When your race punches back!

Coming into my 3^rd Half Ironman I was ready, my training had been going about as good as I could ask, heath wise I was in the best shape I could be in and I was looking forward to letting my training shine on a fun day.  Additionally, I was going to be matched up against a good friend, the same guy who introduced me to this sports a few years back.

Race prep and travel went off without a hitch.  My Mom wanted to come and see a triathlon, I think she enjoyed going to Sacramento with me for CIM and was interested in seeing what an Ironman event was all about.  On Friday we drove down, went to athlete check-in and did some shopping then had lunch near the Pier.  After lunch we headed over to the Harbor to give her a tour of the swim start and transition area as well as go over the best spots to be in and when to be there.  We also meet up with my Wife’s cousin who would be racing as well.  We stayed with them for a bit and then left to check into our hotel.  Finished the day with an early dinner, last minute morning prep and off to bed. 

My alarm went off at 4:30 and like last year I ate breakfast while going over my race plan one more time.  After breakfast I loaded up my gear for the day and made the mile bike ride down to the harbor.  Transition areas always make me laugh.  There is so much none-sense going on in the morning that I just like to people watch to pass the time.  I got me stuff set up, which takes about 5 minutes, and then just cruised around a bit to see what was going on.  Some people were stressing out, other people were all the way in their wetsuits an hour before their wave swinging their arms around and bending down to “stretch” or whatever.  Other people are running around looking for a spare front wheel, not kidding, the announcer asked if anyone had a spare front wheel.  At about 5:45 I went for a jog to do my dynamic stretching, not in my wetsuit, and spent about 20 minutes by myself on the beach just going over my plan for the day.  Was hoping to catch the sunrise but it was too early for that and really overcast.  I then went back to my area and got my wetsuit on and headed over to bathrooms to take care of business.  This is where I first hooked up with Ryan and we chatted and then it was time to line up for the cattle call into the water.  Like last year I had a really late wave, 20 of 23, so while we were moving through the line to get in the water the pros where headed into Transition.  Just before it was our turn to get in the water I hooked up with Ryan again and got the first bit of good news of the day.  He was in my wave BUT he was wearing a different color swim cap. I’ll get into that later.  We got in the water and treaded water while we got our not so great countdown of “1 minute”…”30 Seconds”…” GO GO GO”  Some countdown.

Coming into the swim my strategy was simple….find and stay with Ryan as long as possible and then just do your own thing, this was made all that much easier when he showed up at the start line with a dark brown cap on a sea of yellow caps.  JACKPOT.  Instead of trying to stay with someone who looked like everyone else he stood out.  The gun went off and I locked in on Ryan and was able to hang with him for about 400 yards.  That’s when he started to pull away and I was now on my own.  No big deal, I focused on my stroke, breathing, how high my elbow was getting out of the water and staying in the moment.  I have a history of getting out of rhythm a lot and it always slows me down.  This time I had a calm about me that was refreshing and I just got to work.  Since I was in the 20^th wave I encountered a lot of slow swimmers, way more then I remember from last year.  Last year I got caught up late in the swim between the docks and buoys but this year it was before the turn around.  In the past I would stop and readjust my position to get around the slow swimmers, this time I decide to just go through them.  Why am I going to stop and move around the slow people?  As I approached the feet of a swimmer I just pushed the feet over with my hand upon entry as if to say I’m coming.  This move worked great and if it didn’t then my second stoke was a bit further up on the body with another push, there was never a time I needed to do a third reminder.  Also, if I was approaching two swimmers close to each other, I just pushed my way in between them, something I’ve practice a few times during swim workouts.  I was actually having fun on a swim, this has never happened before.  In every race swim I have done there was a moment where I mentally cracked and had the thought, “Why am I doing this, this swim is not fun, I’m cold, I’d rather be in bed and so on”  that’s usually the time I settled back into a relaxed pace and just go into “Finish” mode.  This has always cost me time that I am no longer willing to give up.  Once I made the two turns and headed back I was locked in.  Sighting on the way out is always tough but coming back I pick up the only building in sight and just go.  You can stray to the right a bit on the way back and pick up a lot of time.  Still fighting through people and with the final stretch in sight I looked to my right and saw a familiar cap.  Looked again and noticed it was Ryan, as soon as I saw him I moved right onto his hip and got a bit of a ride.  I could not hold on for that long because there was so much traffic and it’s possible he was not happy with where I was.  After a few moves to clear the lane he was immediately on my left and we were stoke for stoke for about 10 stokes, him breathing to his right and me to my left I knew who he was but did he know it was me?  I just smiled and kept going.  As we approached the dock I lost sight of him, as I had the inside lane, but by then I was just so happy to be coming out of the water with him.  I hit the ramp and kept running.  I looked ahead and did not see him and did not have the time or space to look back.  I ran down the narrow carpet as fast as possible.  When I made the turn into transition I heard Ryan’s wife, Stephanie, scream out my name and then almost immediately she screamed for Ryan.  I slowed up a bit and we ran side by side down the long transition area to our bike which was basically in the same spot.  That really was an awesome moment for me, probably a bit over dramatic but I was really happy to share that with him.  This is such an isolating sport that when you do have time to share it with someone, especially the person who brought you into this sport, it’s pretty cool.  Looking back and based on what I know of Ryan he was probably not enjoying that at all.  I can imagine all he was thinking was how he now had to have the bike of his life to put the distance needed to hold off the run we both knew I was capable of.  Neither of us knew that the H2H battle we were so looking for had just seen its high point and was about to end almost as quickly as it began.

Ryan, just in the frame on the left, chasing me down in T1.  Got him by 2 seconds
out of the water.  The only time I was in front all day.

I’ve gotten fairly efficient with my transitions and this one was no different.  Even though it was about 3:30, this is a huge transition and requires a lot of running.  I got my stuff together and was running out ready for my ride.  Leaving the harbor I immediately noticed something was off.  There was a sound coming off the back wheel that sounded like something was on the wheel getting run over with each rotation.  I figured there was something stuck on the wheel and tried my best to ignore it as I mentally prepared myself for the next 56 miles.  But around mile 2 the noise was still there and I decided to dismount and take a look.  I did not see anything so at that point I just assumed I’d go 56 while listening to my back wheel making the thump thump sound.     But at mile 5 my worse race nightmare came true.  The dreaded sound of all the air leaving one of your tires as fast as it can.  My rear tube popped.  I can’t tell you how pissed off I was.  Just 5 miles into the ride that was going to set up my epic run was toast.  I pulled over, dismounted and had a hissy fit.  Full grown man hissy fit!!  I was so upset I really lost my composure for a few minutes.  Once finished having my own little pity party I began changing the flat.  No issues at all, I got the new tube in and tire back on all ready to inflate with my CO2 cartage but there was no stem.  UUURGGGHHHH – melt down #2 commence.  I had the wrong tube!!!!  So annoyed.  Remove tire and tube grab 2^nd of 2 spare tubes and start all over.  At this point I realize I am now out of spare tubes and another flat and I’m likely done for the day.  All an all I think I lost about 11-13 minutes with my melt down, 2 changes and clean up.  The next 10 miles were spent reconciling what had happened and how I was going to deal with it.  My entire ride strategy was out the window and I needed a new one fast.  

After my flat, trying to figure out what to do next.

 My attitude of aggression and going all out to put down a crazy fast time was changed to an attitude of gratitude and staying positive.  Until about mile 45 I was just having fun….talking to people as I passed, thanking the Marines and volunteers, singing and whistling on the climbs and just living life out loud.  Probably annoyed people but who cares.  What I learned during this period is that people take this stuff way to seriously.  We are Age Groupers doing something we really like to do, we are healthy enough to tax ourselves for 5+ hours and chase crazy goal, loosen up everyone.  On the climbs I tried to engage so many people with jokes, banter, anything at all and no one bit.  Not even the people pushing their bikes up the hills.  These where the people way in the back of the pack, remember I was wave 20 of 23 and I had at least 11 minutes at the side of the road.  I was not dealing with people trying to break 5 hours or grab a WC spot.  These were the ones just out to finish and even they were so uptight.  Oh well.  Maybe I was like that too, although I doubt it, but if I was I am not anymore.  Going forward I will still chase big dreams and look to crush some dudes in the process but only if it stays fun.  As soon as it is not I’m out.  As we made the right turn off the base and headed back to the harbor the head wind hit us hard.  I got in a tighter aero position and just started hammering it, or so it felt.   I wanted so badly to get to the run to “redeem” myself that I probably over did it a bit on the way back in.

I thought I recovered pretty well from the flat until I realized that an hour into the ride I’d been totally consumed with the flat tire that I forgot to eat anything.  Not a bite.  So here is where problem #2 begins.  Not thinking straight I start eating 1.5 to 2 times as much each time I ate.  I assumed I still needed the calories I just had less time to consume them.  What I did not consider was that I needed the time to properly digest the food, something I did not have that would hurt me on the run.

They had us ride all the back to the end of the transition area so we had a long slow ride to the end.  Since I was already way behind I decided to try something I have never done before.  Get out of my shoes before the dismount….nothing like trying something new in the middle of a race.  But it went perfectly and I got off the bike really quick and since it was a long run to my spot I did not have to struggle with running in my cycling shoes.  I guess I’ll be doing that from now on?  Flying mount next??? Not!!

Looking and feeling good at about Mile 2.  Thanks for the photo and support Mom.

I had a solid plan for the run and unlike last year decide to stick to it from the start.  The first mile I really worked on not going too fast and felt pretty good holding a perfect 6:50 pace.  Next two miles were about the same but the problem was I was not able to go any faster.  6:50 was what I had and I decide to just hold it for a bit and try a few surges to get the pace down to the 6:40 range.  During one of my attempts to get going I felt a cramp starting in my left leg above the knee and up the inside of my thigh.  I slowed down a bit and worked through the crap which lasted about two miles.  I was pretty happy with how I was able to control the breathing and minimize the cramp and I ultimately fought through it.  Now I was ready to go, except this is when my overeating came back to haunt me.  For the next 4 miles I was really uncomfortable.  I never threw up but I was doing those deep burps that felt like I was going to throw up.  This is FUN!!!   Mile 10-12 were really tough but I knew with each step I was close to finishing.  At the aid station at mile 11.5 I was finally able to get some liquid in me.  I walked this aid station, drank water Gatorade and a big cup of ice cold coke.  My stomach had mellowed out a bit and was finally able to get a good amount of liquid in me along with the right amount of sugar to get me to the end.  I finally made it to the finishing chute and smiled, almost laughing at what had just happened.  It was a day of really high highs and low lows but in the end it was something I am glad I went though.  Not every race is going to go your way, you are going to get flat tires, cramp, have stomach issues and you are going to have to deal with it.  Now that I’ve done it I am better prepared to handle when they happen again.  My time was 5:16 not bad but not what I was hoping for.  Today was a test and I think I did pretty well all things considered.  I made mistakes but I certainly didn't fail.

The self deprecating finish!

In the end I did not do what I wanted to do and I missed my goal time by a ton but I finished a tough race on a day where others may have quit or mailed it in and I didn’t.  For that I am proud.  If nothing else it has re-ignited a fire in me that may have wavered a bit after experiencing so much success at this distance so quickly.  I qualified, all be it a roll down spot, for Worlds in only my second attempt at this distance.  A nice kick in the junk may be exactly what I needed.  Oceanside will have to apologize to Boise after this one.  

Now I look forward to taking a well earned training break.  I am going on vacation with the family for the kids Spring Break and will not do a single workout for 11 days.  I'll probably swim in the ocean and do a run at some point but it will all be for fun.  Since September 1st I have been going pretty hard and it's time to chill for a bit.