The KodaFit Blog

B-Fit B-Day - Official Challenge Report

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!!