Tempe, Arizona I
started today with three hours of hill climbing on my bike in the hills of
north mesa. I came home and rested up and then in the evening I went and did this
St. Patrick’s Day run. I like it when I can do a race in the evening for a
change. The run was 4 miles. It ended up being a pretty tough run however given
the status of my legs and the fact that the course was in Kiwanis Park which
actually has a few steep little bumps to burn my already burnt legs. Despite
the pain I pushed for an 8:10 pace and felt pretty good about my day. A fun run
with a cool shirt that I got in my wife’s size which she loved and wore the
next day to work for St. Patrick’s Day.
I
signed us up for this race for what may be considered by some to be a bizarre reason.
I don’t have a 17K on my race resume. It also benefitted prostate cancer and I
figured if I was going to do a long run this weekend, I might as well do it as
a race. It is always far easier for me to stay motivated for a long run if it
is an actual race. 17k is about 10 ½ miles. For some reason this race seemed
like a full half marathon to me. I ran it decent for me, but nothing
spectacular. My legs are still a bit torn up from dong Escape 6 days ago.
San Francisco, California On the 3rd
year of entering the lottery, on the 3rd day of the 3rd
month of 2013, I competed in the 33rd annual Escape from Alcatraz
Triathlon.Christian went with me on
this trip. We toured Alcatraz Friday morning before the race and heard about
all the failed escape attempts and those who had died trying to escape
Alcatraz. The morning
of the race started at 3:00 am for me. I stretched, ate, warmed up, dressed and
prayed. At 4:00 am, I headed out and rode my bike through Fisherman’s Warf and
over the hill at Fort Mason to arrive at Transition on the Marina Green. It was
a windy cold morning. I wouldn’t expect anything else from San Francisco. I set
up my transition with several cold weather options. I wasn’t sure how cold I
would be coming out of the swim and I was most worried about my hands. I had
purchased a pair of neoprene diving gloves to wear in the case that my hands
were cold. Having working hands is essential given that I need my fingers
working properly to operate the shifters and brakes. After double checking my
transition I boarded a shuttle to the Boat at about 5:00 am. Soon I was at the
dock looking at the famous San Francisco Belle.
One difficult
part of this race is waiting for over an hour on the cold windy dock to board
the boat. I could have got on the boat earlier but I wanted to stay close to
the port-a-potties for a while to complete my pre-race elimination ritual. Once
I was on the boat, I knew that what few restrooms they had would be over-run by
2,000 athletes. I boarded the boat a little before 6:30. When I entered the
boat it was wall to wall bodies lying or sitting on the floor. I was assigned to
go to the second floor because of my age group.I laid down and tried to relax for a while before it was time to warm
up. As the start approaches the boat becomes more and more agitated with
excitement. What originally looked like a morgue of wet suited bodies quickly becomes
a hornet’s nest of wet suited bodies. Everyone moves to one side of the boat in
anticipation of the jump and the boat actually starts to lean significantly. I
knew that the water would be colder than I have ever experienced. Over 50% of
the athletes were wearing booties on their feet. This was allowed for this race
given the cold conditions. I chose not to wear booties after researching and
reading on the subject. Once the all clear for the start occurs you push like a herd of cattle towards the open door for the jump. The closer you get to the door the wetter the carpet becomes. As a triathlete, there was no doubt in my mind where the wet was coming from. People were peeing in their wetsuits, either on purpose or out of fear. The official water temperature would be recorded as 51
degrees.
This You Tube Video will give you and idea of what the start is like.
It was cold.
I have completed the Alcatraz crossing twice before in other races. This time
was the coldest and most difficult. I also learned how spoiled I was on my
first two crossings. The other times I honestly didn’t see the big deal. This
time I jumped in and within a minute the conditions humbled me. Some people
claimed six foot swells and waves. I would say that is an exaggeration, but the
conditions where the worst I have personally ever faced I have to admit it was
a totally new experience to actually feel fear on a swim. Because I have a
swimming/water polo background I guess I have lacked a lot of empathy for other
athletes who have to overcome fear during these swims. I understand that better
now and will stop taking it for granted. Especially since a guy a lot like me
lost his life just moments after jumping into that water with me. He was a
trial lawyer like me and only about a year older than me.
This You Tube Video will give you an idea of the water conditions
The cold was
shocking and hurt my hands and feet. They call this first section the washing
machine for good reason, I felt like I was trying to swim in a washing machine.
It was wavy with white caps and the waves seemed to come in every direction. My
goggles got knocked loose by a wave that smacked me in the face, I stopped to
fix them and got hit by another wave and swallowed water. I have never
swallowed water in a race. I must have swallowed water 10 times in this one. I
couldn’t see the shore. I couldn’t see the other swimmers. I couldn’t see the
guide boats. I talked to many other athletes after the race and it felt like
you were alone out there tempest tossed in the waves. I would have to stop and
tread water and wait for a wave to lift me up so I could see where everything
was. I was constantly getting knocked off course by the waves. What had started
as a swim race for me quickly turned into a swim survival. Siting was difficult and when I got close to
shore the current was taking me towards the Golden Gate Bridge and I ended up
spending some major swim energy trying not to over shoot the beach. I was glad
to finally have my feet on the shore.
There is a
mini transition area where I took off my wet suit and threw on pair of shoes for
a half mile. The run seems longer than half a mile but it is good to get warmed
up and get your cold head straight before hitting the bike.
The bike
course seemed like one long 18 mile hill to me. Sure there were downhill
segments, but they were impossible to enjoy because they were steep and I was
on my brakes and I also knew they just meant I would have to go back up again.
I have got to lighten up to be anywhere near competitive or even enjoy a bike
course like this one. I felt like I was being passed by all every athlete in
the race. I think I only passed one old guy and that was because he had gotten
of his bike and was walking one of the steeper hills. I discovered after the
race that my back brake had been rubbing the whole race. So much so that when I
went to get my bike out of transition after the race the wheel was locked as I
drug it across the grass. So not only were those hills miserable, I climbed
them with a handicap.
The run was
just plain fun. Now that doesn’t mean it is easy, in fact it is probably one of
the most sadistic run courses you will ever find. But it was such an adventure.
You run stairs, switch backs, asphalt, cement, dirt trails, rocky mountain paths,
gravel, soft sand, packed sand, wet sand, beach, sand ladders, grass, gravel.
You climb, then you descend, you turn, you twist, you duck through a tunnel. You
dodge rocks and even tourists. It is windy and cool, and then it is hot. You
cannot get bored on this run, there is always a new challenge just ahead. The
run was difficult, but I loved it and it was over before I knew it. I came down
the last set of stairs and hit the last flat two miles and the realization that
there were not more hills this course had to throw at me, made me intoxicated with
the joy of knowing that I had done it. I was so happy, and with the wind at my
back I hit the gas for the last two miles and for the first time in the race I
was passing people.
At 240 pounds
I will never be very competitive on a course like this, but I loved this race.
While it is not as long as a 70.3 the amount of muscle output of this race
takes almost as much out of you.
We
decided to try this race this year and I am glad we did. It was a good race.
Christian announced that he was going to beat me today. I told him “Fat
Chance”, but secretly I was a bit concerned. Panama left my legs a bit torched
and because of my post-race tourism, travel and exhaustion, I haven’t been able
to bike or run for an entire week and I wasn’t sure how my legs would respond
to a sprint. I haven’t worked out for a week because all the traveling and lack
of sleep left me exhausted which opened the door to me getting sick. Yesterday
I cancelled a meeting so I could take a nap. I spent the entire day yesterday
with a headache and had to take the nap because I felt so tired. Despite all
that I felt pretty good as the run started today. This
was a reverse triathlon. We woke up and the streets were wet from rain. It
cleared up and turned out to be a nice day however. Christian immediately
bolted in front of me making his intentions clear. He was running so fast I
just decided to pace behind him. He slowly got further and further in front of
me. Damn it is pissing me off that he can consistently run faster than me now.
I felt good, but even at my best I can’t stay with him anymore. By the end of
the 3 mile run I think he was a more than 100 yards ahead of me. That was
enough to make him gone and on the bike by time I reached transition. I hunted
him on the bike for the entire first loop. I finally found him and slowly
passed him a bit into the second loop. I was shocked at how long it took me to
pass him once I had finally found him. He had looked back and knew that I was
coming. The boy can bike now. I was torching my legs. My run felt fine, but I
could feel the killer hills of panama’s toll on my biking muscles. Despite the
pain I put some distance between Christian and I. I did not necessarily need it
because if we hit the pool even I knew I was coming out of that pool before
him. I suffered more for the future. I wantedto make an investment for the future of sprint racing for future
psychological warfare. I have always been faster than Christian on the bike and
I want him to continue to believe that. During
the last loop a car made a right turn into the bike course right in front of
me. I screamed “noooooo! and I must have had protection from above because the car stopped with just enough room
for me to squeeze between it and another car which was waiting to make a left
out of the same parking lot. The adrenaline gave me a boost and I used it to
rocket for the next few minutes. I hit the pool and put in one of the most
difficult painful swims of my triathlon career. My toe cramped in the first lap
and my entire body was just saturated with lactic acid as I tried to swim. I
burned deep into the red to pass another athlete and spent the rest of the swim
in lactic agony to stay ahead of that person. I actually felt like I was going
to throw up as I dug deep to stay ahead. Man that was a hard swim. I felt like
I was dogging it the whole way but I must not have given that I turned in the
second fastest swim of the day. I ended up with second in my age group.
Christian got first in his age group and was 9th over-all. The boy
is getting fast. And he hasn’t trained been on a bike or swam in over a month. Christian
came so close to tasting victory over me that he is already asking if we can
sign up for this race next year.
I met up with
Erik in Houston Texas. We had lunch and boarded the plane for Panama. We got a
meal on the plane which I haven’t had since my flight back from Brazil in 1989.
We had a choice of a Cheeseburger or a burrito. The sun was setting as we hit
land in Panama. I could still see below and immediately was struck by how the
difference between land and water is blurred in Panama. There are pieces of
land and bodies of water scattered to the point where you do not know if you
are looking at a body of water with islands or land with lakes. Then there was
the jungle appearing through the mist of clouds.
The pool is
located on the 13th floor. There is one 25 yard pool on each side of
the center beam in this picture. Also depending on the time of day and the tide
there would be ocean or land out there. The restaurants are at the bottom. This
hotel has Great views.
I boarded the
shuttle from the hotel at about 4:30 a.m. We had to take our bikes down the afternoon
before. I had let some air out of my tires because conventional wisdom is that
they can expand and blow in the hot tropical sun. When I arrived in the morning
I felt my tires. The front one was completely flat. Damn . . . I thought. Not
more tire problems. At least it was a front tire. I decided to fill it anyways
and see what happened. It was then I noticed I had forgotten to screw the valve
down, so maybe it just slowly leaked all night and my tire was fine. I filled
the tire and then went down to the stairs where we would exit the canal. I
walked down the Amador Causeway alone in the dark and sat on a bench. I looked
out at the Panama Canal and thought of my brother Mark and how he would have
done this race with me and jumped at the chance to swim the Panama Canal. I
miss him. I thought about how grateful I was to be in this place with my
brother Erik. This place reminded both of us of our missions and I know that it
was something we will always remember doing together already. I knew that for many reasons I had not been
able to get the training in that I would have liked. Injuries, crashes, illness
and schedules had cut into my preparation. I knew that resting on my left arm in
the aero bars was going to be a very painful experience during the bike. I knew
long before I arrived in a Panama that I was only going to finish this race
with help from above.
There is
always fear that comes over you at this point. Fear of the pain that you will
have to endure. Fear of the unknown challenge. Fear of failing. My thoughts turned
to my brother mark and how when the doctor revealed his race course there was
no pulling out. No matter how bad the pain, he would have to endure it to the
very end. I prayed for a while and felt a peace come over me. It would be a
hard day but I felt assured my father would be with me. I also knew that my
brothers would be cheering me on. Erik here in this world and Mark from next. I
was ready. I often tell myself, “Come what may.”
The swim
starts on a pier north of the transition area and close to the Bridge of the
Americas. Even though we got delayed about an hour I felt very relaxed. The
water was much colder than I thought it would be, but perfect for hard
swimming. I found excellent people to draft almost the entire swim and just felt
like I had a good swim. As it turned out, I was only two minutes slower than
the guy who won the race and 6 minutes faster than I had ever swam the distance
before. Now there is a current that helps you, but I had a good swim on top of
the current and swam a 00:24:35.
The Bike
course goes over the Bridge of the Americas which officially connects North and
South America. So technically we start from South America and then spent most
of the bike ride in North America. The last part of the bike leg crosses back
over the bridge and then goes right down Avenita Balboa, which is Panama City’s
major coastal road. I was actually shocked by the roads that were closed for
us. Panama truly rolled out the red carpet for us. No city in the States would
have ever closed the roads that Panama closed for this race. The course is
beautiful and diverse, complete with jungle, hills, and metropolitan city ways.
It is a difficult but incredible bike course. One of the most interesting I
have had the privilege to experience.
The biggest
challenge of the bike course is the hills. Usually you have anywhere from 15
mph - 20 mph of wind from your own propulsion to help cool your body. When you
are struggling up a hill in the humidity and heat of Panama it is like doing a
stair master in a sauna. I was glad I spent all those hours in the garage
cycling in the manufactured heat and humidity. I haven’t had the fan on in the
garage in months. I don’t know that it was adequate, but it sure helped. I
spent a great majority of the race in the small ring. As usual this elevation
map does not do the course justice. The hills were relentless. I have got to
lose weight to be effective on courses like this one. I still had ten miles to
go when I felt like my body was done. I was just trying to make it through the
last miles. I usually end up humbled and often praying for help on the run of a
70.3. In this race that started very early on in the bike.
I felt so
spent by the end of the bike that I was really concerned about my ability to
run 13.1 miles. I decided to take it one mile at a time. My brother Erik had
missed the last shuttle to the race and ended up walking for two hours through
some very rough neighborhoods to get to the race site. Is there any better
friend than a brother? After hours of suffering, it truly does help you to hear
your brother’s voice cheering you on. I wanted to finish strong, I wanted him
to be proud of me. I did not know at the time the sacrifice he had made to be
there.
I could feel
my brothers with me and with a mile to go I passed this guy and patted him of
the back and said, “Can you feel it? It is the finish line pulling us forward.”
I smiled and ran faster. My split times say that I ran that last half mile at a
00:06:01 minute mile pace which I don’t even think is possible. I must have
been running on pure joy of finishing such a difficult race. Erik was there
yelling encouragement. He managed to run across this circle and cheer me twice.
I was glad he was there. Honestly that was the best part of this whole trip,
was having my brother with me.
I wrote this
review for Alejandro because I thought he and his team did a great job. He was
even there to high five each and every athlete as they head down for the swim.
The
host hotel was great. The rooms, service were excellent. I brought my brother
and he couldn’t believe the rate that you secured for us. I especially liked
the two negative edge pools that were perfect for real swimming every day. The
breakfast buffet at the hotel was fantastic. The swim course was wonderful.
Getting to swim in the Panama Canal was a dream of mine. The water temperature
was perfect for hard swimming and I loved every minute of it. The bike course
is difficult, but one of the most diverse and interesting courses I have had
the privilege of doing. I can’t believe you were able to close Balboa. I felt
like Panama really rolled out the red carpet for us athletes. No city in the
United States would have ever prioritized us in such a way. Everyone was so
supportive and energetic. Great job in securing those permits and establishing
that course. Great bike course! I am a big guy for a triathlete and the bike
course certainly left me a bit spent and I wasn’t looking forward the run, but
what a great run course! Thank you so much for making sure there was plenty of
ice. I never wanted for ice or water. Job well done! I really enjoyed the run
course and all the support. It really helped and I was shocked to determine
afterwards that it was my fastest run leg ever in a 70.3. I attribute that to the
support, so thank you. What a great race. Thank you for your efforts. I will
tell everyone they need to do this race. I certainly want to come back. My only
complaint is that I wasn’t able to get my hands on an x-large jersey or pair
tri shorts so I could advertise this great race for you.
I
have been riding in the garage for some time now for several reasons. First, it
is safe and I don’t have to worry about re-injuring my still mending bones.
Second, it has been very cold this winter. Third, I have been trying to
acclimate to Panama by running on some space heaters and humidifiers to raise
the temperature and the humidity levels in the garage while I ride.
Today
however I wanted to get my last long ride in outside since it was a warm
afternoon and I wanted to spend some time on the bike I would be riding and in
the saddle I would be riding in Panama. I set out to do 45 miles on Garden
Circle. I was doing well, feeling strong and good about my riding fitness with
only 5 miles to go when a woman in a white SUV turned left right in front of
me. I was going about 22-23 miles per hour at the time and I locked up my brakes.
The bike felt like it was on ice. I eventually had to lay it down to avoid
hitting her. While I was still sliding across the asphalt I was already
thinking about the fact that Panama was in 12 days. I went down on my right
side this time. I suffered some bad road rash on my right arm and right leg. My
right shoulder ended up sore and I did some pretty extensive damage to my bike
and destroyed my ipod case and right shoe. I had some bruising on my right quad
and the top of my right foot. I got up
and accessed my body making sure nothing was broken or dislocated. The woman
stopped but did not get out of her car. I told her that I had just got healed
and this was my first long ride outside since September. She apologized and I
was so mad I just told her to go. I should have got her information so I could
submit my bike repair bill to her.
I
walked my bleeding body and broken bike back to the house. Vayden was
horrified. She hates the sight of blood. Then I began the painful process of
taking a shower and scrubbing out all the dirt and gravel that was ground into
my body. I sang a church hymn in the shower to help me with the painful
process. While still in the shower I made a decision. Once out of the shower I
started to get dressed again and Christian asked me what I was doing. I told
him I needed to get my run in, because I knew that I would be too sore in the
next few days to do it. I went out and ran at race pace. Sweat mingled with
blood and dripped from my arm and leg as I ran. Blood, sweat and Tears! The
tears were Vayden’s when she saw me. I only would have cried if I broke
something and had to miss out on Panama. It felt good to run. I was angry and
very happy at the same time to still be functional. I know that I was blessed.
I would suffer some pain and discomfort, but I would be able to race in Panama.
It could have been a lot worse and I know that the Lord was watching out for
me.
I
could not fall asleep until 5:00 am because of the intense burning sensation. I
had trouble sleeping for many days. I stayed out of the pool for a few days,
and when I got back in my scabs turned to this hanging skin that flapped as I
swam and by the end of the swim, it hung down from my arm several inches. I
went home from the gym and Lori was gaging when I asked her to cut it off. Two
days after the accident my neck would
convulse into spasms for most of the day causing some pretty extreme pain. The
neck problem prevented me from training for about two days. This incident
caused me great pain but I was able to come away from it missing very little
training and healthy enough to attempt Panama.
After I finished
the 5K I walked around and my calf was doing ok. I can still feel it, but it
held and functioned properly. I considered skipping the second race, but
decided my leg was ok and I ran the second race fine also. This race was a 1.3
mile race. It is always fun to see what you can do with a shorter distance. I
was cautious again and only ran at 90-95%. My s13 year old son Christian beat
me in both races today. I am just very happy to have been able to put two
successful runs in.
