Up to Speed...sort of

Ok, I know its been a while, but we are now back in the land of Internet. :) Here is my race report from the Half Ironman and the rest of our travels will follow;

Day 4

Sunday, July 18th: RACE DAY!!!! The following will be my race report for Beginnertriathlete.com, so forgive the Tri-speak.


The alarm was set for 5AM, but as usual I woke up around 3:30 or so and could not get back to sleep. Visions of crossing the finish line were dancing in my head, along with the occasional vision of me being transported to the hospital for heat exhaustion. Choked down a couple of “Uncrustables” and a banana. I really did not feel like eating but I knew I had to, especially given the day ahead. Went outside to pump up the bike tires and was pleasantly surprised by the chill. It was actually pretty cool out. Maybe this weather would hold out for the rest of the day…

As I left the family, they were mixing up some hot chocolate to wake up and getting ready for the day. I rode off with my backpack for the 4 mile jaunt to the swim start. Nothing like adding another 4 miles to an already long day. :) I got there around 6:30 and happened to catch up with Elie and Jon as they were parking their car. I didn’t think Jon could get up this early two days in a row, I was impressed. Got to transition, got body-marked, and set up on the 2nd rack in row 10. Not a bad spot really. The family arrived, parked a mile away and made the trek to the swim start.

Swim: (1.2 miles: 39:23) It was an out and back swim up the Russian River. Keep the bouys on your left shoulder as you swim upstream to the turn around point. There are several points during the swim where it is so shallow, you can literally sweep the bottom with your hands as you swim.

The swim felt great to me. The water temp was perfect, 71 degrees, in fact there was a light smoke coming off the water which looked really cool. This was probably the best swim I have ever had in a race. The water was fresh and clean and the current was not much of a factor. Even though my wave was one of the largest, there was not too much bumping and fighting, like in other races. It was also nice to have a bunch of spectators on their porches cheering us on along the way. I am proud to say I did not stand up and walk once during the swim. I saw several people doing just that especially close to the turn around. I’m not saying it’s cheating…but it is a “swim” right? I guess for some people, they had no choice but to walk so I should not be too hard on them.

T-1: (5:01) It was not a bad run up to the transition, since they lined it with carpet. (That was a nice touch). I anticipated taking my time in transitions and that’s exactly what I did. Right around 5 minutes each was my goal for T-1 and T-2. Unlike my usual T-1 routine, this time I packed my back pockets of my Tri-shirt with performance food, some Clif Shot Blocks, Sharkies chews, and gels. I knew nutrition was going to be critical in this race. I had to feed myself no matter what. I had my two bottles of Cytomax as well and I was ready to go.

Bike: (56 miles: 3:14:30 (avg 17.3mph) The bike course was one of the most scenic and challenging courses I have been on. The point to point course traversed through scenic grape vineyards and picturesque farmlands. One thing the course was not was flat. It consisted of rollers throughout the 56 miles, none of which were too terribly difficult. Chalk Hill, which was the big fear of the course according to some people, really was not bad at all. It was a little more than a ¼ mile long and not all that steep. The fact that it came at 47 miles made it a little more interesting, but still it was nothing compared to the hills I train on in Anaheim Hills and Orange.
The toughest part of the bike course was the overall condition of the roads; they were terrible, especially on Westside Road. There was literally carnage everywhere. About 4 or 5 miles into the ride, I saw a guy lying on the side of the road being helped by some people and it looked like he broke his collarbone by the way he was holding his arm…very sad. Later on, I saw another nasty crash on Westside road where the guy had some pretty bad road rash. And about 30 miles or so, there was a bad vehicle vs. bike accident at one of the intersections. The CHP were already on scene and they were treating multiple victims. The rough roads made for a veritable obstacle course as I rode, having to dodge various water bottles, Gatorades, and performance food items.
All in all, I enjoyed the bike course. I really held back as I had planned and averaged just over 17 mph. I was hoping to leave as much as I could in my legs for the half marathon. As I rode into T-2 at Windsor High School, I was happy to see my friends and family near my rack. They were constantly cheering me on as I racked my bike, changed my shirt and shoes, put on my hat and headed out on the run. I felt good…at that point at least.

Run: (13.1 miles; 2:42) Well, this is where things started to get interesting. As I coursed through the cones heading out of the High School parking lot, I was thinking to myself “So I actually have 13 more miles to run? Am I crazy?” What made matters worse was the fact that I was looking at the multitude of fast runners who were on their way in to the FINISH! Wow, I had a big mental challenge ahead of me, that was for sure.

It was at about mile 1 when I noticed the heat….it was starting to sizzle. I could feel the bottoms of my feet start to heat up and of course a blister was forming on the inside of my right foot. OH NO, I remembered to put the Body Glide on my chest to avoid the chafing, but I completely forgot to put it on the bottom of my feet. I knew then the pain was coming. At mile 4, I took some time to use the facilities (Porta potty). Man that felt good…I am glad I stopped (unlike my experience at the Desert Tri). I pretty much ran the first half of the run (6.5 miles) while briefly walking through the aid stations. I was constantly chugging Gatorade and pouring cups of ice water over my head.

Now, what upset me the most about the run was the Godforsaken hills!!! Why did Elie not tell me about the hills? As much as I admire that man, I was cursing him throughout this run. Upon reflection, I know why he didn’t, because I would have freaked out. The was literally no flat areas of the run, it was either up or down. Now I trained for long runs, I trained for long runs after long bike rides, I did NOT however train for long hot runs through hills after long bike rides….shame on me. :)

I struggled through the first half at about an 11:30 pace….slower than my training pace for sure. During my last long training run a couple of weeks ago, I averaged 9:55s for 10 miles after a 50 mile ride. But the heat was oppressive. It completely sapped my energy. At about mile 10, I decided I had to run/walk if I wanted to finish this thing. I got a bit of inspiration when I happened upon a Triathlon celebrity (Harriet Anderson). Harriet is a 75 year old age grouper who consistently wins her age group and who has competed and won her age group in Kona (The World Ironman Championships). She was featured on the NBC highlight show of the Kona race in 2008, where she finished with only 7 minutes to spare. She was relegated to walking the entire marathon that day, because she was still recovering from a nasty bike accident only days before the big race. It was really a treat for me to be able to walk/run and talk with Harriet for those last few miles. It made it that much easier for me to finish.

As I made the final few turns onto the grounds of the High School and I could see that finishing banner, a surge of adrenaline went through my veins. I was actually going to finish this thing. The pain was going to end. I was going to get out of this heat. My feet felt like they were on fire and my hips were throbbing in pain. But it all didn’t matter because finishing that race was extremely meaningful for me. It was all the more meaningful having my family there, having Jon and Elie there to support me. It was incredibly nice of them to make the trip up to watch me race. I will never forget that.

After the race, we decided to pack up the bike and my gear, and head down to downtown Santa Rosa to get some food. As soon as we parked and I got out of the car, I immediately got light-headed and felt like I was going to pass out. I started sweating profusely and had no idea what was happening. I found out later that I was seriously salt-depleted, which was leading to dehydration. Even though I drank tons and tons of Gatorade and water during the race, it was simply sloshing around in my stomach and my body was unable to absorb the fluids because of my low salt levels. A few dozen tortilla chips and salsa did the trick though. After we ate, I felt fine.