You have to want it...

The so called "off season" is here. Ah yes a term that means something different to some but not most. This was a term I used to use when the racing season was over and I could pull that phrase out of my... when I needed an excuse to skip a training session. Instant justification for laziness. Well I no longer use that term to make excuses. Instead I use it to drive me to push forward. Why? Because the difference between winning and losing is all in the details and sitting on the couch because it is the off season is a detail I don't want as a contributing factor to my results. Off season is nothing more than a phrase the weak and lazy use to be well weak and lazy.

Now that may seem a bit harsh. But the reality is true. Yes, we all need to take a "mental" break from structured training but that does not mean take a break from training. While you are "resting" the rest of us are driving our agendas forward. I think of racing as war. Going in half fast will leave you a bloody mess. Rest on your laurels and you are sure to get burned. If you think you can come back even stronger next year after a long break. Think again. Each year we age, it becomes harder to maintain and improve fitness levels. The risk of injury becomes higher, our needs for recovery become greater which means less training time just to get back to where you were before your little sabbatical.

The bottomline...you have to want it and you have to want it now and not in May. Getting to the pool when it's cold takes determination. Grinding out miles on the trainer requires drive and running on that treadmill demands persistence if you are to improve. There is just no magic pill and no easy way out. So train your way out. If you don't want it, that's fine. But no excuses next summer. You after all are accountable for your actions or lack of action.

Plan your races now. Sign up and get them on your calendar and then get to work. Because there is no more off season. And those that say there is are just using this phrase to sit and click on those cold snowy days.

Need motivation? Using software like http://www.trainingpeaks.com/ and WKO+ to monitor, analyze and plan your training will ensure you have the information to know where your fitness is, if you are doing to little or to much. There is nothing like the performance management chart to tell you you are slacking.

I won't get into what you should be doing. That is individual to you and your goals. If you want guidance in that area, I am here. Shoot me a line and we can talk. But by all means go and do something because out there somewhere someone is and they are planning out their attack to stick it to you.

Redemption Day! Another first…and a good one at that!

I decided to do a sprint distance triathlon today. (I only signed up a week ago after seeing that the weather would be nice) My intent here was nothing more then to get in one more good effort. It’s hard when you have good fitness to just let it go. So this race was a perfect timing coming only 3 weeks after Ironman Canada which was not the way I wanted to end the season.

I was optimistic I would race well since I have stayed consistent with easy swims, bikes and runs since Canada. Nothing with much intensity but stayed mobile and healthy. So I knew this race would hurt and that it did but I knew I had the fitness to push it. With all of my nutritional woes with Ironman I decided I would try a different pre-race strategy to see if I had the will power to see it through. I won’t divulge the details but let’s just say yesterday was interesting and today it felt like it was right.

The swim…was wet. Duh. Perfect water temps (70’s) so a full wetsuit was in order. I did some hard efforts warming up trying to get the HR primed for the effort. The gun blew and I was in the red zone in about 30 seconds and stayed that way for the entire swim (and race actually). Out of the water in 11:20 and light headed from the effort. Ended up catching the wave in front so the last part of the swim was more chaotic then the first part. I struggled with the removal of a wetsuit sleeve while in transition so that slowed me a bit. I even managed to knock my helmet and glasses off my bike in my fit of frenzy trying to remove the suit. Fear not, I recovered. Out onto the bike…

The bike…was a challenge. Doing long course races, I like to take the first 5-10 miles to get my rhythm and then start the big gear grind. Well in a sprint you only have about 2 minutes to find your rhythm other wise the train will leave you at the station. There is no grinding here. It is hammering and this is where I really felt like I did not have any legs. Ironman bike training does not prepare you to race sprints. I did not get comfortable until about 6 miles in when I managed to get down some flat coke. I got about 8 ounces in over the course of the ride to set me up well for the run but the legs just never felt quite right on the bike. Off the bike in 30:20 (24.5 mph avg) with a much smoother transition to the run. Feet don’t fail me now…

The run…was rewarding. Onto the course I could see the one guy in my age group that passed me up in front. He was about 30” up. For the first ½ a mile it looked like he was pulling away but then he started to fade. Just as I thought…he pushed to hard on the bike. At about 3/4’s of a mile in there is a gradual descent size hill. Short quick shuffle and I had him within 20 feet by the time we reached the top. All those hill repeats paid off. At this point I could see down the back side and there were not many people out there. Lots of collegiate team jerseys and no one else really. Doing the quick math I figured this guy was leading my age group. Like Drago said to Rocky, “I must break you!” was a thought I kept playing over and over so I was determined to do so convincingly. When you are hurting but then faced with an opportunity like this the pain just goes away. I decided to hang onto his feet for about another ¼ mile until I was not breathing that heavy. I could hear him really gasping for air so I decided to take him. When you pass someone you do it with conviction and you do not look back. With about 200 meters to the turnaround I overtook him and then turned on the gas at the turnaround. I continued to push to the point that I was just this side of blowing up. With about a ¼ mile I looked back and no one was there so I backed it off just a tad so that I could keep my breakfast in my belly. 20:25 on the run and about 5 minutes to get my land legs back.

So in short, 1st place age group and 9th overall on this Oktoberfest celebration. A sweet beer mug and a new pair of zeal optic sunglasses to boot. A couple of sweet prizes to put a cap on what I consider to be a very successful season.

August…A month of first’s and worst’s

The month of August 2009 is not a month that I will ever forget. In fact it is a month that I will hold near and dear to my heart for a couple of different reasons. It is a month that I will draw upon for strength when I am down. But I will also use it as a catalyst to fuel my drive reminding me of how vulnerable we can be.

I was focused on 2 races that I have never finished before. The Boulder 5430 Long Course Half Ironman and Ironman Canada. The 5430 was a race I DNF’d back in 2003 as well as 2006 (Although 2006 was by design as I was racing Ironman Canada 3 weeks later that year). But still it was a race I had yet to see the finish line. Additionally, I was in the final build up for Ironman Canada at the end of the month. I also DNF’d this race back in 2006 (that time I was pulled off by EMT’s) The end result of that experience ultimately left me with the desire and drive to start my coaching business so that others would not make the same mistakes I had made.

As the month began, my parents decided to pay us a visit the first week of August and the 5430 was just a training race so I even gave them the option to not come. They would not have anything to do with that. For some sick and twisted reason they like getting up at 4:00am and standing out in the hot sun all day just to watch their son abuse the hell out of his body. Well on this day in August, I did my entire family proud by setting a new Personal Best (PB) at the Half Ironman distance. A 4:43 on a day that I did not rest for and had to hold myself back so that I would not be trashed for the training I still had left to do. This was the 2nd personal best at this distance in less then 7 weeks and ironically on a day that I got to race along side Chrissie Wellington once again. My previous best at this distance was in Kansas back in June when I had the same opportunity there as well. Now if only Chrissie was racing Ironman Canada would my dreams be realized. I recovered from this race in about 3 days leaving me about 10 more days to put the final touches on my Ironman Canada training. To say I was on fire was an understatement; I was smoking everything in my path and leaving nothing but ash in my wake. My confidence going into Canada was extremely high and so was my fitness.

Now on to Ironman Canada. The last 10 days of training were relatively uneventful. I got some good quality in and the intensity was right there. In fact I hit some personal best mean maximal efforts in those last 10 days. I was rested and recovering nicely and all systems were a go. I was 100% in control of the variables that I could control. However, when I arrived in Penticton the Wednesday before the race, the weather was looking to be warm under cloudless skies. I learned a long time ago that you just deal with what the day throws you and don’t worry about the weather because you can’t control it. Just have a plan to deal with it. Well I embraced this and in fact welcomed the warm weather because I had a plan and it involved being conservative. I knew that if things went well I would pass everyone in that last 13 miles of the run. Well on race day, we got the heat, we got the wind, and with that wind we even got the bonus of all the smoke and ash from the neighboring forest fires that have plagued BC all summer.

The race summary in short started with a personal best swim exiting in 1:03 and a course personal best bike ride of 5:49. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I come off the bike because I can now control the race with my own 2 feet. The run was all about being conservative. In fact I was really conservative on the way out and it showed from a time perspective averaging 9+ minute miles. But more importantly it showed on how I felt. I felt great! At mile 14 I paused at a porto-john for a bio break and that proved to be fatal. It had to be 150 degrees inside that thing and the smell was enough to kill you. As a left the porto-john I grabbed some aid from the station and about 200 meters I was on the side of the road puking my guts out. While trying to be optimistic that I could come back from this I quickly did the math and with 12 miles to go, deep down I knew the game was over. Well I did the walk run shuffle to mile 15 where I grabbed some Pepsi. The result of that I can equate is to a missile launcher used in ground combat. You know the ones where you drop the missile into the tube and it shoots right out. That is an ugly sight with a couple ounces of Pepsi. When this happened I knew the race was over. I was now in full blown triage mode and resorted to walking the last 12 miles home to conserve energy to ensure a finish because after all that is what I went there to do. Finish first, do well second. Every mile I tried to fuel and every mile I left my mark on Penticton. At about mile 25, my friend Jeff caught me and we ran it home for the last mile. Neither of us had the day we were ready to give. But we both proved mentally strong getting through it despite the setbacks.

So in closing, August was a month of personal bests and personal worst’s. I set my personal best half ironman time and set my slowest ever full ironman time. I even managed to have a run split that was slower then my bike split. That is something you don’t really ever want to have on your results let along having to admit to it. But I will tell you that I will take that over a DNF any day. I spent the next few days after Canada looking for another race that I could go and prove who I really am and what I was capable of doing. After all, expectations where high for me whether real or perceived. But after a few days of reflection, I already proved in the month of August who I am and what I was capable of. I was able to prove that I am a dad, a son, a husband, a friend, a triathlete and a coach who is human and can deal with face of adversity and pull through during tough times. I lead by example and I take the good with the bad. I am strong when I race and I am even stronger when I get knocked down. The long and short is I have nothing left to prove this season. I have set my sights on some unfinished business for next year.

In the end, it is not how you celebrate the good performances but how you tuck those memories away to deal with the bad ones. It is easy to race when you are doing well but it is hell when you get knocked down and kicked in the teeth.

So the next time you have a good result celebrate it and enjoy it. And when you have a bad result or rough spot in a race (and you will) and ultimately get knocked down ask yourself this; do you stay on the ground getting kicked and give up or do you get up and fight?

See you back in Penticton 2010 for the third and final battle of this long fought war.

There is nothing like that first time...

When you go faster then you have ever gone before or complete a distance you have never tried before. Whether that is in training or in a race, there will only be that one time that it is the first time and it feels like nothing you have ever felt before.

I have been slow to the computer over the last few weeks putting the final touches on my Ironman Canada preparation, the kids returning to school and fall soccer quickly approaching. No excuses, just reality.

But I did want to put down on paper the incredible accomplishment had by ALL No DNF Athletes on Sunday August 8th 2009 at the last 5430 Long Course Triathlon. There were 6 of us racing. 3 of us have raced this distance before and 3 had not. When the day was all said and done, there were 3 less ½ Ironman virgins in the world and there were 3 new individual PR’s set at the distance.

I want to congratulate Mark Dayhoff, Jason Oeltjen and Craig Quincy on putting together a fantastic season and capping it off with 1st time finishes at the ½ Ironman distance. I told each and every one of them that going from Olympic to ½ is a whole different animal and to approach it with a conservative finisher’s mindset. Each did just that and had to battle their own small little war inside their head throughout the day but all persevered and finished with a smile and for a few a courtesy visit to the Medical Tent. No major catastrophe’s be told and all wore their medals with pride. Way to go boys! It was a pleasure to watch you progress over the season.

Secondly, I want to congratulate Michele Van Pelt and Richard Morgan for setting new PR’s at this distance and on this course. Michele bested her time by about 5 minutes from a few years ago. Rich bested his time from last year (2nd time going this distance) by over 10 minutes on what was considered hotter conditions this year. Again, both had to push through barriers like everyone else as the race is too long to not have them come up.

I always say that it is not the obstacles that we have to face but how we actually face them that makes the day special. So good on all of you for killing it out there.

You all did your coach proud on this day!

The picture above is 3 people smiling and celebrating their new PR’s!

Boulder Peak Triathlon 2009 Race Report

Boulder Peak Triathlon 2009 Race Report

Well the 2009 BPT race has come and gone. Ideally this is not a race that “fits” into my schedule this year with Ironman Canada at the end of August and my need for longer recovery after shorter harder efforts like this, in fact as I sit and write this over a week later I am still recovering BUT it is by far the best local triathlon that I have ever done so as long as I am physically able I will make this a yearly endeavor. To that end, on to the race report.
I had low (ok zero) expectations for this one. My intent was to train right on through and just use it as a fast training day with a few beers afterwards. So the week leading up was filled with all of my favorite long course workouts including a 70 mile jaunt the day before that included a trek up to Jamestown. As I lay on the couch Saturday afternoon watching the Tour de Bore I could feel my legs just begging me not to race the next day. Well, tough cookies because running on tired legs is what Ironman is all about. So I mounted the race wheels, packed my bag, ordered up a pizza and called it an early night.

Race Day:

Slept great. It is amazing how you sleep when you could care less on how you will do. I did my normal morning routine and out the door at 4:45. What was cool about this year was the fact that I had 5 athletes racing the event as well so being able to chat with all of them in transition was such a welcome treat for me. I got my transition area ready, grabbed my wetsuit and down to the beach to wait for my start. Lots of joking through the nervous energy that was surrounding me. I did my best to calm it but it will be what it will be. On with the wetsuit and into the water for a very thorough warm-up. What a difference this always makes.

The Swim:

Well, my swimming has been stellar these days. Really had a breakthrough this year and my goal was to hop right on the front and go from the gun and see if I could blaze some open water. GO! And I was GONE! Other than a short navigating snafu to the first buoy I swam straight, strong and steady. I saw no red caps around me and when I started to pick off the blue caps and then the pinks, and greens, and yellows and blues I knew I was swimming well. Making the last turn I just kicked the legs a lot more and eased up a bit into the beach. Up the hill and down into transition. Off with the suit, on with the helmet and off on the bike…

The Bike:

Nice and easy up the first hill and then settled right in. I got right into the big ring and did not surrender him until Lee Hill. My goal was to push the bike hard and see what the legs would do on the run. I only climb Old Stage once a year…race day...because no matter how much I do it, it never gets easier. So like last year, I danced right up in with the usual amount of pain. A quick recovery and then big ringed it up the second climb and made the fast descent out of the canyon. Much to my surprise at this point I did not get passed by ANYONE. This is atypical. Up 36 and down Nelson and I was jamming along…no passers…lots of passing. Down 63rd over the rollers. I just grinded them out. Big Gears. Down the diagonal and into the res. You know you are having a great ride when your entire row of racks is empty. One of just a few (like 3) bikes where home at this point. Helmet off, socks and shoes on. Grab hat and belt and out on to the run.

The Run:

Ok…this hurt. Hence the big push on the bike and the fatigue from the week prior. Like the plan calls for, nice and easy until you hit the gate then start to build and at the turnaround negative split it home. Well again, no passers. Just cruising and doing a lot of passing. In fact no one coming in the other direction yet and I started later then everyone else so this felt really good. For some reason I could not ever get comfortably in a rhythm so I just kept on keeping on. It felt very slow. At the turnaround I saw my competition coming in the other direction and some of them were moving fast! Well that is all the kick that I needed to find another gear and hustle home. I did not let off the gas and believe you me I wanted to. I just kept pushing and thinking strong not fast. Strong. Go. Strong. Go. Well I got to the finish, no passers and a new PR by over 1:10 including the extra long swim. On top of that a top 10 in my AG (8th actually). I will take it.

The key here was to keep everything simple, be consistent and don’t over think it. Hard to do for most, but the benefits come to those that can. Most coaches and the industry itself want the sport to be complicated…this is how they make money. Simple and Consistent HARD work will always trump complicated any day.

The above photo is of me and one of the athletes that I coach. It was his first BPT and he rocked it. The sense of accomplishment on his face says it all. He works hard (sometimes too hard and you have to reel him back in.) But on this day he kept it simple, did not over think it and just executed against the day.

Onward and upward…

The Process of Recovery

Recovery > Injury > Denial > Demise

The above process is not necessarily happen in concession but it is a process that we will go through periodically. We need to recover effectively to avoid injury. And even that is not a guarantee. Denial is something that will always be there but used differently depending on our views on recovery and when we have an injury. Demise is something that we want to avoid all together but if we deny ourselves the necessary time to recover pre or post injury it is sure to happen.

If we don’t recovery, then injury will be inevitable and denial will become pervasive. If we practice denial with any part of recovery or injury we will undoubtedly encounter demise. However, if we recover correctly, injury is avoidable and denial lies dormant making demise non-existent.

I write this because as type “A” personalities we must be ever conscious of our current state and what we need to do to optimize our overall well being. That means adequate training followed by adequate recovery. The challenge here is that the training part is usually not the problem. It really lies in the recovery and our mindset on how we approach it. No one wants to admit they are tired. That is denial. A good amount of tiredness and fatigue is good for building better fitness and adaptation to higher training loads. Unfortunately if we do not heed the warning signs and build in adequate recovery then injury is bound to happen. And if we deny the fact that we need to recovery or god forbid we are injured, demise is sure to follow.

I will be the first to admit that I like to train and I hate to rest when it is not planned. I like to push myself when I train and work hard. And when I start to get run down and feel a bit off then I visit that place called denial but I don’t stay there long. I heed the warnings and back off. This did not always come easy to me. In fact whenever I have “attempted” to push through I ended up sidelined even longer had I just backed off and taken a short break. The old saying “A stitch in time, saves nine…” applies here. Whenever that little voice tells me to back it off and I ignore him, he ends up being right. Now, if he starts to speak, I tune out everything else and listen to him. He is almighty. After all we get stronger when we let the training we have done soak by recovering and resting.

So for all you self coached athletes, you must balance training and recovery. Work hard when you can but rest harder when you need to. For all those coached athletes, the same applies to you. Your coach can only read your mind so far. If you are feeling like you need rest then you need to use judgment when executing the training program that has been laid out for you. I am not saying to go rogue, but to question and have a conversation with your coach. A good coach will ask the right questions to determine the type of fatigue you are under and the type of rest (active or full) you may need. Who knows, you may also learn a little more about your body through this process.

And if you are injured, feel free to go through denial. And when you are done having the pity party for yourself, focus your attention and energy on getting better. Forget about what you had planned to do or goals you may have had because they don’t matter now. After all they were created prior to your injury and for sure your injury was not incorporated into hitting those goals. Get well and then get back to it. You will come back stronger and have that much more of a fire in your belly to succeed.

The above photo is my active recovery kit. Simple and readily accessible.

Keep on keeping on…

Circles…why going round and round is not really such a bad thing.

I am on a blogging frenzy these days. I like to write because it frees me of my inner thoughts and allows me to stay focused on all the other tasks at hand. Not to mention that while I try to maintain a simple exterior, I am quite complex on the inside so this lets me channel that need.

This is one that I have wanted to put down on paper for some time…

Circles. Life is nothing more than a bunch of them comprised to move us forward. Let’s start at the top with mother earth. It is round and rotates in a circle. It orbits around the Sun (round by the way) in yet another circle. The tires on our car, on our bike all move us forward in circles. When walking or running, the steps we take in essence make circles. When we swim laps in a pool, our arms move in circles and we go back and forth making yet more circles.

In short, everything we do is cyclic in nature. Meaning things have a start and an end and usually that start and end is at the same place. We go to sleep in our bed and wake up in it in the morning. A full cycle of sleep with the same start and end point. We leave our house to go to work and return to it at night. Like winter, spring, summer and fall. They all come and go only to return again. We go on a trip only to return home at some point. You get the idea. This analogy that can be played out on virtually everything we do day in and day out.

I will often hear people say “Well, I feel like am I just going round and round in circles and not making any progress.” Well, my response to them is yes, you are going round and round in circles. Like I said before, everything you do, day in and day out about making circles. In my world, I do not see that as such a bad thing provided that the circles you are making are furthering you towards your athletic goals.

Repetition is the practice to mastery…or something like that. In order to get good at something you must repeat it over and over and over. I like to use the rule of 21. It takes either 21,000 repetitions of a specific movement or doing the same routine for 21 days to form a habit. Guess what people? That is a lot of circles. So the next time you feel like you are going round and round in circles try to look at that as a good thing…because you could be on your way to greatness.

And for those of you that work directly with me, there is good reason behind all that repetition…up and down, round and round, back and forth, rinsing and repeating…and it is not just to bore the hell out of you!

Now go make some circles and keep on keeping on. The alternative is going straight off the cliff. I prefer the former.

The photo above is one of my favorite places to make those circles to move my agenda forward.

Kids...they are a terrible thing to waste!

As I sit here going on day 12 without being able to see and talk face to face with my children it makes things really clear on why they are such special beings that can often be taken to much for granted. For those parents out there, it is probably very rare that you will ever be away from your children for an extended period of time until later in life when they are grown and moved away. You might be reading this saying if I only had 12 days like you without my kid’s, life would be so great. And don't get me wrong, yes the break is nice but in the same vein, the silence can be deafening.

Kids while special in their own right tend (and in reality do) sap all available energy from you with their needing of constant attention, fits of rage and sadness when things are not quite right, or their constant question after question because they want to learn something new…and yes they are sponges and are constantly learning from us both consciously and unconsciously. Whether we think it or not, they see and hear everything! We are teaching and they are learning even if we are not intentional about it.

As adults we just want them to be perfect but the definition of the word is loosely defined. We all know deep down that they will never be perfect. Because why should they be? We never were and I am pretty sure that to even this day none of us are perfect and never will be. But as parents and adults, It is our duty to shape their lives to the best of our ability and guide them to make smart informed safe decisions that will no doubt carry them well into life. Our kids learn from us very early and well those habits are never broken. We are a bi-product of our parents upbringing.

When we see kids misbehaving, we often question the parents ability to parent. It is real easy to sit on the sidelines and make the call but when in the game the objectiveness of decision making is thrown out the window and your kids are going to do what they want to do. So even as grown adults, we are still children to some and our parents will always see us in that light just as we will always see our kids as children know matter how old they grow to be. As parents I think we will always wish they would be different in some respect and would do things how we would want them to. But in reality, that is just not reality. They are after all individual beings with a unique genetic makeup and if they came with an owner’s manual, well where would we be able to use the word dysfunctional?

So I keep this post short and sweet…a little time away from your kids is nice but it will make you see them in a different light. And as soon as you are back together again, it is easy to get right back into the old habits. So keep this in mind when those old habits start to surface…with each passing day that goes on, that is one more day you don’t have with them any longer. You never get that time back. Period. In the end when they throw you a curve ball (and they will) that you were not expecting, just love them for who they are and say nice pitch. You may learn something. And if you read this and say well not my kids, they are perfect. Just tuck this little ditty into the memory banks and shoot me a note when you all of a sudden have to replay it…because you will.

The above photo was taken a few weeks back. What sweet little boys. If you could only have seen these 2 right after I snapped this photo…I longed for the break I am having now but I am ready for it to be done.

IM Kansas 70.3 Race Report

IM Kansas Race Report: A bitter sweet day…

I had one goal going to Kansas and that was to qualify for Clearwater. I decided to go to Florida about 4 weeks prior for the 70.3 there in hopes I could snag a spot or at the minimum get a good intense session in some hot and humid conditions to prepare me for Kansas. I finished Florida in 5:02. Had a good swim and a solid ride and ran the best I could without be acclimated to the heat and humidity. All in all it was a good training day just not good enough for Clearwater on that day.

After arriving back home in Colorado I was not to optimistic about a good result in Kansas with the cold spring that we continued to have. I decided to keep the layers on as I was training while others seem to be peeling them off in hopes of warmer weather. I just made it warmer and more uncomfortable. You can't acclimate to the heat unless you train in it or at the minimum simulate it. The training for the next few weeks was good and consistent but nagging little injuries started to plague me. I seemed to shrug them off but never had those good deep quality sessions I had been longing for.

I felt good in the week leading up so I decided to do an open water swim and 5k run here in Colorado known as the Stroke and Stride the Thursday night prior to Kansas. We call this the endurance version of the Thursday night bowling league. As usual with the first time out in a wetsuit I got that hyperventilating constrictive panic attack about 500 meters in but managed to shake it off and have a really good swim. The swim training was right on par. I exited the water and slapped the shoes on and cruised out on the run. The intent was to just cruise and take it easy which I did. I was so relaxed that on the way back to the beach I rolled my right ankle in a pot hole and strained the tendons on my right shin. With 2 days to go to Kansas I was not optimistic I would even start the race let alone race it and I was sure there would be at least one DNF on the day…me. Not good when your lively hood is around race finishes.

I did all the things to help heal it…ice, compression, elevation and ibuprofen. No go. It was Saturday evening and I was still hobbling in pain. At this point I started to question if I had a stress fracture or not. I decided to palpate the area deeply to determine this so I could decide how to proceed on race day. Well during my palpation (yes I did study to be a massage therapist for about 4 months) I managed to release whatever was ailing me and for the rest of the night I did not have any pain and alas I woke up on race day with no pain. The day was starting to get better. I always say that race day somehow has a way of shaking things out.

Race Day: Zero Expectation’s
I really did not feel I had a chance at Clearwater so I jokingly said I was going to swim hard and bike harder and then shuffle the run. Well I wasn’t really joking. To race a good ½ Ironman you need to race it like an Olympic. The weather on the day called for showers early and clearing late. The start was overcast and relatively cool albeit humid. As we got in the water awaiting the start of our wave I decided to go right to the front. My swimming has been exceptional so I figured I would go out hard and find some fast feet and hang on. This proved to be the perfect strategy because the big barrel chested guy with the orca wetsuit pulled my arse all the way around the course and straight as an arrow. I exited the water with a PR swim split. A quick transition and a long run out of T1 and I was ready to slap it into the big 54 and go for it.

For anyone who thinks Kansas is flat…think again. Lawrence has some good rolling hills and I think they found every hill and put it on this course. No worries though because how I have been training these hills felt like bumps. There was only a couple of short nasty’s that I had to leave the 54 for but I was quickly back in it. The goal was to push super big gears, save the HR and give it a go on the run. I lost one of my bottles of nutrition about a ¼ of the way into the ride so I had to play damage control. I decided to save what I had left for the last 45 minutes of the ride and use Gatorade up until that point. My special sauce does not upset my stomach so I figured I would have that in my belly going into the run. Off the bike in what felt like a fast split (it was a PR in fact) as my bike was only one of a few in the racks when I arrived. Now that is a good feeling considering we were the 3rd from the last wave for the day. In fact I do not recall getting passed by to many folks during the ride (except the cheaters riding in packs) which meant I had a good swim and was holding them off on the bike.

Onto the run the legs felt great. I decided to wear my compression sleeves for the swim and bike to ensure my shins were in good shape. The goal of the run was to build every 3 miles or so and take a salt tablet every other aid station swapping with Gatorade for the first half and then the brown juice (coca cola) for the second half. There was a couple of hills on this course that we had to do twice. Again, they felt like lumps for how I had trained. At about mile 4 I got my chance to get some good Karma and Mojo for the rest of the day. Chrissie was on her way in for the win and waived me over for a quick high 5. I took the opportunity and this would prove to be the motivation I needed. I paced the run and built through out. The nutrition was spot on and when I saw Jim and he said 4:50 I thought he was busting my chops. I peeled the duct tape of the watch when I hit mile 12 and realized he was right. I turned on the turbo and finished in 4:51 for a new PR of over 9 minutes. My medal was placed around my neck by none other then Chrissie Wellington and I managed to get a quick photo with her as well (courtesy of www.asiphoto.com). It truly was a perfect day.

The only thing that would cap this day off was a trip to Clearwater. With only 5 spots and me being 34th overall in the AG that was not going to happen. Well, as the saying goes, it ain’t over till its over. I should have stuck around because they ended up giving my AG an extra spot and that would have (and did) rolled down to me. Had I been there to accept it I would be going. Oh well…it is what it is…a PR day in all 3 sports, a picture with Chrissie, another finish in the books and the knowing I could be in Clearwater because I earned it. What could be better then that?