IM 70.3 New Orleans - "The Big Easy" ?!?

(Disclaimer: This is a long post, but have had requests for the details...so here they are)
This past weekend was the inaugural Ironman 70.3 New Orleans. Danny "Double D" Domingo and I packed up the car and started the 8+ hour journey on Friday. We spent the night in Biloxi, and then arrived Saturday morning in New Orleans.

We made our way to the registration and race meeting headquarters. During the pre-race meeting, we were informed that this event had over 3,000 entrants...a new IM 70.3 record. Although that was exciting, we knew that there would be some chaos surrounding a first year event with that many participants. To make this an even bigger challenge, the race hotel was quite a ways from the start, the swim was point-to-point, and the run finished in a completely different location. There were buses to take you to the swim start in the morning of the race, and buses to take you from the race finish back to the transition area to pick up your bike and gear...but no way to transport all of your stuff back to the hotel.

Danny and I attended the pre-race meeting, picked up our number packets, and then drove to the transition area to drop off our bikes. Once complete, we drove back to the hotel and grabbed some dinner. We then spent the rest of the night getting all our gear and nutrition in order for the next day.

We decided to drive to the race start considering we would have to pick up the bikes by 6 pm that night. Danny and I started in different waves, his started at a little after 7 am, while mine wasn't until after 8 am. Although we thought we left in plenty of time, we soon remembered that 3,000 participants and their closest friends and family's make for a big crowd. We parked on the University of New Orleans campus, grabbed all of our gear and sped to the transition area...about 3/4 - 1 mile away. As we arrived in transition they were urging everyone to hurry since they were closing the transition area in 15 minutes! I helped Danny pump up his tires, wished him luck, and hopped over to my bike which was way on the other side of the enormous transition area.

I put all my bottles on my bike, setup all of my gear, but still hadn't changed. The announcer informed everyone that the transition area was closing in 2 minutes! I took my bag threw it under a tree and started heading out of the transition area with my wetsuit, goggles, HR monitor strap, timing chip strap, Zoot shorts and top...all in hand, but me still in street clothes! Luckily, right before I was about to exit I spied a changing tent and ran it to spare everyone the agony (and my possible arrest) of changing in front of everyone! I then skipped the long lines to the bus, and walked the 1.2 miles to the swim start...along with a bunch of other folks. I later learned that Danny had did the same, and had to run to get to the start in just enough time to throw on his wetsuit and get in the water.

I still had to use the "facilities"...so once I arrived at the swim start, I got in line with several hundred of my friends...obviously, they were trying to save money on porta-johns, there were way too few! After spending about 30 minutes in that line, I dropped off my dry clothes bag (that we would collect at the finish), changed into my wetsuit, picked up my timing chip, and picked up a spare cap since mine was lounging around somewhere back in the chaos I left in the transition area.

I had about 10 minutes to spare...this left me enough time to swing my arms around and stretch them just like I saw Phelps do at the Olympics...that should be enough, right? My wave was the first of three for the large 40-44 age group...and right behind the 45 and over women, and the 55 and over men. This insured that I would have to keep my head up and site often...otherwise I might end up on top of another competitor from a previous wave. As far as swims go it was pretty uneventful...which is great. I'm not a very good swimmer, so don't enjoy all of the flogging that usually takes place during a mass start event. From what I heard, the swim was a little long, and from the finish times it looks like that may have been the case. Even though my wife was appalled that we were swimming in Lake Pontchartrain, the water didn't taste that bad...just a little salty ;-)

I wobbled out of the water (those who've done it will know what I mean) and jogged into the transition area, put on all the necessary gear, and headed out to the exit...which was way on the other side of transition. Once I was on the bike, I waited until I was down the road a bit to get into the shoes...and then headed out onto what I thought was going to be a fast course.

With my bike racing background, cycling is what I'm best at...so I started the process of going through the rest of the people on the course. Wave starts are tough on the bike, since there are varying levels of skill and speed all on the course at the same time...you really have to keep your head up and be aware of the riders you're passing. I felt pretty good on the way out, and knew I had a tail/crosswind...and knew that we would all pay the price for this early gift as the race progressed. The course had a couple out and back legs that were shaped in such a direction that the vast majority of the ride was either a headwind or a crosswind. The closer you made it back to transition, the more direct and stronger the headwind. For the most part my bike went ok with no major issues, but my SRM was telling me my that my wattage wasn't great. I just kept reminding myself that I had to still get off and run, so having a faster bike split wouldn't help me when I was "crying for my mommy to stop the pain" at mile 7 on the run.

I entered transition and again made the long run to the other end to rack my bike and put on my new Zoot Ultra Tempo2.0's...you could see me coming for a mile in those red racers...after grabbing the rest of the necessities I headed out on the run. I started conservatively knowing that the more I walked on the run, the more time I would lose. About 2 miles in a guy in my age group passed me, he wasn't going real fast, but chose to just run my own pace. After mile 4 another guy in my age group passed me, but I decided to pick it up just a little, he eventually faded and I pressed on. About mile 7 is where things started to REALLY get tough. I was overheating a bit, and my stomach wasn't interested in taking in any nutrition. I told myself to keep going until they started serving ice cold coke the last few miles (first race I've been to where they didn't have any) and I would be good to go. About mile 10 the hamstring cramps started to rear their ugly head. I was really just hanging on at this point...and with about 2 miles to go another guy in my age group passed me. At this point I wasn't sure what place I was in, especially with 3 different waves in my age group, but tried to stay close. I thought that if I stayed within range, I could sprint by at the end and surprise him...we took the last corner and it was 800 meters to go. My hamstring was locking up, and I decided to just get to the finish without picking myself up off the ground. There were thousands of people at the finish, and as I hit the blue carpet with about 100 meters to go my left leg locked...everyone was yelling and screaming, and I peg-leg-hobbled for a few steps until it loosened up and I was able to finish it up.

Wow, that race really hurt. I distinctively remember thinking with about 4 miles to go that I didn't want to ever do another one of these...or another full Ironman. A day later, and I know that I'll continue...heck, I may as well since I'm already signed up for 70.3 St. Croix in a few weeks and then IM Couer d'Alene in June. Each one of these races I've thought the same thing towards the end, but have put it back into perspective the next day.

After drinking about 20 of the little smoothies from the Smoothie King stand, I hobbled around and picked up my dry clothes bag. While walking around I saw Saul Raisin and went up and spoke to him. We have a mutual friend through cycling, so I started off asking him about that person. He's also the husband of Dave Zabriski's sister, Aleeza. If you don't know his story, briefly, he was one of the U.S.'s most promising young cyclists, and was racing in Europe on a top French team. In one of his races he had a wreck and had major brain trauma, and has fought back to be able to participate in triathlons. He's dedicated his time to raising money for brain trauma victims and research. Here are a couple links:

Saul's "Raisin Hope" website and blog.

Saul Raisin Slowtwitch interview.

Ok, to make a long story longer...Danny and I walked a few blocks and got on the bus, which would take us to transition. We packed our stuff, packed the car, high tailed it back to the hotel, parked the car, and went straight to the awards to be there by 4 pm. Danny soldered on after injuring his Achilles and walking from mile 4 to the finish! He had a great swim and bike, and then was hampered by an old Achilles problem that cropped up the prior week...not the outcome he had hoped for, but there are more races to come.

Once at the awards, and having not eaten all day except for smoothies and race food...we started drinking some free beer. Nothing like a couple dehydrated athletes with empty stomachs taking part in free libations! I have my classic deer in headlights look...and Danny looks baked!

Here's another shot of me hanging with Macca and giving the "Deer in headlights" look. He was VERY approachable and took the time to ask me how my race went and talk about how hard the day was...a great representation of the sport!

Even though I broke down 3 miles from the finish, it looks like I broke down less than some of the others and ended up 4th in the 40-44. There were 4 spots for Ironman 70.3 World Championships in my age group before the roll down, so I took it. For those who don't know, there are qualifying spots to get into either the 70.3 or the full Ironman (Hawaii) World Championships. The Ironman Hawaii spots are HIGHLY coveted, and very difficult to obtain...and the 70.3 are difficult, but not totally impossible to get. New Orleans had 45 total spots split amongst the varying divisions for the 3,000 participants. The more in your division, the more slots you get...so In the 40-44 there were 447 men and we had 4 spots available. If one of the 4 people decided they didn't want to go race in November at the championships, then the 5th place person would be offered the spot. Some age groups had the spots roll down way past 10th place...so, with some luck sometimes spots become available.

This was the first triathlon of the year for me, and I know my fitness will get better from here. Shawn at Velocity Multisport has been able to work around my schedule, and tailor specific training to where I am currently in my training cycle. Getting a coach that knows the complexity of training for triathlons is been the best value for increased performance, even above any new fancy bike equipment!

Well, that's about all...as I get more pictures I'll post them. All in all it was a fun trip with Double D!

Things are starting to get more serious...

The "hay is in the barn" for this coming weekend at IM 70.3 New Orleans. Am I ready? No, not really...but it should be a good gauge of my fitness. It's always funny to get this question, I don't think I've ever felt totally "ready" for a race. Most endurance athletes probably feel the same way...have I done enough? Well, the good thing is that race dates are "hard targets", and you race...ready or not. This race isn't an "A" race for me, but I would like to still do well. My pick is for Danny "Double D" Domingo to have a very surprising race...he's going pretty well right now!

I feel semi-human, but continue to work through some stomach issues...Greg Carr had something similar a couple years back and it took him a month to work it out. Hopefully everything will work itself out for me this coming week.

Danny and I leave this coming Friday for the Sunday race. There is a lot to do once at the venue...pack race transition bags, get bike ready, pre race meeting , check in bike and all the other gear...and a ton of other stuff. Last year Dannny and I created a triathlon check list of all the stuff that I had to remember to bring to races...this is REALLY important for 1/2 and full Ironman races. It still amazes me how much crap is needed to participate!

Anyhow, Brian Fleischmann is also going to be there...and we'll hook up with him after the race for a few beers...to celebrate him smoking Chris McCormack :-) I give myself 1 day of drinking after each big event...so this will be my first beer since New Years!

Anyhow, I'll try to keep this blog updated...as well as my Facebook and Twitter. I have Twitter setup to post automatically to Facebook and this blog with my Twitter status updates. If I can, I'll post longer stuff and pictures on this blog.

Sween

2 1/2 weeks to IM 70.3 New Orleans

A couple weeks ago I went up and raced with the Lindner Capital guys in Albany, GA. My bike miles are down pretty low, so I was pretty happy with how I raced. It was a timed based 3 stage race, and I ended up 15th overall.

This past weekend was the Gate River Run 15k, and I was pretty pooped. I pretty much trained through it, so knew the race wouldn't be a good one for me...but, you always hope that once the race starts you pull a good one out of somewhere...but not this time. It was a very painful experience, but I'm keeping my eye on April, May, and June for may main goals. All that being said, a bunch of people had great races. Greg Carr (52:00) and Danny Domingo (53:25) torched the course and ended up 2nd and 5th in their age group...not bad for a couple triathletes. Danny should have a good race when we go over to New Orleans in 2 1/2 weeks!

I'm currently in the middle of a good block of training to get ready for some upcoming races...so I'm a little tired right now, and am now trying to get recovered for one of Shawn's HTFU workouts tomorrow. It consists of 3+ hours on the Computrainer, with each hour going harder...then you jump off and run 6 miles, 5 at race pace+...ouch. I really think it's as much of a mental workout as physical...Danny and Shawn have done a few of these, and it always pained me JUST hearing about them! Both those guy have done well..so, if it works for them...

This was just short update...I'll post more after something exciting happens ;-)

Sween

My Wife and Best Friend – Jennifer

As I stare at the heaping pile of clothes in the laundry basket, I once again began to think about how lucky I am. I create A LOT of laundry...on any given day I could have dirtied work clothes, gym clothes, cycling clothes, running clothes, swim clothes, yard work clothes, and clothes for any other activity...it's amazing!

This post may seem a bit off the normal race/training topic, but it really does apply. In the midst of some of my most time consuming training, I need to talk about the one person who contributes the most to support me during my training and other pursuits...Jennifer.

I’ve had relationships before, some good, some bad, a few psycho’s…all leading to the very real possibility that I would be a bachelor forever. I was fine with this…I’m not one of those guys who feel the need to have someone to take care of in their life. Actually, quite the opposite, I don’t have the time or energy to babysit. That’s why when I met Jennifer I knew that she would be the one…as long as she would have me (I married way above myself). Luckily she said yes.

I love and appreciate her for so many reasons, and for all that we have in common. She never gives me a hard time about training or racing, ever...I have had to end many relationships for this very reason. She doesn’t need me to be there all the time, or call every minute, or any of those things that are sometimes mandated by our modern U.S. society. There is never any pressure. If I want to race I race, if I want to train, I train…and of course, this works in the other direction.

She understands the value of a dollar and works hard for what she earns. She would rather spend money investing than buying a new purse or shoes or dress, understanding the "big picture" of trying to be financially stable during retirement. Like me, she likes quality products. That means buying for quality, not for name brands sake, or trying to show off the newest designer label. If the product is a better quality, then ok, otherwise she doesn’t care. The stuff she buys comes from TJ Max, Steinmart, Marshall’s, Target, online, or like her name brand purse…free with points from our credit card. She does all this and remains stylish, well dressed, and beautiful.

She’s very successful in her career and makes good money. This is due to her hard work and care for what she does in all aspects of her job. I would not be able to maintain her schedule and job requirements for more than a week. She is the most intelligent woman that I know, and find it very humorous when people underestimate her ability. She was a chemistry major, worked full time while obtaining it, and received it from a real brick and mortar institution. She really knows how to play the game, and let you talk about how smart or good you are (thanks honey)...while maintaining her quiet confidence.

Up between 5-5:30 am and working by 6 am…she balances her workload with doing the dishes, washing the laundry, cleaning, cooking, working on the yard, and a variety of other thankless tasks. Yes, I help with a few of those things, but mostly yard work…and she never complains about it. Not to say that I don't do anything around the house, I do, but she doesn't have a fit when I have to rearrange priorities for training or racing. She understands me and what I do…maybe because she’s a very good cyclist herself and loves to ride? Who knows, but she has shamed me into riding on more than one occasion.

I hear a lot about how busy people are, and how stressful their lives seem…and when I compare some of these folk’s schedules with what my wife does, I always get a chuckle. I guess this is all a matter of perception, but I usually know both sides…so think I make a pretty fair determination. Granted, there are some that warrant the same consideration, but only a select few. I couldn’t do what she does and she always amazes me.

I’m very lucky to have found Jennifer, and I could go on forever about her good qualities…I just want to say thanks to her for all she does. Without her I would be alone and grumpy…now at least I’m not alone :-)

Sween

Yes, I know...

...I haven't update this blog in forever! Well, yes I am alive and well.

A couple weeks ago I did a bike race down in Gainesville, and it was pretty fun. The Saturday time trial was a short under 10 mile effort. I'm not really going that well on the bike, which is by design...since my goals are a little later in the season than last year. I haven't done a bike race in so long, I forgot to put my timing chip on my time trial bike...so I didn't get an official time. I would have been about 15th, which isn't too bad.

On Sunday was the regular Gainesville downtown criterium. Not the sort of effort that I'll excel at right now, but I felt pretty good. Stayed near the front, covered a few breaks...and then got smoked in the sprint at the end. I actually had my brake come loose and rub against my rim during the race...now, this wasn't the reason I didn't do well, but it didn't help...and I needed all the help I could get! Nothing like the sights, sounds, and smells of a bike race...especially in Florida. A lot of yelling in Spanish, a few dangerous riders that MUST cut in front of you for no reason, and the smell of burning brake pads going into corner 3.

The good news was that I was able to eat at my favorite place while I was down there...Burrito Brothers!

I just got done with a pretty good block of training, and am now having an easy week. Shawn at Velocity Multisport has been great at tailoring my training around my race schedule...and life in general. This weekend I'm doing a 5 mile race about 1 mile from my house...very convenient! The following weekend it's up to Albany, GA for a bike stage race with the Lindner Capital guys...then the Gate River Run 15k here in Jacksonville.

After those appetizers, I head over to New Orleans at the beginning of April to do a Ironman 70.3 with Danny "Double D" Domingo. That will give me an idea of how the training is going.

I was going to rant about a whole host of things that have been annoying me lately...but I'll save that for another time...I have a date with a treadmill at the Riverside Y.

Sween