Pumpkinman Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

A few strokes into the swim, I felt a wave come over me. I caught a mouthful of water and felt a little bit of panic set in. Was it going to be choppy all the way through - is this how things are going to go today? (Jenna told me later that the wave was caused by one of the waverunners passing ahead of and behind us). I breaststroked a little and felt the water calm. This was a critical point. A few weeks ago at Nathan's, I had problems early and never recovered. I knew I couldn't afford the same mistake today. I regained my composure and started swimming. I found a rhythm and felt smooth. The buoys didn't look as far away as they did last year. I reached the first buoy, then the second where we turned. I was feeling good. The visibility was also good with the new Aqua Sphere mask I was wearing. Even when some of the faster swimmers from later waves passed me and bumped me, it didn't throw me off. I was more composed than I have ever been in an open water event and I was swimming like I normally would on a training day.

The low moment of the swim happened when I was approaching the last turn. I had bought a second wedding band to wear when swimming in open water because I was afraid of losing my real one. I felt it slip off my finger and it was gone. Nothing I could do, so I kept going around the final turn and toward the finish.

I came out of the water and glanced at my watch. I had finished the swim in 40 relaxed, easy minutes. Last year, the swim took me 52 stress filled minutes and I came out of the water traumatized, which affected me for the rest of the race. I looked for Jenna - I wanted to let her know that I was doing great and to tell her about the ring. She followed me into transition and snapped a few pictures. I smiled for the camera - it was the first time I had ever come out of the water smiling. This was the swim I have been working toward for two years and I had finally had it come together. At that point, I knew that whatever happened the rest of the day, I had already had a successful race.

Holding onto the ring would have been nice. However, this was as perfect as a swim could go for me. For the first time, I was able to shake off the things that normally panic me and get back into a rhythm.

The transition area was BIG. It took a while to get to the bike and get the wetsuit off (it was also unusual for me that there were still plenty of other bikes still in transition). It took some time to get the Camelbak on (the bike course was unsupported). I also had to pack everything into a bag that the race crew would take to the finish, so it took some extra time.

I could have moved a little faster, but in a race where I was going to be out there for a while, seconds were not going to make much difference to me. I didn't waste time, but I didn't rush either.

Based on my experience from last year, I had the bike geared down a little for the start of the bike course. It is uphill from the beginning, so I was able to pedal a little easier on the way up to Lakeshore Drive. I also wore a Camelbak this year since the bike is unsupported. The extra weight didn't help on the hills, but I think that erring on the side of having adequate water was more important.

I was feeling good for the first hour and drinking Infinit on schedule to stay hydrated and keep my carb and electrolyte stores on the right levels. Mentally, I was also feeling good that the swim had gone so well. I had a small problem on one of the hills when I shifted gears and the chain didn't fall into place. I lost a lot of momentum as I adjusted my pedaling to get the chain to engage. It finally engaged properly and I didn't have any more mechanical issues.

I was passed more often than usual, but this was probably due to two factors: first, I came out of the water with stronger people, and second, I wasn't pushing too hard because I knew that the bike course gets increasingly difficult closer to the end. As the expression goes: Don't eat the paste (get sucked into going at a harder pace based on what other people are doing). I reminded myself to stay in my comfort zone and keep moving forward. While I wanted to perform well, I didn't want to wreck my legs with Soma coming up next weekend.

Approaching the park exit, the hills started getting steeper and I was reminded why the memory of this course has stayed with me over the past year. Jenna followed me around the course, so I smiled for the camera to let her know that, even though this wasn't easy, I wasn't in any danger like last year. I had plenty of fluids to get me through, and I was okay.

My legs continued to burn as I pedaled under 93 and up the switchbacks into Boulder City. It was still not a cakewalk, and it was steeper than anything I see in training, but my pace was much better than last year.

After the final climb, I rolled into transition in 1:47. The same course had taken me 1:58 the year before.

I probably let my pride get in the way a little bit on gearing. I resisted going into the small ring until I really needed it. I may have been better off dropping the gears a little sooner and relying on finesse rather than power.

As was the case with T1, the T2 area was HUGE. I finally found my run gear and got to chaging my shoes. I also packed up my bike stuff in the bag provided by the race. I took a little more time than usual to get my shoes on and get my bottle of Infinit ready.

I'm not sure I would do anything differently, but I could have made the transition faster if I had pressed. However, after the bike course, I needed to bring my HR down before getting into the run. I think an extra minute or two did me good.

The run was on roads this year and not on trails in the desert like last year. As I started the run, I was having trouble getting my HR down where I wanted it. I had to take the pace very slowly. I wasn't out to push the pace - I just wanted to keep my legs moving and only pause at the aid stations. I was going at around 12 minutes/mile, which is very slow. I was also getting some discomfort in my lower back - I thought that taking the pace as it came was probably the smartest thing to do. Despite the slow pae and discomfort, I was able to just keep running. Since I wasn't out for a time goal, I wasn't concerned.

Somewhere along the line, I abandoned my nutrition plan and stopped drinking my Infinit, drinking the water and Gatorade that was provided on the course. This probably wasn't the best decision, but I don't think I suffered for it. While there may not have been any harm, I can't make the same mistake next weekend at Soma. Plan your race, and race your plan!

At the turnaround point, I knew I was having a good day, so I wanted to get an idea of the bigger picture. I saw that I could finish in under four hours if I maintained the pace in the second half. I established that as my goal and set out for the final three miles. I checked at each mile marker to see that I was still on pace, and I was. As I was running, a couple of other athletes rode by to encourage people. I am pretty sure that one of them was Chris McCormack, who is one of the top pros in the world and had finished (and won) the race an hour or two before. When I was in the last mile and emptying what little I had left in the tank, one of the elites stopped alongside me to give me a personal pep talk. He told me how proud I should be, that I was alomst there, and to finish strong. Not only was it very nice of him, but it was a reminder of one of the great things about our sport - the people who are really good at it take time that they could be eating, relaxing, or heading back to their hotel to encourage the slower people and make them feel good about their effort.

I finally turned the last corner and headed into the finish chute. I knew that a sub four hour finish was in reach and I was about to finish the race with much less effort and a better time than last year. Last year's run took me 1:40. I finished this year's in 1:17 (note, however, that last year's run course was harder)

Continue with the Infinit throughout. My energy level might have been better over the last couple of miles. Other than that, I think that I gave everything that my legs had in them.

I found Jenna at the finish and got my finisher medal and some cold water in a water bottle that the race provided. In the athlete's area, I ate a couple of mini muffins, but my stomach coldn't handle anything else.


No complaints.


I had been looking forward to this race for close to a year. This course kicked my tail last year, and I wanted to go back and get through it with less difficulty. While I knew it wouldn't be easy, I at least wanted to hold my own.

I have also been waiting all year to have a race where I improve everything across the board. I wanted to finally demonstrate to myself that I have really improved decisively in everything and that all of the work has paid off. I had expected that Nathan's would be that race, but it didn't work out. Pumpkinman was the race I have been waiting for. My overall time improved from 4:41:52 last year to 3:56:46 this year. My times improved for the swim, bike, and run. I finally had a day when everything came together, and I did it on the toughest course that I race.

Not only were the physical and mental aspects improvements, but experience made a difference this year as well. I knew what to expect based on last year, and we were prepared for everything (except the headlamp as discussed earlier). My drinks were prepared before getting to the race site, I had plenty of water, I had water shoes to get me throgh the rocks and up to the shore. With Jenna's help, I had plenty of time, had everything I needed, and I got to the start line relaxed and prepared for a good day.

I have been concerned about doing such a hard race so close to my first half. They happened to schedule Pumpkinman and Soma on consecutive weekends, and I didn't know if I would have enough time in between to turn around and recover between them. I think that my taper week leading into Pumpkinman was very effective. I felt rested on race day but not sluggish, and doing a light recovery run and swim on Sunday was probably very effective. I won't know until this time next week if I have things under control or scheduling both was a big mistake, but the signs are good that I'll be ready for next Sunday. The taper/Pumpkinman/taper/Soma plan may work.

BBSC did another fantastic job of putting on a well organized and fun event. Things ran smoothly and on schedule. There were plenty of volunteers and enough aid stations on the run course. I only wish their events were closer so I could do them more often.

I love this event and had a great day. Overall, this was probably my most complete, best race so far. I got everything out of it that I wanted, and it was a great confidence builder going into the half ironman next week at Soma.