The KodaFit Blog

My reports on the Layton Tri, the Utah Half, the Top of Utah half Marathon, and now the Red Rock Relay are still coming, but I wanted to share something else.  It’s pretty significant - at least to me…

At the beginning of this year, I had come to the realization that I was not meant for speed, and that expecting to run at a pace under 9 mins/mile was a rather unrealistic expectation.

Somehow though, over the course of the year, things have changed.  My training has included more intensity and I’ve been doing intervals at the track on occasion as well.

I did a 5k back in June, and came in at 24:18, which is an average pace of 7:48 per mile - a new record!!

I felt like dying though, convinced that I would never be able to maintain that pace for very long.

I’ve read two things since then…

1 - Most world records have been broken when the runner has negative split the course, something I didn’t do in my 5k.

2 - Speedo Steve, after competing in a 40k bike time trial, described it as painful, but not as painful as a 5k.  I’m uncomfortable running a 5k, but I don’t think I cross the threshold into pain.

So armed with those 2 pieces of information, I’ve been trying to start slowly, and put it into the pain zone towards the end.

8/29 - Half Marathon in Logan UT.

Started slower and felt my legs kicking in around mile 6.  Mile 7 dropped below a 9 min/mile.  It hurt, but I kept pushing.  Interestingly enough, my mile splits kept dropping, even as I ran the hill at mile 12.  It hurt, but I was determined not to stop.  The final mile was brutal!  I passed a girl who was puking her guts out, and thought about joining her.  Final time… 1:53:16.  That’s 8 minutes and 49 seconds faster than my previous best, and the course appears to have been a little long!!!

9/4 - Relay Race in St. George UT.

Leg 1 was rough, but I was running at 11,000 ft, so we’ll leave that one for now.  Leg 2 was a 6.7 mile run on essentially flat ground, although there were some rollers.  Started slow, although I was feeling warmed up from my earlier run.  Found a rabbit in another runner, and chased her down for a couple of miles.  Found my groove within the first mile, and finished strong.  Final time.  58:16.  That’s only slightly slower than my 10k PR!

Leg 3 start with a down hill, and then a mile of uphill, and finally 3-4 miles alongside the river.  It was in the dark, it was muggy, and my head lamp wasn’t real bright.  I didn’t see another soul after the first couple of miles.  It was lonely, but peaceful.  I kinda liked it.  I’d also been up for well over 24 hours at this point.  I started at a good pace, determined to push it at the end.  6.1 miles in 52:26.

Now heres the really amazing thing…  All three races/legs…  My pace averaged out to 8:35!!!  Considering my first 5k 2 years ago came in with a pace a little over 10 min/mile, I’m pretty excited.

Folks, I may be able to make a runner out of this old body yet!!

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Sorry folks!  I’ve been a bad blogger of late.  Seems that when you have a nice full life going on that would provide plenty of blog fodder, you lose the time to blog about said life…

More blog posts will be coming, but to tide you over (because I know you’re all itching for some Koda news…)

Finished the Layton Tri - the Swim, Bike, Run, Repeat one, which was unique to say the least!!

Finished my first Half Iron Distance Tri in 5:50 - It had a shortened swim and plenty of wind, rain and hail

I’ve also installed new flooring in the Koda household, been swimming in the 3rd saltiest body of water on the planet and in the next couple of weeks, I’m hoping to be competing as part of a team for the inaugural Red Rock Relay in Southern Utah.

All very exciting, and hopefully will include plenty of pictures as well!

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I just realized earlier today, that I have raced for the past 3 weekends, and not only that, but I either equalled or best previous times on each of those occasions.

June 13th, BAM Triathlon - Olympic Distance
Took over 20 minutes of my previous Olympic Best!

June 20th, Shark Attack Triathlon - Sprint Distance
I need to do some equivalency calculations, but if this wasn’t my best sprint tri to date, it’s likely equal to my best.

June 27th, Stepping out for Scelroderma - 5k
PR’d with a time of 24:19 - 1:07 better than my previous best 5k time.

The 5k was interesting. The day before I did a big brick workout - swam 1mile plus in Open Water, bike 40 miles with an average speed a little over 19mph, and then ran a very fast 2.5 miles.

Saturday morning I woke up with my legs feeling good. The first quarter mile, I pushed waaay to hard - speeds down in the 6 min/mile range. I suspect my Garmin may actually be a disadvantage at times - Seeing my speed made me realize I needed to slow down, which was good, because otherwise I may have burned up everything in the first mile, but at the same time, I think it helps my brain defeat itself.

1st mile went great - average pace 7:22/mile
2nd mile was OK - average pace 7:49/mile. Legs were burning, but there was a slight downhill, so I tried to stride it out. Mentally it was tough, but I was able to hang in.
3rd mile - Average pace - 8:13/mile. Uphill to the finish, legs were burning, lungs were burning and wheezing with each breath. Mentally it was a struggle - “Just keep going, relax, just keep going, relax…”
Final 0.11 - average pace 7:41/mile - Kicked it up a bit with the finish line in site. You can do almost anything for just 1/10 of a mile more.

Overall a good race, although I’m realizing this body was built for distance, not speed! That’s an 8 minute improvement (7:51 - if you want to be technical), over my first 5k, almost 2 years ago. I’ve come a long way, but still got a ways to go!

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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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Hopefully this was worth the wait… This is my official Race Report for the St George Marathon, held Saturday, October 4th, 2008. It’s pretty long, but just know that it could have been a lot longer too!!

First a brief synopsis of the week before…

Monday - sick as a dog, a combination of a nasty cold and food poisoning.
Tuesday - better, but still not 100%. Took the day off work to recover. Tried to rehydrate.
Wednesday - feeling much better, skipped any workouts, kept trying to rehydrate.
Thursday - drove down to St. George. Not good for hydration and had Wendy’s for Dinner.

Friday

1.5 mile run/walk with the kids in a jogging stroller.
Got my number and relaxed the rest of the day.
Drove the course, and grew a little concerned - It’s a long freakin’ way!
Home made Taco’s courtesy of my sister-in-law.
Freaked out about 9pm, realizing all I still had to do and how little time was left.
Finally started to pee clear (Yes - I think I may be hydrated!)
Got my stuff all laid out, and set a couple of alarms.
Had the wife and kids write on my shirt.
Tried to get to sleep, despite an interesting show on Discovery about the Giant Squid.
Fell asleep about 11pm

Saturday

I woke up at 1:30am. My alarm wasn’t supposed to go off until 2:30.
Gave up trying to go back to sleep at about 2am and went and hopped in the shower.
On exiting said shower I applied nipple bandaids (I was paranoid about forgetting these) and liberally - and I mean really liberally applied BodyGlide to all the possible parts of my body which could experience any kind of friction.
I also had a shot of Pepto Bismol. My stomach has been iffy of late, and the last thing I wanted was a race marred with frequent bathroom stops. I was also worried since the morning #2 was somewhat less than impressive.
Heart Rate monitor, compression shorts, shirt, short, socks, shin sleeves, shoes, ITB Strap, Garmin, Wristband and a Sweat Shirt.
Loaded my Nathan fuel belt with 7 packs of Gu, 20 oz of Accelerade and 10oz of Gatorade with Hornet Juice.
MP3 player and 2 packs of Gu in the back pocket and a trip to the van to get my sunglasses.
The weather was really warm, so I didn’t grab my track pants, kissed the wife and went to the lobby to wait for Kay (My co-worker and running buddy)

We got to the bus loading at 3:50am. Being there before 4am meant entry into some cool drawings and a fast pass to the post race massage.

After quite a long ride, we arrived at the start. They were just starting the bonfires and it was cooler and very windy. I grabbed a cup of Gatorade and we headed up to the furthest fire. Shortly thereafter, we felt moisture, and hoped it was from the water truck spraying down the brush. No such luck. By 5am, it was coming down pretty hard. We joked about hiding out in the porta potties, since they still smelt OK, and were no doubt far warmer than anywhere else. I took a trip at about 5:30, and can confirm that they were indeed warmer. I also had great success with the second #2 of the morning - That was quite a load off my mind, and other things!!

6:00 - It’s still raining and blowing hard. Tons of people are arriving. I could have slept in, but at least I get the fast pass for the massage! I had my first Gu of the day.

6:30 - Everyone appears to be here. I’m cold and wet. I grab another Gu, and start loading up my fuel belt. 800mg of Ibuprofen, and 12oz of Gatorade with Hornet Juice. Nature calls, and due to lines at the Portables, some 15 people deep, I join my fellow runners in the woods.

6:45 - Apparently the gun went off, or maybe someone said “GO!!” We start to hear the announcer sending off various groups. We bid farewell to a gentleman from South Carolina (Chris I believe) who was trying to qualify for Boston, and Kay and I walk from the fires to the road. A minute later, we’re back at the fires. I strip down to my running gear, put the MP3 player on, and try to stay warm.

6:50 - We wonder down to the start, leap frogging the fires. Brrrrrrrrr!

6:55 - I toss my bag of clothes over a gate with all the other bags, cross the starting mats, and hit my Garmin. As xt4 would say, “Time to pick it up and set it down!” YES!!!!!

Within a half mile, I was making good progress, although slowed a little by having to pass people (The price to pay for a little extra warmth by the fire.) People were heading off the course left and right to pee. I was worried about my left foot, but due to the fact that they entire thing was numb from the cold, I couldn’t tell if it was bugging me.

I lost Kay shortly thereafter. It was pretty crowded. I would have started on my nutrition plan, but I was holding my sunglasses (ever the optimist) and I wasn’t thirsty or fatigued in the least. For the first few miles, I was well under 10 minute miles. I was hoping to be at 9:10 to hit 4 hours, but I didn’t want to go out too strong and end up dying before I hit the finish line. I’ll post a list of all my mile times and that kind of thing at the end.

The first major milestone was the town of Veyo at the 7 mile mark. It had a nice downhill leading into the town and gave some great views of the biggest climb on the course. The climb was a 7% grade over a half mile or so. Nothing I thought I couldn’t handle. I slowed a little on the hill, but kept a steady pace the whole way up. Perhaps the hardest thing wasn’t the hill, but the 3 or 4 miles or ever so slight uphill thereafter. During this I had finally put my glasses on - there wasn’t any sun, but it was light enough to see with them on, and it helped keep the rain out of my eyes. I had a little Gu, a little Accelerade, and turned on the music as well. I was considering doing the race without any music, but with the scenery limited to gray clouds, I felt a little extra boost would do me well.

I hit half-way feeling pretty good, although with the cold and the rain, the kidneys were working overtime.  I joined the mass of runners heading off to the side of the road, and enjoyed both some basic relief, and a bit of a break from running.  I also took a brief inventory of where I was and how I was feeling.  Physically I felt great, although from time to time I had a twinge of pain in my left foot.  My ITB Strap seemed to be doing its job, as were my shin sleeves, and as far as nutrition went, although I hadn’t taken much in, I was feeling good.

I left the rest stop, and decided it might not be a good idea to take an endurolyte tablet.  The plan had been to take one every 2 miles, and I was on mile 13, with a full compliment of the pills still in my front pocket.  They’re basically just capsules filled with salt and other necessary minerals.  When they hit your stomach they disolve, I would suspect from the liguid in your stomach, since apparently the rain had caused this to happen in my pocket.  I found 1 that was still reasonably intact, although significantly larger than normal and downed it - Ugh!!!

The picture below was just after half way.  Most of the climbing (what little there was) was behind me, and I was on the downhill part of the course and my marathon journey - Aside from the goofy look on my face, I think I looked how I felt, fast and strong.

The next 6 miles went fairly well. We started descending into Snow Canyon, which is incredibly scenic on a sunny day. The spectators became more frequent, and the field started to thin out even more. At one point some guy with a loud speaker attached to his truck was yelling encouragement… “Get a move on. I didn’t get up before dawn on a Saturday to watch you walk past me. Move It!! I could be eating cheerios now!” As interesting as it was to get yelled at, I’m grateful he made the effort - he kept my mind off the running for a couple of hundred yards or so.

Mile 20 and I entered the zone of running further than I ever have before in my life. About this time we descend down and under a bridge, and then up the other side. Most around me started walking, but I felt myself almost accelerate up the hill. It’s funny, you’d think that a hill would be killer at this distance, but it was pretty much the same as running on a flat. Maybe it’s all mental…

Mile 23 and 24, and we started entering the City of St. George. I was expecting to see my wife and kids somewhere along the route, but wasn’t exactly sure where they would be. I kept my eyes peeled and tried to stay close to the sides. There were spectators all along the sides of the route. Every so often a couple of kids would be standing with their hands out - I tried to high five as many as I could. I get a buzz from the kids, and I hope it adds to their experience as well.

Right before mile 25, I thought I’d grab a drink from an aid station. I was holding my glasses at this point, so getting at my bottles was a little tricky. I grabbed a cup of Gatorade, and proceeded to inadvertantly splash it all over my face and then swallow it wrong as well. I spent the next half mile choking, while still trying to see my wife and kids. Then I say them!! Big old sign with little balloons and pin-wheels. “Our Dad can kick your Dad’s Butt!!” I high fived my daughters, waved to my sons who were ‘fishing’ in the gutter and blew my wife a kiss and a big “Thanks! I love you!!”. I turned the corner and hit the 1 mile to go marker.

At this point my legs turned to lead. I don’t know what it was but it could have been my thinking that I only had 1 mile to go. According to my Garmin I sped up a little as well. I’m not sure if I hit the wall, or if it was just fatigue from running that far. I suspect it wasn’t the proverbial wall, since I could still keep going, and it didn’t take too much from me mentally, it just hurt. “Go Mr. Hands” yelled someone. I gave them a thumbs up and put my head down. “I trained for this, I trained for this….” I felt like the little engine that could. The finish line came into view, along with thousands of screaming spectators, a ton a National Guardsmen and the line - that glorious line.

It hurt, but I finished strong, stopping as I crossed and waiting for the medal to be put around my neck. I felt hot, light headed and completely spent, but I also felt incredible. I just ran a marathon!!! I walked through the Blue Bunny cooling spray - not that it made a difference, and got an awful craving for ice cream. Minutes later I had secured a Blue Bunny King Cone, or something like that and an Ice Cream Sandwich. BLUE BUNNY ROCKS!!!!

I spent a few minutes just standing and eating and breathing… Then I went and got my finisher photo and joined the Fast Pass line for a massage. This was the only bad part of the day… I was freezing, my clothes were missing, and it took me more than 90 minutes to get to the front of the line, only to find out that the regular line was taking 45 minutes. I finally got on a table, and had a nice young lady rub my legs down. I think it helped, and the best part was the 3 or 4 warm blankets that were piled on top of me while I lay there.

With that out the way I went and rummaged around for my bag - it was one of the bags that had lost it’s label in the rain, but I found it pretty quickly. I walked a couple of blocks, met up with my wife and began a couple of days of winding down.

My final time was 4h:13m:24s

More detailed results can be found here, and my photo’s are all here.

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This is my official B-Fit B-Day Challenge Report. If you already know what this challenge entails, you can skip over to the next paragraph, but for those who don’t….

The Race Athlete B-Fit B-Day Challenge is to Swim, Bike and Run your age. For a fitness nut like myself, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate another year on the calendar. This year I turned 32. My challenge was to complete a 3 mile swim, 32 mile bike and then a 2 mile run. I opted to give the Gold challenge a shot this year, which meant I had to complete all three within 24 hours. There are other levels for those that might find that intimidating, or that I might opt to do, once I get up into my 80’s and 90’s!! If you would like more information you can either click on the graphic on the top left of this page, or click here. Alternatively if you think you’d like to celebrate your next birthday this way, you can click here and you can join - with the added bonus of having me as a friend!!

OK, so onto the actual report… I’ve included some photo’s in here as well. I’ve shrunk them quite significantly to make this page quicker to download, but you can click on any of them for the larger versions.

Let me start off with two photo’s and then I’ll get going with the report. The first appears to be the official photo that all good BFit BDay reports contain… Sure I got some weird looks from the life guards and some ladies sunbathing, but you have to do what you have to do…

Next is the photo that kind of sums up my experience. I was joined in my challenge by my wife and kids. They played the role of support and had a blast doing it. My wife put together a poster that I didn’t see until right when I got to the finish. Below is my three year old Lily holding it up. “Our Dad Didn’t Want a Birthday Cake. He Wanted to B-FIT!!”

OK, now onto the challenge itself. I’ve been pushing pretty hard on a couple of projects at work and at home over the past few weeks. Add to that some severe lack of sleep and a few other stresses, and I figured I could lay in a little on my day off. I opted to take the challenge 2 days prior to my birthday - My birthday was Saturday the 5th, but I did this on the third.

My reasons for doing it this way were:

1. Have access to the pool without getting swamped by thousands of kids and
2. My son was celebrating something on my birthday that was a pretty big deal for him, and I didn’t want to detract from that.

I started swimming right before 9:30 - way later than I had planned, even with a sleep in, but feeling well prepared. I set my Garmin up so that I could time each of the three miles, and then the remainder of the challenge. I started with a pack of Gu energy gel, and took 24 oz of Accelerade to drink while I was swimming.

I have never swum further than 2 miles, so I wasn’t sure what pace to start out at, but I think I got it about right.

The first mile took 34 minutes and 53 seconds. Just over 2 minutes for every 100 yards. I took a break for about a minute and started on lap 2. That one was done in 35 minutes and 22 seconds - not bad!!! Took a few seconds to drink and breathe and then started on number 3. 35 minutes and 26 seconds. Not at all bad!!

Over all I think the swim went well. I have a hard time stomaching the taste of Accelerade, but in all honesty I think that it had a lot to do with how well I felt at the end of the swim.

As I got out the pool, I realized that my wife had not yet arrived back with the support mobile, and so I began a rather leisurely transition. Took a shower, got dry clothes on. 17 minutes later, they had arrived, I was ready and everything was set on my bike. With temperatures expected to top out around 100 degrees during my ride, I was carrying 72oz of Gatorade as well as 4 packs of Gu Gel and some peanuts. I mounted my noble steed, and had one of those “Do I really want to be doing this?” moments.

I did want to to this and off I went. There is a nice downhill from Layton to Syracuse, which let me get up to speed nicely and break my legs in as well. I had planned on reaching Jensen Park (Where I was ultimately going to finish) after 6 miles, but due to some unexpected detours I had already done 8 by the time I got there. Probably a good thing, because my Wife had just barely gotten to the side of the road with the camera.

Here I come	and there I go!!

My bike route took my out to Antelope Island, and then back along the 7 mile cause way to the Park. The first half went really well. I was averaging well over 20 mph, and felt on top of the world. Coming back however was not as easy. There was a slight head wind, and it was getting really hot. My arms were feeling chafed, my neck was feeling chafed and my legs were feeling very weak. I finished all of the Gu, most of the Gatorade, and still didn’t feel like I had everything I needed. 3 miles out from the park I called my wife, who was enjoying the air conditioning at the local Walmart, and then hunkered down to finish as strong as I could.

Overall the bike section took me 1 hour, 42 minutes and 49 seconds and the Garmin clicked over to 32 miles right as I entered the park. My average speed was 18.7 mph, and I topped out at just over 27 mph. I had beaten my wife there, so had a minute or two to remove my shoes and shirt, and try to regroup. It felt a lot longer, but shortly thereafter they arrived, I leaned the bike up against the car, got the shoes on and took off.

I despise people who run topless. Especially guys like me, who don’t quite have a six pack of abs to show off. Never-the-less, it was hot, and my neck was feeling very raw. Please accept my apologies for the photo’s which follow!

Here I am setting off on my two mile loop.

I did well for the first half mile, averaging under 8 minute miles, but it took it’s toll quickly. I don’t know if it was a mixture of mental and physical fatigue and the heat, or most likely a combination, but I found it really hard to stay in the game. I stopped and walked a few times, tried setting small goals, and then finally as could see the finish point, I was able to get a rhythem going and kind of finish strong.

Here was the finish line, complete with tape and screaming supporters.

I blew through the tape, hands held high, and then realized I hadn’t quite hit 2 miles. Yelling apologies, I ran down the trail, turned and ran back. Either I was really slow, or they were really quick, but by the time I got back, the tape was back up and they were yelling again.

My run took me 19 minutes and 44 seconds - Yuck!! But I was done.

I spent the rest of the day trying to cool down, rehydrate and do whatever I could to ward off the effects of the sun on my pasty white skin.

Total time for the challenge including transitions was:

4 hours, 13 minutes and 9 seconds.

Excluding transitions:

3 hours, 48 minutes and 14 seconds.

I’m definitely planning on doing this again next year and finally a huge thanks to my local supporters.

My wife Ann,

Finishing tape holder and official screamers - Brody and Ella

Sign holder, screamer and the “Let’s drive by Dad screaming again” girl - Lily

and last by not least, Screamer and Duck chaser - Kynan

And to everyone else at work and online who wished me luck…. THANKS!!

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I ended up getting off work a little early on Friday and arrived home to find myself all alone.  With time to kill, I figured I could either catch up on sleep, catch up on work from my home business or get some miles in on the bike.

For the record, and I know I’ve said this before…  I have never claimed to be sane.  I checked my tires, loaded up a couple of water bottles and headed out for a pretty lengthy ride.  I rode out to the Island again, realizing as I passed the sign warning about biting gnats that I had forgotten to apply bug repellant.  I got across the causeway fairly quickly, staying over 20mph for the entire crossing and tucked nicely in the aero position.  It’s still not the most comfortable position for me, but I’m getting used to it, and my speed and balance improve everytime.

On getting to the island, I headed south towards the ranch and almost immediately came across 2 male bison off to the side of the road - Just amazing creatures.  A short downhill and then a long climb, and I was feeling really comfortable.  About this time I looked down at my shadow and noticed flies buzzing around my head.  I was surprized I hadn’t noticed them before.  One landed on my arm, and I brushed it off and then set about brushing the back of my head and shoulders to make sure that there weren’t any other hitch hikers.  All was clear, except for the back of my left shoulder.  Apparently it’s the tasty one, because as I brushed, I came across at least three or 4 big flies just sitting there.  I discovered a number of big red bites the next day, and still have them - It grossed out my lunch time running group - they really look pretty nasty.  Anyway, if anything good were to come out of that experience, it was motivation to keep the pressure on and not let my speed drop too much.

I had a slight tail wind heading south to the ranch, although I didn’t realize it till I turned around…  For a while there I was really impressed with my progress!  I then headed back, taking a detour around the Buffalo Bistro and down to the beach.  It was hot, but nothing too bad, and while I could have done with a little more food on the ride, the 72oz of gatorade seemed to do the trick.

I got back 3 hours later and pulled into the driveway, right as my Garmin clicked over to 50 miles - My first half century ever!!!

Saturday morning, I woke up early, and although a little sore, gabbed the fam and headed up to the local 5k heritage days race.  Ella - my 6 year old had decided to do this race with me, and I decided to push the youngest 2 kinds in the stroller - partly so they could have fun, but I also wanted an excuse for a lower time!

We started out nice an slow, but within a quarter mile, Ella was asking to walk.  We started walking between 1 set of lamp posts and then running the next  set.  Soon though we were down to walking 2 and running 1 and then just walking.  By the time we hit a mile, the police officer trailing the end of the race had given up on us, and Ella was all but done.  With a little coaxing and creative packing, I got all three kids into the stroller and took off to regain some dignity.  I quickly got up to my usual 8:15 min/mile pace and started passing people, including the cop!!

The next 2 miles went fairly quickly, and right before the end, we stopped so Ella could hop out and finish up the race.  She started really moving - the kind of strides she made at the last kids race she did, and was in full stride as my wife too her picture.  Shortly after that, as we rounded the last corner, some obese moron stepped out in front of her, and as she went off the sidewalk to go around him, she tripped and got a nasty concrete burn on her knee.  The jackass, who had gotten in her way looked at her with a dumb look and wandered off.  I quickly pulled the youngest out of the stroller, sent him off the Mom, and piled Ella in the stroller.  We crossed the line minutes later in 37:12, with Ella howling the whole way in.

Perhaps not the finish we’d hoped for, but she’s really proud of her t-shirt, and I have some good idea’s for some training.  Most of which I think will be mental type work, so she doesn’t want to quit so easily.

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