Discovering My Inner Triathlete(Pre-2013 season)

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 considering I lacked any real coordination. But by 6th grade I finally began to show some promise in swimming. I went from mediocre to competing for a spot on the A relay for my team. And although I didn't get the spot that's what gave me the drive to work harder.

That was the beginning of something I would have never seen coming, and happened to start at about the same time as my track career did. I started track the spring of 6th grade year as a 400 meter runner and high jumper. Throughout middle school(6th-8th) I would remain in these events only, and I was fine with that because I was liked them. While track stay pretty consistent, swimming was heating up.

After swimming that winter, I had a new found speed I was ready to use that summer, and that I did. I came back that summer, and set a pool record pretty much any time I hit the water in the freestyle and butterfly. Rounding up the season winning every event I raced at conference, and getting 32 records to my name. I went from not making a relay to a superstar in my conference. So naturally I wanted more and went back winter after winter. Finally, my freshman year rolled around, and after winning in my small conference and YMCA meets all the time I was ready for the next level.

As a freshman I joined the cross country team because I had done a few 5k races the summer before with my dad who had inspired me with all the weight he had lost by running. I was very slow at the beginning, but I had drive so I made Perry's varsity squad. This wasn't saying much because they barely had enough people to fill varsity, but it was a start.

Now that I had finally made it to high school swimming, the 1st place medals and ribbons came a lot more scarcely because of all the great swimming around Iowa. My whole freshman season went this way until the district meet, the biggest meet of my life so far at that point. I was in the 50 yard SCY freestyle against some really big names in Iowa, and I was so scared. I got up on that block and did something I never would have expected. I dropped way over a second and got 2nd with a 22.21. What happened next I didn't see coming either. The guy that won the race was disqualified and I became district champion. I wasn't just going to state, I was going in the fastest heat and the 8th seed. Although state went pretty poorly, it was a major stepping stone for me. That summer I found myself needing more, and joined Central Iowa Swimming club team. This was a new experience because a bunch of crazy fast people were on the team and I got my butt kicked day in and day out by a lot of them. I did get faster though, a lot faster. Along with being a swimmer my freshman year I made another important step in my life, even if I didn't know how important yet.

Another big change in running was track where I was converted to an 800 meter runner because 2 freshman that were a part of the 4x800 in middle school had quit track and they needed someone to fill in. I ended up being a pretty natural 800 runner and was constantly battling it out with a teammate for the top freshman time. Again districts rolled around, and we wanted to go to state. This was quite a task for 3 freshman and 1 junior against senior dominated teams, but everything went perfect and we placed 3rd. With the best race of our life we were in. State again was an experience, and I finished the season with the freshman record of 2:05.

Cross country in the fall went a lot better because I did a bunch of road races in the summer and I wasn't duel sporting with football this year like I had done my freshman year. I was battling it out with a few of our seniors for a top 3 spot on the team, but again the season ended at districts without qualifying for state.

Now it was time for swimming, and I was feeling fast. The feeling were well aligned with what happened in the pool. I was back to winning every race I did. I started off the year basically where I left off time wise in the 50, but all of my other races were catching up level wise. A few weeks into the season the individual power rankings were dominated my Austin Abbas, and I wanted to ruin his perfection. My best shot was in the 50, and at a home meet against Grinnell I did it. After breaking the pool record, I had established myself as the fastest 50 in the state, and the second fastest 100 yard freestyle, in one night. This unfortunately was my peak due to an ear infection the week before districts, that kept me out of the pool the whole week. I continued to fall in rankings through state, and even though I got a medal in the 50 I was very disappointed. Swimming would never be the same for me, but it was on to track next. Track seemed to fly by even though as a relay we were winning races and doing better. So before I knew it, we qualified for state and than it was over.

After my sophomore year I made a decision that would be life changing. In order to open up more doors and get a better education, I moved in with my Dad who lived in Johnston(a 4A versus Perry 3A). It was a hard choice because I love my mom and we had been though a lot together along with my sister, but it was for the best. So that summer leading up to it I began running with cross country team, and I was amazed by the numbers and how close of a team they were. Another thing that surprised me was they all worked extremely hard in practices. At Perry I would run on my own quite a bit because people didn't wanna run the full workout. But here were these people doing way more than we would run at Perry and they enjoyed it. Along with running that summer I began to experiment with triathlons. Although one race went pretty well at Twin lakes, I quickly realized the bike was going to be a big factor and I was missing something. The season was brief however when I got pneumonia mid-season, and couldn't finish the Copper Creek triathlon. I had to be pulled out of the water when I couldn't breath during the swim. My summer was over, and it was on to cross country.

Jeff Fox, my Perry coach was a great coach, but Matt Jaschen the Johnston cross country coach was something else. He had just taken over the team as head coach after being a volunteer coach for a couple years, and he loved his team as if they were brothers. Not only that, but had also brought it to whole new level with his extensive training methods. This was all new to me and I loved it. I had an amazing team led by Alex Hershey, a senior that broke his collarbone before the season in a bike race. I was amazed at how strong and fast he was after the injury, and I wanted every shot I could get a beating him in a race. I shuffled throughout spots on the varsity squad the whole year, and finally districts came around and this time we had a shot at making it to state. We executed everything perfectly, but couldn't quite pull it off as a team. We did send Alex as an individual however, and he claimed the second fastest time in Johnston school history. Now on to swimming again, and it was nothing as I expected.

It was largely a failure, with no personal best the whole season even with a stronger and faster team. It was over as soon as it started, and it was back to track and 4x800. It was another battle for the top 800 spot on the team, but with a twist. Alongside track Alex had convinced me to try out for Z3 triathlon team, and I had made it. So I was throwing swims and cycling classes in as well. It was a pretty good season over all with us qualifying in the 4x800 for both the Drake relays and state. To go with the 4x800, I had also secured a spot in the individual 800. This would have been great if I wasn't burnt out on 800s after doing them every meet year after year. So after junior year state I was looking to move on to new things.

I had my first triathlon with Z3 the day after state track was over, and it stole my focus. It was the Kansas City sprint triathlon, and it was eye opening. I don't recall much of the actual race, but I placed third in my age group and boy was I exhausted after the race. I also realized I loved triathlons right away and Z3 had the pieces to the puzzle I was missing. That year I also traveled to places I had never been before such as Dallas and Monroe to do draft legal races. Again another experience for me, and I realized I could be pretty good at draft legal with Jenny's coaching. I qualified for nationals pretty early on, and when it rolled around I was ready. I had the race of my life and placed 19th after having an amazing bike/run combo.

After that great of race, I was ready for cross country. This was my senior year of cross country and I wanted to go out with a bang. I was a captain and we had a shot to be something great. I started off right after nationals practicing like I had never practiced before, increasing mileage and intensity by leaps and bounds. The first meet finally rolled around, and I was ready to go. It was at Pella and we were racing against some pretty good teams that included a few of my fellow Z3 teammates. Right off the gun we formed a group at the front pack, and I was having a blast. We talked for a while the first mile and then the race picked up intensity. I finished the race 4th with a time that placed me top 10 all time for Johnston. A great way to start the season, and it didn't end there. The season was extremely successful throughout, and I was ranked the whole time. Districts rolled around again and this time we made it. After placing an emotional 4th when I really believed I was faster than that, it was on to state as a team. State went perfectly in all aspects, and after a well executed race I found myself 10th overall, gaining all-state status and the school record with the time of 15:29.

My season opened my eyes to the opportunities I had for college, and after a few weeks of swimming I decided to run for Iowa Central as a Triton. As for swim season, I increased the intensity just as I had in cross country, but it was with no real success for the season. It was a mentally tough and draining season that left me hungry for track to start. Track was, just as cross country was amazing, and by the end of the season I found myself with the 1600 and 3200 meter school records. After being blessed with such amazing senior year, it was time to see what I could really do in triathlon. Please read on in my next blog which recaps my 2013 season. Thank you for your time and support.