Tim Reed. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
SUBIC, Zambales—As stellar as his resume is, Tim Reed had his fair share of struggles throughout his career.
Reed has won more than 20 Ironman 70.3 titles so far, but admitted the past eight months had been difficult.
That nearly yearlong curse, however, ended on Sunday when he conquered the 2019 Ironman 70.3 Subic Bay for his 23rd career title.
Reed said doubts crept in during the low point of his professional career and the hardest part of it all was the downtime he took in between tournaments.
“The hardest part was taking some rest, I kept racing so I train harder and harder and then you’re not racing because you’re tired and your body’s telling you to take a break,” said Reed. “I took a break, reset, and put work into training harder.”
“To win is a great feeling because you start to doubt yourself sometimes because I’m getting older, I got three kids, and you wonder how many more years you can do this.”
Reed struggled in the early part of the race finishing the swim leg at third with a time of 24:35, more than a minute slower than that of Alex Polizzi, who clocked in at 23:22.
The 34-year-old, however, pushed hard in the early in the bike leg and eventually held that pole position until the finish line.
Reed, who’s been with Team Alaska since 2016, said he’s proud to get another title in the Philippines—a country where he saw the sport of triathlon grow first hand.
“I feel like triathlon’s grown over the years which is really important and I think to see I’m really fond of to see the participation really grow is really special,” said Reed.