Day After

So, dinner last night had the potential to be awesome!  But the roof of my mouth was so raw I could barely eat.  Even the milkshake caused pain...bummer.  So I finished eating, took a hot bath.  I fell asleep in the tub and only woke up because I slipped down and my head went underwater.  Got out, laid down and I was out in minutes.  Today I am really sore and sunburned but I am doing good.  No signs that I am sick like I was after my first Ironman.  So, here are some pics for you.  Bike and run pics will get posted as soon as they come in.  

Swim start, just be fore the horn.  I lined up all the way on the left.  I would be just below those bushes.

Looking at the menu

Yes, it hurts a little.

Holy *#&% It's over!

They were not kidding when they said this race was the toughest in North America.  It...was...brutal...period!  So here's a summary.

The swim:  Great.  Man made lake, calm, warm and very wide so you don't get the crap beat out of you at the start.  I don't know my official time yet.

The bike:  Man...whatever.  10000 feet of climbing, half of which was in a 10 mph headwind, maybe a little less.  The last 12 miles were absolutely unbearable...truly.  A steady, false flat climb that finishes with three climbs up three steep (talking easiest gear and standing on the pedals) hills called the 3 Sisters which I renamed the 3 Beeotches.   No shade left me a nasty sunburn on my upper thighs where my tri suit rode up leaving the leg unprotected.  I seriously gave thought to quitting after the ride until I saw the girl riding her bike with one leg...no prosthetic.  So no way in hell I am giving up.   Saw a few gnarly crashes out there and a LOT of people suffering.  It was a lonely course, I was by myself for long periods of time.  Didn't get passed but a couple of times and passed a few people.  Curious to see what bike time was.  Ok, onward to T2 the bike to run transition.

They have nice tents for you to change into your run gear.  So, needless to say my transition time...hella slow!  I digress.  Lets talk about the run shall we!  So, after a brutal 112 hell ride one would think a 26 mile run on flat terrain would be welcome...right?  WRONG!  Holy crap, the run course had 2000 feet of climbing... long ass hills to!  Fortunately, aid stations were at every mile.  My diet on the run was water, flat Coke and Endurolyte electrolyte capsules.  I tried eating animal crackers...stomach no likey.  Again, I am not sure how long my 26 miles took but I wasn't breaking any records that's for sure.  Saw a few people pass out and get picked up by ambulance.  Oh, mental note, wearing a tri suit covered with a Physio Control logo and a Firefighter patch...not good.  People were like "HEY, you...Paramedic guy.  Can you help".  "Oh, sure.  Let me pull out the defibrillator from my shorts".  Nah, they didn't bother me.  Anyway we ran into the night, up the damn hills and through a shopping/dining district.  Another bunk idea cuz when you run through there people are offering fried mozarella sticks and wings and beer.  Anyway, my second half of the marathon was much faster than the first once my legs got use to the running.  SO, I finished.  Here are stats for you all.

Total time to complete the race:  13 hours 11 minutes.
Pre race morning weigh in:  178 pounds
Post race weigh in: 172 pounds
Heart rate this morning at the hotel:  52
Heart rate at the swim start:  120
Average heart rate for the whole race:  140 About 99,000 beats total
Pre race BP:  116/65
Post race BP: 99/50
Calories consumed:  About a 1000 total
Calories burned:  12,500

I will post pics from the race with official times.  Now, it's time to eat.  On the menu...salmon, tofu salad and hummus.  NOT!!!!  Room service!  Pizza, french fries, milkshake, coke.  Looking forward to it...kinda.  You see, when you breath so much, hard and fast from your mouth the roof of your mouth gets raw and makes it hard to eat :(  Tomorrow, pancakes for sure!   So, goodnight all cuz after dinner I am going to bed!  Take care.

Race Day

Had my alarm set for 0430 but got woken up by the Coyotes howling...sweet.  Time for breakfast then I am out of here.

A few pictures

This is T1 or the Swim to Bike Transition.  This is where the swim begins also.

So, we drove the course a bit.  This is at about 15 miles.  Lots of hills here!  Lots!   But is it ever beautiful.

Well, the day is winding down.  Gonna try to get a light jog in tonight if not jog to the swim start in the am.  Tonight is shower, watch a movie and try to get some sleep.  0400 comes early!  At that time I will get up, eat a light breakfast, mix up my drink bottles, pack my gear then lie down for a bit.  Then at about 0545 I will make the jog to T1 and get the race going.   Next pics you will see will be from the race tomorrow night.  Take care everyone.

Race Meeting

So I am at the race meeting. I LOVE triathlon! It's so cool seeing so many types of people at these races. Slim ultra fit pros to average joes. Again the crowd is eclectic. Lots of nervous chatter. Watching people eat giant stacks of pancakes to plates of sausage to fruit I refused to share my breakfast of tofu, beans, fruit and coffee. Ok, nobody would touch that! The arena is a sea of t shirts from races past,compression socks and Oakley sunglasses. As usual I am representing the 510 and East Bay in my tank top, camo shorts and Chuck Ts. I am pretty sure I am the only heavily tattooed athlete. If I see another one of my kind I will be sure to bond with them.  

Lots of foreigners to.  I am hearing French, German or Dutch, Spanish...  I ran into some Canadians at Whole Foods who were rifling through the Clif Bar section like they had just broken into Fort Knox.  When I said "Whoa, whoa...save some for us eh"  They said "We only get 3 flavors in Canada eh.  So when we come to the US we stock up."  I nodded and said "Try the peanut butter pretzel bars"  Their eyes got big and they said "BEAUTY!"  and took the whole box. :)  BUT, the most interesting person award  goes to the young man that showed up to register in a silk suit with two Vegas stripper looking girls escorting him.  How do I know what Vegas strippers look like?  I saw The Hangover!!!  

The race meeting was pretty....uh...simple.  All the guy said was "Welcome, it's a brutal course, finish before midnight"  Well, that's all I heard.  Ok, time to go and try to eat something.  Nerves are kicking in.

MADE IT...to the race venue that is.

8.5 hour later and we pulled in to the beautiful Lake Las Vegas.  Ok, it was dark BUT the place looks great all lit up.  Of course their are tri-geeks everywhere, looking each other's bikes up and down and giving each other the stink eye.  They all wear t-shirts from previous races, some  talk nervously while others talk like they are gonna win the damn race.  I just minded my own business, walking around in my I Hella (heart) Oakland t-shirt, Social Distortion hat and Vans.

We got checked in, unloaded the gear and decided room service would be awesome which it was:  Whole wheat pasta with portabello and shrimp, greek salad, grilled salmon, warm flat bread and wine...for my girl, I drank water.  Afterwards I did some stretching and rolled out the legs, took a stroll around the hotel and ran into some dude named Dave Scott.  I guess he was kinda big in triathlon at one time ;)  He was really nice, and still fit!  Bastard.

Tomorrow I will be up at 0700 for race packet pick-up and the race meeting.  Gonna check out where all of the transitions are because I have to have all of my bike and run gear turned in by 6 pm tomorrow.  Also going to take a little drive on the course for a small preview.

Earlier today, during the drive...oh, which by the way was still shorter than this race will be :(  This one guy who saw my bike at a rest area asked me how long my race would take.  So here's how I put it into perspective for this family man.  I said "Well sir, you can get up tomorrow around 8 am, have breakfast with the family, then go to church, then go to lunch, go to a matinee then come home and watch the football game, have a snack, BBQ hamburgers for the family, relax and watch 60 Minutes and get ready for work on Monday while the kids get ready for school and I may STILL be out on that course."  His response, albeit it typical..."You are crazy mister."  I shrugged my shoulders and said "Yep, guess so"  Welcome to triathlon

 Good night all.

Lake Las Vegas

This is Loews Resort at Lake Las Vegas.  We will be staying here which puts me right at the swim start.  The swim starts just beyond this bridge..I think.  We swim under it which give spectators a great view.  The swim start is suppose to be a mass start which means all 250+ of us Full Distance racers go at the same time.

Packing for the race!

Packing for race day! 

Tapering Down.

Today was a good day.  The sun was out, it was in the 70s.  Got up and went with my girl to Moma's Royal Cafe where we had coffee, shared a scone then I had the tofu scramble with wheat toast and fruit.  We read the paper and enjoyed the morning.  Shortly after I got my day going and realized that my workouts were now much shorter!  Designed to not to put too much stress on the body but keep the muscles familiar.  So, it was 1.5 hour ride an easy climb up the Oakland hills then a cruise back down with a quick stop to buy some nutrition products for race day.  This evening it was a 2000 yard swim followed shortly after by an awesome dinner of Korean food.  Even though tomorrow is an "off" day I have lots to do!  Dentist, drop the bike off for a tune up, hair cut, massage...  But, I think I will force myself to sleep until 9 or 10.  Thursday is my last workout.  Friday morning we leave for Nevada.  Going to take lots of video and pics and post here during the trip.  Hope you all have a good night.

SF Giants.

And that's all I need to say today.