Chisago Lakes Half Ironman Race Report

i was excited about this race for two reasons: a. i really felt like i finally started to figure out my race nutrition in the weeks leading up this race, and was hoping it would translate into a great race. and b. i was going to spend the night before the race at my old boss / now good pal’s place in MN. sadly, her and her partner had just lost their dog earlier in the week, and having been through this less than two years ago, i know how terrible having to say goodbye is. still, we had a nice evening and it was so great to see them. Anne’s going to join me for a few weeks in Nepal when i go this fall, and i can’t wait for her to experience KTM and meet the kids at the orphanage. by quarter to ten, i was crawling into bed.

the alarm always sounds too early on race day, and being about thirty minutes drive from the race site, sunday’s alarm seemed to come even sooner. up and eating by 3:30am, i was on the road by 4:30, Mumford & Sons blaring through my speakers. having raced Chisago in 2011, i was familiar with the packet pickup area, transition, etc. still, i got there early. it seems i have better races when i’m not running two races in the day: the actual race, and then one before hand, dashing around getting everything set up and ready to go. with plenty of time, i set up my transition area, chatted with a few teammates, ran a two mile warm up, and made my way down to the swim start around 6:45.

the swim: i signed up for the elite wave like i have in previous races this year, and while i had no grand illusions i would be competitive in this distance, i am a strong swimmer and figured it would give me some clear water to swim in. in Kansas, i ended up swimming through most of the two groups that left in the heats before me, and it does slow you down a bit. and because my plan for this race was give it and see where i’m at with my fitness at the moment, i figured swimming in the first wave would set me up for the best possible race i could run.

i’d say there were about fifty people in my wave, and the starting shoot was quite narrow. this lead to a bit of hectic swimming for the first few 200 meters or so, but i soon found open water and settled into a comfortable pace. deciding prior to the race to not push the swim as hard as i had in Kansas, i eased back ever so slightly and exited the water in 32:58.14. certainly not blazing, but right where i wanted to be – towards the front of the pack, but very comfortable running to my bike.

T1: uneventful, really. the transition area is rather large, and it’s a decent jog from the water, so 2:42 seemed about right.

the bike: the wednesday before the race, i met up with my teammate Mike for a run workout. we got to chatting about my race plan for this event, and he asked what wattage i was going to aim for on the bike. ‘around 170 or so’ i told him. ‘WHAT?!’ he asked. ‘that’s way to low. at least give yourself a chance to see what you can do.’ he continued. he went on to remind me how hard i’ve been training, that i’m very capable of riding faster than 170 watts, and that this race was just a throwaway race leading up to Madison. and the more i thought about it, the more i realized he was right. who cares if i go for broke and blow up in the process. better, it might work out and i have a great day. so that’s exactly what i did. i pushed nearly 192 watts on the bike (2.94 watts/kg), despite frozen feet, legs, hands, and man bits, and rode to a personal best 2:46:25 (a 20.4 mph average). certainly not flying, but respectable.

T2: just about the time i was leaving transition for the run, i heard someone call my name. i looked up to find Jayme, a gal from my town racking her bike. ‘crazy we’re here at the same time almost three hours into the race’ i thought to myself as i grabbed my shades. we ended up running out of transition together, but she stopped straight away at the restroom. i continued on, and stuck to my 7:30 min/mi pace religiously for the first two miles. if i was feeling good, the plan was to try and get it down to 7:15 by mile eight or so and hold it there to the end. around mile three, i was thrilled to find myself holding a 7:30 with strong legs and NO NAUSEA!!! having to take a nature break, i found a restroom, did my thing, and exited only to see Jayme rounding the corner. we ran together without saying anything for about a mile, and realizing we were running around the same pace, she asked my target time. both shooting for mid to lower 7, we decided to run together as long as we could. it was fantastic. while we chatted very little, having someone to take your mind off 13.1 miles is a very welcome gift. even more so if you’re trying to push a faster pace.

as the miles passed, my watch went from a 7:25 to a 7:15 to a 7:05. it was around the 11 mile mark we hit a 6:50 and that was my breaking point. i had nothing left and was feeling pretty nauseated. i did forget my salt tabs in T2 before the run, and am pretty sure the GI distress was due to that. knowing i had to back it off a bit, i told Jayme to go ahead and finish strong. i was able to keep it under an 8:00 min/mi pace, and ended the run at 1:36:55 (a 7:24 min/mi average pace). this i was thrilled at, and while i missed breaking five hours by 20 seconds, i couldn’t have been happier with my race. i pushed the bike, pushed the run even more, and for the first time in years, i finished a long course race with a strong run. it was the confidence booster i needed heading into the final build period before IMWI.

i have an easy week as i’m racing again this saturday here in town, but am looking forward to the hard weeks ahead. it’ll be a lot of time in the saddle, but with a few books i’ve been looking forward to listening to, it’ll be manageable. oh, and by the way – yes, i am giving rockstar horns to the announcer in my finish photo. he said i had the sweetest beard of the day by far, and i felt the need to show him my appreciation for his praise. \,,/

15 year class reunion

‘god has it been 15 years already?’ i remember thinking to myself when the postcard arrived in the mail.  ‘that can’t be right’ i said as i scanned the time and date info on the back.  i flipped the card back over and re-read the front.  ‘fifteen years?!?’ i said aloud.  ‘shit.’

admittedly, i immediately decided i wouldn’t go. i skipped my five year reunion because, well… wait a second – did we even have a five year? i guess i don’t recall. either way, i didn’t go. i did attend the ten, but found it unbearable. the night was pretty much a constant game of ‘who has the biggest wang’ when chatting about careers, marriage, cars, houses, bank accounts, and children. one dude even brought a smoking hot model looking gal as his “girlfriend”. and after about an hour, i’d had my fill and left.

so opting out of the 15 seemed an easy choice. easy that is, until i heard the following:

the fifteen year class reunion is when they start to get fun. most people have kids they are dying to get a night off from, they hate the jobs they bragged about at the ten year reunion, and a lot of them will likely be on their second marriage. realizing life didn’t really pan out the way they had hoped for just five years prior, everyone just wants to get out of the house for a fun night.

this had me intrigued, so i stated asking around. i know my parents have commented on how they really enjoyed the last two reunions they attended, and they frequently say they are looking forward to the next. being a sociologist, i’m always fascinated hearing about people’s lives and how they choose to live them, so that aspect had me interested as well. and even though i had to work 9-5 the day of in addition to fitting in a two hour bike/run workout, i decided to go. heck, i didn’t RSVP or nothing. side note: i rarely do as i never take a date, i drink nothing but water, and i rarely eat more than a pretzel or two – hardly worth paying the $15 attendance fee if you ask me.

work, bike, and run completed, i grabbed a quick shower, threw on the only clean jeans i had (which of course had holes in the knees), grabbed a banana and some gatorade, jumped in the car, and headed north. i have to say the memories i recalled on the 25 minute drive made going worth it alone. i didn’t mind high school, and actually had a lot of fun. i was also looking forward to seeing a few people i hadn’t seen in quite some time. i’ve heard a lot of people comment on how they don’t ever want to see anyone from high school and could care less about how they are doing. and to that i call bullshit – nobody hated high school that much or isn’t at least a bit interested in catching up with people they spent nine months out of the year with for four, eight, even twelve years of their adolescent lives. if you’re that person, please give it a rest. it may have worked for the first ten years after graduation, but it’s getting a bit old.

the night went great, and was filled with a lot of great conversations and laughs. i was amazed at the number i people i’d totally forgotten about, or names i had totally misplaced. some people looked totally different, while other looked exactly the same. best of all, instead of chatting about material things, people talked about life. what brings them joy, what they have found to be important. people shared stories of joy, others of sorrow. the time flew, i got my ass handed to me in foosball, and before i knew it, four hours had passed.

nearing midnight, i said a round of goodbyes, drove home, and fell asleep faster than i have in years. usually being in bed by nine o’clock nightly, nearing 1:00am was way past my bedtime. the following day, i thought about the people i had chatted to and where they have ended up. it’s crazy how life works out, how it’s influenced by the people we meet, the choices we make, and the totally random occurrences we have absolutely no control over. i also marveled at how time humbles us, and how it’s so good at healing old wounds. at one point during the evening, i found myself outside chatting with the smokers. granted i don’t smoke, but the cool evening breeze provided a much needed break from the stale, tavern air inside. that, and i have had some very good conversations with the smoker crowds in the past. as i stood there listening to the conversation, i found myself amazed at the group – the poor kid who got picked on way too much, the star football player, the gal that ran with the skids, the band nerd, the class president, and the overweight kid – all sharing stories and laughter over a smoke. people who refused to talk to or even look at each other just 15 years ago. it was fantastic.

so i guess i write this post to share my experience, and urge you to rethink not attending your 15, 20, or whatever year class reunion. like i commented to a good pal on my way up to mine: we aren’t the same people we were five or ten years ago. while some of our values remain lifelong, others change. feelings change. opinions change. what matters changes. how are we to know if we will or won’t like something or someone we didn’t in the past. i hated my ten year reunion, but decided to give this one a go anyways. and in the end, i enjoyed a great night of storytelling, laughter, lukewarm water, and few stale pretzels. i mean really – what more could a person ask for?

“why are you running?”

this was the question a small girl sitting on her front porch asked me as i ran past her house during the third run of a run/bike/run/bike/run workout i did this past weekend. very good question, i thought to myself as i ran away into the dwindling daylight nearly four hours into my training session. why do i swim/bike/run as much as i do, pushing myself as far as i can? why do we do anything that pushes us physically or mentally? it’s hard work, and often time when your legs and lungs are begging for you to quit, it sure as hell doesn’t feel like fun.

i’m certainly not going to try and answer this question for anyone else. heck, i struggle to find the reasons i do it for myself from time to time. but i feel it’s an important question that needs to be asked if you find yourself embarking on, in the middle of, or possibly nearing the end of an endeavor. maybe you’re trying to loose 20 pounds, finish that first 5k, or like me, run a season full of triathlon races. just doing things for the sake of doing them is fine i guess, but it’s likely going to be a long road. doing things that matter to what you hold most valuable, on the other hand, might just make the journey that much better.

say what you will about lance armstrong, but he was quoted as saying ‘all endurance athletes are running from something’. i couldn’t agree more. i know i am. running from that hospital bed that held my mom and dad these past few years. running from the boredom that creeps into an idle mind, and yeah, i’ll admit it – running from the loneliness i sometimes find living life as a single person. don’t get me wrong; personally, the pros still outweigh the cons, but those days still do happen.

so that’s one reason. the other, and honestly the main reason, is the fact i simply enjoy it. nothing beats the cool morning wind in your face while on the bike, or hearing the birds sing through rustling leaves on a warm summer day while out for a run. even seeing other people in the pool does it for me, knowing they are getting themselves off the couch in an effort to make themselves fitter and ultimately feel better. physically, there’s not a better feeling in world. sweat running down my arms, muscles aching, air rushing in and out of my lungs – this is when i feel most alive. and the icing on the cake? the sense of accomplishment you feel when you finish a tough workout, or cross the finish line at a race event. i always say it’s like getting an A on your first written report in primary school or hearing ‘you’re cavity free’ at the dentist. going into it, there are nerves and apprehension. during the process, it’s hard to keep up the effort, and there are ways to sluff off around every bend. but afterwards, there’s relief and a personal sense of pride.

in the end, this all leads to one thing. happiness. to do something tough, often when nobody is watching (or frankly when nobody could give a damn), and sticking it through to the end takes guts. but i don’t think i’ve ever not smiled through the pain after finishing a killer workout or race. and that’s why i continue to do what i do. i had my days of being unhappy. pessimistic. and i’ve decided those days are done. being happy is just so much better, it really is. so ask yourself: why am i doing the things i am doing? then ask yourself this: with the limited amount of time i have on this earth, am i doing the things i should be doing with my life? the answer may surprise you.

Aspirus YMCA Duathlon Race Report

the above photo sums up this race perfectly. with it being a short 5k run, 17.6 mile bike, and 3k run, you pretty much go balls to the wall the entire time, and at the finish, you’re completely spent. while the weather was a bit chilly and rainy, it proved to be a good day and decent confidence booster coming off my bad race in Kansas last week.

run 1: a 5k is always a tough way to start a race. really, a stand alone 5k is one of the tougher races i run, and it’s really hard to get right. the lead group formed pretty quickly from the start, and i ran with them for about the first mile or so at around a 5:45min/mi pace. knowing this was a bit fast for my current training levels, i eased back to around a 5:55 pace, and held it pretty constant back to T1. total time heading into transition was 17:45, a time i was very pumped about. i had yet to go under 18 in a multisport 5k race ever, so seeing the time split on my watch was huge.

T1: coming into T1, i was in 7th place. but thanks to my primo spot in the transition area, my run shoes were off and i was out riding in 24 seconds flat. leaving transition, i was in 5th.

the bike: the course at this race is pretty flat, with a few long rollers and false flats along the way. my goal was to push 230 watts (3.6 watts/kg) the entire time, and knew this would be a tall order for me. still, that’s what these short races are all about – go until you blow. i passed two people early in the bike, and settled into a good pace by mile four only to be passed by some skinny dude like i was standing still; back to 4th place i went. with a guy who finished the run in the lead group hot on my rear wheel over the next eight or so miles, i pushed it a bit harder than i thought i could. knowing he was a faster runner then me, i decided i needed to get a gap on him or he’d run me down in the final leg. so, towards mile 14, i did just that. i’ve ridden the course a few times before, and figured i could crank up a small hill with a long decline i’d taken note of earlier. pushing nearly 330 watts (5.2 watts/kg!!!) for about three minutes, i was able to get about a twenty second lead on the guy in 5th behind me. i didn’t know if it’d be enough, and i was hoping the gamble of pushing the bike didn’t come back to haunt me in the run, but it was a risk i chose to take.

with a time of 45:53, i entered T2. average watts for the ride was 237 (3.73 watts/kg) with a 23.0mph average speed.

T2: my fastest transition time ever: 15 seconds.

run 2: i actually felt ok starting the run, and was pleased to find i was cruising around a 6:00min/mi pace early on. i held this for the first km, then went for broke. through a crazy side stitch, i pushed myself to a 10:43 final run split, running at an average 5:45min/mi pace. it was pain the entire way, and the result you saw in the photo above. 100% done with nothing left in the tank, wincing from the pain in my side.

total time: 1:14:59, good for 4th overall and 2nd in my age group. my team members Mark and Mike took 1st and 2nd, respectively, and the skinny dude who passed me on the bike went on to take 3rd. come to find out, he’s moving to the area, wants to join our triathlon club, and is also running Ironman WI this fall. so not bad, having the top four finishers all on the same club.

i now get to enjoy a long break in racing until the end of july, although that only means a long build period of training miles awaits. my body feels great though, and i’m ready for the challenge. i also recently downloaded a bunch of new podcasts, so that won’t hurt either.

Ironman 70.3 Kansas Race Report

like i mentioned in a previous post, i decided to run kansas just a few weeks back.  after a few last minute planning details, my pal steve and i hit the road on FRI around 4:00pm.  we made it to des moines, iowa by 11:00pm after stopping for a quick bit to eat, and were on the road with our other teammate mike shortly after.  while we did have a hiccup checking into our hotel in lawrence, kansas at nearly 3:00 in the morning, we were able to be sleeping by 3:30. it was a long day of traveling, but we all thought it would be nicer to be able to sleep in, wake up, and be there instead of having to drive two days in a row.

after sleeping in some, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed down to the race site for a small workout and race check-in. despite a long travel day the day before, i felt great on the short ride and run the three of us did. but since it was getting a bit hot, we called it short and headed to the finish area to get checked in. and there’s where we saw ‘the line.’ we never did find out if there was some sort of computer problem like we heard or if they were just way understaffed, but athletes had to stand in a crazy long line for upwards of an hour to check in for the race. outside, with no shade, in temps pushing 85°. certainly not ideal for the day before a long race, that’s for sure. the other issue i took with the race was the layout – parking was a good mile from the race area, and T1 was another mile or so in the other direction. we did a lot of walking SAT, spent way too much time in the sun, and all felt a bit tired when we got back to the hotel around 4:00 in the afternoon.

after an evening of lounging and an ok night of sleep, the alarm sounded at 3:45am and we were in the truck by 4:15 in route to the race. setting up both transitions went fine (there were separate transition areas for T1 and T2), and it was nice we got an early start – i never felt rushed and was plenty prepared for the start of the race.

the swim: a strong storm had pushed through the area race morning, and the water was still showing signs of it: super choppy water, a few big waves, and a pretty strong current. i figured i’d be fine being a stronger swimmer, but was concerned for the other athletes who didn’t feel so confident in the water. the swim started in waves of about 30-40 athletes leaving every 3 minutes, and I positioned myself at the front of our wave. when the horn sounded, i sprinted for about the first 25 meters and found myself in open water out in front of the rest of the swimmers in my heat. i was glad i chose to do this, and was able to settle into the swim for about the first ten minutes without much traffic. i did end up swimming through the majority of two previous waves, but never felt like i was pushing it too hard. i did swallow a few big gulps of water due to the conditions, but was able to climb out at 30:51, feeling great as i ran to my bike.

transition 1: even though it only took me about two minutes to change and pull my bike off the rack, transition 1 took me 3:39 due to the fact i had to run about 300 yards to get out of the transition area. it seemed to go on forever.

the bike: everything i had read about the bike course said it was hilly. living and training in wisconsin, i figured it couldn’t be any worse than what we have here. and while I was right, it was a very tough course. hills, wind, no shade, and more hills. still, i stuck to my plan of riding to an average of 170 watts and eating what i had planned to eat. in the end, i succeeded at just that – 174 NP and my food intake was spot on. like the swim, i never felt like i was pushing the bike too hard, and was fairly comfortable the whole time. around mile 50, i did notice the slightest fatigue in my legs, but figured it was the result of the relentless hills and ever increasing winds. other than that, the ride was pretty uneventful. the views were rolling countryside with pretty farms along the way, the roads were in pretty good shape, and despite the fact most triathletes have no clue how to handle a bike, i had no close calls or frustrations along the way.

tranition 2: swinging my leg over the bike to dismount heading in to transition, i felt a tightness in my stomach. i was able to get though transition in 1:48, but was concerned about two things: 1. the ground was still soaking wet from the storm, so I had wet feet and socks heading out into the run. 2. my stomach felt way tighter leaving transition than it did entering it two minutes earlier.

the run: i knew i was in trouble about 100 meters into the run. my stomach cramped so bad i thought i would have to stop until it passed. while i kept running, my pace was about 30 seconds slower than my target rate. by mile 1, my cramps had passed. that’s the good news. the bad news is they were replaced with nausea. by mile 2, i couldn’t stomach anything. clearly this is not ideal after being in motion for about 3.5 hours and having a half marathon yet to run. that, and it was over 80° at this point. over the next four miles, i watched my pace slow to around an 8:30 min/mi, and it was round mile 7 i started to throw up. from there on, it was pretty much all over. survival mode. the next four miles were the same: run until you puke, rinse mouth out with water, dump ice down jersey and shorts, walk about a minute, repeat. by mile 11, i was done. i walked the remainder of the race and finished with a total time of 5:44:47, nearly 45 minutes slower than i had hoped.

what frustrates me about this problem i keep having is the fact it’s 100% nutrition related. my fitness is there, and then some. it seems like no matter what the temperature is, how hard I’m exerting myself, or for how long, it’s inevitable that at some point i’ll get severely nauseated to the point i’m unable to eat or drink. this has happened in every long course race i’ve run over the past three years. and the kicker is i’ve taken a different nutrition approach to nearly all of them. i’ve tried liquids only, liquids and gels, gels and solids, and all solids during my races only to find myself in the same boat at the end. i’d be lying to say i’m not worried about madison this fall after yesterday’s race, and i’m currently looking to add another half ironman race in early june to give myself two races to try and figure this out before september. while i certainly don’t regret the last minute decision to race in kansas, i’m frustrated. frustrated because it seems like after a ton of hard work over the winter and this spring, i’m in the same place i was last fall.

but don’t worry. i’ll be up in the morning, busting my ass in the pool. this is only a bump in the road.

Green Bay Olympic Triathlon Race Report

one word can describe this morning’s race: freezing. a quick check of my phone at about 6:00am, one hour before race start, showed 45° with 17mph winds. the windchill? 37 degrees. just yesterday, the weather forecast was predicting temps about 10 to 12 degrees higher, so i neglected to take any cold weather gear – no arm or leg warmers, no vest, nothing. luckily, i had a pair of knee high compression socks and a thin pair of gloves i found in my bag from the last race. still, gloves, socks, and a tri kit doesn’t do much when you’re ripping along on the bike at 20+ miles an hour dripping wet.

here’s how it went:

the swim: this was a weird one. it was marked at 800 yards, but the water for the first half of the loop was so shallow i had to dolphin dive pretty much the whole way. and since it was a two loop course, i did a lot of this. still, i was out of the water in 9:40.68, good for the 10th fastest time of the day. i wore my wetsuit, so the swim wasn’t that cold. problem is you have to take it off in transition 1 to get on the bike.

tranition 1: because i chose to put on my compression socks in an attempt to not completely freeze on the bike, transition took way too long. about a minute and a half too long. while it seemed like i was there for days, the official time says 2:27.22. and if that wasn’t bad enough, i spaced taping my nutrition gels to my bike prior to the race start, and again forgot to grab them heading out on the course.

the bike: by mile one, my feet were already cold. i remember thinking how glad i was to have taken the extra time to put on socks. (normally for shorter races like this, i don’t wear them.) i think i may have even smiled a bit, hopeful my feet would stay  a little bit warmer with them. by mile two, i’m pretty sure my feet were numb. so much for positive thinking. i could go on and on about how cold it was out there, but i’ll just say it was cold. you could stretch it and say it was freezing. i had the shakes, my mind got a bit fuzzy a few times, and i felt dizzy around mile 23 – all due to the cold. yet every time i felt like letting off the gas and easing my way back to the transition area, i thought of my mom and what she went through. after that, i remembered the pain my dad had endured in that hospital bed for all those days. i wondered how my old partner was doing with her current illness, and what she’s been dealing with these past few months. and almost instantly, the cold didn’t hurt so bad. i felt a bit of feeling in my near frozen toes, and i found the strength to push on. sure racing triathlon is tough, but it’s nowhere near what they have all gone / are going through. they didn’t quit. how could i?

my goal was to maintain 200 watts on the bike, and i did just that – 201 NP. i always find myself thinking that’s low, but i have to remind myself i’m barely 140 pounds. there just isn’t a lot of me to make much more power. i also have to be content with the fact that’s where my body is at right now, and that there’s always room for improvement. the 29 mile course took me 1:20:48.85, averaging just over 21.8mph. in the cold and the wind, i was happy with this.

transition 2: quick and easy: 00:44.62

the run: it took about two miles before i regained the feeling in my feet, and that isn’t an embellishment. the good news is with every step i ran, my body started to warm back up. i had hoped i wouldn’t run out of energy having eaten nothing on the bike, and around mile three i was glad to find myself still feeling strong. the first half of the run i averaged 6:38 minute miles; the back half i ran 6:20’s. total time for the 10k run was 39:41.02. i again met my goal of a sub 40 minute run, and i couldn’t have been happier. the fact i negative split the run was icing on the cake.

i placed eleventh overall, missing a top ten finish by 18 seconds. i did see the guy ahead of me during the final mile or so, but my type B personality was having none of the thought of chasing him down. and i’m fine with that. i raced my race, met my goals, and am very happy with my overall result. my club members did well today: Mike McQueen placed 1st overall and David Gramer took 2nd. Jason Lowman’s saddle busted leaving T1, and despite not being able to fix it, he still rode the course and finished the race. BADASS! Steve Ruppel had a solid sprint distance race with a really strong bike, and Will Fisher placed 15th overall in the sprint race. there’s nothing i like better than a guy in his 50’s beating up on the young guys!

kansas 70.3 is this coming weekend, and i’m really excited for the chance to race outside of WI. it’ll be nice to escape antarctica north for the weekend.