Archive for June, 2010

Team Member Race Report from Brian Wilton

Started the day with some peanut butter on whole wheat bread at about 5am and was out the door by 5:30 with Mansfield and two other buddies as our house was only a few minutes away. We parked the car several blocks away and walked to transition. The advantage of traveling with several friends with the same “just have fun” mindset is that we laughed all morning which certainly takes the edge off. Most of the humor was directed at ourselves and our awareness of how under trained we were, not too mention that we looked we purcahsed our stuff at a garage sale compared to some of the bikes and gear we saw.

Arrived at transition and were greeted by several athletes walking back to their cars with wetsuits in hand, tough way to find out that no wetsuits were allowed. I am a decent swimmer and have done this distance without a wetsuit before so I wasn’t too worried. I was more disappointed that I just bought a sleeveless Xterra that I was dying to try…oh well!

Set up my area and immediately went to the Port a Potty line where I usually spend most of my pre-race time. I still wonder why every race never has enough of them as I would gladly pay an extra $20 to not have to spend 45 minutes on line. Took care of business and made my way back to the transition area but not before I was heckled by Barbara and Maggie in front of several hundred people waiting on the line for taking so long.

Due to the delay I had plenty of time before my 35-39 heat so I concentrated on staying hydrated and out of the sun. It was super hot by 7:30 am! Special thanks to Brian Shea of PBN for emailing me on Friday and reminding me to hydrate early. I got to watch a few waves start off and even caught a glimpse of the first pros coming into the swim finish. I got into the water with my heat and made my way to the back of the pack as I do not like to mix it up. I was really relaxed and just happy to be there at this point. A quick high five to Lance and we took off and I was on my way. I usually pass a fair amount of people as I come from the back and today was no exception. The water was fairly choppy but I seemed to be swallowing more than usual. I stuck with my usual routine of humming in my head “just keep swimming” from Finding Nemo to pass the time. As I rounded the first turn I started to pass a few of the swimmers in the heat in front of me which is not unusual. However, as I made it around the second turn I also began passing swimmers two and three heats in front which caught me by surprise. I finished the swim feeling good and made my way into T1. Swim time 46:41.

T1 was uneventful and the only big decision I made was to go without socks. I did have to take a few extra seconds to put my tri top on as I opted to swim without it. However, I think the lack of drag in the swim equaled it out. While I had put some sunblock on before the swim I threw a trial size in my jersey pocket to put on as I got out on the bike. T1- 3:42.

Having done this race last year I was familiar with the course. I had a horrible bike time last year, 3:41 as I was caught off guard by the winds. I had resolved to go for broke this year in order to get off the bike course earlier due to the sun and heat. Not too mention that being on a bike for almost 4hrs sucks. It also doesn’t do much for morale when your friends are starting the run and you are just coming in off the bike. You can actually see the pity in their eyes as they say “Good Job, Looking Good” all the while thinking “thank god that’s not me”. I felt strong and managed to stay around 19mph and 92 cadence. I wanted to keep this pace for at least the first hour and ½. I was happy to see that I was moving along nicely and didn’t believe my Garmin. Most surprising though was not having to stop at the port a potties. I had pre mixed 2 bottles of Cytomax with carbo pro and salt caps and knew I needed to drink them all. I took some of the water from the aid stations but squirted most of it on my head through the helmet. At about mile 35 I started to slow a bit and shortly thereafter I developed an unbearable knot in my left shoulder which traveled into my head and was making it impossible to stay aero. I lost time due to this but managed to keep moving at a decent pace switching between aero and sitting up. At about mile 45 I was not feeling too hot and was cramping a bit and feeling the heat. I realized that I was behind on my fluids and forced myself to drink and take in some salts as my body was not interested. However, upon seeing the mile 50 sign much faster than I expected, I got a little second wind and pushed for home. I was really hurting at this point as I pushed hard to maintain my speed and dropped my cadence to 85-90. I knew I was under-trained due to work and family commitments this season and this is where it hurt. My back and neck were just not ready for that length of time on the bike. Anyway, I crossed into T2 elated to just be off the bike and 2/3 done. Bike Time 3:05:15, 18.1mph

T2. I was really hurting as I got into T2 and my legs were like tree trunks. I took a little extra time getting out of there just to try and regain myself. As I gathered my nutrition and put my sneakers on I realized I never put on sunblock for the bike and had lost it on the course. My only option was to smush a facestick into my hands and rub it on my shoulders and neck. It actually worked except for the two now purple spots on my upper back where I couldn’t reach and the jersey didn’t cover. I stopped on the exit in order to go to the bathroom. I hadn’t gone on the bike course and I knew I was short on fluids. T2 7:08

Run
I skipped the fire hose on the exit b/c I wanted to keep my feet dry (bad move). I managed to trot onto the road that borders the water but was forced to walk shortly after that. I was extremely over heated and actually had the chills. My quads felt like they were frozen stiff and I usually feel good off the bike. There would be no running until I cooled down. I seriously thought about jumping into the river for a minute but wasn’t sure if I would get DQ’d. So I stumbled to the first hose station and had the girl soak me down. It did the trick and I was able to start moving. I picked up another struggling runner from the Terrier Tri Club in NYC and we walked and ran ourselves till the turnaround. Every aid station was basically two or more cups of water on the head and body and drinking another one or two. I also had some ice cold Pepsi and Gatorade but mostly the water. Thank god for the Volunteers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep up the pace after the turnaround since I couldn’t keep cool enough between aid stations and he pulled ahead. I managed to run walk for the next few miles only to have my hopes crushed when the snow cone machine stopped working. In my stupor I actually contemplated waiting the 5 minutes it was going to take to get it fixed. I though better of it and was back running/walking a few hundred feet at a time. I stuck with the water and had some gel, sport beans and salt caps. Despite the fact that I was miserable I was happy to be heading back to the finish. I met a lot of great people on the course who I got to run walk with and had some more laughs at our shared misery. I ran through what I had dubbed “death valley” last year, this is that brutally hot, unshaded stretch of construction road where everything looks dead and burnt out. I hate this part of the course and wanted to get out of there as soon as possible so I pushed as hard as I could. As I turned into the neighborhood I made the decision to take it easier, to keep up the pace I was doing hurt too much and it would have only made a few minutes difference. I did hit every hose station to be drenched, it was a god send but in return it felt like I had trench foot as every step was painful. I danced my way past the Virginia Tech party house and would have had the beer they offered me if I wasn’t pretty sure it would have killed me. I walked for a good part after here and am now kind of now asking myself what if I had run harder. However, by slowing down I was able to enjoy myself a bit and met a woman from Ocean City who was doing the race with her 16 year old daughter, a 65 year old Navy vet doing his 6th Eagleman, and a now slim first time 70.3er who one year ago was a 300 pound smoker.

I slowly made my way through the final parts of the run and could only think about the finish, the pain started to disappear a bit and I was able to pick it up for the last half mile and carry my two year old daughter across the finish. The struggle was over and all those cold and hard months of mediocre training got me through to the end. Not a pretty end but the end nonetheless. I also managed to beat my last year’s time by three minutes. Total “Run” time 3hrs 1 minute

In retrospect I regret not training harder when I could have, but I did what I set out to do, finish. I managed to do it while working hard at my career and maintaining my family life and that is all I could ask for. I also realized that I am not the only one who looks bad in a tri top!

Team members Tom Vogel and Joseph Fritsche along with Honorary members Dave Kristjansen and Sang Lee are on there way to Penn Station to begin their ride to Montauk!! When most people are coming home from the bars. Team Autism is getting ready to ride 145 miles!! More to come.