http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php Copyright 2008, Jarrod Shoemaker Jarrod Shoemaker en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.6.1 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry081121-182413 Marlborough Triathlon. We have been working hard to finalize the race course and it will be a spectacular course. The race will be July 26, 2009.
Other than that I am getting ready to start coaching high school swimming again this winter. If you are interested in having me coach you in triathlon or swimming, biking or running, feel free to contact me at jarrodshoemaker@gmail.com.]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry081121-182413 Jarrod Shoemaker Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:24:13 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=11&entry=entry081121-182413 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry081028-214510
This race was the last World Cup of the season and Mexico has hosted many World Cups and World Championships and once again they put on a great race. We had checked the new course out online and found that there was a hill, we put it into gmap-pedometer and found that a section of the hill was about 12% grade. It was easily the hardest hill I have ever seen in a race and we had to do it 8 times.

The race started off well with only 32 men on the start line it was easy to navigate the swim course and we all ended up in one big pack. I felt great swimming and just sat in the middle of the pack. We got off on the bike and there were 20 of us in the pack with 2 people up the road a few seconds ahead. When we hit the first hill we knew we would be in for a long day as it was so tough to climb. On the way, which we never did in practice, we hit 50 miles an hour! We caught the front 2 people after 2.5 laps and after that everybody just rode moderately because the hill was so hard. We all came into transition together and we all were quickly out on the run.

I felt great starting the run and moved quickly to the front. Kris Gemell (New Zealand), Laurent Vidal (France) and I quickly moved ahead of everybody and had a significant lead after 5km of the run. At that point I moved to the front and we dropped Vidal and it was just Gemell and I. I was running very relaxed and was just waiting for the end. I felt great running and after we passed 7.5km I knew that sooner of later a decisive mood would be made. I was getting ready for a later move when all of the sudden Gemell went and I could not respond. He ended up running away from me at the end by about 10 seconds. I felt great and was hoping to win but I am so excited for a 2nd place finish and my 2nd ever World Cup 2nd place. You can watch a recap of the race on the ITU website. http://www.triathlon.org/?call=TWpreg==&keep=sh

I have one final race this year in Bermuda this weekend but this year has been very succesful for me with World Cup Finishes of 2nd, 11th and 18th and an 18th place finish at the Olympics along with 2nd place at Pan Am Championships and 2nd place at the Gevena Continental Cup. I am looking forward to an exciting non drafting race versus some great athletes this weekend and then a few weeks of relaxation before getting ready for next year.]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry081028-214510 Jarrod Shoemaker Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:45:10 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=10&entry=entry081028-214510 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry081006-171606
First off I would like to thank all of my amazing family who have helped me get to this point. I never would have pictured myself as an Olympic triathlete but here I am! I have to thank all of my coaches and teachers who helped me become who I am today. I thank all of my friends for being such great support and for helping me out. And I want to thank all of the great sponsors who believed in me and have helped me over these past years. I am so proud to be either a son, husband, relative or friend to all of you and most of all I am extremely proud to have given everything I had representing the USA.

And now the race report. We selected our start spots 3 days ago by doing a pontoon draw and I selected spot 11 which was on the right side of the pontoon. It was nice to have that piece out of the way, so we just lined up and marched to our start spot. We dropped our bikes off the night before and took a van up to the course at 8am. We checked in around 8:20am and I went straight out to put my bike into my transition spot. As I walked out I checked out the scenery and the crowd and was so happy and excited to race. I took a jog through the stadium to soak it all in and then went for a swim as well and loved just taking a moment to realize everything that had gotten me to this point.

After that we lined up and marched out onto the pontoon and were started a few minutes later. I got out well, but was immediately surrounded by lots of people and started to get banged around and got dunked by a Russian athlete. I fought to hold my spot and was concerned that I was falling too far back so I surged up the right side and as we came past the first buoy at 560 meters I realized that I was in good position. As the race continued I started to move forward a few spots and ended up passing a lot more people. As we turned the second to last buoy I once again got dunked and the guy continued to swim in the wrong direction so I jumped over him and started to move up. At that point I realized that I was about 15 meters back from the front and I tried to pick off another couple of spots. I exited the water in 23rd place right next to Simon Whitfield.

As we came into transition I got bumped around by a couple of people who had no clue what they were doing but got on my bike quickly and got right into the front pack after about 800 meters. We ended up riding as a big pack for the entire race, it was not an easy ride but my legs did not feel 100% so I tried to conserve my energy whenever I could. I was at the back of the bike pack from most of the race but from the back on the Beijing course you can hit all of the corners at high speed and really don’t lose any time. I felt good on the hill, but not as fresh as I did last year. I exited the bike a bit too far behind from where I would have liked to have been and ended up starting the run about 15 seconds down on the leaders.

I ran hard and continued to pass people throughout the run. I was just trying to see how many people I could pass and make it into the top 20. I ended up running hard and making my way to 18th place and I am so excited to have finished in 18th place at the Olympics. I took in the entire race and had so much fun racing and had such an amazing experience.

Thank you all for you support!]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry081006-171606 Jarrod Shoemaker Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:16:06 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=10&entry=entry081006-171606 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry080729-195035
We are about to put in the last order for SHOE CREW t-shirts, please email rich@minutemanmasters.com to order shirts. Thanks for helping me bring my coaches over to Beijing.]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry080729-195035 Jarrod Shoemaker Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:50:35 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080729-195035 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry080721-091938
Recent Article:
Wall Street Journal Article
NBC Nightly News ]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry080721-091938 Jarrod Shoemaker Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:19:38 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=07&entry=entry080721-091938 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry080629-145328 Cohasset Triathlon about an hour drive from my house and had a great time. The race director, Bill Burnett, did an amazing job and I was so excited to see so many people hanging around after a triathlon. I had a solid race eventhough the swim was short. Overall it was a great workout day for me as I continue my prep for Beijing.
Last weekend I was in Des Moines for the Hy-Vee World Cup and what an amazing event they hold there. Last year was great, but this year was even better. They had to move the venue due to flooding at the original lake, but somehow they were able to find a new course, lake and finish area, very impressive. Overall the race went fine but I had a subpar run.]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry080629-145328 Jarrod Shoemaker Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:53:28 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080629-145328 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry080613-234151
]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry080613-234151 Jarrod Shoemaker Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:41:51 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=06&entry=entry080613-234151 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry080524-161138 Training has been going amazing over the past month and I am very excited to race in Vancouver and Des Moines. Ethan Brown has been living with us for the past few weeks and it has been fun to have a training partner.]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry080524-161138 Jarrod Shoemaker Sat, 24 May 2008 20:11:38 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=05&entry=entry080524-161138 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry080426-193956 Hormel/Hy Vee Kids Triathlon. It was a lot of fun and I am very excited to go to two more of these kids races in Sioux City, Iowa and Rochester, MN.
As for training that has been going great and my race in Mazatlan went as well as it could. The pack I was in decided to give 3 minutes to the leaders so I was running with a deficit that I knew I could not make up on one athlete. I ended up running 1 minute and 30 seconds back into him with a 31:07 10km run. My fitness is exactly where I want it to be right now and I am very excited to step back into and get ready for my next racing block which includes Vancouver World Championships and Des Moines Hy Vee Triathlon.]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry080426-193956 Jarrod Shoemaker Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:39:56 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080426-193956 http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/index.php?entry=entry080407-001313 I leave for Ishigaki on Tuesday morning and am excited for my first World Cup of the season. I have been keeping an eye on the first two races and there have been some amazing performances so far, I am quite excited to see how fit I am.]]> http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/?entry=entry080407-001313 Jarrod Shoemaker Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:13:13 GMT http://www.jarrodshoemaker.com/journal/comments.php?y=08&m=04&entry=entry080407-001313