Wow, today is the day. I had surgery on my foot in
January and tried for a steady recovery to be ready for this tough
course. It went really well until 11 weeks when I hurt it again so
now I will do my best on the swim and bike and may have to walk the
run course. I can walk pretty fast now and am encouraged by my
official 2:20 ½ Marathon race-walk I did last year. If I can do that
today, I may still beat my current slowest time on this course.
We're all camping. Everyone racing slowly heads to
the main road down to the race site on their bikes. I take my secret
route to Beach Hill on the far side of the campgrounds. I have some
Quiet Time at the top. It's very peaceful. This always has helped my
races. I give the race to God.
Use the porta potty. Set up my transition. No run
warm-up because foot hurts to run. Get some good stretching. Chris
Anderson, FCA Endurance, prays for fellow teammate, and pastor, Dan
Perkins. Then they both pray for me.
Others racing today: Woody, Todd Allington, Dave
Tarkington, Tana and Dale Jackson, Heather Leroy, Rocco, and many
others.
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I'm
in Wave 11. 8:40 am. Get in quick 200yd warm-up. Rush back to the
line. See Todd Allington next to me. There's a lot of good guys in
my wave. Unsure of my swim but line up in 2nd row anyway.
Go! I get a good start, swimming straight. Not
interested in
drafting but finally get into it. Water feels cold – strange. Was
thinking opposite, trying to cool off beforehand to keep from
overheating. Feel like I'm moving well. Other waves (purple)
ahead of me. Around the ½ way buoy. I draft sometimes but then
bee-line it home by myself. Good path around the dock corner.
Straight sprint in. 31 min. Suit comes off with 1 kick each. Run
very
slow
to T1 because of my foot.
I put my racebelt on (forgot to do it before the
swim) and slowly run out with my bike.
The
bike feels slow up Beach Hill. At the top I'm not fully warm yet.
Usually all the chill is gone on the first climb but I remain cold for
20 miles! I'm now feeling fast, though. Remembering to relax on the
ups, and push the downs. Not many people passing me. Hanging with a
guy. He says, "We'll be back and forth most of the day". But I can't
hang with him and lose him on Mile 10 hill. Mile 17 incline goes
well.
Mile 19. There's wind at Lockwood turn but it
doesn't bother me. I see a guy drafting on the "5 Rollers". I say,
"You're not going to follow him all day, get out in front." Next
thing I know he's going by me and says, "Thanks for lighting a fire
under my butt. I needed that".
I push the back stretch fast. I relieve myself on
the descents.
Mile 36: I'm at 20.5 mph average. There's a nice
tailwind through the canyon. I take the rollers well and then haul
butt through the vineyards where Woody passes me. But I pass him
back. I'm drinking Sustained Energy and Heed. Took 4 Endurolyte caps
so far.
Mile 42: Nasty Grade. Not as easy as past but I
make a good effort. Energizer Bunny is drumming at the top. Pete
Kain cheering athletes. I called him Coach Peach on accident.
I get over the final summit quick to get ahead of
the crowd. Gotta try to limit the gap Woody has. At Bee Rock Inn, I
go for it. This last 8 miles I need 20 mph to break 2:50. Great
push. Good position on the bike. Seat hurts but trying to
ignore it.
Mile
50: See a guy who knows me. "Are you loafing?" he says. "No, going
hard as I can" I pass him. He passes me. I pass and make it stick
on the final hill into the park. 4 minutes up the hill. Did it in 5
2 days before. Fast around the corner leading to the gate. Through
the gate. Trying for 2:50.
See Robin and Anna at the top! I race down, stretch, but don't make
it in time.
It hurts on the dismount. Slow transition. I see
Woody getting his shoes on. I take a bottle of sunscreen and start
walking / jogging the first 2 miles. A guy comes by asking for
sunscreen so I give him a bunch. This is great being able to go slow
and put sunscreen on! I never like getting burned. Since the
sunscreen usually comes off from the wetsuit rubbing your shoulders,
it's great to be able to put it on again during the run.
Mile 1: 11:00. See Dave Tarkington go by. Dale
comes by and I run with him for a bit which was cool.
Mile 2: 11:00. A volunteer hands me water and then
yells, "That was my RA!" It was Chris Marshall, one of my residents
when I was a Resident Advisor at Cal Poly 20 yrs ago. I sure hope
he's not still a student! Dan Perkins comes by and takes a moment to
pray with me. Wow! First time anyone's done that for me during a
race.
My goal is to beat my very first finish time here:
5:45. I'll need a 2:10 run. That's 10 min /mile pace. So far I'm
doing 11 min pace. I've got to pick it up. But first I stop and
cover myself with more sunscreen. Great! I speed-walk
the hill, not much slower than guys running next to me. I take the
steep descent slowly. I'm on single-track now. Foot getting a little
sore. It's hot, minimal shade cover, rugged trail; but it's more
manageable with the lower heart rate, taking lots of water and having
good sunscreen protection.
Mile 3: 11:00. Good pace! I imagine how much
faster I can go if I run a little more so I run a slow jog the entire
mile 4. Leading amateur women are going by me now. A guy next to me
makes a rude comment about wanting to be faster so he can "enjoy the
view" of the girl that just passed him. I think, "No class. Have
some respect for her, she's better than you".
Mile
4: 12:00. Disappointed to discover I went slower after jogging instead
of speed walking! I'll never get 5:45 now. Looking forward to seeing
Robin at 5 miles! Up the steel trail I walk faster than some of the
runners.
Mile 5: 13:00. There's Robin and Anna! I high-5
Anna and tell Robin my status, "I'm averaging 11 & 12 min miles. 5:45
goal is fading". I try my best to make up ground down the steep path
into the pasture. Wondering if the foot can take it. The dreary
meadow. This is a hot tough stretch no matter how slow you go. Foot smarts a little so I
walk a while.
Mile 6: 10:50. Better! Take Hammer Gel. Push up
the next hill. Guys are walking and having trouble. I realize it
doesn't matter how slow you are, you can always be competitive. I
focus on the guys struggling and try to walk faster than them. I put
water on my head at every chance. Gatorade / water alternating
drinking. Doing a fast shuffle.
Mile 7: 11:00. Good. Into the spectators. See
Tribe group – Troy, Dave, … oops, trip and hurt my foot a little.
Better keep focused on the path. Up the Redondo Vista hill. I'm
trying so hard with what I've got and it's such a special course and
this 7.5mi crest with it's gathering of cheering supporters is always
a special point of the race. I almost start crying. I smile a lot.
Foot start to hurt towards the bottom. There's Robin & Anna! Robin
gets Anna ready each time. A great high-5! Someone yells, "That's
front page picture stuff!" Makes me so happy that people can
experience such a lovely moment with me!
Mile 8: 10:00. Hammer Gel. Through the overflow.
Back onto the park road. There's Muddy. He must think I'm crazy
doing this slow shuffle along. But I'm just showing that racing is
relative, you just do your best and make no excuses.
Mile 9: 10:45. Speed walk the hill. Now try to
use the downhill. See Dan Perkins coming back. He looks great.
Pushing the descent.. I feel God tell me to relax – there's great
things that will happen besides shooting for time goals. I stop &
stretch. My time goal is right in front of me, but it's better to do
things God's way.
Mile 10: 10:00. I turn. Walk. Then I meet another
guy walking. Rich. We start talking. I say these battles help us
fight life's battles. I get him to run and we run the rest of the way
in! It really helped!
Mile 11: 9:40. My fastest yet! We run the flat
stretch across the top. My foot is holding up. I want to keep going
to help him keep going. We run step for step. We both can't wait to
see our little ones at the finish.
Mile 12: 9:45. On the final descent I can't keep
up and send him on. I focus on a controlled descent. Through the
finish I'm all smiles and giving glory to God.
5:48. 3 minutes off my goal but the last 2 miles
were so amazing and memorable. Thanks, God. It was a good day. Foot
doesn't hurt any more than normal. Eat and rest.
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