Down Under--Part 2

I’m back home in Jackson now, trying to get back into the ordinary routine. These first few days have been difficult with the big time change, but I’m hoping that I can back on a regular sleep schedule for the coming week. Let’s pick up where I left off….

Friday

Justin granted an off day for Friday, a chance to continue to rest up for the race. I went with Lori to the registration area for her to start her shift of volunteering at 8:00 am. I went to the race office to get tickets for the welcome dinner and went for a quick walk through the Ironman store. There really wasn’t an expo in the traditional sense, just an Ironman merchandise store that was pretty small. I think back to IM Brazil last year….there were probably 100+ vendors in a HUGE expo. Surprising that the Ironman expos aren’t more similar. But perhaps Busselton is at the far reaches of civilization. I biked back to the apartment while Lori worked.

Lori would end up working at registration, for the lowest numbered athletes. As a result, she got to handle registration for many of the pros. She enjoyed that and recalled that Kate Bevilaqua, who would go on to win the women’s race, was the kindest of all the pros she met that morning.

The parents and I visited an art shop near the apartment and I commissioned a painting of the Busselton jetty as a souvenir. It won’t be ready until February, but it will be nice to hang on the wall with the other Ironman and other race memorabilia. The rest of the afternoon was entirely restful.

Friday evening I went with the family to the pre-race dinner. This was probably the best of the pre-race dinners I’ve attended at the Ironman events. The dinner was held in a large tent across the street from the swim start, in Barnard Park. The food and drink was actually good this time….and the program had the traditional elements to help motivate the crowd for race day. There was even a native dance. Something inspirational for everybody.

Saturday

Lori accompanied me to the swim practice area for a short, 20-minute swim on Saturday morning. Not many swimmers, surprisingly, at 6:00 am. I followed this up with a 40-minute ride, easily, along the multi-use trail from the apartment to town and back. Training was DONE! I would remember for JD that it worked out to 369 days of training to get ready.

Back at the apartment, I gathered up all the gear and we were among the first in line for check-in at 11:00 am. There was light rain then….and there was some light rain off and on for the rest of the day. I can remember thinking that this could be great weather for the race.

We all hopped in the car and headed off to Dunsborough, for a drive along Caves Road. We went to the Serazens Brewery for lunch, but were turned away because we didn’t have a reservation. Not too far away, though, was another pub where we enjoyed a lunch in the backyard of the pub. The setting was nice, but the flies were pretty annoying. I was the first one chased back to the car to seek refuge.

I took a nap on Saturday afternoon and got the remaining gear ready for the race. We had dinner at the apartment and everybody was in bed early for the big day on Sunday.

Sunday

Race day! I can’t remember ever waking on race day feeling more excited about the day ahead. The weather was ideal….mostly clear skies, cool temperatures, and little humidity. At the start there was little wind, but this built to 10-15 mph as the morning went along. Really couldn’t ask for anything more in the weather department.

After getting my bike set up, I spent the pre-race hour with my family at the seawall overlooking the swim start. We talked briefly with Mike Reilly who was here for his 99th race as announcer. He guaranteed a good day.

I’ll save a traditional race report for another day, but I’ll share some of the highlights here. The swim was a lot of fun. Calm seas made for a pretty quick single-lap swim out along 1 side of the mile-long jetty and then back along the other side. I cut my left heel pretty bad on something at the start….and that would have a major impact as the day progressed. The bike was a 3-lap course. I had a pretty good go of things for the first 2 laps and slowed a bit on the third lap. Through T2, it was my best-ever race. Unfortunately, when I hopped off the bike at T2 I could barely walk, my left foot hurt so much. I actually had to be helped into the tent by a volunteer. I tried to make the best of the run, but after a start/stop run/walk for the first 2 laps, I ended up walking (and limping!) to the finish.

It was a long day. I was never better prepared and I had high hopes for the race. I had thought this would be the last Ironman race, but now I’m not so sure. It would still be nice to have a solid day at the races before retiring.

We stopped at McDonald’s (along with many ofther finishers) for a bite to eat on the way home and had a chance to visit for a short while before I needed to sleep.

Monday

Since we elected to leave the bike and gear at transition on Sunday night, we had to return early Monday morning to pick things up. Then it was home to pack, and at about 10:30 am, we left Busselton to return to Perth. It’s not my usual MO, but this time we were doing the 3-hour drive (11,000 miles from home) with no map and no cellphone GPS. We got lost a couple times, but eventually made our way to our motel near the Perth airport.

The folks at the motel made a good suggestion for lunch and we headed into downtown Perth to have lunch at the Lucky Shag, a pub on the Perth waterfront, near the bell tower. It was our chance to sit and talk about the race and reflect on the trip. We all agreed that we’d had a great time. And time had flown by. It seemed like just yesterday that we were arriving in Sydney for the beginning of the trip.

Back at the motel, I re-packed the bike and re-packed all of the gear. The parents napped and Lori and I visited in our room. We all turned in early.

Tuesday

We were up at 3:00 am to make our way to the airport for the long trip home. Our flight to Sydney left at 5:45 am. For the return trip, the travel worked just like the trip down….just in reverse. First to Sydney, then transfer to the International terminal for the long flight to LA. We parted ways in LA and each headed our own way. I returned to Dallas and then on to Jackson, arriving near midnight on Tuesday, but after some 24 hours in a plane plus many more hours of layover time. This was, by far, the longest trip I’ve ever made in a day (or two!).

And that’s how it was….

Going Down Under

With a bunch of free time here before the race, I thought I’d write about the trip….as the trip was happening (or at least not too long after each day’s events had happened). Not much time for editing here, so my recollections may be a bit rambling.

I’m here in Australia getting ready for Sunday’s Ironman Western Australia triathlon. This has been almost a year in the making. As I recall, it was around Christmastime 2009 that I decided to enter this race. If I’d had my druthers, I’d probably have entered Ironman Florida instead, but a conflict in my work schedule made that impossible. Left to choose between end-of-the-year Ironman races in Arizona, Cozumel, or Western Australia, you see what I chose. Australia is great, the course is flat, and most years there is reasonable weather. But it's 11,000 miles from home....

My sister and parents are along for the trip. Company and a cheering section. They’re the best.

Wednesday

The trip started on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, with me travelling to Dallas and on to Los Angeles on American Airlines and meeting up with the family there. Things got off to a great start when the American agent at the Jackson airport couldn’t figure out how to charge me for excess luggage (I had the bike and a large duffel that, together, weighed 110 pounds)….and so he didn’t! I don’t think I’ve ever paid extra for a bike when I’ve left from Jackson.

Everybody made it to Los Angeles okay. I hooked up with the family in the gate for the Qantas flight to Sydney. We were originally going to travel on the Airbus A380, but the engine explosion a couple weeks earlier grounded the Qantas A380 fleet. I was actually looking forward to riding on the big plane. Maybe they’ll be back in service for the return trip. As it turned out, there were a bunch of empty seats in our area on the 747 and we had a little room to spread out. Not like business class, mind you, but still better than usual.

Leaving on Wednesday afternoon (and arriving on Friday morning) meant that we missed Thanksgiving in the traditional sense. I suppose that being with family is what’s important, even if the airplane meal wasn’t the traditional turkey fare.

There’s nothing quite like a 15-hour flight. I don’t like to sit for longer than about 30 minutes, so a trip like this is pretty stressful. I was up and about as much as possible while I was awake. I managed a little bit of sleep, which was good. Despite JD’s warning otherwise, I watched a couple movies as well. Thankfully, GPS was working properly and the plane found the southeast coast of Australia right on time.

Friday

We had arranged for a private transfer from the airport to the hotel, so that worked out pretty well. We returned to the Four Seasons Hotel downtown where we had stayed the last time we were in Sydney. Familiar surroundings are always good. The rooms were available for check-in at 10 am and we had to draw straws for who got the first shower. I opted for a 4-hour nap while the family headed out to do some shopping.

The nap was rejuvenating and the rest of the afternoon was devoted to some EZ workouts. Lori and I headed out for a walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge (~1 mile or so) to the North Sydney Olympic Pool just on the other side. I can’t imagine a more beautiful setting for an outdoor pool than under the Harbor Bridge, with a view of the Opera House and all of downtown Sydney. I hopped in for a 20-minute swim in the 50-meter pool. We retraced our steps back to the hotel and I had a short spin on an exercise bike and a short run from the hotel. Everything was a little stiff after the lengthy travel.

The run brought back memories. It was here in January, 2005 that I did my first-ever 1-mile run, beginning the 2-year journey (proposed by George) that would end in Taupo for Ironman New Zealand in March, 2007. I was pleased that I could run better now! It really has been an amazing 5 years. Back in 2005 I could never imagine….



We had dinner at a restaurant across the street from the hotel and retired early for the evening.

Saturday

We were all up early on Saturday, thanks to the time change. I headed out for another run around the Circular Quay area, first with an out-and-back over to the Park Hyatt Hotel at the edge of the bridge, then another out-and-back past the Opera House. I can’t help but conclude that Sydney Harbor might be the most beautiful big-city harbor in the world. I suppose I haven’t been everywhere, and I know that the harbors in Vancouver, San Francisco, and Auckland are also beautiful, but for now Sydney is my favorite. We had breakfast on the 32nd floor of the hotel, overlooking the harbor. Two cruise ships were in port this morning.
After the run, I walked over to the North Sydney Olympic Pool for a 30-minute swim. The pool was a little more crowded today. Lots of lap swimmers.

In the afternoon, Lori and I went for a sailing excursion in the Harbor on an America’s Cup boat. The boat was actually a New Zealand syndicate boat from the 1995 San Diego challenge, about 75 feet in length with a 115 foot mast. About 20 tourists joined a “real” crew of 5 for a 3-hour sail up the length of Sydney Harbor, to Manley, and back. There were about 20 knots of wind, so we were only able to use the jib. Nonetheless, our boat was the fastest boat around, it seemed. And there must have been hundreds of sailboats out that afternoon. We took turns helping the crew and I got a turn as helmsman which was fun.

Back at the hotel, I squeezed in a quick spin at the fitness center and then had a quick bite to eat for supper. That evening, we enjoyed a performance by the Sydney Symphony at the Opera House. Back in 2005 when we were here, we went on a tour of the Opera House and I said then that, if I ever got back, I’d like to see a performance there. It’s an amazing building, stunning both inside and out. And when you think about it, it’s probably one of the most recognizable manmade structures in history….in modern times, perhaps only the Eifel Tower is in the same category. A great day!

Sunday

After breakfast at the hotel, the parents headed off for an all-day wine tour in the Hunter Valley. This was a birthday gift to both of them. They would end up having a fun day of wine tasting (and buying), lunch, and a little shopping as well.

In the meantime, Lori and I headed out for Sydney Olympic Park, taking the Paramatta River ferry from Circular Quay. Our ferry ride would take about an hour, with short stops at a bunch of riverside locales as we worked our way up the river to Homebush. I’ll guess that in 2000, the Olympic Park was built in a relatively undeveloped location….but now there’s development all around it. At the ferry terminal there, you transfer to a bus that winds its way around the Park. We hopped off at the Aquatic Center and I enjoyed a 1-hour workout there. It was fun to see the competition pool (I can remember it vividly from the TV broadcasts), but there was a swim meet going on, so I had to do my workout in the adjacent training pool. There was a huge crowd at the pool and water park. Sunday is FamilyFun day in Sydney, it turns out. We took the train back downtown. The ferry was certainly more scenic.

I did a bike workout at the hotel and then a run outside.

The parents had eaten a big lunch, so they passed on dinner. Lori and I had a quick bite at a harborside cafe, watching the sun set on the Harbor. Beautiful view and great people watching.

Monday

I was up early for an hour-long walk around downtown Sydney. It was time to say good-bye because today was travel day again. Off to Busselton! We packed up, headed back to the airport, and flew to Perth, a ~5-hour flight (Australia is BIG!). We rented a van and made the 3-hour drive down the southwest coast of Australia to the town of Busselton, home of the Ironman Western Australia race. The countryside was mostly farmland until we got to the town of Bunbury and then things changed to a more beach tourist-oriented look.

I was paying attention to the race at Ironman Cozumel as the day went by. JD got off to a terrific start at the race but had stomach troubles and dropped out early in the run. Brooke’s mom, Gail, was doing her first Ironman race and I was excited to see that she had a solid day. Ironman Gail!

We got to the Abbey Beach Resort, our home for the week, in the late afternoon. This is a combination hotel and rental condo property located about 6 km from the race start/finish. We’re in a 3-bedroom condo that overlooks the pools. The property’s right on the beach (the Indian Ocean!), but there are also 2 outdoor pools and a 25-meter (3-lane) indoor pool. We settled in, went for a grocery shopping trip to Woolworth’s, grabbed dinner from KFC, and were in bed early again (it was a 3-hour time change from Sydney).

Tuesday

After a light breakfast at the condo, I went for a run on the multi-use trail that runs along the beach. Pretty scenery as I headed out-and-back in the direction of the town center. I was out running at about 6 am and I was surprised at how many other runners, walkers, and cyclists were already out. When I finished the run, I went for a short swim workout at the hotel’s indoor pool. There were no lane lines, so when a few other hotel guests hopped in and started playing ball, it was like swimming in the open ocean. I swallowed more than a couple mouthfuls of pool water.

Next, the whole family piled in the van and we went for a lap around the bike course. On race day we’ll do 3 laps of the course to make 180 km. The course is totally flat. After leaving the transition area, the course heads out through a neighborhood, with a couple turns, and then gets onto a highway of sorts for almost the entire ride. The route meanders around the water’s edge and, with a couple hairpin out-and-backs, through a nature preserve and a national forest. The whole route is pretty scenic. For the most part, the road is newly paved asphalt, but there is one stretch of chip seal. Hopefully I won’t vibrate the bike apart on race day.
The afternoon was time for bike assembly (and thankfully no extra parts!). I was happy that everything seemed to be in working order with the bike. I took it for a test spin around the hotel parking lot. Then it was nap time!

We had dinner at the condo and then Lori and I headed back to the transition area. Lori has volunteered to help with registration on Friday. Apparently the race is VERY short of volunteers….hundreds short. Amazing. WTC bought the race….and now no volunteers. Hmmm. Maybe the aid stations will be self serve on Sunday. At any rate, there was a collection of registration volunteers at the meeting and we had a chance to meet the race director. They seem totally committed to putting a good face on the event. Seems like there was little love for WTC and a bunch of new procedures for the race.

Tomorrow, it's a ride around the course. Looking forward to that.

The race is getting close!

Highlights from Hawaii

I just got back from a terrific vacation trip to Hawaii with my sister and parents. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and I can't recall a more relaxing vacation in recent times. Mind you, I thought the family was crazy when they thought that we should travel to Hawaii in August....but as it turned out, the weather in Hawaii was MUCH cooler than here in Mississippi. And for that reason alone, the trip was also a relief. It had been 40 years since I was in Hawaii the last time and memories had faded a bit.

Day #1--Travel to Hawaii--Friday

We met in Atlanta for the flight to Honolulu, a ~10-hour flight during the daytime that got us to Honolulu mid-afternoon. I'll give Delta credit for a safe, on-time, enjoyable flight with a super-friendly cabin crew.

My initial impression of Honolulu was: crowded! We stayed the night at the Hale Koa Hotel, a hotel run by the Army for military folks. What a great place....right on Waikiki Beach at Fort Derussy (70+ green acres in the middle of Waikiki, the only "open" space in sight). The photo above is from our 13th floor balcony, looking down on the surfers. We had a quiet, restful afternoon and Lori and I had a bite to eat at an outdoor eatery right on the beach, next door at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. After the long day of travel, it was no trouble getting to sleep.

Day #2--Honolulu and Embarkation--Saturday

On Saturday morning, I headed out for a run down Waikiki, up and around Diamond Head, then back to the hotel (~8 miles), my first outside run in a while. I felt like there were about a 1,000 other tourists doing the same thing. Pretty funny. After breakfast, we headed out for an early morning tour of Iolane Palace, the palace once used by Hawaii's royal family. In modern times, the stair steps are probably better known from the original version of Hawaii 5-0.

The "real" purpose of the trip was a cruise on the Norweigan Cruise Line's Pride of America....a 7-night cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. We set sail on Saturday afternoon, bound for Maui.

For the cruise-minded, this was a typical large ship cruise. Nothing terribly unusual....good or bad. If I had any complaint, I'd say that the service in general might have been better. But there's probably no easier way to get a glimpse of the islands than to have the ship take you to the next stop each night. The fitness center was good and I logged more than a few miles on the ship's treadmills.

Day #3--Maui--Sunday

We awoke as the ship was arriving in Kahului Harbor in Maui. From the ship, you could see the nearby airport. After a pre-docking run on the treadmill and a quick breakfast, I headed off with the family to pick up a rental car. Today it was Enterprise. Then, it was off on the drive to the top of Haleakala, the island's extinct volcano. The drive took about 90 minutes and topped out about 10,000 feet.

One sight along the way was the many silversword plants, found only here. The picture here is of one of the plants that was flowering.

The view from the top was great. You could see over to the island of Hawaii, with it's Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea and over to Lanai in the other direction. We passed a few hardy cyclists making the uphill journey....and more than a few cyclists making the downhill trip on fat-tire bikes.

After our excursion to Haleakala, we returned to Kahului and then headed out the Road to Hana....at least as far as our lunch stop at Mama's Fish House. This was awesome. Beautiful setting, totally peaceful, and great food. No wonder that several of the Twitter friends wrote back quickly about having loved Mama's, too. We spent the late afternoon and evening on the ship which remained docked for the night in Maui.

Day #4--Maui--Monday

After another early session on the treadmill, my sister and I left for a day-long snorkeling excursion to the Molokini Crater, a couple miles off the shore of Maui. The parents joined a shopping excursion from the ship that headed to Lahaina. We would catch up with them in the late afternoon back at the ship.

Our snorkeling excursion was with Trilogy Excursions on a large catamaran. There were about 20 folks along for the trip. We made stops at the Molokini Crater and also along the reef off the shore of Wailea. This was my first time to try SNUBA and I thought this was great. We had 20-foot oxygen lines, so it was possible to dive down and really have a close look at the fish and coral. The best sighting was a large sea turtle. We had fun chasing after some dolphins between the 2 stops and we used the sails for about an hour on the return trip.

While we were at Molokini, I could look over at Lanai and eye up the Lanai Channel. Each October there is a relay (or solo) swim of the 9-mile channel. With each island's coast climbing to (very) tall volcanos, the 9 miles didn't look very far. There'd be no problem sighting, given the volcanos. I'd like to return some day to do that swim. It'd be fun to be part of a relay, but it'd be even more fun to tackle the swim solo.

Back on the ship that evening, I went to a spin class. It was more like a tutorial....just me, 1 other cylist, and the instructor. We had a good time, though. With the ship under sail, I got a little sea sick as I was spinning. There was a lot of up and down and I was happy that to see the class end.

Day #5--Hil0--Tuesday

Tuesday was Hilo day. After a treadmill run and breakfast, we picked up a rental car and drove to Volcanoes National Park to see the Kilauae Volcano. Pictures won't do this justice, but the picture below is from one of the observation areas at the rim road. The volcano has been erupting continuously for more than 20 years now.

Our excursion stopped at the visitors centers along the rim road and then again for a walk through the Thurston lava tube, one of the "tubes" that once carried molten lava toward the sea. Our ship departed Hilo in the late afternoon and at about 10 pm we got close to shore and slowed up to cruise by the seashore (at least from binocular distance) where the lava is currently flowing into the sea. Amazing, really. There were about 8 areas where molten lava was putting on a display as it hit the cold ocean water.

Day #6--Kona--Wednesday

I'd been looking forward to Kona day for a long time. We had met a fellow triathlete, Gerd Weber, on our trip to Brazil last year and it turns out that he lives in Kona. I made plans to meet Gerd on the pier and go for a swim and bike. Mom rested and Lori and Dad went on a snorkeling excursion south of Kona.

Gerd was waiting on the pier and it was fun to catch up with him. He's done 6 Ironman races this past year to celebrate his 60th birthday. Wow! At any rate, we stored our gear bags and went for a swim on the course. It's different than I had imagined from TV....didn't realize that the course parallels the left shoreline (on the way out). It's really beautiful. Crystal clear water with big visibility. Lots of fish and a couple manta rays. Plenty of swimmers, too.

After the swim, we picked up my rental bike at BikeWorks and headed out for a long ride. We had a quick tour of town, then got onto the Queen K Highway and went north as far as Waikoloa. Like everybody says, the scenery is on the bleak side with the lava fields on each side of the highway. There's a little bit of greenery at the turnoff to head to the Four Seasons Hotel (and Lance's Kona home) and then no greenery until Waikoloa. We turned off there, went on a lap around the resort, checked out the beach, then grabbed an ice cream. The guys at the Waikoloa branch of BikeWorks watched our bikes. The return ride featured a headwind and the afternoon heat. I can see why this ride would be a challenge on Ironman day.

Back in Kona, we stopped at Lava Java for a smoothie and Lori joined us there. It was fun people watching as we sat outside on Alii Drive. We returned the bike and returned to the ship. An awesome day. After seeing Kona for so many years on the TV, it was great to see the place in person.

Day #7--Kauii--Thursday

Thursday morning we arrived in Kauii as I was finishing up a treadmill run on the ship. Nawiliwili Harbor was my favorite place name. Almost everybody has seen Nawiliwili Harbor....even if they haven't been there. Picture the opening pictures from the TV series MASH. The twin peak hillside where the choppers fly around is actually the hillside along the pier at Nawiliwili Harbor. Small world.

Here, we rented a car and drove to Waimea Canyon, Hawaii's version of the Grand Canyon. I must admit it looks very similar, if only on a smaller scale.



We had a restful afternoon on the ship and then went (with the masses from the ship) to a luau at a local plantation. The show was fun and I thought the pineapple juice was great. Couldn't make a trip to Hawaii without a luau, I suppose.

Day #8--Kauii--Friday

The ship overnighted in Kauii. We didn't plan any activities for Friday morning. I went for a long run off the ship, heading up the hill, down to the airport, and back to the ship. There was a mini-hurricane, it seemed, but it only lasted as long as my run!

The ship left port at 2 pm and cruised toward the Na Pali coast, the setting or backdrop for many movies--most notably, Jurassic Park. The scenery was just beautiful in the afternoon sun.

Day #9--Honolulu Again--Saturday

The ship arrived back in Honolulu early on Saturday morning. I think I was the last remaining passenger in the fitness center as everybody was getting ready to disembark.

We spent the day on a bus tour of Honolulu. The highlight was the stop at Pearl Harbor. We had a chance to visit the exhibits and movie at the Visitors Center and then take the short boat ride out the USS Arizona memorial.

It's just so hard to imagine that there was a world war in our parents' lifetime. The tour also included a drive through the Punchbowl cemetery and a quick drive to Oahu's north shore. We got dropped off at the airport, where we picked up a rental car and returned to the Hale Koa Hotel.

Day #10--Honolulu--Sunday

Sunday was a recover day. I went for a short run, but we spent most of the day just lounging at the hotel pool. We took a breat to have Sunday brunch a couple doors down at the Halekulani. Great food. Great setting. And a waiter who offered to take the family photo....

We ate an early dinner at the hotel and went to bed early so we could be up early the next day.

Day #11--Honolulu--Monday

Monday was race day. The 2010 Waikiki Roughwater Swim. I'd been looking forward to this for a long time, too. The 2.4-mi swim is the original Ironman swim. This day, there were 965 swimmers, organized into 4 waves by seeding time. I was in the 2nd wave, with the 437th fastest seeding time. There were a lot of fast swimmers! There were a couple entire college swim teams in the first wave.

The race starts on the beach in front of the New Otani Hotel, heads out about 700m through the boat channel, then parallels Waikiki Beach, heading to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The final leg toward shore happens in the boat channel there, with a finish on the beach. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was awesome.

The swim went well and I reached the final turning buoy, with 670m to go in ~51 minutes. I thought that was a great effort in just a bathing suit (no wetsuit!), but with the surf and undertow, it took me nearly 16 minutes to do the last 670m. Wow! I finished 256th. I thought it was my best-ever open water swim. Solid from start to finish. My folks and sister were there to cheer me across the finish line. I picked up my t-shirt and cap and we enjoyed a celebration lunch at Cheesecake Factory down the street.

After lunch, Lori and I took a trip to the Ala Moana Mall, where we had a smoothie and took in a belly dancing show. The rest of the afternoon was spent just resting at the hotel. What a week!

Day #12--Depart--Tuesday

Tuesday, departure day, came all too quickly. It was a great vacation. We left on Tuesday afternoon for the afternoon flight back to Atlanta, then the short flights to our own hometowns. All I could think of was....the flight to Australia is 6 hours longer!

A Blast in Boulder

Last month I had the chance to visit in Boulder with Brooke Burger and Justin Daerr. It was a super short weekend trip, but I had a blast.

I managed to get away from work at lunchtime on Friday and was pleased that afternoon thunderstorms had not yet developed here in Jackson. I'd be traveling on Delta Airlines, first from Jackson to Atlanta, and then from Atlanta to Denver, arriving at about 9 pm. The trip was complete with complimentary upgrades to first class on both flights....and a "real" dinner on the Atlanta to Denver leg.

Some of you will know that I don't have the best luck with Delta and, sure enough, the illusion of a perfect trip came to an end at the Delta Baggage Office when my bike didn't show up. The agent could tell that the bike had made it to Atlanta, but not to Denver. It'd probably be in Denver later that night, he told me. Oh, well. So off I went to pick up the rental car and head to Brooke and JD's place.

The drive from DIA to North Boulder isn't very long. It was dark, though, and I couldn't really appreciate the scenery. It was great to see JD again. And it had been last November, at Ironman Florida, since I had seen Brooke. We probably could have spent the entire night talking, but we needed to get an early start on Saturday. Even still, it was a short night!

Saturday morning arrived with some bright sunshine. The picture above is the view from their balcony, looking south toward Boulder, I think. JD has often tweeted pictures from the balcony, usually to show the weather, snow, etc. The sunshine was welcome for the day's activities....a 2-mile swim race at the Boulder Reservoir and then a bike ride.

We headed out on Saturday morning to the Boulder Reservoir for the Bare Bones swim race that was organized by the Boulder Aquatic Masters (BAM) swim club. BAM apparently organizes a series of these no frills swim races each summer. Swimmers could choose between 1- or 2-mile distances and could enter wetsuit or no-wetsuit divisions. I chose the 2-mile swim without a wetsuit, thinking that this would be good preparation for the upcoming Waikiki swim race that would also be a no-wetsuit event. It was fun to see so many people gathered for the swim race....and the Reservoir seemed to be a terrific venue. From the results, it looks like there were about 130 swimmers. We ran into Dennis Meeker before the race and it was nice to see him again. He was heading to IM Canada the following weekend. Laura Tingle apparently made an appearance, too, but I missed seeing her.

All of the swimmers started at the same time, but the race thinned out pretty quickly. I can remember thinking that the race started off pretty fast (like always), but then I settled into a steady swim for the rest of the race. I thought the race was pretty uneventful, which was great. I swam alone for most of the way. I remember looking at my watch at the 20-minute mark and thinking that either: 1) I was going very slowly or 2) this was going to be more than 2 miles. As it turns out, speculation after the race had the 1-lap distance at 1.35 miles or so. I was pleased that I didn't seem to notice any adverse effects of the mile-high altitude. I had worried that I'd feel like a fish out of water.

I finished in 1:10. I had a strong 2nd lap, I thought, and I caught up to a group of swimmers who had been out in front of me. As I got to the finishing "chute," I saw JD and Brooke standing on the pier cheering. I was a little surprised to see that JD had already changed. I rolled over in the water, laughing, thinking that it really HAD been slow! Hmmm. It turned out that JD had stopped after 1 lap. No wonder he was already dry. Among the 2-mile non-wetsuit folks, I finished 13th out of 18. On the bright side, I managed to finish ahead of 13 of the 26 folks in a wetsuit. Matt Reed was the winner, in 52:36. Wow!

We headed into Boulder for a hearty breakfast at Foolish Craig's Cafe. That was a fun choice and we got to see a bit of Boulder on the way.

Delta came through in the end and my bike made its way to JD's place around noon on Satuday. Just in time for the bike ride. JD helped assemble the bike....and we were off for a ride to Ward and back. JD deserves an award for patience for this. In contrast to the swim race earlier, it took me only 2-3 minutes of riding (essentially riding in the driveway behind JD's place) to realize that there was almost no oxygen here. At any rate, I told myself to stick with it and see what comes. I can only laugh now that JD told me it'd be no different than skiing at altitude. I assured him that skiing was a downhill sport....and riding to Ward would be almost entirely an uphill sport.

Living on the edge of North Boulder puts JD right at the foothills. Our ride would take us north on Hwy 36, then up Lefthand Canyon Drive to the little town of Ward. This was about 44 miles, with a climb of 16 miles up Lefthand Canyon Drive to an elevation of about 9200 feet. The climb was a pretty slow effort. JD probably had trouble going so slowly. I had a great time, though. The scenery was great. The ride was a challenge. And eventually--after a very steep last mile--reached the town of Ward and a welcome rest stop at the general store. JD bought me a cookie (the traditional fare) and we sat and rested for a bit. My photo of the store doesn't do the scene justice. Ward really looks like something out of another time (decades ago).

The 16 miles downhill went more quickly. It's the first time I've gone downhill that far (or long). These past 2 years in Tucson I was afraid (of heights, going fast, etc.) to do the descents. On this descent, there weren't big drop-offs, so I wasn't worried about heights. It was fun to go fast.

For dinner on Saturday, we headed to The Med. This was a great choice. Brooke, JD, and I had a chance to talk about so many things. And enjoy the tappas menu items as we did. I had pizza (I was SO hungry!) and they had salads. After dinner we went for a walk along Pearl Street. It was fun to see so many people out strolling, enjoying the shops and street performers. The most surprising finding was stumbling across Into the Wind Kites. As it turns out, my family has ordered many kites from Into the Wind over the past 20 years....and never really thought about the location of their "real" store. And here it was. They had a great collection of kites on display, including many Hawaiian, Spin-off, Revolution, etc. stunt kites.

On Sunday, JD and I got a very early start to the day. We headed out for a 5-hour hike in the mountains to the west of Boulder. I'd be hard pressed to describe the route now, but we figured our route was about 12 miles or so. There was plenty of climbing, too....and portions were as much vertical as horizontal. The views were great, the weather was great....and it was just great to be outdoors. Once again, I could have used more oxygen. JD made it all look pretty easy (as you might imagine), but this was pretty strenuous. I figure the hike equated to about 10,000 squats at the gym!

Sunday afternoon found the 3 of us lounging at home, recovering from the weekend's activities. We re-packed the bike and decided to visit FedEx to send it back to Jackson instead of trusting Delta again. Cheaper, too.

We finished up the weekend with dinner at Cantina Laredo. Brooke and JD described this as part of the "new" Boulder. Everybody chose fajitas. And a few chips, too. Bedtime came early because I needed to be up at 3 am for the trip back to Jackson.

It'd be impossible to do justice to the story here, but the Monday morning trip back to the Denver airport was pretty amazing. My rental car broke down within sight of JD's place, it took 4 hours for the tow truck to arrive (pressed into service by the Longmont police and then ran out of gas on the way to Boulder), and I made the trip to DIA in style with my rental car on the back of a flatbed truck! I had planned to be back at work by noon, but instead I got back to Jackson at about 8 pm. I can laugh now....

This was a super weekend. Good friends, good times, great memories.

Celebrating the Little Victories: Rah!

It's been a particularly busy spring and early summer here. And oh, so hot! I don't think I've ever wanted so badly for winter to come.

At any rate, I've been on hiatus (for too long) from the blog and I thought that I'd try to catch up. I did another blog entry about my recent races and upcoming plans and I thought I'd write today about a topic that's been on my mind for a few weeks now: celebrating the little victories.

An event at the swimming pool a few weeks ago and a suggestion from coach Justin got me to thinking once again about motivation--not only MY motivation but motivation for athletes in general. I'm sure this topic that has received ample attention from sports psychologists, but I haven't done any relevant reading on the topic. So today, I'm just sharing some of my thoughts and observations.

Event #1--The swim TT

A couple weeks ago, Justin had me do a 1000 yard TT at the pool. In our time working together, we hadn't really done much benchmarking at the pool, but I had suggested that we do some TT's at various distances to see where things stood with swimming. Starting with the EC Swim Camp in late November, it's been a great 8 months of swim training. In part because of a schedule change at work and in part because of a recognition that our masters' workouts weren't very specific for long-course tri swimming, we took a new approach with swimming this year. For the time being, we've ditched masters practice entirely and I've done 3 workouts each week on my own. It's worked out well. I've probably made more progress these past 8 months than in the previous 2 years.

Which gets us to the time trial. For the 1000 yard TT, I was at the pool all by myself one day. Not another person in sight at the 50m by 25y pool....20 SCY lanes to myself. I think it's pretty hard to do a long swim TT alone, but I finished the ~1200 yard warm-up and off I went. The TT swim went well and the time was a PR. I got to the wall, looked at the clock, and gave a big fist pump. But, as it turns out, I wasn't alone after all. There was a lifeguard sitting quietly on the bleachers who stood up and applauded. He took me by surprise and I could only chuckle, perhaps a little bit embarrassed about my celebration at the wall.

If he only knew....

Event #2--Race Schedule

The second thing that got me to thinking was a suggestion from Justin. We were talking about my potential to improve with short-course racing in the 2011 season and we both had some ideas. But one of Justin's suggestions was to do more low-priority races. He's clearly right. Frequent racing undoubtedly helps develop the "racing nuts and bolts" that it takes to excel....over and above whatever conditioning (from training) is also needed. This got me to thinking about my schedule for this year....and then last year, too.

In 2009, I attended the EC Tucson camp, did 7 triathlons (including 4 sprint races, 1 Olympic distance race, and 2 Ironman races), raced a relay leg (swim) at another triathlon, and swam in 1 open water swim race. In all, 12 weekends with racing or camp. All but 1 of the triathlons involved out-of-town, overnight (or longer trips).

This year, I attended the EC Tucson camp and scheduled 5 triathlons (including 1 sprint, 2 intermediate distance, 1 70.3, and 1 Ironman race), 2 open water swim races, and 1 running race. If I don't add anything else to the schedule, 11 weekends with racing or camp. Again, a lot of out-of-town travel to support the race schedule.

I completely realize that, in many circles, that's a very modest racing schedule. But by the same token, it's still a lot of time devoted to the hobby of triathlon. In the end, there are a handful of races among hundreds of days of training--for me and for most every other triathlete I know.

The Point!

I've taken a round-about way of getting to the point. But here it is. Race day is fun for so many reasons. Probably more so than anything else, it's a chance to challenge ourselves--to see what we can do.

For most of us, though, the opportunities to celebrate "big" victories on race day are few. No doubt, race day comes with the opportunity to excel in one or another aspect of the race, or to improve upon one's performance from a previous edition of the race, or complete a longer distance race than ever before. But there's only 1 race winner, 3 people on the podium, 1 age group winner, a small number of qualifiers, etc. So when there's a "big" victory, there's ample reason to celebrate.

But what sustains triathletes during the season....or even from season to season? For me--and for many others, I do believe--it's the "little" victories. Not only on race day, but each and every day.

Like I said: if the lifeguard only knew.... My neighbors will know that when I finish a run at the bottom of my driveway, my arms are almost always over my head, like at the finish line of a race. And when the run is a negative split, the finish is usually accompanied by a "Rah!" on my part. When I'm running outside, I celebrate at the top of every hill. When I'm inside, I cheer when I see that I outlasted everybody else on the treadmill. At the pool, I cheer every time the last 100 is as quick as the first, every time there's a new PR for a longer distance swim, and I cheer really hard when I manage to string together dozens of flipturns in a single workout. And I cheer for nearly every little victory on the bike....every new season-best or all-time best cp1 or cp5 or cp20 or cp60, any time I "win" the impromptu sprint, and certainly any time I'm fortunate to keep up with faster company. Even out-racing the occasional stray dog deserves a cheer.

There's almost NEVER a day when I don't have the chance to celebrate a little victory along the way. And that's what sustains me.

Celebrate the little victories!

Larry

Catching Up

Time has totally gotten away from me this summer. So much to do....and so little time to do it! After a long absence from the blog, I'll try to get caught up--quickly. At least on the racing front. And I'll work hard to get my next post about "Celebrating the Little Victories" up soon.

Memphis in May Triathlon

I had a terrific time at the Memphis in May Triathlon Olympic-distance race this year. My sister, Lori, visited for the weekend and we had a chance to spend both Friday and Saturday nights in Memphis. On top of that, I got a chance to see Justin who came to do the race, see Blake Becker and Dennis Meeker again, and to meet Laura Tingle.

The race itself was....HOT. That will be the lasting memory, I think. Hot at the start, hot on the bike, and miserably hot on the run. Since I had done the race in 2008 and had visited recently for some training with my friends, Alisha and Brandon, the course was very familiar this time around. All in all, it was a solid day at the race, capped off by a steady--if slow--run at the end. I about equalled by time from 2008, but I'll give myself credit for a better race this time considering the weather.

I managed to reach the finish line before the pros started, so I got to cheer for Justin, Blake, and Laura as they started their race. It was fun to see them race and great to see Blake finish 4th, Laura finish 4th, and Justin finish 6th. I haven't done much spectating at triathlons, but it is always fun to see the speedy folks race--and particularly in transition.

After 25 years or so in Millington, TN, this race is moving to Tunica, MS next year, to the Harrah's Casino there. I've promised my financial advisor, Ted Isaacs, from St. Louis, that I'd do the race next year as he makes his triathlon debut. So it appears there will be a 2011 season of some sort.

Heatwave Classic Triathlon

Next up on the racing calendar was the hometown race, the Heatwave Classic....a 1/2 mile swim, 40K bike, and 10K run. This race draws essentially all of the local triathletes, so it's always a fun day. There were about 500 athletes this year. Like the Memphis race, it was also HOT for this race. We were blessed that we had cloud cover, but it was still warm and very humid.

The race started in 4 waves and I was in the 3rd. I swam well, but just missed winning the swim for my wave. I might have done better if each wave had a different color swim cap, but I lost track of the swimmer in front of me since we were all wearing bright yellow. I had a pretty good bike, improving on the power output from the Memphis race, and ran better, too. Again, for a hot weather day, I was happy with the effort.

Watermelon 5-K

I've been doing more run training lately and Justin and I decided to have a go at a local 5K race, the Watermelon Classic on the 4th of July weekend. It's been a while since my last running race, but I don't think I've ever run a race in hotter and more humid conditions. I enjoy the atmosphere at running races, though. It's fun to see people of all sorts come out for the event. I gave it my all....finished with a heart rate of 181....but managed only 26:14. I'm so ready for cooler weather.

This race brought up an interesting question, a question that I've shared with my Twitter friends already. Which event can you do faster: a 1650 yard swim? or a 5K run? For me, it's the swim. I did the swim recently in 21:14. I've come across only 1 other athlete (Alan Couzens, a coach from EnduranceCorner) who's in the same swim-faster-than-run camp. EVERYBODY else runs the 5K faster than swimming the 1650. Even if I never change camps, I'd like to get closer with the run. I'll continue to view this as an opportunity!

Beach Bum Triathlon

A couple weeks ago, I raced in the Beach Bum Triathlon at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for the 6th time. I combined this with a visit with my parents who live there at the beach. This is always a fun race....a 500m swim, 6-mi bike, and 3-mi run--ALL on the beach. Something a little different. And with a mass start with ~200 competitors, it sets up nicely (at least at the outset) for me. I'm not very good with the running-into-the-surf start (short legs, limited jump, etc.), but I got off to a good start.

Even before I reached the first turning buoy (~50m from shore), I had a pain in my left side that I attributed to a rough edge on my tri-top. I rounded the first buoy in about 15th position and settled into a steady rhythm for the 400m length along the shoreline. In no time at all, though, I had a searing pain in my right forearm and another behind my right knee, both due to jellyfish stings. This was a first. And at first, I wasn't even sure what was going on. Thankfully, there were no more stings. I managed to work up to 5th position leaving the water....and at least 1 swimmer ahead of me was on a relay team, so I was in great position to start the bike.

I did the bike leg on a Trek 4300 mountain bike, wearing running shoes. The ride is short enough that it can be an all-out effort, and that's what I did. Even before the first turn-around at 1.5 miles, I had moved into 4th position! For me, it really doesn't get any better than that. It's FUN to be at the front, for sure. All good things come to an end, though. I was in about 12th or 13th position at T2 and allowed an even bigger group to get by me on the run. But all-in-all, it was a fun morning at the beach.

Next Up....

The next triathlon will be Ironman Western Australia on December 5th. My folks and sister will be making the trip as well and we're just finishing up with the travel plans. It's hard to believe that the race is only 4 months away now. Time flies.

Between now and IM Western Australia, I'll be trying my hand at a couple swim races--a 2-mi race in Boulder on August 21st and the 2.4-mi Waikiki Rough Water Swim in Hawaii on September 6th. I'm looking forward to the Hawaii trip. I haven't visited there since I was a kid. The trip to Hawaii will include a 7-day cruise around the islands, so a chance to see a little of each of the islands. I'm particularly excited to be hooking up with Gerd Weber, a friend from last year's IM Brazil trip, who lives in Kona. We're planning a swim and bike ride on the Kona racecourse. Should be fun.

Larry

Determined Again

Happiest race: Susan Komen 5-K Race for the Cure, spring, 2005. Tears at the finish after a sprint for ~27:00. Couldn't believe I ran that far.

Saddest race: 2010 N. Orleans 70.3, the Sunday before last. Sprinted at the finish (just so that my run time would be faster than my bike time). Might have cried, but I was probably too dehydrated for tears.

The N. Orleans 70.3 was the weekend before last. My folks and sister made the trip to cheer. My best friends, George and Stephanie, were there to race. And 40+ other Mississippi Heat tri club members were there competing as well. I had a terrific weekend with friends and family. But the race was a bit of a trainwreck, I'm afraid.

It was a windy, warm, and very humid day. I was reminded, more than once, that I should be thankful it wasn't as warm as the 2009 edition. Nonetheless.... The race started off with a swim in Lake Pontchartrain, with transition adjacent to the Univ. of N. Orleans campus. The water conditions were pretty choppy....more like the Gulf at IM Florida than a typical lake swim. I had a good swim, out of the water in 30:15 and across the timing mat at 30:58. I even had a better than usual T1 time as I got headed out onto the bike. The bike was an out-and-back, with a couple hairpin loops to add length, along the southern edge of the Lake. It was pretty windy for the outbound and there was a moderate tailwind on the return. I had hoped to manage a steady 190-210W for the ride, but fell a little short. I eased up a bit in the 3rd hour, but with the help of the tailwind finished up in 2:56. I felt good in T2, but it didn't take long before the hot weather got the best of me. The temps were only in the 70's, but the N. Orleans humidity and bright sunshine were rough. By mile 2 of the run I didn't feel well and by miles 4-5 I was having leg cramps that made it hard to walk, yet alone run. It would be a long 2:54 "run" to the finish line. And once again I was left wondering if I wouldn't have done better if it had been a 1.2 mile run and 13.1 mile swim!

It wasn't a pretty sight at the finish line. It was all I could do to make the few steps and sit down on a box of Gatorade at the side of the finishing chute. And I sat there for probably 15-20 minutes just collecting myself. Somebody leaned over the fence (?my sister) and asked if I needed the medical tent, but I deferred. At that moment I probably would have needed to be carried there. This is as close to a "real" medical problem as I'd like to get at a race.

I enjoyed dinner that evening with the family, George and Stephanie, and George's friends, Paula and Paul. Paul, as it turns out, is an orthopedic surgeon at Tulane. And, as luck would have it, he would turn out to be the surgeon for Robin (another Mississippi Heat member), who had a bike crash and broke his hip. So, just when you think you had a bad day....

But it was a bad day at the race. I had high expectations. I thought I was never more ready for a triathlon and that prospects were good for PR's at each leg of the race. I had told Coach Justin that I expected to finish in 5:50 (0:30, 2:50, 2:20, plus some transition time). And there was virtually no doubt in my mind that I would make that happen on race day. But that's why they have the race, isn't it?

The aftermath of a bad race is never good. And this time it was awful. I think that in the 10 days after the race, I experienced every emotion possible. I questioned everything: my motivation, my ability, my nutrition, my training, my mindset, my outfit. Just everything. I was disappointed, discouraged, upset, frustrated, aggravated. And so on.

There were some lighter moments, though. I shared with Coach Justin some of the funny comments from folks about my race. Always good to have friends.

From folks who don't really know me very well:

Comment: How did you swim so fast? Did you skip 1 of the buoys?

Me: Hmmm....What do you say? Right arm, left arm, repeat.....

Comment: Did you train for this race?

Me: Hmmm....I seem to recall some training.

Comment: Did you consider stopping after the bike?

Me: Hmmm....It was billed as a triathlon. Should've had the candy bar in T2!

From the few folks who know me well enough to know about my training, etc.:

Comment: What did Justin say? What did Gordo say?

Me: Justin said that if I ran, it would speed things up considerably.

I think that's the funniest thing I've heard since the race. And it's SO TRUE. Next time....

Comment: When I saw your bike time, I was sure you had a flat.

Me: Actually, this was finally a race WITHOUT a flat.

Comment: When we saw you at the finish, we thought you'd need the medical tent.

Me: Perhaps I did. Instead I sat down on the box of Gatorade at the finish....and couldn't move for 20 minutes. Interestingly, nobody (including you!) offered assistance to the medical tent. The finish line workers didn't seem to notice me on the Gatorade.

Justin told me, "well at least you didn't get 'good race.' That's the worst!" So I've got that going for me!

And then there was some constructive thinking about what went wrong. In the end, I think there was dehydration and possibly some electrolyte problems that we will work out before the next race. I can already see, from measuring sweat loss during this past week's workouts, that I probably underestimated the fluid requirements for race day in N. Orleans. I appreciate the helpful suggestions from some of my colleages here at work, from Dr. Bob at Endurance Corner, and also my own doctor. We'll work that out and be better prepared for the next race. The hot weather's not going away.

But in the midst of thinking about the positive steps we could take for the next race was a whole lot of anguish about preparation and execution of this race. In trying to put together a good day at the races, I likened myself to Charlie Brown trying to kick the football....or Linus waiting each year in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin to come. I'm promising myself that I'll never get this worked up about a race result again. Ever. Coach Justin got the brunt of my rantings about self-doubt. He deserves a medal for listening and my thanks for not firing me.

Some things worth remembering.... Justin has had some thoughtful advice on previous occasions. Even with a bad race, we've built up some fitness that we can carry forward. Can't take that away. That should be comforting. And he's told me before that there are always bad races to go with the good ones....and sometimes more bad ones than good ones. Even for the best athletes. So I've got some company. And that's always comforting. And this time he reminded me of one of the observations by Coach Bobby McGee....that 90% of the time athletes underperform, 9% of the time they perform as they should, and just 1% of the time do they overperform. There's company there, too. We'll work toward getting out of the first group at the next race!

And one more thing worth remembering.... Coach Gordo reminded me that it's important to remember the "why" of racing....what got you out there to do the race or be involved in triathlon in the first place. For me, that motivation was better health and the fellowship with the other athletes. And I'm certain I've got those things going for me....even on a bad race day.

I have a couple photos to share. My last blog post was about the Endurance Corner Tucson training camp. I had a busy week at work leading up to that trip and my Thursday of that week included a heart transplant in a 72 year old man with a failing heart. I ran into him and his wife at the hospital earlier this week and they wanted to share this photo with me.....the photo that they call "the tin man and the thin man" about a month after his transplant.

Helps keep things in perspective.

And one last photo to share. I was at one of our teaching conferences yesterday and one of the residents included a slide that I liked:

It's taken 11 days now to get over the bad race. But at the next race, Memphis in May on 5/23, it's "DO!" Can't wait.