Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Report 2009

I got to CDA on Wednesday and was able to get most all the pre race issues before Debbie, Jacob, Alex and my parents arrived on Friday night. Spent a great day on Saturday with the family and even had time to BBQ at our hotel with everyone and my Aunt and Uncle from Spokane.

PRE RACE MORNING

Up at 3:30 race morning, and ate two packages of oatmeal and a nice cup of coffee to help with... well, you know. We stayed only 2 miles away this time and even though such a short drive I left before 4 and got a screamin parking spot just across the street from transition so Debbie and the kids and parents could relax if needed during the day.

I was able to fill up my tires, drop off my bags, sleep some in the car, porta stops and basically get all ready and use the car as a base.

From Ironman CDA 2009

My parents picked up the family and caught a free shuttle and were able to meet up and walked to get a great spot to view the start. Got hugs and good wishes and made my way to the beach. ate a Gel and was feeling ready, saw Sean and his plan was to go inside the buoy line, my plan had me on the other side of the beach and 2500 people, so I went over there and waited, not nearly as nervous as in 2007. I also couldn't hear any announcements so when the cannon went off, just walked into the water and started swimming with just a few other people (2153 starters).

SWIM 1:32:13 (1680 out of 2153 overall) (262/313 M35-39)

Swim started out ok, but I really felt like this swim was worse than the almost canceled 2007 CDA swim. The rollers were bigger, but no whitecaps this time. I found it very hard to get into a groove and was constantly running over others or getting run into. I thought I swam some what straight but clearly not my best swim. first lap took longer than expected and I knew a PR would be very tough. Got a cramp in one calf on the way back out, but was able to quickly stretch and get back to swimming in under 20 seconds. Much less traffic on second lap, but still ran into a lot of people zig zagging around the course. I warmed up the water as I got closer to the exit and was pretty well ready to be done swimming for a while.

From Ironman CDA 2009

I was in 1680 position coming out of the water.

T1 5:21

I saw Debbie and my parents as I ran up the beach and that pumped me up! I was happy that they have wetsuit peelers so I didn't have to get out of that on my own. Transition tent was packed so I got ready out side and was off onto the bike pretty quickly. Seeing the family again as I got to my bike was awesome, each time my smile got bigger and eyes got wetter and I got faster.

BIKE 6:39:19 16.8 MPH (1332 out of 2097 overall) (245/313 M35-39)

I planned all year on using my power meter to monitor my wattage output and keep things under a certain amount to save energy for the run so I started slow on the initial out and back along the lake. I noticed it was tough into the wind and got pretty fast with the wind even though I was under my goal wattage. One hill on this section that you ride up and over each way. On the way out you go up this hill and half way up is a band of bagpipers and just past them is a huge inflatable sun smiling at you, then a bunch of cheerleaders just over the crest finally followed by some Scottish dancers kicking their feet up on our way down the other side. The crowds, the volunteers and seeing the family each lap really make this a great race.

Very uneventful section and very quickly made my way back into town and headed north with the wind, what a nice push, if I watched the MPH I thought I was going to hard, but the wattage told me different and kept a nice easy pace going 20+. I knew what was looming though, we don't really hit the hills until we get to Hayden Lake and come they did.

I tried my best, but my wattage still went over my limit on each hill and was passed on each and every hill on course, but the power meter also told me when I crested the hill and could start peddling harder and I passed many many who had passed me on the crest even before we started back down the other side of these hills. I had a bit of pain in one leg and was worried that I would cramp up like I did on of my last training rides, but the cramp never materialized.

Coming back into town into the wind was a bit tougher, but saw Daryl (my coach) and got pumped up and then as you get even closer into the core the crowds grow and grow and just made me smile even more. I really enjoy the crowds and think this is one reason I really like this venue. Saw Debbie before short 1 mile out and back so knew I'd see her again riding past transition and I think I rode very fast and hard on this section but I figured 2 hard miles over wattage wouldn't blow my day and wanted to hear the cheering again.

From Ironman CDA 2009

Past transition and loud cheers from Debbie (My parents took the kids to a movie so everyone had a great day!) then ride 6 blocks through town with crowds on both sides of the road just pumping up even more.

Time to repeat the lap, I made a quick stop at the furthest turn around by the lake to grab new bottles of perpetuem and was quickly underway again. heard Debbie cheering again as I passed transition and got nice push as I headed back north towards Hayden Lake. I needed to make a quick porta stop at the first aid station and they even have volunteers to hold your bike whilst you do your business so I got going quickly after continuing North. Again seeing Coach Daryl out there was great and then the hills. I was getting pretty tired by this point and really felt like not biking, but kept pushing on, standing a bit more on the second lap hills and getting out of the saddle, even the downhills were not as fun.

About mile 95 I needed to get off the bike, so just past that aid station I got off and walked the bike for 3 or 4 telephone poles to stretch and use different muscles. I really think this helped with the final push into the wind back to downtown, as once I was riding again, I must of passed another 40-50 people before hitting transition VERY happy to get off the bike and hand it to a volunteer to rack for me.

I had a GU every 30-45 minutes and drank my perpetuem and went through most all I planned, also downing 2 salt tabs every hour or so as well.

I'm sure I passed some in T1, but passed 318 moving up to 1362nd position overall

T2 4:44

Off the bike, before getting my run gear I made my way into a porta john and got some relief and after grabbing gear from another volunteer found an empty chair inside the tent. Nice to sit, but I had work to do so worked quickly to change shoes and that was pretty much it, ran in the same bike clothes.

RUN 4:06:16 9:24/Mile (478 out of 2032 finishers) (90/313 M35-39)

I had my GPS and was able to pace myself out of transition and keep it easy for the first section of the run. I had planned on walking the aid stations and thought the first aid station came pretty quickly, but stuck to my plan and walked through the aid station from one end to the other. Once through I started running again out to the turn around and back to the same transition, again I walked and again thought it was too soon to be walking but stuck to it.

The next aid station is way on the other side of town and more than 1 mile and was further than expected before I was able to walk and truly was looking forward to this 3rd walk, but running through the throng of people downtown made up for any slowing, what a rush to run through thousands of people cheering your name (because it is on each bib with your number)!

After some twists and turns through town, we run along the lake and right into a headwind and rain. I was slowing and very much wanting to walk, but again stuck to it and made it to each aid station without any walking in between meeting one of my goals. The furthest out aid station is within half a mile of the turn around and I walked it each way even though so short of run section in between.

Running back into town with the wind was uneventful and seemed to just pass away. I hit the midway point at 2:04 on my watch and saw my family just past the transition area and got some high fives and high energy from them. Jacob ran along with me for 100 yards or so! What a great spot they had, because I only had the short .8 mile out and back to get to see them again.

From Ironman CDA 2009

Once again more high fives and energy to keep me going. I needed that, the long section without an aid was looming and I was in a tough spot. I mentally took inventory and kept saying if I can make this section running I could then make the 'easy' one mile sections after that. I started taking the cola and chicken broth on this second lap for additional kick.

I made it and the next couple sections were very tough mentally to keep it running, the headwind on the way out again was tough, but really once I hit the furthest turn around I had the wind and the knowledge that I didn't have to come back out there again so just started cruzin.

I still walked the aid stations, but the final 4-5 miles were my fastest miles on the day and just flying past a ton of runners, what a feeling, to be able to run in the 7 minute range and just fly. Checking the watch I knew I was going to break my 13 hour goal and was looking like I was not going to make my sub 4 marathon. I still kept it strong and with a smile all the way to the finish.

I thought about not walking the final aid, but did walk it and the final mile or so was packed full of fans and the final 7 blocks is downhill past 2-3000 people cheering and pumping you up you cannot help but run fast. I was in a zone by now and just floating down the tunnel of people passing more people. Got high fives from the family near the finish chute and was moving so fast that the camera missed me, empty frame on the pic. so fast that I didn't realize the couple of finishers in front of me screwing up my finish pics :) What a great race, I truly love the fan support, the volunteers, the multiple laps to see the family, the organizers really do a top notch job of running this whole event.

I passed almost 500 (480) and negative split the marathon to finish in 882nd spot out of 2032 official finishers!

AFTER

My volunteer finish catcher walked me through all the finish line stuff and escorted me to the athlete corral and handed me to a medical volunteer who asked me some good questions and I knew I needed to get my feet up or else my calves would fully lock up so he took me into the medical tent and I sat with my feet up wrapped head to toe in space blankets and ice on my calves shivering like crazy, but never fully admitted to the area where the docs are, so not officially a medical tent occurrence, but just getting out of the rain. I sat for about 45 minutes while Debbie, coach Daryl and maybe others didn't know where I was, but was able to walk out on my own and found Debbie and made it to the car with the bike and easy 5 minute drive to the hotel.

Debbie went and got me some Epsom salts and a burger. I knew I wanted to soak and that I would be starving about 3 am. I soaked up some magnesium salts and two bites from the burger (still not wanting solid food at this point) I was in bed and then like clockwork, up about 3 am and polished of the Red Robin monster burger. so tasty at 3 am!

More than a 45 minute PR! I'll be back again for more Ironman, but again will give it a year off of this distance to fully recover and mentally be ready. Another 45 would get me well under 12... too early to think about that? naw, keep your eye on the prize!

OVERALL
12:27:51
882 out of 2032 finishers!
173 out of 313 M35-39!

Vacation and race pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ggtriguy/IronmanCDA2009?feat=directlink

BMX racing!

We spent a couple extra days after Thanksgiving at the grandparents so Jacob could try BMX racing at the track in Sumner. They race year round rain or shine at Riverside Park organized by River Valley BMX.

We went out to check out the park on Friday and to give Jacob a chance to ride the track with his 16" 'mini bike' as he calls it and Grandpa's 20" BMX bike. He was faster by quite a lot on the real BMX bike and we spent some time after getting back to the Grandparents to take off the reflectors, chain guard and other stuff they don't allow on the track when racing. Alex had fun running around the track and would 'race' Jacob on foot and he'd cut the course and win every time. I think they both had a great time.

Saturday morning we had a big breakfast and got to the track around 10 for sign ups and allow Jacob some more practice time on Grandpa's bicycle. We got there about 45 minutes too early. Sign up is from 10 to 11 and we had too much time to wait around for them to get everyone registered and announce the moto's. Jacobs cousin Johnathan came and signed up too, so we got some good visiting in while they warmed up. I think Sophia was thinking about trying it after seeing all the other girls who signed up.

Jacob was in Moto 11 and Johnathan in Moto 13. They put kids together based on age and classification. Jacob is 9 and a Novice, but there were not enough 9 year old Novices so they bumped him to the next group and was in the 10 Novice moto. Two nine year olds and one ten year old made up his Moto. Each moto races 3 times at this track gaining points for each race (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and the one with lowest points after all three races is the winner. Jacob was very excited and convinced he was going to win his moto because the other two in his moto were girls. His first race proved it was going to be tough. He raced hard but finished third. Here is the video:



His second moto was a little better, I think he paced himself a bit better and was up in second place only to get passed in the last rhythm section. Third race he finished second and was very excited about that. One of the girls crashed, but he was just as excited about finishing second.

With three kids in a moto, they give trophies to the top two, but Jacob and Johnathan were not going to go home empty handed... First time racers get an award just for racing. Jacob and Johnathan waited and were called up and got trophies that were almost taller than Alex.



Done in less than 2 hours and everyone had a great time. Grandpa filled the kids up with sugar from the concession stand and it didn't rain, so all in all a great day at the races! I'm sure Jacob will try the races in Mount Vernon next summer. He is saving anything and everything to get a BMX bike for himself. Even selling some of his old video games.

Lake Samish Triathlon

Man it has been way too long since I last blogged. I am way behind on this race report. The Lake Samish Tri was way back on August 16th (over a month ago)

I almost did not go to this race because the kids were gone at the grandparents for the weekend and Debbie and I were renting a nailer to install hardwood floors in all three bedrooms including the stairs, hallway and closets. If not already paid and signed up I wouldn't of gone, but I was, so I did and I had a blast!



Great sunny day and got there early and was able to visit and catch up with friends before the race. Pretty good turnout for a first time event.

Ended up being a mass start for the sprint and a second wave for the tri-a-tri folks. They blasted the horn and we were off for a swim on some glassy smooth water at the north end of Lake Samish from Camp Lutherwood, no wind, very nice. I think it was a bit longer than the half mile quoted, but everyone had to swim the same course so no big deal.

Out of the water and into transition I had my wetsuit mostly off by the time I got to my bike and was pretty quick through. They changed the mount line due to all the gravel and glad they did.

Bike was two laps around Lake Samish, but in the opposite way that most riders ride the lake, which made it a bit more interesting and I think a bit faster, or at least it felt that way. I was picking off the faster swimmers and wasn't passed until on my second lap, so felt good about that.

Camp Lutherwood is not on the 'loop' around the lake, but a little spur which we had to ride both ways and felt fast coming back into the camp. Off the bike at the edge of the gravel and long run back to transition, but again was pretty quick to get out of bike shoes and the running one on and gone.

They adjusted the run to include this lovely little hill to avoid runners/bikers on same narrow section of road leading into the camp. This was no little hill, I ran this as part of the North Face Endurance Challenge and was still just as challenging, but once up and over and back on the Roy road it is pretty flat following the lake for a 5k out and back.

Coming back they made it a true out and back and made us run up and over the hill again. I ran the whole way and right at the top the guy in front of me, who walked most the hill, started running again just as I was about to overtake him. With less then a quarter mile left I was able to run smoothly over the top and get some speed down and pick it up and passed him before we finished.

Once done, I gathered my stuff and left quickly because I knew what was coming, laying some wood. Debbie and I laid wood from about 1pm - 9pm on Saturday and had enough energy to lay some more on Sunday, we went all day from 9am to about 9pm. It was very nice that the kids were gone at the grandparents for the weekend. We got 95% of the floors down over the weekend. I just had to finish the stuff close to the walls that the nailer couldn't fit into by hand over the next few days. The floors look great and am just now finishing up the final finish/trim painting. almost done.

XTerra Vashon Island

My first XTerra (off road) triathlon was a couple weeks ago on Vashon Island and I truly enjoyed the experience.

We left a day early and stopped at the Clear Lake Triathlon for Jacobs third try at this race and he improved again finishing under 20 minutes!

After, we continued south to spend the day with my Grandma and took her a surprise lunch in honor of her 91st birthday and then spent the night at my parents. We all got up early Sunday morning and were off to catch the 6 am ferry to Vashon Island so I could pre ride the course to check for dangerous sections, roots, logs, rocks, sections where I could pass and spots to conserve a bit of energy.

We were second in line for the ferry behind other Bellingham triathletes (Tjalling and Dan) headed over for the same pre ride. It was great to be able to pre ride with these experienced XTerra studs (both have raced at XTerra world championships in Maui).

The guys at BuDu Racing were still setting up when we arrived, so we went out for our pre-ride before registering. Lots of the tape marking the course had been cut down so we took our time and reset what we could and I think pre riding helped me out during the race.

We got registered and walked down to the starting dock and given the course description and I almost had to laugh... Swim out and around this red sailboat over there and then head to the green one over towards the other side of the marina. trouble was there were three green sailboats to choose from. we got it all settled out and I, being a slower swimmer, was just following the swimmers in front of me so not too worried. and we were off, nice salty water (ug!) but only about half a mile so not too long and was out of the water in under 15 minutes and up the football field of mud at low tide (made for a shorter swim and was actually runnable and not too mucky)

I don't have click style pedals for my mountain bikes and just wore my running shoes for the bike and run. I got quickly onto my bike and was off out the parking lot and a very short section of road and right onto a tough, sandy, steep up hill section that I had to get off and push my bike, and being a race wanted to run while pushing and I was very soon huffing and puffing and pretty much red lined on top end of my HR.

Once up the course has less up and down and lots of winding single track which made it hard to know where other competitors were, but I just tried to keep on pushing myself and kept up some speed. We do this lap twice and it was easier the 3rd time (counting pre ride) and never crashed but did get banged and scratched up from how narrow the single track was with all the bushes and stuff. Great fun!

The final half mile or so of the bike course is on paved roads and mostly downhill so it made for a nice fast ride back into transition and since I already had my running shoes on, I had a very quick T2 and was off running.

Coming right out of transition is a steep hill that you must go up and across the road for a short on road uphill then onto a trail that, you guessed it, continues uphill, but once up was back on windy, up and down single track and again not knowing where other runners are kinda makes you run scared. There is a long paved road (maybe 3/4 mile) in the middle of the run that I was able to open up a bit more and then after is the flying descent back to the finish line right at the bottom of the same steep hill you went up to start.

All in all, I had a great time and enjoyed the event and course. BuDu has always put on a great event in my opinion.

I gathered up my stuff quickly as we were trying to catch a quick ferry off the south side of the island for the start of our trip to the Oregon coast staying at Cannon Beach. We made a couple wrong turns and when we got to the ferry dock, the ferry was just offshore headed over to Pt Defiance in Tacoma, so we got an extended rest waiting, but then were off the Debbie's parents for a shower, drop off the bikes, some lunch and quick visit then down to Oregon. Check out our trip pictures here.

Lake Padden Triathlon 2008

This was my second run at the competitive version of the Lake Padden Triathlon and was hoping to improve on my previous time from 2006. Last year I was at a little race over in Coeur d'Alene 8-)

Got up early and drove to the park and got the closest parking spot one could get and then rather than just sit and veg I decided to jump out and help Lance and his crew setup transition. It was fun setting up the racks and then being able to set my bike at the premier spot (first row closest to bike exit).

As more and more people started to show up I stopped helping and was able to visit with friends and before long was in my wetsuit and down at the beach for a short warm up. We all got out of the water for pre race messages and then the first wave went off. I was able to get into the second wave and we went off about 3 minutes after the first.

Got into a nice groove and actually swam pretty straight. Hit the turn around buoy with lots of other swimmers still around me, so felt good about keeping pace. Way back to the beach it was definitely thinning out, but still enough to help keep me swimming straight. Hit the beach at 14:32!

Run up the grass hill and into transition and saw Debbie and the kids, they found the cattle bells and were ringing them for me, awesome. Real quick transition and off up the steep driveway out of the park and onto Lake Samish road.

The bike course is pretty hilly, but all that goes up must go down, so we get lots of downhills too. But first we must climb up and out of the Lake Padden area up towards the parking lot people use at the bottom of Galbraith. I was trying to keep a good pace, but this first hill is always tough on me and got passed by a couple riders, but was able to keep them close and on the long downhill into the lap around Lake Samish passed them back.

Kept a good pace around the lake and then back up that long downhill towards Lake Padden, but we turn at the freeway and go onto Old Lake Samish road that is generally downhill towards Chuckanut Drive. I like this section as you can really hammer it and get back some time.

Once on Chuckanut it is uphill again but it is short and get to come right back down the other side into Fairhaven and then we turn towards the freeway and the climb kinda starts before the freeway but once under it really turns up and this short 3 block climb is tough and pretty much straight up, but once at the top you come out onto Lake Samish drive and just another mile or so back to the park.

My bike split of 1:02:20 (20.2 MPH) was 3 minutes faster than 2006, woohoo!

Quick transition and off to run around the lake twice. This part is always tough to run past the finish for your second lap. The finish is right there but you cannot use it, must run around again.

I was running at a pretty good pace and it felt like I ran at a consistent pace not slowing too much. Each lap was within 30 seconds of each other. I was able to run the finish with Jacob and Alex and stopped the clock at 1:58:06 44Th out of 256 overall and 9Th out of 29 in my age group (M35-39). I was VERY happy to improve by 4 minutes on my 2006 time!

Great photo by Brunk Photo

Inmate 631 Escaped from Alcatraz

SAN FRANCISCO - Inmate number 631 Glenn Gervais (AKA GGTriGuy) escaped from the ROCK also known as Alcatraz on Sunday June 8, 2008. After an early morning wake up call at 4:15 he was seen riding his bicycle from his cozy hotel room to the Marina Green near the San Francisco waterfront. Glenn dropped off his bicycle and left behind a Scooby Doo towel, helmet, sunglasses and shoes for bicycling and running but quickly left for his get away vehicle, a large tour bus.

John an Ironman athlete from Wisconsin was seen talking to Glenn on the bus ride to Pier 3 but did not apprehend our triathlete. Unable to verify, but we think Glenn was among 1800 people in wetsuits boarding the San Francisco Belle, a 292-foot stern wheeler two hours later just before 7 am. The cruise ship departed at 7:15 sharp before we were able to board to take Glenn into custody. The San Francisco Belle returned empty and we think Glenn jumped ship near Alcatraz Island and swam 1.5 miles to shore.

Glenn was seen exiting the water at St Francis Yacht Club by his Brother, Wife, kids and about 2000 other spectators but no one grabbed him. Glenn took off his wetsuit but left the Blue Seventy swim socks on and ran about half a mile before finding the bicycle and gear that he left behind hours earlier. He was too fast and was already gone on the bicycle before we could stop him for questioning.

There were over 1800 athletes and 20,000+ spectators so we could not follow Glenn out onto the bicycle course, but we believe he conquered the out and back hilly San Francisco course that went up and down through the Presido and out the other side and down to the Great Highway before turning into the Golden Gate park. Glenn's family saw him returning to the bicycle parking lot and caught him waving, so we know he really enjoyed the bike course.

After another quick stop to change his shoes Glenn was back on course, this time running. The sun was really beating down on all the athletes as they ran out towards the Golden gate bridge along the waterfront, only to find some stairs that took them oh so close to the bridge deck but just eluded capture by running under the bridge and through a battlement and some trails at Fort Point before running on the street out to a trail that took the athletes down to Baker Beach.

The athletes were seen running south to the end of Baker Beach before turning north to run to the other side where Glenn was seen at the bottom of the infamous 400 step sand ladder by an 11 year old athlete from Florida as she passed him and quickly beat him to the top.

Once tackling the sand ladder Glenn was rewarded with Clif Bloks before running back the same course to get back to the Marina Green where we finally caught Glenn as he crossed the finish line and officially Escaped from Alcatraz!

Once Glenn slowed down we were able to interview him and it is true, he did escape from Alcatraz along with about 1600 other triathletes. 1259Th out of the water he passed quite a few on the bike and run to finish in 595Th place. Plug in inmate (bib) number 631 here for complete results.



What a great race, What a great event! The weather turned out perfect, no fog, the ebb tide pushed us in the right direction. I used the pre race advice and sighted properly and came out on the correct beach. Hearing Debbie, Joe and everyone cheering for me gave me a great big smile and pumped me up even more. With so many people, the only thing I can compare to is the Ironman in Coeur d'Alene. Both races were put on by different organizations, but both were perfectly run and very well run. I highly recommend doing this event. I will do it again some day.

My Picasa photo album of the event is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ggtriguy/EscapeFromAlcatraz

My Picasa photo album of our GREAT vacation is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ggtriguy/SanFranciscoVacation

THAT was a challenge

I did the North Face Endurance Challenge yesterday and was one of the toughest, hardest and slowest half marathons I think I'll ever do. The held the event at Camp Lutherwood on the north end of Lake Samish. They are planting trees for each competitor to offset the carbon gasses generated by the race, so I decided to help out and ride my bicycle.

I was up and out the door about 6:30 and very few cars on the road and nice easy ride over to the lake, about 11 mile warm-up arriving at about 7:30. I had hour and half to change, relax, and get my timing chip. Saw Damian video taping a friend of his doing the 50k. The 50k runners started at 7 am and we saw them coming through the first aid station and it was then I knew I was in for a long day. I missed some of the front runners, but by the time I figured out that this was their first time through the aid station meant that they were only at 5k at about 45-50 minutes.

We would be running on the same 5k loop (twice) to start our half marathon. I got fully changed and ready to run, we (I'd say 100-125 runners) were off right on time at 9:00 am and it is less than a quarter mile before we start climbing and the sight of a stream of runners going up in front on the switchbacks and once I was half way up the stream continued behind, quite a site.

The trail was mostly all single track on this 5k loop and we went back and forth and at times came back to spots where the course almost ran back onto the same single track only to turn again at the last chances. I like these looping single track trails, no real destination other than the beauty of the woods. The elevation chart for the 5k loop did not look that bad, but was kind of misleading in that we run two smaller loops to make the single 5k loop, one went up about 200 feet and the other about 300, so nothing too really bad, but there were plenty of ups and down inside the those changes as well. There were a couple sections where we ran along the edge of a hill and it really wasn't a trail, and not even a flat area to run (walk) as each step you kind slipped down the slope a bit, they had a rope so you would completely fall down the hill. Combined with nice muddy conditions made for slower run times. My split for the first 5K was 36:00, ug!

Back up the for the same loop again and with all the 50 milers, 50krs, half marathoners and the 10k runners (sent 15 minutes after us) the trail was really getting more and more slippery. I was very happy to make it back to the aid station marking the finish of my first 10k (second 5k was 41:00).

I thought we would be headed off in a new direction, but we basically just skipped the first half of the 5k loop to start up the second (muddier) loop only to eventually turn to the right at the apex of the 5k loop (we went left the first two times) and while the trail got a lot less muddy, it was a lot more straight up, and up, and up. I really felt like this was steeper than chinscraper (on Chuckanut). Since I had looked at the elevation chart before I knew we were to get up to about 1400 feet or so and my watch said about 600 at the turn so I knew what I was in for. I was simply walking and my HR was pegged. There were not really any switchbacks as we pretty much went straight up. I don't think there was much of a trail here before the race. We eventually made it to the top and based on my calculations this stretch from the lake to the top was 1142 feet of climbing, my GPS recorded 1.52 miles (8025.6 feet) which calculates out to about 14.38% grade = 100*(tan(arcsin(1142/8025.6))). UG! oh yeah, this 1.52 mile walk took just over 32 minutes.

BUT I was at the top, or so I thought, we ran a bit on the top and then it went up a bit more before we started in earnest back down a logging road, this road curved around and as luck would have it, even have some small up hill sections to get down the hill. We finally made it back to some single track and I recognized a couple signs from the Lake Samish county park, so I knew I was getting close to the aid station at mile 10.7. I didn't realize how high these trails went as it took longer than I thought to get back down the lake and the aid station. Great volunteers everywhere and the energy from their excitement helped me along.

We ran along Roy Road to get back towards Camp Lutherwood only to make another detour UP a logging access road to hook back onto the highest point of the first half loop of the 5k. Since I had run this section twice earlier I knew I was close but wasn't able to really ever get a fast run in as it was real muddy by now and I was very tired too. Finally get back to the flatter area near the camp and past the aid station to the grassy finish. Very, Very happy to finish in 3:16:55 by my watch, pretty slow, but I guess the winning half marathon time of 2:20 indicates how hard this course was (so I didn't feel as bad about my slow time)

Sat down for a bit with Damian, thinking about how in the heck am I going to ride my bike home (I hadn't thought of that or that the course would be this hard). Damian was leaving so I asked (ok begged) for a ride up the hill out of the lake basin. He got me up the first part of the hill and I made it slowly up the rest to try and spin easy all the way home.

Great race, great challenge, very tough... not certain I'd do it again... maybe... see if I can improve... only time will tell.

WWU Triathlon VI

I love doing this event. It has been a great early season test for me and I have improved my time each year. I missed 1 hour by 1 second last year and was hoping to break the elusive 1 hour mark. Another reason I really enjoy this race is all the friends I get to see before and after, a lot of Bellingham triathletes come out for this race.

I've been joining the Bellingham Masters Swim Club in the evenings and it has improved my swimming in just the 4 weeks I've been. I was really hoping to improve on my swim time.

As usual, I arrived pretty early and got a great transition spot on the end pretty close to the bike exit. Now that that was done I had the next 90 minutes to walk around, wait around, and visit. I could of gotten another 30 minutes of sleep as I was early enough that no one else showed for the next 30 minutes or so. People started arriving and I did a quick bike ride to set my bike in the correct gear and leave my shoes attached to the bike. Got my transition area all set and made my way into the pool to get a short warm up. I got about 75 yards before they had us get out for the start.

Debbie and Alex arrived about 5 minutes before my start time, so they hit it perfect and got some great shots. I waited in line for my start time and finally moved into the starting slot.

Started right on time this year, I was off and swimming. I knew Debbie and Alex were at the far end so I tried to give a good photo opportunity and I think they got a good one.

After hamming it up for the camera I tried to settle in at an easy pace and keep an even pace the whole 300 yards. I had been working on this at the masters swims and I think I hit my marks each 100 yards. I got close to the guy in front of me to finish about 10 yards and 5 seconds behind him. I ended up taking 10 seconds off my time from last year. My fastest timed 300 yet at 5:20

Up and out of the water and started the run to the bikes. I'd left some crocs and my jacket near the pool so I could run on the gravel and have my jacket on before I got on the bike. This worked great as I had my jacket on before I got to the bike, biking this early in the season with a wet tank top on doesn't work to well for me.

This is a short 9 mile loop, but they send you up and over quite a few hills just for fun. They adjusted the course slightly to actually take one hill out at the end, so it was a bit shorter than previous years, but my time was the same. 29:32 although I forgot to hit the split until my running shoes were on, so I'd say about 29:00 and put the 32 seconds on my T time.

They send you straight up the hill to the top of the ridge which is the worst of the run. I ran a bit, tried jogging slower, but eventually started to a walk. Just till the next light pole and then started back up and made it to the top and then downhill way past campus just to turn and another hill and then the long slope back up into campus. I thought I was moving along at a pretty good clip but a couple of track team members went past much faster. I was catching other runners though and just tried to keep on moving forward. Up through campus and on a trail out the other side just to turn around again and back towards transition. Last year we finished right next to transition. This year they added about 400 yards as we ran past transition and onto the track for 3/4 around to the finish. My 26:32 was about 3:43 slower than last year, but adding the 400 yards should not of taken that long, so I was a bit slower, oh well, I had fun! but happy to be done too.

1:03:01 total time (last year 1:00:01)

Runningshoes.com MTB Duathlon

This is the third time I've done this event and first time we had no rain, there was still a bit o mud up on some of the trail but it was a great day.

As always I arrived quite early to pickup my packet and shirt. Got settled, road one lap around the lake to warm up and then setup my transition, great spot near the entry/exit. Lots of friends do this race so it is a great time chatting and releasing the pre race tension.

The race starts with one lap running around the lake, then we mountain bike followed by another run around the lake. They changed the bike loop from two laps of the 'beginner' course to one lap of the 'expert' course. The expert course adds some serious hills, some pretty easy switchbacks and then hooks up onto the beginner course and doing only one lap makes this a slightly shorter event than in the past.

Lance was being Lance at the start and held up the starting gun and yelled 'GO', then about 10 seconds into the run he fired the starting gun, put a big smile on my face at least. I always seem to start my runs a bit fast, but with a bike and then another run, I wanted to go a bit slower than a fast run, maybe tempo pace. Thought I was in pretty good company and felt good throughout, carried my bike gloves and during the final quarter mile or so, ate a gel and put on my gloves.

My mountain biking shoes are just my running shoes so quickly put on the helmet and was off, nice quick transition. This was maybe my 5th ride on my new bike (well new to me) and I think it's great. I was able to climb and coming back down hardly felt the drops and bumps. very nice, very quick. I did get passed by more than a few going up, but was not passed on the way back down. I did catch up with someone and was happy to stay a bit behind as I was also thinking about the run after.

Back into transition I again had a 20 second stop to park bike, take off helmet and grab my running hat. I think I gained ground in the transition area on more than a few competitors.

The second run is the opposite way around the lake and starts with a bit of a hill (not really anything to talk about) making the transition from biking to running a bit of work, but once at the top of the crest starting feeling like running. Shortly after though my stomach started saying when are you going to stop running, so I slowed a bit, took the better part of the lake before I felt like really running fast again. Coming around the lake past the play structure (about a quarter mile from the finish) I see Debbie and Alex and Alex was ready for a high five, but after the high five he wanted to run with me, so I slowed (a bit) and he kept up for the final quarter mile and got lots of cheers.

About an hour after the adult race they do a kids duathlon and Jacob did it again for the third time, he did the 'long course' with about a half mile run, bike around the lake and then the same half mile run. He did great. I think he could bike faster, but completed everything with a look of determination and trademark tongue stickin out, working hard!

Great event and great day.

Great race and event overall

Black Diamond Half Iron

Sometimes I actually like being a slow swimmer...

Came down on Friday to stay with Debbie's parents, nice easy and relaxing. Up early to get the worm, or at least a good parking spot within the state park. As usual I'm an early bird and got there before the park gate was open, but not first in line (second).

Sat and read and eventually someone came an opened the gate to let us (1o or so) early arrivers in. I probably could of slept in a bit more as I noticed some spots as late as 6:30 but I was up anyway so oh well.

Got my packet and put the numbers in the correct spots and went to get body marked and find my transition spot. They provide lots of bike racks, but put about 20 per 20 feet and they are numbered in 20's so I try to find a kinda open spot in my grouping, but not much bigger than a postage stamp.

With the great parking I was able to leave some stuff in the car and not use up as much space in transition anyway. There must of been 200 bikes on 15 or so racks and about 20 more unused racks. I (along with quite a few others) asked about spreading out into an unused area so I ended up moving and had a whole rack to myself, it was great.

I had some stomach issues going on too, just a bit unsettled, gurgling and such. Wasn't sure if I was going to have to stick close to the porto-lets or actually get to race, maybe it was just nerves because as once I started getting my wetsuit on and fully ready to go my stomach settled down.

The swim is a two lap course and I hadn't done much swimming since Coeur d'Alene so was just hoping for anything under 45 and as it turns out I only missed last years time by about 20 seconds or so. I was a little worried on the second lap as I swam and pretty much only saw the pink swim caps of the second wave of all women, not many green (men's wave) caps. Once I saw my time coming up to transition I was happy.

Swim: 43:32 (1.2 miles - 2:04/100 yards)

It was great to have the whole rack to myself, I was able to stomp my wetsuit off, dry my feet, get socks and shoes on, jersey, sunglasses and helmet and was off, faster than last year.

T1 - 2:40

They changed the bike course this year (from 62 miles to proper Half Iron 56 miles) so I knew I was going to improve on my time, but I started out strong and started passing people right away. This is where I really like being a slow swimmer, I had the 180th fastest swim (out of 219). I like having these rabbits to catch, so I count them, helps keeps me focused, plus one for everyone I pass, minus one for when someone passes me.

They added two out and backs to the loop to the north we have done in the past for this course, this turned the north loop into 24.75 miles (same course they use for the Olympic tri) and the middle loop to the south was cut considerably shorter and skipped the Mud Mountain road (2 mile uphill).

I had ridden most of this course in previous years, but wasn't sure what to expect on the new out and backs and part of the south loop. The first out and back was on a dead end and nice and wide and a little uphill, but we got to come right back down that. The second out and back was a turnaround on a busy main road. I was a little worried on how they would work this, but it was great, they had two police officers with stop signs and only letting cars through if there were no bicyclist, the gap between was a couple football fields of wide open road and we had the whole width to turn around, didn't loose too much speed.

I finished the first loop of 25 miles in 1:13 and change and knew I was flying (for me at least). I was up 39 positions by then, still feeling good and not tired or anything. My goal for the bike was to hopefully break 3 hours and my quick math told me had a good shot if I get the south loop done in 20 and 1:20 for the repeated north loop.

We head south and it got a bit windy, but not too bad, my pace of counting slowed quite a bit on the south loop and the repeat of the north. We were getting further strung out and the space between riders was much larger. We stayed on the main road for a couple miles with no protection from the wind, finally turning over to a side road for the route back and got to use some of that (now a tail) wind.

Passing back in front of the state park at 1:33 meant I was still on pace and I hit the 1:33 right on, just need to keep the pace for the final 25 miles.

My right knee started to talk to me about mile 40 or so. I started to ease off just a bit. I had been leap frogging one rider. I'd pass on the hill, she'd pass me back, then another rolling hill and I'd get my spot back and then finally she was able to get away as I just had to slow a bit to not hurt as much.

There is a long straight before the first out and back and generally downhill, but rolling and I was able to fully hammer through this without any pain and the hill on the out and back was fine too. My number had gotten as high as 48, but with the knee pain and easing I got back down to 41, I kept thinking I gotta keep going, I can't give these all back, I earned it. I was happy to be able to ride pain free all the way back to the state park and in doing so, got my final number back up to finish at 49. Very happy, what a great ride!

Bike - 2:54:24 (56 miles - 19.27 MPH)

Coming back into T2 I stopped and used the porto-lets and still had a pretty quick T2. I did a test run this week with bungee laces and (thankfully) decided to stick with regular laces and run a comfortable half marathon. Changed the shoes, got rid of the helmet and grabbed the race belt and took off for an afternoon run.

T2 - 2:08

I had one goal for the run and that was to run and not walk. The previous two times I did this event I ended up walking a good portion of the half marathon. I know I can run a pretty decent half marathon, but after swimming and biking it just had not come together.

I started out slow, a secondary goal was to break 2 hours, so I tried to stick to 9 minute miles and hope for the best. The course was not as well marked as previous years, but the few mile markers I saw, I was ahead of the 9 minute pace.

I keep count on the run too, I think mostly to keep my mind on something other than my feet and body. So I look and count other peoples feet and bodies.

I kept picking off the miles and before I knew it I was at the furthest turn around and headed back, its all downhill from here , right? head home now! gotta keep going as its the only way back. I was still feeling good at this point, I had some water at every aid station alternating my own gels or thermolyte tablets. On the way back though I started to not want to eat, I tried my clif blocks and started chew, but just ended up spitting it out as it didn't want to go down.

No problem, I'm almost home, I can make it. There is a section of a dirt road that is not gravel and not really dirt. I'd say it is mostly fist to shoe sized rocks, not the best or most fun to run on, but I kept on keepin on passing a few more in this section as I think my trail running helped some through here.

Back on the road you have to run past the state park to enter through a back trail and then you are so close you can hear the music, hear the announcer calling peoples name at the finish, but they send us on the final 1.4 mile loop around the lake.

I had gotten up to plus 18 at the start of the lake loop, but I was hurting, I kept on running though. very slowly. It is not like running around Green Lake (flat paved trail) not like running around Lake Padden (wide well groomed gravel with ups and downs). This is more like an extra wide single track you might find while out mountain biking. The path is exposed root after exposed root, they do mark them, but the ground is almost all powdery white from all the roots that are marked. not to mention to brutal ups and downs (not too bad, but at mile 70 of this 70.3 adventure) I was hurting and they felt brutal.

8 people passed me in the final 1.4 to finish at plus 10. I had no energy, I usually have something to kick it in and across the finish line, but I had nothing. I did get a smile and thumbs up in for the photographer, but was happy to be done. I even had the volunteer taking my timing strap off open my water bottle for me.

Run 1:57:55 (13.1 miles - 9:00/mile)

Total 5:40:39 (83/202 Overall - 22/26 Male 35-39)

I went down and soaked in the nice cool lake for a bit while I thought about the great race I just had. I actually felt like a raced it too, first time I felt like I raced a triathlon of this distance. I hit all my goals and then some. I was hoping to break 6 hours and smashed that out the door, broke 3 on the bike, sub 2 on the run, ran the entire run. all in all a great race.

Weird tidbit of info: final place of 83 matched my race number of 83

Ride 542 (Mt Baker Hill Climb)

What a great day, not a cloud anywhere on the way up or down.

We met before 6 to carpool up and arrived in plenty of time to get fully dressed and bikes all ready. It was cold because there were no clouds overnite either. We wanted to get going to warm the legs and body up.

There were lots and lots of riders, they roll us west on SR542 back out of downtown Glacier to the mile post 33 "starting line". Kevin, Joel and I were towards the back of the group, but once we started we were able to use both sides of the road and I was able to move up quickly. By about a mile into the ride I was within 100 yards of the leaders and on the first downhill section of the uphill ride we were crusin along at better than 30 MPH.

The ride is 24 plus miles from Glacier up to Artist Point which is about 5k past the Mt Baker ski area. The lower first 11 miles or so is the steepest section past Nooksack River Falls. I was about 5 minutes faster up this section than the recon ride last week.

Just past here we get a false flat up past the DOT station to the real climb. It is not as steep but it is much longer, the final 12 miles is just up, go around a corner and then its more up. next switchback, more up, up, up.

You go past the lower ski lodge and you need to either not know the road or gather your mental strength as it seems like forever to get to Heather Meadows and the upper ski lodge. After multiple switchbacks and passing the sign (about 1 mile before the real Heather Meadows) you finally get to the upper ski area.

Now it gets interesting as you turn up the final 5k ascent. This uppper section is what you think of in the Alps of the Tour de France, above the tree line and lots of switchbacks that you can see above you (and below you). This part is tough for me too as once you pass the Austin Pass parking lot you got a big, long switchback and you think your close, but once around the upper part of this you hit the Lake Ann trailhead parking lot and you see a repeat of what looks like the same big, long switchback, but this is great too as you start to see many more spectators, hear the cowbells and it helps get you up to the top.

They mark each kilometer of the final 5k and in between 2k and 1k to go I start to fell real sluggish, I thought it might just be because of my location (riding up the side of a mountain), but as it got worse I noticed some give to my rear tire, yeah I had a slow leaking flat. I started to feel my rim on the ground, so stood up over the handlebars and got a bit better, but couldn't stand the final 1.5k. Once I sat back down I realized I had to stop, ug!

Got my wheel off the bike, got out my tire levers, was about to release the final bits of air to get the tire off the rim, but noticed it still had a good amount of air, so decided to simply fill with my CO2 cartridge. Filled it up, loaded up my gear, and back underway. It was a slow leak and I was able to finish with just the refill of air. (I did a full change before riding back down)

I was close to the 2 hour mark I've been hoping to get, still a personal best on my third time in this event. If I had no flat I still wouldn't of made it under 2 hours.

Great ride, highly recommend to everyone.

Clear Lake Race Report

We had planned on getting up early to go watch some of the Tour de France down at The Mount Bakery - a local Belgian bakery, but skipped it for a little extra sleep before we headed south. I loaded up and then got the kids fed and loaded and we were off.

Clear Lake is about 30-40 minutes south of Bellingham, just east of Mount Vernon and I thought we were late, but as it turns out the race started at 9:00 instead of the 8:30 I had thought, so we had plenty of time to get setup and relax and play a bit.

My parents same up from Seattle to watch Jacob do the kids race which starts after the adults race. They arrived early enough to watch me race too, very nice! The lake has a very nice small park with a great play structure for the kids, some slides to slide into the water, nice sandy beach and it was turning out to be a beautiful day.

The race got underway a bout 5 minutes late to allow cleaning up some of the road construction. The swim is basically a 1/3 mile triangle and the start in between the swim docks was a little tight. I think I hit and got hit just as much as my Ironman swim. Once around the two turns and coming back into shore, it did clear up a bit. I got out of the water in just under 12 minutes, right where I was hoping.

I decided to try to race with no socks to see if I could save some time, so my swim to bike transition was very fast, just sunglasses, helmet and shoes and was off, no drying , no stopping to put on socks. I was able to bike without socks without any pain or blisters. This is a short sprint race and was only a 15 mile ride, out and back so you get to see all the leaders and who is coming up behind you. Pretty flat too, one hill and I really didn't even notice how big the hill was until I was coming back down. I passed 14 people on the bike and had two pass me, I know one very well as I ride with him most weekends, the other was wearing the new Bellingham Tri Club gear but I did not recognize him. Even though it was so short I was happy to finish as I was going VERY hard the whole way, finishing in 42:17 (or 21.3 MPH and averaged 154 HR which is a lot higher than I train at).

My bike to run transition was very fast too, I had transitioned to bare feet on top of my bike shoes on the last 200 yards of the bike so just needed to run to my spot, set bike and helmet down and put on my running shoes, this was a little harder than I expected as my feet were still a little damp, but got them on, grabbed my race number and hat and was headed out.

I could feel that I wished I had socks on, it was rubbing me the wrong way, but I made it through with only a couple cuts on one foot, no blisters, so no complaints. I checked my watch at the mile marker and saw 6:45 so I was moving along pretty good. Kept picking off people too, one at a time here and there and hit the turn around at 13:13 still moving fast. Finally got passed by one faster runner just after the turn around, but I kept on trucking along and pretty soon I saw the 1 mile to go sign. The first part of the last mile was a bit tough, but after a couple turns you can see how close you are getting and before I knew it was around the last turn and turned it up a bit more and then the final 150 yard dash was a nice sprint to finish it off. I passed 6 on the run and had 1 pass me. not bad at all! 26:39 run or 6:40 per mile 160 HR!

Final time of 1:22:20 and 13th overall position!

Relaxed a bit and then got Jacobs transition all set, He wanted me to swim/bike/run with him so I did a second triathlon and it was just as much fun as the first. Jacob used a kick board and I swam along side, his swim was about 100 yards and he did great, ran quickly up and out of the water and I helped rinse off his feet. He was going sock less as well, got on his shoes and helmet and I set him off while I got my shoes and helmet on too. I quickly caught up and we rode the 1.5 mile ride having a nice conversation. Back at transition, we ran to drop off our bikes and I told him just to set it down and I would catch up after I set the bikes in place. He ran most all the .6 mile course with only one walk section this year. He really wanted to improve on his time from last year and was about 3-4 minutes faster. He was very happy!

After his race I found out that I actually finished my race in first place for my age group (Male 35-39) so that was a nice surprise. They do a great raffle for all sorts of stuff, but Jacob was a little disappointed again this year, two years in a row and our names were not called (75 or more prizes on the table to choose from).

After, my parents took us all out for lunch and treats at Dairy Queen, so I think Jacob's disappointment did not last long! Great day and very happy to have my parents come watch Jacob and I race. Alex had fun playing and I was able to swim and catch him coming down the slide. Great Day!

IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene Race Report

IRONMAN Coeur d’Alene
June 24, 2007

I got an ok night of sleep, got up about 4 am to eat and load up the car while the kids slept. Jacob woke up and got dressed and I carried Alex out to the car in his pajamas and we were off about 4:35 or so.

I dropped off my special needs bags, put my nutrition mix and gels on my bike and found someone to pump up my tires, and then finally got body marked. I met up with Debbie and the kids and we went to check out the swim start area and walked towards the Coeur d’Alene Resort. After many hugs, kisses and good wishes I went back towards transition and sat down to relax a bit.

About 6:20 or so I started to get my wetsuit on and dropped my dry clothes bag off and was on the beach with about 15 – 20 minutes to go. I moved to the far right got my cap and goggles on and then heard the national anthem and was ready to go.

SWIM 2.4 Miles – 1:29:12 – 2:21 per 100 meters
Before I knew it I heard the cannon and I slowly walked down behind the runners. It took me about 15 seconds before I was in and deep enough to start swimming.

The oncoming whitecaps and rollers from the wind were tough to get a good stroke going, the waves had no regularity so you could not get a rhythm as to know when to breathe and when to sight. I was pretty much following the swimmers in front of me.

The real mess was at the first turn buoy. I planned to swim a bit wide but didn’t go wide enough and was caught in the mess. The swim section parallel to the beach was extra tough as the whitecaps kept pushing everyone in and that made the second turn buoy tougher than the first as not many were able to swim wide. I made it around and the waves kind of pushed us towards the shore but it didn’t help too much as I found it harder to know when to breathe and when to sight.

I was amazed when I saw the timing clock at 41 minutes as I got out of the water. The wind and associated whitecaps were just as bad on the second lap and I did not have nearly as many people in front to block and use for sighting. Not nearly as many people at the turn, but was still a tight turn with lots of people.

My calf cramped up tight once around the buoy, so I had to stop swimming and rolled over onto my back for almost half a minute while I tried to stretch and not get hit or swam over. I worked through it and got back into the beach with a total of 1:29:12 and boy was I happy. Under my goal of 1:30!

T1 - 6:47
I walked up the beach past over a 1000 people lining the barriers, awesome! I picked an open pair of wetsuit peelers and they pulled and tugged and within a couple seconds my wetsuit was off.

I found an empty chair in the changing tent. Once dry and bike gear on, I was out the door to the next set of volunteers and had two nice lades slather my arms and neck with sunscreen before I jogged off to grab my bike. I saw Debbie and the kids at the fence near my bicycle and they cheered for me and it felt great to be sent off like that.

BIKE 112 Miles – 6:38:58 – 16.8 mph
I exited the bike transition and the town streets were packed full of people cheering you on. I tried to settle into a nice and easy rhythm to keep my heart rate down. Coming back through town after first out and back in about 45 minutes I Debbie and the kids and got a little misty eyed as I made my way up and onto the middle 40 mile loop that had most all the hills.

I hardly noticed the first hill and before I knew it I was up and over the steepest hill section and ready for the rolling hills and again before I knew it was out at the furthest north turn around, about 35 miles into the course in under two hours, man I thought I was going too fast.

Back into town over the few more rollers and the final 10 miles or so is generally downhill and then you do get to ride through the barriers and tons of people cheering for you, it was awesome!

First loop done in 3:08 and change and I was off for the second loop, repeating the exact same route out and along the lake. I stopped at one of the vault toilets along the lake and at the bike special needs drop bags to reload my nutrition mix. I walked a bit to stretch my legs and toes.

The section through town was once again awesome and then up into the hill loop. Even the outer sections of the hilly area had lots of people, each aid station was like a party zone, people had parties in their driveways, some major intersections, and at the furthest turnaround was a large group all dressed in red cheering everyone on, I saw someone dressed up as Elmo way out here too, man it was great.

I got off the bike at the start of the aid station at mile 96 and walked through as if it was a run course aid station to stretch, get off the bike and use the facilities.

The short two mile out and back was great as I knew I was so close to being done and hammered out and back to make the second loop in about 3:30.

T2 - 4:53
I went straight to one of the porta potties then got my bag from the volunteer and back into the changing tent. This was quicker as I just had to take the bike shoes off and put the running shoes on.

It felt great to get the bike shoes off and the running shoes on. I stopped at the sun screeners again and got slathered, they got my ears and face this time in addition to my arms and shoulders, it was like a great mid race massage.

RUN 26.2 Miles - 4:56:22 – 11:19 per mile
I was now on my strongest portion of the triathlon and I was off and running towards the first short out and back section along the river. After the turn around, I checked my watch at the 1 mile marker and saw 8:30, not a bad pace at all maybe a bit fast but I was feeling ok and shortly after, just before getting back near the transition area, I saw Debbie and kids and they saw me and started to cheer and boy oh boy was it great. What a lift, each time I saw them my pace quickened a bit and I’m sure my smile got bigger.

The tunnel of people on each side of the barriers as you run past the transition area was like what you see when you watch the Tour de France, it was packed full of people on each side and lots and lots of them are calling out your name and man it was awesome. Just past this, you run through downtown Coeur d’Alene and the streets are closed and each side of the street is packed. You get this feeling for about 5 or 6 blocks before the turn towards the residential section before you get to the lake area.

I was able to run pretty much the first 10 miles, but after that I settled into a run/walk and made it back into town and the crowd helped me run, how could you walk when thousands of people are cheering for you and calling your name. I made it past the transition area in about 2:08 for the first half marathon.

Once past the river dike section and downtown and the residential section and back along the lake I was starting to turn into a walk/run. I had plenty of energy to run, but was too sore all over my legs and feet so wanted to walk so I did. I did run the hill up the turnaround because I knew I would walk back down so I ran up, felt great!

The way back was more walk than run and back through the residential section I tried to run and was starting to turn back into a run/walker and once past the last aid station about mile 25 I ran the final mile plus all the way home.

Coming down the final 5 blocks is all downhill and packed with 2000-3000 people all cheering for me and lots would read my name and call out “Go Glenn!” or “Way to go Glenn”, man it was awesome. About two blocks from the finish chute I started to slow as I was looking for Debbie and the kids as I wanted to finish with Jacob and Alex. Some people said don’t slow down now, you can do it, but I finally found the kids, or Jacob found me and ran out of the kids corral area and I asked if Alex was coming. Debbie got him out of the stroller and we all ran down the finish chute and I even heard Mike Reilly call my name (correctly too) and where I was from and most importantly that “YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!”

SWIM: 2.4 Miles – 1:29:12
T1: 6:47
BIKE: 112 Miles – 6:38:58
T2: 4:53
RUN: 26.2 Miles – 4:56:12
FINAL: 13:16:11
PLACE: 217/344
AGPLACE: 1108/2085 OA

WWU Triathlon V

I was skipping out on my planned 6 hour bike ride to do an event that I have done the past three years. This is a fun event put on by the Western Washington University Cycling team up on the WWU campus.

I woke up early to get some food and ready to go as I was riding my bicycle to the event. After eating a bowl of cereal and reading a bit online I was ready to go. I wore my race gear under my commuting gear and had loaded up my backpack with my transition stuff. The ride up to campus is only about 20 minutes and was a nice warm up, although (as usual) I was very early and it wasn't really a warm up after all.

I found a nice transition area right on the edge of a rack in the middle and setup my bike and towel with my shoes, hat, race belt and more all laid out and ready to go. OK, time to walk around and chit chat and wait. This race has grown and grown, in 2004 when I first ran this event they had 56 finishers. I saw over 120 registered for today's race and lots of my friends and fellow Bellingham Triathlon Club members either do this race or volunteer so I had lots of people to visit and chit chat with. My friend Pat had arrived even before me and had a very nice spot picked out on the closest bike rack to the transition entrance/exit. He has been riding with me on some of these long training rides and it sure has helped. My last 5 hour ride (without Pat) seemed longer and harder.

Swim
It is a pool swim this time of year around here and we swim up and down each of the six lanes ducking under the lane lines each time. This makes for a 300 yard swim that snakes itself from one side of the pool to the other. The swimmers are sent 15 seconds apart and if everyone gave an accurate swim estimate you shouldn't have to pass anyone or get passed yourself. I estimated a 5:45 swim and the two in front of me were missing (more on that later) so I didn't have to worry about passing anyone and as it turns out the second person behind me was about to pass just as I was getting out of the water in 5:29 for a 1:52/100 average. Very happy swimmer here!

T1
As you run out of the pool there is a very pleasant gravel path you must run down to get to the transition area. I choose to skirt the edge and actually run in the bark and bushes. Once past the slivers I was on soft grass and on my knees to put on my socks, yeah I like to wear socks, some go barefoot to save the few seconds, but I go with socks. As I was putting the shoes on with one hand I put on my sunglasses, as I put on the other shoe I slipped on my helmet. I also decided on putting my jacket on due to the cold, this took a few extra seconds but I think it helped on the bike. T1 took 1:55 (from just exiting the water until actually on the bike).

Bike
The bike is off campus but you head right out Bill Macdonald Parkway as it curves around the new campus parking and information building. This road has a brief down and then up section followed by a nice long downhill where you can really pickup some speed, but watch out as the turn at the bottom is like a 120 degree turn, much more than 90 but not so much that you are riding back where you came from. This road heads south and is pretty flat and easy to pick off slower swimmers. One by one I kept on passing. A couple more turns and then its generally back towards campus but rather than taking the main road (which is busy but flat) we go up 14th street and back down to the main road and once again rather than sticking on this main drag we are sent up and over a section just to get back onto the busy road a little farther down the way. This has taken past the north side of campus, so we turn off this main drag up and back towards campus with some more ups in there for good measure. Rather than going the short way back to the transition area we are sent past campus (from the north to the south this time) almost to Fairhaven again. This section is generally downhill but once again we turn onto a road simply to get an up and then a down. This down is not that great as it is one city block down to a left turn. I was riding the brakes most of the way. Finally we are back on the main drag into the transition but this is a 4 block ride up, so not a lot of speed here (for me at least). Once on the crest and pretty flat into transition I slowed to take my feet out of my shoes but leave them on the bike. I set my feet onto the top of the shoes so I don't need to do this in transition. I think I may of slowed too much, but oh well. This 9 mile loop took me 29 minutes flat for an 18.58 MPH.

T2
Since I was already out of my shoes I was able to very quickly get going, had a little trouble putting the bike back on the rack, but once on had my shoes and race belt on in less than 46 seconds.

Run
The run is brutal at the start as once you leave transition it is straight up hill, up to the top of the ridge past all the dorms (where I used to live many years ago, as did my mom). I was going at a nice clip, but my HR kept on going up and up and finally had to walk for a few seconds to catch my breath and slow down. Got going again and turned the corner to run downhill for the next mile or so almost to downtown, but I think they just have us run that far down to have to turn around and run back up. Once at the bottom, we turn and it is another of those straight up deals, but was able to keep it going up and over the top. One more turn and then its the road up into campus and once on campus we run right past Old main, but not red square along the back of some buildings to get onto a trail I used when I lived on the south side of campus. I love trail running and was able to pickup some more speed here. All this back and forth around campus makes for a very nice event I think. Once out of the trail a short section and turn along a busy road for 1 block and then it is a straight shot to the finish, up hill finish that is. I was VERY happy with my (listed) 3.5 mile run in 22:49 or 6:31 per mile.

Overall was a little bummed that I missed the one hour mark. but not too bummed as I only missed it by 1 second. Yeah 1:00:01 total time. The official time was listed as 59:31, remember those two swimmers ahead of me who didn't make it, I think I got a 30 second head start, but I'm going off my time splits from my watch and am VERY happy with my 1 hour time, although if I didn't put on the jacket, or slow down as much to get my feet out of my cycling shoes, or... Yeah I hope I can break 1 hour next year, something to shoot for.