California 70.3 Oceanside

I came home from the race today and Son2 said, "How's the point five (0.5) Ironman?" (Then he helped care some of my stuff to the house.)

Today was Ironman 70.3 California (Oceanside). We had 4 Team Challenge kits out there on the course, along with at least 20 spectators and volunteers who represented TC Tri with nothing but class and enthusiasm. I can't thank them enough for their support today.

It was a particularly tough race today for me (not unexpected). With a bike crash 6 weeks ago that took me out of training just as it was (sort of) starting to resemble my normal self. Pain management was the top priority after the crash; training came 2nd (sometimes Linda had to "remind" me). Add to that a bout with pouchitis (like ulcerative colitis) for the past 10 days and I was pretty much in survival mode. It was a one-armed swim, a very tough bike ride, and a struggle to run after that ride.

Friday night just before I went to bed, Coach Linda wished me good luck and told me she knew this race wasn't going to be anything like I had in mind. Race for the people who can't. Those words came back to me a time or two during the race. I finally got to bed (late) just a few minutes past 10:00pm. Tossed, turned, and visited the bathroom multiple time (DAMN pouchitis!) and finally fell asleep after midnight. Up at 4:00, wondering how the day would go.

The swim was "interesting". I used a sleeveless wetsuit that was a little big for me in order to accommodate my shoulder. The water turned out to be a comfortable enough temperature. If it hadn't been a race I think I would have thought it was cold - funny how that works! I didn't lineup in the front of my wave like usual but stayed back and wide right to avoid contact. I still had to jockey for position now and then. Even though I struggled to swim straight it was amazing how far off line some people would get. I at least had the one arm excuse! Learn to sight, swimmers! I couldn't resist using my bad arm 3 or 4 times to get out of tight quarters. I just didn't want anyone kicking that arm/shoulder and doing more damage, but I was cautious. There were some swells out near the turnaround point but not too bad. I got run over a few times. Well, more like surrounded by swimmers from a later wave. A new experience for me. I did just like anyone should - just keep swimming.

I got out of the swim in :39:19 (in 39th place) feeling more out of balance than usual, probably because of the one-armed swimming. This was more than 10 min. slower than my previous best splits. Walking and jogging to T1, I got the wetsuit off without much problem, and then started putting bike stuff on. Spent extra time drying off better than usual as well as slipping on my disposable arm warmers. Experience tells me it's worth the time because otherwise I suffer during the early part of the bike, sometimes going too hard to get warm. I got out of the VERY LONG transition area in 8:10.

The bike started well, as it usually does in this race. There are some rollers but the big climb doesn't come until the 2nd half. I felt pretty good. I passed the spot of my bike crash without incident, except for a couple random visualizations/flashbacks. I overrode those thoughts quickly and let them go. As I got to about the hour and a half mark realized that my lack of training was catching up with me. It's easy to do on this course because the challenge don't come until about 1/2 way through. I dialed it back a little but really it was too late. The first climb (at least 10% grade, I think) just about killed me. I let ego keep me from getting off the bike and walking up the hill but that ego also meant I would suffer more on the run for being dumb. People passed like I was standing still, which is how I felt. The hills and rollers that followed were not a pretty sight.

At about the 45 mile mark I had a mental meltdown. I was struggling, it was hard to see myself getting through it, and I was way more tired than I should have been. The demons took advantage. I had visions of throwing my bike into the bushes, against a tree, onto the asphalt, and walking away. I didn't care who was waiting at transition, who was cheering, or that, besides being an athlete, I was a coach setting an example. I didn't care about any of that. I was never doing one of these again!

It took at least 2 minutes to regain my focus and get back to ticking off each remaining segment. I went back to my mental game training that I learned from Kirsten Lewis (coach for WeTri outside Sacramento.) I started asking myself questions like "What if this is so much easier than I think?" and "What if there's nothing wrong?" I also changed that negative voice into a ridiculous sounding "slow motion" voice. I never got to a good place during the last 10 or 11 miles but at least I stopped thinking the worst and accepted things as they were.

Bike nutrition was another issue. I've struggled to find the key after being successful for about the first 2 years of going long. As it was i took in probably half the calories I needed - around 450 from Osmo and a Lara bar. This probably contributed to my poor start on the run. I got plain water at the 3rd aid station and that helped some. However, I pretty much stopped taking calories during the last hour. I happily dismounted the bike after 3:14:10 (in 55th place ) averaging 17.30mph ave) - 24 min slower than my previous 2 bike splits at this race.

Instead of the usual "take my feet out of my shoes before getting to the dismount line", I went ahead and dismounted with them on. The run to rack my bike was done in the bike shoes because it was all on carpet and was at most 20 yards. I spent 5:18 in T2, not at all fast, but got to see the Team Challenge Bass Lake Tri team there to cheer for me. I was obviously not on my game. I walked and jogged to the "Run Out" and stopped for a few seconds to have some sunscreen applied by a wonderful volunteer.

I thought I'd suffered on the bike but the run was a different story - it was worse. How was I going to run 13.1 miles after riding too hard AND not fueling properly?! It seemed like I took walk breaks every 200-300 meters that first mile. I also powered down 100 calories of Sport Beans, followed by water at the first aid station. I worked at "chunking" the run, not thinking of the whole 13.1 miles, but I admit it was daunting. I also tried to stop at a portapotty but it had been "wet down" by an in consider male athlete and it had no toilet paper anyway.

Mile 2 didn't get better. It turns out that the 3rd aid station had 2 things I desperately needed. First, team member Bev was volunteering there. When I saw her I was struggling just to go forward. She let me give her a wet, sweaty hug and I lost it. I usually save the tears and long hug for Linda AFTER the race! I guess it's a measure of how bad I felt because when I get emotional like that I remind myself to stay even, not getting too high or too low. The goal is to "be in the moment." Anyway, Bev said something about my being a badass with great support and enthusiasm. I pulled myself together and gradually began to walk less, run more, and finally get some semblance of what could be called a run. The 2nd thing at the aid station? An empty portapotty with a loose roll of paper. Relief was wonderful! From experience I've learned that with no colon and just an internal pouch that I can't let "the plumbing" back up or I pay for it in poor performance later.

Still, I wanted to quit and I didn't care about anyone else but me at that point. With more mental game thoughts overriding the negative talk, mile 4 and onward were a bit better. I didn't get splits the entire run, a good thing considering. I just pushed myself to the next house or next fire hydrant, making deals with myself about how far to run and when to take my walk breaks. I walked every single uphill and ran each little downhill.

I saw other athletes, TC spectathletes  and volunteers out there and gave hugs, finger points, or fist bumps but I was mostly unable to speak or yell to anyone. I saw Linda, Mom and crew around the 1/2 way point and gave Linda a big, longish hug before carrying on. For nutrition I took in water, ice, RedBull (bad boy - something new on race day!), 200 cal. of ShotBloks, and one 100 cal. GU Roctane gel. It all helped although I have no idea how many calories I got in.

While I haven't seen my GPS/Garmin file, I'm pretty sure I must have negative split the run. I finished the run slower than I predicted (no surprise there!) with a 2:27:54 and an overall 53rd in my age group out of the 132 who got bib numbers. I averaged 11:17/mi, which is no indication of how hard it was. 2:04 was my only previous run split for this race. My final time of 6:34:51 is over an hour off my personal best time. While I don't have a finish line picture I happy to say that Linda did a great job handing me the Team Challenge flag so I could unfurl it and display it as I came down the finishing chute.

I could write more details but this should suffice. Perhaps a follow up will get posted if there's a need.

What is a good takeaway for you? Your day ebbs and flows when you do a triathlon. The longer you are out there the more likely it is that you'll hit high points and low points. You'll not be able to receive those high points if you don't keep going! If you quit then not only did you let the demons, the negative talk, that low point win, but you prevented yourself from finding a high point later on. Learn strategies to deal with the rough spots and low points and not letting the high points make you go crazy is critical to a successful outcome. That leads to lows that are very hard to reverse. By the way, we teach many of these tools to our Team Challenge athletes.

Above all, race with joy and gratitude (I fell short in that department though I'm very grateful now), smile, and embrace whatever comes your way, good or bad, and deal with it. JUST KEEP GOING!