Ultraman continued

Sorry but it took me a few days to recover from writing day 1's report.  Here is day 2.

Day 2:  171 mile ride from Volcano National Park to Hawi.

Day 2 was a cold start after a night at a B & B in the rainforest.  It was a really cool spot that would be fun to go back to for a really chill vacation.  Up around 4,200ft, at 6:30am, it was pretty chilly, just below 50 degrees and pretty wet.

Sweatshirt, snow jacket & typing the 1st tweet of the Day on HBs crackberry

The first 20mi or so were downhill and a no feed zone so we had to take off ahead of the pack.  We had discussed some strategy the night before at dinner, and Hillary was motivated, intent, and focused.  Unfortunately, about an hour and a half into the day it was clear her body still wasn't really on board.  There was a section not too far into the ride called the "Red Road" which was another "no feed" zone and we weren't even allowed to drive it.

So we took a little detour that allowed for a cool stop in Volcano Tree National Park.  This place was awesome. I felt like I was on the set of Lost.

After meeting back up with Hillary we basically continued the same thing as the day before, leap frogging her in about 30min gaps.  Of course we had more than a few fumbles, and instances where Hillary would inevitably call out for something we didn't have in hand, forcing a frantic rush back to the car and a quick re-do.

Coming thru Hilo with Shanna

On the road out of Hilo

Climbing out of one of the gorges

Some of the roads on the other side of the island get a little narrow so our stops were a little more frequent as we couldn't stay parked too long on the side of the road and we didn't want to get too far ahead in case Hillary had a problem.  And in a race this long, Murphy's Law is really a law.  But we were lucky, we had just pulled over and since Hillary had just begrudgingly taken on more fuel from us only minutes before, we weren't planning on doing anything at this stop other than cheering her on.  Just as she approached we heard the ever familiar "PSSHHHH" that all cyclists know.  The crew sprang into action, Maiki grabbed the bike and got to work on removing the rear wheel while Michael and I unstrapped the spare wheel bag from the roof and got the other rear ready.

Cat like reflexes

A quick swap, tighten it all, and HB was back on the road.  I was seriously proud of the crew and felt like a Nascar pit crew member.  Definitely got the blood pumping.

Shortly after the wheel change at about 120 miles in, HB started to come back around.  Much to our joy she started asking for food!  She even cracked a smile.  Coming into Waimea things were really beginning to look up.  Which was fitting since the last big climb of the day began about 150mi into the ride and forced the competitors to climb up and over the Kohala Mtn. range before descending down into Hawi.  It was a LONG day, but thank Sweet Baby Jeebsus that HB started coming around at this point.  She was climbing very well and even smiling and talking to us at roadside stops to cheer.  It was almost as beautiful a sight as the views from up there.

Hawaii is incredible

After a scary and nerve wracking descent down into Hawi, HB made it, finishing just 3rd on the day in a time of 8:28.  Unfortunately, this was about 6mins slower than Shanna and a whopping 30mins slower than Amber.  However, both Hillary and the crew were actually pretty happy to see these numbers as at times we feared that Amber was really far out there.  I guess it was due to our concern for her that we just didn't realize how fast Hillary was actually riding.  The day's ride and the efforts of the other girls had shuffled things around a bit.  HB was now in second, 25mins behind Amber and 10mins ahead of Shanna.  We knew she had her work cut out for her on day 3.

I don't think I have ever seen a person as ready and willing to never see her bike again as Hillary was after this stage. When she dismounted (pardon me for this HB) she was walking like a 90yr old woman with severely arthritic hips.  It wasn't pretty. But after a shower and a massage... well it still wasn't pretty but she was looking better.  I would be lying if at this point I wasn't genuinely concerned about Hillary's well being, and wondered to myself if she was going to be able to make it through the run. Actually, I should elaborate on that.  I was pretty much 99.9% sure that Hillary would keep pressing on through the run no matter the circumstance or consequence.  But that is exactly what I was concerned about.  I felt it was somewhat of my responsibility as a crew member to be concerned foremost with her safety in both the short and long term.  The absolute last thing I wanted to come of this event was some sort of injury/physical debilitation that would have negative impact on her racing career going forward.  I felt it was part of our responsibility as crew to do our best to ensure that didn't happen.  And knowing Hillary, I was well aware that we would have quite a fight on our hands if we had to step in and tell her it was time to quit.  Luckily we had the "Good Doctor" Michael on the crew.  I figured he could provide some sort of empirical (at least to Hillary) evidence in support of our decision should it come to that.  That night I lay in dread of that event coming to pass.  

Ultraman

Ok, I know this is belated, but with an event of this magnitude, the writing of a race report is all the more daunting.  And I was only crewing.  Hillary raced the thing!  That she has 2 days of RRing done is yet another testament to her grit and determination.

Some of you may know that I spent some time in Kona this summer staying and training with Hillary Biscay and her husband to be Maik Twelsiek.  During their prolonged stay on the island, Hillary got the wild idea to end her season racing Ultraman.  For those unaware, Ultraman is a 3 day race circumnavigating the Big Island of Hawaii.   Just tackling the distance is a monumental feat.  But in my humble opinion, taking on this event and attempting to truly race it, requires one who may be described as JUST this side of insane. Or maybe just THAT side.

I left for Kona the day after Ironman AZ.  Planning on having 3-4 days of relaxation and recovery prior to Friday, race day.  This was NOT what I got.  Everything started fine.  We met up the first morning at the pier with a bunch of athletes for a casual swim followed by some coffee.  Then, it began.  We started shopping for race supplies.  Between race registration, crew meetings, and SHOPPING, we were literally "on the go" untill Thursday afternoon.  I said it then, the shopping alone was exhausting.  But by Thursday night, the crew consisting of Hillary's local cousin Amy, her incredible doctor Michael, Maiki and myself, had been assembled, briefed, and the vehicle somewhat packed.  We were ready for it. Or so we thought.

Day 1: 6.2mi swim from the famous Kona pier, to the Sheraton at Keauhou, followed immediately by a 90mi bike ride with 7,600ft of vertical gain to the Volcano National Park.

If you know anything about Hillary, its probably that she is known for racing. A. LOT.  And if you know one thing about her racing, its that the girl can SWIM.

The Lineup

Straight from the gun, she did not disappoint.  Starting at a solid pace she quickly distanced herself from all female competitors and everyone else in the race save 2x Champ and swim course record holder Jonas Colting.

Pink cap barely visable

Maiki and I were on land for this portion of the race with kayak duties falling on the capable shoulders of Michael and Amy.  Rest assured it wasn't "ice cream & coffee" time like Maiki and I had planned however. We had to race to drop off an extra car, gas up the truck, head back to the house to grab Hillary's bike and TONS of other stuff, get to T1 and set it all up, before Hillary got there.  Unfortunately for us, Hillary being Hillary, this left us with scant time to do so.  As we hoped, Hillary set off with an incredible swim breaking the standing course record by 26mins and covering the 6.2mi of open ocean in 2hrs and 20mins.

Rounding the last buoy

And DONE

We rushed her through transition, getting her showered, changed and fed (at least apparently), as fast as we could before pushing her off onto the bike.

Note the half eaten banana

She took down about half a banana and 1 bite of a PB&J only to spit it out about 20ft into the ride.  But we felt we had a solid transition and she looked good heading up the Kam III.

For the 1st day, Maiki and I thought it would be no problem to just ride in the bed of the truck and thus have easy access to all supplies and the coolers and be ready to pounce on any unforeseen problems.  In theory it was a great idea, and for the first 2hrs, it was in practice as well.  But soon the cramped seating, less than forgiving surfaces and the fact that we were getting out and running every 30mins combined to cause some aches and pains.  Our approach was to wait 10mins or so after Hillary left, prepare food and bottles, leap-frog past her and set up our "aid station" a few minutes ahead of her. We figured this would mean a stop roughly every 30mins and would be no problem.  I mean, we were 3 professional triathletes accustomed to eating, drinking and restocking fuel on the bike. How hard could it be, right?  We were wrong.

Error #1: We assumed Hillary would be operating at a relatively low intensity and thus be able to consume "real food" in the form of veggie burgers, PB&Js, pretzels, cookies, PowerBars of various varieties, & banana bread.  Fairly soon into the ride it was readily apparent this was not going to be the case.  The day's fuel sources basically consisted of PowerBar Perform sports drink, a few bananas, some gel blasts and a few cookies.  Hillary was having a rough go of it as her stomach, not surprisingly after 2:20 in the ocean, was NOT happy.  Stop after stop she would ride by us taking nothing more than sports drink notwithstanding the virtual buffet we had in hand for her. At one point I got her to take a few swigs off a Red Bull and judging by my elation, you would have thought I'd just bargained my way into six figure contract for the 2011 season.  At times this was very frustrating and I was in no way prepared for what an emotional toll it took on us.  Watching a friend suffer through a rough day when you are just a spectator is one thing, watching it while you are part of their "team" and tasked with keeping them fueled and strong makes it that much more painful.

Error #2: Assuming we would have no problems with the hand offs.  Sadly, we had quite a few fumbles on the day and this necessitated quite a few full on SPRINT efforts trying to catch back up to her only to watch her slowly pull away.  We would then rush back to the truck, and take off up the raod to set up a sooner than expected aid station just shortly in front of her.  This quick stop also often necessitated another full sprint hand off as we would invariably find ourselves on a downhill or flat section where she was doing 20+mph.

Error #3:  Assuming that Maiki and I could really handle all the hand-off duties.  Even given the limited fuel sources Hillary was finding tolerable on the first day, on numerous occasions we found ourselves to be without the ONE thing she would actually ask for when she came through our lineup.  This again necessitated another rush back to the truck and another quick stop like those described above.

Almost there

Error # 4: Not believing the locals when they said it would get "cold" up towards volcano.  Maiki and I cast this off as Hawaiian's being spoiled by the heat they normally enjoy.  I mean, its hawaii, how "cold" could it be.  In the back of a truck, in the rain and fog, at 4,000ft, dressed in a Tech-T and running shorts, the answer is: "Pretty Dang Cold!"

You can see how this would be frustrating and consuming.   And while I paint a pretty dark picture of the day, it is only because of the emotions I experienced watching Hillary battle the course, conditions, and her stomach problems.  On the whole, the day was actually extremely enjoyable and some great moments were shared between the crew.  We got to cheer on other athletes and try to help them in any way we could, and I got to see some beautiful parts of the island I have never seen.  We even got in a coffee stop. But it was REALLY quick HB, I swear!

From the beginning of the ride, Amber and Shanna, Hillary's 2 biggest competitors began taking time out of her.  This continued for a while and we began to wonder if Hillary could hold her lead while suffering through stomach problems and the brutal headwind.  But then Hillary began gaining time back and our hope and enthusiasm returned.  In the end, what began as a 20min lead over the other girls, ended as just 4.5mins. But she was still in 1st, well under course record pace. And Alive.

FINISHED!

More AZ Photos

Ironman Arizona was fortunate to have some great photographers show up and do their work in fine fashion. Below are a few shots that some caught of me and were gracious enough to share.  BIG thanks to them all.  I am still on the hunt for pics of me crashing into the motorcycle. I want those BAD!!  

The above photos were shot by Tim Carlson who does great work for Slowtwitch and other triathlon publications

Kerry Yndestad caught this one from a cool angle

Sue Hutter snapped these coming into the finish

One of the best in the business, Larry Rosa.

Kerry Yndestad

Quite possibly my favorite triathlon shot. Larry Rosa. 

IM AZ Race Report

Life has been a run of jam packed days this last week.  The day after Ironman Arizona I flew to Hawaii with Maik and Hillary to help crew for her in the insanity that is Ultraman.  The shopping for this event alone requires nightly carbo loading.  It is now the night before the race and I am just now finding time to write this report.

After getting sick I debated racing Arizona or Cozumel.  I am happy I made the decision I did.

Swim: 51:15
We got into the somewhat chilly waters of Tempe Town Lake at about 6:35.  I did a little warm up, and found a place in the line up towards the right and near the feet of Brandon Marsh as I knew he would be pulling quite a wake with his swim speed.  For the most part the rest of the swim was uneventful.  I found myself towards the front of the first chase pack and found the pace comfortable for most of the swim. There were a few surges and I was able to hold the feet and close the gaps in front of me.  When I came out of the water I saw Maik and he gave me a "Good swim!" I checked my watch and saw 51:2x and was stoked.

Bike: 4:42:24
The bike started off with a bang. Literally.  The pathway out of T1 at Arizona is pretty narrow. There was an athlete just a bit ahead of me to the right so I was on the left of the chute.  Unfortunately, in a show of great wisdom someone had seen fit to park a rather large motorcycle on the left side of the chute about 10ft or so after the mount line.  When I jumped aboard my Blue Triad SL, I looked down briefly to find the top of my shoe and before I knew it I smashed headlong into the back of the moto.  I knocked it over, and it knocked the fencing over.  My fingers on my left hand got smashed and were bleeding, and my knees suffered the same fate.  Fortunately Blue and Reynolds make some tough bikes and wheels.  My front wheel was jacked to the left but a quick wrestle job while holding it between my knees and I was back on the road just slightly worse for the wear.

Unfortunately, this little escapade did give up some of the time I gained on the swim.  The rest of the bike was rolling along pretty well. We had some rough wind, some rain and even hail, but it wasn't as bad as the weathermen had been saying and what I had prepared myself for.  The second mishap on the bike came when they did not have my special needs bag and I therefore missed the calories and boost that 2 Powerbars and a 12oz Red Bull would have given me.  Because of this, the third lap of the bike was a struggle and my power suffered. 

I had a goal of riding 4:45 so I was happy when the final lap came to an end.  I felt OK and knew I had some calories and Red Bull waiting for me in my Fuel Belt and I was ready to run. 

Run: 3:03:39

At Ironman Wisconsin I used a Fuel Belt for the first time and liked it despite my crap (literally) run.  However, I only wore it for the second half of the run.  For IM AZ I decided to use it for the entire run.  This decision might be the one decision that MADE my race.  I had missed about 700 of the calories I planned to take in on the bike and thus starting the run with 550 readily accessible calories was HUGE!  I was not feeling so great in the beginning of the run, but my pace was solid.  In fact it was faster than I wanted to run and I knew I could not sustain it.  I tried to slow it down, but it hurt more to run in that mode.  So I just decided to let my legs roll and find a rhythm.  About 5mi in I was still in the same mode, but I now knew why I wasn't feeling so good.  A bathroom stop took care of that problem and I was running well and happy for the next several miles. 

For the remainder of the run I just focused on running controlled and sticking to my nutrition plan.  At Special needs I picked up my second two Fuel Belt flasks and continued with the same mantra:  "Run controlled and stick to the nutrition plan."

Nothing really eventful took place on the run, which s to say no more bathroom stops like Wisconsin or catastrophic blow ups like in Lake Placid.  I think this is due to the mantra mentioned above. There was however, one memorable moment in the run.  About mile 14 I noticed a big increase in the media motos around me (couldn't pick out the one I crashed into).  I knew this could only mean one thing.  Chrissie Wellington was gaining on me.  She passed me and I knew there was no hope of staying with her (she went on to run a 2:52).  I stuck to my plan and plodded along.  

In my eyes I have yet to put together a reasonable Ironman marathon and my dream goal was to run under 3hrs.  My realistic goal however, was to go sub 3:05.  With a bathroom visit, I was happy with a 3:03 and a new Ironman Marathon run PR.  Still lots of work to be done there though. I know I can run faster.  

Final: 8:41:18

In the end I was very happy to finally break the 9hr mark and end with a good run.  Getting a hug from quite possibly one of the greatest athletes to ever walk the face of the earth was a pretty nice capper!  

  A HUGE thanks to ZOOT for once again providing the BEST wetsuit, apparel and shoes I could ever ask for. The new Phrophet wetsuit is INSANE and my vastly improved swim PR shows it.  I ran in the Alli'i shoes, sockless, and came away totally unscathed, no blisters, and all toenails in tact.  Comfy the whole way.  I cant say just how much it means to head into a marathon fully confident that I will have no problems with my feet.  Not to mention doing so with the 2nd fastest transition in the race.

BLUE Competition Cycles makes some great machines and stands behind their bikes like nobody else in the industry.  They are quality, fast and as my altercation with a BMW moto evidences... TOUGH!!

Reynolds Wheels likewise makes some of the best quality and fastest wheels on the market.  And like Blue Bikes, they take a beating and keep on ticking.  Not a scratch or anything after plowing into a 600lb BMW moto!

TriSports.com calls Arizona home and I was fortunate to have some awesome support out on the course at their aid station.  But getting me to the race in proper form was even more important and TriSports kept me stocked with easy and FAST access to everything I could need.

PowerBar gave me the power to push all day and I had no concern with my stomach all day.

PV Bicycle Center is my local shop in Palos Verdes and has helped me all year with EXPERT maintenance and advice.  If you are in the South Bay area, there is no better shop.

Quality Time

I will be spending a good amount of the above with the trusty Toyo 4Beast, newly downloaded music and my thoughts today.  The Ironman Arizona adventure begins today with 6hrs (I hope) of solo driving.

Decisions

Although a little ashamed in light of Chrissie Wellington's battle with West Nile Virus, I will admit that I had all but pulled out of Ironman Arizona a week ago.  When I got sick and had to take 4 days completely off of training, including 3 days that were supposed to be the BIG days for AZ prep, I got nervous and anxious.  I knew the field at AZ is going to be DEEP and that I would need to be in the best shape possible going in if I wanted a respectable finish given what the times that are likely to be thrown down on race day.  Missing my big weekend and figuring I would still be a little under the weather, I had mentally pulled myself from the race.  A moment of weakness it was.

However, with clearer sinuses, came clear thought, and and some good workouts, and I made the decision to race IM AZ.  No turning back now.

With that decision in mind, and most of my AZ training parters either otherwise engaged or winding it down, I headed South last weekend back to the time tested training grounds of North County San Diego.  The Wernick casa honored my standing reservation and I was ready to go.

Friday we all went out to dinner as Todd was in town doing some tri shop re-conn and we wanted to shoe the pasty Minnesota man some good Mexican grub.  It was a good time, with good stories and good people.

Unfortunately the triathlete half of my host couple woke with a cold on Saturday so that meant it would be just me and my Mo to the top of Mt. Palomar.  It felt good to be back on the mountainside and pushing a hard effort all the way to the top.  It was a little chilly up there, but one of the most best days ever to be on a bike.

Camera phone just doesn't do it justice.

Sunday, trusty training partner Kevin maned up and rode with me. 6.5hrs, and 7,500ft of climbing later it was time to run.  My legs surprisingly showed up for the challenge and rounded out a solid weekend.  Monday was a running day and served to slam the cap on the weekend.  All in all a really good one and I am feeling good about AZ.

Ironman Arizona will be my last race of my rookie season.  I am hoping it rounds it out with my best result yet, but either way I am happy with the way the season has gone despite my less than stellar results.  But I am  also happy it will be over.  I've been training for this season since December and its a long time on "GO!"  So a break will be more than nice.  I am super stoked to be starting that break with what promises to be an awesome adventure.  The day after IM AZ I will be boarding a flight to the Big Island of Kona. A great friend and one of the most inspirational and tough as nails girls I know, Hillary Biscay, is tackling the challenge of Ultraman and I am lucky enough to have secured myself a front row seat to watch her hand that race a beat down.  I will be crewing for Hillary on her 318.6 mile journey around the Big Island and can't wait for it.  I can't think of a better way to finish the season and get motivated for 2011!

Mo Fun

This weekend I finally was able to get back into the groove and got in some good training.

All weekend I was actually looking forward to today, Monday. Why, well because it is Mo Monday. That is right, Movember begins today and this morning my upper lip felt the last strokes of a razor it will feel for the next 30 days.

I've had some facial hair before, but this might be a first for the solitary Mo.  Here's a flashback photo for those that my not have seen my scruffier days.

If you can figure what is going on here I'll give you a dollar next time I see you ;-)

For those unaware, "Movember" is an effort to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer.  There are a bunch of statistics, but lets just say this, prostate cancer is a HUGE problem that affects many more men than even breast cancer does women.  So, in support of the effort, I, along with my team of  fellow "Mo Bros", will be growing a wicked mustache or "Mo" and pleading for your donations in support thereof for the next 30 days.

To make a donation please visit my "Mo space page" to donate.

I haven't yet decided what "type" of Mo to grow, so if you got a good idea let me know.