My Steamtown Marathon started the day after I ran the Boston Marathon. I was completely dissatisfied with my performance at the Boston Marathon. I wanted another chance. So when I got home, I got online and signed up for the Steamtown Marathon thinking it give mive the best shot to qualify for next years Boston Marathon. I wasn’t even sure I could qualify again. I ran so poorly in Boston. And it had been over a year since had run the 3:30 marathon at Shamrock to qualify. And that had been my last sub four hour marathon.
In August, I completed the Louisville Ironman. I had only 6 weeks to recover and train for Steamtown. Overall it had been a good year. I had the poor race in Boston. But other than that, I had PR’s at the 3.5 mile Chase Corporate Challenge, the Wakely Dam Ultra and another small 3 mile race that my company does. And I had finished the Ironman faster than I had even hoped. And my training seemed to go well, so I hopeful for Steamtown.
Less than a week before the race, I developed a cough. I was hoping it would go away before the race. But it didn’t. But I rested as much as I could. I skipped my final 3 mile run thinking rest would be more beneficial.
The Steamtown Marathon is in Scranton, PA, which is only about 3 1/2 hours from home. So Saturday morning, we got up, and finished load the car. We dropped dog off at vet/boarding kennel, and got on the road. The drive was uneventful. We arrived in Scranton about 2pm, and headed straight to the expo. There were many people wearing Boston Marathon jackets there, including me. I picked up my runners packet, and chip. I checked out the tiny expo, but there was nothing of interest for me. I could have bought some running clothes, but I really don’t need anything. I was interested in some natural running shoes like Newtons, or K-Swiss, but didn’t see anything like that. So we left.
We headed to the hotel which was about 6 miles away. My TomTom GPS was great in getting us around. We checked in, and hauled our stuff up to the room. I had forgotten to pack my alarm clock, but fortunately there was one in the room.
There was plenty of stuff near the hotel. We walked next door to a grocery store, and I bought some Vaseline and some Mucinex. We didn’t see any restaurants nearby that looked like good sources of pasta. So we got into the car, and headed off. We found a Pizza Hut which I knew from the commercial now had pasta. So we stopped there. I got a basic spaghetti with meat sauce, side salad, and garlic bread. I remembered I forgot to buy non-diet Pepsi. So after we ate, we went next door to a CVS, and bought some Pepsi and some snacks. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Subway, and I bought a foot long cold cut combo sub for breakfast. Then we headed back to the hotel for the night.
I attached my timing chip to my shoe, and my bib # to my jersey. I debated about what to wear for the race. But with temperatures forecasted from 34F to 56F, I decided to wear my leggings and my long sleeve tuxedo jersey. I laid my stuff out for the evening, and headed to bed. I set the alarm for 4:30am.
I slept fitfully waking up about every 30 minutes or so to look at the clock. I did manage to get a solid block of sleep between 11:30 and almost 3am. I was very stuffed up during the night, and did spend some time coughing. At 4:30am, I got up, showered, drank some Pepsi, and ate maybe 4 inches of my foot long. I got dressed, took a Mucinex. I wore sweat pants, and a long sleeve Rochester Marathon short over my running clothes. Then we headed to the car.
Helen drove me into town to the bus pickup location. The marathon people were great, and gave us sheet with detailed directions from and to various places. We had directions from our hotel, to the buses. Helen dropped me off, and headed back to the hotel to get some more sleep.
I boarded one of the buses. Shortly before the bus left, a guy came on to give us last minute information. I stressed that we should try to pace ourselves evenly throughout the course, and not try to run the downhills in the first 8 miles too fast. He asked if we had any question. I raised my hand and asked “How long is this marathon?” which brought laughter from the runners on the bus. He paused for the briefest of moments, and responded “As long as you want it to be.”
As we rode the bus to Forest City, I kept an eye on the roads. There were a bunch of hills. The hills seemed steeper than they looked on the elevation chart. I wasn’t if sure this was the race route or not, but figured at least some of it had to be.
When we arrived at the high school in Forest City, there were lines of HS student volunteers waiting for us. Cheerleaders cheered us. One of the students led us to a gym where we would wait. There were goal times posted around the gym. There were no official pace groups, but we could form informal pace groups by waiting near the signs with our goal times. Not sure if any pace groups formed or not. There didn’t seem to be one for the 3:30 pace that I was going for. I did talk to some people who were going for paces like 3:40 and 3:20, etc. The race started about 8am, so I waited till about 7:30 to strip off my sweats. I shoved them in a bag with my number on it, and turned it in.
I made one trip to the porta potties. Actually, I made a second trip to the porta potties, but only got halfway through the line before we had to head to the start line.
It was cold. I think someone said about 32F. I saw many people in shorts and singlets shivering. They had signs up so we could arranged ourselves by pace. I lined up near the 8:00 pace sign. Then they had us all go forward to the start line itself.
After the national anthem, they let the disabled racer go. I couldn’t tell if he was in a racing wheel chair or a hand cycle. But with all the down hills in the first 8 miles, he would be flying! They said that we await for five minutes, but I think it was only like two minutes. They announced on your mark, get set, then fired a cannon. And we were off. I started my Garmin as I crossed the start line.
The first 8 miles or so have the steepest downhills. But there are uphills here too. More uphills than I expected. But I was okay with that. I planned to run at around an 8 minute pace, and try to pace myself evenly along the course. I ran up the hills. I didn’t want to go out too fast on the downhills. Since the Garmin 305 pace jumps around, I tried to keep in just below 8:00 minute/miles. On the downhills, I tried to run them so as not to try to fight the hill. I didn’t want to waste energy trying to slow myself down. So I ended up running these at maybe 7:30 pace. My hands were very cold. I had brought gloves which I had stuck in my jersey pocket, but I didn’t take the time to put them on.
I took 20 second walk breaks each mile. When I started walking, I would try to pick out someone who was running near me. At the end of 20 seconds, I would run to catch up with them, then fall back into pace. I noticed most of the runners around me were going way faster than me. I let them go. I figured I would be passing some of them later on.
The aid stations were spaced out every two miles. I would grab some Gatorade from most of them. But I planned to take gels about every four miles. I would grab water from the aid stations when I was going to take the gels. I planned to take gels about every 4 miles. I took my first gel at about mile 4, my second gel at about 8, and my third gel at about mile 12. I figured I could take gels at 16 and 20, but have nothing for the next 6 miles. So I took my next gels at miles 18 and 22. This seemed to work.
The course was very nice. The road was a little rough in spots though. The volunteers were great. There were lots of spectators along the way and they cheer us on.
Over the first 8 or 10 miles, I managed to bank about 3 minutes without trying. I honestly tried to stay on pace. But I also did not want to fight the downhills either. I hit the half-marathon point at 1:42:20 which is a PR. My fastest half marathon was the Niagara Fall Intl where I ran 1:42:49. Now my plan was to try to just hold a nice even 8 minute pace.
There was porta potties scattered long the course. I didn’t use them, but saw many other runners do so. I also saw runners run to relieve themselves in the bushes. I yelled at one guy, “Hey, I know what you’re doing over there!” I always wanted to do that.
The course had seemed to flatten out some. But there were small hills to run up and down. I was ahead of schedule, so I took a few 25 second walk breaks, and didn’t always make a huge effort to catch up to the people I had been running near.
There are a couple sections of trails that the course goes on. From about mile 15.75 to mile 17.25 we were on a trail. This trail was a dirt and gravel road. Then later on, maybe around mile 18, we ran around a little park, then we were on another trail, this one covered with wood chips. This trail was a bit damp in spots.
At about mile 17, with 9 miles left to go, I was ahead of pace by about 2 minutes. My legs were tired, and getting sore. I figured I could run that last 8 miles at about 8:15 pace. But something happened. Over the next handful of miles, I saw my buffer disappear. I am not sure where it went. I thought I was holding pace. I went from two minutes in the bank, to about half a minute over a mile or two. Then in the last three or four miles, the bank was gone, and now I was into my extra 59 seconds. And the last 3-4 miles has some of the biggest uphills on the course. Crap! What happened? I started to think I wasn’t going to get my BQ! I was going to miss it by seconds! I started to push myself to keep the pace. It hurt. A lot!
On one uphill, I was running up the hill, and asked some other guys if this was “the big hill”. The one guy said yeah, this was it, the last big hill before the finish. Great. But then about a mile later we were running up another bigger hill. I heard the guy say to his friend that he had thought the last hill was the big hill. Ack! And if that wasn’t enough, this section of road was under construction. They had roughed up the asphalt for resurfacing making hard to run on. It was much rougher than I normally see for resurfacing, and my feet were rolling this way and that. I continued to push myself up the hill. Must hold the pace! I skipped the last water stop.
When I got to mile 25, I had 9 minutes to reach the finish under 3:30:59. 9 minutes to run 1.2 miles. I could maybe do this! I took a last 10 second walk break, and then put the pedal to what was left of the medal. Starting at about .75 miles to the finish, there is an uphill section that lasts for about a half mile. And it was kind of steep. I kept looking at my Garmin, and pushing up that hill. Then I was over the top. It was downhill to the finish line. I ran with everything I had. I knew I was going to make it now. I crossed to line, and stopped my Garmin. It read 3:30:28. I caught my breath, I yelled, I am going to Boston again! I got my medal, and got my chip cut off. They gave me a mylar blanket and a bottle of water, and I moved on to get my food. They had quite a selection: cola, Gatorade, bagels, doughnuts, cake, cookies, small sub sandwiches, bananas and other fruit. They gave us bags to take what we want. I grabbed some stuff, through it into the bag, and made my way out of the finishing chute. I looked for Helen. I didn’t see her. After not finding her after the half marathon in Toronto, and having her return to the room in tears, I decided to stay right here till I found her. Besides, I didn’t know where else to go. I stood on a bench and scanned the crowd for her. Then I spotted her. I yelled her name and got her attention. We made out way to pick up my morning clothes bag. Then after a short hobble to car, we were on our way home. I changed clothes in the car. We stopped at a McDonalds along the way and got food. Not to mention several stops along the way to stretch my legs when they started to cramp up.
When I got home, I looked up my time. I found my chip time was 3:30:26. This was short of my 3:30:14 PR. And I didn’t break 3:30 which was another goal. But I qualified for Boston! I registered for the Boston Marathon the next day.
The Run
I came out of the transition area, and quickly saw Donna and Oaks on the sidelines holding a sign and cheering me on! It was great to see them! A great pick me up!
The first mile or so of the run is on a bridge that crosses the Ohio River. This is the biggest hill on the course. You run up to the middle of the bridge which is halfway to Indiana, then turn around, and run back down. This was very cool! There was an aid station on the bridge, and I grabbed some cookies. I ate one, and just wasn’t hungry for the other so I dropped it down a drain grate.
I think I saw Donna and Oaks at the bottom of the bridge too before I headed out on the road.
I trained as if I were going to run a 8:00 pace, without ever intending to run that fast. I had debated about trying a 8:30 or 9:00 pace and maybe try to run a 4 hour marathon. But I decided to take it easy, and just finish. I figured I could finish under 14 hours which I was more than happy with. I decided to run at a 9:30 min/mile pace and walk 1 minute every mile. I was actually having trouble keeping my pace at 9:30. I would look at my Garmin and find I was running at 8:30 pace, and force myself to slow down. I probably could have run at 8:30 pace, but I didn’t want to risk blowing up. I had a friend who ran this race the previous two years, and DNF’d during the run. My primary goal was to finish.
The metronome on my hat was beeping away at 90pbm, and I would try to match that cadence with either my left foot or right foot hitting the ground on the beep.
After the bridge, most of the run course is pancake flat, with the exceptions of an underpass that you ran through four times. There were lots of racers running, jogging and walking out here. The aid stations were spread out evenly about every mile. They all had water, Gatorade and cola. They also had stuff like gels, and cookies. You could also get sponges soaked in cold water. I had heard about the chicken broth, but they didn’t have any early in my run. Apparently, they don’t bring the broth out until later in the day, figuring the people that will be running at night will need it more.
The finish line was reachable! I could walk the rest of the way and finish. I would tell people along the way stuff like, “only 19 miles to my tattoo!!!” Along the course I had plenty of time to think about the tattoo, and decided to get it on Tuesday as I would be home Monday night, and I had Tuesday off.
I just kept up the running and walking. At the aid station at mile 8 and 9, I saw Bob from IAmTri.com, and he gave me encouragement. Somewhere along here, I saw Shannon on his bike, and he told me all my friends were following me on the LVM board. That made me feel great!
At the aid stations, they would call out what they had. Sometimes you would run through asking for stuff, like cola, or water, and they would point you to who had what you wanted. Sometimes I would ask for cheeseburgers, but none of the aid stations had them. I would always for the cola. I would also often grab a wet sponge and squeeze the cold water over my head. That felt good. I continued to take gels every hour, along with water.
At about mile 12, I saw the message sign. I was curious as to what message would pop up for me. I crossed a mat shortly before the sign. And when I got to the sign it said something like “R Jacob, you Rock –Terry” Terry? I have no idea who Terry is. LOL!
I kept on running. Somewhere about this point, I started taking minute long walk breaks every half mile. I talked briefly with some people, but not for long. Everyone was going at different paces. I did see a guy with a crazy looking tri suit that look sort anatomical. I told him it looked obscene, and said I liked it. I asked if I could take a picture, and he posed front and back. Nice!
At the halfway point, I stopped and got my special needs bag. I got my room key, I think I grabbed a snickers bar, and maybe a gel. There was a long sleeve shirt I put in here, in case it got cold. But I didn’t need it. I told the volunteer there was a nice Rochester Marathon shirt in the bag if anyone wanted it. He told me I could pick it up when I passed on the second loop. I said cool.
Around mile 14 I passed near the finish line, and then turned to start my second loop. I was excited to see the finish knowing that was where I was going. I heard other people had a hard time seeing it, and knowing they still had to run more. But I had no problem with this. If I had seen it a mile from the finish maybe.
I was starting to get some nipple chafing, and also under my left arm. One of the aid stations had a piece of cardboard with gobs of vaseline smeared on it. I ran my finger across it, and applied it to my chafed areas. Worked wonderfully!
I talked a little more with people on the second loop. For many of the people, it was their first loop. About mile 16 or 17 I passed a blind runner tethered to a guide. I only caught a glimpse, and thought I heard someone say the name Charlie. I remembered a blind runner named Charlie being featured on one of the Hawaii Ironman videos. I wondered if it was him. (when I got home, I looked him up, and sure enough, it was the same Charlie Plaskon).
I didn’t see Bob from IAmTri at the aid station near the turnaround. He must have finished his shift. The aid stations were now starting to serve the chicken broth. I tried some and it was cold and kind of gross. Maybe it was heated at other aid stations. I never tried it again. Donna and Shannon came out and rode along with me for a little bit. It was great seeing them. Again they told me that the LVM message board was following me online, and posting about how I was doing. It made me happy to know I had all these friends out there pulling for me, and cheering me on. Hey got a few pictures, and then took off to wait at the finish line.
As I was maybe 6 or 7 miles from the finish, I started seeing runners coming the other way wearing glow sticks. I was hoping to make it to the finish without having to wear one. The sun was getting low, but it was still light out.
I passed the message sign and it had the same message. I never stopped at the special needs bag pickup. I didn’t want to bother carrying the shirt. I had put a shirt in there that I didn’t care too much about. I rarely wear long sleeve shirts anyway.
About a mile from the finish, I took my walk break, and was talking to another guy who was walking. He had had cramping issues, so was going to walk most of the rest of the way. I was happy to be finishing under 14 hours, so I walked most of the last mile talking with the guy. As we approached the finish, we decided to run. We were going to cross separately. As I was stronger, I took off ahead. I caught up with a slower runner, and I pass him. Then I caught another slower runner and passed him. Now I could see the finish line. The street was dark, and the finish line was lit up very bright. It was like being in a dark tunnel with a light at the end. I saw another slower runner ahead, and a guy way up ahead sprinting. I decided to move into the gap, and sprinted at probably a sub 7:00 pace. I crossed the line. The feeling was wonderful! I heard the announcer say my name, and mention my recent birthday. I didn’t hear him say I was Ironman though. It was hard to understand him as it was very noisy in Fourth Street Live. As I crossed, I did what Donna told me to do, and raised my arms, and smiled. She said to make sure I wasn’t pictured stopping my watch. Great advice! A volunteer put a medal around my neck, and gave me a mylar blanket. Someone else took my timing chip. I stopped my watch which said something like 13:45. My official time was 13:43:02. Then the volunteer asked my shirt size, and went brought me a finisher shirt, and hat. She took me over to get my picture taken.
T2
I handed my bike off to a volunteer at the entrance to the transition area. They re-rack the bikes for us, how cool is that! I hobbled down, and got my run gear bag.
T2 was easer than T1 as now I had a little experience here. I went into the tent, and found a vacant seat. The tent was less crowded now, than when I went through it the first time. I took off my bike shoes and socks, and stripped off my bike shorts. I dug through my bag and pulled out my running shorts and pulled those on. I put on some fresh socks, and pulled on my running shoes. I had installed lace locks on them, so I didn’t need to tie them. I love my lace locks. I have installed them on almost all my shoes. For running races, you don’t have to worry about double knotting your shoes to keep them from coming untied. You don’t have the lace loops flying up and brushing against your legs.
I put on my running hat. I already had my metronome mounted on the back of my hat. I grabbed some more gels, and snickers bars out of my bag and shoved them into my jersey pockets. I also grabbed a couple fresh handkerchiefs and shoved those into my pockets as well, while discarding the already damp ones from the bike ride. I rotated my bib so that it was in the front now. I applied some more Vaseline to prevent chaffing. I moved my Timex watch to my right wrist, and put my Garmin 305 onto my left wrist. I turned it on so it could get a satellite lock. I shoved all my bike gear back into the bag, and handed it to a volunteer.
I exited the tent, and had a volunteer apply some more sunscreen to my exposed areas. I may have used the porta potty again, but I don’t remember.
My legs had loosened up by now. I started jogging along the path that wrapped around the transition area. When I crossed the mats leaving the transition area, I started my Garmin. I suddenly realized I was still wearing my heart rate monitor strap for my bike computer. Crap. I pulled it off, and debated about shoving it into a jersey pocket. But I figured it would fall out. There were volunteers holding out water cups at the transition exit. I asked one of them if he could stick it into one of my gear bags. He said yes, and got my bib #. I thanked him, and started off on the run course.
The Bike
Now I was on my bike. I was happy to be done with the swim! The bike and run were more familiar territory for me. I was spinning the cranks, working at keeping my heart rate between 138 and 158. My Cateye V3 bike computer was great, since I had my heart rate right there in front of me.
I was already a little familiar with what the bike course would be like. I had watch a video where Heather Gollnick had ridden section of it. I had watched the DVD of the 2007 Louisville Ironman. I have another DVD where it is a virtual ride of the course. Then I had gone over the course on MapMyRide to locate where the steepest parts were, and how steep they were. I knew the first/last part was flat but rough. And yes it was. I rode along over the bumpy road, while trying to eat some Fig Newtons. I was also drinking Pepsi to get some calories and fluids following my swim.
I was happy with my swim time. I didn’t know my actual swim time then. I looked at my watch in the transition test, and it said 1:45. I had estimated my time to be about 1:40 if I had gotten to wear a wetsuit. I was thinking about 1:45 without one. For the bike I was thinking my time would be about 7:30-8:00. I did the Tupper Lake Tinman bike course in 3:27. But that was half the distance, and I had swam only 1.2 miles in a wetsuit. So double that and add some time.
A few miles into the ride, I passed a guy jogging on the other side of the road. I heard something like “Go Rob!” I glanced over my shoulder but couldn’t tell who it was, as I was already a ways down the road. I figured it was Oaks or Shannon.
After the flat start, came rolling hills. At one spot on the road, someone had painted the word Ironman with a circle and slash through it. Apparently some people aren’t thrilled about the race. Somewhere around this area, there was a large tree branch laying across the should of the road. Bikes were swerving around it. I saw a police officer walking down towards it, to remove it. Later, I wondered if someone had thrown it there on purpose to thwart the cyclists. I have read reports of kids throwing sticks at cyclists, or throwing large sticks into the road, maybe hoping to see a crash…
I came to the first steep hill and knew it was probably one of the steepest hills on the course. But I powered right up it.
I loved the out and back portion of the course. I think I passed my first hour on the bike in this section as I remember taking a gel. I didn’t take my gels every hours, but was taking them about every 15 miles or so. The first part of the out and back is kind of flat, followed but a fast downhill. I was down on my aerobars, and coasted picking up speed and distance. That was followed by a long uphill. I like climbing. I get lots of practice where I live. I took advantage and stood on my cranks a bit to stretch my legs out. At the top of the hill, you go around a cone, and over a timing mat. Then you get another fast downhill. I tended to pass people on the downhills for some reason. I think many people are skittish about going to fast. Personally, I avoid the brakes at all costs, and stay aero, pulling my knees in. Then after the fast downhill, there was of course another climb.
We were supposed to avoid drafting by keeping a 4 bike length gap between us and the bike ahead of us. But in these early parts, that was just impossible. There were just too many bikes. I did try to not be riding anybody’s back wheel though.
I passed many expensive bikes many with disc wheels. I loved the distinctive sound of the disc wheels. The whir, whir, whir sound. I even worked out what the sound was during my long ride. The sound is not really created by the disc wheel itself. The big carbon fiber wheel is acting more like a speaker that is amplifying sounds of the road noise, and the chain going over the cogs of the cassette. Sounds cool though!
After the out and back, I was out on the main road again for a while. Then I was on the loop. On my first pass of the loop I got to see some of the pros go by on their second loop. You could tell they were the pros, because their bib #s were a slightly different color. Amazing, they weren’t going blazingly faster than the rest of us. But they were going slightly faster, and did disappear ahead of us. Not sure if I saw any of the leaders. Maybe they had already gone by.
Not too far into the first loop, I passed a guy dressed in a red devil suit cheering the riders on.
One of the best parts of the course is in the loop. It is riding through the town of LaGrange. There are tons of people here cheering on the riders. As I rode through LaGrange, I waved my arms, to egg the crowds on. They got really loud, and I had fun.
Then I was out of town. After LaGrange, you ride on for a bit. Then there is a pretty good downhill with a sharp left turn at the bottom. This is one of the more dangerous parts of the course from what I had heard. I managed to take it at a pretty good clip. It was pretty reminiscent of a corner I ride at home.
Then we were on a narrow country road with short rolling hills. Back here was an aid station. I finally took the opportunity to get off my bike, stretch my legs, and use a porta potty. I downed a gel, and drank some water. I also poured some cold water over my head.
After a bit, I took off riding again. My bike computer had stopped registering my speed. I stopped and resynced it. I had had this problem occasionally. I got a new sensor unit from Cateye, but have come to think that it was operator error. That the unit may have gone partially to sleep, and that I needed to wake it up by pressing one of the buttons. Still working on that.
I got going again. I passed many people repairing flat tires. There was a guy on a scooter riding around and helping people fix their bikes. Great job guy! My bike was making various strange noises. There was a ticking sound what seemed every second or third rotation of the cranks. And it felt like my left foot was racing to catch up with my right foot. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. (When I got home, I found my left crank arm was loose)
Along the way, I grabbed bananas from volunteers, drank Pepsi and water, ate gels, Fig Newtons, and even a Snickers bar. My Pepsi ran out, and I started drinking some orange Gatorade. I didn’t like it much.
Then I was out on the main road again. More pros passed me. I was on this road for a while. I passed a sign with an arrow pointing straight ahead, and saying finish. But they was not in my cards yet. I had to take the left turn and start my second loop. I seemed to be making pretty good time. I needed to be off the bike by 10.5 hours after the last swimmer entered to water. I should easily make that.
Before LaGrange, I came to the special needs bag pickup. Shortly before you get there, you shout your number. Then as you get up ahead, they have you bag ready. I got my bag, and starting pulling stuff out. I had two 24oz bottles of Pepsi, gus, Snickers bars, and more Fig Newtons. I got the stuff I wanted, and trashed the bag.
Then as I was coming into the LaGrange for my second time, I said to another cyclist, “Want to see something cool?” I rode up ahead, and again egged on the crowds in LaGrange. It was fun and I am easily amused.
I again stopped at the same aid station I did before. I used the porta potty again. I stretched my legs, and borrowed some sunblock from one of the volunteers. The volunteers were great!
Then after a while I was back on the main road. More flat tires. I heard from people after the race, that someone had put tacks out along the course. Near the finish of the second loop, a guy in front of me suddenly stuck out his left leg. I asked if he was alright. He asked if I heard anything. I told him no, just the sound of his Zipp wheels. He asked me if he had a flat. I looked, and both tired looked fine. But I kept watching, and then noticed his read tire was now starting to look low. I told him, and he stopped.
Now I was passed the turnoff for the loop. I was in the final stretch. I just kept cranking along. I was passing lots of riders now. On one downill section, I was coasting and gaining speed. I was coming up behind a guy slowly passing another rider. I yelled on your left. He didn’t move. I was getting closer. On your left!!! He didn’t move. I screamed, 19## ON YOUR LEFT!!! He moved over a bit, and I flew passed between him and an orange safety cone. I DID NOT want to hit my brakes. I started cranking even a little harder, pissed off at this moron for blocking.
I came to the steep hill that I climbed up earlier in the day, and flew down it passing more riders. It amazed me how many riders did not take advantage of their aerobars of the downhills. It was like this all along the course.
Then I got to the flat section and focused on spinning the cranks. I was maintaining a speed of 20-21mph and flying by other cyclists.
It was in the final section that I met up with Shannon. I think he was riding the other way, and I passed him. He easily caught up with me and rode with me for a little bit. We chatted while I continued cranking away. Soon, Shannon peeled off, and I made my way to the finish. The last mile or two is littered with rough patches on the road, and some potholes. I maneuvered my bike around these and kept going. As I approached the finish, volunteers were warning us to slow down for a sharp turn and bump. I slowed and hopped my bike over the bump as best I could. I came to the dismount line, and jumped off the bike. I pushed it to the transition entrance. A volunteer took my bike and I ran to get my run bag. Okay, I didn’t run. I sort of hobbled. I was hoping that my legs loosened up soon. Someone had said the bike course was long, maybe about 115 miles. But I hit the finish with almost exactly 112 miles on my bike computer.
I had arrived back in transition well under nine hours. I had a great shot to finish under 14 hours. I had debated about how fast to run. While on the bike, I pretty much decided to run it easy, and not risk blowing up.
T1
After exiting the river, I ran up the sidewalk, across a little bridge, and then down another sidewalk. I ran or maybe walked quickly to where my bike gear bag was located. A volunteer was already there holding it out for me. I grabbed it, thanked them, and ran towards the changing tents. As I approached the first tent, a volunteer waved me inside. This was the men’s changing tent. The tent was enclosed but had a big opening at either end for guys to enter and exit. So people were free to look in if they wanted to. Women were running passed the entrance. But I think they were so focused on getting to their own tent, they probably didn’t bother. I wonder what would have happened if the girls tent was first, and the guys had to run by the entrance. But then, the girls tent openings may have been shielded better. I don’t know. I didn’t notice.
Anyway, I ran into the tent. There were a lot of chairs, and a lot of guys in here. I found an empty chair and plopped down. I opened my bag, and pulled out a towel. I brought a beach towel. Next time I will bring a smaller towel. I pulled off my swim jammers, and dried off. I applied some Body Glide where my shorts sometimes chaif. I pulled on my bike shorts. I dried my feet some more, and put on some socks and my cycling shoes. I pulled on my LVM21 bike jersey. I had already loaded the pockets with stuff, and taped them closed with electrical tape. I pulled the tape off. I put on my heart rate monitor strap that syncs with my Cateye bike computer. I hung my Road ID tag around my neck. I strapped my race belt with my race number around my waist, the the number to the back. They had some small tubs of Vaseline in there for people to use. I scooped some out and applied it to pretty much the same places I used the Body Glide. I had never used Vaseline before. But what the heck, other guys were using it. Probably not a good thing to use something the first time during a race, but in hindsight, I think it worked better than the Body Glide. And it’s cheaper! I grabbed my helmet and sunglasses. I dumped the rest of my stuff into the bag. The volunteer offered to do it, but I wanted to make sure I got everything into the bag. I had some extra contact lenses in the bag just in case I lost one or both during the swim. Fortunately I did not need them. I donned my helmet and headed for the exit.
Outside the tent, there were some girls to apply sun block. I stopped and got sun block applied to my legs, arms, the back of my neck, the tops of my ears, and a little to the top of my head so I didn’t get sun burned through the helmet vents. I had her apply a little extra to the back of my neck since I had already gotten a bit of sun there the day before on my long walk to and from the swim start. Thinking about it now, I am wondering if the girls could see into the tent where all the guys were changing.
I put my sunglasses on. I may have stopped at a porta potty, but I am not sure. Parts of the day are a blur. I ran to my bike. I knew right where it was. I grabbed my bike, and pushed it to the bike exit. When I crossed the mount line, got on the bike and started to go. It was uphill, but the bike was already in a low gear. Up the small hill to the road, and now the bike portion was underway.