One foot in front of the other.
Wouter Weylandt dies in the Giro d’Italia
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Geoffrey Mutai wants his world record
Haile Gebrselassie weighs in on the marathon world record (sort of)
2011 Boston Marathon is not Kara Goucher’s day
Ironman Louisville gets five more years
2011 Ironman World Championship Lottery Results
A closer look at “balance” bracelets, necklaces and the like
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Kim Smith, native New Zealander who calls Providenc Rhode Island, ran an amazing race for the first 17 miles or so of the 2011 Boston Marathon this past Monday. Then tragedy struck. The video below is an interview with her soon after having to pull out of the race, unable to run.
@RunProvidence tweeted this on her behalf:
From Kim Smith “Since everyone has sent so many nice messages I thought I would update. Had an MRI and I tore my Soleus muscle.”
IronBrandon reader/listener Chris ran the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 10, 2011. He sent over this email and the awesome pictures below it. (I’m SUPER jealous of his medal/Newton pics!)
Hi Brandon
Just wanted to drop you a quick note and let you know, after hearing about Newtons on your show, I purchased my first pair at the MCM expo in Oct ‘10. I ran the Disney marathon in my Newtons over the weekend and it felt great. I’ve had issues in the past with losing toe-nails and other knee pains – but not this time. I had a number of runners ask me how I liked my Newton’s and I gave them my experience and reasons for switching. I also had a TSA agent come up to me and ask me “what are those??” when I put them in the tray to go through x-ray. He said he was a boater and they looked like great deck shoes! And on the way to the airport, we stopped at a convenience store. These two teenagers came up to me and said “hey man, cool kicks”. That is something I don’t often hear.
I have included a few images from Sunday’s run.
Enjoy//Chris
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We’ve arrived at that time of year (Ok, I’ve arrived at that time of year). The major marathons are over, triathlon season is hanging on to the last vestiges of warmth in the Northern Hemisphere and many of us are still digging our way out of a Thanksgiving and football induced coma. We have arrived at “The Off Season”.
As I look back at the past few months, since the remnants of the previous off season gave way to flowers and warmth, and I begin to lay out the next few months of my schedule, I’m actually quite surprised at how much “on season” stuff I’ll be doing. If you read or heard my race report from the 2010 Philadelphia Marathon or the comments that followed, you may have noticed that I really didn’t race that much this year and now that I’m not in über hard core training, I actually find myself wanting to race more.
2010 began well enough with a new half marathon PR in the Manhattan Half Marathon (part of the New York Road Runners half marathon series). That race marked a few firsts; the first time I had someone pacing me (thanks @RunningLam!), the first time I felt like I really “raced” a race of that distance no matter how humble my actual time was and also the first time I went into a race with a very distinct plan and was able to stick to it. I found that this race also got me moving in a solidly good direction in terms of my running. In fact, less than a month after this race I broke my PR time of 1:35:20 quite easily by over two minutes…during a workout!
The next race up was Ironman 70.3 Mooseman in June. Seeing as I had not been in an actual race since June, I was already falling into a pattern of training and not racing. Mooseman went quite well all thing considered such as the torrential downpour, hills that I was not quite expecting and the mud pit that was transition. Little side note, I set a new half marathon PR of 1:35:08 which should tell you something about the direction of my fitness since that was after a 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile, HILLY bike ride.
Next up was the New York City Triathlon in the middle of July. It was a reasonably good race though I managed to swallow about half the Hudson River during the swim only to almost puke it up on the bike. Going into this race I had the goal of getting my elite time (2:15) and I did get that time…by 15 seconds. I’ll take it but I know that I can do better and while I’m not scheduled to race the NYC Tri this summer, I will be back and I will kill it.
By this point in the year I had only done three races and was training far to hard. Now, I don’t want this to appear as though I was being told to train as hard as I was. In fact, coach Jeff was constantly telling me to reign it in on my workouts and I and my ego didn’t want to listen. Yes, I was going faster and farther but I was in the process of peaking far too early. About a month before my biggest race of the year, Ironman Louisville, my body shut down and refused to go. For about a week I simply could not put together any solid workouts at all. During this time and in the rest of the lead up to Louisville, coach Jeff deserves a massive amount of credit from bringing me back from what could have easily been the end of my season right there.
If you’re not already aware, my Ironman Louisville ended in a medical DNF. This was due to still unexplained cramping throughout my whole body. Shortly after IML, I resolved to get back and do something and so I signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon and shortly following that, I went to the Chicago Marathon with Newton Running (GREATEST RUNNING COMPANY/SHOES EVER) and while there had the opportunity to pace my brother-in-law in his first ever marathon. The run was amazing and I had a blast but I wouldn’t exactly call it a race.
Last weekend when the Philadelphia Marathon rolled around and I wound up in the porta-jon at mile 11, my race quickly switched from the full marathon to the half. This led to countless conversations since then about WHY. The answer that seems to be coming around was racing. See, in 2009 I raced in 15 different events and this year (2010) only 6.
Maybe I’m wrong about why Philly went bad and maybe it’s something that we’re all missing. I also have to give a big, unsolicited shout to Newton Running and to Jeff for keeping me injury free for so long (knock on wood)!
For now I’m going to race more. I’m going to have fun and I’m going to just enjoy the “off season” and really, REALLY use it to build strength. Hopefully when I come out on the other side of this period of the year it won’t feel like an off season at all but will have me itching to swim, bike and run FAST. Meanwhile, I’ll also be doing the stuff that winter allows for; skiing, hiking, camping, cross country and introducing my 8 month old daughter to the amazing world we live in.
How does your off season look so far?
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Disclaimer: This post, while not too gross, will be WAY more than I ever wanted to share. Here’s to painful honesty!
For me, the 2010 Philadelphia Marathon was something of a redemptive race. I ran the race last year and after stopping to pee at the halfway mark had a vasovagal episode which found me puking up all of my nutrition and messing up the rest of my race. It was also an important race since it would be my first race since my medical DNF at Ironman Louisville in August. I did run the Chicago Marathon this year on 10/10, but that race was run with me as pacer for my brother-in-law so while I had a blast and a great run, it wasn’t “my” race. So, Philly 2010 was important to me.
@RunningLam and I would be driving down together since he would be going to Philly for his second consecutive shot at the half marathon. The way the races are set up is that the racers for both event start and run the first 13 or so miles together and then the half marathoners split off to the finish line while the marathoners keep going [COURSE MAP]. We drove down on Saturday morning and got into town just in time to meet up with several online friends for a great lunch at the Marathon Grill. Special thanks to @EricaSara for organizing everything.
After lunch Lam and I headed to our hotel to check in and then made our way to the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the expo. Check in was very easy and quick with plenty of volunteers and staffers helping guide racers to the correct place. The expo itself was not so great. I think the problem is that Philly is kind of a second (or so) tier marathon and is after all of the big races. It also happened that it took place on the same weekend as The Running Event in Austin, Texas and Ironman Arizona so I’m sure a lot of exhibitors may have chosen those larger events over this one. We probably spent about an hour total at the expo and decided to head back to the hotel to rest for a bit before going to grab dinner.
I think now would be as good a time as any to address food. For my races, especially for dinner the night before a race, I tend to call Coach Jeff to ask what is best for me to eat. For lunch on Saturday I had a nice blend of protein and carbs in the form of a very well made burger for lunch and for dinner I had a grilled chicken salad with a side of rice. I was feeling absolutely fine and was hydrating well. When I was about to go to bed I remembered that I had not (get ready for the over-share) used the bathroom that day…let’s just say #2 (blush). I didn’t think anything of it and just figured I would go in the morning.
I slept well and woke up as usual before any race, with plenty of time to wake up in the shower. Before getting in the shower however, I tried to do what I had not had to do the night before. Still a no go. Still feeling fine and not worried about it, I showered and finished the rest of my race morning rituals. I had a whole grain English muffin with sunflower butter and jelly and water.
Since we were literally 2 minutes from the starting area we didn’t have to brave to cold too much beforehand. As we got to the corrals Lam and I wished each other luck and parted ways. I got into my corral and was right with the 3:20 pace group. The wheelchair racers went off first shortly followed by the elite field. When it was my turn there was surprising little traffic. Yes, there were still a lot of people but I think since I was much farther up in the corrals than last year there was a much more down-to-business approach with the faster group and people seemed to hold their lines much better.
I was feeling great and pleasantly surprised at the good pacing being done by the pacer (last year’s 3:30 pacer was running 7:15/mile at about mile 14). I actually had to reign myself in a couple times to keep from going too far off the front. The temperature, which was a cool 38° F at the start had come up a couple of degrees and felt fantastic. I was having a wonderful time and running well.
At about mile 5 I started to feel like I had eaten a huge bowl of gnocchi and got a little uncomfortable. I pushed this feeling out of my mind and focused on the fact that I was otherwise feeling great and running well. As the miles wore on this feeling did not go away and began to become increasingly uncomfortable. Miles 6-10 (approx.) are hilly, both up and down and are deceptively so when looking at the course map and elevation. The last, longer hill just before the 10 mile marker put the hurt on a lot of people and agitated my stomach big time. I quickly realized that it was important that I get to a bathroom SOON.
I stopped at a bank of porta-jons somewhere near mile 11. I felt awful. That’s all I have to say about that.
Upon leaving the restroom I quickly realized that I had to make a decision. I could finish with the half marathon group or I could stop at porta-jons for the next 15 miles. My stomach quickly told me which option to choose and I laid down 2 very fast miles (about 6:15′s) to the finish line of the half. I kept running past the finish and directly to the restrooms…again.
I’m not quite sure yet how I feel about this race. Part of me thinks that I should just call it a solid half marathon and leave it at that. Another part of me says, “Yeah, but you signed up for the marathon.”. I will say this though, at least I can kind of put my finger on what went wrong and why. Moving forward, I’m going to aim to race more. This past year I haven’t raced much. I have trained a LOT, but I have neglected the short, local races that allow athletes to get into the often hazardous and elating head-space of racing.
The race as an event is a really great production. While it is a smaller race, the energy and the way that the city of Philadelphia rolls out the red carpet is really heartfelt and wonderful. The temperature the past two years has been optimal for running a marathon. I’m not sure that I’ll do this race again any time soon simply because of the bad experiences that I’ve had, but those experiences were mine alone and should in no way reflect on this race. I had a great time and after getting of two days worth of food sitting in my stomach I felt like a millions bucks, bruised ego aside.
Natural Running: The Simple Path to Stronger, Healthier Running (By Danny Abshire with Brian Metzler)
London 2012 Olympics runs into Ramadan
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By Erin Cockrill
Sometimes you have to go back to the very beginning. For me that meant going back to my first race, the very one where I learned the rush of the finishing chute and the novelty of earning my very first medal. Long Beach International City Bank Marathon and Half-Marathon is where it all began for me.
The pre-race information has been great on all levels starting with confirmation of my entry to training opportunities to right up to race week with final instructions. We always opt to stay in Long Beach the night before the race, partly for tradition, partly for convenience. There are a plethora of hotel options near the race start, but we booked at least 6 months in advance, and even then the race weekend discounted rates had been sold out. Luckily my awesome husband has plenty of points so we avoided that cost. We got down to Long Beach around 4pm the afternoon before the race- the expo starts on Friday and runs all day Saturday through 6pm. Part of the pre-race information from the organizers, RUN Racing, included emails with our bib numbers so we didn’t have to stand at that table searching endlessly for our bib numbers in order to go to the correct table. We grabbed our bibs, complete with our D-tag timing chips and headed over to T-Shirt pick up. The shirts this year are probably one of the best tech shirts I have ever received. V-neck for the women, crewneck for the men, it actually fits well and is a good material that wicks well. Plus number 1. Next stop was to pick up our swag bag. Reusable, drawstring. Plus number 2. Oh, and this whole process was completely well organized with friendly staff.
Now, of course you can’t get out of there without walking through the entire expo, which in comparison to Maui, was completely geared towards runners and athletes. Upcoming races, charity training programs and of course plenty of Gu to be had at almost every booth. We grabbed some Gu’s and were on our way- we didn’t need anything else so it was time to grab a beer and some food and relax. I allow myself to have at least one glass of wine or a beer, because I find it relaxes me.
Originally, I had started on a training plan to set a new PR, but as it tends to go, I was sick for a few key weeks of training and so I had to put those goals aside. So this was a race where I was going to give it my best and just see what happened. Maybe it would give me the desired result, maybe not, but either way, this is a fun race. Race morning we woke up at the very decent time of 5:45am. This race has a wave start, and our wave was scheduled for 7am, however I knew from prior experience that I needed to be walking to the starting line by 6:30- it takes a while to walk there, even staying across the street. The walk over was definitely not lonely as there were masses of runners in all sorts of gear walking along side of us. We made it with 10 minutes to go and made our way as close as we could to our wave starting group.
The gun went off and we were on our way. It took us 4 minutes to get to the first mat. Not surprising at all given the field size. This is an out and back course with both Marathoners and Half- Marathoners starting at the same place at the same time. We didn’t have time for a quick bathroom break before the race started as the lines were typically long at the starting ling, so we made the decision to run until the first station, which happened to be at mile 2. That is the one downside of being well hydrated I suppose. I have found that as a long distance athlete it takes me a while to get up to full speed, which I think in this case, hurt me in the end. But, moving on we finally got up to a pretty good pace and were holding steady through the majority of the race. The miles flew by and then we were running on the beach path, one of my favorite parts of the race. My husband didn’t like that part of the race because he felt that there were too many people trying to occupy a small area, but really if you are good about picking your line, much like skiing moguls, you can get to where you need to go. Personally at that point in the race, I don’t mind the close proximity of people- it makes it less lonely.
All along the course water stations were well stocked with PowerAde (made correctly this time), water and all along the course were oranges and bananas. Still no pretzels. Not sure when that became passe and luckily I didn’t need it as the weather was cloudy and cool- perfect for running, but still it has been a staple at most races in my short athletic career to this point. Gel was located at the mile 10 station.
Mile 10 and the dreaded Wall. This is where I started having some problems. My left hip cramped up and I immediately cursed the fact that I had missed some key long runs to push through that pain and ready my body for the effort. I kept pushing even though it hurt. Normally at this point in the race I might not have taken a walk break, but I needed it this time. One last Gu with caffeine and I got a short burst, but the last miles of this one were tough. Not because the course was tough, but because I was hurting. Mile 11 or so and the Marathoners split from the Half Marathoners- one guy almost missed his turn off- I had to laugh because there were race officials everywhere yelling out directions and he was so zoned out he wasn’t paying attention at all.
The chute was beckoning and the crowds were getting thicker. Usually, the adrenaline starts to kick in and my heart starts racing. That didn’t happen this time. Just put one foot in front of the other and you will make it- you are almost there. I passed a woman who was collapsed about 3/4 of a mile from the finish- she was in pain and there were people yelling at her to get up and finish- I didn’t look back to see what happened, but I hope she got up. Finally, I was across the line with a leap of joy. We have good days and bad days in racing- clearly this wasn’t a good day. But in the end, I still finished with a time that clearly wasn’t my best, but also wasn’t my worst, so I guess I should be happy about that.
At the finishing line I was greeted with my hardware, but no mylar blanket. I saw them on others, so I knew they existed, but we hadn’t gotten far enough down the line I guess yet. Because of the cloud cover, it was chilly, so when we finally got our blankets, it was a good thing. We stopped to get a quick picture- they had two photographers and the line was moving quickly. It was a good place to get a photo and it kept the athletes moving through the finishers chute. Then we wrapped around and got a bag with a banana, an apple, trail mix and a bar. The next set of tables had recovery- in the form of ice cold chocolate milk. It was pure heaven. Good touch LBC. After that, we made a beeline to the beer tent. Naturally. Sponsored by Michelob Ultra, every racer received a free beer. I do love my post- race beer. Additional giveaways included a box of food from Bubba Gump. We did not partake because we were going to enjoy waffles and fried chicken from Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles- but that is a totally different review. Also in the expo area were a smattering of merchandise booths, the requisite massage tent and some charity tents, which we passed by because really once you have been through one, you have been through them all unless you are looking for something specific.
Getting back to the hotel was a little bit of a challenge that could be remedied by some signage, but we eventually found our way and got back to our hotel. One of very few issues with this race, so really I will let them off the hook for this one. All in all, this is a well oiled machine and they treat the athletes well. This is a great race, whether you are going for a PR, to qualify for Boston, or just finish a Full or Half Marathon.
Stay tuned for a review of Surf City Half Marathon in February and hopefully a better day at the races for this athlete. Training begins for Desert Tri and subsequently Wildflower Long Course- reviews and training reports will be forthcoming.
By Erin Cockrill
After a bit of a hiatus, a little training and a wedding, we were off to the sunny shores of Maui for our Honeymoon. Oh yeah, and to run in the Maui Half Marathon while we were there. I know, I know, who does that on their honeymoon? Well, I guess we do. It was at the end of our trip and honestly just the thing to get us moving again.
We headed up the coast from Wailea to Kapalua Friday before the race and we realized that we were going to drive right past the host hotel where packet pick up was. As luck would have it packet pick up and the race expo were just opening up so we hit it correctly. We walked into the expo if you can even call it that, and made a beeline for the packet pickup. Or should I say number pick up. They gave us our race numbers and I asked if our timing chips were in the bag and they replied “We don’t have chip times for this event.” Woa, what? Ok – since I wasn’t really serious about my time, I wasn’t all that concerned, but it did seem odd for a Marathon/Half Marathon race.
After that revelation, we walked back into the expo, expecting to find the usual sporting good suppliers hawking their supplies and wares- we actually needed some pre-race nutrition (a Cliff Bar, Power Bar, something?) and were very disappointed. What we did find were gift vendors selling Hawaiian souvenirs and crap for people to take home with them. When we did find the one booth that actually had sports gear, their selection was abysmal and they actually looked at us like we had horns growing out of our foreheads when we asked if they knew where we could find some FRS. What? never heard of it? We were in utter disbelief. So we left to have a cocktail. Like I said folks, this was not a serious race for us. Race morning and we were up at oh my god it is early o’clock because the race started at 5:30am. I understand completely now, but at the time we were sort of in shock.
We rolled up to the starting area and all of the other Half-ers were jogging around, stretching and getting ready for the start. There was not a huge field size, so it was easy for us to take our place at the very start of the race- personally for me to start on the actual starting line was a novelty indeed. But I digress. The race was started with a fire dancer, which in the pre-dawn hour was cool, but seriously unless you were right there, you couldn’t see him. I should add, that the full Marathon racers were bussed to the airport for a point to point race, versus our out and back course.
Finally, we were off- and within the first mile both Bobby and I were drenched in sweat and the sun hadn’t even started to come out. Now I understand the reasoning behind the 5:30am start. I felt heavy because of the humidity and a week’s worth of good food and pina coladas, but our pace was consistent and we were making good time. The course was unremarkable at best- I think the highlight was running down Front Street in Lahaina. The water stations were consistent and plentiful, and they had cold sponges to cool ourselves with and trust me we took them at every chance we got. While the water stations were plentiful, their gatorade preparation was severely lacking. One station had dumped the concentrate into the cups without diluting it. Yum. At the turn we were looking for some pretzels and instead we found oranges and potato slices. What? Potato slices? Who ever heard of such a thing? But apparently they are a good source of potassium. Not sure what happened to bananas. At mile 10 we asked for a gu or a shot blok or something of that nature, because we stupidly thought that there would be such items on the course. Um, no. But someone happened to have some extra shot bloks so we were saved. Yes, a total rookie mistake on our part for not having our own gu, but I really believe that I read that there was going to be something of that nature along the way, which is why we didn’t bring any. We finished by 7:30am and were greeted at the finish line with water and dried pineapple dipped in chocolate- oh that was probably the best part of the whole race. It was simply divine. Other than that the medals were kind of low budget and the t-shirts, while tech shirts were not spectacular. All in all, it was fun to say we did this on our honeymoon for kicks. Would we ever do it again? Not a chance. But if you are looking for a relatively flat course and an excuse to go to Maui, then sure go ahead and justify it. Just bring your own gu, water, sports drink… you get the picture. For this racer, I will be sticking to running only to the bar for a pina colada when I am in Maui from now on.
Next Up a race report from Long Beach Half Marathon, and a study in contrast.
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Continued from: 2010 Ironman Louisville: Race Report Part 2 – Race Day
From the second I entered the water (and when I say the second, I mean right at that instant, not before and not after I began to swim) I got a cramp in an intercostal muscle on my right side just below my pectoral. I took a second and took a few long-ish strokes to stretch out that area. As soon as that cramp subsided, I felt my right quadriceps get a bit tight. From this point forward, I was dealing with some form of a cramp.
The swim itself began ok. I felt that the downstream current which had not been that noticeably present the day before at the practice swim, was about the same. I had worried a bit about this because the area in between Towhead Island and the shore could have caused the usually lazing current into something much more significant. There was quite a bit of people traffic to deal with, though it spread out fairly quickly and after the first half mile or so, I only occasionally came upon another racer.
Once I got to the turn-around point of the swim, which was about 1/3 of the way through, the course headed back downstream. The current did pretty much nothing for me (or anyone else that I noticed) in terms of speed. It was at this point however, that my cramping from earlier began to become a bit more regular. I was able to stave off the quadriceps cramp mainly by straightening my leg as needed. When I got to about the 300 meter to go point, my entire right leg seized. From gluteus, to toes was one big cramp. I compensated by using my left leg a bit more and by putting on the steam with my arms.
Since my right leg was essentially acting as a drag anchor, and due to the fact that my left leg was being worked a bit more, eventually, my left foot cramped up. As I approached the swim exit, I was truly unsure how I was going to get out of the water. As I came to the first volunteer on the steps, I said, “Both my legs are cramped and I can’t walk.” She and another person assisted me out of the river and onto the steps. Fortunately, once I began moving my legs let go enough for me to jog/run into transition.
Once inside the changing tent and with everything else on, I sat down on a chair to put on my shoes. As I did this, BOTH my hip flexors cramped. I immediately sat stark upright in order to stop the cramping. It took a couple of tries, but I did eventually get my shoes on, and headed out the door.
About my mental state at this point; To say I was panicked would be incorrect. I was concerned and knew that something was going on with my body that I had not expected. Unlike Ironman Wisconsin in 2009 when I had simply made MASSIVE nutrition errors, this time I was completely lucid and thinking clearly. I knew that something must be off with my electrolytes and in turn, my hydration. So, my plan was to take in my first hours worth on my Infinit blend in the first thirty minutes. At the same time, I would be taking two bottles from each aid station; at the first station, 2 waters, at the second 1 water, 1 Ironman Perform. I would alternate that pattern as long as I could in an effort to get as many fluids absorbed as I could.
I picked up my bike, ran to the mount line and got on. My very first pedal stroke was met with a quad cramp. To be completely honest, I cannot remember as much of the bike as I would like to because all I could focus on was getting rid of my cramps.
The bike course, is a good one but hard. After the first few miles, the challenges of constant rollers came often. Scattered among the rollers were many hills that were pretty significant and caused the heart rate to rise. The aid stations that I saw were all well manned and had plenty of everything I needed. I did hear later that several of the stations began to run low on water, even to the point of running out, but I didn’t experience this.
My goal for the bike was to maintain a speed of between 22 and 22.5 mph. This did not happen. For the first two bike splits, I held an average speed of barely under 21 mph. Every time I would ask more of my legs, they would cramp. My heart and lungs were feeling fine and were really itching to do some harder racing, but my legs simply would not let them. At about mile 70 of the bike, I began running over scenarios in my head of how to deal with the unrelenting cramps. At this point some part of my body was cramping at all times. Among the places that cramped were:
I’m fairly certain I even remember my eyelid doing a weird flutter/cramp thing at some point.
By the last twenty miles, I was a cramp. I mean that; I WAS a cramp. My energy was being sent fighting against my own body. My speed had dipped drastically to around 17 mph. Also at this time, the heat of the day was beginning to truly set in. The high temperature for the day turned out to be 96° F with 60% humidity. I wish I could blame the heat for what was going on with my body, but I cannot. I’m sure it didn’t help, but it was not the cause of my problems. I fought through the last stretch and after what seemed like forever, I made it to transition.
As soon as I dismounted and handed my bike off, I saw Trevor (@indianabackdoc). He and Kristine (@KGIRLTRIS) had volunteered to catch bikes from racers at the entrance of the second transition. Trevor recalls our conversation like this:
“Brandon, you gotta go man.”
“Dude, I am done.”
“What?!?! No way man. You are doing this!”
” I have cramped since I jumped into the water.”
“Really?!”
“Yeah, I think it’s over.”
“No it’s not, suck it up buttercup. Get your ass moving and finish the race. It’s gametime man, nut up or shutup. It’s go time.”
I hobbled my way into transition and to the changing tent. I found a chair in the tent and sat down. As soon as I did, everything below my waist locked up. I took several deep breaths and tried stretching my legs as much as I could. My legs eventually went from being seized to just cramping constantly (I still don’t know how to accurately define this, but the two are different). A volunteer came over and asked me what he could do to help me get changed. I asked him if he had a phone I could borrow, and he was so kind to bring me his.
I called Danielle is pieces and asked her to have Jeff call me back at that number. Jeff promptly called me. We went over and over and over again what was going on and it made no sense. Had the cramps begun somewhere on the bike or even after pushing hard on the swim it would make sense, but this did not. I was an absolute mess emotionally and mentally. None of what was going on made one ounce of sense. After much discussion and agonizing thought, Jeff advised to pull out. His main concern was that since these cramps were not exercise induced that if I continued, I could wind up in a serious medical emergency. In speaking with Laminator after the fact, he explained that out of control and persistent cramping like that can eventually spread to your diaphragm and then you have a medical emergency for real.
I asked the volunteer with the phone if he could help me to the medical tent as walking wasn’t something I was very good at at that point. He helped me to the tent, reminding me that just because I was going to medical did not mean that my day was over. I was given a cot to lay on and my legs were rubbed out. I was also given ice (truthfully I was not that hot because I was unable to exert myself as hard as I wanted to) and a cold bottle of Ironman Perform. Jeff had told me to get and IV of fluids, but apparently if you do that, they are required to pull you out of the race on the spot, so being hard headed and stubborn and hoping that I would still be able to get up and move, I stuck with ice and drinks.
The medical staff was amazing in asking if I was ok every couple of minutes. I lay there allowing my legs to cramp over and over. To give you an idea what it looked like, imagine being able to see hundreds of bugs crawling under the surface of your skin; that’s what I was seeing. It flt like each and ever muscle fiber was firing off at random non-stop.
As I lay there, many more people in the same shape as I was and worse were being brought into the tent. I eventually gave up my cot for a chair as there were many who needed it more than I did at that point. Sitting there, I began to take a hard mental and emotional look at the events. I will admit that I was at first extremely ashamed and embarrassed. However, that eventually gave way to acceptance and disappointment; not disappointment in myself, but for those (including me) that had given so much to see me have a good race that day.
After a while Trevor, who had been on the phone with Jeff off and on since he saw me come in, came over to the medical tent. We sat and discussed everything and I made the call. I hended Trevor my chip and he turned it in for me. My day was over. My first ever DNF.
To be continued…
Ironman Louisville Race Report Part 1
Ironman Louisville Race Report Part 2
Part 3 coming soon!
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Continued from: 2010 Ironman Louisville: Race Report Part 1 – Before the race
On race day, August 29, 2010, I woke up at 3 o’clock AM. The reason I got up so early was too afford myself the time to follow my usual, daily routine. I know it may seem silly to some, but for me having the time to wake up, eat breakfast, shower and basically just give myself the time to get in gear is imperative.Also, since the transition area opened at 5:30 AM, I wanted plenty of time to get there, park and get to my bike.
I arrived at the transition area at about 5:10 AM. Already there was a huge mass of people waiting to be let in to transition in order to make final adjustments and nutritional additions to their bikes and transition bags. In my past experience, people are always early for these types of pre-race tasks, but due to the nature of the swim start, it was especially important in this race. You see, the swim start for Ironman Louisville is a time trial start. The reason for this is that the swim was taking place in the Ohio River, and the first third of the swim led athletes upstream in between Towhead Island and the shore. Therefore, there was not nearly enough room for the traditional Ironman mass start.
As it turned out, we were allowed into transition a few minutes early. I headed straight to my bike to fill my Speedfil (filled with 3 hours worth of my custom blend from Infinit Nutrition) and to top off my tires. I had done pretty much everything I needed to the day before, so I was all prepared and headed with the a boat-load of other people on the 3/4 mile walk to the swim start. As I walked, there were people literally hauling ass by me to get a decent place in the line to start. The reason for this (and a HUGE complaint for me) is that the line for the swim start had ABSOLUTELY NO RHYME OR REASON. It was entirely first come, first serve. I will go into this more in my review of the parts of the race that I experienced later, but as you can guess, I think the way it starts is crap.
I, like many others, had someone holding a place in line for me. While I imagine that had I not been fortunate enough to have this, I would have been furious at those who did. However there was/is no rule against it and that opportunity presented itself, so I took it. I was placed very close to the front of the line and knew I’d be in the water quickly once the cannon sounded.
As time drew nearer, volunteers were gathering morning clothes bags about 45 minutes before the actual start. This was a problem for many (including me) because it left us standing there, with no water, clothes or anything else we may want for 45 minutes (again, I’ll go into this more in my review later). I did run to the bathroom at one point, which meant going quite a way from where I was standing (many thanks to my line buddy for holding my spot). This was sort of easy, though the bathrooms were situated right beside the line for going in the water so it looked like some sort of spandex-clad M.C. Escher drawing.
I picked my way back to my spot in line, past a throng of not-so-pleased athletes, and waited. The professional start was right at 6:50 AM and we were to go off ten minutes later. In that ten minutes, a very talented trumpeter played the Star-Spangled Banner as well as My Old Kentucky Home. Then things began to get energized.
When the cannon went off, the lines we were in moved super fast. I put on my cap and goggles and watched my fellow competitors jumping off two separate docks. Swimmers were going in two at a time off each dock basically one on top of the other. It was actually quite dangerous looking and you really had to be careful not to jump on the swimmer in front of you.
I walked out on the dock and jumped.
To be continued…
My trip to Louisville, Kentucky began at about 6 o’clock AM on August 26, 2010. Since I had so much stuff to bring, including my bike, helmet(s) and all my other race gear, some of which is quite bulky, I had decided to drive down rather than fly. From New York City, where I live, it is about a twelve hour drive. To be completely honest, the drive was rather boring and uneventful.
Upon arriving in Louisville and checking in to my hotel, I immediately headed to a nearby Wal-Mart super center to pick up some groceries. I was trying to keep my meals as on track as possible leading up to the race and, say what you want about Wal-Mart, but they had everything I needed to have the meals and snacks that Coach Jeff prescribed. After eating dinner and taking a bit to digest, I got right into bed and went to sleep.
The next morning, I didn’t have a very strict schedule of anything to do. So, after eating breakfast, showering and such I headed down to check myself in to the race and to visit the expo. Checking in was relatively painless and went by in about 15 or 20 minutes. The check-in process went like so:
After doing the check-in thing, it was on to the expo. A quick side-note on that; I think WTC (Ironman‘s parent company) is making a huge mistake by only having themselves as the sole vendor of general multisport “stuff” at these events. There are of course, other companies at the expo selling their products, but not really any multi-sport retailers other than Ironman. For instance, I needed two extra eight ounce Fuel Belt bottles. The Ironman store in the expo only sold Nathan products (that I could find) which do not fit in my Fuel Belt. So, I had to drive across town to what was actually a really great local multisport store, VO2 Multisport to find the bottles I needed. My point is, unless Ironman/WTC can somehow manage to have fewer exclusive deals and carry a wider range of products in their “store”, I think they’re hurting themselves and the athletes by boxing out stores that might be able to provide some of the things they cannot.
In the expo, I made my way through the companies that were there to visit Pam, Ian and the crew from Newton Running (I’m sure you’re completely shocked that I spent time there!). It was really great to hang out with them for a few and to talk about everything from shoes to the challenges of running (and hiking and biking and…) with babies, toddlers and beyond. I had put out the call for a tweet-up lunch thing meeting at the Newton booth at noon, so in the time I had before then, I ran back out to my car to take care of a couple of errands and to scope out the area. On my way out of the Galt House Hotel, where the expo and such was being held, I got recognized by a racer named Alvaro (I’m pretty sure). I’m constantly shocked when this happens, but he was such a nice guy and I truly hope his race was everything he’d set out to accomplish.
I got back to the Newton booth right at noon and waited around until 12:30 for people to show. The tweet-up ended up being just me, but that’s OK, because I like me (most of the time)! I think that a lot of the time, people are a bit shy about crossing the bridge between the virtual and real worlds and don’t want to speak up. So, if you’re reading this and you DID show up, but you just weren’t sure what to do next, SAY SOMETHING TO ME!! Chances are you know what I look like, but I probably don’t know what you look like!
After I had my lunch, I went back to my hotel to rest a bit and to shower and such as I’d be heading to the athlete’s dinner and meeting that evening. The meeting itself was the usual stuff; the directors of each portion of the course, and the race director went over rules and cautions, helping to give us the safest and best race experience.
Afterward, I headed back to my hotel. My plan was to begin to get my gear together and into it’s assigned bag. Below is the video of those details:
After all that, I headed to bed with my alarm clock set to wake me up and get down to the practice swim the next morning.
The practice swim was pretty uneventful. The race was NOT wetsuit legal as the temperature was about 86° F. I took the swim to feel out how I would react to the fact that we would begin the race by swimming upstream and against the current of the Ohio River. I also wanted to feel the downstream current as I was expecting to feel more pull than I actually did. The swim felt good and the water was MUCH better to swim in than the Hudson River!
After the swim, I took my bike to the Ironman wheel rental counter to get my race wheels put on (special thanks to @Indianabackdoc for helping facilitate this). I then had a short, easy bike ride of about 30 minutes in order to get my legs spinning. This was followed by a short, roughly 15 minute run. Both of these felt great and I was really beginning to get excited for the next day.
I went back to my hotel and got my gear together to check in. In Ironman races, you are required to check in your bike and transition bags the day before the race. Generally, you will have access to them on race day, but it pays to be ready ahead of time. I got my stuff all checked in and that pretty much ends the preparation!
After taking a short nap and lounging around my hotel room for the afternoon, I met up with Trevor and Kristine (Twitter friends and teammates on Team PRS Fit). We went to Lynn’s Paradise Cafe and had an awesome dinner with excellent conversation. It was so amazing to have met these two and to get to spend some really amazing time with them (more on this later). They really and truly made my trip without my wife and daughter that much more bearable and I cannot thank them enough for all they did for me.
I got back to my hotel at about 8:30 and set my alarm for 3 AM. I closed my eyes, and surprisingly, sleep came easily.
To be continued…
New York City Triathlon Results (I’m bib number 4788)
Me on the Official Newton Blog!
Infinit Nutrition (Free shipping with code: ironbrandon)
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Win a free entry to the Salinas Valley Half Marathon!
Stuffitts (Comment on this post and win a free pair!)
Know your body’s quick-cooling spots
IronBrandon’s Podcast: Episode 99 (player temporarily being stupid. Click here to play)
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Many remember last year’s finish of the mens race at Ironman Boise 70.3. In that race, Chris Lieto came around the final turn down the finish chute in the lead…until Craig Alexander came around the corner a split second later and took the win over Lieto by less than two seconds! This year’s race was almost just as exciting, with Lieto and Alexander coming out of T2 side by side. Shortly thereafter, Lieto pulled out of the race with abductor issues, but Alexander then had to deal with the very hard charging Ben Hoffman. Ultimately, the reigning, two time Ironman World Champion, Alexander, pulled out the win by only ten seconds over Hoffman.
In the womens race, after a very tough outing at Rev3 Quassy last weekend in Connecticut, Julie Dibens got redemption with an impressive wire to wire win.
Click here to see the full report from Ironman.com
Click here for the full results of the 2010 Ironman Boise 70.3
*Side note: Age Grouper Joesph Pellegrino of Missoula, Montana threw down a 59:28 run to finish 8th overall! Holy crap!
Continued from: 2010 Ironman Mooseman 70.3: Race Report Part 3 – The Race…
After being presented with my medal and refusing, then reconsidering and seeking warmth under a Mylar blanket, I began to make my way through the sodden post-race festivities. The athletes food tent had hamburgers, hot dogs (one only, please), chowdah’ (see: chowder), potato and pasta salads and some other things. I dug in and tried to find some shelter under which to down my well earned sustenance.
I forgot to mention a couple of things in my earlier posts, so I’d like to get to them now. First, the plan for this race had been for my wife, Danielle, my mother-in-law, Kathy and my daughter, Sydney, to drive up for the race on race morning (coming from the Boston area) in time to see me come in on the bike and throughout the run. However, as fate would have it (and completely unbeknownst to me until well after the race) the power at my in-laws house had gone out early that morning and the rain which I was seeing was also coming down where they were. The decision was made for them to stay home as dragging my two month old daughter two hours in the car and then standing around in the mud and rain would be less than fair to her (not to mention Danielle and Kathy). Because she couldn’t get hold of me as I had already ditched my phone earlier, Danielle spent a good deal of the morning fretting over me not seeing them when I expected to. I’d like to say a big “Thank you!” to Ari, Kevin, Jeff and many of my other Twitter and Facebook friends for keeping her calm and not so worried. I will say that I held out hope that they were at the race, but had relegated themselves to sit out the rain in the car somewhere with a view of the course. Just knowing that their support was coming my way was enough.
The second thing I want to mention is a guy I met named Dennis. Dennis and I met on the slopes leading up to the S.O.B. hill and had some really nice conversation battling the inclines. In situations like that hill, it really is nice to just let your legs grind it out with someone who is offering their own encouragement and grinding it out themselves. Dennis and I passed each other a couple of times on the bike (with him finishing ahead of me by a bit) and passed each other going in opposite directions on the run. Each time I saw Dennis on the run, he was giving me words of encouragement and support, even as he was throwing down run splits himself that were much faster than the splits his surgically repaired knees could handle! Thank you, Dennis!
Eventually, Dennis and I decided to go grab our stuff from transition. I still had to drive back to my in-law’s two hours away, and he was waiting for a friend to finish, and he suspected it could be a while (it ended up being another hour and a half, waiting in the rain and cold). By the this time, transition looked like a war zone. Mud, grass, spandex, wetsuits, bikes and general debris littered the ground. What had been small puddles now looked like they could have hosted the swim portion of the race. I gathered my things (still in the rain)and began to make the slow, long, wet and muddy hike back to my car…3/4 of a mile away…in the rain…and mud…and 62° air…
Upon getting to my car (stepping in every clean-ish looking puddle along the way at an attempt to get the mud out of my shoes), I did my best to get packed and get my dry clothes on. The “parking lot” now looked as though it belonged in a war movie. Cars had dug tire channels so deep they looked like earthen berms perfect for a firing line. In fact, upon getting briefly stuck myself, I had to put my car into four wheel drive until I got out of the morass.
I cranked the heat, and headed home.
Continued from: 2010 Ironman Mooseman 70.3: Race Report Part 2 – Race Morning…
Beach starts in triathlon tend to be a full contact affair. This is especially true just behind the front of the pack. If you’ve placed yourself in that spot, there’s a decent chance that you’ll get kicked in the face by the guy in front of you and/or punched in various parts of your body by the guys on either side of you and/or dunked and swum over by the guy behind you who may be faster than you. All accidents, of course.
Since I expect to be one of the faster swimmer in any race I enter, I always place myself at the front of the pack in both water and beach starts. In triathlons I’ve done that have pool swims it is incredibly frustrating to be relegated to swimming behind people who’ve WAY overestimated their speed, and having to pass them. So, for this race I was at the front of the pack when the horn sounded.
The run into the water was fairly smooth with the bottom dropping off to swimming depth in probably about ten feet. The pack broke up quickly and myself and a few others pulled away off the front. The swim course itself was a rectangle (see picture) and was protected from and waves kicked up by wind by the shoreline to the East. As we reached the first turn, quite a few waves appeared, I have to assume because we had come around from the lee side of a point of land, and the wind was now kicking up a bit.
At about the halfway point, I noticed that another swimmer from my wave (I could tell from his powder blue cap like mine) and I seemed to be staying right with each other. Shortly after I noticed this, my opponent disappeared and I assumed that I had dropped him. By this time, I had been swimming through swimmers from waves that had gone off ahead of me from about the 1/4 mark on. Every now and then, either I would accidentally run into one of these swimmers or they would run into me. This is when I noticed that someone kept hitting my heels. I snuck a peek back and saw that the swimmer with whom I had been dueling had taken a comfortable spot in my wake and was now drafting along and taking it easy. While drafting is illegal in the bike leg of a triathlon, there is nothing wrong with drafting in the swim. I guess I didn’t mind so much and I wouldn’t have even known the difference if it weren’t for the fact that my heels were getting tapped every thirty seconds or so. Annoying.
The concern I had coming into this race with regards to my neck never really came to fruition. To be honest, I was being a bit conservative (which is evident by my less than stellar time) and definitely felt fatigued in my shoulders more than I usually would, but true pain never affected me.
Swim time: 27:17
Swim pace: 1:25 per 100 meters (boo)
Age Group Place: 5th
Overall Place: 28th
Most of us are aware of the potential dizziness that comes with standing up too fast. I have even fallen over several times because of this. In a triathlon, the same thing takes place. You’ve been swimming for however long, thus you’ve been essentially laying down. All of a sudden, you ask your body to stand up! This problem can be compounded by the fact that your upper body is doing most of the work on the swim and so most of your blood is hanging out there to supply your muscles. Further, if you’re wearing a wetsuit, there is a bit of compression being applied to your lower extremities which keeps your blood even more focused in your upper body. So, when you then stand up to run out of the water, all that blood suddenly drops, and sometimes you do along with it!
As I stood, I was ready for the dizziness and I was not disappointed. Upon exiting the water, there was about a 20 yard (if I remember correctly) run to the wetsuit strippers. This is not some weird, wetsuit fetish exotic dancing area but rather, a group of race volunteers whose job it is to get you out of your wetsuit as fast as possible. All you have to do as a racer is flop on your back on the ground and they will grab your wetsuit and peel it off of you in a flash. The problem with this is the dizziness thing. You’ve just come out of the water, gotten dizzy and then after a few seconds, you throw your body back to being flat again for a few seconds (legs in the air, mind you) and then pop up AGAIN. This makes for a rather world-spinning few minutes.
I made my way into the transition area and found my belongings in fairly short order. By this time, it had been raining for about thirty minutes and everything was wet. I removed my socks from their dry sanctuary inside my cycling shoe, inside that grocery bag I spoke about. Now let me paint you a picture of what I was doing. I was trying not balance on one foot at a time, while my head was spinning, putting dry socks onto wet feet (try putting on sock directly out of the shower some time), while desperately trying not to step into the mud and puddles that now surrounded me. All this time, my head refused to stop spinning. Good times. I eventually got my crap together, even having to literally DUMP water out of my helmet, and was on my way out of transition. Slow.
Transition 1 time: 4:14 (Dear LORD, that’s awful)
To be completely honest, a lot of the bike portion of the race is a blur. It rained the entire time, often very hard. For the beginning six or so miles on the bike, I let my legs warm up well, pushing, but not pushing to the point of exhaustion. At about mile seven or so, the climbing began.
Leading up to this race, I had checked elevation charts and was not prepared for what I encountered. The first, largest and longest of the hills that we encountered was awful. First, we were climbing this hill in the rain, which gave you the appearance in spots of riding upstream in a river with an asphalt bottom. Second, this hill went to gradients of 16% for large sections at a time. To give you an idea of what a 16% grade is, the famous Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France has an average gradient of “only” 8.9%. Many people were forced to walk this hill and I must admit that I glanced at them with envy, but I stayed on my steed.
Several of the descents on the course were long and sweeping and gave you time to rest your legs. Other descents were so dangerous even without the rain that the officials had told us the day before that they would be strictly enforcing a 35 mph speed limit.
Apart from the 16% S.O.B. hill, there were a couple other climbs in excess of 10% as well as some deceptively “flat” sections that seemed to sap energy from the legs. The road conditions were only OK. You were forced to stay constantly aware of the pavement in front of you due to the fact that for 99% of the course there was a large crack (hastily patched but still pitted) meandering across both sides of the road.
Somewhere around halfway through the bike, my Garmin 305 went haywire. I went to take a peek at my heart rate and the screen was flashing from display to display, and not making any sense. I tried to turn it off and couldn’t. So I took it off and put it in my jersey. Now, for the rest of the race, I would have no idea where my pace of my heart rate were. I would be running purely on feel and perceived effort.
The toughest part of this bike course was grinding through it the first time and knowing you had to come back and hit it again. 16%’er and all. My nutrition, which if you know me, you know I have struggled in the past with this, was perfect. I had three hours worth of my “blend” from Infinit Nutrition in my Speedfil and rotated water bottles from aid stations in my one bottle cage. I finished my Infinit blend with about six miles to go on the bike, so, just to be safe, I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade Endurance Formula and dropped a bottle of water into my Speedfil. I also grabbed a banana at some point during the bike (can’t remember when) just because I knew it wouldn’t affect me adversely and it just looked good.
I didn’t do exactly what I wanted to do on the bike, in terms of speed, but I was consistent and I think that is just as important. I also learned a lot of what I need to do moving forward.
Bike time: 2:57:16
Bike pace: 19 mph
Age Group Place: 44th
Overall Place: 217th
By the time I hit T2, my feet had been soaked for over three and a half hours, but were holding up fine (I actually have a lot to say about my Sole insoles on the bike that I’ll write about later). However, I though it would behoove me to put on dry socks. This was frickin’ stupid. It was still raining and I was still surrounded by mud and puddles. I have no idea why I thought that changing my socks would make a single bit of difference, bu I did anyway, and again, I had a terribly slow transition.
I grabbed all my gear, which wasn’t that much after I got my shoes and dry (dumb, dumb, dumb) socks on. This included my new Fuel Belt H2O, which was holding two bottles of my Infinit blend, each with an hours worth of nutrition. As I ran out of transition, my shoes were wet and muddy within thirty seconds.
Transition 2 time: 3:26 (Oy to the vey)
I was really looking forward to this run. I have been running really well off the bike and I planned to make no exceptions on this run. The course itself was quite beautiful, albeit seen under cloudy skies that were still ridding themselves of any moisture they held, much to our detriment. It was fairly flat to rolling. The biggest obstacle(s) came in the form of a nasty little hill that was about 1/3 of a mile long at about mile 2 or so and again at about mile 8.5.
Because my nutrition and hydration had been so good on the bike, I had to pee almost as soon as I began to run. I waited until the first aid station at mile one and stopped to answer nature’s call. I actually ended up having to pee twice, and it bears mentioning that it went well (it bears mentioning due to my previous experiences during races when I’ve stopped to pee).
The course was two loops of an out and back that had as it’s outside turn around point, about a half mile of dirt (read: mud) road that ended in a cul-de-sac. On this stretch of “road” there were some incredibly nice and supportive volunteers and even a barbershop quartet in one of the driveways serenading the runners as we went by.
I felt great on this run. I did struggle a bit with not being able to tell my pace of heart rate. Because of this, I laid off a little on the third quarter of the run, before picking it back up a bit on the home stretch. I didn’t want to wind up completely gassed for the run in. I passed a lot of people wh had passed me on the bike and that was quite good for my morale. The rain never really let up, but I felt solid nonetheless. I truly think I would have been able to do more on the run had I known where I was in terms of pace.
Run time: 1:35:08 (1/2 marathon PR by 12 seconds)
Run pace: 7:15 per mile
Age Group Place: 22nd
Overall Place: 104th
(more detailed splits to come once they are available)
Overall Time: 5:07:21
Age Group Place: 34th
Overall Place: 132nd
This past Sunday, June 6, 2010 was the Ironman Mooseman 70.3 triathlon in Newfound Lake, New Hampshire. Beginning from my arrival in New Hampshire on the day before the race, this is my report.
My original plan was to drive directly from my in-laws home in Hingham, MA, straight to my hotel (located a short drive away from the race site in Campton, NH), check in and then head over to the race site to sign in. Just to make sure I would be able to check in, I called ahead to the hotel and was told that check in time was 3 o’clock PM and since I would likely arrive at about noon, that was not going to happen. So, I reset my GPS to take me right to the race site.
The staging area for the race itself was to take place in Wellington State Park, which lies on the Western shore of Newfound Lake. As I got close to the race area, there was a mass of people heading toward what was the parking area for the weekends festivities. These people were the racers and spectators from that day’s Mooseman International Distance Triathlon, and they were wrapping up their day and heading home. As I mentioned, cars were being funneled into a parking area that was essentially a huge field, and I do mean huge. The problem, which became increasingly clear as I drove deeper and deeper into the grassy expanse of this “parking lot” was that the rain which had rolled through the area that morning with such severity that race organizers were forced to cancel the swim portion of that day’s race, was that this field was rapidly turning into a huge mud pit. To be fair, I’m not sure if the park itself had the parking necessary to fit all the cars attending the races but, as I soon found out, this parking area was (depending on how far back you had to park) about 3/4 of a mile away from the race area.
Once I had made the trek from my car to the park entrance and race staging area, I found my way to the “expo” and began the fun of waiting in line. At this event, like other Ironman (WTC) owned events, you have to go through a series of check-in’s. The first of these is to check in with USA Triathlon (USAT), the sport’s governing body in the United States. At this area, you must present your USAT license or, as was the case with my friend Jay at Ironman Wisconsin, you can present a picture I.D. and the USAT representatives there are able to look up the validity of your license. Now, you are not required to have an annual license to compete and you are permitted to buy a one day license for $10 if you so choose. My license, which was set to expire on 5/31/10 but which I had renewed on 5/23/10, had not yet come in the mail when I left town (of course, it was in the mail when I came home). Based on what I had seen in Wisconsin, I thought I would still be fine and my information would be able to be looked up by the USAT at the race since my license number and everything was still the same AND since I had my (expired) license. I was wrong.
The USAT representatives were not working from a computer where they could just look up a racers’ information, rather, they had an old-school list of names printed out, with a column beside each name saying whether they were good to go or whether they needed to buy a one day license. My name, since the physical license I had with me was expired, fell into the latter category. I was pissed. Realizing that I would have to fight this battle later via email with USAT (I emailed them as soon as I got into my hotel room asking for my $10 back), I asked if they took credit or debit cards. Cash only, and I lacked any cash. So, now it seemed my only option was to walk the 34 of a mile back to my car, drive to find an ATM somewhere in rural New Hampshire, or borrow money from a kindhearted stranger. I then remembered that a woman who also coaches with Jeff, whom I was going be meeting up with later that day, might be at the race site. So I called her (Maria) and she and her husband were indeed on their way to the race site at that moment, and she was so kind as to lend me the necessary $10 to get things going.
The next step in the check-in process is signing in with the event itself. So, yet again, I waited in another line, and in pretty short order got into the tent. This part was very quick and well organized. Soon enough, I was done with the sign-in process and made my way to the “expo”.
The reason I keep putting quotes around the word expo is because this was an expo in theory only. The vendors at the expo were: MC Cycle & Sport (a local multisport retailer) and then Ironman itself. That’s it. MC had a small tent where they sold a few race day necessities and, to be fair, they had a small but well thought out selection. They were also providing last minute bike tweaking services (for a fee, of course) for those that wanted a quick tune up or something. The Ironman tent, as at all Ironman events, was selling Ironman branded everything, from wine glasses to onesies. Note: I don’t have a problem with this at all, I just wanted to be clear that this was the extent of the vendors. All that said, this was not an “expo” in term of what I would expect from a WTC event. Oh well.
Maria, John and I planned to head back to our respective lodgings for the next couple of hours and then meet up at 4 PM to ride a short bit of the course and then head to the 4:30 PM athlete meeting. I headed to my hotel, still an hour ahead of normal check in, and the desk clerk was kind enough to let me check in early. I went to a local grocery store to pick up some much needed sustenance, and then went back to my hotel to relax for a minute before heading out once again.
At 4 we all met as planned and began our short ride. I noticed a problem with both of my wheels that has happened before. I was running clincher type tires and the bead of the tire was not seating properly in the channel in the rim itself that it is supposed to. This is not really a make-or-break problem, but it is one that you really want to fix as it would likely result in a very sore ass after a long ride (it feels like there is about a 3 inch flat spot on the wheel that has this issue).
The meeting was short and sweet. The race directors and officials presenting were very well prepared and ran over their points quickly, answering any questions that arose along the way. After the meeting we headed over to check out the transition area. Uh oh.
At Ironman Wisconsin, the transition consisted of a separate bag for each transition and a clean, carpeted of concrete surface and chairs to sit in. This was not the case at Mooseman. The transition was to be like any other triathlon on a local level. Bikes were racked according to number and your transition area was to be set up beside your front wheel. My particular rack was set behind a tree that, when you cam around said tree, you were looking at two rack rather than just one. The largest problem that was already shaping up in the transition area was the ground. After that morning’s rain, the ground had become soft and was already turning to mud in the aisles from the foot traffic. Oy.
Maria, John and I bid each other a good night’s rest and went our separate ways. My evening was spent working on my tires and packing my race bag to be set up quickly in the morning. I got to bed at about 10 o’clock PM with my alarm(s) set for 4 AM and 4:15 AM, just to be safe.
Part 2 (coming soon)
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Carl Lewis to Run the Houston Marathon
Triathlete Attacked by Alligator
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Sydney Elizabeth Wood
Help Save Saint Vincent’s (Where Sydney was born)
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Beast of Burden Winter 100 Miler
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Today was the New York Road Runners Manhattan Half-Marathon, part of the NYRR Half-Marathon Series presented by Continental Airlines. If you’ve 
been following my posts, you know that my goal time was 1:35:00. Well, I am happy and proud to say that I ran a PR of 1:35:19! My previous PR was set in the first half of the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon in a time of 1:44:38. That makes today’s half-marathon a PR for me by OVER NINE (9) MINUTES!!
First and foremost, I must give massive thanks to my support team. My coach, Jeff, who kicked me into gear in relatively little time. And also an enormous thank you to the one and only Laminator who paced me the entire way, keeping me going the entire time.
The race course was roughly two and a half loops of Central Park. For those that have run the full loop of Central Park before, you know that to call it a challenging course is somewhat of an understatement. This particular race began at roughly West 63rd Street on West Drive heading in a counter clockwise direction. This means that the runners got to feel the full fury of Cat Hill as well as Harlem Hill, and ALL the little bastard hills in between.
The goal for the race was to maintain a consistent effort for the entirety of the race. I honestly don’t have too much to say for the first half of the race. Cat and Harlem Hills seemed to cruise by, though the smaller hills just after them definitely reminded me to be humble. Lam maintained such a poised, relaxed posture that it really rubbed off on me, keeping me calm.
Once we got into the second loop, Cat Hill came up fairly quick. The weather held together nicely and was nice and cool, but by the second loop, I was definitely feeling hotter than I would have liked. I opened the zipper of my shirt (Sugoi Mid-Zero Zip) to let some air in and felt a lot better. At about mile seven, I took my Gu Roctane as I had planned. I felt decent through Cat Hill, but definitely felt the effort. The hills following the Cat though, ate their way into me. I noticed my breathing becoming much faster than I would have liked and at the same time, while my technique held together well, my stride turnover slowed considerably, thus making my legs work more than usual.
As we dropped down the hill in the Northeast corner of the park, by Lasker Pool, feelings of trepidation and a small touch of dread came over me knowing what lay ahead. As we hit Harlem Hill, I did my best to take deep, full breaths to get my heart rate as calm as possible. The first part of the hill was OK, but as we got to the small plateau-ish area before the next rise, I could feel my heart going into my zone 5 rate and my breathing speeding up accordingly.The next rise was pure agony and I have honestly never come so close to vomiting during a race. The next couple of miles, until we got to about mile 12, I honestly don’t remember much, except keeping my eyes on Lam and just moving forward.
Once we hit mile 12, Lam told me to count my strides to 100 to make it go by easier. I tried this, but my brain wasn’t working so well and I kept losing count after about 20 or so. I guess Lam noticed this and he began counting out loud so I could hear him and it really helped. As we entered the last half mile, he was pushing me to really go for it and, to be honest, I just didn’t have anything left. At some point, even though I refused to look at my watch, I knew I wasn’t going to go sub-1:35:00, but I just kept pushing as much as I could. As we crossed the finish line, I thought I was going to fall over but held on to Lam (Thanks!) and managed to keep myself upright.
I had a great race, and I made (for the most part) my goal time. I truly believe that, had this been a less difficult course, I could have gone much faster and not felt like I was dying late in the race. Lam was an absolutely amazing person to take me to the line and I cannot thank him enough.
Brunch afterward was fantastic, with so many new friends having a great meal together and a great time. Thanks to Michelle for handling the reservations for our get together! So many PR’s were set by so many friends, and all were celebrated, PR or no. What a fantastic race!
Racers Against Childhood Cancer
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As is the case for many at Thanksgiving, my Thursday morning was met with a Turkey Trot. A Turkey Trot, for those not yet in the know, is a race of varying length on or around Thanksgiving. The race in which I, along with two of my brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, mother-in-law and my wife were participating was the Dreamcatcher Classic Road Race in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The race had two distances to choose from; a five miler and a two miler, I chose to do the five.
When recovering from a marathon, conventional wisdom says to rest one day for every mile you’ve run. Since on Thursday I was only four days removed from the Philadelphia Marathon and had not reached the requisite 26.22 days of rest, I was rather curious to see how my recovered my legs would be.
If you’ve visited my site before, or you’ve listened to my podcast, it’s no secret that I am a rabid member of the Newton Running Tribe. I make no apologies for this and defend my choice of footwear at every turn. I never fancied myself a runner until I stepped into my first pair of Newtons. Since then, I have only gone farther, faster and stronger than I ever thought possible. This race report is a testament to what is one of the strongest arguments for “natural running’ (i.e. Newton running); recovery.
Race morning was perfect, in my opinion. It felt like it was in the mid-40′s with no wind to speak of. I had not really done any research for this race in terms of terrain, so I was clueless as to what kind of hills and such lay in store. The race was a mass start and not chip timed, so in an effort to get the most accurate time I could, I lined up as close to the starting line as I could. This is not a place where I usually find myself, but I figured why not?
The starting horn sounded and 1,200 of us were on our way. The front row was, as expected, the races “elites”. They pulled away pretty quickly and cleared out the space in front of me. I haven’t looked at the data from my Garmin yet, but I imagine I was at about 6:30/mile at the start. There were a few of us who fell into a stretched out pace line and who seemed to be running a similar race. As the race progressed, many people who had taken it out hard, simply fell off and ended up walking. The course was, in my opinion, good, if a little hilly. Some of the climbs definitely knocked me down a couple of notches, but I just seemed to have more in my legs.
When doing a last minute race plan in my head for this event, I readily assumed that I would go out pretty quick and sustain that for as long as I could and then lest my pace fade to something more comfortable. The problem with that plan was that I just kept going. Don’t get me wrong here, I felt every step. I took it out quick and pushed myself to do what I could. I guess I just expected my tank to run out at some point and it just didn’t. When the hills came, as I said before, I really felt it, BUT, rather than muscling through it with raw power, I reassessed my body position and technique. This kept my pace fairly consistent on the hills and kept my heart rate at an acceptable place.
I crossed the finish line with an official time of 32:55, which made my per mile pace 6:35 (my Garmin read 32:54 and 6:34 but who’s counting?). This was a PR by exactly FOUR minutes. That, to me, is insane. I finished 3rd in my division and 32nd overall.
But why was I able to do this? I believe that this was a perfect storm of proper training (MASSIVE hat tip to Jeff Kline, @coachprs) and the rapid recovery facilitated by natural running (forefoot/midfoot striking) by way of Newton. My legs, SHOULD have been dead from top to bottom. Instead I felt like I was just doing a fast tempo run.
It’s funny how many are calling “natural running” a fad or trend when, before forty years ago, it’s what we all did. Barefoot technique is what we did through millions of years of evolutionary history, so why did it all change when Mr. Bowerman decided to put a big-ass wedge of air-injected foam under our foot? Newton has been at the forefront of “natural running” since well before that term made it’s way into the vernacular of the running community. Look, I don’t work for Newton and they don’t ask me to write or say things like this, I do it because I want to. In my opinion, because of Newton and the natural running technique that they promote:
I AM A RUNNER.
Additional kudos to my bro-in-law C and mom-in-law K for running their first ever road race (the 2 miler). Also to my bro and sister-in-law A and K for making the early trip to run the 5 miler with the fam. Last but not least to my wife, Danielle, for finishing a 2 mile race while being 6 months pregnant!
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This past Sunday, November 22, 2009 I ran the Philadelphia Marathon. My official finish time was 3:59:14. This is how I got there…
I arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday, the day before the race, at about 12:30 PM. Thanks to my friend Mike, I had a great place to stay. Upon arriving, I chatted with Mike for a bit and then headed off to the expo to browse the booths and pick up my race shwag. (Sidenote: When you’re at an expo or something similar, be aware of your surroundings and DON’T CLOG THE AISLES! I felt like I was walking through the Time’s square Subway station at Christmas! KEEP IT MOVING OR MOVE TO THE SIDE PEOPLE!). Picking up my race gear was a breeze and I was quickly on to browsing the incredibly frustrating traffic of the expo.
I wasn’t really in need of too much at the expo, and since I don’t see the point in paying $50 for a pair of running shorts (unless, as I said to Allan later, they have little gnomes inside that keep you cool) I just looked for what I needed. The things I was looking for were GU Roctane (Blueberry pomegranate (there is a reason for that flavor)) and a pair of cheap, throw away gloves. I found both in about five minutes, although wading through the people to and from each booth took about five times as long.
The reason for me being very specific about the flavor of the GU I was looking for is due to my ability to sweat epic amounts. GU makes something called GU Brew in which the Blueberry Pomegranate flavor has double the sodium of their normal GU Brew and more than just about any other product. It also tastes decent. I have been using a bit of that flavor of GU Brew to get used to the taste and such, so I decided to not change things in the flavor of GU I was choosing. Also, GU Roctane has more sodium than most other gels and WAY more amino acids.
After making my purchases and heading back through the throngs, I made my way back to Mike’s place. After a bit, I got in touch with Allan and he, Mike, Andrew (Allan’s partner) and myself went to grad a bite to eat. This meeting marks only the second time that Allan and I have met face to face, but I always feel like I am talking to an old friend, which really helped to take the edge off and pre-race nerves. After eating (Mike had to go catch a flight), Allan, Andrew and I talked for a while about running, nutrition and myriad things in between. We eventually parted ways for the evening, the plan being for me to walk to Allan’s hotel between 5:45 and 6 the next morning and we would walk from there to the start.
On race morning, I woke up at 4:15 AM. I know it seems early, but it gave me time to take a long shower and really wake up.
I was out the door at about 5:45 and en route to get Allan. As luck would have it, when I was only about a block away from Mike’s place, Allan called and asked if I could bring him a packet of Hornet Juice because he had forgotten his. I ran back and got one for him and was on my way again.
I have a tendency to go one of two ways pre-race. Either I am extremely focused and not very talkative at all or I am like Jim Carrey on crack, making jokes and not shutting up. As we walked, Allan pointed out that I was rather like the former, looking straight ahead and rather stoic.
Upon arriving at the start area, Allan and I found what seemed to be the fastest and cleanest bathroom line in all of racing and I quickly found myself changing out of my warm clothes and into my race wear. We also both downed our bottles of Hornet Juice (and also Chia for me).After turning in my gear bag to pick up at the finish line, Allan and I headed into our corral (Gray) and did our best to keep our minds occupied before the actual start.
My goal time for this race was 3:30:00. The plan was to go out at a 7:59 per mile pace for the first 22 miles. Thereafter, Jeff (Coach) had built in a 14 second fade per mile, giving me some breathing room at the end. I had a wristband with my 5K splits written on it to keep me on track. I did not write down mile splits because, at Jeff’s suggestion, I need small goals, but not too small (e.g. 5 K rather than mile by mile). Allan was aiming for a 3:45. The weather was perfect, with temps in what seemed to be the high(ish) 40′s.
I said to Allan, “Let’s do this” and we were off. The first four or five miles were kind of a blur. I was doing a lot of weaving in and out of the people traffic. This was probably largely due to the fact that the goal time I submitted when entering the race was 4:00:00, thus, I was plaed a bit farther back. Unfortunately, this caused my pace to be about thirty seconds per mile faster than I wanted to be.
When I got to the half, I was about 6 minutes ahead of my goal pace, so I took the opportunity to go pee (pardon the details). While standing in the bathroom (I must stop peeing in the middle of marathons, something bad always happens) I began to feel faint, so I put the lid down and sat down. Almost immediately, I needed to throw up (again, sorry for the details), so I did. Now, this was not the kind of, something I ate puking, rather, I do believe that this was some sort of nerve response. In any event, I got worried.
After regaining my composure,I came out of the bathroom and as luck would have it, the 3:30:00 pace group was right there and I jumped in and got back in the groove. At this point, I was right about dead-on my goal time. The pace group, it turns out, was running a much different race than I was. The pace kept dropping to about 7:15-40 per mile and I was still trying to hold 7:59′s. They were actually pushing the pace on some flat sections so they could “take it easy” on an upcoming hill. So, after hanging on for about two miles I dropped out the back of the pack and did my own thing. It was at this point that I felt like my heart rate was spiking. I checked and it kept going to and staying at about 160~170 bpm. This was not good for this point in the race.
I had to assess what my next step would be. I slowed my pace to see if things would regulate and they did not. So, I stopped and simply stood still until my HR got into the 120′s. As I headed out toward the town of Manayunk, I knew that I would eventually be seeing Allan once I turned around and could see the people on their way out. The stretch to Manayunk is a long one and the run from mile 18 to the turn around point at about mile 20 was interminable. ONce I made the turn around, I saw that Allan was only about 5 minutes behind me. Once again, at about mile 21.5, I needed to let my HR come back down and I decided to just wait for Allan.
It was so nice to have company. Not only that, but someone you know, someone you can talk to about lots of things, running or otherwise. The last few miles had some walk breaks (every single one of which pissed me off because my brain and body disagreed) and some good conversation.
When we hit the last mile, we of course bumped up the pace. It’s interesting what happens there. Your body is telling you to go to hell and your heart and mind are so excited your body almost doesn’t matter. Just before mile 26 my calves began to cramp (and oddly, my neck did also) but I did what I had to do to drive to the finish. Allan and I crossed together with a time of 3 hours 59 minutes and 14 seconds. It was awesome!
Nutrition: This actually seemed to be fine mostly. At every aid station, I drank Gatorade Endurance. Admittedly, I should have had two cups at each station instead of just one. I had my GU’s at mile 6 and then again at the half. Once I became concerned about my HR I forgot the other two I had. Oops.
Crowd Support: The crowds were fantastic. They lined probably half of the course and really were so nice and encouraging.
Race Organization: From my perspective, the race semed very well organized. The aid stations were very well staffed and had ample fluids. The volunteers were excellent and helpful. There was nothing overly complicated about the race (which I love) or getting around.
The Course: Overall, I enjoyed the course. I do think that the elevation chart is a bit deceptive. I was not prepared for some of the long rolling inclines (approx. 3100 ft. of elevation gain). But I would indeed do this race again.
My Race: I broke four hours. In nine months, I have gone from never having run a marathon to becoming an Ironman and running a sub-four hour marathon. I am pleased that I broke four hours. I am not pleased that I did not meet my goal. I will eventually crush 3:30:00.
Rest: Now it is time for rest. I have not rested since probably February. It is time now. Time to recharge and let my legs heal. Bring on the tryptophan.
2009 New York City Marathon Results
Darren Rovell: Jackass, Part 1
Darren Rovell: Jackass, Retraction
Damon Runyon Yankee Stadium 5K
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Protest Over the Lakefront Marathon
2009 Ironman World Championship Results (YAY CROWIE!!)
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NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines: Queens
Missing Swimmer’s Body Found In Lake Monona
Free Shipping On Sir and Lady Isaac Guidance Trainers!
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It is my opinion that events such as Ironman Wisconsin serves to teach us more in what we did NOT accomplish rather than what we accomplish. This is true, I think, for most things in life. If we truly strive to better ourselves in any discipline it is important to focus on correcting the missteps we have taken in the past.
I should note that I am not disappointed in myself or my accomplishment of becoming an Ironman. With these things in mind, I thought it important to go through and make some objective notes on what I will do differently in the future, and some things that I thought I got right this time.
Swim
First Transition
Bike
Second Transition
Run
I have referenced the volunteers from Ironman Wisconsin several times and said “more on that later”. Well, now is later. I cannot possibly say enough about the amazing job done by the people staffing the course and the rest of the event. Not only were they incredibly efficient and knowledgeable, but they were so amazingly kind. When I was breaking down and getting into my own head emotionally, I met a woman on the course named Karen. Karen was a volunteer at one of the turns whose job it was to point the way. Karen is in a wheelchair. At a moment when my body was telling me know and my mind was issuing the same proclamation, Karen was there smiling ear to ear. She was telling me that I looked great and that I looked strong. She read my bib and said to me, “Brandon, you better come here and give me a high-five!”. I was overjoyed to oblige. Later when I passed her again with only about four miles left, I did the same.
The next morning, I went by the lost and found to check for my pump which I lost on the bike course (no dice). Karen was there, having been on the course until the last racer passed and probably well after. Her smile was just as bright, and her demeanor just as kind as ever. I told her thank you for being there the night before when I really needed it the most. To Karen, and to all the volunteers of the 2009 Ironman Wisconsin, thank you. You are all amazing.
Once again, I am not disappointed in myself, I am merely a student. I will be back to Wisconsin to defeat that course one day, and I will smile the whole time. Ironman Wisconsin will always be where I became an Ironman.
The water in Lake Monona was the same temperature that it had been the day before during the practice swim, pleasantly cool/warm. This made getting in the water not terribly unpleasant. This is a good thing because, if you were trying to get close to the first buoy as I was, thus giving yourself the best line, that meant that you would be treading water for about the next twenty to twenty-five minutes. There was quite a bit of bumping and errant legs and arms while we waited, to be sure, but it was soon ten minutes to start, which was the time for the professional start.
The pro’s were wearing pink caps for the women and silver caps for the men. This was a good thing to notice for me because it gave me bait. At exactly 6:50 AM, the pro’s started. It was all I could do not to go with them since my heart was about to beat out of my chest with excitement.
Then, promptly at 7:00 AM the cannon sounded and we were off!
Now, as I explained earlier, the position where I lined up is THE place to be if you’re a fast swimmer. That being said, the intensity in the scrum that follows a starting gun in that position is incredible. There are arms, hands, legs and feet all moving in different directions and all moving very fast and powerfully. One of the tricks to being successful in that environment is to not take anything personally. If you get a black eye, it’s just part of the game, and to be honest, not that uncommon.
So, when the cannon fired, all hell broke loose around me and I was a willing participant, throwing
more than my fair share of arms and legs. My strategy was to take it easy and let the pack work itself out around me while staying up with the faster swimmers. This worked well, and I was soon in more or less open water. I was told by an Ironman Wisconsin veteran that the buoys were spaced 100 meters apart (in case I wanted to watch my splits). This was a huge help when it came to sighting, which is the practice of quickly lifting your head up to see that you are on the right course to the next buoy. Swimmers that had fast starts began to fall off of the leading group, and eventually I was able to stop worrying so much about being run into.
During training, I calculated my warm-up distance to be about 1,800 meters. This was the point at which my shoulders had flushed all the built up lactate and would let go. It was at that point where I could really go on autopilot. This point came right about where it should have, at about 1,500 meters. I should also note the added challenge of the sun. The sun rose in such a way that when we got to the first turn buoy, it was in our eyes. It continued to be in our eyes through the second turn and did not subside until we made the third turn, which was either the home turn or the prelude to the second loop, depending on which lap you were on.
About half way through the second loop, I began to pass slower swimmers. They really didn’t present much of an issue and I got through them easily. A really awesome point came when, just after the second turn in the second loop, I saw a couple of pink caps and a couple of silver caps. These were the professionals that had started ten minutes ahead of the rest of us. It was a small victory, but a morale boosting victory nonetheless.
The swim was fairly uneventful and felt good, though I was being a bit conservative. I came out of the water in a time of 54:46. This breaks down to 1:27/100 m (7 seconds slower than my workout pace, annoying) and put me at fourth place in my division and thirtieth overall.
Swim Exit Helix
Upon exiting the lake, racers were directed to run up one of the helices (plural for helix, I had to look it up too) to get to the transition area. It was pretty amazing running up the helix through the throngs of people that lined the entire thing. This included Danielle and Kevin, whom I almost missed because my brain was a little scrambled and there were so many cheering people! I also had one of the professional women running in front of me, so that gave me a focal point. I was a little dizzy from running up the helix too, so I needed to focus on something.
When I got to the wetsuit strippers, I must admit, it was kind of fun to flop and get de-frocked! I ran into the transition bag room and my bag was already in the hand of a volunteer waiting for me. I grabbed it and headed into the men’s transition room (separate rooms because there tends to be nudity) where I was greeted by another volunteer who dumped out my bag and handed me everything I needed as I asked for it. Simply amazing. I got a little scattered during transition and I believe that next time, I will take more time and sacrifice the few seconds so that I can think things through a bit more.
Bike Transition Area
As racers ran out of transition, there was a row of volunteers, about twenty-five strong, bedecked with latex gloves covered with sunscreen. I ran over to them and suddenly, there were about eight hands coating every exposed part of my body. Kind of surreal, but helpful! I then began the run to my bike along the top of the parking attached to Monona Terrace. Another mistake I made was to put on my cycling shoes in the transition room rather than waiting until I got to my bike. This left me running to my bike on my toes, which is fine, but I would have preferred to be in socks. Again, the volunteers had my bike in my hand when I got to my row, ready and waiting for me!
Then I was on my bike and on my way! Riding down the helix at the opposite end from the swim
Bike Course
exit was cool, but it was a non-aggressive area and any aggressive riding would get you a two minute penalty. The bike course, was basically out of town for (roughly) sixteen miles, followed by two loops of a forty mile course and then the same sixteen miles back into town.
About 2.5 miles into the ride, I was cruising along nicely and feeling good. All of a sudden, my rear wheel hit something in the road and I almost lost control. I immediately knew that I had a flat, and pulled over to change it. Now, as I said earlier, I was riding with Zipp “deep-dish” wheels (clinchers). These wheels require a valve extender, which I had never used before. Fortunately, knowing I would be using these wheels, I watched a detailed video on Zipp’s website showing how to install the valve extenders.
It so happened that I stopped right by some volunteers who immediately made sure I was ok and then told me that they had a floor pump, which would make things far easier than my small hand pump. They also checked the road to clear whatever debris I had hit. I must say that, even though I was very angry and I am sure, cursing up a storm, the volunteers were nothing but helpful. It took me about three minutes to get the tire changed and ready to pump. By that point, the bike tech volunteer was on the scene in case I needed any technical help. She offered to put my wheel back on for me so I could avoid getting my hands greasy on the chain. This is where things began to go not-so-well.
As I got back on the bike and headed off, I wasn’t doing much shifting because I was on a flat portion of the course. However, as soon as I had to shift, my rear derailleur went crazy! Before I go on, I want to be clear that I in no way blame the bike tech who helped me. I think something just simply got bumped out of whack when the tire got changed. So, as I rode the derailleur was skipping gears and jumping back and forth on gears, and I didn’t have my best climbing gear at all. I was forced to stop probably five times to try to fix it by fine tuning. Eventually, after about fifty miles, it was reasonably fine.
The bike course at Ironman Wisconsin is hard. I say that not necessarily because it’s of any steep climbs or anything, but because it simply does not let up. From the time you hit the loop, and a bit before for that matter, the hills begin. there are a few hills that are substantial, and even a couple of great downhills (especially one at Garfoot Road where they have to place hay bales for crashes). There are ninety degree turns at the bottom of downhills that immediately go uphill, and hard turns at the top of climbs that keep climbing. The road conditions are not so fantastic. There is one stretch in particular that does it’s best to beat you to death for about three miles.
I am usually a very salty sweater and as such, when I ride, my sweat often drips onto the lenses of my sunglasses. This is annoying because it blurs my vision and is generally gross. The day was also turning out to be much hotter than I had thought. I heard someone say that it was about 85 F in the sun. As I hit the loop, the sweat began to hit my lenses, and I recall being annoyed. However, after about an hour of that I could all of a sudden see more clearly. I believed that this was because I was settling into a rhythm. In fact, it was my body slowing my sweating to a crawl. This is not good. I think I began to notice this about three or so hours into the bike, right about the time we picked up “Special Foods” bags. The bag pickup is when I noticed that I had not packed ANY ELECTROLYTES OR SALT. There were none in myT1 bag, and none in my bike “Special Needs” bag. So, I went into maintenance mode. I tried getting down as much Gatorade Endurance as possible, to no avail. I could only take in about one bottle every twenty minutes. I was also trying to get down water, but again, my stomach simply didn’t have the room.
At about mile 80 the leg cramps began. It started in such a way that I could simply ride out of the saddle for a bit and they would stop, but after a point, no matter which way I situated myself, my legs simply would not stop cramping. So, rather than get angry, I did my best to remain calm, pulled to the side of the road and sat on the ground with my legs in a neutral position until the cramps subsided. You may be asking why I didn’t stretch, and believe me, I tried that. The problem was, when I tried to stretch my hamstrings, my quadriceps would cramp and when I tried to stretch my quadriceps, my hamstrings would go into knots. So, neutral was the only way to go.
A bit more about the course; as you ride into the town of Verona, and it’s outskirts, there is an amazing, festival-like atmosphere. It is something akin to Alpe d’Huez in the Le Tour de France. There are people lining the climb, cheering you on, patting you on the back and messages of encouragement written in chalk on the road. Upon arriving in Verona, the cheers are deafening as you ride through the barricaded crowds. Again, simply amazing.
The ironic part of my bike leg is that after I bonked (and yes, I did in fact bonk. HARD), I was riding quite well. I think this was due to the act that to avoid complete shutdown of my muscles, I had to be efficient. This paid big dividends in terms of pace. There were more stops scattered throughout the rest of my ride, but again, I stayed calm and did what I had to do.
When we finally made the turn back toward Madison, I was feeling so elated, that I seemed to be ok for the majority of the ride in. Again, riding up the helix this time, was just as amazing. So much cheering from overhead and upon arriving to the dismount line, your bike was taken from you and the crowds went nuts! My bike time was 6:29:47 with an average speed of 17.2 mph. I must say that I added at LEAST 30 minutes to my bike split with all the stopping I did. That said, I am pretty proud of my actual riding. Nutrition, not so much.
As I got into T2, I knew that I needed to take sometime. I had put a Pedialyte in my transition bag specifically to replace electrolytes. I also asked the transition room volunteers if they had any salt. They had electrolyte tablets, which I welcomed. I took my time and kind of just sat there for a few collecting myself. Then I began the marathon.
As I headed out on the run, I was well aware that for me, this was rapidly becoming a race of
attrition. A volunteer was kind enough to point out the insane amount of salt that was coating my jersey and told me to make sure I got some salt in me. About 3 miles into the run, I saw Tory from Newton Running, and it was a much needed boost, not so much in pace or anything, just in morale. Tory ran with me for about a quarter of a mile, asking if I was doing ok and telling me I looked like I was doing well. This meant so much to me.
I decided early on in the run, that I would not run any of the uphills and I stuck to that. This was especially helpful because at about mile 5, I began to overheat. So, when I got to aid stations, which were located every mile, I stopped if I needed to. I just told to volunteers manning the stations that would be sitting down for a few minutes and not to worry, I was fine. After I began taking small breaks, I did a bit of run walk alternating. This seemed to work out ok. however, at about mile ten, I began having a hard time urinating (pardon the gross details). I knew that all I could do was to keep taking in chips and gatorade at the aid stations.
Annie and Bubba
The way the run course is set up, the half way point is right beside the finish line. As I got into the downtown area, near the finish/halfway point, I saw Kevin and Danielle for the first time since that morning. It was awesome! I felt so elated and happy to see them, and one of my dogs, Bubba. A bit further and closer to the finish, I again saw Tory with Tim this time. Tory, once again, made my day by walking with me for a bit and offering words of encouragement. I distinctly remember telling her that I was sorry for having to walk in a shoe that is the epitome of a running shoe!
I continued on to the turn around. On the way back I waved to Tory and Tim and saw Danielle and Kevin again. They informed me that J was about a mile behind me. I figured he’d catch me pretty soon since I was walking a lot. Sure enough, he caught me at about mile 14 or so. He was also having a rough go of it on the run. I would like to take a second to thank J for walking with me and stopping with me and waiting for me. It meant so much to have a friend there to talk to and with whom to commiserate. I can tell him a thousand times and he’ll never know how much that meant.
J and I walked together from about mile 14 until about mile 20. He wanted to see what his legs could do, and I was happy to let him at it. I continued to walk, eventually passing by a woman who asked me how much further we had to go. I told her about 4 miles and kept going. However, I noticed a distinct note of exhaustion in her voice and I told her to come and walk with me. She did, her name was Julie and we walked and talked for about the next two miles. Her husband had finished about the time J had. This too was her first Ironman and she was, like me having a hard time. It was again, so nice to have company to talk to. With about 2 miles to go, we began running. With about a 3/4 of a mile to go, I asked Julie if she wouldn’t mind if I went ahead. She was happy to oblige.
That last bit of the race went by in a flash. I know if was adrenaline and endorphins, but I felt like new. I approached the finish and felt overcome with so many feelings that to begin to describe them here would add another page to this report. Then I heard the words I had been waiting to hear. “Brandon Wood, you are an Ironman!”
On the day before our race, Saturday, September 12, 2009, J and I had decided to take advantage of the Gatorade Practice Swim. The practice swim was essentially a free swim of the course in Lake Monona and began at 7:00 AM.
For J, this marked a big step. Up to this point, he had done a couple of open water swims sans wetsuit, a couple of pool swims with wetsuit, and of course the requisite pool training. This would be the first time he was in the murky water of a lake, the same lake in which he would be covering 2.4 miles the next day.
Ironman Wisconsin Swim Course
So that he could get the hang of things, I stayed with him and we took our time going once around the loop. J quickly got the hang of the nature of swimming in the lake, which was something considering you could barely see your hand outstretched in front of you. Being that this was J’s first organized triathlon, I did my best to put him through his paces to try and demonstrate what may occur on race day. With him swimming straight ahead, I swam all around him, hitting his arms and torso, pulling on his legs and pushing him off course. If you’ve never been in a triathlon with a mass start or even several people starting at once, this is incredibly useful so that when race day comes, you’re not shocked at what goes on. Suffice it to say that J did an amazing job of keeping his cool.
After going around the loop once with J, I wanted to finish the distance (2.4 miles) and do the loop again myself, this time at my own “easy” pace. This loop also went well. I took it nice and even, making sure to work on sighting because we were in the water at roughly the same time we would be there the next day and the sun was presenting some major challenges. My time for that loop was about 29 minutes. This was a reasonably acceptable time for a practice swim, especially considering the water temperature was about five to ten degrees warmer than I could have like, though still wetsuit legal.
At 10:30 AM, I, along with some twitter buddies and people from this site, had planned to meet at the Newton booth in the expo. So, I swung back by our hotel to pick up Danielle and drop off J. We then headed back to the expo where a few of us met. Among those there were @triboomer, @nickjantz, @kevsbrtny and @chrisdandeneau. It was a lot of fun hanging out and taking a few minutes to get some pointers on the course from those more experienced than I. Danielle and I
Even in a picture she looks fast!
also got to spend some more time talking to the Newton folks where we both met Newton Co-Founder and CEO Jerry Lee. We also got to hang out more with Tory and pick her brain about all things running and triathlon. One thing you must know about Tory is that even standing still beside you, she looks like she could kick your ass in any race, any day.
After the meetup we headed back to our hotel to get some food and to get our bikes and transition bags ready for drop off which took place that afternoon from 10 AM to 3 PM. A little explanation of the “bag” situation; when you check in, in your race materials you are given five plastic, drawstring bags. They are designated as follows:
Bike Gear Bag (T1)
Bike Special Foods Bag
Run Gear Bag (T2)
Run Special Foods Bag
Morning Clothes Bag
The gear bags are pretty self-explanatory, holding whatever you need for your transitions. As for the “Special Foods” bags; these were not necessarily for food, but rather for whatever you think you may need halfway through the bike and again, halfway through the run. For instance, in my bike bag, I had an extra tube, in case I got a flat and was down to one tube with me on the bike (better safe than sorry!). The other thing in my “Special Foods” bags included: (Both) Chia, Probar, Beta-Alanine, Pepto chewables (run) Shot Blocks, Pedialyte. If you look closely, you can see an enormous problem I ran into during the race. As for my bike, I did a close inspection and a short ride to double check everything. I also removed my Speedfil since I’d be taking it with me in the morning.
The “Special Foods” bags did not have to be dropped off until race morning, so the transition bag drop off was rather easy. Just go the proper room and put your bag in the area for your number. The bike drop off was just as easy, although I did forget a bag to cover my handlebars to keep them dry overnight. Thankfully, Tory (bless you Tory!) came through with a plastic bag!!
I then headed back to the hotel to relax and do nothing. This sort of worked. J and our two other friends who were racing, JR and Cass, were going to drop off their gear and then go drive the bike course, which was a VERY necessary activity for this particular course. I decided to go with them and asked them to give me a call when they got back. They returned at about 4:45 PM and we headed out to drive the course.
Ironman Wisconsin Bike Course
I won’t go into too much detail of the course here because I will talk more about it in the next segment of my report. Suffice it to say that this course is much more difficult than you’d think. It’s not that the hills are so steep or huge, it’s just that they don’t stop. The course is beautiful, to be sure. Lot’s of rolling cornfields and plenty of cattle that I’m sure turned more than one stomach on race day! The drive took about two hours, to do one loop or the two loop course.
Once we got back to the hotel, it was time for food and rest. Danielle and I headed out for some dinner where I got a big grilled chicken salad. The whole day I had been hydrating with a 2:1 water to Gatorade mix, and I was worried that I’d have to up twenty times during the night to use the bathroom. Luckily, I only had to go once, and with my alarm set, it was time for bed.
Part III coming soon!
On Thursday, September 10, 2009 Danielle, myself and our friend J (and our 2 dogs, Annie & Bubba) left the confines of the tiny island of Manhattan at about nine o’clock pm EST. The drive was a fairly simple and straight forward one; take the New Jersey Turnpike South to I-80 and then drive West for what seemed like an eternity. Once past Chicago, we would head gradually Northwest eventually arriving in Madison, Wisconsin.
We had our SUV set up so that all of the luggage was shoved into one corner of the back end of the car and piled to the ceiling. This left plenty of room for whoever was riding in the back to either lay down and sleep (fully stretched out) or ride sitting up in the back seat. With this layout we were able to alternate drivers and drive through the night arriving in Madison at about 1 PM.
Monona Terrace
Upon arrival, we checked in to our hotel and decided to shower and relax for a few before heading down to Monona Terrace, which was the staging are for the whole event. When we did decide to go check in, we only got slightly lost on the way. Also, on the way, I got a call from Helen Manning, media relations director for Ironman. I contacted her several months ago to see if I could sing the National Anthem at the race start. She was calling now, to ask me to sing the anthem at the athlete dinner/briefing (about 4 hours from then!!). I said that I would have to call her back after I had a chance to warm up because, driving through the night, halfway across the country is not the greatest thing for my voice.
The first thing I did was drop off my bike with the guys from Race Day Wheels, so that my shiny new Zipps could be put on and my cassette swapped out. Just a little fyi, I was riding a Zipp 808 in the front and a Zipp 1080 in the back (clinchers).
After dropping off my bike we headed inside to wait in line for check in. The first step was to check in with USAT (U.S. Triathlon’s governing body). J had forgotten his USAT card, but fortunately they were set up to be able to look up the USAT numbers of people that had forgotten. This part was pretty quick and painless and upon getting stamped we were instructed to double-check our bib number and head to the next stop to pick up all the legal mumbo-jumbo that goes along with participating in an event where you’re pushing your body (i.e. waivers).
Getting waivers was also pretty fast and painless, and we then went into the big line to get weighed and pickup all of our race stuff (numbers, chips, caps, etc.). For one reason or another, J’s info was nowhere near filled out on his forms and he was ushered to the “solutions” line, where they fixed the issue. We were checked in and on our way.
In the expo area, I headed right over to the Newton booth (are you surprised?) to meet some of the people I have been in touch with but have never actually met in person! The first person I said “hi” to was the guru of all things customer service, Tory Oakland! We only spoke briefly because I had to get back to warm up and go pick up my bike and I would also be at the expo the next day for a Twitter/Brandon’s Marathon/Facebook meetup for which the Newton booth was the meeting place.
J and I headed to grab my bike and had some extra time so we walked around and found some food (a really delicious sandwich place called Milio’s). As we were waiting for the bike to be done after eating, we were met by @nickjantz who I knew was racing and was planning on being at the meetup the next day. We got the chance to hang out for a few until my bike was ready and to trade results and basically be tri-geeks for a bit.
After a short-ish wait, we grabbed my bike and headed back to the hotel for me to warm up (vocally) and to get ready for the athlete’s dinner. I decided after a short warm up that I would be fine to sing and called Helen back to let her know. After taking a couple minutes to sit down, I got dressed and headed out the door for the dinner.
I arrived at the dinner and met with Heather, another of the media relations people with Ironman who gave me a cool “V.I.P.” wristband. I should have seen where else it could’ve gotten me, but oh well! I wanted to wait until after the dinner to eat anything because I didn’t want anything to throw an extra wrench in the works. After waiting for about ten minutes, I headed to the stage with the color guard presenting the flag. Now, I am used to singing in front of a lot of people, but the flag always gets me and I was in front of about 4,000 people, many of whom would be sharing my pain two days later, so, I was a bit nervous. The Anthem went fine and, all things considered, I felt good about it.
We then sat through a presentation of about an hour or so. This was where they gave us a run down of rules and such. It was a very well produced presentation which included many cheers and a few tears. Soon enough, we were out and on our way back to the hotel.
I never did get anything to eat at the dinner, but my wife was all over it and got me some wings! So, I was full and ready for bed!
Stay tuned for Day 2!
[mappress]
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Thanks so much for visiting my site! My name is Brandon Wood and I am the social media manager and a customer service rep for Newton Running. This site and podcast follow my adventures on the way to competing in and training for all kinds of endurance events, especially triathlon and running. Click the "About Me" tab for more info!
Who: This contest is open to anyone and everyone in the U.S. and Canada (also APO)! Tell your friends!
What: Stuffitts! I have spoken about these simple yet awesome shoe savers in the past. Click here to read more about them. I cannot say enough how great they are!
When: Starting NOW! This is an ongoing contest that will be every month, or until every person on the planet has nice, fresh smelling shoes!
Why: Because Stuffitts are awesome! The folks at Stuffitts are being SUPER generous and I also want to give you guys something that I think is a great addition to any athletes arsenal!
How: On the last podcast episode post of each month (example: Episode 99 on June 28 HERE) entrants should leave a comment (however long you'd like). On the following week's show (the first show of each month) I will draw, by random number generator, one winner! That's it!
Good luck!
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