I'm Back!! Mountain Man Race Report

The day started early, real early. With a wedding the night before in Kingman, Kim and I made the decision to save some money and sleep in our own bed rather than driving up the day before. Well, in order to get to the race at a decent time we needed to be out of the house by 3am. I got up at 2:30 and drank my coffee and threw the last few things in the mini-van (which is great for races by the way). 3:04 out the door to Flagstaff for my first race in just over 9 months, I was excited!!

We pulled into the parking area around 5:30, the storms that we had to drive through slowed us down a bit, once I got out of the van I was on a mission. Dropped my bike off at the rack, pick up my packet, get my chip, body marking had a line, skipped that. I had no time to wait. Came back and set-up my transition area. Just about when I was ready to put on my wetsuit someone walked by and was doing body, marking; perfect!! Threw on my wetsuit, found my beautiful wife and gave her a kiss, and jogged to the start to get in as much of a warm up as I could. I was in the water for about 3 minutes before they called us back to start. Not the warm up that I wanted.

I was off, first race in 9 months, wohoo!!! Took off for the first buoy and ran out of oxygen quickly, my body was not primed for the race yet, especially at 7,000’. I backed off and let my body warm up to the idea that I was asking it to race again. The rest of the swim went rather smooth, I found some feet to draft off every now and then.

Swim time: 33:30 I had only lost 3 minutes to the leaders so I was not worried.

Onto the bike, this is what I was excited for, my first race on my new Valdora PHX2!!! I got out on the bike and I was flying!! I quickly moved past the front end of the field into 3^rd, at the time I thought I was in the lead. I decided to back off the power a bit and play it smart, if I caught everyone that fast I had better save it for the real battle, the run.

About 20 miles in there is a short out and back where you can see where you stand for the first time. I was eager to see if there was anyone out front. I was happy to see that there were 2 guys out in front of me and I was sitting in 3^rd place. I could go to work and start to hunt them down on the rest of the bike and on the run; after all I backed off my target power and was saving even more energy for my run. I felt great on the bike, nice strong aero position and the ride on the new bike with the race wheels on was smooth and strong. With the exception of the speed bump like cracks on the bike side of the course that caused my aero bars to tilt forward, the PHX2 took the vibration out of the road and rolled over the hills with ease.

Bike time: 2:26 second fastest split.

I never caught up to the two guys that were in front of me and I stayed in 3^rd for the remainder of the ride, never to see another rider in my race the remainder 35 miles. I headed into transition knowing that I had two guys out in front of me to chase down. I jumped off my bike and ran through transition to my rack and the legs felt great. I racked the bike put on some socks and shoes, grabbed my fuel belt/nutrition and I was off. Now normally I never feel great in the first miles of the run, it takes some time for my running legs to make their appearance. Well on this day I think they were still in bed back in Kingman. Within the first half mile I wanted to stop, nothing hurt, my legs just felt miserable. Instantly my mind started to think of what could possibly be going on. Was it water; no, calories; no, too hard on the bike; no (I had ridden well below my power target and my HR was lower than expected too), perhaps it was sitting in the van for 2.5 hours this morning, who knows, but right now I need to run, come on legs show up soon, please!!!!!!! I had to focus on the 13 miles that were in front of me, and run one mile at a time. 13 miles is a long way and a lot can happen, after all “it is all about the run”.

For the nest several miles I tried to find my legs and get in the zone. The run course has one long nasty hill on it that starts about 1.5 miles in, at the top is an out and back section which will allow me to see the gap on the two in front of me. I saw a friend on the way up and I asked him for the gap and he said he will get it on the way down. I saw the leader and second at the turn and did my own split and they were less than 2 min in front of me. I saw my friend and he told me 1:40. I yelled back at him, “last 5 miles”. That is where this race is won and where I planned on making my move. After we came back down the hill I could see the two out in front of me for the rest of the race. I passed second place, and set my sights on the leader. At the turn around for the last 5 miles I checked the gap to the leader again and it was 45 sec. He saw me and he knew that I was catching up. This time I also looked at who was coming up behind me and how everyone else looked. No one looked great until I saw the Folts brothers running together like they were in a local 5k race, and they were moving!

I kept my focus on catching the leader in front; he was soo close now that I was able to check the gap when he got to aid station in front of me. The gap was coming down, I think I was about 25 sec behind him when I heard someone yelling “water, gel, water, gel” behind me. I thought it was a local cyclist asking for a gel or water, they were yelling that loud. I turned to see who was making all the noise and it was Brian Folts making his move. I saw his pace and new that I could not match it. About 20 yards after he passed me he slowed a bit, I did my best to match his pace and go with him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw me pick it up to go with him and added another little surge this time it was enough. I would have to work to catch him in the 2 miles that were left. I pushed on for the last 2 miles trying to catch either of the 2 in front of me, but I was not making up any ground. Brian caught the leader and took the victory with an amazing fast split. I crossed the line 3^rd.

Run Split: 1:36

Total Time: 4:36

I was happy to be done when I got to the line. I asked me self about 20 times during the race “why did you pick a half for your first race back?” An Olympic or a sprint race would have been great to familiarize myself with the amount of discomfort that can come from racing, and the huge effort that is required, but a half, at 7,000’, who does that, what the heck was I thinking???? I found Kim and walked up to get some water. (On a side note to any race directors who may read this, if you have water at a race, please have it at the finish line to hand to the athletes, not 50 yards away and up stairs where spent athletes have to walk to in order to get a bottle. Come on the race was hard enough, getting water should be easy!!) We walked around some more, packed up the bikes and bags in the van. Stuck around for the awards, I ended up placing 3^rd overall and 1^st in my age group. Not a bad race for my first race back. My overall time was 5 min slower than the previous year and that was on a much reduced training schedule that Coach Logan had me on. For the rest of the year I will be focusing on the Olympic distance and racing close to home. Hopefully I can get some speed out of my legs and compete in those as well.

We headed back to Kingman and pulled in the driveway at 3:05. It was a long 12 hours, but I was back to racing! Kim was also back to racing; it was her first race since the birth of Logan, and nearly 15 months since her last race. She was a bit smarter than me; she decided to ease her way into it by electing to race the Olympic in her first race back.

Next race: Las Vegas Triathlon, Olympic race in 2 days. “It’s all about the run.”

IRONMAN

What a great day perfect weather and no winds for my first Ironman.

The day started at 4am when the alarm went off. I got out of bed, drank a Boost plus and jumped in the shower to help ease the nerves. Got out of the shower and sipped on another Boost plus to top off the tank with 700 calories for breakfast. Grabbed the bags for special needs and transitions and we were off.

Dropped off all the bags and made my way over to the bike, put my nutrition on the bike (3 bottles of Infinit Nutrition w/ 700 calories each) pumped the tires up to 160psi and did one last check to make sure that everything was in working order. Grabbed my bag with my wetsuit and goggles and headed over to a little hill for some peace and quiet. I was with Kim and my family would be coming later from the hotel so she was able to help me with anything that I might need help with at the last minute. Put on some sunscreen and started to get ready. I was really not that nervous as I knew it was a long day, I had a lot of work to do and a long time to do it. I think i get more worked up for shorter races where there is less room for error. As soon as I got on my wetsuit and I was ready to go my family had shown up I hugged them and was off on my way. I looked for Tim on my way to the start to see if I could find him for some last second advice, but in a group of 2000 people in wetsuits trying to find one person can be hard to do.

I entered the water with about 15 minutes to go before the start. I was in the middle about 8 to 10 rows back. Knowing that I am not the fastest swimmer I was hoping that I was in the right area so that I would not get swam over or have to swim over to many people. As the pros took off it seemed as if more and more people had come into an already crowded area. We were not even moving yet and we were hitting each other.

BOOM

The canon went of and my first Ironman was underway. I swam with my head up for the first 400 yards it seemed. I was not able to get my head in the water and my body horizontal for what seemed like forever!! I just stayed calm and knew that I had all day. No matter where I looked all that I could see was swimmers in front of me, beside me, and sometimes it felt like someone was below me. The first half of the swim was very slow as I was hardly able to get my stroke going. In the first half my goggles were knocked loose 5 times and I can not even tell you how many people that I hit or that hit me, needless to say the time flew by. After the turnaround on the swim it spread out a bit and I was able to start really swimming, the swim back went by very fast. I headed for the exit thinking that my time was going to be around an 1:05 since it went by so fast. Looked at my watch and it said 1:15, oh well have the rest of the day to make that up.

The first transition was even more chaotic then the swim was, you had people running around trying to find their bags then trying to run into a tent to change. I ran by the entrance to the tent and it was packed, I ran around back sat down and changed, ran around front and I was off to my bike.

Heading out on the bike, the roads were crowded, lots of people out there and I wanted to do my best to get by some of them. I also wanted to keep my HR low and I had my alarm set to go off anytime that I was above 146. It was beeping a lot at first, I fiugred that I would take 15 min to get set in before I was worried about my HR. I kept drinking making sure that I took in enough water, and then started my nutrtion plan after 15 min. Once we got onto the B-line Highway I noticed that there were some major groups that had formed and they were all flying. The wind, what little there was hit you in the face on the way out. So the groups were moving fast and the riders were sitting up pedaling with ease, one guy even said "What are they going to do the [penalty] tent isn't big enough for all of us." I tried to get around them 2 times before I was able to get away from them. Each time required quite and effort as my HR went up to 158 once or twice to get away from them. At the turn around it spread out a bit. I was crusing back I was in the biggest gear and I was moving it took about 54 min to go out and 46 to get back. My first loop was very fast soo fast that I said "time out" I realized that I had to run a marathon later and i had better listen to my HR monitor and get my HR low. I was going off from time to time on the first lap.

At the end of the first lap I already had to unrinate so I knew that I had been drinking more than enough. I had to stop to go to the bathroom as I was riding up hill and into the wind so doing so on the bike would have caused me to fall over. I wanted to wait till I headed back, however I could not wait. I stopped at the next feed station and I thought the toilet was going to overflow. After about 4 min I exited and felt much better! As I continued on my HR kept dropping lower and lower. My upper back and neck were hurting pretty good, so much that I would sit up from time to time for some relief. I flew by the special needs bags on my second loop wanting to wait as long as possible before I took in any caffeine. Looking back now I wish I would have stopped, as this would have helped out a little. Continued on for my 3 lap keeping my HR low, going back out to the b-line I was passed by Chuck who I passed earlier in the race, I was sitting up as my back was still hurting. He asked how I was doing and if I wanted anything, i told him that it was just a walk in the park. I sat up for most of the ride back to Tempe on the 3rd loop stretching out my back from time to time to ready for the run. I stopped and got Coke on the trip back and poured it into my aero bottle and it did the trick! I dont know what it is about coke but after 100 miles you can drink some and you feel like you can do another 100! I made it back to town and I have never been so happy to get off the bike, I started to run to get my transition bag and thought, man does this feel good!!
My back did not bother me at all on the run. I quickly got changed used the restroom and I was off, I had some work to do. This was the biggest question of the day for me, the run. After having 5 weeks off from running I had not gotten in all the miles that I should have so the run was going to have some big question marks in it. I felt amazing the first mile, partly since I was so happy to get off of the bike. My first mile was a 6:45, I was flying, but I had a marathon to run, so i slowed it down a bit. I also turned on my alarm for my HR monitor which I turned off on the way back on the bike because it was going off from my HR being too low. It would go off from time to time on the run for the first 5 miles then after that I hardly heard it.
I felt great and I was flying. I passed Tim and smacked hands with him as he was about 19 min ahead of me and coming back from one of the loop portions, he did not look like he was having as much fun as I was. I soon passed Chuck and talke with him for a second or two then I told him that I was going to go chase after Tim. I felt great, my legs were tired but they were not hurting. I was taking in my gatorade with carbopro to get in some easy calories, and grabbing a sponge to put under my jersey, along with water and coke at the aid stations. I would take a salt tab at the first sign of a cramp of uncomfort in my stomach, somtimes taking on two. I had brought 15 with me in a small ziplock back that I put inside a jersey pocket.
At the start of the second loop the crowds were insane, I have never had some many people cheer for me, it was awesome, all I wanted to do was run faster, then I would hear my HR alarm and back off. Shortly after the start of the second loop I saw Tim, he was walking. I stopped for a minute to walk with him and see what was going on. His stomach had shut down and he was not able to keep anything down, so he was reduced to a walk. This was not how I wanted to catch Tim. In training I had visualized catching Tim right at the finish line and crossing together. I wished him well and he told me to go get'em. I was a little emotional after leaving Tim I knew a small part of the rough year that he had and I wanted to push even more now, just for him. (For those of you who do not know, Tim is my coach, and close friend. I also refer to him as my older brother) I took off saying to myself that I love to run!! I just kept on moving and the miles went by very very fast. From time to time I would walk through an aid station to make sure that I got everything that I needed. Started the 3rd loop and the crowd was again awesome. I also had my family running around cheering for me and they seemed to be everywhere that I looked. My mom was so excited that she was jumping up and down while cheering.
I headed out for the 3rd loop and it was a big blur, time went by fast and I kept counting the miles till was going to be an Ironman. I really focused on my run nutrtion to make sure that I never fell apart, the last thing that I wanted to happen is that I was reduced to a walk or a crawl in the last miles. I saw the 24 mile mark and I really started to move, my legs we hurting now, but was running towards the finish line. At one point I even told myseld "I love to suffer" But this suffering was the good kind, the kind that ends when you see the finish and someone you love waiting for you there. I ran by split where you go out for the first 3 laps and I headed towards the finish pumping my fist with excitement as I knew I was close. I could hear Mike Reily the announcer announcing names of Ironmans in front of me. I made the turn and I could see the finish, I ran down the shoot happy as could be smacking fives with the crowd on the sides and listening for my name, while looking at the clock. Then I saw Kim and I don't remember anything else besides crossing the finish line and holdin it up in the air then hugging Kim and seeing her tears off joy.
I have done it, I have became an Ironman. I posed for some pictures with Kim and friends then I went over and sat down on the grass, RELIEF!! Drank some water, chicken broth, coke and my recovery drink to get some easy calories in me. Took some more pictures, and sat there and rested waiting for Tim to come across the line to share my joy with him. My dad and I walked to the car to get some warmer clothes on and on the way there was time. He looked good when he finished smiling and posing for the camera, but he was still hurting. He had lost over 10lbs and was on his way to get 3 IVs before they would let him leave. I talked to him for a second and then we were on our way to the hotel to relax and clean up.
For my first Ironman it was a huge success. I never stopped once and I was able to finish strong. There is not much that I would change over the course of the day, maybe my swim start position and the decision to get the Coke on my 2nd not 3rd lap while on the bike. I learned a lot and now I know what it takes. I am already signed up for next year along with 2 half in May and June that have qualifying spots as well.
Here are some numbers from the day from my HR monitor:
10:25 avg 144 max 172
Calories burned 9642
Swim: 147 avg 163 max
Bike: 139 avg 160 max (Avg/ loop 144, 141, 133)
Run: 150 avg 172 max
Here are some link to photos from my Sister and ASI Photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Krizay/IronmanAZ#
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=32045&BIB=286&LNSEARCH=1

Thanks to everyone who has helped me through the year, and thanks to everyone for the thoughts of encouragement. I crossed the finish line with a lot of people that day, physically and spirtually. And a special thanks to Kim. Without her it would not have been so easy. She has helped me a lot wether it is putting up with me when I am tired or making dinner for me while i stretch or lay on the couch after a hard workout. She has been there for me in everyway and encouraged me at every moment. She has listened to me when I am concerned and pushed away any doubts with her smile. I just hope that I am able to help her as much next year as we are both doing Ironman in November.

So I am taking off the next two weeks and doing what ever I want to. I dont plan on racing for a while as I want to build a huge base for next year as it is going to be another long year. I will be taking part in a 12 hour MTB race in January but that will be part of my base training.

IRONMAN IS AMAZING IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE IT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU MUST DO! ANYTING IS POSSIBLE!

IM AZ Countdown

The final days are approaching and I can not wait to start the race. My training has been great, my coaching excellent and I feel amazing. I am more anxious then anything right now. I am trying to approach it as an experience rather than a race since it is my first Ironman. I really want to be able to enjoy the day and have a great time. I will be heading down on Friday to get my registration complete and attend the mandatory athlete meeting as well.
You will be able to track me during the race online at www.Ironman.com
My bid number is 286
My coach, Tim Bolen is 1225
Dan Kuch from Havasu is 490
Kim, My parents, and sister will be there cheering the whole day so you maybe able to get a hold of them for a live update.
I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes since I will be off on Monday.

DT 08: What a great day!

Well another year has come and gone and with some help, a lot of help we were able to pull off the 4th annual Spirit of Triathlon. The day was a windy one as it challenged the new athletes who were on the course to earn the title "Triathlete".
For results you can check the website, www.spiritoftriathlon.com

A special thanks to all those who have helped to pull this off, whether you were a sponsor, volunteer, or a participant, without you this race would not take place.

DT Spirit of Triathlon

The 4th annual Dick Tomlin Spirit of Triathlon is less then a week away. If you have not yet registered then you will want to register ASAP. If you are not doing the triathlon, there are other ways to take part in this great event. You can be part of a team and form a relay, and recruit others to take part in this great event. If you are interested in taking part in a relay and need a team please let me know. We also need volunteers and we always need cheerleaders to comeout and support Kingman athletes. It looks as if we are going to have some beautiful weather for the event again this year. I hope to see you on Saturday.
If you need to register here is the link.
http://www.spiritoftriathlon.com/index.html

My IM training has shifted gears. I am done with the longer distances and I am entering the first week of my race prep and taper period that will last for 3 weeks. My last long ride and run took place this weekend. Well my last long run did as I went for my long ride my legs were shot and my HR we very very low, below 110. So I knew that I had taken everything out of my legs and I was time for me to recover some more. My last long run was 18 miles and felt great! I cameback the next day, after my shortened ride and cruised on the run; it felt effortless. My HR was right where I wanted it and my legs, foot felt great. Hard to believe that it is 3 weeks away!!

SOMA: Another hot one!

4 Kingman triathletes made the trip to Tempe this weekend to take on the flat and fast SOMA half Ironman course. Kim Slocum, Jean Cole, Matt Rehm and JR DiCarlo were all able to cover the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride (which had 15 u truns on it), and the sizzling 13.1 mile run with great success.
For Jean and Matt this was there first half Ironman. Jean was able to finish the distance in just over 6 hours (6:15). She looked very relaxed when she crossed the finsh line, and she shattered her transition times from her last race cutting them in half with 4 min transition. Matt had an amazing performance as he finshed in just under 6 hours (5:45). The heat caused him to have some cramps at the end of the run. His swim and bike were amazing as I was impressed with his performance especially since he was not able to walk on Wednesday this week with back issues. JR DiCarlo completed his second half Ironman this year, beating his previous time with a 5:24. JR came off the bike behind Matt and quickly worked to pass runners as he was now moving up in the field. Kim finshed the bike between Matt and JR. I was able to run over the bridge and see the runners 5 times on the 2 loop course and I could start to see the heat taking its toll on them. When you start to see people walk through aid stations and cover themselves with water you know that it is starting to heat up. Kim finshed with a personal best of 5:14, the heat started to take its toll on her on her last lap as her pace slowed.
Check out the results here: http://www.cepmtnbike.com/results_misc.cfm?year=2008&raceNum=165
Kingman had a great day as 2 triathletes were introduced to the half Ironman distance, and 2 new personal bests were set!!
Here are some pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Springyut/SOMA2008#

Everyone kicked butt!!! You guys rock!

As part of my training for IM AZ coming up in a month I did not race. I choose to get in a long run on the IM course and run 2.5 loops which is close to 21 miles. Felt great and it went by fast being able to watch the race unfold as I was running around the course.

BSLT Race Report

Well we made it back home safely. We sure had one great trip, and a great race!! We drove the run and the bike course on Saturday so that we could look at all the hills that we were hearing so much about. After seeing them I realized that they were nothing that we were not use to from riding in Kingman. The hills on the run that would be another story since we have not run up steep hills, only gentle rollers. After checking out the course we headed to the lake to get in a 400m swim. The water was very warm, almost too warm for a wetsuit. After a short swim we took off to do the first and last 3 miles of the bike course to help find our bike legs for the race. Then we returned to the minivan for a short run.

Race Day:
As we packed up and headed out to the lake we could see storms north and south of the lake, which added another element to the race, rain! We parked at the top of the hill and walked our bikes down to the transition area. Set up everything in our areas and we were ready to go. Walked over to the lake for the start, an odd start if that. At the start of the pros about half of them took off for the water the rest of them took off to the right , running and followed the shoreline of the lake for about 400 yards till they had to jump in the water. I was up and took off running about half way on the shoreline before diving in, all i could think about was the stingray and another episode with a rock or beer bottle.

SWIM: 32:22, avg HR: 154, 162 Max
I felt good on the swim sighting was easy as I could see very well since there was no glare from the sun which was stuck behind the clouds. I felt better about half way through the swim as my arms warmed up. Got out of the swim in 32 min right where i had planned. Made it through transition without any problems, and jumped on the bike.

BIKE: 2:36:15 avg HR: 147, max 177
Within the first 200 yards of the bike you hit the first hill and start to climb. I tried to relax and not race up the hill as my HR was still high from getting onto the bike. I passed a lot of people on the first two hills as they were still trying to get moving. Once i got to the flats, i had to relax and slow down to let my HR come down as I want to ride the bike not race it. I gave myself 10 min to get settled in before I was going to be concerned about my HR. I also focused on fluids as the swim was very warm and I knew I had to lose a lot of fluids. Then at about 10 miles it started to rain, it rained the rest of the way and it was very windy, 15-20 mph winds and gusts to 40 is what was reported. I started to second guess my decision to ride with a disc, but I had no issues at all. Made it up and down all the hills without a problem as none of them seemed to be too difficult, coming down in the rain seemed harder as the tires were pumped up to 160 psi and with wet roads that can be nasty. So i took it easy coming down to keep the rubber on the road. Felt good on the entire bike as I kept moving past people and watching my HR, never felt as if I pushed it at all, just another ride. Came into the transition area and looked at my time 2:36, slower then I wanted but I figured with the wind and rain would slow everyone down a bit.

RUN: 1:30:57 avg HR 163, max 175
Ran out of the transition area, ran a mile to 2 then I had to use the restroom facilities. After a brief stop I was off and running again. Felt great and I was passing people right away on the run, ran up the first hill and thought to myself 2 more hills left. I was taking in water or Gatorade and a gu every 3 miles. One mistake that I made was wearing my HR monitor on the run. I was looking at my HR and thinking I was moving pretty good. What I should have done was ran without it and ran how I felt. If I would have done this I think I would have ran faster and pushed myself more rather then concerning myself with the HR and time. The whole race I was passing people as only 1 guy was able to pass me. Made it up the last 2 remaining hills without any problems and headed to the finish line. I crossed the line at 4:43 (avg HR 154) about 20 min off of where I wanted to be, I just don't think that I raced hard enough, I felt good the whole race and was not dead when I finished.

Kim kicked butt!!! The girl was able to finish in 5:26 and she looked great!! She nailed the swim and was right behind me, crushed the bike in under 3 hours, and was able to run 8 min miles for the run. And to think she was going to be happy if she was able to run the whole thing!!

We headed back to the Hotel and cleaned up and got some food and beer to celebrate!! At the awards ceremony we both placed 8th in our age groups. I was offered a slot for the 70.3 World Championships, but passed as I want a KONA slot! I even got an award for 8th as there were so many in my category.

Overall we had a great trip, we made it there and back safe and we each learned somethings that will help us to succeed in future races to come.