End of a Great Year

2008 In Review…


30 races from February - December

15 1st place overall finishes

9 different states raced in (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, Alabama, Arizona, Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri)

3 different countries raced in (USA, Belgium, Italy)

3 new PR’s ( 1:09 ½ marathon, 1:58 Olympic Tri, 4:19 Half Ironman)



….so as you can see the 2008 racing season was full of success and A LOT of traveling. 2008 was first of all a breakthrough season in terms of racing triathlons. For the past few season, I have stuck to duathlons because of the great success that I experienced. I raced on a few elite world championship teams and figured that it was my sport. After doing a few tris’s..I realized that those were my true passion. The challenge of learning and improving in three areas never ceases. There are always days when I tell myself how much better I can be with hard work, dedication, support, and an itch to learn all aspects of the three disciplines. This past year I feel that I learned a great deal about the sport. First and foremost…I have a lot of work to do in the pool in order to become what I want to be. Looking at results from each triathlon that I participated in ranging from the small to large...the swim is what is holding me back from making it to the next level. I was able to consistently place in the top 10 for the major triathlons (Hyvee, Chicago, Lifetime, Collegitate Nationals) while still giving up 5-6 minutes to the leaders on the swim. Sure...I do not expect to become as good as them in the water in a few days, but I do realize that in time, with continued training and direction, I will be able to reduce my swim split. And in return that will cut down the barrier that is holding me back from becoming a consistent top 3 overall…if not overall…finisher in each Olympic distance triathlon that I enter.

As most people do during the new year, I made a resolution to start swimming greater distances and more frequently. For the upcoming season, I will have the support of Well-Fit Triathlon to guide me in the right direction and will give me a group of individuals to push and make improvements in the water. My goal by February is to start swimming 7-9 times per week while cutting back on the running/biking. Don’t get me wrong, I still plan to concentrate on the run and bike, but not as much as in previous years. My run was on par or even better than many of the top professional in the sport. When racing the same course (Chicago, LifeTime) my run 10k split was faster than over 50 percent of the professional racing. I plan to get a little faster with more concentration on speed work. On the bike, my splits have continued to drop. I have noticed this winter that my cycling has developed even more with many hours spent in the saddle. The last part is to bring my swimming to an even playing field with the run and bike.

And that is about it for now. I will update very soon with my new and exciting sponsors for the 2009 season along with a race schedule which is just about finalized!

Good luck with getting through this winter months, stay warm…

-bread