Bear Lake Brawl Full Triathlon - Race Report

Leading up to The Race

The week before the race I started feeling a cold coming on and I started having aches in my hips and Achilles tendon. Taper madness was strong that week. I was so anxious to race.  After having all my races cancelled and going through the emotional roller coaster of having Ironman St. George cancelled (twice) I just wanted to race! I was so excited for race day and then I started getting very anxious about racing a full Ironman in just a few days.  The weather forecast didn’t help since it just kept getting worse every day leading up to the race. Little did I know how bad the weather would get or how epically difficult race day would be.

I finally decided that I would only worry about what I could control and go into the race with a positive attitude. I also accepted that the race would be cold and wet. So, I adjusted some of my expectations and made sure that I stopped focusing so much on finishing time and focused more on execution to allow me to finish. Cold temperatures almost forced my first DNF at the Bear 100 Ultramarathon in 2017, which takes place in the mountains on the west side of Bear Lake. I had never contemplated a DNF before but I made a mistake and underestimated how the cold would affect me in the night portion of that race and it almost cost me the finish. If it wasn’t for my family support I would have DNF’d on that race. So, knowing how cold affects me I planned for a long T1 transition to make sure I put on dry and waterproof clothes for the bike. I also accepted that I had to survive biking in a cold rainstorm, something I had never done before. According to the forecast the rain would go away around 11am and it would get windy between 2pm and 4pm but then the winds would die down and things would totally dry up.

My race plan was specifically geared toward that terrible weather forecast. I also accepted that my chances of a sub 13-hour time were low because of the energy suck of the cold and wind. So, my focus was on a decent finish and a decent performance under bad conditions.  In the last two days before the race I started feeling great and feeling energy coming into me, so the taper was working and my body was getting race ready.  I was still apprehensive about biking in the rain but I did a few things to make sure my bike was ready to go. I changed the tires to Continental Gator Skins, which are slow tires but they are all-weather and do a great job at gripping the ground.  I also fine tuned the bike and my set-up for the day.

We made it to Garden City around 3:30 pm on Friday and had plenty of time to check in and set everything up for the race. I was able to relax with my family in a cozy house right on the bike course. If nothing else Bear Lake is a great venue for a vacation.

Race Day

The Swim

I woke up at 4am after a really good night's sleep. I felt pretty calm, which is an achievement since morning jitters are typical for me. I got ready and Kevin, my son-in-law, drove me to the start.  The start line was pretty chaotic. There were cars everywhere and the wind was blowing like crazy so there was dust everywhere and the mild temperatures began to get colder and colder. Kevin helped me get set up in transition which took a lot longer than I anticipated. The wind kept getting stronger and stronger and then it was time to head down to the beach. I was really hoping that we would have an organized start but the scene before me was a bit of a disaster. The race organizers were late to set up the table with the timing chips, which then forced a long line of people.  The three buoys that were set out on the lake marked a course that seemed way too long for a 4-lap course and then the race director said that there was an additional buoy that had blown off course that marked another edge of the course that made it even longer.  The race start was delayed until they could get the buoy back into position.  Meanwhile the wind kept getting stronger and the waves out on the lake kept getting bigger and bigger.  We were all afraid that the swim would be cancelled.  They had a jet ski out there trying to drag the buoy back into position but the wind was so strong that the jet ski itself was having issues making progress.

Most people were asking Joe, the race director, to forget about the buoy and simply adjust the course.  I was starting to shiver uncontrollably because it was so freaking cold out there.  Poor Kevin was feeling bad for me and he kept sending status updates to the family about what was going on.  Joe finally decided to adjust the course and announced that the athletes doing the full would do three laps around the three buoys already out there.  We then lined up according to expected swim time so I lined up with those expecting to swim 1:30, which is my longest IM swim.  

We went into the water time-trial style about 5 seconds apart.  The course between the first two buoys was very shallow and you essentially had to walk for a good portion of it.  The water actually felt good but the combination of the water and the wind made the overall feeling very cold.  Once it finally became deep enough to swim it became apparent that even breast stroking would be a challenge since the waves would just roll right over my head and I could not breathe.  I tried to freestyle but had the same problem.  So I had to do a combination of freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke to make it to the first buoy.  It was so cold and the effort was so hard that I was spent by the time that I got to the first buoy.  However, I then focused on getting myself to the orange buoy deeper into the lake.  The swimming in that direction was much easier because it was more with the wind but it was still hard not to breathe in water because the water was so choppy.  

Once I made it to the orange buoy I knew that I was in real trouble.  I now had the waves on my left side, which is the side where I prefer to breathe.  I tried to bi-lateral breathe but the effort was too hard and I was still breathing in water.  So I was relegated to breast stroking all the way back to the first buoy.  In the middle of that effort I had to call a kayak over so that I could take a break.  The kayak took forever to get to me and he threw me a life saving noodle to hold on to.  I instead waited until he got closer to me and then held on for a minute. He then told me that it was too dangerous for him to be out there!  I thought “too dangerous for you, what about me?!”  He said a kayak had flipped over and they were changing the course to go in loops between the first and second buoys, however when I asked him how many laps we had to do he said he didn’t know. Ugh. I made it to the first buoy and then made a couple of loops to the first buoy.  I then found other people doing the Full and asked if they knew how many loops we needed to do.  They said they decided to only go as far as their predicted time and then get out.  Well, I was already more than there.  I had been in the water for over one hour and thirty minutes.  So I decided to go back to the first buoy and then get out.  

As I was making my way to the first buoy and then to the exit my body started to get extremely cold.  This had never happened to me in a triathlon before.  Even in very cold water my body has been able to acclimate to the water temperature when I’m wearing a wetsuit.  However, I had been out there way longer than I ever have in any triathlon and the 62 degree water temperature was just too cold.  Combined with the air temperature, which was in the 40’s, it made for a very dangerous situation.  As I was getting out I was shivering uncontrollably and it was hard to move.  I eventually found my sandals and I made my way quickly to transition.  My final swim time was 1:41 and I have no clue how much ground I covered.  I was just happy I lived through it. 

T1

Now came the really hard part.  I knew for a fact that I needed to change into dry and warmer clothes.  However, there were many complications to achieve this.  First, I could not feel my extremities and I was shivering uncontrollably.  Second, the wind was still a bit crazy and it started to rain, which made getting to my stuff logistically more difficult.  Third, there were no changing tents in this race so I would have to use a poncho so as to not moon everybody.  Well, I knew that the change of clothes would take forever but I decided to take it one step at a time.  Using the poncho to be modest was a great idea but when you can’t feel your extremities it makes it near impossible.  The result was that I lost my balance and fell hard on my side thus mooning everybody anyway.  It was so painful that I didn’t even think about the embarrassment of my situation.  

I finished my change of clothes by adding tights and a running rain jacket.  I also had a skull cap under my helmet.  I then noticed that my bike was caked in sand.  All I could hope for is that the gears would work.  Getting out of transition everything creaked and I had to spend some time kicking sand out of the chain and out of the rim brakes before getting on my way.  The whole transition took over 18 minutes.  This is absolutely my worst transition time but I had to do all I did to ensure survival on the bike in the middle of a cold rainstorm.

The Bike

I got going and actually felt fortunate to have even made it to the bike course.  Immediately I was happy for my choice of tires.  The road was wet and waterlogged but my bike felt secure on the road.  The east side of the lake is all ups and downs so it was difficult to get into a rhythm.  However, the tail wind helped to control some of the effort.  This was great because I was using a LOT of energy dealing with the wet and the cold.  The rain was coming down steadily and I was thankful to have a rain jacket on, so at least I was mostly dry but it was definitely cold.  I could not believe there were people out there just in their tri kit.  Even if you were only doing the Olympic or the Half it was so cold that being out there in a tri kit only would be awful.  I actually saw a few people doing the Sprint or the Olympic that kept their wetsuit on for the bike leg.  Smart.

I decided to focus on execution at this point.  I made sure to start taking in my calories and I kept track of my power to make sure I wasn’t overcooking myself since I was already burning many calories just trying to stay warm.  I did feel the toll that the cold swim and transition had taken on me.  There was quite a bit of aqua jogging on one of the sections of the swim that I ended up doing about 3 or 4 times.  This took quite a bit out of me in the 1:41 swim and I could feel it now. I knew that in order to finish energy conservation would be key.  Controlling power and perceived exertion became super important for me.  If I was going to make a mistake I would rather be conservative than put me at risk of not finishing.  Who the heck knew what the rest of the day had in store.

The entire 20 miles on the east side had sustained rain and then the rain started to taper off somewhat but stuck around.  Around 11:30 I rode by where we were staying at Garden City and it was soooo great to see my whole family outside the house cheering for me.  My granddaughter Charlee looked very confused as to what everyone was cheering for.  It was very cute.  

I was very happily surprised to feel that the wind I expected on the west side did not materialize and I could sustain a pretty good pace and power.  I got back to Idaho and started feeling like I needed to pee. When I got to the aid station at St. Charles I stopped and peed and then kept going on the north side of the lake.  The headwinds here were absolutely brutal and my speed was cut to 14 to 16 MPH.  I was able to see the pros racing the Half Ironman suffering out on the run course but I had no energy to cheer them on.  This leg of the course was a total energy suck.  By the time I got back to transition I decided to stop and refill my bottles with my supplies in the special needs bag.  I then went out for the 5 mile loop to complete the first 56 miles.

This is where the race got very, very hard.  The headwinds were strong on the east side hills and making any progress was difficult.  I was glad to turn around but knew that the 2nd 56 mile lap would be brutal.  The 2nd 20 mile stretch on the east side hills was absolutely brutal.  The rain had gone but the cold and wind were in full force.  It was soooo hard to get through those miles.  The fatigue of the day had accumulated and the headwinds and hills did not allow me to sustain any rhythm or power.  I lost about half an hour of speed in these miles.  I am happy that I didn’t push it too much though and was very happy to make it to the south of the lake.  I finally was able to start getting into a rhythm but just as I was settled in a huge semi came by at top speed and the wind it carried with it almost made me crash.  I cursed out loud but then was thankful that I didn’t crash.  At that point someone passed me.  That gave me some motivation to stay close to that person and see if I could pass him back.

Once I started going on the west side the wind was at my back and I felt much better.  I passed the guy I was tracking down decisively shortly before I made it back to Garden City.  I made it back to the house in Garden City about 2:30 and this time only Jolynne and Kevin were waiting for me.  Thankfully they had a Coke bottle for me!  It felt great to stop and talk to them for a while and get some caffeine in my body.  I then started the trip to finish up the last 26 miles of the bike course.  I once again stopped at the aid station at St. Charles but it was mostly to quickly refuel.  Luckily the north side of the lake was not very windy this time and I was able to make pretty good progress.  The east side 5 mile loop was less painful the 2nd time but I was soooo ready to be done.  I finished the bike at 6:33, which was about 18 minutes longer than what I wanted but actually better than expected given the day’s conditions.  All in all I was very happy with my bike performance and my Giant Trinity bike performed excellently.  I was also very happy with my discipline at sticking to my fueling plan throughout the whole bike.  I was trashed but I did not feel hungry or nauseous.  On to the run!

T2

This transition was smooth.  I took time to take off all those warm clothes since now the sun had come out and the winds were dying down.  I put on my shoes, race belt, hat and sunglasses, grabbed my water bottle and got out of there.  My T2 time was a little over 4 minutes.

The Run

I started walking because it was very difficult to get my legs to respond well enough to run.  The strength effort of the day that I used to push the legs in the water and to push on the bike made my legs very achy.  So, I took it easy for the first quarter mile and then I started a slow jog.  The weather was perfect at this point.  It was still cloudy but the sun would come through the clouds every once in a while.  I progressively felt better and was able to sustain a pace between 9:30 and 10:30 in between mile markers.  I would take a walking break at every mile marker and aid station.  I really felt this run would come together really well and my outlook was positive.

Shortly before getting to the turnaround point at St. Charles I saw my family on the side of the road cheering me on.  However, I immediately knew there was something wrong with my granddaughter Charlee.  She looked sad and her nose was totally red!  By the time I got to her I noticed that her little nose was red with a bloody road rash and she had a couple of scratches on her forehead.  They told me that shortly before I got there she decided to get out of the stroller by herself and she fell flat on her face on the gravel!  I felt so bad for her.  I gave her a kiss and a hug and she seemed happy to see that I had come out of nowhere.  But then after I kept going I heard her crying because I had left.  Poor baby!

I made my way to the turnaround aid station and I guess I was looking like I was hurting because one of the guys at the aid station felt like he needed to cheer me up.  He said “Hey how are you feeling?”, I said “I’m hanging in there.”, then he said “Well, at least it could be worse.  It could be raining!”  I cringed when he said that because I felt like he had just jinxed me with all the possible bad luck that 2020 could throw out at me.  I guess the woman standing next to him did not appreciate the comment either because she slapped him on the shoulder and said “Don’t say that!  Don’t you realize it was raining cats and dogs this morning?!”  I smiled at that and started my long 6.55 miles back to transition.  Little did I know how powerful that jinx would prove out to be.

I soon made it back to where my family was spectating and I spent some more time talking to them and giving hugs to poor Charlee who had a very red nose.  I then said goodbye and went on my way.  Immediately I could feel that the light tailwind was picking up big time.  I also noticed that the sky was getting darker.  I could not believe it!  Seriously?!  It looked like another rainstorm was coming.  The forecast had been wrong all day long and it seemed to be wrong again.  The rain this morning that was only supposed to last through 11am lasted through 1pm.  The winds that were supposed to be from the west in the morning came from the north and then in the afternoon changed to headwinds from the southeast!  Things were supposed to clear up and stay clear through the rest of the weekend after the morning rain but here we were with what looked like impending rain and ever growing winds from the west.  I just can’t win.

The only benefit was that the tailwind was helping me keep pace.  However, the temperature started dropping dramatically and the winds were getting crazy strong.  I didn’t have a jacket on because I didn’t think I would need it.  Then I started feeling rain slapping my back.  Ugh…  I started getting very cold and with that my body started shutting down.  Luckily my family did not abandon me.  There was very little support out on the road with only 4 aid stations on the entire run course.  My daughters came by and brought me a Coke, which I desperately needed and asked if I needed a jacket.  I said I had one in my special needs bag but it wasn’t waterproof.  I had the running rain jacket that I used on the bike but that was inaccessible in the transition area.  My daughter Nikki said that her husband Kevin had a waterproof jacket with a hoodie that I could use.  That was a lifesaver because it kept me dry and allowed me to move forward taking advantage of the tailwind.

But then I noticed the one thing that I am irrationally afraid of: Lightning!  The first time I noticed it I was taking a walking break and talking to my daughters who had brought me more Coke.  I asked them “Was that lightning?!” and they flat out lied to my face and said “What lightning?”  I just shook my head, thanked them for the Coke and kept moving forward.  I felt so blessed to have my daughters Sofia and Nikki out there who were doing their best to keep me out on the course.  They know how deadly afraid of lightning I am and they started fearing that I would pull the plug when I got back to transition.  I tried to keep the lightning out of my mind.  I also tried to not think about the possibility that they would cancel the race because of the crazy weather.  The rain started stinging my calves and I could tell that this was freezing rain.  The 2nd loop would be total torture.

By the time I got to transition I was very cold.  I got to my special needs bag and got some gloves, a head lamp, and put away my sunglasses.  Then Nikki offered me her own rainproof jacket to wear over Kevin’s.  I immediately put it on as I knew it was only going to get colder.  Nikki then told me that my son Alex and my son-in-law Kevin were coming to run the rest of the marathon with me.  I was thankful for that.  She also told me that the weather forecast called for this weather to remain windy and rainy for the rest of the night.  That news hit me like a ton of bricks but I started mentally preparing for a sufferfest.  I then turned around and started the 2nd loop. 

The wind and freezing rain were absolutely ridiculous.  I could hardly move forward and my bare  legs were burning with the pelting of the freezing rain.  All I could do was put my head down and walk.  I was so miserable.  I started saying a prayer.  I said “Heavenly Father, I realize we need rain out here in the West but if it be thy will would thou please help me out here.  I’m freezing, scared to death and determined to finish this race.  Would thou please make the rain go away.  I would really appreciate it.”  I probably repeated that prayer five times.  I finally decided I needed to speed up.  I put my hands in my pockets and I started jogging very slowly.  I made it to mile 14 and then 15.  Then, miraculously, the rain stopped.  Then the wind died down a little bit.  Then, incredibly, the sun came out and even a rainbow came out!  By mile 16 it was still very, very cold but at least it was not raining and the wind was not violent.  I was so thankful.  I immediately thanked Heavenly Father for giving me a tender mercy that was wholly unexpected.  I guess He felt I had enough for today.  I picked up my pace.

Around mile 16 I saw my family waiting for me at the side of the road.  Alex and Kevin were ready to run with me.  I was very happy to see Jolynne and see the boys (they are really men but they will always be boys to me).  Alex, who is a cadet in BYU’s ROTC, was wearing his combat boots for rucking practice.  Kevin was wearing shorts.  So, they came ready to suffer with me.  It was nice to have the company.  Their mission was to make sure that I didn’t quit but I had already committed to finish no matter how long it took.  They provided me encouragement to lengthen time running versus time walking.  This was good because the cold had done massive damage to my energy reserves and I was having a hard time moving at all.  My feet, quads, and hips were killing me but my energy was also spent.  It helped to have the boys with me because it made me want to save face and show them that I still had some fight left in me.

By the time we made it to the turnaround at mile 19.75 the sun had gone down.  Thankfully, I had been moving pretty well and the cold was, for the most part, controlled.  However, the cold was still in my bones and the only thing keeping me from shivering was moving.  At one of those points where I was feeling that cold in my bones we were approached by a car and the driver asked if I wanted hot broth.  It took me a minute to process what he had just offered and Kevin immediately said “Yes!”.  When it finally registered I yelled out “Yes! Oh my gosh that would be awesome.”  And sure enough he had a cooler full of hot broth which was delicious and warmed my body and my soul.  I was so thankful for that.  About an hour later he came back and gave me more.  I later learned that this was Chris White from the Salt Lake Tri Club.  Thanks Chris!  

One thing that I appreciated was that Joe Coles drove the course the whole day to check on how we were doing.  He also would send out people to check on the participants.  It was funny because a regular Ironman race probably would have stopped or postponed the race when the lightning came.  Joe instead sent people out in trucks to ask participants if they were good to go in the lightning.  If they said “yes” like, unbelievably, I did then you were good to continue.  He also went around handing out garbage bags to participants for them to protect themselves from the wind and rain.  This was not ideal but at least it was something.

People out on the course were suffering big time.  I asked Joe if I was one of the last ones and he said that far from it there were still quite a few people on their first loop!  I was glad to have the company of Alex and Kevin.  Alex’s commentary on the race, the day, sports, and everything under the sun kept my mind occupied which was great.  Alex also did a good job at keeping track on my pace for each mile.  Once we passed mile 21 Kevin and Alex challenged me to time my walks and my run segments.  So I would walk for a while and they would give me a 30 second advance notice and then I would run for three minutes.  This allowed me to start moving much faster and we started passing people.  At one point we passed a couple of guys at an aid station and we quickly found that they were moving at a similar pace as I was.  Alex and Kevin decided that this was the competitive motivation that I needed.  

They kept telling me how close behind me the guy was and it motivated me to run faster during my running segments and to extend the time I would spend running.  At one point a car that was shadowing the guy behind me got pretty close to us, which told me the guy was close behind.  However, the guy in the car made a critical mistake.  He was playing loud music and the song he had on at the moment was “Tom Sawyer” by Rush.  I absolutely LOVE that song and it gave me a rush of energy.  I told the guys I was ready to run and I put the hammer down.  This 3-4 minute segment of running finally dropped the guy behind me but the boys kept telling me he could come back at any minute so I should keep pushing it.  I felt better after that competitive “win” and I moved faster.  As we approached the “1 mile to go” sign the guys challenged me to run the rest of the way once I hit the sign.  I was also pretty stressed about getting done before 9:30.  Anything above that and I would go above 14 hours.  My “A” goal was to go sub 13 hours.  My “B” goal, in case of crazy conditions, was to keep it below 14 hours.  And my “C” goal was to just finish.  I desperately wanted to achieve that “B” goal.

Kevin told me that I was cutting it close but that it was possible to make it by 9:30.  I then gritted my teeth and prepared myself for the last mile.

The Finish

I hit the “1 mile to go” marker and took off.  Alex was cheering me on and giving me words of encouragement like “Let’s go boy!”  I dug deep and after a little while I could see the lights at the finish line.  I asked Kevin if I was on schedule to make it and he said yes but that I was right on the line.  I gritted my teeth and pushed harder.  I found some energy reserve I didn’t know I had and I pushed the pace.  Kevin yelled “You’re going to make it!  Then Alex said “Just one more curve and that’s it!”  He was right, I had one more bend in the road and then all I had to do was take a right into transition and straight to the finish line.  I then heard Jolynne cheering me on and I picked up the pace.  I took the right on to transition and then straight to the finish line.  I. Was. Done.

A volunteer came out to get my timing chip and Kevin came in to support me where I stood.  The first thing I asked was “When did I cross the finish line?” and Kevin said the words I wanted to hear “9:28.”  My official time was 13:54.  Not my fastest time but not my worst by a long shot.  I was so happy to be done.

The Aftermath

As I expected the finish line was a very Spartan situation.  All they had was a dingy aluminum tubing arch with a timing mat.  There was no music and hardly any people there.  Joe had to go back into the building to get my medal and a bag with some food in it.  I didn’t even take a look at the medal as my wife put it on me.  I kept asking “Did I break 14 hours?”, which is funny because on a day like that one finish time probably mattered very little.  Jolynne assured me that I had broken 14 hours as I limped my way to the car.  I was so excited to get back to the house at Garden City and re-fuel and spend time with my family.  I think this was the best part of the day.  To be finally done and be with my family, eating junk food, and enjoying trading the war stories from the day was perfect.

Incredibly the day after the race was sunny and absolutely picture perfect.  The day before the race and the day after the race were picture perfect but, of course, it’s 2020 so the day of the race we got apocalyptic weather.  And you know what?  Bring it on.  If I was going to have only one race in 2020 it might as well be epic and if Bear Lake Brawl 2020 was anything it was epic.