We finished. I'll give a more complete report later, but thanks to everyone who tracked us online, watched the finish line camera, sent us these awesome screen shots, posted on FB, texted me, emailed, and prayed for us yesterday. It might have been the toughest think I've ever done.
I was so happy to get back to my hotel last night and get a hot shower. My feet are covered with blisters...an awesome souvenir that will remind me of this race for probably another week. But I'm glad I did it. I'm glad it's over and that I don't have to worry about doing this anytime soon.
Here are a few more screen shots from the live finish cam last night. Troy, Matthias, and Lance--I couldn't ask for better brothers! You are so awesome for sending these so quickly! I love them! Ray Ray, thanks for your Instagram post. I loved that one too!
Rain. Wind. Waves. Did I really sign up for this? Just as soon as my brother and I dropped off our bags, the heavens opened and dumped rain, rain, and more rain. Look at that picture above...multiple swells pounding the beach. Flags pegged. Beach grass bent under the weight of the wind...I guess things can only get better right?
That's some decent surf out there. Did I mention there's currently a rip current warning in effect? Maybe it'll help my swim time...
Most triathletes put countless hours of preparation into a race like this. In addition to hundreds of hours of training time, no details are left undone. Nails are trimmed (so as not to tear wetsuits), energy packets are taped to bike frames, and running shoes are carefully placed. Some triathletes will even go as far as shaving their legs in the vain (misguided) belief that it will shave seconds from their bike times.
I trimmed and filed my nails last night, mixed my energy drinks, rented aerodynamic wheels for my bike, and carefully packed my bike's Bento box with goodies. I've put a lot of time (at least for me) into preparing for this race. But I didn't shave my legs for this. Nor would I ever. But if this weather holds, I wonder if it will even matter.
My bike is racked and ready in the center there (note the aero wheels). See how strong the wind is? It is actually blowing bikes around on the racks!
I did a race like this once. 18 months ago. It was one of the hardest things I've ever attempted. I was hoping for a little better conditions tomorrow. I guess I'm putting a lot of faith in the weatherman right now. Because it's not looking great.
If things don't improve at all, I'll be glad that--despite all my other preparation--at least I didn't bother to shave my legs for this. :-/
My brother and I decided to go for a short training run tonight. As we started out, we had a few rain drops. But by the first mile, it was raining. By the second mile, it was pouring cats and dogs! I don't know if I've ever run in the rain where it was raining that hard for that long.
There were literally rivers of water draining off of parking lots onto the sidewalk. We tried dodging puddles in a futile attempt to keep our shoes dry. I wasn't too worried until my brother reminded me that wet shoes, socks, and feet could contribute to blisters. And that's about the last thing that we want a day and a half before the Big Race.
We ended up doing 5 miles and it may have been the most memorable 5 miler of my life. By the time we rolled in to the hotel at the end of the run, we were soaked. My brother said that we might as well have jumped in the pool. He was right. I think that the fact that we were so wet should therefore qualify as a swim workout too! :-)
It's supposed to rain tomorrow too and then the storm is supposed to blow itself out leaving clear skies, mild winds, and low humidity for the race on Saturday. In other words, it should be perfect conditions. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
I had to get my toes in the water to get ready for the course...
The last player selected in the NFL Draft every year is known as "Mr. Irrelevant." It has become somewhat of a badge of honor with past recipients of the Mr. Irrelevant designation being honored with banquets, parades, and prizes.
In truth, no player selected in the NFL Draft is truly irrelevant. It is quite an honor to even get drafted. Think of the millions of high school football players who never even move on to play at college. Then there are thousands of Division 1 college football players each season, but only about 200 or so are drafted. So to have your name called on Draft Night really is a dream come true for any college football player.
My race bib and stickers for my gear...
That's kind of how I feel about this race on Saturday. There are probably about 2,600 triathletes who will start the race. I don't know how many will finish, but I do know that I want to be one of them. There is a tradition that as the athletes enter the finish chute and near the finish line of these Ironman races, Mike Reilly (who has announced virtually every Ironman race for years--including the World Championships in Kona) will get their name and say: "Michael Smith...you are an Ironman!"
This is where the swim will start..love this white sand beach!
The race starts with a mass swim start at 7 a.m. CST. 2,600 competitors will sprint from the white sand on Panama City Beach and plunge into the surf of the Gulf of Mexico for a two-loop, 2.4 mile swim. All competitors must finish the 26.2 mile run portion by midnight--17 hours later.
They give you 17 hours to complete the race. I intend to use all 17 hours if necessary, but I want to hear Mike Reilly call my name and say: "...you are an Ironman!" If I can do that--even if I'm the last person crossing the finish line, one minute before midnight--it will be meaningful to me. It certainly won't be irrelevant.
If you want, you can follow my progress at: www.ironman.com on race day. You can click on the race coverage box to track my progress or the progress of any of my fellow competitors.
There is supposed to be a live finish line camera as well. This link may (or may not) work for that: IMFL Finish Line Cam
Here are a few more pics from our first day of prep for the race:
My brother and I outside of packet pick-up...Note the official IM backpack swag (The IMSG backpacks were better :-\)
I texted this pic to my kids. Pay no attention to the man in the parking lot. Inside the store was a total tourist trap!
Huge, massive hotels everywhere along the boardwalk...it reminded me of South Padre Island.
Did I mention that I've fallen in love with these white sand beaches?
It was interesting on the plane. I'd say that about half of the passengers at least looked like they were competing in the Ironman this weekend. There were all types of people...older, younger, male, and female, but they all had a couple of things in common (besides the Ironman backpacks and associated gear/swag). They had on running shoes and they looked ripped!
It was also pretty cool that I saw and recognized Mirinda Carfrae--a professional triathlete and Ironman World Champion--on our flight. She is going to be doing the race as well! I guarantee she'll probably be twice as fast as I will be!
I thought that I was in halfway decent shape for this race, but now I'm not so sure. I guess when you spend as much time as you need to spend for this type of endurance race, you get that lean, fit look. I'm not so sure anyone would have mistaken me for an Ironman competitor if I hadn't been wearing an Ironman sweater and toting an Ironman St. George backpack. (Several people on the flight, however, and the girl at the rental counter booth asked if my brother and I were twins though!)
Brothers and seatmates--but not twins...
It's fun to be here with with my brother. It would be great if I could keep up with him so that we could do a chunk of the race together. Doing the marathon portion of Ironman St. George in 2012 was one of the highlights of my life. It would be great if we had a chance to do it again on Saturday.
Dinner tonight was at a Southern style pit bbq place. Maybe I was just hungry, but it was good! I attacked my plate with a vengeance and cleaned it up so that there was not a single crumb left. I had the pulled pork. My brother had the brisket. We both agreed that I got the better end of the deal. The bbq sauce was outstanding as well! (Sorry, no pics of dinner because my phone was almost out of juice and the food just didn't last that long!)
I can't wait to see the course tomorrow. I don't have any big goals for this weekend. My only goal is to just finish the race!
Dean Bullock is from South Jordan, Utah. He's a father of 9 kids and grandpa to 17. He's also a triathlete. Last summer, he was diagnosed with a serious brain tumor. The prognosis isn't good. He will apparently be lucky to make it another year. His dream is to compete at Kona and he has probably only once chance left to do it. The race is this October.
Slots for Kona are next to impossible to get, but he has shot to get a special slot if he gathers enough votes on a video that he submitted for the "Kona Inspired" program.
Please consider viewing his video here and voting for him. (You can vote once per day). Click on the magnifying glass and type in "Dean Bullock." Then click on one of his videos and click on "<3 Vote for This" in the bottom left hand corner. It's that easy and it will only take about 20 seconds!
Dean, I've never met you even though we competed together at Ironman St. George this year. I doubt my one vote or this post is enough to put you over the top, but I hope that you make it--both to Kona and through this challenge. Keep fighting the good fight!
This might not be funny if you haven't listened to some of the dumb stuff that triathletes actually say. I've actually heard some of these before. And I've probably been guilty at having said one or two myself... ;-)
His lines about "following his blog" to see his training progress is pretty funny. Hopefully none of my readers are sick and tired of hearing about my triathlons!
It's official. I'm in. Registration for this race sold out in 15 minutes last year, but I made it. I felt like I was camping out for tickets to a NKOTB reunion! (Not that I'd ever go to one of those concerts, but I know people at least one person that would...) Registration is still open. If you're going to do it too, you'd better hurry!
Don't ask how much it cost. I'm sure it will all be worth it!
Our Family is Loyal--L Helps E With Her Bike Before the Race
(This may be my favorite pic from the event)
One year ago, I was racing in the Pumpkinman Triathlon. I've been wanting to blog it for a year now. But I haven't felt like I had the time to do it right. Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good. So since the 2012 race is tomorrow, I figure that there's no time like the present to get this post up! :-)
First, though, here is a little video recap of the day, set to some pretty good tunes. Props go to my brother L for putting this together. You can read his (brief, but timely) recap here:
The race for me got off to a bad start. I had to drop off my run stuff at T2 and so I was late to the starting line. The parking for the race is along the shore of Lake Mead and the parking lot is littered with little tiny thorns that could easily puncture a tire. That makes getting your bike set up a little tricky.
I managed to get into my wetsuit as I scrambled toward the finish line, but as I went to put my goggles on, disaster struck! My goggle straps broke!! Somehow, I had a flash of inspiration to tie a knot in them and it worked. Then I got the race director to let me start with the next wave and the crisis was (mostly) averted.
That water is cold!
Because I didn't start in the same wave with L. and S., I was behind them getting out of the water.
The first transition (aka T1) is always tricky. Usually, you're pretty cold and your arm muscles are fatigued because you've been windmilling your way through the water for the past 30+ minutes.
So during T1, you have to use your fine muscle skills to get dressed and get on the bike and it can be a bit tricky.
My transition was trickier than normal because I had chosen to do the bike and run portions in costume--dressed as a skeleton. I was proud of my costume. Heck, I felt like it took a lot of time and energy to come up with and make, but I had on my normal tri pants, then black tights from ankles to wrists, then the black polyester skeleton costume.
It was a lot of black fabric and it wasn't exactly Nike Dri Fit material if you know what I mean. Still, I thought that the costume looked great and I was pumped to wear it.
(I actually would win a prize following the race for the Best Costume and my picture is still on the web site for the race. Though it was not not lost on me that my "cover boy" moment came with me wearing a mask to cover my face! :-)
The bike portion went fairly well. I caught up to L.about 8-10 miles in or so. I think he was surprised to see me pass him. I gave him a couple quick tips as I rode past and I think it really helped him. His pace the second half of the race was a lot faster than the first half.
At about Mile 18 or 19, I passed a milestone. This is the part where you begin a significant uphill climb from Lake Mead up to Boulder City. You go up about 1300 feet or so in only 5 miles and it is challenging. The year before, I had almost puked at this point. I was glad to be able to get past this part and was thrilled that I felt a lot stronger this year. I love seeing my improvement in these races from year to year.
All those layers made me very hot!
The bike portion can be exhilarating, especially when you get a little downhill and a cool breeze. The last half mile of Pumpkinman before Transition 2 (T2) is a downhill coast and it feels great after the five mile climb! (A really, really brutal climb!)
Next up was the run. I feel like the run is the worst part of this race. You basically run through the streets of Boulder City and end up on a road to nowhere. It's just you, the competitors, hot asphalt, and bleak desert for miles around! Plus, I've heard a rumor that the run is actually slightly longer than a 10k, which makes more of a mental challenge.
This gives you a good view of my costume--from the front and the back
I got a few comments about my costume during the bike portion, but I got way more during the run. A few people called me "Skeletor." A lot of people said, "Great Costume." Quite a few asked me if I was "hot."
Ummm, yeah! Thanks Captain Obvious! I'm in 3 layers of polyester and spandex and it's 95 degrees and there is no shade. (Not to mention the mask that I had to wear as well!) It was like being in a frickin' oven to wear that costume!! But I was committed to it and I've long felt that if you're going to do something, you need to do it right. "Go Big or Go Home!" as a wise person once phrased it. ;-)
So I just decided to endure it. I can endure a lot of things, but this was a challenge. My time for the first half of the 10k was 28 minutes. That's actually a pretty decent time. But during the second half, the wheels came off the bus....My split for the second half of the race was 40 minutes! Yikes! Let's just say that I was probably pretty dehydrated and lucky that I was still ambulatory by the end of the race,
As I neared the end, I got my favorite comment of the day on my costume. One of the other competitors told me: "Sexy bones" as I passed by. What's interesting about triathlons is that they write your age right there on your leg, so I knew exactly how old she was. And even though she was a little bit older than me, she was definitely pretty cute. I was glad I had my mask on so that nobody could see whether I blushed!
Triumphant!
As you can see in the video above, I hit that final turn and I felt like I just launched myself toward the finish line! I felt like I was sprinting so fast. After watching the video, I'm thinking--not so much! It definitely felt faster than it looked!
All in all, it was a really fun race and I'm glad it's become somewhat of a minor family tradition. I have to give some props to some of my other family members who competed (and to Ray Ray who drove down from Provo to cheer us all on!!):
Brother-in-Law T:
T gets the Polar Bear Award for doing the swim without a wetsuit!
T. did the Sprint distance (shorter than the Olympic) with my sister E. I think that this was his first triathlon ever, but he did great!
E:
The Bike Ride Has Some Spectacular Views
L:
L. had the best pit crew at the race. His wife and cute little miracle baby both came to cheer him on!
I'm still ticked that L. and S. beat me. And especially that L. beat me by literally 82 seconds!
The Plan for 2012:
The plan for this year is the same as always...get a better time than last year! The only problem is that I have no right to a better time because I haven't put in the preparation that I should have. Still, I think it will be fun and I'm looking forward to the challenge!
Check back in year to see how I do in the race tomorrow! :p
Ben Baltz, 11 Years Old, Is Carried Across The Finish Line by Marine Private First Class Matthew Morgan, 19 years old (Photo taken by Kim Baltz)
I heard about this story on the radio yesterday. It touched me--not just because I love doing triathlons--but because it's the type of "feel-good", inspirational story that we need more of these days. I later stumbled across the story on the net and felt like I had to share it!
Here's the gist of what happened:
Ben Baltz is 11 years old and he's also a bone cancer survivor. The cancer took one of his legs. On Sunday, he was competing in a triathlon in Pensacola, Florida (the Sea Turtle Tri). Ben completed the swim and bike portions without any problems, but during the run, a screw in his prosthetic leg came loose and fell off. Ben fell down as well.
Pfc. Matthew Morgan, a United States Marine (from San Diego) who was volunteering at the event came over to help. Ben struggled to fix his prosthetic leg but realized he couldn't do it on his own. At that point in time, Mathew picked Ben up and said: "Hey, you're going to be taken home by the Marines today."
Other Marines who were volunteering lined up into a column of twos and they all ran to the finish together.
I loved this quote from Pfc. Morgan: "He was going to finish the race no matter what, but I told him to jump on and we finished the race together," Morgan said."
I love the challenge of doing these races, but I love even more the inspiration that people like Ben Baltz--as he conquers the challenges in his life--and Pfc. Matthew Morgan--as he reminds us of that quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln--give us:
"No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child."
We have a bit of a tradition in our family. Every year we do the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon--which is held the first Saturday in August. The first year that I did it, we had 5 of us (myself, two of my brothers, a sister, and a brother-in-law). This year, we had two new participants my sister R. and my sister-in-law N.
I love seeing my siblings on the course and our Team Skil jerseys make us pretty easy to spot. I wasn't sure how I would do this year, given that I had not really had a chance to train. For example, I was at Scout Camp the whole week before the race and only got to do one afternoon of mountain biking (half of which was spent walking one of the YM's damaged bikes back up the mountain!).
My goal is always to improve my time every year, so I would have been bummed to not be able to improve on last year's time (1:41:48).
Swim:
The swim at Camp Pendleton is always a bit of a challenge. You start off on the beach and run out into the surf. You have to work your way out to the breakers and then swim around the buoys and back into the shore.
Swimming back in is not as easy as you would expect. I always like to think that you can body surf the waves coming back in to really speed things up, but those breaking waves can be really, really big. Last year, I got tumbled head over heels in the surf zone twice. Both times, my lungs burned as I struggled to figure out which way was up and to get a new breath of air.
A friend of mine--and experienced triathlete--got so turned around last year that he actually started swimming away from the finish line. He ended up with a terrible swim time and overall bad race because he got off to a bad start that he just couldn't shake.
I'll never forget watching the start of the swim two years ago during my first triathlon. The wave consisted of all the "young bucks" and they were young and eager to get the race started. They jumped in the water and swam with all their might. About halfway out to the first buoy, they looked up and realized that they waves and current had pushed them almost to the second buoy! They had to turn and swim into the current to get back on course.
I, along with a bunch of the older and wiser competitors, decided to run up the beach a hundred yards or so so that we could let the current push us toward the buoy rather than away from it.
This year brought a new challenge to the swim portion. I saw that a couple of participants managed to get stung by stingrays before the race even started. Their race was over before it even started. I'm just glad it didn't happen to me!
The swim portion this year, however, could not have been more perfect. Or maybe I'm just getting stronger in the water. The water was warm like bath water. The ocean seemed calm and I managed to make good time through the surf zone and into the finish line for the swim. My time for the swim (13:49) was nearly two minutes faster than last year!
The thing is that I know that I can go faster. I'm bummed that I was holding back a little during the swim. I cruised into transition and found my brother S. still getting on the bike. S. is the best swimmer in the family and I can't remember a race where I've been in the swim-bike transition with him.
Bike:
I was most worried about the bike portion of the race because I hadn't even been on my bike since the Ironman St. George experience. That was three months before!
I did do a short mountain biking thing with the scouts at Scout Camp, but I mostly rode down hill and then swapped bikes for the ride back up the mountain after one of the scouts crashed and ruined his bike.
(Actually, the bike was so bad that I had to carry it most of the way because the wheel had been ruined! That was easily one of the lowlights of Scout Camp!)
However, I got on the bike and took off. I made surprisingly good time during the bike portion. I think the major reason was not that I was in better shape for the bike ride--but rather that my biking technique has improved and I am more efficient on the bike.
I also credit my friend Royal for helping me come up with a great strategy for attacking the bike portion of the course in this race. I felt like it worked like a charm! One thing that I love about the bike portion of this race is that the last two miles of the course you ride past all your friends and family who are gathered on the tarmac of the base to cheer you on! It is invigorating and energizing.
On the home stretch!
I was really hoping to beat my bike time from last year, even though last year's time was really, really good. I didn't think that I had any right to have such a good time this year given my lack of preparations. However, my time was only 5 seconds slower than last year. (55:15).
Run:
Finished!
The run was definitely a challenge. This was where my lack of preparation and training hurt me the most. I started the run even though both of my feet were numb from the bike ride. I didn't regain any real feeling in my feet until I'd gone about a mile. My goal had been to finish the race in less than 1 hour and 40 minutes.
I did some quick calculations in my head and figured that if I could pull off 9 minute miles, I could hit that. Easier said than done! Also, I wanted to finish ahead of my two brothers and, even though I had passed S. on the bike, I knew that he was not that far behind me. I could feel him gaining on me during the run.
Part of me worried that he would catch me and pass me in the final stretch as well. Somehow, though, I managed to rally and increased my pace for the second half of the run. I finished the race in a new PR for me--1:39:50! I made my goal!
Also, S. finished just 17 seconds behind me, so I didn't really leave myself much room to spare! All in all, it was a good race and I had fun. And it was fun to cheer on my siblings who ran as part of Team Skil.
Here are the final times for the 500 yard swim, 18.4 mile bike, and 3.1 mile course:
G - Swim - 13:49; Bike: 55:15; Run: 26:15 -- Total Time: 1:39:50
S - Swim - 12:29; Bike: 1:01:06; Run: 23:49 -- Total Time: 1:40:07
L - Swim - 13:34; Bike: 1:03:14; Run: 23:59 -- Total Time: 1:44:50
R - Swim - 20:01; Bike: 1:12:00; Run: 32:55 -- Total Time: 2:10:04
N - Swim - 18:02; Bike: 1:12:48; Run: 37:57 -- Total Time: 2:15:06
E - Swim - 14:22; Bike 1:24:53; Run: 33:30 -- Total Time: 2:17:33
