Vineman 70.3 Race Report

July 19^th 2009

Friday July 17^th

Allison and I left DC early in the morning and landed in San Francisco around 9:30. After collecting luggage and picking up our rental car, we decided to have a nice lunch together. We drove into downtown San Fran and ended up at Fisherman’s Warf. After walking around a bit, we found a nice little restaurant overlooking the marina. Allison had a couple of glasses of wine and I stuck to water. We headed up to Santa Rosa around 1:00, finally getting to the hotel around 3:00. Clint, Susan and Jordan made it in around 4:30 and we met them at NorCal Cycling so that I could pick up my bike, which had been shipped 10 days earlier. The guys at NorCal did an awesome job and my machine was all setup and tuned, ready for race day.

After everyone got settled in, we found an awesome little Italian restaurant name Nonni’s. We did some carbo loading and even had a beer and glass of wine. After dinner Clint and I headed to the welcome reception and listened to the likes of Craig Alexander and Joanna Zeiger talk about their experiences. Very cool to hang out with the greats of the sport.

Saturday July 18^th

Breakfast early in the morning, and then Clint and I headed out for a 30 minute ride, followed by a 15 minute run just to get the body moving. I also wanted to make sure my bike was good to go, which it was. Again, the guys at NorCal did an awesome job. We then headed over to Windsor for registration, race meeting and expo. Expo was good, not great but still it was fun to walk around and visit the different vendors and pick up some last minute gear, like a visor (funny story comes later).

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging at the pool, followed by another carb loading dinner at a small pizza joint in Santa Rosa. Cool, casual joint which allowed Jordan to be Jordan and no one in the restaurant cared a bit. Early to bed, and ready for a 4:30 wake up call.

Sunday July 19^th, Race Day

Alarm went off at 4:30, however I had been up for 15minutes already. After a quick shower I began hydrating and trying to get some food in the system. I hate eating in the morning but knew it was a must. Bagel with peanut butter, and a Clif Bar. 5:15 bikes were loaded and we were off to the Russian River. Allison was a sweetheart and volunteered to get up and take us, so not to worry about getting a car at the end of the day. Guerneville is a very small town and parking was a little crazy, but we managed to find a spot relatively quickly and somewhat close to transition. I made my way into transition, got body marked and found a decent spot to setup my bike. As I am setting up, I realize that Craig Alexander (Ironman World Champion) is right behind me get setup. Pretty cool to be racing with world champions. After a visit to the portajohn I got my wetsuit on and headed to the swim start. It was race time.

At 6:55 my wave was called into the water. There were probably around 125 in my wave, not to bad but still a little crowded. I managed to get some decent warm up strokes in. Felt good and with the water temp at 75 it did not take much to get acclimated, especially since the air temp was 55. 7:03 and off we go, I positioned myself on the far side of the river and in the middle to back of the pack. I knew it was going to be along swim, so no need to fight it out at the front. Still, I got bumped around rather good for the first 5 minutes and then finally found some open water. I had been kicking hard and taking short strokes, but tried to relax and slow my kick down and lengthen my stroke. I was finding my rhythm. I had a nice stretch all the way to the first turn buoy, I looked up to sight and realized there were a bunch of guys waling the turn. The river could not have been more than three feet deep and so it was easy just to stand up. I felt like I was in a good rhythm so I just kept my head down and made it around the second turn buoy heading for home. The rest of the swim went well. I hit the beach at 38 minutes, right on schedule. Into T1, wetsuit off, helmet, sunglasses, bike shoes, race number and bike and off I went.

Short little climb straight out of T1, on to River Rd. Got a nice cadence going and holy ****, what’s going on, there is a strange noise coming from my front tire. Stop to check it out only to discover that a race number sticker from someone else had got caught between my front brake and tire creating an awful noise. Ripped it out and off again. First 5 miles felt good, got some fluid and a gel in my system. Sharp downhill turn on Sunset, followed by a short steep climb. Still doing okay. 2 miles later, race officials out on course slowing everyone down. What is going on? Come to find out a large tree had fallen across the bike course. Two guys down, did not look good. Had to get off the bike and walk under the tree. Back on and trying to find a rhythm. Struggled for the next 10 miles as the course was constantly going up then down, tough time getting the gearing right and cadence was a little off. Finally around mile 18, began to feel much better and settled in nicely. I kept a good feeding schedule, gel every 45 minutes with half a Clif bar in between. Did a great job keeping hydrated, alternating between PowerAde and water. Hit mile 30 and my bike start feel a little strange, looked around and realized my right aerobar was loose and was rotating more and more to the right, not good. Stopped, grabbed the Allen wrench and adjusted and tightened. Back in the saddle and good to go. Mile 38, holy **** heard a large clank on my back tire and metal hitting pavement, what has happened? Then a guy behind me yells “lost your CO2. Phew, no big deal. Still feeling good, but I know Chalk Hill is coming. Contrary to popular belief, this is no small hill. At mile 45 it felt like Alpe Due Huez. Decided to get into my small ring and just survive. Probably around ¾ mile climb with a few switchbacks. Got to the top and now I knew it was downhill to T2. Got into my big ring up front and cranked my cadence up to around 100 trying to flush the lactic acid out of my legs. Was feeling real good and excited to get out on the run. Hit T2 spending 3hrs 11 minutes on the bike and still on pace. Got running shoes on, visor on and a quick stop at the Portajohn and off I went. My legs felt surprising well, and I tried to find a good pace but not to fast.

Passed mile marker 1 and finally figured out, crap its like 95 degrees out. I felt like I was baking already. First aid station I grabbed some PowerAde and dumped a cup of water over my head. Feels good. Then it started, the hills came one after another after another. The sun got hotter and hotter. Legs still felt good, but my heart rate was way high. I began to run for 5 minutes, walk a minute. I started to feel much better. Was drinking and eating fruit at almost every aid station and dumping water and ice down my back to try and stay cool. The loop around La Crema winery provided a nice change of scenery and then it was back onto the hot asphalt. Around mile 9.5 I passed Clint heading out on the run. I was very excited to see him and yelled out “nice work, you did not crash this time”. Hopefully that made him smile. Mile 10-12 were a real struggle, calves starting to cramp a bit and heart rate was up above 170. I knew I need to cool down and get my heart rate down. So at the 12 mile aid station I grabbed a cup of ice and water and walked for about 5 minutes just trying to cool down. I hit the final turn and knew I was going to finish. People were lined up down the street and were all yelling words of encouragement. I garnered enough energy to find a good pace up to the high school, I made the left turn into the parking lot and started to hear the music. The adrenaline from knowing I was about to finish my first half ironman got the feet moving a little quicker. I entered the finish line chute and good see the end. A quick wave to Allison and Susan and under the finish arch. I did it! 6 hours 21 minutes.

Certainly not fast, but when you consider 18 months ago, I was new to the sport and weighing in at solid 225lbs I could not have been happier with my result.

After cooling down, more fluids and an awesome fruit smoothie we all waited for Clint to finish. I saw him enter the chute and I hopped the fence and ran the final 50 meters side by side with my brother. I owe most of this experience to him, he got me started and kept me motivated. Clint you made me who I am as a triathlete and one day I may even beat you.

We all ended the day with a great Mexican dinner and some much needed margheritas. Overall, a great weekend. Can’t wait to do it all over again.

Special Thanks:

• Allison, Emma, Molly and Julia. You are supportive and allow me to get out and train as often as possible. I love you all very much.
• Clint, you are responsible for the crazy triathlete I have become
• Ryan, always offering words of encouragement and I can’t wait till you are home to see me race once.
• Mom, for always keeping me in check by worrying enough for everyone.
• Dad, what can I say? You gave me great genes, a drive that makes me push my body to the max and the motivation to run as I know how much you loved to run yourself.

Special Notes

• Make sure you wear sunscreen, 6 hours outdoors ouch.
• If you are almost bald, either wear a hat or put sunscreen on your head. I have a very distinctive line from my visor, right on my forehead. Looks funny. Oh well.