Those of us who have prepared and prepared for a long time for a big goal know how incredible it feels to finally achieve it. Especially if said goal did not come easy. If it took long hours and sacrifices of time and energy the satisfaction is intensified. However, we all know what comes next. The blues. The "now what" feeling. The "Holy crap I have a lot of time on my hands! Awesome!" followed by "Holy crap. I have a lot of time on my hands...". Other than the "blues" or "post-race depression" I had never heard this phenomenon called anything else. While listening to the Endurance Hour podcast (endurancehour.com) the hosts named it something that made me laugh out loud. They called it "Post Ironman Depression Syndrome (PIDS)".
This term is ridiculous and appropriate all at once. Ridiculous because it is a play on real disorders such as "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD) which is a true trial in the lives of many people who have gone through harrowing experiences in their lives. By comparison the blues we feel after reaching a big goal can be classified as "first-world problems". These post-race blues are problems we are fortunate to experience.
The term PIDS was so appropriate to me because this whole month I have been dealing with sad feelings as I mourn the fact that my Ironman experience for this year is over. After Ironman Vineman I went through feelings of euphoria that are some of the reasons I love endurance sports. But a few days after the race I started having the following symptoms:
Hold on to anything you can find to make the high last -
1. Obsessively look at results, yours and others (including random strangers).
2. Look up race analysis to decide "Am I happy with my result? Did I really suck that bad? I did better than most of the field? Hey, at least I finished!" (Check out coachcox.co.uk for an example of what I'm talking about.)
3. Obsessively browse Faceboook and Instagram for race reports and images from the race. Spend disgusting amounts of time participating in threads about the most trivial things about the race. For example, I spent waaayyy to much time on the thread about whether a particular hill on the course had too much camber, whaaat? Jeez... The worst is when you get into fights on Slowtwitch about your race. Can you say time suck?
4. You wear the medal...to work. I have never done this but I know people that do. My ritual is that the first day I am back to work after a race I hang my medal on the side of the monitor so I can bask in its glory for one day. I then take it home and that's that.
5. You keep the race wristband on for way too long. At some races, definitely at Ironman and IM 70.3 races they give you a wristband at registration that brands you as a participant of the race. Some people keep these wristbands on for weeks and months after the race. Never mind that they look like hospital wristbands, they are pretty uncomfortable. I must admit I kept mine for about two days after the race but then it started driving me crazy. I may have shed a tear when I cut the band off.
Spend Money!!! -
Need I say more. The lines at an Ironman Expo are ridiculous! People, the stuff is at least 20% cheaper literally days after the event but even then holy crap the stuff is expensive. Jacket - $119 online (gulp!), Ironman Finish Line Trophy - $169 (I kid you not), M-dot Tatoo (who knows how much it costs, it can't be cheap and really? I don't think so). The only way I'm buying race stuff is if it's still around when it goes on sale. The Finisher's Medal is all I really care about.
Sign up for another race! -
You know who you are. Those of us who say "well I have all this fitness I might as well put it to good use!" Or "I bet I can get those 10 minutes back that will put me under 13 hours." Or just simply, "I gotta do that again!!!" "Sure, what's another $3K-$5K in registration and travel expenses?" "Can you imagine if I did two Ironmans in one year?!!!" It's been almost a month since I did IMVM and I can truly say I am not fully recovered. I have decided I am on the "One IM every two years" plan. There is a wide world of endurance sports and I plan to enjoy as much variety as I can muster. 100-mile run here I come!!!
Screw this I'm done... -
And possibly the worst reaction anyone could have, "I quit". I bought my tri bike from a guy who was so distraught from being pulled off the course at Ironman Lake Tahoe that he decided to completely quit the sport. He sold me his Cervelo for a fraction of the value and threw in the bike shoes and hydration system just because he just didn't even want to look at the stuff. I felt really bad for this dude because I don't think he was really looking at the reality of his day at Lake Tahoe. That was a horrendously hard race in very tough conditions. Many people DNF'ed that day. I actually love the attitude of some of the DNF's at Ironman Vineman. I am part of the Ironman Vineman Facebook group and have been inspired by some of the reports of athletes that got DNF's. They will be back and I fully believe they will finish. We all have failures but quitting is not the answer. I flunked the CPA exam 5 times before I passed it. But guess what, I'm a CPA. My buddy failed 2 times at the Bear 100 mile race before finishing it on his third try (I was his pacer all three times). That finish was sweet and awesome. Don't quit! Also, enjoy short course, 70.3's, running, biking, hiking. IM is just one thing. That's all it is.
My Advice -
I have none. Lest you think me a hypocrite I am a PIDS victim like the rest of you brothers and sisters in the Fraternity of Pain. The way I cope is by writing ridiculously long race reports and blog posts. So, while I have given my opinion I know I am as sick and twisted about this stuff like the rest of you. I like the approach of Coach Brett from Zen and The Art of Triathlon (zentriathlon.com) "Simplicity leads to happiness.". Thanks Coach Brett. At it's core it's awesome and a blessing that I can even cover the distance. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
P.S. But no, you people who get M-dot tattoos are freaks. Just saying... :-)
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
Ironman Vineman 2016
The Vacation
Holy crap that was hard. Yeah, I know, I say that about most races but, holy crap that was hard. This race was the capstone of one of the best vacations I have ever had. The past four months I have been experiencing some of the most brutal and stressful times in my career since I was a lowly analyst with Andersen Consulting back in the 90's. In addition I have been commuting one hour each way to work every day which has been hard on the training because I have been having to wake up between 4:15 and 4:30 am every day to put in the required training. Needless to say I was not very confident that I would be ready for race day.
By the time vacation time came around I was as excited for vacation as I was for Ironman. We started the vacation by going up to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for a reception for my daughter Nikki and her husband Kevin at my Nikki's in-law's. The in-law's live in Post Falls right outside of Coeur D'Alene and we were absolutely blown away by the beauty of the whole area. Lake Coeur D'Alene is absolutely stunning. I just couldn't stop grinning at our good fortune to have extended family in this beautiful part of the world. The mountains frame the lake like something out of a movie. The amenities for tourists at the lake and all around CDA and Post Falls are many. I even had the chance of swimming and playing with my family for most of the day in the lake. I swam in my wetsuit in very rough water in the morning which calmed down by the afternoon. The rough swim was still great and a good confidence builder for Ironman. Needless to say it absolutely kills me that this race is on Sunday. For religious reasons I will never race on a Sunday. If this race was on any other day of the week I would be the first to sign up. It's no wonder it has lasted this long in the Ironman circuit.
We then made our way down the coast stopping at incredible places like Crater Lake National Park. We even camped in a Native American tipi. I definitely got my fix of Outside this trip. Right before we made our way to Windsor we stayed a couple of nights in Crescent City, California. This is where things got a bit crazy.
I started feeling a saddle sore that I thought was gone starting to make a comeback and to make matters worse I started feeling like a cold was coming on. I started praying that all of this was taper madness and prayed for health. That night my daughter Sofia woke in the middle of the night yelling "No, no!" as she ran to the bathroom. She didn't make it to the toilet and she puked all over the bathroom and all over herself. Mind you this is Wednesday night and the race is on Saturday. I obviously felt bad for Sofia but all I could think off is "We are all going to get sick! I have to clean up all this puke and I am going to get sick and DNF or worse DNS!" Jolynne and I spent the next hour cleaning up the mess and my psyche was dying with every passing minute.
The next morning as we drove to Windsor we figured that it very well could have been food poisoning because of the sudden way in which Sofia got sick. Once again I prayed for mercy and health. Interestingly enough my saddle sore did not come back and my cold symptoms went away. The worry of the stomach flu was still there though.
Pre-race Activities
By the time we got to Windsor and went through registration at the High School Sofia was feeling much, much better and Jolynne and I still felt great. Registration was crazy. Having done Vineman in 2014 I was expecting it to be a lot bigger but the reality was MUCH bigger. We had about 450 people competing in the Full in 2014. This year they had 2,225 registered. They held several rounds of athlete briefings and mine, which I did that afternoon, filled an entire High School gym. It was definitely a change for the better.
That evening we decided that we would go to the Ironman Banquet. We decided that if we are going to get sick there is nothing we can do about it now. The banquet was so much better than expected. I thought they would have crappy pasta and a cheesy presentation of some sort but this was totally awesome. The dinner was set outside in perfect weather. The Vineman green and purple colors were spread throughout. They served potato salad, grape salad (of course), quinoa salad, and 2 breasts of BBQ chicken. They also had iced tea, water, and Ice Cream. The food really was top notch. We got there early so we were at the front of the line and got good seats close to the stage. They had a girl singing live and she was very good. We had great dinner conversation with fellow athletes from Sacramento while we waited for the program to start. The program was led by Dave Ragsdale and Dave LaTourette, the race-day announcers. They did a great job of recognizing participants and paying honor to the great history of this race. Then they played a set of inspirational videos that were incredible. My daughter was totally inspired and she even said she wanted to do an Ironman some day. Mission accomplished.
We then went to the B&B at Guerneville where we were staying. We stayed at Pocket Creek Farm about two miles from the race start. This is a working organic farm that doubles as a B&B. Pam and Steve are the hosts and we highly recommend you stay there. Pam and Steve are awesome, the food was great and the accommodations are top notch.
That evening I took a closer look at my SWAG. We got a very big and nice duffle-bag with the Ironman Vineman logo, a race poster, a race program, IMVM luggage tags, Red Bull bottles, and a whole bunch of nutritional samples. The shirts were only handed out at the finish so no shirt at registration. All in all pretty good SWAG. The Ironman Store had very nice IMVM gear for sale. The color and design schemes for IMVM were very nice and we picked up a couple of things. We didn't touch any of the Finisher gear though (bad karma).
The next morning I organized all my transition bags, packed them in my OGIO bag and I rode the bike to the start. I checked in my bike and my bike bag and checked out T1. I liked the setup of T1 with the exception of the change tents which had an uncovered dirt floor. I could tell that would turn into a mud pit by the time I got out of the water.
We then went to T2 at Windsor High School to check in the run gear and to browse the expo. The expo was good and we picked up a few freebies. We then went to lunch at KC's American Kitchen (like last time) and then we made our way back to the farm.
That night we had a light meal of grilled chicken and veggies (all fresh) and I finished getting my stuff ready and then went to bed. I was having a very restful sleep when about 2am Jolynne stared screaming at the top of her lungs like someone was trying to kill her. I looked around to see what was happening but noticed that she was screaming in her sleep. I shook her for a while trying to get her to wake up and after a few seconds she finally woke up. Sofia was in our room in seconds totally freaked out. Jolynne said she just had a bad dream. A bad dream?! In 23 years of marriage she has never screamed in the middle of the night and this, of all nights, is when this happened! I asked her, what the heck were you dreaming about? She said "you don't want to know". Needless to say that was the end of my sleep that night. Uggghhh.
Race Morning
After the Poltergeist experience I decided to get up and start my nutrition. I drank a bottle of High Protein Ensure and then laid in bed for about an hour. I then got up and changed into race clothes and morning clothes and then had another bottle of Ensure and a peanut butter sandwich. I also started sipping on a Gatorade. I then got Jolynne and Sofia up and they drove me to the start. 4:50 am.
We got to the start and we were praying that our secret parking spot right next to the start would still be available. I'm not giving any details because it's a SECRET parking spot. Miraculously enough the spot was open and we had front row parking. I got out and handed in my Special Needs bags and then made my way down to T1. It was dark and about 52 degrees. I was s cold and I immediately had to pee. I dropped my pump and morning race bag at my bike rack and stood in line for the porta potties. Ten minutes later I was good to go. I ate a Glukos bar, finished my Gatorade, and loaded the rest of my nutrition on the bike (mostly Infinit drink). I use a between-the-arms bottle (BTA) bottle and two behind-the-saddle (BTS) bottles. All with Infinit. The bento box had a Glukos bar, some gels and salt caps. I changed into my wetsuit, took a couple of pictures of the transition and phoned Jolynne. She and Sofia met me right outside transition and I gave them the pump and the morning clothes bag. I was then ready for showtime.
The Swim
The corrals for self seeding were ridiculously full. We were packed in like sardines. I lined up in the 1:30-1:45 pace group since my last swim there had been 1:32. It felt like the whole world believed they were going to swim 1:30. To make matters worse the corrals were right on the beach which is pure gravel. I made the stupid decision to give the sandals to Jolynne and she took off further down the beach with them. My feet did not appreciate the rocks. Next time I will bring throw away flip flops. The horn went off at 6:25. I didn't make it to the water until 7:10! It was crazy how long it took to get everybody in the water.
As expected the water was very cloudy from everybody being in that shallow river. I thought my allergies would start acting up like crazy but they didn't. I felt perfectly fine and the 72 degree water felt awesome. I got into a good rhythm and then the contact started. I started running into slower people and people kept running into me. It was pretty high contact but only violent a couple of times. One time I got whacked in the face by an arm and it stung pretty good. However all this contact was to be expected and really wasn't a big deal. The part I hated was the fact that there were tons of people walking in the shallow parts. This made an obstacle course because the walkers were going much slower than what I could swim. That really annoyed me and I ran into a few walkers . Regardless I felt like I was doing good time and like the draft was pretty good. I hit 43 minutes at the turnaround, which was good because the second half is always faster in that river. The swim on the way back was the same story. My strategy for the shallow parts was to adjust my stroke so that it came close and under my body rather than straight down. This kept me moving and making good progress. The finish came a lot faster than expected and I rocketed up the chute. I checked my time and it was 1:23, a PR of 9 minutes! I was super stoked about this and then I saw Jolynne and Sofia right in the chute cheering me on. That felt great and I made my way to the strippers, got my wetsuit off, then to the bag area where I yelled my number, the volunteers gave me my bag and I made my way to the change tent.
T1
The change tent was a muddy mess and I was sooo glad I brought a towel. I struggled to find a place to sit so I decided to go the spots closest to the exit which had seats available. I changed my entire kit, put my helmet on, wiped down my feet, and put socks and bike shoes on. I stuffed the swim gear in the bag and gave it to a volunteer. I then ran out of the tent, got some sunscreen on my ears and neck, picked up my bike and ate another Glukos bar. On the way out I saw Jolynne and Sofia one more time. I walked the bike up the hill and very carefully mounted the bike. The whole transition took way too long, 9 minutes. I need to practice Ironman transitions.
The Bike
Riding on River Road was a bit sketchy. Tons of people and cars going in both directions. The cars were not going very fast but still it as crowded. I decided to take it easy and make sure I got my hydration going. There were so many people that getting down in the aerobars was useless so I stayed up on the basebars and jockeyed for position in order to keep a good speed. As we got close to the hairpin turn at Sunset I slowed way down and made sure the person in front of me had ample room I also yelled back to the dude right behind me to slow down so he wouldn't run into me. This gave me plenty of room to maneuver the curve and I had no problems at all.
Then I made it to Westside and the fun began. I immediately noticed the nice repaving that they did on Westside. It was buttery smooth. I also noticed my stomach was not very happy with me. It didn't hurt but it was uncomfortable. This worried me to no end because I didn't know if I had made a nutrition mistake or if I was coming down with a virus from Sofia. I decided to make absolutely sure that I stayed within a Heart Rate box of 135 to 145. This is a sweet spot where I should be able to function aerobically for a long time without having to deny the proper function of the heart and the rest of the organs.
I kept a good pace but never really felt comfortable. I definitely felt a lack of energy that I had the last time I did this race. This could have been because I pushed it so hard in the craziness of the swim. Whatever it was I decided to be cautious and to make sure to stay properly hydrated. The first half of the bike was fairly uneventful and I managed to stay at my minimum desired pace. I got to special needs and a cold bottle of Ensure waited for me as well as a super concentrated cold bottle of Infinit. I spent too long at Special Needs and lost a couple of minutes that I should have saved. It also didn't help that I saw the leader of the race go by as he was finishing the bike leg of his race. Uggghhh, that made me feel slow.
I got back on the saddle and settled in for the second half. The temperature was starting to get hot and I decided to start getting water at the aid stations and dumping it on my neck in order to keep the temperature down. My stomach issues were now gone but the fatigue was settling in. I was doing great in the flats but the rollers were killing me. It really wasn't too difficult to stay in aero but I was just feeling muscle fatigue. My quads were not happy with me. Once again I went back to making sure that I was keeping hydrated, on top of my nutrition and within my heart rate box. As I approached Chalk Hill for the second time I started experiencing cardiac drift and I made sure to hold back in order to not burn my run matches.
Then at mile 95 catastrophe struck (maybe). My right quad started cramping and seizing. The pain was pretty intense but what worried me the most is that I could hardly bend my leg. I slowed down and did all I could do to not have to stop. The pain eased up for about a mile and then right as I was approaching Chalk Hill both of my legs seized. Holy crap, that hurt like a mother. I just slowed down and started taking salt caps and drinking Infinit. I massaged my quads and tried to keep on moving. I have never suffered cramps on the bike so I wasn't sure what the heck was going on. All I knew was that I better get mobility in my legs before the upcoming Chalk Hill.
My thoughts started going to the run. Could I even run if I was in so much pain right now? I then decided to put that out of my mind and handle the problem at hand. I massaged a ton and started stretching on the bike. Before I knew it Chalk Hill was right in front of me. A guy that had been cheering us on the first time greeted us poor souls with a grin and a slow clap and he said "Welcome back riders! A bit harder this time, huh? He, he, he!" I almost flip him off.
I got on the lowest gear and just put my head down and hammered as carefully as I could. The pain was pretty bad but the fatigue was worse. I just looked at the road right in front of me and kept going. The cheers from the spectators became a blur and I just kept going. Then suddenly I felt the effort getting easier and just like that I had made it to the top. Things then got sketchy since there is a severe downhill and I was dizzy and not totally in control. I did my best to keep the downhill under control and once I got to the flat I focused on getting nutrition in me. I had a mostly full bottle of Gatorade in my bottle cages and I really struggled to get it into my BTA bottle so that I could focus on pedaling and drinking at the same time. I got the job done but I had a few scary moments because the road was very rough at this part of the course.
The job now was to recover over the last 12 miles so that I could be ready to run. I decided to focus on fast cadence and controlled heart rate. The strategy worked and started to feel progressively better. I finally got back into the neighborhood of the High School and finally took the last turn to ride to T2. I was so happy but I was also totally scared of how I would feel once I got off the bike. I got to the dismount line, dismounted and then ran the bike to a volunteer who took my bike. I was surprised that I actually felt pretty good. As I made my way to the run gear bags I saw Jolynne and Sofia right there cheering me on. Sofia said "What took you so long?" I thought "Seriously child?!" My total time was 6:30. Five minutes worse than 2014 but not as bad as it could have been.
T2
A volunteer gave me my bag and I jogged over to the change tent. I found the first open seat and took it. Immediately my quads started cramping again but not as bad as before. I spent a couple of minutes massaging the legs and the cramps subsided. Once I felt better I changed my jersey for a Tri-top, put on a visor, donned my Hoka shoes and put on my race belt. I also had concentrated cold Infinit and some salt caps. I needed to pee really bad which was a good sign of hydration and I went outside to the porta potties and then spent more time than necessary trying to figure out how to get out to the run course. The whole thing took me 10 minutes. Uggghhhh....
The Run
The run takes you through a couple of large sponsor arches (one of them being Hoka who is sponsoring the IM run courses in the US this year) and takes you out to Keiser Park. Then it puts you on the trail system for the park which leads you to the turnaround point for each of the three loops. This turn around section is fan-central for the course and the center of the park. There were tons of people here enjoying the shade of the trees and cheering on the runners. Many high-fives were given in this section. The trail meanders through the park and eventually drops you out to Windsor River Road. Here you face a slight uphill followed by a healthy downhill and a healthy uphill. Then you have a significant 6% or so downhill for a quarter of a mile. The run course is completely different to the course I ran in 2014. After the hill on Windsor River Road you take a right on Eastside Road and then a left on Old Redwood Road until you get to the turnaround at mile 4.7. After the first leg the next 4 legs become 4.2 miles long and the last one is 4.7 to the Finish Line in the middle of Windsor High School. So, the distance of the lengths when you are “looping” (4.2 miles) is pretty manageable.
I actually felt great as I started the run. I was so happy to be off that freaking bike. One thing I noticed was how much stronger I felt at this point of the race than what I did back in 2014. Back in 2014 I physically could not run for the first 10 minutes. I was pretty wrecked and the entire run was a bit touch and go. This year I felt like I could run at a pretty good pace. However, I remembered the many “4-keys” talks that I listened to from Endurance Nation in preparation for the race. EN makes it clear that you don’t earn the right to race until you reach mile 18 in a condition that allows you to race your peers. I could feel that I would need to slow it way down if I was going to have any chance of making it to mile 18 in any sort of shape to compete.
I slowed the pace way down from 8:45 to 10:00. On the downhills I allowed the pace to creep up a bit but never faster than 9:30. As I was making my way down the hill to Eastside Road I saw a lady that was moving at a pretty good clip. I asked her if this was her second loop. She said that it was and I asked how it was to go up this hill. In her words: “It’s a bitch, but you just put your head down and look at the road in front of you. Before you know it you’re at the top.” I thanked her for her advice and she went on her way. I had lots of people passing me but I told myself that I would stick to the plan and kept the pace around 10:00. I also made the decision that I would walk the aid stations. I came up on the first aid station and it was stocked with the usual fare. I took a big sip of the concentrated Infinit and then took some water, then some Coke and then threw some water on my neck and head. This was essentially my nutrition routine for all the aid stations in the run course and it worked out pretty well.
Eastside Road is beautifully paved and rolling. I swear there were very few flat sections in the course. Most of the time you were either going up or down. The heat was bad but better than 2014 where I had to have ice all over me right from the beginning. There was also a nice tailwind on the way out to the turnaround point. I was concerned about the way back because I think the net grade was uphill for most of the course going back and because that nice tailwind would now be a headwind. However, the wind was refreshing once I turned around and the hills were not too bad to deal with at all. Then came the hill back to the finish.
I followed the advice I received and put my head down and just pushed up the hill. It was haard but surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be. I made it back to Keiser park, used the bathroom real quick and then made it back onto the course for Loop 2. I decided not to look at my total time just so that I focused on the moment. I stopped at special needs and got a fresh bottle of cold concentrated Infinit.
The second loop was a lot harder, especially on the quads, my quads were screaming. However, I was able to keep my target pace. I saw Tom Hutches on the course and he looked like he was doing awesome. I also saw the Blonde Runner, a coach from Utah, and she looked like she was hurting. It was neat to start recognizing people out on the course and getting an idea of where I was position-wise.
By the time I made it back to Keiser Park for the second time I was very tired but I felt like I could keep running. Jolynne and Sofia met me here and gave me a cheer. I gave Sofia my bottle holder and decided to live off the course for the last loop. The downhill down to Eastside was horrible, my quads were screaming. I tried to put it out of my mind by talking to other athletes but it was difficult. I then got very angry. They ran out of Coke on the course! Are you kidding me?! I started panicking a little bit but I just told myself that I had followed my nutrition plan well and that I could make it. They were really pushing the Red Bull but I decided to rely on Gatorade, Water, and my Salt Caps.
It was awesome to make it to the last turnaround, thank the volunteers and tell them "Thanks, I'm outta here!" The road back to the finish was super hard but somehow I was able to mostly keep pace. There were a couple of hills that I had to walk but for the most part the only time I walked was at the aid stations. The hill the third time was horrendous and I decided to attack it by walking 35 seconds and running 60. With that strategy I was able to make it up the hill without too much trouble. At that point with about 1 mile to go I decided to not stop and run it all the way to the finish. One spectator wearing an Ironman Finisher's shirt from another race told me "Good job Jose but please smile, don't screw up the finish line picture." I thought, "I must look like crap but I'm glad he gave me a heads ups. I zipped up my top and decided to relax and run it in smooth. I started getting excited as I approached the park and I could hear the finish line announcer. Then I got to the turnaround and felt so great to be able to continue to the finishing stretch rather than to another loop. That felt incredibly satisfying. I then made it out of the park and onto the High School grounds.
Once on the High School grounds they had a finishing corridor that went right along one side of the high school and was slightly downhill. By now I knew I was sub 5 hours for the run and I knew I had a PR. I started getting excited for the finish and I could feel the excitement from the crowd. I then took a right and went right onto the finishing chute. It played out just like in all the Ironman videos I have seen before and there it was, the Finish Line. I pumped my fists and gave a ton of high fives as I made my way down the chute. Then I heard Dave Ragsdale say "Welcome in Jose Jimenez, 44 year old from Riverton Utah" and then Dave LaTourette said "You are an Ironman!" then I crossed the finish line. Finally!!! Official time 13:05:13.
After you cross the finish line a volunteer called a "catcher" comes and makes sure to get hold of you in order to make sure you don't pass out. They also give you a water bottle and a heat blanket. When they are sure you can walk they send you further down the chute where you get your medal and then your Finisher's Shirt. We did not get any hats at the race because the supplier sent them to the wrong place. Ironman said they would be sending the hats to us in the mail as soon as possible.
I then saw Sofia who was capturing everything on video. I was so glad to see her. She said she saw me come through and I was glad because I didn't see her and Jolynne in the finishing chute. There was an area with an Ironman backdrop to take your finisher pictures and I posed for the pictures. Then I saw Jolynne on the other side of the barrier taking the opportunity to take her own pictures. I then went over to them and started debriefing the whole race experience.
After the whole post race food thing (pizza, sandwiches, Grandma's Cookies, Beachbody Recovery drink, etc.) we went to the car so that I could warm up a bit. Sofia made fun of me because I was shivering uncontrollably. On the way to the car I saw Russ Pugh, the founder of Vineman and I told him thanks for an awesome event. After warming up in the car I bundled up with a sleeping bag and we made it back to the finish line to cheer on the finishers. It was pretty awesome. They had a huge jumbotron where you could see the person coming into the chute and it made the whole atmosphere feel bigger-than-life. We stayed there for about 30 minutes and then made our way back to Guerneville.
As I write this it has been one week since the race and recovery is coming along slow. I think the cramping on the bike and the effort I had to put from that point on really did a number on me. I ended up getting a bad sinus cold a few days after the race and I am getting over that now. I have never been more beat up after a race. I was able to put together a much more complete race than in 2014 but I really was not in optimal shape to do so. My work schedule had been crazy, my strength training had been non-existent and a few of the nights leading up to the race were crazy. Somehow though I knew what I needed to do to execute and I pushed the body to do it although it cost me big time in recovery. It kills me I didn't break 13 hours but at least that's the carrot that will keep me coming back. I will be back in 2018, at Vineman or elsewhere. No back-to-back Ironman years for me.
As always my selfish hobby is sponsored and made possible by my awesome wife and children. For this particular race Jolynne and Sofia were the perfect support crew and I love them both very much.
Next A-race on the schedule...the 2017 Boston Marathon! My 2nd Boston. Here we go again...
Saturday, January 23, 2016
2011 Boston Marathon - My first Boston Marathon
I have been conditioned to temper my expectations about
things that are hyped, advertised, and loudly lauded. I’m thinking of things like summer
blockbuster movies, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, Black Friday deals,
Fireworks on the 4th of July, theme parks, most Marathon Expos and
their related activities, and a myriad of other activities/experiences. While these have enriched my life they have
fallen short of their hype and advertisements in one way or another. I fully expected that this would be the case
with the Boston Marathon. I was
wrong. The Boston Marathon experience
exceeded my expectations. It stands up
to the hype and blows it out of the water.
My wife and I decided to make the trip a vacation. This was both a wonderful and a fateful
decision. Wonderful because we got to
spend two sunny days at Newport, RI prior to spending time in Boston during
marathon weekend. Fateful because I did
not adjust my race plan to account for the fatigue on my feet from two days
walking through Newport Mansions and one entire day at the Expo and downtown
Boston. Needless to say by mile 22 my
feet had had it and I posted a fairly slow 3:23 on race day. But more on that later. We probably should have planned on Newport
for after the race but I figured that my wife deserved a good experience
without having to drag a post-marathon-trauma disabled husband. I would not have made it to Boston without
her patience and support. So the Newport
trip was non-negotiable and very enjoyable.
The Expo on Saturday was also non-negotiable. This could be my only Boston and I was
determined to experience as much of the Expo as possible. I picked up my bib number and bag of goodies
and took the obligatory pictures. I absolutely
love the shirt this year. Very
nice. Wow, pretty much every retailer in
the running world was there. I loved all
the free food and the Runner’s Seminar series.
I attended two of these. One was
a course introduction by Dave McGillivray and the Course Director. These guys did an awesome job and I was able
to get Dave’s autograph on my Boston book by Higdon. The next seminar was advice by the editors of
Runner’s World who included Amby Burfoot, Bart Yasso, Mark Remy and others. At this session I got autographs from Amby
Burfoot, who won the Boston Marathon in 1967, and from David Willey who is the
Editor-in-Chief of Runner’s World Magazine.
The seminars were awesome and everyone was very nice and personable. As far as the retailers go I purchased a hat
from Adidas and shirts from New Balance.
I already had bought the Official Adidas jacket from Running
Warehouse. I was also able to play
around with the new Garmin 610 GPS watch which will probably be my next
watch. I would say New Balance had the
best apparel at the expo. They had a
good presence at the marathon throughout.
So that took most of that day then we went and had
lunch/dinner at the Prudential center where I met Neil from Pennsylvania. Neil was about to run his 45th
straight Boston Marathon. He holds the
record for the most Bostons run consecutively.
To put it in context, he ran the marathon in 1967 when Amby Burfoot
won. He was the nicest guy and provided
me with some good race wisdom. After
that we went to the finish line and took 200+ pictures (it felt like my
wedding). We then took the T back to
Cambridge got our rental car and drove to Hopkinton where we took 200 more
pictures. Finally we drove the course
and went back to my brother-in-law’s in Cambridge.
Sunday we returned the rental and then took the T to Old
South Church on Boylston where we attended the Blessing of the Runners service
that the Church of Christ puts together.
They did a really good job and it was a bonus that it was Palm Sunday so
the sermons and ceremony were extra special.
We then took the T and met up with Smooth, Rhett and other bloggers and
attended our church in Cambridge (that’s 4 hours of church for me on that
Sunday!).
Needless to say I was dog meat by the time I got back to my
brother-in-law’s house on Sunday. Reason
would tell any intelligent person that an adjustment in the race plan is
warranted. However, since I am an idiot
I decided to stick to my original plan.
This plan called for a conservative first half and an aggressive second
half resulting in a PR. I wrote the
splits down on my arms with permanent marker and committed to the plan.
I meet Smooth and the rest of group at the Boston Common at
6:20am on race morning. It was
freezing! The wind seemed to come from
all directions. We quickly made our way
to the line for the buses and literally fought our way to get into the
bus. I sat with Rhett and had a good
conversation all the way up to Hopkinton.
This was nice and it made the ride up to Hopkinton feel shorter. I was very glad I listened to Scott and Smooth
and brought an inflatable mattress with me to lie down. The wind kept whipping and it was sooo
cold. Very glad I brought extra clothes
and a blanket. I was very prepared for
the Village and the time went by quickly.
When time came to head to the corrals I headed out with Rhett and Lito
(Bobcat). They made for good
conversation as we dropped off our bags and started our long walk. Rhett was nice enough to give me an extra
trash bag he brought with him which I used as a wind breaker. We made one last PP stop behind Coella’s
Market and then headed out to the corrals.
I definitely scored with my super thick $1 gloves I picked up at
Wal-Mart in Newport. These kept me toasty
warm all the way to the start. The
organization of the race was incredible.
There was never a doubt as to where I needed to be. They must have checked my bib number about
four times before I made it into the corral.
One disappointment was that I thought there was a flyover by fighter
jets at the beginning of the race. I
either missed it or they didn’t have one.
In any case, the level of excitement from the runners and the crowd at
the beginning was awesome.
The feeling of finally starting the race was so
gratifying. This is what I had been
towards for about two years and I was finally a part of it. I started high fiving right from the
start. I probably high-fived kids (and
Wellesley girls) for about 50% of the race.
The kids were so excited. There
was a biker bar close to the start where the bikers were more excited or “happy”
than anyone else. I was being passed a
lot at the beginning since I decided to take it fairly easy at the beginning of
the race and that was fine since I was taking it all in.
The first few miles were very easy since they were at a
gentle downhill. I stuck to my plan like
glue. Well, for the first 19 miles at
least. Here is the play-by-play:
1- 7:31
2- 7:16 (Crazy running with these many
people. Very different experience.)
3- 7:03
4- 7:09
5- 7:17 (I think it was here that I saw my
reflection on some store windows. I saw
myself running the Boston Marathon!)
6- 7:01
7- 7:07
8- 7:11 (All throughout here it was very
pretty. I am feeling good. I cannot believe every foot of this race is
lined with spectators. My hand is
getting a workout from all the high-fives.)
9- 7:08
10- 7:18
11- 7:20
12- 7:11 (Wellesley. Scream Tunnel. Insane as advertised. Literally all of the girls lining the street
were looking for kisses. Oh, if I was 20
years younger! Instead I gave them all
high-fives.)
13- 7:17 (7:16 pace at the half, feeling good
starting to have some pain on top of my feet)
14- 7:11 (Pain on top of my feet is pretty bad
and moving to the bottom.)
15- 7:24 (My feet feel totally swollen and in
pain. What the heck is going on?)
16- 7:08 (Here was the first long hill of the
course, which was an overpass over Rte. 128, and I actually felt great going up
it. The pain on my feet eased
significantly.)
17- 7:43 (Looked for Jolynne after passing the
Newton Hospital since this is where we were supposed to meet. However, she was nowhere to be found. Then, after the Power Bar aid station, the
course turned left and I could see where we took a hard right towards the hills
of Newton. It was then that I saw the
three orange balloons that I told Jolynne to use to mark her position. She was at the left of the road with Kurt,
Jen and the kids. I headed over and
paused to give high-fives to everybody.
As I was ready to leave I heard someone say “Hey!”. I looked up and it
was my brother-in-law Conrad! He had not
said anything about coming out and it caught me completely by surprise. I said “Wow!”,
gave him a fist pump, turned, and headed for the Newton hills.)
18- 7:46 (2nd hill, not too bad. Feeling good.)
19- 7:34 (Fairly flat here. My feet are hurting again.)
20- 8:03 (3rd hill, feet don’t hurt as much but
slowed down the pace to make sure I have enough for Heartbreak)
21- 8:33 (Heartbreak! I took it easy up Heartbreak and it was good
that I did. By this point the hills took
their toll but I still felt pretty good.
It was great to see the big inflatable sign at Boston College that read “Heartbreak
is Over!!!” That was very cool but as I
headed down hill toward Brookline my feet were pulsating with pain like I have
not felt before at any race. Here is
where I paid the price for my four days of tourist walking prior to the
race. Stupid! My body wanted to go but every step shot pain
up my legs)
22- 8:41 (My pace really slowed down here. This was a death march.)
23- 9:04 (I started taking walk breaks at this
point. Pain was fairly severe. I saw two people passed out, one with blood
all over his face. I was definitely not
the only one having issues.)
24- 9:22 (I continued taking walk breaks. Half the world is passing me now. I was disgusted with myself and made several
efforts to push the pace and ignore the pain in my feet. I don’t remember where it was but I think it
was around this mile that I caught my first glimpse of the CITGO sign in the
distance. This is where I remembered:
YOU’RE RUNNING BOSTON! This could be a
once-in-a-lifetime experience and you’re missing it! It was at this point that I came to my senses
and stopped trying to push the pace and decided to jog my way to the finish
while taking it all in. I waved at
people. Smiled and looked forward to
Hereford and Boylston.)
25- 9:32 (It was awesome to see the fabled CITGO
sign and Kenmore Square. The crowds were
overwhelming. My feet started to feel a
bit better.)
26- 8:47 (Later I calculated that the second
half was 8:18 pace, over one minute more per mile more than the first
half! At this point people were going
nuts and this helped me to pick up the pace.
The right turn at Hereford was awesome.
I could really get a sense of the history of this race. This is what I had worked and suffered so
much to achieve and it was within my grasp. Then left on Boylston. Wow! I
felt like a rock star. The crowd was
going crazy and I had a smile from ear to ear.
I started pumping my fists and egging the crowd on.)
27- 7:47 (This was actually 0.47 miles on the
Garmin. I was able to muster up some
energy for the last stretch although the Marathonfoto pictures show that I was
in deep pain. I was all grimace outside but I felt completely elated. There it was!
The most famous finish line in all of running. I finished it! I finished the Boston Marathon!!!)
Total Final Time = 3:23:52.
My eighth marathon, my third best Marathon time, and the best race
experience I have ever had.
After the finish I was congratulated by a volunteer who gave
me a Gatorade and instructed me to keep walking. Here’s where the hurt came back with a
vengeance. I started feeling my legs
lock up somewhat and walking was difficult but I kept going. Another volunteer gave me a Gatorade Recovery
Drink and a bag of food. Later we got
our space blankets and tape for the blankets and finally we were given our
medals. After that we were directed to
the bus that had my bag and I waited for about 15 minutes in line to get my
bag. This was much faster than expected
and I was glad. I then moved to the
family meeting area to find Jolynne and the rest of the gang.
It was cool to see Conrad there. He also greeted me with a great
surprise. He pulled out a Salt Lake
Marathon medal. It took me a while to
realize that this big boy had actually just run the Salt Lake Marathon on Saturday. I yelled in astonishment and gave him a
hug. Jolynne then took a picture of us
holding our medals side by side. I think
it’s amazing that he was still walking around after having completed that
marathon only two days before. Conrad is
a die hard. We then made our way to the
subway where we had the nice surprise to find that they were giving free rides
to the runners.
The way back to Kurt’s house was difficult but once we got
there it was nice to kick up my feet and watch the re-runs of the race on
TV. Amazingly this Boston Marathon saw
the fastest marathon ever run by any human being and the fastest run by an
American. Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai ran a
2:03:02, fastest marathon ever recorded.
American Ryan Hall ran a 2:04:58, the fastest marathon ever run by an
American. It is extremely cool that I
ran the same race where these records were set.
It is even cooler that it all happened in Boston! I will be back someday!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Ironman St. George 70.3 2013 Race Report - The First IMSG 70.3!
Here's another oldie. This is my first Ironman 70.3 St. George race report. This was the first Ironman 70.3 St. George, held in 2013. I have done 2 more since then and will be racing it again this year. My PR is 5:52, so I did eventually break 6 hours on this course. My goal for 2015 is to break 5:45. IMSG 70.3 is brutal but it is awesome.
Thursday
Coming into St. George on the night of May 2nd
you could tell that the town was buzzing with the coming of Ironman. There were electronic street signs everywhere
alerting people of the traffic pattern changes and banners celebrating St.
George Ironman 70.3 hung from almost every lamppost. Stores had signs out welcoming the Ironman
athletes. The funny thing is that we
were arriving at the city at 10:30 pm.
Even then the transformation of St. George for the Ironman 70.3 was
evident. My heart gave a little flutter
as we drove into the city since that meant the event was ever closer to
becoming a reality. In a little more
than a day I would be jumping into 600 water in a reservoir that at last
year’s full Ironman had seen 40 mph wind gusts and horrendously large
waves. I kept thinking this was probably
not the safest bet to start my 2013 triathlon season but nevertheless there I
was. Bring it on.
The family and I got to Marsha’s house and she greeted us
with the enthusiasm that is typical of St. George residents who love their
marquee sporting events. Marsha had
volunteered for the famous St. George marathon for 20 years and she had also
been a volunteer at some of the past full Ironman triathlons. She loves everything about the St. George
endurance events and is very knowledgeable about the courses and the
venues. So when we got to her house she
peppered us with questions about our plans for the weekend and my preparations
for the race. She had saved all the
local newspaper stories about the Ironman and had them ready for us to
read. Marsha is definitely a big reason
I love to come to St. George for endurance events. She is the best host an athlete can hope
for. She has a wealth of information
about the venues that you couldn’t really pay for and she’s so excited for you
that you can bet she will be out there on the course to cheer you on come race
day. Marsha, thank you for your
hospitality, you’re awesome! After we got settled in we had a very comfortable
evening and I was even able to sleep in.
This felt especially great since I had a horrendous week at work where I
was putting in 13-hour days.
Friday
We got ready for the day very slowly and then took off to go
to the expo. I was very excited, not
only because it’s exciting to go to any expo for a large race but because this
was my first Ironman-branded race. Not
only that but this year’s Ironman St. George 70.3 also doubled as the Ironman 70.3
U.S. Championships and the field was full of the top athletes from all over the
world. So, I would for sure experience
some celebrity sightings at the expo.
Since the race was sold out it was a bit difficult finding a
parking spot but we eventually found one next to the T2 transition area. We were blown away by the number of bike
racks that were at T2. I realized that
about 2,700 athletes had registered but it was overwhelming to actually see
what that looked like in bike racks. We
would be going to T1 at Sand Hollow reservoir later in the day and I got
excited to see what that would look like with all the bikes racked.
We made our way around the St. George Tabernacle to the park
where the expo was set up. The first
sign that this would be a very cool experience was that as soon as we got to
the first booth Andy Potts was standing there talking to people. Andy Potts is the premiere American long-course
triathlete and the first American to finish the IM World Championship in Kona,
Hawaii in 2012. I started telling my
kids “That’s Andy Potts!” at which point they made it clear that I needed to
calm down and not embarrass them. We
then moved to the registration tent where I made a short line and literally
signed my life away. With the exception
of the Boston Marathon this was the most organized registration process for a
race that I have been a part of. They
definitely covered their bases. They gave
me my registration packet, my participant wrist band and then moved me to get
my bag, shirt and timing chip. The bag
was a very nice draw string bag but the shirt was pretty crappy. After checking the timing chip and receiving
my transition bags you were forced to exit right into the Ironman store. These people are definitely savvy about
making money out of the M-Dot brand.
Jolynne and the kids were already in the store. We were horrified at the prices of the
merchandise at the store. The participant
shirts that I wished we had received were selling for $35!!! For a t-shirt! Needless to say I didn’t buy anything at the
store but enjoyed checking everything out.
I needed a race belt because I forgot mine at home. An IM race belt was $12. I went over to the Inside Out Sports booth
and found one for $7. I bought the
Inside Out Sports belt.
After that we hung around the expo, which was actually
smaller than what I thought it would be.
I then saw Ben Hoffman, the 2012 IM St. George champion. It was cool to see the pros hanging out like
the rest of us. A little bit later on we
sat down and relaxed by a big and cool water fountain while we waited for the
mandatory athlete meeting. That meeting
was interesting but I didn’t learn a lot of new information. Later on we got lunch and the family dropped
me off so I could hear a pro athlete panel.
I was able to hear comments and advice from Andy Potts, Sebastian Kienle
(current IM 70.3 World Champion), Leanda Cave (current IM World Champion),
Kelly Williamson, Ben Hoffman, Heather Wuertle, Meredith Kessler (2012 IM St.
George champion), Jordan Rapp, and Andrew Starykowicsz. This was definitely a highlight of the
expo. I was able to get autographs from
Andy Potts and Meredith Kessler. I also
saw Craig Alexander (3-time IM World Champion) and Paula Newby-Fraser (8-time
IM World Champion) in person. Paula
Newby-Fraser is essentially the Michael Jordan of the sport of Triathlon.
Jolynne and the kids picked me up and we went back to
Marsha’s where the kids relaxed for a couple of hours while I got my bike and
race bags ready for drop off at Sand Hollow.
We then dropped off the kids at the movies. Interestingly enough they went to see Ironman
3. We made our way out to Sand Hollow
and when we got there the place was mobbed.
Sounds like everyone decided to show up at the same time. We parked illegally (only option, sorry) and
I took the bike out for a final spin and safety check. Everything seemed to be working in perfect
order and so I took my bike gear bag and my bike and made my way with Jolynne
to the T1 area. It was an impressive
sight to see about 2,000 bikes and gear all ready for action.
My transition spot was in the middle of everything and it
concerned me that I would have a hard time finding it coming out of the
water. Luckily my aisle ran right into a
gap in the row of port-a-potties that was close to the lake. So, coming out of the water I would just have
to run to the gap, take a left and keep going until I ran into my bike. After positioning myself I took a few
pictures and made my way out of T1.
Jolynne and I then made our way to the swim exit. Sand Hollow is a beautiful reservoir
surrounded by red rock and sporting a big old red rock island right in the
middle. What surprised me the most was
that it was so small. In all the
pictures I had seen it looked like the reservoir was huge but it is actually
only 1,300 acres. By comparison Lake
Powell at the UT/AZ border is 162.6 thousand acres. However, what it lacked in size it made up
for in beauty. The sand was red and cool
and the big rock island in the middle makes a beautiful centerpiece for the
landscape. After seeing the exit and
visualizing how that would be come race morning we made our way to the swim
entry area and I took off my shoes and stepped into the water. Holy cow that was cold! My feet hurt and they started to go numb
fairly quickly. It definitely felt colder
than Bear Lake and that was cold! I then
saw a young tiny woman swimming in her wetsuit so I concluded that if she can
do it so can I, ‘nuff said. But man was
that cold. The only saving grace was
that the swim course actually didn’t look too daunting at all. I crossed my fingers and hoped that we
wouldn’t have a repeat of 2012 where 40MPH wind gusts showed up and made the
swim horrendously difficult.
So, with a renewed respect for the challenge to come we got
back in the car and made our way back to St. George. We picked up the kids at the movies, picked
up some pizza and wings and went back to Marsha’s. The pizza and wings were awesome and hit the
spot just right. We conversed with
Marsha and made some final preparations and I went to bed around 10:20pm.
Race Day
Woke up at 4:00 am, which is actually about 30 minutes later
than when I had to wake up for the St. George Marathon so it felt a bit
luxurious to be getting up that late. I
actually slept very well for it being the night before a huge race. I very quietly put my kit on and got
ready. I went to the kitchen and ate a
quick breakfast of a PB Bagel and some Powerade (which I drank throughout the
morning). I also had some applesauce at
T1 when it was closer to race time. I
made a final check to make sure I had all my stuff and I woke up Jolynne. We left at 4:30 am for T2 where I dropped off
my run bag at my transition spot and then caught the bus up to Sand
Hollow. The temperature was actually a
bit chilly but very comfortable.
The bus to T1 was like every other bus ride to the start of
a marathon that I have done. The ride
felt very long and the bus is full of tension and anticipation. Incredibly I sat next to a guy from Riverton
(where I live) and we had nice conversation all the way to T1. The poor guy was doing this 70.3 as his first
Half Ironman and only his second triathlon.
I don’t think the poor guy really realized what he was in for. The 70.3 distance is no joke. I ended up laid out on a cot after my first
70.3 at Bear Lake last year. The buzz
about St. George is that it’s the one of the hardest if not THE hardest 70.3 in
the U.S. One look at the course tells
you that one better be ready for pain.
This was the thought going through my head as we arrived at Sand Hollow
reservoir.
We got to Sand Hollow sometime after 5:00 am and it was
still dark so no views of the water.
Luckily it wasn’t too windy or too cold.
I started making my way into T1 and was marked by one of the awesome
volunteers. My number for the race was
1730. It was very cool to go into the
transition area and walk right by all the pros in attendance. You would have thought it was a party the way
those guys were joking around and laughing.
The rest of everybody else was either cold, on their way to the
port-a-potties, or cowering in anticipation.
The place was completely abuzz with activity. People making final setup of their transition
areas, making final adjustments to their bikes, making sure tire pressure was
good, eating breakfast, checking nutrition supplies to take on the bike,
walking around and talking to others and lubing up with Body Glide and sun screen. I have never been to a race start with more
activity. There is so much to check and
so much that can go wrong in a race like this.
I actually saw quite a few people that I knew and it was fun
to converse with people and work out the butterflies. I made a pit stop at the port-a-potties,
which didn’t take long since they were pretty well stocked. After that I went to find Ian and David. Ian is Marsha’s son-in-law and David is her
son. These guys had survived last year’s
horrendous full IM. I found them and
they seemed to be in good spirits and ready to go. I also saw Jake who is my buddy Mark’s older
brother. This would be his first 70.3
and he looked like he was good to go.
Sometime after 6:15 am they started telling people they
needed to finish up and make their way out of T1. I put my wetsuit on and put Body Glide on my
neck hands and feet. I also added Body
Glide to the lower leg and arm sections of the suit so that it would come out
easier. I then made sure my bike bag had
all my bike transition stuff in it and that my morning bag had all the stuff I
didn’t need anymore (i.e. my jacket, my phone, etc.). I only put my suit up to my waist since I
wouldn’t be starting until 7:39 am.
As I was making my way out of T1 I ran into the Bullock
family. These guys used to be in our
stake and I used to run with Ryan and his dad Dean. It was kind of cool to talk to them because
Dean is in the middle of a campaign to win an inspirational entry for the
Ironman World Championships at Kona, Hawaii.
Dean was recently diagnosed with brain cancer and he has had major
surgery. The cancer is stage 4 so the
current diagnosis is that the cancer will kill him. However, Dean continues to train and he was
looking pretty good and pretty prepared.
It was cool to see most of his kids there ready to race with him as they
made their way to the swim start.
I handed in my morning bag and made my way to the swim start
where the pro-men had just barely started.
At this point the lake looked beautiful and very calm. The men were swimming at full throttle led by
who else but Andy Potts, one of the best swimmers in the sport. Experiencing that was definitely a neat
experience that I will remember fondly.
The beauty of the surroundings, the awe of us spectators and the
incredible display of human performance made for a memory that I will be hard
pressed to forget. It’s moments like
these when I receive a confirmation of why I love endurance sports. Big stakes endurance events like marathons
and long-distance triathlons are like candy to my soul.
Shortly after the male pros the women pros got in the
water. This is when I finally realized
that the start was a deep water start.
The women entered the water and they swam out to an area between two
yellow buoys that constituted the start line.
I thought that was genius because the swim out to the start line and the
wait prior to the start of my wave would be a great warm-up, which I was afraid
I would not have.
The gun went off and the women started. None of the women were identified pre-race as
being particularly stronger than the others on the swim so I had no idea who
was ahead. However, the women were much
more bunched up in a peloton fashion than the men. Later I would find out that Meredith Kessler
from the good old US of A got out of the water in 1st place.
They then announced that the age group waves would start in
a few minutes and that we needed line up with the volunteer holding a sign up
with our wave number and corresponding swim cap (bright yellow for me). I was part of wave 14 so I had a while to go
but I found the volunteer with the sign and I lined up with the rest of the
yellow-heads. Someone helped me zip my
wetsuit and then I waited. This point of
the race was a bit tense because there were quite a few guys around me that
looked like death warmed over. They were
anxious and wide-eyed like they were about to be brought up to the
guillotine. Luckily there were others
that were joking around and kept the mood light. The race organizers had really good and
really loud music going on so I focused on that and visualized the swim.
The Swim
I think what made people the most
nervous was that they probably didn’t know how they would do in 600
water. Sixty degrees is not that cold
for air temperature but when it comes to water temperature it might as well be
freezing. Luckily I had done two
triathlons the previous year where the water was approximately the same temperature
so I knew my body would adjust. However,
the first plunge is always painful. This
plunge was no exception. The water was VERY chilly. The face and hands felt
most of the sting but by the short swim to the start I was already acclimated
and excited to get started. This would be my first triathlon where I was
wearing a watch and timing my swim. This made for a slightly awkward fit of the
wrist at my wetsuit but nothing too terrible. However, when the gun went off I
sent a few seconds fiddling with the watch to turn the timer on which set me
back a few places in my age group.
The swim was beautiful. I was
glad I wore tinted goggles since the sun was right in my eyes for a while. The
water at Sand Hollow is very clear and I could see my fellow competitors around
me clearly. This made for a bump free swim, however there were so many people
that it made the swim a bit slow at times as I tried to get around people. My
form during the first half of the swim sucked because I was so nervous, this
being my first triathlon of the year and all. However, once the nerves calmed
down I really focused on my form and I started to pick up speed. Some people
were already breast-stroking and back-stroking by the halfway point and I felt
bad for them since that is clearly signs of struggle. The course was extremely
well marked and I had no trouble following it.
Where I ran into trouble was at
the last turn. For some reason I got a really bad cramp on my left calf and
from that point and to the finish (about 500 yards) I could not straighten out
my left foot. It felt like I was swimming with breaks on. I was afraid that the
cramp would be even worse when I stepped out of the water but once I did I felt
tension but not pain. I was good to go and I ran up the ramp. After I hit the
timing mat I checked my time and saw it said 41:58 and it disappointed me a bit
since I was shooting for sub 40 minutes. Then I got cheered up right away when
I saw that they had wetsuit strippers. The wetsuit came off superfast and I was
on my way to my bike. I felt good and was able to transition fairly quickly.
Note to self: don't spray sunscreen on my face. This sent me into a coughing
fit that lasted the whole queue out of T1. Once on the bike I was feeling good
and ready for what I thought would be the biggest challenge I would face that
day. Boy was I wrong.
The Bike
The course starts pretty flat but then it quickly goes into
a pretty steep hill as it winds its way behind Sand Hollow. This is where I could start feeling the heat
of the day. It was hot but it wasn’t
terrible yet. There were tons of people
on the course and it was pretty challenging to not run into anybody. It amazed me how many people I was with or
passing that had $10K or more bikes. I
figure if you’re going to be spending that much money on a bike then you
shouldn’t be getting beat by the dude riding a $1K aluminum road bike. People can do what they want with their money
but I don’t see the sense in spending money like that if you are not really all
that competitive within your age group.
I think I would like to have a TT bike but I am far from having a shot
at Kona so I will be sticking to the sub $5K budget even if I do go for an
upgrade.
The hills and descents were pretty massive. About 10 miles into it I was keeping a pretty
good pace (about 20MPH). It was at this
point that I saw Jolynne and the kids volunteering on the course and I waved to
them. I caught them by surprise and they
were scrambling to get a picture. After
that the course started a long hill as it made its way out of Hurricane. I saw
Marsha somewhere around mile 30 and she says I was talking to myself which
could very well be the case. The
half-iron distance makes people do nutty things.
One of the scariest situations I had was when we were
descending on a narrow neighborhood road.
The road really only had enough space for at most 2 people side-by-side
and people were lined up one right after the other, drafting be damned
apparently. Since it was a pretty steep
downhill we were keeping speeds over 30MPH.
The guy in front of me started getting all wobbly and looked like he was
going to go down. If he went down I was
screwed since I didn’t have enough room to get around him and we were going so
fast and were so close that I would have hit him. Luckily the guy regained control and tragedy
was averted.
The scariest situation on the bike happened at approximately
mile 50 as I was coming down US Route 18 and going about 35 MPH. Signs started warning us to slow down. I slowed down but apparently not enough
because I took a sharp right turn fast enough that I almost lose control. The bike was not taking the full turn as I
wanted it to and I started to freak out a bit.
Luckily I kept it under control, leaned into the turn and came out of
it. My heart was racing and I was
cursing myself for not slowing down more.
I think Heavenly Father was looking out for me on that one.
The most challenging part of the bike was the last two miles
of the Snow Canyon climb. I expected
this but it didn’t make it any less painful.
This came at mile 42 of the course, the sun was beating down and it was
very hot. At one point I went as slow as
4MPH!
Coming in on Diagonal Street was not as nice as it should
have been since the road is very rough and my butt was screaming the whole
time. I made it into T2 in 3 hours,
which was better than what I expected. I
did a lightning fast change in transition but then had to stop to pee! I should have been dehydrated but I guess I
did a pretty good job at keeping liquids in because I had to pee really
bad. That took about 30 seconds and I
was off on the run course. Marsha was at
the exit of T2 and gave me a cheer. At
that point I could only half smile.
The Run
The run course makes its way up from downtown St. George to
Diagonal Street and it was oh so painful.
My legs felt like lead lumps. The
climb up to Diagonal was a time to regroup and calm myself down. I eased my effort a bit and stretched out my
legs and my shoulders. That definitely
helped and by the time I was up at diagonal I was able to step up my pace a
bit. It was at that point that I saw
Jolynne and the kids and they gave me a cheer.
That definitely improved my spirits and allowed me to continue the
climb.
This course climbs for 6.5 miles and comes down for the
rest. The climb up to Red Hills Parkway
was OK but the grade at Red Hills was just brutal. I was doing 10 minute miles up that thing and
I felt lucky to be doing that. By the
time I got to Pioneer Park I was officially dead. I found it hard to keep running and I walked
many times. Once I got to the very top
of the elevation chart I thought I would be able to take full advantage of the
downhill to the turnaround but my body was really struggling. I was in that place where my muscles couldn’t
take the abuse anymore. I think
aerobically I was OK but my body was just really hurting and exhausted. Every step after that was a challenge. I remember thinking of the Pro’s that I saw
finishing as I was going up Diagonal and thinking to myself “how the heck could
these guys be finishing so strong after surviving this run course?!” It was just brutal.
I started making liberal use of the wet sponges they were
giving out on the course and sticking them on my singlet. That helped immensely. I got a second wind once I started making my
way down Red Hills Parkway and got excited to finish. Then came the insult to add to my many
injuries.
I thought that before we came into Diagonal we would have a
quick in and out into one of the streets on US 18 right before Diagonal. Well, that was right but that quick in and
out wasn’t so quick and it was uphill! This
got everyone around me (me included) in a pissy mood. The course felt long and it just seemed cruel
to add another hill to the course, especially at mile 11.5. I ended up walking part of the hill and then
I got to that point where I told myself that I just needed to finish this
thing. So I ran pretty much all of the
way after that. At the bottom of the out
and back I saw Ian and he had a big grin on his face. The guy is the type of racer that I
admire. Nothing brings him down.
When I got to the end of Diagonal I could see the finish
line at the bottom of the hill. This
gave me a huge adrenaline rush. It also
helped that the crowds were huge! I got
pumped and started running faster. I got
to the finishing chute and people were cheering me on and I was cheering right
back. And then I made it. My official finish time was 6:01:15. I missed my goal of under six by a bit over a
minute but quite frankly I felt good to have finished at all. The course was brutal but finishing felt
sweet. They gave me probably the best
finisher’s medal that I own and a really cool finisher’s hat.
I kept looking around for my family but I couldn’t find
them. I also couldn’t find the
food. I kept asking and they kept
telling me to keep walking. Come to find
out the food was all the way back at the expo.
It was an endurance event just to get to the food.
The post-race food was great. I got my food and I just plopped down on the
grass and ate. Jolynne and the kids
found me and they said that they saw me right at the finishing chute but that I
didn’t see them. I have no idea how I
missed them since I was looking for them.
It was awesome to see them and decompress with them. They had an enjoyable experience volunteering
for the race but they did have a lot of standing around doing nothing. We then did our post-race ritual and I got
them some ice cream goodies before we left the competitor’s area.
Wow, what an experience!
The race was so well put together and the crowds were incredible. I think every once in a while it’s OK to pay
a ridiculous amount to have this type of experience. The one thing this taught me is that the full
Ironman I’m doing in August is going to be nothing short of brutal. But of course, if it wasn’t hard it wouldn’t
be Ironman!
My Official Splits
Swim: 41:58
T1: 4:56
Bike: 3:03:42
T2: 3:50
Run: 2:06:49
Final: 6:01:15
AG Rank: 145
Overall Rank: 860
Men’s Winner: Brent McMahon from Canada in 3:51:10
Women’s Winner:
Meredith Kessler from USA in 4:17:11
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