Sunday, October 31, 2010

3 weeks of recovery

Recovery has been going well. I took a full week off with no exercising.

The second week I swam 3 times for a total of 1 hour. Yep, that was the entire week.

Last week , I started running again. The dogs are happy again. We ran everyday except Saturday. I also squeezed in 3 short swims totaling ninety minutes.

Starting tomorrow, I get back into some form of a routine.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Article in the local paper

NW Guardian - Oct 21, 2010

Running on Queen K

OOMPH SPORTS

Kona (Part III - Post Race)

I didn't sleep well after the race. I went to breakfast as soon as it opened. I sat there reflecting about the race and watched the waves. My primary goal for the race was to respect the island and enjoy the race. My time goal was 10hrs (1:00, 5:15, 3:30). I was very satisfied with my performance. I got a text saying I needed to buy the local paper.

West Hawaii Today Oct 10, 2010

Sunday evening we went to the awards banquet. The food was ok. They served beer, so it more than made up for it. We listened to Mirinda Carfrae (Rinny) and Chris McCormack (Macca) give a speech. Rinny was a little emotional, but what do you expect when you just won the biggest title in Triathlon. Macca was much more humble than 2007. I guess aging has a way of maturing us. Afterward Josh and I stopped for a few drinks at the local bar.

The goal for the rest of the trip was to relax and get some sun. I saw a couple of turtles. Josh got a moped on Tuesday. We went to a beach a few miles down Alii Drive. I tried body surfing. I got pummeled several times. I caught a glimpse of a couple get hammered by waves. The lady stood up with blood running down her face. The guy was knocked down by a wave. As he was trying to regain his footing, a bigger wave decided otherwise. The beach lifeguard came running down and pulled him out of the water. The lady ended up going to the hospital because of a possible head injury. As for me, the nasal enema I received over and over again caused me to have a nose that wouldn't stop dripping. I had Josh drop me off at the condo. I packed earlier that morning, so all I had to do was get all of the sand off me and call the taxi.

Going into this race, I told myself this was the last ironman for me. I chased a dream for 5 years and finally made it a reality. I think it is time for a break.

All of this would not have happened without:

  • Heidi Grimm - She wrote my first training plans.
  • XTERRA WETSUITS
  • OOPMH SPORTS
  • NEWTON RUNNING
  • OAKLEY
  • FIZIK
  • GARMIN
  • ROTOR
  • SPIUK
  • QUARQ
  • All of my family/friends who supported me through the highs/lows and swim/bike/run workouts.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Kona (Part II - Race Day)

I woke up at 4AM, drank 2 Boosts, then went back to sleep. We headed out the door at 5:30AM. It was a little chilly so I grabbed my lucky Green Lantern sweatshirt. First stop was body marking. They stamp your race number on each arm. Second stop was special needs drop off. Third stop, I added my run drink to the run bag. You are not allowed to just walk up to the bag. A volunteer must be with you. Fourth stop, I added my nutrition to the bike and pumped up my tires. I found Elizabeth and she was ready to go. We met up with Josh with about 15 minutes till the pro start. It was enough time to stop and wait in line at the port-a-potty. I donned my XTERRA SPEEDSUIT. I made sure to apply body glide thoroughly. The gun went off for the Pros. We started 30 minutes later.

SWIM - 1:04.24

Swim Start

We walked over to the water entrance. I got in to warm up a little. I stayed near the front treading. They announced there will be no countdown. After several minutes of treading the cannon sends us on our way. It was mad chaos from the beginning. There were swimmers everywhere. I got elbowed in the goggle in the first few minutes. I treaded water to clear the goggle. A few minutes later and elbow to the jaw. A quarter of the way done and I get hit in the other goggle. I didn't need to stop and adjust since it didn't fill up with water. Every time I saw a lane to swim through, it closed up within a few seconds. I had a guy try to swim over me. I didn't let him. I made both turns figuring it was going to thin out. No such luck. This was the hardest swim I have done. It was simply brutal.

Swim Exit
T-1 - 2:50
I finally hit land, jumped up and started to unzip the XTERRA. I ran under the hoses and stayed there for a few seconds making sure I got all the salt off my body. This was a long transition. I grabbed my bike bag and ran into the changing tent. I grabbed SUCCEED! S-CAPS and my OAKLEY JAMES CONDUCT SUNGLASSES. I ran to my trusty LYNSKEY. I put on my road helmet and then headed out. I did a flying mount and was off.

BIKE - 5:15.37

Bike on Queen K
My hydration plan was to drink often and never let my mouth get dry. The aid stations were every 7 miles. This was great. I drank a lot. I grabbed a water bottle at every aid station. I drank a lot of water. I also started with S-CAPS every 30 minutes for the first hour then switched to every 20 minutes for the rest of the ride. All of my calories came from my INFINIT-CUSTOM FORMULA. The first part of the ride is through town going up then turning around and heading out to the Queen K. I knew to hold back on this section. It was really tough with all of the riders passing me. Once onto the Queen K, I settled into my race pace. There were packs of riders everywhere. I would pass people only to be passed right back. At one point I was stuck with a group of 20+. I dropped back and it seemed to be the same thing with groups riding up and passing me. It was good to see at least 20 people in the first penalty box.  We turned left toward Hawi. We started into a wind and a gradual climb. This was the hardest part of the ride. The cross winds were inconsistent. First I would be leaning to the right, almost at a 45 degree angle. Then I would straighten up as the wind faded. All of a sudden a burst of wind would hit again. (The coolest part was watching the Professionals riding in the opposite direction. I saw Chris Lieto and another pro in the lead, followed by Macca and a few other guys. Then I saw Julie Dibens leading the women.) It was like that riding up to the turn around and back. Totally Nuts!!! I heard Elizabeth riding toward the turn around. I was glad to be out of Hawi. We turned right back onto the Queen K into a headwind. I noticed my toes were in a lot of pain. I couldn't figure out why. Later I came to find out the road temp was 120-130 degrees. The pain was getting to me. I really wanted to get off the bike. I tried to ride on the balls of my feet while lifting my toes off the insole. It didn't help. UGH!!! At around the 95 mile marker I decided to spray my legs down with water before ditching and grabbing a new bottle. My toes felt a little better. Why didn't I think of that 40 miles ago? As I rolled back into town, I was mentally preparing for the run.

T-2 - 5:42
I pulled out of my shoes with less than a mile to go. I jumped off the LYNSKEY and handed it to a volunteer. I stopped at a port-a-potty before grabbing my run bag. In the tent, I dropped my helmet and OAKLEYS. I sat down to put on my CEP compression socks. It is a little challenging to pull long socks all the way up to your knees. I grabbed my NEWTON VISOR & RACERS, more SUCCEED! S-CAPS, my water bottle filled with POWERBAR ENDURANCE, and headed out of transition. I even took an order for a cup of cold water from the volunteer. As you can tell I was in no hurry to start the run.

RUN - 3:42.11

Run along Alii Dr

I felt okay at the beginning. My plan was to walk through every aid station. I figured this would keep my core temperature down. As for hydration, I drank water, coke, water at each aid station. I also took an S-CAP every 2 miles. There were lots of people lined up along the roads running through town and down Alii Drive. I heard a familiar voice yell for me near the start. I saw Beth and Ross along Alii Drive.I started to feel stronger at the turn around and started picking up the pace. I saw Elizabeth looking strong as she was running toward the turn around. I got to the bottom of Palani hill and decided to walk all the way up. I knew there was still 17 miles to go and wanted to be smart. I felt like the Queen K was never ending. I saw Macca leading the pro men and Julie leading the women running back. I hit the Energy Lab. There seemed to be no wind. I now understand the "energy zap" that occurs there. It felt like there was a machine making us weaker. Luckily this section was less than 3 miles. I turned right back on to the Queen K with about 11k to go. I felt a second wind, so I started to pick up the pace. I think I may have frustrated a lot of people. I would pass several people running then hit the aid station and walk all the way through. It was like the tortoise and hare. I was the hare. I saw Elizabeth again and was looking strong. What an amazing athlete. (She had her appendix removed five days earlier. She rode 5 miles on Thursday and felt horrible. She decided to start knowing that if her body wasn't up for it that she would call it a day. Every time I saw her, she looked great with a big smile. I was shocked each time.) I finally made it to the top of the last hill and turned off the Queen K with a couple miles left. There were people every where. I knew the day was about to come to an end. I had so much left in the tank. I started to speed up and later discovered my last mile was my fastest mile (7:13) of the race. I turned right onto Alii with 400 meters to go. I tried to pass as many people as I could until I finally crossed the finish line.

As you walk through the finish area, a volunteer puts a lei over your shoulders. I proceeded to the the medal area. They verify your number and that you finished. The medal is heavy. Next stop was a finisher picture then pizza. The last stop was a nice long massage. I lucked out and got a nice 15 minute massage. I waited for Elizabeth to finish. I congratulated her. We all wandered over to medals and took a group picture. Then back to pizza. They actually ran out of pizza. Elizabeth walked over to get her massage while Josh and I sat down.

I was done. I achieved a goal that I set five years ago, to qualify and race at Kona. This had been a long journey with many highs and lows. What next?


Finish


Kona (Part I - Race Week)

 
Garage roommate
 I arrived Tuesday late morning. It was nice and sunny. I waited for my bike box and then took a taxi to the condo. There were a lot of people out riding their bikes along the Queen K. I get to the condo and meet one of the roommates. There are two key locks for entry into the condo. I get into the first one with no problem. I could not get into the second door. I tried several times. Finally I called Elizabeth and the code they gave me was wrong. The stairway was narrow. I was sweating so much that I left the bike box down stairs and checked out the place. I had to open up the bike box and take up a few things at a time. Once I got all my stuff up, I walked over to registration. The condo was around a mile away from the race start/registration. On the way I stopped in Lava Java for a coffee. I got an iced coffee and big cookie. The cookie was awesome! I continued on to registration. They gave us backpacks filled with a lot of stuff. On the walk back, I saw Chrissie Wellington riding her bike through town. I was hungry, so I stopped at Basik Acai. They make Acai bowls. They are awesome!!! It is a smoothie with fruit, nuts, granola, honey, and all kinds of superfood ingredients. I spent the rest of the day relaxing.


My bed

View at breakfast

I did not realize there was a 3 hour time difference. I had to make myself sleep in till 6:00am (9:00 in Washington). The latest I have slept in all year was 7:45am.Wednesday morning I walked over to Java on the Rocks. This turned in to my morning ritual stop everyday except race day. I basically ordered the same thing each day: Large Iced Coffee and wrap or bagel with egg whites/cheese. I had a great view of the ocean. I walked back to the condo and got my gear ready for a bike/run. I brought both helmets because I wasn't sure which I would wear. I am a heavy sweater. I did a sweat test once and found I lose a little over 5 hours sweat per hour. I rode down Alii Drive, which was part of the run course, and stopped over to pick up my XTERRA Speed suit. These are the new suits that meet the new standard set out by WTC (World Triathlon Corporation). I met Glynn, COO of XTERRA, and his family. I also stopped at the GU house. They were giving out samples of their new flavor Island Nectar. My head felt hot wearing the aero helmet and it was only 9:00AM.  I stopped by the condo and dropped off the stuff and switched helmets. I then proceeded toward the Queen K. My head felt much cooler for the rest of the ride. I caught up to a couple of female pros (Hillary Biscay and ?). I also saw Norman Stadler riding the other way. After the ride, I dropped my bike off with the group mechanic, Adam, because I could not shift into the small chain ring. Then I headed out for a short run. I did not feel great on the run. I think the heat was too much for me. I decided that I needed to slow way down and that was the strategy I would use for the rest. Be smart. I showered up and walked over for an Acai Bowl (Banyan - was my favorite). Elizabeth landed and headed to eat lunch at Humpy's with Greg Kopecky. I haven't seen Greg since Steelhead 2008. He has since turned pro and racing well until he was hit by a car this year. It sounds like he will be back to racing next year. After lunch, she dropped off her stuff and we headed over to the race site. She picked up her gear while I swam. It was an awesome swim. I saw so many fish that I changed my breathing to every 4-6 strokes, just so I could watch the fish. After 32 minutes of swimming, my armpits were chaffed. Mental note - BODY GLIDE. After a couple hours of relaxing, we headed over to the HAMMER NUTRITION party. It was at the Kona Brewing Co. They provided pizza, wings, beer/wine, and even a goody bag filled with 2 new items (Perpeteum tablets and Fizz electrolyte tablets). We got back to the condo at 6:00pm. We were feeling tired. Elizabeth checked her phone and found out ERIN BAKER, the team she represents, was having a catered dinner. One of her teammates picked us up and we had a great meal there. I met several of her teammates. The house was right on the ocean.

Breakfast



Acai Bowl - Islander
On Thursday, I didn't have any workouts. I had first breakfast at Java on the Rocks. A few hours later, I had second breakfast at Basik Acai. We attended the athlete dinner. The fire demonstration was amazing. The food was filling. We ended up back at the condo just after 9.

Friday morning started with breakfast where I saw Bob Babbitt and Mark Allen. I had a few short workouts. I rode with the aero helmet. I was still undecided because I felt so much better today during the workouts. During my run, I saw Macca on his bike riding the other way. After second breakfast, I made sure everything was ready to be dropped off at the race. I decided on the road helmet. I figured the temperature would be much warmer on the Queen K and in Hawi. Josh rolled in around 1PM with a convertible Sebring. We headed out to Safeway and ate lunch. Then took our stuff over to the pier. As we are walking to transition, I see a line of people sitting in chairs. Elizabeth said they are the counters. They count equipment/gear that racers are using. A volunteer is assigned to walk each athlete through the entire transition area. This place is so unreal. We grabbed dinner at the nearby Thai restaurant after Josh and Elizabeth came back from team pictures. We were back at the condo by 8:30PM.