Team EN - Reflections at 6 years in

So, the reason that I am writing this really has to do with my wife's facebook. Today it showed what she was doing 6 years ago as I did the EN "Birthday Challenge" on my 50th. There were plenty of pics of her and my daughters as they paddled the river crewing my 5k swim after my 50 mile bike and before the 10 mile run with which I celebrated my birthday "EN style".

After doing mostly road races, I had started racing the Charleston Sprint triathlon series and "leveled up" by joining EN in early 2013. As a new member and racing sprints, I hung out in the Short Course Forum and made lots of friends. I immersed myself in the Forums and was awed at those who were doing long course events and read the race reports to learn everything I could. I had an old computer with Trainer Road and my hand-me-down 10 year old aluminum framed Trek on the trainer on my screen porch so I could ride at 5 AM without waking up the whole house. I soon learned the ways of purchasing bike upgrades on ebay to get some aero bars going (although my equipment has NEVER been the limiting factor in my athletic performance). I raced every 3 weeks that summer and was a solid 'bottom third" participant. I learned not to sit on the ground in T1 at a sprint race and LOTS about pacing. I met Mariah for the first time at a race as we both rocked that orange EN race kit. At the end of 2013, I raced an Olympic and was none the worse for wear.

After the 2013 birthday challenge, I got this crazy idea that I, too might be able to do a half Iron distance race so I signed up for a local half in Charleston SC. I hit the OS pretty hard and then moved into the HIM plan under the reasoning that if the coaches said I could do it after this build, then I believed them. After starting 2014 with that race in April, I made the (obvious) jump to train for a full distance race. Beach to Battleship in Wilmington met my criteria of flat, close to home, and in the cool part of the year. I went to my first Blue Ridge Bike Camp that year and made even more EN friends. As I trained over that summer, I continued to race my usual Charleston Sprint series only I noted that my times were about 5 minutes faster than the year before. I was now a solid middle of the pack finisher. Woo Hoo! There was a great EN team presence at the race in Wilmington in 2014 and my finisher pic was pretty much all that I had left in the tank (see profile pic). If you race that race, make sure to ask Mariah about which beach house near the start to rent. AMAZINGLY convenient.

I continued to race with Raleigh 70.3 in 2015 and 2016 and I followed the EN 3 year plan and purchased a P2 bike which knocked about 15 min off of my finish time in 2016. I developed some intermittent health issues that have restricted my triathlon racing but still participate in some bike and run only events. This year it has been several fondo bike events and I am racing the Blue Ridge Relay next month with a team. I try to keep up with the team on Zwift pretty much all year and really enjoy the mojo of the OS each year. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching folks that I know from Blue Ridge Camp or other races go on to have epic adventures and do amazing things.

The real purpose of this rambling post is to say thanks to Coach P and all of my teammates who have made EN a place that is accessable and supportive for the newcomer to triathlon racing but still provide the knowledge and expertise to encourage teammates through all manner of amazing sports and endurance adventures. Although my current athletic endeavors no longer include long course racing, I did just hit my all time high FTP last week and I am excited about getting it up even more. If you are new to the team, just soak up the knowledge in the forums and make some new friends. You might be amazed at what you can do if you put your mind to it and have the right team.

Thanks Everybody