Attitude at Altitude

Back in the Ironman game

2011-09-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's almost been a year since I've posted anything here. It's been a down year in terms of the amount of racing I've done but that has been very intentional. Lots has gone on this year, mostly all good, but Ironman was not on the table as a result. I'm back in for 2012 and have my sights on Kona again. We're less than 2 weeks away from this event and I have an empty feeling inside because I won't be there. Stupid I know, but that's where I'm at. I'll start writing a bit more and give a 2011 recap.

Ironman World Championship 2010

2010-10-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

What a fun day! I had a goal of racing sub 10 hours regardless of conditions. I was so close last year finishing in 10:03+ so I thought this was quite doable with the experience I gained from 2009. Read below to see how the day went.

Pre-Race

I woke up my usual 3 hrs early to get some food in the system. I took a shower. I know it seems strange that I'd take one knowing I'm going to sweat all day but it refreshes me and helps me get going. Not being a coffee drinker, this gets me going. I went down to the race area and got marked. I went into the hotels internet cafe and just relaxed in there for a while. I was trying to stay off my feet as much as possible. Around 6:30, I went down to the transition area and sat there until 6:50 before heading to the beach. I went in, looked around to truly appreciate the crowds and competitors and then swam out to the race start.

The Swim

This years rules changed so that we couldn't wear a speedsuit. I had no idea how this would affect me but guessed it should be the same for everyone. I just wore my tri-shorts with no top and was ready to roll! Unlike last year, I started well to the left of the pier. I had been bruised and battered during the early part of the swim in 2009 and was looking to avoid that this time around. The gun went off and I was surprised by how much clean water I had in front of me. I was drafting others and not getting beat up. I was feeling great! About 10 minutes into the swim, a huge group all got together. We beat the heck out of each other for about 20 minutes plus. It was slow going but I stayed focused and just took the beating while moving forward. At the turnaround, things started to spread out. I tried my best to draft but wasn't doing so well with it. I swam solo most the way back and unfortunately, there was a current we were swimming directly into. While it's the same for everyone, it's still hard. Unlike last year, I came out of the water feeling GREAT and I was about 2 minutes faster than last year in 1:13:12. I was in 1017th place after the swim. I am a TERRIBLE swimmer!!

I had practiced this a little because I knew I'd have to put a dry jersey on a wet body. I'd never done this before because I've always worn my full triathlon kit under my wetsuit or speedsuit. Everything went as planned and I got out of transition in 3:07.

The Bike

I jumped on the bike and felt pretty good right away. Rather than hammer away right out of the gate, I went into an easy ring. I did this for the first few minutes to make sure I was settled before the short climb up Kuakini Hwy. Once on Kuakini, I put it in a gear that was not giving away any speed but not beating my legs. After the turnaround on Kuakini, I was flying. I was also incredibly relaxed. I was more relaxed for this race than I have been at any of the 6 previous Ironman distance races I've been in. It felt kind of weird not being all worked up. There was a slight tailwind with the downhill from Kuakini.. Everyone was motoring so my concern was to not get caught up in someones poor bike handling skills that could take me out early. The bike was really uneventful for the first 30 miles. I was taking in my nutrition at regular intervals with no issues. About that time, I was coming up on a small group of riders. There were 6-8 of them riding legally and I figured I would pass them over the course of the next mile. Right as I came up on the guy in the back, a group of 10-15 guys who were not riding very legal boxed me in. At this point, I was full on drafting the three guys riding three abreast at the front of the group so I immediately hit the brakes. Doing so had all those other guys spring past me. I was trying to stay legal and doing a good job of it but was now going pretty slow. The group ahead were jockeying back and forth, out of the saddle....just hammering. I knew I needed to get past them but these guys weren't the type to let someone pass easily. I saw an opening that was created when the original group of 6-8 guys got passed by the group of 10-15. I hammered past them and tucked in to a legal position between the two groups. I gave myself a couple of minutes to get my heart rate where it needed to be then hit the gas to get past them. I got past all but 3 of them. Those last 3 were not going to let me go. 2 of those 3 guys got penalties over the next 3 miles. I have to say, one of them was a tough call because he was trying to pass someone then got blocked. The guy blocking got no penalty but the guy who didn't (couldn't) pass got nailed. I was now past this big group and only focused on passing individual riders and small groups ahead. As I made the turn to climb to Hawi around mile 41, I was feeling good. There was no wind and no whitecaps on the water so I was thinking this could be an easy climb. I made sure I was up on nutrition after riding harder than I wanted to get past that earlier group. Everything changed 2 miles later. There weren't whitecaps in the water. It was more like waves. I had my bike completely leaning toward the water to stay upright. The wind was relentless. I was in the small ring on the front and needing all of my gears on the back to keep moving forward. There wasn't a whole lot of passing now. I was just trying to keep my HR at a reasonable level until the turnaround. About 2 miles before the turnaround at Hawi, the wind eased. It did pick right back up on the descent but I did much better with it than on the trip up. I ended up getting past a lot of people who were upright and nervous. Once at the bottom of the climb, I was feeling really fresh. I didn't go hard but went at a pace to keep my speed up but not pushing hard enough to damage the legs for the run. There was a head wind the final 30 miles but nothing too bad. Living in Colorado has made that type of wind the norm so I just focused on getting calories in for the upcoming run. There were no issues the rest of the ride and I made it back to T2 with a bike time of 5:12:39. The ride was pretty drama free except for that short section where I was trying to avoid drafting. My time was slightly faster than last year and I passed 437 people during those 112 miles. I was now in 580th place..

I came into transition and just let my bike fly off to a volunteer as I was trying to save every second possible. I had a little issue with the tongue of my shoe but got through that and headed out to the run feeling AMAZING. My T2 time was 2:49.

The Run

The run was where I hoped to pull back the majority of those 3+ minutes from last year to break 10 hours. I had never felt so good starting an Ironman run as I did on this day. While not 100% fresh, my legs were completely underneath me. No Ironman shuffle or anything like that. I was able to immediately start running like I would on any other day. I was running most of my miles in the low 7 minute range (don't pay attention to those run splits or Ironmanlive...they were quite inaccurate). I was really focused on a solid first 10 miles. This is by far the fastest section of the run. It is completely flat and there is a good breeze off the ocean before you head out to the Queen K Highway. It really helps keep the core temperature down. I hit the 10 mile mark feeling pretty good. I was determined to run out of town better than I did in 2009. This happens just after the 10 mile mark. I took me over 11 minutes for that particular mile last year. Not only did I run it that slow, I was beat down and it took a couple of miles to get back into a good rhythm. Not this year. I ran up the hills well focusing on my cadence. While climbing Palani was tough, I managed to run that same tough mile in 8:24 this time. It was way slower than any mile I had run so far, but a lot faster than 2009 and I still felt pretty good. This was very encouraging. I continued to keep checking my internal systems to make sure I wasn't losing cadence and keeping fueled. I would count my cadence at least once per mile for a minute and I was holding the same turnover. The conditions were pretty good. While still hot, there was this cloud cover that would come and go throughout the run. I tend to do well in the heat so when we'd have longer stretches of direct sun, I'd end up passing a lot of people. When the clouds would come out, I'd just kind of hold my position. I started to feel the effects of the day around the 13 mile mark. Nothing drastic. Just some fatigue in my hamstrings. It was a reminder that this was not easy! My cadence was still the same but the push off wasn't quite as strong. I had no issues for the remaining miles into the Natural Energy Lab. It was pretty hot down there and I passed a lot of people even though I was slowing down. After the climb out of there, I was feeling good but ready to be done. The legs were achy and wanting to stop but I never did. I'm proud to say I never stopped the entire marathon...not even to walk an aid station. I was taking in all the volunteers energy and hopefully giving back some of my own with high fives and hang loose signs. They were fantastic the entire day. I hit mile 24 and all of a sudden, things weren't feeling so good. The left hamstring was really tight. This went on for the next 15 minutes or so but eased up to the point where I was loose and running well. That was the only excitement of the entire run. Here are my run splits. Miles 1 and 2 are combined because I forgot to hit the lap button out of transition.
1.14:40          8.   7:13         15. 7:50       22. 7:59
2.           9.   7:22         16. 6:35       23. 7:53
3. 7:11          10. 7:28         17. 7:43       24. 8:39
4. 6:59          11. 8:24         18. 7:32       25. 8:38
5. 7:00          12. 6:51         19. 7:48       26. 6:59
6. 7:11          13. 7:20         20. 7:59       .2    1.22
7. 7:11          14. 7:39         21. 7:45

Signaling to my family watching me back home

I ended up running the marathon in 3:17:55 passing another 256 people in the process. This had me finish in 9:49:42, 13:44 faster than 2009! Overall, I had a good but not great day. I do consider my run to be great for my standards. This was a run PR in an Ironman by almost 8 minutes. I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Wrap Up

I look at this race as real boring as far as things happening out of the ordinary during the race. There was no spot where I was in a real bad place that I had to pull myself from. That doesn't mean it wasn't very hard. It was and I had to dig deep at various parts of the race. That's expected and had been planned for so it was very normal in that sense. I enjoyed race day much more than last year. Having done it before, I knew a lot of what to expect. I was able to enjoy the crazy groups of spectators, the energetic volunteers, men hammering so a woman wouldn't pass them, and most importantly the amazing group of athletes that I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to race against. This is a race I would love to be able to do every year. I had to go without my family so I had an empty feeling the entire week as well as post race. They are such a big part of this journey and to not have them there took a lot away from it. For that reason, I am done racing Ironman as far as I can tell. Unless we come into a bunch of money to bring the entire family over, I'm going to go for some different things here in Colorado. It's been a great ride. I raced my first Ironman at Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2005 in 11:52+. Since then, I've been able to take over 2 hours off that time at the World Championship. With the help of a great group of friends and an incredibly supportive family, I've been able to race in the pinnacle event of our sport in Hawaii twice. Hopefully I'll be back some day but if not, I have no regrets.

I'm as ready as I'm gonna be

2010-09-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm counting down the days until I race the Ironman World Championship. I'm 11 days out and feeling good. I am in a different place than I was last year. Last year, I had what I feel is more endurance going into the race. I have had to alter a lot of my longer runs and rides the past 6 weeks. Illness with the family and family obligations have put triathlon well down my priority list. The good news is that I've got significantly more speed going into the race in all 3 disciplines. Speedsuits aren't allowed in the swim so that part could be a wash. My run is a heck of a lot faster. I've managed to race PR's in the 10k, 10 mile and 1/2 marathon this season so I'm looking good there. My bike speed is a little faster than at this point last year. Lets see how that compensates for the overall endurance being a bit down. Can't wait to find out.

American Discovery Trail 1/2 Marathon

2010-09-06T12:34:00.001-07:00

I raced my final race today before Ironman World Championships in Hawaii next month. This was a test to see where I am with my running. The number one goal was to run a sub 1:20. After last months sub one hour 10 miler, I thought this was doable. The race was less than 20 minutes from the house so it made it easy logistically. I got there early to make sure I got a parking spot in a nearby lot and just read the newspaper until 5 minutes before race time. I quickly lined up on the front row then got ready to go. I wanted to go out controlled the first mile. The course has some gradual downhill that makes it pretty easy to do something stupid like go too hard. I wanted to go out smart because I had gone a bit to fast the first 2 miles of the 10 miler and felt it hurt me with my overall time. The race started and I was immediately in the front. I felt like I was holding back but wasn't quite sure as I was in the lead which is something I'm definitely not used to. I came through the first mile in 6:11. I wasn't looking at my splits on the watch as I came through the early miles. This was a conscious decision as I tend to get caught up in the pace. This causes me to tense up and end up going slower. I planned to check my splits at 6 miles to see where I was. I continued on in the lead until mile 3. At that point, a runner came up on me and sat a step behind me for the next mile. After that, he came alongside me. I found myself racing now instead of just running a nice consistent pace. When he would pick it up, I'd match his pace. This would end up hurting my overall time. I had no intention of doing this but then again, I had no idea I would have a chance to win. There aren't a lot of opportunities like that for this old fart so racing became the priority. At mile 6, I checked my split and it showed 37:02. That meant I was 26 seconds behind the pace I needed to get my sub 1:20. I still felt really good so I felt I could bump up the pace a little to go for my goal. We ran the next 2 miles in 12:05. There was a short downhill in that general area and I picked up about 3 seconds on my competition. From that point on, I just gradually pulled away from him. I came through the next 2 miles in 12:04.

At this point, I was 5k from the finish and was confident I would win so the main goal was to get that sub 1:20. The next mile was 5:56 and I had to work harder than I wanted to get it. Those early mini surges to match pace with the competition was starting to have a negative impact on how I was feeling. The next mile was 6:18. Ouch. I would have to dig deep to get this PR. Mile 13 was a 5:48 with a sprint to the final .1 (probably not much of one as I was pretty tired) to the finish to get my time of 1:19:50. This was a PR by well over 3 minutes. I ended up with my goal time AND the win. I am excited to get both but most excited with where my run is going into Kona.

Click here for a link of my post race comments.http://pikespeaksports.us/video/neal-oseland-of-colorado

Top 10 Ten Mile Race-Late.....

2010-09-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here's another late race report. It's a shorter one. I did the Top 10 ten mile run on August 7th. I did this as a run to see where my fitness was going into the ADT half marathon a month later. I wanted to break 1:20 at the half and this would help me see where I was in accomplishing that goal. I felt anything under an hour would have me right where I needed to be. The race started on a track. After the gun went off, we started around the track but there were no volunteers to turn us onto the road so the lead group of 10 runners went the wrong way. Only a couple of seconds lost but confusion in the first 1/4 mile is not good. My fellow Team Aquaphor athlete, Nathan McCrary went out hard and as a result, so did I. I definitely did not feel good only 1/2 mile into the race. I continued on and eventually caught Nathan who was still looking strong around the 2.5 mile mark. We ran near each other and then a gap slowwwwwly started started to develop. That guy is so strong and I felt the rest of the race like he was right behind me. I checked my watch for the first time at the five mile mark and it showed 29:09. While I was well under pace to break an hour, I felt terrible and was unsure if I could even hold pace to break that hour mark. I ran miles 6,7,8 and 9 in 5:57, 6:08, 6:10 and 6:02. The final mile had me side by side with another racer who had caught up with me so I dug deep to hold my position. We ran together until we hit the finish on the Colorado College track. 2 loops and then the finish. I started to sprint with 300 and gapped him by 7 seconds. To be honest, this was the best sprint I had ever had so gapping a great runner like him was unexpected but welcome. I ended up running the final mile in 5:39 for a final time of 59:06. My teammate Nathan finished lest than a minute behind me for a good Team Aquaphor showing!

This was an all time PR of 5:43 so I was really pleased with the result. I ended up 8th overall and 1st place master. I felt this had me on the right track for my sub 1:20 next month with proper training.

A VERY late race report...Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2010

2010-08-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

Goals-The number one goal for this race was to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. I trained to race a sub 9:40 as I felt that would guaranty me a spot in Kona. The biggest part of meeting that goal would be to run a sub 3:10 marathon off the bike. I had spent a ton of time and energy preparing to execute this. All my markers along the way showed me this was possible but I’d need to execute the run to perfection while coming in feeling good off the bike. I set the bar high for myself but felt confident I could accomplish all these goals. At the same time, I respect the distance and the competition so much that I was not going to take anything for granted. This also had the potential of being my last Ironman. Due to a variety of factors, if I didn’t qualify for Kona, this would be it. I didn’t want the last one to be a qualifier. I wanted the last one to be the big one. That was a serious motivation.

Race morning started off pretty normal. After a GREAT nights sleep, I woke up and got breakfast going. I threw the last remaining race items in the car and made the 25 minute trek from Spokane to Coeur d’Alene. Having done this race in the past, I knew of a little neighborhood right near the venue that people overlook when parking. I found a spot 2 minutes from transition and got going. I did a final check on the bike then dropped off my special needs bike bag. I went back to the car and just chilled out reading a book until 6:30.

The Swim

With the swim being my big limiter, I wanted to do something that kept me within reach of the people I would be competing against for a Kona spot. I lined up about 25 yards to the right of the buoys. I was in the first 5 rows of athletes. Most athletes were 50 yards to the right of the buoys so I was hoping this might help me avoid getting beat up. The gun went off and I immediately settled into a nice rhythm. The group I was swimming near wasn’t too big so I was able to swim without a lot of contact. There were plenty of drafting partners so I focused on that. I felt like I was swimming well. I was very comfortable and liked the speed the drafting was allowing me to maintain. I completed the first lap and went to check my Timex to see my split. The dang watch had reset itself so it didn’t take a split. Off I went to the second loop with most swimmers behind me. The water was pretty clear of swimmers. I had a difficult time finding someone with comparable speed the draft with. I felt this cost me some time but I focused on my stroke and came through the swim just fine for my standards. I finished 46th in my age group, 292nd overall for the swim.

Swim 1:07:00

The Bike

My goal for the bike was too ride a comfortable pace with a ride time of around 5:15. The beginning of the bike was a challenge. The race had so many more people entered since the last time that the course was extremely congested. I was focusing on not getting a penalty. The groups were so large the first 10 miles that it was challenging to pass them all at once but I managed to do it and get clear of them. Around the 17 mile mark, I came up on a sharp right hand turn. I was in the process of a gear shift when I came up quickly on 3 riders who were all hitting their brakes going into the turn. I got out of my aero bars the make sure I didn’t have an incident with them. As I made the turn, I stood up to get past them. Well, I had never completed my shift before the turn so when I got out of the saddle, I jacked up my drive train. I was now unable to move the chain up to my 53 on the front. I was stuck in my 39. The good news was that the bike still moved forward. The bad news was I had a decision to make. Manually put the chain on the 53 and ride the non-stop hills in a big gear or stay in the 39 losing precious time on the back side of the climbs? After 2 miles of consideration and 2 stops to see what exactly the problem was, I decided to go big. 53 tooth on the front for 95 miles. The bike was a pretty calm affair. I didn’t panic when I had the mechanical. I didn’t get excited when I passed people. I just tried to stay relaxed and businesslike. The first steep hill is preceded by a nice descent. Knowing I didn’t have the right gearing combo, I decided to push that descent so I could utilize the momentum of it up the hill. This worked very well. The hill wasn’t that bad. I did this whenever I could. I never coast a descent but I truly pushed it to gain that length up the hill. It seemed to work as I was passing people climbing even in a less than optimal gear. I finished the first loop feeling pretty good but not as good as I would have like in the quad area. Clearly, I was mashing based on my gearing but that was the choice I made and had to live with. The hills had taken a small toll but it could have been much worse. I just told myself to hold it together and not do anything stupid. Steady, steady, steady. I did just that and came through the second loop having passed 221 of those 291 people that started ahead of me. My quads however had worked harder than I would have liked. They were fatigued and now I had to run 26.2 miles. I finished the bike with the 5th fastest bike split in my age group, 45th overall.

Bike 5:09:39

The Run

After stopping during the first mile to relieve myself, I got in a decent rhythm. My original goal was to run a sub 3:10 marathon. To do that, I would have needed to come off the bike fresher than I was. I knew right away that this goal was not feasible after what happened on the bike. My quads were fatigued to the point that the goal was just to run 26.2 without walking. I was running well. Most miles were within 10 seconds of each other. I was just waiting for total quad failure but it wasn’t coming. 8,9,10 miles….still going well. It wasn’t until the 15th mile where the quads just gave out. I didn’t have a gradual fade. I immediately started running a minute per mile slower. Too my surprise, I was able to maintain that pace. Each mile got progressively worse. I was in the belief that my legs were going to buckle from underneath me at any point. The muscles just weren’t holding up. At mile 24, my friends wife had told me I had ran into 2nd place in my age group. I would have liked to have upped the pace to make sure it stayed that way but I was physically incapable of it. With ½ a mile to go, I heard someone coming up from behind. Crap, he was in my age group. I tried for 1/10th of a mile to stay with him. At that point, he took off in a sprint. I tried to sprint but my pace didn’t change at all. He managed to put over 30 seconds on me during that final 4/10’s of a mile. At 150 yds out, I slowed to high five the crowd and soak it all in. I knew no one else was behind me and that my Kona slot was in the bag so I just enjoyed my finish.

Run 3:26:36

Final time 9:48:27

I feel VERY lucky to have been able to qualify for Kona. I feel lucky in the sense that my bike issue could have made it so I couldn’t ride. The fact that I was able to continue in any kind of gear was a huge break for me. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’d rather be lucky than good….luck is more fun. Training now starts for my final Ironman race. I don’t have my goals laid out yet but I’m very excited to compete against the best in the world. I truly consider it an honor to be able to toe the line with these amazing athletes. That being said, I intend to do my part and suffer, hoping that I’m putting the hurt to others in the process. We’ll see!!!

It's been a while......

2010-08-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'm back after a long hiatus. I've been doing plenty of endurance sport but not much endurance writing. I'll try to get better with that! Since I last posted, I have been training a lot. Over the years, I have changed from training to race to racing to train. I love to race but love the training so much more. Racing just gives my training a focus. In May, I raced an altitude PR at the BolderBoulder 10k in 36:06. That was pretty exciting as this race used to have my number. I got to enjoy the race with my 12 year old who ran her first 10k. That made it a truly great day. The main goal for this season was to qualify for Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. I was fortunate enough to do so at Ironman Coeur d'Alene so Hawaii training has been the focus. Training has been good but I have to be honest, my head hasn't always been where it needs to be. I am so geeked up to do the Leadville 100 Trail Run next year that I find myself getting ahead of myself. With the race being held over the past weekend, I'm more in that mindset than ever. We''ll see how that hampers things. I raced a 10 mile race a few weeks back in a PR of 59:06. I was pretty pleased with the result since it came during a high volume week. Anyway, I'm having fun training and preparing for Hawaii. I have race reports for IM Coeur d'Alene and the 10 mile race that I'll post in the next couple of days.

Plans for 2010

2010-02-08T15:55:00.000-08:00

2010 is a transition year for me. It will be my last year of Ironman racing for a long time, if not forever. I love the sport but want to do some new things. Specifically, I want to race the Leadville 100 trail run. That's the goal in 2011. That being said, I can't wait for this years races. The goal is to qualify for Ironman World Championships again. I'll make my attempt in early summer. Along the way, I'll be doing some road races and shorter triathlons. The only events I know I'm doing are:

Winter Series-races 3 (10 miles) and 4 (20k) Feb13th and 27th
BolderBoulder 10k on Memorial Day-50,000 people do it. Great event.

Other than that, I'll just play it by ear. I want to find some longer events to really test my long distance endurance early in the season. I'm racing the 10 mile Winter Series event here in the Colorado Springs area on Saturday. Normally, I wouldn't think anything of it. This is different because it will be the first time I've raced since Hawaii in early October 2009. It's the longest I've gone without racing in 10+ years so I'm a little unsure of what to expect. I'm just hoping it will be business as usual but I can honestly say, I'm a little intimidated. I shouldn't be with my experience but I just respect the distance and effort it takes to succeed. After my Ironman qualifying attempt this summer, I'll have a better idea of what the second half of the year will look like.

Back to Business

2010-01-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

I'm back in the groove. Consistent training has again entered my life. After racing in Hawaii last October, I tried to carry over some of that fitness for a bit. I wanted to race the Rock Canyon 1/2 Marathon in Pueblo, Colorado in early December and race it well. Well, my body had other plans and I got sick the week prior. Major bummer as I had held off on taking a proper off season in preparation for this race. That kind of forced me into my off season. I didn't like it initially. The routine of early wake ups was hard to let go of. Eventually, I got used to the extra sleep. Unfortunately, I got used to the lack of discipline with my eating. Let's just say, I wasn't real picky with what I put in my body for those 6 weeks. Between the strength workouts and reduced workout time, I fully planned to put on some weight. I now sit about 10 pounds heavier than my race weight in Kona. The wait gain was by design but not quite that much! The good thing is that it will be easy to get rid of now that I have some consistency back in my workout life. Even though I was enjoying some down time, I made sure to get at least one 3 hour workout in each week. This was intended to help me to ease into higher volumes down the road. These 3 hours were aerobic in nature but extremely beneficial. I got on the bike for 4 hours this morning. Even thought the weather is the warmest we've seen in months, I was forced to to hit the trainer as I had to get into work. The workout was fantastic. I felt better than expected and I pushed the upper end of my aerobic threshold. Very encouraging. I'm looking forward to a better season than 2009. I'll touch on my 2010 plans in a future post.

Training with friends

2009-11-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

Glenn and Derek at the end of a run

One of the things I love about this sport is the amount of time it allows me to spend with my friends. I get to spend big blocks of time talking family, sport, religion, etc. It's an easy way to forge a strong bond. Another part of it I enjoy is watching my friends work towards and endurance sport goal. They all do it differently. They do it in a way that best meets the needs of their talents. I have three friends that are racing Ironman Arizona on November 22nd. They have all trained very well. They all have different goals. They are all excited. My friend Glenn Strebe it doing his 4th Ironman. We did our first one together at IM Coeur d'Alene in 2005. I've seen his training for the his 3 and I think this is his best block yet. It hasn't come without some challenges. He had a torn achilles during the training. This has severely hampered his run training. It did get him on the bike a lot more and he has had a TON of success with that. I look for him to have his best IM yet. My buddy Kevin Dessart is an Ironman veteran. He been the first place age grouper twice at IM Arizona with multiple IM Hawaii finishes. He's had some challenges with a new job and 3 young kids in activities. At the end of the day, this guy is a mental rock and look for him to do some damage. He and I trained a lot over the summer and he pushed me to a higher level. Finally, my friend Derek Kirkham is racing his 2nd Ironman. He's a complete stud on the bike and his run has turned into an equally powerful weapon. He is one who is capable of even more than he thinks. He's pretty much the leanest man alive. My point with this is that I've been able to train with these guys over the years and recent months. I've seen their goals of the past and the future and feel lucky to share in it with them. In the process, I've been able to get to know these and many others I never would have if not for the common bond of endurance sports.

How this all started (and where it's taken me) Part 2

2009-11-07T04:30:00.000-08:00

I wrote about my start in endurance sports here in a post a couple of months ago. I wanted to write about where this has taken me. What this passion has done for me has had many positive benefits. The obvious are the physical benefits I enjoy. I always feel good. I never get sick. I don't have any aches, pains, etc. that accumulate when one is unhealthy. This lifestyle has been a good example for my kids. They all want to "be like Daddy" and are all active in sports. They run, swim and my oldest bikes. I think it's set a good foundation for their future. This has taken me to a new confidence level. I mentioned in my previous post that I had a parent who consistently told me that I wasn't good at things. Well, the result of this was a lack self esteem that pretty much stayed with me until I started with the endurance sports lifestyle. Not long after I started doing these sports, I started accomplishing things that very few people do. It was probably in the late 90's, early 2000's or so when I started to see some success in the endurance sports world. I started to develop a self confidence that carried over to my professional life. I don't think it's any coincidence that I started to achieve high levels of success in my job right after achieving high levels of success in sport. This made me a better husband, father and friend because I was reaching goals on a consistent basis. I just felt better about myself. It helped me realized that my lack of self esteem was given to me by someone else. It took 30+ years but I had finally realized that self esteem needs to come from within and I'd let this mean person dictate how I felt about myself. Every day, A new level of success was being reached whether in sports, work or life in general. As a result of all of this, my life today has balance. I don't miss my kids events. I never call into work sick. I spend time with my friends. I train. All of these things are important to me within the balance of my family life. The sport aspect is the outlet that keeps me mentally fresh from the things we all deal with that can knock us down. It's my tool that allows me to get back up.

Ironman World Championship 2009

2009-10-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Whew....what a day! Everything I've ever done in endurance sports was done with an eye on this race. Getting there took a lot of learning, training, sacrifice and support. Now that I was finally there, it was just about racing.

Pre-Race

My race morning was pretty normal. I woke up 3 hours prior to the start and ate, drank, cleared myself out, etc. I went down to body marking early so I could get back to my room to just chill out. My buddy Aaron, who came out to vacation and support my race effort, came down from where he was staying. We left my condo at 6:15 to the race start. After getting through the crowds, I entered the water about 6:50. It was at this point that the enormity of the event hit me. Treading water with the thousands of people lined up on the pier and sea wall had an energy I've never experienced. I took it all in and just went into race mode, blocking out everything.

The Swim

I started out on the right hand side. Being a weak swimmer, I was getting pummeled early and often. I was convinced my nose was bleeding after the 2nd of what I swear was a kick from a breastroke. I just fought through it trying to catch some feet that were going my pace. At about the .8 mile mark, I started to feel nautious from the swells that picked up further out. Around one mile, I actually stopped, pulled off to the side and puked. Kid on a surfboard actually said, "dude, that's nasty". Even as bad as I felt, I found the humor in that comment. This was however, extremely embarassing for someone who spent 4 years in the Navy and lived in Huntington Beach for 20+ years. Yep, my friends have been relentless with the mocking since race day. After my little episode, I eased back into the swimming to make sure I didn't get sick again. I was nervous now knowing I was behind on fluids and calories. I felt just o.k. the rest of the swim and survived in 1:15:19, over 11 minutes slower than when I qualified in Arizona. I was currently in 1180th place and not feeling very good after that trainwreck of a swim.

T1

My time in the transition tent was actually pretty quick. The problem I had is that my shoes were clipped to my bike rather than in my transition bag. I did this to speed out of T1. I went out of the tent and came up on three people who came out of T1 in their bike shoes. They were running side by side and I couldn't get around them. They weren't moving too fast so it was almost a walk. I ended up with a 3:44 transition.

The Bike

I normally don't take fluids or calories for the first 30 minutes of anything over an olympic distance race. My stomach just doesn't handle anything well if I take anything sooner. After my episode during the swim, I knew I didn't have that luxury. I started sipping water off my aero bottle for the first couple of minutes before taking a gel 5 minutes in. I absorbed it well and started to pick off a ton of people. The first 20 miles or so was either dead calm or had a significant tail wind. There were a ton of drafting marshalls. I was the guy doing the passing so I had no issues but I saw A LOT of penalties being handed out. It was funny watching the packs up ahead of me spread out as soon as that motorcycle would get near and how they would bunch up as soon as it left. I left nothing to chance and just went a little harder near these groups to get clear of any potential problems with the drafting police. Being in 1180th place left a lot of people to chase and chase I did. I had passed hundreds early on. I felt great, my rotation of gels then Accelerade were going down extremely well and I felt pretty cool despite the heat. I was in racing mode, not deferring to anyone I saw on the bike. Once the road tipped up toward Hawi, the heat took a turn. They say it went from mid 80's on that first section to mid 90's and I'm not going to argue it. It was crazy hot. I was just focusing on heat management at this point, not wanting to blow. I didn't pass as many people going up as a result but I wasn't getting passed either. After the turn, I went for my special needs bag....oops, it wasn't there. I had planned on it not being there and what I would do. It only had nutritional item in it, a 32oz bottle of Accelerade. Accelerade is great for me due to it's caloric density and how my gut takes it. Gatorade hits my gut harder but the new plan was to just deal with it. Coming down the hill was quite interesting. It was windy but my Zipp 808 combo did very well. The interesting part was the amount of people up in their bars. I hadn't seen this yet but I'd see a lot more of it the rest of the race. Seeing how I was passing people got me fired up. I had the Ricky Bobby line "Engage" go through my head and I just started hammering past people. This was really fun! Anyway, I went down the hill and back out to the Queen K. To say the conditions were different now would be an understatement. The wind was directly in my face for the final 30+ miles. Pure carnage out there with people in their $10,000 setups sitting up on their bars. I was able to stay aero the entire time so while my speed slowed considerably, I was riding well compared to those around me and that's all I had to go on. I finished the bike with pretty good legs and felt ready to run. My final bike split was 5:14:12. I had passed 677 people and was now in 503rd place.

T2

The final 5 miles of the bike had me knowing I'd need to hit the port a john for a #2 so I took care of that. It was basically a sauna in that thing. Anyway, I got my run stuff and went out after a slow transition due to the stop. T2 time 4:30.

The Run

This is the part I looked forward to the most. I felt my training improved my run discipline more than the others this year and now was the payoff. I went out feeling great. Saying that, I just kept getting passed by tons of people while not passing many. I checked my splits and I was running in the mid 7 minute range so I just stayed with my pace feeling that I was running my race. I finally started passing people after the 5.5 mile checkpoint but not a lot. The trip back through town was into a slight breeze which felt great. I was focused on the heat management piece as I'd never done anything in these kinds of conditions. I continued with water, gel, Gatorade and Salt Stick capsules. I was absorbing everything exceptionally well. Once I made the turn up Palani, I felt really hot. It was like there was some heat trap that wouldn't let it go. Add that to the hill and I stopped and walked through the aid station. After cruising in the mid 7's, this mile was a slow 9:30. I had thoughts in my head that the wheels were starting to fall off but right at that instant, all was good. The next mile was in 7:04 with similar effort which gave me a lot of confidence. After that, I just tried to maintain the same cadence while passing a lot of the folks who were passing me early on. My splits were varying more than I liked but I still felt like I was under control and not in danger of having an explosion down the road. Once inside energy lab, I really started to feel the heat. Previously, 80% of the people ahead of me were running the race. Once inside energy lab, it was down to 50%. I'm proud to say I ran the entire section and ran it well. I had hydrated so well that this section didn't affect me as badly as some. I came out of there feeling confident. I continued to clip off the miles. With 2 miles to go, there were 2 different packs of runners up the road. They looked far up the road but I was gaining quickly. I pushed pretty hard to catch them and ended up passing most of them.

At the turn back into town, Aaron was there cheering me on which was quite motivating. I asked him to call my family to let them know to be watching me as I came through the finish. The final half mile was filled with straglers and I managed to push and pass all but one that I could see. With a final mile of 6:25, I achieved my dream. Ironman World Championship Finisher!! I can't completely explain how it feels. Achievement is obviously one thing but it's something that can never be taken away from me. It's mine, I own it. It was such a priviledge to be able to compete with such a tremendous group of athletes. To finish ahead of the majority of them is just mind boggling to me based on where I came from.

My run time was 3:25:41, an Ironman PR for me. My final time was 10:03:26. I passed 194 more people during the run. I ended up 309th overall and 27th in my age group. While not a great day for me, it was solid and I wouldn't change the way I executed it.

Post Race Thoughts

While I wouldn't change anything I did on this particular day, I would change things in the future. I found I can handle the heat quite well. I held back a bit throughout the day as I had been warned by EVERYONE I know who's completed the race to respect the heat. I had great legs at the end as evidence by a 6:25 finishing mile. My body felt better, by far, after this race than after any of the other 4 iron distance races I've done. That leads me to believe that I had more to give. Don't get me wrong, I was quite tired. I raced smart which allowed me to race the World Championships almost 2 hours faster than my first Ironman in 2005. I hope I have the opportunity to do this race again in the future. What an amazing experience.

Elbert Reflections 10k Race Report 9/26/09

2009-09-27T08:29:00.001-07:00

I decided to race this on Thursday after speaking with my friend Glenn. I was either going to swim or do a harder run on Saturday and follow that with my last long ride before Kona. Glenn encouraged me to do the Elbert Reflections 10k that he has been a part of for years. Glenn entered me into the race and I got set to go. It's a small event in rural Colorado. I saw a familiar participant at all races, Gerald Romero, at the start line. He always beats me by one minute or more. I figured I'm fitter than I have ever been so I'd try to stay with him and see what happens. The gun went off and the usual group of people took off way too fast. After 1/4 of a mile, those folks were already hurting and dropping off. The 5k and 10k start at the same time so you don't know who you are racing. There were 3 of us leading out. The first half of the race is just a long uphill section. I was not feeling good for the first 1.5 miles. One of the 3 guys then turned for the 5k so it was just Gerald and I. I was doing everything I could to hang on to Gerald. At that point, I came around and started feeling great. I took the lead and led out to the turnaround on the out and back course. Gerald passed me there but I was able to stay with him. I had not idea of time....I was just trying to race. At about 4.8 miles, he started to pull away. I would surge to pull myself back and then he'd pull away again. This happened all the way to the end. I couldn't reel him back as hard as I tried. He ended up beating me by 6 seconds. I did however get a great time for myself as a result. I ran 36:20 which is my PR at altitude. This time beat the previous course record by over 40 seconds as it's a slow course. Having completed a 3.5 hour workout the day before, I am thrilled with this performance.

Glenn and I rode for 5 hours following the race. It was very hilly which was great! I felt fantastic the entire ride. Ready for Kona!!!!!

Harvest Moon Race Report 1/2 Ironman Distance

2009-09-12T20:00:00.001-07:00

Today was my final triathlon before Ironman World Championships in 4 weeks. It couldn't have gone better! My goal was to have a solid swim and a great run. My swimming had improved a little since my last half ironman on 8/9/09 but my running had improved dramatically. Today was the day to put it to the test.

The Swim

The weather was cold but no wind to speak of so it looked like it would be a perfect day. The gun went off and after a few minutes of the usual getting beat up, things settled. I found the feat of 2 people and stayed with them for 75% of the swim. It was a good pace. I eventually dropped off but felt my swim was pretty good while using very little energy. The swim was short, always a good thing with my swim resume, by about 150-200 yards. My swim time was 27:40.

T1

T1 went smoothly. I put on socks which took a few extra seconds but other than that, it was smooth sailing. T1 time 1:31

Bike

The bike stared off pretty cold due to being wet from the swim. After 10 minutes, I was completely warm and passing a TON of people. I was the next to last wave to start so most the participants were up the road. This proved a bit tricky as some folks weren't riding the way they were supposed to. The were riding on the left so I had to do a lot of shouting that I was coming. After about 15 miles, things started to spread out. This allowed me to just lock into my aero position and go. I never pushed real hard. I went hard enough to set a solid pace but not hard enough up and affect my run. This really paid of toward the end. The final 15 mile section of the bike is pretty tough. This is where I passed the stronger cyclists and I was able to pass them hard due to taking the earlier, faster sections at a reasonable pace. I finished the bike in 2:23:01 for the 7th fastest bike split of the day.

T2

I flew through T2. I didn't need much so just threw on the shoes, grabbed my number, visor and gel flask and took off. Looking at the results, only 2 people got out of t2 faster so I made up time here. I got out in 39 seconds.

Run

I started off easy. I wanted to build into my run. There was no one behind me but one person was ahead of me. He was setting a great pace so I planned to use him at my carrot. I came through the first mile in 6:44. I hadn't gained on the guy in front of me but hadn't lost time either. My second mile was 6:40. Mile 3 was 6:18 and I had gained enough on the guy to realize it was Gordo Byrn. This is a guy who has an 8:30 Ironman with a 2:46 Ironman Marathon on his resume. I was feeling pretty good knowing I was keeping pace with him. Well, that was short lived. I was still running a strong pace, between 6:25-6:35, yet he continued to pull away. I just went inside myself and ran my race. I felt strong the entire way. I dug deep to have a really strong finish. My last mile was 6:10 for a total run time of 1:25:47 good for the 8th fastest run of the day. This was a half ironman run PR of over 4 minutes.

Overall

My final race time was 4:18:36 which was a 5 minute PR for me. I ended up 7th overall and 2nd in my age group (behind Gordo). There isn't anything I would change about how I rode this race. It was just a good day and I accomplished exactly what I set out to do with my bike and run. I'm feeling pretty good about my buildup to Kona. Can't wait to get there!!

A good local Ironman article

2009-09-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

There was an article published in today's Gazette that touched on a couple of small things as it relates to training. You can see it here.

How this all started part I

2009-08-31T15:16:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog, I stated that I got into running for all the wrong reasons. Here's the story on that. I'll follow up on this with where this has taken me over the past 12 years.

I was always a racquetball player. My Dad got me into it at a young age and I just loved the competition. After moving from California to Colorado in 1995, I took up the sport again after a bit of a hiatus. I was on the court 5 days a week, 2-3 hours at a time. In 1997, my company had a group of people doing the Race For The Cure. I entered with the group with no expectations as I was not a runner. Race day came, it kicked my butt and I finished in 22:20. I was really pleased with this since my sole source of fitness was racquetball, not endurance running. Shortly after finishing the race, a guy from work who I barely knew was bragging about his time. He asked what my time was and after finding out he had ran faster than me said "what a loser" in front of a group of my co-workers. Having grown up with a parent who made a point of telling me all the things I wasn't good at, this hit me where it hurt. I started running at that point with the sole purpose of kicking this guys butt the next time around. Well, the next time around didn't come until the following years Race For The Cure. During this time, I got hooked on racing. I completed my first marathon and did a lot of trail races. When the time came for the 1998 Race For The Cure, I was ready to lay it all out there. I ended up beating this guy by a lot. I finished 4 minutes faster than the year before. When he came across the finish line, I was laying on a massage table near the finish and made a point to tell him good job. I took a lot of pride in that at the time. Now I just feel foolish. I have too much respect for every person who laces them up to race for whatever their personal goals might be. As I said, I got into this sport for all the wrong reasons. It did, however, open my eyes to a different lifestyle that gives my life balance. It's allowed me to do things I never thought I could do. I'll get into that in a later post.

5430 Long Course Triathlon Race Report

2009-08-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

On August 9th, I raced my first "official" triathlon of the season. I did an off road triathlon in July but didn't take it too seriously and just tried not to get hurt. This was a race I was taking seriously and was using to gauge my fitness level. I did a mini taper for it only backing off my normal training regimen 6 days out. The distances are the traditional half ironman distances of 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking and 13.1 miles running.

The Swim

I was really excited about this part. I'm not a good swimmer but I have been consistent in the pool of late so was hoping for a result that was better than my usual one. I felt like I was moving well through the water although I never really found a drafting partner so I raced all by myself the entire 1.2 miles. I hit the beach in 32:40 so I was fine with that. Not great but good for me. The actual swim time includes the run up the hill from the beach so my official time was 32:21.

The best laid plans...all to be foiled by my wetsuit. I had everything lined up ready to go. I had mentally gone through the exact order of what was going where for the trek out on the bike to hopefully gain some precious seconds on my competitors. That all came to a halt when I couldn't get my left wetsuit leg pulled over my timing chip band. This cost me valuable time and sent me to a sub par 1:47 transition.

The Bike

Despite the sub par transition, I was very relaxed going into the bike. I know the bike is where I am most comfortable and where I pass the most people. This started immediately. On the one plus mile section leaving Boulder Reservoir to the main bike course, I was passing packs of riders. My only concern was to not get taken out by another rider that was coming outside their line to pass someone in front of them. The packs were big enough that I made the decision to just go hard and pass them all rather than settle in behind the next pack. This worked well and I must have overtaken 30+ people in this section. More importantly, I passed what would be the biggest group of people I would see all day with no crashing. Once on the main bike course, it was smooth sailing. My friend and training partner, Kevin Dessart, had given me some basic but great advice. The night before the race, he said "don't think, just go fast". That rang through my head early and that's exactly what I did. I continued to pass people. I had cleared my head of most thoughts and was just going hard. I knew I was passing a lot of men in my age group early which would bode well for my overall place. I came through the first loop in 1:09:30. It was just feeling really easy. I wanted to negative split it but at this point I was in no mans land so I was getting a bit complacent. Around mile 32, some 19 year old kid passed me like I was standing still. I was excited about that as now I had someone to chase. That didn't last long as I couldn't go that fast without going completely into the red zone. Having him pass me like that jump started me and I was riding harder now than I had at any part of the ride. I was really going well but still wasn't sure where I stood in my age group. About mile 48, I came up on someone I figured to be one of my main competitors and made a hard pass. I really gunned it for the next 8 miles to the finish so I could gain some valuable time on him. I know we are comparable runners so I wanted to make sure that he would have to run well out of his comfort zone to catch me. I finished the second loop on 1:08:08 for a total bike time of 2:17:38.

*Follow up note on that 19 year old kid. I ended up passing him back about 20 miles later. It turns out, he is Ironman legend, Dave Scott's son, Drew. He had a 2:14 bike split. Crazy fast.

I came into transition feeling really good. I hadn't gone at what I felt was a real hard pace and I was really looking forward to the run. When I got in, I noticed that I had the only bike in the racks for my wave. I was thinking that I was in first in my age group unless someone had mis- racked their bike. I had a smooth transition and got out in 1:00.

Run

I started out at what felt like an easy pace with a goal of trying to build into the run. My first 3 miles average 6:55 pace. Near mile 3, there is an out and back section that runs approximately 4/10ths of a mile. It's the only place on the course you can see the competition behind you. Well, that guy I passed at mile 48 of the bike was over 3 minutes behind me at this point so I was feeling pretty good about that development. He was the only person from my age group that I even saw. I was feeling confident in holding my place as I felt like I was just starting to run well. My nutrition on the bike had gone well (Accelerade, gels, water and SaltStick capsules) and was allowing me to play with my pace. I was just having fun while going pretty fast, for me. Around the 9 mile mark, I came up on that same out and back. This time, I saw another competitor from my age group who was only 1:15 behind. He is a better runner than me so it shocked me into a different mode. Where I had been just ticking off miles in the 6:55 to 7:00 minute range, I was now sure I had to step up my game or lose my placing. I ran the quick math in my head and figured he had to run 15 seconds or so per mile faster than me to catch up. I was determined to not let that happen. I went through mile 10 in 6:45, 11 in 6:43, and 12 in 6:49. At the start of mile 13, I just went and went hard. I treated it like the track and went a half mile at the fastest pace I could go at the time knowing that if he was close behind me, I was going to put some distance on him and hopefully break his will. I settled into my regular pace that last half mile and finished that 13th mile in 6:16, my fastest of the day. My final run time was 1:29:59. My total time was 4:23:43 which was good for 1st in my age group. I only won by 1:00. The last 4 miles was the most fun I had all day because it was the first time I felt I was racing someone. I was in no mans land all day and it felt good to be challenged. He had a much better run time than me. Thanks goodness that a bike ride is involved.

My friend Kevin had told me some time ago, "don't stop on the run for anything. If you have to, pee while you're running but don't give away any time ". I came into the run having to pee REALLY bad. I thought about his words at that moment. While I didn't pee on myself, I ended up being so focused that I forgot. Good thing too because had I stopped, I would have lost my place in my age group.

I feel very fortunate to have won my age group at this great race. Looking back on the race, I didn't have any part of it where I felt great. At the same time, I never felt bad and lost time to that. I just felt consistently good for all 3 disciplines and that won out over one discipline of great. I can't wait until my next race!!!

Mt. Evans

2009-08-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

Mike, Jim, Kevin, Me and Todd at the top

Last week, a group of five of us went to ride up Mt. Evans. Mike Hagen, Jim Webber, Kevin Dessart, Todd Murray and Ic all drove up together from the Springs for the ride. Mt. Evans is the highest paved road in North America. I was a little unsure about it because I only own a triathlon bike rather than a traditional road bike that is much better suited for climbing. My goal was to not get dropped. We started in Evergreen. This put us 18 miles away from the base of the climb up the mountain. The trek from Evergreen to Mt. Evans climbs the entire way. There were some occasional pulls by the group that spiked the old heart rate throughout that section but it was something we could all deal with. Most importantly, I was never close to getting dropped. We arrived at the base of the mountain which is 14.5 miles from the top. At this point, each mile seemed like it was taking forever. It was just a relentless climb that never ended. One of the guys got a flat on the way up so we stopped. At that time, I realized I had lost a front brake pad. Uh oh.....this was not going to be good on the way down! We kept plugging away and I was just waiting for treeline at about 12000 feet. The reason is I've always had trouble at high altitude so I expected a dropoff in performance. This time, I actually felt great so gave some good pulls and went off. I never got dropped and had a huge snap is my pedaling up high so it was a great ride. We hung out at the top a while but it was starting to get cold and extremely windy. We took a few pictures of the mountain goats and headed down.

I had moved one of my rear brakes to the front to help out. I was VERY cautious coming down with only one brake. I just let everyone take off. At the bottom, the guys were waiting for me. From that point on, we were all just bombing the downhill section into Evergreen. This was the most fun I've ever had on a bike ride and can't wait to do it again. This time with ALL my brake pads so I can bomb the top section on the way down.

Late Race Report

2009-07-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last post, I raced my first off road triathlon last week. It was an awesome event that included a lot of mud, sand and crashes for us all. The event was small in a gorgeous area of Colorado. The community where is was held is called Westcreek. It sits right in the middle of one of the places hit hardest by 2002's Hayman fire, the largest fire in Colorado's history. It's very sad to see all this beautiful forest destroyed. The swim is on a private lake with the bike and run held on forest service roads and trails.

Race morning started with me getting to the staging area with my gear and getting set up. There had been some rain that week so the lake was on the brown side but still beautiful. I got everything set up and ready to go. I hadn't done an open water swim since last November's Ironman Arizona so the feel of the wetsuit was a little foreign to me. The swim got under way with it's typical frantic start. It settled down after the first 150 yards. I held a steady pace and passed people throughout the swim, never being passed which was nice. The swim was approximately 950 yards according to the folks that were there. I ended up 6th out of the water.

After a smooth swim, I took it easy in transition making sure I got what I needed. I headed out onto the bike feeling great. The out section is all flat or uphill. I really enjoyed this section as I could stay in control on the bike. My biggest concern leading into the race was my lack of mountain biking skills which really show up on descents. Those would come later. I passed a few people on the way out and was still feeling great. At the middle section, there is a steep, sandy climb. The climb itself was no problem. The sand, however, was a huge problem. I came unclipped about halfway up. It was too steep in that section for me to clip in and get going with any momentum so I had to walk it for about 50 yards which really slowed me down. Once I got going again, I continued to climb well. All that climbing on the way out meant the descents were coming. I handled the first roller coaster section of downhill pretty well. Toward the end, there is a really steep downhill section. It's only 200 yards or so but enough to scare the heck out of me. I was riding my rear brake the entire time. I eventually went over the handlebars. I tore my hands up pretty good but didn't get injured. Whew! I would have been so upset with myself if I been hurt during something like this, ruining my chances to compete in Hawaii this October. After I got myself together and got the chain back on the bike, I was off and running. This cost me a few minutes.

I wasn't in a hurry to make it up on the downhill section of the forest service roads so I went fast but didn't push hard enough to have something bad happen. I got back into transition having posted the 3rd fastest bike split but considerably slower than the two guys ahead of me.

Not long before my crash

Having not pushed real hard on the 2nd half of the bike, I felt great going into the run. I went out pretty easy and just built into a nice cadence. I saw the guys ahead of me were too far to catch. I had one woman, a local pro, who was ahead of me and I passed her and after that, I just kind of cruised in. I was going more of a tempo pace than a race pace as I was in no mans land with no one ahead of me and no one behind me. I ended up with the fastest run split of the day and came in 3rd overall. I had an absolute blast and got in a good workout in the process. I'd like to do it again but not until I've gained some mountain bike skills.

Off Road for the first time

2009-07-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I'll be participating in my first off road tri. It's a low key event put on by the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club. I don't even own a mountain bike. I'm borrowing my friend Glenn's. The promise was to have it cleaner upon returning it than when I borrowed it. I rode the course 2 weeks ago. Not very technical. One steep technical downhill. The goal there will to take it easy and not crash. The swim is approx. 700 yards. The run is 3+ miles (subject to change I'm told) on gravel, sand, trail and water crossings. I'm just going to go hard from gun (except for the steep technical downhill) and see what happens. I'll update with a mini report once I complete it.

A Couple of CRAZY Weeks

2009-06-16T14:28:00.001-07:00

What a crazy couple of weeks here in our world. Last time I checked in, I was busy fulfilling obligation of shaving my legs. FYI...I'm still not that inot it. People told me I'd get used to it and would want to keep it. That's not going to happen. On that same day, I celebrated my 40th birthday. Unlike most people, I was really looking forward to it. This meant I would finally get out of that brutal 35-39 year old age group. Moving up meant the fields would still be fast on race day, just not as deep. The plan was to go to dinner, get a good nights sleep, and race my first race as a 40 year old the next morning. Well, that got thrown out the window when I was given a surprise birthday party. Best birthday present I ever received. Great friends were all there and I loved every minute of it. I feel so blessed to have such great people in my life.

1st pic, Terri, Glenn and I

2nd pic Aaron and I

The next morning, I was supposed to meet up with my teammates from Team Bear Naked in Denver. This was to be our first meet and greet of 2009. After the meet and greet, some of us were going to run the Girls on the Run 5k. Before I left that morning, I was advised that my son (39 weeks pregnant) wasn't cooperating but to go ahead and go to Denver. Well, I got up there, spent 10 minutes with my team and got the call. Get your rear end home...contractions are every 6-7 minutes. It was the longest 60 minute drive of my life.

2009 Team Bear Naked Colorado

Ryan Oseland was born 5/30/09. He rules. He just chills out. Such the mellow baby. The following week wasn't mellow. I was home at night with my girls while Momma was in the hospital. Tons of driving getting girls places while getting to the hospital. I'd get an indoor ride in when I could. The second week got better. A routine was established and it's worked for everyone. I'm back up to speed with my training. Life is so full right now but in a very positive way. Ryan just completes everything.

Ryan....future Ironman?

I'm not the man I used to be

2009-05-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

This is wrong. Plain wrong. I'm not the man I was 24 hours ago.

Backstory: Sometime a couple of years ago, I was running with a group of friends on our weekly long run. We had been talking goals and someone made the comment "Oh, you'll qualify for Hawaii" as I was training for an Ironman qualifier. This particular group of friends all do the shaved leg thing. Not my cup of tea. I like my hair on my legs. Anyway, after that comment was made, I just absent mindelely said something like "If I qualify for Hawaii, I'll shave my legs". No thought put into it. Just a random statement to keep the conversation going. Fast forward to November 2008. I raced Ironman Arizona and qualified for Hawaii. Almost immediately after the race, my friend Glenn Strebe sent me a text that read "Congratulations, what kind of razor do you like?". I should have known better than to think good ol' Glenn would forget such a nonchalant comment. You don't get to be a CEO of a financial institution in your mid 30's without a good memory.

Present day: I got Glenn to let me off the hook for the leg shaving until late spring. Last night was the time. It was horrible. I started out with clippers to get the long stuff off. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I slowly watched a piece of my manhood disappear. After that, it was the razor to the legs. I gained a whole new appreciation for what women go through everyday. What a pain in the rear.

Future:I'm now counting down the time (less than 19 weeks) until I get to have my leg hair back. Once I compete in Hawaii, I can start growing some of the manhood I lost yesterday back and become complete once again.

2009 BolderBoulder

2009-05-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

Over the past 2 weeks, I’ve started to implement some speedwork into my run training. Not enough to have me running very fast but hopefully enough to run this years BolderBoulder faster than last year. I’ve ran 2 track workouts and a hilly 5k the past 2 weeks. I ran 37:35 last year so 37:34 or faster was the goal. I figured it was a 50/50 shot based on my current level of speed. I just wanted to hang tough during those harder middle miles where I struggled last year.

I’m always amazed by the names that I see in the “A” wave that I started in. I was lined up directly next to the two-time defending Ironman World Champion, Chrissie Wellington. I also saw some state high school champions, 2008 Olympian Triathlon Matt Reed, and a bunch of other names that are so fast. It’s real humbling to be running amongst so many great athletes.

The gun went off at 7:00. I pretty much felt like crap from my first step. I just stuck with it hoping I would come around. I had put in a lot of hours the previous week so I was thinking that maybe this is why I was so flat. I went through the first mile 10 seconds slower that the year before yet I felt like I worked harder to do it. This being the easiest mile on the course, I didn’t know what to think. I did a good job of clearing my mind at that point and just doing what I do and run. I knew the tougher part of the course, miles 2 and 3, was coming and would decide how well I did. I hit the foot of the first hill and I started to come around. I found another gear, felt good at that pace, and just went with it. I was real relaxed throughout the rest of the race and just ran within my current level of speed. I just stayed focused and ended up finishing in 37:20. The final 5 miles are kind of a blur. I had cleared my head like I do in an Ironman run as negative thoughts had crept in during that first mile and I knew that could be my downfall. That worked out for me. Now if I could just figure out the reason for feeling so bad during that first mile. I didn’t do a very good warm up so I think that may be the culprit. That’s something I’ll change for my next race. I’m happy with the way I executed the race.

Mile Splits

1. 5:57
2. 6:01
3. 6:08
4. 6:02
5. 5:53
6. 6:04
1:15 final .2
Total 37:20

While the leg turnover isn’t where it needs to be for future races, it was encouraging to know that I’m faster than last year at this point with very little speedwork.

Colorado Marathon

2009-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

2008 was a good year of sport for me. I PR’d at a lot of different distances at the age of 39. I felt I could succeed at anything in endurance sports. After completing Ironman Arizona at the end of 2008, I thought I’d use that fitness and train for the Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins on May 3rd, 2009. I’ve never ran a marathon I was capable of for a variety of reasons so this would be the time. Well, the offseason came, I gained some pounds and forgot to do a marathon training program. I thought of pulling out but my friend Jim Webber talked me into it. He’s an experienced guy who can run a sub 3 marathon in his sleep so his advice to run using my base fitness (I had been spending a LOT of time on the bike) got me to the starting line.

Pre-Race Goal

I did not have any time goals. I knew that my muscular fitness wasn’t in the same league with my aerobic fitness at this point in the season. With that in mind, I wanted to take it easier on the early downhill miles to save my legs. If I executed this plan, I would consider this race a success.

Pre-Race

As usual, I ate pasta the night before and the morning of the race. I ate my meal about 3 hours prior to the 6:15 start time. I had a banana about 1 hour prior to start time, sipping G2 the whole time. I had slept well the night before so I was ready.

The Race

It was 37 degrees at the start line but no wind and no precipitation. PERFECT! The gun went off with the typical pushing and shoving. I stayed to the outside of those folks and things mellowed out at the ½ mile mark. I started taking the tangents due to the curvy roads. At that point, I was focused on staying relaxed and not being in racing mode. I came through the first mile in 6:55. Felt easy and I was on my way. The next 3 miles were just stupid. There was a downhill that just triggered my “don’t give away free speed” mantra. I would pay for this later. I didn’t bomb the downhill but I could tell by the effort I was giving that I would be paying for this later. My best laid plans, ruined by a rookie mistake in the first 25 minutes of the race. Ugggggg……. At mile 6, I realized that you don’t need to drink quite as much on a cold day. I stopped and relieved myself. This actually helped. By stopping, it calmed me down and the next couple of miles were smooth and relaxed. I knew I was in trouble at mile 8. My left quad started to get sore. Already??!! You have got to be kidding me. It didn’t get any worse right away so at least it wasn’t something that would stop me. At mile 11, I was stopping again to do some business. Note to self…check the weather report for temperature the day before and drink accordingly. I came through the ½ marathon point in 1:30:42. About then, my right calf starting to get sore. Then my right quad, left calf, butt….etc. My lower half was just hurting. Stopped to pee again at mile 16. From miles 14 to about 22, I had slowed down by over 20 seconds a mile. My legs would barely bend at mile 22. Fortunately, a couple of people were ahead of me that I could chase so I focused on form and held it together. I finished the 2nd half of the marathon in 1:37:18 for an overall finishing time of 3:08:00.

Mile Splits

1. 6:55 7. 6:50 12. 6:52 17. 7:12 22. 7:23 last .2-1:21
2. 6:37 8. 6:47 13. 7:03 18. 7:12 23. 7:24
3. 6:42 9. 6:41 14. 6:59 19. 7:47 24. 7:39

4. 6:38 10. 6:53 15. 7:03 20. 7:25 25. 7:45
5. 6:47 11. 7:24-pee 16. 7:51-pee 21. 7:15 26: 7:49
6. 7:55-pee stop

Summary

Overall, the race was a big disappointment. I’m fine with the time since I didn’t have a goal and I didn’t train specifically for this event. I’m just disappointed in my execution of the race. I didn’t do what I intended early on by slowing my of my pace and it did EXACTLY what I knew it would. I won’t let this one go for a while. The anger will fuel me so I guess that’s the only good thing to come from it. It sure wasn’t the sore legs!!

2009-05-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

I was a man on a mission. The mission was to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. I had watched the old coverage of triathlon on Wide World of Sports in the late 80's and was fascinated by the struggle and joy I saw. I knew this was something I wanted to do yet I wasn't even sure what a triathlon really was all about. I thought it would be just a matter of entering a random race, qualifying, and going to Hawaii. Through this journey, I found that is the exact opposite of what it takes to get there. In the mid 90's I moved from Southern California to Colorado Springs, Colorado. There just weren't as many things to do here so I ended up taking up running (for all the wrong reasons...I'll talk about that some other day). I got hooked, did the marathon thing and decided to finally try this triathlon thing in 2000. I absolutely loved it. Forget that I couldn't swim. Forget that my bike weighed way too much for someone of my size. I was hooked on the competitive nature of it. I did a few that season before realizing it was way too expensive for my lifestyle. I backed off from it for the next 4 years. In 2004, I made the decision to sign up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2005. I did some triathlons along the way, completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene and was now committed. The cost piece of triathlon prevented me from doing another one in 2006 but that just gave me an extra year to work on what needed work to qualify for Hawaii. I again entered Ironman Coeur d’Alene 2007. I did well, finishing in 10:31, but didn’t qualify. I did Silverman, an iron distance triathlon, just outside of Las Vegas in the fall of 2007. I did well overall. More importantly, I did well mentally which gave me the belief that I could do anything. I went into 2008 with an attitude. Not an attitude of cockiness but extreme confidence. 2008 would be my year. I did a couple of half Ironman races in 2008 that showed I could be in the running for that elusive qualifying spot. Ironman Arizona was where I would make the attempt. This would be the last one for a while due some upcoming life changing events so I had to get it done now. The race went perfect. I executed everything exactly as planned, went 9:31, and qualified for the World Championships. That’s where I am today. Now I’m training to be competitive with the best in the world in my age group. It’s a huge challenge but one that I relish. Stay tuned for that journey and beyond……..