Ironman Coeur d’Alene Race Report Part 2

As I’m standing at the water’s edge, ready to start my Ironman, I’m struggling to hear Mike Reilly’s announcements about the start of the race. I’m ready, goggles on, staring at the long course that lies ahead when out of nowhere, the famous Ironman cannon goes off. It’s an instantaneous mad dash into the frigid lake and you dare not stop or you will be trampled by the hundreds lined up behind you. As soon as the water is deep enough to swim, you dive in and swim with the herd of other racers.

Before the start. I’m the one in the green cap and the black wetsuit. Oh, wait…

This is what the start of the swim looks like. If only I could’ve captured it on a personal video.

We all have heard stories of how rough open water swim starts can be, but I’ve alway thought that was a little over-exaggerated. That was, until this race. It was violent from the start and for much longer than I anticipated. I was fortunate to never get kicked or punched too hard, but there were some pretty decent blows to my head, legs, arms and even face. For a while, I thought I even had a bloody nose, but luckily that never came to fruition. Within the first 100 yards someone swam over me, I swam over someone else and somebody tried to pull me under (probably on accident but it felt like it was intentional). I kept my cool though and pushed on with my plan…smooth and steady.

This video is courtesy of Teresa, and gives an idea of what the start looks like.  It’s a little bouncy, but she was trying to hold it over other peoples’ heads.

About halfway out on the first lap, the crowds seemed to clear up and I was thankful for some room to swim. It was short-lived though and bunched up again maybe 100 yards later and lasted through the two turns back to shore. The return 900 yards to shore were occasionally violent, but it was slowly getting better until the last 100 yards which naturally were pretty crowded. As I got towards the banner we had to run through on shore, I climbed out of the water, happy that I was done with the first lap. At the same time, I realized as my feet pounded the sand running back to the water, I couldn’t really feel them anymore. A big realization of how cold it was.

I dove back into the water for the second time and it was crowded again. There was a short 45 degree line we swam to get to the first buoy and turn back out on the regular course. Again, the violence continued through that first turn and well into the first leg. There was something different about this lap though. Occasionally, and on increasing frequency, I was hitting waves that I wasn’t expecting. Two thoughts where going through my head. One was that one of the safety boats was moving around making waves, or two, people were a lot more rough in their swim strokes on this second lap. The second thought of course was ridiculous as it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the first lap, but that’s where my head was at during that time.

By the time I approached the first turn, these larger waves were continuous. I still really had no idea why though, but I noticed at points, when I was in the trough of the waves trying to sight buoys, I couldn’t see any buoys, people, boats or anything. I know many of you have probably swam races with larger waves, but this was by far the largest waves I’ve swam in during a race. Having said that, they didn’t bother me mentally, it was just frustrating to feel like I was hitting a wall every time I crashed into a wave head first.

I cut all my turns right at the buoys on the second lap. The crowds were much lower by now and I felt like I had sufficient room most of the time for the remainder of the swim. It was such a great sight to view the Coeur d’Alene Resort as I approached the shore, knowing that the swim was nearing its end. I finally climbed out of the water, tired, but happy that this leg was over.

Looking a little scary after my swim, heading to transition.

I jogged up the sandy beach to the transition area to get ready for the bike. I ran right to the wetsuit strippers who are there to help you take off the wetsuit. They’re typically not the easiest piece of clothing to take off, but when your hands are pretty cold, the lack of dexterity makes it nearly impossible. The strippers were great and had my suit off in just a few seconds. I grabbed the suit and and ran to get my bike gear bag and run into the changing tent. There were so many great volunteers in the transition area and it made everything go smoothly. I’m so thankful for all their help they provided throughout the day.

Given the cloudy conditions and cool temperatures, I chose to ride with socks (which I usually don’t do), arm warmers and thin gloves. Finally, I was dressed and headed out to the bike, with a quick detour to get lathered with sunscreen. It’s so nice to have people there to load you up with scoops of sunscreen, just one thing less I had to worry about on race day. I was off to the bike and ran to the mount zone.

Heading out on the bike.

As I headed through town I was oblivious to most everything. I noticed the crowds cheering for all the riders and realized it was a little chilly. Once I got out if the residential area of town and headed towards the first turnaround, the wind hit me and it finally dawned on me why the second lap of the swim was so choppy. The wind had picked up considerably and at this point in the ride, it was raining lightly. I thought I was in for a wet, cloudy and cool day. Fortunately, only the wind remained throughout the day.

With the cycling being my strongest event, I was making quite a bit of progress through the pack of people, all while keeping my power at around 210 Watts and heart rate around 142. I was feeling really relaxed and strong and had to hold back a little, knowing I had a long day ahead of me. After I hit the first turnaround and headed back into town, I was flying. With a slight tailwind and flat or slightly downhill sections, I was ticking off the miles…but I knew what was approaching. Racing back through town and the huge crowds of people cheering was exhilarating. What a boost of adrenaline that provides.

After town, the ride turns south on Highway 95 for the hilly section. I’d driven the course and we were staying less than mile from our turn onto Hwy 95 right after crossing the Spokane River. I passed the RV park and started the first few rollers, still feeling strong. Once we turned the last corner before the bigger hills started, I made sure I calmed myself down as it would have been too easy at this point to go all out and hammer the mile-plus long hill at 6% grade. I knew my body could not afford to do that. So I sat up, out of aero position and pushed on. I was still passing quite a few people and I kept thinking, “there are a lot of really fast swimmers out there!”

For the next hour to the turnaround it was almost all climbing, into the wind, with a few short downhill sections thrown in for good measure. After the turnaround, I was able to gain some more time since it was mostly downhill with a tailwind. The last big descent, which was the first big ascent going the other way, required a little strategy. The race directors had decided this would be a no passing zone. I understand from a safety perspective why they did this, but it didn’t help me with the desire to fly down that hill. Knowing that, I tried to pass as many people as I could leading up to the no passing zone so I wouldn’t be hindered on the descent. The plan worked pretty well for the first lap and I felt great pushing the pace back into town.

Getting back to the bigger crowds in town was great! Seeing my support crew especially made it invaluable. The second lap started well as I headed out along the lake again. At the turnaround point, I stopped at my special needs bag to replenish my fluids. It was a quick stop and I pushed on. Once again, when I got back to town, I was boosted by hearing the screams of my family as I cruised past them.

Coming into town partially through the second lap.

Getting to the climbing on Highway 95, things started to not go quite as well. I had noticed on some of my longer training rides that at times, my power and heart rate numbers to coincide like they typically would. I start to feel fatigued and lack energy to continue. Of course I did push on, but I was in a race funk for about 30 or 45 minutes before my body snapped out of it…then I was back to normal. Well, whatever normal is after 100 miles of biking.

The winds seemed stronger to me on this last lap, which may or may not have been accurate. The turnaround point also seemed about 5 miles further out than the first lap. That is likely inaccurate, or somebody was paying a really bad joke on us. Once I hit the turnaround, I was rejuvenated again. I knew most of the trip back to transition was with a tailwind and downhill (where I can make up some time on the good climbers). I once again started passing people on the downhill sections and made up some time. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind a slower rider on the no passing zone at the long descent. I was more than frustrated having to use my brakes. Once I was past the hill, I flew past him and cruised into transition.

Coming into T2 and ready to get off the bike.

I got to T2 and was more than ready to be off the bike. I hopped off with my shoes on and struggled to run to my gear bag. In hindsight, I should’ve left my shoes with the bike. Typically, I leave my shoes on my bike all the time, so they’re there when I get out of the swim and I don’t have to deal with them after the bike. However, in this race the directors told us we couldn’t leave shoes on our bikes during the swim, so I assumed the same applied after the bike. Apparently that wasn’t the case, but no matter now.

The awesome volunteers found my run gear bag and I jogged into the changing tent to prepare for the last 26.2 miles of the day. I quickly put on my Altra Instincts, hat and my Rudy Project sunglasses and was out the door for some more sunscreen. Leaving T2 was exciting and stressful all at the same time. I was excited to be on my last leg of the race, but I knew I still had to complete a marathon.

Heading out of T2 on the run…only 26.2 miles left!

I started running out of T2 and felt surprisingly well. I was running under 9:00 miles and my heart rate was reasonable. That lasted for a couple of miles and then the legs got heavy…very heavy. The pace started to slow and I was walking the aid stations. I found myself walking longer through the aid stations and knew I was suffering a bit. I kept pushing as much as I could but it was a struggle, physically and especially mentally. One thing that was running through my head the whole time came from my friend Michael Hutto. He sent me a text before the race and said “don’t walk the downhills.”  He was right, and I didn’t let him down. I did however walk a lot of the uphill sections.

Crowd support on the run was unbelievable. There were so many fans out there cheering, dancing calling our names (they were on our bibs) and having such a great time, their attitudes became infectious. I was hurting more than I have hurt in any self-inflicted act of suffering, yet I was smiling, talking and enjoying the experience (most of the time). This is what it was about, in part…enjoying the race. By this time, I had thrown my time goals out the window and was focused on finishing and having fun.

Then I hit the half mile long hill with 6% grade just before mile 6. Let’s just say my attitude changed a bit. That was tough, and to add some fun, you summit this hill, run down the other side for about half a mile, then turn around and go back up to the summit again. Cruel course World Triathlon Corporation…very cruel.

After running down that nasty little hill I got back to the flat section and run/walked back towards town and the half marathon point. It was a long haul and I was envious of those on their last lap, but knew I would be there soon enough. As I approached town, I stopped at the special needs bag and replaced my two bottles of GenUcan and EFS Drink. About 100 yards later however, I realized I no longer wanted those bottles and decided to drop them. As I approached the turnaround, I noticed my wife and son off to the side, at a point where I couldn’t drop the bottles for them to pick up. Then, luckily, I noticed my mom around the corner, so I left them with her.

Coming into the halfway point of the run.

Heading up the hill out of town for the second lap.

Heading back out on the second lap, I kept thinking how close I was to fulfilling my Ironman dream. About halfway toward the turnaround, a friend from Twitter, Nicole, came up from behind me. I said hi and we ran and chatted for a bit. It was great to meet her and see her about to become an Ironman as well. One topic of discussion was whether we’d do another Ironman again. I’m pretty sure at the time, I told her no way, this was a stupid idea and only crazy people do these things. I’m not sure how much of that came out of my mouth, but at least some of it did…I was thinking all of it though. Nicole was much stronger than me on the run as she slowly pulled away.

I continued on and struggled up and down the hills at the turnaround point. As I got back to the flat sections heading back towards town, I ran into the aid station the volunteers labeled the French Quarter (I think anyway). From that point on, the pain in my feet, legs, hip flexors, back, arms, shoulders (well, you get the idea) slowly started to fade away. I found myself running in longer intervals again…still smiling.

I was close now. I could start to hear Mike Reilly calling names as racers crossed the line. They weren’t legible words yet, but I knew the last part of each phrase…”you are an Ironman!” Those words alone at that point in the day had a profound effect. First, the pain and suffering disappeared at an even faster rate. More though, were the emotions that started to race through my body and mind. My eyes welled up at times, thinking about this two-year journey and what I was about to accomplish. I laughed at signs from the fans and their screams of encouragement. Suddenly I felt like I was running on air. All of my senses focused not on me, but on the road, the spectators, the sounds, the smells (of my sweat mostly) and the other racers. These final few minutes are almost indescribable.

Finally, I made the last turn onto Sherman Avenue. I could see the finish line and I giggled. I was looking all around me to try and space myself from the other racers so I could have my moment on the finish line to myself. I sped up to pass some and towards the end, slowed down to avoid another racer. This was my time in this race to be selfish.

The finishing chute is all you could ever imagine and then some. Thousands of people cheering, screaming, watching and holding their hands out for a high-five. I ran from side to side making sure to get as many hands slapped on both sides as I could. Looking at my finishing photo, people must have thought I was crazy. My eyes are wide open and the smile on my face looked, well…silly. I crossed that final foot and heard what I had dreamed about for two solid years…”Brian Taylor from Parker, Colorado, you are an Ironman!” It still stirs emotions in me as I write this!

Slapping hands…only a few feet away.

Closing in on the line.

Crossing the line!

At the end of these races they have ‘catchers’ or at least that’s what I call them. I felt sorry for the woman who caught me…I smelled horrible. They asked if I needed two and I said no. so she stayed with me for the next few minutes. I got my medal and hat and found my family. There was nothing better than that and I won’t even attempt to explain how much that meant to me. I remember looking at Teresa and Seth and saying simply, “I did it!” In truth, we did it! They supported me day after day, training 6 days a week, for most of that two years. They followed me to races and cheered me on in Hawaii and Boulder. They put up with me sleeping in the middle of the afternoon due to exhaustion. They encouraged me and kept me going while preparing for this largely selfish dream. For that, I can not ever thank them enough. I hugged the whole family and told them how much I appreciated them for their support that day. My seven year old son was indeed a trooper to hang out as long as he did.

I could smile when I was done…not sure what the deal is with my eyes though.

I told them I’d meet them on the other side of the fence as I was still in the athlete only area. My catcher stayed with me until I knew I was okay on my own. I don’t know who she was, but se was great! Another woman was there just giving hugs to everyone. Another stranger, and yet we all had some connection to that day.

I grabbed my food and moved out of the fenced area to meet the family. As I sat down, relaxed and tried to eat, we all talked about the day. Seth ate half of my pizza as the poor kid was starving. We later moved on back to our trailer to have more pizza and then it was off to bed.

The race was over, but those memories will stay with me forever…from the cold water to the finish line, I will always look at this race with pride and happiness.

Thanks again to all who have supported me and helped me in this cherished journey. Thanks to Coach Jeff Kline for helping me find my potential and realize there is much more still to come. Thanks to all the friends I’ve met training in this wonderful community of triathlon. A special thanks to Michael Hutto, an awesome athlete and all around great guy to train with, even though he lives in California and our training sessions together are rare. Michael always has a great perspective and advice for my races and it’s much appreciated. Thanks to all of those online friends that I’ve met and shared this sport with. Endless thanks to my massage therapist and chiropractor who literally kept me in line. And a big thanks to friends, family and co-workers. your support means more than you know. Last but not least, thanks to Teresa and Seth. We did it! And without you two behind me, it never would’ve been possible. I can’t explain how grateful I am that I was able share this dream with them.

And now, to answer the question I’ve been asked countless times already. Will I do another Ironman? Well, as you read about the marathon, you probably determined that Coeur d’Alene 2012 would be my first and last Ironman, and at the time, I would’ve agreed. However, after a good night’s rest (and I mean the night after the race) I think I can safely say, that Ironman Coeur d’Alene 2012 will not be my last Ironman. I believe it was Albert Einstein that said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Well, I plan on doing more Ironman races and I do expect different results. So call me insane, and if that’s the basis for it, I’ll gladly accept the label. For I have done something that has forever changed me as a person and my personal satisfaction and enjoyment of the journey are things that have to be experienced to be completely understood. Everybody has there own thing that provides this internal gratification that can only be fulfilled by his/herself, and I am lucky enough to have found mine. Go get yours!

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the support!

- Brian

Ironman Coeur d’Alene Race Report – Part 1

The event I’d been planning for over the last two years had finally arrived. What a feeling to wake up on race morning, knowing I was about to accomplish something I had looked forward to for so long. Stepping back just a bit, the day before the race was ideal. I got in a good, but short, workout to keep everything loose. When I got back to our trailer, I cleaned up and packed up my bike and gear bags for the run and bike which had to be dropped off the day before the race. Once we were all packed, we headed into town to drop everything off and get a couple last minute items from the Ironman shop. We then went back to the trailer and met my Dad and his wife Lori, to go get some lunch and visit Spokane, WA. I held pretty strong to my plan to stay off my feet and let the family do some walking around the Riverfront while I sat on a park bench. We had a great lunch and rode the gondola over the falls that go through town, which are very impressive.

Falls on the Spokane River in Washington

Seth and I at the beach before race day!

Finishing up there, we headed back to CdA for a pre-race support dinner with my Mom, her friend Ellen, my Dad, Lori and of course Teresa and Seth. It was a perfect evening and Teresa made a great pre-race meal so I could relax. Soon though, everyone left for the night so I could finish preparing my nutrition and special needs bags. I didn’t have much to do, but it somehow pushed my bedtime to almost 9:30 but I wanted to go to bed no later than 9:00. I didn’t stress about it though as that would’ve been more of an issue than losing 30 minutes of sleep.

Surprisingly, I slept quite well and only woke up at 1:30 a.m. when it started to rain. More than anything, I layed awake thinking it would be a wet and cold race. I was finally able to get back to sleep though…it just didn’t happen until about an hour before my alarm went off at 3:45.

I woke up and pretty much had everything ready to go. I had some coffee and packed my morning meal to eat at the planned 2 hours before race start time. The transition area opened at 5:00 and I’m one if those that doesn’t want any added stresses on race morning, so I drove to find a parking spot close to the race start before parking would be a struggle. I ate most of my breakfast in the truck and then headed into transition.

There were already a lot of participants in transition and a ton of spectators claiming their spots for the day. One definite advantage to checking in the bike and the gear bags the day before the race is that it leaves very little to setup in transition race morning. I got everything set up, dropped off my special needs bags, hit the restroom, got body marked and I was ready to roll. I was happy too, that Rob Gray, up to that point an online friend, came up to me and introduced himself. I’d hoped to meet him as we had chatted back and forth on occasion about racing. By the way, he crushed his race…and just a few weeks after being hit by a car!

As I was preparing to leave transition and head to the beach to warm up, I got a text from Teresa telling me to turn around. They were on the other side of the fence so I quickly went over to say good morning. We talked quickly and I told them I would meet them outside transition. I grabbed my morning clothes bag, dropped it off and headed out towards the start.  Somehow, during that short time, I lost the family. I decided to go ahead and put on my De Soto T1 First Wave wetsuit since it was a little chilly anyway. I finally found the family where Teresa could get some pre-race photos. It was a short visit though…I needed to get to the start.

Pre race photo, decked out in my De Soto T1 wetsuit.

Now, getting to the start was a challenge. Hundreds of athletes were heading to the set of stairs leading to the beach, while thousands of spectators were heading to opposite direction to get a good view of the start. I sure hope nobody there was claustrophobic.  I finally made it to a good spot on the beach, to the right of the buoys but with a good angle to the first turn, 900 meters out. I did some short swims to warm up the body, but honestly, it was more to get the exposed parts used to the 57 degree water. The wetsuit kept me perfectly comfortable and I couldn’t ask for a better suit.

Eventually, the pros, which left at 6:25, finished there first lap of the swim so I knew race time for the age groupers was quickly approaching. Oddly enough, I still wasn’t nervous. I knew what I had to do and just needed to go and do it. I was excited! Standing on the beach, about three people deep, I waited anxiously for the cannon…the day was about to begin.

More coming soon! Thanks for reading!

- Brian

The Day Before

It’s the morning before my first Ironman and I find myself surprisingly relaxed. I’m not exactly sure why. Could be because Coach Jeff has trained me well and I’m confident that he put me where I need to be. Maybe it’s the wonderful family who took time from their schedules and came out here to support me and cheer me on. Maybe it’s all of those who couldn’t come to Coeur d’Alene but I know they’re cheering for me just the same. It could be the realization that there’s nothing left to do now but race with heart and with everything I have. Maybe it’s the friends I’ve met along this journey and will share the pain and joy with tomorrow. Maybe it really doesn’t matter in the end as to why I’m relaxed, so I’ll just accept it.

I’m about to embark on the end of a two year journey to do an Ironman this year. It’s been a selfish quest I know, but through it all, I’ve had the support an encouragement from my wife and son. They’ve allowed me the time to train and supported me in my races along the way. Sure, they think I’m a little crazy, but without their support, tomorrow simply wouldn’t be possible. I can never thank them enough or explain what it truly means to me to have them by my side tomorrow and for all they’ve sacrificed for me. And for all the other supporters who have helped me and believed in me along the way, a heartfelt thank you for everything you’ve given me.

It sounds cliche, but this journey and sport really have changed me for the better. Life has a little more color now than it did before. Smells are a little sweeter. And friendships and relationships mean a lot more. This has been an epic journey that I will never forget. And tomorrow will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my days!

But now, it’s time to make my final preparations for the race. Thank you all again for your endless support! Let’s do this!

Thanks for reading!

- Brian

Coeur d’Alene!

As I’m quickly approaching my Ironman race after all these months of training, I’m hoping to update a little bit for the next few days on my preparation and what’s going on.  They’ll be shorter posts, luckily for the reader, but hopefully it will give you some insight into what is going on for me this crazy week.

Well, after a long drive, we made it to Coeur d’Alene Wednesday afternoon. It isn’t at all what I envisioned in my mind. For one, the surrounding area seems very hilly. Also, I was expecting it to be more open, but there are so many trees, you can’t see very far in any direction. Now that may sound like I’m disappointed, but that’s not the case at all. It is absolutely beautiful and I’m not complaining…it’s just different than what I imagined.

We were able to get our trailer set up quickly so I could head out for a short ride to keep the legs loose. Fortunately, the park where we’re staying is right on Highway 95 on the bike course as it heads out of town. One thing I did notice is that there is quite a bit of debris on the shoulder. I hope they get some street sweepers out there before Sunday. As I continued along, I quickly ran into the big hill we have on the course. It’s 1.5 miles long at a 6-7% grade. Not horrible really, but we climb the back side of that around mile 100, so that’ll hurt.

I turned around at the base of the hill as I don’t need to do any big climbing at this point. It was good to see whats coming for Sunday though.

I came back and we had a nice dinner before heading into town for dessert and to walk around. The transition area was already set up and many signs were out warning commuters of delays on race day. The lake is absolutely gorgeous and inviting, until you stick your hand in and feel how cold it is. Still, you couldn’t ask for a much better setting.

On Thursday, we headed out to get checked in for the race.  Apparently I picked the worst time to go as the line was crazy long and I never saw it that long the rest of the day.  Bad timing on my part.  Once I got in the registration tent, it was all smooth though.  And we got these great backpacks too!

Great backpack we all received at check in!

I finished checking in while the wife and son went for a bike ride on the local trails.  That gave me plenty of time to walk around the expo.  High on my list to go to was Altra Zero Drop shoes as I’ll be rocking my Instincts on race day.  I love those shoes and can’t wait to put them through a marathon.

After the expo, I waited at the beach for a while so wifey and son could return from their ride.  I saw a lot of triathletes out there swimming and it made me wish I had brought my wetsuit to the expo to get my swim on…I’ll save that for Friday I guess.  After we all met up again, we went to get some lunch and walk around some more.  The vibe in the town is great and it’s fun to see all the other athletes preparing for the big day.  More to come soon.

Thanks for reading!

- Brian

Race Report – Pelican Fest

Pelican Fest Sprint Tri

Finally! I’ve been anxious to put some of this training to the test and Saturday I was able to do that at the Pelican Fest triathlon in Windsor, CO. I wanted to get in a tune-up race before Ironman Coeur d’Alene that included an open water swim and this was one of the few local options. Not to downplay the race though, because it was well organized and a lot of fun.

Before the race on Friday, the forecast was calling for 20-30 mph winds with 40 mph gusts. I’m not a huge fan of racing in the wind, but at least everyone else racing would’ve been in the same boat. When I woke up Saturday morning and started the drive to Windsor at 4:45 a.m. I was shocked to see fog everywhere. The good part about that is fog equals little or no wind. The fog continued the entire drive so I felt great about the day.

I got to the start and quickly set up my transition area. I was happy to discover that I didn’t forget anything since I hadn’t raced a tri since last September. I was then able to relax and talk with some first-timers to give them some advice and hopefully help them relax. About 45 minutes before race time, I started the half-mile walk to the swim start. Once the pre-race meeting was over, I jumped into the 63 degree water to warm up. As it turned out, I needed it more to get used to the cold temperature. Of course my De Soto T1 First Wave wetsuit kept me warm, but the cold water on my head was shocking. It took me a few minutes to get used to that and get a regular breathing pattern down. Since I was the second wave to start, I actually did a swim warm-up twice.

As the start time approached, I found myself surprisingly relaxed. As the horn went off I began my first tri of the season. The swim was largely uneventful except for getting one big hit in the face early on.  Of course that’s part of open-water swimming so you just have to carry on…even though I wanted to punch back.  After a short swim straight out from shore, we turned left towards a far shore where the finish was.  The buoys were in a half-moon shape along the shore, but what I didn’t really realize is that following the buoys didn’t take you on the shortest route to the swim finish.  So as I stayed too close to the buoys, the best path was to my right so obviously, I swam a little more than I should have.  I corrected the path as best as I could and tried to make up as much time as possible. Once I climbed on shore, I wanted nothing more than to look back and see how many of my wave’s swimmers were still out there, but I didn’t want to waste even a second.

I quickly ran to my bike which was only about 50 feet away so I got there quickly.  After stripping my wet suit, I quickly got the bike gear on and headed out the other direction from the transition area to the bike mount zone.  This was a long haul to the mount zone so I was jogging quite a way down the road with my bike, anxious to climb on the saddle and go.  I hopped on the bike and let it go.  I had to keep in mind that I only had to ride 10 miles so, unlike my recent training rides where I had to hold a power that I could handle for hours,  I needed to let it all out and give it all I had.  The course was in pretty good shape and was slightly uphill for most of the first portion.  I passed quite a few riders early on which got my confidence soaring.  After about 3 miles, another rider pulled up next to me on a hill.  As I sensed him, I thought ‘no way this guy is getting around me’ so I pushed harder and dropped him.  I started to look behind me occasionally and noticed he was still there…a little closer than he probably should’ve been.  It sure seemed to me like he was drafting which just made me push more.  At about 6 miles, this same guy actually got around me.  Of course I let him get the 4 bike lengths ahead but I knew I wasn’t going to let this last.  After about 30 seconds, I’d had enough and pushed again to pass him back…he didn’t make it back around.  I never had my computer showing my speed and only had time, power and heart rate.  I knew I was turning over pretty high power numbers and a high heart rate so I was feeling good about the results I thought I would have on bike.  Once I got to transition, I ran the bike a short distance to my spot and prepared for the run.

The one thing I forgot to do before this first race was to switch my laces on my running shoes so I wouldn’t have to tie them.  I’m a big fan of Xtenex laces and I’ve had several pairs in the past.  Unfortunately, several months ago I recycled all my old running shoes and left the Xtenex laces on them…what was I thinking?  That was a complete lapse of reason on my part, but there was nothing I could do about it at the race.  I realized I would lose a little time having to tie the shoes.  I did that as quickly as I could, but my hands were a little chilled from the ride since it never really warmed up yet.  I took a quick drink and headed out on the run.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my legs felt great!  They seemed to not be suffering at all from the bike.  The course took us about 3/4 of the way around the lake on a concrete path where we would turn around and head back.  I passed a few more people, most of whom were from the wave before mine.  Unfortunately, I had a couple people pass me too…including some from my age group.  I tried to not let them get too far away so I could strategize a way to bring them back.  I actually found myself planning an attack based on what I was seeing in the path, with the small inclines and declines.  We cruised to the turnaround point and headed back, past the transition area and on to the finish (which was near the swim start).  With all my planning for an attack, I tried but wasn’t successful in passing those in front of me.  It seemed like they were matching my pace changes exactly.  I knew I was running hard though so even though I was suffering, I was feeling great mentally.  As I rounded the last corner, I gave one last effort toward the finish line.

As expected (and as it should be) I was destroyed at the end and couldn’t walk straight.  I grabbed my water and started to regain my normal breathing.  I wanted to wait for a while and see the official results so I cheered on the others as they ran in.  Of course, while waiting for the results to be posted, I had to take in the pancakes, fruit and coffee that they had for us.  I noticed the results being posted so I stalked the guy as he walked towards the building.  I saw the results and was 1/3 upset and 2/3 happy.  The bad part was the swim.  My time was around 14 minutes and I was expecting closer to 12 so that was frustrating.  I saw the bike though and I averaged 23.7 mph which made me pretty happy.  Then I saw the run and saw that I averaged a 7:04/mile pace which shocked me…in a great way.  I started to think about it and I was pretty sure that was a 5k PR.

The results put me at 6th place in my age group and I was happy with that.  I was hoping for a higher place but I wasn’t about to complain.  Once I saw the official results later that night, I discovered I had been dropped to 7th in my age group and 37th overall.  Still not too bad.  Of course, I had to check the PR status for the 5k when I got home.  My last PR was 22:54 which I ran in a Turkey Trot 5k in 2011.  My 5k in this tri was 21:48…a 1:06 PR after a swim and a hard bike!  That alone was enough to get me super-charged on my fitness level.

The conclusion to take away from all of this?  I feel good about my readiness for Ironman Coeur d’Alene.  This race showed me that, while I can’t remember a lot of things as I’m getting older, I did remember my transition routine and, other than the shoe laces, was able to get through the race without any major hiccups.  I also found that my fitness is in a great place.  Of course, the fitness for this race is different than what I need for an Ironman, but this race showed some results from all the hard hours, miles and laps I’ve put in over the last several months.  My first A race is quickly approaching so there won’t be another race report until Ironman Coeur d’Alene (and that sort of scares me).

Thanks for reading!

- Brian

Catching Up…Again

I find myself repeating this in my blogs lately…I’ve been too busy to do any posts.  So rather than spare you with all the details and lame excuses, I’ll just right into what’s been going on with my training.  The last month’s worth of training has been going great!  I’ve had some great accomplishments and I’m gaining more confidence that I can do the upcoming Ironman and enjoy it (along with the pain of course).  In my last block, I had some pretty long bricks that were a little tough.  I had some nutrition and hydration problems that keep plaguing me (see nearly all my previous posts with long duration workouts/races).  In an effort to try and put these issues to a rest, I decided I would do a metabolic efficiency test.  Here’s what the test does, in a nutshell…it determines the ratio of carbohydrates and fat stores your body burns as fuel at different levels of effort.  The goal is to figure out at what point (in my case power and heart rate on the bike) your body will burn fat most efficiently and preserve the body’s limited carbohydrate stores and not rely on dietary carbohydrates for energy.  There are several advantages to this including:

1)  Your body has tens of thousands of calories in fat reserves to burn which is what you want in a 12-hour race

2)  Because your body has so many available calories, you don’t have to intake as many calories during the event, which limits potential stomach distress and lowers the energy the body must use to process ingested calories

There are other advantages too, but I’m obviously not a nutritionist so I’ll leave it at that.  In the end, the hope was that I could improve my nutrition to max out my performance at Coeur d’Alene.  So, after my coach’s recommendation, I contacted Dina Griffin (dina@fuel4mance.com) at Fuel4Mance here in Denver.  We set up a test which is done at a great local tri shop, Kompetitive Edge. We set up the bike on a CompuTrainer in a room just off from the main part of the shop.  We had a few technical difficulties that Dina was able to address and fix pretty quick…and then the fun was to begin.

I’ve never done a test like this before and certainly have never had to exert any effort breathing into a breathing tube (if that’s even what it’s called).  Dina was certainly correct when she warned me that the head piece and breathing tube would be a little uncomfortable.  If the head piece wasn’t plastic, you’d think you were putting on some dark-ages torture device.  Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a unique device for me.  The mouth piece also holds your mouth open and with a pinched nose, your mouth quickly dries out more than you could imagine.  All the while, saliva is dripping in what seems like gallons, into a catch bottle (which I quickly overflowed).

I actually singed up for this? I’m glad I did!

I had to fast for 12 hours before the test which was a challenge.  If you ask my wife, you’ll know what my calorie intake has been during these big training blocks.  Not eating anything for 12 hours had me concerned, but it ended up not being as bad as I anticipated.  The test was based on my power output while on the bike.  We started at a pretty easy effort level and Dina increased the power 20 Watts every 3 minutes.  With my exhalations, the machine is able to determine the calories burned from fat vs. those burned from carbohydrates.  As we increased the effort and power levels, Dina could see the crossover point at which I began to burn equal fat vs carbohydrates.  Above this level, my body would need more carbohydrates than fat to maintain the effort.  I honestly don’t recall exactly how long the test lasted, but I’m sure it wasn’t as long as it felt.  Really, the hardest part was the dryness of the mouth.  I was so anxious to take of the breathing tube and get a drink of water.  Dina, with my approval of course, pushed the test a little further beyond that crossover point so we could get more data which is almost always a good thing.

Once the test was finished, Dina had the unfortunate task of cleaning up that breathing tube…I wasn’t gentle on that and I commend her for taking on that task.  Then she needed a little bit of time to crunch the data so we could discuss my specific situation and work up a plan.  This wasn’t a problem at all, because it gave me a chance walk around Kompetitive Edge and shop (yes, I said I enjoyed shopping, but only because it’s tri stuff).

Once the numbers were done, Dina called me to a conference room to break it down for me.  She fairly quickly told me that I was already in a pretty good spot in regards to my body’s efficiency at burning fat stores.  Dina explained to me where the crossover point occurred and encouraged me that it was a good place for me to be already.  That alone was a huge confidence boost for me, especially since I’d been having some less than ideal training sessions.  One of the main reasons, she said, for my fat burning efficiency, is due to my daily nutrition.  I try to limit carbohydrates from foods like pasta and breads and replace those carbs with fruits and vegetables.  Dina explained how important this was especially on easier workout days.  After discussing the results for quite a while, it was time to go and for Dina to work on getting me even more detailed results and a nutrition plan.

As the following week moved along, I was getting excited to put the nutrition plan in place for the week’s long workout.  Dina had already given me some tips on my daily nutrition, such as increasing my protein intake and trying to spread that evenly throughout the day.  I had already seen how that had helped me early on in the week.  On Thursday, Dina sent me an email with a very detailed nutrition plan for the evening before the long workout as well as a plan for the morning of and during the workout.  I knew there were going to be less calories than what I was accustomed to, but I was still a little shocked.  I won’t go through all the details of the plan here, but I’ll summarize the plan during the workout, which was planned as a 4:30 bike followed by a 1:30 run.

Bike:

• One water bottle with two scoops of First Endurance EFS Drink, with 3/4 scoop of First Endurance PreRace and 1/4 tsp salt.  I was to start drinking this after 30 minutes on the bike and finish about 1/4 of the bottle each hour.
• One water bottle with two packets of Gen-Ucan, with 3/4 scoop of First Endurance PreRace and 1/4 tsp salt.  I was to drink 1/3 of this at 1:00, 2:45 and 3:45 into the bike.
• 2.5 oz (half a bottle) of First Endurance LiquiShot.  I had half of that at 1:45 and the other half at 2:45.
• 1 Bonk Breaker bar.  I had half of that at 1:45 and half at 3:45.
• Water…just have plenty of water to drink as I was thirsty.

Run:

• One small bottle of 1.25 oz of First Endurance LiquiShot mixed with 1 scoop of First Endurance EFS Drink.
• One small bottle of water.

That was all I had on the plan.  It equalled about 900 calories (I’d burn about 5000 during the workout) to be consumed, which was about 1/3 the amount I had the previous weeks.  I gave it a shot of course and was completely shocked with the results.  I finished the bike and had plenty of energy for the run.  And even after the run was over, I still felt like I had energy to continue if I had needed to.  This completely shocked me but at the same time, it was a huge boost for me and my confidence.  I also had no stomach issues at all since I had hardly consumed any calories for my stomach to work through.  The plan was amazing!

I’ve since used that plan a couple more times and I swear by it now.  I now have a nutrition plan that I can use for Ironman Coeur d’Alene that I think will get me through the race in better shape than I ever thought possible.  If you’re interested in the testing and nutrition, I encourage you to contact Dina.  She was a blast to work with and obviously, the methodologies they use at Fuel4Mance work!

Thanks for reading!

- Brian

Distracted and Unable

I realize that it’s been a while since I posted a blog and I’m glad I can get an update back out here. For those of you that know me personally, you’re aware that first quarter of every year is an extremely busy time at work. This year was no exception to thy rule and do I found myself pretty much working and sleeping for a few weeks. there was one week that I only got in one 30-minute run. Not ideal at all, but Coach has assured me that the fitness is there and not to worry.

Then, just as things start to ease up at work (a little anyway…it’s all relative) I get my annual allergy/cold/who knows what that kicks my butt every single year the first part of April. It’s so predictable, I almost wonder if it’s mental now…no, the throbbing headaches and sinuses packed tighter than a clown car tell me different. So thy has stopped a few workouts; some of them in the middle of the training. That includes the 30-minute time trial run last Sunday where I could barely hold 7:45 minute pace, all out, with my HR sky-rocketing. I completed 10 minutes of that one and had to stop for fear of passing out (when I’m under the weather like this I’m constantly light-headed). So, it’s been a rough few weeks in many ways. Even as I write this, I haven’t completely recovered from the allergy deal, but it need to go away quickly…an Ironman race approaches.

Enough with that! This last week has been another ramp up in my workouts. Here’s a brief look at what I did.

Monday: Masters swim class was odd today. I felt horrible all morning and wasn’t even sure if I should go to class. Fearing the ridicule of my swim coach, i decided to go anyway, but warn her that it would not be my best performance since I could barely breathe and had occasionally coughing spells that don’t typically have favorable results under water. she reassured me that it would be a relatively easy class and we were going to work on breathing.

You see, I’ve plateaued in my swim progress and she’s trying to get me past that. One of the things she was concerned with is that I take breaths too often. That never really seemed like an issue to me; after all, I like breathing. She speculated though that I was on the edge of hyperventilating and that was causing me to not be able to hold pace for longer intervals. So, we did a number of 25 yard sprints, with fins on, but could only take 2, 1 or no breaths…she would let us know before each one.

Tuesday: I had a hilly bike ride on tap for the day. Given the fact that I was still under the weather, I chose to ride this on the trainer. I usually prefer being light headed when I’m dodging 4000 pond vehicles for my share of the road (and I take up very little space). It was a good decision in the end. I was doing 10 minutes of simulated climbing on the trainer followed by 5 minutes of “downhill.” after the third one though, I started coughing and felt dizzy so I stopped. I should’ve done one more round but it just wasn’t worth it.

Wednesday: Masters swim was relatively in eventful. I found it much more difficult to breathe though as I think some of the congestion had settled into my lungs and my nose was completely plugged. I still had an okay swim though.

Thursday: Well, I was supposed to ride the bike again but work consumed too much time so I never got out there.

Friday: I thought I’d celebrate lunch by doing a 5 hour brick! I started off with a 4 hour ride. I decided I’d head out West and explore some different routes to mix it up a bit. I knew it would result in more climbing than race conditions, but that was just fine with me. All was well, except for some wind, until just after the 2:30 point on the ride. I started to get that bonking feeling…which is never good. One of those where going downhill seems to require too much energy. I passed a couple of freasy burger joints along the way and was very tempted to grab something, but i never gave in. I powered through, though at a slower pace, and still got a good ride in for the day.

By the time I got home for a transition, I needed to take a few extra minutes to eat an Espresso Chip Bonk Breaker bar. these things are so good they shouldn’t be allowed to be called an energy bar. After a longer than normal “transition”I hit te pavement for an hour run. I had a little more energy but overall still felt a little depleted. That was a rough one, but it was done and I felt pretty good for pushing through when I easily could’ve quit.

Saturday: We had family coming into town Saturday afternoon do I chose to do my weekend long run in the morning. I was scheduled to run 2:15 in heart rate zone 1 so pretty relaxed pace. The legs were most certainly tired from Friday’s effort but I actually felt pretty good. I chose to run the dirt path along the Cherry Creek trail and it was a nice change of pace. Plus, the bugs are out in full force so I didn’t have to drag any heavy protein bars around.

I also found one section of the trail that doesn’t have an out. As I was turning around to backtrack to an exit, I felt a sharp pain in my toe. Assuming I stepped on a rusty nail, I looked down at my shoe to see it had been impaled by a 2″ long thorn from a Russian olive tree branch that had fallen. I pulled it out of the shoe and thought “I better cruise home and check out the damage there.” expecting to see some blood on my socks at home, I was shocked to see no blood at all. The thorn fortunately slid right between my toes with no major damage. That was lucky!