Savage

2011 SavageMan Triathlon - Westernport Wall #6

(Fast forward to 27:40 on the video. Matt is the guy powering up the hill wearing a white Old Style jersey)

 

Race: SavageMan Triathlon

Race Type - 1/2 Ironman
Total Time - 7h 14m 21s
Overall Rank - 250/390
Age Group - 35-39
Age Group Rank - 35/53

Race Report:

Headed to Deep Creek Saturday morning, with a quick stop in Westernport to see if I could make it up the Wall with the recently installed 11/28 cassette (I failed last month with a 25), made it fairly easily, so I had much more confidence going into Sunday. Packet pickup and racking were uneventful, and by the time I went and checked in at Wisp, it was time to head up to the Carb Dinner. The whole reception and dinner was great, good food, lots of friendly people, and Dave Scott was really down to earth and fun to talked too. I congratulated him on his upcoming victory over me. I didn't sleep very well, and was pretty much awake at 3:30, not cool when your race doesn't start until 8:45.

Swim: 38:41 | 1931 meters | 02m / 100meters

I pretty much focused my swim training on being comfortable for the distance, and not setting the world on fire. I wouldn't say it felt great getting in the water, but it was sure as hell better than standing out in the air.

Normal tumbling at the start, also, realized about five minutes in that I had forgotten to start my watch. Oops. Made it to the turtle turnaround much faster than I had expected, then coming back to the second turnaround at the Swan there was some chop that was a little distracting, but nothing serious.

What would you do differently?: I did the required distances in training, however I've never really done the training sets that make you a faster swimmer. I really should if I want to stop being a back of pack swimmer.

T1:06:49

So running out of the water I had the first of many silly conversations with myself. I was so numb from the water, I actually thought I might be warm enough to avoid most of the extra clothing I had for the bike. Fortuantely, the small part of my brain that contains intelligence said, "Hey, see that smoke coming out of your mouth? That means it is still cold dummy." Hence the long transition time, drying off as much as possible, putting on bike pants and jersey over my trisuit, and finally arm warmers and gloves. I did not regret using any of these items.

What would you do differently?: Maybe just bring a Snuggie to wear and avoid clothing volume?

Bike: 04:01:59 | 56 miles | 13.89 mile/hr

You would think that as hard as the bike course is, any nerves or excitement would be concerning all of the hills, not just one of them. But I'm a guy, and thus, inherently dumb, so all I could think about was the Wall. What if I don't make it? Will that ruin my day? Will I curse the poor volunteers for their grievous sin of helping me get up? Despite all of these thoughts, I managed to multitask and pedal the bike at the same time. Those first 18 miles are downright pleasant, except for that Wall voice in my head.

So, here we go. Passed into Westernport and headed up the small ramp a block or two before the start of the Wall. I shifted to my small front chainring, and of course, the chain wouldn't catch. Panic time. Fumbled blindly with my shifters, and thankfully, somehow, it caught. Then you turn the corner, and it's time for the four block adventure. If they don't already, I think they should have someone recording expressions as riders get their first look up the Wall. Audio might be nice too. I did the first three blocks with a couple gears to spare, then put it into the 28 for the final part. I could hear the noise, and part of me noticed the crowd, but for the most part I just talked/screamed at myself. Here's what the conversation was like over the last block:

Voice 1:"Okay dummy, spin real fast now and stay to the right."
Voice 2:"I don't think I can do this."
Voice 1:"Shut up. Look, that guy that fell to your left, he's blocking everyone else from getting in your way."
Voice 2:"Thanks Voice 1, I think we might do this!"
Voice 1:"Crap, that other guy just fell in your preferred line, veer left right here towards the top and go over that big pothole!"
Voice 2:"WHAT?!?"

And then I was at the top. The race is over, right? I pumped my fist to the crowd and everything, so it's time to go home.

No, not exactly. But I will say, it was an awesome feeling, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the video to see if it really was as crazy as it seemed at the time.

Now it was time to assess things. The clothing drop was just ahead, but honestly the sun hadn't come out and it was chilly enough that my lungs were burning pretty good. I decided to keep everything with me, and it ended up being a good decision. Then, the long slog up Big Savage. Nothing memorable, other than the repeated conversations everyone had on the way up asking whether you had gotten your brick.

I made my biggest mistake of the day at the top of the climb. At the aid station, I got a bottle of water and some salt pills. In juggling both I managed to lose the water bottle, which went spiraling back down the hill. Winning the "Worst Idea Ever" award, I decided I should just keep going and stick it out to the next aid station. It's only 14 miles, right? Never mind there are three really nasty climbs in between. Fortunately (not that I deserved it) I was saved by Ronna, who I talked to for all while on the gentle climb before McAndrew. Besides being really nice in general, she gave me one of her bottles. I suppose now I have to do something nice for someone someday. Although I didn't get to see Ronna finish, I did manage to sneak into her transition area to return the bottle afterwards (it was a nicer, fancy one).

McAndrew and Otto were not bad at all, just grinding out the climb, and then I saw my favorite sign of the day, already mentioned in another race report, "Don't Look Left!". On my training ride last month I didn't think Killer Miller was too bad. Not the case today. Several people were walking their bikes up, and my quads were starting to get that special tingle that meant I was on the verge of serious cramps. There were some good crowds on the ascent though, and that really helped keep me going. Made it to the aid station and actually managed to hang on to the bottle this time. Yay team.

Maynardier wasn't too much of a problem, and I felt I was pretty good to go, until mile 47 when I hit this tiny little hill, and decided to stand in the pedals for just a second or two to stretch things out. Oops. Both quads seized at once. It was bad. "Might not finish the race" kind of bad. Somehow the cramps eased up, and I didn't have to walk the rest of the bike and half marathon doing a double peg-leg stumblefest. I had been hoping to finish the bike leg under 4 hours, but especially given the scare towards the end, I was just glad to get through in one piece.

What would you do differently?: Not a thing.

T2: 02:21

That's more like it. Since I had already put my arm warmers and gloves in my jersey, I just had to take the jersey and bike pants off, change shoes, and out the door I went.

What would you do differently?: Wait a week before coming back to do the half marathon.

Run: 02:24:34 | 13.1 miles | 11m 02s  min/mile

I saw coming in that two break seven hours I'd have to do better than 10 minute miles. I knew it was possible, I just didn't know if it was possible today. I felt great the first two miles, and then my legs started playing a game called "Guess Which Part Will Hurt Next?". Nothing consistent, just roving aches and pains throughout, with an occassional back spasm for good measure. At the aid stations I took on salt, alternated water and Heed, even had some pretzels at one point. I think I was averaging under 10 minute miles for the first half of the loop, but then I hit the fire road. I really did plan on running up it, I swear I did. But when there is someone walking up ahead of you, and you're not catching them while "running", you kinda need to reassess priorities. So, I walked up the last half, then started running again. One funny moment just before mile 6, a spectator shouted (encouragingly) that I was almost done, and her friend chastised her, since you never know if someone is on their first or second lap. I just smiled and said I'd see them in an hour or so. I finished my first loop in about 1:08, so I knew sub-seven hours wasn't happening. Oh well.

Second lap was pretty consistent with the first, although a little slower. This is primarily since I now walked up 3/4 of the fire road. I was feeling ok, and actually passed some people those last few miles. I tried to stay lighthearted, saying goodbye to everyone I'd seen the first time around, and letting that girl (now at mile 12) that it was ok to tell me I'm almost done now. Happily the last mile or so of the run is flat, which was a huge relief at that point since you never get completely comfortable with giant hills that want to destroy your soul. Crossed the finish line, feeling really spent, sore, but overall ok. Nice touch that they had the finish line tape up for me, makes us slow folks feel a little bit prouder.

What would you do differently?: It was what it was. As you'll read below, there is a likely reason I wasn't as fast as I could have been.

Post race

Warm down: Right after finishing BT'r SBRDave found me, having finished well before I did and hearing my name coming down the finish chute. We talked for a bit while I ate a sandwich (great post race food and ice cream by the way). I even got to take a shower after packing up to head home, so I didn't have to drive for three hours feeling like a dirty salt lick.

What limited your ability to perform faster: Yeah, this is the real fun part. I arrived home at around 8PM, and shortly thereafter my wife started exhibiting symptoms of a stomach bug. Same symptoms hit me at 1AM, and it was party one from there, so I assume it was something we caught Friday or Saturday that blew up Sunday night. Did it affect me? No idea, but either way I don't think it kept me from that podium spot.

Event comments: Simply the best supported, organized, and fun race I have ever done. My biggest regret is that I didn't get to fully take in the weekend and enjoy the area. I think I'll do the 70.0 again, but what I really think would be fun would be to run the Olympic on Saturday and then volunteer on Sunday. I've become a bit complacent in my race reporting over the last year or two, this is the first race report in a while that I was excited about writing.

Matt's Race Report: Tune Up Tri

Per tradition, here is Matt's race report on Beginner Triathlete. Yea Matt!!

Race: Tune Up Tri
Race Type: Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group: Male 35 - 39
Time: 0:27:16
Overall Place: 6 / 252
Age Group Place: 1 / 17
Comment: Not exactly an Ironman, but...

Race Report:
Ok, disclaimer first that this was a super sprint, and heavily marketed to beginners, but still, there were some pretty fast folks here, and it was cool to get my first tri-award of any kind.

I did this race two years ago with some friends, it's a fun chance to go out and race as hard as you can without holding back. They do the race backwards due to the weather, so it's run, bike, swim. I stayed down at my cousin's place the night before, and brought our two year old to give my (8 months pregnant) wife a break. I caught a huge break in that my wave was the first off, on such a short course it's easy to get trapped behind or around folks.

Run:

1.4 miles, Time: 8:37

It felt like I ran very consistently. I think I was seventh or eighth in my wave for the whole run. There were a couple of uneven sections with mulch/mud, but nothing too bad. All the turns helped with seeing the folks behind me. I remember looking at my Garmin coming into T1, it measured the course at 1.3 miles. Even at 1.3, I'll take sub-7 miles any day!

T1: :38

Made the right call switching from cleats to toe cages, fastest T1 in the whole event. ;)

Bike:

4 miles, Time: 11:37

I passed one or two people in T1, so I think I was in fifth or sixth for my wave heading out on the bike. I tried to get sped up as fast as I could, since I knew the first 180 was coming up almost immediately. By the second mile I had passed all but the guy who would end up finishing first in the wave (but in all fairness, several of the people I passed were on hybrids and the like). Given the number of turns, I was really happy with being able to average just over 20 MPH. It was pretty funny gunning as fast as you could for a few minutes, and then whoa-ing up to do the hairpins.

T2: 1:08
Almost blew it here. Coming up to the dismount line, a volunteer was shouting to slow down, get ready to dismount, etc. I was braking fine, but two things conspired to almost wipe me out: as I came to a stop the volunteer reached out and grabbed my bike while at the same time my left foot got caught in the toe cage. I did a really fun front wheelie with the back tire coming almost all the way around. Almost ate a catch fence, but I got back under control. Whew!

I had considered going sockless because the race was so short, but it ended up being no problem getting my shoes and socks off, and then headed into the pool.

Swim:

250 yard snake swim, Time: 5:18

I could tell right off the bat that I wouldn't be catching the one guy in front of me, but I did see the guy behind me enter the pool area just as I was getting in. The first couple lengths felt fine, but I was really struggling at the end. The guy behind me got pretty close, but couldn't quite catch me. Hopped out and jogged to the final timing mat.

Snake swims are kind of tricky, since you're ducking under ropes, pushing off, etc. But it was awesome having the lanes to myself. This was only my third swim since like October, so obviously some more prep would have helped.

I knew finishing 2nd in my wave guaranteed I was going to win something, since waves were divided by AG's. I was really excited, since this was going to be my first award of any kind. Some of the younger folks in the next wave ended up smoking the field, plus I found out the guy ahead in my wave was the same AG.

Not sure what happened, but they handed out ONE penalty for the entire race, and it was the guy who beat me, so I got 1st in AG! AND my daughter was there to get my award with me. Sweet.

Ties That Bond (Shoelaces That Is)

Two weeks ago, NES emailed me this story. I almost stole it and posted it up here right then and there. But then I started to get a little pang of guilt with the idea of blatant thievery - and you know - a little lazy too.

Today she has done the work for me! Sweet. Being lazy does pay off.

I present: A day in the lives of two-year-old best friends.

It makes you wonder how much we don't see, huh?

I AM Ironman

Per tradition, here is Matt's race report on Beginner Triathlete.

Pre-race routine:
I arrived in Cambridge Friday afternoon for packet pickup and bike racking. I was really happy I had already thought through what to put in my T1, T2, and special needs bags, so that made getting organized a lot easier. I went to dinner with some folks from my tri club, headed back to the hotel, and actually got a pretty good (Ambien assisted) night of sleep. Woke up around 4, got all my bags to the right locations, and headed to the swim start. Getting started early helped, I didn't feel at all rushed.

Event warmup: Ha! The warmup was swimming the couple hundred yards from the boat ramp to the swim start.

Swim (2.4 miles swim - Completed in 1 hour, 42 minutes)

Comments: Well, I had done swims in rough water before, but I don't think it was ever anything this bad. Things were fine on the outbound leg, but quickly got worse at the turn. With the waves coming in and breaking over your side, it got pretty disruptive, not to mention the lovely side effect of nausea. Fortunately the "side-wave" action was short lived, the reward being another turn to swim directly into the waves. Ugh. Couldn't sight worth a damn on the inbound leg, but was actually pleased coming around on the first lap, hearing that I was at about 43 minutes. The second lap was all the same sensations, just worse because my stomach was feeling worse and worse. I almost lost it about 200M from the finish, started to dry heave. Stopping didn't help, because the bouncing up and down wasn't exactly a yack reliever. So, suck it up move number one of the day was just shutting it out, since there was no way I was going to bail on the swim with the end in sight. I was VERY happy to get out of the water.
What would you do differently?: I could have used more swim volume in training, but really the conditions and resulting inability to sight well had a lot to do with the result.

T1 (transition 1, swim to bike)
Comments: I always pride myself on being pretty quick in transitions. I had been telling myself that I just had to take it easy in an iron distance rate. Happily, the condition I was in getting out of the water guaranteed that I would take all the time I needed in T1. Very helpful volunteers in the tent getting my suit off and packed up. I already had my bike shorts on under the wetsuit, so it was just a matter of putting on my jersey, shoes, and helmet before heading out of the tent.
What would you do differently?: Nothing. I just needed to sit for a few minutes to get my bearings back.

Bike (112 miles - Completed in 6 hours, 51 minutes)

Comments: I knew this was going to be rough when I saw the wind forecast for Cambridge was 10-13 MPH, because once you get outside of town the winds are almost always stronger than the forecast. Sure enough, the first outbound section things felt great, but I could see everyone coming back going significantly slower. Even going (slower) back into the wind, I was feeling pretty good.

The first 30-40 miles were pretty uneventful, other than the wind. I alternated eating a Clif Bar and an Uncrustable every 45 minutes or so, which seemed to be working well. I really got demoralized, however, when I turned onto the road north to finish the first loop. The wind didn't really feel like it had let up, and the road conditions were pretty bad for a few miles in there. One fun part, like last year, the water had covered parts of the road, so there were a few "Wheeeeeeee!" moments riding through.

I finally got to the special needs stop at the high school, and was very happy to see my wife and daughter, who had driven out that morning to watch. There was a brief moment of panic, though, when the volunteers couldn't find my bag. Fortunately, they found it, I was able to reload nutrition, take some Tylenol, and head back out. I wasn't exactly looking forward to lap 2, since I knew the wind, rough patch of road, and mind-numbing distance were all still out there waiting.

All in all though, lap 2 went well. I stayed pretty focused, dealt with the rough patch of road, went through the (now deeper) water, and really just tried to deal with the boredom. Happily, I thought up a great time waster in the last 20 miles. Singing "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" over and over again might not seem like the greatest idea on the world right now as you're reading this, but it worked like a charm to keep me from going insane those last few miles. Or maybe I was already insane, and this was just a manifestation. Similar to Eagleman in June, I was really looking forward to the run, mostly because it meant I wouldn't be on the bike anymore.

What would you do differently?: I guess work on mental focus, but it's already hard on a ride this long, much less with the winds involved.

T2 (transition 2, bike to run )
Comments: Pretty uneventful, but the valet service for the bike was nice. With the water we rode through, I was really happy to have a dry pair of socks to put on, and also put my IT band brace on my right leg (which is the one that has always flared up). In prepping for this, I really thought I was going to have a hard time getting up and leaving the changing tent, but it was just kind of happened without me really thinking about it.
What would you do differently?: Nothing.

Run (26.2 miles - Completed in 6 hours, 9 minutes)

Comments: I actually felt really good leaving transition, and for the first four miles I was actually clicking off 10 minute miles without much effort. I slowed a little on the return leg, but was still back from the first loop in about 1.5 hours. I got to see my wife and daughter again, which was great. I actually thought for a little while that I might be done by 9PM, but, of course, my body had other plans.

Starting the second loop, my IT band starting acting up. But it was the one in my LEFT leg, aka the one without the brace. Okay, time to stop, switch it over, and really hope the right leg didn't act up, or I'd get to find out the answer to a question I've always had, "If someone has a limp in both legs, do you notice?"

I still had no doubt about finishing, I just knew it was going to take longer, and be pretty painful. So, I shuffled along, drinking at the aid stations, tried some soup, and felt my knee get worse and worse. Just before the turn around, I met up with Brian. He made the last half of the marathon a lot more pleasant than it could have been. He seemed to be in better shape than me, but seemed happy to settle into my pace, which involved walking for awhile after aid stations, and then eventually jog/shuffling to the next one. It was great having someone to talk to, mentally it was such a relief after 10 hours of just having your thoughts to yourself. It started raining somewhere on the second lap, which felt good at first, but as it picked up all I kept thinking about how miserable my wife would be back at the high school. I had tried telling her to just go back to the hotel, but she stuck it out, which was amazing of her to do for me (read about her perspective on the race at her blog: http://maketimeforlove.blogspot.com/

Anyways, the last lap was pretty uneventful, except for it being pitch black, raining, and me almost tripping on a frog. We joked that if you had to DNF an iron distance, frog-related injury probably wasn't the best way to do it.

Before long, we could see the lights of the stadium, and agreed to run it in from the last aid station. Ok, we cheated a little and started back running at the first phone pole past the aid station. Brian was great and wanted me to finish in front of him, but when we got back towards the school, my wife and daughter (who I am grateful was somehow sleeping in her stroller) were there waiting to follow along beside me to get to the track, so Brian went on ahead to finish. It was so gratifying to see my wife, I couldn't help but cry a little as we got to the track surface.

We split up so she could be at the finish line, and as I jogged around, I was mostly surprised at how little emotion I was feeling. I was just drained of every emotion, and all I saw was the finish line. A couple of guys sprinted past just before I finished, which was a little disconcerting, but hey, it's a race; I'm just amazed they could run that fast at that point. I crossed the finish, got my shirt, had my wife put the medal around my neck, and than the greatest thing happened, my daughter woke up and gave me a huge smile!
What would you do differently?: Nothing, it was about survival.

Post race
Warm down: As I mentioned, I was just spent in every way, shape, and form. My wife really wanted to help me get packed up, but I convinced her to just get back to the hotel and out of the rain. I packed my bike up, went to collect my bags, and when I saw that there was no wait for a massage (duh, it took you 15 hours), got one, which I think is one of the reasons I was mobile on Sunday.
What limited your ability to perform faster: Same as in my Eagleman report, I wouldn't change anything. I trained as much as I could while maintaining a somewhat normal family life. I would have loved to finish closer to 13 hours, and I never had any serious doubts about finishing, but the mental aspect of doing something this long is something you can't (in my opinion) completely prepare for, especially your first time. People can say having a child is a wonderful thing, but you don't really "get it" until you do it. It's the same thing here. Anyone who even tries an iron distance event is amazing (and crazy), but you you don't really "get it" until you do it.
Event comments: I will say that packet pickup, etc. seemed a little disorganized, but other than that I can't say enough about the race and the volunteers. The time they put in, and the encouragement they provide, is amazing!

Matt is an Eagleman

As is my new tradition now, I am posting Matt's account of his Eagleman performance from what he wrote on Beginner Triathlete:

Pre-race routine:

Arrived in Cambridge late Sat. morning. Did a quick swim in the Choptank, the water felt really good. Felt like one or two jellyfish got me, but it didn't seem to hurt or affect me at all, which was comforting. Did packet p/u, listened to the race meeting and pro forum (which was really cool and fun to listen to). Headed back to the hotel and just tried to relax. All in all, I had been doing a pretty good job of keeping my nerves in check going into my first 70.3. Life had been kind of crazy the last month going into this, I made the mistake of promising my wife I would build a pool deck, which cut into training time a bit. But hey, I've got a pool deck now.

Event warmup:

Woke up at 4, ate a Clif bar and sipped 32 oz. of Gatorade up through the start. Despite the overcast skies, I put on some sunscreen, which ended up being a blessing, since despite telling my wife I would reapply at every transition, I didn't and am paying for it in spades. My wave went off at 7:27, which gave me the chance to watch the first pros get out of the water.

Swim (1.2 miles - Completed in 40 minutes 03 seconds)

Comments:Despite being slow, I've been very lucky to be comfortable in open water swims. I started to the far left, since it seemed like it was a shorter distance from there to the first buoy. Sighting was a little rough after the first turn, but nothing insanely difficult. Followed some feet, and, shockingly, actually had a couple people drafting off me. That's a first. There never seemed to be much of a current or chop, except for the very last leg coming in to the swim exit. Of all three events, this was the one area that went just like training and my expectations.
What would you do differently?:Nothing. My time was right on line with my training and previous race results.

T1 (transition 1, swim to bike)
Comments:So, I always bring a bucket to sit on in transition, and as I'm running up with my wetsuit half off, do I sit down to finish? Noooooo, I try to get the first leg off while standing which results in 1) almost falling over onto my bike, and 2) a (temporary) massive cramp in that leg. Duh. Sat down, get the suit off, and was able to get out of T1 in a fairly respectable time.
What would you do differently?:Sit dummy, sit.

Bike (56 miles - Completed in 3 hours 08 minutes 50 seconds)

Comments:Felt pretty good leaving transition, anxious to see how the wind would be as compared to riding the course 2 weeks ago. Things were going smoothly, had a gel about 20 minutes in, and was drinking plenty of water and Gatorade. Also had 2 Clif bars during the ride.

I was very happy in that when I turned onto Rt. 16, the wind that was there 2 weeks ago didn't seem to be present. BIG relief. Speaking of relief, it was right about at this point that I really had to take a leak. Lesson learned: all that fluid, plus I think the aero position's effect on my prostate, equals the pee pee dance on the bike. Thought about trying to go on the bike, and realized that 1) it wasn't gonna happen, and 2) It's not like I'm going to win this thing, just stop and take a piss. So, at the 2nd aid station I stopped. Another guy finished up at the same time as me, we joked that our podium finishes just went out the window.

Shortly after this I had another fun moment, they had set up nets at the end of aid stations for you to aim empty bottles at. I aimed, threw, and shouted "Score!" when it went in. The cop doing traffic control 20 feet away got a laugh out of it. I felt much better, but within 10 miles had to go again. The sensation wasn't nearly as bad, so I held out in the hopes that it was from being in aero (which it was).

As soon as I turned north to head back towards Cambridge, the wind arrived. Yes, it sucked, but it still wasn't as bad as a couple weeks ago. As soon as I hit it, I realized that combined with my rest stop a sub-3 bike was out the window. The last 10 miles I was really ready to be off the bike, to the point that I was actually looking forward to my least favorite part, the run.
What would you do differently?:More, longer training rides. But, without having a bike computer (which was a conscious decision on my part), I just rode at a pace that felt comfortable, and in line with my desire to save something for the run.

T2 (transition 2, bike to run)
Comments:Was actually able to jog with my bike, got racked up just fine, and then enjoyed the slow jog through the mud out of transition. And hey, I remembered to sit down to change shoes.
What would you do differently?:Nothing.

Run (13.1 miles - Completed in 2 hours 29 minutes 28 seconds)

Comments:I felt surprisingly good starting the run, probably running 10 minute miles. I knew leaving transition that my optimistic goal of going sub-6 was gone, but again, I was ok with this.

The wind along the water felt great, but I was worried that once I left the neighborhood the wind would go away. Fortunately I was wrong, and the wind actually helped quite a bit in keeping me cool. The first couple aid stations, I tried the ice in the hat trick which worked great. I also alternated water and Gatorade. By the third station I was thinking food might be a good idea, so I grabbed some cookies. This turned out to be a great thing, and one of my mistakes later was in not continuing to eat at every stop.

Here's the funniest (and least appropriate) part of my race. The ice in the hat trick was working so well, I thought it would be a good idea to dump some down the front and back of my trisuit. I figured it would sit on my chest and back, melting slowly, etc. Nope. The ice down the back went straight to my butt crack, the ice down the front straight to my crotch. Oops. About a mile after this, I noticed that I no longer had any sensation in my nether regions. I tried to nonchalantly feel around a bit, and began to wonder if there was an endurance related complication I hadn't read about before. At least this gave me something to think about for the middle part of the race, and I apologize to anyone on the course that was offended by the guy grabbing his junk every hundred yards or so to see if it was still there.

In the end, I guess it was a combo of the bike de-sensitizing, the ice, and slight hallucination. One slight disappointment, I was looking forward to a sno-cone at the turnaround, they had the shaved ice but didn't seem to have any syrup. Not a biggie, and I made up for it at the next stop by trying cola for the first time in a race, it was pretty tasty. Shortly after I saw my nastiest sight of the race, a guy just 100% losing his lunch on the side of the road. I felt really bad for him, he started running again just as I was going by, but only made it another 20 yards or so before peeling off again.

It was kind of scary, knowing that could be me, and that finishing was by no means in the bag. I kept hydrating well, but with about 4 miles left I could tell I was starting to lose it. I was just ready to be done, and it was everything I could do to keep (slowly) running. I had been thinking about doing a full this year, and it was around this point that I realized in a full (Ironman) I would still be out on the bike.

The full (Ironman) might have to wait a year or two. The crowd support in the last couple miles really helped, hoses out spraying the runners, etc. But, I was really in my own little world at this point. Thinking about how crazy it is that 2 years ago I finished my first sprint in over 2 hours, that 3 years ago I'd never run more than a mile at a time. And that all of this training has had the best benefit of all, giving me the energy and ability to do more and be more for my wife and baby.

I wish they had been there at the finish, but 8 hours outside with a 20 month old is _not_ something I wanted my wife to have to go through, so they were at home tracking me. I made the last turn, and felt really, really good coming down the stretch. Saw the finish, felt the waterworks starting up, but managed to hold it together until after I crossed and got my medal.
What would you do differently?:In terms of my training, abilities, etc., not a thing. Other than a couple of aid stations, I didn't walk.

Finish Time: (6 hours 24 minutes 33 seconds)

Post Race

Warm down:I felt a little short of breath the last 1/4 mile of the race, so after finishing I made sure to keep walking and just tried to get my breath back. Grabbed some food, but didn't eat much of it. Somehow I just wasn't hungry. Headed into transition to call my wife, and drink my traditional post race beer. Yes, I was able to hide a small cooler under my bucket with enough coolie packs that it was still cold after the race. I had a couple of beers in there, so I shared with some of the folks around me and talked about the race. Packed up, drove home (ugh to Bay Bridge traffic), arriving just in time for dinner followed by a swim (using the new pool deck!)

What limited your ability to perform faster:I am 1000% confident that I did the best I could given my training and that it was my first time out there. I thought I would be disappointed by anything over 6 hours, but thankfully that is not the case.

Could I have trained more? Yes. Would it have taken away from time with my family and the ability to help my wife with baby care and house upkeep? Yes. So, this was a no-brainer. If it means I don't do a full (Ironman) for a year or to, so be it. But, you just can't fake it at this distance. I can gut through (and do pretty well) at sprint and olympic distance races. This was a completely different animal. The nice thing is, I had experience it before, the first times I did a sprint, the first time doing an olympic, and the first marathon. I know I can get better, even at this distance, and it's great having that knowledge and motivation to keep it up.

Event comments:Such a well run event. The crowd support, the well stocked and manned aid stations, everything. There was not a single thing I experienced that could cause me to say anything negative about the support and event, it was an absolute blast!

Friendship At Its Finest

When NES told me this story yesterday, I giggled and thought about creating a post surrounding it.

Now I don't have to. Click on over.

Blog Hijacking

I am so not cool enough to have a guest poster, but I do have a post to put up written by Matt. Who is family not guest, so the concept of the guest post really doesn't apply here.

Anyway, folks keep asking about the marathon. (Apparently my account just insn't through enough.) Matt wrote this lengthy description of the event to a friend (minus all the embarrassing, insanely sweet and truly appreciated stuff about me at the end) to a good friend, and I thought why not just post this. So here is the description of running the Marine Corps Marathon from the guy who actually did it .........

Well, here's how it went:

I wanted to finish under 5 hours, and for the first 13 miles I was right on track to do that. There are a bunch of hills in the first 8 miles, so to be on pace I thought I had a good shot. It was a PERFECT day for running, about 50 degrees at the start and only got up to 65 or so, with a nice breeze.

Coming down Spout Run towards the Key Bridge was really pretty, and then looking across to Georgetown all covered in fog was awesome.

Sadly, mile 13 is out on Haines Point, a real desolate part of the course, and the wheels started to fall off. For the next six miles or so I was doing 25% walking and 75% running, and my sub-5 hour finish went out the window. I didn't get really discouraged, and the crowds on the Mall really helped me along.

BUT...I did accomplish one goal. I knew that a local runners group had a beer table for runners at around mile 23. Since I knew my finish time goal was shot, I grabbed a beer, there's even a picture of me with the beer cup in the online photos.

I thought my knee was going to let go at mile 24, but the pain went away and I was able to run the rest of the way in. The last hill up to the Iwo Jima Memorial sucked, but at least you could see the finish line going up it.

So how did it feel? It hurt. It hurt like a sonofa*****.

Sunday afternoon I was just achy, but I couldn't sleep that night because I wasn't comfortable in any sleeping position. Monday I tried going into work, but left at noon to come home and be one with the couch. I felt quite a bit better Tuesday, just have some dull aches today, and will probably be fine tomorrow.

More important than anything I may have accomplished on Sunday, is what Shan has gone through in the last year and a half of my new found “athleticism”. For the 5 hours, 17 minutes, and 52 seconds I was running on Sunday, I had multiple water stations, food stations, cheering crowds, and Marines basically telling me to HTFU (triathlete acronym for Harden the F*** Up, meaning suck it up and keep going). In the days since I have had many people tell me how great it is that I finished.

Shan spent those 5 hours, 17 minutes, and 52 seconds, and the rest of that day, and most of the day before, alone with our wonderful, but time consuming, daughter. She had no course support. She had no cheering crowds. She had no Marines telling her to HTFU. She did not have people telling her that she did a great job on Sunday.

Thanks baby, for everything you do, on Sunday and on every day we have known each other. You do a great job every day raising our daughter. Now HTFU and get packed for the Bahamas.