Monday, November 03, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Ironman Louisville - August 31st, 2008
On Friday August 29th I drove 8 hours west from D.C. to the mother's house in Cincinnati, Ohio. I got a good night's sleep there and then drove with my parents 110 miles southwest on Saturday afternoon to Louisville, Kentucky for my big triathlon of the summer. I got checked in for the race, dropped off my bike and bags for transition, and then tried to relax as best I could for the rest of the day. It was amazing seeing the 2,000+ bikes parked in the transition area and at an average of $5,000 each were worth at least $10 million all together. I got some pasta for dinner 
on 4th Street in downtown where they were setting up the finish line for the race the next day. Then went back to the hotel to get some sleep before the big day.The alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and I immediately got up and started mentally preparing myself for the impending 2.4 mile 
swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. I walked in the dark down to the transition area where my bike was parked and dropped off water bottles for later in the day and then made the mile walk down to the swim start. The water temperature was reported to be 84 degrees the morning of the race so wetsuits were not allowed. We would be jumping off a short dock 
into the Ohio River, then swimming upstream along the shore, doing a loop around Towhead Island, and then swimming downstream past the starting dock to the transition area at Waterfront Park (see the map). The pros went off together at 6:50 a.m. but the rest of us had a time trial start with a couple going over a timing mat and then jumping off the dock every few seconds. There was a huge line at the start and I got in somwehere in the middle and had to stand around for a while waiting for 7 a.m. to come and then for my turn. I was pretty nervous/anxious standing there, but if I knew the extent of what I would be in for that day, I 
might have been even more so.
swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. I walked in the dark down to the transition area where my bike was parked and dropped off water bottles for later in the day and then made the mile walk down to the swim start. The water temperature was reported to be 84 degrees the morning of the race so wetsuits were not allowed. We would be jumping off a short dock 
into the Ohio River, then swimming upstream along the shore, doing a loop around Towhead Island, and then swimming downstream past the starting dock to the transition area at Waterfront Park (see the map). The pros went off together at 6:50 a.m. but the rest of us had a time trial start with a couple going over a timing mat and then jumping off the dock every few seconds. There was a huge line at the start and I got in somwehere in the middle and had to stand around for a while waiting for 7 a.m. to come and then for my turn. I was pretty nervous/anxious standing there, but if I knew the extent of what I would be in for that day, I 
might have been even more so.Finally around 7:30 a.m. I found myself jumping off the dock into the Ohio River. I really enjoyed not having a mass start as I was able to put my face in the water and start swimming right away and did not get completely clobbered by a mass of overly zealous swimmers. The water was sickly warm and very funny tasting, but it felt good to finally be going again after several days of taking it easy leading up to the race. I made good time swimming the length of Towhead Island 
but the current got much stronger as I passed into the open river. I was still feeling alright as I reached the final buoy before turning downstream. Somewhere not too much longer on the swim down current I started feeling like I didn't want to be swimming anymore, and this feeling kept growing stronger the farther I swam. My stomach was churning, my goggles felt like they were digging into my face, and the feeling of nausea was overwhelming. I couldn't believe what was happening to me but I literally couldn't keep 
going and grabbed onto one of the kayaks lining the row of swimmers. As I took my face out of the water I became aware of how incredibly nauseous I was, but there was nothing to do but put my goggles back on and keep stroking my way down the river... so I put my face back in the water and kept going. Frontstroke was jostling my stomach around too much so I started practicing my breaststroke, backstroke, sidestroke, and every other stroke I could muster to get myself to the end of the miserable swim. I made it a little ways farther before I was holding onto another kayak and burping and throwing up nasty water from the Ohio River. I've got to learn how to not swallow so much water 
when swimming in open water. Oh well for all that mileage I had put in at the indoor pool at Georgetown. I kept paddling my way down the river and finally made it to the swim finish nearly 45 minutes after I had hoped.
I slapped on some sunscreen (although not too well), my helmet, gloves, shoes, and sunglasses and grabbed my bike and headed out. I had started the swim somewhere in the middle of the field but now must have been in the last hundred or so for there were not too many bikes left in the transition area. Whatever. There were still 112 miles on the bike and a marathon left to run, so I hopped on my bike and set out. While it had been a comfortable morning,
but the current got much stronger as I passed into the open river. I was still feeling alright as I reached the final buoy before turning downstream. Somewhere not too much longer on the swim down current I started feeling like I didn't want to be swimming anymore, and this feeling kept growing stronger the farther I swam. My stomach was churning, my goggles felt like they were digging into my face, and the feeling of nausea was overwhelming. I couldn't believe what was happening to me but I literally couldn't keep 
going and grabbed onto one of the kayaks lining the row of swimmers. As I took my face out of the water I became aware of how incredibly nauseous I was, but there was nothing to do but put my goggles back on and keep stroking my way down the river... so I put my face back in the water and kept going. Frontstroke was jostling my stomach around too much so I started practicing my breaststroke, backstroke, sidestroke, and every other stroke I could muster to get myself to the end of the miserable swim. I made it a little ways farther before I was holding onto another kayak and burping and throwing up nasty water from the Ohio River. I've got to learn how to not swallow so much water 
when swimming in open water. Oh well for all that mileage I had put in at the indoor pool at Georgetown. I kept paddling my way down the river and finally made it to the swim finish nearly 45 minutes after I had hoped. I slapped on some sunscreen (although not too well), my helmet, gloves, shoes, and sunglasses and grabbed my bike and headed out. I had started the swim somewhere in the middle of the field but now must have been in the last hundred or so for there were not too many bikes left in the transition area. Whatever. There were still 112 miles on the bike and a marathon left to run, so I hopped on my bike and set out. While it had been a comfortable morning,
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Pittsfield Peaks Ultra Challenge - June 14, 2008
On Friday June 13th, 2008 John drove me to Union Station in Washington, DC where I caught a train to Baltimore where I then caught a bus to the Baltimore airport. From there I caught a flight to Philadelphia and then another one to Albany, NY where I rented a car and drove north through the Adirondack Mountains up to the Green Mountains in Killington, Vermont.I drove the 8 miles up to Amee Farm in Pittsfield, Vermont at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning where I had 30 minutes to prepare for the most extreme endurance event to date - the Pittsfield Peak Ultra Challenge, a 53.8 mile trail race in the Green Mountains with 14,005 feet of elevation gain.
As was told to me, this race is reported to be the 50 mile trail race in the country with the most climbing, the equivalent of going up and down the Empire State Building 11 times. There was a campfire near the 
barn at the farm that would be the start and finish of the race. We all got to drop off a bag of supplies that would be available to us at an aid station we would pass 3 times during the race. There was a quick pre-race meeting where the race director told us about the how the course was marked and stuff. Then the group of us 69 lunatics lined up a line drawn in the dirt and at 5:10 a.m. we were off.
As an early indication of the terrain we were about to cover, the course started with a climb from Amee Farm up into the forrest above. Some of the group at the front took off running up the hill while I stayed with the more conservative group at the back while we marched up the hill into the woods.
I started out the day running in a pair of Thorlos dri-fit socks, Salomon XCR Gore-Tex lined shoes, Asics spandex shorts, a sleeveless tri-style shirt (equipped with rear pockets good for carrying PowerBars and gels), a Brooks dri-fit visor, and a pair of arm warmers. It was rather chilly in the morning before the race got started and during the
first couple miles as we got warmed up so the arm warmers were nice to have then. I rolled them down not too long into the race and they functioned well as sweatbands during the hot humid day that it turned out to be. They were also nice to have on for protection later in the day as it turned to dusk and the bugs and mosquitos came out. I also carried a waterbottle that strapped to my hand so there was no effort involved in carrying and contained a small pouch that I kept a couple gels in. And I
had a Fuel Belt pack strapped around my waist that carried a waterbottle and had a pouch carrying a small headlamp, flashlight, BodyGlide, salt tablets, and some more gels.Aside from the elite sponsored ultrarunners (i.e. insane animals, not human beings), the only reasonable way to complete a 54 mile run in the
mountains like this is to start slow and aim to go at a maintainable pace throughout. This translates into power-walking the uphills and running the downhills and flats. But holy shit were some of the uphills steep! At times even a slow crawl up some of these climbs seemed unmaintainable, let alone a fast-paced hike.
... MORE TO COME SOON ...
"I was in 28th place at an aid station around 25 miles. My right knee started hurting ridiculously bad between the 32 and 38 mile aid stations to the point I could barely walk and was sitting on the trail. Thought I was going to quit when I got to the 38 mile aid station but I decided to sit down and rest for like 20 minutes and then see how it was feeling. Somehow, it was miraculously mildly better when I got up and then I just decided that I was going to hike the rest of the way in to the finish at 53.8 miles.
I finally arrived back at Amee Farm and crossed the finish line in 49th place out of 57 finishers around 8:30 p.m. for a total race time of 15 hrs 24 min.
It was thunderstorming off and on for the last 2-3 hours and starting absolutely downpouring for the last 15 minutes coming in to the finish right when it was getting dark. Not sure how many people after me were going to make it to the finish in that weather but there were still at least a few on the course (one of whom was supposedly "missing", whatever that means!)."
You can read a nice news article about the race at: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080616/SPORTS/806160345/1007/SPORTS
Besides the downhills, the second thing I was most unprepared for was how much the race really wore me out. That night after finishing, I was so hungry I could barely eat and so tired I could barely sleep. The 10 minute ice bath was ridiculous to say the least. Then next morning I was surprisingly not too incredibly sore but sooooooo itchy from all the bug bites, chafing, and tromping through thorny bushes, the Vermont "stinging nettle" plants, poison ivy, etc. The nailbed under one of my toenails was a disgusting black color and hurt terrible. The next four or five days I found myself sleeping 9-10 hours a night and taking an afternoon nap when I got home from work. And the eating... instead of being out running every afternoon, my new sport was sitting on the couch seeing how many calories I could consume. One afternoon I finished off one pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and then went to the freezer and opened another that I then nearly finished. It was a good 5 or 6 days after the race that I finally started feeling like getting back on my bike, getting back in the pool, etc.
I don't know what the next one is going to be but the whole experience was definitely a blast, and I am already looking forward to another crazy adventure of 50 miles or possibly more!
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