Lake Sammamish Triathlon

...There is no greater feeling than the reward that comes from sticking to a  focused and motivated path of doing what you know you need to do...

*Big thanks to Kevin for the action shots for this post!

It won’t do it justice but I must do my best to describe my home stay for the this race.  Upon arriving I was greeted by a great triathlon suite nestled in beautiful trees.  Kevin and Anne treated me with overly generous hospitality. I was fixed a delicious meal of spaghetti and chicken, quartered in a spacious apartment with a queen size bed, cable TV, and the most peacefully quiet surroundings. 

Not only that, but both Kevin and Anne woke up at 5 am just to come see me race.  My two friends did a great job of running around the course taking action pictures, getting me what I needed, and cheering for me.  I really wanted to make them proud to be in my entourage.

Even though I was focused elsewhere, I was able to catch Kevin sprinting into a crowd of people, disappear, and then reappear atop a picnic table snapping a great running shot.  I think I even saw him hurdle a group of small children, that's just pure athleticism.  It reminded me of a hot blonde that is sneaky at picture taking.  I am almost ashamed of how nicely I was treated by Anne and Kevin.  I was especially ashamed when Anne had to ride back to the state park with me after I forgot my Promotion Wetsuit. J

Let me start the actual race report by saying this is a huge race!  I believe there were over 700 people signed up (row upon row upon row of bike racks), 35 of those people were in my age division.  Those are not that great of odds for the few hoping to place in the top 5, 10, 20, or even 100. 

The odds of placing in the top 5 at this race would be  0.714 percent, that’s less than 1 percent!  The odds are worse for those who have the desire not to just do well, but to win   This race is packed with super fast people, all with the triathlon driven greed to get all the awards and places that they can get for themselves. However, everything starts with believing, and that’s why I am here.

I slept in for this race, waking up at 4 am in a comfortable queen sized bed.  I was at the race by 5:15 am, out of the 700 people signed up I was the first to rack my bike, imagine that.  It was so dark when I arrived I had to move within 3 inches, and use my phone, to read the numbers on the assigned bike racks.

*A lonely, dark transition zone 

*Notice the change in tires

I went through the normal pre race routine, had a fairly good warm up, and awaited my swim start with my normal pre race violent shiver convulsions. By the first buoy I had made it to clear space past the swirling white water of turning arms and legs that is the swim start.  Close to the first buoy I started to settle into a comfortably hard pace.  At the second buoy I began to swim through the previous waves’ less accomplished swimmers.  I was doing by best to dodge the bodies and wound up slipping slightly off course.  I righted my course and made the swim exit in 3^rd. 

I had a great transition and left close to the lead in my wave.  I flew aboard the P3, crossed a dirt, tree root ridden gravel path, and found my way to the main portion of the bike course.  It was immediately full power forward, not 90 percent, not 95 percent, I am talking leg agonizing full effort pull.  I rode very hard the first portion of the bike.

Feedback came quickly; two waves had 3 and 6 minutes head start on me so I had a lot of people to chase.  From my perspective, I was in zoom mode, I was doing my best to ride hard, catch people and rid my wheel of them in a hurry.  I was having a great ride, but it wasn’t easy, it was full effort and full pain. 

Near mile 8 I decided to back down to 90 percent power because my pace was a red-hot, ticking leg-bomb.  At mile 9 I lost a spot, at mile 10 I lost another, both passing riders were riding super hard and fast tempo. I rode the remaining 4 miles of the bike course to the park.  I wasn’t able to catch all of the two previous wave athletes, but I did catch the majority, it was very rewarding.

The weather was fairly cool so my fingers were not working well as I struggled to clamp and slide my shoe’s lace locks in T2.  I settled for one tight shoe and one semi-loose shoe.  Immediately on the run I felt motivated to run hard.  The footstrike was there, the turnover was there, the attitude to really hurt people on the run was there.  I have never felt this way on the run.  This was my Jacksonville reward; I was backing down my lack of run-confidence with belief in my power within, the Power of One.

I ran hard, harder than I have ever run.  I was locked in a world of pain but was unwilling to waiver and slow down.  Each captured runner brought me motivation to keep going.  With a little over a mile to go I spotted a familiar figure in the distance ahead.  “Why is he familiar?”  It hit me; it was the kid that passed me at mile 9 on the bike.  I was running him down, something I would not have been doing 3 races ago! 

"Run 'Em Down!"

I had one long straight stretch, a sharp corner, and then a winding half-mile to the finish to catch him.  I ran the straight stretch hard and at the sharp corner I was 2 or 3 seconds off of him.  As I entered the 120-degree corner I used my right arm to wrap around a sign pole and use it to slingshot me through the apex of the corner.  It took a few more seconds but then I was on him.

This was the race and this was what I had worked for the last month.  My reward for the difficulty in making my no BS assessment (and hard acceptance) of my running, and a tough running camp was right here.  All I had to do was “man up” more than the guy running next to me, and run my guts out for the next half-mile.  This was one of those few opportunities to see what I was made of.

*Applying the BRAKES!

I am thrilled that I found my “Run Animal” at this race.  I was able to average 6:10 per mile running 19:08 for the 5k. I ran away from the guy that I caught, crossing the line in 4^th place overall.  All I wanted was to stop moving, breathe, and wait for the pain to stop.  All the hard work I had done had just paid off, it was extremely hard, but anything worth doing is always hard.  Those same things are always worth it in the end.  I am a happy camper today with my run improvement and 4^th place finish at this huge race.

*I'm psyched my run split out ranked my swim split!

Apple Capital Triathlon

My "APP-CAP Mishap!"

After a great midseason break, and awesome running camp, I was ready to shake off the dust and get back to racing. While in run camp I really shifted training away from cycling, and totally off of swimming. I knew both my cycling and swimming would still be strong, but I knew I had to sacrifice a little of those to gain in the run. I had a great re-acclimation week on the Murder Machine and swimming in the lake, so I felt they would be there for me.

I chose to drive the day of so I got up early, 2:45am, and drove most of the way in the dark. “Champions do the things other people don’t want to do.” I arrived two hours before gun time. Not surprisingly I was the first one there. I was greeted with a wide-open transition mine for the picking.

After the normal stuff, I was in the water for a swim warmup, and then a pre race meeting. At the pre race meeting the director called out some guy who was supposedly a ridiculously fast swimmer. I believe the director’s words were as follows, “no one really needs to know the swim course because everyone will be following this guy (pointing to the fast swimmer). Just follow him and you’ll be fine.” With a confident manner I said to myself, “ooooohhhh reeeeeaaallllly.”

I don’t remember Man-Fish’s name, frankly I didn’t care what is was, because he was coming out behind me. He may be a super hyped Man-Fish, but he isn’t going to out swim me, not with the year I have had in open water. The meeting finished up as I shivered with semi convulsions until the swim start. 5…4…3…2…1…BANG!

I dove in and went comfortably hard, after a few bumps, swim-over-backs, and jostling, I found my way to buoy number one in 4th place. A few strokes after the buoy, I split 3rd and 2nd place as I continued to gain speed. I found the feet of Man-Fish. He was swimming pretty fast as billed to, I planned to use him to my advantage. Along the backstretch I kept constant contact with his feet and legs, tapping them every 5 or so strokes, to let him know he had company. I know he wanted to the win the swim prime after being called out, so I let him lead while I stuck in his draft. I continued to push his pace, with contact and bumps, to motivate him to swim faster.

As he pulled me along, he also ripped apart the swim pack, giving us a pretty nice gap. As we swam the longest leg of the triangle swim course back to the exit, I lifted the pace a little bit. “Thanks for the help, I am good now.” I pulled up next to him as we made the 100-meter mark; at 50 meters I opened up my pace to semi-hard effort. I had the lead. I hit the beach to some good cheers and the swim prime. “Excuse me Man-Fish, do you see this in my hand…it’s your thunder…I stole it…succckkkkaaaaaa!”

I had a great T1 and left with the lead. The first mile of this bike was a killer because it was a huge hill to climb out of the basin and up to the highway. Climbing the hill in mile 1 was hard, but something was wrong. My bike felt like it was dragging something. I knew it had to be a brake rub or a flat tire. I contorted my body to try and figure out what the heck was the problem.

I leaned over the side of my bike to see the back tire, it wasn’t flat. I couldn’t see a brake rub, but I could hear it, and I definitely felt it sucking my power. I tried to climb the hill while reaching through my legs and checking the brakes.

I finished the climb and dismounted in frustration. I couldn’t spot the rub, 2nd place zoomed by, then 3rd, then 4th , as I tried to remedy the Murder Machine. I saw 5th coming and remounted. I rode to the turnaround with a rubbing “something” that bled my power. I made a sharp corner at the turnaround and felt the resistance notch up. It now felt like trying to sprint while squeezing the brakes. I was off the bike again.

This time is was obvious; my wheel was actually rubbing my frame…sssssuuuuuck. I re-adjusted the skewer, clamped it, and watched a couple more places go by. Once back on the bike the resistance was fixed, I navigated the hills and fought the wind on the super hard bike course the best I could, trying to regain my lost spots. By the time I made it back to T2 I had re-passed the majority of the people, coming into T2 in 2nd place, with a big chase pack seconds behind, and hurting legs.

I had one of my best T2s ever and left in 2nd place on the run. Okay Jacksonville, it’s run time. My run actually felt amazing. My foot strike was quick, I had an aggressive forward lean, and I was running pretty fast. The run course was actually harder than the bike course as we had run up two hills, one of which was the 3/4 mile hill we biked up. Two guys passed me near the top of the huge hill, but I was still running well. I felt much more efficient and much stronger.

*This place has huge hills!

In the last mile I tried to lift the pace and rejoin the two runners that had passed me, but the problems and time I lost on the bike proved to be the difference and I had to settle for 4th place overall, two minutes off the winner’s time. I was able to run away from the majority of the chase pack, and secure an age division win, both positives. Had I not had bike issues, I think it would have been very close for a win. Easy to say now right?

I am extremely happy with my swim, greatly disappointed in my bike, and satisfied with my run improvement. I have a lot of work to do, but Jacksonville was the right direction. I can’t complain about 4th or an age division win. Plus, I did leave with some good stuff. While not elated, I can accept it and look forward to the next race. Yeeeaahhh Bay bay!

Check out some pics of the town that time forgot...

The damaged tire sidewall thanks to my bike issues.

 
And some beautiful parting shots
 

The Perfect 25 Hour Day

As running camp was winding down a feeling of warning eased over me as I packed my suitcases. The feeling continued through my last night in Jacksonville, something is wrong. I tossed and turned with unrest. I managed one hour of sleep the night leading up to my 4 am departure. “Something is wrong, I can feel it.”

My answer didn’t come on the first flight. I did however, have a screaming kid over powering my ear plugs. Why is it that I (and every other person on the plane) must suffer because people cannot control their own damn kids? This question applies universally, not just on a plane. They are your kids, not mine, don’t make me suffer for your inability to exercise an command and control while your child runs a muck.

For the record I had screaming, crying, running up and down the aisles, monsters on all 6 of my flights getting me to and from running camp. Kids cry and make messes, that’s their job, got it.

My unease came to fruition when I saw my second flight was delayed. Long story short here, we spent the next 6 hours in the airport watching the Delta staff roll back our departure time hour by hour, silently internalizing our situation. By the way, you wouldn’t believe how ridiculous people can act towards gate attendants when the flight is delayed. After watching these people I had my answer for why some kids are so wild, the parents act worse than the kids. They should really be ashamed of themselves.

At hour 6 they cancelled the flight. I looked at my traveling partner, Jeff, and said “we are getting the heck out of this airport, I am not staying here over night.” After all, Jeff, a father himself, needed to get home because he promised his daughter a cup cake party.

In a brilliant move Jeff secured the last two seats on a flight to Las Vegas. The catch was that the flight left in 20 mins. We disbanded from our checked baggage and sprinted through the entire air port, down the moving walking paths, and up the stairs, wedging our bodies through the jet way door as the last two on the plane.

The plane however, was delayed…amazing. We wasted more valuable time and flew with more wild kids, and broken air vents, before making it to Vegas, thankful to be out of Minneapolis.

With no time to waste we headed for Salt Lake City, made it, no problem. In Salt Lake City we found out the flight home had only 1 seat. Jeff and I would have to split up. I had the seat so I would fly home and Jeff could fly to an alternate airport two hours drive from his house.

We were already 20 something hours into the trip and at this point it was determination and the will to overcome difficulty. There was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to hop flight leaving my wingman to drive two hours in the middle of the night. NOT AN OPTION. We had come this far together; we were finishing this sucker that way. I am not leaving my friend, I declined the seat. I booked standby for Jeff’s flight (a gutsy move) to the alternate airport two hours from his house. Miraculously I made it on.

Sheer determination and the will to preserve got us to the alternate airport, and through the two hour drive. I finally hit my massive king bed 25 hours after I awoke the previous day on 1 hour of sleep. Jeff made the 4am cup cake party. I awoke after 4 hours of sleep for my morning bike ride, never have I felt more rested or more happy to be at the Tri Palace.

Jacksonville Run Camp

Run Easy...Run like an Animal

*Jacksonville!

Running camp has reintroduced me to the long run.  I forgot how simple, yet satisfying, a long run can be.  I have also been reintroduced to the challenge and appeal of it.  I have not put in many long runs since my marathons, but the memories of the fatigue, difficulty, and effort required took, well, about 45 minutes to come back.

Long runs are cool because I start out being ccomfortable and just enjoy the early morning quietness of the sleeping city, and the relatively "cool" 90 degree temperature and high humidity.  The humidity is actually nice to start in because I am warmed up within a minute, and my skin is never dry. 

The majority of the run is smooth and efficient, my muscles feel great and my form is on.  I run, and run, and run.  I run by forests, rivers, lakes, people, through neighborhoods, through parks, past stores, by barking dogs (sometimes from barking dogs), on sidewalks, through parking lots, and on dirt trails.  I run on roads I know, and explore ones I don't.  Sometimes on these runs I think up brilliant ideas, and sometimes I don't think at all, I just run.   

*Jacksonville Long Run Route

It isn't until I start heading for home that the fatigue starts.  I remember when running my marathon I ran the first half and wasn't even tired.  I even ran the first 20 and wasn't tired.  It wasn't until the 21 mark that fatigue hit me in the head like a hammer.  I digress.  It doesn't matter if I run for 20 or 60 minutes, as soon as I head home the fatigue slowly starts to firm up my legs like slowly drying cement. 

The last quarter of the long run is always mental will-power to continue running.  The discomfort is my best friend at this point, and the fastest way to get home is to run home.  You wouldn't think that the comfortable pace of an hour ago could morph and change into something requiring twice the effort and three times the focus to maintain.  

Why should I keep running?  Answer:

A)  because I finish what I start.  

B)  because if I quit now, I will quit during the race. 

C)  because in order to win, I have to pay the price.

D)  because relaxing on Saturday won't be as fun if I don't keep running. 

E)  because this is fun, in a twisted tricked-up kind of way.

F)  because easy running is jogging, and I don't jog.

G)  all the above.    

Then, as soon as I get to the end of the run, the focus and discomfort are gone within 5 steps of slowing down.  I then get to enjoy the rest of the day knowing I am building my run animal with each run, and that I did something productive today. 

*My two friends, they are the opposite of each other, but exactly the same. Wrap your mind around that.