我为2019年新西兰铁人三项赛的准备工作充满了学习经验、平衡行为和几个第一次。这次铁人比赛标志着我在指导大学游泳时第一次试图训练成为铁人。在上一个游泳赛季结束时，当我决定离开达特茅斯学院的全职工作，去追求成为一名职业铁人三项运动员的梦想时，我心里想的是，我将从教练生涯中抽出整整一年的时间，完全专注于训练/比赛。就像生活中的许多事情一样，每当你认为自己有了计划，现实就会给你一巴掌。在我的案例中，现实是，要达到专业水平需要超过一年的时间，而且钱不是从树上长出来的(该死)。搬到加州波莫纳后不久，我遇到了CMS学院的总教练查理·格里菲斯，并与他成为了朋友。起初，我并没有打算在那里工作，我只是觉得他是个好人，而且我喜欢用那里的游泳池。然后他的三个助理都换了别的职位，长话短说，他问我是否愿意兼职做他的助理教练。起初，我对做出这个决定很纠结;我真的需要从教练的工作中解脱出来，但与此同时，我知道我真的很喜欢为他工作，并在CMS指导学生运动员。

培训仍然是我的首要任务，所以即使是兼职工作，我也知道没有理由不进行完美的培训，充分利用这个独特的机会。在整个冬天，我采用的最有效的时间管理技巧之一就是计划好每一天的每一个小时，这样我不仅可以向自己证明这一切都是合适的，而且这样我就不会浪费精力去反复思考每天该怎么做。我制定了计划，坚持执行并完成了工作。私下里，我也讨厌休息时间，所以从日出忙到日落，经常是忙几个小时，这让我很开心，让我觉得我从生活中得到了最大的收获。显然，在我的理想世界里，这只需要训练，但一次只需要一步。

在比赛前的两周，我做了一些事情，让我的生活比人们想象的要稍微艰难一些。在比赛前13天的最后一次长途骑行中，我把自行车撞坏了，开始了为期两周的“瘦身”计划。在一次IM练习中，我在雨中的白线上犯了一个愚蠢的错误，滑了一个很长的滑梯，导致我的左臀部起了一点皮疹。我几乎不敢相信我做到了，情绪的波动有时是压倒性的，我如此努力地工作，为了这个，我真的只是在比赛前两周摔坏了自行车吗?幸运的是，路上的皮疹是最糟糕的，这当然是不舒服的两周，但我没有受伤。我没有撞到我的头，除了一些普遍的疼痛，我主要只是割伤了。此外，当你完全靠自己崩溃时，会对自我造成一点打击，这是一个很好的提醒，永远不要失去注意力，即使是片刻。尽管发生了车祸，我还是按计划完成了一切，虽然我在比赛中带着绷带，但我不认为这对我的表现有任何影响，但显然我可以在没有皮肤和额外压力的情况下完成比赛。

第二大障碍是在CMS赛季结束后的联盟赛中担任教练。我在这个赛季的大部分时间都是兼职，这意味着我每天工作3-5个小时。当你增加训练的时候，这个时间表肯定会导致很长的时间，但它绝对是可行的;其他许多国家在承诺更多的情况下取得了巨大的成果。会议的日程安排就不那么宽容了，这意味着在IMNZ之前的一周，我要经常站着，全身心地投入到教练的训练中。说实话，我没有处理好这件事。我知道那四天的会议将会干扰我的训练，但我没有在心理上做好准备，而是有点心烦意乱，浪费了精力，希望我是在休息而不是指导。飞往新西兰的前一周无疑是一次学习的经历;当涉及到我的车祸和我的工作责任时，我本可以更专注于当下，接受现实。在周日的比赛结束时，我感觉完全被打败了。 Thinking back now this was irrational but it was hard, to get out of my own head in the moment. As soon as the meet was over, I drove straight to LAX and I can honestly say I have never been so happy to get on a plane! I proceeded to sleep for the entire 13 hour flight and landed in New Zealand feeling better than when I got on the plane. This race was also unique in that I had a new travel buddy, Cary Peele, my girlfriend Nyssa’s father and constant supporter of my Triathlon goals and efforts. I can safely say I do not know how I would have gotten through this race without his help. He not only calmed me down when I showed up to the airport in a distressed state, but he also helped me recharge my batteries the first few days in New Zealand and by Wednesday I felt like a completely different person. I cannot thank him enough. The last two days prior to race day were full of rest and positive vibes; I was confident in my preparation and ready to race hard.

比赛的早晨很平静，一切都按计划进行。和许多比赛的早晨一样，早上4点开始，洗了个热水澡，继续为比赛加油。陶波的天气一开始是凉爽的47华氏度，这对我来说是最理想的天气了，尤其是我从冬天一直旅行到新西兰夏末。在找到一个隐蔽的停车位后，我前往过渡区，晾干自行车上的露水，检查轮胎，戴上头盔，最后一次检查齿轮(这些事情实际上从来都不是完美的)，给自行车补充营养，总之就是让自己做好准备。完成了所有的赛前任务，还有时间，我回到车里热身，和凯里一起放松。我可以自信地说，这是我在比赛前最冷静的时候，我知道我比以前训练得更好，我有伟大的伙伴，我在一个美丽的国家，我在实现我的梦想，还有什么比这更好的呢?距离比赛开始还有不到一个小时的时间，大家的情绪都很激动。我试图保持放松，专注于过程，忽略其他。在这种情况下，这意味着在我身体的所有重要部位添加凡士林、三滑石和防晒霜，然后穿上潜水服。在过去的几场比赛中，我一直穿着我的潜水服，我的三套件一半卷下来; it has been a big improvement in comfort while swimming. I likely would not waste the time in transition to doing this on races shorter than a half but in terms of comfort and swimming with a more natural stroke, I think this will be my game plan for the longer course races. At this point, nothing left to do other than that whole Ironman thing; time to race.

下水是一种奇怪的平静体验，每个人都很平静地鱼入水中，人们实际上都呆在起跑浮标后面，我有足够的空间在起跑前游泳几分钟;很奇怪，但我随时都愿意接受这个安排。枪响了，我记得要看表，我就走了。我奋力游了大约30秒，才进入了我想要的努力和呼吸模式。陶波湖是游泳最理想的地方，清澈的湖水可以看到湖底，简单的来回路线，风越刮越高，游泳能力较弱的人就会被淘汰。我的游泳目标是保持放松，保持高节奏，腿上不费力，找到舒适的呼吸节奏。我可以高兴地告诉大家，所有这些事情都发生了。我很快找到了清澈的海水，独自游了差不多整个过程。当我们游过一个从湖里取水的进水管时，我吓了一大跳，这是我最害怕的事，但我设法没有失去它，理智地考虑了当时的情况。我的呼吸从来没有像这次铁人三项比赛中那样放松过，我在那里玩得很开心。 For the majority of the swim there were two other athletes swimming more or less my pace but for whatever reason they were swimming way off the buoys so I just let them do their own thing. The chop in the water made arm speed essential as some strokes felt great, other felt like I went nowhere but I did my best to stay calm and just keep constant pressure backwards. As we reached the end of the swim a group of about five of us converged and I was able to find some feet and cruise the last minute or so into transition. Swim split was a 51:18. I headed out of the water feeling like I got things off on the right foot.

游泳的出口直接通向穿过停车场的长距离跑步，爬上一段陡峭的楼梯，最后进入更衣帐篷。和往常一样，志愿者们都很棒，他们帮我打开包，穿上袖子，让我保持积极向上的状态。我走到自行车旁，把它从车架上拿下来，马上就有两个人朝我大喊大叫，朝我跑过来。我戴头盔前碰了碰自行车，这可真是个小错误，所以我被罚了一分钟。他们似乎很满意能抓到人。我保持冷静，做了几次深呼吸，对两位官员笑了笑，还没反应过来，我就上路了。

我在自行车上的计划是在第一圈正常250瓦，然后尝试在后半段增加约5瓦，因为其他人可能会逐渐消失。在前30分钟的大部分时间里，这种努力感觉很平淡，这正是我想要的。我立即开始补充能量，让我的身体适应在自行车上。自行车第一圈的凉爽温度非常适合降低我的核心温度，但这意味着我的心率监测器不太好使，最大的问题是双手麻木。我差一点就掉了我的主要营养瓶，它含有大约1000卡路里的碳水化合物和scratch，这是很难替代的。我笨手笨脚地把它放回笼子里，最后把瓶子压在我的下管的一边，感觉是永恒的，但实际上可能只有几秒钟;躲过了一劫。麻木的手也使抓住芯片密封条比在温暖的日子更难。第一圈的大部分时间我都在和另一个运动员骑自行车，我们很快就把自己和其他几个和我们一起游泳的人拉开了距离。在每个救助站，我要么拿一瓶水补充我前面的蓄水池，要么拿一瓶运动饮料放在我打开的笼子里。 I dropped one gel early so grabbed an on-course gel to supplement but other than that everything went exactly to plan from a nutritional point of view. As we headed back into town to complete the first lap, the wind really started to kick up. From what I could judge, it seemed to almost always be coming from about 45 degrees of yaw, nice tailwind on the way out and a brutal headwind on the way back to town, always leaning. I knew this would be the case and I constantly reminded myself to stick to the numbers, disregard the chip seal and the wind, just stick to the numbers. The second lap was certainly not as “perfect” as the first in terms of flat power output, but I was happy with how I managed everything that was thrown my way. The athlete I rode with for most of the first lap was no longer holding power as consistently and as opposed to taking long turns in front like we were for the majority of the first loop, now when I passed him, he annoyingly and consistently say within a couple bike lengths of by back wheel. I did my best to not let this derail my plan; but it really blows my mind the way people will cheat. I love Ironman racing because it is a solo effort; some people just do not get it. After attempting to pass him at least six times, seeing him on my wheel, sitting up allowing him to go by I eventually had enough of it and with about 30 miles left I put in a slight surge which he had no response for and rode the end of the race on my own. I was happy with the way I finished my race and the consistent effort felt miles better than surging and playing games with him from the beginning of the second lap. In the end I normalized 249 watts which led to a 4:53:17 bike split.

谢天谢地，T2没有我的第一次过渡那么多事，我换了一双新袜子，戴了我最喜欢的红帽子(声明一下，这是我在2016年之前最喜欢的帽子……)，一副墨镜，几双跑鞋，补充了营养，然后我就出发了。

马拉松的路线是一个三圈，不断起伏的路线，沿着陶波湖岸边的主要阻力，穿过鞋子上的一些小社区。我的计划是使用循环作为一种速度的手段，我坚持在第一个循环的心率上限为150，让我的身体进行调整，希望吸收更多的营养，并优先考虑能够在马拉松结束前奋力跑。剧透警告，它没有工作，但我真的认为我是正确的计划，尽管整个第一圈。我在每一个援助站都以辛烷凝胶或刺咀嚼的形式补充营养，在每一个援助站也都喝水。尽管实际上并没有那么热，但对我来说冬天和夏天还是有变化的，我有在炎热中挣扎的历史，所以我知道保持我的核心温度一定是一件好事。考虑到这一点，当我在救助站没有补充营养的时候，我一定要在任何可能的时候拿上冰块，把帽子泡一泡。第一圈和我想象的完全一样，我坚持在150米的上限，这一努力让我在7点左右的速度轻松成为了个人最好成绩，让我在整个比赛中都在9点左右的轨道上。当我开始第二个循环时，我让我的心率上升到155，我很高兴地看到我的速度与增加的努力一致;我感觉很好。然后车轮开始脱落，在大约15英里的时候，我被超过了这个年龄组的第一名，但我知道我必须坚持我的计划，而不是追赶，尽管我只想赶上他的速度。 My stomach started to be a real issue towards the upper teen miles, and I was no longer able to sustain my desired heart rate or pace. I felt full, I was clearly not processing food at a fast-enough rate and things were starting to build up in my stomach. Desperate to avoid the total shut down of the prior world championships in Hawaii, I knew I had to manage the situation. After all, I still had 90 minutes of running to complete. It was very difficult to not be negative at this point. But, I knew, getting mad at myself or wishing I was having a better day was not going to help my situation. Little moments of encouragement from Cary on his bike made all the difference, he told me I could do it, I was tough and just keep forcing the cadence. It is amazing how much one little comment or mantra can get you through the darkest moments in a race. I made the decision to stop taking nutrition and allow my stomach to settle. This process took about three miles and by mile 20 things had started to come back around. I was able to resume a decent heart rate and although still not at a great pace, I was able to at least feel like I was running and holding my overall position. All things considered, miles 20 – 23 were much better; I was out of the dark place of the previous miles. I would love to tell you I enjoyed the last three miles, but I would be lying; they were purgatory. The upside of letting my stomach settle was starting to be overwhelmed by the downside of stopping nutrition intake. All systems were heading to shut down mode the last 20 minutes. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to stop, I tried every mental trick I had to keep myself moving. I thought about random things to distract myself, I focused on my form, I tried to make myself laugh at the funny signs, I thought about all those people watching back home probably yelling at their computers and I also knew that despite a very poor end to my effort I was still in line to go a personal best and I did not want to throw away what had otherwise been a strong effort. I did eventually make it over the line in 3:29 for an overall time of 9:21. While this was not the race I had imagined and finishing poorly leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth I am proud of how I fought the last 90 minutes. There were some dark moments and at times finishing that marathon did not seem possible. It is amazing that even in a time of total duress the body can still find little ways to recover and no matter what you think you always have more left.

这次铁人赛是我这个赛季的开始，也是我在三月份表现最好的一次。我迫不及待地想看看这种冬季健身会给接下来的赛季带来什么。我也知道，期望一下子把一切都做好是不现实的。当有一天我终于拥有了我最好的铁人时，没有什么值得惊讶的。当我跑3点以下的马拉松时，我需要展现出我崩溃时的韧性，我需要展现出我跑出理想配速时的韧性，我需要顶住运动员，争取获得铁人三项的领先。每一场比赛都是提高自己的机会，如果你坚持下去，每一步都会让你更接近你的最终目标。离开新西兰时，我感觉身体健康，很幸运能做我所做的事情，最重要的是，我比以往任何时候都更有动力成为一名职业铁人三项运动员。起。