Chesapeakeman Ultra Distance Triathlon - TriathlonFull Ironman

I don't know what it is about these mass swim starts I enjoy...oh yeah, that's it! Smacking people! :) Sure, I got smacked some myself, but I know I definitely dished out more than I took. On the outbound portion of the 2nd loop about midway through that long side of the trapezoid, I thought I brushed up against some seaweed on my right side. I didn't think anything of it and just kept rollin' on.
I'm not a great swimmer and I realize this. No probs. I remember being about 5 to 20 feet behind a chick in a wetsuit with hot pink striping for almost all of the race.
I was proud of myself for not swallowing any of the water.

Hmm, when I checked my watch right at the start of the 2nd lap, it was just about 40 minutes, so I may have gone out a little quick? Hey, what the hell, it's my first iron distance! Actually, that meant the 2nd lap really wasn't that much lower as the 2nd lap had the little extra swim and walk up the ramp to get to the timing mat.

Honestly, when I saw T1 times I was shocked to see I went through this relatively fast. What was everybody else doing in T1?
The good news about Transition 1 was there was a stripper there!!! YEEEEAH!
The bad news...it was a dude. :)
Good news? Wetsuit came off in a jiffy.

I can't think of anything I'd change about T1.

hiccurp-regurg.-vomit...whatever ya want to call it. It aint pretty. I was conducting a science experiment on how much abuse I could give my right shoulder area. On the bike I felt a burning sensation behind my right arm. After 2.4 miles in the water honestly, I didn't have the energy nor the flexibility on the bike to see what it was. There was only one possibility...JELLYFISH! Wow, I was totally scared of getting stung prior to the race, but now that I knew I made it through and all it did was burn, I figured no prob. that pain would just serve as good motivation. Now, one more variable to the science experiment. hiccurp-regurg-vomit. Since swimming that damn long then biking can tend to make you a little stiff in the neck, I really couldn't turn enough to completely clear my R shoulder every time I had a mouthful of bile acid loveliness. The R shoulder started looking really nice after I added a couple of bananas into the equation. They added texture to my R shoulder art project. :)

Now, all joking aside, the stomach issues were ridiculous. I tried my best not to let it frustrate me. At first I went with the philosophy of, "Okay, if you're not hungry or it aint going down, don't force it." I started the race with one bottle of water. At the 1st aid station I was able to toss my old bottle and grab 1 gatorade and 1 water. I did this throughout the bike course despite the fact I wasn't keeping a lot of it down. The heat was picking up something fierce as the day wore on. It really was ungodly. Race officials reported 92. weatherunderground.com said 91. A participant in the race had a thermometer that hit 102 out there.
By mile 93 I was pretty damn tired of pedaling into wind. I felt some tightening in my quads and I saw a stop with bananas. I stopped and grabbed a nanner. I ate it there enjoying a rest for about a minute. About 2 miles down the road at mile 95 my legs slowly seized up. And when I say seized up, I mean it! I have never had this happen to me, EVER! Pain, stiffness...I could not move my right leg. Fortunately the left leg didn't go at the same time so I was able to lean left on the side of the road and dismount to the left. I massaged my leg, stretched, and probably took a good 3 to 4 minutes working on that leg. There was no shade, zero, nada, zilch. Blackwater Refuge was trying to claim another victim.
After getting back on the bike (I know this sounds bad, but misery does love company) I saw three very fit triathletes separated by about a mile apiece around the 100 mile mark on the side of the road. 2 had there helmets resting on the aero bars, one was squatting on the side. Hopefully the path of hiccurp-regurg-vomit I left behind me was reassuring to them that they were not alone.
Seeing Kim and the kids for the first time at mile 64 at the high school was both awesome and rough. Awesome because I knew they were safely there, but rough because I had to keep battling the elements and the toll it was taking on my body. Seeing my crew all wearing homemade lime green jerseys decorated in 140.6 lettering and wording (including Eric in his special one-zee!) was just awesome.

Honestly, I probably should have looked at the course map. Just having that knowledge probably would have been reassuring.
Honestly, riding my bike around the small parking area near T1 just before bike inspection probably wasn't enough time to test out a new chain. (luckily, the guys at Tony's Bike Shop knew their stuff and the bike rode like a charm)
Now whether I had some sort of stomach bug prior to the race (as evidenced by the episodes starting pre-race/no heat early morning) or something that was exacerbated by the heat and grueling test, or something else, I have no idea.
Right now, all I can think of that I would have done differently is made sure I got enough sodium in. As a fam. we just don't consume a lot of sodium...thinking that I could get away with a couple of endurolyte electrolyte capsules and margarita flavored shot-bloks for sodium on this journey was a mistake in hindsight.
Also, in hindsight, slowing the bike down to avg. around 17 mph would have saved me some juice for the run.

Wow. I stopped to visit the fam. before crossing the timing mat and then entered the changing tent.
The changing tent had about 3 or 4 guys in it and nobody looked pretty. I just laughed as I was putting on sneakers with speedlaces. Ha! I had plenty of time to tie my sneakers and continue to force down fluid that I damn well knew for every 6 ounces going in, 2 were gonna come out. (That was my estimate) Interesting note...I ate a bunch of black cherry shotbloks which are reddish in color. I had puke that was clear and or yellowish, but that red stuff never came back up. Either it was coating my stomach and refusing to move, or my body was truly craving the beet juice extract a-la Dwight Schrute of The Office. :)

Wave to Kim and the kids outside of the tent to let them know I was okay...Kim told me she asked one of the medics to go in and check on me as I was in there for some time. :)
Seriously...now a marathon in 90 degree heat????????????????????

I can't believe I'm saying "below average" instead of "bad," but that's what I'm calling it in hindsight.
3 equal loops down and back on Egypt Road...and yes it may as well have been in the Sahara Desert. I must have stunk that road up something fierce...I wonder if stomach acid dissolves roads? I hope the town of Cambridge doesn't send me a bill.
The aid stations were amazing. The volunteers were LIFESAVERS! I threw cups of ice down my pants, down my top, icewater on my head, down my back, drank 3 to 4 cups of gatorade, water, coke, mt. dew at every rest stop...even had some potato chips out there. (btw, the chips resembled bananas when they came back up)

The best part of the run came down to karma boys and girls. Before the race, a chick a few bikes down asked a dude across from us a question about the buoys. Apparently, he responded with a bit of an attitude like, "what are you planning on winning this thing?" or something like that. I didn't hear that and just let her know what I knew. Now, during the bike, I noticed sidewalk chalk all over the bike rooting on bib # 180. This chick was a celebrity! While starting my death march walk on my 2nd of 3 laps I saw #180 and said hello. We got to talking (not much, just too damn tired to talk!) and decided we'd encourage each other to finish the race. It was total synergy. I was very appreciative that she did not get ill from watching/hearing me barf up mouthfuls of whatever fluid was bouncing around my belly on a much too frequent basis. Her hubby was there rooting her on and was a very nice dude. I actually got to introduce them to Kim as I was coming in then heading out for the 3rd and final death lap.
I told her with about 4 miles left in the race that when we got to the end, she was going in first. She was like, "Hell no, we're going through together!" Very nice offer, but ladies finish first, and besides, she could cross with her hubby, and I could cross with my family. We shared a pic after the race. Amazing stuff. She was actually the 5th overall female and won $200. Pretty sweet!
We most definitely helped each other out big time. I apologized to Kim after the 1st lap letting her know it was going to be a VERY long evening. 2:10 with the 1st lap, and I was thinking in my head it was only going to get worse. Fortunately, it got a little better with the 2nd lap...and then the 3rd was better than 1:45. (I wish they posted those run splits, that really would have been cool to see)
The fact my first urination since before the swim, was on about mile 3 or 4 of the run was disconcerting. I was hoping I needed to go while biking. The concern I had was dehydration of course. From the stream of urine I saw though, while darker than Mountain Dew, it wasn't brown or red. No matter how much was coming back up, it was imperative I kept shoving down the fluids. I kept the hydrating up on the ride home as well.


When I say drinking amount was "just right," it must be pointed out I was pumping as much fluid as possible in because it just was not staying in my stomach.

ELATION! Utter joy to be alive and have the good fortune to have my amazing family there to support me...that moment was so absolutely amazing I can barely describe it. Yes, in the pictures Kim took, I look like a lunatic! My eyes are as wide as a jack-rabbit! It's all good though...pure, unadulterated joy. :)
Driving myself home with Kim and the kids following behind was an experience. We took semi-major roads just in case of trouble...we didn't want to end up in the middle of nowhere if an emergency popped up...popped up like that deer I saw on the side of the road coming into Delaware from Maryland.


hmm, let me think...hiccurp-regurg-vomit, oppressive heat, and wind on the bike and no wind for the run.
Body weight % drop is night before race compared with night after race.



I took a journey through hell and emerged stronger than I was before.
That was the most physically demanding day of my life.
I absolutely could not have accomplished this life goal without the support of my amazing family.
I hope this accomplishment is seen by my kids as a life lesson...anything you put your mind to CAN BE DONE!

..and, as a Vikings fan, does it get any better than to finish under the lights next to Vikings Stadium? :)

I highly recommend this race to brave souls willing to take on the mighty challenge of 140.6.
The race is incredibly spectator-friendly. Parking is right there next to the finish line...my wife and kids were out there for about 11 hours having a blast. (of course during my 1st run lap, they had the time to go hit Wendy's for dinner and Frosties) The race organizers could not have been nicer.
The kind words from organizers, volunteers, and fellow racers were just AWESOME, and meant so much.