Three sports, one finish line.
Triathlon combines swimming, cycling, and running in one continuous, timed event, with transitions between each sport. Race day is demanding, but the greater challenge is often the months of preparation behind it. Balancing three disciplines is an art, supported by the science of a thoughtful training plan. This hub explores how that process works, how we trained, and what it produced—from short local races to international Ironman events and major championships, including the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
Explore
New to triathlon? Start with the first card. Each page has breadcrumbs at the top and a Home button in the bar.
What is a triathlon?
The race distances, how race day works, and every Ironman we have finished.
Start here →Training across three sports
How swim, bike, run and strength fit into one week, and the sessions we repeat.
See the week →Periodization framework
Base, build, race and taper: how a year and each block are organized.
See the framework →Zones, tests & benchmarks
Heart-rate zones, fixed-heart-rate tests and what they showed.
See the tests →Season by season
Coached: 2001–02, and 2010–11 by Mark Allen as members of the MarkAllenOnline Elite Triathlon Team. Self-run: 2003–07, from the coached template. Self-coached: 2008–09 and 2012–15.
| Year | Coaching | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | — | First triathlon: won the short course in Overland Park, Kansas (48:38). |
| 1996 | — | Twelve races; best finish 3rd in age group. |
| 1997 | — | Long-course age-group win at Santa Barbara; Escape from Alcatraz in 2:27:04. |
| 1998 | — | First Ironman World Championship in Kona (11:02:04); USAT All-American. |
| 1999 | — | Back to Kona (10:42:16). |
| 2000 | Plan began Nov 2000 | Kona together, 13:02:24 and 13:02:23; Jami also raced the Olympic-distance Worlds in Perth. |
| 2001 | Coached | Ironman New Zealand and Lake Placid (10:37:14 and 11:04:23). |
| 2002 | Coached | California Half best times, 4:36:34 and 4:48:30; Jami raced Kona. |
| 2003 | Self-run | Both won the Windman Triathlon outright; Ironman Canada 10:15:39 and 11:57:40. |
| 2004 | Self-run | Jami won the Bakersfield Olympic outright. |
| 2005 | Self-run | A driver hit us on our bicycles while tapering for Honu; Ironman Canada 10:51:19 (Jami did not finish). |
| 2006 | Self-run | Ironman Coeur d’Alene 11:23:17 and 12:51:45. |
| 2007 | Self-run | Best season: Jami won the Skyline Ridge half-marathon outright, five podiums; three for Sherwick. |
| 2008 | Self-coached | Ironman Coeur d’Alene 11:02:46 and 12:23:49. |
| 2009 | Self-coached | Ironman Austria 10:06:20 and 11:26:32; marathon 2:59:02. |
| 2010 | Coached: Mark Allen | 70.3 Austin qualifier; Jami won at Auburn. |
| 2011 | Coached: Mark Allen | Ironman bests at Austria, 9:52:21 and 10:23:01; first 70.3 Worlds; Jami also raced Kona. |
| 2012 | Self-coached | Written training philosophy; 70.3 Worlds in Henderson. |
| 2013 | Self-coached | Timberman, St. Croix and Lake Tahoe; 70.3 Worlds. |
| 2014 | Self-coached | Best 70.3 Worlds times, 4:49:46 and 5:15:57. |
| 2015 | Self-coached | 70.3 Worlds in Austria; Jami 2nd in the US and 3rd in the world in the 70.3 Gold ranking. |
