I'm very blessed to connect with some new sponsors for 2015. I believe in what these people and groups are about and that their endevors coincide with mine in an attempt to provide as much fitness awareness to the world to help everyone live healthier lives.

Environmental Health Trust is one such organization. 
Check them out http://ehtrust.org
I love that they are truly in it to provide information to every one that will listen in order to save lives.

Their motto is: Education, Research, and Policy to Reduce Environmental Risks.

A quick update on 2014:
Ran the Naples Half Marathon in January and set a PR for the course.
Planned a wedding and married the love of my life Kate (Segula) Rau on March 22nd. 
Honeymooned in FL for 2 weeks in April.
Ran a 10k and set a course PR for myself in May.
Travelled to KS, WI, NY, and NC from June 6th-July6th for IM 70.3 Kansas, a cousin's graduation, IM 70.3 Syracuse (5 min course PR), and another cousin's wedding. 
This month I drove across the country to WY to host 20 people for an endurance vacation in Jackson Hole, WY. 
Oh yeah, we started to build a new house, I'm still working full/part time as a personal trainer as well as coaching personally through this website - in person, and online with TriDot.com.   
Other than that I have trained some and am looking forward to a little less travel and a few more races this August and into the fall. Check back soon for  some more frequent entries. 

After racing a ton in 2013 and having accomplished my goal of competing at IM 70.3 Worlds, I was mentally and physically spent.  I originally planned to race a full IM or 2 in November, but quite honestly I needed a break.  That wasn't before I raced at IM 70.3 Augusta, which is a race I really enjoy.  My friends Bill and Megan have a home 3 miles from the race start, so it is the perfect home stay and feels like a visit with a race included more than a race weekend.  My dad came down for the event as he did last year and we made sure to go out for oysters Friday night.  Augusta is great town to race in because the swim is down river, the bike takes you out into horse country and the run is really set up like a city half marathon where spectators can see you upwards of 8 times (good for my logistical dad who likes to plan his spots where he is going to cheer me on).  Getting out of the water in my usual spot I connected with Mike Hermanson on the bike.  Our friendship has grown through the IM circuit (he actually stayed with my sister in MI for a race weekend, while I was in NV), and we were able to ride the entire bike course together, taking "legal" turns, and pushing each other for 56 miles. I believe he PRed for watts.  The run was hot and uneventful, but I was pleased with a new 70.3 PR, even though the swim is "short". 
Three weeks later I ran the Detroit International Half Marathon on some lack luster training, as I was "turning it off" for the season. None-the-less, I ran my 2nd fastest half marathon ever,. and was happy to call it a season on that note.

So, quick updates since July. I ended up racing twice in one weekend (Aug 3/4), an Olympic and a Half Ironman.  It was awesome, as I set PRs for avg watts for one hour on the bike during the Frankenmuth Experince and then the next day I set a new half marathon off the bike PR during IM 70.3 Steelhead. Good for a 4th place finish and a 5th place finish respectively. I had great time with friends on the course, especially AJ Baucco who was a  great encouragement on the bike as we biked by and eventually pulled 5 other guys through the course.  It was nice to know that some times we can do things (like 2 races in a row at a high level) that we put our mind to, despite every indicator suggesting otherwise before a big event.  
The next month was a a little chaotic preparing for IM 70.3 Worlds. I knew that I was just going for the experience so i had no real expectations of how i might finish.  Instead of flying from MI, we (Kate and I) made of road trip out of it. Visting friends, family, and meeting up with more family and friends once we made it to Nevada.  I even did another olympic race the weekend before and won some money for traveling (always nice).  IM 70.3 Worlds was a terrible race for me, but it was great to see all the family friends and support on the course and just enjoy the sport at its highest level of competition, knowing I had earned my spot amongst the worlds best.

Having never completed 2 half-iron distance events in back to back weekends I was looking forward to the experience (I guess).  It was a world wind week between Muncie and Racine and I wasn’t so sure I was going to get my head in race mode.

On Sunday after Muncie and sitting in a car for 7 hours I relaxed in Glen Arbor, MI at the Homestead Resort. The cycling in upper Michigan is amazing. If you ever get a chance try to cycle on M-22. Also, there is a 17 mile trail from Suttons Bay to Traverse City. The swimming in Lake Michigan is pristine and cold and there are even some nice running trails if you search for them. 

After a few days up there I had to head back home and cram 5 days worth of training my clients into 3.  It was non-stop before jumping back in the car and driving to the Maraccini household to see Ed, Cheryl, Nick, and Madeline. Kate and I had a wonderful time visiting and taking the kids out for ice cream and cooking with the family. We went to the expo and pro meeting and even visited the Lighthouse near the run turnaround.  It felt more like visiting friends than racing quite actually.

            That being said a race was still to be run, and my bet with Nick was that if I beat my time from 2 years ago he was going to buy me ice cream and If I didn’t, than I owed him. 

            The swim was wretched, choppy, terrible sighting, and literally an act of survival for me.  As I exited to T1 Kate let me know that everyone was pretty much spaced apart.  I could see a guy in front of me a little ways off and I took me about 10 miles to catch up.  When I did, I suggested we worked together to catch the next guy. Well, as it turned out, I pulled him to the next guy. I suggested to him that the 3 of us work together to catch the next guy. As it turned out, I pulled both of them to the next guy. Then when I passed this guy I thought ok, maybe we can work as a bigger group. Well, buy the time I hit mile  31 I had a group of 4 guys riding my rear wheel. So, I politely pulled over and asked some else to to do some work. 

            This is were the race got interesting. My friend Tom Gerlach had worked his way into the group and seemed to be just chilling out (he is an extremely strong cyclist). So, he took his turn at the front, and blew us up! He told me later he dropped a 40 min pull at 320 watts.  I tried to go with him and another guy for awhile but by the time we hit mile 40 it was just 2 of us riding “together”. Tom was long gone and the other guys dropped off the back a couple of minutes. By mile 45 I was alone again and pedaled the last 10 miles into T2 by myself.

            It turns out that I came into T2 well out of the money, nor in any position to improve my Vegas standings. I needed a top 10 finish to do so and I was sitting in 16th or something and maybe with an incredible run I could pull it off, but not after having done Muncie the weekend before. I chose to cool the jets and tempo a half marathon as best I could while still finishing faster than I did 2 years prior. I even had time to for a long pit stop and some socializing with other guys on the course.  The ice cream was delicious afterwards, thanks Nick!

Going into IM 70.3 Muncie (July 13) I had few expectations. After a disappointing finish at IM 70.3 Syracuse (June 23) I was none the less excited about my fitness based on my position coming out of the water and how I had biked up into 4th place on the bike before flatting. I talked with my coach at TRIDOT.com and we decided to go for it even though I would be racing the following weekend at IM 70.3 Racine (July 21). 

I was placed with an awesome homestay at the last minute (thank you Sara Fauquher and family) and I left my house at 8a on Friday morning; leaving my self enough time to make it to Muncie to watch the final moments of the Tour de France stage and then on to the pro meeting.  After the pro meeting I made sure that my biked worked and prepared everything for the next morning.

Race morning was interesting as the back up getting to Prairie Creek Reservoir was quite substantial. I was still in my car 60 mins prior to the race start. Fortunately my parking spot was a 5 min walk to my transition spot. I did not take long to put everything together and I was out of the port o john with time to zip up my wetsuit and warm up for 5 mins.

The swim start was chaotic, as usual, and I lost ‘the group” in the first 5 strokes and essentially lead a couple guys around the course for the next 28 mins. I always wonder what these guys think, when they realize they were drafting off of me, ha ha. 

Up the hill to transition I ran with Mike Caiazzo and Robert Wade.  Knowing I could bike with Mike (we essentially had the same bike split at Syracuse) as well as Robert (we rode together at Muncie last year) I figured we might be able to catch a few guys to put ourselves into a place were we might have a chance to run into the money.  The group dynamics worked well with the 3 of us and we eventually passed a couple of guys who had dropped off the lead pack and we added Ryan Bates to our group for the last 25 miles.  The four of us rode into transition together, where I proceeded to fall off my bike dismounting.  My shoe, which I was standing on, which “was” clipped into my pedal came loose and dropped to the ground and I soon followed.  Robert with his cat like reflexes some how managed to avoid my head laying there on the pavement and as it I turned out I lost about 30 seconds leaving T2. 

Onto the run, I knew the first half would be fast and the second half a bit slower based the out and back course with a gradual descent to the turnaround. I ran within my limits, knowing the top 4 were out of reach and focused on each person ahead of me one at a time. I passed Ryan a few miles in, then Devon Palmer a few more miles in, and surprisingly I passed Robert before the turnaround (He is one of the fastest runners on the IM Circuit and just had an off day). At that point Mike and I were stride for stride (his a little faster than mine) as we dialed in on Blake Becker who was in 5th ($).  Mike caught Blake sometime before mile 8 and I didn’t make the pass until sometime between miles 8 and 9. I was “content” with 6th place considering Mike put 2 mins on me in the last 10k. 

I quickly packed up and got into my car for the 7 hour drive to Glen Arbor, MI for a couple of days of light training in lake MI and the rolling hills of upper Michigan.  All in all I was in Muncie for less than 24 hrs and was quite happy with results.