Wisconsin is calling...

Land of the Bratwurst! Swiss Cheese Capital of the World! Largest nationwide exporter of cranberries! Green Bay Packers!! Okay, I'll stop there. For those of you who haven't figured out... this post is Wisconsin in nature.

I've officially signed up for my next Ironman --  Racine 70.3!

Photo cred: Ironman Racine

There's no better motivation through a Minnesota winter than knowing you have a race on the books... amiright fellow Minnesotans?

Photo cred: Runner's World

The course starts out with a swim (point-to-point course) in Lake Michigan, followed by a relatively flat bike course, and then it finishes out with a 13.1 run partially along Lake Michigan, past the Racine Zoo and Racine Lighthouse - sounds like there will be plenty of good sights to see!

Looking forward to posting updates of my training... as soon as I get through Thanksgiving. Hope you have a great holiday!

What I'm riding these days: Fuji Gran Fondo 2.1

Lately I've been getting a lot of questions on my bike, so I thought I'd share a quick profile of what I'm riding these days.

I bought Fuji Gran Fondo 2.1 back in July of 2013, and to date have put more than 3,500 miles on it. 

Over the past two years, I've made a few adjustments to the bike including upgrading the rear gears to Ultegra 11-28 - this upgrade lightened up the bike while retaining the climbing qualities the original gears provided. I also upgraded the water bottle, which got the bike under 18lbs.

While I've really loved this bike, I'm actually looking to sell it next summer. But before I get into that, here up the top three things I like best about it:

1. Comfort. It's an endurance bike, and it feels that way. I find that the bike does a great job absorbing bumps so compared to other bikes I've rode, I don't feel stiff after a long ride.
2. The handling on this bike is awesome. It's not too twitchy, like some other race bikes can be.
3. Stability is excellent. The longer wheel base helps with high speeds, cross winds and cornering. 

I would be remiss not to mention that I simply like how it looks too... 

I'm baaaack

After a year+ long hiatus, I'm back to the blogging world. It's been a busy year both on the training and personal front... I completed my first half-Ironman, participated in my first full Ironman (more details on that to come) and took part in several cycling and triathlon events.
Beyond racing, I kept busy planning a wedding (well, my fiance is handling most of the planning), moving across Minneapolis and of course working to finance all of the events mentioned above.

I look forward to sharing my racing and training experiences with you, check back soon for new and exciting stuff.

Update

Greetings everyone,

It's has been a couple of months since I last posted. Work, life and vacations have kept me extremely busy. To start with, the ms150 was amazing. We finished strong and fast after a total ride time of 10.5hrs, which was faster than I expected. So thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered and helped make the event possible.

Since the ms150, I have decided to shift my focus to cycling for the year. I beat last years total miles in the month of June alone (490 miles). It's been amazing and I can't imagine life without a bike. So much so, that on our vacation to Yellowstone, Ashley and I swung by bigsky Montana to do some mountain biking... it was insane. 

After Yellowstone, my friend Adam and I began considering what our future in sports would be. He threw out the idea of doing a triathlon, little did he know that I already completed one and was itching to do another. So to summarize an evening over beers, we signed up for Ironman 70.3 in Boulder, CO and also a full Ironman in Louisville, KY. Both are scheduled for 2015. We will also be participating in smaller triathlons (sprint and Olympic) this fall and next spring to prepare us for the Ironman. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date with the training progress.

Final ride pre ms150

Ok... I might have been talked into one last ride before the weekend. I met up with two friends on the trail and both of them really pushed my limits, breaking my old records. After the 50 miles I was exhausted so this weekend I definitely have to slow the pace down. There is still time to donate to the MS150, just click the donate tab above and follow the directions. 

Last chance

Hey everyone we just finished up out last training ride before next weekend and we are ready! Don't forget that there is still time to donate if you haven't had the chance yet and if your having trouble let me know.

😀

Mississippi River regional trail

Went riding today with some fellow MS150 riders, we tried out a new trail and loved it. Lots of different scenery and lots of hills😀 this is for sure a new favorite of places to ride!