Category: Endurance

Travel and Race: Leadville, CO

paschmann

This race has been on my bucket list since 2001 and I started racing MTB endurance events. After a long technical story on how I got an entry – thanks Jon, and a deferred year from 2025 to 2026, I eventually lined up on the start line in 2026.

Our trip started in Tuesday flying from Charlotte to Denver, then a 1.5 hour drive to Copper where we were staying until Sunday. After dropping our luggage at the house, and building our bikes we immediately drove another 35 mins up to Leadville to get in a short shakeout ride after the long day of travel. I quickly realized why this place is so special. Beautiful scenery, miles of trails and dirt roads and quirky people. read more

Race: 2026 70.3 Ironman Chattanooga

paschmann

Another year back in Chattanooga, I knew I wanted to come back after the swim leg of the triathlon was cancelled in 2025, and I really enjoyed the course and the city.

My mom and I arrived on Friday afternoon after a beautiful drive through the Appalachian mountains and a short stop at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We stayed very close to the start/finish which was convenient since it was her first time attending an event like this. I stayed there the year before with Wes and it an absolutely prime location. Saturday after bike check in and info session I drove the bike course and did some sight seeing. We went up Lookout Mountain on the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway (Steepest part is 75% gradient!) and had a short walk around Point Park. After multiple visits to Mellow Mushroom for carbs, race morning came pretty quick. read more

Race: 2025 Ironman 70.3 North Carolina

paschmann

4 years in a row! A pretty solid training block going into this race despite some last minute travel to Germany for work.

2025 NC HIM Goal Plan vs Actuals
– Swim: 26:00 (Actual: 25:55, 140th OA)
– T1: 5:00 (Actual: 4:30)
– Bike: 2:10 (235W, 245Nor AVG < 160BPM) (Actual: 2:19, 150HR, 234W Avg, 239WNor, 18th OA)
– T2: 2:00 (Actual: 1:30)
– Run: 1:29 (6:35 @ 168bpm) (Actual: 1:39, 8W, 159HR, 60th OA)
– Finish: 04:20:00
– Result: #3 AG, 20 OA, AG Winner 4:15?, OA Winner 3:59?
– Training Load:
– CTL: 75 → 98 (Peak) 99 (Race)
– Bike Load: 46 (Peak) 45 (Race)
– Run Load: 35 (Peak) 36 (Race)
– Biggest Week: 13.1 Hours, 864 TSS
– Recovery Week: ~9 hours
– Avg Week: ~12 hours

Race: Belews Olympic Triathlon

paschmann

I signed up for this 2 days before the race and took advantage to get some goo open water practice in. I wasn’t quite fit enough to compete for the top spot, but considering it was at the end of a 3 week build block, I shouldn’t be surprised. I basically was only able to swim, ride and run at around 70.3 pace (and even that felt hard!). Fun day overall, great location for a race and plan to go back again next year!

2025 – Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

paschmann

Another Ironman 70.3 race under my belt and my best overall finish to date! It was slightly disappointing that the swim was cancelled due to strong currents, but if its the same for everyone, that works for me 🙂

The race venue, people and weather were perfect. Aside from my very first 70.3 in Augusta, I think this has been my favorite. This was probably influenced by some personal bests on all fronts, however, with not having a swim, I think that could have been expected to a small extent.

The weekend started by taking a beautiful drive up to Chattanooga through the mountains on Thursday, I left early so I could get work in once I arrived and avoid some traffic. The drive alone is worth the trip, along the beautiful Nantahala river through towns like Asheville and Bryson City. read more