Pre Race
I
had solid 8 week training block leading up this race. And I had some of my best training days I
have ever had. I was feeling confident
but had high goals for this race, so was nervous as always, if not more.
Packed
up to leave just like last year on Tuesday night, stopped half way to finish
getting there on Wednesday. I didn’t
want to feel rushed and enjoyed having the extra day on Wednesday to get things
organized and finalized. Went for short swims and bricks the days there. The water was amazing and great conditions
(soon to change). The weather was
predicting a huge cold front coming through and extreme high winds. I was trying not to focus on this and just
focus on what needed to be done.
Race Morning
I
did sleep fairly well, and woke up only a few times, we could hear the wind
howling out of the window. This did not leave much to the imagination of how
bad the winds were going to be. After I
got up at 4 the final time, I ate a quick breakfast and headed down to
transition to get my bike ready. It was
bone chilling cold and the wind was even worse.
I got my bike ready and headed back to the condo to get warm and try to
relax. Around 630, we headed down to the
beach. Shortly before the pros were
about to get in the water, they made an announcement that the swim was canceled
due to winds and rip tide. It was
seriously dangerous looking. I hated they
canceled it but was the right thing to do.
They
told us to be back at our bikes at 8 for a rolling TT start. This morning was the craziest morning I have
had prior to a race. My mind was all
over the place and I even lost the feeling that I was even racing. Hard to get into a race mindset, when so many
things changed and I was standing for an hour at bike literally shaking from
the cold. Luckily I was standing with
Mollie, and she always tries to keep me focused and calm.
Bike
Finally
time for to walk my bike past the mount line and get on and go. I was riding my P5, with my Flo 60 and Flo
Disc. I was so happy to be on my bike
and going that I almost forgot how cold I was, maybe that was because I
couldn’t feel that I even had fingers or toes any more. I knew the winds were coming out of the
North/Northwest. So the first 23 miles
would be pretty much a direct headwind.
It was extremely difficult mentally to push through that especially
after having to stand and wait, for everyone.
I had been focusing on just fighting the wind but staying in my watts,
and as aero as possible that when I got to mile 20ish I realized that I had
been neglecting my nutrition. Had barely
drunk anything, had not eaten anything and taken no salt. Part of the issue was the wind and gusts that
I was nervous to reach for anything in fear of getting blown around. And with my gloves on it was hard to get my
salt and food. I made some quick
adjustments to get liquid in me, slowed down briefly to eat and get enough salt
in. This still became an issue the rest
of the ride with the wind. After making
the right hand turn at mile 23, the wind was now a cross wind and I was able to
pick my speed up a little. When we made
one more right hand turn, we headed south, so we had a direct tail wind. I knew this stretch was only a short distance
but wanted to take full advantage of the tail wind. So I pushed the pace a little and felt like I
was flying. Soon it would end and we
would make a left hand turn. This
section was difficult, as it wasn’t into a headwind but was on a curvy road so
the wind was shifting all over in direction it was coming. Right at mile 50, we cross onto a terribly
bumpy road. I remember from last year and there is not anything you can do but
just suck it up and ride. The wind and
the road were defeating. And then to top
of it off, there was a brush fire so breathing in smoke for a mile or so. I
made it to the turn around and was coming back to Special needs. As I pulled up yelling my number, they could
not find my bag. Usually I can grab my
bag and keep going but I had to stop this time.
I lost several minutes here waiting; since I was already stopped I just
loaded up my stuff once they found it. I
refueled and was off. Just focusing on
getting off this section. After off this
road, we were on the top part of the course, which is mentally tough for the
mileage we are in and then it was a cross/head wind. Kept focusing on staying aero and cutting
through the wind. At about mile 75 I
came up on Ricardo, prior to this, I had no idea how I was doing in comparison
to everyone else. I knew my speed and
time was significantly slower than last year but much different conditions, so
I didn’t know. Knowing how strong of a
cyclist Ricardo is and the fact that he started about 10-15 min ahead of me, it
lifted my spirits and mentality a little when I caught him. At this point, I only had a little bit more
to go until we headed back south and hopefully some more tailwinds. Almost had a feeling of “final stretch” once
I made that turn. We did have an out and
back so it broke up the direct tailwind and lost some benefit but was able to
get my overall speed to increase for the whole ride in the last 25 or so
miles. My legs were starting to get
tired and I knew I had a marathon ahead, so didn’t push too much. Even staying in my watts, fighting wind like
that for 5+ hours takes a huge toll on the muscles.
Time: 5:25:19 20.66 mph 14th
AG
This
was significant slower than last year, than my IMTX time, and what I wanted for
the day. But with the conditions, I was
happy with this time considering.
T2
I
handed my bike off to a volunteer and started my run to get my run bag. I may
have accidentally shoved someone out of my way that was blocking my path I was
trying to run on to get my bag. But I
was feeling good and happy to be off the bike.
And I was extremely excited to start the marathon and see what I could
do. I had an amazing volunteer, he
helped my pull all my layers off, socks, everything and had my nutrition and
shoes and socks ready for me. This is
the first race that I had to change like this.
I had my kit on underneath but still had several layers from the bike to
take off. I have been proud of my
transition times, as this can be free speed in my opinion.
Time: 2:44
Run
My
legs were feeling good as I started the run.
I had high hopes for this marathon going into the race but with the
winds on the bike, I hoped I had saved enough to have a good run. As always I started out to fast. I was trying
to slow my pace to be right at an 8 min mile.
It was 7:36, shit…ok slow down for the next one. It was 7:37, hmm. I told myself to try to slow down a little
more because my goal was to run the first half marathon at 750-755 pace. But I was feeling very comfortable and in a
weird way like I was tiring myself out more by trying to slow down. But I told myself just to focus on staying
comfortable and smooth and was focusing on my form more than my pace. I had decided that I would try to slow down a
little at the aid stations to take in my salt and nutrition. I think that worked perfectly, usually I am
so focused at the beginning to keep moving fast that I think not getting in the
adequate nutrition or even if I slosh it in, will hurt me later. I was feeling
very smooth and comfortable. All my splits
were coming in around 7:50. I got to the
turnaround point and said ok, just do that 3 more times. I also told myself
only 20 more miles (weird thought to have) “how many times have you run 20
miles with john and brian, that’s all this is, just another Saturday morning
run” On the way back, I started to cross
paths with people I knew, it is always a great lift to see friends on the
course. I was trying to pick people off
in front of me and then slowly real them in to pass them. It was hard to tell who was in my AG and even
if I could, I had no idea where they had started in relation to the TT format.
So I had no idea what place I was in.
This was pretty frustrating but I just kept telling myself to have the
run I know I can do. As I was less than
a mile from the half way turn around, I saw mollie and I was ecstatic, I knew
that she had been very nervous about the winds but to see her when I did I knew
she had a great bike! When we passed
each other she asked if I was done…No I said looking at her a little weird,
then she asked if I was ok. Like something was wrong that I wasn’t done
yet. Even though at this point the pros
hadn’t even finished…
As I looped around the block to special needs. I saw our
Elite Cheer squad that was amazing! (Sonia, Roni, Michelle, and Kay). I had asked Sonia to help me with my
placement but because of the TT start, the tracker had me in 14th
which is the place that I had finished the bike, because they couldn’t update
the splits with placement not knowing who was in front. Not knowing this at the time, when she said I
was in 14th, it took me by surprise a little bit because I had been
running well I thought and thought I would have been higher. Oh well, now I told myself to forget about
placement and just run like I can. This
may come back to hurt me in the end, not knowing what place I was in or where
people were. I slowed a little to get my
second half nutrition from special needs and was off again. At this point I was still feeling pretty
good, but soon my stomach started to kind of rumble, not like my normal GI
issues but just like I had to go to the normal bathroom (weird statement, not
normal racing GI but just that time to go).
So not wanting this to turn into anything worse, I did stop at one
portopottie. Knowing my issues last
year, I hoped this wouldn’t be a pattern.
Luckily I was able to go and be back running quickly with no issue. As I was approaching 10 miles to go, my legs
really started to hurt. I just kept
telling myself to shut up and keep running.
How many times had I run 10 miles, this was just a mid-week, mid
distance run. Just focus on that. I told myself that I could literally collapse
in 10 miles but just give me 10 more. I
kept pushing through with my legs and hamstrings specifically on fire. I had seen Tommy Sustala at every turn around
he was ahead of me. I could tell that I
was gaining ground on him. And heading
to the last turn around, he told me to come and catch him. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support
and the push, even when people are having a tough day, they always encourage
others. Once I got to the final
turnaround, I had just over a 10K to go.
I actually didn’t go through the normal tough wall at mile 20. This was the first race I was able to
mentally push through the blocks. I was
extremely proud of myself for being able to make myself keep going. I knew it was going to hurt but I wanted to
run a sub 3:30 marathon extremely bad. I
knew I was capable and now I just had to do it.
I think the entire last 6 miles I was gritting my teeth, and others could
see the grimace in my face. I ended up
catching Tommy at about mile 22, he told me to finish strong and go get
it. I was hurting but knew I could push. Everyone I knew that I crossed was giving me
such encouragement. And I apologize if I did not give them same out loud, in my
mind I was. As I made it to the final
mile, it was lined with people, I saw the elite cheer squad one last time as I
went around the block and turned off to the finishers chute. I could see my family on the right side and
was so happy and thankful to see them.
As I crossed the line, I did my normal jump and slapped the clock. This time I was literally terrified I would
collapse when I came down. That is the
most I have pushed my legs during an IM and I was not sure if they could hold
me. Luckily they did. At this point, I had no idea what my overall
time was or what my run time was, but I was happy with how I ran. So no matter the time, I was happy that I was
able to put together a solid run. The
sun had started to set, and it was getting cold. I had them give me a cup of chicken broth and
that warmed me up nice. But the more I
stood out there the more I was getting cold with my body not too happy with me,
so I headed to my condo quickly to shower and warm up before coming back to
find everyone else.
Time: 3:27:42 7:55 per mile pace 6th AG
Overall Time 8:55:45 6th
place
Final Thoughts:
I
ended up missing 5th place by 28 seconds. I outran the guy who finished 5th
by almost 10 min on the marathon. So, I
do wonder if I would have been able to run him down knowing he was 5th
place and I was less than 30 sec behind, if it was not a TT start. But then again who knows what would have
happened if there had been a swim. So as
defeating as it is to have lost a podium spot by 28 seconds, I am trying to
focus on the positive of the fact I was able to have a solid run after a
terrible bike conditions. It only makes
me hungry for more. I feel I made huge
gains going into this race and am excited to put in the work for my next one. I guess I have a disease that it is less than
a week and I am hard at work planning on how to get better for my next one.
Happy with my race but never satisfied, always hungry for more.
I want to thank everyone that
helped me get here. Best coach I could
ask for, Coolidge, not only a great coach but a great training partner there
with me through all the steps. My other
training partners have pushed me to my limits and continue to challenge me to
be better. It was such a joy and honor
to compete in this race with my dad. And
can’t thank him enough for everything.
And the support that my family gave to both of us through training and
being there on the day. Lastly Mollie, I
am so privileged to have girlfriend that not only understands my craziness of
racing these things but does them with me.
I am so proud of her and all that she accomplished and improved on
setting huge PRs on this tough day.
Couldn’t do this without all the people in my life.
