Nautica New York CityTriathlon 2009

This was the first race I had after I started working with my coach. Granted I only had a couple of weeks to work with him, but even in that two weeks he helped me. My problem has been my knee. I sprained my knee while running three weeks before the race. I actually considered pulling out of the race but was really looking forward to the weekend. So I went to the doctor and he suggested that before any surgical intervention that I try a cortisone shot first and then some rest. So I only ran twice in the two weeks leading up to the race. The week before the race I had the injection in my knee and that helped tremendously. I am glad I did the race. I had a horrible run. I was really just trying to finish without injuring my knee any more than it already was. Sometimes it isn't about how you finish it is about just finishing. So it in that spirit that I am posting my race report below.

Race Report

Swim
I was in the Clydesdale over 40 group. To call some of these guys Clydesdale’s is just wrong. I look like the Michelin man in my tri suit but these guys look like they just finished lifting weight. Some of those guys were in great shape. So I knew going onto the barge for the swim start I was going to stand back and not get beat-up at the start. Jeff Jacobsen had suggested starting to the right of the barge to stay further in the river and current. So rather than get in the water and hold the rope tied to the barge I stayed to the far end of the barge and just jumped in after the horn. I took my time at the beginning of the swim to get relaxed and into a good pace. I felt pretty good. The water wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I felt like I was swimming pretty well. It was a little hard to see the swim exit but I was passing people and caught the wave in front of me. Time 19:30.

T1
This is an interesting transition. You actually have to run about 300 yards to the transition. Now I hate running on the sand barefoot, so running on asphalt barefoot for me was painful. I probably had 30 people pass me running to transition. Once I got into transition I was ok and actually got out before several people that were already in my row when I got there. Time 6:04

We were warned of a steep hill leaving transition. The hill looked steep from the bottom but it actually wasn’t that bad. Onto the road the first thing I noticed was how crowded the road was. I have never been in a race with such a large field. I am surprised they didn’t have any collisions. The speed differential (between the fastest and slowest) must have been pretty large. I really tried to keep a steady cadence and I felt great on the bike. I usually get into a big gear and try not to change gears too much. But I really tried to focus on keeping a steady cadence and it really helped. The bike course was kind of bumpy and a lot of people had flat tires. I was a bit concerned about a flat because I had a really tough time getting air into my rear tire earlier. By mile 2 I figured my tire was ok and went as hard as I could. The course has rolling hills and I thought it was pretty fast. There was a lot of passing and you really had to pay attention. It was also the first time I was able to ride my bike thru a toll plaza. Overall I liked the ride and felt good off the bike. Time 1:22:54

T2
Pretty uneventful. I got my running shoes on, got a drink and got out. On the way out of transition I was right behind Jeremy Parks. We spoke for a brief moment and he was off. I thought to myself that I must have had a pretty good bike and swim because I was keeping up with Jeremy. Then I realized that I actually had started 30 minutes before him. Oh well, I still felt good. Time 2:52

Run
I hate running. I always have and probably always will. But the run is the third leg and it must be done. I have been nursing a knee injury so I have only run twice in the last month. Even so, I was hoping to reach my goal of finishing under 3 hours. (I know the current is fast but I it still counts). Coming out of transition there was a pretty steep hill and a tunnel before going onto 72nd ave. This is where the race changed for me. When I came out of the tunnel it looked to me like there were thousands of people lining both sides of the street cheering. It was pretty amazing to see. I felt like I was running thru a tunnel of people all cheering and clapping. It really makes you feel pretty good. So I felt good going into Central Park until I hit the first hill. Now people that think New York City is flat are dead wrong. And Central Park is even worse. I was not prepared for all the hills on the run. They are not real steep hills but long rolling hills with an incline and then a decent then another incline and decent. It was like this for 5 miles. I actually thought this was tougher than Columbia. I was able to pass some people on the run which is rare for me. I get passed a lot on the run which is difficult for me. But I was watching my time and I was still determined to finish in less than 3 hours. At around mile 5 you can start to hear the crowd at the finish line. This is also the point where other people from Annapolis or the ATC must have been, because I could hear the “keep going Iron Crab” and “Go ATC”. When I was coming to the last corner and last hill on the run I could hear a group of people really cheering me on from the ATC. I don’t know who it was or if they were cheering me on or not. If you were, thank you because it really helped me. It gave me the one last jolt of energy to step up that last 400 yards and finish. This run was tough for me. Time 1:07:06

Overall time 2:58:23 37/68



I had a great time this weekend. I got to spend the weekend with my 13 year old son. Even though it seemed like I walked 5 miles with him on Saturday visiting the natural History Museum it was great. He must have had a good time because he already said he wants to go back next year. I also got to meet and know some of the members of ATC. It was a lot of fun and ATC was really represented well. Neal Cooper found a new friend in the Naked Cowboy and the underwear run was a blast. But there was also something for me that put triathlon and the training we do in perspective.

I was able to see all the Para Triathletes start the swim. It is pretty amazing when you see someone in a wheel chair push themselves into the water with their legs tied together. Or watch a blind athlete jump into the water. And when you see the paralyzed swimmer dragging himself through the water it is pretty amazing. I also had an experience near mile 4 in the run that was unbelievable. I was passed by a runner wearing a US Army tri suit. When he passed me I could see that that he was a double amputee. He was running on two prosthetic legs. He had no legs from the hip down and he had to twist his entire upper body to run. To think what he must have gone through and that he wasn’t just finishing, but finishing strong and passing able bodied athletes was great. It was inspiring for me to see someone like that.

Life is good!

Hiring a coach?

It was after the Columbia Triathlon that I started to think about hiring a coach. Like most beginners to the sport I was not training as efficiently as I should be. I would ride when I could, swim a couple times a week and run maybe once a week. After Columbia and Cascade Lake I knew that approach was not working.

I had been doing some research into on line coaching services but really had no way of knowing if the services worked and I was not fond of having to commit to a coach I had never met. I think personal interaction is important and I kept searching. I decided I would like to find a local coach if I could.

I was going to more of the Annapolis Triathlon Club meeting and had met one of the members that was also responsible for the education clinics the club offered. His name was Ashley Halsey and it turns out he was a triathlon coach. I had listed to him talk at a few meetings and he seemed very knowledgeable. I decided I would contact him about my plans for the Florida Ironman and about hiring him as a coach.

Ashley and I had a long talk on the phone about my history of weight loss surgery and my triathlon training goals. I also asked him about his triathlon experience and he talked to me about his coaching philosophy. I knew in that first conversation I wanted to work with him. I needed someone that had the knowledge to guide me and help me plan for the Florida Ironman. But I also needed someone I could correspond with on a regular basis. I usually have a lot of questions and I didn't want a coach that was going to charge me every time I had a question. Ashley let me know up front that he did not believe in that type of arrangement. If he agreed to coach me I could ask as many questions as I needed and he was there to help me. He told me that he normally works with someone for a full year to train for an IronMan. But he understood my goal and desire to do this race and said if I was willing to train with a very aggressive schedule he could get me to a point where I would be prepared to finish the Florida IronMan in November.

So with that initial phone call I had a coach. Within a week I had a training schedule posted on Training Peaks. I felt good about the decision and I loved the idea of a weekly schedule that I could follow. I now had a coach that would outline and track my workouts and progress. Plus I had someone with much more experience than me to talk with about my training and race results. I was ready to kick my training into high gear.

The only thing Ashley asked that I do before getting started with him was to get the medical ok from my gastric bypass surgeon before the intense training started. So I made an appointment with Dr.Lin at George Washington Hospital. I explained what I had been doing over the last year and that I intended to race the Florida IronMan in November of 2009. Dr. Lin thought that given my success with the surgery over the last six years, there was no reason that I could not train and participate in the IronMan Florida. So with the medical ok and a coach lined up it was time let the serious training begin.

May Race reports part 2

My next race was two weeks later at Cascade Lake. This was a sprint race I did last year that I enjoyed, so I wanted to do it again. Race morning arrived and it was again raining. There was construction on the road leading to the race site and I almost did not make the race. I only had 10 minutes to set up transition and get down to the swim. I was a very stressful morning.

Once I got everything set up and down to the lake I had few minutes to relax before my swim start. This is a pretty short easy swim of 1/3rd of a mile. After the problems with my swim start in Columbia I decided to hold back a bit at the start. Well that didn't work. I did not get hit this time, but I started out way to fast and had that tight chest feeling and had to again slow down and take a moment to get my breathing under control. Once I collected myself I started swimming faster but I was swimming blind. My goggles had fogged up and I had a problem seeing. It was a pretty short swim so I made it out ok. Once you exit the water there is about a 300 yard run uphill to get to the transition area.

When I got to transition I ran to where I thought my bike should be but did not see it. So I stood there for a moment and thought someone had taken my bike. Then I realized someone had knocked my bike off the rack and it was laying on the ground.

The bike course is pretty short (about 15 miles) but it has a few tough hills. I had a better bike than last year since I didn't get stung by a bee on my face this time. The bike was uneventful and I felt good coming off the bike.

Coming out of T2 you have a steep downhill to the main run course. The run is two loops of a fairly flat road. Last year I had pulled my hamstring a week before the race so I did not have a good race (plus i had been stung by a bee during the bike). My goal this year was to finish the run in under 30 minutes and the race in under 1:45. As I started the 2nd loop of the run I knew I would have to push it to make my time goals. When you approach the finish of this race the last 100 yds are almost straight up hill to the finish line. I simply ran out of gas on the last hill. I finished the run in 30:05 and my race time was 1:46:12. Not the results I wanted but still much better than the year before.

May Race reports

My first race of 2009 was the Columbia Triathlon. This is a race I wanted to do last year and did not get in as it was sold out. This is a pretty popular race in my area and thought it would be a good race to start off 2009. It is an olympic distance race and it is earlier in the season. So for many people it is their first race of the year, as it was for me. This is a pretty challenging course with a tough bike and a very hilly run course.

For this race we picked up our race packets and racked our bikes on Saturday. Race morning on Sunday was rainy and cool and the traffic getting to the race site was terrible. I actually had to park my car and walk about a mile to get into the park where the race was held. Transition closed at 6am but my swim wave was the last of the day so I had to wait around for an hour and forty five minutes. Waiting was tough. You see the other waves going and you just want to get started.

The swim takes place in Centennial lake in Columbia Maryland. As my swim wave was starting it began to rain. It was a cool day so the water was actually warmer than the air temperature. As my wave was finally called to start I was ready to get going. My first mistake was to position myself in the middle on the swim. I usually start on either side but I figured I would give the middle a try. Big mistake! I was kicked and hit several times in the first 100 yards. It was then that I sort of panicked and had one of those "what am I doing here" moments. I had to take couple of minutes to collect myself and get my breathing under control. After a few minutes I was able to get into a smooth rhythm and steady pace. My swim time was not very good but considering the horrible start I was happy it was over.

Coming into transition was a bit odd. Since I was in the last swim wave, when I came into transition there were only a couple of dozen bikes left. It was an odd sight to see transition completely empty. It made it easy to find my bike but it just looked strange. I also had the person in front of me coming out of the water fall right in front of me so I had to hop over him.

Now the rain had stopped but the roads were still wet. I have never ridden my bike in the rain so I was really nervous. I was not going to crash in the first race of the year, so I decided to go as fast as I could SAFELY go. This is a really technical hilly course and I had never ridden it before. So I went as hard as I could for the conditions but it was definitely a tough ride and not my best effort. Plus I was COLD. The combination of the cool rain and the wind on the ride had me very cold. This was the toughest ride I have had in any race.

Coming back into transition all the bikes that were missing after the swim were now back. As I said it was cool and I was wet and cold. My feet were completely wet and numb. I didn't have another pair of socks or I would have changed socks. I also decided to put on another shirt as I was shivering at this point.

As I started the run my feet were really hurting. I actually sat on a bench about 1/2 mile into the run to tie my shoes again. It felt like I was running on nails for the first mile or so. As you run around the park there are a couple of small hills and then as you are leaving the park to go into the neighborhood you have to go up a MONSTER of a hill. It feels like it is straight up. Once up the big hill out of the park, you go into a neighborhood with some bill hills again. There are parts of the run where you just seem like you are walking uphill. Now as you reenter the park you do get to go down the big hill we went up earlier but by that time my legs were spent. As you reenter the park you can start to hear the announcer at the finish line. With about a 1/2 mile to go you can actually see the finish line and I just tried to finish as strong as possible. It was at his point a women was screaming at me "keep going you can make it. I must have looked really bad. This was the first race my wife and kids came to and it was nice to see them as I finished the race. My finishing time was 3:27, my worst time for any race to date.

This was a difficult race for me . I was not prepared for the conditions and I had not trained enough. I knew that I definitely needed to train harder if I was going to compete in an Ironman in 6 months.

2009 Race schedule

I decided that other than IM Florida I would do 5-6 other races. I figured a couple of sprint races and a couple of olympic races would help me stay motivated during the training for IM Florida. So my schedule broke down as follows.
May
Columbia Triathlon
Cascade Lake Sprint
July
New York City Triathlon
August
Lums Pond Sprint
September
Nations Triathlon
November
Ironman Florida

I may even squeeze in another race or two as my training will allow. I like the races as it validates the training, and long hours spent on the bike and in the pool. But again my ultimate goal is to finish the 2009 Ironman Florida in November!

Why Ironman?

I guess I am crazy or something but since I was a kid and watched my first Hawaii Ironman I have always thought of doing a full Ironman race. Now when I want to do something I just set me mind to it and do it. There is something about the long distance that is truly daunting. I consider it the greatest physical and mental challenge I will ever undertake. So even though I had only done a few races in 2008 and nothing longer than on Olympic distance I decided to go for it in 2009.

I was skipping the 1/2 Ironman distance and going for the full Ironman. I targeted Ironman Florida in November 0f 2009. So the day registration opened, I plunked down the registration fee and I was in. I figured Florida looked pretty flat and being a Clydesdale I thought a flat course would be a safe bet for me. So as I planned for my other races for 2009 I knew that everything I was doing was really a tuneup for the 2009 Ironman Florida on November 7, 2009.

Why triathlon?

So why a triathlon? About 8 years ago (when I was about 325 pounds) I actually competed in a duathlon. Well I didn't actually compete. It was more like participating. It was a 2 mile run, followed by a 12 mile bike ride, followed by another 2 mile run. I was so over matched and unprepared it was embarrassing. I had done the race with a friend of mine. He did great, I didn't even finish. So it was with that thought that I started thinking about participating in a triathlon.

For me, triathlon is the ultimate test. You need to be good at three different disciplines, swimming, biking and running. While many people are good at one or two events very few are good at all three. It is the challenge of becoming better at all three disciplines that motivates me.

I live in an area with a very active triathlon community. I would see the lines of bikes streaming down the road every Saturday morning. I would come upon them when I started riding on Saturday mornings. So in March of 2008 a friend of mine convinced me to start swimming with a coach she was using. Now swimming was the one thing that had kept me from considering a triathlon. I was not a swimmer. If I am in a pool I can swim, but not the way you need to swim to compete in a triathlon.

So a friend of mine and I started training for our first triathlon in May of 2008. We trained for two months for the first race. And after a near death experience in the first race (strong current, cold water, high winds and first open water swim) we finished the race and decided to do another. So it was with that start that I was bitten by the triathlon bug. I ended up participating in 6 triathlons in 2008. Since I am over 200lbs I entered every race I could as a Clydesdale. My goal with every race was to finish uninjured and to not finish last.

I did manage to finish every race uninjured and was a mid pack finisher in my division. In 2008 completed 3 sprint races and 3 Olympic races. All in all I had a very good first year in triathlon. I decided I wanted to race bigger races in 2009 and challenge myself even more. So I set up a plan for 2009.

How did it all begin?

So how did it get to this point? How had my weight gotten so bad that I know weighed 375lbs. On May 22, 2003 my life changed. That was the day I was reborn. I don't mean in the religious sense, I mean physically reborn. That is the day that I underwent gastric bypass surgery.

I was always active in high school and college, but over the years with work and kids I had let myself go to the point that I needed to change. I had lost weight in the past, always to regain the lost weight and more. I don't believe anyone wants to be fat or likes to be fat. I never really thought of myself as a truly fat person until the day I tried to ride a roller coaster at an amusement park. I was unable to pull the safety bar down and was told I had to get off the ride. Talk about a humiliating experience! It was two months later that I made the decision to do what ever I needed to do to get the gastric bypass surgery done.

I know that some people think that having gastric bypass surgery is the "easy way" to lose weight. I love it when some celebrity or some other person talks of how they lost 100+ pounds "without surgery". Then you see most of those people a year later and they are fatter than ever. Losing weight is easy. KEEPING THE WEIGHT OF IS THE HARD PART. I wanted to be able to play with my kids. I didn't want my kids to be known as the kids with the "fat" dad. I wanted to ski with them. I wanted to ride bikes with them. I wanted to get down on the floor and play with them. I wanted to ride on a roller coaster with them! I wanted to change my life for the better.

I recognized that keeping the weight off was my biggest weakness and I felt surgery was the one thing I could do to better my odds of successful weight loss. Gastric bypass surgery is becoming more acceptable all the time. I think as more people come to understand that keeping the weight off is more important than just LOSING WEIGHT, surgery becomes a much better weight loss solution for many people.

I had my surgery on May 22, 2003 at George Washington University Hospital. I knew when I left the hospital 3 days later that my life would be changed forever. I credit the doctors at GWU for saving my life.

I know it sounds cliche to say I knew my life would change forever but I really did feel that way. I knew I was going to do whatever I could to lose my excess weight and KEEP IT OFF! I kept a food log and did EXACTLY what my doctors said to do. I ate what I was supposed to eat and worked out every day. I actually started working out in the morning before work and the evening after work. I was committed to losing the weight. Over the first year after my surgery I had lost 145 pounds! I am WAY, WAY over simplifying what I did over that first year. I worked my tail off to lose that weight, but this is not a blog about the benefits of gastric bypass.


Over the next couple of years I continued to exercise and kept the weight off. But as any former competitive athlete knows, you eventually want more. I was in my routine of working out and maintaining my weight, but I wanted to do more. I needed to have a goal. I needed and wanted a goal to work toward. So I started running. I entered a few 5k races and liked it. I had never before been an active runner. But I started running regularly and enjoyed it. I loved being able to compete against myself, to better my time each race. Running a race was a way to measure my improvement.

Then in the summer of 2007 my friend Steve introduced me to biking. I had never ridden a bit with those skinny tires. So I went and bought a road bike. After a couple of rides I was hooked. I loved riding my bike. It was something I looked forward to each time I scheduled a ride. I looked for opportunities to ride. Before I knew it I was riding 20+ miles every Saturday.

At this point it was the fall of 2008. I had successfully kept off more than 125 pounds of my original weight loss. I was considered a gastric bypass success story. I had been running for a couple of years and biking for 6 months. The thought of a triathlon started to enter my mind....