John Fulton
Triathlete/AquaBike/Cycleist/swimmer
Age Group
55-59
2011 Accomplishments
Seven Races, seven podium finishes.
Sports Bio
Not very good if it requires catching, throwing kicking, hitting or putting a ball.... of any kind.
Dabbled in triathlon in my late 20's.. Did not dabble in triathlon in my 30's and 40's. Came back after the kids went off to college, etc...
Most proud accomplishments of 2011-
Albeit injured most of the year, I continued to adapt and try to stay competitive.A few races, I was definitely not 100%. Treasure Island Olympic I had not run for the five weeks prior to the race, and hobbled to a third place finish.
I had been training for the 70.3 Vineman and a few weeks before the race, I had not been able to put together more than a six mile run without significant pain. I contacted the race director and switched to the AquaBike. At the time, I did not realize it was the USAT Aquabike National Championship. Out of a field of 300 people, I took 12th overall and first in my age group.
Worst Race experience
Wildflower Olympic three years ago. My second race after a 25 year layoff. Not prepared and cocky. A mechanical issue with my front brake rubbing thru the bike course left me with absolutely nothing on the run. Seemed like I was on the course for days. A terrible bonk, but the absolute worst part of that day was walking back up the long hill with all my gear to my car. I had to stop 20 times to rest.
Goals for 2012
Increase my skills as a cyclist, compete in crits, a couple road races, time trials and XC races. Compete in Aquabike. Select a handful of triathlons and try to develop a "minimalist" style of run training stay competitive.
Continue to support the Johnny/Monica Sunday morning ride. This is such a great ride and an opportunity to see wonderful people work to become better and stronger cyclists. Definitely my favorite acitvitiy of the week.
Best racing advice
Train to stay healthy and then see how fast you can go. (The other way around seems to not work very well.)