2026 Long Course National Championship!

I’ve had a chip on my shoulder since last year’s Long Course Duathlon National Championship until last weekend where I won the National Championship. Quickly, last year was a debacle on all three disciplines from poor course management to my fail to adapt to the situation. Throw in a crash on the bike making my extended handlebar shifters inoperable along with a bruised tailbone and knee and later a couple visits to the ortho regarding the crash impact to my sternoclavicular joint…I grew a pretty good chip…

This year’s championship moved to East Freetown, a rural town just under 50 miles from Boston. I raced at the Olympic Duathlon National Championship in mid-May, but this was the race I had on my calendar that I wanted to drill this year. I arrived at my Air B&B at 2:00 AM Thursday morning ahead of the Saturday race. This would allow me to do a few things Thursday including assembling my bike, recovering from the late travel, and drive the bike course. In addition, I wanted to test ride a few new things on the bike set up with my cockpit and bottle cage.

I had a great Thursday conducting the recon and made a few adjustments to the bike. I was able to get rest and enjoyed the downtown of Fairhaven where I was staying as I picked up groceries, lunch (acai bowl), a juice, and a bagel from a local bakery.

Friday came quickly. I drove to the race course and completed my pre-race run routine. That really helped put into perspective the hills, and there would be a lot of them. I returned to transition where I stretched and laid beneath a tree and soaked up the moment. I just looked up through the tree to the sky, listening to nature feeling so fortunate I have my health to be able to do this stuff. I then met two gentlemen from Maine and Southern California. We talked race logistics and life stuff…awesome!

I went back and rode a brief stretch of the bike course on the bike and made my final decisions on a few things ahead of the race. Later in the day I returned to the venue to pick up my race packet and drove the bike and run courses again. This is where a first sideways situation came up. As I was leaving I determined I would order my pasta dinner to be delivered to my place so I could spend time going through my final preparations. Long story short…2.5 hours later my order was cancelled as I noticed on the app and I was tracking progress the entire time. The first of two delivery drivers took and ate my food…2nd driver didn’t know and went in to check why it was taking so long. So, I quickly had to order Chipotle (bean/veggie burrito)…oh boy…

Race morning came quickly. I slept terribly, but slept enough the previous two days and rested well since I arrived so I knew that would have zero impact on my performance. I drove to the race and performed my typical pre-race warmup routine. I was ready to go…the body felt good and I was mentally dialed in…having a very specific game plan and still had the sour taste in my mouth from last year.

The race would consist of a 5k Run – 53.4 Mile Bike – 13.1 Mile Run. The first run was an out and back run where we would u-turn at the halfway point and ended up being 3.45 miles vs. 3.1. I started out running well and was taking the hills aggressively too. My pace was slow for a typical 5k but I worked hard and was on the line of working too hard. When I made the u-turn I noticed I had created a nice gap early in the race on my targeted competition (who I knew about). That gave me a boost and I kept that running back to transition. I wasn’t sure how much of a lead I created but I had one and I raced out of transition quickly to start the bike leg.

When I started the bike I was on fire early and I felt great…not typical for me early on a bike leg but I had it and pressed. I consumed my planned nutrition and hydration, consuming more calories than I have in any other race to date. I felt strong throughout and continued to attack the course aggressively. Around mile 46 I was wondering if I had pressed a bit too hard as my head was a bit fuzzy, but not in a bonking way either. My lower back had been on fire since mile 18 and that has never transferred to the run in a negative way so I knew I was good there.

When we came to our final left turn, I knew I had just under four miles to transition and I focused to not let the hammer down. I did just that and busted into transition racking my bike and then sideways number two presented itself. I laid everything out perfectly in transition to grab four gels to add to the two I had in my belt and to also store two tubes of salt to take at miles five and 10 of the run while downing some in transition before I left. Somehow I left the tubes of salt in transition and realized as soon as I exited transition. Well, you can’t go back then so figure it out..

As I started the final 1/2 marathon run knowing I had a pretty good bike, in my head I was thinking and/or hoping I had lengthened my lead but you just don’t know. In a way that is great as I pressed like everyone was on my ass. In reality looking after the race I had built a five minute lead.

I started out running at a pretty good pace as the weather was now HOT! There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and was going to be 87 degrees by the end of the run. I was banking on the training in the Florida heat would pay dividends. Through the early miles I was laboring through some gastro issues I haven’t had during a race before. The heavy carb load and unfortunate Chipotle late dinner coming to a head? At every aid station I was taking on water and ice. The ice felt extremely refreshing. I was also taking my gels at the prescribed times.

Then at 7.20 miles, I stopped on a dime as my head was fluttering and that taste of vomit presented itself. I took a step to the left, went down on my knees and vomited, and vomited, and vomited. I was down for almost 2 1/2 minutes. I was thinking to myself, I can’t believe I am in Boston, at a National Championship, leading the National Championship, and my race is probably over. Several racers went by and asked, “do you need aid?” I responded to each one with a, “I’m not sure.” I continued to kneel in child’s pose as I was pondering what was happening. Another racer ran by and shared, “I’m praying for you.”

After the 2 1/2 minutes, I determined I could stand up. When I did, the feeling of my stomach being clear of the gastro issue was a great relief! My head cleared and it was unreal, but my vision became crystal clear! I thought to myself, let’s give this a go! I looked back and didn’t see the guys I was hoping not to see. I still had a gap…and boy did I need it!

I also knew I had to continue taking the gels to fuel to another six miles and the taste of anything sweet may throw me into another vomit situation. I tested immediately and it went down smoothly and without issue. I love my Precision Hydration & Fuel products!

I started to run and quickly got back into the pace I was running up to that point. I thought to myself, use this to your advantage. I thought, think of this as like I served a two minute penalty and my legs just received two minutes of rest. When do I ever get to rest my legs for two minutes in a race?!?!? I had my legs and a new lease on this race life. As I passed the gentleman that shared he was praying for me, I shared, “I’m back.” He replied with, “great!”

I motored on and continued to fuel and take on the precious water and ice at the remaining aid stations. Then, at the 12.5 mile mark that the race organizers alerted us to, we came to our biggest climb of the run race. It was long and steep. Since the point of vomiting to this part of race, each time we took a left turn, I glanced back and didn’t see my competitors. At the peak of this last climb though I looked back and saw what I thought could have been Felim Maxwell, coming after me. At this point I knew I just had to go down the hill and then around the final quarter mile to the finish.

I ran through the finish line with my fist pump elated to win the National Championship!!! This was my second and very special in a different way. I fought through a part of this race that had me thinking I was maybe done and figured it out to finish strong.

I am so grateful for everyone who supports me and pushes me to be a better athlete, coach, and person. It’s so great to share this with my circle of great people!

– Add Health to Your Life