevin and Beth Anne Feine. Special shout o...

So as I finish up my first weekend of racing this summer I have mixed feelings all over the board from bad to good. I started the weekend a little bit nervous that my performances would wouldn't be up to par because of being very sluggish at the beginning of the week, along with a "tempo" run that was far from my normal on Monday and not in the right direction. However, ultimately the disipline I was most worried about is my strength so I mentally over powered the sluggishness starting with the Dam to Dam 5k on Saturday. I woke up that morning feeling slightly better than I had the previous days. I had the night in downtown Des Moinesjust  blocks away from the start of my race. So with no rush I throw on my running uniform and head out for a warm up. It is a pretty warm and muggy morning, so I am able to break a sweat easy during my warm up and stretches. This is perfect because being sluggish I knew the start of the race would be harder due to taking a bit longer to get ...

The title of this post as quoted by William Arthur Ward is one of my favorite quotes of all time. Not only because it tells us that failures are crucial to success, but it all tells us that sometimes things are going to rough, very rough. However, even if the hard times last for 1, 2, or plenty more races that at some point not giving up on your dreams will be the difference in the end. The beauty is that comebacks happen all the time, and the break through race is just around the corner. This is what I am taking from my freshman year of running in college. I had a few ups, but the downs, lets just say I have plenty to share with others. Coming off of my senior year of high school running career which was a huge leap in the right direction towards being a great runner, I thought that it would just continue to progress so quickly and there was no way I wouldn't get better. Well I was wrong. While I was hitting times in workouts that were way quicker than high school, I was way more ...

Clermont EDR weekend was finally upon me, and after taking some last minute tests before departing all I had left before I was in beautiful sunny Florida for my second year in a row was one thing. A 22 hour drive from Fort Dodge, IA to my hotel near the race site. I had flown for several hours before and driven to triathlons as far 10, but this was an adventure my dad and I set out together Thursday 2 days before the race. Once we left the -5 degree weather Iowa was offering us, I had goals in mind for the ride to keep prepared for the races. First off I knew that I wanted my legs to stay fresh throughout the ride, so I wore my CEP recovery socks and I knew those would do the trick along with a few jump up and down when we stopped, so I checked that off the list. Next, I knew Clermont was going to be far from what I had been used in terms of weather. So I was going to have to HYDRATE like crazy! Luckily I was prepared before we left Fort Dodge with my favorite pre-race hydration tool,...

In the beautiful peninsula of Florida, in the city of Clermont is where my season began at the Draft-Legal Clermont EDR(Elite Development Race). Coming from Iowa where getting above 50 degrees is a challenge Florida was a breath of fresh air for sure. Warming up I noticed that my assumptions the day before were correct, I was one of the only athletes without a wetsuit. I didn't let this really bother me though and looked at the positives such as the fact I could have the fastest transition from swim to bike pretty easily. The race starts and the swim is a typical swim in which I came out of the water a very cold 38th place, but I quickly sprinted up the beach and into transition. Claiming the fastest transition 1 of the day in the process. On to the bike I quickly was able to organize a group and have a strong bike, but this is where I ran into some trouble that day. I had lost my water bottle before the race somehow so after a strong bike I came off to the run but had bad shin spl...

As the 2014 season rolls around the corner, and the triathlons start up again. I want to reflect on my story and how I got to where I am now. It is pretty lengthy as most life stories are, but I hope mine can interest you. I am 19 year old (race age 20 this year), and I have been in sport for 3 years. To get where I am now I had to start somewhere, and it all began with swimming. I started swimming for a swim team at a very young age, and was mediocre at best. I was a part of the Iowa West Swim Conference, on Perry Iowa's Summer Swim Team. I was always fighting to get a relay spot, but for the most part my early years were just for fun and to stay active over the summer. Along with being a swimmer, I did what many other kids did. I tried all the common sports such as baseball, basketball, football, wrestling, and soccer. I noticed right off the gun that I wasn't the greatest at any of these, but I wanted to be the star player. That wasn't going to happen though co...