Muncie 70.3 Race Report

Thursday morning my good buddy Will Combs and I loaded up my trusty Mazda 3 and drove to my future home of Muncie, Indiana. This was the third time in the past 6 months the car would make this drive, it will do so again in 3 weeks for the last time in a while. One thing you can always count on during this drive is a lack of traffic, as you take back roads through the hills of West Virginia until you make it to never ending state of Ohio and finally to the fly-over state of Indiana. We arrived at our host's and my future class-mate, Ryans', just before dinner. That night we went to Scotty's Brewhouse. Foolishly I ordered a a 32 oz Alpha King (32 oz beer for 5 bucks, how could I resist!) and a Southwest burger with the local beef (a 50 cent upcharge). That night at about 2am I woke up with the worst case of heartburn known to man.

I quickly decided there was no chance of me getting back to sleep until I was able to rid myself of my fire-breathing ways, so I made a trip to the gas station down the road where I purchased some Zantac (official sponsor of triathlete Greg Grosicki?). Thankfully it provided me with swift relief and I fell back to sleep on what was now a very deflated air mattress. Nothing like a good night's sleep two nights before the race to ensure success!

I woke up the next morning feeling far better than I had expected and after Ryan fixed Will and I up a delicious pancake and egg breakfast Will and I made our way over to the house that Bri and I will be moving in August to meet with the landlord and get some room measurements. We then proceeded to packet pick-up and the race briefing before heading out to the course to do a little pre-race shake-out. Will went on a reconnaissance ride, scouting out the run and bike course, while I went for a swim both with and without my wet-suit followed by a short bike-run. At the water I met another athlete from NC, who had competed in Raleigh 70.3 in June who informed me that the race officials will probably try their best to make sure the swim is wetsuit legal for safety purposes. Fortunately I had been given a wetsuit by a very kind and generous donor at Belew's Lake in April. Unfortunately, I had never worn it. It ended fitting pretty snuggly and kind of restricting my shoulder movement. I decided that if it was legal, I would wear it anyway for buoyancy purposes. Will and I chatted race-strategy on the way back to Ryan's and he was able to give some useful insights as to the conditions of the rolling run-course. For dinner we decided to avoid the local beef and instead stopped at Marsh (for those of you who don't know this is the name of my Master's advisor so now the joke can be thrown that I will never truly escape him), the local grocery store for some pasta and bread.

After playing with Ryan's black lab puppy, Maddie, we began fixing up some dinner. To make room Will began losing last night's dinner (never again will we opt for the local beef and IF you do I recommend getting it well done.....). Incredibly, I was able to fall asleep pretty easily, maybe because of the lack of sleep the previous night, but Ill take it!

Race morning came early as we set the alarm for 4am so that i could eat breakfast and we could be sure to make it to the transition area without worrying about being late. As soon as we pulled in the race directors announced the race would be wetsuit legal, as I had expected. After preparing my transition area I put on my wetsuit and got in a little warm-up. My wave would leave 15 minutes after the pro's at 7:15. As we waded out into the water I found a kid with a tall swimmer build and decided I would try to stay on his feet for as long as I could. As the horn went off I realized that would not be very long as he pulled away to have a 26 minute swim. As always, the beginning of the swim was chaotic. By the first buoy I had lost contact with the lead pack and found myself towards the front of a second group of swimmers. I decided I would stay with this group and focus on keeping good trunk rotation and not over-kicking to save my legs for later in the day. All-in-all the swim was pretty uneventful. Having to weave through so many of the 50-59 age groupers was rather frustrating though. Arising from the water I looked down to see my watch, just a hair over 30 minutes. Not as fast as I would have liked, but not terrible, and there was still alot of racing ahead of me.

Swim time: 30:33/1:34/100m

T1 (2:29) consisted of a long run to the transition area. It went pretty well, although getting the wetsuit over my feet was more of a challenge than I would have liked. I had been practicing a fast T1 by using a flying mount/putting my shoes on while riding the bike. I am still unsure as to its benefits as it really only takes seconds to put the shoes on in transition. My flying mount went well, although I had a good deal of problems getting my feet into my bike shoes, and I believe I lost probably 30 seconds of time trying to do so..... The majority of the course was flat and fast. I passed all of the 50-59 Age groupers, a couple of the female pro's and all but 1 of the 18-29'ers that I started with. A big thanks to Charlie of Ken's Bike Shop for allowing me to borrow his disc wheel with ANT+ which allowed me to carefully monitor my intensity. My goal was to hold between 225-235 watts (75% FTP). Here is my powerfile from the race. As you can see I spent a good 40 seconds messing around with getting my feet into my shoes...My power was right where I wanted it at 230 watts, although my cadence was low (80rpm) so hopefully by doing some drills to get this higher (90pm) I can save my legs a little more for the run. 

Bike time: 2:19.05/24.16mph

In past races I have always been frustrated with my transitions. Finally however I think I am making headway. Coming off the bike with a flawless dismount I headed into T2 (1:27) where I racked my bike, slipped on my shoes, and grabbed some nutrition before heading out on the run. I also snagged a water bottle to drink/poor on myself during the first mile or two of the run. Unfortunately, I neglected to get my first mile split. By the first mile though I could see the only other age grouper up the road from me and I was reeling him in quickly. I told myself to relax and settle into a pace, the race was mine to lose now. My second mile split was a brisk 5:51. I felt good but I was uncertain about the sustainability of such a pace. I began snacking and catching women's pros, my splits right around 6 flat. 

At mile 5 I saw the first male pro, Andrew Starykowicz, go by me as he headed into the finish with no competitors in sight. At mile 6, I was sustaining my pace but felt the unfortunate and dreaded side-stitch coming on in my right side. I jogged for another 800 meters trying to rid myself of the stitch to no avail. I opted to walk for 15 or 20 seconds before resuming a jog and made sure to drink more at the aid-station instead of trying to slog through the remainder of the race at 8-minute pace with this debilitating stitch. I knew I had a good lead on my competitors, but this stitch could certainly un-rail my chances at victory. At mile 7 (6:55) I stopped and chugged 2 waters and sipped on a coke). To my delight I felt the stitch going away! Knowing I had a big lead, I decided I would be sure to get down more water at every remaining add station by briefly stopping and chugging water and sipping coke in an effort to fend off the cramp. With a mile to go,  and no one in sight, I breathed a sigh of relief as I kicked it in for the finish as best I could. Going out I averaged a 6:04 pace, back 6:39 for an average of 6:22/minutes per mile and a run split of 1:23.28. Not as fast as I would have liked, but I certainly know what I need to do to improve. First I need to start off my first couple of miles SLOWER. Next I need to find a way to get more water in during the run. Although I grabbed water cups at the first 5 aid stations, a very small amount of it actually made it down my throat, most of it ended on my face or worse, choking me.

I was the first age-grouper to cross the finish line in a time of 4:17.02. The second amateur (I was beaten by 30 seconds by someone in the 30-34 age group), and the 13th overall finisher. All-in-all, I am very pleased with my first HIM performance. All of my training and dedication for the past couple of months paid off as I earned a spot at the 70.3 World Championship in Vegas on September 8th! Time to rest up, recover, and begin preparing for a move to Muncie in the beginning of August with my lovely fiancee Briana! This will be my last week working at Mellow Mushroom and next week I will be back in the 703, catching up with my family, getting beat by my 7-year old sister at backstroke and running some loops around good ol' Burke Lake! A huge thanks to Will and Ryan for being my race crew, Enfinity fitness, Ken's Bike Shop, Blue Competition Cycles, my loving family, and all of my other fantastic supporters! 

The Big Dance

Well, Saturday is the big day. Tomorrow morning my good friend Will Combs and I will load up the Mazda 3 and head to Muncie for my first ever half-ironman distance race (70.3 miles). To say that I am a little excited would be the understatement of the century. My training over the past couple of months has gone perfectly (with the exception of a little crash on my bike in a group ride 3 weeks ago). I am so fortunate to have found the training partners/groups in Winston-Salem that I have. Before I leave, I want to give a special thanks to some people that have helped me with my preparation for Muncie 70.3: I'm blaming you all if things dont go well ;)
1. Tim Hillen and the Enfinity master's swim group in Winston-Salem, NC. You all made me feel right at home the first day I showed up to practice. Over the course of the past two months I have gone from dreading swim practice to having it be one of my favorite parts of the day. I can't wait to see the time on the clock when I get out of the Prairie Creek Reservoir!
2. Ken's Bike Shop- Matt, Charlie, and Ken at Ken's bike shop have been nothing but supportive of me since I moved to Winston-Salem. Not only can I rely on them to fix-up my bike and order me parts, but I can always rely on them to put a smile on my face. I also want to thank my friend Stephen Vogel the strongest bike rider on the east coast, and I'm not kidding when I say that. When this dude shows up to group rides everyone knows they are in for a large dose of pain. Vogel, thanks for a healthy dose of humility on the bike the past couple of months!
3. My friend Carter for running with me the past couple of months (even if it means waiting until 10 at night when I get off work to embark on a 15 mile long run).
4. My old coach (old meaning she used to coach me, not that she is getting old) Debi Bernardes for her nutritional advice. Apparently some gatorade and a few gu's just ain't gonna cut it.
4. Last but certainly not least is my boy Will Combs, who I somehow convinced to come along and make sure I dont wreck on the drive back on Sunday.

As you might imagine this week has consisted of a good deal of tapering, which has of course been driving me nuts. To occupy my time I have been taking daily naps, baking, working on my blog, watching the Tour de France and catching up on Game of Thrones. I also enjoy watching motivational videos a couple days before the race, this is one of my favorites:

In the famous words of coach Bowerman "The hay is in the barn." Time to hurt a little. Let's race.

A Lesson in Unconditional Love

Having worked many long hours during the first year and a half of my Master's Program at Wake, by December of 2012 my thesis was complete and ready to be sent to my committee. My defense date was set for the beginning of February, freeing up a good deal of time for the rest of my semester. For those of you who don't know me, the prospect of having nothing to do doesn't sit too well. Therefore, being me, I quickly began brainstorming ways to make myself useful during the spring of 2013. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to work on the LIFE study, which would take a good deal of time and provide me with some income before heading to Ball State in the fall to begin my doctoral work. For the first time in my LIFE (no pun intended) I would be making what is almost real money.

Pleased with my good fortune I decided it would be fun to foster a dog. After a good deal of searching I came across the Forsyth Human Society. To foster a dog from the Forsyth animal shelter however first it was important I had permission from my landlords. I gave them a call and left a message and a couple days later I received a call from their daughter, Kristin, who coincidentally worked with a small animal rescue league that pulls dogs from kill shelters in North Carolina. After speaking a good bit she told me that she had two dogs in mind for me to foster and set me pictures. One of them really caught my eye. She was a mid-sized black dog with a white chest and paws, a curly tail, and big brown eyes: Lilly.

A week or so later I found myself in the pet store, buying food bowls, dog food, a dog bed (like she would ever sleep in that), toys, a collar and a leash. That night Kristin brought my FOSTER dog, Lilly over and she anxiously ran around the house. Kristin told me a little bit about Lilly's history and that unfortunately she had heartworms. She had been to a vet that had given her a couple months worth of doxycycline to help treat the worms, using the "slow-kill" method. After 45 minutes or so Kristin left and Lilly and I went to bed shortly after. Lilly quickly made it clear she had no intention of sleeping on the dog bed. I slept in a queen, and why would she sleep on a dog bed when there was so much space in my big warm soft bed? Reluctantly I allowed her to do so.

The rest is history. My spring ended up being a whole lot busier than I had originally expected. Although my thesis defense was successful, we would be re-doing the entire statistics section, which would impact both my results and discussion. On top of it I would be working at LIFE, preparing a manuscript to be submitted to the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, the flagship journal of the American College of Sports Medicine and a top-tier journal in the health and fitness industry, and to throw the icing on the cake (or the sauce on the pizza) I would pick up a part-time job waiting tables downtown at Mellow Mushroom. You might expect that with so much already on my plate having to take care of a dog would be just one more unnecessary task. This however was absolutely not the case.

As busy and stressful as my days were this past spring, the one thing that I could consistently rely on was coming home to my happy, tail-wagging, affectionate pup. That's not to say that Lilly and I didnt run into our fair share of issues. Only a couple days after getting her I drove her to the airport to pick up Bri and she puked all over my backseat, more or less ruining the fabric in my car. Not more than a couple of weeks after getting her she went into heat. After some online research Bri figured out that dogs go into heat once every 5-6 months with each cycle lasting between 4-6 weeks. Lilly's of course lasted nearly 8. For nearly 2 months I spent my time changing doggy diapers and praying that she wouldn't chew them off when I left her alone during the day. Oh, and the heartworms weren't going to just go away with a couple doxycycline pills. Heartworms are one of the worst possible diseases for a pet to contract and to get rid of them dogs must receive a number of immiticide injections (a poisonous chemical that kills the worms). Overcoming these issues however only drew us closer. Less than a month after beginning the foster period I decided to adopt her.

Over the past couple of months Lilly and I went everywhere together. Our bond grew strong as we began to understand each other. She followed me around, watching my every move. In the morning she would scarf down her breakfast and then come downstairs to watch me make my lunch and drink my coffee before I left for workouts or to go to work. At night we would sit around watching game of thrones together before retiring upstairs to sleep. Her heartworm treatments were seemingly successful, as she had passed the 4 week danger window following the last series of injections. She began to become more energetic and actually run around like a normal dog. Last week however she came down with a cough. I called the vet and made an appointment for Tuesday but when I came home from work on Monday night her breathing was labored and she was clearly not feeling well. I rushed her to the emergency vet where she was given some medications and put on oxygen to stay the night. Unfortunately early Tuesday morning I received a call informing me that she had taken a turn for the worse.

Getting over the passing of my puppy has been hard for me. Thankfully I have had the support of many  wonderful family members and friends, all of whom have expressed their sincere condolences. But why is it that we have such a hard time getting over our pets? This is a question upon which I have been dwelling almost non-stop the past 36 hours. The answer however is simple. It is because of their ability to love completely unconditionally. Some might say that the thing that one of the biggest thing that distinguishes humans from animal is our ability to feel emotions. They have never had a dog. The type of love that a dog shows their owner, that Lilly showed me, is one that we as humans can only strive to replicate. An affection ignorant of faults. Thank you Lilly for gracing me with such infinite love. I'm sure heaven is full of peanut butter and people to pet you. I love you.

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." - Roger Caras