RedMan Triathlon

My training plan for IMAZ calls for a half Ironman eight (8) weeks out and the RedMan Triathlon in OKC landed exactly on that weekend.  I didn't sign up for the RedMan until a month or so prior as I was contemplating doing the PrairieMan again due to the convenience of it being here in DFW.  After asking around the tri community on which race I should do, the unanimous decision was RedMan and it did not disappoint....well, the venue that is, my results were less than desirable!

RedMan is held on a Saturday, therefore, they keep the expo and packet pickup open until 9:00 PM Friday night to allow all those traveling from out of town to work the majority of the day.  My plan was to leave Dallas around 1:30 PM following my last scheduled conference call of the day.  That's would've put me in OKC ahead of traffic around 4:30 PM for packet pickup, followed by dinner from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM and then in bed by 7:30 PM.

Here's how it actually went down....I had two (2) proposals that had to be completed on Friday so my 1:30 PM departure quickly slid until after 3:30 PM.  I-35E leaving DFW was already backed up until I got past Denton.  I'm very regimented when it comes to my pre-race dinner and typically eat 13-14 hours prior to race time.  Considering I would be driving at that time, I used the GPS and found a Hideaway Pizza in Norman, however, the exit I needed was closed and it kicked me back out on the highway.  I drove a little further and saw a sign for a Double Dave's on the South side of Moore, but I took that exit and the bridge going across I-35 was closed.  I'm rather irritated at this point but jumped back out on I-35.  My GPS then pointed me in the direction of a Mazzio's in Moore.  I parked to go inside only to learn that they are covering for another store and the wait was 30-45 minutes!

At this point I looked at the girl and said "You're making me angry....you won't like me when I'm angry!"  Ok, so maybe I didn't say that, but that's how I felt!  I slumbered back to my truck, famished, and headed further in to town and found a Little Caesars.  Luckily the line wasn't too long, I dropped $5.40 on a Hot N Ready and climbed back in my truck disappointed.  At this point I sent a text to Kylie expressing my frustration and hoped her evening was going better.  I got back on the road and nearly punished the entire pizza on the drive to Lake Hefner.

As I parked and was getting my bike out of my truck, Kylie called and said "I know you're having a bad day, but listen to this...." she then read me the Caring Bridge update on a friend/colleague of mine, Taylor Shultz, who was seriously injured in an accident the Friday before when a blunt object flew threw the windshield at 70 MPH and struck him in the head/face.  The update was incredible....he was able to respond to questions in writing knowing his daughters ages, how many cats and dogs they have, etc...some movement had returned to his left foot and he suggested that he had vision in his left eye!  This quickly put things into perspective and I immediately began to relax and reflect.  Sometimes in life, we take things for granted such as the ability to walk and talk, let alone travel and compete in triathlons.  There I was...angry because I left work behind schedule and didn't eat dinner when I wanted to, all the while Taylor was battling for his life in the ICU.  You can follow Taylor's progress here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/taylorshultz/journal

After picking up my packet and racking my bike, I walked over to the swim start/finish to familiarize myself for the morning.  OKC has received near record amounts of rain this year and Lake Hefner was plum full.  This was a pleasant surprise after my last trip to OKC back in March and the water's edge had receded probably 150 yards from the bank.

I sat and watched the sunset on Lake Hefner which always brings back the fond memory as this was the very setting in which I proposed to Kylie back on April 1, 2004.  Wow, how time flies!

After that, I went to the hotel and called it a night.

RACE DAY
The alarm came early Saturday morning as I wanted to arrive transition early.  Athletes had to park down by Redrock 0.75 miles away saving the closer lots for the volunteers and spectators.  It was only 56 degrees that morning and I was bundled up in sweatpants, fleece jacket and beanie.  When you live in +100 degrees, 56 feels darn cold!  I set up my transition, talked to a few people I know as well as some strangers and then headed over to the swim start.

SWIM
The water was 75-76 so deemed wetsuit legal and the water felt so warm after standing outside for two (2) hours.  The swim was a one (1) lap rectangle and I thought it went fairly well until I saw my time when I exited the water at 37:17 (1:47/100m).  My goal was to finish in less than 35:00 so I was a little disappointed as I headed to the bike.

T1
I was in and out of T1 rather quickly in 1:36.  My bike was racked in the first row and only a matter of a few yards from the Bike Out.

BIKE
The bike course surprised me as it had a lot more rollers and undulating hills than I had anticipated.  No "climbs" to speak of, but they were just enough to break your momentum.  The bike course was also a single lap and only included about a 10 mile section in which the roads were pretty shotty.  My goal on the bike was to average around 21.5 MPH knowing I could still run off the bike at that speed.  I paced myself pretty well and finished the bike in 02:33:46 at 21.9 MPH just a fuzz faster than I wanted to be but I was also trying to make up a couple minutes from the swim.

T2
My time in T2 could have been quicker, but I took a moment to grab a bite and a quick drink.  I was in and out in 1:49.

RUN
And here's the moment you've all been waiting for....the debacle!  I took off on the run course feeling great ticking off the first mile in 7:40 followed by the second mile at just over an 8:00 pace.  I settled in around an 8:30 and was still feeling good until mile 4.  Now I admit that I came out a little too fast, but when I hit mile 4 my back locked up and nearly shut me down.  I was holding my breath at times because it hurt to breath.  That said, I walk/ran the final 9 miles which was extremely painful.  I had a couple 10:00 and 11:00 minute miles mixed in and finished the run in 02:10:25.  My back hurt so bad that I almost stopped in the finish chute and walked it in.  I must have looked funny arching my back to the side so I could breath!  I'm not exactly sure what caused my back to spasm, but my first guess is my shoes so they are being retired.

Based on my training, I should have easily been able to run a 01:51:00 down around 05:05:00.  I guess I'll have to wait for 2014!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME
I had my finish time around 05:24:50 and then Kylie called to let me know that I received a 4:00 penalty for drafting.  This is absolute BS as I know exactly when/where the motorcycle official was behind me.  It was between miles 20-21 on the bike which he probably got me for "blocking" (riding in the left lane without passing and interfering with other cyclists attempting to pass) as the road conditions were horrible and you had to dodge potholes, patches, loose gravel, etc...

ANYWAYS...
I found my way to the massage tent and got worked on for about 20 minutes, but my back would still not relax.  I then met up with a couple of friends from OKC after the race and we enjoyed a couple beers at Louie's on the Lake.  We sat at the bar watching all of the finishers run by.  Kudos to those that completed the full IM, very inspirational to watch you run by.

I drove back to DFW that evening and got home around 8:00 PM, the drive was every bit as uncomfortable as the run as my back would still not relax.  Much to my surprise, Kylie had already put the girls down for bed so I hopped in the shower, took a Flexeril and called it a night.  Luckily, the Flexeril worked as my back felt fine the next morning and hasn't acted up since...hmmm???

I was rather disappointed as my time was nearly identical to that from IM 70.3 Austin eleven (11) months ago.  It's a little discouraging when you put in the hours of training and see no improvement, not to mention, that IMAZ is only eight (8) weeks away and I am beginning to second guess myself.

I found this quote online and it is said to be by an unknown author, so hopefully they don't track me down for superimposing it on the Mdot logo.  This quote says a lot and I read it every day.  These final two (2) months are definitely going to hurt and require dedication, willpower, sacrifice, etc...

Wish me luck!

USAT Age Group National Championships

Being from northern Illinois and having gone to college in Wisconsin, I thought it was only fitting for me to participate in the USAT Age Group National Championship (USATAGNC13) held downtown Milwaukee. 

We always try to make it back once a year to visit friends and family, so when I received the e-mail saying that I qualified for the race I thought why not. Plus, my Ironman training plan called for an Olympic distance race right around this time. 

I felt somewhat bad as my dad was not going to be home when we were there, ironically, he was in Big Spring, TX flying in the US Hang Gliding Nationals. How cool is it that a father and son were both competing in the national championships for their respective sports on the same weekend! 

We flew from Dallas to Chicago on Wednesday night and drove out to my parents where we hung out all day on Thursday and let the kids run wild with thier cousins. Friday morning, we packed up and headed to Milwaukee for packet pickup and bike check-in. I used Raceday Transport to ship my bike which was effortless...I can only imagine the anxiety I would have if I tried to check my bike on the plane in addition to us already lugging around three (3) suitcases, a backpack, diaper bag and two (2) kids! 

This was by far the largest race that I have participated in as they announced that there were 3,026 athletes registered for the Olympic distance race on Saturday morning. Surprisingly, I thought the venue was extremely well organized and did not feel overwhelming at all. I also thought that it was very spectator friendly, however, Kylie thought otherwise and corrected me by asking "when was the last time you were a spectator?" Point taken! 

After checking my bike in, we then headed to our friends house who lives in Oak Creek about 20 minutes South of Milwaukee for the night. Two (2) of our other friends came by to let the kids play and eat some pizza and then it was off to bed for me. 

My wave was not scheduled to start until 8:48 AM so I went to bed with the notion that I would "sleep in" but that didn't work as I was wide-eyed at 4:00 AM. I stumbled around the kitchen, ate breakfast, gathered my things and headed out the door. It was a little chilly that morning with the overnight low in the upper 50's so I wore sweatpants, fleece jacket and a beanie to keep warm. I was getting looks from the locals like I was crazy! After getting transition all set up, I went and found a grassy area where I could lay around, stretch and wait for Kylie and the girls to arrive. 

Swim 

The swim was in a protected cove of Lake Michigan and we entered the water off of a dock/pier below Discovery World. There was a scheduled 20 minute break between my AG and the one prior, however, they would not let us down to warm up. We all had our wetsuits on and stood in the sun for 15 minutes waiting for them to let us enter. When they finally let us down, the announcer comes over the loud speaker and says "hurry up...you only have three (3) minutes!!!" I scurried down, dove in and took a couple warm up strokes and then stopped to relieve myself. The water temp was 69 degrees and felt cold at first but was very refreshing. Before I finished, they were hollering at everyone to get back to the start line. I barely made it back in time before they sounded the horn and off we went! 

My AG (35-39) was one of the larger waves of the day with 197 athletes. This was the most crowded swim that I have done. The start at Wildflower was crowded until the first turn bouy, but then it thinned out. I swam this entire race in the middle of a crowd and if I wasn't swimming over top of someone, they were coming over me! After looking at the results, there were 34 people in my AG that finished the swim +/-0:30 from me. Unfortunately, we weren't the fast crowd. I finished the swim in 25:15 (1:41/100m) which was a minute off of my goal pace and only good enough for 89th/197 in my AG. Its a little discouraging when you miss your mark on the swim knowing that you have to make it up...time to drop the hammer! 

T1 

After climbing up the ramp out of the water, I began stripping my wetsuit and running down the path towards transition. It was about that time when I heard Kylie yelling for me and I quickly spotted here and the girls as well as my best friend Mark who let out a "Let's go EEEEEEEEE!!!" which took me back to the glory days! I also heard Avery and Kirby yelling "Go Daddy!" which is always motivating. I was in and out of T1 in 2:20 which was about what I had predicted. 

Bike 

I spent a lot of time analyzing the bike course online and determined it was going to be flat and fast. Coming out of transition, I was surprised to hear Kylie and the girls yelling for me as they ran all the way around transition! With the 20 minute break between my AG and the one prior, it left the bike course wide open so it was time to put in work. I put my head down and started hammering. 

Part of my race strategy was to go all out on the bike and suffer through the run. Well, I did just that beating my goal time for the bike split by over 2:00 finishing in 1:01:56 averaging 24.1 MPH which was a new PR split for the Oly distance. To my surprise, this was only good enough for the 54th fastest bike split in my AG and 346th overall! The guys at the front of the field all had sub 1:00 bike splits with the fastest guying finishing in 55:13 at 27 MPH! I'm gonna guess that he has a little more invested into his bike than I do! 

T2 

I saw Kylie and the girls once again near the dismount line as I stumbled just a bit getting off the bike. I was in and out of T2 in 1:38 which was a little slower than I wanted, but I took a second to catch my breath and take a couple sips of water. 

Run 

My previous Oly PR was 2:26:54 and I told everyone that my goal for this race was to finish in under 2:20:00, but let me be honest, my burning desire was to finish in sub 2:15:00 and coming off the bike I had it in sight! All I had to do now was run the 10k in 43:50 at a 7:04 pace, nevermind that my PR for an open 10k is only 44:45! Not long into the run, I developed a side stitch on my right side which slowed me tremendously and did not subside until 2 miles in. At that point, I knew 2:15:00 was out of the question so I just tried to manage through the remaining 4 miles. I finished the run in a disappointing 47:19 (7:36/mile) which was the 147th slowest in my AG. Can you guess where I need the most improvement? 

Anyways, coming down the finish chute was intense with music, bleachers and people lining both sides. I even got a kick out of listening to the announcer call my name "Here comes Eric Bunner from Frisco, TX...or is it Buhner...no I'm pretty sure its Bunner!" 

My overall time was 2:18:29 and was good enough for 88th/197 in my AG. All in all I had an absolute blast doing this race and I have no regrets. Sure I would've liked to hit my outperform time, but you can't really be disappointed with setting a new PR by over 8:00! 

I want to thank Kylie once again for toting the girls around all by herself to come cheer me on. I think she is more worn out after these races than I am. I know it's a difficult chore, but words can't express the appreciation. I also want to thank my mom who's attendance was TBD, but she made the two (2) hour drive race morning all by herself to come watch me and then turned around and headed home. What can I say, I'm pretty special to have both of these women in my life! 

Later that day, we all headed out to the Hamel's house in Sussex, WI for a post-race celebration which may have ended with doing reverse donuts in the Ford Fiesta rental car in their backyard! 

Up Next:  My first century ride of the year is next weekend at the Hotter N Hell Hundred in which my goal is to finish in under 5:00:00 (+20 MPH). I also just registered for the RedMan Triathlon (half) in OKC which is exactly eight (8) weeks out from IRONMAN Arizona as planned.

Playtri Festival

First of all, I didn’t register for the race until Wednesday of last week, but I was lacking motivation for training and in need of a confidence boost after Wildflower.  Not to mention that I got dropped by a girl on a group ride a couple weeks ago.  She’s won top amateur at every race so far this year and is about to turn pro so I don’t feel so bad I guess (that’s how I rationalize it)!

The OWS went good and I set a new PR for 1500 meters and that was pretty much the highlight of my day. 

From there, I raced over to my bike, threw my helmet on and took off out of T1.  I had (or thought I had) pre-clipped both of my shoes on my bike only to realize that as I was mounting my bike that my right shoe was gone (MISTAKE #1)!  I shouted a couple expletives, threw my bike down and ran back into transition to find my shoe lying on the ground a couple of feet away from my rack position.  I grabbed it, ran back out, hopped on my bike and took off.  Not only did it cost me probably 30 seconds in transition, but it took nearly 15 minutes for my HR to come down out of Z4 from a combination of fury and trying to make up for lost time.

Here's where it gets better....I forgot to wash my aero bottle from the previous weekends ride, so I soaked it overnight in the kitchen sink full of sudsy dish soap.  Race morning, the sink had drained and I forgot to rinse out my bottle before filling it (MISTAKE #2).  So my hydration plan on the bike consisted of sipping Dawn flavored water every 15 minutes!

And finally, I miscalculated the run course which was a series of out-and-backs and I thought I was approaching the finish line when it was actually the turn around to begin the second lap (MISTAKE #3)!  I definitely didn’t negative split the run as I was demoralized...how I mistaked 3 miles for 6 I have no idea!

I screwed up my GPS in the water before the start so I raced blind, other than HR (MISTAKE #4).

Not that these mistakes would’ve put me on the podium, as the competition was ridiculous for some reason.

All in all it was a great race...OWS, bike course was flat & fast and the run was mostly shaded. It was very spectator friendly as well. I'd definitely do it again.

I finished 7^th in my AG out of 36 and 26^th OA out of 250 men (including those in the Open).  1st, 2nd & 3rd in my AG all finished in the Top 7 overall. I was in 3rd in my AG and 8th OA off the bike but got smoked on the run.

For comparison sake, my friend won the 30-34 AG but was 10th OA...yeah, 35-39 was stacked!

RESULTS:http://mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=7589
*The bike and run distances were short so the paces are misleading.

Next up is the Disco X50 which is a repeat of last year and will serve as a good race to meas progress. 

31st Annual Wildflower Triathlon

Well, a month has passed since the Wildflower Triathlon in Bradley, CA and I think I have finally recovered enough mentally to write about it.

For those that don't know, the Wildflower Triathlon is one of the largest and oldest triathlons in the country.  This year will be the 31^st annual Wildflower which has been held at Lake San Antonio in central California since 1983.  Lake San Antonio is located about 20 miles inland from the coast and 15 miles West of Paso Robles, CA. 

Known for a particularly hilly and grueling course with over 5,000’ of elevation gain, this race draws 7,500 athletes and 30,000 spectators each year.  Wildflower is commonly referred to as the 'Woodstock' of triathlons and ranks near the top of the ‘must do’ triathlons.

Sean and I pulled out of Frisco at 2:30 PM on Wednesday to begin our 24 hour drive to California.  Surprisingly, the drive went a lot better than anticipated with the worst section being that on Hwy 287 from DFW to Amarillo.  Too many small towns and stop lights.  The 1,000 mile stretch on I-40 was a breeze. 

We rolled into Paso Robles around 12:00 PM PST on Thursday and made a pit stop at Walmart to gather our final necessities before heading into the hills.  We wanted to make it to the park early on Thursday as everything on the internet lead us to believe that the campsites fill up quickly.

Once we pulled in the park, we made our first right into the Redonda Vista campground which was our first choice.  We stopped at a lone campsite with three (3) guys sitting in the shade with a pile of empty PBR's in front of them and they invited us to become their neighbors....we should've known better!  To be honest, it turned out to be a great campsite, 100% shaded and relatively quite.

The rest of Thursday afternoon was spent setting up our campsite, driving the bike course and drinking beer with the neighbors.

Friday morning, Sean headed into town for a couple hours to get some work done.  I rode down to the lake mid-morning for a warm-up swim.  While putting my wetsuit on, I struck up a conversation with a fellow athlete who happened to be from Madison, WI who was waiting on some friends.  I went in and swam a couple laps and as I came around the second time, I couldn't help but notice that the friend she was waiting on was 2012 Wildflower champion Heather Jackson!  I swam one final lap and then got out and could resist but to grab my phone and ask HJ for a picture.

I tweeted Heather to tell her thanks for the pic and she was even kind enough to reply!  Come to find out that that "fellow athlete" I struck up a converstaion with was Jackie Arendt who is also a pro who has her own list of accolades including back-to-back runner-up finishes at IM Louisville.

After the swim, I rode the first couple miles of the bike course back to our campsite which included a mile long climb up Beach Hill Road....granny gear all the way up!

I rode back down to transition later in the day to meet Sean and walk the expo.  This time we rode the course backwards and went up Lynch Hill Road...I'm not sure which was worse, but there is nothing that resembles either of these within 200 miles of DFW!

Friday evening Sean's baked ziti cooked on his new Coleman grill, a glass of wine and an early bedtime.

We both woke early Saturday morning and were just lounging at our campsite when they guy from the motorhome behind us (who we were given warning) walked over to the tents next to us and started shaking them furiously while yelling "GOOOOOOD MOOORNING WILDFLOWER!!!  WAKE UP, YOU HAVE A RACE TODAY!!!"  It was hilarious as he continued to do this all throughout the campsite until he was far enough away and we could hardly hear him in the distance.

Sean and I packed our final things and headed on down to transition.  The morning was calm and the weather was perfect!

The swim start at Wildflower is rather unique in that you begin on the boat ramp and the first 50 meters is swam in a narrow chute in between two (2) docks.  This video is not of my AG but gives you an idea of what it is like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo-flbVnsK8

Sean and I stood near the middle of the pack and allowed all of the crazies to be up front.  The last thing I wanted to do was get all caught up in that and spark an anxiety attack!  Our philosophy worked as the swim start wasn't near as bad as I was anticipating.

The entire swim went great and I set a new PR at that 1.2 mile distance finishing it in 35:36 (1:50/100m).  What's even better is that at the end of the race they formally announced that the swim distance was long and was actually 1.3 miles which put my pace at 1:42/100m.

T1 was smooth and I was off on the bike.  The bike course is a single loop 56-mile course which circles the lake.  The first challenge on the bike course is the climb up Beach Hill Road about 1 mile into the course.  Half way up Beach Hill stood a female college student wearing nothing but a bikini bottom holding a sign over her head which read "My eyes are up here!"  That was perfect timing as it took a little bit of the edge off and allowed me to settle into my groove.

The early parts of the bike course were going great as I was not pushing hard and just keeping my HR under control.  I dropped my chain on a climb around mile 15 but was able to recover rather quickly and repassed everyone that snuck by.  The first 40 miles of the bike course could not have gone any better.  I had not been passed by a single bike and I hit the 40 mile mark just under 2:00 so I was averaging just over 20 MPH up to that point.

And, that's when the wheels fell off....not literally, but I might actually have been better off!  At mile 41 on the bike you begin a 5 mile long 900' climb up what is referred to as Nasty Grade.  Sean caught and passed me at the base of Nasty Grade and I steadily watched him ride away from me.  He wasn't the only one as it seemed like everyone on the course rolled passed me with ease including a little old lady in a wheel chair...ok, maybe not, but it felt that way!

I was about half way up Nasty Grade when I realized that I made a fatal mistake and had completely forgotten about my nutrition plan.  My gel flask was full with five (5) gels which I was supposed to take one (1) every 0:30, however, I forgot to add water to the flask to thin out the gel, otherwise the gel is too thick to come out.  I did take a hit off the flask at about the 0:45 minute mark into the bike, but that was it.  I began the bike with two (2) water bottles which I was supposed to drink 1 bottle/hour....well, I drank 1 bottle over the course of the entire 3:00 bike ride.  And to top it off, I was supposed to take one (1) SaltStick Cap every hour throughout the race and failed to do that as well.

Needless to say, my goal time of 2:45 on the bike was blown by over 0:15 as my bike split was 3:01:49 at an average of 18.4 MPH.  That means that I averaged only 15.5 MPH over the final 16 miles of the bike course which included a 2 mile long descent at +40 MPH. 

I completely fell apart!

Here is the profile of the bike course:

The bike courses ends with a mile long descent down Lynch Hill into transition which allowed me time to catch my breath.  T2 was uneventful and I was off on the run.

The run course is equally, if not more hilly than the bike course.  It's another single 13.1 mile loop that meanders through the park and campsites.  I knew I was in trouble when I had to stop and walk before the first mile marker. 

The first 4 miles are relatively flat as you run along the lakeshore, but then you turn onto a dirt path and head straight up a hill that I'm not convinced I could run up it on fresh legs.  Everyone, I mean everyone, was walking up this hill.  Once I reached the top, I tried running but my legs we shot.  I was struggling to run for 60 seconds at a time. 

Instead of boring you with the details of my 13.1 mile leasurely hike (naked buy riding a bicycle at mile 8), I'll shorten it by saying that it was the worst 02:40:49 of my life!  I did manage to run the entire length down Lynch Hill and even put a smile on my face running the finish chute!

My overall time was 06:25:17 which put me at 118th in my AG and 721 OA.  Results I am by no means proud of, but they beat the hell out of a DNF!  This took me exactly one (1) hour longer than IM 70.3 Austin back in October 2012 and I am in unbelievably better shape today than I was six (6) months ago not to mention that my training for Wildflower was much more regimented.

The good news is that I took this one off the chin and didn't let it get me down.  I made a mental mistake with regards to fueling and hydration which I will NOT make again.  Plus, I'm glad to have learned this lesson at Wildflower and not IMAZ in November!

I found Sean shortly after the race and we drank a couple beers and ate some nachos before jumping on he shuttle to take us back to the campsite.

The remainder of the evening was spent drinking beer, pitching washers, playing beer pong, conversing with complete strangers, cooking pizza pockets on the grill, etc...  Surprisingly, I felt great that evening after fueling my body appropriately.

On a side note, the guy who parked his mobile home next to us was Dick Nordquest who has completed over 70 Ironman races and competed in Kona 22 times! 

We did retire relatively early that night as we had to wake up early Sunday morning, tear down camp and be out of the park by 7:00 AM before they close the roads for the olympic race Sunday morning.

The drive home was anticlimactic other than relentless binge eating at McDonald's, In-n-Out Burger, Taco Bell, etc... The was a close run in with some zombies in some small town in New Mexico, but we managed to escape! 

I will be taking the month of May rather easy prior to beginning my training for IMAZ in June.