Finish Strong

Getting prepped

After a full day at work on Friday I started my journey from Phoenix, AZ to Salt Lake City, UT. It was getting late so I stopped at the half-way point of my destination at a little casino in Mesquite, NV. The goal was to win enough money to cover the cost of my week long vacation. I lost twelve dollars. On Saturday morning I completed the last 5 hours of the 700 mile trip.

The race was on Sunday, but everybody had to be checked in and have all equipment dropped off by Saturday night. I got to my brothers house and placed his bike on my rack and headed up into the mountains to the race location in Heber City, Utah. When we took the bikes off the rack we discovered that the exhaust from my cars tail pipe had melted and destroyed his front tire and tube. With no extra tubes or tires we made our way over to the expo and bought a tube and a killer bright yellow race tire. As we were changing out the tire they kicked us out of the transition area. During the rush to replace a tire in .5 seconds we did not get to give it much care and attention. We just had to hope that he would not get any kind of pinch flat out there on the road during the race.

This race was different then what I am used to. 1700 swim, 25.7 mile bike, and 5.92 mile run. With a huge prize purse at stake and a $20,000 payout to the winners; 39 professional triathletes decided to come out and play. Another different aspect of this triathlon was the use of two separate transition areas. At first I was a little confused about the two transition areas, but it all worked out well.

The Swim

With snow on the peaks of the mountains I knew the water was not going to be very warm. After I stretched and drank a bottle of water I put on my wetsuit. I was freezing so I figured the wetsuit would keep me warm before for the next 20 minutes. WWI and WWII airplanes flew over the lake and did some cool tricks during the national anthem. It was neat to see and the planes got everyone pumped up for the race. The 39 pros entered the water and took off as soon as the Army shot off the cannon. Man they are fast.

Now it was time for the amateurs to start the death march down the ramp into the freezing water. I did my best to delay getting into the water but I finally had to take the plunge. The water was actually warmer then the air temperature so it felt pretty good. At first my plan was to stay in the back out of everybody’s way since I would only be swimming at 60%.

For those of you who don’t know I tore apart my shoulder last year. The doctors have told me that swimming over 60% will lead me right back to the hospital for surgery. I have been very conscious of this fact and stay to it even though it costs me serious time.

When we were told the race would start in one minute I changed my strategy and moved to the front. I figured I would have a better chance of avoiding being kicked in the head if I was at the front of the pack. It worked. The cannon sounded and I swam slow, steady, and smooth. I was trying to be as efficient as possible over the 1700 meters, but found myself starting to tire over the last 200.

T1

I jogged up the boat ramp and had a solid transition. Not rushed, but no wasted time either. I felt good about it.

The Bike

Immediately after the exit of the transition area I encountered a big steep hill. I just did my best getting up and over it without wasting all of my energy. I knew that I would not see another hill for 24 miles. The only other hill on the course is the 1.5 mile “Hill From Hell” at the very end of the bike that ends at T2.

The bike segment was fantastic. It was one of the most beautiful rides I have ever been on. It was two loops through many pastures full of livestock, in a bright green valley surrounded by stunning mountains.


I made sure to stay well hydrated on the bike. I drank one bottle at T1, and two others on the bike. I made my way up the infamous “Hill From Hell” and realized that my good bike segment could have been a great bike segment if I had more leg strength to get me up the hills faster. Overall the bike segment of the race was fantastic.

T2

After making my way up that monster, I entered T2 feeling great. I was eight minutes ahead of schedule and feeling very hydrated. No time was wasted in transition and I made my way out to the run (or should I say hike) course.

Run

The run was crazy insane. It went straight up a mountain for the first 2 miles. Then it was like a roller coaster full of parabolas for 3 miles then another mile uphill. My strategy for the run was simple. Take it easy on the inclines, and let gravity and weight help me out with speed on the declines for the first 5 miles. Then during the last mile I was going to give it everything I had left in the tank.

This plan was just a ¼ mile from being perfect. With ¼ mile left to go both of my quads cramped up at the same time. It just about dropped me to my knees. I struggled to walk forward for a couple hundred feet, and then the cramps seemed to go away. The crowd was going nuts and they were all screaming my name. I ran in waving to and high-fiving the crowd with pure enjoyment. I finished strong!

Looking back

I loved this race; it is one of my favorites so far. The scenery was great and so were the volunteers and spectators. To improve I need to lose weight and build leg strength. I am definitely doing this race again. Next year I am going to practice running trails and hills so I will be ready

Swim = ½ fatass and ½ badass
Bike = ¼ fatass and ¾ badass
Run = ½ fatass and ½ badass

Great News

I’m back. My week long vacation was awesome. The race rocked, I bought a new truck, and I got engaged! I will provide full details as soon as I find the time tonight to write them down.

The Traveling Man

Training:
None - Travel Day

Thoughts:

I leave this afternoon for Heber City, Utah. I will make the twelve hour trip as soon as I finish my shift at work. I am very excited about the race on Sunday. I really hope I do well. I have promised myself to stay positive throughout the entire race and overcome the mental barriers I will face. I will post a detailed race report. Wish me luck!

Feel'n Good In The Neighborhood

290 Days until Ironman Arizona

Training:
4 miles / 0:59:08 / 14:47 per mile / 153 bpm

Thoughts:

The goal was to get in 60 minutes of running. I have been told to keep my heart rate at 148 bpm and I have for the most part. Tonight I started running around the neighborhood at a comfortable higher pace which in turn made my heart rate rise a bit, but it felt great. I really enjoyed running at that faster pace and it felt so much more comfortable then the slow 148 bpm pace I have been stuck on over the past month. All I know is that it felt good, real good. I had to walk the last half mile so my overall average would drop a little bit, but man did it feel good.

I Am What I Eat

Morning Thoughts:

I am learning that the 1500-1800 calorie limit each day is more then achievable. The hard part has not been any sort of physical hunger, it has been mental weakness. There are ups and downs, and some days are better then others, but I am feeling great overall about my new lifestyle change.

Nutrition Report

Daily Calorie Intake - 1,674 cals
Fat - 31.9%

Protein - 20.3%

Carbohydrates - 47.7%

I have lost about ten pounds so far and I am feeling great. I figure the since I can only eat between 1500-1800 calories a day, they might as well be good calories. When I do have a mental slip and eat something I should not have I can definitely feel the difference. When I mix in some greasy fast food into my diet, it makes me feel physically lousy. I guess the lesson learned is awful food makes you feel awful.

Question:

What do you eat before your races? I have not been eating any sort of pre race meal. I might grab a banana on the way to the race and chug a glass of water, but that is about it. I am really starting to wonder how much of my poor race performances lately are due to a lack of a pre-race meal. Any suggestions?

What Would An Ironman Do?

291 Days until Ironman


Training:
Rest Day


Thoughts:
Two days ago I participated in what our Tri Club calls an "Underground Triathlon." This is a laid back fun event with no pressure or rules. I arrived just in time for the start. I decided swim just the first of the two 600 meter loops. I figured this would give me a little head start up the huge steep, sheer, vertical, unreasonable, abrupt, precipitous, enormous, gigantic, massive, giant, mammoth, colossal, titanic mountain we had to climb. I made it 1.7 miles up the beast from hell and decided it was time to turn around. The guys who I wanted to get a head start on were already easily passing me as I was struggling to make forward progress up this hill. It was made very clear that at this point in time I do not have the leg strength and confidence to conquer the hills. I turned around and thought I would get in a quality run since I cut both the swim and the bike short. The run was ok, I was able to keep my slow jogging pace.
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The question here is what would an Ironman do? Would an Ironman:

---opt for one loop instead of two on the swim?
---turn around because a hill is giving him a serious beating?
---be content with a slow jog after a poor short swim and bike?
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I did have a great time hanging out with the crew at the lake. There are worse things then being with your buddies, drinking a few beers and telling some good jokes.

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Have you seen the shows where there is an Angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other, talking in the ear of the host trying to convince them to do something either right or wrong? Sometimes I have two figures on my shoulders but instead of an Angel and Devil, they are a fatass and a badass. I need to learn to stop listening to the fatass and start listening to the badass. The problem is the badass has not been saying much lately.

Times They Are A Change'n

Starting tomorrow, as a motivational tool and to put my post into some sort of context, I am going to start adding the bare bone facts of my training at the beginning of each post followed by the days remaining until Ironman Arizona.

The nutrition plan has been working great, I have been losing weight without feeling that I am starving myself or feeling tired. As far as my training the numbers are starting to show improvement. I have been pretty consistent with my workouts which in the past has always been a problem.

This Sunday the AzTriClub, my Tri club, is conducting what they call an underground Triathlon. Basically it is a triathlon without all of the rules and the pressure of a race, plus it is free. I have a great time with this group, and I learn something new each time. I am really looking forward to getting in an open water swim plus working on my transitions.

Next week I am off to Utah for an Olympic distance race called "The Battle At Midway." It should be a great race, plus it is going to be a blast seeing my family again. There are some very nice bike routes up there, and it is going to be nice getting out of this 115 degree garbage. I plan on getting some serious training time in while I am up there.