The KodaFit Blog

OK folks, I know I’ve been really slack with the blogging of late.  Huge project implementations at work and with my home business, and a couple of home improvement projects going on as well.   And I’m trying to be a better Dad to my kids as well…

First of all, I’m in the video from the Echo Triathlon!  Well, perhaps I should explain more though…  Here’s the video here.

It’s kinda long and monotonous.  I think they barely missed me at the swim exit.  There was a comment about a Desert Shark coming out the water, and I remember hearing that as I was struggling with the mud in transition.

However, if you skip forward to just a hair after 6:00 and look in the background, that’s me running into T2 off the bike.  Red bike, light blue Desert Shark race kit, and a yellow bandana under  my helmet.

Moving on though…

Training last week wasn’t that great…  Got some good long rides in this weekend, but missed my long run and didn’t get any swim workouts in.  Not good with my first half iron in 3 weeks….

This weekend I’m doing a unique sprint triathlon in Layton.  It’s a 300m swim, 5.5 mile bike and then 1.55 mile run, and then you do it again.  The volunteer shirts are really cool…  Green with the recycle symbol.  Recycle, Rerun and Reswim!

Should be fun.  Think then I’ll try a long bike and a longish run on Sunday to make up the difference, before I start a 2 week taper for the half.

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Saturday July 11th I did the Echo Triathlon Olympic distance. This was my Fathers Day present this year. Fathers Day arrived, and after saying all week that I didn’t want anything, it turns out no-one got me anything, so I asked if I could register for a race. SCORE!!

I wasn’t considering this an A race by any means, since I only had a couple of weeks to prepare, and with my first half iron distance race looming next month, I’m more focused on that. However after riding the course and as the day got closer, I was looking forward to a fairly good showing.

A few days prior I also read some feedback from a coach about his coachee’s experience with Coure D’Alene a few weeks ago. Two things stood out in the feedback.

1. He talked about how fructose doesn’t play real nice with other sugars.

2. Almost everytime a world record has been broken, the runner has negative split the course.

The fructose thing was new to me. Usually in a race I use Gu, and then either Gatorade, or more recently Hammer HEED. At BAM a month or so ago, my stomach felt funky on the bike. Not bad, but just like things weren’t mixing well. I checked out a Gu pack, and discovered that it uses fructose. Hmmmm!

I’m thinking about switching over entirely to Hammer nutrition as I switch to training for IronMan later this year, so I figured now was as good a time as any. I picked up some Hammer Gel at Striders, and fortunately found 2 sample packets of Melon flavored Heed at home, since Striders don’t appear to carry it any more. In the past I haven’t liked HammerGel, but I went with the Raspberry and the Fruit Punch, and both were actually quite palatable!

On the negative split thing… In the past a lot of my mid-week running has been done on my lunch break. I’ve been busy implementing a new web application for a local law firm on my lunches for the past month or so, and my running has really suffered. The last 2 tri’s I’ve done, I’ve ended up walking a little on the run. I didn’t want to do that again. I started running on lunches again last week, and have been feeling stronger. I figured a negative split might be a good way to go.

OK, but onto the race! Echo Reservoir is just a little under an hour up the canyon from where I live. It was an interesting race, in that the venue has no parking, and so you get to bike in to the start. I left home a little late, but not too late, and was shocked by how many people were already there. The ride down to the start was uneventful and check-in was quick and easy. I think they were expecting 800 athletes, and they had the organization to handle that.

Transition was pretty cool. They had assigned racks, and each label featured the comments entered at registration about why the athelete tri’d. The only downside was that transition was in the dirt.

Pre-race prep went well. I got my nutrition in, had my ibuprofen in good time, and the pre-race porta potty visit was successful as well.

I got into the water with just a couple of minutes to go. Met up with a couple of other Sharks and tried to work out whether we were swimming clockwise or counter-clockwise. Everyone was lining up facing counter-clockwise, so we figured that was it, and after a couple of quick warm up swims, I positioned my self on the outside edge of the heat.

The horn went off, and it was on. The water was about perfect. A little chilly to begin with, but once we got moving it was great. The course was a triangular shape, and Olympic distance did 2 laps. The swim to the first buoy was really long, but I tried to stay calm and smooth. A couple of collisions, but I held my ground and it went well. Between the back two buoys, I started to get a side stitch, and a cramp which moved up to my shoulder. I’ve been getting these a fair bit lately. I think it may have to do with my breathing, and increased intensity. I tried to stay slow and fluid, and breathe easily.

As I turned to complete my first loop, it was right into the sun. It was a good thing, since I forgot about the cramping and focussed on try to stay straight and see where I was going. By the time I started lap #2, I was feeling much better, and I started to find my groove. I sped up a little and felt like I was headed for a strong finish.

Hopping out the water was tricky. With a couple of waves starting after mine, the mud on the edge had gotten very soft and squishy. I swan in as far as I could and then squished and slid out of the water. The run to transition was carpeted, but they had a shoe zone, since the transition itself had a lot of small rocks and stones in it.

The shoe thing didn’t go well. Next year I’m taking flip flops instead of water shoes. I had my wetsuit down to my waist by the time I hit transition, leaving my goggles and cap in the sleeve as I pulled my hand through - coolest trick ever!!!

By the time my suit was completely off, my feet were covered in mud. I tried to scrape it off as best as I could, and slipped the shoes on. I was going to try biking without socks for the first time in a race. It was easier not having to put socks on, but with the mud my transition was over 3 minutes. To make matters worse, someone asked a family member for the time, and it seems like my swim had taken almost 35 minutes - NOT GOOD!

Perhaps now would be a good time to mention my goals…

My plan was for a strong swim in the 30 minute range, which would be a PR by 2 minutes, but I felt was possible.

T1 was supposed to be a minute, since I wasn’t going to be messing with socks.

The bike course is an out and back with a big hill going out and then down coming back. I went conservative and figured a 1:20 would be a good time to go for.

T2 was supposed to be another minute or so.

The run, I was going to start slow, and try and hold 9:30 per mile for the whole run.

With those plans, and factoring some cushioning in, my goal was 2:55, although I would have been stoked with anything under 3.

Got on the bike and tried to get into a rhythm. I didn’t feel bad, and I was moving quickly, but it just wasn’t perfect. 3 miles of flat and downhill, and then we began the climb up the canyon. I got passed a bit, did my own passing, but by 6 miles in, I was starting to feel the groove again.

I hit the top of the canyon with an average speed of 17.5 mph. Which considering that I’d been hovering around 15 most of the way up, was pretty good.

I turned and headed down… Free speed Baby!! I took the speed up to about 30mph. It felt great. It took some concentration, since the road wasn’t the best, but I managed to hold it to the bottom of the canyon. Average speed was now up above 20mph, and I began the final 3 miles up to transition. At this point the road was really busy, with all the Sprint Athletes out on the course as well. It made it fun though.

Transition was interesting. There was a looooong run in the dirt between the dismount and the entrance. As we approached the entrace there were about 3 or 4 sprint gals walking slowly through. I’m grateful for the girl beside me, who started yelling for them to move, thus clearing the way for her and I. There were a number of dirty looks given, but if you’re going to walk slowly next to your buddy and stop in the entrance you deserve it.

Mud and dirt were still an issue in T2, although there was a little less mud now. I grabbed a 5 hour energy as well, and drained my gel flask. Grabbed the Garmin and back out onto the course in just under 3 minutes. Not great, but I was feeling good, so perhaps I could make it up on the run.

My last couple of races, I’ve left transition and held a 7:30 to 8:00 pace for the first half mile or so. That may have been my downfall at those races, so this time, I opted to try and stay around 9:00. It was tough, and it hurt but I managed to hold it.

The run was a trail alongside the dam. Pretty flat, but there was a definitely decline heading out, and incline heading back. I stayed fairly consistent and managed to run solidly all the way out. At the turn around I started feeling really good and figured I could pick it up a bit. It also helped that I was starting to run by other Sharks and plenty of high 5’s and encouragement were shared.

With 2 miles to go, I came upon #123. He had an O and a 33 on his legs, just like me. That meant same age group - and he was looking tired. I figured I’d hold it behind him for a while, and then opt for a final kick over the last 250 yards or so to pass him. It’s the first time, I’ve ever worried about strategy in a race, and it was both fun, and it took my mind off my legs.

It was going well, until the 5 mile mark where he stopped for a drink… I blew by him and tried to up the tempo a bit, but I’m guessing he say my leg markings and got an adrenaline charge. He came flying by me seconds later. I figured he’d burn out a little way down the trail and I’d catch him then, but he kept going to the end. DOH!! I sped it up a little with half a mile to go, and came into the finish feeling strong, but spent.

All in all, it was an excellent race. I felt good in all three legs, and felt like my nutrition and pacing were dead on. The only thing I wasn’t ecstatic about was the swim, but it seemed everyone’s swim times were off, leading us to suspect that the swim course may have been long. So that’s my excuse for that.

Finals Times

Swim: 34:02
T1: 3:21
Bike: 1:14:42 (Average Speed 19.9 mph)
T2: 2:50
Run: 53:15 (Average Pace 8:35 per mile WOW!!)

Overall in my division, I was 15th in the swim, 13th on the bike and 15th on the run, giving me a final placing of 14/24. Still plenty of room for improvement, and I do have a really tough division.

Final Time: 2:48:11

Now my previous Olympic PR was at BAM last month in a time of 2:41 and some change, but this course was 3 miles longer on the bike, and a quarter mile longer on the run, and if you factor that in, with my average speeds at the two events, I think this one comes out as a new PR.

My final results are here.

And there are photo’s located here. I particularly like some of the bike pics, and the run ones where I’m going from right to left. The left to right ones were on the way out, and I was hurting.

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BAM is an Olympic Distance Triathlon, hosted by WARP - Wasatch Area Race Production - at Soldier Hollow, in Midway, UT.  It was the venue for many of the cross country type events at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and is an incredible venue for both winter and summer events.

The week before had some pretty crappy weather in Northern Utah, and weather predictions for Race Weekend were not looking good at all.

My personal race predictions were looking good though…  Here they are:

Swim: 32:00

T1: 5:00

Bike: 1:05

T2: 2:00

Run: 50:00

We decided to camp out at the venue, which was going to make logistics a lot easier, and  the kids have all be begging to go camping for a while now.

Lesson #1:  Camping out at the venue absolutely rocks, even when it rains, which it did, and hard too.

Lesson #2:  Camping out with 5 kids, aged 10 months to 9 years, not such a hot idea.

When all was said and done, it wasn’t too bad. At about 10pm however, a certain kid, who shall remain nameless, chucked my big, solid MagLight at another kids leg, which kid then proceeded to scream bloody murder, to the point that he then threw up all over himself, a couple of sleeping bags and a pillow or two.

But when you factor out little incidents like that, it wasn’t a bad weekend.  We arrived about 4:20 on Friday afternoon, and by 4:45, had the tent up, most of out stuff unloaded, and I was sprinting like a mad fool, to grab the race packets for 3 of the kids.  5:00 we had the kids race (See previous posting), and following that we dropped my bike off at Deer Creek, and headed into town for dinner.

The night was actually fairly warm.  A couple of big thunderstorms rolled through, but they stopped around midnight, and it was quite peaceful after that.  I heard from one of the race directors that they had done “The Dance”, naked, at midnight in T2.  I can’t say for sure if they did, but whatever it was, it worked.

Just a heads up… This race report, as with all of my reports is waaaaaay looooong. I get kind of wordy, and I like to include details, so I can go through what worked and what didn’t. There are photo’s however, so if you want to see those, and my final results, just scroll down to the end.

I woke up at about 3:30 and kind of lay around until 4:30.  I hit the restrooms, got my race kit on and then walked my run stuff up to T2.

BAM is a point to point race, so you drop your bike off at the swim venue the day before, setup your run equipment at the 2nd transition area on race morning, and then catch a bus to T1 to check your bike and setup your bike equipment.

I was the one of the first people set up my run stuff, meaning I got the pick of positions, and then headed down for a quick shot of carnation instant breakfast, grabbed my bags, and got on the bus.

While I enjoy meeting new people, I was grateful to find some fellow sharks to sit with. Sandi, Sue and Steve were all at the back of the bus, and I got to meet Polly as well!

Got to my bike at around 6, set up my aero bottle, checked the tired, set up the Garmin and then wondered around nervously. Got to meet a couple of other sharks, and then tried to focus on getting ready for the race.

7am I grabbed Gu #1 - vanilla (mmmmm!!), and then noticed that Stef had arrived as well. Stef is a blogging buddy from Las Vegas. I got to meet her in person at Rage earlier this year, and it was really great to see her again. They say that Facebook and other social networking type things (like blogging) can limit your social interactions, but I think they can really enhance them as well. I’ve met a couple of new people in those endeavors, who’ve turned out to be great friends, and it’s always good to be able to share a race with people you know.

7:30 grabbed the second Gu, and wondered off to get the wetsuit on.

7:40 Wondered over to the water with Stef and hopped in to warm up - which is interesting, because I’m sure my core temperature dropped significantly as the barely liguid water slipped through my zipper and through my neck. Brrrrr! It wasn’t as cold as it had been a couple of weeks before, but it was still chilly!!

7:50 Staggered out of the water - Does anyone else have trouble walking normally when they exit a lake?

National Anthem, suck down Gu #3 (Mint Chocolate - best flavor ever!!), luck wishing to Stef, Steve and Josh and then into the water for the start. I positioned myself towards the back, but on the inside path of the course. Glad I warmed up too, because the water felt much better the second time around. There was a count down, and then the ROTC from BYU (I think) shot off the canon. I expected it to be louder, but I also had ear plugs in! First time plugging the ears in a race, and I think I shall be doing it from now on - definitely helped me stay focused.

Collided with a couple of bodies en route to turn one, but I kept going - Score that a win!! First turn wasn’t too bad. I got grabbed on the butt a couple of times, but it’s a sporting event, so that’s OK - right?!? I may have done some inadvertent groping as well.

The course was a triangular shape, and doing the full distance meant two laps. 2nd turn went very well, as did number 3. Back to the start for round 2. I was starting to get a stomach cramp at this point - don’t think it was the Gu’s since it’s happened the last couple of times I swam open water as well. I think it has to do with continuous swimming, which can only be practiced in open water, so I’m hoping to do more of that this year.

I started chanting to myself “There is no spoon, it’s all in my head, there is not spoon” This in reference to a part of The Matrix, referenced by blogger buddy xt4 here and which words he’d wished me well just prior to signing off for the weekend. Thanks xt4! It really helped!!

By the middle of lap 2, I was feeling really good again, and I was only just starting to be passed by athletes from the second wave which started 5 minutes later. Things were looking good for a PR swim!!

Final stretch felt really good, although my shoulder were feeling tired, but you don’t need shoulders on the bike now - do you!!

Exited well, unzipped the suit (QR Breakaway zipper - you ROCK!!), grabbed the caps, goggles in one swipe, pulled out the plugs, into the cap and then I pulled them through my sleeve, dropped them halfway - Excellent race tactic - thanks to the person who recommended that!!

Exited right behind another Shark - turned out to be Club President Di, who had beaten me in the swim at Rage by almost a minute, despite starting 7 minutes later - doing some quick math… That means I could be 3 minutes faster than Rage, and I suspect she has improved as well.

Wetsuit came off well, transition felt quick and it was off on the bike. I was able to check the time about a minute into the ride and it said 8:40. Wave was supposed to start at 8:00, which means with the minute or so on the bike, Swim and T1 were about 37:00 minutes. Perfectly in line with goals!! Nice

The first section of the bike is along a highway. There was not supposed to be any passing, but with some short course athletes already on the course, that was tricky. I tried to be safe and picked my passing spots carefully, but I did blow by a couple of mountain bikes, and the odd tri bike as well.

3 miles into it, I passed Di back again, and was holding an average speed just above 20mph - so far so good.

The BAM course is really fast, but there are some hills, and they hit after the first 5 or 6 miles. Nothing too steep though, and I stayed in my big ring for all of it. I had a shot of gu as well, as drank a fair amount of HEED too. My nutrition seemed to be going well, although my stomach was feeling a little full. The 3 before trick I tried at my first marathon and it worked well, but I realized that I didn’t take on anything else for the first half of that race, so I opted not to take any more Gu on.

After the climbing came the downhill. LOVED IT!! Nothing too steep, but I got some good speed! Topped out at a little over 33mph at one point, but generally tried to keep it between 22 and 26mph for the second half. At one point I was down in the aero position, cranking away, and holding a 28mph average for a couple of miles - it felt really really good!!

A little climbing in the last couple of miles, before a few miles a perfect downhill, and then one final big hill up to T2.

It looked like I was heading for about a 1:05 time on the bike, and I’d forgotten what my goal was 1:03, 1:05?!? Either way, I was close. Hopped off the bike without incident, just to see to other sharks come flying in right behind me. SHARK ATTACK IN TRANSITION!!!

Opted to skip the 5 hour energy, grabbed the hat instead of the bandanna, and I was off!

T2 time - 1:30 or so. Nice job Mike, just keep it together. There is no spoon!! There is no spoon!!

The first 2 miles of the run were rough. I started well, but my toes were all numb. I think I need to invest in some bigger bike shoes. Kind of held it together until the first big hill into Soldier Hollow itself. I think it was all mental, and I was trying to get back control. Sweat was also starting to run down my neck, and it turns out, I had some wicked chaffing from my wetsuit. Owwwwww!!!

Hit the top of the hollow, and decided I need to run down - averaged around 7:30/mile coming down - BACK IN THE GAME BABY!!

There’s a nasty short hill at the bottom, and I put my head down and went for it. Doing well, grabbed some Heed at the aid station, and threw water on the neck. Doing well. The next two mile went OK. Walked one or two steep hills, but generally kept running and was feeling strong.

At mile 4 I bumped into my friend Mike from work. He was doing the Lite course and was about a mile into his run. He was looking good, and it was nice to chat for a while. Another downhill came, and I used gravity to my advantage again, taking off for lower elevations. The final two miles went pretty well. Passed Di at one of the switch backs and exchanged 5’s and then headed up for the finish. Walked one last beastly hill with a half mile to go, and then picked a couple of guys to chase into the finish. I caught them both just prior to the final turn and heard my name announced. “Mike Mackrory, looking for a strong finish”

Yes I will! Thank you very much.

The kids were waiting in the finish shoot, I yelled “High Fives Guys!” and got all but 2, even the wife I think! That is the reason my daughters photo looks like this….

Got to break the tape - first time ever, and then staggered into the finishers tent for some water and a rest.

Rested for a while. Got to see Mike and Di finish right behind me, and then figured it best to go and rescue my wife from the kids.

That about sums it up for the race. Official finish times haven’t been posted online yet, but from what I saw on the final list outside the timing trailer…

My swim time was 32:09 (9 seconds shy of my goal, but my previous PR was 34:23. That’s HUGE. Beat myself 2:12 - WOOHOO!!)

T1 was something crazy like 2:17 or something ridiculous. Goal was 5, although I really wanted to hit 3. Hell yeah! I’ll take that!!

Bike Time according to Garmin - 1:04:29 with avg of 20.2. Goal was 1:05, so I beat that, and PR’d something fierce! This wasn’t a full Olympic distance race, so it’s hard to compare, but I have never gotten an average over 20 in a race before, and my previous Olympic PR avg was 19.5 in Provo last year - and that course could not have been flatter - we’re talking 40 ft difference between the highest and lowest points!!

T2 - Garmin again - 1:31 - well under my 2 minute goal. Way to skip the dilly dallying!!

Run - 1:00:36 - That’s off my goal by over 10 minutes and without a doubt my slowest Olympic distance run of all time (This was my third race though!). I don’t feel too bad about it, because I did well on the swim, and I pushed really hard on the bike. My run training, has been slack of late too, and this course is BRUTAL. But all that aside I still have much to improve on - A little too much spoon on this section if you ask me.

Final time was 2:41 and some change. 6 minutes off my goal, but I’m still stoked about it. Even if you factor in the additional 4 miles on the bike for a full Olympic event, that’s still a PR against my best ever Oly Tri by over 10 minutes!!

Nice job to Stef who I believed PR’d by 29 minutes over last year or something close (Her coach says 29, she says 28… I think Stef may be playing it down, so let’s go with the Coach’s numbers!!)

I believe my friend Mike won his division - I was breaking down a tent at the time, surrounded by kids, but I think that’s what I heard, and I thought he did really well!!

And the father of the family that camped next to us won his division as well - on his first triathlon as well!!

I think the family on the other side of us cleaned up as well - but I expect that from them Their two kids are extremely talented and my goal is to be a parent as supportive as theirs. So while I don’t have the official results… Ian and Mia - well done too!

I thought the event was really well run, although there were some weather issues, and I believe the off-road duathlon got canceled on Saturday night due to thunderstorms, which sucks for those who planned on doing it. But overall, it was a great weekend.

Where to from here:

Short term - Shark Attack Sprint Triathlon is next week. Need to do some speed training on my run and my swim early this week to be ready. The plan is to push the swim, really push the bike, and hopefully have enough in the tank to go sub 25 minutes on the 5k. I can do it!!

Middle term - My run needs work, and I could do with some longer distance swim training. I feel capable though, just need to the time.

Long term - I’m definitely coming back to BAM next year. It’ll be weeks after IronMan, so assuming I’m prepared for that, I should be back in shape again. I going to attempt the BadAss next year though. 9k trail run on Friday night, full BAM triathlon on Saturday morning and off road Duathlon on Saturday night. Should be a blast!!

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So this weekend heralds the arrival of my first “A” race for the season.  The Ogden Marathon was supposed to be, but I didn’t train so well for that, and kinda blew the second half - so how about we just don’t bring that up again

Anyway, so first “A” Race, and I’m feeling ready.  With each approaching day I’m getting more and more excited.  Done a couple of really good open water swims over the past few weeks, and my confidence in the water is as high as it has ever been.  My last couple of bike rides have been far speedier than I would have expected, and my legs are feeling like they’ve got a good solid run in them.

So first…  Predictions for the Race.

Swim - 1500m.  Sub 32 minutes.

My PR for this distance is 34:23, but I’m swimming straighter, stopping less, and not afraid to bump into other swimmers as much as I was at that race, so 32 is entirely within my reach!

T1 - Sub 5 minutes

This race is a point to point, rather than being based in one spot.  So I’m going to have to stick my wetsuit and everything in a bag, and that’s once I’ve got out of it.  5 minutes is actual rather long.  If I could do it in 3, I think I’ll be extra happy.

Bike - 1:05

I’m not sure what speed that requires me to average, but I think it’s between 20 and 21 mph.  It’s a fast course and perhaps I can even beat that.  I’ve got the legs, just need to push myself mentally.

T2 - Sub 2 minutes

I’m become a slacker in T-2.  Can’t afford to do that on this race. Get in, rack the bike and get the hell out of there…

Run - 50 minutes

This would be a PR for me, although the course is more a 9k than a 10k.  It has some nasty uphill to begin with, but if I can keep under 10 minutes for mile for the first mile or so, I think I can push it for the rest of the course.  Power up the hills and let gravity help me back down.  The course sucked when I ran it 3 weeks ago, but that was a week after running Ogden, and my legs are feeling SOOOOO much better now.

Putting that all together, my goal time is….  <drumroll>

2:35:00

Wow!!  That seems a little ambitious since I’ve never gone sub-3 in an Olympic before, but I’m feeling good about it.

Now the plan…

The race starts at 8 (or there abouts)

I want to get there early so I can swim a little.  The water will likely be freakin’ COLD, and I’m not the type to pee in my wetsuit to warm up - EWWWW!

So planning to get at least 15 minutes in, paddling around and getting used to it.  If I can time this, so I get out around 7:50, I think I’ll score that a win.

Nutrition:

Breakfast - Carnation Instant Breakfast, and perhaps a donut - non-traditional, but I like donuts and they seem to like me.

Pre-race - 12oz of Gatorade.

45 minutes before - 1 Gu

15 minutes before - 1 Gu

3 minutes before - 1 Gu

24oz of Hammer HEED in my aero-bottle for the bike leg, and 3 packets of Gu in my flask.

I’ll try and grab a swig of Gu within the first 2 miles, at around 12 miles, and then right before I finish the bike.

My hydration goal is to sip when I get the chance and aim to finish the bottle at around mile 20.

On the run, I’ll probably just take HEED and  water.  They may have HammerGel as well, which I like, but it will depend on how I’m feeling.  If I can pull my nutition plan off on the bike, I think that will power me through the end of the run.

OK - I was thinking that getting this down would ease some of the excitement, but it’s just made it worse!!

This will be a good weekend.  Great race, great support from the fam.  Hoping to hang out with the Sharks, Blogger buddy Stef from Vegas and her entourage, and hopefully meet some new tri-buddies as well!

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend at BAM and elsewhere.

Special shout outs to:

Stef - also doing BAM

Steve A. - Doing the BAM BadAss - Because he is!

Craig - doing the Motor City Triathlon

Steve in a Speedo - Doing the Liberty Olympic Tri

Aaron - Doing the Wendy’s Sprint (Sounds like my kinda Race!!)

Tri-James - Doing the Dragonfly Triathlon

and last but by no means least… three of my kids - Ella, Lily and Ky, who are doing the kids 3/4 mile kids run at BAM!

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Rage was an interesting race.  I learned a lot, and I could probably fill several pages of up writing about it, but I’m sure you would find none of it very informative.

Lets begin prior to the race…  After reviewing the course on Google Earth, I figured it would be entirely possible to break the 3 hour mark, and best my previous Olympic Distance time of 3:03.  I figured 30 minutes for the swim, 1:30 for the bike, and about 55 minutes on the run, leaving 5 minutes for transitions and anything else.

The plan was to leave home at 4:30am Friday morning, and get down to Las Vegas before noon, allowing us time to meet up with fellow blogger Stef, and some of her blogger buddies from Cali and then preview the course.  Part of getting up at 4am, was getting to bed by 8 the night before.  We ended up shopping for treats (Padkos to some of my readers!) until well after 8.  Packing my kit was supposed to have been done the previous Sunday, but it wasn’t, so that took until about 10pm, whereafter I had to finish up a small project for a client, pack for the rest of the weekend, rig some contraption to hold the portable DVD player to the inside roof of the van, and when that was all done, I then remembered that I hadn’t yet shaved the parts of the body that need to be shaved prior to a race.  I don’t actually think the loss of body hair helps much with my speed, but it’s just one of those things I do to get myself right mentally.

I finally got to bed around 2am, and then tossed and turned for another half hour or so.

Needless to say we left a little late the next day.  The drive down wasn’t bad at all, and following a short tour of several Las Vegas suburbs (Yes, I got lost!!), we got some directions and found ourselves in Henderson.  HUGE THANKS to the couple of folks in the 7-11 who gave me directions.  Not to bag on Utah, but the people I met in Nevada were without exception some of the most friendly and helpful people I’ve ever met.

Check-in at the Henderson Comfort Inn went flawlessly, even with us being a little early, and with the exception of the frigid pool, the hotel stay was amazing.  Big thumbs up to a couple of the staff members there, who went above and beyond in making us and especially our 5 kids a little extra comfy!

We then headed straight to packet pickup, which went well too.  Got assigned number 423 and met up with Stef and the other blogging folks.  The expo looked nice, but after 7 hours in the car, and restless kids, I opted to miss most of it.  I did snag a poster though.  I think it was intended for my kids, but the Rage poster is pretty cool - It’s going on my motivation wall of my home office.

After a nice swim - well kind of - it was about || this cold! - we headed out the preview the course…

The Rage bike course is beautiful in a rugged, desert kind of way.  Wonderful views of the lake and surrounding mountains and well maintained roads.  The hills however are not done justice by Google earth.  As we headed back to the hotel, I pretty much gave any hope of getting a PR, and turned my attention into preparing to enjoy to the race.

The pre-race dinner was provided by In-N-Out burger.  Probably a little risky, since I’ve never had it before, but having taken the risk, let me assure you that it was well worth it.  Fairly good nights sleep and up a little before 5am to get ready.  Usually when I go to a race by myself, I’ll be one of the first people to check in.  Things change when you have 5 little monkeys in tow, and when you’re about to subject your spouse to watching those 5 monkeys for the duration of a race.  All that aside, we got there in time to get my transition area setup, and get my wetsuit on.

As I walked out, I was warned not to walk over the mats with my timing chip.  Of course, that makes sense…  WAIT A SECOND!!!!  MY FREAKIN’ TIMING CHIP - ACK!!!  WHERE DO I GET IT?  Sprinted up to the other end of transition, warned again not to cross the mat - I KNOW! I KNOW! I KNOW!  And got my chip.  Said goodbye to the wife and kids - high 5’s all around.  Grabbed my swim cap and goggles and headed off for the water.

The water was cold.  Having anticipated that, I grabbed 2 swim caps, and tried to get accustomed to it a little prior to the start.  Accustomization did not happen, and as I was fretting about the cold, wishing I had gotten in sooner, I also recalled that the GU, I was going to have 45 minutes before the start, the one 15 minutes before the start, and then one I planned on having right at the start hadn’t happened either.

OK MIKE…  CHILL OUT…  IT’S GOING TO BE A FUN RACE.  YOU DON’T USE GU FOR SWIM TRAINING ANYWAY…  WHERE THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO BE SWIMMING?!?!  IS THIS MY WAVE?  CALM DOWN…  CALM DOWN…  IT’LL BE FUN, JUST ENJOY…

5…  4…  3…  2…  1…  BLAAAAAAARP!!!!

And we’re off.  From standing in 3 feet of water to swimming out towards the first bouy.  Gasp - breathe - gasp - breathe.

I hung with the pack well for the first part.  Tried to avoid feet and hands, but was also pleasantly surprized that I could see feet and hands, and the bottom and the other athletes!  My only other open water swim ever was the Provo Tri last year in Utah Lake, and again, not wanting to bag on Utah, but you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face!

The swim headed out to a bouy, headed south, then east, north and finally west to the boat ramp.  I was a little flustered about forgetting my pre-race nutrition and the cold water.  Midway through the south part of the swim, I also started to feel some chaffing on my neck from the wetsuit.  I’d applied BodyGlide prior, but I think I need to apply it higher next time.  Fortunately by then I was getting used to the cold, so I traded one discomfort for another.

Finally as I approached the finish, I noticed the edge of the boat ramp under the water, and so for the last hundred yards, I just put my head down and swam.  Finished strong, saw the fam as I exited the water and headed up to find my bike.  I think I jogged most of the way up - don’t really remember this part.  Wetsuit came off easily, got the shoes and socks on (more on that later), Headsweat bandana (my new best friend!), helmet and sunglasses.  Grabbed the bike and ran out of transition.

Swim Time: 34:23 (Previous PR - 40:59 - NICE!!)

T1: 4:02 (OK, so I was a little slow and sloppy - need some more work here!)

The first part of the bike course is all uphill, and the road is the one part of the course that could use some work.  It wasn’t too bad though, and too be fair most of that first hill, I was staring longingly at my GU flask and my Aero-bottle!

Nutrition on the bike went well.  I got abut 24oz of Hammer HEED in, and about 4 Gu packs.  I need to get into the habit of filling my aero bottle from my regular bottles though.

First 10 miles or so are mostly uphill, and there was a slight headwind.  I felt strong on the hills and reasonably comfortable on the flats.  I think I was averaging about 15mph, by the time I hit the first turn around.  Hear a loud Woohoo as I got to the top, and saw fellow Shark (And Club President) Di coming down the other side.  That got my legs going a little faster, and around the turn I went.

Second 10 miles was mostly downhill and the headwind became a tail wind.  I was thoroughly enjoying myself at this point.  Legs were feeling good.  Attitude was great, and I started pushing hard to see how fast I could go.

Final 6 miles consisted of 3 miles up and increasingly steep hill - at least it felt that way, and then 3 miles down into transition.  I was shifting into run mode at this point and working out my times.  Based on when I think I started, and the current time (I didn’t time my swim).  It was looking like I could possibly break 3 hours, but that would require running at 8 min/mile - something which probably wasn’t going to happen.

Flew into transition with relative easy and located my rack, courtesty of the wife and kids waving me in.  Thanks Guys.  Got my helmet off first and foremost - It was exactly a year ago this weekend that I took off on the SHAC tri, feeling great about a quick transition and wearing my bike helmet!!.  Changed the shoes, grabbed a drink, 2 packs of GU and my running hat.  Kissed the wife, high fived all the kids again and set off on the run.

Bike time: 1:31:41 (1:22:24 at Provo last year, but that course was A LOT flatter!)

T2: 3:13 (Way slower than it should have been, but wouldn’t have traded the kiss and high fives for anything!)

Caught up to Di in the first mile - she’d had a great transition and was looking strong on the run.  We talked a little and I downed a GU.  Tried out the new GU Roctane.  Pretty pricy little bag of sugar and stuff, but not bad tasting, and I don’t know if it worked, but I did feel stronger as the race went on.  For the first mile or 2 Di and I leap frogged a little and chatted a little too.  Mile 2 through 3 had the most nasty hill.  Steep, constant, and the heat was starting to get to me.  Normally 80+ degrees wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’ve been training in Utah - in snow for most of the last few months.  I’m just not used to it.

The turn around came about when it needed too, and I started to head back.  The hill became my friend, as did gravity, and I picked up the pace significantly.  The rest of the run was fairly good.  I felt strong, but ready to be done.  Got a bit of a boost as Nick - fellow Shark and half ironman competitor flew by, and then blogger buddy Stef looking strong as well.

For the first time, had my name announced as I crossed the line, which was pretty cool, except I always feel like I’m in trouble when my full name is used…  Michael from Syracuse Utah - Uh oh - what did I do! The Rage finishers medals were pretty slick as well - have to post some pics of that tomorrow!  The fam were all at the finish line too - waving banners, cheering and all of that.  It’s a little stressful before a race when they come, because I’m usually not there as early as I would like, and I worry about my poor wife have to watch them during the race, but having them there at the end so far outweighs that, that I really don’t mind.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t race for myself, because I love the feeling of competing, of pushing my limits and everything else that stems from my training and competing.  But at the same time, I do hope it inspires my kids to step outside of their comfort zones, to try something new, and to be inspired to seek for something better.

Overall a great experience and I’d definitely like to do this race again, maybe even have a shot at the half iron course - The run on that looks really nice and scenic.

Run time: 58:26 (55:47 at Provo, but Provo was half a mile short according to my Garmin)

Final time: 3:11:43

Not my best time, but not too far off, and it felt good.  That puts my at 14/20 for my Age group, 114/157 for the men and at 148/233 overall.  Considering I’m racing against serious athletes now, and not a mix of first timers and others in a sprint, I feel pretty good about those results.  Definitely a lot of room for improvement, but I’ve still got years ahead of me!!

I’ll post more pictures later tonight, or tomorrow. Zazoosh.com - official event photographer took a couple of my race as well - you can check it out here.

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Yesterday was my first Olympic Distance Triathlon. The short story is that it went well and I arrived home feeling pretty good about things. What follows are the details, the lessons and plans for the future.

I’ll start with a joke that kind of applies to my experience. I heard it first, many years ago, while sitting in a Sunday Service for a very conservative church in South Africa. It was hot, and I doubt more than half those in attendance were awake, the rest of us were quickly loosing our own personal fights with fatique.

My best friends dad stands up and begins his remarks with:

“You know things are often times not what they seem. Take the canary islands for example; They’re called the Canary Islands, but they don’t have any canaries there. It’s the same thing with the Virgin Islands….”

At this point I think everyone sat up and took notice - remember it’s a very conservative church…

“They don’t have any canaries there either!”

My race was kind of like that I felt good about parts of it, and not so good about others. Once the results were in though, things kind of got mixed around.

I’ll start with the night before. I was a little nervous, which is to be expected. I finally checked on my hydration levels around 11pm and was pleased to find them up around 60%. Typically I’m around 58 or 59% and that morning I had been between 56 and 57. That gave me a good start. I then proceeded to remove a little excess body hair from my legs and arms. In the past I have only shaved my legs a couple of times, both before biggish racers. This time, in light of the fact that I would be needing to squeeze my arms into a tight wetsuit, the arms got it as well.

My bike was ready, my transition bag packs and my drink concoctions all mixed and ready in the fridge. I set two alarms and then tried to sleep. I think I finally dozed off around midnight. A couple of kid interruptions later, and some lying there thinking… “Am I ready for this?” and then I heard the radio alarm click on. It was 3am.

I hit the bathroom and had some success with the morning dump - Not as much as usual, but I departed from my usual plan of using fiber capsules the day before to clean everything out. I had a quick shower and the outfit I had laid out the night before. I opted for a quick breakfast of yoghurt, downed some L-Carnitine and Ibuprofen and headed out just before 4am.

About 10 miles into my 70 mile drive down to Provo, I ran into a closed freeway - rather than take my own way round, I opted to follow the suggested detour and took far longer than I would have liked to get back onto the freeway. I was a little nervous about this, since I had opted not to check in the night before and was worried about being late to registration. I tried to push my speed a little, but not too much that it would invite a traffic stop and more lost time.

I hit Utah Lake State Park about 15 minutes after it opened and was pleased to find that my Annual Utah Park pass covered the entrance fee - score another win for that investment. I was the second or third participant arriving. I wondered around looking for restroom, and after taking care of that commenced a half hour long battle with swarms of mosquitoes - I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many in one spot. I remarked to another guy that it was nice of them to aid us with the pre-race warm up, as we both stood there hopping and swatting.

The organizers have obviously been here and done this before and arrived shortly thereafter with plenty of bug spray. I got my bike set up right at the exit for the bike - not wanting to run in cleats too long, and then went to check in. Some time between the night before and the morning, they had lost a box of packets - for numbers 108 to 257 or something. I checked the list and discovered I was #108. I did a post a few weeks back about my lucky number - 8 or multiples thereof and so this boded well. However my packet was lost. While we waited, I got numbered, got my chip and paced around nervously, dashing off to the rest room every so often as well. Gotta love the jitter-pees!

Finally at about 7 the packets arrived. I got mine, got my shirt and went to go and put my wetsuit on. The shirt was sweet, the remainder of the swag bag fairly minimal, but they more than made up for that later. Around 7:15 I downed 12oz of gatorade which I had mixed with Hornet Juice, filled my aero-bottle with Accelerade, loaded the Gatorade bottle and my bike and downed a pack of Gu. I then struggled for a few seconds to zip up my suit, before a passer-by offered to help me zip it up. Thank-you kind sir!!

I should add at this point that I was solo in my adventure on this race. My wife and kids opted to stay home, influenced mostly by the fact that my youngest has turned into a demon and can easily outrun my wife who is currently 8 months pregnant. It’s nice not to have to worry about her or them during the race, but at the same time, nothing beats the rush of seeing loved ones cheer you on around the course.

Race meeting was at about 7:30, I think and then we all headed down to the dock. The water wasn’t half bad, at least temperature wise. It was however very murky, which is partially due to huge numbers of carp which infest the lake. I was very grateful for the extra buoyancy offered by the wetsuit, as we ended up treading water for a while. Eventually the race director appeared on the dock and told us it was time to go. He said we would have two shotgun blasts and we were to go on the second. I was about half way back in a pack of about 80 people - I think at least!

The first shot came and I readied my watch, and then from the director - Go! Go! Go! Oooops!! I hit the start button on my watch and leaned forward to swim. I have never raced in open water. I have never had a start like this either, so I was a little nervous, but it went well. I was kicked, prodded and groped a little, but nothing too bad and I’m pretty sure I got my own shared of pokes and prods in!

The course was an out and back course and we were to do 2 loops before headed to the boat ramp and climbing out. I struggled with sighting for most of the course, but judging by the number of swimmers I collided with and the direction they were swimming I wasn’t the only one. I believe the end buoy was a quarter mile out, and as I got there and breastroked around I checked my watch and saw it was well over 9 minutes - yikes - not good when I was hoping for a 30 minutes swim. I headed back, colliding with a couple of sprint athletes who were way off course and rounded the start buoy at about 18 minutes - at least I wasn’t losing time.

On the second loop I tried to relax a little and focus on my form. I could feel my neck getting tired from lifting further out of the water than normal, and I was beginning to chafe on the back of my neck as well - Next time, far more BodyGlide!!

I didn’t check my time on the second turn around, but just struck out for home feeling excited to be done and psyching myself up for T1 and the bike. I hit the start buoy, checked the watch and Holy Crap!! 28 minutes - I must have really stepped it up on that second loop!! WOW!!! I headed for the boat ramp, realizing that I could indeed make my goal of 30′ ish minutes. It took a while to get there, including me almost colliding with another small dock, but I arrived, slipped and slid up the ramp and shot a big smile to everyone waiting. I was joined by a number of the sprint athletes, who had started 5 or 6 minutes after me and only done 1 loop - not too bad at all. I unzipped the wetsuit, and as I ran to transition, checked my watch. 28 minutes and 13 seconds…. Man!!! I didn’t collide with too many people on the final lap, but one must have hit my watch just right.

Now clueless about my time, I headed into T1 and finished stripping the wetsuit. It went fairly well, and excluding the couple of hundred yards from the boat ramp to the tranisition area, my transition time seemed to be about 2:07 - Not too bad at all, considering it included removing the wetsuit!!

I had looked at the bike course online the night before, since I wasn’t going to get the luxury of riding it prior to the race. It started with a brief trip though the camp grounds, then a short trip on a road base trail - we were told to take this slow. The next section was compared to the cobblestone streets on some sections of the Tour de France. I must agree with that comparison, very bumpy asphalt. After that the course entered a residential neighborhood, before connected to a main road with brand new, and very smooth asphalt, and then back onto the main road back to the park. According to the mapping tool on the USATF website, each loop was a hair over 6 miles, and the total elevation gain was 59 feet - I can definitely handle that!! Olypmic distance had 4 laps to do.

My plan for the first lap was to get into the groove. Get my heart rate right and find a rhythm. Second and Third laps were hydration laps and then the final lap I wanted to push a little and prepare for the run. All 4 laps went beautifully. Acoording to my Garmin, I was averaging just under 20mph, cadence was about 80rpm and my heart rate was just slightly above 140. I couldn’t have asked for better conditions either. A slight tail wind on the uphill and a slight headwind on the downhill - if you could even call them hills.

I was able to stay in aero position longer than ever before, my drinking went well, and I finished was a very respectable time on the bike of 1 hour 21 minutes. The second transition went very well - Just a minute, 24 seconds, no doubt helped by the fact that I needed to pee like nothing else!! That also explains the sudden surge of speed on the last couple of miles on the bike too!!

I skipped the water stop right out of transition and worked on getting my pace right. I generally start off way to fast and have trouble maintaining it. I looked down and saw I was at a 7:30 pace. I can’t keep that up even over a 5k, and so worked on slowing it down as smoothly as I good. A quarter mile in, I had settled down just under 9 minutes a mile, and then I saw the restroom - YES!!!!!

With that out the way I focussed on my running and keeping my pace around the 9 minutes mark. I was tired, but nothing worse than I had expected. My IT Band problems stayed away, and even my sweat stayed clear of my eyes. I walked most of the aid stations, opting for sports drink instead of water, but making sure I got something in. It was a 2 miles loop that I had to complete 3 of before I could finish. As I started loop #2, a young lady handed my a cup of sports drink, and another offered a cup of water and asked “Splash?” Thinking she was offering it to me to dump over my head, I gratefully accepted it. Temperatures were climbing into the mid 90’s and some cool water on my face would feel great. I was quickly awakened from this thought as the young lass then dumped ice cold water on my back. I think the entire crowd around that spot heard me gasp. But man, did it feel good!! A little way into that loop, I started to feel my nipples chaffing. I could have been the water, or just the shirt I had on or just nature saying my body had enough. Either way it wasn’t going to start feeling any better. I ran for another mile or so, before overcoming my pride and exposing my here to for pearly white flesh to the sun and all around. To make matters worse I had just passed a young lady who was obviously a very regular patron at the local tanning salon. I don’t think my move made either of us look any better. Lap three began with me running through the aid station again and when asked “Splash?” again, I responded with a loud, “YES PLEASE!!!” All three girls dumped ice water on me and it felt great - I even managed to control the gasp this time.

The final lap went well, as I felt my body start to ease into the running, and aside from the loose gravel on one spot that made running hard, I felt like I sped up a little. I tried to drain my tank on the last leg and finished in something a little shy of a full sprint. I am pleased to report that while I hit the end button on my watch, I didn’t even notice my time.

According to my watch the final time for my run was 54:29. Not bad for a 10k, but the bad news was that I had apparently only run 5.66 miles. Oh well - the extra mileage on the bike probably covered it. I dug into a plate full of watermelon, oranges, bananas and grapes before putting my shirt back on and strolling off to call my wife.

Awards followed and I didn’t get anything, but then they began the drawings and other random prizes. The sponsors really stepped up for this, and they gave away a ton of stuff. I ended up being offered a bento box which someone had caught, but didn’t want and felt like my day was about perfect.

I’ll end with my impressions on the race and then give you the official results. This has run a little longer than expected, and so I’ll save the lessons and what not for another day.

I felt the swim went OK, but I didn’t feel like I had done a very good job. I was guessing based on looking at the clock and working backwards that I had probably spent almost 45 minutes in the water and then another 10 getting from there and out on the bike. I felt like I killed on the bike course, and even though a couple of very serious guys in TT Helmets and very expensive bikes blew by me, I felt like I held my own. The run was hard to tell. I know I hadn’t killed on it, but I felt like I did an OK job.

Now the official results and where the opening Joke comes in!!

Swim: 40:59

T1: 2:44

Bike: 1: 22:24 (18.2 mph avg)

T2: 00:03.6 (?!?!)

Run: 55:47 (8:59 per mile)

Total Time: 3:03:08

On the Swim I was 7/10 in my class and 55/87 overall.

On the Bike I was 9/10 for my class and 53/87 overall.

On the Run I was 6/10 for my class and 57/87 overall.

I guess overall I was fairly consistent. The swim was apparently better than I thought it was and I definitely need to work on my biking skills. I do have to question the distances and some of the splits (I know I was in T2 longer than 4 seconds!!) but at the end of the day it’s the fact that I finished that matters and how I felt when I did.

I finished and I feel great!!!

I’ll share more of my plans for the future tomorrow.

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