RTC Viva Bike Vegas Tour Ride 2013

RTC Viva Bike Vegas 2013

Last year I was training for Ironman Arizona, a full-iron distance triathlon of 140.6 miles total, which included a 112 mile bike leg. I had gone as far as 100 miles during my training, but that was mostly on flat(ish) routes. I wanted to get a varied route under my belt, so I was looking for a challenging ride around September in order to get that distance in and maybe another before IMAZ took place on November 17, 2013.  I found the Regional Transportation Center (RTC) sponsored a ride called Viva Bike Vegas, so I looked into it.

In looking at the course, I saw that at one point or another I had ridden every part of the course. Separately, any leg of the route was a challenge: The Red Rock Loop and SR159, St. Rose Parkway and Horizon Ridge, the west side of the River Mountain Loop Trail, and finally Warm Springs Road all the way to Town Square, which usually had a strong headwind in the later afternoon. I decided, along with my brother-in-law, Bill, and his friend, Tim, to go ahead and do that ride.

Race Morning

The ride starts bright and early at 6am and you have to arrive fairly early because the parking lot at Town Square fills up pretty quickly with cyclists. The start line is the entrance to Town Square on the Las Vegas Blvd entrance. The ride goes in waves, one starting about every 10 minutes or so. Once your wave is set free onto the course, you are escorted northbound along Las Vegas Blvd. by a Metro Police patrol vehicle so that you won't have to wait in congested Strip traffic. You have the escort until you get out of the downtown area some 6 miles onto the course.

It is pretty nice riding on the Strip. Casino lights are still on at dawn, and the pace is pretty steady for the bulk of the wave, right around 15-16mph. There was is wind to speak of because the hotels tend to block it. It doesn't take too long to reach the downtown area. The road gets a little rough just north of Sahara and water bottles that are  on the back of  seats can decide to wiggle loose and pop out and onto the roadway.

The roadways are pretty nice. Vegas' roads are pretty well maintained, for the most part. 

You make your way up to Stewart Street and then turn left to get to Main, then south to get to Bonneville, which turns to Alta after you get out of the downtown area. Alta Road makes a steady climb upward, gradually, as you get farther west. Just on the west side of Decatur Blvd there is a nice little incline that rises about 50 feet over 250m or so. It isn't too bad and easily negotiated. There aren't any issues after that and you get to the first aide station location on Alta, just east of Hualapai, where you can eat a few things and get refills on water/Gatorade.

As you are off again you roll farther west along Alta until you arrive in Summerlin and turned south to Charleston Blvd. at Vistas Park. You head out toward Red Rock Canyon, which is a frequent riding area of a lot of Vegas cyclists. (I always found the 13 mile scenic loop ride challenging.) You stopped briefly at an aide station just outside the park entrance and refill, eat, etc., and then head into the park to meander along the roadway, taking in the beautiful scenery of Red Rock Canyon and its many scenic overlooks.

The loop is about 13 miles from entry to exit, and it's 1 way the entire length of the roadway. There are a couple challenging grades, which don't really require you to get out of the saddle to conquer, but it can be a grind on some riders. There are also a couple steep hills that some might need to get up and peddle harder to crest. The loop empties out onto Charleston Blvd, aka SR 159 and heads south toward the small town of Blue Diamond, a favorite stop among cyclists because it has a small bike shop owned by Las Vegas Cyclery,which stocks some tubes and minor equipment and there is also a store where you can get drinks or some snacks if needed to continue a ride.

SR 159 stops at SR 160 (Blue Diamond Rd.) at its southern end. The course takes you eastward for a few miles until the large overpass at Jones Blvd., where a right turn is made to head down south to Southern Highlands. The roadway on SR160 is smooth. It gets a little windy, but just a light 5-10 mile per hour breeze. It's very easy to stay in aero if you're on a tri bike and get up to the low 20's speedwise. The road southbound on Jones from SR160 to Southern Highlands is rough. There isn't much room on the shoulder and often there are a lot of rocks and debris, especially if it recently rained. There have been some pretty serious crashes of bikes along that road because of the rocky obstacles and there are a lot of drop offs from asphalt to dirt caused by erosion. Also, vehicles fly down that road and they don't seem to care much for cyclists trying to maintain a foothold on some roadway.

Once you get into Southern Highlands, you make your way east again on Sommerset Hills, which is a new road and very smooth and easy to ride on. This road comes to and end at Southern Highlands Pkwy, which goes southbound until it meets up with the overpass at I15, where you can only go east over the freeway. There is a climb up to that overpass on Southern Highlands, but it isn't very steep, just long and slow for most people.

Once you cross over I15, you find yourself riding past the M casino and are heading east on St. Rose Pkwy, which a newer stretch of very busy roadway, but it has several travel lanes so traffic isn't all that congested. There is a dedicated bike lane that takes you all the way to Paseo Verde, however there are a few stops along the way at some major intersections. There are also a few parking lot exits that you need to watch out for where a car can easily come out and nail a cyclist if they aren't paying attention.

After a right turn onto Paseo Verde, there is an aide station in a parking lot a few hundred feet in where you can again, refill, and eat something, and they have a SAG station where bike mechanics can tweek your ride if something needs adjusting. Last year it was mechanics from the Bike Shop Henderson that provided the needed adjustments. This is around mile 60.

This is where most of the climbing begins.

You leave the aide station and go east again and turn south on Carnegie, just behind the Green Valley Ranch Casino. The grade starts to get a little harder as you approach Horizon Ridge, where you have to put in some effort to get across the intersection to head east again. If you have to stop at that light, it's hard to get going again, so be aware of what gear you are in.

Horizon Ridge is a well-traveled roadway for cyclists. It's a long stretch of rollers, culminating in a 2 mile steady climb just east of Gibson Rd, and ending at Mission, where you will again turn east. By that turn, you will be happy it has leveled off. Unless you are an avid cyclist and love long grades and hills, your chest may be heaving a little after that climb. Be prepared for anywhere between 6-9 mph while grinding it out up Horizon Ridge.

Once you hit Mission, relax. There is a nice stretch of downhill in your immediate future. Mission declines for a couple miles until you reach Mission Hills Park at Mission/College. You turn right at the end of the park, then left quickly, and with another right at the end of the street, you will come to a 4 way stop at San Eduardo. Turning east again, you ride until you come to a small side road on the left that has a circle, and an access to a trail that parallels the train tracks (aptly named the Railway Trail), where you get on the trail and head south again, turning to your right. This is a well-travelled trail, so you have to slow and make sure no one is coming or you could get hit.

The Railway trail takes you a few hundred yards until you cross Nevada State College Rd and reaquire the trail, which takes you to Paradise Hills, where the paved trail ends and a gravel trail picks up. Taking a left here, you follow the roadway as it goes downward and then upward again as it goes under I95. You can pick up some good speed if there is no traffic as you hit this incline. At the top of the hill is the next aide station, as the trailhead to get onto the River Mountain Loop Trail.

Welcome to mile 80.

At this time of day, it's usually getting pretty warm. Make sure you have plenty of water and have eaten because often times, it is also starting to get breezy and several sections of upcoming roads are known for their strong headwinds, which can take your legs. You leave the aide station and head north on the trail. It is slightly downhill for a couple miles along the trail until you get to a wooden bridge at Equestrian. Following the bridge, you continue of the trail, where is becomes a false flat and you will find it is surprisingly difficult for a period of time as you ascend gradually to the solar power plant. The trail turns and heads along the power plant and again you find yourself on a downhill portion of the trail, where you can pick up some good speed. Be careful with this gift of speed, however. The trail isn't the smoothest along this stretch and there is a sudden stop at a small bridge, which has a surprisingly sharp turn to it.

The trail has a series of small curves in it for the next couple miles, where you come to a quick slow down and a left turn that will then curve around to your right. Get into an easy gear here, because you are about to do some more good climbing. The trail is approaching a well-known section to local cyclists that is affectionately called "the Three Sisters". The "Sisters" as most people refer to them, are a series of 3 distinctly different types of hills strung together one after the other, which does not give you a chance to rest between if you choose to run straight through them. Luckily, on this course, you will be negotiating them in reverse order, which is easier than that alternative. Climbing up to the top of the first hill, however, still isn't all that easy. Plenty of people, especially at mile 85, have to walk their bikes up the preceding hill before the steep downgrade to get started.

After a couple quick climbs, short and steep, but not too difficult for most, you are over the "Sisters" and heading down toward the trail's junction with Lake Mead Blvd. There is a tunnel that goes under Lake Mead Blvd which takes you to the west bound side, where you emerge and get onto Lake Mead Blvd to head to the west and the last 15 miles of the course.

Depending on the day, this could be one of the most physically taxing stretches of road you encounter on this course. It is relatively flat, but a false one to be sure. You think you are level, but you are slightly heading upward, maybe not even a full 1 degree of incline, but your legs feel it nonetheless. If it's a windy day, this could be a very long stretch of roadway. A few miles away is Warm Springs, where you make a right turn, but not necessarily away from the wind. Warm Springs curves right back into the teeth of an easterly wind usually and it doesn't let up. Ever.

Another thing that Warm Springs has that isn't desirable is a lack of a dedicated bike lane. The stretch of Warm Springs that runs from Gibson Road to Green Valley Road is pretty congested with cars. There is, however, the last aide station, which is on Warm Springs, just east of Gibson. Just over 10 miles left.

By now, your legs are tired, your neck may hurt from keeping it up, your shoulders and upper back are probably getting stiff and you are just about done. There is still a little climbing to do, but not much. Except for the last major hill at Warm Springs and Green Valley. The hill is long and is maybe a 5 percenter, but at this stage of the ride it can feel like 10 percent or more because your legs are heavy and might even be on the verge of cramping for a lot of riders. Suck it up and get up it, you're almost there.

Once past Green Valley there are a few rollers, nothing major, but there may still be a headwind. You stay on Warm Springs for a few miles, until you get to Paradise, just past the US95 overpass, where you head north to Sunset Road. Are you chaffing yet? You probably have been some some miles now. Might be wobbly, might be very tired. Sunset Road is a welcome sight, because you know that Sunset and Las Vegas Blvd is the area of the Finish Line. Turning west on Sunset, you're next to the airport now and planes are taking off and landing and the roar of jet engines fills your ears. Looking westward, you can barely see the stop light at Las Vegas Blvd, but it still seems like long miles away. Like a lot of things in the desert, it's just a mirage, it's not really that far, you're just very tired.

Slowly you get to Las Vegas Blvd, where you hear, faintly, music coming from what you know is the Finish Line, you just can't quite see it yet for all the cars and trees and buildings in the Town Square parking lot ahead of you to the left. You continue across Las Vegas Blvd, praying as you go that you don't have to go over the overpass ahead of you, and you are very relieved when you see a sign that points you to a right turn first. You wind through some side streets, feeling more energy now because you know you're almost done, and you go under that overpass you were dreading, which takes you into the Town Square parking lot. A quick left turn and there is the finisher's chute. The music is suddenly much louder and now you can relax and enjoy yourself, you've just crossed the finish line!

You get your medal, maybe a sponsor's towel and some water. There are racks all over where everyone has hung their bikes while they collect themselves and then get some well-earned food and refreshments. There will probably be some live music, or at the very least a DJ, and tents where you can get some free food and sit and get some of your energy back.

Getting out of the area might take a few minutes because of the number of participants trying to leave also, but it's pretty easy to negotiate your exit.

All-in-all, you will most likely enjoy the ride. It's not a race per se, you have to obey the rules of the road and you can take your time or go for the gusto, depending on what you want to accomplish. When I did it last year, I just wanted to finish the distance, which turned out to be 104 miles. There is also a 60 and 30 mile course available, most likely. Given that the course incorporates the most difficult areas to ride throughout the valley into one course, it's quite an accomplishment to finish it and will most likely make other courses pale in comparison.

In 2014, Viva Bike Vegas will be under new management and sponsorship and is being held on Saturday, September 20th. If you want more information you can go to http://www.perimeterbicycling.com/las-vegas/ and check it out. Perimeter Bicycling puts on other races in the Southwest US, such as the El Tour de Tuscon, which I have also done. They are teaming with Zappos.com to bring us this event.

Be careful, and happy cycling!

Ironman Arizona - Race Review

IMAZ (Ironman Arizona) 2013

 

Race Report

 

      It seems like not very long ago at all that I, along with my wife and brother-in-law, took a weekend trip to Arizona to be a volunteer at the Ironman Arizona race. My brother-in-law (Bill) and myself had decided to take on the challenge of a full-distance Ironman race. For me, the first. For Bill, his second. Bill had previously completed Ironman St. George a few years back when it was still a 140.6 mile event. This would be my virgin attempt at that distance, having completed only 1 true 70.3 Half-Iron distance race thus far. I participated in Ironman 70.3 Boise in 2012, which was cut short by weather, and the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in September, 2012, in which I struggled mightily with cramping and nutritional issues throughout the bike and run, causing me to have a horrific race. I did have a great experience this year at the Ironman Hawaii 70.3 (Honu) event in June, finishing with over 1 hour to spare and no issues to speak of during the race.

 

     Leading up to the 2013 Ironman Arizona, I had logged nearly 250 swimming miles, 2,800 biking miles and nearly 400 running miles. Throughout the year I had various leg issues that hampered my running, which limited me to fewer miles on my legs that I would have liked, but I was still able to maintain very good heart rate training, which kept me pretty fit and able to endure longer training days. I had done a few more races this year than I did in 2012 also, because I was far healthier. I completed the Beach Cities Challenge for doing the Surf City, Orange County and Long Beach Half Marathons, as well as a sprint triathlon (Rage - Henderson, Nv), An Olympic triathlon (Kokopelli - St. George, Ut.), a 70.3 Ironman race (Honu - Hawaii, Hi.), as well as a 104 mile bike event (Viva Bike Vegas). I completed 2 full century rides and ran as far as 16 miles once and swam the 2.4 mile distance several times, reaching 5K a few times while training. I figured I was in pretty decent shape and I was pretty sure I was ready for the challenge ahead of me.

 

     Race weekend came up pretty quickly. 51 weeks flew by, and the anxiety and anticipation arrived like a storm inside me. Sleeping became a little more difficult and I started to doubt my abilities. Friends reassured me that I had trained plenty for the event - harder, in fact, than the race itself would probably be. The unknown was what I was afraid of more than anything, though. Never having done all three events back-to-back-to-back in a race at those distances was the thing I was fearing. In my last week of hard distance training I put in some good hours and I felt good going into taper with no physical issues bothering me. It seemed I was primed for a good race to come. My coach told me to trust my training and stick to my race plan. Stay hydrated, eat plenty and stick at heart rate and I would do fine.

 

     We will see!

 

     We arrived in Tempe on Thursday night. Bill and I rode 22 miles on the bike course on Friday to get the lay of the land out on the Beeline Highway, where we were told the wind could play havoc with you while riding. The road was fast. I think we averaged 21 mph the entire stretch, which had a few slight grades both coming and going, but returning it was clearly a faster ride. More importantly, I had no bike problems. I had a SRAM set up on my bike that was finicky and seemed to change from ride to ride, needing constant adjustments along the way to stay consistent. I hadn't had any problems in a while though. Nothing surfaced during the practice ride either, thankfully.

 

     We went to the athlete check-in at Tempe Park on Friday also, getting our race packets and perusing the Ironman Village, picking up the obligatory souvenirs and such. The venue was pretty spacious. Transition was immense and both transitions were in the same place, although separated by a couple hundred yards on the south side of Tempe Town Lake at Mill Street. There was a carnival atmosphere and many vendors lining the walkways as at any large endurance event. I was told to avoid a lot of leg time in the couple days preceding the race, so I tried to cut down shopping time to a minimum. We got back to the hotel shortly after 1 pm and tried to relax.

 

     Saturday consisted on the practice swim in the morning, dropping off the bike and bike and run gear bags at transition, as well as sign-up for Ironman Arizona 2014 for 2013 race participants. I wanted to sign up for 2014 just in case I had a bad race or for some reason and couldn't complete the race this year. IMAZ sells out immediately upon opening because it is the most popular  full-iron distance race on the circuit. Partly because it is known as a beginner friendly course, and the weather is pretty mild, even in mid November. You either have to volunteer to get a slot the following year, or keep signing up every year when you race it to keep a spot.

 

     Historically for me, the night before the race consists of a light sushi meal for the starches in the rice, along with trying to get in bed a little early, anticipating tossing and turning and having a hard time falling asleep. This race-eve was even more stressful because it was my first full distance Ironman race, so sleep would be a hard thing to attain this night. After dinner I tried to relax, but last minute prep and thoughts of race strategy crept into my mind and kept me from totally relaxing. It wasn't until around 11 pm that I finally got off to sleep, only to be awoke by some random noise at 1 am. I had a hard time getting back to sleep after that, but managed a couple hours before I had to get up at 4 to get ready for the race.

 

 

Race Day Morning

 

     The weather on race morning was about as mild as you could have wanted for mid November. It was maybe 65 degrees out with no wind and only a slight chill in the air. Not cold at all, but enough of a chill to help you imagine how bone-chilling the water would feel in just a couple short hours as it slowly penetrated the openings on the wetsuit in the frigid waters of Tempe Town Lake.  I told myself that there was no way it could ever rival the absolutely wintery feel of a mid-summer swim at the Reservoir in Boise where the water was 57 degrees, and that put my mind at ease.

 

     We packed the race day bags into the car, as the bikes and gear bags had already been dropped off the day before at transition. All that we needed was our run and bike special needs bags, along with the morning clothes bag to change into after the race was over at some ungodly hour near midnight that night. My wife, Renee, took myself and Bill to the race venue and dropped us off just a short distance away from transition while we were still stuck in traffic heading toward the race. Bill and I made our way to the transition area from there and dropped off our special needs gear bags and then went to the bikes for final preps before donning the wetsuit for the beginning of the race of my life.

 

     Time flies in the morning as race time approaches. Tires are pumped up, morning gear bags are dropped off in the designated place and final touches are put on race prep. Then you get that wetsuit on and make your way to the start area. Trying to adhere as strictly as possible to my nutrition plan, I drank an Ensure when I woke up, one more Ensure an hour before the race and one 15 minutes prior. Lastly I took 2 gels right before betting into the water. Bill must have needed to use the restroom and we got separated before the swim start. I made my way to the water's edge and jumped into what was happily warmer water than I had anticipated! I quickly got used to it and swam a few strokes to see what adjustments needed to be made prior to the start. Of course the goggles fogged up and the back of my neck was being scraped by the wetsuit. I thought I fixed those problems, but later I would find that there was still some rubbing of the neck going on. I swam to the area where I thought I would have a clear area amongst the throng of humanity that was the IMAZ swim start. I turned around to see behind me a seemingly endless array of bobbing heads, undistinguishable from one another. People lined the bridge above us waving signs and cheering down to their loved ones and friends, probably none of whom could be recognized at that point.

 

 

The Swim Start

 



     We listened to the National Anthem while treading water and I tried to take in the atmosphere. The wetsuit let me relax and not waste energy kicking my legs because of its buoyancy.

 

     BOOM!!!  The canon goes off and the race is officially underway. Chaos ensues.

 

     IMAZ is a MASS START. That means that every participant that is not a pro triathlete starts the race at the same time in one massive wave start. up to 3,000 racers could start swimming at the same time, making it a chaotic whirlwind of flailing arms and legs splashing with light green and pink swim caps mixed amongst the splashing like thousands of bobbing M & M's. The physical punishment that can be dealt out at this time is often daunting to new racers. It's not uncommon to be kicked in the face, struck in the back of the head with another racer's elbow as they swim by, or pushed downward into the water as you try to gasp for a breath of air between your own swim strokes. Finding a clear spot is difficult to do at this point, and indeed for most of the race, but after a couple hundred meters you can usually find a spot to swim in relatively unmolested for a time. The most active spots are the race start, the turn buoys where everyone is channeled into a narrow area in which to make the turns, and the exit out of the water, where everyone tries to climb up the stairs, now disoriented from swimming nearly 2 1/2 miles, which is not an easy thing to do.

 

     I found a good groove relatively early in the race, and of course, my old friend the gag reflex visited me at about the 400 meter mark causing me to dry heave for a few strokes, but I have learned to swim through it and it goes away pretty quickly. I got to the first red turn buoy pretty quickly I thought, and made the turn to the next turn buoy to head back to the swim exit. I was reaching and pulling very well. I felt fast and I knew I was passing a lot of people. Contact was minimal in the long stretches between buoys, but the occasional bump or thump did occur. My sighting was right on and I was staying pretty close to the buoys, so  I wasn't swimming farther than I needed to. I reached the stairs to get out of the water and after getting my footing on the steps and getting my legs under me I looked down at my Garmin and saw 1:18:00... the fastest swim time I had ever accomplished at the 2.4 mile distance! That both impressed and concerned me because I was hoping I didn't use too much energy on the swim. I needed to have plenty for the bike too.

 

 

Transition (T1)

 



     I got my wetsuit stripped off and ran around to T1, where I grabbed my bike gear bag and went into the changing tent. The place was already packed with athletes in just as big a hurry as I was. I told myself in my mind to slow down. Make sure I took my time and get all my gear squared away. I changed out of my wet tri gear that I had worn under the wetsuit and put on dry biking clothes. I had chosen to wear a pair of bike shorts over a pair of Tri shorts for extra padding for the longer distance. I had put some more Ensure in my gear bag, which I drank, and a couple more gels, which I ate, along with some salt tabs and multi vitamins. After I was all changed I collected my stuff and headed out of the changing tent and to my awaiting bike.

 

     I told Bill I would wait for him at the bikes since they were racked only 4 spaces apart, so while waiting I drank water and Perform, and went to the restroom. Bill emerged a few minutes later and together we exited transition out onto the bike course, sent off with waves and blown kisses from our families. It felt good to be on the bike. I was feeling strong and ready for the bike ride as we made our way out of T1 and onto Rio Salado Way to head east to the course. A multitude of people lined the barricades as we rode by, cheering for anyone who would listen. I felt like everyone was there for me. They fed off the athletes' enthusiasm, and the athletes, in turn, off of their energy. It was electric!

 

 

The Bike

 



      Heading off on Rio Salado Way, it was fast. No wind, clear and crisp out - ideal conditions for biking out on the open road. Although, I tried not be too optimistic because the conditions could change at any time, but I chose to enjoy it while it lasted.

 

     The rules say that you aren't allowed to draft, but with all the twists and turns on the course, combined with the number of athletes, there was no way to avoid drafting. I was always either passing someone 3 wide or being passed, and even when I gave way to someone, I had to quickly pass someone else again. This lasted the entire length of the first 2 loops of the 3 loop course. The course wound out of the northeast part of Tempe and out onto the Beeline Highway. 19 miles out and another 19 back. It was a fast course. I held myself back the first loop, only averaging about 15 mph. because I wanted to make sure I conserved energy, as well as making sure I hydrated properly. I stopped once after the turnaround at Shea Blvd to use the restroom, and then again mid way through the second loop, so I knew I was hydrating well. I still felt great, with lots of energy as I closed in on finishing the second loop of the course, but I became aware that I was feeling slower and I started to feel the roadway under me a little too much. I looked down and noticed my front tire was starting to go down. I figured I'd better stop and change it now so that I didn't damage the tire or my wheel, so I pulled off opposite an aide station and changed the tire.

 

     After I got back on the road I got some renewed energy for taking the short break to change the tire. By this time, Bill had been so far ahead of me because I stopped twice to use the bathroom and now the flat tire, I figured that I would see him until some point on the run where there was a turnaround. Both times that I stopped to use the bathroom, I eventually caught up to my original race group, so I knew I was having a great race. After the flat tire, it was no different. I caught familiar riders again and then I saw Bill's very unique cycling style up ahead and I caught up to him fairly fast. As I caught him I saw that he had obviously crashed, having bloody road rash scrapes all along the left upper arm and I could see the left side of his face was now swollen up. He assured me that he was alright and I continued along, semi-expecting that he would follow me, but I found that he had stayed back after the last turnaround at Shea Blvd., still in the race, though.

 

     I was like the horse returning to the barn after that last turnaround point. I knew I was only 18 1/2 miles from the run transition and I leaned forward and pushed my pace back to T2. The wind picked up slightly, but I still averaged 21 mph on the way back. Cruising west bound on Rio Salado I saw the family on the right side of the road and they yelled and waved as I rode by triumphantly off of the course and into T2. As I rode down the chute to the dismount line, I remembered volunteering at last year's race at this very spot, where I was catching bikes. I recalled the exhaustion and relief on some people and the frustration in others as they let their bikes go. I remembered wondering how that would feel after riding 112 miles, especially after having swam 2.4 miles before that. 

 

     Now I knew. It felt great!! I still had an immense amount of energy as I dismounted. I took my Garmin off my bike and put it on my wrist and handed my bike to a catcher, who whisked it off to its rack where it would await me later in the night.

 

 

Transition 2 (T2)

 

      I jogged from where my bike had been taken from me and through the archway into T2 and to get my run gear. I could feel my legs under me and they were feeling pretty good, which surprised me. I never expected to be feeling this good at this stage of the race. I had always had problems adjusting to the run from the bike in training. I got my run gear and went into the changing tent, taking off the bike stuff and exchanging it for the comfort of my running shorts, running shoes, socks and a new dry shirt. I walked out of the tent, handing the gear bag to a volunteer, took a drink of water, and then trotted out onto the run course. As I exited the tent, I had asked a volunteer what the time of day was. I knew I was around where I had wanted to be time-wise off the bike, but when the volunteer told me it was 3:05 pm, I suddenly realized that I had 9 hours to complete the marathon! I was an entire hour ahead of where my most optimistic plan would have put me! I had put together a 6:24:00 bike split, even with the 3 stops during.

 

     I got a chill. I knew I would be an Ironman for sure, barring some drastic injury or accident! My race was going better than I had ever expected.

 

 



    The Run Course

 

     I came out onto the run course with a new excitement. I was taking it easy, but I wasn't the least bit tired yet and I wasn't feeling any ill effects from the bike. I made my way along the pathway next to Tempe Town Lake through a small makeshift village of Ironman supporters who had put up their tents for comfortable viewing. There I saw Renee and the boys, as well as my sister and our friend Jackie, who was there in support of our friend Mark. Quick high-fives and semi hugs and I was off.

 

     Somehow I managed a 5K run to start off with. I had in my plan to walk through each and every aide station, taking liquids and food along the way - a plan that I stuck to religiously. The run course was a 2 loop ordeal that wrapped around Tempe Town Lake to the north, south and west, and ending in all its Ironman glory on Rio Salado with the famed finish line, complete with throngs of screaming and cheering fans who didn't care who you were, they were there for you. The first half of the run course went by uneventfully, with the sun giving way to a bright, fully lit moon that hung over the lake.

 

     It was a great night to become an Ironman.

 

     I saw several people that I knew along the way from Las Vegas and we exchanged well-wishes and encouragement. I started to feel a slight pain in my right foot where why timing chip was wrapped around my leg. I had started to walk .1 of a mile and then run .1 or a mile. When I would walk, the pain would be slightly greater than when I ran. It felt like just a muscle that needed a little stretching so I wasn't concerned. I stuck to my plan.

 

     When I finished the first 13.1 miles I stopped at my special needs bag and changed my shirt and put a visor on to replace my sweat drenched hat so I would be more comfortable. The time seemed to be flying by. 3:00 had passed on the run and was still feeling great. I was even putting together longer runs and shorter walks. I met up with another guy that Bill and I trained with a few times in Vegas named Tim, and we walked and ran together the next 12 miles, keeping each other company. The time went by pretty quickly. At about the 20 mile mark, I started to get a little excited. People had told me that a marathon consisted of 2 races: the first 20 and the last 6. I didn't understand that, not even now. As I passed the 20 mile mark it wasn't feeling any harder for me.

 

     I started to feel a little odd in my stomach so I stopped drinking Perform on the course and stuck to water for a couple miles to ease my stomach. After that I remembered advice I had gotten from Angela Naeth, a professional Triathlete friend in Las Vegas, who said that after 21 miles or so it's a good idea to take in things that will give you energy but not make you crash such as chicken broth and Coca Cola. Coincidently, the aide stations from that point on had both of those items, so I started to take those each time. By the 23rd mile my stomach felt much better and knowing that I only had a 5K left until the finish line, Tim and I began to step it up a little bit.

 

     The last 5K we enjoyed. We knew we had it in the bag, all that remained was to cross and take it all in.  One more uphill remained as we ascended from the trail onto Priest Way, then it was a long downhill off of the overpass and back onto the final stretch on Rio Salado to the finish. My right foot was beginning to hurt a lot more now and I was content to walk up until the turn before the finish chute. At the 26 mile mark, Tim decided to take it home and he went on ahead. Once I was near the curve in the road a few minutes later, I started my finish trot.

 

     YOU are an IRONMAN!!!

 

      The lights got brighter and brighter as they emerged from under the bridge that hid them from view. As Rio Salado curved to the south and revealed people lining either side of the road, narrowing into a fenced off pathway that was lined with white canvas and hands slapping against it with the beat to the blaring music that was playing. An unexplainable energy seemed to lift me up and energize me as my pace became quicker. I entered the finisher chute and just as I had seen it in my mind hundreds of times over the last year, during the long trainer rides watching videos, the long road rides, the long runs and swims, I extended my arms like an airplane and I swerved for one side of the chute to the other giving anonymous high fives and hearing the cheering from the crowd. I imagined it was all for me.

 

     The chute was lit brightly, and part of my brain thought "I wonder if Heaven is like this" as I made my way to that square arch. As I approached I raised my arms in the air like I was in church praising God, and I saw these large red numbers that shouted to me in my mind "You killed this race!" They read "13:54:24" and in complete disbelief I passed under the archway, realizing that I had surpassed even my wildest expectations of a finishing time in my very first full Ironman.

 

     And then I heard it.

 

     The sound I had worked so hard to hear. The sacrifice of staying home instead of doing things with friends. Getting up early for swims and runs and bike rides. The sweat, the tears, the pain of injury and even blood from training accidents. The ice cold winter weather and the hot Vegas summers. All the things gone through just to hear someone I didn't even know say the words...

 

     "Eddie Carroll.... YOU are an IRONMAN!!!"

 

     My heart swelled with pride and joy. I was overcome with the emotion of accomplishment. I hadn't felt this proud of myself since I graduated from Marine Corps Boot Camp when I was 18. These are accomplishments that you must complete on your own. No one can do it for you, it must be attained through commitment and determination.

 

     As I crossed the line the volunteers immediately converged on me in anticipation of my impending collapse, mylar blankets at the ready and water opened for me. One wrapped me in the mylar to help keep me warm, while another adorned me with the hard earned symbol of my accomplishment: the highly coveted Ironman Finisher medal. Once I was given those things, another volunteer gave me my finisher tshirt and cap.  I took my photo with my medal against the M-Dot logo background and then walked ever-so-slowly into the athlete rest area where I drank a chocolate milk and had a couple bites of food. I was still a little dumb and a little disoriented. I was used to moving forward for the last 14 hours, so to suddenly stop totally was a little odd on my brain.

 

Post Race

 

      My mind was in a state of euphoria. I didn't feel fatigue or that pain that had been in my right ankle for the last 13 miles. I was trying to realize just how well I had raced. I had set a goal of just finishing. 16:59:59 would have been good enough for me when the race started. Realizing that I had finished 3 hours faster than I had thought I would I suddenly was overcome with a sense of what I had just done. I guess my training had paid off. I couldn't keep the tears back.

 

     I met up with my wife, kids and my sister, and we made our way to the finish chute to watch and wait for Bill to finish. We knew he was hurting because of his injuries after his bike crash, but we also knew he wouldn't quit.  It seemed like a long time before we saw him emerge from the darkness and make his way though the finisher chute, but he finished in plenty of time despite his injuries. We congratulated him and collected our things. My ankle was really starting to hurt and it became difficult to stand on it after a while. We left the race venue and went back to the hotel for a much needed seat. I looked at my ankle and saw it had begun to swell. Apparently I had sprained it at some point, but luckily it held up long enough for me to finish the race in good shape.

 

 

     I have to say that this was a very well organized race. The volunteers were amazing, and I made it a point to thank them at every opportunity. I don't think I experienced any negative things on the course or during the event, except for one bottle of water that wasn't opened for me on the bike course. Most of the time you actually had your own volunteer seeing to your needs in transition and at the end of the race. It was a very friendly race atmosphere. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of doing a full distance Ironman event to seriously consider doing this race in the future. You will need to volunteer one year in order to race it the next, but a 4-6 hour shift is well worth the opportunity to do the race the following year.

 

     My next race: Ironman 70.3 Oceanside on March 30, 2014 (Oceanside, California)

 

 



 



 

    

 

    

 

     

IM Boise 70.3 (2012)- Freeze to Thaw in 4 hrs

There is a saying in Boise, Idaho: "If you don't like the weather in Boise, wait 10 minutes, it will change." Let me tell you, it isn't just a clever saying.

We arrived in Boise on Thursday evening to partly cloudy conditions after a nice long drive up from Vegas. 6 of us came up together in 2 cars, with several others from our Tri club that were going to do the IM Boise 70.3 race on June 9th. Boise was beautiful. Lots of trees, grass and blue skies. Things you don't see alot of in Vegas. The sky in Boise is bluer than it is in Vegas, probably because of the higher latitude and the angle of the sun, I don't know. The weather forecast for Saturday's race: high of 62, low of 45 with 20% chance of rain and slight winds 10-15 mph. Definitely doable.

We hit the athlete check in and spent a little time browsing the limited race expo. They had all the usual stuff there - energy drinks, gels, bike gear - anything you might need for the last minute addition to your gear or nutrition. They had the coolest bike outfits too. I got a Boise HIM cycle jersey and a coffee mug for my office. They had green t shirts with all the participant's names filling a huge M-Dot on the back of the shirt, but they put 5-9-12 on the race date instead of 6-9-12! (They corrected the error the next day and I got a gray t shirt instead.)

We spent all day Friday doing prep for the race. We had alot of errands to run, gathering last minute miscellaneous things we thought we might need for the race and the post race celebration to take place after we all crushed it at the event. Later Friday I checked the weather forecast again because ominous clouds were gathering, and they looked angry. Forecast: high of 59, low of 42, 30% chance of rain and wind 15-20 mph.  Something was brewing.

I got a great night's sleep the night before the race, which isn't usually the case, but with the Boise HIM the race start wasn't until noon so I could slep in a little instead of getting up at the buttcrack of dawn like almost every other triathlon. They start the race later because the water temperature at the Lucky Peak Reservoir where the swim venue is usually very cold - in the mid to upper 50's. When I woke up I could hear a familiar sound tapping against the windows of the upstairs loft.

It was raining.

Yuck.

I didn't think a whole lot of it at the time. It was only 7am and there was still 5 hrs until race time. I figured given the unpredictable weather in Boise so far that it would probably clear up by noon and everything would be good to go for the race.

I was wrong.

We had to drop our run gear bag off at T2 between 8am and 10am and then head up toward the reservoir and be in transition by 11:45.  Ironman races have a great gear bag system. They give you 3 gear bags: 1 for your bike gear, one to put your morning and after race clothing and needs in, and a third for your run gear. T1 was a "clean transition", which meant nothing can be left behind and nothing other than your front wheel can touch the ground at your rack. If it didn't fit in your bike gear bag, it got thrown away if left behind. After the race, the bike gear bag is taken from T1 and brought to T2 for pick up when you finish the race. The morning gear bag is put on a truck just prior to the swim start and that is also transported to T2. T2 is a normal transition, which means you change from your bike gear to your run gear and you can leave whatever you like at the rack because you will retunr later to get your bike and gear.  Make sense?

We got to Lucky Peak Reservoir at about 10:30 and it was still raining. You could already tell this was going to be a miserable morning because there was no signs that the rain was going to let up. There was a long walk up a dirt road from the parking area up to the top of the reservoir where T1 was located. We got drenched during that walk. The stickers with our race numbers that we put on our transition bags were peeling off in the rain and the trail was littered with race numbers that had already fallen off of bags. To top it off, the wind had picked up and the combination of the wind and rain was chilling to say the least. We had to stop at the entrance to transition and get body marked, which meant taking off the shirts and jackets. The poor race volunteers were shaking as much as we were with shivers, which made for interesting numbering on wet shoulders and calfs.

Pre Race Prep

I got to my transition spot and stood there. I couldn't believe how much it was raining. It was cold, wet and truly uncomfortable. I recalled that the only other time in my life that I was ever that cold was standing firewatch in Marine Corps boot camp when I was 18. This was a wet, bone-chilling cold that putting on layers wouldn't have helped. You couldn't stay dry and change into the wetsuit, but changing into the wetsuit was the only way to stay warm at that point because it would keep the rain off you. In the meantime, the clothes you wore to transition were soaked, so they couldn't be worn later after the race as intended. It was so cold that I had a hard time concentrating on my hands moving to untie things and arrange stuff. I was shivering and my voice was starting to slur when I was talking to my transition neighbors.

After my switchover to the wetsuit I felt a little warmer, but I had opted to go with my sleeveless wetsuit instead of a full wetsuit for freedom of movement's sake. I caked vaseline on my shoulders in hopes of keeping some of the cold rain off of them and the back of my neck, but it didn;t work. The vaseline lasted about 10 minutes before it was washed off. I exited transition and made my way to the start area and they announced over the P/A that the bike was going to be shortened due to concerns of hypothermia because winds had reached between 30-40 mph along the bike course. The swim would still go as planned, but the bike was now only supposed to be 15 miles, and only in the valley portion of the course to avoid the high winds. They also announced that it would still be a qualifier for the World Championship 70.3 race in Las Vegas in September. I didn't know if I was happy or sad that I wouldn't have to bike the full 56 miles at that point. All I knew is I wanted to be warm.

Waiting to get into the water was the worst part of the entire day.  With nothing to keep the rain and wind off, we all stood in a circle and talked to try to take our minds off the frigid temperature. The thought of leaving came and went. Came and went again. Came and stayed a while, but left again. My wave was the last of our group's to go. We made our way over to the swim start line and joined a few fellow members of our Tri club there. We talked and joked, but we were all miserable. The surface of the boat ramp was rough on the bottoms of my feet as i hopped up and down, trying to generate a little body heat, but it was no use.

The first wave of pros hit the water. Now I only had 35 minutes to freeze.

The Swim

We all had different wave times and mine was the last of ours. I waited and watched the waves before me get into the water and start and the time went by fairly quickly. Before I knew it I was standing with my feet in the water, which was warmer than I thought it would be, much to my happiness. When they told us we could enter the water I gladly waded in and quickly submerged myself into the murkiness of the reservoir. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was much warmer than I had imagined, but still quite cold. I was able to get used to it pretty fast and made my way to the front of my wave. We were all pretty spread out along the start line and after watching the first of the female pros exit the water, the gun went off and we were on our way. I was concerned that there would be alot of contact at the race start, but there really wasn't much at all, besides the occassional bump or shove from another athlete.

The swim course was set out very well. I liked the buoy system that Ironman used on this race. They had orange buoys at the corners of the triangular swim course, and there were yellow buoys every 100 meters, which allowed for excellent sighting during the swim. I was able to keep a pretty straight line and only had to look up every 6 or 8 strokes and I was right on target most of the time. The water looked like a bunch of bobbing M&M's with all the different colored swim caps of white, purple, red, lime green and orange. I checked my time on my Garmin at about the halfway mark and realized that even though I was taking it easy I was within my goal of a 40 minute swim. Realizing that I didn't have to conserve quite as much energy now since the bike leg was shortened, I kept a good pace, about 2:00 per 100M, and ended up getting to T1 with a swim time of 39:09. I was happy with that!

T1

I had decided before the race that I was going to take my time in T1, and I did exactly that. I ate a Bonk Breaker, took in some water and electrolytes and relaxed a little. I thought for a couple seconds about keeping my wetsuit on for the bike, but not having any experience in doing that I decided against it because I didn't know how it would feel. I packed my wetsuit into the gear bag and hung the bag on the rack, got my bike and made my way out on the road for the 12 mile trek into town on the shortened course.

The Bike

There was a long, winding decent into a valley along the Boise River that was quite chilly when the wind hit me coming off the top of the reservoir. I glided down the sweeping hill toward the river below, admittedly riding my breaks on the wet roadway. There was a slight wind on the decent but I wasn't being blown around like I had feared.

The road was slick, as you might expect after the rain. It was still drizzling a little and I could hear the heavier drops tapping on my Rudy Wingspan helmet, which magnifies every sound. On this compacted course there was no way to avoid drafting. There were so many athletes packed into this road that you were either passing or being passed just about every 10 seconds. At times the impatient athletes would be passing someone who was already passing another athlete, making it 3 wide on an already narrow road. I just tucked into aero and road to the right until I was too close to the rider in front of me and I would pass and go to the right again. There were a few turns, a few puddles to avoid and only one uphill on the course and before I knew it 42 minutes had flown by and I was cruising into T2. My lovely and undependable Garmin decided to take a dump on me at Mile 1 of the bike, so I had no idea of my time or heart rate, so I was going purely on how I felt at this point. I had shifted to an easy gear and spun at a higher cadence a few hundred yards before T2 to loosen up my legs for the 13.1 mile run to come and I felt energetic.

T2

I took alot less time in T2 than I did in T1. I felt good, still had lots of energy and I felt like having a good run. I took off my wet bike gear and put on my arm coolers because the sun was now out and it was warming up quite a bit. That good ol' Boise weather! After getting a little food in me and some water, along with knowing I had an aide station every mile on the run course, I donned my Boise IM 70.3 visor and trotted out onto the run course feeling pretty strong.

The Run

2 events down, one to go! As I made my way out of T2 and onto the run course the sun was shining and the weather cleared significantly. I was stripped down to my 2XU tri suit and I felt comfortable, finding my pace pretty quickly. My run plan originally was to run aide station to aide station, walking through each one and running in between. Since the bike leg was shortened, I felt good enough to keep running through most of the aide stations and still taking in water and IM Perform. I opted not to carry a water bottle on the run, which made me get something at every station.

The run was on a scenic greenbelt that surrounded the Boise River, which ran through the downtown area. It was tree-covered and shady in most places, which kept it cool and very easy to conserve energy. I ran well (for me, anyway), keeping a 10 min/mile pace over the first 5K of the course. I hit the halfway spot, which was near the finish line, and started feeling pain in my hip flexors and upper calves. I had plenty of energy and my heart rate and breathing was right where I wanted them, but the leg pain was creeping up on me. At the 9 mile mark I decided to pull back a little and I walked through that aide station, still drinking and taking a banana. I decided that I would just run between the stations at this point, no reason to push and risk hurting myself since I only needed to finish to punch my lottery ticket to the Worlds.

I hit a pain wall at mile 12, but being only just over 1 mile away from the finish, I stuck it out, talking to people along the way and giving support to others who were obviously hurting as well, hoping for some good karma to help me finish strong. As I approached the final turn leading to the finishing chute I started to get a little emotional. Up to this point I didnt think about it too much and I was kind of down because I came to Boise to complete a Half Ironman race and Only got to do 2 of the three events full distance. Part of me felt like I wasn't finishing the entire race and there should be an asterick by this finish as just a glorified Olympic distance race, but another part of me said that suffering through the bone-chilling cold and rain for nearly 2 hours prior to the race start more than made up for the lack of distance on the bike course.

As I jogged into the finish chute I could hear the announcer say my name. This was the first time I could actually hear my name during a finish at a triathlon. I stopped just short of the finish and walked across the line, doing my best "Hulk-a-mania"  shout and pose as I crossed under the Ironman archway. It felt great to finish! I accepted my medal and a free Boise IM 70.3 cap and a volunteer wrapped me in one of those thin foil wrappers to keep me warm. It was right then that I became aware of a stiffness and pain in both of my upper calves and my hips.

Post Race

I composed myself and walked round for a little bit to try to stretch out my calves and all I could do was keep moving to avoid falling over. I found a few people from my group, one of whom had finished just ahead of me by a few minutes, and we waited to the rest of our people to finish. I hadn't run a half marathon distance since the Vegas Rock 'N Roll Half back in December 2011, some 7 months back and my legs echoed that with alot of pain that was setting in. I must have looked pretty unsteady because one person in our party stepped toward me to support me like I was about to fall over.

I liked that Ironman had grilled burger sliders and pizza at the finishline for the athletes. We didn't have to wait that long for it either. After grabbing some food we walked back over to the finish line area and waited for the rest of our party to finish. One of the people at the race with us had a tracker from Ironmanlive.com and told us that the last 2 people from our group were not far away and we waited until they crossed the line together.

After everyone finished we all made our way to T2 and picked up our bikes and gear bags and hobbled our way back to the convention center to get our morning bag and swim gear bag. We collected our stuff and sat in the convention center for a little while thinking about the race and talking with other people we knew. Once everyone in our party was accounted for we headed back to the house we were staying at.  I know that trainers wouldn't recommend what we did next, but burgers and tequila were on the menu! A well earned post race celebration!

Conclusion

Compared to the other triathlons I have done, this Iron Man event was logistically very well put together. The swim buoys were well placed and very visible, even in rough water. There's nothing that can be done about the weather and it was just an experience to learn from.  The bike course was cut short due to concerns over hypothermia, so I can't really comment on that. The run was gorgeous. I loved the scenery and there were plenty of aide stations. Although I wouldn't do IM 70.3 Boise again, it is only because of the weather and not the race itself.

Tempe International Triathlon: May 13, 2012 - Tempe, Arizona

Tempe: A valley near Mount Olympus in Greece.

A fitting place to do an Olympic Triathlon, wouldn't you say? Since Greece is pretty much the birthplace of endurance sports, if you think about it. The very first endurance run was done in Greece, from Marathon to Athens, a mere 26.2 miles away by the Greek soldier Pheidippides to inform the Athenians of Greece's victory at Marathon over the Persians in their first invasion of Greece. Of course, that guy died shortly after delivering the glorious news. Perhaps he hadn't been training as hard as he should have for that run!

With just over 30 days until the IM Boise 70.3, we started our escalation into the Olympic distance triathlons to prepare for the 70.3 distance. We had decided to do back-to-back Olympic races with the help of our coach, Chelsea Duran, to add to the intensity of our training. We chose Tempe International Olympic race in Tempe, Arizona, mainly because Chelsea was doing the race and she recommended it, and because it was a flatter, fast course on the bike and the run was mostly flat as well. This was going to be my second Olympic race, and Renee's first try at the Oly distance. For the follow-up race we chose the St. George Triathlon Olympic race the following weekend, only a 6 day turnaround to test our stamina and St. George would be a step up in difficulty on both the bike and the run.

Never having done a race in Tempe before, we relied on a family friend of Renee's to advise us a little on what to expect from the course because he had raced the Tempe International and knew the course. We were told to expect a fast, flat bike course and a similarly flat run course around Tempe Town Lake. Sounded easy enough and I felt pretty good about improving on my times from the Las Vegas Triathlon last season where I posted a 3:37:00 on the Olympic in my very first go at that distance.

Feeling good about the race.

I think when you get to the Arizona area they should issue you a warning at the state line that it will be freaking hot all the time there. Being from Nevada, I am no stranger to the heat, but when they say "but it's a dry heat" Arizona has Nevada beat. I remember the heat getting gradually more humid over the years in Vegas because of the population, the increase in trees and the pools, along with the housing being all clustered close together, but the Phoenix area is much more spread out and the heat isn't nearly as humid. As a matter of fact, there is NO humidity, at least not in May. It is an oppressive heat that zaps your energy more the longer you stay out in it. Hydration is a must in preparation for any event in the Phoeniz area in the summertime.

We had prepared for the heat by drinking a ton of water and electrolytes in the week leading up to the race because we knew it would be warm. You have to force yourself to do it though.

My training was going very well. I was over the distances in the swim, bike and the run for the 70.3 in Boise next month, so i was feeling good about the Olympic and I had my sights set on a huge improvement on my first Olympic distance race. I had done the Rage sprint distance race last month in Vegas to test my improvement over last season, and I had taken about 16 minutes off my total race time. My analytical mind told me that if I took 16 minutes off a sprint, then logcally if I double the distance I should double by improvement at the Olympic level. Made sense, right? So in my mind, I was thinking of about a 30 minute improvement. Since my first Oly time was 3:37 I figured that I should come in at about 3:07ish. If I could do that, I would count it as a significant improvement.

My times from the LV Tri last season were:

Swim: 35:39
Bike: 1:35:00
Run 1:17:00

In practices I had cut the swim down to 28 minutes, the bike to around 1:20 and the run to around 1 hr, give or take a minute or 2. That was all in hilly terrain around my house so I expected a better bike time at the least on a flat course.  I was stoked and ready to go. I had the usual jitters the night before, but that alwasy happens to me.

Pre-Race Prep

If you can, I recommend riding or driving the course at the very least to get familiar with it. Renee and I met up with our trainer, Chelsea at the packet pickup the day before the race and set out to familiarize ourselves with the course. There was only 1 transition site for all events, and it was located under the freeway in the shade on the north side of Tempe Town Lake. It was nice and cool and it was smaller than I expected it would be. I think entry was capped at 1000 athletes. The bike route was all along surface streets along the Tempe Town Lake, and was predominately flat, execpt for a couple of overpasses and gentle inclines here and there, but nothing like what we train on every day in Vegas. I found I could get in aero alot and get some decent speed up, but there were alot of turns, some 90 degress that required slowing way down to negotiate. All-in-all, it was a fast course just like Mark had said it would be.

Tempe Town Lake. Yuck.

Standing on the side of the lake and looking around on a very hot day, I notived that NO ONE was in the water as far as the eye could see. Usually there will be people testing out the water to see if they would need to wear a wetsuit, or at least getting a little feel for whether there was a current or not. I quickly saw why there wasn't anyone in the water. It was pretty disgusting. Lots of floating debris and bugs, and the most unappealing mossy green coloring. Gee, what fun the swim would be in that.

Race Day

Race mornings are pretty standard things for me. I get up at the ass-crack of dawn (about 4-4:30am) and try to get something in my stomach. I generally can't eat alot on race mornings because of butterflies and just plain not being hungry, so I try to get some carbs in me the night before. I have usually obsessed over my gear the night before so there isn't much to do gear-wise except to load it up. I double check to make sure I have all my stuff  before leaving and I try not to get to pushy with Renee about time. I just let her and the kids do their thing and before you know it we are ready.

We got to transition and parked in plenty of time. We were there at about 5:15am and made our way to our racks and started to stage our gear. The boys were doing the sprint relay along with Renee's dad, Al, who is 76 years old. This was his very first event of this type so he was a little on the nervous side because he said he wanted to do well. After going over everything an rehearsing in my head what to do in transition to make sure I had all my gear laid out, we walked around a little and found Renee's childhood friend Mark and his family and talked for a bit. Renee bought a couple trinkets and I tried twice to stand in line for the port-a-potty before getting into my wetsuit, but it just wasn't to be. I had to leave the line before transition closed to get my gear for the swim and then wait in line again until about 10 minutes before my swim wave went off. I hate being rushed. I elected to go with my wetsuit for a little more speed. It's a sleeveless, and I wear speed sleeves to help with the pull.

I got to the water just after Justin started the sprint relay and joined Renee at the edge of the water. She went to the swim finish to see Justin finish the swim as I got in the water to warm up and get used to it. It was cool and perfect temperature. I went uder and I could barely see my hand stretched out in front of me, that's how murky the water was. My sight filled with a green haze as I swam under water. I tried not to think of what was actually in the water that I would be partially swallowing during the 1500 meter swim to come.

The Swim - 1500 meters

After treading water for about 5 minutes and apologizing in advance to each other for the bumping and elbowing that was about to take place, the horn went off and the race was on! I love the excitement of that moment. The splashing, the adrenaline rush and the jockeying for position is what it's all about. Sort of a microcosm of life in general. Competition.

There were 26 people in my wave and I was a stronger swimmer than ever before. I found my spot and stuck in it. I had to fight off a few people with nudges and pushes, but that's pretty normal. No one really takes these things personally in the heat of the swim. It's the only part of the day that contact is expected and luckily I didn't get hit in the face or have my goggles knocked off my face.  I settled into my pace and at about 300 meters I had my normal gagging and choking, but I have trained myself to fight through it and just dry heave in the middle of my stroke and I got through it without having to stop.

I found myself pulling away from alot of people and I caught several people from previous waves who weren't strong swimmers. I love when I can do that, it gives me alot of confidence. Sighting was difficult, but I managed alright and I ended up pulling myself out of the water at 28:35 and up the beach and the stairway into transition at 29:17. I was 8th out of the water in my wave. I was right on schedule for my 3:00:00 goal.

T1

In order to get back to T1 after the swim we had to climb the short beach and run down a sidewalk an across a small street, then climb 2 sets of stairs. It didn't take long to negotiate, but the pavement was a little warm on the feet! After getting my wetsuit off I switched over to the bike pretty effortlessly. I did kock my bike over once and spilled a little water out of my aero bottle, but it didn't take long to correct and get on the road. I was out of T1 pretty quickly compared to previous races and on the bike.

The Bike - 25 miles

The roads in Tempe weren't the smoothest, but my Vittoria tubulars wrapped around my Zipp 808's made them feel like they were. I had great grip on the roadways and I found turning easier than I expected. There I got in the big ring and was able to push some decent speed in the straights before having to brake alot to turn. I was able to push 22 mph at some points, but was able to stay in the big ring most of the way, which increased my average speed. I passed alot of people from earlier waves. At one point myself and one other guy kept passing each other back and forth until finally I took him for good toward the end of the first lap. The laps went much faster than I thought they would. There was a very minor headwind heading east toward ASU Sundevil Stadium, but after a turnaround all was good. I hadn't seen Renee or Chelsea at all on the bike, until Chelsea caught up to me nearing the end of the second lap. I saw her at the last turnaround and she passed me just a minute before the end of the bike. I brought it in at 1:16:54, 9th in my age group.

T2

Again, transition was pretty smooth. No issues at all getting the gear off and getting the running gear on. We had to go down the stairs from transition to the road and that allowed me to find my running legs, but I was feeling a little sluggish. I had hydrated alright on the bike, but I had to force myself to eat half a Hammer bar. I took 4 Shot Blocks as I started the run and I still felt pretty slow.

The Run - 6.2 Miles

After about 500 meters I noticed that part of my field of vision was disappearing and I realized that I had the onset of a migraine headache. Oh crap, not a migraine. Seriously?? Now?? I tried not to think about it. All I could do was hope that it wasn't going to be a painful one. That would really make the run unpleasant, but i couldn't quit and I wasn't about to stop now.

The run course was a 2 loop trek around Tempe Town Lake that went over 2 overpasses. It had a great luxury that you don't find on most shorter distance races, however - aide stations at every mile. I loved that. It was getting hot and I looked forward to a dousing of water from eager volunteers along with a drink every mile. They gave out sponges at the start of the run and that felt amazing inside my tri kit.

After 1 loop I picked up my stride and looked at my Garmin. I realized that if I kept a good pace that had my goal of 3 hours within reach. I had 35 minutes to go starting the second loop. Averaging a 10 min mile for longer distances, I knew I would be close if I didn't pick up my pace a little. I took the rest of my Shot Blocks and increased my pace. Halfway through the second I loop I counted down my distance and how much time I had and I realized that I would probably have about 4 or 5 minutes to spare. I hit the last overpass with 5 minutes to go and started my finish kick. After the second overpass there was a set of stairs that athletes had to go down, which, if your legs were tired, could have been a problem. I grabbed the handrail and made it down easily and looked at my time. I had 4 minutes to go for my 3 hr goal. I realized I was going to make it under 3 hrs, so I began running hard down the final curve in the road and up to the finish line, passign a couple guys on my way up. I pull into the finish chute and crossed at 2:57:27 with a 1:05 10K run time. I was elated with my time! I had originally thought that 3 hrs was a really optimistic goal to set, and when I realized that my time was 40:00 less than last year's Olympic distance debut, I nearly started to cry. I was pretty proud of myself. I usually don't allow myslef the luxury of celebrating my accomplishment, simply because I am new to it all with only 1 full season under my belt and 7 races, but I couldn't help but be happy.

Renee's Race

After I finished I found Chelsea and her family waiting by the finish line. We talked about the race for a bit and gathered ourselves after the ordeal in the hot sun and had some Gatorade and a little pasta. I enjoyed the coolness under the overpass at transition for a little while and then started to look for Renee out on the course. I watched the overpass that led to transition and saw her familiar Pearl Izumi flourescnet green and black race kit jogging over the bridge toward the finish. I didn;t know what her time looked like, but I was sirprised to see her so soon after I finished. She normally was about 10 minutes slower than I was in just about everything, but she was ruinning like a champ across that last overpass! I watched her run along the roadway that led to the finish and Justin and Ryan joined in beside her a ran up to the finish. She crossed strongly at 3:16! That was amazing, considering she didn't like the heat, and she didn;t think that she could do it in less that 3:30. Chelsea had set her goal for Renee at 3:30, which Renee thought was really too short. As a matter of fact, Renee told herself 4 hrs was more realistic. Renee registered in the Athena division and she finished 2d and won an award!

Papa and Da Boyz

Justin and Ryan, along with Al, ended up finishing their Relay in the Sprint with a total time of 1:32:46, good for 2d in the division and 5th overall in the Sprint relay out of 11 teams. Justin came in with the fastest swim in his division at 11:26.7 and 3rd fastest overall. Ryan's run was 31:18 (4th in the division and 6th overall) and and Al's bike was 48:24 (3rd in the division and 6th overall). An awesome showing by all 3!

What I Would Do Differently

Honestly, about the only things I can think of that I could have done better would have been getting a little more nutrition in me on the bike by finding something tastier to eat and getting a little quicker in my transitions. I pushed the bike about as hard as I could have and the swim was as fast as I could have gone as well. The run was hot, and I kept going with a headache and wanting to stop, but I didn't.  In retrospect I think I pretty much left it out on the course for the most part.

I PR'd in every aspect of my race from my first Olympic last season.

Swim -   Last Year 35:39
              Tempe: 29:11

Bike -    Last Year: 1:35:00
              Tempe: 1:16:41

Run -      Last Year: 1:17:00
              Tempe: 1:05:46

Overall - Last Year: 3:37:54
               Tempe: 2:57:28 (- 40:26)

 NEXT RACE: St. George Olympic Triathlon - Saturday, May 19th, 2012. St. George, Utah!

Rage Sprint Triathlon : April 21, 2012 - Boulder Beach, Nevada

So, here it was.. the first Triathlon of 2012 for me and I was stoked! Since last season I have bought a new bike (Cervelo P2 SL), new wheels (Zipp 808 tubulars), a Rudy Project aero helmet, hired a personal trainer and felt like I improved in just about every area of my race.

Last Year's Race
Last season, Rage was my first full length Sprint triathlon race and as a newbie I had no idea what to expect and no clue about how the race would affect me, so I took it nice and easy. It was my very first competitive open water swim and it was something to get used to. I was freaked out by the movement of the water and my wetsuit was too tight making it hard to breathe. Combine that with anxiety and nervousness and it was a recipe for a truly lousey race. I had a Trek 2300 road bike and trap pedals on the bike. I had only ridden the course a couple times prior to the race so the road was sort of familiar, but It took alot out of me pushing the heavy bike up the hills.

When all was said and done, I pulled down a 1:54:00. I was winded, sore and tired, but I gave it my all. I saved a little on the swim and bike to conserve energy on the run, but, sadly, it didn't help.

Swim: 22:20
T1: 7:55
Bike: 48:14
T2: 2:53
Run: 32:39

Total 1:54:00

This Year's Race
So this year I had my sites set on a big improvement, given my training, gear and confidence. I never had any expectations of placing, but I was looking for definite movement up in the ranks from last years 26th place finish in my age group.

When we arrived at the race at 6:10am, the place was alive with activity. 1100 triathletes converged on Boulder Beach with various goals. Some wanted just to finish, being their first triathlon. Others wanted a PR (Personal Record), like me. And then there are the salty and gifted folks who had aspirations of a podium finish. That thought never even entered my mind.

BBSC put together a good looking venue this year. The bike spots were all along the fences instead of in the middle so there were 2 clear lanes to travel in and out with. I liked that set up, although it did make it a little harder to see the numbers along the fence instead of at the end of each rack like last year. (That would end up costing me a little after the bike.)

The Swim
After setting up my transition and making sure my bike was ready, I slipped into the wetsuit, kissed my wife and wished her a good race, and took the walk down to the water to get used to it prior to race start. I was thrilled to find the water felt amazing! It was smooth like a sheet of glass and I immediately jumped in and took a little warm up swim and felt great. My goggles kept fogging up and I had to keep clearing them up, but it was temporary. The sun was just over the mountains to the southeast and the reflection off the water made it very hard to see the first buoy in the glare. The course was easy to see beyond that and after a few moments of instruction from the race coordinator from BBSC, I made my way toward the front of the pack and when the horn sounded, I was off!

Don't let anyone tell you that triathlon isn't a contact sport. The start of a race, especially near the front of the wave, can be brutal. As the group I was in (40+ and Clydesdales) took to the water, there were elbows, feet and arms flying and getting smacked around was a hazard of being in the mix. I held my own though, gave as good as I got and didn't give way like I did most of last season.

The first buoy came up pretty quickly, much faster than I expected. I was settling in and controlling my breathing and heartrate, and found my stroke pretty early. I didn't allow myself to think about anything except my stroke and my breathing. In past races I had a problem with gag reflexes in open water and I fought thinking about that. As I rounded the first buoy I was starting to get out in front of my wave, passing guys who were breast stroking and side stroking. I got a rush of adrenaline from passing people and I started concentrating on my form. The next thing I knew I was at the second buoy and that old gag reflex kicked in. It pissed me off actually, and I fought through it without missing a stroke. I refused to allow it to ruin my swim or make me pull up. I hit the third buoy and sped up, passing more people, including guys from 2 waves before me. When I made the home turn I sped up again and I was standing and almost running for shore in no time, passing slower people who were walking out of the water. I stripped off my speed sleeves and unzipped as I ran up the ramp to transition. I looked down at my wrist to hit the lap button on my Garmin and it wasn't there! I looked back and a guy who was behind me had picked it up and handed it to me. Thanks fella!

The Bike
The watch said 14:16 when he handed it to me. I kept jogging up into transition and took the long run up through the sections until I reached the Sprint athletes area. This was one long transition area. It stretched about 300 yeards total to accommodate the 1100 athletes participating. When I finally reached my bike I was almost totally stripped on the wetsuit. I just stepped out of it smoothly and donned my bike gear pretty quickly. I grabbed my bike and started the long jog to the bike out, and I didn't realize until I was well into the bike that I had forgotten to put on my race bib! To further complicate things, I couldn't get my left foot into my bike shoe until I got up the first hill onto Lakeshore, and the tongue folded over and I had no choice but to ride with it like that. After those minor inconveniences were taken care of and out of my mind, I settled into a good aero position and pushed the bike as hard as I could. I got into the big ring and kept it there most of the way.  The Zipp wheels were smooth and made the road like silk. I found that I had alot of energy as I rode and I was passing people in no time. At one point I kept trading positions with the same guy over and over until I took him for good on the return trip.

We passed last year's turnaround and kept going. They added at least a mile to the course from last year and after the turnaround I was hauling in the big ring. I came to a hill that I should have been ready for but I changed gears too quickly and lost my chain. I had to take about 20 seconds and get it back on and then I had the uphill struggle to get back up and get my rhythmn back. Once I did though I began to pick people off again. I had to remind myself - Drink! Drink! Drink! It was getting very warm out. I could feel the heat rising throughout the ride. I popped my shot blocks for energy and found myself passing 4 people in a row on the way back uphill, nearing the bike finish. I was pretty proud of my ride. As I approached T2 I got out of my shoes and got ready for my dismount. I slowed and did a nice flying dismount and it was very bumpy. I hadn't noticed it yet, but my Garmin had flown out of my bike bag. I had put it there after I lost it earlier after the swim. I ran into T2 and had to slow down alot and nearly fell. I got it under control though and then I had another problem - finding my rack again. Somehow in my disorientation I was looking for my gear in the Olympic section, which took me probably 2 minutes to figure out before I finally found it in the right area. Once I did, I changed over pretty fast and was out on the run course with absolutely no idea how I was doing since I couldn't find my Garmin.

The Run
The first half mile of the run was kind of brutal. It was really hot now, and my heart rate was jacked up. I hate running on trails, which half of the Sprint run course is. After a half mile the guys I had just passed on the bike found me and passed me back. During run drills 2 weeks ago I hurt my right hip flexor and it was starting to show up and annoy me like a whiney kid. Every step with my right leg sent a jolt of pain through me, but it subsided after I climbed up a hill onto the pavement at the 1 mile mark. The pavement was more forgiving than the dirt for me. I started into a good groove and even though I wasn't going fast, I was comfortable. The run turnaround wasn't where I expected it to be. Last year it was on the level road, but they changed it to about 50 yards uphill! That was a little bit of a letdown, I admit,because I thought the hardest part was already over. So, after the turn I started stepping it out a little more and passed a couple people, knowing that it was pretty much all down hill from there. I poured water over my head at the aide station and began the kick to the finish at the 2 mile mark. after turning on the dirt road which led to the finish I found myself getting tired. I kept up the pace and tried to push it to the finish harder. I crossed strong and grabbed a well deserved cold drink and my finisher's medal.

I felt tired and I know that I left it all on the course. I can honestly say that I pushed the race as much as I could within my limits. I walked around to cool down a little and went back to the finish to wait for Renee to come in. She ended up coming in pretty soon. After a sweaty hug and an orange slice we went to the trailer where they had the finish results posted and I found that I had done 1:38:33 and Renee finished at 1:50:29. I took nearly 16 minutes off my time from last year, and I swear that the bike and the run were both longer this year.

This Year's Results

Swim: 14:30                           (-7:50 new PR for 750m swim)
T1:  3:50                                (-4:05)
Bike:  46:44 (16.0 mph)          (-1:30 1 mile longer course +5 mph speed, new PR)
T2:  4:14                                 (+1:21)
Run:  29:17 (9:27 pace)          (-3:12)

Total: 1:38:33                          (-15:21 new PR for full Sprint distance race)

My Bike and I. If I was going to name it I would call it "C-Lo" (Cervelo - Get it??), But that would be weird.

                                           
                                  Renee and her brand new bike, affectionately known as "Scottie".


Things I Would Do Differently
Next race I will practice bike mounts and dismounts alot more. Getting on the bike at T1 was awkward going uphill and it took me too long to get my feet into my shoes.I probably lost a good 2 minutes trying to get the shoes situated properly.

I need to make sure that I change gears slower and not skip gears too much when starting the hills. I lost my chain at the bottom of a hill and it took me about 20 seconds to get it back on and going again. The time it took me to get back up to speed cost me a little.

My dismount at T2 wasn't bad, but I was going too fast. My left bike shoe came off and my Garmin fell out because I hit bumps going too fast. I did a flying dismount to the left of the bike and I needed to practice that more.

I need to pay more attention to where I had my gear. I took way too long to find my gear for T2 and that cost me about 3 minutes too long, which when you combine times from the other things that went wrong, made up the time that would have put me below my goal time of 1:35:00.

Final Thoughts
Overall, I am satisfied with my performance. Although I could have eliminated some problems, I accomplished my goal of a significant reduction in my overall time. My biggest problem last year was the swim, and I turned that into a strength by cutting alot of time off it, not panicking and controlling it.

My bike was strong as well, and I was able to stay in aero most of the ride and stay strong along the entire course. This year I was the guy doing the passing and making that "whirring" sound as I went by that I heard so much from other people last year.

The run is the run. As it got hotter, the run got harder, but I didn't stop and I didn't let up. I finished strong.

In just 3 weeks I have my second Olympic distance event in Tempe, Arizona and a week after that in St. George, Utah and another date with "The Beast".

I also have to thank our trainer, Chelsea Duran, who has really helped us alot. Between her advice and mentorship on all things triathlon, bot myself and Renee have improved our performance immensley. Since she moved to New Mexico we have missed her one-on-one sessions, but her local rep Heather Shourds has also been a great help. Thanks to Chelsea and Heather :)

                                               Renee, our trainer Chelsea Duran, and myself.

Post race bling shot :) Love how they made the medals functional this year as bottle openers!

                                                                       Bring It On!!