07 March 2016

2016 Race Schedule

So I’ve been taking this “year out” of med school to work as a student fellow in the pathology department here at OHSU (I probably already wrote too much about this).  Basically, it’s been a lot of handling bodily organs, tumors, and surgical specimens, cutting them up, then looking at them under a microscope.  Really cool stuff.  But scientific enlightenment and the furthering of my medical career aside, the best thing about this “normal job” has been a return to a more “normal lifestyle.”  Which has meant more consistent training.  I’m carrying arguably the best fitness I ever have out of the winter months, and am looking forward to a busy season of racing.


So I’m pretty excited to announce the race schedule for 2016.  Been a ton of fun to plan and scheme about.  Several new events – including a couple bucket list races – and of course, my two all-time favorites, that I go back to year after year.  Give me a shout if you’re at any of these bad boys, and hope to see you at the races!


70.3 Oceanside


A lot of pros use this early season race as a shake-out/test event, to see how they wintered, and the racing is usually crazy fast.  To win, seems like you either have to be a world champion, or Andy Potts (seriously, look that up).  I have wanted to get to this event for several years now.  Spring in Portland is… damp.  Spring in San Diego is warm, dry and sunny.  Plus, that city holds a special place in the triathlon world.







The real reason I'm going down there...


Wildflower Long Course


This race needs no introduction.  Hands down my favorite event, year after year.  Unfortunately, med school kept me away last May.  But, while school may have jammed me in the past, this year it’s making up for it, as no less than 7 of my classmates are making the trip for this race!  And contrary to my usual hyperbole, that is not an exaggeration.  No joke: 7 of my classmates are going to do this race this year.  Going to be a fitness-chasing, caravan-driving, beer-drinking, post-race-surfing, med school-shirking, rollicking good time.  My previous three showings at this race have been 24th, 17th, 11th.  Hoping that trend continues this year.


No season is complete without a quick jaunt up Nasty Grade.
My favorite 10 minutes on a bike all year.



70.3 St. George


This is another bucket-list event.  To understand why, just look at this fricking place.







I should mention that it’s the North American Pro Championship, although I don't really care about that.  Also, it’s only a week after Wildflower, and I'm excited to try racing back-to-back weekends.

70.3 Victoria


I really need no excuse to go to Vancouver Island.  Pristine wooded lakes, foggy coastal forests, and crisp Pacific temperatures.  This race will likely feature all three.  Plus, doing this bad boy with one of the Seans (Wildflower 2014 baby!).  Sean Haffey, to be exact.  Racing with a friend amplifies the fun factor by 1,832x (that’s an experimentally derived figure), so really looking forward to this trip up north.




IM Vineman


It's finally happening: taking another crack at a full this summer.  And to be honest, it's kind of hard to find one in June or July within driving distance of Portland.  Especially when WTC does things like it did up in Coeur d'Alene this year (which I'm sure made a lot of business sense).  Don’t know much about this race, but if it's anything like the Vineman half it promises to be a beautiful and community-supported event.  The timing and the location work pretty well.  We’ll see how it goes.




Challenge Penticton


Even when I’m out of shape (as I proved last year), I love racing in Penticton.  And over the next couple years, this little city with tremendous triathlon history has got something special in the works.  In 2017, the ITU Long Course World Championships will be coming to town, and they’re giving that unique course and distance a trial run this August.  Plus, I get to do this one with the other Sean (in case you didn't click on the first one).  Sean Moran, to be exact this time, who similarly has a fun factor amplification score of 1,832x.




I head back into med school year 4 mid-summer, thus the busier than usual early season.  We’ll see how things shake out, and if I’m able to hold form into August.  Hoping to add an event or two in the fall when the schedule lightens up again, so stay tuned.  But really looking forward to the journey this season, thanks for following along!

-Andrew

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