When the pain comes, you know what I do? I smile. – Chris McCormack I love sport comeback stories. Jonny Brownlee’s recent victory came at the perfect time. It was inspiring to watch before my Ironman because it was his first World Triathlon Series victory in two years. Jonny had many doubters.  “People have very short […]

Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there, it’s not about winning.  It’s about you, and your relationship to your family, yourself, and your friends.  Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye, and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth.  And that […]

He who is not courageous to take risks accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammed Ali Nothing in life gives me more butterflies than the days leading up to a big endurance event– especially the first triathlon of the year.   It seemed like it took this long for the first triathlon of the year to arrive: […]

Our inaugural PNW multisport race of the year and first multisport race as Washingtonians took place this past weekend.  We signed up last minute to avoid racing in the rain.  Sun was out and the guns were out on race day. The South King County junkyard dogs: Racing in a different community and on brand […]

We have four simple rules at the Kawaoka compound: Don’t talk, act. Don’t say, show. Don’t promise, prove. Don’t eat Mcdonald’s, eat lettuce.   This past weekend, I had two athletes racing a local 10-mile road cycling time trial (Taco Time Ice Breaker TT) — my wife (Becca) and Michelle M. This “out season” has […]

Training is in full swing for Becca.  She is preparing for the Boston Marathon in April and doing her inaugural Ironman in Whistler. Becca reminds me a lot of my work ethic and willingness to be the best she can be. The progress she has made in just over a year in triathlon is incredible.  […]

This past weekend I hosted a Peak Tri Coaching / ONE Multisport training camp in Flagstaff.  It gave us the opportunity to escape the 120-degree heat wave in Phoenix and train in slightly cooler weather at elevation. The camp was full of laughter, pedicures, pickle juice drinking contests, pizza eating, delicious desserts, David Tindall beatdowns, lengthy […]

  The crew at PBM Coaching (including my coach, Kurt Perham) hosted a “Breaking Barriers” training camp in Tucson, AZ this March.  It was full of pain, sweat, laughter, sunburn, Whole Foods trips, pizza eating, Peeps, Skittles, broken chairs, new friendships, super negative TSB values, and a whole lot of bitching from Joe. The rules of tri camp were […]

Due to the low exchange rate, my obsession of running away from bears, and Whistler’s breathtaking scenery, I signed up for IM Canada in July.  I needed a good kickstart to my year. Russ Brandt invited me to join his training shenanigans in Tucson. With superstars Jon Coffen, Russ Brandt, Ben McMurray, David Tindall, Malcolm McGuire, John […]

You don’t play triathlon. You play soccer; it’s fun. You play baseball. Triathlon is work that you can leave you crumpled in a heap, puking on the roadside. It’s the physical brutality of climbing Mount Everest without the great view from the top of the world. What kind of person keeps coming back for more […]