Tri Family Halloween Triathlon

Mesa, Arizona
I did this race 5 minutes faster than last year. Unfortunately for me the field was a lot faster this year. There are some great athletes out there. Tri Family Racing did a good job as always. My thanks to Tri Family Racing, the City of Mesa and Iron Gear Sports for this fall racing opportunity.

IRONMAN 70.3 Austin

Austin, TexasI awoke at 3:30, stretched and headed over to the race. I parked with ease and dropped off my run bag at T2 and boarded a bus to T1 and the lake. It was a stress free morning. I felt pretty good despite being sick. My lungs weren’t congested, I just felt a bit tired. I am never yawing pre-race.SwimMy swim heat did not leave until 8:40 a.m. The first pro wave left at 7:30. Somehow despite all the time I had, I ended up misjudging time and had to run over to the swim corral pulling my suit on as I went. I am never one of those people. If there wasn’t an age 40-44 A-L heat before my heat, I might have missed my start. It may have worked out for me, because when I started my heart rate was already up and I had a good swim. It was a well marked triangle. Although there were 2700 people doing this race I encountered very little congestion in the swim. The water temperature was nice for a wetsuit swim and the visibility wasn’t bad. Since my wave did not leave until 8:40 a.m., the sun was up and hitting the water at an angle making for good visibility. I ended up with my fastest time ever for the swim.BikeI worked hard to achieve a 20 mph average. I did not feel hot on the bike and did not feel the need to grab more than one bottle of water at the aid stations. In retrospect, my elevated effort, and the dry windy conditions may have significantly dehydrated me without my noticing.
The challenges of this course for me were two. Although there were some short hills, there was nothing major which I was happy for. The challenges came in other forms. The first challenge was the condition of the roads. Approximately half the course was on what I would consider rough roads. This obviously affects speed. When we would transition from rough to smooth road I would see as much as a 3 mph difference without changing effort output. Texas apparently is in the middle of the worst drought in recorded history and the roads are shrinking and cracking. The condition of the road made for tense riding. I discussed this with other athletes afterwards and was not alone its effects. My shoulders are still sore as I write this. I also encountered significant back ache which made riding in the aero position painful. The rough road would come back to haunt me in the run as well as other athletes that I spoke with after the race was over.
The second challenge was wind. Mostly cross wind. This slows everyone, but my weight actually keeps my on the road and from being blown around. I just envisioned myself cutting through the wind and did not let it bother me. I was determined to get my 20 mph average despite the wind. The wind was only a factor for about the last hour of the race. I turned in my fastest 56 miles ever. In fact I beat my best previous performance by 23 minutes! My goal for this race was to break the 6 hour mark and I was on my way to smashing that. When I completed the bike I calculated in my head that if I could run a 2 hour half marathon, I would come in at about 5 hours and 30 minutes. I had just run a 1:50 half marathon in Long beach two weeks ago and I have been running faster off the bike lately than just running fresh. I felt confident that I was on my way to a 5:30! Fate had other plans however.RunThis was the most grueling punishing run for me ever! I transitioned fast and could not wait to get out on the run course and get my 5:30. I felt great. I ran out of transition full of confidence and optimism. This is the best I have felt by far in a 70.3 going into the run. I was even smiling at the volunteers. I cruised the first mile effortlessly. All my bricks were paying off. My legs know they have to run after getting off the bike now. I was shocked when I looked down at my watch. I felt like I had taken the first mile pretty easy and I ran it in 8:30. I was feeling great. I was running the same pace as Long beach without even trying. I was definitely going to smash 6 hours and on my way to a sub 5:30.

With in a minute things changed. The course headed uphill and I felt the vastus medialis above my left knee threatening to cramp. It began to feel like someone had stabbed me in the leg. That is the muscle just above the knee on the inside of the leg. It alarmed me. I have never felt anything there before. As I pushed up the hill I gave into fear. If the muscle seized I didn’t know how to stretch it. I started to walk to see if I could relax it and get it under control. After a minute or so I started to run again. As I hit the first aid station and drank a cup of cold water I realized I was very thirsty. I drank another cup. I couldn’t stop and drank a third. After the aid station the course headed down hill. The combination of downhill running and the sloshing water in my stomach caused a severe side cramp. I couldn’t breathe and once again gave in and walked. This time I gave into pain. I was troubled. I was walking again and I hadn’t even reached mile 2. I looked at my watch and decided I could make up the time and get on track for 9 minute miles which would put the13.1 miles under 2 hours. My thoughts were that there was no need to panic. I just needed to deal with these cramping issues and get back to business. Things got worse not better.
The course was tough a tough one for me. It was mostly up or down. There were few flat steps. The hills weren’t super steep, but enough to make you work on the way up and cause shock damage on the way down. And speaking of flat steps, the running surface was often a bit rough also. I am a pansy when it comes to running and like my running surface flat and even. That is probably due to my weight. Landing 230 pounds on even surfaces can make the ankles tire.
Once you walk, it is far too easy to walk again. I wasn’t alone however. I have never seen so many people walking in a triathlon. It seemed as if 70% of the field was walking. This contributed to the “it’s ok to walk” voice in my head even more. I would run and then walk when I hit a hill.
To make things worse I was also overheating. I had gotten behind on my hydration and now I couldn’t make it up. They ran out of sponges on my second loop. It was a 3 loop course. I was drinking too much and suffering side cramps, especially running down hill. I would stop drinking for a while to eliminate the side cramps, but then the leg cramps would start again. I had to choose my poison. It was so hot that I couldn’t drink my Infinit. I finished 1 out of 4 bottles. I neglected my gels because of my internal heat. I could not stomach them in the condition I was in. I stuffed ice everywhere I could but couldn’t stop the heat. Unlike Hawaii where I was able to control it, here in Texas I had allowed myself to get dehydrated and there was no coming back from that once I hit the run. I learned that I have got to stay on top of that. Dehydration is not curable for me once the run begins given my sweat rate. I must have walked 11 times. It was brutal and for the first time in a triathlon I wanted to quit. Many other people were suffering and I spoke to some of them as I walked or ran next to them. Here is my analysis of what happened to me. The bike taxed my muscles in a way I had not trained for. The static tension due to the rough roads for nearly 3 hours put a strain on muscles that I was not accustomed to. Lots of athletes suffered back issues because of this. While personally, my back did suffer on the bike, it did not bother me once I hit the run like so many other athletes I encountered. I do think that this static stress contributed to my leg cramping. This coupled with the fact that I allowed myself to dehydrate worked as a double punch setting my muscles up for cramping issues. Then on top of that, psychologically I let the group mentality influence my decision making process. Since so many others were walking I convinced myself that it was ok and I was just adopting a strategy to finish. My run ended up being 2:30:46. That is 40 minutes longer than the last half marathon I did. My time total time was 6:02:36. Almost 20 minutes faster than my previous 70.3 record. I could have easily made up that 2:36 and finished under 6 hours. I gave in. I let pain and fear rule the day for me and I came away from this race upset with myself. I am upset that I wasn’t smarter. I am upset that I wasn’t stronger. I should not have given in.

Things I learned from this race:
1) I need to stay on top of hydration and nutrition regardless of how I feel.
2) Don’t start walking.
3) I need to run and bike hills in my training.
4) Don’t neglect heat tolerance training.
5) And last but not least:

Seville Triathlon

Gilbert, Arizona

I have always liked this race. The best way I can describe it is . . . luxurious. I say that for several reasons. First, for me it is a 10 minute drive since it takes place right here in Gilbert. It takes place at a great facility. Every time I have done this race I can park and literally walk 30 yards across the road to transition. It makes leaving things in the car very easy. You can go back and forth without any problem. Some races you have to park your car so far away that even a single trip back is made impossible. They hold this race at Seville twice a year during perfect weather conditions. It is not too hot or too cold. The facility is like a resort, and with the wonderful weather you can walk around barefoot prior to the swim. The transition area is great. There are these palm trees with white lights wrapped around them that make it look beautiful in the early morning darkness. The pool area is fantastic. Prior to the swim you can lounge around on these couches with a beautiful view of the golf course and the San Tan Mountains. You can just sit there and relax as you watch the sun come up. Most triathlons you can’t even find a place to sit. At Seville there is music floating through the loud speakers system to further make the morning relaxing. While your typical triathlon involves long lines at port a potties, at Seville I have never experienced a line at the luxurious bathroom facilities which are always clean. The race itself is also very nice. There is a warm up pool, and the water temperature of the water is great, not too hot. The run to transition is rock free. The bike course is flat and takes place on some of the smoothest, cleanest roads you will find in racing. The run is a stress free out and back where you can keep track of competitors with a slight incline at the end to make any final sprints a tad more interesting. After the race is over there are plenty of chairs and couches to sit around on in the shade while you wait for results and awards.Like I said it is just an all around enjoyable luxurious race. Based on the result sheets it looked like I was going to place. I might even get first. I have never gotten first in a triathlon. I have managed to get second a few times. As it ended up, I did not get first. It never occurred to me that I could place in the over-All, so when they called my name I was shocked. I know that being in the over-All is a far greater honor than winning an age group, but I was still disappointed that the 1st place medal remains elusive to me. I was 5th in the Over-All! I was standing up there with the real triathletes. I am still in shock. I think a lot of people were equally shocked. They must have been thinking there was some kind of mistake. What is that fat dude doing up there? I mean the guys I was up there with have like 1% body fat and are indistinguishable from professional triathletes. Everyone knows who these guys are, because they are always up there. I still can’t believe I got to stand up there with them. It must have been a slow day.

Mesa Sprint Triathlon

Mesa, Arizona

Since Lori and the kids are in Indiana this weekend, I decided to do back to back triathlons. The great part is that both of them are right here close to home. I could have walked to this one. This is inaugural event. The course basically circles the Gateway airport. The swim took place in the ASU East campus pool. I was frustrated with the swim because we weren’t allowed to pass given we were swimming down both sides of one lane. We lined up according to swim times, but some people had inflated estimations of their abilites. I was breast stroking half swim. We were allowed to pass on the wall, but that wasn’t enough. The time I lost in the pool hurts as you will see later when I get to results. I could not have asked for a better bike course for my cycling strengths. The run course was unique and took us out into nowhere. I actually like the course because it was different. We run through some dirt fields and into some ditches. There were no hills. I did not get any company until mile 2 of the run. I got passed by two guys in my age group. There was no way I was going to be able to keep pace with them though, they were flying past me. I ran hard and my 5K time ended up being only 11 seconds slower than my best 5k ever. That is pretty good considering my best 5k was run fresh and not after racing a bike course. The bike does not seem to be slowing my running anymore. I seem to run pretty close to how I run fresh now days. I hope that holds true in Austin. The two guys who passed me in my age group ended up being 2nd and 3rd over-all, which placed me in 2nd place in my age division. That can be a great thing about age division 40-44. Although it is always the most competitive and fastest division, the over-all winners are often pulled from our division. In this race that elevated me from 4th to 2nd. I missed 1st place by 2 seconds. That is why the swim is so hard for me to swallow. I lost a good 45 seconds in the pool. I enjoyed this race and hope to do it in the future. There are a few Things that could be easily improved about this race however. The first would be not to put the transition area in a swampy field. Mud gets in your bike shoes can make clipping in and out more difficult, which is also a safety issue. The race advertised that the bike course would be swept the night before and it was. The actual road was beautiful, so I assume the sweeper was out there the night before. The Problem is that the sweeper did not understand the concept and swept all the debris into the bike lane, so whatever they paid him was money wasted. The bike lane probably would have been cleaner had he not swept.

Long Beach Half Marathon

Long Beach, California

This was supposed to be a sort of training run for me on my way to Ironman 70.3 Austin. I was supposed to finish under 2 hours and collect my beach cities challenge medal and start tapering. The competitor in me had other ideas. The course mostly flat and I picked up a pace bracelet at the expo and set out to run a 1:55. I thought maybe if I had a good day I could pull that off. My best half marathon previously was 01:57:53. That was almost a year ago, and I have been slower ever since. I had high aspirations of shaving off 3 minutes. Guess what? I ran a 01:50:23! I shaved off almost 8 minutes. This marathon had some cool interactive data. My average speed was 7.1 mph. I ran an 8.25 minute average mile and I passed 236 runners and 65 runners passed me from the start. I was at 00:49:51 for the 10K. That’s running 7.5 mph and an 8:01 mile average pace. That is a fast 10K for me especially given that I was pacing for a half marathon.
I liked this course, it was tailor made for my strengths. I also completed my beach cities challenge and collected that medal today.

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Splash + Dash

Tempe, Arizona

These splash & Dashes are always pretty laid back. My son Christian and I have done them in the past, but tonight was different. The water was still pretty warm at 76 Degrees. It was a wetsuit legal race however. I wore my suit and got a little overheated during the swim, but I still managed to swim the 1500 meters faster than I ever have, even if it was only one second faster. Since we are running in the Long Beach Half Marathon in a couple days I didn’t push the run, I just enjoyed it. It was twilight as the run began and the sky was a glow with red an orange. There was cool fall breeze that dried my tri suit as we ran the edge of lake with the lights from the brides shining on the water. Tempe was beautiful tonight. I am glad that 4 Peaks Racing puts on these races and gives us these opportunities on a Thursday night. I could have easily turned around and run that 5K again. I finished with a fast last mile and crossed the finish line feeling great. As I sipped my water and looked south across the lake my thought turned to running these paths in the evening on a night in November of 2012.

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