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 Swim
Comments: New rolling swim start, so cannon went off and we started walking tot he arch. Made it through and started swimming within 3 min. Had lots of space and able to swim normally almost immediately. I swung a little bit right and had all the space I could want. Hate not knowing where people started, but otherwise, the new system was amazing. The buoys were numbered so I started ticking them off as I went out. Sighting was ok and I felt really smooth. I was slowly crawling past people 1 by 1 and I had no issues from my rib injury. The temps felt excellent oo as I had a full suit on and never overheated. I checked my lap split and pushed the second lap a few times to see if I could get close to an hour. Never went out of comfort zone though and felt totally fine exiting the water. Never had a swim go by that fast. What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Transition 1
Comments: Tried to pass some people running on the beach and took a face plant when my toe caught a sand pile. Must have been good entertainment for the spectators. Didn't hurt, but biggest concern was changing and transitioning with hands covered in sand. Made a reasonably quick transition including putting on bike shorts. Looked up and saw troughs in the corner of the tent with Scott taking a piss. I ran up behind him and grabbed a handful of his ass and yelled at him. He took off and I took his spot to pee. What would you do differently?: Not trip.  Bike
Comments: I've been feeling the best I've ever felt on the bike leading up to IM CDA. I've done 7 centuries and tons of focused rides. My goal was to hold 180w regardless of pace. I started strong and passed Leslie on the first out and back. I saw Scott ahead of me and K coming back. Both looked great. After swinging back through town I started the climbing sections on 95. About 30 miles into the ride, I heard a huge bang and my front tire was flat. I stopped immediately and went tot he other side of the road. I was able to fix it in under 5min and get back on the road, but it was a bit unnerving. Leslie passed while I was on the side of the road and I tried the rest of the ride to reel her back in but never saw her again. I stopped to get tubes/co2 at special needs just in case and also stopped twice to make new bottles of Gu Roctane at aid stations. I came to a stop and asked them to take the top off a bottle. They poured it in as I added the powder and I was back riding in ~15 seconds. Well worth the stop to stick with Roctane. Total ride, I had ~ 8 Gus, 3 bottles of roctane, and 4 cliff bars. I cut back late in the ride to make sure my stomach was good for the run. I never hit a wall, but I definitely had trouble and couldn't hold 180w from fairly early on. I wanted to be faster, but I had a flat and was happy with my state finishing the bike, so that's a plus. I had some excellent pace booty for miles ~80-100, but she dropped me on the last run in to town when I slowed to pee. What would you do differently?: Not sure. Transition 2
Comments: Good T2. Flying dismount, run through area and grab bags, and got open spot in the tent. Changed shorts again and got some sunscreen on. The volunteers were not putting it on very thick, so I should have been much better about reapplying or asking for more. Got fried. What would you do differently?: More sunscreen. Leave my tube/co2 that was in my tri top pocket.  Run
Comments: Decided on no garmin. I just ran by feel and went after it. I know it was faster than I could hold forever, but I wasn't digging a hole, so I went with it. I was looking forward to seeing Karen and catching Leslie if I could. I also knew I was a bit behind from the ride and would have plenty of people tracking me online, so it would be a good show for them. :-) My first 7 mile splits to the turn around were: Mile 01 6:39 Mile 02 6:52 Mile 03 6:35 Mile 04 6:51 Mile 05 7:15 Mile 06 8:00 Mile 07 6:34 Mile 6 included the big hill, but I didn't walk at all and was flying. I passed Leslie and Scott was too far out in front to catch, so I just tried to stay strong. I faded a bit on the way back to town and mile 12 I took my first walk break. I was eating chomps every 3 miles, but very little to drink and was starting to go downhill fast. Mentally as much as physically. It's been a long time since I've run a full marathon I was happy with, so I was worried I would quit on racing again and just survive the second half and be fairly miserable while doing so. I decided I would just head back out and go until the wheels fell off since it would shorten the time I had to struggle. I started walking every aid station and being very surgical about everything I needed. I was very business like and it didn't take very long at all, so I could still do a low to mid 8min/mile: - Water over the arms and head - IM Perform in a cup of ice - Slam the Perform - Grab chomps - Start running again - Put chomps in picket for later - Put remaining ice in my arm coolers I would eat chomps every 3 miles and had 3-4 salt tabs and another round of tylenol. Not drinking a ton of water in order to wash Gu down helped keep my stomach under control. I only had a few times for ~1minute with real stomach pains, but they passed. As I got closer I was getting stronger and stronger. Once I saw K on the way out and had a chance to stop and talk to her, I was dancing, high fiving and yelling for the final ~4 miles. when I made the turn onto Sherman, I was practically floating. The long straightaway to the finish line in CDA is maybe the best there is. It's basically a 1/4 mile finishing chute and I loved every minute of it. My overall time could have been better, but it could have been way worse. Very happy with the swim and the run and thrilled to put #9 in the books. What would you do differently?: Start working the aid stations earlier maybe? Post race
Warm down: Immediately got a message and then went back to shower. Having the condo right there, we could shower, come get the bikes, and come back again without too much hassle. I was bummed to miss K and the turn around, but we were able to get settled and see her finish in the daylight! What limited your ability to perform faster: Something on the bike. Not sure. Event comments: This is one of the great ones. I'll start with the few cons: - PITA to get there - Aid stations on the run were sometimes stocked with different things - Few sections on the bike were tight as you got onto 95 - Marginal post-race food All very minor. Pros: - Amazing course (one of the best runs there is) - Beautiful town - Nice transition area in park - Everything all together - Volunteers and Spectators are perfect - Amazing finish line - Good transition setup and security Last updated: 2013-04-04 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
63F / 17C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 143/2300
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 26/294
Flew into Spokane, WA with K on Thu afternoon. We packed our bikes in bags borrowed from Craig and Heidi. It was weird to be doing an IM without those 2 as this would be the first I've ever done without Craig and only the second without Heidi. It helped that we had been to CDA before in '07 though so we knew our way around.
K and I swung by the liquor and grocery store and then drove to the condo to check in at 4pm. We stayed at an awesome location K found that was across the street from the transition area and basically the entire race. It was great. A bit small with Scott/Karen, Leslie, and us, but location and price couldn't be beat and it was a good crew. We didn't have time to drive the course Thu, but we got our bags unpacked and walked to an all you can eat sushi place a block away.
Friday we checked in, swung by the Gu booth, drove the course, and packed our bags. we also went to Home depot to get parts to fix Scott's bike seat from falling down since his Shiv bike clamp broke. We rigged up some pvc reinforced with dowels as a backup and the design/implementation seemed solid. Definitely funny to be in a condo sawing and hammering days before the IM though. I also had issues with my headset feeling way to tight even if it was barely hand tight. I had a mechanic look it over, texted Mark, and still couldn't really get it to feel right. Better too tight than too loose though, so I went with it.
Then we went to lunch at a pizza place and saw "This is the End" (pretty funny movie). After the movie, K and I went to the athlete dinner. I like to go to the dinner and experience it all. Mike Reilly always makes it fun/interesting.
As we stood in line to get in, K says to me: "Doesn't that guy over there look like George Marut?" Note that this is a guy with a hat on standing 30' away that we haven't seen once since high school almost 20 years ago. F'ing amazing. I tell her to look at the registration list and sure enough he is registered. We went over to see him and ended up having dinner with him and his group of first timers. Very cool.
Saturday we got up early and drove the long bike course out and back again to try to get a handle on the hills and visualize it enough to break it into parts. Then we swung by the Gu tent again, checked in our bikes, dropped off our bags, etc. We went back to the condo and watched IM CDA and IM Coz videos Nate made and then Leslie cooked us pasta with turkey meat sauce for dinner. No salad though (she is against salad. seriously against it)!
Woke up around 4am. Had a bagel with PB and walked to the transition area to drop off special needs bags, pump tires and put nutrition on bikes. We then walked back to the condo to use real bathrooms and relax/eat in peace and warmth. Excellent. Then we walked back to the swim start around 6:20am for a 6:35am start. The crowds were getting crazy and I stopped as they sung the national anthem so it was tough to get through to the starting area. Once you made it to the beach though, there was tons of room to move around and get to the spot you wanted to seed yourself. Leslie went off alone and K, Scott, and I lined up in the 1:00-1:15 area at what we estimated to be about 1:05.