Wow...waaaay behind

Wow, a lot has been going on since "2 weeks before Oceanside." Just the thought of a blog entry at this point has been daunting. But let me see if I can put it in some kind of a nutshell.

I am going to start from when I left Spokane...but stay with me because it has significance. I left Spokane on Thursday and when I landed in San Diego I had a message from Jessi saying that I needed to call here asap. So as I was walking to baggage claim, I called to hear what was going on. Jessi informed me that she was hospitalized because of pre term labor contractions. Things were moving forward, but she was only at 33 weeks of her pregnancy. I know this means VERY little to most people without kids, but you really need to be at 37 weeks before delivery, ideally 40 weeks. So a bit too early. I started scheduling flights to fly out the next day (Friday). I was on and off the phone with Jessi and her dad (who is a pediatrician) throughout the night. It wasn't until early morning that they felt the baby would 'probably' not come this weekend. Probably? I am 12 hours travel time to get home. If she goes into labor, I am screwed. This was really the dilemma of the weekend. Constantly second guessing what to do. Jessi wanted me to stay...I felt selfish staying to do a triathlon when my wife is in the hospital and could give birth to our son. Something about this did not seem right. But Jessi reassured me that it was better that I stay and do the race. I tried to get some more sleep Friday since Thursday night was a wash. But race morning was near.

Saturday morning I got up and had my traditional breakfast. But it did not seem to sit well. I just thought it was digesting and would take a few more minutes. But it never seemed to settle. Felt like I finished an all you can eat pizza contest. Anyway, I cruised down to the start, in the dark, and got all set up. Funny thing was, I was not nervous about anything. In the big picture of what had been happening, and what was happening in Spokane, this was pretty insignificant. And I think that took a lot of the stress off of it. Perspective.

As we were getting closer to the start, I tried using the restrooms, but the lines were way too long. So I suited up in my Orca 3.8 and rushed to the start. It would not be a race if I wasn't late to the start :) I got to my wave and we were about ready to head into the water. The water temp was cool, and it was saltwater, but it's still just swimming. I lined up on the front line and was ready to roll. The horn sounded and I was off in my first 1/2 IM in over 3 years. I swam steady and felt like I was never on people's feet, which I don't mind. I always get confused on where I am at on this course, but in the final 400 meters, you always seem to know where you are. I got out and looked at my watch and was happy to see that I swam a low 27 minute. Not too bad for the rather rough conditions. My Orca felt perfect. I quickly transitioned and was off on the bike.

Photos By ASI

My stomach was still not feeling great, but I was ready to ride. I felt pretty good and was holding back quite a bit. But I think everyone does at the start. On one of the out and backs I saw Sam Picicci and he was looking strong. I also saw Greg Gallagher who was cruising as well. Since I was in an earlier wave, it was not too congested out there at all. After about 1.5 hours on the bike I started to feel like I was missing some nutrition. I mixed my bottles a little differently hoping that I would supplement with course aid. But I factored it wrong. I took a chance to race with 1 less bottle, and it was a stupid mistake. At about 2 hours I knew I was limping a little and trying to maintain a 'reasonable' pace. I could feel that my legs had no snap left in them on the bike. I tried to eat and drink, but I knew it was too late. I still had a respectable bike time, but not my fastest at this race. Even on my Computrainer I rode higher watts and better times in training. I was happy to see T2 and rolled through it pretty fast. But I had to pee, and I did that in transition as to not have it impact my run split.

Photos By ASI

The run started fine. I started a tad fast, but slowed it down a bit. I watched my TIMEX Global trainer which kept me honest. The first lap I felt okay, the second things started to slow a bit. On the second lap I was able to see some people I knew which was nice. Tim Hola, fellow TIMEX Multisport Team member came up behind me and gave me a little push. But I was needing a bit more than a push at mile 8. Near the last turn, with 3 miles to go, fellow Spokaninte and friend, Sam Picicci came flying by me...I mean flying. He ended up running the fastest run split for our age group at just over 1:20. That's moving! As solid as he looked, I looked equally not. I plodded in and ended the day with a run split of 1:31+. Not a bad run for coming a bit unglued late in the bike. I ended up 7th in my division and was pretty happy with that. Total time 4:34:35...which just so happens to be 1 second slower than my best time there. But it was my best swim (by about 45 seconds) and best run there (by about 4 minutes). Bike was 6 minutes slower than my best, hmmm, who knows. So my final time was a bit slower because of the bike, but that's okay, I can fix that. So being away from triathlon for over a year, and away from 1/2 IMs for well over 3 years, I feel like I am right back in it. Just wiping off the cobwebs.

Photos By ASI

Once I finished, my mind was on getting home to be with Jessi. I gathered up my gear and rode back to my hotel room and packed the bike. As much as I wanted to think that I was focused on this race, I really was more focused on getting done with it. So that felt good. But it was also nice to get out and race and put in a solid effort.

A huge thank you to all the great people who made the day flawless on so many levels. There are so many aspects that can go wrong in a race. It's always nice to have the best equipment and sponsors doing their part. Now all you have to do it yours.

TIMEX and all fine partners of the TIMEX Multisport Team
Orbea bikes
Shimano Components (especially the Di2)
Orca wetsuits
K Swiss shoes
PowerBar
Extreme Endurance
Fitness Fanatics in Spokane
Rudy Project
Sugoi clothing