Lonestar Half Ironman Results

Orville and Wilbur Wright are most commonly credited with inventing and building the worlds first successful airplane. If my memory serves me correct these brothers took much of their insight from nature around them. Inspired by the flight of birds these brothers did what many others had failed to do before them. They built a flying machine. There was no doubt times they doubted themselves during the course of their project. However persistance and a dream to someday build a flying machine came true that faithful day in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

One might wonder where is this post going, why allude to the Wright brothers. The point of this is to set the tone for this passage.  These two individuals took on a seemingly insurmountable task of mastering flight, and achieved what no others had done successfully before them. Stop and think for a second about the feeling that both Orville and Wilbur felt when that plane moved forward through the air. A feeling of elation, achievement, and empowerment, must have enveloped the brothers like a swarm of bees to a comb of honey. The initial thought is that anything is possible.

Anything is possible, is exactly the phase that could carry thru to my feelings today as I write this. I wish to share my experience in my fourth half Ironman race in Glaveston, Texas this past weekend. I went into the weekend not really caring about the outcome. All that I wanted to gain from the race was good experience and regardless of the outcome I knew this would happen. I also wanted to use the race as a gauge to see where I am at physically and mentally. I was very pleased with my performance physically, but what pleased me more was my performance mentally. I had done something I have never done before during the race. Despite horrible pain and being on the verge of cramping with every step I took, I pushed my limits. 

The swim was a 1.2 mile open water swim in a saltwater bay. This was an easy swim and it didn't phase me much. I completed the swim in 33:51 which works out to be a 1:45 / 100m. I didn't get in a groove until about 10 minutes into the swim. My only concern after the swim was the fact that I cut my toe on an oyster during warmup and knew I would have this to contend with the rest of the day. I had a slow transition of 2:31 but was ready to ride. I got on the bike and immediatly took my first gel. I hadn't ate since 5am and by this point it was 9am. I then started my watch timer for 15 minutes to make sure I would eat something 4 times per hour. I ended up consuming on the bike the following items:

1. 3 - gel packs
2. 1 - powerbar
3. 1 - cliff bar
4. 2 - packages of shot blocks
5. 150 oz of water and gatorade combined
6. 10 - endurolyte pills

My nutrition and electrolyte plan were solid. I think I am starting to get the hang of Half Ironman (HIM) distance racing. My only complaint about the bike is that I still don't believe I am used to riding a Tri specific bike. My quads were real sore towards the end of the bike and even more on the run. I am going to work with the store I bought the bike and my coach about its fit and why this is happening. This is the second time for that to happen. Anyways my bike split was 2:29:20 for 56 miles this works out to be an average of 22.5mph. This was followed by a quick 1:24 transition and off to the run. I was wearing my Zoot shoes without socks and finsihed my first of 4 laps on the run and looked down and my shoe was covered in blood. I figured I better stop at my coaches tent and put on the socks I had them holding for me. The sitting and putting on my socks caused me to start to cramp. This sucked. I stopped and rubbed out my quads and it helped. I had to keep pushing because I knew deep inside I had the time to break 5 hours but I didn't have anytime to spare. With the first 2 laps done it became a numbers game. My quads were on fire and with that my hamstrings were close to follow. I kept pushing. I started playing mental games and singing the refrain from a song by Lynard Skynard called "All I Can Do Is Write About It" as shown below. I also started singing "Traveling Riverside Blues" by Robert Johnson but performed by Led Zeppelin also shown below. When I say singing I mean like almost screaming loud. Its weird on a race course because you are very close to alot of other people but no one is talking. So I am sure people may have been annyoed but I just wanted to distract myslef from the pain I was experiencing.

So I made it to the final of the 4 laps and looked at my watch and realized I needed to run the last 3.1 miles in about 24 minutes or less to break 5 hours. This I knew I could do, but it was going to hurt. So I ran the first 2 miles and realized I had less than 8 minutes to run the last mile. This is when I just pushed it into another gear and starting running fast. I was able to run the last mile in 7:37. I amazed even myself with this time. I went to another place in my brain and shut off all pain I was feeling and focused solely on the finish line. As you will see from one of the below pictures I had to push past another competitor who was walking in order to make my times. I crossed the finish line and my watch indicated I had finished in 4:59:57. 3 seconds to spare. My surge at the end caught the attention of another runner and spurred him to pick up the pace and finish strong as well. He was very appreciative when in the last stretches I encouraged him to run with me and finish strong. We chatted after the race breifly and this was his first HIM and he had just broke 5 hours. This is an amazing feat for any triathlete of any age. He was 45 years old too. I high tailed it to the medical tent so they could mend my bloody toe and horrible blisters. I also convinced them to give me an IV while I sat there. I love IV's I wish I could have an IV after all of my weekend training runs and rides. They are amazing. They do in 45 minutes what drinking water for 8hrs does. Amazing simply amazing.

With all of that being said I was super excited with my performance and achieved something I used to think was going to be impossible. The most important learning experience from this race is that even when it hurts so bad, and you think you are going to cramp and cripple over, your mind can achieve what your body cannot. My mind took me to the finish line not my legs. 

The final results are as follows:

Swim 1.2 miles : 33:51 -- 1:45 / 100m

Transition #1 : 2:31

Bike 56 miles: 2:29:20 -- 22.5mph AVG

Transition #2: 1:24

Run 13.1 miles: 1:52:45 -- 8:36 / mile

Total Time: 4:59:54

I got 11th place in the 25 - 29 year old age group out of 43 people. I placed 78th out of 609 people.

Is there room for improvement? Absolutly. I think I can get my bike average close to 25mph and my run time down to around 1:40 or about 7:45 - 8:00 minutes per mile.

All in all the race was a success.

Here are some pictures.

Lonestar Half Ironman

Greetings from Dallas, tonight I will go to bed in Houston as I prepare for the Lonestar Half Ironman. I just wanted to give an update to anyway who is interested and or really board on Sunday. I will be racing in the Lonestar Half Ironman and it will actually be broadcast on the internet. Follow the below link and you can watch coverage.

My Race Number is 244, I am in swim wave #3 and will be wearing a green swim cap. For the race I will have on a tank top style shirt and will have a blue and silver bike with pink water bottle holders on the back. On the run I will be wearing a visor. Let me know if you watch!!!

http://www.lonestartri.com/lonestar/video.html

Ironman St. George, Utah

Well I pulled the trigger. Last week on Wednesday I received an email from Active.com like I always get and it was announcing to me to that the WTC had just added another North American Ironman race. The race will be held in St. George, Utah on May 1, 2010. Seeing this email and reading it blew me away. I then continued to scroll down and realized that they currently had open registration for this race. I started to get excited. I thought to myself that I could register for an Ironman race, the inaugural race at that, without out having to travel to the race site on race weekend. I thought to myself that this was a once in a life time shot. So I pulled the trigger. 

It is official I have signed up for my second Ironman distance race before I have even completed my first. It should prove to be a picturesque race too. I will post some pictures from the website. The icing on the cake is 2 friends of mine also signed up for the race as well. What makes this even better is that all 3 of us are looking to rent a house in St. George too.  Check out the link for the house we may rent. Houses.

After some thought and deliberation, I have decided that in 2010 I plan to go on a long bike ride. I have been speaking with a friend of the family from Cincinnati, my hometown, about how to prepare for such a trip. My initial thoughts are Tacoma, Washington to Dallas, Texas. I would carry everything I would need on my bike and make the trek in 2 - 3 weeks. I figure I would have to cover around 100 - 200 miles per day on the bike in order to complete the ride. I would camp as often as possible, and take as many pictures as possible. I feel like this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity and something I need to do while still young, without a family and many more commitments.

In other news I celebrated my birthday on Sunday and turned 25 years young. Its crazy but time really flies when you get out of college. Just thought I would update everyone with these new happenings. I will be traveling to Galveston this weekend to race in my 4 Half Ironman Distance race. I really won't be racing but using this race as an experience builder and heavy training day. Lets hope for safe travels and good weather. I have a few friends going down too as well as my coach. I am pumped about a good weekend. I am taking work off Monday to recover and travel back to Dallas. Then the office is closed on Friday for good Friday so that is going to be a short week for me. I hope to get in an easy recovery ride and or swim next weekend too. 

I will leave you with a quote from a birthday card my little sister sent. It is really inspiring and is true to the way I live my life. I have to say it is one of the first cards that I have ever gotten that is meaningful to me. For that Thanks Brooke!!!

Dreams are power, they are imagination shaping our lives from the inside, they are possibilities becoming reality before our eyes; believe in the power of your dreams, and go achieve your dreams!

What am I up to???

So my last post resulted in a few email replies. Which by the way I enjoy greatly. Some of the replies where about what I am doing these days. I feel that this blog is a great way to communicate to a vast audience of friends and family. So I thought I would post this week about what I am doing right now in my life.

Right now I am currently employed by Turner Construction company. I work in a purchasing role as well as field coordination role. Its a really dynamic job and I am always trying to stay one step ahead of problems so I can do less reacting to issues as they come my way. Needless to say, I enjoy it and especially like the hours and limited travel. This allows me to focus on things I really enjoy like triathlons, cooking, yoga, running, reading, and travel.

I am currently reading "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. I think I am really going to enjoy this book, and already makes me want to go on a long trip across America, solo, on my bicycle. Maybe just ride a few thousand miles from east to west coast??? I just finished reading "My Life on the Run" by Bart Yasso. I really liked this book.

Other than that I hang out with friends, cook, and sit by the pool. Just this past Sunday I made homemade pizza. Completely from scratch. I made the dough, with yeast and everything, then let rise and pounded it out and cooked it. A laborious task but fun. It was really good too. The dough was really tasty, way better than most restaurants. What did I learn from it, use less dough, because it was too thick of crust.

Now on to what really takes up my time, training for my Ironman. I will post a week of my schedule for next week 3/23/09 thru 3/29

Monday
90 minutes of Hot Yoga

Tuesday
75 minutes of running with a HR of 151 - 159
90 minutes of strength training

Wednesday
120 minutes of cycling with a HR of 127 - 157
60 minutes of hot yoga

Thursday
90 minutes of running with a HR of 151 - 159

Friday
90 minutes of strength training

Saturday
120 minutes of cycling with a HR of 127 - 157 immediately followed by a BRICK RUN of 70 minutes at a HR of 159+

Sunday
REST

This will be a really solid week. And mixed in to that week I am taking a day trip to New Orleans to go tour a factory. I have never been to New Orleans before and am very much looking forward to running around the city for 90 minutes on Thursday evening. This is a great way to see the city too. I can in 90 minutes see probably almost every site I would need to. I'll run well over 10 miles in that amount of time.

This is pretty much what most of my weeks are like. Train hard, take it easy on Sunday, and work hard.

So it is a simple life but enjoyable. I really have minimal concerns for anything. The only way I get upset is if its raining or cold out. This puts a wrench in my cycling plans. Like I said before I love the email replies and comments. So keep em coming.

Cheers!!!!

Marathon #2

We all have them, we all remember them. They are the memories of experiences in our lifetime for which we have never experienced before, or as I will call them your “Firsts”. They may be your first date with your wife, your first love, your first job; your first day of school, your first day of driving, and the list goes on forever. What’s significant about each of them is that you never forget them. They are special and important, to each one of us; sometimes good and sometimes even bad. When a “First” is experienced with others close to you; each individual takes away something different from that experience. Let’s not look at a first, but compare a second to a first.

On Sunday February 15, 2009 I embarked on running my second marathon. I signed up for this marathon to keep myself busy before I began my training for the Ironman. I followed a slow build up of long runs from 13 miles all they way to a 22.5 mile long run. I did this from the middle of November to the last week in January, with a two week taper. I limited my running to 3 times per week. After all the training was completed, I felt like I had a really solid base and would be very successful in my marathon.

The big difference between the first and second marathon was the fact that prior to this race, I was completely ambivalent and didn’t have any worries. Last year I was really quite nervous and had a great deal of mixed emotions. I was really excited about running in the marathon and this year not as much. What I was excited about was how my experience would be different from last year. How would a year of endurance sport training help me on the course? How would being a year older and wiser help me? Would these things boil down to a better time or more enjoyable experience? This is what I wanted to find out. What I noticed during my training the most was that I recovered from my long runs much more quickly. This is very interesting to see how the body can adapt and replenish itself. I was hoping for the same outcome at the marathon.

I was fortunate to schedule a meeting on Friday morning in Austin with one of our projects. It just so happened that I scheduled this meeting the same weekend as the marathon, wink, wink. Scheduling these meetings this way allowed me to have my company pay for my flight to Austin. The day was a good day and checked into the hotel in the early afternoon and just kicked up my feet and relaxed. When Saturday rolled around we did absolutely nothing but eat lunch go to Lance Armstrong’s new bike shop, and relax. Come Sunday morning I arose early and went thru my normal routine. It would be a warm day so shorts and a t-shirt would be all I wore.

I started off running with the 8:23 per mile pace group or the 3:40 marathon pace group. It was nice to see that the pacers were the same folks from last year. Last year I tried to run a 3:40 marathon but ended up hitting the wall and ran a 3:44. This year I wasn’t concerned with the time but more with having a solid race. With no pomp and circumstance, the gun went off and we waited for our usual 3 or 4 minutes till we could actual run. Just like that the race began. The miles ticked away, one after another. It was a good group of pacers. The woman pacer had a kazoo and kept blowing it chanting: “Austin to Boston…. The 3:40 train is coming thru”. The reason for that quote was for is that for women ages 18 – 34 the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon is 3:40. We had a good time running the miles and chatting. I recall at one point in the race saying to myself, “Are we really already at mile 17? It feels like we just started.” I guess having these thoughts or comments are a good thing, and that I am getting really comfortable with running long distances. The miles continued to pass by. An interesting thing about the race was an individual named Ryan, who was signed up for the half marathon decided to run the full marathon on a whim. He kept running with us at mile 11 instead of breaking off and finish with the rest of the Half Marathon participants. Ryan was a Marine and was now in flight school down in south Texas. All I have to say about that is he is pretty hard core, to be running a 8:23 pace for almost 26 miles without even training for it. Needless to say the course would get the best of both Ryan and me around mile 24. Right at mile 24 is where I broke off from the pace group, it was interesting because a few others did as well. I felt on the verge of a few cramps and even a little light headed. At this point the heat of the day was beginning to play a factor and if I would be out on the course any longer it would have been adverse. So I decided to walk for 30 or 40 seconds then run for a couple minutes. Both Ryan and I would finish the race together. I congratulated him and went and promptly found my pacers and thanked them. I ended up finishing in 3:43:34. I was quite pleased with this performance. My pace per mile was 8:31.

After finishing the race I wasn’t as elated as I was after my first one, but a different feeling set in, a feeling of continued accomplishment. I felt that day and for the few days after, that I was really a runner. I felt like a real runner and an accomplished runner at that. I had completed my second marathon. I knew at that moment, I would run many more of them and they would only get easier each time. The lady that helped pace me thru the race had completed 35 marathons. I stopped and thought for a second, that I hope someday I can say the same thing. I figure if I run 2 or 3 a year by the time I’m 40, I could feasibly have ran over 45 marathons. That’s pretty damn impressive, and that’s just by the time I’m 40. I am sure I will be running well into my later years too. That’s what this race meant to me, it was a continuing of my endurance sport career. It was continued accomplishment.

In other news coming off the heels of this race I felt the urge to do another marathon. So I acted, and signed up this week for the Chicago Marathon. I will be running the Chicago Marathon on October 11, 2009. This is one month after my Ironman. My thoughts are that I really won’t even have to train for it either. Just a bit of recovery and some 18 milers and I will be ready to go. So often we take for granted things we do everyday, let us stop for one second and while doing something, try to stop and remember the first time you did it and see if you can remember it or compare it. Chances are that it may evoke some interesting memories. Cheers!

Brett

A Letter to Team in Training

The below is a letter I wrote for my coach to share with all of the new Team in Training members that he will be coaching this season here in the North Dallas Chapter of Team in Training.



NO PAIN NO GAIN!!! We've all heard that statment before right? Well its not true at all, and let me tell you why. As you sit here today wondering what you got yourself into and how you are going to complete a triathlon in a few short months of training. Well its pretty simple. Your going to put one foot in front of the other and keep your eyes glued on your heart rate monitor. I have been a runner for over 3 years. I only recently started training with a Heart rate monitor in about August of 2008. I knew the principles behind HR training but never really had a desire to put them to practice. Until I would begin my Ironman training. I wish I wouldn't have waited. Up until November I was purely using the heart rate monitor (HRM) and recording my data on all my workouts. I knew at the time I was not utilizing the HRM to its full potential. But the data I was recording would be my future measuring stick and my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow if you will to gauge all of my success'.

Currently Todd Codish is my coach for my first Ironman distance race. As Todd has already explained to you he believes in HR training, and wants you all to believe in it too. Well I am here to tell you my story and why you should believe. Before my training for my Ironman began, I went to have a metabolic test completed with Todd. The purpose of this was to give me 4 HR zones in which I would train to achieve my goals of completeing an Ironman. This test was completed in November, from this testing I walked away with my new HR zones to train with. I would take these heart rate zones and apply them to the marathon training I would be doing over the next 4 months. I am currently about to run in my 2nd Marathon and have spent the past 4 months training solely by heart rate. You may ask yourself what does this mean? Well to keep it simple, you are training your body to use fat as the main source of fuel for excercise, since in all of us there is an endless supply of fat. I would begin to teach my body how to better utilize its fat storage in lieu of the carb or glucose storage. I have been teaching my body to use fat as its fuel by running all of my training runs for this marathon with a HR between 150 - 160. I never let my heart rate go over 160 BPM. No matter how good I feel at that time, or how fast I want to go, sometimes this means I have to stop and walk.

From this day forward if you want to be a successful endurance athlete, quit worrying about your average speed on the bike or your pace per mile on the run and start focusing on your heart rate. Before begining my training with my HRM, I knew the basic priciniple of what was supposed to happen, that is my pace per mile would go down while my heart rate stayed the same. This is in essence your efficiency rating. Well I am here today to say I am really amazed by the results. In the first 2 months there were many days where I felt like I could go much faster and in the past I would have picked up the pace, but I stuck to Todd's plan. Like he always says, know the plan -- work the plan. I also didn't mind that I didn't really have to push myself anymore either. There was less pounding on my body too. For example I would be on a 15 miler and felt great at like mile 7 and wanted to pick up the pace but instead my HR was saying no, I would be forced to walk and let my HR come down below 160 bpm. This is tough to do but its worth it. On a few runs my pace was in the 9:00 per mile, but my average heart rate was below 160. With time, my pace per mile began to drop, and my HR stayed the same. This got me excited. The results speak for themselves. A week ago I ran 10 miles with an average heart rate of 150 bpm at a pace of 7:36 per mile. My normal easy runs of 5 - 8 miles I started out running at a 9 min mile pace to keep my HR below 160, and now after 4 months I am amazed to say my runs of 5 - 8 miles are in the 7:30 - 7:45 / mile pace with an average heart rate that is never above 160 and most of the time around an avg of 150.

So to make a long story short, I taught my body how to become more efficient. What does this mean and what did this do for me? Well when I get off that bike after 112 miles in the Wisconsin Dairyland, my body will not have to work nearly as hard to hold an 8:45 pace for 26.2, in fact it may even feel pretty easy after doing my heart rate training for some 9 months.

All I have to say to each and everyone of you is good luck, listen to Todd, he knows what he is talking about and will take you to the finish line and be there waiting for you too.

Another notch in the belt

Our country and the world are undergoing immense change and there is much uncertainty about the future ahead. While it may seem naive and stupid to say, to me nothing has changed. I am still employed. I have a great family and friends. I work with good people who want to make a difference. Despite the aura of uncertainty in the US economic market and world market my life has been static. There are times, now, and in the past where things don't always go as you would like but due to the family, friends, and my job all is okay. To many right now one of the legs of that tripod of life is missing. I am fortunate that my tripod is still standing. Without all of those people involved in my life I would not have been able to achieve all that I have today. My colleague's at work are understanding of my training, my family and friends are always supportive. What I am getting at is that I am creating my Triathlon Team. All of these people are on my team, and I am always open to accepting anyone else who wants to be on my team.

I read another blog post (Click Here) of a person who I read weekly Gordon Byrn and it made me realize that despite triathlon being an individual sport, where only your legs, arms, and heart can get you to the finish line, if it wasn't for the support from all those around you, your goals would could possibly not be attained. I appreciate the support I get from all of my family, co-workers and friends. I am happy to have this blog as an outlet to tell everyone this. Thanks.

So lets get 2009 started. My first week of training went well. I am pleased with the format and looking forward to many more weekends. I also just signed up for another Half Ironman race. It is April 5th in Galveston, Texas. Its call the Lonestar Half Ironman. I did this race last year too. It was my first Half Ironman race.This race is important to me because I am a big believer in local economies and buying local when possible, etc. etc. Recently as you know Galveston was hit by a devastating hurricane. Hurricane Ike was a brutal storm to Texas. The local economy and business were decimated. A triathlon was scheduled before the hurricane and is still on despite the damage. Its important because of the economic impact it will have in Galveston. There will be close to some 2000 plus people traveling to the area, dining, and using lodging. Myself included. This will be a much needed revenue boost for the economy and a positive thing for Galveston. I am glad to be a part of it.

So I will continue to train for Wisconsin and simply use this race as fun training day!!!