2010 Ironman Florida Race Report

People said you don't really know what to expect till you are in the middle of it. People were right, but it was a glorious feeling and a wonderful experience.

Either the great or terrible thing about Ironman races is that they almost force you to take a vacation since they spread out the meetings and parties so much. I loaded up the new Element and picked up John Gregg and his wife Katie Wednesday afternoon for the trip down to PCB. John has a place in Sea Grove that we along with our friend Colin Soniat and his wife stayed. We had to pick up our packets Thursday so after a quick last bike ride we went down to the race site. The line was ridiculous and took two hours to get through but that is all part of the "Ironman" experience right?

I had cut down on my calorie intake on Monday and Tuesday so by Thursday night I was ready to pack them in, I recommend Pizza By the Sea. Thursday night half price everything! Yes that included my Abita Andygator Beer.

Friday was rest day for all of us despite the fact that we saw several people seemingly hammering it as we went down to drop off our bikes at transition. By this point our friend Brad had joined us, he was there to spectate and support and joined us for the dinner at Angelina's Friday night. The temperature was quickly dropping, forecast temps for race morning were 40 degrees.

Typically it can be a challenge to sleep well the night before a big race, but I opted for a vodka tylenol PM mix to help do the trick and found myself getting a pretty decent night of sleep. We woke had a light breakfast and were on the road by 5am, and yes it was cold.

Mentally you have a list of things to do in your head once you arrive: put air in the bike tires, fill the water bottle, put roast beef sandwiches in the bike and run bags, take salt pills, find a place to use the bathroom... did I forget anything? For me this process all went very smooth. There just happened to be a bike pump right next to my bike, I filled my bottle, took some pills, stowed my sandwiches... didn't have to pee so I just waited around and watched Colin stress.

I issued a "guess my time challenge" race morning and was met with some very discouraging support. I distinctly remember hearing the words, "Kyle I would tell you but I don't want to hurt your feelings." This was 15 minutes before the swim and I won't lie, it motivated me.

Most people know that Kyle and swimming just don't go together. I hate to swim, I especially hate swimming in a pool which makes training a bit of a struggle. While this was by far the weakest part of my training I did get in two 1+ hour swims in the final two weeks before the race. I wasn't looking forward to the swim but I wasn't dreading it either... the goal survive and be under 1:30:00.

If you have not done an Ironman then you probably cannot appreciate the carnage that occurs at the first buoy of the swim course. 2500 people all coming together at one spot while trying to swim and fight the incoming waves. There is punching. There is kicking. There is gasping for air. There is NOT a lot of actual swimming. Point blank it is just way too congested to swim so you tread water, try to keep your head up and wait for space in front of you. Now I was feeling pretty good and comfortable in the water at this point and the race was starting to spread out a bit so you could actually swim. Finished the first of two swim loops, ran out of the water and Muse's Uprising was playing on the big sound system. I love this song and it really fired me up. Back in the water for loop two where I was comfortable the whole way and left the water feeling great about the swim. The girl next to me said we were at about 1:20:00 which was way better than I expected.

The transitions at a race this big are a little different than a normal race. You have to run into transition, grab your "Swim to Bike" bag then race into a changing area. This area was nowhere close to big enough which led to slow transitions for everyone. Ten full minutes later I was changed, layered up, and ready to hit the bike.

I went with an interesting look for the bike leg, black long sleeve shirt, black and white tri shorts, pink and black argyle socks pulled up to the knees, and black gloves with green, yellow, orange, and pink stripes. I was going for loud and with my pink water bottle I think I nailed it.
Just about one mile into the bike I see my friend John Gregg. This made me feel even better about my swim since John typically comes out of the water well in front of me. We chatted for a bit and then he said I was in charge of setting the pace. Deep down my goal was to average at least 20 mph on the bike, but I also knew wind conditions would dictate the reality of that goal. I glanced back several times in the first 10-15 miles and John was always a few bike lengths back which made me feel good about the pace since he has done two Ironman races. At some point John disappeared and which left me to question my pace but since I felt no discomfort I charged forward in search of my friend Colin who was a good 15 minutes faster than me in the water. Some point between mile 30 and 40 I caught Colin, exchanged some pleasantries and continued on.

Going into the race I had two big strategies: Pace and Nutrition. The bike is the easiest place to do this since you can pack and bring stuff with you. I had the two roast beef sandwiches from Arby's that I ate at mile 25ish and mile 80ish. Also on board was a bottle of sports drink, salt pills, sports legs pills, and a bag of gummy bears. I know that is an odd collection, but I feel like having the real food helped even if only from a mental standpoint.

Back to the race, my strength is the bike so obviously this is where I wanted to bank time. I ended up going back and forth with a guy named Steven Conner. Turns out he and I were pretty much dead even. He even joked that we'd be great training partners. He's a few age groups older than me and had an absolutely great race and enjoyed the few hours on the bike and run where we got to chat. Now on the quest to average 20 mph I knew the winds were going to make it difficult. A Northwest wind of about 10-15 mph was not making the second half of the bike course easy but a final 20 miles down wind was enough to help me average 20.34 mph and come in at 5:30:24, a split that made me very happy.

The bike to run transition was much smoother simply because there were way less people. I plopped down in my chair to change looked across and saw my friend Clark Raymond. He's another local guy that I had done some training with leading up to the race. It was good to chat with him and it also was good to know I had someone I knew right there with me that would push me. Even though for most of us the goal is just to finish and race well, we all like to compete and you want to do a little better than the guy next to you.
I raced out for the run just a few minutes ahead of Clark and immediately felt really strong. It was very quickly out on the run that I came across my buddy Steven. He had dropped me somewhere around the second roast beef sandwich, so we ran together for a few miles before I let him surge ahead a bit. The challenge here is to control your pace. When you get off the bike it feels so good and you want to just go, but 26.2 miles is a long way still and going too fast in the first 5-10 miles usually will take its toll.

Run training has been a close second to swimming in areas where I under trained. My mantra had been the run all comes down to how tough you are anyway. The plan was to try and average 9:30's and see if I could hang on at the end. The challenge with averaging 9:30's is twofold. One that is pretty slow and not something I'm used to doing, and two I don't wear a watch. I asked around to others what their paces were and found that most of the first 6 miles it was faster than I wanted.

I had already seen my friend Jessica Jacobs when I started my run. She was coming in to finish her first lap and in first place overall for the women. There was no surprise when I saw her again at my mile 7 her mile 20. That is when she asked me to run with her. Wow, she's fast but I picked up and tried to give it a go. I didn't make it far, about a half mile before I had to let her go off and win the damn race. She smoked it and I was super thrilled for her and happy that I got to run with her for a bit even if it was only a few minutes.

At this point I caught back up to Steven and we ran together for a bit before I surged ahead. I was now passing a lot of people and while I was not feeling great, I've been worse. In the back of my head I also knew John, Colin, and Clark were all coming and surely going to catch me and I didn't want that to happen. The split for the first half was 2:01:00 which was great but I also felt like I could not hold that pace. The first time I stopped was just past half way where I saw Katie and Colin's wife Wendy. Tons of positive encouragement and I detected a decent amount of surprise that I was in first out of our little group.

The second half of the run is where most people fall apart. I had to try a different strategy here so that I would not fall victim to this. While I was able to run the whole first loop, I decided to walk the water stops for the second loop. I'd eat and drink then run to the next. I found while my pace was probably slowing overall, when I ran it felt good and probably even faster than 9:00's. My only complaint about the water stops was the sports drink flavor. Ironman has its own sports drink now called Ironman Perform and the flavor they chose to put on the run course was orange mango. That is a horrible flavor and I cursed about it many times. Coke and water got me through and before long I'm staring at mile 22 and realizing just four miles to go! Under 11 hours was not possible but I had a chance to finish before it got completely dark. The final stretch was very enjoyable and I made it a point to try and take it all in. With about a half mile to go I passed the cheering section of Katie, Wendy, Brad, and the Belser family which had joined the crowd now. They made a lot of noise and go a big smile out of me I'm sure. Crossed the finish line in 11:14:24 and was thrilled to be done.I made it back to the cheering group in time to grab a beer and watch John and Colin run by to finish off two great races themselves. Huge thanks to those guys who without them training for this race would have been extremely difficult and very boring. They helped me share in an incredible weekend and a race that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. Ironman #1 is done, but I think there will be another to come.

Off to the Beach; Ironman Florida Preview

Somebody asked me how long I'd been training for the Ironman... I paused and realized, it has been two years. I really haven't changed much of my routine over the past six months. There hasn't been specific focus for this race. I don't have a plan or program. It has been two years of just going from one race to the next, getting fitter along the way. Sure I've done some longer rides, some longer swims, not really any longer runs, but if I were to say I've had a specific training focus for this race I'd be lying.

This afternoon the crew heads South to Panama City Beach. I'm lucky enough to have some friends with some killer beach house access. John Gregg and his wife Katie a cruising down with me. John and our friend Colin will both be doing the race as well. Always good to be there with some others so you can be excited/nervous together. John is a Ironman veteran, he did this race last year and Louisville earlier this year so I'm sure we will lean on him for advice. For both Colin and I this will be our first 140.6 mile race and that is kind of scary. You simply don't know how your body will hold up for 10 hours and since neither Colin or I have done that before we just don't know. I expect John will be the first to finish then who knows but with any luck we all come in within an hour of each other.

People have asked, "Hey, what's your goal?" When I hear this I think, do I say what is really in my head or do I go a little more conservative? Realistically I think anything under 12 hours would make me very happy. But when I look at the pure math and the best case scenario I can't help but think I could go under 11 hours. The keys to making this happen will be pace and nutrition. The problem is those are two things I struggle with greatly. Needless to say this weekend will be a big challenge.

We have to be down on Thursday for athlete meetings. I'm sure this is where the World Triathlon Corporation will tell us how great Ironman is and ask us to spend way too much money on their officially licensed products and upcoming races and tell us how great it is to be associated with Ironman. They may also mention the race day schedule and some rules. I'm sure we will also try and get in a nice light workout Thursday as well. Friday is set up day. Bike goes into transition, drop off our bags for both the bike and run and then relax.

I'm excited to get down there and knock this sucker out and hopefully have fun while doing it!

Ironman Florida, One Week Out

Here we are, just about one week away from Ironman Florida (my first and maybe only Ironman race) and I'm struggling with the question; am I ready? The answer is really irrelevant since there is nothing that can be done between now and then to make me more prepared. The hay is in the barn as one of my old coaches used to say.

Training has been interesting as of late, had a good ride last weekend where my leg blew up at mile 95... you might think that would be discouraging, but I thought it was good. To push the body to the point where it breaks means I got what I needed out of the ride, and I learned what not to do next Saturday! Swimming has been surprisingly good. I've had several long swims where I felt remarkably fresh so I'm not near as worried about that as I should be. As for the run... that is a great unknown at Ironman races. Because it is the last thing I do and I will have been out swimming and running for 7 hours already, I have no idea how my body will feel and perform. I've had a handful of good runs. Not nearly enough and not nearly long enough.

The plan is slow and steady and hopefully I can maintain. Eat plenty, drink plenty, and try to take in the race and enjoy. If I'm having fun the pain should be more tolerable, right? Time goals are dangerous and I feel like I should say my goal is to just finish, but in reality, that is not my goal. I want to go under 12 hours and I think I can.

Aside from how the race will go, another big uncertainty is Ironman Tattoo or not? It is pretty common for people to get the M Dot tattoo. A lot of finishers get it and I've gone back and forth on the idea. My friend John got one on his calf, I think my friend Colin will get one when he finishes. I was sold on putting one on my back/shoulder blade, then I wasn't sure, now I think I will. I guess I'll see how I feel after the race and if the accomplishment means enough to me to get inked.

All in all I'm excited. This will be an experience and something that I know will be tough and teach me a lot about who I am and how tough I am. Also really looking forward to drinking on the beach the day after the race too!

Running, and It Feels so Good!

I have been a bit scared about the prospects of running a marathon as the final leg of an Ironman in just 3 weeks. My run training has been almost nonexistent so I was really nervous when I went and ran a 12 mile trail run last Sunday. Turns out I killed it, felt great the whole way and left feeling somewhat confident. I mixed in a little speedwork and some short runs this week, then hit a 10 mile run this morning. Again, I felt great and never felt any kind of pain or weakness despite that fact that the pace was just a touch under 8 minute miles. It has been difficult recovering from the stress fracture. Not that my leg isn't strong, but there is still some lingering pain and I don't really trust it 100%. These last few runs have been huge at building that trust back. I'm re energized about running again and really looking forward to this upcoming marathon and ultra season, who knows maybe I can be fast!

Tour de Cure 2011

2011 Tour de Cure

Some of you may have heard of the Tour de Cure bicycle rides that help raise money in the fight against diabetes. I've never actually participated in one of these rides, at least not yet. Today I signed up for the 2011 ride this coming May. One of the Gym's I teach classes at is Gold's Gym and their big philanthropy is the American Diabetes Association who as you may know puts on the Tour de Cure. I'm hopeful of putting together a huge group of people from the gym to help raise money and knock out some miles. If you would like to help out by either riding or donating click here.

Yoga and Christianity... Can They Coexixt?

A recent blog post by Southern Baptist Leader Albert Mohler has created a bit of a firestorm about yoga and Christianity. I don't fancy myself an expert on either topic, but I am a Christian and I do yoga so I definitely needed to investigate. Here is a link to the Mohler blog.

Apparently, the yoga I've been taking isn't as intense as some of what he read in Stephanie Syman's book. We talk about chi, we meditate, we reflect, we stretch, we relax. We don't chant or discuss Eastern religious philosophies. Bottom line is it never occurred to me that there was a religious agenda behind my yoga practices. I understand that yoga may have started with roots in India and Hinduism, but are we so closed minded to thing cultural practices can't evolve? Personally, I find that I think about God and my relationship with Christ quite often during a yoga class. It isn't part of the class, not the teachers doing, it is something I choose to do when I want to do it, and I like it.

Now, in full disclosure, I'm not a theologian. My basic religious philosophy centers on my personal relationship with God. I don't read the Bible as much as I should, I go to church probably about half the Sundays. I feel very comfortable about my relationship with Christ, I pray and reflect on the type of life I'm leading. I often take issue with organized religion for several reasons.

I do not like when religions are not accepting and judgmental of teachings that don't fall in lock step with their own. There is so much we don't know about God, how can we possibly make judgments on God's behalf? God's Grace is a wonderful thing.

I do not like preaching of intolerance. We do not all have to be the same to be saved by Christ. Are Catholics any better than Baptists, or Methodists or a little non denominational church in the middle of nowhere?

I do not like preaching of rules and practices that are simply not supported by scripture. (I struggle to support this last argument based on my own weak knowledge of the bible) I feel like the Catholics have made up some unique rules. Some denominations thinking drinking is the Devil's work. Jesus' first miracle was turning water to wine, that is good enough for me.

There seems to be this notion with some people that God doesn't want us to have any fun. To me Yoga, in addition to making me feel healthier, more relaxed, more at peace with myself, is fun. If you can go to a yoga class and represent Christ in your words and actions is that not being a good disciple? As Christians should we avoid all situations that are not filled with other Christians? That seems counterproductive to spreading the good news.

I say relax (which ironically yoga will help you do) and have some fun. Life and religion have plenty of gray areas; try and make them black and white and you'll go crazy. I can't help but think that when Jesus isn't crying over Jersey Shore, he's laughing at us. Leaders like Mohler think they have it all figured out. I know we are all in for a lot of surprises when that final day comes, until then I'll relax and chat with God every Monday night at 7:30. Namaste.

The New Ride, 2006 Honda Element

So I broke down before my old car did and decided to get a new vehicle. I went with something that should be much more practical for me and my lifestyle.

The Element isn't pretty but man is it functional and the gas mileage is pretty solid too. Found a smoking deal in Pensacola so I drove down took it for a spin and Blue and I drove back in the new ride. Good ole Blue wasn't so sure at first, but after about 10 minutes he was making himself at home. Hopefully it will be the first of many happy rides together in the Element.

Getting Slower Is Good (Ironman Florida Training)

So I've noticed on some recent training rides that where I used to be one of the fastest guys out there, I can no longer keep up with the elite guys. At first this was a scratch my head WTF moment, but then it hit me. I'm training for an Ironman, not an Olympic distance race. These guys should be faster than me especially on the shorter rides.

It is now less than two months till Ironman Florida; am I ready? No. Will I be ready? Probably not. I haven't swam in what seems like a long time. I'm not running near as much as I should since I'm trying to avoid a nagging shin splint. I'm confident in my biking and the fact that I can and will finish the race no matter what. Looking to put together a long brick this weekend, 100 miles then an hour running. The plan is to experiment with some nutrition strategies. From what I hear that is one of the quickest ways to ruin an Ironman race so I'll be sure to come up with a solid plan.

Another focus of late has been yoga. What can I say it makes me feel great and I imagine it can't hurt my performance. Feeling good about the stretching, core strengthening, and balance I'm getting and look forward to making this a part of my weekly routine.

It is good to keep races on the schedule so there is always something to work towards. With that in mind I've signed up for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon again. I had an absolute blast there last year and turned in a PR. The plan for 2011 is to make it the year of the run so there is plenty of reason to be excited for the upcoming marathon season. That is all for now.

Tri to Beat Cancer Sprint Triathlon Report

The best worst race...

It was hard to know what to expect since this was the first time this race had ever been held and since there was nobody that I knew there. Sounded easy enough, 400 yard lake swim, 16 miles of rolling hills for the bike, and a double loop 5k course. This race was more of a challenge than I expected, although most of that was probably my fault.

I drove over Saturday picked up my packet, wasn't wowed by the expo so I headed to the lake to check out the course and get in a little swim. The water was hot and I was a little concerned about the size of the swim course. It looked tight and with a wave start I knew it could be dicey; I was right. I drove both the run course and bike course and both proved to be a little hillier than I thought, but that isn't terrible since I'm used to hills.

I'm not convinced this was a mistake, but perhaps I'm wrong. Athens has some good beer and how could I pass up my all time favorite? Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar was delicious and well worth it.

So it has been really hot all summer and staying hydrated on training rides and runs has been a challenge. I made sure to get up and drink plenty of water, take some salt pills and get my body ready. The problem with that is, the sun didn't come up till about 6:45am, the race started at 7:00am, and it never really got that hot. I absolutely over hydrated and I paid for it later.

I knew the swim would be key. More than 100 people on a small beach racing toward a tight square 400 yard swim course. I started in the front, the plan was to hammer out of the gate and then settle into a easier pace about 100 yards in. The first 50 yards went as planned. I was not leading, but near the front and in pretty clean water. Then it was like I was torpedoed. goggles knocked off, punched, kicked, I felt like a guest on the Jerry Springer Show, being tackled by a security guard and two pissed off women at the same time. I was no longer in clean water, I was in a war zone. The remaining 300 yards it was all about survival and breathing. Hands down the most physical swim I've ever done. I left the water feeling like I had work to do and probably had the best transition of my life. Third fastest transition of the race.

The bike is where I do my work and this course turned out to be some work. Tight roads, a lot of bikes, a good number of cars, and a tractor. I hear that some police even stopped bikers to let cars pass through. There were several occasions where I had to cross the double yellow to complete a pass simply because there was so much traffic. I guess this is the nature of sprint triathlons, especially when swimming is not your strength. The bike leg was going smooth until we hit a sharp turn, exiting the turn I shifted gears to try and hammer to the next downhill and then my chain slipped off. It was stuck in my back gear ring but I was still going 25mph down the hill. First thought was maybe I can fix it while I'm on the bike. Hand would not reach. Maybe my foot can do it. After almost cutting off my toe with a spoke I decided I needed to stop. I was at the bottom of the hill anyway. No idea how long it took me to fix the problem, but long enough for a cop to stop and ask me if I needed help. Bike split ended up being pretty fast, but I assume at least a minute.

Coming off the bike the legs felt good, but the stomach did not. I had the overwhelming urge to puke and this did not get much better. Immediately I was passed on the run by about three guys, one of them an old man with white hair and a ridiculous mustache. Not a confidence booster. Luckily I was able to keep that group in sight and settle into what I thought was a nice pace. This was the second race without a watch so I had no clue where I was on any of my times. Despite feeling terrible the pace stayed consistent, and I kicked a little the last half mile. Crossing the line I felt tired but not dead. Here are the results

Second place in my age group, I was almost two minutes out of first, but 30 seconds out of fourth. It was good enough to qualify for Age Group National Championships and even though I'm not going to race the National Championships it's nice to know that I could have for the second year in a row. I guess they need to make the qualifying standards a little tougher.

Now back to Ironman training.

Tri to Beat Cancer Preview

A couple of months ago someone pointed out to me that there was a race in Athens, GA. I'd never heard of it, but was interested since that is where my brother and his family live. I haven't seen my nephew Drew in a few months and since he is only 15 months old he's changing a lot from month to month. I'm real excited to see the little guy, maybe be a bit of a bad influence like a good uncle should. The race itself is Sunday and I'm not sure what to expect. This is the first year they have held the race so I'm sure there will be some issues. What I do know is that its a short race. Swim is just 400 yards, bike is 17 miles, 5k run. I'm not expecting a very tough field but I guess I'll find out Sunday. If I can finish top 10% in my age group I will qualify for the USAT Age Group National Championships. Even if I qualify I doubt I'll do the race, but it would be nice to say that I could have done it. Two weeks ago at Mountain Lakes Triathlon the race went great. I missed the top 10% mark by just 5 seconds but still finished 5th in my age group and really had a race I could feel proud about. The new race strategy of just going out and racing worked out great. No watch, no goals, just racing till the finish line. I figure this weekend will be a good fun one no matter what so I really can't lose.

New Approach

Based on the fact that I have never followed an actual training schedule it would be a stretch to say I have ever taken races that seriously. One might think the natural progression would be to adopt an actual training plan and get a little more serious. Nope. I'm going to go the other way. From here on races are about fun. Sure, I have an Ironman this November and I want to do well, but if I don't, oh well. My first race in awhile is this weekend. A short sprint distance race. I am going to try and go fast, but really, who cares! I will never be a pro. This is supposed to be a hobby, why should I take it that seriously? So the motto now is go out, race hard, have fun, and show me the beer tent.

Building back is difficult

I was excited when I was cleared to start training again. Not only was it great to get back to work, but I had also managed to gain only minimal weight. Surely this meant that I would be back in form in no time. Not exactly. Turns out I had lost quite a bit of muscle and replaced it with some tasty fat. Now, I can't swim worth crap anyway, and when running I go through spurts where I can keep up with the crowd, but on the bike I'm always out front. The last few weeks I've watched a lot of people riding away from me. I've spent a lot of time bonking and midway through a ride, I even had to get off my bike and walk it up a hill at one point. Big time reality check.

This past weekend I did a nice 100 mile ride with my friend John. About halfway through things were looking bad. John was pulling away in spots and I was coming to terms that I still had about 50 miles to go and temps were in the mid 90's. Lucky for me I got a bit of a second wind about 70 miles in and finished a lot stronger than I anticipated. Am I back, not yet, but at least I am starting to gain some confidence.

In other news Blue the fat Cattle Dog (AKA Blujo) has lost a little weight. He's down about 10 pounds, and we have at least 10 more to go. The heat is killing him but at least he's figured where the AC vent in the car is located. Hopefully this fall he can get his mileage up when the temperature starts to drop.

Two upcoming races in August. Mountain Lakes Sprint Triathlon and a Sprint Tri in Athens, GA at the end of the month. No real expectations, I just want to have fun.

That is all the official news I have for now, but I sense there could be some interesting things in the works so I'll keep you posted.

Gotta Run!

Back and Looking Ahead

After an agonizing couple of weeks I have finally been cleared to get back in the pool and back on the bike. Still a few more weeks till I'm supposed to run. Injuries suck, especially ones that could have been prevented, but it does help to make you appreciate your health a little more. If it's possible to take a positive out of getting hurt I think I have. Now I'd like to have a couple of injury free years.

Since I haven't been doing much training I've had time to do some dreaming. If I could do any races what would they be? I've started a list, sort of a race bucket list. The list will probably change over time, but hopefully some will get crossed off. The painful realization of this list is that I need to win the lottery to make most of it happen. What are your dream races and is there something I need to add?

Challenge Wanaka
Norseman Extreme Triathlon
Escape From Alcatraz
Pinhoti 100
Wildflower Festival Triathlon
Triathlon EDF Alpe D'Huez
Boston Marathon
Swiss Alpine Marathon

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I'm in a race to destroy my body right now. Just as my stress fracture is healed up what happens, I go wreck my bike. Riding too fast in a place where I should not have been, lets just say my judgment hasn't always been a strength. The crash was pretty, or so I've been told. It also left me with a fractured distal clavicle. My parting gift is a plate and some screws to hold my shoulder in place while I slowly work my way through a bottle of Hydrocodone. Surgery was Thursday, I feel like the recovery is going well. Five months till Ironman.

1 Year later...

I can't remember why, but a year ago I started this blog. It has been fun and a great way for me to hold myself accountable. Knowing that I put goals out there and that my friends and family expect race reports kind of keeps the focus on getting the job done. Seven triathlons, three marathons, one 50k, and a stress fracture later, what a year it has been. Thanks for taking an interest, or at least pretending. I will continue to update the blog regularly and hopeful become better and better at doing it.

A quick update on things. My leg is almost completely healed. I still feel some pain in it from time to time, but it isn't really stopping me from anything. I've started a training group with the church I belong to. We are training for the Mountain Lakes Sprint Triathlon in August. So far it has been interesting and I anticipate having a great time with it and hopefully making a difference in some aspiring triathletes lives.

Next race for me is Buster Britton Sprint Triathlon in my hometown of Pelham. It is short and hilly.

One other note, Blue, the dog some have called evil, is going to visit the local dog whisperer. We are hopeful that he can learn to like others. This may be the biggest challenge of the upcoming year and keep in mind I'm signed up for an Ironman!

Is it possible to be both happy and frustrated? I think I am. The Gulf Coast Triathlon was my second race of the year, another half ironman distance race. I had some expectations of improving on my performance a few weeks earlier in New Orleans. I was confident I would run better and I was hopeful I would swim better.

The Gulf was rough, but so was Lake Pontchartrain 3 weeks earlier. I was eager to get in the water and I felt like I swam well. The comfort level in the water was great the whole way. My navigation between buoys left a little to be desired. I think I probably swam about 1.5 miles which is good except that the actual swim course is only 1.2 miles. That being said my time was almost identical to the New Orleans swim so I was disappointed, but times don't mean everything and I swam a lot better. The time will get faster eventually.

I've been setting the bike leg bar pretty high. That is undoubtedly my strength and I was hoping to go faster than 23 mph. The course was windy so at times it was a struggle to keep the speed above 20 mph and at time I was doing an easy 26 mph. I did everything I wanted to and more in this part of the race, a time just a few seconds more than 2 hours and 24 minutes and a average speed of 23.3 mph.

Coming off a stress fracture my run training has been lacking. Simply put I haven't been able to put the mileage in necessary. I increased it a good amount in the two weeks leading up to this race but was nowhere near where I needed to be. That being said coming off the bike I felt good. My pace three weeks earlier was in the 9-10 minute range, this time I did 8 minute miles for my first two and only slowed slightly there after. It wasn't until about mile six where I began to struggle. During the run you are able to see a lot of the competition, this is a bit of a boost. I saw my friends John and Chad, both running far better races than me. I tried to pick it up but some things are just not meant to be. I still feel very optomistic about this run. It showed a lot of improvement in just a short time. Give it a couple of months and I might get real fast. Total race time was a few seconds more than 5 hours and 23 minutes, that is about 5 minutes short of my PR. Next time I do a half iron distance race I will set a new PR, I guarantee that.

The next race for me is Buster Britton right here in Pelham. It is a short sprint distance race but since its so close I couldn't pass it up. I'll be cutting my rides and runs a little shorter and doing more work on speed for the next two months. I have reason to believe that it could be a good rest of the year!

Glutton For Punishment

Today I signed up for another 70.3 in May. I'm going to attempt to actually do some run training leading up to this race. Yesterday I logged 2 miles after swimming then teaching a spin class. Not going to lie, it didn't feel great, but it didn't get any worse either. I guess I just have to suck it up. I have to keep getting better!

New Orleans Ironman 70.3 Race Report

Goals can be dangerous because during a race there are so many things you can't predict. I had set out some pretty lofty goals for this race and I failed miserably, yet I left the race feeling pretty good.

There is a nasty rumor out there that I do not know how to swim. I spent 46 minutes in a rough, choppy, smelly, gasoline tasting Lake Ponchartrain. I had hoped to swim in less than 40 minutes so based on the numbers you would think I failed miserably. What I did not expect was for the lake conditions to be so rough and for me to freak out and almost drown. The good news is that I was able to take what would have been a 55 minute swim and turn it into a 46 minute swim by getting my act together and swimming like I know how for the last 20 minutes. Leaving the water I felt good and ready to ride a bike.

Now the bike is unquestionably my strength and I had thrown out some pretty lofty numbers not knowing if they were attainable or not. 2:25:00 was something I was shooting for, but under 2:30:00 was the realistic goal. I had a near perfect bike. We had a headwind going out but I managed to average 20.8 mph before we turned around. I watched the avg rise all the way back and finished in 2:27:19 for a 22.8 mph average. The best part was I didn't feel that bad and was ready to try and run.



I like running, not as much as biking, but still more than swimming. I haven't run since I hobbled through the Houston Marathon in January with a stress fracture in my leg. So the thought of running 13.1 miles on no training was a bit daunting. I was foolishly optimistic. I thought since I hadn't run in forever it would feel good to finally run. I was sort of right. There was excitement the first few miles, and I even felt good at about mile 4 or 5. The goal here was to run under 2 hours and I was not on pace but close enough that it was still a possibility. Then the wheels fell off. My engine was good, but my legs wouldn't respond. about mile 10 I felt it and by mile 11 I was walk city. So again I missed my goal and failed miserably. The positives I took from the run is that I felt good at the beginning and had I be able to actually train, I could have run the whole thing and perhaps fast. The run fitness will come.

Statistically speaking not a great start to the season, but I feel way better about the races to come than I did before I went to New Orleans.

Race Week New Orleans 70.3

Most of the time you have an idea of what to expect going into a race, this is not one of those times. I'm still overcoming my first real injury since I started racing and therefore have not really run at all since January, and even in January I wouldn't call it running. The doctor says my stress fracture is healed, but that I should expect some discomfort. He is right, it still hurts and I can still feel the lump of calcium build up where the stress fracture was. He promises me I cannot re-fracture the leg.
I've done a good amount of training leading up for this race. A lot of time on the bike, an increased amount of time in the pool, and no time running. The only thing I feel confident about this weekend is that I should have a really good bike split, everything else is an unknown. My swimming should be better, but I really have no way of knowing. My run is a complete unknown. Is it possible that it will feel so good to finally run again that I enjoy it? Is it more likely that it will hurt so bad that I turn in a super slow run(more of a walk)? I just don't know, but I hope I'm tough enough to gut out a decent performance. Initially my goal for this race was to do it under 5 hours. In a perfect world that may still be attainable, but more realistically I'm just looking for a PR which would be better than 5:16:58. We'll see how it goes and even if its a bad race, I'll be on Bourbon Street when its done!

What did you say?

So I went to the doctor this morning to check another check up on my stress fractured leg. After yet another x-ray he comes in and says, "I have good news, its healing." I"m like what?!? Why does it still hurt. Apparently that is common, but that part of my leg is probably stronger than the rest of my leg now. Here's a picture of the x-ray, if you look close you can see a lump on my bone. That, I'm told, is the bone regenerating and means healing has occurred. Apparently over time that lump will flatten out. I don't plan on running again for at least another week but the doc said there is very little chance of reinjuring the fracture again. The plan is to start running again in late March, try to get in at least a 8 miler before New Orleans. Injuries suck, maybe more mentally than physically but I can find two positive things that have come out of this. One, I appreciate my health and being able to run a lot more. Two, I no longer hate swimming.

Doing Nothing Is So Hard.

So first off, yes I know I'm an idiot and I had it coming. But not being able to run or ride a bike like I want to is killing me! Last weekend was the Mercedes Marathon, it was also the first time I've ever signed up for a race and then not participated. Running a marathon is tough, but not being able to might be more difficult. I was able to support some great friends and at least seeing them do well was a nice consolation. Last week my doctor and I decided to shut it down completely and put an air cast on my leg. It is helping, but I continue to struggle at not doing stuff that will prevent my leg from healing. So far I've been doing more swimming and some boring slow riding. Who knows maybe this will make me a better racer when I can finally race again. April is the target... I hope I'm patient enough to make it.

Houston Marathon Report

So I'm Hard Headed...
I am stubborn, but not crazy. I guess that depends on how you use the word "crazy".
The Houston Marathon was supposed to be my "fast" race. the one I was committing to and actually training for until I came up lame right after Christmas. I thought it was a shin splint, but the more I tried to run/heal it, the more I thought it was worse, maybe a stress fracture. I went to the doctor Thursday and got a bone scan but those results didn't come back till after the race.

Pre-Race
Houston is a fast race, the course is flat, the weather usually good and that was definitely the case this year. I limped around at packet pickup and the expo before going home with my parents to watch the Saints (WHO DAT!), ice down, eat dinner and go to bed.

Race Day
I woke up race day feeling pretty good, my parents dropped me off at the convention center. this a big race. 30,000 runners so I was a little in awe. The plan was to try and hang with the 3:40 pace group. I was excited about the group because I guy named Whit Rambach (ultra running superstar) was supposed to be leading it. I found out he got injured and wasn't running, ironic I guess. I can't say I felt good at the beginning, but I didn't feel terrible and I was optimistic that I could hang. At the two mile mark I was hanging tough but starting to feel it. I surged ahead to see if perhaps I could put the pain behind me but that didn't work. I hung on for about a half mile longer before I pulled to the side. Keep in mind there were 30,000 runners, so I was now the guy who is in everybody's way.

"Just Work it Out"
Now I may be guilty of this in the past, but I grew to really hate the "work it out" runners. I appreciate the encouragement to fight through the cramps and I would have loved to have been able to do this. I felt like I needed to write on the back of my shirt, "It Is Not A Cramp!" I encountered quite a few annoying runners, but more on that later.

Finding a Slower Groove
I knew going in that a 13:44 pace would get me to the finish in 6 hours so now the challenge was to find a pace I could somewhat maintain. My thought was 12 minute miles was doable and that is what I told my Mom and Dad when I saw them at mile seven. I ended up running between 10-11 minute miles for the majority of the race.

50 in 50
No I did not run into Dean Karnazes during the race. I did run into a guy who had run a marathon in all 50 states. His back was acting up pretty badly so we were on about the same pace. We had a brief little pity party and actually ran together for awhile. I think it was nice for us both to have someone else there that was going through the same thing. I saw him for the final time at about mile 23 where he motivated me enough to get me to the end.

Hold On, Let Me Take This
Did you know people actually talk on their cell phones during marathons? They do and some of these people probably finished ahead of me, now that is depressing. Among other annoying marathon people are the "you're almost there," guy at mile 17, same guy again at 20. The "you can make it," woman both as a runner and spectator. Oh and do the "looking good" people think they are fooling anybody? Nobody is looking good after 4 hours on the course, except maybe "cell phone lady". In all seriousness, the crowd support was really good at this race. Very few stretches without people so kudos to the people of Houston.

The Worst I've Ever Felt
This is a tough call because I felt like death for the last 3 miles of Stump Jump. But at Stump Jump it was a total body death so it was absorbed all over. In this race the last 10 miles were excruciating. Like there was a dagger in my leg and every step drove it deeper. Some wonderful people offered me some pain medicine at mile 18. While this did help 30 minutes later, getting started again after taking the pills was a challenge.

Doing The Math
I suck at math. I'm was trying to figure out if I could finish under 5 hours, which I was going to consider a huge success. I was struggling, physically, mentally, and with my ability to carry the 1. That is when I saw the 50 states guy for the last time. He pats me on the back as he run up along side me. I told him I was trying to figure out if I could get under 5 hours and he either lied or knew. He told me just run 12's and you got it. So I ran, or hobbled, maybe a shuffle by now. I sure did wear the bottom off my shoes! I saw my parents again at the mile 25 water stop. I probably complained about something, I don't remember. I do remember telling my Dad that I was at least going to finish under 5 hours. He replied, "You better hurry then!" I knew I had plenty of cushion but either way I finished strongish. I got passed by 2 girls wearing yellow frilly skirts, like they were part of a slutty bee costume for Halloween. Final time 4:55:32.

Ice Please...
One major complaint. I could not get any ice to put on my leg after the race. Really?!? The medical tent suggested I go over to the food area. Needless to say I just went without ice.

Monday Diagnosis
I knew I would not feel good on Monday, and wow did I hurt. One leg feels like I just ran a marathon on one leg and the other feels like it is broken. 5:30am spin class did not go well. The doctor called me Monday, yes I have a stress fracture in my tibia, that is not a surprise. I was surprised to hear that I have a stress reaction in both my right ankle and knee. Seeing as that was all before the race I can only hope I didn't cause any more major damage. I'm shelved for 4 weeks with an appointment in 3 weeks to have it looked at again. I'll be a spectator for Mountain Mist, and Mercedes is a real big question mark. Looks like it is time to hit the pool.

Houston, We Have a Problem...

This has not been the start to the season I was hoping for. The Houston Marathon was supposed to be the race I was gunning for. I was supposed run a fast race, I was going to train really hard in December and start the year of right. Then my right leg started to hurt. Then it hurt some more. Then what I thought was a shin splint didn't exactly feel like any shin splint I've ever had before. I went to the doctor yesterday, he sent me for a bone scan. Now here I am Friday afternoon, just a few hours away from flying to Houston and I still don't have any results. He suspects it is a stress fracture, but I'd kind of like to know for sure. Now I am going to Houston either way, and I'm going to do the marathon either way too. The time limit is 6 hours and it could take me 5:59:59. Worst case scenario I limp around Houston and spend some quality time with my parents, best case scenario I start with the 3:40 pace group and I finish with the 3:40 pace group. At this point I just don't know and that is frustrating. The next 2 months are very uncertain and I've got to try and be smart. That is not exactly a strength of mine.