Just wanted to share my season update:
I'm ending this season earlier than I would have liked. Tri for Real #3 this weekend is going to be my last race of 2014. As many of you know, I wanted to see where my times were to see if I could try to earn my pro card at the end of this month. I really don't want to seem as if I'm giving up, because that's not at all what is going on. I simply don't have extra funds for traveling to races and need to plan my races strategically to get the most out of them. Due to the cost of racing (travel, entry fee, etc.), and my times not being quite where I want them, I have opted to skip Nationals and a pro qualification race for this year and save for next year. I am disappointed about not going to Nationals this year, despite having qualified four times. If anyone knows of any airlines and/or hotels that need athletes to sponsor, let them know I'm available and I still have room on my jersey lol. But anyway, all my focus right now is on this weekend and getting in a final PR for the year because improvement is always important.
I'm planning on starting my off season training earlier this year since I'm ending my season earlier, and I'm going to spend a lot of time focusing on my run form since that is my biggest weakness at the moment. My swimming could also stand a few minutes of improvement, so I need to work on that as well.
This year I was trying to get to a qualification race. This is qualification Criteria F: Finish top-3 overall in the amateur field at an Elite Qualifying Race. "All triathlons on US (including territories) and Canadian soil that have a corresponding elite race in the same distance with $20,000 or more in elite prize money shall be Elite Qualifying Races." I couldn't find any races near me in the time frame that I was aiming for this year.
Next year, however, I think I'm going to spread out my racing and start going for the pro card earlier. I'm going to look at Criteria A for 2015: "Finish within 8% of the winning elite time on the same course as the elites (distance and format) in three USAT sanctioned events that offered a prize purse of $5,000 or greater. All three results must be from the same calendar year." Hopefully that will give me more race options closer to home so I won't have to spend as much money on travel. If there are any Criteria F in California, that would be helpful, too! And I also won't be leaving the season to ride on the end. This means I'm going to have to have a killer off-season and really be ready to go hard from the start of 2015.
I am excited that I have been able to make some improvements in my time this year, but I know that I am still capable of improving even more. Thank you to my coach, John Pottebaum, with Total Intensity Sports, my teammates, my sponsor, Gu Energy Labs, my family and friends, and that includes all of you who are reading and sharing in these experiences. :)
See you at Rancho Seco on August 3rd! I also owe you a race report from Tri for Real #2, so I'll combine those at the end.
