2014 UPDATE

The 2014 season is underway! With Oceanside under my belt and so many personal and professional changes in the last 6 months, it’s hard to know where to start. I have a new coach, a new manager, and a new plan for the 2014 season. I spent more of the off-season in Boulder this winter which means I spent a lot of time inside. But luckily my coach Neal Henderson of Apex coaching has an amazing setup at Rally Sport, including a state of the art cycling training center where I can accurately test myself through data monitoring. Also, this is within a group setting so we can all suffer and improve together.  When I wasn’t training I tried to take advantage of the excellent snow conditions we had this year and took up cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

My focus for this season is Challenge Roth and KONA with only a handful of highly competitive 70.3s. Here’s a look at my race calendar:

Soon I will be announcing a new management partnership but first I want to thank Sean Watkins for his support and friendship over the last 6 years. Though it saddens me to not be working side by side with Wattie anymore, I am excited for all the upcoming changes to his brand and look forward to working with him in other ways in the future.

Finally, with all these changes some things have remained the same, most importantly my diet and my outlook on nutrition. I have been a vegetarian all of my life and over the last year or so I’ve noticed more athletes embracing a non-meat diet. Being one of very few vegetarian professional triathletes, not to mention a lifetime vegetarian, I get a lot of questions regarding diet, recovery and opinions, so I’ve decided to dedicate a page on my website to the topic. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come…

TOP TEN MOST COMMON QUESTIONS WHEN I TELL PEOPLE I’M A VEGETARIAN PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETE

1. Do you eat chicken? No, it’s meat

2. Do you eat fish? No, it’s meat

3. Do you eat dairy? I’m vegetarian not vegan

4. How do you get your protein? A combination of whole foods including beans, grains and dairy

5. How long have you been a vegetarian? All my life

6. Have you ever tried meat? No and thankfully I’ve never eaten at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant either

7. Why don’t you eat meat? There are a lot of proven benefits to eliminating meat in your diet, but for me it’s simply the fact that I like animals too much to eat them

8. Is your iron low? That’s kind of a personal question, but no my levels are fine thank you

9. Isn’t it hard to race one of the toughest sports in the world and train at a high altitude being a vegetarian? After 20 years in the sport so far, I believe what you choose to fuel your body with is just as important as anything else you do to prepare. For me, this is a a vegetarian diet and it is the best way to handle the stress my body experiences through training, and maximizes my potential come race day

10. Do you know Dave Scott? Yes, but I saw him eat some meat and I told him I can’t be friends anymore. He still calls me sometimes…

See you saturday at St. George Ironman 70.3 US Champs!