race

Going into the Pac Grove race, I was tentatively thinking about racing the following day at the Big Kahuna Half Ironman. I'm coaching a teammate for his first trip to Kona this year and I had him do these back-to-back races to build mental toughness. I wanted him to know that he could race tired and that he could get himself out of a bonk, basically the essential tools of ironman racing. I've always been a hands-on coach so I thought I would do this combo to personally show him that you can problem-solve yourself out of any tough predicament. Given that I was not in half-ironman shape at all, I knew it was going to be a tough day, but that's exactly what I needed to prove my point. I have to admit, during the run of the Pac Grove race, I was really having regret of racing the half the next day. But after 16 years of racing, I was looking for a new experience and a good story to fall back on years from now. After the Pac Grove race, I drove to the Big Kahuna race expo and basically paid $220 for 5 hours of suffering the next day. Race morning came and I immediately sprung out of bed and to my surprise, was not sore and in good mental spirit. Arriving at the race, there were no nerves and anxiety and it felt like a training day. I didn't even bother to warm up. The swim was pleasant as I intentionally took a line far from the pack and swam solo the entire time and hit the beach in a fairly fast 26:15. I was surprised because the swim felt so easy, almost like what I do on a long recovery swim day. Out on the bike, I knew it was going to be a tough day because when I took my first gel, I was dry-heaving. My stomach did not want to eat any type of energy food. I couldn't even take a salt tablet without dry-heaving and coughing it up several times before I got it down. My plan was just to build the entire day and try my best to hold off the impending bonk. The past two times I did this race, I had strong swims and bike rides and race up front. This time, I was back in the pack with the other folks and what I saw was totally disgusting. There was so much blatant drafting going on and when confronted, I got nothing but stone cold looks and words to the efffect of "mind my own business". It's amazing to me when I see amateurs cheat,aren't we all doing this because we want to challenge and test ourselves? I'm convinced the only legit finishes were the guys up front in the top 15 or so. At one point, I was so mad that I just put my head down and blew by the two packs fo drafters. Alas, I couldn't hold them off and dropped off the pace and bonked at about mile 40. From then on, I got the exact experience I paid for. I started the run with some dry-heaving and a very unsettled stomach. I just took in water when I could and tried to take some salt. I slowly came around and was holding 7:22 pace for miles 3-7 or so. I made three bathroom stops on the run so any time I gained, I lost quickly with the stops. At mile 8, I reached for my salt and realized the salt had fallen out of my pocket. Things were shutting down and I my stomach was not willing to take in the energy drink or a gel. I jogged 8-9 minute miles from 8-12 and slowed to a walk at the mile 12 mark. A couple of women and a guy who I had encouraged earlier gave me some words to get me going and that helped. I crossed the finish line and felt a bit embarrassed when I heard Whit, the announcer, give me props and he told the crowd that I would be on the podium today...yeah right, only if they are giving an award for 38th place. But when my teammates saw me, I knew I had proven my point that one can die and still finish a race. This race was so much more competitive this year and I was really humbled by the experience. My friend Staffan and Solette, who both qualified for Kona this year, looked amazing. They really have this long stuff down, with Solett finishing third overall at Coeur d'Alene, in her first ever ironman. In the same race, Staffan in only his second ironman ever went 9:50 and qualified for Kona. I've never seen the two of them race with so much confidence, you could tell that they were focused the entire time. Ironically, I was the happy-go-lucky, team-in-training, ra ra cheerleader type on the race course, yapping away and giving everybody some lovin. This race firmly seals my decision to retire from the long stuff. All I can say is that I paid $220 for that experience.