Ironman Arizona 2009 Race Report #193

Before

So I flew into Phoenix Thursday night.  Brian and Bobbie picked me up and I stayed with them for the night.  Friday, I met up with my family to pick up my bike as they continued on for the tour of tucson.  I then headed to check in and get my race number.  I couldn't believe the race had finally come!  I have anticipated this day for awhile.  I thought I would be more nervous but I actually was very calm, maybe a little too calm as I saw all the other athletes practice swimming and doing their weird training rituals as I just stood there taking in all the scenery :)  Saturday, I checked in my bike, helped brian around the house and then met up with my family for dinner at Chili's.  It was perfect.  Sunday morning came, I put on my tri gear and headed off to make last minute preparations to my bike.  

Swim 2.4   1 hour 20 minutes 56 seconds (Goal 1 hour 35 minutes-ish)

I was pretty nervous about the swim, after all I didn't do much swimming in my training and I have heard terrible stories about the swim.  I waited till the last minute I could to jump in the water.  The announcer said that if we didn't get in right then, he'd come push us in himself.  So I jumped in.  It was a brisk 60 something degrees.  I swam about 150 yards to the nearest kayak and waited for the  gun to go off.  It went off at 7:00 and so did all the swimmers.  I waited till most had swam off so that I would get too caught up in the 'washing machine chaos."  It didn't matter though.  I got hit really good one time to the face, swam over several times and so on.  Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought though.  The caution spots are the start, the turn around, and about 1/4 mile from the finish.  Also make sure you double check your wetsuit, my neck strap wasn't on right and I now have a burn mark on my neck from the velcro rubbing..  Oh well, live and learn.  

T1 Swim to bike  7 minutes 35 seconds

So I reached the steps and some wonderful volunteers helped me out of the water.  I crossed the mat and got my wetsuit stripped.  I was in no hurry to get to the changing tent.  I walked all the way there, took my time getting my stuff on and then jumped onto my bike.  It was a pretty uneventful transition though I did think "wow, the swim is done and I only have two more legs of the race.  This is soo cool!"

Bike 112    5 hours 58 minutes 44 seconds (Goal 6 hours)

The first lap was pretty crazy coming out of transition.  The road was narrow and it was hard to avoid "drafting."  During orientation they made such a big deal about penalties and I did not want one, so I was always super concerned :)  Going out had a bit of a head wind, my chain fell off and that was note worthy.  I knew I had to do this loop 3 times and I was mentally prepared for it.  The second half of the loop was much quicker.  Soon enough, I was reaching town to start my second loop.  On the way in, I saw my family cheering.  I kind of got choked up, but that was really the only time that that much emotion hit me all at once.  So the second loop was about the same as the first except the Pro's lapped me about half way through.  They were hauling!!!  So it was pretty cool to witness and be apart of, even if they did dominate me haha.  By the third loop, I was kind of tired and my butt hurt but I was just enjoying the moment...thinking wow, this came quick.  I only have one more loop of the bike and then the run.  This is soo awesome.  I was out of my aeros for a little less than half of this loop.  I munched on a cliff bar, continued eating gu chomps and was estatic for the gatorade at the aid stations.  It was cold and good!  I didn't use my special needs bag, which is fine considering I didn't put much in it.  So anyway the third loop ended and I came into transition.. I was thinking to myself ok did I really do 3 loops?  My computer says 112, ok yes I did, I don't have to do another loop :).. Dismounted and entered t2.  I have always heard of 'bike wabbles' I believe in them now haha.  My legs felt like hula hoops as I went to get my run bag.

T2 Bike to Run    4 minutes 49 seconds

I grabbed my run bag, and went to the transition tent and put on my shoes.  Brian was there as a volunteer so I talked to him for a second and then went to the rest room.  It hurt soo bad.  I couldn't believe it.  Ouch.  It hurt so bad actually that I had to go a little bit on the run but opted to wait just because I was so afraid to go again.  Yikes!  And then I was off to the run.

Run 26.2   4 hours 16 minutes 53 seconds  ( Goal 4-4 1/2 hours)

It took me 8 miles to really find my legs but after that, I found a rhythm and stuck with it.  I stopped at every aid station, took my time drinking water and coke.  The sponges were awesome.  I'd squeeze one over my head as I entered and as I left.  Seeing my family cheer on the run was also very helpful.  Since it was a 3 loop course during the first loop you would see signs for miles 13 and 20 ... you would think that it was discouraging but I was like "oh sweet I'll hit that on my next loop and the next on the last." Even though I was really pretty tired, my mental game was really up to par.  I was enjoying each section of the course and of the run.  I was kind of sad when I started my last loop.  All the anticipation, work, worry, money ambition...and I have 8 miles left of it :)  I was handed a glow stick on my third lap as the sun was about to go down.  With about six miles to go, I heard someone say "hey lets pick it up if we are going to get 12 hours."  That was my goal.  I thought "wow I might be able to make it.  I wonder if I have enough energy"  So I picked it up and stayed with the guy until the  nearest aid station, then I felt some energy and I took off.  I skipped the next couple aid stations and then really kicked it in the last mile.  I turned the corner to see the finish line, my family was on the left.  I almost missed them because I was running pretty quickly.  And then I crossed.  I am an IRONMAN!

140.6       Total time  11 hours 48 minutes 54 seconds (Goal 12 hours.. skidoosh!)  

Overall place 790 Division place 51

After

I got my shirt and medal.  Brian was at the finish line to catch me.  I went and got a coke and then met up with my family.  Surprisingly, I felt pretty good.  I was a catcher last year and I was expecting to not be able to walk and then end up in a medic tent or something.  But that didn't happen.  I actually felt better then than after any of the marathons that I have done. Wierd but I'm not complaining :)

Final thoughts

I just want to give a big hand to IMAZ and the volunteers.  It was an A+ race.  They had every detail covered and it ran seamlessly.  Loved every minute. honestly..well almost honestly, the 3rd loop of the bike could have had some minutes taken off and I wouldn't have minded one bit :)  My only disappointment was that last year when I volunteered, everyone got to break through the tape at the finish so I really looked forward to it but this year they didn't have the tape holders :(  Oh well its not the end of the world. 

I couldn't get the pictures to work so here is a link to PICTURES

Bear Lake Classic Race Report 70.3

Before

Well I drove up Thursday from California to Provo.  I visited with some friends and then went up to Logan Friday afternoon.  I picked up my race packet and was body marked there.  I found out that I could not set up my transition until the next day really early. So I went to a park and got all my gear sorted, went and got some food for the morning and then hung out at Wendy's, since they had free wi-fi. Transitions opened at 5 am, so I got up at 3:50 am and drove out to Bear Lake.  I almost hit like three deer through the canyon and I was not even going fast.  When I got there, the gate was closed so I parked outside and walked through.  I found out that you had to set up in a specific row according to number so it really didn't matter if I got there earlier or later.  I could have slept for another hour practically! :)  But I set up, got my timing chip and waited for the sun to rise.  Sunrise was the start time.

I was pretty anxious.  I've been training for an Ironman and I'm very new to the sport.  All the athletes looked like they were super into triathlons and I still don't think I quite look like a triathlete but I'm getting there.  There were lots of sweet bikes with nice wheels, aero helmets, etc.. But all things considered, I was excited to race and I wanted to know where I was at in my training.

You can see my feet with my wetsuit half on and my setup.. Taken right before the race

Swim 1.2 Miles 39:42  

I am not a strong swimmer, so I was a little nervous about the swim.  It was a mass beach start.  The first part was hard because the water was too shallow to swim but too deep to really walk.  The water was nice though!  It took me a little bit to find my rhythm but after that the swim went without too much trouble minus a few gulps of lake water and some guy that couldn't spot and kept swimming into me.  

T1  2:24

Well I was happy to be done with the swim.  It was not as bad as I anticipated.  You had to run across the sand to get to T1 so my feet were way sandy.  I had to spend some time wiping it all off before I could get my bike shoes on.  Other than that, a slight delay getting a glove on and I was off.

Bike 56 miles  2:32:30

The bike course went around the lake with a short intermediate loop in between.  Even though I have been biking, the bike never really felt that good.  About 3 miles out a guy past me, which was actually helpful because it I was able to use him as kind of a marker.  Before the race, I wasn't to excited about having to do an intermediate loop but as it turned out, it was my favorite part of the race.  Since the race was relatively small, the racers were spread out.  In this section however, all the racers came together.  I saw the leaders and I saw people behind me.. there was just more action, it was fun.  

T2 1:36

I was happy to be off the bike.  Minor confusion about which way to go out of T2.

Run 13.1 miles  1:45:53

The run was a run.  It was a flat loop on a dirt road. I got sent the wrong way for a second but I triple checked and finally got sent the right way. I wish they had mile markers at the aid stations just for the simple reason that I wasn't sure when I should start pushing a little harder.At the second aid station, the volunteer asked me, "Do you think this is about mile 2 or 4?" I was like, "uh 2? Secretly hoping that it was at least mile 4!"  Oh well.  I had a bathroom break in there somewhere around mile 3 or 4 which was nice, the sport drink they were handing out was gross, so once I started taking water I felt better.

Finish 70.3    5:02:03

I was content with my time.  I really had no idea what time I was going to get.  I knew that I wanted to break 6 hours so I did that and I wasn't too far off from breaking 5.  I really liked the race.  I had a good time.  I finished 1st in my division (25-29) and 15th overall.  I have never finished a race 1st before so that feels good even if it was a small race :)  and no girls beat me which is also a first.

Then I went home.  The end.  I don't have pictures so maybe there will be some on the race site in a week or so?  I took a couple on my phone..I'll see if I can somehow get those on here.

Pics from the race site..

I update my blog just about as good as Gargamel catches smurfs.

 

For those of you not fortunate enough to follow The Smurfs [One of the most awesome cartoons ever made] as a kid, this is Gargamel.  He hates Smurfs and has pretty much dedicated his existence to catching them.  And given my title you can probably deduce that he is not very good at it.  Poor guy.  Lately I've felt that way about a lot of things.  Meh, it happens :)

...

So my brother Brian got married a couple weeks ago.  I had class here in Redlands until about 8:45 pm on Thursday and I had to be at the Timpanogas temple by 10 am I think so I had the wonderful opportunity to drive through the night to make it to his wedding in time.  I did make it without accident or incident so that is fortunate.  Brian is probably still off in the clouds, I don't think I've ever seen him so happy.  The luncheon was good and the reception was nice, a little slow but what can you do.  Brent, Kyle, Brad and I made the best of it and actually had a pretty fun time out on some golf course.  Hmm it doesn't look like this computer has their pictures on it.  Shoot.  I'll have to get those later, which probably means I won't.  Just being honest :)  Oh wait, I think I just got some..alllllriiiight #;oP

Anyway the next day, too early for my liking after not sleeping fore sure, my dadand some of my brothers and I headed up Mt Timpanogus.  It was a pretty good trip.  Colder than I had expected and I did really bring anything to prepare for it either.  We actually ran most of the way back down, thanks to my dad.  He has more adventure in him than he lets out.  DO not be fooled.  He is as crazy as any of us in this family.  Kyle, Brad and I invented extreme trail running on the way down as well, which involved spinning off rocks, tree trunks, jumping gaps and who knows what else.  It made the way down very entertaining to say the least. :)

Anyway so the next week was pretty hectic with getting the house ready and everything else for the open house.  We had  a lot of people over starting Thursday.  I had to get out so I went to LindyGroove, a swing dance venue in Pasadena.  Here is an old picture of me dancing there that I found on the internet.  I am dancing with a girl named Kristi.  She is probably one of my most  favorite people to dance with, Period.  Oh yeah and somewhere in the mix of all this I attended a couple dances at Camp Hollywood. It was pretty fun too.  I met up with some good friends from Sactown and made a few more.  Oh yeah and on that note, one of the dances was  a masquerade ball where you had to wear a mask of some sort.  I didn't have a mask so I wore some glasses.. I thought it was cool, my friends made fun of me and were like, yeah we'll never know who you are with those on.. Well I just want you to know that the next dance I went to I was dancing with this girl [she was really good and from England] and quote "Hey, didn't we dance at CH" and I said yes, "Oh I didn't recognize you without the glasses."  SO there, they did work!

And then some pics of the open house:

Everybody ranted and raved over Kendall's fruit'kabobs.. Nice work Kendall.  

And then family pictures:

This week was a good week for me cycling.  I finished the Thursday night crit and the Saturday Raincross ride.  Both huge accomplishments for me as they are rather intense rides.  I even have a team Redlands Jersey now.  Here's a picture of me and Kyle after the 65 mile Raincross ride:

So yeah that's a quick update with a few things left out.  I finish my first class next week.  I have lots of papers and a presentation to prepare and some math tests that I have to study for again so that is what I will be doing next week along with the Bear Lake 1/2 Triathlon.  I'll be going up by myself so if anyone in Utah/Idaho want to come out and cheer me on, you are all more than welcome to! haha  :)

Spudman

Spudman was this last weekend.  It is an olympic distance triathlon.  It is actually the first tri that I have done minus a reverse order sprint that I don't count.  I wasn't planning on doing it but was able to sneak my way into it last minute.  :)   My mom insisted that I do it since in a few months I am going to attempt to finish the Ironman Arizona.  

It was a lot of fun setting up in t1 and t2.. above is a pic of t1 the day before the race.  Anyway two of my little brothers, my dad and mom and I all raced.  I had a really good time.  The swim was probably the hardest for me, the bike was not bad, I did better on the second half and then I did good on the run and by good I mean no one passed me so I was content.  Overall I "placed" 7th in my division (2:14.4?) even though you won't find me in my division results hehe ooops 

My family all did awesome as well.  Kyle got 4th, Brad 12th and my mom and dad finished (my dad said his good byes before the race because he was super nervous about the swim) 

So it was an awesome fun day.  I wasn't really sore afterward which is nice because after my marathons I can never walk for like 3 days.  I have a feeling that Arizona will be a different story :) 

 Uncle Wayne and Craig came out to cheer us on, I saw some old friends and made some new ones!  I highly recommend triathlons.  They rock.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures coming.  They are currently on a camera in Idaho and Utah.

The Perfect Birth Control

There are many many reasons why I have not ventured into parenthood but here above are two of those reasons.  Kyle and Kael.  They are my nephews and are visiting for the week while Kerri studies and takes her nursing boards.  I love them to death but they are tremendous.  I really don't know how Ker does it!

My day starts off like this, I had planned a ride to Oak Glen but instead stayed with the "k's" while big Kyle and Brad go on a ride.  Little Kyle gets up and is served eggs and bacon, then graciously throws his eggs on the floor and says he wants more.  Kael then gets up and refuses to eat and then cries for ice cream.  SO I give him ice cream.  Then he doesn't want it and decides to dump it all over himself instead.  While I am cleaning him up, Kyle decides to pull out all the droors, books on the bookshelf and destroys half the house.  

Kyle and Brad get back.  I go for a run.

I get back and start putting the house back together while Kyle is mad about his clothes not fitting and Kael has poopy underwear, joy!  We get the house put together only to find Kael dumping paint all over.  Where did he find paint?! Really?  

I promised that I would take them to the park and I was going to do tennis drills with Kyle and Brad.  I went to get the tennis balls and yeah the bucket of balls was filled with water.  Awesome! I find a few not wet balls and we are off to the park.  

I set up some things for big Kyle and Brad so they can play tennis while I take the k's over to the park.  Kyle doesn't want to go to the park so I take them to the ball wall.  Kael his playing on the wall while Kyle runs off throwing a fit.  I finally get them to the park.  

They play for a couple minutes and then Kyle runs back to the tennis courts and makes it so Kyle and Brad can't play.  SO nice.  

To make the long story short, we go get food, play in the park some more and then go to the library and then home.  I'm sure that this is an easy day for a parent but it is a simple reminder of why I am not.  Here are some more pictures from our outing.  

Judas Iscariot

I could probably go more into detail but I just had a quick thought as I was reading Matthew.  In Matt 26:15 -16 it reads "And said unto them [chief priests], what will ye give me[Judas], and I will deliver him[Jesus] unto you?  And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him."  

Knowing who Christ* is, I thought to myself how incredible it was that Judas betrayed him for a mere 30 pieces of silver, Judas himself being a disciple of Christ.  It was so little and he lost so much! 

For Judas it was silver, but what is/are our 30 pieces of silver?  What are the petty things that we hold on to or desire that impede us in our path to follow Christ and return to Him?

* "Christ...the greatest Being to be born on this earth-the perfect example.  He is the Lord of lords, King of kings, the Creator, the Saviour, the God of the whole earth, the Captain of our Salvation, the Bright and Morning Star.  He is in all things, above all things,through all things, and round about all things; he is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; his name is above every name, and is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved."   Bible Dictionary

Street Racing

In this corner we have Kerri the old fashioned and Kyle the Unwakeable

In the next corner we have Kevin the fashion-less and unfortunately awake.

Kerri and Kyle running with a nice green subaru wagon which according to kerri, needs some work.

Kevin running with the ever so fashionable silver subaru with a beautiful crack through the windshield.

Kevin was off to a good start spinning quickly out the drive way taking the early lead and Kyle the unwakeable  follows closely behind.  After the light turning onto highway 6 Kerri the old fashioned takes the lead with her co pilot Kyle smirking all along.  I catch kyle the unwakeable and regain the lead getting onto i-15 as the unwakeable gets caught behind some trucks. Cruising to my wonderful victory, I look to my left to see that wonderful giggle and cheers from Kyle as they pass me on the university ave exit.  Try as I might they held the lead from there.  Kyle I guess it is safe to say that you and your mom drive a fast car and rule the road.  :)  

NOw to my last day of work here in Utah.  I have a few lose ends to tie un this evening and tomorrow I pack and leave for CA.  MOre about everything later.