Rage In The Sage Triathlon, Las Vegas

Most of you know that I climb in the aero position a majority of the time. Just lets you know how steep this really was.

Nothing says "Vegas" like a Dirty Ashtray.

I have to say that this 24 +/- hours was about as packed full as I could possibly do and incorporate a race. Most of you give me a hard time because of how I schedule races, and that I really don’t spend too much time in the city that I race in. I really don’t see the point. I want to sleep in my own bed, eat my own food, and have my own ‘stuff’ as long as possible… you know, keep things normal. So I normally fly the day before a race, and try and fly home the day of the race. It’s just easier for me and I am not away from my family as long either. However, I have to say that this trip was about the tightest that I have ever done.

On Friday I scheduled an early evening flight. I did not have to miss any work and I was able to get a direct flight to Vegas (less than 2 hrs versus 4+ hours). I like to minimize travel time as much as possible. If that means that I get 1 less hour of sleep, I think I am still ahead. Traveling, especially flying, can be very stressful and full of standing in lines or sitting on a plane full bacteria fill recycled air. None of which bode well for relaxed muscles.

*This is the lady that was dancing in front of me in the rental car line with her iPod in. She was dropping stuff all over the place and wearing winter wool line boots. Must be the 'in thing' in Vegas.

6:30pm I got into my rental car and headed for Sunset Station in Henderson where registration and packet pick up was. On the way, I was able to locate a bike shop to purchase a CO2 cartridge for the race tomorrow. More of a $4 insurance policy that I would make it back off the bike in case I flatted. I eventually found the Sunset Station.

7:30pm No casino in Vegas is ever small, so it was a treat to walk into a smoke filled room buzzing with fluorescent lights and the dinging of slot machines. Who the heck do you ask about triathlon registration in a place like this? Doesn’t seem like their game. Of course, registration was all the way on the other side of the hotel property in the parking lot. It was 80 degrees, so I walked. It really was not all that far, but for someone with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other and fumbling with the key to their Corvette, it may have posed a problem. But it really was not too bad. Registration went fine. I was lucky 417. Not too sure of the symbolism of that number. The sum of the digits is 12, which is divisible by 3 and there are 3 people in my family? That’ll work.

8:00 Right as I was leaving the casino, I saw a Wendy’s. Ah, my traditional out of town pre race meal. Some of you think I’m crazy, but it’s what I do and it seems to work just fine. I went with the traditional grill chicken club with a baked potato and water. I held off on the frosty this time. Don’t know why really.

8:20 As I left Wendy’s I stopped at the local Gas n’ Sip (obviously not the actual name, just a name that I call convenience stores. I think I got that from the movie “Say Anything,” when the guys are out front of the store talking about why they are not on a date) to pick up some water, Gatorade, and some Fig Newtons. Jessi always bugs me about Fig Newtons because she says that I never eat them. Which is partially true. We have brought home MANY boxes of Fig Newtons from races that are all beat up from travel that were never opened. But again, more of an insurance policy in case I get hungry. Whenever you go into convenience stores in different cities, you really get an idea as to what the ‘culture’ is. Some are a bit more fancy with up beat help that speak in complete sentences, others you seem to find help that is obviously without a dental plan or a health club membership, and potentially suicidal. Might be the job. This Gas n’ Sip was the later. I got the correct change back so I was happy.

8:30 On the way to Boulder City where I was staying at the Hacienda Hotel, formerly the Gold Strike… not that that means anything, but that’s what everyone seemed to say after I asked where the Hacienda Hotel was. I had directions, but I never really trust my interpretations of other people’s directions… especially at night. But I made it. This was also a casino which meant, yes, smoke. I really did not know that this many people still smoked. I think all the smokers are moving to Nevada… seriously. I was disappointed to find that they did not have a continental breakfast. We sure were spoiled last weekend at the Quality Inn. The lady did let me know that they do have a ‘Snack Bar’ bar open 24 hours, and then offered me a cookie. Nothing says pre race meal like dining at the Snack Bar. I took my key and rolled my bike up to the room. I was in room number 257, which means second floor. It’s funny that when they ask for any special requests when you book something, like say a ground level floor, that they really don’t plan on listening to you. I was traveling light, so it wasn’t a big deal. I could tell that this place had some miles on it. It was well maintained, just not updated. I got to my room, which was at the end of the hall. I opened the door to find that it was a suite. Niiiice! Though the look resembled something of the ‘Elvis Era,’ it was clean. I’m sure that room could tell some stories. But had it ever had a bike built in it? I bet not.

9:00pm It is always a bit of a surprise to open the bike case. I never know what special gift that the TSA people have given me. Broken parts, missing items, repack things so that it scratches my bike… hmmm, what will it be this time? As I unwrapped my Trek TTX, it was all there in one piece. It looked fine and I started to assemble it. But I did find some gifts from Emma. She left me 3 different drawings that she had colored in my bike case. They were so cute and they make me realize that this is why I make these trips so short. Jessi also wrote me a very sweet letter and put it in my toolbox. My bike, however, went together pretty quickly and things on this bike seem to work well. No bizarre configurations that require a bit tweaking to get them to work right. You tighten bolts, and it’s done.

9:30 After I cleaned up my bike I got all my race gear a pre race clothes all out. I tried to go over what the morning would look like so I did not have to think about anything once the alarm went off at 4:00am. After checking and re-checking and getting my numbers on my bike and race belt, I was ready. I was still trying to figure out what I was going to do for breakfast. I might just go without and have a PowerBar and a Pria bar. But I’d wait until the morning to decide.

10:00pm I was in bed and ready to go to sleep. I had the television on just to ‘detox’ a bit. I think I finally turned out the lights at 10:30 after consuming most of my Fig Newtons and some water and Gatorade. I always seem to be hungry the night before a race. I feel like I need to eat a bunch of food for some reason.

I did not sleep very well. I woke up a bunch and looked at the clock. I even had a dream that it was 6:30am and the race started at 7:00am. But I opened my eyes and it was only 3:30am… whew.

4:00am The alarm on my trusted TIMEX watch did sound and it was go time. I showered, loaded my bike and case (since I would pack my bike after the race). I asked for a late checkout (12:00pm) in case I could make it back for a shower. But I did not know the reality of actually being able to do that. I drifted by the ‘Snack Bar’ to see exactly what they had. I could see and smell the fry oil ready for something to be thrown in it. On the menu board I saw that they had a breakfast burrito, which was eggs and cheese inside a tortilla. That does not sound all that bad? So I ordered one of those and a yogurt. It was okay. A tad oily, but tolerable. It was 4:30am, it should be deep into my intestine by the start of the race.

5:00am I went back to my room to grab my bag and any other items that might still be there. I was hoping that I would be back, but just in case. I turned on the television just to make sure that other people were up at this hour and all I seemed to get was highlights of the baseball season. Did not know that Isaah Thomas was getting fired from the Knicks, or that Philadelphia Expos (?) were the first to lose 1000 games. Interesting. I find myself in super slow-mo when it comes to race morning. I don’t hurry to do anything. As a matter of fact, I find ways to do nothing. Hence the reason that I was on my bed watching baseball highlights at 5:00am. I decided it was time to get going.

5:15am I headed down to the race site which was a mere 3 miles away. Always nice to be so close to the race site. As I approached the road to turn in to the Lake Mead reservoir, there were a ton of cars heading that way. Gulp. The first real sign that this was a known race. I headed down here because it was the Nevada qualifier for the Best in the US series and was also the Regional Championship for Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho and Arizona. So I knew that there should be some good competition drawn to it. But it never hits you until you see it… and I was seeing it.

5:40am I rolled my little PT Cruiser into its parking spot and sat there a bit looking around at all the people getting out of their cars and gearing. When I arrive at a race, I never really have a sense of urgency to get out. Because once I do, it’s go time. I grabbed my B70 backpack, my Trek, and meandered over to the transition area. There was a ½ IM going on too that started at 6:40am, so the people who were already there were closer to their start time than me.

The transition area was super long…probably 3-4 blocks and was all up hill. The hill was basically the boat launch but since the water has been receding so much, it was a long ways. I knew T1 would be long since it was also up a 6% incline as well. The surface was quite rough too, but I never notice that in a race.

6:00am I got most of my transition set up. I normally rearrange things a dozen times to make sure things are where they need to be and I have it all out there. I then decided to go for a ride to make sure that all the nuts and bolts (not too many of them on the TTX) were tight and ready for the demands of the course. I never drove the course so I had no clue what the terrain was alike. I was told that there were no ‘major’ climbs, maybe one to the turnaround they said. So rode for about 10 minutes and re racked my bike.

6:30am The start was nearing and it was time to clean things up, and get my new B70 Helix on. This would be the 2nd race (first one was only 250 meters) that I have used it in… or used it at all. But it went on easily and I applied some Bodyglide to my neck. Don’t know why really, because I never get rashes form the Helix… just routine I suppose. I did not put on my Helix all the way because I would take one more pit stop at the port a potties.

6:45am I entered the port a potty… do you really need more detail than that?

6:50am I was down in the herd of athletes on the waterfront. I would suspect there were about 200-300 people down there. All standing there talking about how they have not been training… that this was a training race… that their knee was bothering them last week… all the same conversations, just a different location. Ironically, these conversations were followed by these same people talking about the races they won last year too :).

I took my secret concoction of fluids (Delta E) and my secret gel formula (PowerBar Double Latte gel) and headed into the water. I wanted to get a feel for the temp and get a few strokes in before the race started. I swam about 200 meters and found my place on the start line. I did not know anyone, but I knew where I wanted to start.

7:05am The gun went off and so did all of the us. The start of any race is tough. You got people going way too hard for what they can maintain and they are all next to you bumping into you not wanting to give up their space. But this is a 3 minute short lived experience. If you can weather this, you will soon be in the clear. I am sure there is research done on this about how long someone can go anaerobic in a swim before they settle down… well, whatever that time is, is when things finally clear out. Eventually I was by myself. I could see someone to the left of me about 10 yards, but there was no way to get over to him to get in his draft. After about 800 meters, another guy came up next to me and I drafted him for a bit until I realized he was just swimming too fast for me. Personally, I like to swim in the front and not draft. The water feels smoother and my effort seems less stressed. But I also know the benefits from drafting. At about the 1000 meter mark this person that had been next to me finally surged ahead and I got on their feet. There was no one else around. I figured I was in 4th place at this point, but did not know if there was someone right behind me. Did not really care to tell you the truth. I stayed with this person until about 100 meters to go where they surged ahead. No problem really. When I draft someone on the swim, I let them exit first and normally tell them that they swam well. Just a courtesy really. But this person opened a gap and I swam in on my own.

7:30am After exiting the swim and making the long trek up to transition, I passed the person I was drafting for the last bit and it was a woman. I told her nice swim, but it looked like the run up the 6% grade was getting the better of her. I kept it steady and got to me best friend of the day… my Trek TTX. This time my Helix came off quickly. I put on my Rudy Project glasses and helmet and then my shoes. I normally have my shoes on my bike, but this bike exit was on a pretty good uphill that got even steeper. To give you an idea, I was in my 42x23 and turning a pretty low cadence and producing some pretty high wattage. So to have my feet on top of my shoes through this would not have been an advantage. I was also fortunate enough to have my bike racked near the ‘bike out’ which meant I did not have to run my bike very far.

7:35am I was out on the bike course now and my heart rate was high. I could already feel the heat on the roads and I knew this was going to get hot. The people doing the ½ IM were already out on the course so I went flying by them one at a time. I felt kind of bad because they are pacing themselves for a long tough day and here I go flying by at 25+mph. But I wasn’t about to become sympathetic, I needed to catch some people ahead of me. Every person I closed on I would look at their calf and see what race they were in. I eventually got to a turn around that said ‘short course.’ And then there was another sign that said long course keep going. Now, as most of you know, I have had a similar problem in the past about this. In this race I even slowed and said, ‘Do I turn here?’ and, once again, they said yes. And once again I said, ‘Are you sure?’ and they asked what race I was doing, and I said the Olympic. The problem here is the fact that they called the names of races what they are not really know by. For example, Short Course is really known as Olympic or more formally, International (1.5k, 40k, 10k). And since they wrote an ‘O’ on my calf, I figured that is what they would call it. Long course, in triathlon, is known more closely as ½ Ironman. So when someone says, ‘Long course,’ it’s really more appropriately called half Ironman. So there was some confusion. And once again, I turned at the short course and then turned back after a couple seconds because I knew something was not right. I clarified and realized that I needed to keep going… so I did. A tad frustrating, but you really need to know the course and listen to yourself, not the volunteers. I kept going figuring out I lost about 20 seconds. Quite a bit for an Olympic distance race (or Long Course as they refer to it).

I kept things steady looking for people up the road and looking at their calves for the letter ‘O,’ indicating Olympic. I really did not care about their age, I was about the race. I finally saw my first ‘O’. Finally! I did not need to strategize this pass because I was going pretty fast as it was. I flew by and just kept going. I figured there must be a couple more up the road. I saw another and was taking splits on them from random road marks like bushes, shadows, etc. I knew I was closing and I wanted it to be another fast pass… and it was. I ended passing another older guy going about 10 mph on the flats that had an O on his leg, but I think it was just miss marked. Because I knew he did not swim faster… you could just tell. Finally I passed my last O of the day before the turnaround. That felt good. I went past the place where the ½ IM and Olympic course split, and all I saw was open road. The USAT officials passed me a couple times at that point letting me know that I was the leader. Always nice to hear. At the turnaround (10 miles so not the ½ way point) I took a split to see how far I was ahead of the rest. I had a gap on the next 3, but it wasn’t huge. I had another 14 miles to put more time in my bank. But I was starting to feel a little tired in the legs. This course was tough, lots of ups and downs. The ups did not look all the steep, but they were. Lots of 7-8% grades. You enjoyed them on the downsides, but coming back, they were as steep as they felt when going down them. My legs were feeling tired and I was not producing the wattage that I normally have in the past. My heart rate was high enough, but the power was not there. Did not matter, I needed to get off this bike and start running. I eventually passed the turn to the transition area to head to another turnaround… never a good feeling. The turnaround point was at top of another hill… and a long steep one too. Crap. This is killing my legs. I tried to keep in the race. But this is not an Ironman where you can ease up and then get back into it. There is no time for that. You go all out, and hopefully the finish comes before you fall apart. I finally made it to the turnaround where they said that I was in 1st. Still feels good to hear that when you feel like crap. The way back to the transition area was all downhill. I wound out my 53x11 and was doing probably 40+mph. I did not want to over due it, but I needed the guys that were chasing to see someone that was riding strong and confident.

8:30am After a 1:04+ bike, I came into T2 alone and had to weave my way through some people that have had the luxury of a quiet transition area for the past 20 minutes. I know this sounds petty, but it is a little tough when you are in the lead to ‘trust’ volunteers. You are their first customer… and they normally screw things up the first couple times. So you often have to advocate for yourself. I racked my Trek quickly and was off running. I exited T2 in 37 seconds. Does not really matter really, but I had to run all the way down the ramp this time, which means, I will eventually have to run all the way back up, come to find out, this would be the easier of the climbs. I settled in quickly to a good pace. Quick turnover, legs felt pretty good, and I was on my way. After going down, I immediately had to go up again and this was not on road, it was on sand and gravel. I tried to stay off my toes so that I did not sink into the soft surface. Finally, I got to a somewhat flat road surface, though it was dirt road. It felt good and I was moving. It seemed like the 1st mile marker took forever, but it finally did come. I pressed on and hit an aid station at the 2 mile mark. I grabbed 2 waters and sucked them down. They tasted soooo good, and at this point, I knew that I was way behind on hydration and it was 85 degrees and getting hotter. This course is one of the toughest I have ever run on. Finally, I knew I was getting to the half way point. I started up this climb that was an old runoff trail. It was all sand, uneven, rocks of all sizes, and an 8+% pitch. I don’t mind hills really. They allow me to settle in to a shorter stride and maintain a steady effort. But this just kept going and going and… Finally I could see the top of this hill and figured we would just keep going and make a circle of it. NOPE. Right at the very top, there was cone that said turn. Crap again. Now I have to run down this? Nice, real nice. Right as I made the turn I could see 2nd place coming up to the turn. He passed me shortly after the turn and had a great pace going… solid runner. I kept my legs gong and stayed in the race. But I knew that my body was running dry. I needed more water. I then saw 3rd coming up the hill. He was not that far off either, and eventually passed me with 1.5-2 miles to go. It really did not matter to me because I was running what I could. I could have had a ‘burst’ of speed, but would have fallen apart shortly after. He was running faster than the first guy, but too far behind. I knew I was over 4 minutes ahead of 4th, so there would be no more passing happening… other than me passing out.

9:20am I finished in a time of 2:13:23. My run split was a 43:03. The fastest run of the day was run by the guy who got 2nd, who ran a 39:55, faster than the eventual race winner, Patrick Bless, a professional from Germany, who ran a 41:16. So I was about 3 minutes slower than the fastest run time…pretty typical for me. Though it was a 10k, it ran a lot slower. I quickly consumed about 40oz of water and could have drank more. But I knew it would not do any good. I was overheated and dehydrated.

So I ended up 3rd overall. I guess race number 417 did have some symbolism… 3rd overall. The top 3 were all within 2 minutes of one another. Fourth was 6 minutes back, so quite a difference. Although they screwed up the results a bit, (they have me running a 50:05 and are trying to figure all that out) I know where I am right now in terms of fitness. Gotta figure some stuff out on the bike, and be prepared for the heat in Wildflower. Kind of hope it rains. But easy things to fix.

9:40am I went and talked with Patrick Bless for a bit about his plans this year and how the race went. Nice guy… they normally all are when they win :). We talked about the course, thought it was a tad long and that the mile markers on the run were off a bit. To give you an idea, I ‘supposedly’ ran 23:30 to the halfway point and 19:35 back (different way back, but supposedly the same distance). There was some downhill, but not 4 minutes. That’s why it’s always hard to compare times from course to course when the measurements are off. I know what my watch says, but how that relates to their distance ‘interpretation’ is a whole different story.

10:00am I packed up my bike in the bike box. It was a bit windy, but mid 80s. I did this with my shirt off and it felt great. I talked with a few people, gave a guy my CO2 cartridge (since you cannot fly with them), tried to locate the results, and then went and thanked the race director for the race. I had to leave and if I was getting an award, I did not want to be disrespectful. At this point, the race director said that I won overall because the first 2 guys were pro/elites. That may have been the case, but I was still 3rd and that’s what I know. So I am sticking with that. However, they still need to fix my run split… hopefully they will do that.

10:30am I left the venue and headed back to the hotel to shower. I was pretty sweaty from the race and I am glad I was able to… and I’m sure the people that would be sitting next to me on the place appreciated it too.

11:30am I headed back to Vegas leaving Boulder City in my rearview mirror. The Las Vegas area sure has a different look to it. Lots of hills and rolling terrain. And the new developments here are amazing. I don’t think this area will ever really accept the whole ‘think green’ mentality, or recycle. This place is all about bigger, better, and consume. And the people who frequent these places probably have the same mentality. The casinos in the city area amazing. I cannot fathom how in the world they get built, but if you have the money, it will get done.

12:30pm I got my rental car returned and I was off to the airport. It was perfect timing because I was able to call Jessi and find out how Emma’s soccer game went that was at 1:00pm and get to hear her account of it. See Jessi’s blog for that full report. I always get Emma something when I am gone form the place I visited. She probably does not care that it came from ‘Vegas’ or wherever I was, she’s just happy to get something and that I am home. I should think about doing that for Jessi too huh? Nothing real eventful beyond this. Some random people watching that is always entertaining. My plane left the 85 degree weather of Nevada at 2:10pm (supposedly) and I was back in the 37 degree tropics of Spokane shortly after 5:00pm. So all in all a 24 hour trip. I think I made the best of it.

Thanks to all of you who have called in to wish me well, sent me texts, called to see how it went, etc. I really appreciate it all. It does get lonely when you are in a casino (vintage 1965) all alone watching Sportscenter eating Fig Newtons. Always nice to stay connected with everyone via texts and calls.

Good luck to all of you with your next race. I hope you are always able to walk away and learn something from it.