Monument Avenue 10K - Race Report

Spring has sprung and race season is in full swing. My first race of the season was the highly popular Monument Avenue 10K, a Sports Backers event whose participants include newbies to the elite and everything in between. The race is quite the spectacle with bands all along the course, costumed runners, cheer team competition, and lots of spectators shouting, some from root tops, shouting silly names. And along with the first race of the season comes the first race report of the season which I will try to keep brief.

This race would be the first big test of my fitness. And while I swim 4 times a week, bike 3 times a week, and run 4 or 5 times a week for triathlon training which is my primary focus, I was prepared to PR at this road race. I had put in a lot of quality workouts on the track building speed and fitness. My coach had done an excellent job preparing me and on race day I knew I could easily achieve a personal record (PR). 

Rather than being content with beating my previous personal record, my coach thought I should shoot for 40 minutes. I had run a 19:12 5K on the track which is a controlled environment where pacing is pretty easy. And I had run a 20 minute road 5k at the hilly Gobble Wobble 5K. But running a 40 minute 10K would mean maintaining 6:26 minute miles for 40 minutes which would be a challenge and would likely put me in the pain cave. I thought I could do it based on a 2 mile time trial I had done a few weeks before the 10K but my pacing would have to be spot on. 

On race day, I ran the 2.3 miles from my house to the start. It was a good warm up although in hindsight, I think I could have got my engine a little more revved up to match what I typically do on the track on Saturday mornings. It is always hard for me to get totally warmed up at these races. I get a little nervous and there is some slight performance anxiety that occasionally holds me back a bit. But running down to the start was pretty nice. Thankfully, Melissa would be driving down and I gave her my back to check at the bag check with dry clothes and my phone, keys, etc. It was quite nice of her to allow me this luxury. Thank you Melissa. 

My biggest goal besides running as fast as possible for 6.2 miles was to not go out too fast in the first mile. It was going to be hard and require concentration and discipline. But if I could reign things in on that first mile, I thought I would have a good chance of meeting my time goal. 

When the race started, I took off relaxed as possible and let some of the speed demons pull away from me. I did my first Monument Ave 10K 10 years ago. I have run it about 7 or 8 times since then. After all those races, this was the first time I actually did not go out too fast. I managed to run the first mile in about 6:36. I was off the pace but I did not cook myself in the first 200 meters like I usually do. I was happy with that. 

As the race progressed, I knew I would easily beat my previous best of 42:18. But I was not sure about the 40 minute goal. As I continued to run, I ticked off the miles relatively easily. I was slightly off the pace but I felt relaxed and in control. It was a really good feeling. I was enjoying my pace and while there were a few times when I tried to pick it up, I never got the motivation to drive myself into the pain cave. In hindsight, I should have tried to run with one of my teammates who I saw later at the finish. I think we would have both run a great deal faster if we had run together like we had done on the track during training. But I never saw him and did not think about it until after the race. 

In some ways the race was uneventful. I ran a 40:37 which is a 6:33 per mile pace. Don't get me wrong,  I was very happy with this new PR and not upset about not meeting the 40 minute goal. But after the race, I was not wrecked like usual. I had stayed comfortable but it was my new comfortable. For whatever reason, I did not seem motivated to put myself in overdrive. I was not compelled. But I learned I can run a sub 41 minute 10k fairly easily with the right training. At 47 years old, I am pretty happy with that. And I am so happy with my coaching. David Luscan has the right formula for me and I continue to improve and maybe more importantly, I continue to learn about my body, how to tune in to it, and I continue to learn about the sport of road racing and triathlon. It brings be great joy to be able work so effortlessly with someone to achieve my fitness goals and I feel like Dave understands my drive and understands how training and racing has become a passion for me. And as a bonus, he really knows what he is doing. 

Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

Training for Ironman

Completing an Ironman triathlon takes time, commitment, and discipline. For most people, it is not a race that can be done without a tremendous amount of preparation. Sure there is all the swimming, biking, and running. That part is probably pretty obvious to anyone. However there is more to it than that. At least in my experience.

Long rides and runs need to be planned and coordinated. All your chores need to be scheduled around workouts. Laundry is a constant for everyone but when you are training every day, sometimes twice, there is extra "special" laundry; technical gear that requires special detergent to cut down on bacteria and the stink that comes with it. There are extra trips to the stores to buy "nutrition" which is what we call the food/liquids that are ingested while training and racing. There is gear to be bought, shoes to wear out requiring additional trips to see your favorite shoe guy. I like Tom at 3Sports in Short Pump. 

Beyond the gear, there is gear maintenance which, if not paid attention to, can cost you dearly down the road. While I never had much of a social life outside of my immediate family, some people actually like to go out and do stuff. Training for an Ironman can put a damper on weekend jaunts with friends or staying up late to do, well-just about anything. Throw in monthly massages with your favorite massage therapist (I go to Sara at Hands On Wellness MT), downloading and uploading data, routes, cue sheets. Driving to meet up with teammates to run, bike, and swim. Keeping motivated by reading online blogs, books, and journals, etc. When training for Ironman, training 9 to 15 hours a week is really only part of the picture.

Uh OH. Problem!

I wanted to mention all of the above to frame my recent experience training and racing Ironman Lake Placid. Imagine 6 plus months of all the things I mentioned above. I was doing it all, following my training plan diligently. Then a few weeks before the race, I started having problems. First, my foot started bothering me. I had recently bought new shoes off the internet and shortly thereafter started getting pain in the bottom of my foot. I sort of thought I was being punished for not going to see my regular shoe guy. So I immediately went to see him and got new shoes. He did not think my shoes were necessarily the problem but obliged me and we found a different model that seemed to work for me. 

Luckily, I have a teammate who is a not only a super accomplished Ironman but she is also a super awesome physical therapist. Let's face it, she is just super awesome period. She gave me some tips on how to deal with my foot problem which included stretching and rolling my foot over a frozen water bottle. Being the diligent patient that I am, I followed her advice and got the issue under control enough to finish out my long runs. But that was not the end of my issues. 

Training in Richmond during the summer is always hot and humid. We had some particularly humid weather on the last big weekend of training before the race. We had a hot ride on Saturday and I felt like I did not have enough hydration. I did my best to rehydrate after the 65 mile hot ride so I would be prepared for my run the next morning. On Sunday, I met up with four of my favorite training partners and we did our long run. After our 2.5 hour soupy run, I went straight to the pool. My swim went well and was uneventful. After my 3000 yards in the pool, I jumped out of the pool onto the deck. As soon as I kicked off the bottom off the pool, my right calf seized up. I was writhing in pain on the pool deck, grunting and moaning as if someone had broken my leg. The pain was agonizing. No one seemed to notice though. The elderly people at the JCC just kept swimming their 50 stroke laps. As I rolled around trying to think of something to alleviate the pain, I managed to glance up at the lifeguard. She had no expression on her face and just looked at me like one might look at a Van Gogh painting. Finally, I jammed my foot into the wall and managed to stretch it out enough that the cramp started to subside. When I stopped moaning and rolling around on the deck, I looked over at the life guard again. Same expression. She was just sitting there looking at me. I made my way over to my stuff and started drying off and getting dressed. Just as I was leaving, the lifeguard was relieved by another young person. She came over and said to me, "do you get cramps often?" She then went on to lecture me about hydration, magnesium supplements, and yoga. Gee. Thanks.

After that episode, my calf was stiffer than a Charlie Sheen cocktail. Walking was uncomfortable and running was off the list of approved activities. I spent the next couple of days skipping workouts and not really doing much. That Thursday, I did go to the Thursday team cycling workout. My calf hurt but after cycling a bit, it did loosen up a little. I thought there might be hope for me yet.

Because of my foot and calf problem, that last long run the previous weekend ended up being my final run before heading to Lake Placid. My plan was to skip running until the race day. I had run enough and running is one of my strengths, running off the bike even more so.

Friday before leaving for Lake Placid, I took our bikes to RBS to have my fit adjusted and to get Melissa's bike tweaked a bit. She was not racing but wanted to ride with us some while we checked out the course. While at RBS, I decided to get new cleats. Mine had worn way down and Craig thought it was probably dangerous for me to race in them. So Julie installed new cleats on my shoes and I got back up on the trainer. Craig said everything looked good so I was on my way.

The following day, we did one last ride. About 1 hour into the 2 hour ride, I noticed my right knee started bothering me. I did not think much of it. After the ride, I got cleaned up and we packed up the car and headed North.

Our trip to Lake Placid had two parts. First we stopped in Philly to visit with Melissa's sister and family. They graciously put us up in their spacious and comfy house and fed us nicely. While hanging around the house, I noticed my knee was pretty bad and that walking up and down the stairs was painful. Hmmm. Not good right? After a few text messages with my favorite PT who I mentioned above, I put two and two together. My new cleats were causing me issues with my knee. I texted Craig from RBS who did my bike fit. He immediately called me and we talked about my issue. He told me to raise up my seat just a hair and then try to spin super easy on the bike. So I did that. I did not notice any additional pain but it was hard to tell if the pain was going to get worse or not with the new configuration. I spoke with my coach and she told me to take 600mg of Advil 3 times a day. And while this is 3 times the recommended dose, my training partners said that was what doctors recommend to patients with bad inflammation. Again, I am a good patient so I complied.

During our few days in Philly, my knee pain would go away sometimes but then sometimes it would return. I was not too happy about this turn of events. First my foot, then my calf, and now my knee. Not a good way to end a pretty successful run of training. Did I mention I was not happy? I decided I would just have to keep taking the Advil up until the race and hope for the best.

The second part of our drive to Lake Placid was uneventful which is always nice. We made good time and were the third party to arrive out the house we were sharing with teammates. The house was beautiful, large, and it had a hot tub. My plan was to use the healing properties of hot water to help with my knee issue. I did several sessions over the next couple of days trying to heal up.

The Race

On race morning, I woke up at 2:30. I had planned to get up at 3:30 but since I was up, I went ahead and started the pre-race rituals. I made my egg sandwich, drank my smoothie, ate some bananas, and jammed some tunes. I lubed up my whole body and the seams in my tri shorts. I cannot emphasize the importance of this last action. I was going to be swimming, biking, and running for 13 hours or so in the same shorts which would be wet from rain, sweat, and---well, let's say 'other' for now. Chafing was extremely likely and I wanted to minimize the burning as much as possible. I was glad for the extra time in the morning as I did not feel rushed and was able to relax pretty well. I was extremely psyched to be racing and was only slightly worried about my knee, calf, and foot issue.

We walked down with our special needs bags and dropped them off in their designated area. Then it was one more porta potty stop before making our way down to the lake to don our wetsuits and go for a warm up swim. Here is a picture of Meredith, Jon, and I before jumping into the water.

 

 Swim Warm-Ups

For this race, Ironman decided that they would try their new rolling start. So after our warm up, we got into our designated corrals. They wanted us to self seed ourselves so that we would be swimming with people who swam at the same pace. The theory behind this idea is that slow swimmers are less likely to be run over by faster swimmers and everyone can have a safer swim. I seeded myself in the 1:11 to 1:20 group. If I had a good race, I thought I could go 1:15. Here is a picture showing the start of the race. This was well before the gun went off so it was not quite as crowded as it would get a few minutes later.

There was the usual nervousness before the race as we stood in the corrals. I tried to stay relaxed and soak up the excitement all around me. Two of my teammates stood with me and we joked and tried not to get too anxious. After all, Ironman swims can be chaotic and downright dangerous. Besides trying to swim 2.4 miles in a straight line as fast as possible, you have to also be ready to defend yourself against the claws of swimmers behind you and from the kicking feet of people in front and beside you. The video below demonstrates the way some people feel during a mass start.



When the gun went off, we made our way gradually up to the swim start arch. As soon as we crossed the timing mat, I darted into the water. I ran a little diagonal into the water away from the buoy line. The buoy line has a white cable on the bottom of the lake. In a perfect world, we could all just swim on top of that cable. The lake is relatively clear and the cable is visible the whole time you are swimming. The cable acts as a sort of lane line to keep you swimming straight without having to lift your head up to site nearly as much as you normally would have to in an open water race. But when 3,000 people jump into the lake at the same time and they all want to ride the cable, chaos ensues. I decided to avoid that and was successful at finding some open water about 15 feet to the left of the cable. Sure I had to occasionally move away from some crowds, push back against some people with my elbows, swerve to go around people hung up on each other, but overall, I just did my thing. I swam and swam and swam. Before I knew it, I was around the turns and heading back toward the dock. I swam up to the beach, jumped out of the water and then, since this is a two-loop race, I jumped back in the water for my second loop.

On the second loop, I did manage to ride the cable for some of the first half of the course. It was cool. I felt fast as I watched the white cable below me swoosh by. After I rounded the turn to swim my final 800 meters back to shore, I took a slight knock to the goggles. My goggles started to leak for my right eye. This had happened once last year when racing and I had stopped to fix the goggles. This time however, I just pictured my coach demonstrating what she would have done if her goggles started leaking. She said she would just close that eye and keep swimming. So that is what I did. I just kept swimming and even kicked it up a notch. I was feeling great, my heart rate was under control, and I knew I was making good time. In the end, I ended up doing the 2.4 mile swim in 1:15. I was quite happy.

After getting out of the water, the wetsuit strippers yanked off my wetsuit and threw it on top of me. I had a big smile on my face because they did such a good job. No one can blame a long T1 time on the strippers, that is for sure. I was also smiling because I was having so much fun. People were cheering, I had just had a great swim, I felt prepared. I had totally forgotten about my knee issue and, at the moment, it was not bothering me one bit.

The run from the lake to T1 was about 800 meters. I jogged the whole way with just a slight sense of urgency but not too fast. I did not want to spike my heart rate too much this early in the race. After running into T1 and grabbing my bike bag, I made my way to the changing tents. Inside, I fumbled with my bag and had trouble getting it open. Finally, I got everything out and started gearing up for the long ride ahead of me. It took a while to get my shoes and socks on, my helmet, gloves and glasses on, my watch, my knee braces and my race number. I also had to get my pockets filled with all my nutrition (gel flask, two bananas, and about 4 honey stinger waffles).

Then it was off to get my bike. A kind volunteer grabbed my bike for me and brought it to me. I then ran it out of T1 and past the mount line. I have gotten fairly good at running in my bike shoes and made quick work of the little run. Once on my bike, there was a quick couple of downhills and sharp turns as we weaved our way out of town. In fact, we were told before the race to be very careful because the course would be narrow and steep at this point. They even had hay bales out to catch those riders who were going too fast to make the turns. After one or two turns, we approached a little drop off where the road went from sort of flat to a steep downhill. There was a volunteer waving at us to slow down and to watch the little lip in the road. I guess I was pretty excited because I bunny hopped the lip and garnered cheers from the crowd. When I landed, my water bottle shot out of my bottle cage. Oh well, I was over-hydrated anyway so I really did not care. Hopefully, I did not cause any other racers any problems.  Here is a picture of me starting the bike but before the bunny hop.

I won't go into too much play-by-play for the 112 mile bike ride. The bike course is gorgeous. There is a little climbing at the beginning and then a wicked fast descent. I passed at least 20 people as I screamed down the descent. Most of them would eventually catch up to me on the flats and the climbs but it was fun to streamline and let 'er rip. I got up to 46 miles an hour on one of the descents. Yep, that is pretty darn fast. It was a blast! The second half of the bike course does have a fair amount of climbing but my training had prepared me well and I did not feel like the climbing was all that difficult. At least on the first loop.

Overall the first loop was uneventful, in a good way. There were lots of people out on the course dressed up in funny costumes holding funny signs, shouting words of encouragement, and saying silly things. My goal on the bike this time around was to not stop. In my previous 140.6 last year, I had to stop and use the porta potty a few times on the bike. I was determined not to do that this time. In the end, the only time I stopped while on the bike was at my special needs stop where I picked up some nutrition out of my special needs bag. The volunteer opened a banana and a honey stinger waffle for me. I had not really planned on eating all that food at that particular moment but I rolled with it and shoved it all into my mouth. Here is a picture of me coming out of the special needs area. If you look closely, you can see my chipmunk cheeks full of banana and waffle.

I kicked it up a notch on some of the flat sections of the course on the second loop of the bike. I think I went faster on those sections. However, after about 5 hours on the bike, my climbing slowed down and became more of a march. I think I could have gone faster if I had some additional motivation, like fellow teammates for instance. But I was by myself and started to slow down a bit. I ended up finishing my second loop on the bike about 10 minutes slower than my first loop. Overall that is not so bad. I was pleased as I finished up on the bike. I was glad to be off of it and onto the run. So far, my knee was holding up well. Here are a couple of pictures of me after handing off my bike to a volunteer, grabbing my run bag, and running toward the changing tent. 

Once in the changing tent, I quickly put on my run shoes and shoved my riding gear into my run bag. In the mens changing tent, they had a little trough for going to the bathroom. It was convenient and there was no waiting. I took care of business and then applied some lube to my body where the seams of my shorts make contact. Again, this action was key. And then I was off onto the run.

The run starts on a downhill. I tried to relax so I would not go out too fast. I ended up running about 9:30-minute miles for the first two miles. I was feeling good but knew that it was going to be a long run and anything could happen.

After a few miles into my first loop, my stomach started acting up. This is not something I have had to deal with in the past. I think it was from all the bananas I had eaten on the bike. I ended up making two porta potty stops on the first loop. When I finished my first loop of the run, I looked down at my watch and it said 2:20. Not bad for my first loop.

While heading back out of town on my second loop, I did a little body check. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to let myself go a little faster. I was feeling better than I had on the first loop and it was now time to really push myself. I had a tad bit of stomach issues on the second loop resulting in one porta potty stop. It was funny, when I saw someone leave a porta potty, I sprinted ahead, bypassing the aid station so I could get in there before someone else. Some people thought I was really killing the run because I was going so fast. Really, it was just so I could get to the bathroom.

I had a routine for each aid station. Some people would stop running just shy of the aid station and start walking. I ran all the way up to the first volunteer at the aid station and would grab a cup of Perform before stopping. I would gulp that down followed by a cup of coke and then a water chaser. After a while, my water chaser became a mouth rinse more than anything because adding a whole cup of water after my Perform and Coke was too much liquid. After a few steps through the trash section of the aid station, I would begin running again.

Once I hit mile 20, I said to myself, "Just 10k to go." I knew I could do it in less than an hour. When I looked at my watch, I realized it was possible that I could run a sub 4:30 marathon. If I held up, that is. Knowing that helped me run even faster. I still walked two of the steeper hills coming back into town. But once I crested that final hill in town and was surrounded by cheers of the spectators, I really put it into a higher gear.  I really picked it up that last mile. People were yelling, music was blasting, and I was hauling. When I entered the Olympic oval and saw the crowds, I went even faster. In fact, I got up to 10.5 miles an hour for that last 200 meters. It was like track practice. I smiled and then put the hammer down. In the end, I ran a 4:25 marathon! I was stoked. My personal best stand alone marathon was 4:06. Granted, I did not know what I was doing back in 2007 and have come a long way with my training. But still, it was not a flat course and considering the hilly bike course, I was quite pleased with the run.

In the end my final time was 13:12:58. Somehow, I had even gone faster than all of my teammates. They all had faster bike splits than me. But my strong swim and even stronger run made my finishing time just slightly faster than them. I never thought that would happen. Here is a shot Bryan captured on his computer while watching from Richmond. Thanks Bryan. This is right after I crossed the finish and the "catchers" were escorting me away from the finish line. Ironman has so many great volunteers. They walked me over to the guy who would remove my chip. He looked me in the eye and said, "Don't move" and then took my chip off. I imagine some delirious finishers might accidentally kick the guy in the face so I think he was being extra careful.

I had a great time training for and racing this race. I have to thank lots of people for helping me achieve my goal. Thanks to Karen Holloway for being an excellent coach and setting me up for success. Thanks to my fellow Pro K teammates for all those great long bike rides and long runs. I could not have done it without you all. Thanks to Meredith for all her superior physical therapy advice. Without you, I would have not been able to bounce back from injury as quickly as I did. Thanks to Richmond Bicycle for keeping my bike going during all my training. Thanks to Jon for his continued advice throughout the year. His little suggestions made a big difference in my training. And special thanks to my number one supporter, my partner in crime, my loving wife Melissa. She is so supportive both physically and emotionally. I truly could not have done it without you!

I will be taking it easy for a little while. There is lots of neglected house work to attend to. Plus my body needs a little rest. I still seem to be hungry all the time. I am not sure if I will be doing any more races this year. I am not going to make any decisions about that for another week or two. I do know that in a few weeks I plan to sign up for another Ironman for next year. It was so fun, I have to do another. Thanks for reading. Comments appreciated.

Race Report: Reflections on Raleigh

 

Coming down the finish chute. Rock on! (non-watermarked pictures are on their way)

It's been almost a month, and I've had time to reflect on my Raleigh experience. It still makes me smile to think about it, and I imagine that feeling will last for a while.

Last fall, I decided to sign up for my first 70.3 distance race-- Ironman Raleigh 70.3. It would be the longest race I've attempted, and even though I had 6 months to prepare, it still felt a little daunting.

I decided to pick my races carefully for 2013, and use them as a way to prepare for Raleigh. In order to properly train, I decided to run my first half marathon (which I blogged about here), a sprint triathlon (blog post here), and my first Olympic distance triathlon, Monticello Man.

While I did not blog about Monticello Man Olympic, it turned out to be a great learning experience. It was the first time I had raced at that distance, and I was excited to get in the open water again. Even though the bike course was hilly, I pre-rode it twice, so I knew exactly what to expect-- I can't say how much this really helped! The run for Monticello Man was hilly as well-- I couldn't wait for it to be over!

On May 31^st we packed our bags and headed down to Raleigh. We got there early on Friday and headed straight for packet pick-up. I was impressed by the organization and set up, and we moved through the expo quickly.

Welcome banners in Raleigh. I was very impressed with their city!

On Saturday morning, we drove to the race start venue to check our bikes in to T1. The race would start at Jordan Lake, with a one-loop, 1.2 mile swim. There was lots of conversation and rumors about what the water temperature would be on race day morning. Anything above 76.1 degrees F would not be 'wetsuit legal'.

After riding my bike for a few minutes to ensure that everything was in working order, I racked my bike in T1 and stashed my gear. Because I had registered for the race with an Ironman Foundation slot, I had a sweet transition spot near the "bike out". This is convenient because it means that I will run a shorter distance inside transition with my bike-- not a 'must have', but it is certainly nice!

After dropping our stuff at T1, we drove back to downtown Raleigh, and had the rest of the day to meet up with friends and relax. That evening, we double-checked our run gear and nutrition, and tucked in for an early bed time.

On race day morning, we were up EARLY. I think we both woke up before the alarm! As soon as we got up, the preparation started-- put on timing chip, sunscreen, body glide (on body and inside seams of my kit), mix up nutrition drinks, double check run gear bag, put additional nutrition and breakfast in separate bag.

We headed out the door and over to T2. Transition 2 was in downtown Raleigh, not far from our hotel. We dropped our run gear off in our designated spots in T2 and headed for the shuttle bus to take us to Lake Jordan (about a 40 minute ride).

 

The Swim

It was really exciting to arrive at Lake Jordan and see the transition and swim area swarming with athletes, volunteers, and race staff. I had a great sense of feeling prepared, and I was happy that the day had finally arrived. And, at about 6:30 a.m., they announced the water temperature-- 76 degrees! A cheer went up from the crowd, which means most of us were happy that we were allowed to wear our wetsuits. I had prepared myself mentally to swim without one, but boy, was I glad that I didn't have to!

Photos of Lake Jordan from our visit a month earlier. The boat ramp led down to the beach where the swim start was held.

On race day this beach was packed with racers.

I didn't really start feeling nervous until I had to stand around and wait for my swim wave to begin. The race started at 7 a.m., but I was in wave 13. So, with the waves starting 3 minutes apart, I had a while to wait my turn. I don't think snails move any slower than that clock did. I stood a while with Jim while he waited for his wave to take off (wave 6). After I lost sight of him, I decided to sit down. I still had 40 minutes to wait, so why waste my energy standing?

Finally, my wave was ready to start. We filed into the water and waited for the starting gun (or was it a horn? I can't remember). As I stood there, I tried to take it all in. I thought back to November, when I signed up for this race. I remembered the tenuous “now what have I done?” feeling after signing up, and thinking “well, the only thing I can do about it now is train.” November seemed so long ago. I knew I had done plenty of training, and I was prepared. I remember thinking that I had 7+ hours ahead of me. But first things first-- concentrate on the swim.

I couldn't possibly tell you what went through my mind during that swim. I wish I had a recording of it, though. I remember that as we started out, I was right in the middle of a pack of swimmers. Luckily, it wasn't too jarring (no elbows flying), so I tried to draft and take advantage of my position. I usually draft to the side of another swimmer-- I don't like drafting off the back because I don't want to be that swimmer that is always accidentally tapping someone's feet. It happens, and it's just a hazard of the sport, but I still don't want to be that person.

I think I managed to get a few drafting opportunities along the way, and before I knew it, I was rounding the last turn buoy. The water had started to get a bit choppy, but I was headed into shore for the last 500 meters, so it was less choppy the closer I got.

What a great feeling to exit the water! And my legs didn't feel like jelly, so that was a bonus!

Swim time: 45:49

I was particularly happy with this time, since my pace per 100 meters was 10 seconds faster than my pace at Monticello Man Olympic (a shorter distance).

T1: 3:47

Transition went well. Designated wetsuit strippers helped the athletes off with their wetsuits, so that was a plus. The only thing different about this transition was that we had to put all of our stuff in a gear bag that was provided to us, instead of leaving it on the ground. This is because we were not coming back to this spot-- the bike leg would take us all the way into downtown Raleigh, so the Ironman staff would be packing up all our gear and taking it to a spot downtown where we could collect it later.

Bike

The bike leg turned out to be lots of fun, and not as daunting as the rumors would have us believe. It is so hard to make head or tails of the elevation map provided, since those can be deceiving. Basically, the course had some mixed sections for the first 20ish miles-- some flat, some false, some rolling hills. The last 30 miles did present some larger hills, but they didn't seem too daunting since most of my bike training rides had incorporated hills in some way. I picked up water at each water stop (slowed down and grabbed it from a volunteer), and even grabbed a banana at one stop. I was glad I was able to do this, since I hadn't actually practiced it. At mile 18, I lost a water bottle as I went over the train tracks, so I stopped to pick it up. It was then that I noticed my bike computer stopped working-- the sensor had been knocked off kilter. I tried to fix it, but then decided I would do without it. I usually use my bike computer to keep loose tabs on my pace, just to encourage myself to keep going at a certain rate. Not having that feedback to rely on didn't hinder me really, as I figured I was just going to pedal as fast as I could anyway!

Bike time: 3:47:10

This pace was also faster than my Monticello Man Olympic pace, so I was happy with that.

T2: 3:28

Rounding that last turn and approaching T2 was a fantastic feeling. I dropped my bike off in T2, put on my running shoes, hat, and headed out.

Run

So now here it is. The part of the race I was least looking forward to. Thirteen miles is still a big mental challenge for me. It just seems soooooooo long. BUT, I remember a time only a few years back when THREE miles was an interminable distance. So, I think I have come a long way. So what do I do? I try not to think about it! As I headed out of T2, a ProK teammate, Travis, who came to Raleigh as a spectator greeted me. He ran with me for the bit before circling back to find others. He filled me in on how the other ProKers were doing and helped keep me going.

The run course was an out and back, so I saw lots of other athletes on the way. It was fun to see other ProK teammates as they were headed back in to the finish. The highlight of my day? Somewhere around mile 2 I see my Number One Fan heading back in from the run. He sees me, and comes close to the median in the road so he can stop to talk to me, and offer words of advice: “just concentrate on going from aid station to aid station, take as much ice, water, etc as you need (don't think you can only take one), and remember your training- you've got this!” Now was that awesome, or what? I think if the heat did not have my brain in a state of mental fog, I would have cried happy tears. I think everyone needs a Number One Fan in their life; it makes everything so much better.

A selfie with my Number One Fan after the race.

So, I took those words of advice and followed them closely. I had planned to take ice and water at every station, but it was nice to have a reminder, and especially the advice to take as much as I needed! At every aid station, I took several cups of ice and dropped them down my shirt, pants, and under my hat. I took water to wash down my gel, and I kept taking my salt tabs at regular intervals. Somewhere between miles 4 and 7, instead of going from “aid station to aid station”, it became more like going from “porta john to porta john”. I will spare you the details, but just say that at least the porta johns were there. That has never happened to me before in a race, but hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

The hills on the back side of the run course were a bit of a surprise-- again, the deceiving elevation map had reduced them to blips. Somewhere around mile 9, a ProK teammate, Missy, ran by and slapped me on the butt as she passed. It's nice to have a little humor in the middle of the race! I needed that.

There were noticeably less people and spectators in the last 4 miles of the race. As I neared the finish line, I saw my coach, Karen, yelling and cheering for me as I headed in. It was so great to see her enthusiasm-- she was acting like I felt inside, but couldn't muster much outward enthusiasm myself since I was just concentrating on getting to the finish line. If it hadn't been for all that ice, I would never had made it. The heat really puts a zap on you. Jim and Travis were there too, cheering me in to the finish line, which went right down a main street in downtown Raleigh. What a great feeling that was. I was never so happy to see a finish line. I suddenly didn't care how hot it was. It had been a long day, and I had made it!

Run Time: 2:52:05

Overall: 7:32:19

I think I floated off that "high" of finishing for several weeks. It still makes me smile. What did I do the week after the race? Why, I began to research which 70.3 event I'd like to do next year (what else?)!

I purchased my pictures from Ironman, but the order takes 24 hours to process. so in the meantime, I borrowed some screenshots from the web site.

No Ham, Just Fun

Once again, I welcome my guest blogger, Melissa. 

It's been three weeks since the Smithfield Sprint, and I've had some time to reflect on it. A sprint distance race, Smithfield was intended to be my season opener, a race that would get me back in the swing of things after a long break from racing. My last race was in June of last year, when I did the "I Love the Tavern" sprint tri in Richmond. That race had a 650 meter open water swim, downstream in the river, 18.6 mile bike leg, and a 5k run that I died on due to the heat. 


So, on April 6th, we traveled to the ham capital of Virginia. Yup, a place where the water tower says "Smithfield: Ham, History, and Hospitality". That's right. HAM was first on the list, not history or hospitality. Too, too funny. Too bad I don't like ham. Or bacon. Or pork chops...but I digress.

 

Fortunately, the weather for Smithfield cooperated nicely. The temperature was in the low 50's, which was perfect as far as I was concerned. We arrived early and had our transition area set up in plenty of time, so we proceeded to warm up in the pool. For a race like this, the warmup (for me) is really just about mental comfort. The race started at 10 am, but because racers are "dropped" into the pool about 10 seconds apart, my start time was actually 11:38 am. The pool closed for warm ups at around 9:30, so that gave me two hours to wait around for my start time. As you can imagine, all the benefits of warming up your muscles have worn off during that waiting time. So, for me, the warm up is just mental-- making sure I feel mentally prepared, plus it helps me relax too. AND, the pool was warm! Almost warm enough to be called a bath. Kind of nice, actually. Had the swim been longer than 300 meters, I would not have liked it that warm. But 300 meters is not long enough for my body to really get too heated up, so it worked out ok.

And this time around, I had something to keep me occupied during that wait: My Dad and brother had come to see us race! What a treat. It was really great to see them, and I enjoyed their company as we waited together. I was glad that I was able to share this event with them, and that they could get a better feel for how these races work.

My swim time ended up as a 6:33.  Not terrible, but not the best I can do either. In retrospect, I did not really dive under the lane lines on the turns, like I should have. This probably added to my  time quite a bit. So much for mental preparation! I am not sure how I missed that one, but I did.

As I exited the pool, there was my Dad and brother cheering for me. Awesome! It is always so nice to have someone cheering for you. I ran into transition #1 and did not dilly-dally. Even though I know I am not going to win (or place) in these races, I don't like to waste time in transition. I was able to keep my T1 time to a 1:37, so I felt good about that. The funny thing about transition, though, is that while it's happening, I always feel like I am moving in slow motion. I ranked 3rd in transition times (in my AG), so I guess I was going faster than most.

The bike course- FUN, FUN, FUN! I loved this bike course. As I headed out of T1, again, my family cheering for me. Awesome. What a boost that gave me. The course was mostly flat, with one steep but really short hill, so I powered through it and kept on going. I averaged 15.4 mph on my bike leg, which is really good for me (10 miles, total time 38:11). In my races last year, I only averaged between 13.9 - 14.5. So, I am improving, which is sort of a relief, because sometimes it's hard to tell!

My T2 time: 1:27. No time to powder my nose-- I had a 5k to run!

The run course was a fairly easy out and back. Even though the sun had come out, it was still cool enough out to have a good run. According to my Garmin data, it was 52 degrees at the time of my run. I had my best sprint tri-run to date at a 9:59 average pace. The course was a tad short at 2.96 miles, but I didn't care. At that point, shorter is better.

Overall, it was a great race experience, and I would highly recommend the Smithfield race to anyone who wanted to dip their feet into the tri-waters, so to speak. I realize this race report is a bit dry, and is a rather straightforward reporting of the event. I don't have a moving story of overcoming cancer and finishing my first tri, like this guy. But I do, at least once per race, reflect on how lucky I am to be out there, doing what I'm doing. I'm not the fastest, but I am happy with the incremental improvements I've made, and grateful that I have the ability to at least be in the race at all.


What's up next? The MonticelloMan Olympic distance triathlon on May 5th. This will be roughly double the distance of the sprint tri, and my FIRST olympic distance. This of course, will be a good warm up for my main race this year, Raleigh 70.3 (another first). I'll be back again as a guest blogger after the M-Man tri, but in the meantime, you can read about another first for me this year in a previous post, where I wrote a race report about my first half marathon. Cheers.

Smithfield Sprint Triathlon Race Report

There is something about a Sprint Triathlon that is extremely fun. To me anyway. The Smithfield Sprint was no exception. Going into the race, I knew that it would be short. And as Craig Dodson from RCC always says, “the shorter the interval, the higher the intensity.” With that in mind, I calculated I could finish the race is just over one hour if I kept the hammer down throughout the race.

While the race started at 10AM, since it was a pool swim where swimmers go off one at at time every 15 seconds, my start time was not until 11:32. Unfortunately this meant my swim warm-up ended at 9:30 or so and then I had to wait quite a while for my start time. Plus it was cold and breezy outside. Walking around in a wet tri suit was not actually that comfortable. Mostly we waited inside but I did have to go outside a few times.

Finally it was my time to line up. I lined up in the order of my race number which was based on my predicted time to finish the pool swim. While in line, I chatted with a few of the guys, watched some teammates swim who were in front of me in the line, and thought about the upcoming race. My goal for the swim was to push myself a little but not go all out.

When it was my turn to swim, I pushed off and started down the lane. I caught up to a few people in the first 100 yards. Everyone was nice and let me pass them. I noticed that I was gaining time on people at each wall. Some people were dunking under the lane line and then pushing off the wall. I simply pushed off and swam under the lane line which saved me a couple of seconds on each wall. In swimming, a couple of seconds adds up quickly.

I felt really good on the swim and exited the pool feeling pretty pumped. T1 was just outside the pool exit. I quickly made my way to my bike and geared up. Considering I had to put on my Garmin plus two knee braces in addition to the helmet, socks, and bike shoes, I think my T1 time was not bad: 1:54. I tried to make up for the extra time it took to put on my knee braces by running very fast with my bike through transition to the bike exit.

Once on the bike, I wasted no time ratcheting things up. I knew that I had to push it hard for the entire bike segment. The bike leg was only 10 miles and I wanted to try to get it done in 30 minutes which would mean I would have to average 20 miles an hour which is pretty fast for me.

The bike course was great. There was very little traffic, smooth roads and the turns were well marked. Also, it was mostly flat. Definitely conducive for hammering. Usually on the bike leg of a triathlon, I am passed by lots of men and women. They catch up to me and fly by as if I am out for a Sunday stroll. This time, however I was passed by 1 guy. I was passing people this time around. Let me tell, that felt good and served as fuel for my fire.

It turned out there was quite a bit of wind on the course which did end up slowing me down slightly. I was not able to manage 20 miles an hour so I missed my arbitrary 30 minute time goal for the bike. But I still felt great on the bike and was pleased with my time of 33:09.

In T2, I did have a little trouble with my shoes. I had pre-tied them and while I had practiced at home, putting them on in transition proved to be harder than when I had practiced in my bedroom. But I got them on and got moving. My total T2 time was 1:37.

Once out on the run course, I was in my element. Running off the bike is always fun for me. I see people in front of me and I am driven to catch them. So one by one, I pick them off. Little kids, men and women of all shapes and sizes. One by one, I push past them. In this particular race, I felt really good on the run. I have been doing lots of high intensity workouts in the month of March and I think it paid off during the race. Once I got to the turn around, I knew I would be able to keep up my pace and have a good finish. As I approached the finish line, I noticed a young woman in front of me moving pretty fast. She was my final extra motivation: one more person to pass. So I kicked hard and booked it through the finishing chute for a run time of 21:23. My Garmin said the course was slightly short at 2.96 miles but I was still very pleased with that time.

My total time for this race was 1:03:59 and I ended up with 5^th place in my age group. There were 27 total in my age group: M 45-49. I was quite pleased and had a really great time racing. Now it time to focus on the next thing. Thanks for reading. Comments appreciated.

Jim

First Race Report of the Season

Is it Spring yet? It sure does not seem like it in Richmond. We have had cold, snowy, rainy weather for some time now. It seems like Spring will never come. Despite the bad weather, I have been able to get some quality training in this month.  In March I started a new schedule:

Monday - AM Swim, PM Cycling Class
Tuesday -PM Pro K track workout
Wednesday - AM Swim, PM Cycling class
Thursday - PM Cycle at home on trainer with Melissa/Sometimes run instead
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Long Bike
Sunday - Long Run and Long Swim

Needless to say, with all the training and my job, I have not had much time to sit and write. I spend all day in front of computers and sometimes the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a screen when I get home.

Last week, Melissa and I participated in a small 5K at a local elementary school. Our teammate was the race director and the race was a fund raiser for the PTA at the school. There were about 50 people at the race. When the gun went off, I took off at a reasonable pace. Right from the start, I found myself up front with 3 other runners. We ran the first mile in tight formation before one young kid and myself started to put distance on the other two runners.

After a little while, it was just the two of us running side by side around the turns. While I was pushing it a little, the young high school aged boy seemed to be out for a morning jog. His running seemed effortless. At one point, I said "Are you just toying with me?" He admitted that he was which I thought was pretty honest and sort of funny. It really seemed like he was running my pace. I decided to back off ever so slightly to save myself for a possible kick at the end. He slowed with me which verified what I thought. I told him that I did not have a kick. It was a lie. I had a decent kick for someone my age. I thought perhaps when we saw the finish line, I could surprise him. Actually I knew this was not likely but it was worth a try if the opportunity arose.

With about a quarter of a mile left, he said, "not much further now" and proceeded to speed up and pull away from me. I countered but I could not match his speed. As the school came into sight, I knew I would never catch him. I pushed it a little but did not wipe myself out. I had second place sewn up which was just fine with me. 

After crossing the finish line in second place, I congratulated the winner and asked him if he ran track. He confirmed my suspicion. When I asked him what distance he ran, he told me he ran the 400 and 800. So even if I did have a good kick, I never would have beat him. I can't complain though. At 44 years old, second place to a 17 year old high school track athlete is not too shabby in my book.

Plus the 5K was really just a warm up. After the race, we did a 38 mile team bike ride followed by a 13 minute T-Run. It was a fine day in Richmond, despite the cold.

Next week is my first Triathlon of the year. Melissa and I will be doing the Smithfield Sprint Triathlon. It is a very short race: 300 Meter Pool Swim, 10 Mile Bike, 5K. There are some other folks from Richmond racing as well. It will be a nice little jump start to the season.

Thanks for reading.

Half Finished, Two Thirds to Go

Today I welcome back my favorite guest blogger, my better half, my partner in crime, my lovely wife Melissa. Without further adieu, here is her latest triumph.

It started last summer, while I was sitting at my desk at work, thinking I had missed the boat. Jim had signed up for a 70.3 race, along with some training friends, and he emailed me one last time. “Do you want me to sign you up too?”

And I thought, “Hell, no. Is he crazy?”

But as the days passed I got to thinking about what races I was going to do in 2013, and what my next goal should be. I had done 3 more sprint triathlons in 2012, along with a few other planned running races, but I hadn't given much thought to 2013. Ironman races sell out quickly, in a matter of hours. And Raleigh 70.3, an inaugural event, was no different. So, I sat at my desk and thought it over. And over. And I thought, what a shame that I didn't sign up for that race. Lots of people we know are doing it, and I'll be there anyway to support Jim. What a bummer. For some reason I just wasn't in the right mind set when he asked me.

So, in November, when the Ironman Foundation opened up some charity slots, I jumped on the chance and registered! On November 2, I became an official registrant of Ironman Raleigh 70.3, to be held June 2, 2013-- 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. And exactly 7 months to prepare.

Thus Is Born The Half Marathon Entry

So, HOW DO I PREPARE FOR THIS THING? The immediate concern was my run training. I have biked more than 56 miles on a few occasions, and swum around (or more) than 1.2 during workouts. But, considering I had never run more than 7(ish) miles, I figured I'd better start working on my run. I discovered a February half marathon race in town that really turned out to be great timing-- the LOVE ROX Half Marathon. November through February(ish) is considered "off season" around here for triathlons, so it was a great time to build my running mileage base and train my body to carry me for all those miles. Then, when triathlon training started in earnest, I would already have a nice base to work from. Perfect. So, on November 6, I put on my best running gear and headed out in the mildly cold weather for a nice, short run.

LOVE ROX Half Marathon

I had 15 weeks to train for this half marathon, which seemed like plenty according to all my sources. Even though I'd trained for triathlons during 2012 and done a few road races, I had actually slacked off on my running August through October.

Over the course of 15 weeks, my weekly mileage grew from 8 miles to about 25. My long runs were on Saturdays. As I increased my mileage each week, I celebrated each time I hit a new milestone. First it was 8 miles. Then 9.5, then 10.5, then 12. I tracked my runs with my new Garmin 610, and looked over my mile split times each week. While my splits were uneven, they did coincide with the terrain (hills=slower pace), so that was as expected.

The coldest weather I ran in was 27 degrees, with a slight wind. I've discovered that I heat up rather quickly, though, so I wear layers in the cold and peel them off as I go. I recorded my clothing choices and the weather in my Garmin Connect log, so that I can refer back to it in the future-- I take note of what I wore, and what I peeled off during the run (usually the gloves, arm warmers, hat and extra shirt come off at some point.) I used my long runs as practice for nutrition, and experimented with using Carbo Pro in my water bottles and using Honey Stinger gels during the run as well. The nutrition plan will be even more important at Raleigh, but I figured there's no reason I can't start experimenting now.

On my long runs, I also experimented with turning off my iPod for at least some of the run. First, I would turn it off for only a few miles, usually at the beginning. Then, I left my iPod off for at least half the run, only turning it on during the second half to give me a boost. On my last long run, 12 miles, I did not turn it on at all. I ran the whole 12 miles without listening to my iPod! Why did I do this? Well, at Ironman races, using iPods or other devices is absolutely not permitted, so, I figure, I'd better start getting used to it now!

And lastly, who can forget the mantra? I have an assortment of mantras that I use. My favorite, based on a poem I wrote, is "Today is the day". But during this training for a half marathon, due to my increased mileage, I had additional time to reflect and come up with some others: "Worth it in June" is one of them, as is "It's gonna be hot in June". You see, while I was lucky enough to train in cold weather for the LOVE ROX half marathon, it will only get warmer from here on out. And, in June it is likely to be quite warm. This will change things quite a bit for me, as I have noticed that my run pace gets slower the hotter it gets outside.

So How Did the Race Go? 

Splendidly.

Two-loops to complete (potential mental obstacle for me)? No problem!

Thirty-seven degree weather? No problem!

Wet, rainy snow coming down on us? No problem!

Hill on the back side of the course (miles 4-5 and 10-11)? No problem!

I would say it went as smoothly as I could have hoped. There were so many Pro K Racing teammates (the triathlon team I train with) volunteering on the course & there were other Pro Kers running the course, so it was awesome to see everyone and cheer others on. It meant a lot to me to have that encouragement. There were also some friends who I was not expecting, who were waiting near the war memorial to cheer me on! It was so awesome to see them there too. And of course, Jim was there too, cheering for me at different spots on the course, and there to grab the gloves and shirt I had peeled off. And after the race, what a nice surprise-- Jim had bought me some flowers to congratulate me. Awesome! My first half marathon is in the books. Now what?

Oh yeah, there's that Raleigh thing. I've got two other disciplines to ramp up. I'd better get cracking.

Beach to Battleship Race Report

Imagine having 24 surgeries by the time you are 12 years old. And I am not talking about minor surgeries. No, I am talking about open heart surgery, open head surgery, removing muscles from one part of the body and reattaching to other parts of the body, re-positioning bones and then using pins to fuse them together, and surgery on the eyes. I am talking about surgeries that result in full body casts. Surgeries that last many hours.

Now imagine the pain that someone must feel after these surgeries. My younger brother John was born with Spina Bifida or as we used to say when we were kids, my brother was born with an open spine. I remember after one of John's major surgeries, he was in a body cast in a special bed my Dad put together for him in the dining room. I asked him if it hurt. His response was "yes, but it will go away." I never forgot his attitude towards pain and his subsequent high tolerance for pain. I took this with me into my adult life and used his attitude to help me make it through tough times in my life. Mostly my pain was self inflicted. But remembering John's situation has always helped me through difficult tasks. Like doing an Ironman for instance.

For this year's Beach to Battleship triathlon, the weather could not have been better. It was warm enough not to need any special clothing on the bike but cool enough not to have to worry about bonking due to dehydration. I have mostly been pretty lucky when it comes to weather on race day and I encourage others to race the races I am signed up for. Of course now that I put that out there, I have probably jinxed myself.

We arrived in Wilmington on Thursday evening around dinner time. Originally, I had planned to leave Friday morning but a wise teammate of mine, whose advice I often take, suggested that I do whatever I could to go down on Thursday. Luckily, I was able to make the necessary hotel and work arrangements to make a Thursday afternoon departure possible. Melissa had an afternoon meeting but she does most of her meetings on the phone anyway so she was good to go for the Thursday departure and would attend the meeting from the car. You gotta love modern technology.

Thursday night was a very chill night. We got some food at a local seafood place within walking distance of our hotel and then just relaxed and watched some TV. I did manage to knock out some foam roller in the hotel room. My tight hips and IT band had been acting up and I needed every little bit of therapy I could sneak in.

On Friday we had a nice leisurely morning before heading to packet pickup. Since this race was a point to point race, I had to get my gear bags, go back to the hotel, and then pack some of the bags. I must say it was a little nerve-racking trying to decide what to put in the bags and what to leave out. After packing my 'run special needs' bag, my 'bike special needs' bag, and my 'bike to run' bag, we returned to the convention center to turn in all these bags. With each bag I turned in, I felt a little relief, as that was something I no longer needed to worry about. After turning in the bags, we went to the pre-race meeting to get all the details that I needed to have a successful race.

After the meeting, we went back to the hotel, grabbed my bike and 'swim to bike' bag and drove from downtown Wilmington to T1 at Wrightsville Beach. We took a little pit stop at Whole Foods for lunch which was a nice surprise. Once we got to Wrightsville Beach, I racked my bike at T1 and put my 'swim to bike' bag in the proper place and then went to check out the swim finish at the marina. It was nice to see where we would be coming out of the water and where we would have to run to get back to T1.

With all the preparation work done, it was time to head back to the hotel to chill. We ended up walking to dinner again. We found a nice Italian place where I got pasta, salad, and garlic bread. It was decent enough. During dinner my coach called to give me a last minute pep talk and to discuss race strategy. It was a very nice surprise to hear from her and I was glad she called.

Finally it was time to get to bed. While I did not sleep all that great, I did manage to get some sleep, maybe about 5 or 6 hours tops. The alarms all went off about 4:30AM and we were up and at 'em. I had my pre-race smoothie that I had brought from home as well as a banana and some water. And then we were off to drive back to T1. I quickly checked the bike, put my water bottles on the bike, used the facilities, and then got on the trolley that would take athletes to the swim start. I was on the first trolley as I was anxious to get this party started. On the trolley I met a few people and we chatted a bit while I had some more nutrition. Once we got to the swim start, we dilly dallied a little before everyone started to don their wet suits.

Once the sun came up, we started walking down the beach to the swim start. The sand was pretty cold on my bare feet. At the swim start, I dilly dallied some more before finally jumping in to take a few strokes, mostly to make sure my goggles were on good and were not leaking. The water was not really that cold which was a nice relief.

Before you knew it, the race organizers called everyone out of the water. We had the national anthem of course and then the Eminem music started. As people were bobbing their head to the song, the announcer said that we were going to have a quick word from the race director. But then before he got on the mic, the horn sounded and we were off. I was up near the front on the beach. I made my way into the water and started my first ever 2.4 mile swim. This was a downhill swim so I was not too worried about it. If the current showed up as advertised, it would be the easiest 2.4 mile swim one could do, I think.

Overall I did well on the swim. I stayed in the middle of the channel where the water was moving the fastest. I sighted enough to make sure I was somewhere in the middle of the channel and where I could see racers splashing about in front of me. A couple of times I must have swam through some pools of diesel fuel which was gross. It was odd to be able to smell the fuel even though my head was under water mostly. Kind of disgusting but I guess when you swim in a channel, that is what you are going to get.

After a while, there was a turn and I kept on trucking. It seemed like there was a large group of swimmers way off to the right near all the anchored boats and houses. I am not sure why there were so many swimmers hugging the side of the channel but it made my lane pretty luxurious. Soon, I started seeing a big wiggly man on the horizon which I knew was the swim finish. When I got closer to the finish, I started to aim for the temporary ladders they had built just for the race. I also started to kick hard for that last 25 yards. Up until this time, I knew there was current but I could not really feel it. As I floated past the first couple of ladders, I realized how strong the current really was. I pulled myself out and was really pretty amazed at how easy the swim was. I had finished the swim in just under 1 hour.

Once out of the water, I had help removing my wetsuit from a wetsuit stripper. She yanked my Xterra wetsuit off of me and then threw it on me to carry back to T1. The run from the swim finish to T1 was about 400 yards on sidewalk and pavement. As I ran with my wetsuit, I had a big smile on my face. All the preparation had paid off. I felt great running barefoot on the pavement towards T1. As I approached T1, I had my first of many Melissa sightings. There she was among the crowd cheering me on. She was in a perfect spot really and I took the opportunity to throw her my wetsuit. I had seen other people doing it so I figured why not. Like a good sherpa, she scooped it up for me and continued to cheer. It is always great to see Melissa on the course.

Once in T1, I grabbed my bag and headed for the changing tents. Inside, there were loads of triathletes in various states of undress. Some people simply wore their tri kit underneath their wetsuits so they had less to deal with. Some people stripped totally naked. I chose to wear just my bike shorts underneath my wetsuit. So when I got into the tent, I put on my cycling jersey, my socks and shoes, my body glide and IT band strap and then loaded up my jersey with all my solid nutrition - Honey Stinger Waffles, Cliff Shot Bloks, and Vanilla Hammer Gel.

Once I was ready to ride, I ran to my bike, put on my helmet, gloves, and sunglasses and then made my way out on the bike. My plan was to spin easy for the first several miles of the bike. I wanted to play it conservatively. After all, I had 112 miles to ride and I could hammer later if I wanted. I pretty much stuck to my strategy. The wind was not really blowing much and I was able to keep a decent pace as we headed over the drawbridge and out of town. Once I got grooving on the bike, I started my nutrition plan which was to eat and drink as much as possible as often as possible.

Unfortunately, my nutrition was just too sugar-rich. At about mile 10, I started getting a sugar headache. I don't normally eat sugary things in my everyday diet. All the sweet things I had put into my body started to takes its toll. My head pretty much ached through the first half of the bike leg of the race.

The bike course had several aid stations stocked with food and drink and included Porta Potties. I had to stop at the first aid station to use the Porta Potty. Some people just open the flood gates on their bikes. I was not ready to do that. Since it was not hot and I was not sweating that much, I ended up having to stop at several aid stations to use the Porta Potty. Sometimes there was a line, sometimes not.

Despite the headache, I was cruising along pretty well and was on target to make my 6 hour 30 minute bike goal. On target until the wind picked up that is. Around mile 45, we made a turn and suddenly I hit a wall of wind. It would be windy for the next 45+ miles. That really slowed me down. But, I was not hurting at all and I still felt pretty good overall. At the half way point, I stopped and got my special needs bag. I mixed up a weaker mixture of nutrition and then carried the nutrition powder with me. By about mile 60, my headache went away which was a relief.

Another thing that helped my headache was instead of relying on synthetic sugary foods, I started to eat bananas at all the aid stations. The natural goodness of the banana really made me feel better. From now on I know that bananas will be a part of my nutrition strategy.

Around mile 80, my butt really started to hurt. I had done two 100-mile training rides before the race. During these training rides, I was plenty comfortable for the entire ride but on race day, my butt suffered some serious discomfort. In fact, it got to be such a pain that I stopped at the remaining aid stations just to get a break. I did not stop for long. Just enough time to use the facilities and eat a banana.

Finally, I saw the end of the road. I had made it back to town and the cheering throngs helped guide me into T2 where I dumped my bike, grabbed my 'bike to run' bag and headed for the changing rooms. In the end, my total bike time was 7 hours and 18 minutes. My total ride time was 7 hours which meant I spent a total of 18 minutes stopped at aid stations. Not too terrible but I think I can do better.

After doing a full change into fresh running gear and using the bathroom, I headed out on the run course. I felt awesome. And it was then that I had my second Melissa sighting. I stopped and gave her a big hug. She had a big smile on her face to match mine. It was very uplifting to see her. Many have said it and it might sound cliche but she is the wind beneath my wings.

As I made my way through the first mile, I tried my best to slow down. I was pretty jacked up from the bike and my first mile was pretty fast. Soon, I would not have that problem. Around mile 3, I felt a twinge in my knee. That's not good I thought. I kept running. My twinge slowly turned into pain. It was only mile 4 of the marathon and my knee pain decided to flair up. I knew it was going to be a long, long run if my knee was going to complain the whole time. And complain it did. I slowed down, I walked, I nearly cried at times.

As the sun went down, I started doubting myself. I started making calculations in my head. Would I make the cutoff? When I started seeing my mile splits of 15 minute miles, I was really worried. I would walk for a while and then start to shuffle. I would shuffle along as long as I could before my knee pain would be too unbearable. It did not hurt at all when I walked so I knew that I could probably finish but my brain was not working too well and I was not convinced. This was not the way I wanted this to go. It was at this point in the race when I started to think about my brother. I pictured these two pictures of him and thought, "John would keep going." Despite any pain, John just kept going. The pain would be temporary. It would go away eventually. That was John's attitude and that's what kept me going. I just kept plugging along, grunting, groaning, shuffling, walking, and running.

 My brother John's first steps on his own

 at Children's Hospital in Washington DC

 John with his usual smile

Around mile 15, I started with the coke and water. That was a great boost. The sugar and caffeine helped keep me positive. Since caffeine is not part of my regular diet, I truly did get a nice boost from it. Despite the pain, I was still having fun with volunteers and other racers on the course. I had wanted to run a much faster marathon but I would have to be content with a much longer run than I know I am capable of. Also, I got to see Melissa on the run course which always makes me feel great.

Finally after all the bananas, coke and water, Endurolytes, porta potty stops, grunting and groaning, I was on the home stretch. While I was running and walking the course in the dark, I was thinking about how I would finish. Would I yell? Would I raise my arms up to the sky? What would I do? In the end, I just ran-- fast. With about half a mile left, I put the hammer down. Interestingly enough, my knee did not bother me once I started to run fast. And I did run fast. I blew through the last 400 meters as if I was on the track running intervals. And before you knew it, I was across the finish line and I had completed my first Ironman. I felt pretty darn good about the whole thing despite the grueling 5:12 marathon. I had completed the whole race in 13:49. Not bad for my first Ironman.

After the race, Melissa took some pictures of me with my finisher medal and post-race space blanket. We wandered around a bit and then went back to the hotel. After getting cleaned up with a hot shower, we walked back to downtown and got some fish tacos. I was hungry but not starving. After eating, we went and retrieved my two special needs bags and headed back to the room. Melissa had already collected all my other gear including my bike. She is an A+ sherpa! Sorry folks, she is not available to rent or buy.

It took me a long time to wind down. I texted my teammates, family, friends, and coach. I looked at the pictures that Melissa had taken, watched some tv and finally started to feel sleepy about 2AM. It was a good day overall despite my knee problems. It will take some time to recover but I am well on my way to recover and start training again. It will be another week or two before I start doing any training again. I have done a few swims and a bike ride but I will need time off to heal. I have started a physical therapy regimen and have started doing Yoga again. I need to heal up for the next event and of course for next year's Ironman events.

Finally, I would like to thank all the wonderful people that contributed to my success. First and foremost, I have to thank Melissa. Melissa is extremely supportive of everything I do and does so many things to help me train, fuel, and recover. She puts up with my endless discussion about my training schedule and all other things triathlon-related. It was she who really got me into the whole triathlon thing in the first place by doing one herself. Thank you Melissa.

Big thanks also goes out to coach Karen at ProK Racing. Karen took me from barely being able to swim 25 yards to where I am at today. I still have lots of room for improvement and I look forward to continuing my triathlon journey under her watchful eye.

And of course I have to thank all my Pro K training partners.  Thanks for letting me tag along. Riding with you fast people has been great training and has really catapulted me up from where I was a year ago! Thanks to Jon and Meredith for their sage advice in regards to training, gear, preparation, nutrition and PT. Thanks to Gerdie and Millie for all those long runs. Thanks to Sara at Hands-On Wellness MT for keeping this old body in the game. Thanks to Craig and Richmond Cycling Corporation and Richmond Bicycle Studio.

I also have to give a quick shout out to my new bosses at work. We are extremely busy at work but I could not really ask for better supervisors. Sometimes getting new people at work can be stressful but on the contrary, R&R are the best. They are both smart, dedicated workers who look out for me and always ask about my races. Thanks guys.

And thank you for reading. I appreciate you taking the time. And now on to the pictures.

T1 Before heading to swim start on the trolley

There's me running from the swim finish to T1

Getting ready to head out on the bike

Walking across the timing mats to head out for the 112 mile bike ride

Mile 1 on the run right before I gave Melissa a big hug!

Triumphant and smiling at the finish

And finally, for my PT friends. This is what I did to my foam roller earlier tonight.