Trip-Tips
I am receiving so many great questions! Thank you. I have recently improved my site so that I can more quickly post answers here so please keep sending them via email.
Buffalo Springs 70.3
[update: July 13, 2006]
Leading up to this race I heard many stories, some not the most pleasant and causing some anxiety- raging temperatures and hard climbs on both the bike and run. It turns out sometimes expecting the worst can make what you imagined as horrible seem “easy”. Notice the quotations around easy :) Paul so graciously offered to come out and watch, to help me with things and to drive my Guru the 7 hour trek from Austin so I could fly. What a relief it was flying without having to lug around my bike box!!
Everything went smoothly up until the start of the race. Paul and I drove the course the day before to get a good sense of the climbs- fortunately I was expecting much worse. Baja has made everything since then seem like a breeze! The pre-race meeting was humorous- Mike Greer the race director made sure we were well aware of all hazardous objects to look out for on the bike course, many I had never even heard of! He had a list- bullweazels? cockleburs, tarantulas, snakes, cattle, horses, spider like tractors, prairie dogs, some sort of gigantic horse fly….we were in for a great Texas hill biking country adventure!!
Race morning as we drove up to the race site, across the dark prairies we spotted huge bolts of lightning. With every streak the dark sky would light up with purple way out in the distance.There had been storms forecasted and I began preparing myself for a possibly wet and wild bike ride. I said to Paul “Maybe it’s just heat lightening”. This is idea was soon to be thrown out the window, as we parked the truck and made our way to the transition- it was actually chilly! I had on full sweats and I was still shivering a little…Not quite the 100 plus temps I had heard stories about for months! Upon arrival into the transition area, the supposed “heat lightning” patches were making their way towards us. The wind picked up and started billowing…I had to re-rack by bike and hang it by the brakes for fear of it flying out of transition! The wind gusts were so powerful the sponsor signs were being lifted off the transition area fencing!. I kept telling myself to remain calm, that everyone would be in the same boat and that it could pass over…..and eventually it did.
A calm suddenly returned 20 minutes before our 6:30am start, the lake looked flat and still as it did the day before. Tiny waves lapped onto the shore. I breathed a sigh of relief, bid my farewells to Paul and made my way to the swim start. I don’t want to make any excuses but going into this race I was a little nervous of my condition., Having just raced Eagleman two weeks pervious, I had been feeling very tired and not quite at full recovery. I was expecting to feel a little sluggish at first. Again better to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised but this feeling happened to be dead on accurate! I got off to a decent start but once I got to the real deal swimming part my body just wasn’t going. I began to heat up inside my wetsuit- I had visions of my back being lit on fire and of stopping to strip off my wetsuit, leaving it to float around in the lake. I noticed Natascha was swimming next to me and I knew this was not the best sign, I was hoping come out of the water in front of her and now I was more concerned with staying on her feet! I started to feel more and more like a slug baking inside a blanket. I tried imagining that I was swimming in freezing water, that I was cold. This helped a little, I realize that anxiety will only heat you up even more! I was so happy to reach the shore and to take off my wetsuit-ahhh it felt great.
Onto the bike and again I was fighting myself to snap out of slug phase. There would be times when I felt like I was flying and very strong, other times the opposite. All in all I had a great time out on the bike course. It was a beautiful course, the climbs were my favorite part! and there were sections that wound and rambled and were very roller coaster like. My only disappointment was that I never had the opportunity to encounter a bullweazel! I was in third position coming off the bike, Natascha and Andrea were having great rides and I knew I was going to run hard to catch either one of them. I had a whole plan to beat the heat, Paul and I had trekked to the Lubbock Wal Mart the night previous (quite the experience!) and purchased a cooler and zip-locks. Paul made up some little bags up for me so that I could stash them in various places to keep me cool on the run. Although the temps had risen into the 80s or so at this point, Io felt so lucky not to be battling 100-plus temps.
The first few miles of the run I was feeling strong, I passed Andrea and was now in second, not really aware of how far ahead Natascha was or how far anyone else was behind. I passed Paul at around mile 4 and he told me Natacha looked tired. My first thought was “well so am I!” but instead I decided to try and catch her….that plan did not come through very well. I did manage to hold off Heather Fuhr who was looking strong at the turn around point. I was absolutely amazed by the encouragement I received on the way back home. As there were many Austinites racing out there, I saw so many familiar faces and they almost all managed to cheer despite the fact that they were tuckered! They really all helped me home, the last few miles were around a flat lake and I was so looking forward to the finish line at this point! It finally arrived in second place and Paul gave me a big hug, my dad was there and looking proud, and announcer Jerry was on the mike saying some really nice things. Meanwhile the med tent was looking like the cool place to be so I grabbed a seat and let the lovely volunteers take care of me. I will definitely be back next year, still in search of the great Bullweazel….
One more important thing I forgot to mention that happened out on the run- at mile four I asked for coke while passing through an aid station. The volunteers didn’t have it poured yet so I passes through and turned to start the first big climb on the run. To my relief and disbelief a woman volunteer traversed the grass uphill with the poured coke in her hand and stood on the hill with it so I could grab it. Amazing. There were several other moments like that during the race, all brought on my the wonderful volunteers- you would think they were being paid a million dollars to do such a great job out there. You guys rock!
Thank you to Mike and Marti for putting on such a fun and immaculately run race, to Paul for being the best and most patient “domestique” ever! to my sponsors and Tri Dubai team for believing in me, and to all of those who cheered for me on a day when I may have only been able to muster an unintelligible sound effect back. I feel so fortunate.
Ironman Arizona
[update: June 24, 2006]
I couldn’t help but check out your new bike…. TOTALLY sweet. I bought the “old” aluminum Chrono about 2 months before they debuted the carbon one…. and I’m kicking myself. How’s it run? What kind of setup do you have on it?
Got any tips for the IMAZ course? I’m registered for it this year, and it looks a far cry from the only other IM i’ve done (IMC). Matt
Hi Matt,
Thanks for asking, I love my new bike! It runs very smoothly, and everything I put into it moves the bike forward. I have also been impressed with the professionalism of the company and the people involved.
Arizona, yes it is quite different than IMC. I have also done both. The swims are similar. although Arizona was quite choppy on the way in, so expect that in the the second half. The water was pretty cool and a wetsuit was a nice thing to have on! Arizona is pancake flat on the bike with strong, strong headwinds. Last year we did three city loops so we had the wind three times, I think they are changing the bike course for next year, is that correct? If so , expect strong tailwind on the way out and strong! headwind on the way in.
The run was also challenging but very interesting and pretty. There were many surface changes throughout, one mile on pavement, one mile on trail, 1/4 mile on sand, etc….it seemed to be changing quite often but I really enjoyed the run. Not quite as undulating as Canada but several steep short climbs that can hurt, espcially on the second go around. There is enough trail though so your legs stay relatively fresh feeling through the first loop.
In general, I really enjoyed the course and if they do change the bike course, it will be even more fun.
I hope this info helps, I will see you out there! I am competing next year as well.
Eagleman 70.3 and CapTex Tri Report
[update: June 21, 2006]
The last month has been so busy with racing and traveling I have decided to live out of my Asics duffel bag in my own house! Returning home from Baja it seemed like moments before I was out in Austin Town Lake racing in the Capital of Texas Tri. This is a race I look forward to all year…one of the few times I get to race side by side with fellow Austinites and training partners. People line the streets and despite the usual high humidity and temps they go nuts cheering out there. This year was no exception, and I enjoyed every minute (well almost every one until I started to burn up) of the swim in Town Lake…some people may gasp but the water is actually seems clean? and refreshing! four loop 40k bike course, and two loop 10k run. By the time the run rolled around the weather had heated up, thank goodness for the Rocket Science Sports girls water station with their high boots and water guns! and the loud cheering from the crowds…the support was so wonderful I almost forgot to notice the 90 degree temps and the fact that my legs were still a little achy from all those hills in Baja. Other highlights : Gilbert yelling "drop the bomb!!!" at the top of lungs in T2, Barry Lee on the mike at the bike turn around, rolling out of my own bed and driving 10 minutes to the start and getting prime time parking thanks to Jack and Adams!, seeing all of Austin’s friendly tri peeps and friends tearing it up under the hot sun. I won the race but was passed by Dan Carrol at mile 3 on the run, I tried hard but was unable unable to "chic" him :) We had a bike wash outside of Jack and Adams bike shop with all proceeds benefiting Move Through Cancer organization- a running group specifically for folks recovering or surviving cancer. We raised $1200 from one day of bike washing! Yaaa!
After several days of rest and a few short hard workouts it was time to travel to my old hometown of Washington DC for Eagleman 70.3 on June 11th. The Asics bag was luckily already halfway packed up, I bid Pandora farewell and caught my Southwest flight into Baltimore. I arrived later than expected and my loving Ma picked me up from the airport despite her early morning work hour the next day. Eagleman is always something to I anticipate, not only is it a beautiful course but my entire family and dear old friends can all be out there on race day. This year friends David and Scotty picked me up from my house in Potomac and carted me off to Cambridge. We had a busy pre- race day and all the while the wind was HOWLING. It looked like we were in for some hills on the pancake flat course after all….
Race morning started well…we arrived at the race site and sure enough, the wind was still on a vicious tear. Despite that it was in fact June, I stood shivering as I loaded up the Guru despite my heavy fleeceTri Dubai jacket! Start time rolled around and everything seemed to be calming down slightly but I knew it was going to take some "grin and bear it" strength to get through the day. My longtime girlfriend and new momma Christy was out there racing with me and we both stood in the water shivering and waiting for the gun to go off. We were off to a fast start and I was feeling good….out to the turn point on the swim, around the boat and smak! the waves began to punish me. The entire way back in was so rough! The buoys seemed to take longer and longer approaching, luckily I was feeling strong but the water was taking me back to the wave pool at Wet n Wild. My thoughts also went to the 60plussers out there struggling in that water….brutal. Several jelly fish wrapped themselves around my wrists and fingers, I felt one brush my nose. Trying to remain positive and calm but there was a strong voice inside me yelling "Get me out of here!!". Luckily I had my Blue Seventy Helix on fitting like a glove and keeping me buoyant. Pretty soon I could see the exit and was I oh so glad to get hit land.
Onto the bike and a feeling of complacency hit me, everything seemed to be either hurting or blowing around. The wind was so strong and I felt tired from the swim. My face was stinging, I kept checking my nose to see if there was a jellyfish stashed up there! The bike continued on like this, I was battling with my own head the entire way. Several times I would yell at myself "Move your booty FICKER!" To no avail, I was having a bad day on the bike. Finally I arrived into T2 and I could see my family and friends yelling , they all looked worried that I was so far back. I was angry and determined to bury that horrible bike ride. Putting on my new Asics Ohanas (best racing flats ever!!) I felt a huge rush of frustrated excitement. I knew I needed to haul butt and get out of my current sixth place position, I could not hold anything back.Taking it one step at a time, one landmark at a time, I gradually moved up. I was careful to take in enough calories and fluid as the sun was out now and I could feel the heat beating down. Natascha went by at the turn around and yelled encouragement, she had a huge lead, I could see Leanda coming back and she looked tired, Katja was within reach. Feeling strong the last miles I caught Katja and was gaining on Leanda…..running out of room in the end I would have to settle for third place.
Things I learned on this day:
1. Rough water is rough for everyone- keep your head down in the waves and do not get discouraged
2. A bad leg in one discipline does not necessarily dictate a bad race…patiently wait for the next one to come and turn your day around.
3. Jelly fish stings aren’t really all that bad :)
4. Coke on the run rocks!!
5. Negative energy can be fueled to your advantage, you can convince your mind to change complacency into butt kicking anger….
Thank you for reading, thank you to my sponsors family and friends…..see you in Buffalo Springs 70.3!!
