Reindeer Run

Tempe, Arizona

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The course covered a few of the bridges and it was nice morning for a 5k. Well done race by Lifetime Fitness. My 11 year old son and I enjoyed running it together. He actually beat me today. He took off in the last 100 yards and I just couldn’t stay with him. I liked the long sleeve shirts.

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Holiday Classic Triathlon

Anthem, Arizona

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This was the last triathlon of the year. I like the fact that 4 peaks Racing always has triathletes line up according to estimated swim time when the swim utilizes a pool. This makes for a better pool experience, especially if you can swim. I did well on the swim and bike. My run suffered though. My body had not recovered from the half marathon I did 6 days prior, My 5k time wasn’t as horrible as it felt like, but I was glad to have this run behind me. It was the first time I had even attempted to run since the half marathon.

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Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon

Scottsdale, Arizona

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This was my first half marathon and I had planned to be a bit better trained for it. I ran 10 miles 8 days before the race and tapered down from there. The race actually began and I wasn’t at the start line yet. I didn’t have time to do my normal warm up. There were too few bathrooms available. I struggled for the first few miles trying to find a rhythm and I had some minor cramping in my legs. I was worried it was going to be a long race. At about 3 miles in I found my running legs. This race was the first one where I had a chip in my race bib. I thought that was pretty cool. These running races are always a humbling experience for me. There are so many people who run better than I do. For many miles my ego suffered. I hate being passed by young girls and old ladies. At 10 miles I could feel that I was running longer than I had ever run before. I tried to concentrate on form. At 11 miles I passed a clock. They had clocks at every mile. I did some quick math and realized that if I did the last two miles in just over 7 minutes a mile I could finish in less than 2 hours. I had run two 7 minute mile once back in May of this year. It was possible. I decided that I wanted to finish in less than two hours. I picked up my pace and began passing lots of people. I noted that I was passing many of the people that had damaged my ego far earlier in the race. They are still better runners than I am, they are just smart and not willing to hurt like I am. I was running at a pace considerably faster than everyone else. I started to wonder if I was being foolish. I would hate to blow up and have all these people pass me again. The longer I ran at that pace the more I began to hurt. I could feel the lactic acid building in my muscles and gut. The many years of sprint training as a swimmer has given me a high tolerance to the excruciating pain associated with going anaerobic. Sure I am a 42 year old fat guy who was not born to run, but I still have myself fooled into thinking I am some kind of an athlete. Whatever I am I do know I can reach deep within on occasion and doing that does something for me. In moments like these, when I can overcome the revolt of my physical body and achieve a dominance over the flesh, I feel something that is hard to explain. I feel inner strength. I continued the pace passing many people. I could tell that many of them thought I was a fool and that I would burn out. It wasn’t about beating anyone, I wanted just wanted to see what I was still made of. I made it! I did a half marathon in less than 2 hours. My parents were in town visiting and I really wanted to come home and tell my Dad that I could go under 2 hours. My Dad used to run marathons. I did pay a price for that 2.1 mile sprint. It was worth it though. When I started running back in February of this year I couldn’t run a ¼ mile without stopping. Now I had just finished a half marathon in less than 2 hours by sprinting under 7 minute miles for that last 2 miles. Even though I don’t even reach mediocre when compared to others, this was a victorious race for me. This race was put on by Runner's Den and I thought they did a great job. The finisher's medal was unique and one I will treasure to remind me of this race.

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Thanksgiving Day Triathlon

Goodyear, Arizona

For Thanksgiving my son Christian and I did a reverse triathlon. Run-Bike-Swim. It was different and made for faster transitions. I was a little worried about being competitive in this race because I haven’t even stretched since El Tour De Tucson. I had been sick ever since that night and I hadn’t exercised or so much as even stretched since the race. I never got to go on a recovery ride. The day of the race was the first day I felt ok. For whatever reason, somehow today I had the juice. In a reverse triathlon, with the run behind you, there is no hesitation to give it everything you have on the bike. It was acutally one of my personal bests. The YMCA pool is just about the best pool I have encountered in Arizona.

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El Tour De Tucson

Tucson, Arizona

El Tour De Tucson is one of the biggest cycling events in the United States and North America for that matter. The race was well done, and I can't imagine what it takes to organize and run such a huge event that circles the enitre city. The thought of being on my bike for 109 miles had long haunted me. That is especially true since I had to pull my aero bars off to be legal for this race. I had planned to train for the race for weeks prior to the race without my aero bars. That never happened. I had planned to train moving closer and closer to the distance to prepare for the race. I had doubts of whether or not I could even finish this race based on my lack of training. I lined up in a packed chute at 5:00 a.m. in the gold section. There were so many bodies, and so many bikes. I had moments of exhaustion and moments of bizarre strength. I was questioning whether I could finish at about 60 miles and then from 70 to 80 I passed hundreds of riders on a long flat. The hardest part of the race was definitely the last 30 miles. There was a fierce headwind that actually made me curse out loud. At times during the race I was traveling over 30 MPH, but that headwind slowed me to 11-12 mph for the entire last 30 miles. My quads started to feel like there were little knives stabbing into them. My neck hurt. My wrists were throbbing, my elbows and shoulders hurt. My triceps felt like they were going to cramp. After over 6 hours of non-stop hard exercise my body was starting to shut down and tell me to stop. My stomach was sick of gels, chomps and power bars. I got a little worried. The last 9 miles ticked off so slowly and painfully that I wanted to quit. In those last miles my mental focus was beginning to suffer also. I wanted to draft off people to escape the wind, but I couldn’t trust my riding proficiency to avoid collision in my impaired mental state so I stayed it alone. We were traveling along the I10 freeway frontage road for the last 10 miles of the race and all I wanted to see was a sign that mentioned the Congress exit. That sing seemed to take forever to appear. I have never had so much sympathy for those behind me before in a race. I felt great pity for those poor souls still out on that course facing that afternoon wind and hoped they could soon dismount their bikes and be able to stop pedaling soon. Anybody who had to pedal longer than I did I felt extremely sorry for, because I was DONE! I did not want to go another mile I crossed the finish line and got off my bike and struggled to walk as the knives in my quads intensified. I became fearful that they would cramp and I would fall down and embarrass myself. I tried to find some water. I just wanted stop moving. I found a park with grass on the way back to the car and layed down with my feet elevated up on a big rock for about 15 minutes and the stabbing pains in my quads subsided. My legs felt fine after that, and by some miracle have felt fine ever since. I don’t understand it. I did not even get sore. A bit of geographic trivia: according to google maps, the trip from our house to Tucson is shorter than the race. It takes over 2 hours to drive down there. This was an experience I will not forget, I made it and in the bicylcing world I can now say that I am a Centurion.

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Blue Water Triathlon

Parker, Arizona
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This was a Mountain Man Event, so I figured knew I could count on it being a good event. The Blue Water Casino and Resort is a fun little place. There is a movies theater, an arcade and a fantatic 3 story pool area complete with a slide. I had some of the best prime rib I have tasted in years at the All-You-Can-Eat buffet. Probably not a good idea the night before the race, but I couldn't resist for $11.95 plus $3.00 off with a coupon they agave me at race registration. The lady doing the cutting was giving me 1+ inch thick slices too. When we got there, my son Christian and I went swimming in the river just before sunset. It was the highlight of the trip for me. Christian and I had the Colorado river all to ourselves and it was beautiful. The water there is clear and and you can look down and see all these flowing plants about 20 feet below. Our room was big and had a balcony with a river view as well as a view of transition, the swim and finish. Great destination race. Great resort. Great race. The race has a fast swim. You get a little help from the current. Technically you are swimming in two states. The bike course also takes place in both Arizona and California. I liked the bike course. California needs to pave it road however. Half of the bike course was in Arizona and half in California. We got to cross two dams. The Parker dam was pretty cool. The bike course was 33 miles and I enjoyed the Arizona side and did not enjoy the California side. The two states were like night and day. I am a California native but must say that California is serioulsy shamed by Arizona in this area.

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City of Mesa Halloween Triathlon

Mesa, Arizona

This was the inagural race and it went smoothly. Tri Family Racing did a great job as always. The City of Mesa provided nine police officers to ensure us safe bike course which I really liked. The shirt design was my favorite so far of the Tri Family Races, and was sponsored by Iron Gear Sports. The medal was the same cool Halloween logo as the shirt and I was happy to get one. There were several dedicated athletes who wore full costumes and medalled in them. All and all a fun Halloween morning.

Playa Del Rey Triathlon

Playa Del Rey, California

This race was a beach start. I was a little sore and not looking forward to swimming after the tough 2.4 miles I swam only 18 hours before but I warmed up and had a decent swim. The bike course was flat and I felt I turned in a pretty strong performance. There was a slight drizzle for almost the entire race. I was doing good until I hit the run. I don’t know why, but the muscles in the front on my legs in the shin area just cramped up and turned to rock. They became inflexible and painful. Every step hurt. I slowed my run and suffered until I reached the half way point aid station. There I stopped and tried to stretch my legs. It helped and I was able to run better. I hated stopping. I haven’t had to stop on a run for a long time. I am still not sure what happened. This was a well run race by Sporteve. I met a lot of friendly people at this event.

Distance Swim Challenge

Santa Monica, California

This was a unique and inaugural event. There were people doing 12.6 miles. I don’t think I am ready for that. In fact in order to swim this race you had to qualify. I was only qualified to swim the 2.4 mile distance. Participants swam from pier to pier along the Santa Monica coast line. We were required to come ashore and get checked by medical staff at each leg of the race. The swim was a challenge for me for sure. I have never swam that far before. It became even more challenging as I was coming ashore for the first time. I got pounded from behind by a big wave that sent me tumbling. This was not the first time this has happened to me in my life, but it was the first time after swimming over 1.2 miles. Normally I hold my breath and wait for the wave to lose its force. Try doing that after swimming hard for more than a mile. Your lungs don’t have the patience. I was so completely focused on getting air that I did not realize my goggles had come off. I managed to recover from the wave and searched for my goggles for several minutes with no success. I lost valuable time, but I did not want to have to swim for another 1.2 miles without goggles in salt water. I had to give up the search and make the decision to continue without goggles. For the next 1.2 miles I counted off every 10 stokes and then raised my head to make sure I was on course. It was cool to swim past the Santa Monica pier with everyone looking on. This race was put on by optimis sport. It must have been a logistical nightmare given all the swimmers starting at different points and times. They did a great job and I was glad I was able to participate. I want to try a longer distance next year.

Prospector Triathlon

Lake Pleasant, Arizona

While all the greatest triathletes were competing in Kona I decided to do an olympic triathlon out at Lake Pleasant. This was the inaugural race. I decided to swim without a wet suit due to the water being 76 degrees. Now I believe that a wet suit is an advantage. I guess I had to Experience it for myself. I never get passed consistently in the swim. Wetsuit after wetsuit kept going by me. The buoyancy does make difference. I will always wear a wetsuit when legal for now on. There was a lot of wind and the some of the choppiest water I have ever experienced. I have to mention the run up to transition. It was like a half a mile up hill on some very rocky terrain. I wore flip flops for the first time and I am glad I did or I would have tore up my feet up. It was kind of like a swim followed by a duathlon the run was so long. The bike course was up and down, up and down, I actually used the second ring. It was good thing my running legs showed up today because the run required them. It was a two lap course. The course required 2 loops. The loop was a long steady downhill, followed by a long steady uphill run. That steady hill caused more walking than I had ever seen before in a race. I didn’t walk, and I actually preferred the uphill today to the down. The hill wasn’t super steep, just steady and relentless. They gave updates about kona in the transition area. We had was great temperatures. The only place I felt heat was the run, but even then we had a great breeze most of the time. 4 Peaks racing gave us all the oppurtunity to compete today.

4 Peaks Racing

Seville Sports Club Triathlon

Gilbert, Arizona

I really like this race. It is the second time I have done it. The Seville Sports Club is a beautiful place to hold this event. Tri Family Racing did a great job as always. My son did well and placed 2nd in his division. The logisitics of everything just works well for this race. The bike course is smooth and flat and I really like it. The swimming facility is luxurious. I will do this race over and over again because I enjoy it so much. I dropped over a full minute off my swim time from the spring which is amazing given that the swim is only 300 yards. I also improved my bike split by almost 7 minutes. I will look foward to doing this one again.

Pacific Coast Triathlon

New Port Beach, California

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I celebrated my 42nd birthday by doing this triathlon. It was a good pick too. There was a kid’s race also for my son Christian. This race takes place in a very beautiful place called Crystal Cove in the Newport Beach area. It is part of the Best of the U.S. Series and made both Competitor Magazine and Inside Triathlon Magazine’s best race list. It was also the race chosen for the USAT Sprint National Championships last year. I can see why, it is really a great race. As I mentioned earlier, 2007 Ironman Champion Chris McCormack (Macca) was there competing in the race.

I loved this race. They really don’t do a good enough job of selling this race. The race had the great with free smoothies among other things. The transition area is on a cliff above some beautiful coast line. You walk down a steep path to the beach which makes you start thinking about running up that path after the swim. If the path were any steeper, it would need steps. You walk down the beach to the swim start as you watch the pounding surf. Last year the lifeguards canceled the swim portion and turned it into a duathlon run due to dangerous surf. This year came close. In fact my son Christian got pulled out of his swim for safety by a life guard, even though his swim had already been severely shorted by officials.

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The Swim
This was my first beach start. So cool! Don’t get many of those in Arizona. I loved sprinting into the pounding surf. Now having grown up in Southern California, I was not anxious about getting through the surf like some. However, I learned a valuable lesson. I just ran into the surf and dove into the first wave that hit me like I have done all my life. In the past I had not been wearing goggles. My goggles got knocked of my face a bit and filled with water forcing me to deal with that issue. That distracted me from the surf and the next wave caught me off guard and I aspirated sea water. Then I was trying to swim through the surf coughing up the water and trying to clear my lungs. While getting batted around by the surf I took my first real good kick to the face from another swimmer. It took me several minutes of coughing under water to get my lungs clear. It was breathe, cough, breathe cough for quite a while. Meanwhile I lost ground on the swim. After we cleared the breakers the ocean was still rolling with swells which made swimming a little harder. On the low end of the swell it would drop us occasionally into kelp. You would be swimming along and then suddenly your visibility is blocked by fans of kelp. It was awesome! Heart pounding, out of my comfort zone adventure on the swim! I friggin loved it. Then you hit the beach and have to climb that path. I walked it with vigorous strides. No one else was running either. I think I know why. There was no blood in my legs and my hamstrings were threatening to cramp as I tried to run. I decided a cramp would threaten my finish and it was better to be safe. Especially since I had just done an Olympic distance triathlon the day before. That hill is a killer.
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The Bike
As I began the bike course some heavy mist rolled in. I had to take my glasses off because I couldn’t see with all the water collecting on my glasses. I have a leash on my glasses and I am glad I do. I saw more than one pair of glasses lost on the course that had obviously fallen. The entire bike course took place on Pacific Coast Highway. The course was interesting from the stand point that it had many areas where you couldn’t visually tell if you were going uphill or downhill. I ended up having a really decent bike split although I am not sure why.

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The Run
The run starts out normal enough but there is a gradual and steady incline that eventually wore on me. I don’t know if I was feeling the race the day before or the incline, but it became difficult for me. Right about the time I was really tired of the incline the course moved into some dirt trials a top the cliffs with the ocean below and then headed steeply down through this little village where the trail met the beach. Running on the beach was beautiful. The shore wound its way through some rock formations. Talk about a scenic run. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but that sand was making my legs burn something fierce. After the beach was a hill that almost stopped my running. I knew about the hill. Everyone knows about the hill. I had even scene it on U-Tube. I told myself I was not going to quit on that hill and I didn’t, but that hill slowed my run to almost no forward progress at all. Once you get to the top it was a 600 meter slightly downhill dash to the finish in which I picked up speed and passed a few of my age groupers. My legs seemed full of super-charged blood after that hill. Or maybe I was not running fast at all and it just felt like it after that hill. Chris McCormack won the race in just under an hour. I would have liked to watch him run that hill. One of my favorite races to date.

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Last year this race was the USAT Sprint National Championships

San Diego Classic Triathlon

San Diego, California

This race made Competitor Magazine’s Top race last year for Southern California. Also, this year 2007 Ironman Champion Chris McCormack was there competing in the race. My son Christian met him and got his autograph as he volunteered handing out GU on the race course. When I was planning this weekend, I looked at a lot of races. There were triathlons taking place all over southern California this weekend. I chose to do two of them back to back because I just couldn’t resist either race. It is not often that my wife Lori is in Indiana giving me and Christian permission to race our hearts out. What was interesting about Chris McCormack being there is that he chose the same two races I choose for this weekend. Race officials did not announce that he would be competing in the race. In fact, but for my son Christian telling me, I never would have even known. The bike course had some pretty butt kicking hills for me. These San Diegans called it a flat course and made mince meat of me on the hills. The course took us past a clifftop military cememtery with the lines and lines of white headstones backdropped against the ocean. The cementery is a top a cliff over looking the ocean and was very moving. McCormack did win the race with a time well over an hour faster than me. How does a human being do that? He was even 4 minutes faster than me in the swim and I had a very strong swim. It was a good race and I always enjoy when a hotel sponsors a race and everything is so close and there are no parking issues. The race was sponsored by Moment Cycle Sport who did a great job.

Tri Rock San Diego

San Diego, California

This was the inaugural race for this series. It was put on by the Competitor Group which also does the Rock & Roll Marathon Series. This race was sold out. This is the first triathlon I have done where we had assigned transition spots with a name plate. The racks were made out of wood and evenly spaced with a box for you stuff. I loved that. No fighting for a spot. My spot was a great one too. I thought the race was top notch. Everything was well marked and well staffed. There were cones every six feet on the bike route. There was a rock band playing on the boat for the swim. I was first out of the water in my age group division and swim heat with a time of 6:44 for the 500 meters. That lead was sort lived. Remember how Bostonians can run. Well San Diegans can ride! I watched as one guy after another with age group category 40 tattooed on the back of their left calves passed me on the bike. This race introduced me to Tri Tats. They are temporary tatoos that you put on the night before. Very clean looking. It made it very easy to read all my age groupers as they passed me. The bike course went through the navy yard. It was the roughest and bumpiest course I have ever encountered complete with railroad crossings. I burned myself out on the bike trying to stay with some of those guys and by the time I hit the run I had no legs. It was the hardest 5k for me I have done in quite awhile. The finish line was awesome complete with stadium seating and very impressive and well done finisher medal. The expo was cool and they had eggs, sausage, and pancakes for after race food not to mention the usual stuff. It was a well run race and I would definitely do it again. Well done Competitor Group.

Cape Shore Foundation 5K

Boston, Massachusetts

While I was in Boston my son and I woke up one morning to do a 5K. It was everything I thought a New England 5K should be. We ran along paths next to the Charles River next to Harvard Univeristy. We dodged geese and crossed stone bridges. The river was picturesque with rowing crews praticing in the river. By the way, these Bostonians are some serious runners. I was getting passed by little old ladies.

Mountian Man Triathlon

Flagstaff, Arizona

I did the Olympic distance. It was a great race. Well run and very beautiful! You have to be careful to keep your eyes on the road during the bike course. This race has a 26 year history and is one of the oldest around. The run course is where the "mountian" comes in. I wasn't prepared for that, but somehow I made it. I forgot my timing chip and my racing bib at the hotel so I had to switch to an extra. I made a racing bib out of cardboard. This is definatley a race I want to do again.

Payson Sprint Triathlon

Payson, Arizona

The City of Payson puts on this fun triathlon with a very challenging hill and technical bike ride. They give out a very nice finishers medal which is desrved after doing that hill twice.

Scofield Triathlon

Price, Utah

This triathlon is a great event, well run and put together by BBSC Endurance Sports. The triathlon takes place at nearly 8,000 feet. Half way through the swim I thought I had gained weight because it felt like my wetsuit was too tight and I couldn't breathe. Then I remembered the high elevation at which I was swimming. Who ever designed the finisher medals did a great job. I was glad I went out of my way to do this race. This event is a well deserved part of the Best of the U.S. Series.

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JCC Scottsdale Firecracker Triathlon

Scottsdale, Arizona

The Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale opens their center very early on a holiday to give athletes a chance to celebrate the 4th of July competing in this triathlon put on by Tri Family Racing who did a great job as always.

The Alcatraz Challenge

San Francisco, California

This swim is the stuff of legends. I did a lot of training and prepartion for this race because it actually scared me. I have to admit that I had trouble sleeping the night before. The cold water, the strong currents, the sharks, the distance, and let's not forget that people have actually died doing this swim. An unforgettable experience! It is really something to breath to your right and see the Golden Gate Bridge, and then breath to your left and see the Bay Bridge. It is almost hard to beleive that you are really swimming in San Francisco Bay. This race is put on by Tri California and they did a awesome job. I thought the breifing was very thorough. The swag was great and I think most people appreciate that because this is once race I like to tell people about. We all got a bag, a sweatshirt, a knit cap and the right to tell people we swam Alcatraz for the rest of our lives.

IRONKIDS

San Diego, California

My son competed in this fanstatic triathlon. This triathlon is so well run and put together for the kids that I was a little jealous. Absolutely great event. My son loved the expereince. I volunteered in this race and I can tell you that there is a lot of hard work put into this event to make it an exceptional experience for the kids.

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