Go Fast 24 Hours of Erock - Race Report

Well this was my first 2 person race.  It was also my first 24 hour race.  And most importantly it was my wife's first race ever.  Yes she jumped into the deep end of the pool for this one.  We arrived at the race site around 3PM for the 6:30PM start time after both having worked a half day, yes this looked to be a hot one at around 90 degrees.  We quickly went about setting up the tent and I realized I needed one thing for my bike so drove home (nice to race 20 minutes from home).  I got back quickly and we had about an hour to go.

So the race works like this.  Any number of people from 1 up to 8 can enter as a team.  Teams can be male/female/coed.  Dana and I would operate as a 2 person coed team.  Each person must complete at least one lap.  A lap is 8.3 miles or so with about 565 feet of climbing.  Dana and I decided to alternate at the start with me going first since the start has about a 500 yard run with your bike.

At 6:30 I was lined up and ready to go.  I took off on my first lap with the run and finished it in about 38 minutes.    Pretty close to on target.  Our initial goal was to get around 240 miles.  The thinking was optimally I could do 140 and Dana could do 100.  But 2 weeks after TTT was too close for my legs and it became apparent early that I would not meet my goal, but my second goal was to at least go over 100 miles on my mountain bike.  After my lap I started to eat and get ready for lap two.  Dana finished way faster than I expected in about 42 minutes.  I quickly ran over to start our 3rd lap.  We did another alternating lap each and then at midnight started doing doubles through the dark so the other could rest.  Mistake one was not trying out our lights before hand.  Dana had some trouble with hers.  My front brakes busted on my first lap at night.  I was able to fix them with zip ties.

The thing about a 24 hour race is you can't really rest when there are only 2 of you with no crew.  We were always prepping food or bottles or something.  Plus you are kind of jacked the whole time so it's hard to sleep.  Dana had some stomach issues in the middle night with cramps etc.  I did fall asleep waiting which was good.  Around 4:30AM while I was finishing a double I could see the sunlight beginning to peak over the horizon.  Pretty cool.  Dana got to watch the full sunrise while I tried to nap again.  The middle of the night was quite difficult to stay motivated but once the sun started pounding us I wished it was night again.

As the day wore on our spirits wilted in the sunlight.  Around 1:30PM we started to meltdown.  We recovered after taking a brief brake and sort of walking it off.  We committed to getting at least 12 laps each. So that was finished and we had 199.6 miles or something.  So I decided to do one more lap to put myself over 100 and us over 200.  I was struggling with some issues downtown, with all that sitting in hot, sweaty sandy bike shorts.  Anyway we finished with 25 total laps and 208 miles.  Dana did awesome.  I was very proud of and happy for her.  It was a heck of an experience.  The after party at the race was quite enjoyable too, with Wahoo Fish Tacos and Avery Beer Company.

We beat one 3 person coed team and 2 all male teams in the 2-3 person category and tied another.  There was only one other 2 person coed team who we ended up making friends with during the race.  They slugged out 29 laps.  Quite an endeavor.

Happy Training!

The American Triple T - Race Report

Holy Cow!  First response, but I will digress to give you my race experience.  I flew out Thursday to see my sister and her family.  I awoke at 5am to catch my Chicago flight and final flight to Columbus.

I arrived around 3:30 and called Chelsea to let her know I arrived.  I spent the evening with my sister and brother in law Joe and my nephew and niece, Spencer and Schaeffer.  Wow incredible!  Dana and I are looking at kids in a few months.  But Chels and Joe are really in the thick of it and it is awesome.  We dropped Schaeffer off for soccer, then saw Spencer get recognized for his all A's report card, smart little dude,.  Then we went to baseball practice for Spencer.  Reminds me of T2, switch out and get ready to roll.  Then we headed back and helped Schaeffer with her history test, I hope my New England Patriots analogy helped.  Family dinner at 8pm, wow I eat at 8 after training.

I woke up in the morning and everyone had to roll.  I loaded up the car and headed out for Portsmouth, OH.
1.75 hours with some wrong turns and a Wendy's chicken sandwich (same sandwich as before my 1st Ironman in Couer d'Alene so seemed appropriate) but I made it.  I headed over to pick up my race packet.  Then on to the Comfort Inn, Wheelersburg, OH.  Check in was no hassle.

I go up to unpack and check out my race packet.  Apparently a SINGLET is a race top.  There were no bottoms.  WTF!  Oh man sick to my stomach as my first race is now about and hour and a half away.  So singlet to my uber tri friends Scott and Barb means a top.  To me, my wife and Chris (former MSU wrestler turned triathlete) a singlet means a one piece uni (uni means you are good to go).  I brought no bike shorts.  The problem was when I packed, the race rules said MUST WEAR SINGLET AT ALL TIME OR YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.  Ugh!!!

I wanted to go home but I tried to find bike shorts.  I called 2 sports stores but no love.  So then to Walmart Super Store.  This was backcountry.  I asked for bike shorts and the first dude looked at like me like I had 3 eyes.  Do we have bike shorts?  Um I don't know let's ask bobby?  Bobby we got bike shorts?  Um I don't know let's ask Billy. Wow.  So my panic says find shorts or race the first triathlon in running shorts which means no pad for on the bike, ouch.  The first race is so short this would be manageable. But for the weekend, I need to drive to Chilicothe or worse Columbus.   I had emailed my mental support Barb and she said hopefully there would be a race expo.   No race expo but there was a dude in a van with some stands set up.  Oh, jackpot I bought a pair of 50 dollar shorts, but that dude probably could have got close to 200, 100 easy.

 Race 1:  ready to roll, 250 yard swim, 5 mile bike ride and 1 mile run.  Before the race I met my friend Ben, who told me about this crazy weekend.  Swim was in this disgusting muddy water, given all the floods in southern Ohio recently.  The whole weekend was like this, swimming in a mud puddle and happy I had a recent Tetnus shot.  I finished race one in around 29 minutes.  I didn't bother with nutrition during the race, given the length.  Back to the hotel I decided to order pizza for take out.  I got enough for Saturday night as well.  Off to bed.  BLARING SIREN at 4am, well before my alarm, tornado warnings.  I went back to sleep.

Race 2, 1500 meter (1 mile) swim, bike 25.2 and run 6.5.  Before the race I recognize Joe, from Facebook who knows the aforementioned Chris from Chicago.  We chatted briefly, and he was still deciding whether to gut it out with his injured soldier (side note he did, and did well).  The weather was still cooler but starting to warm up.  I got out of the swim in around 31 minutes.  Hopped on my bike and begin to learn what the hills of the TTT were all about.  Wow, crazy long grinding hills.  My bike took about and a half, around 16 mph.  I've averaged 20mph for 2 different half Ironmans (56 miles) in Colorado if that hints at the grueling nature of these hills.  I was a little bummed but realized there was a lot to go.  Later my GPS would show close to 2,000 feet of climbing.  I hopped of the bike and begin my run on a rocky muddy trail through the woods, which was also, wait for, friggin hilly.  GPS showed this close to 1,500 feet.  I ran around an 8:15 per mile pace, so I felt pretty good, getting done in about 3 hours.  Fuel for this race was a mixture of Heed, Cran-Grape Juice, EFS Gel, and Hammer Gel.

I drove back to the hotel to prep and rest for race 3.  I had some coffee, some fruit and some Ultragen recovery drink.  Got my same fuels prepped and headed back to the race.

Race 3.  Same as race 2 but this will be bike, swim and run.  I am faster in my events but slower in transition.  Putting a wetsuit on after a bike is ridiculously hard even with plastic bags over your feet.  Swim was seriously scary, leg cramps left me sort of swimming with my legs forced straight to try and uncramp my hamstrings.  I make it out of the water and headed up to T2 to get ready to run.  I hammer the run at 8:04 pace and finish about 1 minute slower than Race 2.

Back at the hotel I finish my pizza, nicely microwaved.  I barely sleep the last night.  Oh well.  The alarm goes off at 4:45 (that's 2:45 to me being in Colorado).

Race 4, Half Ironman 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.2 mile run.  I've done 4 halves and 1 full.  So the half iron started out fine and I have reasonable expectations.  No way.   6,000 feet of climbing or there bouts.  Ironman California - 2800, Ironman 70.3 distance Harvest Moon - 2300 feet.  Oh my god, first race I thought about bailing.  Primarily because I thought I would miss my flight home.  So I decided I would miss my flight and finish the best I could.  I got out of the swim in about 36 minutes.  Transition is uneventful.  On the bike I realize I am missing a water bottle, ugh need to conserve and the temperature is rising.  It would get to be 85 degrees with 80% humidity.

First lap of the bike registers 28.5 miles so seems long (lots of distances this weekend seemed inaccurate).  It takes me over 1:50 this is not going well, the hills are killer and the downhills have switchbacks u-turn style that kill your speed.  2nd lap I get more water and fuel and have further fuel issues as the humidity builds and my other fuel bottle splits open.  Oh well, keep grinding.  About another 1:45 for lap 2, slow as my first FULL Ironman speed-wise.  I hop off for T2 and the run.  My legs are beat.  I start out the run and struggle on the hills.  First 3.25 miles I am pushing on my thighs to go up hills and hitting a 10 minute mile pace, wow I haven't run this slow in awhile.  Legs aren't working and I am wondering why I am doing this, it's so hot and muggy.  Finally I start to get some turnover and push myself.  I bring my average for the whole half marathon down to 9:14 pace and crack the 2 hour mark.  Not too bad, I'll hang my hat on the effort.  3 days, 4 tris, 140+ miles and 15,000+ feet of climbing.  My official time was 13:00:14.

The best part of TTT is the camaraderie.  You are in the same transition area all weekend based on your best half IM time.  So you see all your neighbors running back and forth during the races and setting up and breaking down their areas afterward.  Also the way the run course is set up I got to see my friends Ben and Joe multiple times through the weekend and exchange words of encouragement or fist bumps.  Very cool setup.

I rush through the finish and say bye to Joe and his crew as I now have to run and break down my bike and quickly pack.  I grab a shower and head for the 1:45 drive to the airport.  I arrive 30 minutes before departure.  Crap I figure I am stuck.  But Southwest late checks my bags not promising they will be on my flight and let's me board.  YEAH!  We get to Chicago for my transfer to Denver.  I grab a slice of pizza and inhale it then snag a sandwich for my backpack and go to board my last flight.  I quickly fall asleep.  Wake up eat my sandwich and we get back to Denver.  Happily all my bags and bike arrive.  You rock Southwest!  Great experience overall, crazy hard.

Happy Training!