Race Report - 2010 Bourbon Chase

After a two year hiatus, it was time to pack up the vans, resign ourselves to no sleep for a couple days, and hit the overnight relay circuit again. This year, the destination was the Bourbon Chase, a 200 mile course crossing Kentucky from Louisville to Lexington. Our little group managed to field two 12-person teams this year, so there was a pretty good caravan on the way down from Columbus. Unfortunately, one of our runners had to drop out last minute due to work, so our team would be going with an 11 runner rotation: less sleep, and extra legs for a few runners.

Once we arrived, we went for a pre-race dinner at the old Olive Garden standby. (One disadvantage of this race vs. Reach the Beach - the neverending pasta bowl had ended. That doesn't seem quite right, does it?) After dinner, it was time to get one last good night of sleep before the long day(s) ahead.

Friday dawned clear and beautiful - a great day to start racing! The first teams started at 8:00 AM, but we wouldn't be starting until 3:00 PM. So, there was plenty of time to hit up the grocery store for in-car snacks and drinks. We even found a rubber chicken at Petsmart to join the crow on top of our van for our team, "Three Old Crows, Nine Spring Chickens". :) Meredith and I were in van 1, so we'd be running fairly early in the rotation. As the time drew near to get underway, we drove to the starting line at the Jim Beam distillery, though we declined the free samples! (Side note: we had followed the Garmin to find a Subway on the way there, and it turned out to be inside a hospital. I'm pretty sure their staff wasn't used to twelve smelly people in shorts and dry-fit in the middle of the day! Somehow we even got free cookies, which are physically impossible to turn down in the middle of a relay.) Our two teams started in a wave with two other teams, who we'd see quite often in the next 24 hours. And with the gun at 3, we were off! We all hopped in the van and began the trek. Meredith took the second leg, and a couple hours in, it was my turn to take the handoff.

My first leg, "Stairway To Heaven Hill", was a 3.9 mile run through the middle of Bardstown. It started off on a pretty narrow road on which I had to duck out of the way of the mirror on an ambulance (ironic, eh?). I was matched up against my father-in-law on this leg, and Meredith handed me about a 3 minute head start. Before the leg, I had predicted that I'd need four minutes to hold him off. I haven't done much running since Cedar Point, so my feel for pace wasn't great, and I took off pretty hard. I managed to hold it together for a couple miles, but by the time I was in town, I was hurting and had to slow it up a bit. And true to my prediction, he caught me with about 3/4 of a mile to go. And what a 3/4 of a mile it was...



I had conserved just enough legs to make a final charge at him on the last hill. Steadily the distance closed...20 steps back...15...10...then my stomach said "no mas" and I was suddenly dry heaving on the side of the road. I walked for a few seconds and then jogged it in to the next handoff at the top of the hill. Oh well. I couldn't have given more effort than I did, so no worries. I ended up with a time of 32:00, for a perfectly acceptable 8:12 pace. That's actually dead even with my 4-mile PR pace, which was on a pancake flat course. So despite the head-to-head loss, I now feel like patting myself on the back a bit. :)

As the rest of our van finished up their legs, afternoon turned to evening, and we pulled into the beautiful (seriously!) campus at the Maker's Mark distillery. Not only was the campus beautiful, their bathrooms were clean - a rare sight on one of these races! We bundled up, as the evening was getting chilly, and our final runner handed off to van 2. Soon, we realized that we were kind of in a sparsely populated area, and asked for a good place to get dinner. That turned out to be Cozy Corner, a local bar/restaurant. We even got hit up by one politician while eating, who was friendly even after he found out we weren't local. My stomach was still a little uneasy, so I just stuck with a grilled cheese. Since our van 2 only had 5 FAST runners, we didn't have much time...had to get back to the course for our second legs!

My second leg was leg 14, "Heart of Danville", and kicked off around midnight. It spanned 5.7 miles, which would officially be my longest run since Cedar Point. The profile didn't look too bad, but not too long into the run, I found myself on a hill that felt like it would never end. Not steep, just long! Even a couple runners that passed me here commented on it, so I knew it wasn't just me. Now that I look back on the profile, it's pretty obvious, so mea culpa on not being mentally ready for it. It was a beautiful night for a run, Orion's belt hung right over the horizon, and I ran steadily for it. And on this leg, I tallied my first roadkill (read: passed a runner) of the trip. She was ahead of me and moving pretty well, but I could tell I was steadily gaining, and when she stopped to tie a shoe, I made my move. Unfortunately, I was also passed by three, putting me at -3 when combined with my first leg. I liked the end of this leg, as you transitioned from dark highway to the streetlights and buildings of Danville and Centre College. I'm pretty sure the "1 Mile Left" sign was a little off here, but regardless, I came into transition just ahead of my predicted pace again. I ran the 5.7 miles in 49:49, for an 8:44 pace.

After the second running leg is always the darkest time for me in these races. There's still one to go, you're soooo tired, and you know you'll get a few hours of sleep maximum. Because of our odd team size, we weren't handing off at the "normal" spots that were set up for sleeping. We pulled into a parking lot around 3:00 AM, dragged our sleeping bags onto the grass a few feet from the car, and crashed on the ground. However, we didn't anticipate problems from our proximity to the bathrooms. "crreeeeaak....SLAM!" doesn't make for great sleep, but it was enough to heed the message that the other team was on the way at 5:30.

I sort of lucked out in that my third leg started right around 8:00, and I didn't have to wear all my reflective gear and lights. It was even warming up a bit! My third leg was leg 25, "High School Reunion". This was a 4.7 mile run, and unlike the previous leg, I was quite aware of the upcoming hills here:



They're not killers by any means, but by your third go-around, you feel them. Luckily, I wasn't the only one on my third leg. As I started out, I'd pass a runner, then get passed by another. This repeated a few times on the first hill, and at mile 1, I was plus 3 and minus 3. As we turned onto the highway that would carry us the last 3+ miles, I was passed again. Dang, back to negative numbers. But then the most wondrous thing happened...the hills were taking their toll on everyone. I passed a runner. Then another. Then one who was walking. Thanks to the open scenery and view from the hills, I could see the runners laid out ahead of me, and realized I could do some damage. I powered up the hills with a quick cadence, and stretched it out going down. Whatever I had left, I gave, and by the time we turned into the handoff, I had passed 12 runners in total! That gave me a final tally of +5 overall for the race, my best to date. I ran the final leg in 40:21, for an 8:35 pace. This was a fun leg with all the runners out there, and it was a good cap to my experience.

Now that I was done, there were still 11 legs to go. It was a pretty relaxing end to the relay, getting to just cheer on my friends, get a couple little bourbon samples, and have a good time in the nice weather. Eventually, we did wind our way into downtown Lexington, and 25 hours and 52 minutes after we started, our team crossed the finish line together. We ended up 20th out of 200 teams - unfortunately behind our other team, but still a good showing! Then, all that was left was sharing stories over pizza back at the hotel, a good night's sleep, and a return to Columbus the next day, tired but happy.

Help me out!

One of my long standing weaknesses has been my run form. I've developed my run to the point where I can do some long distances, but from the start, I've just run however my little legs carried me. And along the way, I've picked up some bad habits. So I'm calling on you, blog-land! I'll post a video of my "normal" run form, and then my concept of "good" run form. Please give me some feedback on both, and any tips to improve what I've got and make it a fast 2011!

(If the videos don't load inline, try the links)

"Normal":


"Better?":

Race Report - Rev3 Cedar Point FullRev

After IM Coeur D'Alene last year, it's been reported that I said I didn't need to do another iron distance race. I just couldn't keep myself away, though, and when the opportunity arose to train again, I signed back on for another nine months of training. At times, I kicked myself for it, but I also saw some dramatic growth in my abilities as a triathlete this year. It seemed like September was upon us before I realized it, and with September came my big race for the year!

While I loved, loved, loved CDA, it was also nice to be able to drive to Cedar Point for this year's race. I had gotten to ride a loop of the bike course a few weeks ago, and I know that everything around there is pretty flat, so I felt a little more confident going in. For those who haven't been to Columbus, it's a little easier to emulate northwest Ohio than it is to emulate northern Idaho. :)

We drove up to Cedar Point on Friday, and were able to get in one more drivethrough of the bike course before getting Meredith to her volunteer duties. I had hoped that a couple of the chip sealed roads would be a little more flat by race day, but there were still some pretty rough stretches. There are only a couple hills of any note at all on the course, so I made a mental note where they were located as well. Friday evening brought one of the best perks of this race - Cedar Point opened some of their bigger rides for the athletes and volunteers from 6-9 PM, and it was fantastic! There were really no lines at all, even for the most popular rides. After a quick trip up Top Thrill Dragster, I ran into Carole and the Team Trakkers group, and they let me tag along for a bunch of rides, which was a blast! They really have a good group of people, and a cool product to boot! Eventually (no thanks to our phone service), Meredith managed to find us after she finished volunteering, and we got to hang out until the park closed. Very hungry, we followed a local recommendation to Chet and Matt's Pizza. Highly recommend it!

On Saturday morning, we got up to walk down the beach and go for a practice swim. Now, maybe for you ocean swimmers, it might have been a reasonable day, but for those of us used to swimming in small bodies of water? It was like nothing we'd ever seen. What were those white parts at the top of the waves?! The swim course is fairly shallow, and people were just standing out in the water. Sure, the occasional person tried a few strokes, but mostly just horrified looks all around. Meredith and I did give it a shot for a bit, but it wasn't much of a swim. My fingers were firmly crossed that the weather would change by the next morning. The plan was to get our bikes and bags turned in, then plant ourselves on the couch for an afternoon of OSU-Miami football. At halftime, we went back to Chet and Matt's for some pasta (stick with the pizza, it was pretty bland), and to watch the rest of our Buckeyes finishing off the Hurricanes. There was time for a Gatorade mixing party back at the hotel room, and then it was bedtime.

Sunday morning dawned plenty early, and I concentrated on getting everything put together that still needed to be put on my bike or in my bags. Strangely, I couldn't find the two Luna bars I'd packed, so I figured I must have already stuck them in my bike bag. Got to transition, and nope, they were nowhere to be found. Well, you have to be flexible to do one of these races, right? (Not literally. Thank goodness!) I quickly revised my fueling plan - I had enough EFS shots to make it 7 hours on the bike; I just wouldn't have any leeway if I went longer. And so I mentally prepared myself to grab other nutrition if needed. The rest of setup was pretty easy - I liked the layout of transition, everything was very straightforward and accessible. And so it was time to walk to the swim start and get ready to race! Good news - the water was flat today!



I said goodbye to the family, watched the pros go out, and then got into the mass of people at the starting line. One of my favorite parts of race day is meeting new people, and I chatted with a guy next to me who was doing his first full distance race.

Then, a quick countdown, and we were off! Or...well, we were walking. Slowly. Remember the part about how shallow the beginning of the course is? Lots of people were just walking out as far as they could, and for those of us behind them, there wasn't much we could do but walk as well. Eventually, most people figured out that swimming would be faster, and decided to get the day underway. I followed suit, and stuck my face in the cool, but comfortable, water. For a mass start, this race was significantly smaller than some of the IM starts, but I didn't think it lacked anything in brutality. :) This was probably the roughest swim start I've been in - the plan was to start to the outside, but I never quite made it out there. I never took any direct hits, but there was a lot of grabbing, pulling, and being swum over. The good news is that I've become a pretty confident swimmer, and by the first turn buoy, I'd pulled away from most of the nastiness. The rest of loop one went by pretty uneventfully, save the velcro on the neck of my wetsuit folding in and scraping me. All those one-armed drills paid off, as I must have fixed it 50 times during that swim!

The swim at Rev3 is a little different than most - there are two loops, but they are actually two distinct swim areas. So, after the first loop, you run down the beach a bit before you get back in the water. My family had, unbeknownst to me, made signs for me this year out of a goofy picture we had taken in Italy a few years back, and I couldn't help but laugh at how funny they were.




The second swim loop was almost a little lonely! I've felt like I was by myself in swims before, but I knew I was swimming pretty well, and I figured the loneliness was a good sign. There were certainly plenty of people in front of me, but as another swimmer and I realized on the way back in, there were even more behind!



I did my best to catch bubbles when I could, but most of the second loop was all up to the individual swimmer. The water had gotten a little rougher, but was still fairly nice. For a change, I kept my sighting pretty good until the home stretch. For some reason, I couldn't for the life of me see the exit arch, and I was sighting off the wrong end of the crowd. Eventually, I realized my error, and swung back to the left, swimming as far in as I possibly could before standing and making my way up the beach into T1. (I got teased about this later, but hey, if you can swim in 6" of water, why not? :)) I didn't find out my swim time until later in the day, but it was a 7 minute PR, a little better than I had hoped for!



Swim: 1:16:42
Pace: 1:59/100m
Rank After Swim: 15/35 AG, 91/421 Overall



Let's be honest. From last year's blazing fourteen minute effort, there was nowhere to go but up for my T1 skills. :) I grabbed my bag from the rack, found an empty chair, and did a full change into bike jersey and shorts. After getting badly burnt in CDA, I decided a bike jersey was a better idea since it would cover up the areas that don't see as much sun. It turned out to be even a better idea than I thought, because I missed any sunscreen on the way out of transition. I think I surprised Meredith and my family at how quick I got out of there this year. The only thing I forgot was my brain as I pulled my bike from the rack and swung a leg over it in the middle of transition. Whoops. Back off the bike, running for the exit, and ready to take on the longest part of the day!



T1: 6:03

For the bike, I had made the decision to pack all my hydration with me for the day. CeraSport (the course drink) sits fine with me, but I hadn't done the training with it, and it didn't have as many calories as I was used to. I had four bottles of Gatorade Endurance on my bike to start, and another three waiting in special needs. That gave me 7 hours of bike time, after which I'd need to start grabbing CeraSport from the aid stations. I'd get my water from the course as I used up Gatorade.

The first part of the bike course goes down the peninsula of Cedar Point itself, and is a little older road with some seams and potholes. And wouldn't you know it, three miles in...

Kachunk. Whssshhhh...Thunk. I launched one of my Gatorade bottles from my rear cage at the rider behind me, who was thankfully paying attention. I had to make a split second decision whether to go back or not, and I decided to keep going. Make that 6 hours of Gatorade I had available. The good news was that these were 24 oz bottles, and I usually train with 20. I figured I could space them out a little more to extend my bike time before having to mess with my (at this point, heavily amended) plan. I was mostly alone for a little while, but then the masses caught me on the bike, and I don't think there was another point in the day when I couldn't see another athlete.

I can't lie, this bike course was not as "epic" as CDA, but that also meant it was easier to simulate for a flatlander. Other than a couple short, moderately steep, little hills this was a pretty fast, easy course on paper. The steepest of the little hills brought us up into the town of Milan around mile 23, and I was happily surprised to see my parents and brother had come out to see me there. This was early enough that I was still feeling great, but even then it's a nice boost to see people you know. And if I thought I was feeling great then, the next 15 miles had a dead on tailwind. I was cruising! (Well, for me at least) But what goes east must come back west, and turning back took us straight back into the headwind, as well as onto some rough chip seal for a lot of the winding return trip. This was the biggest mental challenge of the day for me - you never knew which turn would have you on good or bad road, into head or cross wind. The HalfRev course rejoined us at our mile 50 and stayed with us for the next seven miles or so. This was the most crowded stretch, and at one point I started wondering if I had missed a turn since I only saw bikers wearing HalfRev bibs. I did finally find another fellow FullRev athlete and confirm that I hadn't missed it. Frankly, the turn to the second loop would be hard to miss - they had signs, volunteers, and the road chalked. :)

I saw my family again at mile 60, and knew that from there on, the support would be pretty limited on the course. The drag strip section of Route 113 was still there with as much tailwind as ever, but the way back was even more of a slog. It felt like the wind was picking up during the day, and I was just about seeing single digit speeds on some of the stretches. Chip seal, false flats, and a headwind can be a deadly combination to your psyche at that point in the race; I just wanted to be done. At mile 93, we passed the loop turnoff again, and at least had the good news that we were headed home. I took stock of my time and my nutrition - I would be fine on EFS, but would run low on Gatorade. For the last stretch, I diluted down the half aero-bottle I had remaining with water, and survived on that rather than introduce something new. In retrospect, I think I had done well enough on nutrition that it didn't really hurt me. The Cedar Point sign never looked so welcome as when I saw it, but the last few miles still draaaaaagged getting back to the park. They finally came to an end though, and I was back past my cheering group and into T2 with a new best bike time (on a MUCH easier course) by 46 minutes.




Bike: 6:48
Pace: 16.44 MPH
Rank After Bike: 23/35 AG, 199/421 Overall

I've had problems with my right little toe going numb on the bike and then hurting like crazy when the blood comes back. That happened during T2, and I was limping over to the bags. I knew it would be okay in a few minutes, so I took my time doing another full change into my "Run Dave Run" shirt and running gear. Once again, I was the only one out there with my name...someday triathletes will figure out what marathoners already know - spectators love to shout your name if they know it. :)

T2: 6:45

More than anything, I was thrilled to be off the bike. My long runs have been...questionable...this summer in the heat and humidity, so I just wanted to go out and do my best. Doing a quick overview of my body, my HR and stomach were going to be the limiting factors for me, so I decided to start walking water stops early to let them settle and get in nutrition each time. I was wearing my Garmin this year, so I had a good idea of my pace, and put in an effort to keep it around 10 minute miles to start. The Garmin was a great move, because my legs kept gravitating toward paces I knew I couldn't hold long term. The nutrition plan for the run was a Gu gel every 30 minutes or so, with water/sports drink as needed at each aid station. To that, I ended up adding ice under the cap for the first loop, since it was still kind of warm for a marathon.



The run at Cedar Point is two loops, with the first loop coming almost all the way back to the finish line before heading out again. The course starts out with a scenic run across the causeway over to the Sandusky waterfront. While it was technically a "city" run for much of the course, I was surprised by how much was along Lake Erie, and presented a really picturesque backdrop. The only hill of any note at all was one little bridge on the causeway itself. For much of the first loop, I held my pace and nutrition spot on. I got lots of "RUN DAVE RUN!" from the spectators and volunteers. One volunteer in particular had (I assume) her young daughter with her, who loved yelling for me. In general, I was pretty impressed with how many people were on the run course; I had assumed it would be pretty deserted. By the time I got back toward the park at the end of the first loop, my stomach was starting to turn on me a bit. I wasn't about to lose my lunch (er...gels), but it was starting to walk that line between unease and upset. As Meredith jogged with me on the way out again, I told her my pace would probably drop in the second loop, as I didn't want to push past that line and ruin the rest of my day.



In this race, as opposed to CDA, I felt like a "mid-pack" racer. There were plenty of people going in to finish while I was heading out on my second loop, but last year I felt like everyone was finishing while I wasn't even to the finish of the first loop. And so, I never had the down feelings I did during the run of that race. For all the issues my stomach was presenting, my legs were still solidly underneath me, and I knew I was going to finish with a pretty decent time. And those gels I had planned on? Those were turning my stomach more than anything right now. I turned to that best of friends to the triathlete, flat coke. That and the occasional CeraSport and salt tab became my nutrition for the last ten miles of the run, and I think it was the right move. I did begin walking some more stretches, but felt like I was being honest with myself. Run until you're nauseous. Walk till it's under control. Repeat. This still kept me going around an 11 minute pace including water stops. And while there weren't the vast hordes of walkers from IM, I still felt like I was gradually moving up in the ranks. Then, at mile 20-something, I started seeing runners with glowsticks. And I realized that I might not finish before dark, but I was going to finish without a mandatory glowstick this year. :)

The last few miles across the causeway were beautiful. The temperature had dropped to something very close to ideal, and the sun was fading into the lake with all shades of oranges and purples, and the park was silhouetted in the midst of it all. To the end, my legs stayed with me, and I was running sub-10s as long as my stomach could take it. I was offered water at mile 26, and kindly let the volunteer know that I could probably make it from here. :) From there, it was into the park, down the chute into the crowds, and to a final chant of "RUN DAVE RUN" from the announcer and spectators, I finished my second iron distance tri.

Run: 4:46:27
Pace: 10:56/mi
Rank After Run: 19/35 AG, 171/421 Overall

Total: 13:04:45




I'm really feeling happy and content with my effort. Do I wish that I could have found 4 minutes out there and come in under 13 hours? Sure. But I sort of feel like I had the race I wanted, and I can be satisfied with it. Will I do another one? Sigh...probably. Somehow I've found that I really like these things. :) But not next year.

Maybe next year?

NO.

Next year, I plan to focus on the shorter distances. Local sprints, some Olympics, maaaaybe a half if I feel like it. But I think if I want to improve my speed, it's time to learn some technique and focus on that for a while rather than enduring another season of IM training.

And now, the most important part. Thanks to both sides of our family for coming out and spending yet another long day cheering. Thanks to my amazing coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat. Thanks to all the friends, local and remote, who I've met through this sport, and who have supported me throughout the year. Thanks to Team Trakkers for adopting me for the weekend, and for being cool people all around. And the biggest thanks as always go to my wife Meredith, who somehow got me into all this, and without whom I couldn't do it at all.

Mirror, Mirror

I think I have an evil twin.

Back in college, I wasn't the best at actually keeping in contact with my advisor. Let me rephrase that. I first met my advisor when filing for graduation. Never saw the point in talking to them as long as I was doing okay, I guess. But I was a little shocked when he asked me about all the classes I had failed, and how I had apparently made a big turnaround.

Huh?

After some further investigation, it turned out that there was another David Michael Gordon at Ohio State (go figure!), and he apparently had some issues with actually attending and participating in classes. It got ironed out, and I did graduate on time. What? Lots of people go to school for seven years!



Two David Gordons in this little group? What are the odds?

Fast forward to today. Dave has gotten married, settled down his wild ways, and is trying to refinance his house. But wait! There's a lien on the house. Seems that I've forgotten to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes. Again, I think it will be cleared up since I've never lived in the address where they were field, and I've never even heard of the company who filed one of them. Has evil Dave surfaced again? Will his antics follow me my whole life? If you ever see this man, TURN HIM IN!



Evil Dave (Artist's Rendering)

And bonus points for anyone who gets the title reference. :)

Race Report - JCC Independence Day Triathlon

Okay, first off - I know I still owe an IM Kansas 70.3 report. It wasn't quite what I had wished for, so I've put it off, and now I've gone and done another race. And this one I am excited about, so you get it first. :)

When coach told me the July 4 weekend would be a good one to find a race, I was excited to find out that not only was there a race in Columbus that day, it was right in our backyard! This was the inaugural year for this race, which always carries some risks, but the lure of a race that starts four miles from our house was plenty to get me to sign up. This would be the first sprint tri I'd done in two years, so I had a few nerves the night before. What if I don't remember how to push hard in a race? What if all I have in me is long slow distance?

On race morning, we were able to get up at a leisurely 5:45. (Though it ended up being 5:35 when Meredith asked if I had an alarm set. And then 5:40 when our dog started barking. Fine, I'm up.) I got my stuff gathered, ate a couple quick pieces of toast, and we were off for the LOOONG eight minute drive to transition. The race field was limited to 250 due to parking, so it was a fairly small transition area, and I lucked out with a rack near one of the exits. Since I decided I would swim in my tri jersey, there wasn't too much to set up. Helmet, glasses, shoes and socks, plus a hat for the run. There were no bibs, and I didn't need any nutrition other than my aerobottle. Kind of a far cry from the hyper-organization I'm used to lately on race day!

Once set up, we moseyed down to the pool to get in a little warm-up and test how the tri jersey felt in the water. I got in a quick 100 yards, felt good in the jersey, and so Meredith and I just grabbed a lounge chair, chilled out while everyone finished up in transition, and chatted with some other athletes. For one, this was his first triathlon! It was a nice race for a first timer, I think - pretty laid back vibe to the day. This race had a long run between the pool and T1 that crossed some questionable terrain, so I took a cue from what some others were doing and stashed a pair of shoes to grab on my way out of the pool.

While we lined up, I got to chat with Colleen and husband Tom, as well as new friend Rebecca. The swim was seeded by your own estimate of a 300y swim, and we all happened to be in the same range, so we just lined up together. Better to have a friend run into you in the pool than a stranger, right? :) While the seeding worked well for the most part, we did notice a pack of three swimmers who started among the first 20 athletes or so doing the breaststroke 100 yards in. Not sure what happened there? Regardless, it soon was my turn, and I took a running jump into my swim.

I realized before the swim that it would be difficult to pass people, since it was a serpentine swim with people going both directions in the same lane. So, I decided to swim at a comfortably snappy pace, but not to overdo it, since I would just get in a traffic jam. This worked really well - I caught the guy in front of me around 150 yards in, and drafted off him the rest of the way. We passed one guy standing at the wall, and near the end of the swim I turned on the afterburners briefly to pass another swimmer who got mixed in there somehow. I came out of the water with my watch at 5:07. That's a 1:51/100m pace, which is pretty slow for me over that distance, but with the format, I'm not sure I could have done much better. It also paid off because I came out of the water at a run, not feeling out of breath at all. Next year, maybe I'll seed myself a little higher. The mat wasn't until the entrance to T1, so the official swim time is a lot longer.

Swim: 6:41 (5:07 in water, 1:51/100m pace)

T1 was pretty efficient for me, and I got in and out in a hurry. I thought about going sockless to save a few more seconds, but ended up opting for the socks.

T1: 0:58

The bike course for this race was almost exclusively on roads we ride ALL.THE.TIME in training. For me, I took this as a benefit - I knew the gearing, I knew the corners, I knew which roads were false flats or slight descents. And I rode HARD! The ride started out down a gravel driveway. This was a little scary, with a lot of "Please don't flat!" and "Please don't wipe out!" thoughts going through my head. However, I made it through fine, and was soon out on the roads. The fact that I started fairly early in the time trial start made me a little resigned to getting passed by a ton of people on the bike, but other than jockeying back and forth with one other rider early, this really didn't happen. I started picking off some of the earlier swimmers, and every time I looked back at a corner, there wasn't anyone back there. This was very different for me! I kept the hammer down (at least as far as my hammer goes), and just rode. The inevitable pass from Tom happened about halfway through the course. (Seriously inevitable, he was on the team that won Race Across America, I'm just glad I could hold him off this long!) But that was the last time I'd get passed. Maybe the only time? I can't remember for sure. Part of that was the time trial format, of course, but it felt very different to be toward the front of a race for once. I could get used to that feeling... :) The only other blip in the bike race came when a car turned right in front of me, but he was also right in front of a policeman, who chewed him out pretty well as I rode on. One more safe trip across the gravel, and I was back into transition with what I knew was a speedy time. What I didn't realize at the time was that I broke a 20 mph average for the first time in a race, and that somehow I managed the third best bike split in my age group!

Bike: 33:59 (21.18 mph)

T2 was blazing fast - shoes off, helmet and glasses off, shoes and hat on, GO!

T2: 0:28

My stomach was bothering me a little on the bike, so I was nervous to see where it would go on the run. Didn't end up being an issue. My legs were also pretty tight as I started out on the run. After exiting the park, you go down maybe a quarter mile hill, and then immediately back up. I had to slow my pace a little bit here, as my legs really hadn't loosened up from the bike yet. Once up the hill, I tried to get into a good rhythm - never felt super fast, but just kept on trucking. I did get passed by a few runners, but they were going at speeds I couldn't possibly hang with at the time, so I stayed at my own pace. It was starting to get a little hot by this time, so at mile 2 I dumped some water over my head to cool off. (heard later that someone accidentally did the same with a glass of Heed, hehe!) As we got back toward the park, we had to do the hill one more time, but I think I came up with a little more speed this time, and then it was just a sprint down the entry road and into the finish line! I feel like I ran fairly well here - just on the edge of what I could do. There maaay have been one more gear that was left unused at the end, but I still give myself an A- on the run. This ended up being a PR for me in a 5K triathlon run by about 30 seconds.

Run: 25:56 (8:20/mile)

I was holding out a bit of hope that I might place in my age group here, but I ended up in 6th place out of 16. Speedy people in that 30-34 group! What I was excited about, though, was placing 23rd overall out of 241. Top 10% for the first time! I think I can take a lot of positives out of this race - I have more speed than ever before on the bike and run, I possibly ran my best race to date mentally, and just had a lot of fun doing it!

Now, the real push for Cedar Point begins! First iron distance swim is this week, as well as the first 6+ hour bike ride. Just over two months to go...yikes!

Race Report - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic Triathlon

Let's just start off by saying kudos to Knoxville for being a great site for a race. It's a nice little city that's completely walkable with plenty of fun local places to eat and see. For Meredith and I, that's exactly how we love to do races - settle in and don't move the car unless we have to.

We arrived on Friday night, and basically just had time to check in and make it up to the restaurant area of town before everything closed down around 9:00. A little early, but still better than most of Columbus' downtown restaurants! We found a little cafe called Trio, and the food was good enough that we'd return the next morning for breakfast. There was also an art show/community gathering going on in the park outside, with lots of hula hooping, dreadlocks, dancing, and the like.

Saturday morning, Meredith had some team obligations for Team Trakkers, so we headed down to the expo/finish area and met up with her team. I met lots of people there, and not knowing names coming into it, I failed big time at remembering them all! Sorry... However, everyone seems really nice and really fast! And thank you Carol for my shiny new Trakkers visor for doing the hard work of hanging around during the photo shoot. :) I was joking with Meredith later that someone should have taken MY picture - while the age group team all lined up on stage, I was lined up on the side with Richie Cunningham, Michael Lovato, and Dede Griesbauer. If you're scoring at home, the four of us hold a combined FOUR Ironman titles AND a top 20 overall finish in the 2009 Last Chance For Boston 10K!

After the shoot and some breakfast, Meredith and I scampered down to the river with fellow ELFlete Rachelle to get in a practice swim.



My "Andre the Giant" Look



Mid-swim picture break!

The water was warmer than expected, but just about as murky as expected. We swam down a couple buoys and back, and realized the only way out of the water was to press yourself up and out onto a floating dock. Not a huge issue, but might be difficult after a hard swim. We figured they would have a ramp, or ladder, or something on race day. After the swim, Meredith got to man the Trakkers booth while I went back to the room and got our bikes packed up and ready to check in to transition. One more trip down to the river, and we were finally all done for the day. Somewhere in all that, I also managed to acquire a decent sunburn. Oops. I was never outside for an extended amount of time, but it all must have added up. We did dinner at Altruda's, a nice local Italian place that was out away from the race atmosphere. Lasagna, ravioli, and some garlic rolls to die for...yum!

Race morning came later than most, since we were only a couple blocks from transition and we didn't have to be out of there until 7:40. The previous morning, we had picked up some homemade bread at a local farmer's market, so we ate some chunks of that (yeah, forgot the plastic silverware), honey, and bananas. Setup was quick and painless, if a little chilly, and before we knew it, we were lined up to hop in the water.

The swim start was an in-water start, a first for me. We all jumped off the landing, treaded water for a couple minutes, and then swam off into the morning sun. The course went upriver for maybe the first 250 meters, then did a u-turn and came straight back down. That first stretch between the start and the turnaround was definitely the roughest swim I've been in so far. No particular hard hits, but I felt like I didn't have much room - always right in between two people, and sometimes getting squeezed out. I felt like I was swimming hard, though, and holding on to a pack from my wave. The good news was that I sighted this course probably better than any other to date. I never felt off line whatsoever, and when I climbed out (nope, no ramp or ladder), my watch verified it. 22 minutes and change! My goal coming in had been to break 30 minutes. Yeah, I guess I did that.

Swim: 23:05 (1:32/100m) (PR)

As I jogged up toward transition, I fumbled for my wetsuit zipper and couldn't quite get it. No problem, I'll just get it once I get up there. But even then...stuck fast. I thought I might be the only one out on the bike course in a wetsuit, but finally another athlete came by and was willing to help me out. So, a slower T1 than I would have liked.

T1: 3:55

I got out on the bike and really didn't feel too hot to start. I might have swum just a little out of my league, and now I was feeling it. Apparently, so was my speedometer, because it didn't start working until about mile 10. I just went on perceived effort and my cadence, which was working. This course was WAY hillier than anything I've ridden. CDA and Maysville had hills that probably outdid anything in Knoxville, but they also had some flat parts. This was pretty much nonstop up or down, and the down was usually twisty. I never really got my bike legs and my mind both in the same place at the same time, and ended up biking a little slower than intended. I kept a high cadence because my legs didn't feel like pushing hard, but couldn't make up the lost speed purely through cadence. I never had a problem getting up any of the hills; I just didn't do it quickly. By the time I rolled back into T2, I was more than ready to do some running. The course was about a mile long, we think, so my time was a little high, but it still wouldn't have been a bike PR.

Bike: 1:29:15 (16.7 mph official, 17.3 mph real)

I had three things to remember in T2. Hat. Race Number. Gel Flask. I remembered two, and my nutrition wasn't one of them. But hey, it was a pretty fast T2 at least!

T2: 1:44

As I started on the run, I realized that I had forgotten my gel and was already overdue for some calories. I also realized that my legs were kind of fried, so I took the good advice of my coach and held back for the first mile. At mile 1, I was running under a 9 minute pace, and I asked the volunteers for "anything except water!" They handed me a cup of Cerasport, which wasn't altogether bad - I've certainly had worse. It tasted kind of like sweet tea, but in looking at their site, that's not a flavor, and I can't figure out what I drank. So Cerasport, maybe your flavoring is a little off. :) Anyhow, I finally had some calories, and my legs started settling into a decent rhythm. At mile 2, I grabbed a Gu, downed it, and was back on track nutritionally.

I was expecting the turnaround around mile 2, but apparently, the course had changed last minute. At an aid station near mile 3, I stopped to ask a volunteer if I was still on course, but she didn't really understand me.

Me: "What mile am I at?"
Her: "3"
Me: "Where is the turnaround?"
Her: *blank stare*
Me: "Am I past the turnaround?"
Her: "3?"

So, somewhere in there, our communication broke down just a bit. It turned out that the turnaround was pretty much just around the corner out of sight, and soon I was headed for home. A few minutes later, I saw Meredith flying down the course, and started doing the math in my head to see if she was going to catch my time. I knew it would be close! I knew I would also be close to a PR time, but as my watch climbed past 9 minutes on mile 5, I figured I would just fall short. However, once it then climbed past 10...11...I knew I had just not seen the last mile marker. As we passed transition, a volunteer let us know that we had half a mile to go, and I realized I still had a chance! I used whatever energy I had left to power up the last hill, into the park, and across the finish line with a big run PR. My goal pace was 8:30s - didn't quite hit that, but still snuck into my goal range for the run of 50-55 minutes.

Run: 54:50 (8:49/mile)

Overall: 2:51:50 (21/31 AG, 165/372 Overall)

In the end, it was good enough for a new overall PR, and I knew it when I hit the line! In all, it was an amazing swim for me, a "meh" bike, and a pretty solid run. I think on a flat course, I would likely give back a little swim time, but I could easily make that back on the bike. (And subtract a few minutes for that extra bike mile) I'm pretty happy with the way everything went. Rev3 has a few glitches to work out, and there were some city construction issues that weren't under their control and impacted the course, but I think Knoxville has a LOT of potential as a destination race. I'd certainly consider going back.



Post-race, we got to catch up with friends old and new about the race, and then refueled with gelato, pizza, and margaritas! (Yes, in that order) It was great to hear all the stories of success and perseverance from the day, and a nice way to cap off a good weekend.

Fitness Is Feeling Great!

I was always pretty good in school. Maybe not always the hardest worker, but I did just fine on my grades. But every year, there was one test that I dreaded.



(Please, SOMEONE else tell me they remember that commercial?)

The Presidential Physical Fitness Test. My old nemesis. Sit-ups. Shuttle Run. Sit and reach. Mile run. Pull ups.

What am I gonna do?

The other day, I was thinking about it again. Okay, technically that song was running through my head.

Now's the time to ex-er-cise!

That got me wondering...does that test still exist? And could I pass it now?

And it turns out that it DOES still exist! And I found the qualifying standards. Unfortunately, they only go up to a 17 year old standard, so I guess that's what I'll have to qualify as. There's also an adult program that's more of a "get active" thing. I'm signing up for that too.

Favorite activities? Let's look at the list. Definitely "Marching". Ooh, "Nintendo Wii"! And we'll round it out with "Trap/Skeet Shooting" and "Billiards". No? Okay, SwimBikeRun it is. I have 0 points out of 40,000 for my bronze award! We can choose activities from "My Favorites", "The Great Outdoors", "Entire List", or "Adult Favorites". I'm a little scared to click on the last one. So, I have filled out 3 days so far, and I'm up to 2154 points. At that pace, I'll reach 40k in two months. Bronze award, you will be mine!

It's fun to treat your body right!

But the real challenge will be passing the 17-year-old standards for the coveted Presidential Physical Fitness Award that has eluded me since fourth grade.



Now you're looking great!

Seriously, can you deny that face? Come on.

Here's the standards I'll have to meet:

Curl-ups: 55 in one minute
Is that a newfangled word for sit-ups? (Research says "yes"). I think I can do this one. There's also a "partial curl-ups" option that's more like slow crunches.
Shuttle Run: 8.7 seconds
Not a big strength, but seems doable.
Sit & Reach: 41 cm
Uh-oh, this one could be trouble.
One Mile Run: 6:06
Attainable, I think. It would be a PR, but I've never really tried.
Pull-ups: 13
My real nemesis. I couldn't do ANY in 4th grade. Or probably now. There's also an option to do 53 pushups instead.

If I remember right, these weren't all on the same day, but during the same week. So that will be my goal. Pass each part of the test within a one week timeframe, and this will be mine:



So there it is, Mr. Reagan. I'll pass your test yet and make you proud.

And to end this post in true 80's style, let's all high five as the camera freezes and the credits roll!

Marching Onward

March was a good month. No, not because my decimated bracket still somehow has a chance at 2nd place in our pool. There's no prize anyway! But March was a good month for plans and for progress!

First off, I am now OFFICIALLY signed up for the Rev3 Knoxville Olympic race on May 9th. This will be my third Olympic tri, after Sufferfest '08 and Impromptu '09. This isn't my big target race for the season, but I think a PR might still be a strong possibility. The course will be a little tougher than either oly I've done, but I think I'll be coming into it with better fitness than either prior olympic tri. And that elusive sub-30 swim is still lurking out there...

Next! I got to retest my running fitness last week. I'm pretty happy here. My last run test was in January, and I'm not sure what was up with myself, but it was terrible. Stomach felt bad, heart rate was out of control high, and my pace was all over the place. This time? My mile paces were a whopping 0:02 apart, my HR recovered like it should, and my pace was almost a minute faster per mile! Now, I don't think I ACTUALLY improved that much in two months; I think a lot of it was a bad day during the first test. But it was nice to see my feelings about the January test validated along with the work I've put it. The best part was comparing it to last year's test, which was about the same length of time before IMCDA as this year's test is before Rev3 Cedar Point. I've cut 0:13 off per mile! And that's legit pace gain - same track, similar HR, and all.

I also got to retest my swimming. While this one wasn't as big an improvement as the run test, it still showed some growth. It seems like every time I do a swim test, I tell myself not to go out too hard. I then proceed to go out too hard, and am dying by the end of the test. This time, I reeeealy told myself to hold back, and actually did. Over the whole test, my pace per hundred only varied by 2 seconds! I managed to tie my swim test PR, but I think this one was a stronger effort overall since I didn't have one super-fast (for me) 100m artificially making my average look better.

And finally, in the biking world, spring has finally sprung in the midwest, and I got to do a 2:45 ride in the great outdoors. It's funny how much your race calendar affects your training - this time last year I was busy doing 10 5 (Really? Only 5? Seemed like more) hours on coach's computrainer. Meredith came along for half the ride, and boy did she pick the wrong half. We fought our way through a deceptively strong headwind toward home, and when I rode back to the car, I reaped the benefits. Mentally, I've sort of had a block with 20 mph on the bike. I figure if I'm cracking 20, I'm probably working too hard and I back off. With the aid of a tailwind to get me started, I just decided to see how long I could hold it on this ride, and began to realize that my bike fitness might just be improved over last year. Funny how that works, huh? I'm excited to see if that can translate into some good bike splits. This weekend is supposed to be super-nice in Columbus, so I'm looking forward to a good day, and cracking 3 hours for the first time this year.

So, it's on to April... One month till the outdoor race season kicks in, and I can't wait!

Grady Indoor Triathlon Pics

Wave 1 on our bikes.



Don't I look like I'm having fun? Bonus points for the hair - maybe next time I'll wear my helmet.

Race Report - GRIT And Bear It Indoor Triathlon

Hooray, it's race season! Meredith and I headed up to Delaware EARLY Saturday morning for the first race of the year. We had a wake up time of 5:00 AM, hopped on the road, and rolled into Ohio Wesleyan's campus in plenty of time. We even got a scenic tour of campus, as I read the map wrong and we ended up on the wrong side. Little did we know that we drove right by it. Oops!

This race was a 15 minute swim, 15 minute bike, and 15 minute run format. At the end, your paces for each were extrapolated to a 750y/20K/5K sprint tri format. We got our bikes turned in, our swim suits on, and we were ready to get 2010 underway! Meredith and I were in wave 1, so we got on over to the pool. Maybe it's just our gym, but we're used to some pretty cool water and the OWU pool was nowhere near as cold. Nice surprise on a 14 degree morning. We got in a few warm-up laps and discussed the possibility of drafting since we were in adjacent lanes and we swim a similar speed. And then I almost missed the start since I forgot there's no "Set" in swimming, just "Swimmers take your marks...Go!".

I kicked off at a good pace and almost immediately dropped Meredith, who was being a little more conservative. Oops, guess we should have discussed our pacing strategies too. My stroke felt smooth and strong, and I kept pushing at a "comfortably hard" pace. For some reason, I completely forgot to count laps, so I had no idea where I was in the swim. At some point, I decided to start, thinking there couldn't possibly be time for more than 10 more laps. And there wasn't. I came to the wall, saw Meredith standing up, and realized we were done! I ended up doing 975 yards in 15 minutes, which would be a 1:40/100m pace. For reference, this was exactly the pace I did in last year's indoor tri, but for a 15 minute swim instead of 10 minutes. Very excited by this, I had in my mind that I would be thrilled with 950. It turned out that I finished second in my age group in the swim, and 8/69 overall.

Swim: 975 yards (1:40/100m)

I stopped off at my locker for a quick gel and change, and it was out to the fieldhouse for the bike leg. One thing I really liked about this indoor tri was the chance to ride your own bike! We had a few seconds to warm up here, and I quickly realized that the resistance was a lot higher than what I was used to at home. As we started our ride, I settled in around 18-19 MPH depending on the gear. I played around with gearing a little, but eventually just held a pace for the first half of the ride. Halfway through, I decided to crank up the gearing and held it around 21 MPH. And every minute or two from there out, I increased my speed until I was going around 23 at the end. In retrospect, I might have been able to go a little harder, but compared to the competition here, a few tenths of a MPH wouldn't have made much difference - nobody that finished above me overall averaged under 24 MPH! I ended up 10/16 in my age group on the bike.

Bike: 5.1 miles (20.4 MPH)

After getting off the bikes, I remember commenting to Meredith that my legs didn't feel great. (I know, what else is new coming off the bike?) We had a 5 minute transition, and the 5 people in our wave toed the start line of the indoor track. (Another nice thing about this indoor tri - no treadmills!) Within the first 200m, it was obvious that I'd be running by myself: Meredith and another guy were about a quarter lap ahead, and the other two were well back. Once again, I settled into "comfortably hard", and since I'm not used to running a 200m track, I didn't bother trying to do pacing math, I just ran.

Soo...maybe I should "just run" more often? When we finished up and I sprinted the last few meters to eke out my last half lap, I had done 15.5 laps, or 3100 meters. That was good for a 7:47/mile pace. Um, when was the last time I ran that fast in a race? My 5K PR pace is a 7:42. Interesting. Hopefully that bodes well for the coming year.

Run: 3100m (7:47/mile)

Total: 1:13:05 Predicted Time

I won my wave, but as the day went on my position slid down to 6/16 in my age group, 10/29 men, and 10/69 overall. That's right, I would have been first overall woman. Probably the first time I can say that, actually. :) I would have loved to have placed in my age group, but this year brought some tougher competition than the results we saw from last year. That's fine, though! I was thrilled with my swim, surprised by my run, and have some work cut out for me on the bike. Bring on 2010!

Race Report - Flying Feather Four Miler

Short one here, since it's long since come and gone. Meredith, her dad, and I met our friend Carrie up in Dublin for the race. We had a few moments to chat before the start, and then we were off for the third year in a row!

Last year, this race was one of my first run trials in my Ironman training, and I averaged just over an 8 minute pace. I wasn't very confident in my ability to break that, but I thought I'd give it an honest try. The weather wasn't too bad compared to some years on Thanksgiving in Ohio, though there was a little on-and-off cold drizzle.

In the first mile, this race is pretty congested. I ended up running just under a 9 minute pace for the first mile, which pretty much shot any hope of a PR right there. For the next three miles, I ran a very consistent 8:30 pace. While it's not the pace I ran last year, I was pretty happy with it, since last year's race was two months into my IM training plan. It seems like I've got a better base than a year ago.

That has also been reinforced with my biking, where I definitely feel stronger on the trainer. I think that's where I have the most room to grow this year, so I'm excited to see my legs responding. I did a late-night trainer session last night, and ended up averaging 16 mph. For me, that's a pretty good pace, and if last year's numbers are any indication, that should translate to a few mph higher out on the roads.

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you're racing, good luck, and in any case eat some pumpkin pie for me! I'll be at the Flying Feather Four Miler tomorrow morning racing for a bottle of wine and an unlikely PR.

C is for Cooking

That's good enough for me. This summer, Meredith and I have made an effort to do more cooking at home. Unlike previous attempts, it's been quite a success! Just to give you a rundown of some past adventures:

2006: Chicken and dumplings. Also known as "Chicken, chicken, chicken, and DUMPLING". We attempted this in the crockpot. It looked like chicken soup on the bottom, and one giant gooey mess on top. Pizza was ordered.

2007: Coq au Vin. This actually didn't taste too awful, but the meat ended up sort of a deep burgundy color that wasn't especially appetizing.

But now? Now the tide has turned! Over the last few months, we've had some very good food. We've discovered that we don't NECESSARILY hate fish if done right, and how to cook a pork chop so that it doesn't end up the consistency of running shoe sole. Yesterday was a braised pork chop recipe with apples and potatoes that was a step down from recent efforts, but still rated a solid B+ for "filling, tasty, but a little bland".

Do you have any good recipes, preferably on both the healthy and tasty side? We'd love to hear them.

Yesterday I also tried out some flip turns for the first time since CDA. They didn't turn out quite as well as the food. Maybe a "C". I did flip over every time, and there was no water up the nose, but on no turn did I actually manage to kick off the wall. Oh well. There's no walls in open water, right? :) However, I do have some goals for the indoor tri in February. It's a 300 swim, and I'd like to shoot for sub-5:00 (1:40/100m pace), and maybe even 4:30 (1:30/100m pace). I did a 1:40 pace for 600m in an indoor tri this year, so I'd like to think I can step it up a bit for half that distance. All I know is that the thought of racing is giving me butterflies again, and that's a good thing.

Commitment

This past weekend, Meredith and I were cleaning out some piles of papers, and I came across the training plan from my very first marathon: Columbus 2004. I noticed a couple things.

1. My training plan started with one mile daily runs. One mile! Guess I've come a long way since then. And if you've ever thought about doing a marathon, triathlon, etc...five years ago, I couldn't run more than a mile.

2. My commitment level is a lot different today than it was five years ago. The most striking thing about the papers were the planned weekly miles and actual weekly miles. I saw things like 7 planned (4 actual). 12 planned (5 actual). 15 planned (7 actual). Is it any wonder that I underachieved?

Last year, having a coach definitely ramped up the accountability, and I did a much better job of sticking with my plan. But I think the process of training for Ironman changed my thinking as well. This year, I have a better understanding of what it takes to get to the start line, and then to the finish. My challenge to myself now is to take the next step and be focused and accountable in my training. No, I won't hit every workout from here to September - life will get in the way. But I can sure do my best, and not just go through the motions.

As a preliminary step to this season, I'm trying to slim down a bit. Not a drastic change, but having gone through IM training once, I know that it won't happen once the miles and meals increase. I don't know exactly where my ideal weight lies, but I'm guessing somewhere around 160. To reach this goal, I've been counting calories since I've started base training again. I want to make sure that I'm neither going over nor under the calories I need. So far, no distinct change, but I'm not giving up yet. Meredith and I also took pictures and measurements, but we'll save that for a before and after. And if there isn't a good after picture, we'll forget this conversation ever existed. :)

Race Report - Beat Michigan! Beat Cancer! 5K

A couple weeks ago, I heard from my wife that her boss was sponsoring a local 5K to benefit ovarian cancer research. Shortly afterward, I heard that I was running it! Not one to back out on a promise (even if it was someone else's promise), I was in. Not much training, but a good way to see where I stood after the layoff.

On the morning of the race, it was an early wakeup call after working the photo booth until after midnight the night before. Unlike some overachivers in our household, I hadn't already packed, so I had to grab all my gear that morning. Ever go out for one of those runs where it's just an in between temperature? Everything from shorts to gloves to winter hats went in the bag!

We got over to the race site, got signed in, and met Meredith's coworkers, one of whom lives almost across the street from the race. It was very cute...she had never done a 5K and had a huge spread of oranges, cinnamon rolls, water bottles, juice... she said she had googled for "What to eat before a race". :) We all walked over together and got set for the race. And when I put on my gloves, I noticed something. My left glove fit just fine...but my other left glove didn't fit at all! :P I turned it upside down and just went with one Asics glove and one Nike glove.

There were no chips at this race, so we lined up close to the front, and were off! I hung with Meredith for the first mile (she wasn't racing it), but couldn't quite hang as she dropped her pace in the second mile. Oh, and the other thing about packing that morning? I forgot a watch. Yeah, I was pretty much a mess. But a father in front of me told his son that they were right on their 8 minute pace at mile 2, and I was just fine with that.

As the third mile went by, we caught all the walkers still on the first loop, and the runners got strung out into a single file as we passed them. It was sort of strange, as you didn't see as many people running around you as in an out and back 5K. Finally, we turned back onto the track that held the finish line, and with 100 yards to go a middle school boy decided to sprint by me. I wasn't sure of the etiquette there, so I just let him go and enjoy his moment.

Okay, that was a lie. I outsprinted him to the line. :)

In the end, the results are all jumbled (no chips and people passing in the chute), but my best guess of my actual time is 24:56. That would be good for 5/28 and 49/578 overall. I'll take it! In all, it was a beautiful day to get out for a run and support a good cause! Definitely a race I'd consider again.

Remember Me?

So... Hi. (Awkward!)

I know, I know... I should have called, I just got busy, it's been a crazy couple weeks. (What? Months? Oh.)

Anyway, I wanted to know if you'll take me back. It's just that I'm going to start training again this afternoon and all, and I thought you might want to be part of that. I totally understand if you're hesitant. After all, I did sort of leave you high and dry. You have been waiting, right? Oh, you've been reading other blogs in the meantime? I guess that's okay.

Broken promises? Oh, the promise I made about a recap of the big hiking trip. Yes, I still will do that. I...um...promise.

Where do I see myself in a year? Well, there's the matter of defending my top 10 finishes at the Last Chance 10K and the Lifetime indoor tri. Yes, I really did finish in the top 10! I have no idea how either. And then maybe a return to Muncie? That's always an electrifying race, but last time left me a little flat. What would really be super is a trip to Cedar Point in September! And if it takes a few hours of riding and running to get there, well...so be it.

So you're back in? You want to travel this journey together one more year?

Let's go.

Race Report - Columbus International Triathlon

Or, "Charlie Brown vs. City Hall"

They say you can't fight city hall. But you can surely race it! Mayor of Columbus Mike Coleman was on hand for the 2009 Columbus International Triathlon, though he was doing the sprint version. I had officially decided to do this race all of 18 hours beforehand, so it was a little bit of a last minute decision. My PR in the olympic distance triathlon seemed like an easy target, given than I had only raced that distance once, and it was Implode-In-The-Heat-Fest '08 with its 13 minute miles on the run.

Disclaimer: I have done very very little training since Ironman. Intentionally. So when I got this race in my mind, I had time to do all of 1800 meters of swimming, 30 minutes of biking, and about 16 minutes of running. Yes, my entire cumulative training plan was shorter than the actual race. I'm pretty sure that's a good plan, right?

Sunday dawned cool and overcast, with none of the rain from the day before. Perfect! I got on over to the race site, got set up and settled in, and found out that the water was even wetsuit legal! This race is a time trial start (one person every couple seconds), and I also found out that it would start in reverse numerical order. Since I signed up so late, I was going to be about the 15th person into the water. Lots of clear water for me, but no draft, and no one to help me sight.

As we all walked down from transition to the lake, I pulled up my wetsuit zipper, which came up quite easily. And suddenly, I was holding the zipper pull in my hand. Not just the string, the actual part that zips up the wetsuit. Well, that can't be good. Remember how I was 15th in line? I didn't have time to get back to transition and ditch the wetsuit now. I had a couple people try to fix it, but in the end I just stuffed the broken off piece up my sleeve, velcroed the collar, and decided to just go with my open-backed wetsuit. That can't have been good for my aerodynamics. :) Also not good? My decision in goggles. I wore shaded goggles, and they were WAY too dark for me. I had a very tough time seeing the buoys (no fault of the race, they were big, bright, and orange), and combined with my questionable sighting in general, I think I added some significant distance.

If the first loop was fairly smooth, the second loop was anything but. The olympic distance swimmers started first, but by the time I started the second loop, all the sprint distance folks were in. It became a minefield of people doing breaststroke, backstroke, or just treading water. I literally took more hard contact in that half mile than I did in the entire Ironman swim. I made it through, and came out no worse for the wear. My only real time goal for an individual event was to crack 30 minutes in the swim. My time? 30:38. Gosh darn it, that was actually 36 seconds SLOWER than my first olympic race, and I'm a much stronger swimmer now. I'm 100% sure that with a zipped up suit and better sighting I could have shaved off 39 seconds or more. Next time, Gadget.

Swim: 30:38 (72/172)

Transition for this race is split into two parts: the run from the swim to the transition area, and transition itself. That's nice, because it's a long run and includes a nice steep grassy hill that I ended up walking because my heart rate was still high. My little run there was slow, but then...THEN! AN RESPECTABLE T1! Not blazing fast, but this is big news for me. I wore my tri suit under my wetsuit, which helped, and the new socks from my race kit went on no problem with wet feet. My T1 was 81st out of 172, which if I'm not mistaken is officially above average. :)

Swim-to-T1 Run: 1:53
T1: 2:03

The bike course was 5 (!) loops of a 5-ish mile course. Half of it is actually on a major freeway in town, which has the right lane and berm shut down. Definitely a nice fast course! A little congested in the first few laps though, with the sprint and olympic races going on at the same time and only one lane to race in at times. I started off well, doing each lap in about 15 minutes, or about 20 mph. Somewhere in lap 3 or so, I started really feeling some fatigue. Shocking given all my training, I know. :) I held it together as best as I could, and finished out at an 18.7 average, though it was 19 on my bike computer. Much better than the 17.1 I averaged in the Deer Creek race last year, in any case, and 18.7 would equal my best bike average in any triathlon.

Bike: 1:19:39 (18.7 mph, 119/172)

There's no T2 column in the results, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. I do know that I had another pretty smooth, and therefore out of character, transition, though.

T2: ?

I knew from the very start of the run that it wouldn't be pretty. I had a stitch in my side coming out of transition, and not a whole lot of giddy-up in the legs. I skipped the water stop at the beginning of the run and headed around the lake for the first 1.2 miles. I did hit the next water stop, and walked it to get a gel down and some gatorade given my cramping issues. In retrospect, I probably should have taken a salt tab or two during the race, but didn't think it was hot enough to need it at the time. Once the gel was in, it was onward, up over an overpass, and out to the turnaround. Though I was tired, I was able to hold things together pretty well, and only walked a few steps during a couple aid stations to get fluids in. Ironman kind of spoiled me in that regard - 10 seconds here and there are a little more important in a shorter race! By the last mile of the run, my legs were pretty much toast, but my only goal other than the 30 minute swim (grr) was to never "give up" on my race. That one I succeeded at - though my legs told me to walk, I never did, and cruised in at a slow-but-still-a-run pace. Either the mile markers were off, or I ran a strange race, because my mile splits were something like 9:47, 8:30, 9:30,
8:40, etc. Weird. Anyhow, I was neither especially happy nor disappointed with the run, it was pretty much what I expected given the IM legs and lack of training. And it was 17 minutes faster than last year. :)

Run: 59:04 (9:32 average, 120/172)

Overall: 2:53:16 (22/23 Age Group, 119/170 Overall)

My goals going in were:

1. Set a new PR (3:19:20 previous, check!)
2. Break 3 hours (check!)
3. Swim under 30 minutes (no, I'm not easily letting this one go)
4. Don't walk any of the run outside an aid station (check!)

Unexpected extra credit: Good transitions!

So it was a success in that regard. I was surprised at how low I placed in my age group - must have been a fast field, and all the beginners must have been doing the sprint tri. Even the one guy I beat was only 7 seconds back....that's right, every single person in my age group was under 3 hours! Go 30-34 men! (But maybe not so fast next time, k?) It sort of makes me want to do another one, because I think there are probably 10+ minutes there for the taking just by actually training. On the other hand, there's a big gap between where I am now and what I'd need to do to be remotely competitive at this distance, and just finishing doesn't have quite the sense of accomplishment for me as longer races. So I'll give that section an incomplete, but chalk up a successful race personally and a fun day out there, the most important part!

Where's Dave?

Okay, so I've been away since the race. So what's been up?

Nothing!

Seriously. I've just been enjoying a couple weeks of cookouts, nice weather, and not dragging myself out to train. But I do have a possibility for a next goal in mind...

In the meantime, happy summer! Sorry, Canadian friends, we're going All-American on this one. :)

Race Report - Ironman Coeur D'Alene

Or, "Charlie Brown vs. Plate Tectonics"

What an epic day. (Sorry in advance, the report will mirror it!) Nine months of training rolled up into one little will-I-or-won't-I ball of nerves, excitement, anxiety, and hope. I went to bed the night before the race confident that I had done my training far better than any other race to date, but still with the questions of weather, health, bike issues, and anything else that I could come up with. I set the alarm for 4:00 AM, with the intent of getting to transition close to 5:00, when it opened. Remarkably, I only woke up a couple times during the night. And then it wasn't night any more.

3:30 AM. *Blink, blink* Well, I supposed it wasn't worth trying to get back to sleep at that point. My body was ready to get this thing underway. I slipped out of bed, trying to let Meredith sleep a little more (difficult in a studio apartment). First order of business: get in some food. I started with a mini bagel, then a bowl of honey nut cheerios. Also got in one last check of the weather on my phone. The forecast still predicted a mostly cool, dry day until the evening. In the days previous, we had all talked about the fact that with 30% chance of rain all day, we'd probably get wet at some point, so I was prepared for that possibility. I just hoped it wouldn't make the bike course too slippery, as I'm not a great (okay, not at all) technical biker. Enough playing on the phone...time to get ready for the race. Both transitions were to be full changes, so I really just had to worry about three things: a swimsuit and two band-aids. I threw some warm clothes over top and managed to get down one more mini bagel. Nothing left to do now but get down to transition.

Meredith dropped me off as close as she could get, and I walked in the rest of the way with my special needs bags. And my path happened to take me right to body marking. Score. But the woman I ended up with told me I needed to get rid of my sweatshirt. Why? Because it was an Ohio State sweatshirt, and she was a Notre Dame fan. I felt sorry for her, but played along. :) Embossed with 608 on both arms and 33 on my leg, I proceeded on to find Charlie Brown still sitting under a tree and covered in garbage bags to stay dry. With a touch of nerves, I pumped up the tires...no explosions, good. Filled up the aerobottle, packed away the first half of my luna bars, and he was all set. I had a few other assorted things to get into my transition bags, hopped in a still short line to the bathroom, and then off to drop off special needs bags and get changed into my wetsuit! I was glad I showed up early, as it let me not panic too much through all of this.

While I was walking down the sidewalk trying to find Meredith or my parents, I heard a "Dave?". I looked over, thought I recognized the person, and responded, "Molly?". It was a nice surprise to meet Molly for the first time in person before the race and chat for a minute. But time was ticking, and as the pros started their race, I walked down to the beach to prepare for my own. Per coach's instructions, I went nearly all the way down to the end of the beach, and lined myself up somewhere in the middle. Because I was a little early, I even got to do a few strokes of warmup, but couldn't go out far because of the pro race. There weren't quite the wall-to-wall people that I expected, and I struck up a conversation with some guys from Arizona. At least one of them was wearing a neoprene hood, which seemed like overkill to me given the reasonable water temps, but hey, whatever it takes! My watch kept creeping toward 7:00... We were listening for a countdown, or announcement, or

BOOM!

Off we go!

The cannon went off and we all... um, I guess I would call it "briskly walked" into the lake. No one down at that end was sprinting down into the water! Glad I had already acclimated to the water, I stepped in, put my face down, and began my long day.

I felt more excitement than anything at this point. I was finally doing my Ironman! Less than 200 meters in, I was rewarded for my excitement with a left hook to my jaw. Quick assessment: oof, but you're fine, keep going. A strange thing happened on the way out to the first turn: the obvious line of people was hugging the buoys, but another one had formed to my right, some distance from the shortest line. And I was somewhere in the middle, in very clean water! Hey, I'll take it. My swim out to the buoy ended up being quite good, and I even managed to swing wide and avoid the reportedly horrible traffic by the buoy. There was a short stretch between the turns, and then I headed back into shore, waves helping me along. The water is so clear in that lake that you could see the bottom long before the shore, which made for a good estimate of your progress. I had a little more trouble sighting on this stretch due to the waves, but still came out of the water with the volunteers saying "39 minutes". My goal was somewhere in the 1:10-1:30 range, so this put me smack in the middle. Unfortunately, my chip had come loose and was down around my foot, so I took a minute on the beach to kneel down and get it tight and back up under my wetsuit.

Quickly, I got back in the water for the second loop of the swim. Oh, that second loop. If the first loop was "choppier than I'm used to", the second one was "just try to keep making progress". It started off by being much more tightly packed than the start along the beach, since everyone was funneled through a tighter space. The chop had picked up significantly since the start (up to 2-3 feet from what I heard afterward), and the buoys just never seemed to get closer. Sighting also got significantly more difficult, because if you raised up your head between waves, you couldn't see the buoys at all. I'm pretty sure I followed quite the winding path, as evidenced by my proximity to kayaks a couple times. Eventually, though, that red buoy did come into sight, and this time I tried to cut it a little closer. I did get caught up in a little congestion, but not too badly, and I turned back to shore. Here I DEFINITELY went off course, because I looked up at one point and saw the sea plane parked at the resort's dock in close proximity. Closer still was another kayak, pointing me back to the left! I got back on track and marveled in the fact that I was in the last stretch of a 2.4 mile swim, feeling good, and ready to move on! I got out of the water and hit my watch at 1:23. Not my best pace by a long shot when comparing it to a pool swim, but it was a nice relaxed pace in conditions I wasn't used to, and I think it set me up for a good day.

Out of the water, getting my bearings

Swim: 1:23:33
Pace: 2:11/100m
Rank after swim: 1273/2626 overall, 166/264 age group

I came out of the water getting my bearings a little bit, and honestly this part was a bit of a blur. I had to wait for an available stripper (I know, "peeler") to help take off my wetsuit, and it was off in one mighty pull. Somehow I got my transition bag and made my way into the changing tent. A volunteer helped me dump out my bag, and the first order of business was to pull off my swimsuit and get into my bike shorts. I did so, naked but for my two band-aids, and then realized I had managed to set up shop RIGHT in front of the big hole in the tent wall they were using to toss bags back outside. Hi, everyone!

Oh well, no time for modesty. Into my shorts, into my jersey...okay, it's stuck. Off, and now into my jersey...hmm. It took me four or five tries before I finally managed to get it all the way on. Next, my watch. Wait, I need arm warmers. Watch off, arm warmer on. Heart rate strap under the shirt. Chamois buttr...well, you know where. Quick bathroom stop in-tent. I never really practiced this part of the race much, and it showed. It was a little difficult because of the weather uncertainty (I made a game time decision not to wear my jacket. Good move!), but I still could have prepared better. Unexpectedly, my family was able to find me along the fence in transition, and I stopped for a kiss, some high fives, and an emotional boost.

Jogging over to find Charlie Brown

T1: 14:01

Charlie Brown and I crossed the line out of transition and into the most unknown part of the race for me. The bike is definitely my weakest area, especially compared to the field, and this didn't look like an easy course when we drove it a few days earlier. I managed to get clipped in without incident, and it was off to the first leg of the course. This leg is an out-and-back right along the lake, and it doubles as part of the run course later on. Quickly, I was able to settle into a good cadence and get my heart rate in a good place. It was SO exciting seeing all the crowds out there - you can sort of sense them during the last part of the swim, but here you finally got to be a part of it. Once we got out of town, it became quieter, but the course was packed with bikes at this point, so it didn't feel deserted.

Biking down to Higgins Point

There's one steep hill in this section of the course, and per the plan I threw Charlie in his lowest gear to spin my way up. I wasn't passed by quite as many people as expected on the hill, so maybe everyone else was taking it easy too. Or maybe they knew there would be plenty of time later on to pass me. :) On the way up the hill, there was a whole crew of bagpipe players - how cool! And then at the top, a whole squad of cheerleaders cheered us on through the first aid station. After the hill, I turned around to go back up the other side, then cruised back up a gradual slope into town, saw my parents, and got ready for the meat of the course. As we made a very difficult turn to the north (I heard of at least one bike going into the bushes here), Meredith, D, and Molly spotted me for a thumbs up and a smile.

Coming back through town

There are another ten miles or so of gradual uphill as you leave Coeur D'Alene and ride toward Hayden. The support on this section was still good - there was a church having a barbecue and live band, a woman playing drums, some guy with a megaphone...great spectators, probably second only to the Chicago marathon in races I've done! When I passed the country club up in Hayden, I knew it was time for some hills. The very first one is a good introduction to the rest of the day. You do a short steep climb, followed by a quick descent. And then there's another steep hill, but you have to do a 90 degree turn first and lose your momentum. You climb that hill, make a left at the top, and then realize it wasn't the top at all - more climbing! There are two "big" climbs out along the lake, but there is really NO flat for about 20-30 miles in this section. You're either climbing or descending. I concentrated on making sure I got in my bars, salt tabs, and gatorade on time, because I knew that not doing so would set me up for disaster later on. There was a long, twisty descent along the slopes overlooking the lake, and then the real climbing began. I found the big climbs to be tough, but manageable.

Who likes climbing? ME!!!

The hill in Kentucky was tougher than any one of CDA's hills, but it was the cumulative mental and physical effect that got to you here. I'm pretty sure that they even added a couple hills toward the end of the loop between the time we drove the course and race day. I wasn't able to keep my heart rate down as far as I would have liked, but I did stay seated the whole time and spin my way up. Fans had planted a bunch of signs along the hills, and it was a nice distraction to read them as I plowed forward through the "rollers" at the top end of the course. Eventually, I hit the turnaround on Ohio Match Rd., and came back toward town. The good news: this section is the only extended net downhill of the course. The bad news: you are going south, and it was a south wind on race day. Somewhere around mile 50, I decided to take a bathroom break to get my stomach in a good place and stretch my legs for a moment. I wasn't able to gain as much time back on this section as I had hoped, and when I got back into town, I looked at my average, which was sitting at about 15.5 mph. I was aiming for 16, so this was a little slow. In addition, my legs were feeling...not sore or hurting, per se, just...dead. I was pretty sure I COULD make it through another loop thanks to the extra hour I had banked myself on the swim, but I wasn't really looking forward to it. This was probably the darkest mental time for me, as I swung back out to start the second loop of the bike course. I saw my parents, who asked how I was doing, and I said that I'd make it, but it would be slower than expected.

Time for another loop...

My feelings about my legs proved to be right, as my average speed in the first section of the second loop was much worse than the first time around. Still no problem making it up the hill, though. I stopped into special needs as I had to replenish my stock of luna bars, touched up my sunscreen, stuck a few pretzels in my mouth, and grabbed my emergency Chamois Buttr for use at the next bathroom stop. I'm glad I did this, because I ended up with less chafing during the race than in many of my long rides toward the end of training. I did, however, forget to pull the container back out of my bike shorts, so I rode half this loop with a big bump on my right quad. :) The big hills weren't quite as fun this time around, but I started to see people walking their bike, so I took solace in the fact that I was still in my saddle. My heart rate wasn't getting quite as high on this loop, which I figure is probably because of fatigue in my legs - it almost drove me to standing on my pedals, but I did manage to stay seated all the way through this loop as well. On the second loop, there was more chatter between bikers, everything from compliments on how people looked, to complaints and jokes about the hills, to full blown conversations. I chatted for a minute on an uphill with a woman named Kim, who was riding a bike identical to Charlie Brown. She was having some leg cramps and didn't look like she was enjoying herself, so I hope our conversation helped. I also noticed a guy named Adrian on this section of the course, who was pedaling like a madman on downhills, but then slowly weaving all over on the way back up. Not sure what was going on there.

Worst of all, the wind continued to pick up all throughout the second bike loop. It was bordering on scary gusts a couple times, but mostly stayed at "annoying". This was where I was VERY glad that I didn't wear my bike jacket, which would have been like a parachute in this stretch. The wind killed my speed on a couple downhills that I actually could have carried through to the next up, and it was at its worst on the way back into town, where I was going MAYBE 15 on a nice gradual downhill. I wasn't going to fight it at that point...it was time to relax, spin out the legs, and get back into transition. I was amazed at how many spectators were still out on the bike course! At mile 110, I felt the first raindrops of the day, and enjoyed the ONE MILE of the course where there was actually a good tailwind. I saw Meredith and our great crew of spectathletes at the corner, and then my parents just before transition. And at mile 112, I dismounted with a smile and slightly leaking eyes. I saw Once I made it off the bike, I KNEW I could do the run, and I was going to be a finisher.

But then I went and dismounted and unclipped my left foot about 20 feet too early. So I entertained the volunteers by pushing myself with one foot scooter-style down to the line. :)

Bike: 7:34:27
Pace: 14.79 mph
Rank after bike: 1843/2626 overall, 221/264 age group

The transition from bike to run went much more smoothly. I did another full change into my "Run Dave Run" t-shirt from the Chicago marathon and mesh shorts. The only tough decision I had to make was whether to wear a long sleeved shirt over it. I chose not to, despite the cooling temperatures and drizzle. I run better in cool weather, and I wanted to err on the side of being cool. (Again, good move! At least I make good decisions in transition even if I'm not fast.) I put on my hat before my shirt, and then decided to make a bathroom stop here to get my stomach set up for the run, or else this transition would have been a halfway respectable time. Plus, my legs felt remarkably good for being on my bike that long! I was able to enter the run with a smile: half because I was happy to be off the bike and see my family again, and half because I was laughing inside at the absurdity of going out for a marathon after all that.

T2: 9:39

I was almost immediately glad that I put on the "Run Dave Run" shirt. Prior to the race, I was concerned that if I wasn't feeling good, having people yell that at me might not be mentally good. I'm SO glad I took that chance. From the start, people were cheering for me so much more enthusiastically than everyone around me. Yes, I was THAT guy. :)

The first out and back on the run was the only stretch of course I hadn't previewed, but it wasn't bad. It followed the trail down a mile or so, then turned around and came back to the transition area. I ended up missing the first two aid stations because I wasn't ready for them, which was pretty much my only big nutritional error of the day. In the first mile, I saw Shawn for the first time, but far from the last. We were passing each other near every turnaround. Also in this stretch, I fell in with Sam, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. We commiserated about the bike hills, of which there are few both in Columbus and in eastern NC! Around mile 3, I saw the next aid station coming and decided to walk it so I could make sure to get my food and drink started. Somewhere in there, I lost Sam, so I was back on my own but also back on track nutritionally.

Two miles in, feeling good!

The course winds down through a residential area on the way out of town, which was right where we were staying. Thus, I'd seen this part of the course quite a few times and was ready for all the twists and turns. We turned out back onto the bike path along the lake, and got into the longest stretch of the run. One really cool thing they did along here was that all the spectators could make signs for their athletes, which were planted by the thousands along the side of the course. I never managed to spot mine, but it was a nice distraction regardless.

At this point, I had pretty much made the decision to walk all the aid stations. It was helping to settle my stomach to walk for a few moments, and made it easier both mentally and physically to eat and drink the right things. I began alternating between gel+water at one aid station, then gatorade at the next, sometimes with coke or chicken broth thrown in there if they sounded good. At a couple stops later in the race, I grabbed a cookie or a few pretzels, but mainly I stuck to my gels for fuel.

Around mile 4, I found another new friend to run with. This was Vicki, who was from Mexico. We had a good stretch of 2 miles or so where we ran together and chatted before she took a restroom stop. I ended up saying hi to her a number of times during the run as well. I loved how social the people around me were during the run. Definitely helped take your mind off of the run. And before I knew it, we were at the hill up to the far turnaround. I tried to run up the hill (this was the same steep hill from the first out and back of the bike), but could feel my effort level going up as well, so I decided not to fight that battle so early in the run, and just to walk up to the top.

On the way back toward town, I could start feeling the miles adding up a little, and I walked briefly on a couple more uphills. While the distance was taking a toll, I never felt like I was cramping up or that I couldn't finish the race. The volunteers were starting to hand out mylar blankets in this section, and it seemed like the majority of the runners were taking them. The temperature was probably down into the low 50s or 40s, and the rain was now coming down steadily. I decided to stick with what I was wearing and hope for the best.

Before the race, there was a station in the expo where people could put in inspirational messages for their athletes, and around mile 9 there was a giant screen where the messages were shown to you on the run course. I crossed the mat, looked up, and saw my message from Meredith: "You run Ryder". I couldn't for the LIFE of me figure out what that meant, but it didn't stop me from thinking over it for the next couple miles. It turned out she had put in "O-H!", which would have made a lot more sense. Maybe someone typed in the wrong number for their athlete?

We came back through town in a heavy rain, but the spectators were still out there and loud. My parents had walked down to the residential part, where it was great to get a lift.

Looking wet and slower just before the halfway point

The toughest part of the run was here as well: just before downtown, where volunteers were splitting the runners on lap 2 from those still on lap 1. This was my worst mile, not by time, but in that I walked unnecessarily, feeling a little sorry for myself. Soon enough, I snapped out of it, because there was Meredith cheering for me. I started the second lap feeling tired, but good - nothing like the second loop of the bike.

Headed out one last time in the dark and rain

The first out and back of the second loop went quickly this time, and I elected not to get anything out of my special needs bag and interrupt what was a pretty good running rhythm. I was walking some uphills at this point, but every time I would pick out a landmark at which I made myself start running again. And with every mile of the second loop, I reminded myself that I'd never have to see that mile again! My mom offered me her coat, which was sweet, but I couldn't legally accept it, and honestly I was still doing okay. The crowd was definitely thinner as we headed back down along the lake, but the wind had died down, and even the rain was slowing. Somewhere near the turnaround, I was running near a girl who saw her boyfriend ("doodlebug" for the record, which was what I mentally named her after that since I never saw her number) We walked up the turnaround hill with a purpose, and I turned around ready for a last stretch to the finish! Doodlebug and I would spend the next 5 miles passing each other probably 20 times as one or the other felt good, and were encouraging each other the whole way.

When I was coming back from the turnaround, the once almost-flat trail felt more like a mild hill, and there was a lot more walking. I wasn't the only one, though - probably 80% of the athletes in sight at any point were walking. It was getting me where I needed to go, and I got one more nice surprise at the inspiration station. Izaac spotted me (we had never met in person), and stopped to shake my hand and say hi. Of course, the girls at the station with the microphone LOVED that, and let out a big "AWWWWWW!!!". They asked if anyone caught that Kodak moment on film. :) I also picked up a couple more pieces to add to my ensemble. One was the mandatory glowstick around the neck for visibility. The other was from a boy at one of the aid stations, who asked if I wanted some "bling". I assured him that I most certainly DID want some bling, and he handed me a red bead necklace. After all, I wasn't trying to win the race or anything...why not enjoy it to its fullest?

As I crested the little hill at mile 24, it was back down into the now dark neighborhoods. There weren't many spectators in here now, just a few athletes (still going both directions, which was tough to watch) and a few aid stations. I pushed myself on to run anything I could, and walk a couple of the last uphills. I thought about taking off my reflective tape, necklace, and glowstick, but I decided "You know what? I want a finish line picture that shows my race how it really was." And then, I saw the volunteer still splitting up the loops. I let him know that this time I was definitely going left, and made my way up to the final turn of the course.

And it was unbelievable.

Coming down Sherman Ave.

After over an hour of swimming, 7+ on the bike, and then 5 dark and rainy hours on the run, Sherman Avenue opened up as a blinding cacophony of sound and light to my once again misty eyes. It's about a half mile stretch, downhill all the way and almost completely lined with crowds. It's amazing how much your legs really have left when you see that spectacle. I noticed a guy to my right with an Ohio State shirt on and gave him an "O-H". He looked surprised, but I got an enthusiastic "I-O" in response. All down Sherman, I heard "RUN DAVE RUN" and "GO DAVID!". I spotted my parents out there one last time. Kids and adults alike had their hands out, and I slapped every high five I could find. And as I approached the finish, it only got louder and brighter! I couldn't find Meredith and Molly, but they said they were right by the finish screaming their heads off! I couldn't even hear Mike Reilly say my name, but I heard the "New Albany, Ohio" and crossed the finish line a newly minted Ironman.


Run: 5:00:35 (Stupid 35 seconds!)
Pace: 11:28/mile
Rank after run: 1592/2626 overall, 201/264 age group

Total: 14:22:15


I was immediately caught by a volunteer, but really didn't need it! I felt remarkably okay - tired, sure, but steady. She helped me through to get my chip turned in, get my medal, finisher's hat and shirt, and go out to the end of the chute. I found my parents there and Molly, but Meredith got caught up in the crowd. Eventually, we found her and got her in for a photo with me in the finisher's area. Molly had brought DELICIOUS cupcakes all the way from California and carried them around all day protecting them from the rain, and I had one right there in the chute. Thanks, Molly! Meredith and I walked over to transition and got all my stuff picked up and turned in, got some warm clothes on me, and we walked back toward the apartment. We followed the course back, and got to cheer on Izaac one last time as he headed toward his first Ironman finish!

After a wonderful, warm shower, we drove up to the only place we knew that would be open: Denny's! I got some pancakes, but after all I had done to my stomach that day, it would only take about 3/4 of a pancake before calling it quits. My parents headed back to their hotel in Spokane, and Meredith and I went back to crash. I actually was up longer than her - poor thing was SO tired and cold.

Ironman was such an amazing and rewarding experience for me. It seems like such a long time ago that I started the journey (okay, it WAS a long time), and it's amazing how far I came. Though my time was a little slower than I hoped, I find that I really don't care. :) All the hours I trained ended up being worthwhile, and I wouldn't trade the day for anything.

Thanks so much to all of you (assuming anyone is still reading this far in!) for joining me along the way. I met so many wonderful people online and in person, and I appreciate all of you.

Thanks to Molly, Dierdre, and everyone else who stood out in the rain as spectathletes! You had just as long a day, and we got to sit for a good portion of ours!

Thanks to Ray for riding with me, joining me for the dinner, and encouraging me to join COTT. Congrats on your first IM finish, Ray!

Thanks to the other racers I met out there: Carrie, Shawn, Marit, Tasha, Angelina, Izaac. Also, all the T3 folks from Austin who let us crash your post-race party. Every one of you was a superstar out there, whatever the result. (Sorry if I'm forgetting anyone! You're awesome too!)

Thanks to my parents who changed their vacation plans around to include a trip to CDA to stand in the rain all day and watch me. I really appreciated you guys being there!

Thanks to all my friends and family who thought about, prayed for, and followed me on race day. I was thinking about you all out on the course.

Thanks to everyone who wrote notes for me to read before the race. They touched me, encouraged me, and made me laugh when I needed it most.

Thanks to my coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat. She was amazing throughout the whole training process, and I wouldn't choose anyone else if I could do it over again. If any athletes reading this are looking for a coach, don't look any further.

And thanks of course to my wife Meredith. Without her, I certainly never would have started this crazy sport. And it was she who had to put up with all those 6...7...8 hour training days leading up to the race. I can't put into words how much I appreciate it, Mer. Love you.