12.21.08 - Jacksonville Marathon

Well, this pretty much sums up the day in Jacksonville...

I’m not even sure where to start…I had pretty big hopes and dreams for this race. I was coming off a not so good last marathon in Nashville - a PR, but not a good race. I tried to take the lessons from Nashville, a solid tri season and a good 12 weeks or so of marathon training and go down to Jax and qualify for Boston. The day held different plans for me...

This trip started with a lunch break in Columbia, SC with our new friends, Slick and Donna Douglass. The Douglass’ are the FCA Endurance Huddle Leaders for South Carolina. Starting back in the summer, Nick and I decided we wanted to start up a huddle in the Charlotte area as there wasn’t one in the whole state of NC. Nick began communicating with them, then we first met at the SC Half in September.

We shared a great meal and were able to get a ton of insight and feedback on huddle leadership. We also got to hear about their plans to go to Kenya after Slick’s retirement from the Air Force next year (both Slick and Donna are former fighter pilots and currently still on active duty at an Air Force base near Columbia.) These certainly are some great folks. It’s great to know them and now have them in our lives.

We jumped back in the car and proceed to Jacksonville. A pretty uneventful drive for the most part. We sampled our iPod playlists for the race. Unlike previous races, Jacksonville was an iPod legal event. Nowhere on the website or any of the information in the race packet mentioned no headphones. Given the fact that this race was likely to be the least supported of any I’d run thus far, we decided to give it a shot. About half of the field had the same idea as just about every other person on the course had their little ear buds in their ears. It felt a little non-runner elitist, like there should be something wrong with it, but what the hey. Mine shorted out at mile 20 because of all of the water I was dumping on my head. A lot shorted out at mile 20…

We arrived, checked in and headed to dinner to meet up with friends of Nick and Kalyana’s from their days in LA. They were also kind enough to pick up our race packets for us as we were running late getting into town because of our lunch. We headed back to the hotel and bedded down for the night. I think that was the earliest I had been to bed before a marathon. And the most sleep I ever got before a race, which was nice. Not really helpful the next day as it turns out, but nice.

On to race day, as there is plenty to talk about. We arrived at the race site around 6:15. This was a fairly small event. 2500 total runners between the half and full. Race central was The Bolles School, which was a high school, I think. A really nice one. I would guess a year there cost more than my entire college education. The campus was certainly nicer. I don’t know too many high schools that play football in a stadium with a weather-system track and a Division I caliber rubberized turf football field. But it was nice to lay down on after the race.

We eased up to the starting line in the dark. The sun was just starting to come up at race time. I met a couple of folks at the line that were shooting for the same 3:15 goal - Rebecca, a 30-year old from Lakeland, FL and Dean, a 38-year old from Cincinnati. The announcer kept giving time updates to the start of the race, but I guess I missed the last couple of them because we were standing there and all of a sudden, this cannon goes off. Literally, a cannon. It scared me to death. I think I crossed the starting mat with my heart rate up around 180 because of that thing. But anyway, we were off, easing our way down San Jose Blvd.

My plan for this race was to run the first 20 miles at a 7:15 pace, or 3:10 marathon, then account for some fade toward the end. This was pretty much Rebecca and Dean’s plan as well. Rebecca left us. She was going more like a 7:05. Dean and I stuck together for the first 12 miles or so. The reviews of this race were pretty much dead on. This was a flat, shaded course through a completely residential area with little to no crowd support. Allyson and Kalyana were about half of the crowd support. They got an earful from an unhappy neighborhood resident near the half way point. She stuck her head over the fence and chewed them out about their cowbell. A guy standing nearby told her to call the police, then said ‘oh wait, here he is standing right beside me.’

I really don’t remember much of the first half. Other than it went by pretty quick and the pace was fast. Dean dropped back a tad and I hooked up around mile 10 with some guys looking to hit around 3:10. I ran with them for a couple of miles and probably shouldn’t have because they were dipping down close to the 7:00 flat range. I lost them around the halfway point. I also had a first time race experience just after the halfway point. We were in a secluded park area and I had to tinkle. No porta pots in sight. I slid to the side of the road and went…as I was running. It actually worked just fine.

I lost Dean shortly after that as well. He had to make a real pit stop. You know, not the kind you can do when you are still running. I next saw the girls at mile 18 and the fatigue had started to settle in, though I was still very much on pace at this point, evidence by the timing board in the next picture.

All of the timing boards and mile markers along the course appeared to be about .1-.2 miles off. A 3:15 pace at mile 18 would be a 2:13:58. Obviosuly I wasn’t too far off at this point, especially given the sign placements. You can also see my shoes both looked normal at this point.

Then mile 20… I started feeling a sharp pain on my Achilles in my right shoe. It actually felt like I had maybe a small rock or glass shard or something in my shoe. The pain started, then increased significantly over a short period of time. I finally thought I’ve got to slow down/stop and get whatever is in there out. I slowed and looked down and there was blood. Not good. Ends up it was a bad blister gone awry.

There wasn’t much I could do at this point except keep running. My pace had definitely started to lag, which I had planned on. Around mile 21 and change, the heel was really hurting. Additionally, I had started compensating for the pain with my stride and other stuff was starting to hurt. I made it to the water stop at mile 22 and stopped to ask for a Band-Aid. All I got was a paper towel. I wiped it off, stuff the paper towel in my shoe and tried to push to the next water stop. I made it to 23 and same request for a Band-Aid. I got a wet wipe. The wipe lasted about a quarter of a mile.

At this point, I was reduced to walking in my sock with shoe in hand. I walked pretty much all of mile 23 until I couldn’t take the pain from my hips and knees having only one shoe on. I applied another paper towel at the 24 water stop and hobbled to 25 where, finally, I got a Band-Aid. At this point, I was committed to running to the finish line, whether it was with a Band-Aid on or in my socks. Seriously, if they hadn’t had a Band-Aid, I was going to carry my shoes to the finish and run in my socks.

They doctored me up and I was on my way. I was able to run about 98% of the last mile, pausing only slightly to adjust my foot in my shoe. I entered the stadium at Bolles School for the finish. Allyson was waiting on the far side of the track. She obviously knew something was wrong, however it wasn’t until I got right up to her and pointed out the shoe that she knew. I ran around the track and met her at the finish where I crossed in 3:43:18.

The real action happened after the race. I was pretty wet from dumping water on my head, so wanted to get out of my wet clothes. I grabbed my dry stuff and headed to the bathroom and grabbed the first empty stall (the stall doors were like the old time saloon doors that swung both ways. This is important later…) A guy came in shortly after and took the stall next to me. The far one already occupied. Another guy came in and was waiting for a stall. I was wrapping up when I hear this loud crash. I stepped out of the stall to find the guy that was waiting passed out cold at the feet of the guy sitting on the toilet in the stall next to me.

The guy waiting blacked out and fell straight through the swinging doors practically into the guy’s lap. Needless to say, we were both speechless. I reached down and wrapped my arms around the passed out guy to try and drag him out of the stall. He came to and didn’t know what happened. I helped him out of the stall so the other guy could, you know, finish his business. I sat him up and got the paramedics. Not sure what ended up happening to him, but it was a weird moment to say the least. Pulling a passed out guy from the feet of a guy taking a dump sounds more like a college frat house, not a marathon.

I went back out to the field to pause for a photo moment with Nick and the wives. We ‘licked our wounds’ from the race and hobbled half way back to the car before the girls offered to bring the car to us. We humbly accepted. As we waited, we ran in to Rebecca from the starting line. This was her first marathon. She finished in 3:14. I looked up Dean and he finished in 3:34. We loaded up and back to the hotel. Other than walking to dinner with Allyson, I stayed on the bed from about 1:30 that afternoon until about 7:30 the next morning.

I have 7 weeks until Myrtle Beach and a lot of healing and work to do between now and then. Had I not encountered the bloody blister, I believe I would have still been short of Boston. There wasn’t much I could do about the blister, except wear the socks I should have that were sitting in my bag back in the room. I don’t know what I was thinking. Not very smart on my part. Overall, I had a good time with Allyson and the Whites. The part of the race that was going well was a blast. Just need to figure out how to piece it together injury free for 26.2. Back to the drawing board…

Official results 163rd overall
Race photos

09.28.08 - SC Half Ironman Triathlon

1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run



So who doesn’t want to do a half Ironman triathlon on their birthday?

When I was planning out the triathlon season back in March, I thought a half Ironman was an aggressive goal. Then I saw the SC Half was on my 35th birthday and had no choice. It had to be done. Nick and I talked it over and agreed. It had to be done. Probably a little wacko for a couple of newbies, but why not.

Enough of the intros and onto the action… Saturday morning the 27th, we loaded up the van (Nick and I and the wives) and started heading south. We stopped in Fort Mill, SC (right across the border and where my folks live) to drop off the girls and then swing out to the ASC Greenway to watch our good friend and chiropractor, Matt Hennessey, complete his first marathon. Matt opted for a trail marathon as his first, which was really cool. Except for the fact that the previous three days had been the hardest collective three days of rainfall we have had in about a year.

We received a call from his wife, Laura, saying that things were going much slower than expected and to take our time getting out there. Then we got another call about an hour later saying that, well, things were still going slow. Long story short, the marathon took Matt longer than planned, but we did get to see him motor across the finish line. Covered from head to toe in mud, soaking wet. It was a sight to see. Matt’s first marathon was technically an ultramarathon, as they directions got the field off course and added a couple of miles. We were and still are very proud of him.

Back into the van and off to Greenwood, SC, which is a small town in the northwest corner of SC, about a 2.5-hour drive from Charlotte. The direct route to Greenwood involved about 40 miles of interstate and the rest were two lane country roads out in the sticks. My only worry was this trip was happening in the middle of the little gasoline crisis we were having here in the southeastern states. We did end up coming across some gas near I-26 in SC. I’ve never filled the van that full. It was literally topped off to the gas can. We put like 115 miles on the van before the needle moved off the ‘F’.

We went straight to the race site to do packet pickup and scope out the venue/course. The race was at Greenwood State Park and it was fantastic. The swim was sort of an out and back point to point in Lake Greenwood. The bike was on very good two lane country roads with little to no traffic and the run two loops that were partially in the park and along roads near the park. Nick and I met a few of the folks from FCA Endurance. This would be our first race sporting the team colors. I can’t say enough about the whole setting at GSP. When you picture a perfect place for a race, this is it. Well, maybe Hawaii. Or Turks and Caicos. Anyway, it was nice.

Back in the van and off to the hotel to check in then find some dinner. We ended up at a local Italian place with a bunch of friends also there to do the race, including Brandon Whiteside, Peter Viola and Paul and Heather Simica. Allyson and I have another friend, Leigh-Ann Mueller, that was doing her first race as a pro. More on that later. We sacked down some carbs, laughed a bunch and headed back to the hotel.

I can’t remember what time we set the alarm for, but it was early. I think it was in the 4 o’clocks range. Getting ready was fairly uneventful until I went to slip on my brand new Team FCA Endurance triathlon jersey. I bought a medium and it was a little tight, which was fine. I like my jerseys to be tight. Shows off my gut, err, six pack. I got it over my head, reached up to pull it on and the seam in the front covering my gut ripped. Of course, I didn’t bring another jersey because ‘hey, why do I need another jersey? I mean, this one is brand new.’

So began the frantic hunt for something to patch it up. I ended up safety pinning it from the inside and it didn’t look too terribly bad. Of course it was covered on the swim with the wetsuit. You can’t see my gut on the bike. So it was pretty much the run to contend with. And if I would get off my duff and actually get rid of my gut, I wouldn’t have to be worried about it. Maybe I can do that this year – get rid of the gut. Or maybe not. I hate doing anything ab related. Except the giant exercise ball, but it reminds of childbirth.

The race instructions asked that everyone be in the park by 6:30 am. We got there at like 6:25 and ended up parking a really, really long ways away. I threw my stuff on my back, jump on the bike and rode to the transition area, stopping off at the state park welcome center for pit stop #2. Got to the TA and it was buzzing, as always. The TA before a race is one of my favorite things about triathlon. It’s dark. There is typically great music blasting over the PA. Everyone is giddy about the race. It’s great. My TA spot was great. On an end, close to the swim finish. Easy spectator access for Allyson. Close to Nick and Brandon. I felt like a pro. Not really.

I waited through two long lines in the TA – one for chip pickup and the other for a first time event for me, which was the weigh-in. Apparently on the longer distance races, they weigh you before the race, write it on your number bib, and then weigh you as you cross the finish line to make sure you are within range of acceptable weight loss. If not, it’s off to the medical tent for you, maybe for an IV. Or a stuff crust pizza. Or both.

Once we got everything setup, it was a short quarter mile walk or so over to the swim start, and also pitstop #3. Now this is probably the worst thing about triathlon – the porta pots. These things get very ugly in a very short period of time. It’s not pretty. Enduring the pre-race porta pot is actually the fourth discipline in triathlon. I’ve actually considered a pay-by-use porta pot service for triathlon and marathon events. Pay a few bucks, guaranteed clean pot. I think people would pay for this. I would. If you’d used one of these at an event, you would.

The setting at the swim start was glorious. Nick and I were in the last/novice wave, so we had a little time to take it all in. The sun was rising over the lake. Dew on the grass. Just glorious. We prayed with our wives, put our wetsuits on and headed out to do a little warm up swim. Now that I think about it, putting on a wetsuit is the fifth discipline in triathlon. They come off much easier than they go on. I’ve also learned that wetsuits find any unflattering or protruding part of your body and highlight it for you. Thanks, wetsuit.

The water temp was great. I think around 72 degrees or so. We had about a minute from when we got in the water to the sound of the horn. I hit my first snag about a hundred yards in. My right goggle was taking on water. I had to stop and tread, fix the leak and proceed. It threw me off a little, but not the end of the world. Also the way the course was set up, on the first leg every time I breathed to the right (I breathe every three strokes) I was staring directly into the sun. So I started closing my eyes each time I turned right to breathe. Also had to do this on the last leg, except it was to the left.

Overall, I felt the swim went great. The traffic was not too bad. I had a handful of run-ins in the water, but nothing major. I didn’t kick anyone’s goggles off. I accidentally grabbed a few feet and legs as I was stroking by, but nothing out of the ordinary. I had to stop one other time and clear out my goggles. I’d worn those same goggles dozens of times and never took on water. Crazy. Got to the boat ramp exit, climbed up and saw one of the officials with a clipboard point at me and yell ‘first novice out of the water,’ so that was good I suppose.

Got to the TA and it went really good. Allyson was cheering over my shoulder. The wetsuit came off very easy. All of the bike gear went on easy. All in all, couldn’t have been happier with T1. Nick had a great swim and was not far behind me at all. The only bad thing about my TA spot was I had a looooong trot to the bike start line. The clip clop to the bike start in your bike shoes can be a slow, frustrating, humiliating experience. Good thing everyone around you is in the same boat, so it’s not so bad.

Onto the bike and off for a 56 mile ride through the SC countryside. I had set in my mind to not go out too fast, which I didn’t. I took my time settling in, taking in some fuel and getting comfortable. I was going to be on this bike or the next three hours, so the more I eased in, the better. I felt really good though getting on the bike. This is not always the case. In fact, most of the time it is not the case. I noticed around mile 2 that my bike compy was not working properly. I had taken my magnet sensor off my wheels and put then on my friend Robert’s Mavic Cosmic Elites he let me borrow. I thought it would work itself out, but it didn’t. I was doing this ride sans a speedometer or odometer. The timer was working, but that was it.

I also started worrying because I was passing folks. And not old ladies, but guys that looked like they knew what they were doing. I thought I had to be going too fast, though had no clue (see previous paragraph.) I was also expecting Nick to go zooming by me at any time, especially given how close he was coming out of the water. We ended up meeting up around mile 9 or so. We talked briefly, and he passed. I was feeling so good I decided to keep my required USAT three bike length buffer and stick with him for a little while. Long story short – we proceeded to do that for the next 44 miles or so. It was just like one of our long training rides. And it was a blast. Looking back, that time with him on the bike was probably the highlight of the day. We traded off setting the pace. We were passing a lot of folks on really expensive bikes. It was a ton of fun.

Past that, the ride was kind of uneventful. Saw a few flat tires. The water handoffs were uneventful. A few spectators here and there, but nothing eventful. Around mile 53, I stepped on the pedals and led a sprint to the finish. The last couple of miles we were riding past runners who where on the other side of the road. We zoomed into the park and off the bike in 2:43:27. Now I was going to be ecstatic if somehow I could come off the bike in anything less than 3 hours, so needless to say I was a little happy.

T2 went great as well. Slipped on the sleds and off for the run. The first four miles went great. Around mile 5, I started having some pretty major pain in my lower back. I’ve had this pain before on a number of occasions, so it wasn’t a shocker. I saw Allyson at the halfway turnaround and was in quite a bit of pain. I also started having some pretty serious IT band pain. By mile 7ish, I was walking through the water stops to ease the pain in both places. The run course was interesting too in that half of it was 100% shaded and cool and the other half was 100% not shaded and we were baking on an asphalt road. And it had warmed up significantly.

I saw all of my buddies on the run course on a few occasions, which was nice. We all got to encourage each other, have some laughs, and press on. I made the last turn back into the park and to the finish. I had been reduced to a painful, shuffling jog, but at this point I was committed to running through the pain to the finish. Everything was fine until about a quarter of a mile out when I saw Allyson. I had Hillsong’s ‘Mighty to Save’ going through my head for the previous couple of miles. I saw her and the tears started flowing. The tears were a combination of elation, disbelief, shock, pain, amazement, denial, anxiety, worship, love, hate (hating the pain), peace, relief, disappointment it was almost over, joy it was almost over, all at one time.

The finish looped around the base of a hill in front of the lake by the swim start. Then, to add insult to injury, the last 50 yards to the finish line was a straight uphill climb, where Allyson was waiting. My goal for this race was 5 hours and 30 minutes. I crossed in 5:13:13. Giant hug from my wife, congrats from our friend Leigh-Ann (who finished 2nd overall last year as an age grouper and returned this year as a pro and finished second to a girl with rockets strapped to her.) I jumped on the scale and I had dropped 1.5 pounds over he 70.3 miles. Not bad. I actually felt a little water logged.

Then it was off to the medical tent. I couldn’t breathe due to the severe back pain that had ensued around mile 5. All of the other vitals were great, just couldn’t breathe. I think we/the medical staff determined it was muscle tightness and cramping causing the problem. They helped me rub it out and get comfortable, then it was off to the massage table. This was the first post-race massage I had received, and it was just short of ecstasy. I can’t remember the masseuse’s name, but at that moment, she was my best friend in the whole world..

We hung out and ate, rested, then Nick and I collected our 1st and 2nd novice awards. We then loaded up the van to head home. We got to the TA to load up the bikes and mine was completely covered with bees. I hit a bump on the road and Gatorade flew out of my aero bottle and onto the bike. The bees were having a feast on the sugar. The ride home was fun and painful. We stopped at Sonic and slugged a post-race meal. Did we watch a movie in the van? Seems like we watched a movie, but the pain and fatigue was slightly distracting.

The half Ironman experience will go down as one of my personal favorites of all time. It has definitely become my favorite of the triathlon distances. I’m looking forward to many more of them to come, quite possibly a repeat visit to Greenwood next year, although the race date was changed to October 4th. The M-dot event in Augusta is on September 28th. Hmm.

Official results - 1st place novice, 103rd of 415.

I owe big thanks to my friend Nick for being a great friend and training partner and for his support as we achieved much in our first triathlon season. More importantly, I owe an even bigger thanks to my wife and biggest supporter, Allyson, who endured the long training sessions, traveling to races, helping make financial sacrifices to see my dreams come to fruition. On to marathon season, Jacksonville on 12/21 and Myrtle Beach on 2/14/09. Then the Virginia Creeper on 3/29/09. Fingers crossed trying to qualify for Boston.

08.23.08 - LKN YMCA Triathlon

750 yard swim, 17 mile bike, 5K run

I think the Lake Norman YMCA Triathlon was actually the first triathlon I registered for. I was able to get in on the ‘early bird special’ by way of being a Cornelius YMCA member. Apparently the Y gets a certain number of reserved spots for this race, which came in handy for a race that typically fills up online in about 15 minutes.

So I went ahead and registered. I recall this being right around Christmas time. In fact, I think it was Christmas Eve because Allyson and I went to a spin class that day. I filled out the registration, cut the check and there it was. Only two problems at this point…

One, I couldn’t swim. I mean I could tread water and make it to the shore if I survived a crash landing in an airplane or the cruise ship I was vacationing on capsized or something. I could do the tread, doggy paddle, tread, doggy paddle routine. That was about it. As far as getting in a lap pool and churning out laps like a real swimmer, I was clueless.

Two, I didn’t own a bike (see more in the ‘Tri Transition’ entry in the archive.) I had started doing some spin classes in anticipation that I was heading in the direction of triathlon, but as far as actually being on a road bike with gears puttering around the streets, I hadn’t done that in probably 20 years. Needless to say I had a lot of work to do…

By the time the LKN Tri rolled around, it would be my sixth race of the year, so no worries on the swimming and biking. I had plenty of practice at this point. Probably one of the only concerns going into the race was that it sort of snuck up on me amidst my training for my first half Ironman in late September. I hadn’t been doing any sprint distance training. Only longer training sessions.

A few weeks before the race, my training partner Nick got him some Mavic Cosmic Elite aero wheels. They were hot. They looked good and made an already fast guy on the bike even faster. After a couple of rides he said they made a considerable difference. I believed Nick, but I guess I needed to find out for myself. My friend Robert Ray let me borrow his Cosmic Elites for a long ride we did. They made a huge difference.

Robert graciously offered his wheels to me for the half, which was very cool of him, however he was going to need them for LKN, so I was on my own. The week of the race, he called and said he was demoing some Zipp 606’s and I could use his wheels for the race. Needless to say, this was music to my ears. Heaven knows I can use every bit of help I can get on the bike. If the wheels gave me even a minute on the bike, I’d take it. If someone told me that if I rode naked it would help, I would seriously consider it (my crotch is already all chapped and burning anyway, so why not…)

The Y is literally five miles from Nick and I’s ‘hood. We actually considered just riding to the race versus trying to find parking. The field was around 800 participants, so parking was going to be limited to say the least. We re-thought that idea since it was going to be pitch dark at o’ 5:30 in the morning and the potential for an errant flat was highly probable. My dad and mom stayed over Friday and he offered to drive us and drop us off.

The race site was buzzing. It was great because this was pretty much the homer race for all my tri club buddies and other friends that live in the area. I’d say there were nearly 25-30 folks in the field I was either good friends with or knew on a first name basis. Chip pickup, body marking and transition setup was pretty status quo. I did sort of have a funky TA spot located on this small, grassy parking lot island, which was a little weird. I had to step on an off it versus everyone else that was on flat, paved ground in the parking lot. No biggie though. The actual spot was easy access to all the entries and exits.

I headed down to the beach for the swim start. Like usual, the Novices were in the last swim wave. While waiting, my sexy wife and the rest of the family arrived. Allyson is in the throws of training for her first marathon. She actually ran to the race from our house. That’s hot. Her and her friend, Kalyana (Nick’s wife) ran together. The family all met me down at the beach for hugs and kisses before shoving off. My mom was at the race, too. Her first triathlon ever.



Water temp was quite warm and there were lots of Novices and relay folks. Probably 40-50 in our wave. The horn sounded and we were off. The first part of the swim went off without a hitch. I rounded the first turn, no problem. Headed toward the second turn where our friend, Jamie Sickmond was lifeguarding in one of the kayaks. Of course, Nick and I didn’t know that until after the race or we certainly would have stopped for a quick hello, maybe a high five or some swim tips.

Rounded the second turn and the fun began. At this point, we were swimming about 300 yards back toward shore directly into glaring sunlight. I couldn’t see a thing. I was hoping the splash from the swimmers in front of me was in the general right direction because that was all I could see to follow. The buoys were visible once you got right up on them. Past that, it was like swimming directly into a spotlight.

Finished the swim and onto the bike. It was a short run to the TA. Got all geared up and started the trot to the bike start, only to come upon two ladies literally walking their bikes to the exit and having a nice little chat. As kindly and gently as I could said, “Come on ladies, we’re racing here.” The one gal didn’t seem to like that, responding with an ‘ok, ok…’ They moved aside and off I went. As I exited the parking lot passing a couple of folks, I nearly ran head first into my friend Lance who was coming in from his ride (in first place overall, might I add.)

The ride started off without a hitch. I made the right hand turn near Davidson College, tucked down on the aero bars and settled in. Shortly after, up ahead I saw a guy walking his bike back in the direction of the Y. I remember instantly thinking, ‘dang, that sucks. Poor guy.’ About a second later I realized it was my friend Robert that had let me borrow his wheels. He flatted the $1200 rear wheel he was demoing. Needless to say, I felt horrible. He’s walking and I’m cruising on his wheels.

I pressed on. Around mile 4 or 5, the inevitable pass by my teammate Nick happened. If I hadn’t said it before, Nick is wicked fast on the bike. He’s an animal. No matter what the race, if by chance I come out of the water first, it is only a matter of time before he goes zipping by me on the bike. He did and I followed closely for a little while. At one point, he nearly ran over a cat, which was scary and hilarious at the same time. Shortly after that, he started pulling away. Side note: I felt bad for the two or three homes along the course that were trying to have garage sales that morning. All the bikes on the roads certainly didn’t help business.

I actually felt like I picked up pace on the last third of the ride, even with the big ol’ hill on Midway Lake Road (I’ve climbed that hill more times than I’d like to admit.) The ride back into Davidson/Cornelius was great and fast. Cruised back into the Y parking lot, off the bike and onto the run. The transition was a good one. All of the family was right there cheering.

It was certainly warming up outside by the start of the run. I dumped a cup of water on my head at the start of the run and settled into a steady pace that felt good. The run was through Victoria Bay, a neighborhood there near the Y. Pretty flat for the most part, except for one gentle, steady hill around mile 2. Just before that hill, I caught up with Nick and we hoofed it together for a while. Several folks made comments as we ran by. One guy asked us to slow down so he could draft.

I started my kick with around a mile to go. The last half a mile or so was a fairly steep downhill, which was nice and also a little worrisome. Definitely not good on the old knees pounding into the pavement that fast. But who am I kidding, I loved it. I felt like putting my arms up and pretending it was the first downhill on a rollercoaster. It certainly felt that way coming to the finish.

I approached the finish line and there was a mat on the ground. I thought it was the finish line mat but it was actually a notification mat to alert the announcer of who was coming to the line. I was slowing to a stop and heard Allyson scream “Keep going! That’s not the finish!” I picked it back up and finished at 1:27:43. I thought on my best possible day around a 1:28 was the best I could do and was expecting closer to a 1:30, so I was pleased with the results.



The post-race festivities and awards were great. Lots of folks stuck around and as I mentioned before, there were a bunch of people there that we knew. I watched several friends and acquaintances get awards in their categories. It came around to the Male Novice results. They had not posted results, so the awards were a surprise to everyone. They started with first and I was fortunate enough to win it, followed very closely behind by friend and teammate, Nick. He had an outstanding race as well, around 4 minutes ahead of last year’s Novice winner time.

Bill Scott, the NC Triathlon Series coordinator was doing the announcing. He had seen Nick and I on his podiums a number of times throughout the season. After calling up Nick and reading off his time, he says - over the loud speaker in front of the whole crowd might I add - “those are some good times, guys. No more Novice for the two of you.” That got a laugh from the crowd, but he was right. That would be our last Novice race in the NC series. Next year it would be onto the age groups to get my butt handed to me in the most competitive group in the series, the 35-39 year olds.

But before that, one more Novice race in the SC Triathlon Series at the SC Half Ironman in Greenwood, SC. This is the big one. Nick, Brandon and I had put nearly 11 weeks of training into this race so far. There would be five more leading up to it on September 28th. I’ve had a blast so far this year, but this will certainly be the pinnacle. I would have never dreamed a year ago a half was remotely possible. Three marathons and six triathlons later, it was rapidly approaching. This is going to be fun…

Official results - 1st place Novice, 63rd overall

Inspiration...

I suppose I can be difficult to inspire sometimes, though I crave and welcome it. This inspired me...

07.13.08 - Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon

1500 meter swim, 26 mile bike, 10K run

Chattanooga was my second attempt at an Olympic distance. We decided to take the family vacation to Chattanooga this year, mainly to visit my mother-in-law, Marty, that has been battling breast cancer (successfully, might I add) since the first of the year. She has not been able to travel and our two little ones would most likely have been too much for her amidst the chemo treatments. So we postponed a visit until July and it just so happened I was able to work in a triathlon at the front end of the trip.

In addition to having mom-in-law there at the race, the whole in-law gang was there. Stepdad, dad, stepmom, sister. It was very cool of them to come out so early and cheer. And if that wasn’t already enough, my best friend, Brian Petak, drove down from Nashville the night before the race. About one in a million guys on earth ever get a shot at a best friend like Petak and I’ve been blessed beyond measure to have him in my life. It was very cool of him to make the trip (and cool of Heidi to watch their crew so he could do it.)

The day before Allyson and I headed over to the Chickamauga Battlefield just a few miles from her folks house. For those not familiar with this battlefield, Google or Wikipedia search it and the details will speak for themselves. Civil War history galore. Riding and running through it is a bit eerie. State monuments everywhere. Big, sloping fields where thousands died. It really is a pretty cool place. I did a little warm up brick and Allyson ran. The weather couldn’t have been better. We cruised back to the house, popped off the shoes and into the pool with everything else on. The little ones got a kick out of that.

Later that afternoon, we headed down to the race site for packet pickup and site survey. We also met up with Petak. Before hitting downtown, we cruised out Hwy 27, a large, four lane split highway north out of town. I thought this was the race course, though after being on it about 5-6 miles or so, thought there was no way. This was a very, very, very steep, hilly major highway. I had emailed my dad and brother-in-law earlier in the week and they had given me different coordinates. Turns out there is an old Hwy 27 that runs along the major highway. We jumped over onto it and that was much more like it. The five of us had a great dinner downtown (I broke the usual fettuccine alfredo for some crusted salmon and veggies) and headed back to the house to rest up for the morning.

Petak and I headed out at 5:15 am. It was an uneventful 20 minutes to downtown until we reached about the second stoplight on the edge of town. Both of us heard this loud, air-leaking sound. He pulled forward and realized there was something very wrong with the car. We jumped out to find his left rear tire sitting on the rim. A minute later one of Chattanooga’s finest pulled up to offer some help. Unfortunately, I had to boogie to the race site, so I strapped on the helmet, pulled the bike out, threw my transition bag across my back and cruised ten blocks or so to the race site. No worries though. I had plenty of time.

This was going to be the biggest race I had done so far by nearly double the field. Back in March, the MAP Triathlon in Huntersville was around 800. This was going to be ~1500. It was also going to be my first race competing in a major field not as a novice. The rules in Tennessee state that if you have participated in any four triathlon events, you cannot register as a novice. I had done exactly four. Didn’t matter though because as it turned out, I didn’t even come close to placing in the novice category. I was nearly 9 minutes off pace from third place. Still don’t think those guys were novices…

My goals for this race were a little different anyway. My last Olympic distance I did not do a smart race at all. I learned a ton, but pretty much blew it on a number of fronts. The goal on this race was to learn and apply. Last race I had zero nutrition plan. In fact, I did nothing. Just took some water on the bike and tried to power through, which didn’t work. I struggled through the bike then pretty much died on the run. I also didn’t really pace myself on any given part. I went out fast as I could on each segment until I gave out and limped along to the end.

I had very specific pace goals and a basic nutrition plan. With the help of a couple of more experienced triathlete friends, I determined I needed to take in at least 450 calories on the bike to ‘break even,’ then another 250 or so on the run, which would most likely keep me from going into lean muscle. I also wanted to average right at 20 mph on the bike and was going to go out slower on the run and try to get to and stick to a 7:30 pace. My absolute best-case scenario would be a 2:30. A worst-case a 2:40 or higher.

We had about an hour wait on the UTC football practice facility right beside the swim start. I pulled up a hitting dummy and struck up a conversation with a guy named Mike Evers. Mike was from Birmingham and also doing his first Chattanooga race. He had brought his family and made a long weekend of it. He was a decathelete in college at Kansas University and his wife a heptathelete. He told me about his training journey, injuries, living in a one-room trailer to make ends meet. It was a great story and passed the time very quickly. He was competing in the Clydesdale category. I wished him the best and we parted ways.

The waiting area was accessible only by having a competitor wristband on or for the volunteers. As I was waiting in line for a last minute pit stop, Petak walks up. After changing his tire, he had to change his t-shirt. The new one just happened to be the exact same color as the volunteer shirts and he was able to pretty much walk right in. He had participants asking him questions, directions, thanking him for volunteering his time. Hilarious.

High fives from Petak and I was off to the swim start, which was at the end of the pier where the UTC rowing team headquarters. We slipped in two by two and walked (very shallow water off the end of the pier) to the end where the official typed the race number into the timing machine and said go. The swim was a 1500 meter downstream in the Tennessee River, ending at Ross Landing at the base of the Tennessee Aquarium. The water was very murky and the river current pretty much non-existent. The race website touted the swim as fast due to the current. I didn’t have to worry about that. The water was barely moving, almost stagnant.

The swim went along the shoreline, under a couple of huge bridges and along some pretty steep rock faces. Traffic during the swim was minimal. I passed maybe a dozen or so folks. Got passed a couple of times. I felt like my swim time was strong, however it ended up being 55th fastest in the age group, which was not all that great. I felt good and expended very little energy. About half way through, I started feeling the driving rain pounding down on my back. Of course, I’m all ready wet, so no big deal. All I could think about was my entire family and Petak standing there at the TA getting soaked.

Out of the water onto some custom made stairs just for the race. We had a short run up some more stairs, through the vendor area and into the TA. It was still raining pretty good. The transition was a little longer than normal, mainly because the sock/shoe situation was all wet. Onto the bike and off for the ride. Winding through downtown was a little hairy. There were a couple of fairly sharp turns that I almost came to a stop to get around. One in particular, I felt the tires skidding out from under me a little. And I couldn’t see a thing ‘cause my glasses were all wet.

Back to the earlier part of the story – I was waiting for us to go over the Market Street Bridge and onto old Hwy 27, but instead after about a mile and a half, I found myself circling an on ramp onto the new Hwy 27. The bike ride was going to be on that very hilly four-lane highway. Lovely. The left lanes on each side were for the bikes and the outside lanes for car traffic. The first major climb came at about mile three. It was well over a mile climb and very steep. And still raining. This was pretty much going to be par for the course - a steady climb about every three to four miles then a good long downhill for a couple. I was getting passed way more than I would have liked, but I blocked it out and stayed on plan. It wasn’t going to do me any good to try and keep up and die on the run.

Coming back into town I got to descend that same big hill I climbed at the start. I peaked at 42 mph. The rain had stopped and it was just a little wet at this point. It was still way too fast to be going with the surface that was still damp, but what the hey. The road surface was smooth and I was very close to the pace I wanted to be on, so I went with it. Back in downtown, it got real slick again on the asphalt, so I moved somewhat slowly the last mile or so around the turns and back to the TA.

I got a tad disoriented in the TA and ended up one too many aisles over, so I ducked under the bike rack, dragged my bike under and over to my area. Probably lost 10-15 seconds there, nothing major. I threw on my soggy running shoes, hat, race belt and took the extra 5-10 seconds to throw on the Garmin, which I’m glad I did. This was my first triathlon using it on the run. Swig of water and out onto the run course. I could hear the whole family yelling and screaming on the exit, which was nice.

The major majority of the run course was on the Tennessee Riverfront Greenway, which is a paved and boarded path along the river. The only tricky part was getting to it. From the race site, we proceeded uphill on Riverfront Parkway, then had to climb a fairly narrow and quite steep winding set of stairs that eventually put us on the Greenway. It was awkward, slow and kicked the heart rate way up, but not the end of the world. There was a fast downhill section after the stairs, then it was flat, smooth sailing on the run. That was until about the two mile marker, when it started raining as hard as I’ve ever seen it rain in my whole life. I was coming up on runners that I couldn’t see until they were about ten feet in front of me.

It let up slightly, but continued to rain hard until a little before the five mile marker. We ran by the football practice facility and the 25 yard section near the entrance was literally a pond about three to four inches deep and no way around it, so straight through it I went. Just after the mile five marker the rain had stopped and I had to climb that quick downhill from the start of the run. That slowed me down, however once I was back down the stairs and on Riverfront Parkway, it was very downhill and very fast to the finish.

Everyone had braved the rain and was there at the end. Apparently they had found a tent to stand under during the worst of the rain. I crossed the line at 2:32:54 according to the Ironman watch. The official time ended up being 2:32:57. I was ecstatic and had pretty much hit all the goals I had set ahead of time. Exited the swim consistent and not tired. Right under 20 mph avg. on the bike (probably could have hit 20 in the dry.) A consistent, steady, sub-7:30’s pace on the run (mile splits were all between 7:14 and 7:30.) I took in all my calories on the bike. I ended up losing about a minute on the bike, 30 seconds on the run and a few seconds in transitions here and there, which is what put me at the 2:32, but I wasn’t worried about it in the slightest. The goal and focus is the half IM and I took major steps in the right direction toward getting to where I need to be for that, which is all that matter.

Even with the crazy hilly bike and the torrential rains, I loved this race and look forward to doing it again next year, hopefully with some of my triathlon friends from Charlotte. It was absolutely perfect having Petak and my extended family there.

My four favorite peoples.

Now a six week break until the Lake Norman Sprint Triathlon right in my back yard of Cornelius, then onto the half IM on 9/28.

Official results - time, place
Race photos

06.15.08 - Tri Latta

750 meter swim, 17 mile bike, 5K run

My inaugural Tri Latta was going to be a one-time unique opportunity I won’t get after this year. Starting last season, the race was split into a two day event – Saturday being the Elites and Age Groupers, then Sunday being an all Novice event. As mentioned prior, you get one full season to compete as a Novice in the NC Triathlon Series. In all of the other races, you are kind of competing against the whole field, but you are really competing for a win-place-or show in your category. This race, the competition is the whole field.

It was also going to be treat to have my dad there with me on Father’s Day. He had never been to or seen a triathlon event. I would have loved to have my two little ones there as well, however the race was a 6:30 start?!#@*%! A little too early for even those who often get up before the sun comes up to snack on Cheerios and watch Noggin or Playhouse Disney.

My dad, Allyson and I got up at a criminal hour to start getting ready. I actually got up first around 4:15 or so to make a few laps walking around the block listening to Radiohead ‘In Rainbows’ (my current favorite training tunes.) Then back in the house to load up the tri-bag. Seriously, this sport requires a lot of crap. A giant bag o’ crap. Bike shoes, helmet, running shoes, towels, water bottles, poker chips, jar of mayo, hat, shades, socks, toaster, (I could keep going…) Seriously, lots of crap.

The race site, Latta Plantation Park, is only about a 15 minute drive from the house. Participants were required to be inside the park gate by 6:00 or face the 2.2 mile bike/ride or walk from the main road. We made it in plenty of time and made our way through the dark to the race site, which I thought was a really great site. Very rustic. Out in the middle of nowhere. The transition area was in a field with a sand volleyball court in the middle. The run finish was on grass. The entry and exit to the swim were on a natural shoreline vs. a man-made beach area or boat ramp. Nearly all grass run from swim to bike. Au naturale.

TA setup, chip pickup, number stamp, all that jazz was pretty uneventful. I made my way down to the lakeside around 6:20. The start was a wave start alphabetically, so I was in wave #3 with all the males last name P-Z. Nick was in there with me and another friend of mine, James Ruth. The water temperature was ehck. Like 91 degrees. I heard from several folks they were embarrassed to post the temp because it was so warm. Like a warm bath warm. Wiggled my way to the front of the wave, horn sounded and we were off.

The swim went well. I saw my friend James to the left of me at the start. He pulled ahead about a hundred yards into it and that was pretty much how we came out of the water, 1-2 (James actually registered the second fastest swim of the day.) The traffic in the water was minimal. They did a good job of spacing out the waves. Only had one very minor run in near the turn around point.

It was up a slight hill to the TA. I had asked Allyson to yell out how many yellow caps came out ahead of me, so I heard her yelling ‘one! one!’ which I already knew because I had James in my sights (but thank you anyway, hun.) Another buddy of mine, Mike, snapped an action photo and gave a hand slap. He was there cheering for his wife who was competing as well. There was one five foot patch on the transition run that had really fine rocks on it. I’m such a foot wuss. I practically tippy toed across it. Such a foot wuss.

The transition was going great until I hit one slight problem – my shades were completely fogged over. I had set them out in my helmet in the TA on my aerobars and I guess the morning dew got the best of them. So I shoved the stems in my mouth and started running to the bike mount area. I had a small issue getting clipped in but resolved that and got on my way. I went ahead and applied the shades hoping the wind would dry them, which it eventually did by mile 3 or so.

If I hadn’t mentioned it, I suck on the bike. It is by far my worst of the three disciplines, and that became apparent yet again by about mile 4-5 or so heading up the first hill. I see a hill – not even get to it yet, just see it – and start slowing down. At the top of the hill, I started the first of a series of cramps in my right calf. Four times on this ride I had to stop pedaling, extend my right leg and stretch just to be able to continue.

As we were exiting the Huntersville Business Park I heard a loud “go Aryfi” from behind me. It was my teammate Nick rapidly approaching. If I haven’t mentioned it, Nick does not suck on the bike. He is very good on the bike. He paused very briefly to ask if I was ok, which I communicated I was cramping. I told him to go and win it and he was off. This all happened about midway through the bike. He pulled away little by little over the remainder of the ride. By the time we were on the two mile stretch on the side road back to the race site, I had lost him.

I kept pushing until the dismount area. I was coming in pretty hot and ended up skidding past the dismount line about five feet or so. I thought for sure I was going to get a penalty for this, but I didn’t. On Saturday I most likely would have. I entered the TA where I sort of had a tough time finding my rack spot. Probably lost 10-15 seconds or so there. Finally found it, transitioned and off to the run.

I really enjoyed the run. Mostly I think I was just happy to get off the bike. The run was a 5K on the packed gravel and dirt trail system in Latta Plantation Park. Though definitely not flat, it didn’t feel overly hilly either. Again, I was just happy to be off the bike. The run felt pretty strong. Though not my best 5K time ever, I was certainly happy with the time given the bike effort along with the cramping. I was able to pass a bunch of folks on the run. As I came to the finish line, Allyson and dad were cheering. A friend of mine (and Saturday 2nd place finisher) Lance Leo was yelling that I had someone on my heels. I kicked it in best I could, held the spot and finished at 1:30:06.



Over the next hour and a half we watched a dozen or so friends and acquaintances cross the line. Our marathon coach Eddie David was competing in his first triathlon and it was great to see him come across the line strong (and survive that swim! Good job, coach!) Normally they post results periodically as folks are finishing and you can kind of get an idea of where you stand. They did not posting results. Everyone was going to find out at the same time at the awards ceremony.

I had no clue if the time was good enough to place. Again, I was competing against a full field. My time would have been good for a top 10 the previous year, but not a place. This year they were giving out five place awards vs. the standard three. They started with 5th place at a 1:31:14, so I knew I had at least placed. The announcer kept working his way up the list. He then announced 3rd place Joe Smith at a 1:30:08 (Joe beat me for the Novice win at Over the Mountain and ironically was the guy in the video above that was two seconds behind me as we came to the finish line.) So second place it was - by two whole seconds - and 40 seconds off the win.

I was shocked and ecstatic. It was a great Father’s Day treat and great to be able to share it with my dad. The 2nd obviously helped with my opinion of this race, but all in all this was a great event that I look forward to doing again next year. It’s hard to beat an event right down the road in such a great setting, even though the start time should be outlawed. It's a four week break and it is onto the next Olympic distance race. And apparently a really fast race located on the Chattanooga downtown waterfront. Very much looking forward to it (and praying for a flat bike course!)

Official results 2nd overall

05.31.08 - Over The Mountain(s)

1500 meter swim, 28 mile bike, 10K run

There is a reason this race is named what it is. I added the (s) on my header for dramatic affect because it was actually a couple of mountains that this stupid crazy hilly bike course took you over, but we’ll get to that… So this was the first kind of 'big one.' The two races so far had been a sprint and super sprint. Little guys.

The Olympic distance presented a whole new level of challenges, the first being the open water. As of race day, I had done probably 9-10 open water swims. The first time was on a week night with several other folks in Lake Norman and quite frankly, it was one of the freakiest things I had ever done. I got about a hundred yards into it and hit the panic button. I stopped and almost turned back. The water was freezing. The stupid swim cap was all wrong. I was completely disoriented and questioning whether or not I would ever be able to do open water.

I started settling in and getting comfortable. By race day, I was very comfortable in the water, actually preferring it in some ways to the pool. I was feeling confident going into it, that was until we actually got to the lake and I was standing there, waste deep in freezing water completely intimidated by the swim ahead. It looked really, really long. Though I had swam this distance a couple of times in open water and numerous times in the pool, it just looked longer for whatever reason.

We were in the last wave (in our cute little hot pink swim caps.) It was an in-water, treading start, which meant you walked through a chip check-in gate, got in the water and swam out about 30 yards or so even with a floating dock. So you sit there and tread water until you hear the horn. Then you are off. The treading water was a little unnerving, though that could very well have just been anxiety.

The horn sounded and off we went. I hit my first obstacle a couple hundred yard in. My right goggle was taking on water. I knew I was never going to make it filling at that pace. I had to stop in the water, let the water out and readjust. All of which took about 30 seconds or so. Fortunately I didn’t have anyone hit me from the back. Everything else was status quo until after the turn. The swim was an L shape across Moss Lake, so swim out 750, hard right turn and 750 to the opposite shore. Soon as we turned, the water seemed to get choppy. Then a couple of boats out there had their engines running and the fumes were choking. The last fourth was a little rough, but not bad compared to what we faced getting out of the water.

At the other side of the lake, we exited on a cement boat ramp at which point we were greeted by a hill. A very large, steep hill with a paved road up the middle. Did I mention it was steep? So out of the water and straight up a crazy hill on a pretty rough surface. If I hadn’t mentioned it, I am a complete foot wuss. My feet are about as soft and tender as a baby’s butt, which doesn’t bode well for running straight up rough paved roads. I was eeeking, oooing, ouching the whole way up, along with trying to get my breath. My sweet wife was literally running up the hill beside me asking how I was doing. It was very comforting having her there at that swim. Just knowing she was on the shore brought some mental peace.

The timing mat was at the top near the transition area. It was a fairly smooth transition. This race was a point to point to point race, so at the TA, we had to stuff all of our belongings into a bag that was numbered and would be dropped off at the race finish. Onto the bike and out onto what I thought was a grueling bike course.

About a mile in I almost ran over a kitten. Seriously, there was a little black kitten that had wandered out into the middle of the road. I swerved around it and proceeded past a few other riders. The fun started beginning around mile 7. At this point, we were in the country outside of Kings Mountain and making our way into Kings Mountain National Park, where at around mile 14, we started making our ascent up the first mountain.

The climb was serious. At one point I was on the small ring in the lowest gear pedaling my tail off going just about 5 miles per hour. There was really nothing to do at this point other than laugh. It was quite comical. I probably could have jumped off the bike and pushed it up the hill in my bike shoes and been going faster.

The course was absolutely beautiful though. Completely tree covered. The roads were in really great shape. At the top of that climb at mile 15 awaited a water bottle hand off, which was very welcomed. Though shaded, I was hot and the only thing on my bike was grape Gatorade, which gets a little sticky when sprayed on the head (lesson learned – always carry water, too.) Grabbed the bottle. Sipped a little over the remainder of the ride but mainly used it for cooling.

Around mile 22 we started the second big climb. Shorter, but more steep. Seriously, I could have pushed my bike up the hill faster. I chugged and chugged to the top, then started in on what was probably my favorite part of the ride. On the other side of that uphill was a seriously steep downhill. I layed on the aerobars, pointed downhill and held on. About 10-15 seconds in I started thinking, ‘dang, this feels a lot faster than I have ever gone on a bike.’ And I was right. I managed to look down at the bike computer and noticed I was going 42 mph. That’s right, 42. I started ‘woooooohooooo’ing really loud. There was no one around to laugh at me.

The ride ended in downtown Kings Mountain. I circled through Main Street and Allyson was there cheering me on. The run TA was a very long, narrow chute. I was the last bike rack on the left at the very end. So I clipped and clopped down the street like a carriage horse. I racked the bike, bent over to slip on the shoes and when I stood up, every cloud in the sky broke and it instantly was like 90 degrees. I was in for a hot run. Not all that long, but hot.

I started off too fast (there’s starting to be a pattern here, huh?) First mile was 6:48. Second mile wasn’t feeling much slower, that was until I got to the train wreck of a sidewalk. That’s right, a good chunk of the run was on a stinkin’ sidewalk. A very crowded, hilly sidewalk. Passing was difficult to say the least. To add to it, this was an out and back loop to be done twice, so I’d have to navigate this part of the run twice.

I came upon a few friends along the way that had started well ahead of me and were on their second lap, so a good 20+ minutes ahead. They were all struggling in the heat. I was hitting every water stop, sipping a little and mainly dumping cups on my head (which I feel bad about now having heard that two stops ran out of water. My bad.)

The pace was good until about mile 4 and the heat got the best of me. I pushed hard as I could until the water stops started walking through them to hydrate. I’d quickly get back up to a run and press on. Around mile 5.5, I had to walk a couple hundred yards. I was feeling pretty light-headed and a little nauseous from the heat. I pushed on and crossed the line at 2:54:27. A respectable finished for a first Olympic distance, I suppose, and good enough for second place in the Novice category. I was 4 minutes off my goal, nearly all of which was lost on the run. I laid it all out on the bike and paid for it running. Ironically, the first place Novice was, well, four minutes faster.

Lots of good lessons learned. I loved the race (except that one part of the run) and will most likely be heading back to this one. It’s local, challenging, great venue, and of course I have to go back and try to beat that time. Hopefully by next year I’m a little stronger on the bike and can make up some time there. I know what to expect on the run too, so that should help. On to the next race, a little sprint in my ‘backyard.’

Official results 111th overall, 2nd place Novice

05.17.08 - Statesville Rotary Triathlon

300 yard swim, 11.6 mile bike, 5K run

Ok, so this race snuck up on me. In fact, it was a last minute surprise. My AryFi teammate Nick had signed up for this race to be his first triathlon. He wasn’t able to do MAP and wanted/needed to get at least one race in before the big Olympic distance race two weeks later. So he landed on Statesville, a TrySports Triathlon Development Series inaugural event about 30 minutes up the road.

Allyson was out of town that weekend and I was planning on escorting Nick as his coaching section. The week of the race, one of his co-workers who had signed up decided he hadn’t trained enough and didn’t want to do the race. He wasn’t able to get a refund, so versus letting the money go to waste, I was offered the opportunity to race as Christopher Smith of Huntersville, NC. It was a very last minute except Setup Events (the series producers) made that they assured me would never be allowed again. I assured them I would never try it again. Because Christopher was registered as an age grouper, I had to race as an age grouper. So any races I’d be doing in the TrySports series would be so for the remainder of the year.

Nick’s wife agreed to bring Sorelle to the race with her so Nick and I could venture up there early. We arrived and went through the normal transition area setup. My stomach had been acting up all morning, which was not good. I had already been in the pot several times. Just before the race was about to start, Nick got a call on him mobile from his wife. Sorelle had thrown up in the car just as they had left the house. They were cleaned up and heading to the race. I then had to make pit stop #4 just before getting in the water. In fact I just about missed my starting spot. I thought I had more time than I did.

I got in and started the swim. I think Nick best summed up the swim part of this event – It was like throwing fish food to carp and watching them crawl all over each other. The entire swim was a complete disaster. A literal train wreck. It was a 300 yard, 12 lap swim in a six lane pool… yes, the wheels are turning, aren’t they? That’s right. It was an up and back in the same lane, then under the rope.

It quickly turned into a mess with people passing up the middle of lanes in between two swimmers (yes, I did that.) Then bottle necks at the walls. At one point, another friend of mine doing the race said he was literally walking in the shallow end waiting on the people in front of them. The race directors said if you wanted to pass, tap the foot of the person in front of you. I was hitting the woman in front of me and someone was hitting me on the foot at the same time. Train wreck.

I pushed through and jumped on the bike for a 12-mile ride. Now keep in mind this race is part of the Development Series, which is supposedly for newbies or those not looking for the intense pressure and competition of the NC or SC series. It’s also supposed to be a little easier for the newbies. This bike course, though somewhat shorter, was anything but easy. Crazy hills. Many of them. It seemed as though the whole time I was climbing really slow or descending really fast. One thing I do know is that I didn’t have the bad elements to blame for my poor bike performance. Again, I was crazy slow on the bike. Though it was a beautiful course that I really enjoyed.

I was happy to get off the bike and was able to pull out a real quick transition. I grabbed a cup of water right at the start and proceeded to log a sub-20 minute 5K on a fairly moderate course. The legs were feeling great once I got off the bike. I feel much more in my element with the shoes, the shades and the feet on the pavement. Several others mentioned the run being hilly though I thought it seemed fine. I guess that is a product of me being more of a runner than biker. There were probably plenty of them not complaining about the course that I thought was horrendous.

The run was a point to point, ending in a really cool park near downtown Statesville. Nick’s wife, daughter and my Sorelle were there to greet. There was a great playground area, a pond ducks, tons of food. It was really a great setting. Nick raced as a Novice, so we had a little time to wait for him since he started later in the pool. Only really eventful moment while waiting was two bikers that tried to ride across the finish line not realizing they were in the totally wrong place. The bike finish was about a mile and a half away at the Y and they somehow had ended up at the park. Felt bad for them.

I finished at 1:06:03. Nick a few minutes back. The overall times were posted on the side of the technical trailer, however no category information, so we knew where we had finished overall, however no idea in our categories, me 35-39 Age Group and Nick in the Novice. Turns out I was able to pull a third in the Age Group and Nick a second in the Novice. Or so we thought. We got home that night, checked the results page and saw that Nick was listed as first place Novice. He emailed the race director who informed him the first place finisher was DQ’ed for unverifiable results. So first place to Nick. This was a good little race. Had a blast. Not sure I will make it a yearly event, especially given that whacked out swim, but a good little race all the same. Of course, free races are always the best kind of races, aren’t they? Beggars can’t be choosers, so I’ll just take my free experience and move onto the next one, which proved to be a much bigger challenge than this little sprint. First Olympic distance race two weeks later in Kings Mountain.

Official results 21st overall, 3rd place 35-39 age group

04.26.08 - Music City Marathon, Nashville

Before I pressed forward into triathlon season, I had one more marathon stop to make in Music City USA. My wife, Allyson, had been training last summer for the Thunder Road Half Marathon in Charlotte when she started having some pretty severe pain in her hips and legs that pretty much sidelined her for the remainder of the summer. She then rolled her ankle, nearly breaking it, in November and was sidelined for the rest of the year.

She got back on her feet around the first of the year and decided she was going to start visiting a sports chiropractor and get herself ready to do her first half marathon. We were eyeballing the Rock and Roll half in Virginia Beach on Labor Day, but determined that was going to be too far away. So we decided to go for it in Nashville, her doing the half and me the full.

We had moved to Charlotte from Nashville five years prior, so Nashville has a very special place in our hearts. Some of our best friends we’ve ever had live there, the city is incredible, and we have had so many fond memories. We couldn’t think of a better place to go run.

We set out on Thursday evening before in the van, kiddos and grandparents in tow. We were going to make a weekend of it. Friday evening, Allyson and I went downtown to the expo to pick up our race packets and the first word that came to mind – big. Huge, enormous, unbelievably big. I don’t think either of us realized just how big this race was. Charlotte in December was 5,100 total runners. Myrtle Beach was about 6,500. Nashville was going to be 31,000 total runners. It is actually the biggest combination full/half marathon race east of the Mississippi. This should pretty much sum it up... This thing was a production. The expo completely filled the convention center, which is not a small place. We went from there down to the finish line area where they were having the finish to the YMCA Kids Marathon. Our great friends the Josephs have a daughter that was running in it. The area around the finish line was huge. Seriously, I have no idea how they pulled this off. The logistics alone were amazing.

We finally bedded down at the Josephs around 11. I was awaked around 3:30 by severe thunder, lightening and rain. This was not good. The forecast was calling for rain all morning actually. What was worse than the rain was that the thunder and lightening had me up and I wasn’t going back to sleep. Looks like I was doing a marathon on about 4.5 hours sleep.

We got up early, picked up my good friends Darren Tyler and Brian Petak who were also doing their first half marathons, and headed down to the parking area near the finish line. From there we were bused over to the starting line some four or five miles away in Centennial Park directly across from Vanderbilt campus on West End Blvd. It had been raining lightly all morning. It picked up as we were waiting for the bus, which was lovely. Good thing we grabbed those trash bag rain coats out of the Josephs garage.

We pulled up to the start area about 10 minutes before the start, so hugs to the guys, kisses to the wife and off to the start line, which was simply amazing. 31,000 people smashed into this small area on West End. I was in corral one. The scene when I got on my toes, turned back and looked down West End was unbelievable. Just a sea of people. The rain had stopped and I shed the trash bag. They sent off the elites and the rest of us about a minute or so later. Here we go.

I didn’t publicize this much before the race to too many folks, but I went into it trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. For my age group, I needed to run a 3:15:59 to get in, or a 7:28 per mile average. More to come on this later, but let’s just say it didn’t happen and had I known how hilly this course was I wouldn’t have even given it a second thought. It was crazy hilly. According to my friend Walt, about 1,700 feet more incline than Charlotte, which I thought was torturously hilly.

Even with the rain, the crowd support for the first half of this race was outstanding. There were people everywhere. We headed down West End then into the infamous Music Row area, down through Belmont and back into downtown. There were bands playing every 2 miles along the course and a cheering station on every alternate mile, which certainly helped pass the time and keep the mind on other things. But back to running…

So I went out waaaaay too fast. I’m not sure what I was thinking, or maybe I was listening to the bands too much or enjoying the Nashville scenery and not paying attention to the running because I was got to the half way point of the race and was at a 1:32. That is tracking toward a 3:04 marathon. There was no way on God’s green earth I was going to do a 3:04.

Between the increasing hills and the ridiculous pace, around mile 16 I realized I was in pretty big trouble. I was on a part of the course down by the Cumberland River on a walking/running path all by myself. After the half split, the crowd support had all but disappeared until we ran through downtown on miles 18-20. I was starting to hurt and the pace was taking it’s toll.

Adding insult to the pain was having to traverse the biggest hill on the course which was about a one mile climb straight back into downtown. At least I was hydrated! I had to stop about a third of the way up the hill and hit a porta-john. Quick stop and it was back to the climb. Despite the pain, running into downtown was a blast. Nashville is an amazing city and I realized how much I missed it. It has a feel and culture of its own unlike any other city or town I’ve been in. But enough with that, back to the running (soon to be walking…)

At mile 20, I hit the proverbial wall, which I knew was coming, however it was about two miles before I wanted or expected it. I hit the water stop and had to walk through it. I pretty much proceeded to walk the water stops for the remainder of the race. I was cramping around mile 22, so when I hit that stop, I grabbed two cups of water and a banana, walked while I ate and drank everything, then started back up.

It was a painful, humiliating last 6 miles. I was pretty frustrated with myself for going out too fast. I showed much more control and patience in Myrtle a couple of months prior. I tried to take some solace in convincing myself the hilly course was the cause of all my pains, but that only lasted so long. I’d trained on plenty of hilly ground and that wasn’t going to fly.

I picked it up after the mile 25 water stop and cruised in to the finish. One of the best parts of the day was having our friends the Josephs, Murray and Wells cheering me on at the end. These are three couples that Allyson and I had been the closest we’ve ever been to anyone over the years. It was really cool of them to come out and support us. They had just come from the half marathon finish line where they got to see Allyson finish. I hobbled across the line with a 3:28:54. After all that, a PR by about a minute. I was pretty happy to have this one over with, though again I learned a ton during this race and really enjoyed the experience of running back in Nashville. I’m hoping to go back again next year much more prepared and disciplined and tackle those hills again. I was so very proud of my wife though. She finished with a 2:07 in her first ever half, this after a very frustrating and grueling year of injures. That alone made the trip worth it ten fold.

Official results 302nd overall
Event photos

03.29.08 - MAP Triathlon, Huntersville, NC

500 yard swim, 14 mile bile, 5K run

After about two months of swimming and about five weeks of cycling, MAP was here, ready or not. And I had no clue what to think or expect. My friend Brandon made sure to help me get signed up for this and the other events as a Novice. In the NC Triathlon Series, you get one year to compete as a Novice. After that, it is humiliation and beat down from the big dogs in the age groups.

I had some pretty good training weeks leading up to the race. I looked at the previous year’s results, crunched some numbers based on my training and thought, ‘you know, I may actually have a shot at winning this Novice category.’ So I made that the goal. Again, I had absolutely nothing to base that on and no clue what to expect come race day. For all I know, I could fall flat on my face, have five minute transitions, break a chain, whatever and not even come close. But it is good to have goals.

My lovely wife Allyson was gracious enough to get up with me and make the early trek over to the Huntersville Aquatic Center. She swore she was not going to miss this first time event. There was a little nip in the air, however I certainly wouldn’t classify it as cold. A little overcast. More to come on that later…

The air was electric. Again, this was the first event of the year and everyone was excited. The official race start time was 8:00 am, however this was a pool start with participants starting every ten seconds for about two hours. They start all of the Novices toward the back and I had a decent but not great seed time, so I wasn’t pushing off the wall until 9:46.

I had plenty of time to scope everything out, bouncing from inside by the pool to the transition area, watching the Elite guys fly through the pool and jump on their really expensive bikes that cost them as much as, well, you know. It was intimidating and exhilarating at the same time.

The waiting started to get old. Pretty soon minutes started feeling like hours. Finally the time rolled around and I was in the pool. A very cold pool, might I add. I was starting right behind a couple that lives in my neighborhood, so at least had some company around at the start. From staging to the start passed really fast. Before I knew it I was pushing through the water.

The swim was a 20 lap, up one lane, under the rope, back in the other pool swim. 500 yards. When I registered for the race, I had to submit a 100 yard split time for seeding purposes. From the time I registered to race day, my swimming had got a little better, so I was seeded a little further back than I would have liked, but no worries. Allyson and Nick were standing at the far end yelling each time I hit the far wall. When it was all said and done, I had to swim by/over about a dozen folks in 20 laps which wasn’t too bad.

I was out of the water and running to the TA (transition area for any non-tri folks.) I hit the back door of the aquatic center and immediately noticed that the outside temperature had probably dropped about 10-15 degrees from when I went in to swim. Not good. A cool morning had turned a little chilly. The transition was decent for a first timer, though I greatly underestimated the difficulty pulling a tri jersey on over wet skin. Let’s just say it doesn’t go on to terribly easy.

Onto the bike…the leg started out pretty good. Nothing eventful until about mile 4 when things got really, really interesting. I had mentioned the weather had turned chilly pretty quick. Well around mile 4, the good Lord allowed the clouds to unleash. Sideways raining. Hail. Cats and dogs. Small rodents. It was a new level of misery I had never experienced. Keep in mind I just bought this bike and had probably less than 200 total miles on it. This was my first competitive race on it. And the rains were of Noatian proportions. At one point it felt as though I was being stung from head to toe by bees. And in case you were wondering, hail on a bike helmet is loud.

It did let up some toward the end of the 14 miles, however the rain was with us to the end. I made a right hand turn about a mile out from the finish and my right calf started severely. So now I was freezing, burning from the stinging rain, tired and cramping. I love this sport. I cruised into the finish, slid across the bike finish line almost busting my tail and headed into the TA for the run.

My run stuff was completely drenched. I picked up my left shoe and swear it weighed 25 pounds. I almost turned it over thinking if I did so I would dump a quart or so of water. There was standing water in the bottom of my duffle bag and in the base of the hat I was getting ready to put on. I shoved everything on the best I could and headed out.

The run could only be described as misery. There was a steady, driving rain the entire time. The run course itself was horrendous. Actually, I was surprised it was a USAT certified race with that race course. One point took us completely off road behind the Aquatic Center. There were two red clay spots about 10-20 yards in length that were full of standing water and mud. And there wasn’t any way around them. I trudged through and luckily shortly after there was a giant water puddle on the back parking area that I was able to run through and lose most of the mud.

It was to the home stretch from there. Other than rounding a curve about 50 yards from the finish line and nearly wiping out completely, the end of the race went fine. I remember the first thought going through my head being something along the lines of ‘and this is supposed to be fun?’ I was feeling things in places and in ways I never had before. On top of that, I was kind of discouraged because I was pretty sure my effort wasn’t enough to hit the goal of a Novice division win. The swim was a little slow due to traffic and the bike was a disaster.

Despite all that, I somehow was able to pull off a 1:13:40, which was good for the Novice win. It was a huge blessing and I was extremely grateful that having been the first triathlon ever. It was also amazing having Allyson there to share that moment with her. She was a real trooper hanging out there all morning, standing in the cold rain and mud. It wouldn’t have been half as meaningful without here there. I figured with those kind of conditions, I got the very worst out of the way on the first one. All uphill from there!

Official results 105th overall, 1st place Novice