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

The 'tri' transition...

Shortly before the New Year 2008, I caught the triathlon bug. I had just finished my first marathon and loved it, however was already thinking about the next big challenge.

Back in September 2007, a guy named Lance Leo came to speak to our training group one Saturday morning after our long run. He was about two months out from doing his first World Championship Ironman in Hawaii which he had qualified for the previous November. Between this encounter with Lance, running into various other triathletes, watching the World Championship on the TV in mid December and discussions with my training partner in crime, Nick, I was ready to ‘tri’ this (pun intended.)

I had never swum a lap in my life. I think my parents made me take swim lessons when I was like 5 or 6 years old at the Y in Ohio and I was able to tread water for survival, but had never swam. Obviously this creates some serious challenges for an aspiring triathlete.

I also didn’t own a bike. The last bike I remember owning was a gold and black Huffy that Wes Bickel stole out of my garage and threw in the quarry by my house in like 4th or 5th grade. Wait, I owned a sweet sky blue Huffy ten speed that I totaled at some point around like 7th or 8th grade. That bike was rad.

Anyway, so I couldn’t swim laps and didn’t own a bike. So what is the next logical thing to do? That’s right, register for two races, one being in late March. Each year, the MAP Triathlon is the kickoff event of the NC Triathlon Series. There are close to 900 participants across a lot of categories, from Elite to Novices, Age Groupers, you name it.

Mid-January, I ran into a guy named Brandon at a birthday party that I had met on a couple of previous occasions through this mutual friend. He had just finished his season of triathlon. We got to talking and I explained to him my triathlon ambitions. I explained I’d never swam and he agreed this posed a problem to my goal. He was quick to refer me to a book and DVD called “Triathlon Swimming Made Easy” by Terry McLaughlin, founder of a swim school and technique called Total Immersion. The guys house where the party was hosted, he actually had a copy. I thought there was no way a book and DVD was going to make me a swimmer. And I was wrong.

Keep in mind that shortly before obtaining these tools, I had gone to the Y and attempted some laps. I could do three – count ‘em, three – without feeling like I was going to die. It was a tad frustrating to say the least. I decided to quit struggling and pick up the book and DVD. I read it in two sittings, watched the DVD a couple of times and was off to the pool to learn how to do it right.

Really long story short, in about a month I was swimming. I’m not sure how to explain it, but one day at the pool after doing the drills, it all came together. In one fluid motion, it hit me like a brick ‘yes, this is how you swim.’ Granted, I wasn’t fast (and am still not) but I felt like I could swim for days. So at least I wasn’t going to drown, which is always nice.

The next component was the bike. Ok, so shopping for a road/triathlon bike may be one of the most confusing, tedious, overwhelming, demoralizing and time consuming things I have ever done. Needless to say there are a lot of options - too many options, to be quite frank – and these options covered a price range from about $900 for something worth riding to oh about the price of one small child from China, which is roughly $8-9K if you weren’t aware how much a small child from China costs.

My buddy Nick and I looked long and hard for these bikes. He had no bike either (except a sweet Gary Fisher mountain bike, which comes into play later.) Eventually I ended up landing on a local bike shop called The Spirited Cyclist. They are a Cannondale, Giant and Look dealer.

I had ridden a ton of bikes during this search and had determined an all aluminum was just too stiff/rough for my liking, especially if I was going to be spending a bunch of time on it. I loved the all carbons, however they were just too far out of my price range. I also looooved some of the triathlon-specific bikes I had seen at various shops and online. But did I mention small child from China?

I landed on a Giant TCR-A1 that Ty and the guys at Spirited cut me a fantastic deal on, especially given that I had to get pedals, a helmet, shoes, etc, etc, etc, etc (there is a lot of stuff you have to get for cycling) etc, etc, etc and etc. I was all set up and ready to go. Nick scored a stellar deal on eBay on a Fuji all carbon. He had been eyeballing Fuji’s since day one. I was really glad he got one.

About the only thing lacking was a team and a name. Nick and I often joked about how we were getting into triathlon on a marathon budget (which is basically, well, shoes.) He rode his first few weeks on his new bike wearing his old, muddy Gary Fisher mountain bike helmet. It really didn’t look too bad, however Nick felt the need to alter it enough to look like a road helmet. So he removed the visor and peeled the G, S, H, E and R off the sides, leave simply ‘ARY FI.’ We loved it. We quickly became Team AryFi.

02.16.2008 - Myrtle Beach Marathon

Back before we even finished Thunder Road, our little running group was already talking about and planning our next race. Everyone decided a half marathon in February would be great. After a little research we determined the Myrtle Beach race was it. This was in October/November-ish, so obviously I had plenty of time to register.

The first of the year came and went and of course, I forgot to register. I went online mid-January and low and behold, the half marathon was full and no exceptions were to be made by race organizers. Believe me, I tried. Everyone else, including my training partner in crime, Nick, was already registered for the half.

I was stuck. At this point, my only options were to register for the full and run the half for no official time. Or run it rouge, which most likely would have got me kicked off the course. So what the heck, I decided to register for and run the full. Nick decided to follow suit, contacting the race organizers and getting his registration switched. So about 5-6 weeks out, we were now on the hook for a full marathon.

We went into training overdrive, trying to work in all of those big long runs before heading into the taper. Fortunately, we were able to get it all done. Before we knew it, the race was upon us. I had contacted my old band mate, Bart, who lives in Myrtle to see if we could stay with him. Nick and I were determined to do this race/trip on little to nothing.

After only a few wrong turns, we pulled into Myrtle Friday evening and headed to the expo for packet pick-up. We then met up with Bart at Outback for what has become the traditional pre-race chicken fettuccini alfredo. It was great hanging out with Bart. We hadn’t seen each other in close to eight years.

Only about four and a half solid hours of sleep and it was up and off to the starting line. The weather really couldn't have been more perfect. Very slight chill in the air, but moderate. High fifties/low sixties around race start. We got to the start on the street beside the minor league ballpark and across from the Broadway at the Beach complex.

Initial thought was that there were definitely more people than at the Charlotte race. Close to two thousand more to be exact. There was a riveting rendition of God Bless America, some words of encouragement from the emcee, the gun and we were off. It was 6:30 am and the sun had not even crested the horizon at this point.

The first two miles were a mess. This was not a wave start, so everyone was jumbled together at the start. At a couple of points in miles one and two, I was running up on the sidewalk to avoid the traffic jam on the street. By mile three, things were thinning out a bit and I had to lose the top layer shirt. As I tried pulling it over my head, the sleeve was caught under my Garmin and torn nearly off. It was trash.

By mile four, we were heading directly toward the beach and the sun had started coming up, which was very cool. I guess the race organizers planned it this way. We made the hard right turn onto Ocean Blvd. and the next 5-6 miles were running past all of the high rise beach front hotels that, well, I either partied at or was arrested at back in the high school days. If only those running around me knew…

Interesting first around mile 6 or so. I’m running along, doing my thing and I hear a cell phone ring. I figured it was a spectator until I realized on ring three it was following me. Just then a middle-aged woman running just behind me answers the phone she is carrying and proceeds to have about a two minute conversation with someone that was waiting for her at the half marathon finish line. Interesting.

I really enjoyed this part of the race. The scenery was great. The sunrise (or what I could see of it in between the towering hotels) was beautiful over the ocean. The time passed very fast and my pace was right on. I was clipping in around the 7:45 per mile range pretty consistently. Things were good.

The next few miles, and subsequently the first half of the race, went by really quick. It seemed like no time and I was passing the half split. I had the opportunity just before half way to run along side of one of the wheelchair participants, which was very cool. The crowd support miles 11-14 was very strong, which was reflected in my mile times. Miles 13-15, I was down in the 7:20’s, which was no doubt too fast. But the crowd energy and adrenaline was kicking in at this point.

We made our way back down to Ocean Blvd, this time taking a left hander, unfortunately, straight into a fairly brisk wind coming off the ocean. It was fairly chilly at first, too. Which was really strange because about five miles later, we were right out on the ocean in the sun and it got real hot real quick. Miles 15-18 were pretty uneventful. Crowd support was better than I expected, however still nothing like the first half. And I had to make about a one minute pit stop in the porta-potty around mile 17. Those who know me know this is a fairly regular routine I go through when running…

By mile 18, I started feeling the pains. The only slight uphill on the course was after we took a left hand turn and started heading inland a little. An official on a bike rode along with me for about a half mile and talked to me, which greatly helped pass the time and keep my mind off the ensuing pain. I didn’t really start feeling it until about mile 22 though.

After we had turned back on the main highway (Kings Hwy.) there were several water stops along there and great crowd support, which was helpful. Between miles 22 and 23, I was cruising along and smelled an odd, familiar scent. To my right on the front porch a couple of young guys were enjoying a mid-morning smoke of a little wackus weedus. Breakfast of champions.

Coming into the home stretch, I observed quite a painful site. Just past the mile 25 marker, a very tall young man, probably high school age, literally fell to the ground about 50 yards or so in front of me and began writhing in pain as both legs severely cramped up on him. Fortunately help was on site quickly, because I felt like a complete heel for not stopping and helping.

The finish line was outstanding. It was a long, narrow chute completely surrounded with folks for at least the last quarter mile or so. I crossed the line at 3:30:38, a new PR by 19 minutes from two months prior in Charlotte. I was ecstatic (and surprised) to say the least. The entire run felt great though I guess I didn’t think 19 minutes better than before great. I did have my Garmin for this race which was an amazing help. Highly, highly, highly recommend this race, especially if you are trying to qualify for Boston. Very well organized. Super flat and fast course. Good crowd support. I look forward to going back and doing this race again in the years to come, especially taking the whole family and making a weekend of it. Hopefully next time I can take the bike and enjoy the ride that they do the day after.

Official results 202nd overall
Event photos