Why I Choose Not to Race Pro

It has been asked of me:

"When are you going to turn pro?"

Simple answer from me:

Never.

It's not that I haven't thought about it and wouldn't enjoy racing with the fastest triathletes in the world. There was actually a time this past fall when I thought that Ironman Arizona might be my last race as an amateur.

Then I really started thinking about what my goals would be as a pro. It certainly wouldn't be to attempt to make a living as a triathlete by winning part of a professional purse, I'm simply not fast enough...never have been.

As someone who has been to several world championship events, that's what I thrive for. Trying to be the best triathlete I can be and compete on the biggest stage available. As a pro, my best chance at that would be to try to qualify for Vegas.

In order to do that however, chasing points would be part of the journey. As a parent with a 15-month old boy at home and quite possibly a second little one in the not-too-distant future, I simply don't want to be traveling the country over just to earn points to qualify for one race. It would simply be too much of a strain on my family, which at times during heavy training is tough enough. If I was ten years younger, single, without a family...it would be a totally different story.

Yes, there are other events out there other than the ones that WTC owns...and that's another topic that I'm not going to approach here today.

If I'm going to continue competing with the aim of a world championship qualification, whether it be for Vegas or Kona, it will be a one-and-done situation as it currently is with age-groupers. I will stay as close to home as possible with these qualifications. As it turns out, Boulder 70.3 and Ironman Arizona are extremely convenient for my family and will be events on which I will focus...as an age group athlete.