Vineman Finisher

On Sunday I took part in the Vineman Ironman 70.3 triathlon in Sonoma, a triathlete’s version of a trip to the wine country.

This is my first 70.3 mile event, you might remember my previous attempt at this distance ended with my bike crash two weeks before the race last October.

A 70.3 Ironman consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, followed by a 13.1 mile run. The plan going in was to only do the swim and bike as I’d been having knee issues since my half marathon last month. My coach Paul Kinney recommended I leave my running shows behind so I wouldn’t be tempted to do the run. The concern was not to jeopardize my ultimate goal of completing a full 140.6 Ironman this November. Whilst I knew it made sense I was torn by the idea of not completing the race.

Vineman is a beautiful course that starts with a swim in the Russian River at Guerneville, followed by a scenic ride through Sonoma that winds its way to Windsor High School and from there a run out to La Crema Winery and back.

Swim Start

It was up at 4:30am Sunday morning and heading off to Guerneville at 5:15am to setup my bike transition and get ready for my wave to start at 6:54am. Thankfully it was a misty morning (you can see it above the water) that boded for cooler temperatures for the first part of the race at least.

I had a great swim, it’s a really easy course as it’s hard to go too far off track, the river is quite narrow. In places it was so shallow that my hand hit the bottom and I saw a number of people walking along…not quite in the spirit of Ironman! I came out of the water after 47 minutes feeling in great shape. Given I was not planning on finishing the race I had a nice leisurely 12 minute transition (the pros were out in 1 minute, by comparison).

Finishing the Bike Ride

The bike really is beautiful, winding through the wine country past vineyards and wineries, all helps take your mind of the 56 mile ride ahead. I must say though, that the roads are a tad treacherous; twisty, bumpy and narrow (they aren’t closed to traffic). Made for an exciting experience, especially with the two sets of train tracks you have to cross (given my prior run-in with train tracks). I finished the bike in 3 hours 8 minutes, averaging just under 18 mph.

Exiting for the Run

Felt in great shape, felt strong and I know Paul had recommended not to do the run…but I had set up my shoes in the second transition just in case and what harm could a little run do anyway? And so off I went against doctors orders.

My focus was just on enjoying the race, originally I’d wanted to complete it in under six and a half hours, now I just wanted to finish safely. The run is a tough one, rolling hills a good chunk of the way so I kept it to mostly walking with a little bit of slow jogging mixed in.

Crossing The Finish Line

Good news is I had no knee issues and whilst I faded somewhat on the second half of the run I still completed the half marathon in 2 hours 54 minutes for a total race time of 7 hours 11 minutes. And to be honest I felt in great shape, if I’d been fully fit and hadn’t just taken a month of training whilst I was travelling in Europe (not the best of plans) I think I could have got close to the 6 hour mark.

All-in-all I was ecstatic with the race, it gave me great confidence that my running issues are behind me and that I’m well on my way to preparing for a full Ironman this November in Cozumel. I’ve got 4 months of training left and $5,000 to raise for CAF.

You can view more pictures of my race on Facebook or watch me finish the swim and cross the finish line below.

Just want to say thank you to my top donors this last month, Martin, Chris and Nghia, thank you so much. I was just shy of my $5,000 goal to mark the midpoint of my challenge with $4,679, for those of you waiting on the sidelines, go on, click the button, I dare you.

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

Waiting to Cross the Start Line

On Sunday I completed race #3 in my 10 races in 10 months to raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, my first Half Marathon in San Diego, that’s 13.1 miles. The was part of the Rock-n-Roll series of races with bands playing along the course every few miles that sure made for a fun race.

I felt more nervous about this race than I have since my very first triathlon nearly 2 years ago. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve been having persistent leg and knee problems whilst running, that and the fact that running is my least favorite part of doing triathlons.

Up until now I’ve only had to train to run 10km (just over 6 miles). But, as they say, if you don’t like doing something best to just get out there and do it, well that’s what I say anyway. So I thought challenging myself to a half marathon would force me to improve my running.

And so there I was on Sunday along with 30,000 or so of my closest friends…yep, there were over 34,000 competitors, another first since I’ve never raced with that many people before…it took over 30 minutes just to get to the start line! You can see the start line there in the distance on the photo.

Running a Half Marathon

My plan, as per my coach’s instructions, was to run/walk the race, run for 6 mins and walk for 1 min to reduce the impact on my body. Of course all that went out of the window once I crossed the start line and started weaving my way between all the runners in front, I just couldn’t walk and let people pass me, that just didn’t feel right. So I ran for the entire 13.1 miles including the up hill and freeway stretches, it was the cambers and the down hills that put added pressure on my left knee…but, physically I felt good and maintained a 9 min 15 sec per mile pace completing the first half of the race in an hour, as you may have seen from my tweets. Then the race was on, could I break the 2 hour barrier? (Not bad since I’d originally wanted to complete the race in anything under 2 hrs and 30 mins).

The second half of the race turned into a balance of trying to preserve my knee but maintain a 9 min / mile pace. At the 11 mile mark I needed to maintain a 8 min 30 sec pace, so pushed harder…at the 12 mile mark with 1.1 miles to go I needed to be closer to an 8 min / mile pace, and pushed a little harder…as I got to the 2 hr mark I was just short of the 13 mile marker and started to sprint (as best as you can after 13 miles) to the finish and that’s when my knee finally gave out, barely 100 yards from the finish. At that point I hobbled to the finish at close to a walking pace, but still managed to complete the race in 2 hrs 1 min 45 secs!

So all in all I was really happy with my race and time and my knee continues to recover, Monday I was limited to a 30 min walk to get blood flowing again but Tuesday I was back to my training regime with an hour swim in the morning and 75 min bike in the evening. No rest for the wicked.

My next race is Vineman on July 17th, my first 70.3 mile Half Ironman, this will be a real test for how my training is progressing ready for my full 140.6 mile Ironman this November in Cozumel.

You can see more pictures of my race on Facebook or watch me cross the finish line below (look to the top right of the video).

On the fundraising front I’ve reached $3,569 so far, big thank you to my top donors in last month, Sathya, Jay, Christina, Robert, Mum & Dad, Eric, Richard, thank you so much. Help me reach the $5,000 mark by my Vineman race in July, it’s real easy to donate online.

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

5th in Class

Sunday was my first race of the season for the Challenged Athletes Foundation at the Avia Wildflower Olypmic Triathlon at Lake San Antonio.

Every year they put on a festival and weekend of Triathlon races and I’d heard it was a great event…and it didn’t disappointment, a real party atmosphere combined with some serious racing.

The course was certainly challenging, the 1.5km swim was straightforward since it was in the lake, I completed it in a record time for me of 37mins (5 mins better than previous).

Bike Course

The 40km bike on the other hand was up, down and lots of up again! As you can see from the terrain map not a lot of flat stuff and look at that climb right at the beginning…I saw more than a few people pushing their bikes up that one.

Run Course

After my 1hr 34min bike came the 10km run, I started out pretty strong and then…faded fast, as you can see the run course is pretty much all up hill and then half way through you really start to climb, that combined with the heat and my heart rate was spiking over 180, so I ended up run/walking parts of the course. That said I still managed better than an average 10 minute mile which was my goal and finished the run in 1hr 1min for a total race time of 3hrs 23mins, a personal best on a very challenging course.

Not only that, but I finished 5th in my class (physically challenged athletes) and got a medal to boot! You can see more pictures of my race on Facebook.

So one race down, next one is a month away, the San Diego Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon. After that will be my first Half Ironman in July. Unfortunately I didn’t get a lottery slot for the Ironman World Championship in Kona this year, instead I’ll be choosing a different Ironman event for the end of the year to culminate my race schedule, looks like between now and then I’ll have a race every month all to reach my fundraising goal of $10,000 for CAF. I’ve reached $2,695 so far, big thank you to my top donors Dwayne, Tennille and Suzuyo, you guys rock! And to all those that have donated $100 or over, Carrie, Darcy, Kelly, Lori, Margaret, Tom, thank you so much.

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

Here I Come

There I Go

I’m 8 weeks into my new training regime and 7 weeks away from my first race at Wildflower and next month I find out if I win a place at the Ironman World Championship in Kona this October in the lottery.

It’s been great to get back into regular training again, after my accident last October. I’m starting to recover the stamina I lost after being out of action for 3 months.

My coach, Paul Kinney, has been working me hard, harder than I’ve trained over the last 2 years since I started doing triathlons.

Want an idea of my training week, I know you do?

• Monday – Rest day, stretch out a little
• Tuesday – Up at 4:45am, in the pool at 5:30am for an hour swim, about 2200 yds or so, then on the way home from work hit the gym for an hour of strength training
• Wednesday – Head to Sports Basement in Walnut Creek after work with my bike & trainer for an hour and 20min of spinning
• Thursday – Up at 4:45am again for another hour swim, once I get home after work head out for a 45min run down into Danville and back
• Friday – Supposed to head into the gym for another hour of strength training (don’t tell Paul, but I sometimes skip this one)
• Saturday – Long bike ride (OK, not too long yet, but they’ll be getting longer), head out at 8am for a 2 hour ride followed by a 15min transition run
• Sunday – Long run, head out at 8am for an hour run, 5-6 miles

And that’s it, 6 days a week, 8 workouts. As the months progress the distances will start to increase and my hour swims will be closer to 2 hours, my 2 hour bike rides closer to 4 and my 1 hour runs closer to 2 or 3. I’m particularly looking forward to the brick workout later in the season that consists of a 2 hour bike ride followed by an hour run, 3 times! That’s nine hours…

And I’m doing all this for a great cause, I’ve teamed up with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) this year to raise $10,000 to support their cause.

CAF help people with physical disabilities pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and athletics, to give those with the desire to live active, competitive lifestyles every opportunity to compete in the sports they love. As you can imagine this is a cause near and dear to my heart and I really hope you can help me raise $10,000 for those with disabilities, including children, war veterans, policeman and fireman injured in the line of duty. By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

Spinning Ironman Style

My Ironman training kicked off in earnest this week and I’ve been getting back in the pool and back on the bike.

My coach, Paul Kinney, has me working out 8 times a week…8 I hear you say, but there’s only 7 days in a week. Well, on Tuesdays & Thursdays I swim at 5:30 am, go to the office and then I’m supposed to be lifting weights or running in the evening…10 months to go and counting!

Whilst I was swimming this week, Coach Mike had his Flip camera and kindly videoed me in the pool, so now you can see what it’s like to swim one handed…definitely need to pick up the pace a bit if I’m going to make that 2.4 mile swim in under 2 hours.

An Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike and finally a full marathon, 26.2 miles…all in one day. And the mecca for Ironman events is the World Championship in Kona, Hawaii…birth place of Ironman. Since I’m unlikely to qualify for Kona as a world class athlete, I’ve instead submitted an entry into the Ironman lottery as a challenged athlete. They pick 5 athletes from those that apply, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

This will be the biggest physical/mental challenge I have faced to date, without a doubt. I have 10 months of training ahead, 6 days a week for the next 42 weeks. In between I’ll be throwing in an Olympic triathlon or two, a Half Ironman event, a triathlon including a swim from Alcatraz and maybe a half marathon for good measure.

As part of my bid I plan to fundraise for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), these guys have a mission to provide opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics, they provide support for athletic endeavors by providing grants for training, competition and equipment needs. As you can imagine, a cause near and dear to my heart.

So here goes, day one of training done, my first swim since my accident, nice to know it hasn’t affected my swimming ability, next will be to see how I fair on the bike…wish me luck.

Elbow After Surgery

The surgery was successful, if a little long (over 5 hrs). My collar bone now has a plate holding it together, which is great since it stabilizes the shoulder nicely. My elbow was a bit of a surprise, however. I didn’t expect to end up with so much metal work: a plate, screws, pins and even some wire, as you can see from the fluoroscope images. It’s amazing the amount of damage I did.

Shoulder Surgery

Elbow Surgery

Now that my arm is back to normal size my one challenge is that, with all the metal work in my elbow its circumference has increased and my prosthetic sockets still don’t fit. Fortunately I still have my original socket from a couple of years back, and whilst it’s not ideal, at least it fits…which means I can drive again.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t have to get new prosthetic sockets made, only time will tell.

A group of us training for Big K (as the race is affectionately known) had gone down to Santa Cruz to train on the course in preparation for the race in 2 weeks. We were doing an hour and a half cycle out and back on Highway 1. It was on the way back that things went pear shaped.

There is a section of Highway 1, just after the crest of a hill, where an old rail track crosses the road diagonally. I remembered riding over it on the way out and it was a little knarly on my race bike with its razor blades for tires. On the way back it caught me a bit by surprise, you don’t see it until you crest the hill, and a thought went through my mind, “hope my wheel doesn’t get caught in the track”. Which, as you can guess, is exactly what happened, just as I picking up speed and going 15-20 mph. The next thing I know I’m down hard on my left hand side skidding along the road on my helmet and left arm…and then Ray hit me, he’d been riding just behind me and didn’t have time to take evasive action. So both of us were down in the middle of Highway 1…I guess we should count ourselves lucky there weren’t any cars behind us.

If anyone needed a reason to wear a helmet when riding here it is, my old Specialized helmet took the brunt of the impact and I watched the road skid by as it protected my head and face from major trauma, I’m serious when I say that without the helmet I would not be here writing this post!

Whilst my helmet fortunately saved my head, my left elbow and shoulder didn’t fair so well. As I fell to the left my elbow impacted the road hard, I had been on my aero bars and it happened so quickly I didn’t have time to react at all. My elbow fractured and the force of the impact fractured my clavical (collar bone) as well. After I managed to sit up and catch my breath I could feel my collar bone was broken (didn’t know about my elbow at that point) and got my team mates, who had arrived at the scene, to call for an ambulance.

I don’t know how, but a policeman was there in only 5 minutes or so, even before we called for an ambulance. He was taking my details and then asked whether I’d seen the sign warning cyclists to slow down and walk their bikes across the tracks…duh, missed those on the way out and on the way back! Me thinks they need bigger signs, flashing neon ones perhaps. Apparently they have about 30 bike accidents at that spot each year, given the tracks aren’t in use any more you wonder why they don’t fill the damn things in, anyone know a good lawyer…

So now I’m out of the race and due to the severity of the breaks I’ll be going in for surgery on both my shoulder and elbow. One thing you can say about me is, if I have an accident, then I *really* have an accident!

I’ll keep you updated on my progress after the surgery, I’m sure it’ll be a few months before I’m back in the saddle again, as Arnie says, “I’ll be back”.

Oh, and the bike, that’s in pretty good shape, luckily my body saved it from any major damage…seriously, it hardly has a scratch on it!

The ring around Lake Tahoe is about 73 miles, I planned on riding 56 miles and having Kerry come pick me up, which meant I would get to go around 2/3rds of the lake at least.

I headed out at 8:30am on Highway 89, from South Lake Tahoe, and headed clockwise towards Emerald Bay, the first big climb. As I would learn during the ride, it sure ain't flat up here. The lake is at 6,200' and the roads around are continually going up and down, the highest climb to over 7,000'. Of course by going clockwise I got to ride the hilliest 2/3rds of the lake (great choice)!

Apart from the cold (what else would you expect in October, I couldn't feel my toes numerous times), and the wind which was blowing 20+mph and at nearly blowing me of the bike, it was a beautiful ride. It took me 3 hours 45 minutes to complete my distance, finishing just before Cave Rock (the tunnel on Highway 50). Kerry meet me there, with a hot cup of tea and my run shoes ready for a quick 10 minute transition run.

All-in-all a great days training and given the snow we got Saturday night/Sunday morning I'm sure glad I did the bike yesterday…although the snow sure looks pretty.

Crazy? Perhaps, but that’s what life is about. Plus, you heard it hear first, next year I have my sights set on competing in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii…that’s 140.6 miles, now that’s crazy!

But, one step at a time. I’m volunteering again with Team In Training to help others realize their dream of completing an endurance event whilst raising money for LLS to fight blood cancers. This time I’m training for Big Kahuna, held this October in Santa Cruz (nice and local).

This is a big step up for me, a Half Ironman consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike followed by a 13.1 mile half marathon. Last season I remember completing a 56 mile bike ride just by itself, followed by a 10 minute transition run, I literally could not run…I got shin splints so bad I could barely walk. So this is going to be a big step up for me.

If you’d like to support my cause and make a donation to help me achieve my goal of raising $1,980 for LLS that would be greatly appreciated, no amount too small (or too big), you can donate online via my fundraising page.

And, in case you’re wondering what I’m trying to do in the photo above, it’s my attempt at swimming butterfly…badly!