The Iron Geek

My personal journey of going from an overweight IT leader to an Ironman.

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26 posts tagged race

My Spirit Was Almost Broken By Three Bottles Of Gatorade

I have been haunted by something my coach said in his email all day.  When I told him that I went from feeling great getting off the bike, to feeling horrible 300 yards into my run, his comment was:

THIS IS USUALLY DUE TO NOT FUELING AND HYDRATING ENOUGH ON THE BIKE. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND AND BE SURE TO NAIL THIS IN FLORIDA. TO FEEL GOOD OFF THE BIKE, WE NEED TO FUEL AND HYDRATE SUPER WELL, CONSISTENTLY, AND FREQUENTLY WHILE ON THE BIKE. 

Since the beginning of my training for long rides on the bike, I have been unable to get to the hydration levels that he has wanted me to get to: 20 ounces of liquid every 30 minutes.

At my best I have been getting in about 20 ounces every hour.  Any more than that and I feel bloated or like I am constantly drinking.  If I look at my consumption during Augusta, I was short 60 ounces of the target Don provided me versus what I actually consumed (70 versus 130).

I know that I have trained better than I performed on Sunday.  I had put my body through more stress (like 6 hour bike rides) and it had taken it in far better stride.  I have run 13 miles or more each Sunday for the past month, without issue.  During the race, I felt betrayed by my body. To just up-and-quit on the run, really bothered me.

My PR for a half marathon is 2:33, which was almost a year ago, and my body is MUCH stronger now than it was back then.  Even given the stress of the day, my body should have been operating at a higher level.  A 2:30 was feasible, even a 2:45 if it was hot.  3:00 if things went really bad. A 3:11????

What bothered me most wasn’t my time, it was how little I could run.  I could only manage short bursts.  I was prepared to do my fare share of walking, just not so much of it.  I had planned on keeping 11 minute runs coupled with a 1 minute walk, not the other way around.

And to think some/most/all of that could have been avoided by adding three bottles of Gatorade…

I felt horrible because my body wasn’t able to do do what I needed it to do.  I hit a mental low that was significant for me.  To think about an idea that the “car was just out of gas”, has me in a funny place.  I’m really not sure how to process it.  

That’s why I have been thinking about it all day.

Augusta - My Coach’s Thoughts And More Random Thoughts

Picture Credit: Jason Maddox.  Artwork Credit: His kids.

I had sent a similar race report to Don Fink, my triathlon coach this morning.  His response, paraphrased, was as follows:

You did an amazing job!  Your times were almost exactly where I thought they would be, with the bonus of a great swim!  Congrats!  The feelings that you went through are no different than any other endurance athlete, including myself, goes through when racing.  The good news is that you now know what this feels like and will be better prepared for IMFLA.  The reality is that it sounds to me like you did not consume enough nutrition and hydration during your bike which caused you to bonk on the run.  This can easily be fixed.  Stick to your training, nailing each one, especially your long workouts, and I have no doubt that you will complete the Ironman in November.

First, I have an awesome coach.  He knows how to help me while motivating me and has from the start. It turns out that feeling like shit was all part of the plan.  Who knew?

Second, he’s probably right about the hydration for two reasons: 1) I had a full bottle on my bike when I finished the bike leg and 2) I didn’t pee between the hours of 5:00 am and 10:00 pm on Sunday.  This is after consuming:

  • 16 oz Gatorade with breakfast, 
  • 8 oz of water pre-race, 
  • 70 oz of Gatorade and water on the bike, 
  • 2-4 cups of liquid at every run aid station,
  • 64 ounces of Cherry coke from Five Guys post race and ride home
  • 12 ounces of Miller Light while resting in a hot bath tub

More random thoughts that I’ve had about Sunday’s race:

  • To my wife with three kids at home, that tracked me online, watching videos from Jason, and getting emotionally involved:  Thank you so much honey, for everything that you do.
  • To all the volunteers and supporters that came out on Sunday:  Thank you so much.  You guys are awesome!
  • To all of the athlete’s that finished early and came out to cheer on guys like me: You guys/gals are what make this sport amazing.
  • To the goth chick eating a slice of meat lovers pizza at the aid station on my second lap: I could smell you from around the corner.  I considered executing a Jason-Stahom-esq move on you to dispatch of you and recover you precious cargo, but instead chose to say in my head, “Girl, what the HELL is wrong with you?!”
  • To the guy with the microphone and blaring loud speaker at the aid station at mile 3/9: Repeating “I got Ironman Power-Ade” every 10 seconds, that I could hear from 3 blocks approaching and 3 blocks leaving, was a good effort , but was NOT helpful.
  • To the families that set up the unofficial aid station with water and fruits that race officials didn’t seem to care about: Thank you, thank you, thank you!
  • To the drunk guy outside Mellow Mushroom waiving your beer at me talking in gibberish: Your welcome I let you keep your beer.
  • To @robindoesrunning and @runningwithrach: Thank you for being such an inspiration.  Without you, I wouldn’t have made as many early morning swims or persevered through as many long runs.  You have truly helped me to become a better person, and I will always be grateful to you for that.
  • To everyone I passed along the side of the road with a flat tire:  I felt guilty riding by you and tried to avoid eye contact.  I’m sorry.
  • To all of you on Tumblr and Facebook who have Liked my posts or sent kind or encouraging words: Thank you.
  • To myself: You have never been overcome with raging self-doubt until 1:30pm on Sunday September 25th.  It hit you hard and it hit you fast.  But you pushed through it.  You TOOK IT DOWN.  Let this be a lesson to you that self-doubt has no place in your life.  When it happens again you must use it at motivation.  You must use it to light the fire in the belly.  You have worked to hard to be denied, especially by your own inner voice.  There are enough haters in the world, YOU are not one of them.  Remember that feeling you had sitting in the grass, with the rain on your face?  Remember how the doubt, the pain, the anxiety all melted away like the rain off your face?  That is how winners feel.  You are a winner.

I know that the last chapter in the story of this journey is a long way from being written.  I’m looking forward to keep writing the next one.

Ironman Florida better look out!

It Should Have Been Impossible: Ironman 70.3 Augusta

Have you ever done something that gave you such a sense of accomplishment that it was emotionally overwhelming?  Something that two years ago you wouldn’t have dreamed was even possible?  

While this race was on my schedule merely as a tune-up for Ironman Florida in November, I can’t tell you how much it means to me to complete it.  Ask anyone that knew me two years ago, anyone at all, if they thought I could complete a 70.3 and they would have told you “No way.”  

This guy, the guy that most of my friends in Boston remember, just finished a 70.3 Triathlon.

A little over a year ago I competed in my very first triathlon, a Sprint race at Crowes Lake.  Roughly 200 yards into a 400 yard swim, I had to float on my back because I thought I was going to drown.  It took every ounce of my energy to swim across that catfish pond to the other side.  I struggled on the bike, and basically walked the entire 5K.  I was something like 3rd from last in the entire race.  It was so upsetting, that I didn’t attempt my next triathlon until almost a year later.

Yesterday afternoon I stood in the rain at the finish line in disbelief that I had finished it.  That halfway through the run I was at such a low point emotionally that I had thoughts of cancelling my race in Florida, if not walking out on this race itself.  

But I didn’t.  I pressed on.  Walking a LOT more than I had ever thought would be necessary, but putting one foot in front of the other was all that mattered.  18 months of training 6 days of the week cannot prepare you for the mental fatigue that you go through, and I was surprised by it.  I marched on even though most of my body and mind told me I was INSANE for doing what I was doing.  Let the blisters scream.  Let the legs ache.  Let the back hurt.  That is why they make Aleve.  Keep moving forward. 

Take. It. Down.  TAKE. IT. DOWN!

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Worst Pictures Ever!

When I started this blog, I said it would be about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of my Ironman journey…

I think I’ve got The Ugly DOWN PAT!

Damn!

I wonder what the hell I would look like if you actually photographed me drunk.

Things I’ve Learned This Weekend…

Here is what I’ve learned this weekend

  1. When you order a bike used on the Internet, it’s important to check to see if the steer tube has been cut too low for your ideal fit.  Because if it has, that means you have to buy a new fork, and that’s expensive.  The whole reason that I bought a new bike was because my current bike can’t be made “tall” enough.  If I have to buy a new fork, my “great deal” could good to “good deal” or possibly a “okay deal”.  I’ll know more on Monday after the manufacturer and the bike shop talk.
  2. If you do not get enough hydration, it will suck the will to live out of you during a race.  After missing my 10K on Saturday because I got started late and couldn’t find a route that got me to the starting line (because of closed roads), I made the decision to enter a Sprint Triathlon today.  It was a 200 yard swim, 10 mile bike and 3.1 mile run (Finished in 1:11:23).  My big mistake was not bringing a cage bottle for my bike.  This left me very thirsty while on the bike and dying on the run.  It was a very “loosely” organized event (to say the least) and the first water station was not until about 1.3 miles into the run.  I ended up walking a large portion of the first half of the run, but then after downing 3 cups of water and dumping one on my body, I felt like a new man.  I ran the last mile in 8:40 pace and the last 1/2 mile was probably a 7:00 pace.  I have been bonking at all my triathlons this year when I get off the bike.  I’m now convinced that it is hydration related.  I will have a much better hydration plan in place for my Sprint next weekend in Savannah.  (This is huge.  This will have a dramatic impact on my results from here on out)
  3. I laughed more during my 5-year-old’s dance recital today than I did while watching the Hangover 2.  That’s not to bash on the Hangover as much as it is about the recital (I liked the movie, just not as much as the first one).  Those little girls (3-7) were too cute.

Now it’s about having a solid training week (tapered) for my race next weekend.  I can’t wait!

The Bet and The Last Minute Race

So we had some friends over this weekend and of course the topic of triathlon and racing came up.  I was telling the husband of the couple that was over about my weight loss goals for my upcoming Ironman in November.  I let him know that I still had about 35 pounds to go before I hit what I think my best race weight will be.

He said something like “Yeah, I really need to lose weight too.  I used to be fit and skinny, but now, not so much.”

Long story, short: We now have a bet on who can be the first one to lose 35 pounds.  I wont say how much it is, but I will say that it is a big financial incentive to be the first one to lose the weight.  To sweeten the odds and get him on board, I’ve offered him 3:2 odds on the bet.  Basically, I have to pay him more if he wins.

Ironically, when we weighed in that night, we both weighed the exact same weight, down to the tenth of a pound: 222.2.  (Side note: He is almost 4 inches shorter than me.  It theoretically should be easier for him to lose the weight).

The day before, on Friday, I had been on Active.com looking for a local 10K race on Memorial Day weekend (I figured that would be a fun distraction).  While searching, I discovered that there was a Sprint Triathlon being held less than 5 miles from my house today (Sunday).  It took about 2 minutes to make that decision. (I still havent registered for anything on Memorial Day)

So I had my second, and unexpected, race of the season today.  It was a 400 yard swim, 10 mile bike and 3.1 (5K) run.  So slightly longer than my last outing.

The Swim: It’s funny, but my swim felt really, really good.  Considering I have been stressing about my swim for so long, I think it’s really funny that over the last two races, this has been my best leg.  I managed to keep a smooth and steady stroke and found that if I sighted less (looking up for the bouy) I went a LOT faster.  Just 3 extra strokes before sighting made a huge difference.

The Bike: Was hard!  Just like last time, I had some troubles on the bike.  This course was much different with several LONG hills.  It was an out-and-back course so you hit them both ways.  Nothing like hitting 36 mph flying down the hill knowing you are going to have to muscle your way back up it.  I got a massive, massive headache at about 4 miles into the bike.  I felt horrible.  The hills were pretty tiring, and there were two near the end that I actually considered I might have to walk up.  They were so bad I was up out of my seat, pounding my pedals in the lightest gear and barely moving.  It sucked.

The Run: What I have learned over the last two weeks is that I have to train more about running in high-heart rate zones.  I have really struggled finding a rhythm when running after getting off the bike in these races.  Unlike my brick training where I keep the heart rate in Zone 2, I am in Zone 4 when I get off the bike in a race and just feel exhausted.  On the last 1/2 mile of the race, I finally found my legs and started banging away 8:00 min/miles.  But before that I was shuffling 12:00 min/miles with walks way to often.

I came in 1:27:58 - 10th in the Clydesdale Division and 152 out of 202 overall.  My swim time was excellent, my bike time was weak and my run time was very poor.  I need to build up that stamina.  The best part of the day was my 8th place time during Transition #1.

Even though I had a tough race, with a screaming headache, I felt great on the ride home.  There is just something about going through that before many people have gotten out of bed on a Sunday morning that made me feel good about myself. 

After I write this post, I am going to lock down my training schedule for the week and pack my bag for early in the morning.  

Giddy Up!

Feeling Good Allllllllllll Riiiiiiiiiiight!

Here are two of the photos from my Super Sprint last weekend.  Let’s just say that the bike and “swim” photos didn’t come out that well.

And YES I am rocking the singlet.  ;-)

One Year Later…

   

My very first road race was the 2010 Bun Run last year in Austin.  I just got the photo from this year’s Bun Run race.  

I was carrying around 40 less pounds and finished almost 12 minutes faster.

Very Cool Virtual Triathlon Replay

This is pretty awesome.  I am bib #795.  You can watch my race virtually online.  Kick ass!

At one point on my bike I was in 42nd overall place, 3rd in my division.  This has to be the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time!

The 5th Fastest Fat Guy

I had a great race this morning!

I competed in the Peachtree City Super Sprint Triathlon.  This was a 300 yard swim, 8 mile bike and 2 mile run. 

I completed the race in 1:03:26 - Good enough for 5th place in the Clydesdale division (Men over 200 pounds).  I finished 104th out of 205.

My splits were:

  • SWIM: 6:44
  • TRANSITION-1: 1:31
  • BIKE: 28:56 (16.6 MPH)
  • TRANSITION-2: 2:10
  • RUN: 24:07 (12:04 min/mile)

Now my GPS watch showed the run at 2.29 miles with a 10:39 min/mile pace, but whatever.

This is a HUGE improvement over my first triathlon where I came in 166th of 171.  I also made substantial improvement on my swim.  The first triathlon swim was 400 yards and I completed it in 18:35.  This was 300 yards in 6:44.

The Swim

The Swim felt really good.  I was able to get into a nice groove and just stick with a slow and steady stroke.  I concentrated as much as possible on keeping my kick to a miniumum, as that is normally what wears me out (too much kicking).  I did get a little freaked out with sighting (making sure I was heading in the right direction), causing me to pick up my head too often.  But for the most part, I felt really good.  I was surprised how tired I felt getting out of the water.  But I blew away my pre-race goal of 10 minutes.

The Bike

The bike kicked my ass.  I’m not used to starting out bike rides with a high heart rate and it really shows, especially on hills.  It was super draining going up those hills.  I just felt like I was constantly out of gas.  I went as fast as 32 mph and as slow at 6 mph.  I spent a lot more time on the low end of the scale than the fast.  I do most of my riding on a fairly flat trail and this race showed me that I need more time on hills.

The Run

When I got into the transition area off of the bike and started to change into my running gear, I got a really bad cramp in my leg that caused me to fall down right in front of my racked bike.  It took me a few seconds to massage it out and get my shoes on.  I made my way to the transition exit, but immediately started walking due to the cramps.  Thankfully there was a Gatorade stop right there and I was able to get some nutrients that really helped.  It took about 1/2 mile, but I eventually got into a rhythm of about 10 min/mile but had walked once on each mile, bringing my average up.  I ended up finishing strong, and I even had a little left in the tank.

Overall I am extremely happy with the results from today.  I had a goal of finishing in 1:00:00, but 1:03 is good enough for me.  Last year that time would have been good enough for 2nd Fastest Fat Guy, and an award.  I’ll take that.

Next up is the Savannah Sprint Triathlon (500 yard swim, 13.1 mile bike and 3.1 mile run) on June 11th.

Actually, next up is the Warrior Dash tomorrow.  =)

I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD!

I feel like I could take on the world right now.  Okay, as long as it doesn’t involve standing, or hell even getting off the couch, but OTHER THAN THAT, I’m ready to take on all-comers!

I just finished my first marathon.  I managed to drag my body over 26.2 miles over insane Georgia hills.  It was an absolute roller coaster of a morning, one that I don’t think that I will forget.  

Here is my detailed race report…

The start was broken up by “corrals” that were based upon your expected finishing time.  I was slotted to start in corral K, based upon my delusional thinking at the time I registered that I would finish the event in 4:45 minutes.  Since I knew that wasn’t going to happen (and because I misread the signs =), I started in corral L, one back.  I was right behind the 5:00 pace team (they run the race at that pace to help the other runners).  In theory, if I wanted to finish in 5 hours, I just needed to stick with them.

I got a chuckle out of a few things while waiting for the start.  First, I had taken a 5-hour Energy just as the gun went off.  When it took 10 minutes to get to the starting line, I really wished that they made 5:10 Energy.  Secondly, my iPod was playing Kings of Leon “Be Somebody” when the gun went off.  I found that very fitting.

The first 7 miles were great.  There were tons of people all running shoulder-to-shoulder.  At the second mile marker (I missed the first), I noticed that I was hitting about an 11:15 min/mile pace, which was about 1:15 slower than I had planned on going out, but it felt good and I decided not to mess with it.  I knew I wasn’t going to break any records today and that it was going to be a long day.  I just decided to go with what felt good.  I thought about reading how the guy who won the Western States 100 (100 mile trail race) and how he started his race walking.

My plan with my coach going into todays race would be to execute a Galloway method race, by which I would run for 11 minutes and then walk for 1 minute.  This is consistent with the way I had practiced my long runs.  I followed this approach consistantly for the first 14 miles.  However, I would not walk if my “walk time” happened to be on a downhill.  Running downhill is almost like walking, so if I hit a split where I was supposed to walk and it was downhill, i just kept running until the next uphill. 

For the first 7 miles, it was fairly crowded.  You often had to pick your spots and be careful to dodge anyone who was walking.  But the crowd was great and the volunteers were carrying some great signs.  My favorite of the day was “Release the Crackin!” and my least favorite was “Too slow to win, too stupid to stop” (Did she really think that was a good idea?)

At just about the 7 mile marker, there was a fork in the road where the half-marathoners went to the left and the full-marathoners went to the right.  I was somewhat surprised to see almost everyone take the left (for the half-marathon). I would later find out that there were almost 11,000 people running the half-marathon and just over 2,000 people running the full!  Once the split happend, things got far more “roomy” and you could pretty much run where you wanted.  The bummer was the the crowds significantly thinned out too.

I continued on my 11/1 approach and managed to score a Personal Record (PR) for my half-marathon with a 2:33 split (5 minutes faster than my last half-marathon!).  I was feeling really good.

But at mile 14, things started to slow down.  There were a lot of hills, and I wasn’t able to run for the full 11 minutes before needing to walk.  I didn’t feel bad, I just wan’t able to run as long, and those damn hills didn’t help!

Then at mile 18, I got a surprise cramp in my left leg, on the back of my thigh, just above the knee.  It seemed to come out of nowhere with very little warning.  I remembered that my coach had told me that cramping is due to poor nutrition and hydration so I immediately took another gel (I carried 12 with me today).  After a 2 minute walk, I felt good again so I started to run again, right into the town of Druid Hills.  (Hint: they don’t call them that because they are flat)

Then, at mile 20, I got a similar but much worse cramp in my right leg.  Again, it caught me by surprise and I came very close to taking a tumble.  A nice spectator came out and handed me a ton of pretzels, telling me that the salt would help.  I found myself dry-mouthing pretzels for the next 1/2 mile to the next aide station.

After that, it was very hard to run without getting cramps.  Even eating more gels and drinking more Gatorade didn’t help.  I could only run on the downhills, and only if I took very small strides and landed on my heel.  If I took a long stride, landed on my forefoot, or ran up a hill, my cramps would kick in.

So I pretty much walked the next 5 miles.  (Bummer).  From this far back in the pack, there are a lot of people walking, especially up these crazy hills.  There was one hill, just passing mile 23 that was insane.  It was like the course designers said (Ah, let’s really screw with them near the finish).  It was an insane hill.  It was on that hill that I ran into someone I knew for the first time.  He’s my banker at my local branch, and he handed me a water.  =)

As I got to the 25 mile marker, I decided to MTFU and run it the rest of the way in.  I had been told that the rest of the run was flat (which it was).  So i turned on my grampa-shuffle and ran the last 1.2 miles.

I let out a scream/howl when I crossed the finish line.  I WAS PUMPED!  I am still in shock that I was able to do it.  Between the pain and the emotion, it was hard fighting back tears as I wandered into a pretty much empty finish area.

My goal time as of last night had been 5 hours and 15 minutes, which is basically double my last half-marathon finish.  At the halfway point, I was on track to finish in 5:06.  But with the cramps, and all of the walking, I finished in 5:53:01.  (2:33 for the first 13.1 and 3:23 for the second 13.1)

But I finished a fucking marathon.  BOOHYAH!


And then I went to Waffle House and ate two full meals.  Next was a long hot bath, and now I’m drinking a beer and watching over my son as he sleeps and I type this blog post.

“Today it was a good day” - Ice Cube

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All systems are ready to go. 8 hours until blast off.

All systems are ready to go. 8 hours until blast off.

Anxiety

Shortly after arriving in Las Vegas for an industry conference earlier this week, I received a call from my wife that my 3-month old boy had been admitted to the hospital.  His cold and congestion had steadily gotten worse and the doctors wanted to admit him and monitor him to make sure he was okay.

14 hours after landing in Las Vegas, I was on a flight headed home Wednesday morning.  He, and my wife, have been in the hospital since then.  We are still not sure when they will be able to come home.  When he is congested he can’t breathe through his nose, and when he can’t breathe through his nose, he can’t drink his bottle.  As you can imagine, that is a problem.  He will be okay, but it’s super tough to see the little guy coughing and wheezing so much.

This is leading up to my first marathon race on Sunday.  I thought that being in Vegas the week before was going to be tough, but this absolutely worse.  If the doctors don’t release him tomorrow, then I will not be able to run the race (I will need to take care of my two daughters while my wife stays in the hospital with Cannon)

Even if he is discharged tomorrow, and I am able to run the race, my family will not be able to be there for support.  There would be no way for my wife to manage 3 kids under 5, one of which who has coming off one heckuva cold.

So I either race by myself, or I don’t race at all.  That’s pretty much a bummer.

And did I mention that even if I do manage to start the race, I am seriously concerned about my ability to finish it?  I have never been nervous about anything in my life.  I have jumped out of airplanes, bungee jumped, gone 180mph behind the wheel of a car, got married, had 3 kids and have never really been nervous about any of it.  Call it confidence, call it cockiness, call it whatever, I just haven’t really felt nervous.

I am nervous about this.  

I am nervous about my body’s ability to make it through.  My training hasn’t exactly gone smoothly over the last 6 months, and my longest run was a paltry 18 miles.  

How on earth am I going to cary 232 pounds of Wendy’s loving, Sweetwater drinking, hunk of man-flesh over 26.2 miles these mountainous hills called Georgia?  

You know when you are walking through the runners expo on the way to pick up your packet and you are the only one who looks like he’s lost his way trying to find the beer tent, you’re in trouble.

How the hell am I going to do this?  I am outta my damn mind!

I’m trying to keep positive thoughts.  Cannon will feel better tomorrow and I am going to race.  I am going to finish!

It maybe cheezy, but I need all the help I can get.  If you are reading this and will be in Atlanta on Sunday, when you see me go by, please cheer LOUD!

13.1 miles in 2 hours and 33 minutes

I had an AWESOME race today.  

Another half-marathon in the books.

No, I didn’t place in the top of my age-group and get a cool plaque.  I didn’t even finish with the pack.  But I did set a personal record (PR), shaving a whopping 35 minutes off my “lightning fast” 3:08 first attempt.  It’s amazing what a little training can do.

The best part, is that I feel great!  My legs, my feet, my ankles, my shins and my knees all feel fine.  My lower back hurt some for the last 3 miles, but I powered through it.  This was an awesome day.

So I know I have been off Tumblr for a while.  At least it is not because I have fallen off the training wagon.  This time it’s more that life has gotten in the way.  With a newborn in the house, a crazy travel schedule for work AND a bunch of workouts, it just hasn’t left a lot of time for Tumblr.

I will continue my focus on prepping for the Georgia marathon on March 20th.

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