Much has been written about goal setting. People like Tony Robbins have made fortunes helping others setting goals. Goals can be corporate and colossal such as getting man to walk on the moon, or they can be individual and small like deciding not to eat any potato chips for one week. So with that being said, I set my goals for the ChelanMan Half Iron Triathlon. The stretch goal was to finish in 5:30. The realistic goal was to finish in 5:45.
Training for me is a period of time in which my confidence grows. I worked my training plan as best I could. There were workouts that were missed because of the myriad responsibilities that are common to any suburban father and husband. If there were mistakes that were made, they were related to training intensity. Nevertheless, I worked my plan and made improvements along the way. I had benchmark moments where I noticed improvements such as at the Friday Night Swim Races and the Lopez Island 10K. When these benchmark goals were achieved, my confidence grew.
In the final week and days leading up to the race I followed my training plan with great care. I was extra cautious about my nutrition the final days leading into the race. I felt properly carbo loaded. I was able to relax, or at least not work real hard, the last couple days before my race as well. By Friday night before race day I was going out of my skull with unbounded energy. Perhaps this is why I could not sleep worth a darn the night before. It was lights off at 10, and then I watched as the clock turned over to 11, 12, 1, 2…sometime after 2 I finally fell asleep. I suppose the thoughts that someone has the night before a race are different for each individual; but for me I kept thinking about how hard should I be going at different points along the course “do I push here or do I wait until there…” Finally I did not roll over and see the clock any more.
4:45 alarm!
Preparing transition was uneventful. Lay everything out, get a team picture for Patty, put on wetsuit, swim 100 yards and call it a warm up then wait….39 year olds and below leave right on time at 7AM .five more minutes…think about intensity on the swim…think about intensity on the bike…four more minutes…think about what to drink and when…think about when to take S Caps…think about when to take a gel…3 more minutes….think about where in this pack I should place myself…think about the tall guy, he looks fast…think about Mel Gibson, he’s crazy….think about Duran Duran, whatever happened to them?...2 minutes….think about peeing in my wetsuit, no bad idea just hold it…1 minute…OK time to push my way to the front….thirty seconds…Mel really is crazy…20 seconds….maybe I should pee…10 seconds…maybe I did…5…maybe a little #2 also…2…don’t matter now….GOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Quite possibly the coolest thing that the organizers of ChelanMan have done is to put a red line about 8 feet below the surface of the water that goes from buoy to buoy. Once you find this if you can keep an eye on it there is no need to look up for sighting. I found it within the first 100 yards. Life was gonna be great! Within the first 200 yards I could not see anyone in within 10 feet of me from side to side or in front of me either. I looked up once at about 300 yards to see there were others in front of me but they were quite wide of the line. What were they doing? Didn’t matter now ‘cause I was (insert Forest Gumps voice) Swimminggg! By about 500 yards I began to pass the slowest of the 39 and unders. Boy does this make a guy feel good. In my very first Triathlon many years ago, I was DFL 100 yards into the swim (that’s Dead Friggin Last for those of you who might be acronym challenged). Now I was passing people Woo Hoo!!! The organizers of ChelanMan also have age groups racked together in the transition area, so when I got out of the water my rack was still quite full…Dude I’m stoked!!!
However the party was about to end…
I began to run out of T1 with my bike when I noticed that my water bottle that I keep on my aero bars was not there, huh oh. I jumped back to grab my running water bottle, which was empty, and put it in the holder instead. At the mile one aid station I came to a complete stop to have volunteers fill my bottle with water. Precious time lost! Oh no! How am I ever going to make the podium (ha!). So with my second bottle filled (I still had a bottle filled with Perpetuem) I was now off to the races. The first 30 miles of the bike course are rolling hills 15 out and 15 back. There were maybe 5 or 6 other guys I was trading places with, each of us passing each other on one occasion or another. There were several more that just flat out flew passed us. Because it was an out and back, I was looking forward to counting how many bikes were in front of me. Could it be just 5? 10? No, try 42, reality check time; you’re not that great Dave. Aw shucks. When I reached the turn, another guy yells “Now we get the wind at our back!” The only problem with this was, when I looked up at the trees, they weren’t moving! You keep telling yourself that buddy. So the second 15 were uneventful, keep peddling, keep drinking, have a little Cliff Bar, the real ride starts after mile thirty. It’s at mile thirty that we begin the first of three significant climbs. Number one 2 miles with 78 degree sun on your back, about the grade of Smith here in Kent. Then, fun downhill back 1.5 miles where I was able to get my speed somewhere near 40-45 mph. Then back up; this time steeper, with 10 miles of false flats. The false flats are in an elevated valley with rolling hills. It is so quite through this section of the ride you can hear shadows fall. I just listen to myself breathe, think about peddling, think about how much it sucks that some 55 year old just passed me, think about how I never even want to consider doing a full IronMan, think about eating, think about drinking, think about Mel Gibson again – he was being manipulated, and think about the last steep hill approaching. Here it comes. OK someone made this steeper since I came out and rode the course back in June. Doesn’t matter now, just get up it. Red line heart rate. Think about pumping, think about the downhill, think about Mel Gi----No screw Mel Gibson! Get over the top! Pump! Go! Drive! Go! You are almost…You can…You are ….THERE!!!! It is now time to coast back down. I ain’t got nothin’ in me for peddling the descent. Just let gravity do its work. Now another 13 or so of flat to moderate rollers back to the transition and I get to run. I love running, I can’t wait to run.
Transition 2. Hey there aren’t that many bikes on my rack, this is good news! Time to run! 100 yards away from T2, boy I’m tired. But I’m also not feeling awful. I think about 250 yards after leaving T2 that it’s time for an SCap. Uh Oh. There back in the Bento Box. This is gonna be a problem. Presently it is somewhere between 85 - 90 degrees. My need for sodium and electrolytes is elevated. I think I can deal with this by sticking to Heed only. So at each aid station (about 1 per mile) I have one Heed for my insides and one water to pour on top of my head. The problem is my stomach began to slosh near mile 4. I have read that if your stomach is sloshing, you don’t have enough sodium. It is hard to turn the pace up a notch when your belly feels like a half filled water balloon. So, I walk through each water station and slowly but surely run to each. Near mile 10 I get excited because I pass my friends that are out to watch so I pick up the pace, gotta look good for the pictures ya know! The problem with this is when I do pick up the pace I begin to get a pain radiating across my chest. It seems to be centered near my heart. This can’t be good. Guess I’ll slow down. So I continue to vigilantly run the last three miles using great care not to pick up the pace too much. I eventually make it across the finish line.
At no point during the race did I ever think I’m not going to finish this. I was miserable at times but I would remind myself that everyone else out here is suffering too. Just keep going with your best effort. I finished in 5:47. This was a realistic time for me. I was 11th in AG and 55th OA. I am satisfied with this achievement. Goals are funny things, you set them, you work towards them and sometimes you reach them. Sometimes you put a contingency goal in place. It appears to me, that I am happy with the contingency goal this time around.
The ChelanMan multisports weekend is a great event. There is also an Olympic distance event, a half marathon, a 10K, a sprint distance tri and a Try-a-Try event. The volunteers are fabulous and all the proceeds of the event go towards arts programs in the Chelan schools. I am looking forward to doing another event there next year.
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