Deuces Wild Olympic Triathlon 2012

 Deuces Wild Olympic Triathlon - Sept 8th, 2012



Sept 8^th, 2012
Deuces Wild Olympic Distance
Show Low, AZ

This year’s race was sort of a redemption race. Last year, I mainly did it for training for Ironman, as a C Race. So could learn what I needed to “go the distance” so to speak.  It was also the race where I discovered I was no longer afraid of “sharks” in the water and more afraid of drowning as there were white caps on the water last year. The race was also in June, so it was moved due to the opening of TriSports  store opening in Tempe  I think.

Other things I learned from this race last year, was nutrition issues, wind on the bike.  And it was my first race that I did after my back injury in 2010. So, I had a lot to prove to myself, and of course just have some plan old fun!

I had the opportunity this time to say with some good friends that I met last year at the race. Walt and Pam, who I met at Starbucks in Safeway. Walt became one of my biggest supporters and even came to cheer me on for my Ironman last year.  I got up to Show Low Friday morning, got to Walt and Pams cabin and we drove over to the race site to check in. It was much more subdued this year, maybe because of the time of year, and the 70.3 Worlds going on in Vegas that weekend.  I got all my stuff for the race and we headed back to the cabin. We went out to dinner in Pinetop, and by the time we got back, Ken had arrived and was there to support me for the race. Walt and I did our usual checklist to make sure we were all packed and ready for the race. He was doing his first race back after having some medical issues, and was doing the Long Course. I stuck with my Olympic. I needed to get some redemption. And I notice that I like to do my races at least twice, due to I get my “PR” from the first race, and then I need to try and beat it.

2012 Results From Deuces Wild Olympic

Swim                              48:19 min
T1                                     5:01 min
Bike                            1:47:54 hr/min
T2                                     1:08 min
Run                             1:16:09 hr/min
Total Time                3:57:24 hr/min

My plan going into this race, was the same as Mtn Man. Just shave off a few minutes on each sport to PR. Of course I was coming off a high from PR-ing 25 min off my Mtn Man Olympic, so secretly I wanted that as well for this race. I do know that I was off my Paleo Diet, and I was making this an experiment as well to see what my body did with getting back to eating “regular” crappy processed food. I also didn’t get as much training in as I wanted, but I was getting in some good fast hour plus rides with Ken on the Carefree Highway. So I was feeling strong on the bike, but nervous cause I took a few more breaks then the training plan called for.

I woke up Saturday morning and was greeted with some words of wisdom from Walt taped to my bike seat!

Ken drove me to the race site, and I got myself all setup in transition, only to realize that they switched the areas, so I re set up in the Olympic area. I got ready and met up with Pam and cheered on Walt starting the Long course for the day.  Ken got some video of my race, and put it to music with one of my favorite songs to train to.

Dueces Wild

Deuces Wild Triathlon, Fools Hollow Lake, Sholow, AZ

September 8, 2012

I got in the water and was ready to go for the swim. The water was, like Flagstaff, pretty warm, 71 degrees. And it ended up giving me a lot of trouble. The minute the gun went off and I put my head down to swim, within about 200 yrds, the googles were so fogged up I couldn’t see where I was going. So much for a faster time and swimming straight. I succeeded in not getting any vertigo issues or swimming on my back,  or feel like I was drowning from the white caps, but I just couldn’t see, so basically I was swimming blind. That was a first. I need to get a good goggle cleaner/rinse. So thanks to the goggle malfunction I didn’t have the best time. I had to stop several times during the swim, take them off, rinse, and lick them to try and stop the fogging, and put them back on. Precious time in a race this short.  

I got into transition at 38:52 min/sec. So, even with a crappy swim, I beat my time by 10 min from last year. My T1 time was also quicker at 2:34 min/sec.

I got out on the bike course and the ride was nice. I felt pretty strong, the wind with nowhere near what it was last year.  I was rocking it on the bike, my average pace was around 16.5 miles per hour.  I made my usual pit stop on the back side for the restroom, but again hadn’t swallowed the lake like last year so I was good to go.

I cruised into transition at 1:32:25 hr/min/sec , which was 15 min off my time from last year!   T 2 was also fast at 2:39 min.

Heading out on to the run, I felt much better than last year, and I was able to keep my pace under control and pace myself better.

 It was also a bit cooler so I wasn’t overheating like last year, and I had no back spasms. I high fived my friend Dave Droste on the race course during the run.  I love this course. It’s so scenic, running next to Fools Hollow Lake and enjoying the water’s view. 

Then before I knew it I was running across the finish line!! With Ken and Pam there to cheer me on and take photos. I ran it in 1:06: 58  hr/min/sec. PR by  7 min!!!

OVERALL RACE RESULTS

Swim                              38:52 Min/ Sec

T1                                     2:34 Min

Bike                            1:32:25 Hr/Min/Sec

T2                                     2:39 Min

Run                             1:06:58 Hr/Min/Sec

Total                           3:23:30 Hr/Min/Sec

Another PR goes down by a whopping 34 Minutes from last year!!!

My Race "Bling" and Raffle win? Some sweet sunglasses!!

Next up? A Ten Mile Run at the Iron Girl Tempe Girls only Race in December. But just before that? Volunteering for AZ Ironman 2012, and signing up for 2013!!!

Arizona Ironman 2013 and Sunny

Arizona Ironman 2013

It's official!! I'm signed up again for Arizona Ironman 2013 next year on November 17^th, 2013. 

I volunteered for the 2012 event at the Wetsuit Stripper station! This basically means I got REALLY wet! And had an Awesome time!   Ripping off wetsuits (carefully J) of the athletes as they just get out of the water.

                               
Race Weekend has this amazing energy. Even when you aren’t competing and volunteering, I love this race. I love the vibe. It gets me exited to get back into training. A much needed inspiration when your 6 months into training and tired.

I got to meet some great new friends at the “stripper” station.  I arrived at the race site, remembering how nervous I was from last year, happy I was just volunteering, but excited that I was going to do it again. 

I got over to the wet suit station and as I was talking to people, a nice gal walks up with a prosthetic leg.  A 36,000$ prosthetic leg. I ask her how she is doing, and who is she helping today. She says her daughter Sarah.  We get talking and I realize it’s Sarah Reinertsen, the well known first female amputee to race at Kona in 2005.  I tell her I’m available if she needs any help with her transition. Her mom says yes. I’m excited that I get to meet Sarah.
The race gets started and I hear the cannon go off for the Pro Men, then the Pro Women, the finally the age groupers!! They had a lot of wait time, and I’m glad I’m not in the water cause that would of made me nervous. Boom the cannon goes off and they are on their way.

After about 50 minutes, the wetsuit area get exciting. The pro field is just getting to the steps and we watch as the pros literally SPRINT out of the water and on their way to the transition area. Probably the most exiting was watching Leanda Cave, Who won Kona this year, run by. So exciting that I forget to take a picture!!

Then the age groupers start coming out of the water. It’s all around HECTIC, by the second person I help strip I am aware that I’m going to get soaked…so I run over to my backpack and throw my phone into the top pocket and run back to my spot. After about an hour, Sarah’s mom comes running over to me to ask me to come help her daughter .So I finish my current athlete I’m helping and  run up to where she will be sitting. She arrives and I say hello!! Great Swim!! She had a big smile on her face!! And we talk about the swim as I help her out of her suit. I get to watch as she puts on her leg, and then get her up and on her way!  Inspiring!!! She swam it in 1:33, right around my time. 

I head back over and continue to help others with taking off their wetsuits. Then about another forty minutes later…I hear someone yelling my name. I turn around and there is Sarah’s mom with my cell phone in her hand!!!  Apparently, in all the excitement, I put it in her backpack instead of mine!  And how kind of her to track me down, and find me to return it when she could of just took it to lost and found. I’m forever grateful for her kindness.  And a few people got some phone calls!! Nicole to the rescue as she answered and let her know who I was and what I was doing.

By the time the athletes were threw, I was soaked to the bone! But that was SUPER FUN!! And I’m happy to say, everyone I stripped was clothed after the wetsuit came off, so no naked bodies.  Attached is a fun video that Ken took of me “stripping”.

Check out this video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/SA3kSxbKCbs

 
I stuck around for the race long enough to see the pros come across the finish line around 3 pm, Men’s and Women’s and then I headed home to rest up and get up early to sign up for next year.


On Monday I was up at 4 am, and driving to the race site by 5 AM. By the time I got to registration, there was an insane line of volunteers. Some we heard were in line by 2:45 am to be first in line. Knowing that every volunteer who wanted to race was gurantee a spot, I was ok with getting there two hours early. And as I was walking to get in line, I met up with a gal who looked at me and said, “hey, weren’t you a stripper?” LOL! She was a friend of Vicki who I met as a fellow wetsuit stripper. And so I spent the next two hours chatting with several wet suit strippers and the time passed pretty quickly.

It’s funny, my experience is different this year. I was more calmer. Like I was signing up for another race like it was no big deal. But it was a big deal. Its’ an IRONMAN!! My second, I think I come into it with more experience, so the fear of the unknown is not there. I’ve already done the distance, so I know I can do it. Now my focus is on doing better than I did last year. (14:55 hr/min). I can plan in my head where I think I can improve, now that I know the course, and how I should train for it. It makes the focus of this race different.  Nerves gone (for the moment anyway) and now a new goal. “Beat my time from last year” by getting stronger on the bike, swim smarter, nutrition.  Review my list of things I’d do differently:

          As I prepare for my next season for 2012. I am looking back at my race reflecting on what things I told myself I would do differently to make my experience better for next time.

1.    I won’t train alone again, that was just way to tough. But, I did do it, and I will again if I have too.

2.   Get a tri bike. Trek or Crevelo, but really I just want to get one that is a good fit for me.

3.   New Pedals, a proper bike fitting. That could be some of the cause for my tweaky knee at mile 80 in the bike.

4.   Buy a wetsuit, TYR Hurricane, by far the best wetsuit that I have used and like a lot Category One is fine. Okay…Maybe Category Three J

5.   Hire a Coach, or online training plan. Even though mine was good, nice to have additional input, even for one time.

6.   Diet, I did well, but I could do much better. Paleo for Athletes is the plan

7.   Lifting Program, Don’t STOP IT!! Core is huge! And the strength you felt at the beginning from lifting was not there like you wanted it to be at the end.

8.   Focus on Speed in disciplines for the next training year. More speed work and technique  in  the pool, more spin on bike, drills for legs etc. speedwork/hill work for runs

9.   Yoga/Massage with Strength Training- very important for recovery process

10.                 Full Length compression tights?  Even just the knee highs helped a lot!

11.                 A new seat for the bike. The girly parts could use just a bit more comfort.

So here I go, back into the line and with one quick swipe of my debit card, and I’m signed up for next year. Full sign up to be completed by Friday when I get my confirmation information.

This years race will also have special meaning to me. I’m going to be racing for one of my patients. Her name is Sunny. I met her in her most challenging moment in life around June of 2012. She arrived at our hospital with a glioblastoma, which is an aggressive cancerous brain tumor. (Disclaimer: due to HIPPA rules, I did get permission from Sunny, her husband and her daughter to tell her story, as I hope they read this, they can let me know if anything isn’t okay post J ). I walked into her room to do my OT eval and was met with this amazing spirit and smile. She had her head shaved in a Mohawk and was dyed in either purple or blue, in polka dots one day, stripes the next. We got to know each other the few weeks we were together, we connected with each other through our leisure activities. She had hiked the Grand Canyon from River to Rim, I had just done a Rim2Rim2Rim. She did her first triathlon two years prior at Carlsbad in the Pacific Ocean. I was in awe of her! I may have done an Ironman, but open water ocean swims were something that I feared. Hence, why I did AZ Ironman because it’s in a protected lake.  We bonded in the mornings as we did therapy. And one particular morning, when she was having a rough moment, we talked about triathlons and things on the bucket list. As we were talking, she got quiet, and said, “I’m never going to get to do one of those (Ironman)”.  My response was, “yes you will, because with your permission I’m going to put your name on my bike and race it for you.”  She smiled and said, “Okay, and my dtr will have to do it with you!”   And I said I would do the Carlsbad Race again for her, if it was her first tri, then it would be my first open water sprint tri.  I learned after we talked that she didn’t get a medal for doing her race. I wanted her to know that she had done an amazing accomplishment that many people are afraid to try. She knows this I’m sure, once you do a triathlon, no matter what distance; it gives you this sense of accomplishment. Like you can conquer the world. So her last week there, I gave her my first medal I ever won for a sprint triathlon. It was my third place finish at the “Tri in the Pines” from Show Low, AZ.  I wanted her to have that same feeling for the fight she had ahead of her.   I’m in the design process of how I’m going to put Sunny’s name on my bike. But as soon as I have it, I’m going to post it.  So, Sunny, This race is for you!! 

Getting "back in the game"

2012 Racing Report

August 12^th, 2012 

Mountain Man Olympic Triathlon

Flagstaff , AZ

Sorry if I ramble a bit, I’m just a bit tired, and will Spell Check Later!  Enjoy!

Today was my first race back after my Ironman last November. I’d been having a hard time getting back in the “game” if you will and committing to a training plan.  I had at least got back to doing some “training” without a plan, but finally made the commitment. I signed up for the Mtn Man Olympic Tri for 2012.  I choose this because I could make a goal to see if I could beat my PR from 2010, my first ever Olympic Tri. Which was after a gallbladder removal and only 6 weeks of training. There were several things that had me nervous about this race.

1.     I didn’t train on the bike for near as what I needed to do. Construction on Fain Rd, kept me from my usual route, and I grabbed rides where I could up at Lake Mary and on my trainer at home.

2.     I was running, but only averaging about 3-4 miles as the old back injury was making itself known and I had to tone it down a notch so I wasn’t having shooting pain down my backside.

3.     I  had just started a Whole 30 Meal Plan, reading a book called It Starts with Food, inspired me to try it, and see if I could dial in my nutrition better and as the book stated would help me race better. I also wanted to see if I could “go the distance”.  

So this Whole 30,  basically is a Paleo Diet, only eating meats, veggies and fruit.  And NOTHING ELSE. No dairy, sugar, grains, legumes, bread, nothing.  So I was using this race as an experiment to see how I could adjust to racing and training and not have the usual Gu fuel, powder race drinks, Gatorade, etc.  Seems like it was a success!  And I was on Day 29.

And I have to admit I was scared I wasn’t sure I could do it and not bonk. So I took the pressure off and just used this race as a  “get back in the game”.

Race Day:

Sunday Morning: Aug. 12^th, 2012.

I woke and was reasonably calm. I had all my gear ready to go. And was out the door by 4:15 am. I got over to the race course and got my transition setup, body marked, timing chip, and finished any last minute details. I had decided earlier in the week that I would try and knock off one minute on each discipline so I could at least try to break my previous result as follows:

2010 Results From Mountain Man Olympic Triathlon

Swim 45: 06

T1 5:18

Bike: 1:32:19

T2 4:19

Run 1:12:50

3:39:51

My swim wave for the Olympic  was the last one, so we were offset 22 minutes from the start time. At 6:32 AM I jumped into a reasonably warm 71 degree Lake Mary and started my swim. I actually had a lot of contact in the first 500 yards of the swim, more so then my Ironman. I even stayed near the back because I didn’t want to get in the pack I couldn’t keep up with. But I felt strong; I also just told myself I would do it. My swimming is the one thing I had been working on all off season. But in the pool I was getting 40 minutes to get in 1500 yards. So I knew I had better in me then my previous result, and I WANTED that to be better. NO MERCY became my mantra for the day. And it was a good one that someone gave me to focus onJ.  I remember coming around the first buoy, and thinking  everyone was farther to the left, and I was in line with the buoy , so I felt like  I had to keep checking where I was, but I was fine, and it gave me lots of clear water to swim. Before I knew it, I was at the second buoy, then the last turn around.  By this time, I KNEW I was doing better, but I thought I was around the 40 min mark.  When I ran out of the water, It must have been here that I got a gash on my foot cause it was bleeding by the time I got to transition. I literally ran to the timing mat to get my best time. My swim time?  33:31 min/sec.   Highly blowing my old time out of the water! Literally by 12 minutes! I never expected that time! I’m still in a bit of shock, I always seem to have my open water swim be longer then pool swims, so that was a pleasant surprise!

((((ADDENDUEM:  I actually went back and found out I swam my distance in 30:36min/sec  and T1 was 2:54 )))))

I don’t currently know my T1 or T2 time, I’ll add them later.  But my plan was to get in/out fast so I didn’t lose any time. I headed out on the bike and was going faster then usual. I slowed down by the turn around but got there in 50 min rather than 53 min from my last training ride. I turned and hauled butt back to transition. What I did notice was that even as I booked it back my legs were still feeling good. I knew they were tired, but I was back in the mental game of just telling myself, “they don’t hurt! YOU ARE FINE! You have enough left in the tank” you know that whole “mental toughness” thing. I got back to transition in record time. Originally I was thinking  my previous time was 1:27 hr/min, so I was bummed  I wasn’t going to met my goal of beating my time. Only to learn later as I wrote this, I beat it by 3 minutes J.  I must have been flying because I hit the brakes and skidded to a stop! LOL then got off my bike and headed into transition. Per Garmin 3:39 per mile and 16.5 pace.

I began my run with a faster pace than I expected! I clocked my first mile at 9:50min. Then I began the ascent up the hill. And usually I only walk it. But with my goal, I decided to run/walk a min at a time. I was getting hot and was dumping lots of water on me. At the turn around, I decided that I was going to go for 1:05 min. Even though I thought my time was 10 min miles from the previous race. I’m not sure where I got this time, as you can see from above it really was 1:12 hr/min. So I began my decent down the hill and picked up the pace to a 9:30 min/mile. I usual I felt myself begin to  bonk near the bottom and was back to the one min run/walk interval. But as I hit the one and ½ mile mark, I was determined to get my butt moving.  Any jogging was better than walking, and I was ready to get done and get to that finish line for my reward J.   I pushed the last ½ mile and ran around a 9:45 pace. Then I rounded the corner, and ran down through the Finish line! I remember seeing the time of 3:36. So I knew I had to subtract 22 min from that, I beat my goal of getting home under 3:30. But I was having trouble figuring out exactly what time I had gotton. I thought I was slow in two of my events.  Of course it’s hard to figure it out while I’m hunched over trying to catch my breath!!! 

Good news is that my run was 1:09 hr/min and my pace was 11 min/miles.

After further investigation. I realized that I PRed in all THREE EVENTS.

Unofficial Results Minus T1 and T2 times.

                        Swim 1500 yds          30:36 min/sec                  beat by 15 min
                        T1                                     2:54 min/sec
                        Bike 24.6 Miles       1:29:25 hr/min/sec           beat by 3 min 
                        T2                                     2:21  min/sec        
                        Run 6.2 Miles          1:09:19 hr/min/sec           beat by 3 min
                        Total time                 3:14:37 hr/min/sec

Guess this Whole 30 meal Paleo Diet just spoke for itself and proved to me that it does work for dialing in better race nutrition. Not to mention the side benefit of losing a lot of weight. Which I can’t check until after Day 30 which is Monday. So Tuesday, I’ll see just how much I lost.

Next Race? Deuces Wild Olympic Triathlon Sept 7-9^th in Show Low, AZ