» Athlete Updates

Athlete Updates

2006

Sam Burley — July 13, 2006: Training is going well. I’ve been able to string together about eight really solid weeks. I’ve had two races in the last few weeks. The first was the Penn Relays mile, 4:06 for third. It went out really slow and when the leaders made a big move they gapped me a little bit. It was a good field and an event that will take a few more attempts before I am comfortable. My splits, incidentally were ~68.3, 60.3, 57.3, 58.3 so that last 1200 was good. I also ran last weekend at the George Mason invite. I won (149.6) on a windy day.

I have two pretty big races in the next few weeks that should, I think, show that I am in shape. On the 21st I am running at the Adidas Classic in California and on June 3 at the Reebok Games in NYC. They should both be on TV and they should both have just about every good American 800 meter runner, and a few good foreigners.

Lindsay Campbell — April 4, 2006: Right now we are right in the middle of our competitive season. I am in Rome, having just competed in the Rome World Cup on 3/17. I’ll be training in Paris with Maya Lawrence for the upcoming week, and then competing in the Luxembourg World Cup on 3/24. Then I’ll have a little under a month before the final North American Circuit in mid-April in Sacramento, California. Right now I’m ranked in the top 8 in the US (as our rankings fluctuate a lot throughout the season), and I need a strong result soon to put myself back in the top 4. If I can do that, I’ll finish off the year with four more Grand Prix tournaments in May/June. I’m still working hard on physical therapy and have added Pilates to my workout regime which I love! This should help to strengthen my core in a way that wont be too stressful on my shoulder yet.

I’m happy to report that I got some international points after my recent top-64 result in Luxembourg, so my US ranking has bounced back to 5th after my disappointments early this season. I still have several tournaments to get back in the top 4 where I want to be.

January 9, 2006: I just had my first tournament of the season in December. It was the North American Cup in Pittsburgh, PA and I finished in the top 16. This is something of a disappointing result for me, but given the conditions I was facing I’m not too upset. The day before the tournament I spent 11 hours in Logan airport in a huge snowstorm, only to arrive at my hotel at 2:30am to wake up at 5:45am and compete. This was a new experience for me in competing on just three hours of sleep, and let me tell you it is not pleasant!

Despite this, I went into “energy conservation mode” and actually fenced very well in the preliminary round, coming out seeded first! Somehow being tired must have calmed my normal jitters in that first round, which was great. Then in the second round I hit some bumps in the road and *barely* advanced to the next round of the double elimination tableau with a low seed. Then, I won my first bout 15-14 (a close one) and then drew… Maya. [ed. note: Maya is another athlete on the U.S. Athletic Trust's roster and a teammate of Lindsay at both Princeton and on the U.S. level.] Maya and I have not fenced in a national tournament in years. It was a great bout and Maya won by one touch in overtime with 13 seconds left. This is what happens when teammates fence each other. I won my next bout in the “repechage” bracket quite easily and then won my fourth bout 15-14. At this point I had already had four 15 touch bouts, three of which were won or lost by one touch. That is draining even on a fully rested body. I fell in my next bout to a New York Fencers Club teammate. It was a tough loss but I was so physically beat that I didn’t take it too hard.

Since then, I’ve been doing a lot of physical therapy. I began seeing the trainers at MIT for tendonitis in my left achilles in November. It comes from the strange, on-your-toes fencing stance that is very tough on your back calf/ankle. Soon after I developed pain in my right shoulder, which turned out to also be inflamed tendons. I saw a great PT and have a whole new program of strengthening and stretching. I’ve never had a chronic injury like this before, but I’m learning to be disciplined with ice, aleve, stretching, and strengthening. Doing just this has brought the heel under control but the shoulder remains an issue. I plan to beat this and just get stronger, but it will take some time. After taking a two week break to try and recover some and rest, I am back at fencing, spending this month off from grad school in NYC training with my coach at my club. I’m also doing yoga and once my shoulder is strengthened some more I plan on switching to pilates. I need to strengthen my core abdomen and upper back to help deal with this and prevent future injuries. Fencing is a strange, asymmetrical sport and I’ve known for some time that I need to balance myself out, the pain is just an unfortunate warning reminder.

My next tournament is the second North American Cup the weekend after this in Houston, TX. I’m excited to compete and know that even with my shoulder like this, I have the skills and capability to achieve my goals if I fence my best. However, because I do not want to push myself, I have withdrawn from the first world cup that I was signed up for in Prague on January 28-29. There are many world cups throughout the season, and I do not need to push myself to do this one. I’m still hoping to compete in the Grand Prix in St. Maur, France on Feb 3,4,5 because this world cup has both individual and team, which is very important for me. A new women’s epee national coach is currently being chosen, and I plan to meet with him in Houston to discuss my tournament planning for this year and the next two years. After I’ve done that I can send you more tournament info.

So as you can tell there has been a lot of flux for me in the New Year, but I’m managing it all, enjoying the time I have off from school to focus on fencing and rehab. I hope that the season only looks up from here.

Brian Chaput — May 9, 2006: April 4, 2006: I continue to train in Philadelphia, PA under coach John Taylor. The past few months have been very promising, with great progression in my rehabilitation from UCL (elbow) reconstruction in June 2005. About a month back I was cleared to begin throwing men’s javelins (800g) and the distances are steadily increasing with minimal pain to the joint. Just last week I had two separate sessions that included throws of 220′ or greater, at relatively minimal effort. Things are coming along smoothly, and my surgeon, rehab specialists, and I anticipate a full recovery for the USA Championships in June 2006. Over the next few months, I will continue to work on technique while increasing throwing and training intensity toward full-recovery.

Susan Francia — July 13, 2006: I recently returned from the first of three World Cup stops in Munich. The goal was to get good racing experience, as this was my first international race in a small sculling boat. My personal goal was to get into the A- Final (top 6) and if possible, medal. The competition was tough with a record number of entries, 15. Our 3 races of heats, semis and final were a great stepping stone and we improved on our racing strategy on each one. Though we did not make it to the A Final, we raced a fantastic race in our B Final and finished second.

Germany was a blast though. We had a chance to walk around in Munich, visit some museums, and eat some bratwurst. Next stop is England to race in the Royal Henley Regatta and the third stop of the World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland!

May 9, 2006: The spring racing season is in full effect and fortunately with very good results! After switching from sweep rowing (one oar) to sculling (2 oars) in San Diego, I have been rowing the double with my teammate Brett Sickler. I decided to forego the first national selection regatta (in which the single scull was selected to the US team) to focus on the double. In the second National Selection Regatta, the women’s pair and double were contested for US representation at the 2006 World Championships to be held in Eton, England. After 3 tough days of racing –including a time trial, heats, semis and finals — Brett and I won the right to represent the US! Though I was a nervous wreck before the race, and indeed the competition was tough, we won by about 4 seconds. This means that we will be going to Munich in 2 weeks to race at the first World Cup. Depending on our results from that, we may go on to compete again at the next World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland in June. For right now, we are in Princeton fine-tuning our technique and maintaining our fitness, getting ready to take on the even stronger competition in Germany!

April 4, 2006: I am still on track for the Olympics, and, fortunately, I am injury free. I don’t have any recent racing results to give you, unless you want to post my newest ergometer scores which I can proudly say may currently be top 3 fastest in the country. My 2k at the end of February was a 6:36 and my 6k was a 21:05. We just got back to NJ so I am trying to adjust quickly for the upcoming selection regattas. It’s not near as nice as it was in California *sigh* but it’s good to be back. Oh and I met some of the other athletic trust athletes (Ty and Tora) and we all rocked our gear. In fact I wore my red jacket out a lot.

January 11, 2006: To the novice eye, the winter season in rowing seems the most low key and uneventful. However, this period is one of the most important for improving physical fitness and strength. Though the rivers and lakes are frozen over, rowers are hard at work inside on the indoor rowing machine, or erg. Here in Princeton, NJ, the situation is not much different. Every day as we head towards the erg room, we look gloomily out on the frozen lake and hope that it will soon thaw. Hope is not lost though, as soon we will head to the Olympic Training Center in San Diego for 2 months from February to the end of March. In April we will be back in New Jersey for the first National Selection Regatta on the 28th. Until then, we will be seat racing to see the fastest combinations in the pairs (sweep rowing) and doubles (sculling). The team is very much looking forward to warm weather out west so that we can finally get on the water, not to mention delight in the wonderful meals served at the Olympic Training Center. While I’m out there, I want to learn how to surf… though we’ll see what Coach says about that. Sunny San Diego, here we come!

Bryon Friedman — July 13, 2006: I have more good news! After a long recovery I am finally back skiing with the National Team and just returned to Santa Barbara from my first ski camp in Mammoth. Throughout the camp my primary focus was on free skiing while working on balance and technique, which both felt great. My coaches are surprised with the progress I have made since my last surgery and I hope to return to the World Cup this season!

I plan to ski in Mammoth again in June, as well as New Zealand and Chile in August and September. Off the hill I have been working out with a great trainer and enjoying the surf around Santa Barbara. It’s great to feel like an athlete again and I look forward to enjoying the Summer!

April 4, 2006: I have good news! Upon return from my trip to the Olympics and Ghana my surgeon gave me full clearance to ski….and ski hard! I have been on snow for the past two weeks and it gets better each day. I am scheduled to return to U.S. Ski Team camps this May and will train in New Zealand and Chile in August/September. As for competition it’s still up in the air, but if I keep making the same progress I should be ready for the World Cup season, which starts in November.

As for training, I intend to live and workout in Santa Barbara for the next 5 months. I have a great team there to help me get back to world class shape, and it’s only a 5.5 hour drive to Mammoth so I can ski in between tough conditioning blocks.

Zoila Gomez — July 13, 2006: First of all, I would like to thank the U.S. Athletic Trust for all of their support. Since my last update, which was dated April 18th, I have had the opportunity to work with numerous people within my community. I completed a number of speaking engagements for both college and high school students, ran as a torch bearer for the Special Olympians, and have taught ESL classes to immigrants. In addition, I had the opportunity to meet with my former high school coach, John Carney, shortly after I got back from Kansas.

Public Speaking

I have very mixed feelings when speaking to young people about my life and struggles as a professional athlete. On the one hand, I get the chills. I feel that each time I speak in public I have the opportunity to touch someone’s heart and possibly change their attitude regarding certain aspects of life. When I speak to a group of people I want to motivate them to succeed, to achieve their potential, and to never look back. My speaking responsibilities also serve to motivate me. By encouraging others, I, too, am encouraged to keep going and not give up, regardless of the hardships or difficulties I face.

Torch Bearer

My coach (Damon Martin) truly believes in helping out the community. I was extremely happy when he asked me if I would like to help the Special Olympics Commitee transfer the Olympic torch from Alamosa to the county line (a distance of approximately 14 miles). I had a blast. I was escorted by police officers and an ambulance. The entire experience was wonderful. I knew I was a part of a very meaningful and exciting event. I was representing the Special Olympic Athletes in the town that has adopted me for the past five years.

ESL Teacher

I am back teaching ESL classes. I teach the basic level. Classes started June 12, and will continue until August 3rd. I am so excited about my class. As of right now, I have 10 students, Jaime, Ricardo,Miguel,Fidencia, Janet, Jesus, Elias, Eduardo, Bernardo and Luis. They are very excited and motivated about learning English, and I am very inspired and honored by their initiative and by the opportunity to be their instructor.

My Former High School Coach

Thanks Coach Carney (my very first coach) for sharing such a wonderful time with me. Thank you for your motivational talks, and thank you for keeping me in line in the area of push ups and sit ups… Yes, I have realized that a great coach is always going to be a coach, even when an athlete is no longer an official Costa Mesa High School team member.

Training and Racing

I have been running between 100- 120 miles a week.

I incorporated hills into my weekly routines. Wednesdays, I go and run in the mountains (Rock Creek) @ 10,000 to 12,000ft. This workout has become one of my favorites, because, regardless of the pace, my heart rate is always high, my legs feel like they are going to die, and at the end of the run I am just glad I had the opportunity to put in one more mountain run.

Nutrition has been an area of emphasis since my performance at the Stanford Invitational 10km (May 30th). Megan Forbes, a nutritionist from Boulder, has been advising me on this issue. I drove up to Boulder to meet with Megan. The whole experience was very exciting. I am extremely grateful for all her help and advise. While in Boulder I had the opportunity to meet with Courtney, who works for the U.S Athletic Trust. Prior to our meeting, we had communicated only through email. Thanks, Courtney, for such a great time, coffee and bagel =).

My last race was the U.S.A Half Marathon Championship in Kansas City. I came in third with a personal best time of 1:15:30. All I can say is that I am very happy to be back! I could not be any happier with my race. I am so excited about my future as a runner. Things are finally clicking. I am BACK, BACK, BACK!

Last but not least, I will be racing the Boilermaker 15km race in Utica. N.Y. on July 9th. God bless you all, and thank you again for your support!

June 30, 2006: I just got back from Kansas City where I ran the US National 1/2 marathon Championship. I placed 3rd with a time of 1:15:30 a personal best. I felt great and I am extremely excited about my future races. Read about it here.

Last April I had the opportunity to be a guest speaker for the Adams State Seniors Athletic Banquet. That was very rewarding. Then I did the same in May for a High School graduation. Right now I am in Aspen. I am spending great quality time training on the mountains and at the same time meeting with my former High School Coach (John Carney). I am going to start teaching an ESL Class twice a week starting on June 12. On the meantime, all my training and competition will be a preparation for my most important race of the year, Twin Cities Marathon on October 1st.

April 18, 2006: My last race was the 15km championship in Jacksonville, Florida on March 11 where I placed 16th. On my way back home I had the honor to attend the Sports Women of Colorado banquet in Denver. Just exactly what I needed before I headed home. These banquet was full of spirit and it truly inspired and encouraged me to keep doing what I love doing “TO RUN.” Thank you so much to Mary Ross for the invitation and for allowing me to spend the night at her house.

Training is been going great. I train here in Alamosa with the Track and Cross Country team. I train with the morning crew and I try to run as much as I can with the guys. I am so glad and thankful for having them around. Honestly, I just love to train as much as I love to compete. For the past 5 weeks I have been able to run 100 to 120miles per week. Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays are usually pretty hard. Wednesdays are moderate and Mondays and Thursdays are easy, recovery days.

Right now, I am getting ready for the 10km at Stanford. My goal is to make the time to qualify for my first U.S. Outdoor nationals on June 26th. My coach Damon Martin and I are planning to be at our best by then.

Thank you so much to the US Athletic Trust and all the donors for all your support. You all are already making a big difference in my life!!! Mil gracias for allowing me to do what I truly LOVE — “RUNNING.”

Tyler Hagler — April 4, 2006: I am three weeks away from Senior Team Trials, one of two selection events for the team that will race at the World Championships in Szeged, Hungary. The trials will be held at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA, where I have been located since mid-February. The second selection event will take place in May at the World Cup in Duisberg, Germany. My goal for Trials is to post a personal best in my K-1 (singles) races that would also qualify me for the K-4 (four-man kayak) selection pool.

Training at the OTC has been very good for me. I have steadily improved my K-1 times in our weekly time trial races. We have trained in teamboats several times a week, and I feel prepared for the possible combinations.

Tora Harris — July 13, 2006: I have been training at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. It has been going very well. I plan to start at the USA Championships. Hopefully this will give me the time to reach a unique level in my training. It is quite difficult to start the year at the USA championships, so it will be an interesting test to see how good my fitness can be without lots of competitions. There is no World Championship Team to make this outdoor season, so it is a good time to push things in the preseason. One target is to jump well at the end of the season (September) while still reaching a top three position in the USA OD Championships.

April 4, 2006: I am back in San Diego after about nine weeks of international competitions. It is nice to be back for a little rest. Soon it is back to training. In Boston, I qualified for the World Indoor Championships in Moscow. It was my 5th team. There I finished 10th and learned a lot for the next World Championships. The season was successful for the most part and the consistency has improved. I finished all meetings without injury.

Now I am scheduled for about 10 weeks of uninterrupted training before outdoor season starts. There is not much going on in way of major outdoor competitions for Americans. This is good as it allows us to push things a little in training and try out new ideas.

Gabriel Jennings — April 4, 2006: My latest race was the US Cross trials in Van Cortland Park, the Bronx, NYC, February 18th and 19th. I ran well, showing good fitness, taking fourteenth in the short-course 4K; and twenty-eighth in the long-course 12K. Cross-country has never been my specialty, but I had fun, and it was nice of Amory Rowe to come and cheer US Athletic Trust athletes on!

Training has been going splendid in Woodside, California. I have been living in a huge bungalow with eight of my Team Running USA teammates. I sleep in the office; we share bathrooms, cook, clean and otherwise live communally together. We are on a rigorous program of three workouts a week, two on the Stanford track, and core strength and plyometrics on alternate days. We have been hitting the beautiful redwood trails in Hudder Park just a mile from our house in the Santa Cruz Mountains just west of Stanford, Palo Alto. My fitness is coming along, especially the speed–today I ran 300m repeats in under 40 seconds, which would net me a PR 1:45 in the 800m. My threshold is a little inconsistent￢ﾀﾔsome days I am at 2:35/kilometer and other days I am closer to 3:00. The focus for the remainder of this phase of training is to improve my threshold so that I can run a good 5K at the Stanford Invitational and the Mt. Sac Invitational the first and last weekends in April. Beginning in May I plan on doing a three week program of strictly 800m training, partly in order to give my aerobic system a break, partly to put my speed and form in motion, and partly to achieve my favorite runner’s high that only speed can give you. I hope to run 4 X 800m in 1:56 - 1:52; 4 X 400m in 52 - 49; and 4 X 200 in 25 - 23. Though, we all know, talk is cheap, I need to lace my spikes up and get after it. Of course, the overall goal of all this training is to be a contender to win the US nationals 1500m in June, 2006.

Oh, and did I mention I am taking classes at Stanford on top of all the training through the spring? My latest effort was to re-write and update the US Constitution, as well as to submit a proposal for a participatory fourth branch of government, part of whose function it would be to fund sport in a similar but extended fashion to that of the US Athletic Trust!! Unfortunately, my attempt was harshly rejected. I guess I will have to publish elsewhere. Ha!

Maya Lawrence — July 13, 2006: I just returned yesterday from a long trip, which included fencing in 6 different individual and team competitions over the course of 3 weeks.

Preparing for this string of competitions was tough because they began just after I returned home from a North American Cup in Sacramento. This big trip was particularly hard because we competed in three different continents and time zones, as we had to fly to Spain, China, and Australia. Fortunately, I was able to succeeded in making a top-32 result at the end of the trip. I’m particularly happy that I was able to compete in so many high-level competitions during such a short period of time. The next few days I’ll spend recuperating from the 43 hours I’ve spent in the air and the 30 hours I’ve spent competing on the fencing strip!

Next week, however, it’s back to practice to prepare for my next important competition: the U.S. Division 1 National Championships which are being held on Independence Day in Atlanta, Georgia.

April 4, 2006: Right now I’m in Europe, training and competing. I’m enjoying my life in Paris not only because it’s a great city, but also because it’s given me the opportunity to train with some of the best women’s epee fencers in the world.

Our season is about halfway over and I’ve fenced in two major national tournaments and five world cups. My best world cup result was last weekend in Rome, where I came in 26th place. I’m hoping to improve my results as the season progresses. This coming weekend I will compete in Luxembourg, and in April I’ll be returning to the States to attend a national competition in Sacramento. May will be a crazy month because I’ll be traveling and training with the U.S. team for three and a half weeks. We’ll be attending individual and team competitions in Spain, China, and Australia. The end of April and beginning of May will consist of some hard training to prepare for this intense month of traveling and competition.

After this long trip I will spend June recovering and training for the National Championships which are in Atlanta this July. If I feel like I’m still in good shape after such a long string of tournaments, I may decide to attend an additional world cup in Vancouver or Havana as a “warm-up” for the Championships.

All in all, I’m excited about the second half of the season. I’m happy with my training center here in Paris and I’m looking forward to seeing some results that reflect the hard work I’ve done these past few months.

Scott Macartney — April 4, 2006: I am in Sweden right for the next few days. I am finishing up the World Cup season here at the World Cup Finals, then head to the US National Championships in Sugarloaf, Maine. I ended the season ranked 10th in the world in Super-G and 26th in Downhill, which are by far my best rankings of my career. It has been an amazing and fun ski season. As the season comes to and end, I will likely get even more busy. I am headed to Alaska to do a fun competition called ArticMan, a race combining downhill with snowmobiling. It should be a lot of fun. After that I will probably head back to Europe to test equipment for a week, then I should have some time off to rest and work a bit.

January 9, 2006: I have had a great couple of weeks. I tied my best finish of my career in the first World Cup of the season, a 24th, and then went on to score a career best 7th in the super-G in Val Gardena, Italy, followed by an 11th the next day in downhill, both by far my best results to date. The week before in Val d’Isere, France I scored points in the combined competition and was 6th on the Downhill portion of the event.

It was a great breakthrough that I hope continues in the upcoming races this winter. I have a downhill and combined race in Wengen Switzerland 13-15th of January, followed by races in Garmisch Germany, Kitzbuhel Austria, and Chamonix France. The Olympic team will be named for us on the 25th of January.

Jordan Rapp — April 17, 2006: I’ve just returned from Scottsdale, AZ, where I spent a couple days meeting all the sponsors for the 2006 Timex Team. It was a nice chance to rest and recovery after three weeks of very large volume; I trained about 90 hours during that three week build, and I was ready for a couple days off in the warm Arizona sunshine. Now I’m back to training and getting ready to race in North Carolina and then Florida.

Jarrod Shoemaker — July 13, 2006: Well, this is probably the quickest I have ever sent out a race report, but there is a great reason for it. I finished 2nd overall at the Edmonton World Cup behind Olympic Gold medalist Hamish Carter and right in front of World Ranked #1 Hunter Kemper. This was by far the best finish I have ever had in my career. It was raining as we warmed up and it was pretty cold, about 75 degrees out, a far cry from the 90 degree temps or so we usual race in. The swim started out well, I pushed out hard and thought I was actually doing pretty poorly. I saw a lot of people ahead of me and figured it was almost last. I still pushed hard and tried to catch and pass people as we approached the 750m swim turn around. As I approached the turn around I looked ahead and was waiting for people to be starting their second lap, but to my surprise nobody was. I was at the back of the front pack! I pushed hard over the second lap and ended up swimming hard and could not close a gap of about 10 meters on the lead pack. I came out ran hard into transition and had a great transition. I pushed on the start of the bike into the first hill, but never caught onto the back of the pack. I ended up getting with a few people and we worked together for 1.5 laps until we caught the lead pack. We basically worked as a unit and I stayed out of trouble on the wet roads. As we came into transition 2, I was very excited, I knew that I was ready to have a great run. I had an awful transition and ended up last out of transition. I worked hard to catch up to the leaders and it took me about 800 meters to be back up front. I ran with Hamish for a while and Hunter was off the front. As we came around to the middle of lap 2 I pushed hard and ended up separating from the people behind me. At that point I was in 3rd place and I was excited for my first World Cup podium. I ran harder and tried to catch Hunter. I caught him with about 3/4 of a lap to go and ran with him until the finish shoot. I had the fastest run at 31:29.

Overall it was a spectacular race and I am so happy to have my first podium finish of my career. I am now ranked #21 in the world! Thank you to all my sponsors, friends and family. I am so excited and happy to be racing again in 2 weeks in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.

July 7, 2006: Hello! I just finished my 3rd ever professional nationals and improved my placing for the 3rd straight time. In 2004 I was 22nd, in 2005 I was 12th and now in 2006 I finished 8th.

The race was held for the first time ever in Long Beach, California and the race organization was a bit crazy since they had only started planning the race 4 months ago. However, they told us that they hope and plan to be USA Pro Nationals for the next several years and will improve on the race.

The morning started off very early, at 3:30pm, when I woke up. It probably is the earliest I have had to wake up for a race in two years. Our race started at 6am and it was barely light out. I did not have as good a swim as I have had the past few races, and I ended up coming out of the water in 10th or 11th place. I barely missed the second pack that formed quickly and ended up having to wait for a minute for the 3rd pack on the road to catch up to me. As a pack we worked well and brought the gap down to 1 minute heading onto the run.

I had the best run that I have had all season. I ran 31:18 for the 10km race, good for the 3rd overall time behind Hunter Kemper (30:39) and Andy Potts (31:01) who finished 2nd and 3rd. I moved up quickly though my pack and started to pick off people. I passed two people for top 10 and then caught a guy to get into 9th place. I ended up finishing 8th place only 5 seconds out of 7th place and 10 out of 6th place. Overall a great performance and one that I can build upon in the future.

I am happy with my performance, but excited to get back into World Cup racing in Edmonton in a few weeks on July 9th. I will be traveling up to Canada for the next month to race in Edmonton and Corner Brook World Cups.

July 2, 2006: Hello! I just finished my 3rd ever professional nationals and improved my placing for the 3rd straight time. In 2004 I was 22nd, in 2005 I was 12th and now in 2006 I finished 8th.

Thank you for your support!
Jarrod

June 23, 2006: Hello again! I am now back home from Madrid and am getting ready for Pro Nationals which will be held in Long Beach, CA on June 25th. Madrid is a wonderful city, our hotel was across the street from the Royal Palace and the park that we raced in was the park that the royal family used as their private playground. The park now is open to the public and is quite well used.

The swim was crazy. It was the largest and most competitive World Cup field in the history of triathlon. There were 80 men on the start line and that made for a hard pace to the first buoy, 300 meters away. I got out fairly well and was in the second pack around the first buoy. I remained in the second pack throughout the swim and came out of the water in good position.

As we worked on the bike I pushed hard to make sure I was in the second pack from the start. Our pack worked well together, but we never made up the small gap of 45 seconds to the front pack. At one point we could see the pack, but never caught up to them. Coming into transition we were about 50 seconds back from the front pack, a gap that was a little bit too big.

As I transitioned I was excited about my run and knew that I had put myself in a fairly good position. However, as I started to run, my legs were heavy and I hoped to be able to run through them. They started to come around and I was able to pick off a bunch of people, but not move into the top 20. I ended up with the 18th fastest run time.

Overall it was a great race for me. My swim has come a long way since the beginning of last year and I am confident on the bike right now. I still have to be able to run as fast in races as I am on the track during workouts, which will happen in time (I am planning on it at Long Beach). I am now ranked #69 in the world on both the ITU Points List and the ITU World Cup list and technically am #23 on the Olympic Qualifying list since Madrid was the first Olympic qualifying race.

Next up is the Long Beach Continental Cup on June 25th which is our Professional National Championships.

May 9, 2006: I am currently in the Las Vegas airport waiting for my flight back to Boston as I return home from Mazatlan, Mexico. It was quite an experience being in Mazatlan; it is a vacation town, but is still quite Mexican. The waves were amazing. I do not think I ever saw a wave smaller than 4 feet the whole weekend I was there and most of the waves were 6-9 feet and barrels! They changed the course from previous years and made it a swim in a marina instead of the ocean, which changed the course as well. The race was set up very well and the course was quite technical, but very challenging.

I had the best swim of my career and was in the front pack off the first lap. I faded a bit over the second lap, but was out of the water in the 3rd pack. We worked hard and pulled the second pack in over the bike. However, the lead pack kept their distance and ended up with a 2:30 advantage off the bike. The heat and humidity of Mazatlan took their tolls on the run, but I was able to post the 12th fastest run time and ended up in 18th place, my second best World Cup finish ever.

I am very excited with this result this early in the season and I hope to build on my finish in my next World Cup in Madrid which is also the first qualifier for the World Championships this season which will be held in Switzerland. I am currently ranked #63 in the world after my finish and am the 8th American male.

April 9, 2006: I had a wonderful trip down to Australia. It was my first time in Australia and the people and beaches were fantastic. My dad accompanied me to this race, and it was special to me for him to watch me race a World Cup. The field was probably one of the best ever assembled, with 15 World Cup winners, the Olympic silver medalist and World Championship winners all toeing the start line. I was thrilled to be on the start line and race with such amazing athletes and knew that it would be a great learning experience.

The race was moved to a river after the ocean waves were 8-10 feet for the three days leading into the race. I was hoping for an ocean swim where my skills of Ocean Lifeguarding would help me out, but I will have to wait till Mazatlan World Cup to race in the ocean. The swim was amazingly fast, I felt the best I have ever felt in the swim and came out of the water right with the pack I was hoping to be with. I had a slow transition and ended up in the third pack on the bike. We were working well together until a lady stepped out in front of our pack and the other American athlete in the pack crashed into her. We struggled to get back together and I ended up falling off the pack. I latched onto the next pack on the road and came into transition still a bit in shock from the crash in our bike pack. I pushed through the pain on my run and had a great last 5km.

I finished 27th overall, a great start to my season. I will be racing in the Elite Section of the Carlsbad 5000m this Saturday, April 9, and then heading to Japan for the Ishigaki World Cup on April 16. I am excited for these two racing opportunities.

My website has been updated and I will be uploading pictures from Mooloolaba shortly. It was quite a beautiful place!

Thank you all for your support!

April 4, 2006: I will be training at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California for the next three weeks. I have already completed two weeks of great base training. The weather has not been as great as we had hoped, but it is better than the weather back in Massachusetts right now. I am heading off to Mooloolaba, Australia on Tuesday to compete in my first race of the season. It will be a great race as the Australians and Kiwis are coming off their Commonwealth Games this past weekend. After returning from Australia I will be spending another 2 weeks in Chula Vista, before I head to Ishigaki, Japan for another World Cup, and then head back home to Massachusetts.