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

12.08.07 - Thunder Road, Charlotte, NC

My first marathon. I had been training with my USA Fit Charlotte group for the preceding six months, logging between 30-40 miles a week. It had been a long, grueling training process. Come race day, I felt like I was a ready as I was ever going to be.

I was up early the morning of to begin what has now become somewhat of a regular pre-race routine which involves a brisk walk of a mile or so, a little coffee and a banana. There is nothing magical about this combination other than it, well, helps get things moving (if you know what I mean.) Mission accomplished. Into the car and off to pick up Nick.

Everything was peachy on the ride down until we got to uptown Charlotte and hit some traffic. No big deal, until we found ourselves stuck on a one-way street, not moving at all and the clock rapidly counting down toward race time. Slight panic, but all was well. Things started moving, we found ourselves a parking spot and used the short time frame and far off parking spot as incentive to do a little warm-up run.

The race started right outside of the convention center, so the inside was buzzing to say the least. We met up with some of our training mates, chatted up a little, snapped a couple of photos and it was off to the starting line. There were many more people than I expected and the atmosphere was electric. Nick, Mike and I inched our way toward the starting line. There were no corrals, so the start was a bit of a free for all. After a few minutes of waiting, the anthem and a greeting from the race organizer, the gun and we were off.

The crowd support at the start was pretty good. It was a tad chilly, but nothing unmanageable. Long sleeves, running toboggan and gloves and I was good to go. Nick and I had decided to set out together and stick to an 8:30 pace. We had been training right around that, maybe a little slower.

The first couple of miles were busy and fast. There were a lot of halfers on course. Roughly 3,500 of the 5,000 runners were half marathoners vs. full marathoners. A lot of the halfers were out of the gate fast so traffic was heavy. By mile three, we had settled into our pace and heading up the long, steady hill on Providence Road.

The comforting thing about the climb was knowing what was at the top. Our good friends, the Dye’s, live on Providence Road, so that was fan central stop #1 for the course, around mile 3. We crested the hill and were greeted by our wives and daughters, my parents and the Dye’s waving signs and screaming loud as they could. It was truly outstanding. We slapped some fives as we went by, then wiped our tears of joy and pressed on. Funny note: about a half mile later, we passed a young woman standing on one of the street corners holding a bag of Krispy Kremes, a larger coffee and a cigarette yelling, “go runners.” The irony…

The next 8 miles (4 thru 11) were steady going and on a lot of familiar territory. Our USA Fit group had a mapped out course through the Dilworth/Myers Park area that we would run on a regular basis. A good chunk of the course was on or very close to the course. Around mile 7.5, we were greeted again by fan stop #2. The whole gang, add our friends the Conway’s, had walked several blocks from Providence Road down to Sharon Road. There was a DJ on the corner and lots of other fans. Again, a welcomed and warming site. Speaking of warm – I ditched the top layer and the toboggan. Kept the gloves (I hate running with cold hands.)

We proceeded back toward uptown and approaching the half marathon finish line. Around mile 12, Nick and I parted ways. He wanted to pull back the pace a tad, more along the lines of our training pace. I decided to press on. I passed the half finish, turned onto Morehead, passed the relay transition area, onto Tryon and all of a sudden found myself very alone and going much faster than I should have been. I had been running in a crowd for the past 13.5 miles and with Nick and pacing was pretty easy. I was now in the South End area with much less crowd support and the runners were sparse. I lost track of the clock and had picked up the pace from 8:30’s to just under 8’s. Stopped off just past the stadium for a quick potty break.

I was now in uptown having completed miles 14 thru 17 and had made the hard left turn into the NoDa district for the last ‘half’ of the run. Up until this point, I had felt pretty good all in all. As I crossed the bridge over I-277 into NoDa, I felt like I was entering this desolate, barren wasteland full of despair and pain. I was. My pace had gotten too fast and my legs were really starting to feel it. And for those unaware, NoDa ain’t exactly flat.

I had been on like one street in NoDa in the 4.5 years I had lived in Charlotte, so I had no clue whatsoever where I was. Just kept running forward. By mile 20, I had hit the wall. At the water stop just before the mile marker, I came to my first walk. I grabbed two cups of water and walked one minute before getting back into stride. Much to my chagrin and disappointment, I proceeded to do that for the next three water stops. Two cups, walk one minute, start running.

Between miles 20 and 21 was one of those memorable and humbling experiences. I thought the next time I would see the fan base was at the finished. I rounded a corner and up in the distance I hear screams a yells and there was the whole crew. I was mentally, emotionally and physically broken down at this point like I had never been before. I approached and best I could muster mumbled that I was hurting pretty bad. All of a sudden, I had my friends Paul and Bobby running along side of me encouraging me, praying for me, cheering for me. It was amazing. I did everything in my little power I had to not breakdown emotionally.

I pressed on in quite a bit of leg pain. Around mile 23, I came up on a guy that was - get this – running barefoot. That’s right. Barefoot. No shoes. No socks, no nothing. Completely barefoot. And yes, every step of the 26.2 miles was on pavement. I slowed up a bit to regroup and started talking to him. He was from Buffalo, NY. It was his tenth marathon and his third running barefoot. I never really got out of him why he was running barefoot, but I did get motivation from him. If this guy could run this far with no shoes, I can make it the last couple of miles.

Out of NoDa, back across 277 and heading toward the home stretch into uptown. I was making a lefty into town and there was a police officer with traffic stopped. As I approached, I hear a “Ryan, is that you?” I looked closer to recognize Gideon John, a guy I graduated high school with at South Point. We both smiled big, did the quick ‘wow great to see you’ and he sent me off with a ‘good luck finishing. You’re almost there.’ Which I was.

I had one more turn, a righty toward the finish line and one last hill to conquer. It seemed to be a bit of insult to injury having the marathoners climb yet another hill in the last quarter mile of the run. But the did. And we endured. I climbed slowly, looking for something left in the tank to get me to the line. As I crested, I got the lift. My friend Paul and my dad were to my right yelling for me, coaching me onto the line, which was a huge help. Then I looked ahead and saw the clock was rapidly approaching 3 hours and 50 minutes... Initially my goal was to finish around 3:40, which was right around an 8:30 pace. When I saw the clock, I was bound and determined to finish in the 3:40’s, so a pseudo-sprint was on. Then add in the cheers from Allyson, the girls, my mom, the Conways.

I crossed the line in 3:49:45. Big hug from Allyson and the girls, proceed to the water station, then to the Bud Light truck for a quick brew. I stayed in the finish chute to cheer in some of my buddies as they finished. Nick came charging over the last hill and in similar fashion, set into a sprint in order to finish sub-4:00. Shortly after, Nicole and Sarah, then Mike and Eddie who both had been pushing through some serious cramping.

Charlotte put together a good race. Of course, I had nothing to compare it to, but all in all, I’d say it exceeded expectations. The course was painfully hilly, or at least it seemed that way. Crowd support on the first half was good and a barren wasteland on the second half. Ironically it is called ‘Thunder Road’ because of the local connection to NASCAR and there was practically no NASCAR presence.

Overall, it was a good and memorable day for Team Yellow Group. We were all looking forward to our big post-race celebration at Nicole’s, fully furnished with beverages and a masseuse. I was happy with the first marathon effort. I could write a book on the lessons learned from that race. I’ll never forget it. As sore and miserable as I was afterwards, I couldn’t wait until the next one.

Official results 221st overall
Event photos

The road less traveled...

I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I embarked on this journey in May 2007. But I’m glad I did.

Earlier that year in the spring, I had hit a new personal low in fitness. No physical activity, coupled with a terrible diet and high stress at work had left me as heavy as I had ever been, struggling with some health issues and just downright miserable. I was heading in the wrong direction and knew I had to do something about it, but not exactly sure what or how.

I was talking with my good friend, Nick, at a church picnic in May. He mentioned he had just signed up for this marathon training program, called USA Fit Charlotte. It was a 28-week program for novices preparing for the December Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte. I needed something and thought this could be it. I had always wanted to say I finished a marathon. I needed to get myself on track physically. The program and the end goal could keep me in line. And man did it ever…

We started in June, settling into the USA Fit ‘Yellow Group,’ which was catered toward those looking to finish their marathon at an 8:45-9:00 minute per mile pace. Led by Coach Eddie, a dozen of us regulars followed the training schedule during the week, then would come together on Saturday mornings before the sun was up (literally) to do our long runs together.

I could write for hours about this group, but in short – this was and still is, a special group of people. Unlike any of the other USA Fit groups, we instantly bonded not only as training partners, but also as friends. So much so that that the marathon came and went in December and we have been getting together and running ever since. Here’s to Nicole, Sarah, Carol Ann, Cari, Eddie, Walt, Jeff, Mike, Kevin and Nick - all great runners, but more importantly great friends. I look forward to many more miles together training and at various events.

We all finished Charlotte (or Kiawah) in December. I told my wife, Allyson, later that day that someone may as well have strapped me to a table and shot me with heroin. I was completely hooked. The race day experience, gratification, achievement, results, life changes, and on and on and on snagged me hook line and sinker and their was no looking back. She was all for it and supportive as she had been all along the way.

As much as I love running and plan on it being a life long journey, I also had the new aspiration of being a triathlete. More and more I was hearing about and reading about triathlon, a sport that has been burgeoning over the past decade in particular. I was drawn to the level of personal fitness that could be achieved and the challenge of mastering the three individual disciplines of swim, bike and run. Only issue was I hadn’t swum a lap in my life and I didn’t even own a bike.

After Charlotte, I began preparing for my next marathon on February 16 in Myrtle Beach, SC and at the same time, bought a bike and began teaching myself to swim. A friend of mine introduced me to the Total Immersion swim technique book and DVD. I had an extremely rough start swimming and this info really helped pull everything together. I signed up for my first sprint triathlon on March 29. I was officially off and running toward a future of marathon and triathlon.

As I write this, I sit in the back seat of the minivan on our way home from Nashville having just completed my third marathon in five months and my first triathlon under my belt (and I just adjusted in my seat with my laptop on my lap and words can’t describe the pain I am in. You marathoners know of this pain…)

The experiences thus far have been priceless and the memories are ones I’ll have forever, though being the typical guy, it’s sometimes hard to retain those memories, great as they may be. So here are my accounts of the races I’ve been blessed to participate in so far. My hope and prayer is that there are many, many more to come. I know each will be unique in it’s own way, even the repeat ones. I look forward to what I’ll learn, the people I will meet, sharing the race experiences with other athletes, friends and family. Here it goes…