Q5: Did you set any specific goals for yourself for the Triathlon?

A: I really wanted to race well. I thought I could possibly crack into the top 100 in my age group and even though that didn't happen, this was definitely the strongest finish I have had at the 70.3 World Championships.

Q6: What was your favorite thing about the trip? 

A: Time with my wife, Skye. She and my children are my greatest supporters. I love that they love to see me race and get excited when I do well. I wouldn't continue racing if they didn't support me the way they do. Skye and I were also celebrating our 20th anniversary with this trip. It was the first time we have traveled together overseas since prior to having children. 

Q7: What were your key takeaways from this experience?

A: One of the reasons I love racing long endurance events is that they pack a life's worth of emotions into an event. Often, within one long course event, I will push myself into so much physical and emotional discomfort that I will think some really dark thoughts, and I will also experience elation and joy, and I will find myself with tears coming to my eyes and sometimes not understanding why. And through all of it, in order to get to the finish, and especially in order to compete at a high level, you have to be able to manage all of this. You can't get too low with the lows or too high with the highs. In long course triathlon racing, just like in life, hard times come and hard times go. You have to learn to weather the storms. In this race, the biggest storm came before the event. Two nights before the race, I discovered a crack in my front wheel that was causing my tire to not be able to hold air. The wheel was not replaceable and after several trips to the mechanic tent, I started to think it was not repairable. I was able to get myself into a space where I became comfortable with the possibility that I might not be able to finish the race. When I put my bike on the rack the night before, I was praying for it to have air in the morning. It did. Then I hoped for a few more hours so it would get me through my ride. It did. But if it didn't, life would still go on. Disappointment would be there, but it would go away, and a new opportunity would come. And what I would be left with is more life skills... the gift to be better at managing those really hard and uncomfortable and stressful times in life that really matter. Triathlon racing is just a game. It is role-playing for real life. And for me, every race is a gift to my toolkit for managing everyday life.