I did it! I did it! I signed up for my first Ironman. My journey to becoming an Ironman starts now for sure.
I know I mentioned in this story, https://ironmaninthesnow.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/why-i-want-to-be-an-ironman/, my first Ironman was going to be IMAZ2013, but I can’t wait that long. I signed up for Ironman Couer d’Alene, IMCDA, in Northern Idaho. http://ironmancda.com/ The race will take place June 23, 2013. Signing up for the race was bitter sweet though. The registration opened up at 3 PM Eastern time. Might be wondering why I care about EST when I live in Utah, well I have to come back to Tennessee for a week.
My dear sweet grandmother was laid to rest the Monday that registration opened up. I flew home on June 21. 2012 to be with my grandmother while she was in ICU and ultimately her death bed. I was fortunate enough to send her off with a kiss to her forehead and letting her know I love her. Upon leaving the hospital I went for a run with a good friend of mine since I didn’t want to be there in her last seconds. I am glad I made that decision. I have meant to post this for a few days, but my mind has been elsewhere to say the least.
Once I learned the funeral would be Monday, I knew I would have to figure out how to register for IMCDA. The funeral and burial ended in a somber tone around 2 o’clock. While I didn’t really care at the moment the funeral was over about the race I figured I should try to register on my phone. Thanks to logistics help from friends I was able to register immediately when registration opened. This race will be ran in memory of my grandmother instead of the selfish reasons of showing everyone who said NO that I can do it. I know I can do it and running the race in memory of my grandmother will give me even more motivation to kick the races behind.
I even decided to sign up for a donations page. No the money will not go to me haha instead it will go to support the research of finding a cure of Alpha-1. Read about it here: http://www.alpha1.org/newly-diagnosed/what-is-alpha-1
If you know me, you know that I was determined to be a carrier of the disease. While that doesn’t mean I necessarily will succumb to the effects of it, I could or just pass it down to a child. It would be awful ways to pass away; so I figured why not support this cause. There aren’t many people that even know of it so raising awareness is always a good first step.
So now I am less than a full year from my first full Ironman and could not be any more excited. I want to start training today, but I know I will suffer from burnout if I started today. I am thinking after Aug 25, the Utah half-iron, I will take some time off to rest. It will have been over a year since I took any time off and I currently feel it in my body. I currently am a bit lethargic so I think some time off could be really good for me. You will for sure be able to track my progress here and you can even donate to my charity site here: http://www.razoo.com/users/02wyve
Thanks for reading and be ready for a lot more posts about everything in life since now it is go time!
I want to first off say sorry for the lack of stories, but for some reason life sometime likes to get in the way. I have only done race recaps lately since it seems that is all I have done. Every day seems to be the same, wake up complain about being physically tired, go to work, work way too much, come home and train. I know this seems extremely boring to most people, but the goals I want I have to make sacrifices for them. Who wants a personal life anyways?
Having three triathlons the last three weeks has been rather taxing as well. I hadn’t done an Olympic tri until two weeks ago, but I had two in a row. I did pretty well in both. I got on the podium on this last one, and just barely missed the podium in another. Work has made training difficult, but I haven’t seen a huge lapse in my times. I was slower in my second Olympic, but the first one I did had a shorter bike ride by 3 miles. I figured the times were a wash.
Coming into T2 from one of the recent races.
I spent the entire last week in Canada doing work stuff. I was only able to squeeze a couple of runs in. I took my wetsuit, but I found out swimming in the pond could have gotten me in trouble. Last thing I want to do is go to jail in another country. So I focused on the thing I hate the most, speed work. I ate awful and my diet changes so drastically when I travel, it is the number 1 reason why I HATE to travel.
I am glad to be back home in Utah now though where I am able to focus on my weaknesses and diet. Those actually tie hand and hand together. It seems I get lazy when I get home from a workout and would rather make something quick instead of wait and cook something healthy. This is a big weakness of mine. In order to correct them though you have to admit them though right?
I have been working on a couple more editorial type stories instead of race recaps, but I get so frustrated. I finish it and save it to look at it later and then when I open it again I hate it. So I delete it all to start over. They aren’t anything difficult to write about but I just want everything to be perfect with it. I seem to be slacking in just about every manner and I blame my lack of energy. I put so much into my racing and work I seem to not have much time for anything else.
When I wake up every morning my legs feel as if they just ran 20 miles. This year I have learned 2 marathons 3 weeks apart if a good way to make your legs exhausted, but I also have a trouble with this thing my Tri Team’s Coach Lora, https://twitter.com/#!/blonderunner , rest? I honestly don’t know how to do this. I have read countless articles and heard various people talk about how rest affects your body positively, but I feel lazy when I rest. I get so frustrated with myself and my thoughts towards myself become negative. Then I end up running, biking, or swimming in order to clear my mind. This might explain why my legs are always tired.
I am taking it easy when it comes to races, and instead focus on technique and speed. I want to be the best I can be so in order to do that I will continue pushing myself. I have learned so much about myself physically and mentally in the past year since I started racing. I don’t feel I do too bad since I have only been running at any distance for 2 years and racing for not even a year yet. I have been on several podiums and know I will continue to get better. I have my weaknesses, and I am not afraid to admit them. I have a ways to go in regards to getting to where I want to be though. I just need time and determination, good thing I have ample amounts of both.
Have you ever given what you thought was your all but you still fall short? Yea, that was me today. I pushed harder today than I had in my previous two triathlons. I got on the podium for those, but no such luck today. This was my first go at an Olympic distance triathlon. I went in somewhat nervous, but mostly tired. Last night I slept awful having all kinds of dreams about doing an Ironman. Yes, I want to be an Ironman that bad.
Once the alarm went off it was go time! I started this morning slightly different than I have for any other race. Instead of my usual thing of Ensure, I instead had a bagel with peanut butter. I am indecisive if I like the change and will probably go back to Ensure since it is easier on the stomach.
If you are unfamiliar with the Olympic distance triathlon, the distances are as follows: 1500 Meter open water swim, 33 Kilometer bike ride, then a 10 Kilometer run. For the most part, it is twice the distance as a Sprint triathlon. The race took place close to the South Jordan area so it was super close to the house. With the transition are opening up at 6, I was figured arriving around 6:30 would be perfect this morning. Since I got there so early, I was treated to a lovely sunrise. I swear I live in paradise.
Getting everything ready is always fun. I have learned though being on a triathlon team has made prerace times so much more enjoyable. You are able to socialize and just enjoy one another’s company. This really helps calm myself down to focus more on the race instead of what could go wrong. One issue I seem to have is leaky goggles. This is one thing that really aggravates me, but I bought new goggles so I was hoping they wouldn’t fill with water.
Line up to get in the water would occur at 8, so after our usual team warmup it was time to head down to the water. The entrance though was roughly ¾ of a mile from the transition area. Walking that far without shoes on really made me have more respect for the barefoot runners. Once I got to the beach, I threw my wetsuit on and jumped in for a few minutes. My age group was the first one to be called, but I really wanted to ensure I had a good seal on my goggles since I wanted to be able to see.
The race volunteers called number 1222 so it was time for me to start swimming. The swim I felt started strong, but I got passed. When I say I got passed I was getting smoked by it felt everyone. At one point I was so worried I looked back to make sure I wasn’t in last place. I swear I swim with a controlled drowning. I stayed calm though because I knew on the bike I could make up the time I lost. This is what I had been able to do before at least. The pond was pretty nice and not too much occurred in the water. I just had to keep moving. The swim though took me 31:36. This also included a short run to the transition area. Side note: The swim was supposed to be 0.9 miles but my GPS watch recorded a distance of 1.2 miles. Hey look at that the distance of a half-Ironman. I think it is a sign.
Transition was pretty boring like always. I tried to rush and get my bike shoes on and jump on the bike. That took 1:44 which is pitiful. I really need to focus on transitions. The bike course I knew would be fairly easy. It is the longest ride in a race for me, but I was ready. The first 7 miles or so were a slight uphill, but I used that to my advantage. Leaving the gate I went straight to the aero bars with my head down. I was in a rather high gear and a high cadence; PERFECT! This is the way I will make up the time. I started passing people left and right. We got to a roundabout, but one biker went the wrong way. I yelled at him like the good sport I am that he was going the wrong way.
We finally were out of the town and on the long straight road heading to Kennecott. I just continued to pass people. Coming from a running background, I like to think of myself as a somewhat strong cyclist. Once we passed the Sprint turnaround allowed for a nice welcome with a long downhill and a sweeping left hand turn. Taking turns at mach 12 on the bike is a blast! The only thing bad about this particular downhill is the fact we would have to climb it again.
Of course a race will not occur without typical drama for me. When I got to the turnaround point, this guy in a car was just hanging out right before the turn around. SO FRUSTRATING! I yelled something at him then the cop at the intersection said a few things to me, but meh no time to worry about that. RACING COPER! The next 3 miles were a grueling uphill that I tried to tackle as quick as possible. It wasn’t that bad, and I still was making progress on the field.
We finally got to the point of a fun 7 miles of pure downhill. I was off for the races. I love flying down people who look like they are going the fastest they can. My max speed heading down the hill was 40.5 MPH. That is my top speed for sure on the Blue Machine. I learn to trust her more and more each and every race. She is for sure the right bike for me.
Getting back into the transition area was a giant headache! It took me 1:02 to change to my running shoes and grab my bib. The slow down occurred while trying to leave the transition area. People were WALKING yes WALKING to their transition mats. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? You clearly do not have the same coach as me! That is one of the sins of triathlons; walking to your transition area. I bit my tongue so I would not yell at them.
Out on the race it was time to use a little bit of intimidation. I was hoping for around 8 min/mile pace the entire race, but I started out much stronger than that. I figured if I could intimidate a few people if I just ran right passed them with a smile on my face and telling them they look good. This race was different than most. While passing people on the run, I would try to offer a compliment to them most just ignored me. That was pretty lame. Most unfriendly race I have ever been apart in that manner.
There were two laps around the pond we swam in earlier. The first lap was pretty easy, but boy once I started the second lap I was hating it. I was around 7:45 min/mile pace through the first 5K then I fell apart. I ended the run with a time of 54:13. The distance was longer than the 6.2 miles of a 5K though. I ended up running 6.57. For being a flat running course I covered quite a bit of vertical feet. I ended up covering 584 feet in vertical.
After the race I felt like I gave it all. I was dog tired once I finished. I didn’t give into the little voices telling me to walk so I was happy about that. I finally recovered and was able to then cheer on my remaining teammates that were still out on the race course. One of the guys on my tri team we had a good time joking around with one another on who would win. He started later than I did since I am a young buck, but I was so happy to see him cross. He knocked off 50 minutes from his PR. Yes 50 minutes! Holy cow that is awesome! Great job Jordan!
I knew I would not place and I did not. I am currently in a stretch of 3 triathlons in 3 weeks. I also leave for Canada Sunday afternoon. This was a warmup race for my Olympic tri I have next weekend in Idaho. I am pretty excited about this race. We had two teammates podium and I was so stoked for Rachel. Here is her blog. http://www.utahtrigirl.com/ You should check it out. Also Chris won his age group. My team is full of just great people in general and I swear I am on the best tri team there is.
What I Learned:
I learned I can do a sprint. I truly believe I can tackle a half-iron today if I was given the opportunity. I need to work on more brick workouts. I think more bricks will really help me. I need to get faster in the swim and run. I am a runner true, but I really need to get faster.
What I Enjoyed:
When I was out on the bike a smile just struck me. I was so happy. It dawned on me I straight up love triathlons. I am really new to this entire thing. I have a long ways to go in order to be the best athlete I can be, but I might be better at these than just running. I love just being so happy out on the course. Sure I am in pain, but I am in pain with a smile on my face.
Will I race this event again:
Absolutely! The only thing I would change was the lack of finisher medals! I wanted a medal to remember my first Olympic tri with. Oh well! All intersections were closed so I didn’t have to worry much about traffic except the ding dong at the turn around point. I will definitely sign up for this race next year. I will also place next year.
After the race I ran up into the mountains. Not many people will do a triathlon and then try to snowboard. I have a streak of 20 straight months of being on snow. No way was I going to break this streak. I headed up to Alta to get a few turns in. I was surprised by how much snow there way. I hiked just to a ridge and there was a snow patch that nearly went to the bottom. I just opted to get a little over 1,000 vertical feet in. It was so nice to be on the snow. I always forget how much I miss and love the snow. This made for 21 straight months and 79 days on snow this season.
I live in the perfect place for me. So thankful I moved here.
Starting your weekend off with a Triathlon always seems to do the thing to do right? Well as of Thursday May 31, 2012, I was not planning on doing anything this weekend besides rest. I have a couple triathlons the following two weeks so I was wanting to rest. I wanted to check the race and results schedule on here to update it, but then I noticed I had a tri this weekend. Oh NO! I have a tri in two days and I am so far from mentally prepared it isn’t funny.
With a quick search in Gmail to see if I paid for the tri, it was all signs go! So since I already paid you better believe I am going to get a nice race in. No time to mentally prepare, but I have been pretty active for the most part since the Fargo Marathon. I knew that I would be able to do decent, but my legs are still so tired. One thing I have learned this summer, DO NOT run 2 marathons in 3 weeks. Your legs tend to hate you.
I have no bounce to my legs currently, so I will run a tri to get over it. Today started with arriving at, fellow team member, Chris’s house in order to car pool down to Salem, UT. It isn’t a far drive, but riding together was pretty enjoyable. He printed off the course map and we were able to discuss the course since he had done it a couple times. There were 4 of us total and 4 bikes, we were quite a show to see. Below is a photo of the car fully loaded. My bike is on the right. The blue machine I have not formally named her yet 😦 I’m a slacker.
No worries, I am just as surprised as you are we all fit. Thanks Chris for driving! Well getting to Chris’s house at 6:20 in the morning was a chore, but he only lives a few blocks from me. We got everything loaded and we were headed south. I tried to get pumped up for the race, but I just couldn’t. I slept really bad last night and just no desire to do anything it seemed. I really wanted to rest. No time to rest when you have your first open water tri. That is one thing that has always had me concerned was the open water. I know swimming is my weakest sport, but I am working on it.
We got to the race and I had to still do packet pickup. Once we finally got everything setup in the transition it was time to relax and just breathe. I was able to tune out a little bit and try and get into my racing mindset. Nope still wasn’t feeling it UGH! This is just going to be a middle of the pack race I was thinking the entire time. The view from the transition always makes me feel better though.
After the MC did his spill, it was time to finish getting the wetsuit on and go play in the water. The swim consisted of an 800 meter open water dip. I am so thankful that I looked at the website last night. I was planning on just going there without the wetsuit. The website listed that wetsuits were mandatory. HA I caught a break with that one. Well since I am still a young gun, I started in the heat after the pro/elite category. Once we were going I was very nervous. I went straight to anaerobic it seemed immediately. I think my nerves had to do a bit with it.
I got kicked in the head a few times. What a great way to start a race eh? Since I just recently learned how to spot, I just kept the big orange buoy in my site. There were people around me that were piss poor at doing this. One guy I swear was making Z’s while swimming. He swam on top of me a couple times. So annoying. If he would have gone straight he would have killed the swim. Due to getting kicked in the head and continuously hit by other people, I swear I drank over a gallon of lake water. The lake was straight up nasty though. I was told earlier in the day they found a dead body in the pond a few years ago. GREAT!
Once I saw the beach it was go time. People were swimming to the buoy on the beach, but I just swam to the closest point on the beach. This worked out perfect for me and it was legal. I jumped out of the lake and started running. My conquered at least halfway my first fear. The second part of open water swimming is removing my wetsuit in a timely manner. I saw my angels. Attractive females yelling out strippers; can life get better HA!
I had the girls help me remove the top of my suit. I figured I could remove the bottom half pretty quickly once I got to my bike. The downfall to this tri is the distance running between the beach and the transition zone. I swear it was like 0.2 miles from the beach to transition zone. I ended with a swim time of 14:20. While the ladies were helping me strip down, I accidently hit the pause button D’Oh. That made me loose a few seconds from my Garmin time and my official time.
Getting to the transition I felt awful. I knew I had to continue plugging away though. Throw my socks, bikes shoes on, and my helmet then run to the mounting area. Once I was on the bike I figured it would be downhill for me. I have learned generally I do pretty well on the bike and pass a lot of people. This time it was different for me. I felt AWFUL!
The lake water really started screwing with my stomach. I got pretty nauseated, but knew I could power on. Only like an hour or so left right? Getting into the aero position was just tough. I felt like I wanted to puke I even tried to puke while riding. The lake water didn’t want to come back up. I guess I would just have to tough it out. No way was I going to stop.
The bike consisted of 2 – 6 mile loops. There were a few hills and we covered 553 vertical feet total on the two laps. On the first lap I became pretty defeated mentally. I had several people pass me that were on really nice bikes, but I didn’t have anyone in my age group pass me. I am sure that there are tons of people in my age group way ahead of me.
The streets were pretty beat up in terms of rough pavement. On my second lap, there were a lot more people on the bike course. This is for sure the benefit of starting before others. It seemed I wasn’t really able to get over on the right side of the road like you are supposed to due to people just going slow. Thankfully though, I had a nice deep burp which helped clear the air/water swallowed on the run. Time to hangout in aero position and just try to pass as many people as possible. My second lap was nearly 2 minutes faster so clearly something changed.
Getting back into transition was a breeze. I passed a couple guys right before I went into the chute and got yelled at for going too fast. Whoops don’t have the transition at the bottom of a hill! The bike course took me 35:21 to complete it. The transition only involved throwing my running shoes on and my bib. I was there for a total of 1:17. I blame the length of this on the amount of running I had to do once I got in there.
I broke one of my big rules on this race. My shoes are DEAD. They have roughly 400 miles and 2 marathons on them. It was time to get new ones. So what do I do Friday night? I buy new shoes of course. Having never worn them, I figured I would still be ok since I only had a 5K to run. The run course was tough I will say.
It seemed the sun decided to come out on the run course and I was fading. I swear the first 1.5 mile was uphill the entire way. The aid station couldn’t have come soon enough. Since I felt pretty bad on the bike, I didn’t take in enough fluids. Once I reached the aid station I took in a GU and drank water. This helped provide me the spark I needed. I might have gotten passed by several people, but yet again no one in my age group passed me. This point I am hoping for an AG top 10 finish.
Once I had .4 miles left on the run I really tried to book it more. The entire race I felt like I wasn’t moving very fast. I knew I wasn’t but I did end the run with a 7:52 min/mile average. This includes walking the aid station so I will take that. I would have been happier with a 7:15 min/mile pace, but oh well always next race.
Crossing the finish line was really nice since no one was behind me. I finished with a total time of 1:17:54. My goal was for 1:10, but I honestly did not know what to expect this race. I was happy with my time since I felt so bad on the bike. After cheering on two of our other team members across the finish line, I figured I would go look at my placement. What do you know 3rd place overall! This makes 3 multisport races and 3 podiums. I am starting to think they might not be a fluke after all. I really enjoy this triathlon thing. There is not a photo of me on the podium; my dumb phone was acting stupid. This is a good looking group of teammates. I swear I am on the best triathlon team in Utah. Go to the facebook page and give us a Like https://www.facebook.com/TeamBlondeRunnerTriathlon
Chris, the guy on the right, and I we both won 3rd place in our respective Age Group. Below are the medals we won.
What I Learned:
I learned that I might not be as bad at this whole triathlon thing as I though. I did learn a lot about open water swimming since it was my first race involving it. Being able to continue to spot the buoys really helped me out a lot.
What I enjoyed:
I really liked the entire race. Getting on a podium will never get old. I will say my most enjoyable moment was passing a 63 year old man. I passed him and just thought boy I sure hope when I am even in my 50’s I am able to get after it like this guy. I don’t know the guy, but he is for sure a hero of mine.
Will I race this event again:
Absolutely! This was a super fun race, and I know that this race is pretty competitive from talking to people afterwards. Whenever I can get on a podium I will enjoy the race. It seemed very organized with plenty of volunteers. Overall a very fun event!
Have you ever done something illogical for a person of the opposite sex? That is what this race was for me. A girl I met a couple months ago knocked herself silly on a tree out here in Utah and let us just say we have kept very much in touch since she lives in Minnesota. I had this great idea to join her in Fargo since she was running her first half-marathon and I particularly enjoy running. Since she suffered a severe concussion on the tree, she ended up walking the half in Fargo. She still finished which I thought was pretty awesome for someone who was unable to train in any manner. Perseverance gets you through anything.
Well this started on a whim that I would join her for the fun that is Fargo. The logo is Fast, Flat, Friendly. Having run the Country Music Marathon three weeks ago I was pretty scared terrified of this race. My quads mainly have felt heavy on all runs since Nashville. I haven’t had the bounce to my step that I so thoroughly enjoy. Yes, I also raced last weekend and did pretty well, but I still think I could have done better if it hadn’t been for Nashville. Having rolled my ankle pretty severely a week after Nashville or two weeks before the Fargo Marathon really couldn’t have helped my odds out either.
There were several factors that brought the fear into my system. First was the piss poor race I ran in Nashville. 4:35 marathon time really? I should have just stopped running all together after that time. I am better than that on my worst day, or so I believed. I also hadn’t even mentioned to anyone about my legs being heavy since I figured if I don’t say anything it can’t be true. Generally waking up every day they were still tired. I know REST is what my body was screaming, but I am 26 so still young, dumb, and invincible right? No worries, I will still believe that whole heartedly when I am 75. Age is just a number anyways.
I left work Thursday and flew to Minneapolis to cheer on Shanna, the girl I was going to see, in her one mile race she was doing that evening. She had to walk that one as well, and I could tell it really ate at her having to walk. I felt bad but was stoked for her to get out there and competed. She will bounce back might still be a few months away, but she will be running soon enough.
Like I mentioned above I pretty much don’t know how to rest. The training called for an easy 2 mile run. Since it is triathlon season though, I brought my wetsuit and wanted to get some swimming in. This is the land of 10,000 lakes or some nonsense like that. I am pretty bitter I only counted 38 lakes the entire time I was there. 10,000 pshhh they are tripping. Not to digress, Shanna thought it was rather funny I went out into the lake to swim. The water was rather chilly and I forgot my lube at her place. I only got about 1000 yards in according to my Garmin before the chaffing started on my neck. Since I was running a marathon the next day I opted to go back to land.
I brought my bag with my so I did a quick transition and was on my way to run a nice easy run. What should have been a nice stroll of around 9 min/mile pace I figured a 7:30 pace was what my body wanted. Of course though my legs were heavy the entire run but I had a nice stroll around one of the 38 lakes I country in Minnesota. Once I got back to her place it was time to pack up and become Fargo bound!
I had never been to North Dakota so I was extremely excited to head to Fargo. I know who gets excited about North Dakota right? Well due to Shanna’s whacked noggin, I ended up driving most of the way which was a pretty nice drive. In case you were wondering, yes, the wind does blow an awful lot in western Minnesota. We went straight to the Fargodome when we arrived to the beautiful metropolis that is Fargo, ND. It was packet pickup time. I was rather surprised/disappointed in the fact they did not have any safety pins for the bibs. So I took my usual dirtbag approach to this type of situations. I looked on the floor and found tons of them! Score I don’t have to buy / barter with anyone for safety pins. Regardless I got my bib and was ready to rock the race. Why yes that is my name I chose for the race.
It was pretty cool the fact they had the 5K race the night before. I had been tempted to sign up for it and run it leisurely, but I was super glad I did not. The heat there was just STUPID! It was like being in Nashville all over again. I would have died. Once we finally fought the traffic and got to Shanna’s Aunts hours it was time to rest.
An interesting thing the Fargo Marathon does is start the Half before the Full. I understand why they do this, but it still irritates me. If the heat had been the same as it was on Friday I would not have finished the race most likely. Thankfully a cold front moved in and start time temperature was around 60 degrees. Score! The full started at around 8:15 and there were not many people running it. I tried to do my usual routine of stretching and I ran about a half mile before the race to just stretch it all out.
I walked up to the start line roughly 5 minutes before it was to begin. There were people holding signs for corrals. I picked the 4ish hour corral since I figured I could shoot for that. Realistically, I was shooting for 3:45 or 3:40. I know I can do that time even though my PR of 4:23 does not reflect that.
The entire morning I had a fear of my legs being so heavy and once I nosed the start line the feeling hadn’t lifted. I was worried about my ankle, my hip, and my legs coming into this race. The funny thing is the ankle and hip is all on one side so at least I have 1 good side right? The first couple of miles went by without much.
I did my usual of telling myself to slow down. I was running roughly an 8:20 pace through the first 5K and I felt good. My legs were a bit heavy but I tried to tell myself they were not. The mental games I play with myself during a race is nearly insane I believe. I don’t know of the mental games other athletes play but I swear I play more with mine than others. I continued to pass people and get passed by others. Perfect it seems that this is where I wanted to be. The 60ish degree “heat” was perfect running weather as well.
Once I made it through the first 10K of the course I clocked though at still an 8:20 pace. I felt I was running really smart. I felt I could even write the book at this point on running smart. Talk about setting myself up for failure eh? The wind had died down so I felt I was on top of the world. Walking through each and every aid station to drink only water for filling up my sweet water bottle fanny pack I bought after Nashville.
Having such a terrible experience with Gatorade I knew I had to bite the bullet and purchase one. I had NUUN tablets in the water bottles and GU in the fanny pack. Talk about a good looking guy that’s for sure. Once I crossed the half marathon line I thought I had a realistic opportunity to smash my goal. I crossed the half at 1:51. What could possibly go wrong? This was the type of race I knew I could put together. Side note: 1:51 is my second fastest time for a half mary.
I knew I just had to stay together and continue telling myself that my legs were not tired. That is simple I figured. This was actually a really nice part of the race course as well. It was through a very residential area where a lot of people were cheering and just having fun. It was really good to see just an awesome vibe. It didn’t hurt that I was running along a lot of people wearing their BAA, Boston Athletic Association, gear on, which made me feel like a balla.
Around the 17 mile mark though my legs were screaming at me to walk and take a break. I tried a 45 second walk on each mile. When the GPS read 7:15 for my current mile I would walk until it read 8 minutes. This was a great strategy since my legs felt great after walking as well. The downfall is that I was also still walking through aid stations.
Sticking to this strategy for roughly 3 miles I still felt really good. Around mile 20 though my legs were telling me I will get in under 4 hours and I should start walking more. Stupid legs tricked me. I started taking two walk breaks, and after each break it was much more difficult to run that after the previous break. Clearly the thing I needed to fix this was food. I was saving my Bonk Breaker bar for mile 24. I figured a nice delicious random looking Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich is what my body would want. I went ahead and had half of it around mile 21. Only 5 miles left I could do this I thought.
Then at the 21.5 mile spot my saving grace appeared. People handing out PINEAPPLE! If you actually know me on a personal level you know I LOVE pineapple. That is like my favorite fruit ever. I still continued to crash and crash hard for that matter. At roughly the 24 mile mark I mentally wrote off the 4 hour mark. I knew I only had 2 miles left, but I was so tired and sore no way would I cross it in time. At about this point the 4 hour pace group passed me. If you want to talk about morally deflating that is it.
I tried to keep up with the group but my legs just would not move fast enough. I didn’t want to look like a fool and just fall down while chasing this group. So I did the next best thing, I walked and changed to a song that would lift my spirits. The whole time I was thinking there is no way I am letting that stupid 4:15 group pass me.
The stroll from there to the end of the race was a mere mental battle. It was mainly with my body wanting to run, but my legs screaming no. I finally convinced myself on the last half mile rest was for the weary and it was time to get my tail in gear and get to running. I paid the money to run so I better run. The finish was pretty uneventful except getting cut off by the relay team. The team opted to run across while holding hands. Pretty lame if you want my opinion. I totally should have played Red Rover with that group if I had been thinking in a clear mind.
Even though I was pretty stinking tired after the run, I got my medal on preceded to the snack line. Since I was tired and ready to call it a day I might have saw an opening in line and took it. I took 3 half pints of chocolate milk. Yes, I love chocolate milk more than anything. They also had cookie dough on the table which I was completely stoked on. I don’t know if I have ever had a better post race meal than chocolate milk and cookie dough.
After the race, my Garmin read off a time of 4:04:54. This is a PR by roughly 19 minutes. The time is also improved upon my Nashville time of 31 minutes. While I set a PR by almost 20 minutes, I was still rather bummed about it. I do want a 3:45 marathon time. I have kept that pretty much to myself until now. I will try again most likely in October. Now I will switch my focus to triathlons since apparently I seem to perform much better in those. Here I am relaxed and rather tired after the run. Always is a good day when you can run a marathon and set a PR. It might not be the fastest, but it is a PR regardless.
This was my first triathlon I have ever done. It will be a long journey before I can call myself an Ironman, but it was an integral step for it to happen. I tried to go into this race with an easy, almost nonchalant attitude, but I was so excited. I woke up at 5:15 and was ready to go. I didn’t have to be in Bountiful until 7, so needless to say, I had plenty of time on my hands to burn. After listening to various songs and such it was finally time to throw the bike in the car and head North.
I found a parking spot and saw my new buddy Jon getting his stuff into the transition area. There was plenty of time to joke around and such since the race actually didn’t start until 8. After getting an awesome TBR (Team Blonde Runner) tattoo on the leg and getting marked up it was time for out team warm up. We ran a nice slow mile and ran at race pace for roughly 20 seconds. Once we got back outside it was time to head inside to the pool. Photo below was taken right before we went inside to the pool. All smiles!
The first leg of the triathlon was a short 350 yard swim. I knew swimming was my weakest event, so I signed up for the 8 minute group hoping for the best. The worst thing that happened to me in the race actually occurred before it even begun. While standing on the edge of the pool waiting to jump in, my goggles broke off my head. I guess the old hand me down goggles tried to fail me before my first race. This was not a good start.
I escaped that crisis by doing some rigging to the goggles, and was able to salvage them after all. The funny moment of the race went to the girl who had no idea what she was doing. Instead of changing lanes on each lap, she tried to go down the same lane a couple times. Once she finally figured out to change lanes, there was a roaring Bronx cheer from the crowd. Of course I joined in on the excessive cheering as well.
Once it was finally time for me to jump in the water I was good to go. The race started with a staggered start, which really helped alleviate some of the crowds. The first few laps went by without much drama, but once I started to catch up to people, it was on. At one point I was trying to get around this girl so I touched her ankle, pretty common protocol to get past people on swims, and she freaks out. What does this gal do? She starts to kick violently and it appears that she doesn’t want me to pass her. So I decide I don’t have time to play these games, and I fall back until the next lane. Once I got to the wall and shot off on the outside part of the lane. I sort of had to force myself over and she began yelling obscenities at me. So I begin to laugh.
The only eventful thing that ended up happening in the pool after I passed that crazy broad was a nice race a guy and I had to the ladder. Of course I won. Sometimes I hate being so competitive, but then I remembered how much fun winning is HA! Once I got out of the pool I ripped my sweet orange goggles off and ran towards the transition area. I finished the swim in 6:39. I was really surprised by that time for sure. Photo below is running from the pool to the transition area. Speed is key.
On my duathlon https://ironmaninthesnow.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/the-legacy-duathlon-long-course-recap/ , the transitions were my weakest spot. Transitioning from swimming to biking this time was much better. I threw my socks, shoes, and helmet on in 1:03. Once I got to the area to mount on your bike I was off. All I could do on my bike was gear down and ride in the aggressive position. At this point I started feeling pretty good and continued to pass people. The bike was fairly uneventful except I did get passed once. I generally don’t do well getting passed, but that guy was an animal. It was so nice being out on the bike.
Once I was roughly a mile or so from the transition zone, a stinking train stopped me. There were several people that were stopped by the train as well. This delayed me for a little over a minute. However, I did see Jon hanging out waiting on the train, so him and I chatted briefly. Once the arms were raised, it was go time for a race to get back to the transition area. I was determined to pass as many people since everyone bottlenecked together waiting on the train. The 12 miles were completed in 34:08 with a max speed of 31.2 MPH.
Getting back into the transition was pretty easy. This time all I had to do was change my shoes, take my helmet off, and clip my number belt on. I will say that Lock Laces might be the greatest invention ever. You just slip your shoes on and run. Who needs to tie their shoes anymore? Transition 2 only lasted 43 seconds. See I am getting much faster with this stuff after all.
The last leg of the race involved a 5K run. My Garmin watch said the run was 3.3 instead of the 3.1 though. At the beginning of the run 3 guys passed me, but they were in my sights the rest of the race. Since I tried to push it on the bike, my legs were somewhat baked for the run. I started pretty strong though. Below is a photo of me just a little bit out of the transition area starting the run.
The first mile started with me putting down a 7:29 which surprised me since I thought I was running around 20 seconds per mile slower. I knew I wanted to keep my pace below 8 minute miles for the duration of the run portion. At around the 1.5 mile mark, there was a sign that said 1 mile. I thought that was pretty funny and I am sure it confused some people. After you made a turn off of the main road it was pretty much uphill for the last 1.5 miles of the run. I put down a 7:48 and a 7:47 minutes per mile for the next two miles. The run ended with a time of 24:20 and this involved stopping at an aid station since I was rather parched. Coming down the stretch I am almost home. I look like death in this photo, but I am surprisingly feeling pretty well.
After the race I am all smiles like always.
I crossed the finish line with an official time of 1:06:53. This was well enough for 2nd in my age group and 16 overall. I won a sweet towel for my second place finish and it is shown below. I was happy with my time, but realized there were spots I could have done better. With this being my first triathlon ever, I was pretty happy with the results though. Now I know what to work and will improve. I really needed this race though after two weekends ago with my marathon. I wanted a nice positive race to go into Fargo with next weekend. Now bring on the next marathon. Below is my second place prize as well as the medal. The medal has a bottle opener on it, time to have a cold one!
What I Learned:
On this race, I swallowed a lot of water. I messed up my stroke and ended up taking in a lot of water. I was proud of myself for not stopping rather I just tried to swim through it. There was a bit of coughing and such, but this was a very enjoyable race. As my first tri I felt I competed pretty strong and was happy with my results.
What I enjoyed:
The entire event was super nice. I would have to say my favorite thing is that the medal has a bottle opener on it. I think that is AWESOME!
Will I race this event again:
I will for sure do this race next year. It was a fast and pretty flat course. I am now looking forward to my next triathlon.
This race has been on my schedule since shortly after finishing the Rock N’ Roll Las Vegas Strip at Night marathon. After that debacle, I vowed to never race in a Rock N’ Roll Marathon series event again. Well a few short months later here I was signed up to run in the Country Music Marathon. One side note that might be considered funny, I hate country music and there was live country music along the entire course. The race was scheduled to occur on Saturday April 28. 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee and I flew into Chattanooga, TN, my hometown, on the Thursday before. I hadn’t been home since October so I was able to make dual purpose trip in order to see family as well as run 26.2.
The weeks leading up to the event I was extremely nervous about the heat and the humidity that is associated with the weather in the South. While preparing for the run, I did little to no running in the heat, and on top of that, absolutely zero runs were humid. I knew from the summer before when I visited that my body doesn’t enjoy running in the wet heat that is found in the South. I told many friends I was concerned over that, and I tried to put that in the back of my mind with setting up a full proof nutrition plan for race day. If you have read a couple of my stories, you know I have talked about the issues with find the proper nutrition plan during a race.
On Friday my old college roommate, Steven, and I went for a warm-up jog around beautiful downtown Chattanooga. It was nice to get the 2.2 miles in that we did and the time of day would put my scare about humidity to the test. Well, since it was such a short run I wasn’t bothered and ran pretty well. This helped ease my fears that I had developed in my mind about how the humidity and heat would just kills my run. After a quick lunch with my uncle, we headed North to Nashville, TN to entertain ourselves at the expo.
The traffic around downtown Nashville on a Friday afternoon is dreadful to say the least. On the way into the expo though, a rep for Swiftwick needed help carrying in a few boxes to their booth. Since we are southern gentlemen, we were given a pair of socks for our service; SCORE! They then asked me to remove my shoes to see what type of socks I had on. Well of course I had a pair of holy cotton socks on, so again I was given another pair of socks. That’s two free pairs of running socks for helping someone carry a couple boxes.
Once we pick up our race packets and such, we went to the Brooks booth to get the gait testing performed. I was told by the lady I had a very efficient stride. It was the best she had seen all day. That really helped out my nerves for the race. I also won the skee ball challenge at the booth and won a medal for getting the 13.1 hole.
After going to the expo and seeing all of the booths, I started to think that Competitor Group might redeem themselves for the nightmare that was the Strip at Night marathon. My mood was suddenly very pleasant and I knew I was going to dominate this race. After a nice veggie filled pasta dinner at a whole in the wall place, we made our way back to the Hampton Inn to rest, prepare, and sleep before the race. The hotel had a shuttle going to the race, but the downfall to it was that the shuttle left at 4:30 from the hotel.
Arriving in downtown Nashville we were met with a nice chill in the air. My mood continued to increase since I can run with a chill in the air with the best of them. We had a couple of hours to kill before the race started, so we drank an Ensure and ate a banana. There was a little bit of goofing off and a whole lot of people watching. One guy that stuck out had a cut off white T-shirt that wasn’t a straight cut and a ‘stache that would make the biggest child molester jealous. He was the highlight of the morning for sure.
At 6:50 we made our way to the corral. I was supposed to start in 6, but since it was Steven’s first race, I joined him in 9. He and I hadn’t run together since last summer at the beach, but I knew it would be a good time to at least run the first few miles together. We started around 10-15 minutes after the first corral was sent off. That was perfectly acceptable to me since I knew that we would take our time and put down around a 9 min/mile pace.
The run had a lot of rolling hills through downtown Nashville. The views were pretty stunning and it was nice to run with a friend. We just talked and joked around while I continued to monitor the pace. I have a pretty bad problem of starting too early so I wanted to make sure I started slow so I could finish strong. The race weaved around the Vanderbilt campus, and through neighborhoods with plenty of college students out enjoying their morning. Many people at this stage of the race were enjoying Mimosas and various morning cocktails. It appeared everyone was enjoying themselves and this helped the mood of the runners.
We turned down towards music row and got to enjoy all of the record labels promoting their terrible artists. I will see I might have been the only idiot in the entire Country Music Marathon that HATES country music. The entire time though the only thing on my mind was boy I can’t wait until the half-marathoners split off. One of my biggest pet peeves are people who corral up. There were people who were supposed to be in the high teens and above running walking in the first couple miles. If you are walking that early in a race please start in your correct corral. I understand people have to walk, but if your fitness level isn’t there start later. I hate bobbing and weaving in a race.
Around mile 8 somebody had a beer booth. I did the only logical thing, I stopped and grabbed a sip of beer. Right after drinking the ounce of beer, my foot started to feel funny. It seemed as if there was weight on the inside of the ball of my foot causing it to drag on the ground. I have never had this happened before. When I would look down it felt as it I was going to pass out. So I did what an idiot would do; I looked ahead and eventually the foot thing went away. I was pretty concerned about that episode since I was already starting to dehydrate at this point.
A little past mile marker 11, the half marathoners split off to do their own thing. This was a very welcomed split to me. Finally I can run my own race without worrying about dodging people that are much slower than the pace I wanted to run. A little after the split Steven’s dad snapped a couple photos of us. Here is one as we are just running away. This was right before we split up. As you can guess, yours truly is rocking the pink calf sleeves proudly.
Steven had been fighting an ITB issue the entire time on training. Unfortunately, it decided to flare up on him a little after mile 12. We said our good byes and I wished him good luck. I crossed the interstate and turned the music up. It was time to focus on maintaining the pace I set out to maintain. As soon though as we separated, I swear the heat climbed by 30 degrees. It was so stinking hot at this point I roll up my sleeves and try to focus on passing people ahead of me since people started slowing down around me. At this point I am still feeling pretty good, but I needed fluids I could tell.
I swear though as soon as we made the split aid stations were far and few between on the marathon course. Why would you do that to people? Well I turned around and ran in the sun for what seemed forever when in actuality I think it was just a few miles. I passed Steven on the out and back section and we waved. I could tell by his face he was still hurting pretty good. Crossing back over the interstate brought us back into downtown. At one point there was a lady passed out in the median with police helping her. I felt bad for her, but since I couldn’t help I had to continue running my own race. Passing the finish line was rather bitter sweet since I knew I still had 9 miles or so left before I could be back crossing the line.
I started to really cramp up here and hate myself. I was really frustrated. I stopped and stretched for a few minutes. I needed to calm down since I was falling apart and I knew my goal was not going to be met. I thought about just calling it quits right there since I was unable to keep fluids down. Looking back I am glad I didn’t but maybe I should have?
Knowing I just had 9 miles left I tried to tell myself it would be just like a longer week day run and I can do this. I ate a Bonk Breaker bar and that helped a lot. It gave me a lot of energy and helped me starting putting miles back down. I look back and think the Gatorade I had might have made my problem worse. I swear someone added tons of sugar to it when handing it out. I learned a lot about fluids though on the race.
I continued to run and around mile 20-21 my dear friends from Chattanooga were on a corner cheering me on. The entire 5 miles or so before I saw them they were all I thought about. I wanted to stay strong and be able to pass them. I think that might have been a big reason why I didn’t pull myself out. I saw them and I was very relieved to see them. I knew I was in the home stretch at this point. I asked myself how many times have I done 6 miles and felt terrible beforehand? I wasn’t going to get the time I wanted, but I could still PR.
Well right after I passed them, I started to get worse. I started closing my eyes while running since I felt so bad. I was then unable to even keep water down. I was doing a lot of walking and just really not in a good mental state. My attitude was not positive like it generally is and I started to wonder why I was doing this. It seemed after every aid station I would drink some water, and then puke that up. Nothing was staying down. But I persevered and kept my head down and my feet to the pavement.
At mile 24 I had another friend who was waiting for me with her big brown dog. She made a really funny sign that said something along the lines “Don’t stop running, the dog farted”. I enjoyed this laugh and better than that she gave me a beer. If I wasn’t going to get a good time I was at least going to enjoy the rest of my run. The Miller Light with the screw on caps, greatest invention ever. So I just ran with a beer in my hand. I got a few odd looks but I didn’t care at this point.
There was no way I was going to get a PR. I never thought I would say that since Vegas went so badly for me. This was ever worse though. I looked down at my watch, saw the time tick by for my PR and got pretty sad. So I stopped had a couple sips of beer and started running again. I didn’t care I just wanted to finish. As soon as I saw the turn to enter the chute, I was so happy. I ran down the chute with my beer in hand waiting to cross the finish line. I crossed the finish line while having a nice large drink. My time was 4:35:32. Awful yes, I know. I finished 200 out of 370 in my age group.
I am still pretty frustrated at my time. Reflecting on what went wrong I point towards the head. My warmest run was low 70’s without any humidity. I was far from acclimated to the upper 80’s and high humidity experienced on Saturday. After the race though, I treated myself to a nice Philly Cheese Steak sandwich from Dave and Busters. I am not certain it was good, but I was just glad to be done running.
What I learned:
I was so concerned about the humidity. I told pretty much everyone about my fears. Well they turned out to be deserved. I will no longer drink sugary sports drink on the course. I only had a few cups of Gatorade. I tried to avoid it but knew I needed to replenish salt. My nutrition plan worked out pretty well with drinking two cups of water at each station. I don’t think I will adjust the water intake rather the type of electrolytes I receive.
What I enjoyed:
There wasn’t much I actually enjoyed on this race. My time was awful and the music wasn’t for me. The chocolate milk at the finish line though, that was amazing. I love races that offer chocolate mile at the end.
Will I do this race again:
I will never run a Rock N’ Roll Marathon ever again. I will stick to smaller events. These people do not care about the participants, but lining their pockets with money. The money for the entrance fee did not go to St. Jude, but you had to donate on top of the nearly $150 entrance fee so they could get money. What a joke! The competitor group should be ashamed of themselves. Also after the race, Steven needed ice for this knee. They iced him up no big deal, but I was really dehydrated. There were several cases of Gatorade so I asked if I could have a bottle. The lady would not give me one and she was very rude about it too. I told her I was pretty dehydrated so she gave me a pint of hot tap water. Gee thanks lady go kick rocks.
I am now shifting my soreness and attention to the Fargo Marathon. The race is May 19 and I plan on doing really well in it. Hopefully my body agrees with me and allows me to compete.
I started this blog to chronicle my journey of becoming an Ironman. I want to be able to use this as a way to go back and view the struggles and hardships that I encounter on my journey. Personally, there is a lot of respect for someone when I see they have an M-Dot tattoo. I have always been intrigued by the sport of triathlons. I have always watched triathlons on TV especially when NBC airs the Kona race in September. While sitting on the couch at nearly 280 I never believed I could ever compete in any distance race, but now I am slimmed down and ready to tackle the next adventure.
I know I am a daydreamer. A lot of people think about their future, a girl, money, but I am different. I learned I do not need any of that. I am different since those types of things do not motivate me as they do for others. I do though daydream about my training that I will do after work, or the feeling I get after crossing a finish line. This journey will be a very selfish one I know, but since I have no one depending on me for anything, now is a good time. I sit and think all the time about the blood, sweat, and tears that will go into earning the M-Dot, but I know it will all be worth it.
There is a total of 140.6 miles that is required to travel inside the 17 hour time limit. That doesn’t even seem fathomable to most people. Three events broken down as follows: 2.4 miles swim, 112 mile bike ride, and then ending the day/night with running a full marathon of 26.2 miles. The cannon goes off at 7 am and the swimmers hit the waters.
There is a high cost to be a triathlete before you even get to race fees. A lower model tri-bike will easily run you $2,000, a wet suit will set you back a few hundred dollars, and then all of the shoes you have to buy. I still haven’t finished a full year as someone I would call a runner, but I have already gone through 5 or 6 pairs of running shoes. Training is expensive, and then when you look at race fees the costs continue to rise. The Ironman event I am going to register for 2013, Ironman Arizona, will set me back roughly $650. I have learned to cut costs in order to afford the various pieces of equipment and race fees.
I know that the race is a long ways away. I am starting training for it already though. I am doing the Utah half-iron this summer. I want to to start sharing my experiences and hopefully this will help create accountability for myself. I don’t want to just talk about doing an Ironman; I want to be an Ironman.
When I have told people, “Hey I am going to do and finish an Ironman” I get the response, you’re nuts, or you’re an idiot. I have learned a lot about myself in the last year of racing. The one main thing I have learned though is I don’t like being inside my comfort zone. I love pushing well past the point of pain, into the point of insanity I am sure. On some days I wake up 4:30AM hit the gym, go to work, and then after work run back to the gym to bike, and then run back home. The only thing I focus on tends to be training. I know while I am young, or still think I am young, and single, I can devote all of the time in the world to training. I want this too much to not train.
Seeing what our body is made of is what makes this life fun. Besides, who doesn’t love to swim, bike, or run. The rush of endorphins training gives off makes it all worth it, right? Below, is the infamous video of Julie Moss falling and getting passed right before the finish line in 1982 race at Kona. The video truly gives me chills. The determination on her face and will power exemplifies everything that I want to be when it comes to racing.
I have only had a limited background in running. I have only performed 1 multi-sport race and that was this past weekend. How do I know I will be able to continue the training for so long? I don’t know, and I have suffered from burnout, but I do know that when I put my mind to something it is going to happen. I don’t expect to have a mind blowing time, qualify for Kona, or any other wild desires, I just want Mike Reilly, the PA announcer, to say “Logan Julian of Chattanooga, TN you are an Ironman”. Yes I live in Utah, but I will totally represent the hometown.
In order to ensure I am able to get a spot in Ironman Arizona, IMAZ, I am seriously considering going to Tempe to volunteer for this year’s race. I think it would be a great experience and allow me to have a guaranteed spot for 2013. The cost is steep, yes, but being able to say I am an Ironman is priceless.
One thing is for sure, when I toe the line in a year and a half I will give 100% that I have to give for those 17 hours. I know things happen and sometimes you get a DNF, but it will not be because I didn’t try. I was thinking today if it scares me to undertake such a big task and all I could think of was not yes but hell yes it terrifies me. Not only the amount of work and training that goes into becoming an Ironman, but the potential for it all to hit the fan and blow back up in my face. This all goes back around to me enjoying being out of my comfort level though.
Legacy Duathlon Recap:
On Saturday April 14, 2012, I participated in The Legacy Duathlon. I opted to run the long course since well, I am an idiot. The reason I say this is that in two weeks I am running the Country Music Marathon. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to run a 5K, bike 22 miles, and then another 5K run instead of my scheduled 12 miles. I thought hey, this could be some fun cross-training and I am addicted to racing. The race was my first multi-sport event ever and well it went pretty good for me. Below, is a photo of me getting ready for the race.
I started the day like I started the Riverton Half Marathon, https://ironmaninthesnow.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/riverton-half-marathon-2012-recap/, I woke up pretty early and listened to Ambition by Wale. That is my go to song currently on race day, and I have no idea why. I also drank an Ensure chocolate drink. I try to eat a light dinner and just drink an Ensure for breakfast to keep food off of the stomach. If you have ever done an endurance race you know why you don’t want food on your stomach.
I am in the process of joining a tri team, The Blonde Runners, and I got to the race early enough to hang out with and meet the people currently on the team. They are a great group of people that are truly stoked on triathlons. The group is the perfect size and attitude for me, that is for sure. I have a meeting about joining Monday, and if that goes well I might be a new member.
The race had a staggered start so there was a slight gap between each participant. This was a nice start and really helped me run my own race. I did though what I normally did and started further back than I should have. I start so far back in races because I tend to think of my ability as less than it really is. I guess I still am not fully beyond that I used to be instead of what I am today. I came out pretty dang strong running just barely over a 7 min/mile pace. This is where I wanted to be since I figured hey it is just 3.1 miles and then I can rest on the bike. The run course, which I ran earlier in the week with Rachel, was fairly flat and fast. There was a slight hill on the out part and I just did what I do best, put my nose down switch gears and pass people going up the hill.
Since my training routes are so hilly, I feel that I have a much more of an advantage over most people since I can shift gears like that. Once I got to the second aid station it was time to turn around. I looked at my watch and it was showing me 1.08 miles. I was like err WHAT? I am generally pretty good with numbers and no way is 1.08 ever going to be half of 3.1. Apparently, they messed up the distance by right under a mile for each section of the run course. Just means I will be faster right? The run back was pretty mellow passing a few people and trying to encourage other people that appeared to be struggling.
I got into the transition area without much incident. There was gravel all around and since I am clumsy all I could see was me eating a big pile of gravel. Thankfully, that did not occur and I found where I put my bike. All I had to do was put my sweet Velcro shoes on and carry my bike out. Of course I have no idea what I am doing since it is my first ever multi-sport event. It took me nearly two minutes to put my shoes on and secure my helmet. That is terrible if I say so myself. A bunch of people I had passed on the run had already transitioned and were out on the course. Since I am too dang competitive I grabbed my bike and took off.
There was one guy fooling around with his bike where you were supposed to mount at, and since I am impatient I ran around him. So I am carrying and running my bike down the course in a frantic manner, since we all know that those precious seconds mattered. I finally get mounted and start hammering down on the bike. I feel I am doing pretty dang good until these guys, with their even fancier bikes than mine, pass me. I will give myself some benefit here though. The race was only the third time ever I had ridden my bike.
After falling off of my bike, https://ironmaninthesnow.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/little-road-rash-to-start-the-training-season/ I took a week and a half off of riding and instead rode the stationary at the gym before the race. The fall really spooked me on my bike I will say. I started what felt nice and strong. I tried to focus on getting negative splits in 5 mile increments. There was only one moment that stuck out to me on the bike. While riding along the Legacy Parkway, there was a truck that lowered its windows and yelled homosexual slurs to me. I know this was done A) because of the pink calf sleeves B) I can get more girls than he can, so he was clearly upset about it. All I could do is think, “You mad bro?”
This occurred pretty early on the bike and I quickly forgot about it. I then wanted to focus on catching the person in front of me. I kept this tactic up and was able to put down some pretty nice splits.
|
Split # |
Time |
Miles |
Avg Speed |
|
1 |
16:07.2 |
5 |
18.7 |
|
2 |
16:09.2 |
5 |
18.8 |
|
3 |
15:08.2 |
5 |
19.8 |
|
4 |
14:08.7 |
5 |
21.9 |
|
5 |
07:59.1 |
2.37 |
19.6 |
My splits seemed pretty good and stayed negative. The last split however is misleading since I forgot to hit the lap button on my watch to switch to transition mode. So that time is a little misleading.
Once I got back into the transition area I did what apparently I am really good at, stare at my stuff and take way too much time. I had to put my running shoes back on and tie them up. I have decided though that tying your shoes is a giant waste of time. I need to invest in a speed lace system before my next tri-race.
Starting the run my legs felt terrible due to the bike leg. I had done a few brick workouts, going from the bike to running, but it clearly was no enough. If you ever want to feel like your legs are out of control try biking and then running. However, I was still able to catch people and pass people even with exhausted legs. I didn’t have much left, but I did eat a Bonk Breaker bar on the run, and holy cow those things truly work. The run was very uneventful on the out and back.
Once I saw the finish line, I knew I was going to break 1:45. I finished with a time of 1:44:22. That made me pretty stoked since I was shooting for 2 hours. Now I know they messed up the mileage by almost 2 miles total on the run. Would that have put me over 2 hours? Who knows maybe I would have thrown down some sub 7 miles, I wouldn’t count on that though. I probably would have finished right at 2 hours. When I got my print out of my time an placement it told me I was in 25th overall and 3rd in my age group. Say what? I might place in my age group?
I had never placed before so I was pretty excited. It gets even better though. I of course opt to stay around for awards, even though I had a few errands I had to run after the race. When they called out my age group 25-29 year old, I was called for second place? I have no idea how that happened, but this guy finished 2nd in his age group. I now wonder what time I could have gotten if I was able to get a lot more time in on my bike and do more bricks?
Overall, the Legacy Duathlon, was a really fun race. It was organized pretty well with enough aid stations on the course. I didn’t see an aid station on the bike leg, but I had plenty of water and GU packs to keep me going. Even though the run course had a messed up time, that didn’t bother me too much since I know things happen. I would highly recommend this race to any one next year and most likely I will be out there again pink sleeves and all. Here is a photo of me I took from home while celebrating my 2nd place finish HA! If there are any good photos the professional group took of me I will throw them on here later. And yes, yes I do have my Idiots Running Club shirt on. You have to represent right?
Some people say after a LSD run (Long Slow Distance) run that you should rest. Some people rest by taking the rest of the day off or doing things that I consider lazy. I always rest after my long runs. Rest for me though is being in the mountains and enjoying the scenery with friends. Saturday, April 7, was my last long run before the Country Music Marathon. It involved a 20 miler which I handled surprisingly well for not running since Monday due to injury. It ended up running 21 miles in just over 3 hours. That was the pace I wanted so I was stoked on that then it was time to rest.
Well Saturday’s rest involved touring like it normally does. I didn’t go out in the daylight, but there was a 99% full moon. So I did the logical thing, Full Moon Tour. I went out with my buddies Ryan. We had really high hopes for this since it snowed Friday, and we had a great time on our previous full moon tour. Ryan made the plan on the terrain we would hit. He had us going close to the Phiferhorn to take in the beauty of the full moon in the Wasatch. Well we started going and I had the great idea of branching off one skin track and taking this other skin track. I wanted to climb and get a nice workout in.
I wanted to get up on a ridge to take some good photos and sure enough this track took us to a nice ridge. The only problem is that it was roughly 50 degrees during Saturday and below freezing by the time we started. This caused a hellacious skin track due to ice. There was a lot of sliding and frustration setting in on my part. We opted to just boot pack in one area because the previous party completely wiped out the skin track.
We booted up to the ridge and found the skin track again. At this point it is close to 10:30 and the moon is still not out. We start to lose hope that the moon would ever come over the mountains. On the ridge line though, we were able to view the lights of the city. Below is a photo of the beautiful lights of Salt Lake. Saturday night though it was pretty hazy out. Also the 30 second expose isn’t that great when you don’t have the lens or a remote. I must invest in both of those this summer.
We decided then to continue up the hill and maybe find a nice area to wait the moon out. We opted to try and wait it out because the snow was super icy skinning up. We were rather terrified of the ride back down. So we found a nice spot and could see the moonlight behind a mountain. We sat there waiting and waiting for it and then BOOM! There was the moon rising over one of the mountain summits. I do not know which mountain it was since I am unfamiliar with Little Cottonwood Canyon. Below are photos of the moon rising above the mountains.
This photo was a bit shaky, but I thought it still turned out pretty cool. It is so bright in the Wasatch on a full moon.
The ride down was actually pretty good. It had a nice heat crust that was unbreakable, but we found some pretty killer terrain for next year. This was probably one of the last times I will get out this season touring. There are a couple more lines that are on the list to hit this year, but we will see if they get bagged or now. We made it back to the car without much incident and there were no action photos taken. It was just a fun night out with a friend enjoying the views.
ironmaninthesnow 