The Heat, Bee Strings, Nose Bleeds and Ativan - IMCDA 2015

Racing in the heat is never easy. Whether you're racing in a humid climate or in the dry air of Coeur d'Alene Idaho, your body temperature will run higher then normal, you will sweat more, work harder and ultimately race slower in the heat. It's not only a physical burden, but a mental burden as well. Knowing you have trained for months in an effort to achieve a certain pace on race day only to have your goal times thrown out the window for a realistic pacing strategy appropriate for the race day conditions. Heat was the story of the 2015 Ironman Coeur d'Alene for most athletes.

When I signed up of Ironman Coeur d'Alene I will admit it was done with some hesitation. Over the course of the past few years I have chosen to race in the latter part of the season, mainly because it's easier to train when the days are long and the weather is warm. IMCDA training doesn't provide that most years, but this year IMCDA did provide us with warmer training weather. If you were to apply the law of averages, could that mean on race day we were going to pay?

Ironman is a tough day. If your life demands that you pick a training schedule that is designed simply to get you to the finish or if you hire a coach, put in 20 hours a week never missing a workout and plan to compete for a podium spot, it doesn't matter, you're going to suffer out there. Even in perfect conditions Ironman will test your body, test your mind, it will test you metal. Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2015 did not provide perfect conditions. It was quite the contrary in my opinion.

I kept my eye on the long range forecast as the temps for race day continued to creep up. Now a long range forecast is just that a forecast so I rarely put much stock in them. Outside of 48 to 72 hours it's more of a guess then anything. Now that being said, I did follow them and as they trended up I wanted to do my best to be prepared. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. When it comes to weather hoping harder is about all you can do. So in the final two weeks leading up to the race I would shift my workouts to the hottest part of the day and I ordered some arm coolers with hopes of never using them. I had every intention of being as ready as possible for the forecasted temps. As it worked out I could never be fully prepared for an iron distance race at 105+ degrees.

With the rumor mill on overload I went about my race prep for a race 140.6 miles in length. Some of the forecasted temps for race day were as high as 109 degrees. If 109 were accurate, the question would become will they let us race at all. When you put 2000+ athletes out on course in a quest to conquer arguably the toughest single day endurance events on the planet and let them attempt it at 109 degrees, that's a tall order but that's not the half of it. You also have to consider the 3000+ volunteers and all friends and family that will be standing in the sun for an entire day. This race could not happen with out all those people as well. So the week leading up to the race, race organizers had a lot to consider.

Early in the week a desicion was made to start the race one hour early so instead of starting the rolling swim at 6:45 we would start at 5:45 a.m. As the rumor mill churned we heard everything from outright cancelling the race to cutting it in half or a 70.3 to a 127.5 where the run would be cut in half. Ultimately I would have been greatly disappointed if any changes were made to the distance and we were not given the opportunity to race the entire 140.6 but I knew if there were changes made it would be in the best interest of everybody involved and I was prepared to except any desicion and move on.

When the race starts an hour early, you get up an hour earlier which meant the alarm was set for 3:05 a.m. This would give us time to get prepped and out the door by 4 a.m. We wanted to be in transition by 4:30 a.m. allowing for what I like to call my Hour of Zen.

I last raced IMCDA in 2013. That was the year they introduced the rolling swim start and I wanted to hate it. I like the pageantry of a mass start. Let's line up 3000 athletes on the beach and when the gun fires it's survival of the fittest. The first 400 meters of a mass shore start is brutal. You have 3000 people standing on shore right next to each other like a hand full of pencils. Then when you lay those pencils down there just isn't enough space for them all. It's as basic as physics can get. You put 3000 keyed up athletes in the water where there just isn't enough space, you get broken noses, black eyes and dislocated shoulders. It's like trying to swim inside a washing machine. There are a number of forces and factors that are acting upon you and your fellow competitors.

Photo By Tricia Mack

In a rolling swim start everybody lines up according to what they believe will be their swim time. Much like the corrals at a marathon where like runners are grouped together, I lined up in the middle of the 1:15 to 1:30 corral. When the gun fired to start the race we all slowly move up the beach until it was your turn to go through the arch, crossing the timing mat and swimming away. The athletes are strung out right from the start so the combat conditions of the first 400 meters are greatly reduced or non existent in my case. Got to love the rolling swim start.

The swim was pretty laid back and I quickly settled into a rhythm. It's a two loop course and I exited the water after the first lap at 40 minutes and change, so I was on target. I took a gel at the half point of swim, it's a preventive measure after I struggled in a swim at IMAZ. As I crossed the timing mat and rounded the corner to head back toward the water I saw Nat. I asked how Bootsy was doing. She said her split was just outside of 30 minutes. It's always great to get a split to know how her day is starting.

The second loop is traditionaly slower for me so when I exited the swim just outside of 1:24 it wasn't a surprise.

Out on the bike and headed to Higgins point. The temps were low and the energy was high. I was sticking to my power and checking my heart rate. I knew later in the day as the heat increased my heart rate would also so I wanted to be sure everything was off to an excepted start. Race day adrenaline can push my heart rate up at the start only to settle after a few miles. Everything was great as I came back into town to the cheers of many friends and teammates.

I had taken a water bottle at the first aid station but as I headed out of town I hit a bump and it was ejected. No big deal I had two other bottles of Base Hydo electrolyte drink on board. Aid station number two, bottle of water number two, bump number two, same result, ejected. After climbing the Mica Grade I was in a full sweat so as I rolled into aid station three I took two bottles of water, one for drinking the other to pour over me. Exiting the aid station I had one bottle completely dumped over myself and tossed the empty. I then reached for the second bottle to start drinking but that bottle, although it was still there, the top had come off. I quickly pulled over and picked up a lid near the last bottle drop. Rolling away from the aid station with a half bottle of water, I was in better shape then when I rolled in. Not a perfect start to my hydration plan on the day but that's O.K. What if anything goes exactly as planned in an Ironman?

Photo by Steve Anderson

I was moving along as planned hitting my power and heart rate. At roughly mile 38-ish I was stung by a bee. After the race I heard there had been an accident somewhere out along the course where some 300 bee hives had been spilled while in transport. Now did one of these angry little buggers leave its now demolished home in search of an athlete to take it's revenge? I couldn't say but I do know I was stung not once but twice by the little bugger. Yep, it got me twice, once on the stomach and once on the side.

I'm not "EpiPen or Hospital" allergic to bee stings but I do traditionally have some sort of mild reaction. Swelling in my hands and feet is usually what manifests. Under other circumstances I would normally take Benadryl to help control any swelling that may occur but Benadryl makes me very sleepy so under race conditions I obviously don't take any. I did however check for tongue swelling. Swelling of the hands and feet is O.K. but airway? Should probably keep an eye on that.

Over the course of the next 20 miles my power started to sag and so did my heart rate. Making it back to town and out to Higgins point and back I felt pretty good. Crowds and adrenaline can do wonders, but as I headed back out the highway the sagging continue.

Photo by James Richman

I knew it was going to warm the second loop. The heat was starting to build and I could feel it. There was no escaping it. The only thing you could do was deal with it best you could. The heat had caused me to have a nose bleed, it happens but I didn't realize it. I had been pouring water over my head so the combination of sweat and water had hidden the fact I was bleeding and not just a little. When I finally realized I was bleeding, it took looks of horror from fellow athletes to drive the point home.

I reached Mica Peak Grade and as a climbed my heart rate wasn't reacting in a fashion I would have hoped. Air temps were rising and so was my proceived effort but my power and heart rate were not. They were really sagging as I climbed at what I thought was at or just below a normal effort.

I have what I would call a lower then average heart rate. My resting heart rate can be in the 30's. My target heart rate for an iron distance race is at or near 129 bpm. After the turn around at the far end of the highway my heart rate was trending between 77 and 84 bpm and my power had sagged accordingly as near as I could tell. I knew my heart rate wasn't where I hoped it would be but below 90? I wondered if all the water I had poured over myself had caused my heart monitor to malfunction skewing the numbers but wet or dry the numbers remained the same.

As I slowed I took stock not only with what was going on with me but those around me and it was absolute carnage out there. Every aid station was full of athletes seeking shade while waiting for a ride back to town. Out on course there were bikes laying along side the road with athletes up in the trees seeking shade. In more then one case I saw an ambulance parked along side the road with the EMS staff giving medical attention to athletes who had made what looked like an attempt to find shade in the trees but could not make it and were laying in the weeds. I don't know that to be the case but that is where EMS staff were giving them aid. It's hard not to take an athlete who is in need and make their pain your pain. We are all in this together but after a while I elected to just look away as I rode past. There were professionals caring for them, there was nothing I could do. I needed to stay focused on where I was so not to end up in the same boat. I was asked multiple times by multiple volunteers if I wanted a ride back to town. Every single volunteer had my health and the health of every athlete in mind.

"Don't push it. It's not worth it. If you need a ride back to town, we are here for you. Keep the big picture in mind. Remember your loved ones who are awaiting your safe return". 

These words certainly would help keep it all in perspective just how bad it was for some out there. The volunteers weren't discriminating, every single rider I saw got the same offer.

In the end 250 athletes would DNF without getting off the bike course. There were reports of road temps out on the highway of 148 degrees so to say it was hot out there would be an understatement. It was a furnace out there.

I limped into T2 a little beaten up and bleeding with a 6:56:56 ride. As I pulled up to bike dismount I was met by friend and teammate Ronnie and thank goodness. His direct words may have saved my race. I was in a bad spot and he gave me what I needed to move on to the run.

I took some extra time in T2. I changed my socks, tried to get some nutrition in and sorted through things I didn't get down out on the bike but hoped I could get down on the run. I got some suntan lotion and then put on a cooling shirt for protection from the heat.

Just outside of T2 I quickly ran into a friend and long time supporter Brittany. Brittany has been at every IMCDA race I have participated in, but I was still surprised to see her. It was 105 degrees for goodness sake. I had to stop and say thank you. I was met with a hug, the kind of hug that says "I don't care how sweaty, bloody and gross you are, I'm here for you". It left me fighting back tears. Brittany said Bootsy was, from what she could tell, still doing well. My surprise to see Brittany and hear all her kind words left me searching for something to say that could express my gratitude for her support. "I love you" would have to do.

A stop to say hello to Brittany.
Photo by Brittany Hood

I made it about 10 steps and there's another good friend Kathy. I stopped for pics and a hug and kiss before she sent me on my way. This marathon thing is off to a pretty good start I must say!

Photo By Kathy Worden

And for all intents and purposes that's where the good parts of my marathon ended. I tried to run through town but my stomach felt as though it was twisted in knots. Because of this the plan was to get to the first aid station even if I had to walk to give myself time for my stomach to calm down. There were lots of residents out in the streets with hoses spraying everyone with as much water as needed. I took full advantage of all of them. I wanted to stay wet in an effort to reduce or at least keep my core temps down and maybe this would help with my tummy issues as well.

At about mile two I ran into Bootsy. She said her day was coming apart a bit and she was walking the aid stations. She may have been out of the running for another AG win and a Kona slot but was going to enjoy the experience of the day to the best of her ability. I told her I was in "making it up as I go" mode and hoped I could pull it together so I could run.

At about mile four I found the Gallaghers. Of course they had lots of encouragement. I told them I was planning to walk until I could get in enough nutrition so I could run. The thought of walking a marathon just wasn't something at this point I was interested in.

Next stop, the Worthy's. This family is another group that has come out to support Bootsy and I each and every time we have raced Ironman Coeur d'Alene. Although Beth had reached out to us earlier in the week to make sure we were racing, I had to wonder if they would make it over to the race. Their children had spent the weekend playing in Hoopfest so their entire family had been in the sun and heat on the streets of Spokane all weekend long.

When I came upon the Worthy family they had found a great spot in the grass and shade and it looked so inviting. Yes I wanted to take time to thank them for coming out with "Go Craig" and "Go Erica" signage in tow but I didn't really plan to stop and take refuge in their shade spot. I actually sat down at one point. This seemed to concern Don, he worried I would cramp. My concern was in how good it was to sit in their company and watch the race go by.

Hanging with the Worthy's
Photo by James Richman (This guy is everywhere!)

I continued to walk and take in nutrition that looked good, which at this point wasn't much but I was able to drink some Coke, Gatorade and water. I also had volunteers pour water over me and put ice in the pockets that run down the center of the back of my cooling shirt. As I exited aid station 5 on my way back to town I noticed another athlete again looking at me in complete horror. My nose must be bleeding. When I looked down blood was everywhere. I had a water bottle in a hand carrier and I quickly used that to clean myself up but my goodness I was a mess. This had left some stains on my white cooling shirt and many would ask "Are you alright? What's with all the blood?".

Mile 13 and the turnaround back in town and guess who's still there suffering in the heat...Brittany. I stopped for more hugs and was happy for all of her encouragement. She told me that Bootsy had finished and she was able to talk with her after. Bootsy finished at straight up 12 hours and the one thing Bootsy was concerned with was "Couldn't I have gone 1 minute faster". It was a very Boosty thing to say so I knew she was doing well. Any news when faced with walking another half marathon was welcome and fact that Bootsy was in and doing well was a great burden lifted.

Photo by Phil Sandifur

As I pressed on the weight of walking the entire second half of the marathon started to weigh on me but I was still hoping I could run some. Now math started to come into play as well. There are cutoffs for this race and I needed to be done no later then 10:45 p.m. to make the 17 hours allotted to finish an Ironman. I also needed to be at the far end of the run course by 9:30 p.m. or my day would be done. I still had math on my side but not my stomach.

At the number 3 aid station at about mile 16 I wanted to be able to take in some solids. Heck, I was walking so I should be able to eat anything I want. There was a lawn chair right in the middle of the aid station so I asked if it would be O.K. if I sat for a minute while I ate some pretzels. I figured the lawn chair would be reasonably easy to get out of as I was getting a bit sore from all the walking. As it turned out the pretzels were a bad idea. My fastest run split on the day was around the back of a moving truck to find a box to relieve myself of the pretzels. 

Of course the volunteers were on me in a heart beat wanting to help in anyway they could. I was quickly brought paper towels and water. As soon as I felt I was finished with the box they quickly whisked it away saying they would take care of cleaning up after me. When a volunteer asked if I needed medical, I knew it was time to move on. I quickly thanked them for everything and asked for some sugar which came in the form of Coke and I moved on.

I tried solids a little later in the race but it was met with the same result. Every time I tried to run, after about 400 yard, my stomach would knot up and I would be forced to stop with my hands on my knees and wait for the wave of nausea to pass. But it felt so good to run. Running would give reprieve to the muscles in my legs that had not been trained to walk 26.2 miles. If you're going to walk a marathon might I suggest you train to walk a marathon.

Mile 21 and the Gallaghers had come back out on course to check on some of the racers, Bootsy in tow. Bootsy was kind enough to walk with me for a couple of miles and the company, although always good, was great. We had a chance to catch up about our day and reflect on what it is like to race inside of an oven.

Mile 23 - I trade out Bootsy for Nat who was on her mountain bike. Nat rode with me the remainder of the way in. There are times I am feeling so awful I wonder if I can make it the final miles but Nat talks me through it. Is having someone to talk with in the final miles of a 7 hour and 37 minute odyssey considered outside assistance? Probably but at 10:30 at night and 16 hours and 23 minutes into the race, who is going to enforce it?

I gave Nat a hug thanking her for bringing me in as I turn down Sherman Avenue. The lights of the finish line and Mike Reilly's voice were calling me home. A fellow competitor asks where we are supposed to go. I tell him we go straight down Sherman to the clock tower and the bright lights. "A finish on Sherman Avenue is what brought you here and it is what will bring you back".

I jogged the final few hundred yards to the finishing shoot, giving a high five to anyone who would take it and they all were taking. I reveled in it, soaking up every possible second, every congratulations, every smile and every cheer.

In the final hour Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman, comes down from the announcers box and greets the athletes as they finish. As I approach Mike I look for a high five. He grabs my hand stopping me, looks me straight in the eye and said those magic words "Craig Thorsen - You are an Ironman"! I turn away from Mike and am delivered to the finish line.

After finishing I a quickly scooped up be a volunteer. I ask if I can take a minute but the volunteers have been instructed to keep the athletes moving away from the finish line so not to jam it up. My asking for a minute quickly brings a member of the medical staff. He, I believe it was a he, fires a few questions at me. I got the first one right but whiffed on the second. "Yes I do know who the president of the United States is but I just can't remember right now". Off to the Med tent we go. I tried my best to talk my way out of going. I just wanted to sit down for a minute or two. Once I started to plead my case a second member of the medical staff was called in making it very clear I was going to the Med tent like it or not.

Once seated outside of the Med tent I was still softballing their questions and was told in no uncertain terms not to lie to the med staff. They are here to help and could only do so if they have all the information. I was given a wristband and marked on it where my symptoms, dizziness and nausea. As I continued to crash the decision was made to move me inside the tent to lay down.

Med bracelet and a watch that is telling me I was out on course a bit to long.

After a few minutes inside the director of the medical staff and friend saw me and came over to asses my condition. This was not my first visit to the med tent after a race so to be able to say that I have a "working relationship" with the director of the the medical staff, well that's a bit sad. But Stan was awesome. He gave me some Ativan for the nausea saying "This is the stuff we gave you last time and it worked great. You will be up in no time". Of course he was right.

So in the end Ironman showed us all how hard it is to race in the heat. Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2015 proved to be the hottest full Ironman ever raced in North America. So I'm sure in time this race will become something of legend. But for the record it was brutal for everyone. The Medical Tent, during and after the race, treated 31% or 532 racers. Ironman started the day with 15 tons of ice, 30 tons were distributed to the athletes during the race, enough for 35 lbs of ice per athlete. I know for fact that some aid stations ran out of ice and water at times, I saw it for myself. But this is where the best volunteers on the plant stepped in, many of them driving to nearby towns to purchase supplies on their own dime to fill in as aid stations waited for another delivery. Who does that? The Ironman Coeur d'Alene volunteers do that!

So what's next? I have no idea. Bootsy and I will recover from this race with some mountain bike and road bike "workouts". I don't see us racing in the month of July but I would think we will toe the line somewhere during the month of August. We'll see.

Throw Back Thursday - "It's May."

Things are always drifting in and out of my head. Some things I deem note worthy and they can end up here as a blog post, some things I don't. I have more then once started writing about this or that only to have it gain no traction and be left as a draft.

I came upon this draft the other day and thought I would drag it out for a Throw Back Thursday and then expand on it's theme. Not your traditional throw back but maybe that's what I like most about it.

"When training for an endurance event there are cycles. In the run up to IMCDA the final build can be a bit daunting. Long hours, tired body and mind, it's all part of the process. It's just that sometimes in May when headed to Ironman Coeur d'Alene, the process can start to wear you down. It can make you do things you would hope you normally wouldn't. And it can trigger things you wish it wouldn't!"

 "On our mid week ride Bootsy and I got on the bikes for a scheduled 3 hour ride after work. We knew the forecast was for evening rain but we were hoping it would hold off until we got most if not all of our ride completed. But to us it would seem, we don't have the best luck with Spring rains. As per what has become usual for us, as soon as our cleats hit the pedals the rain begins. Our ride started downtown and shortly after pushing away from the car the rain really started coming down. You know that rain, the one where it comes down in sheets and so hard you actually laugh out loud. For the majority of our workout we rode in what resembled a monsoon. This was the type of ride that would prove to be all about testing our mental toughness. If you ask Bootsy she would tell you that I may have failed the test. After about the 2 hour mark in the pouring rain I put my head down and made a hard charge for the car. I was done with the rain! So on an out and back ride my charge left us with a 15 minute negative split. Not exactly how the workout was written but we got the ride in. Bootsy got tossed off the back a couple of times, not because she couldn't stay on my wheel, she certainly could have. She slipped off the back because she was sticking to her power. I was headed for the barn. Her mental toughness in check, mine acting like a 6 year old."

 "And no I did not pick up the last 15 minutes of the workout even though it had stopped raining as we arrived back to the car, the sun breaking through the clouds."

"Nor did I do my T-run!"

I'm a child or at times act very childish. Just ask Bootsy, she will tell you in no uncertain terms, recounting story after story of my childlike behavior and attitudes. This is not a strong suit as it applies to training and racing or any other part of life for that matter. But it is a reality.

Bootsy on the other hand is the polar opposite, focused and driven. You will never hear her speak to it, she is quick to divert this topic of conversation to you and your achievements. Not solely because she's uncomfortable with the subject of herself but because she is truly interested in your successes.

And to that, it is my belief that the following quote captures much of the guiding force in her everyday life.

"I've worked to hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down."

Bootsy is blessed with great focus and drive. She knows exactly where she is going and has an unwavering determination to get there. Undeterred by setbacks or failures, and as a person with next to no ego, she works closely with her coach to make any necessary adjustments, always keeping her eye on the prize. With every goal she reaches, she sets new and bigger goals, redirecting her ambition and focus in their pursuit. Bootsy exudes contagious energy and passion, inspiring those around her and arousing even this most passive follower into action.

There are triathletes who are up before the sun, leaving for a run from their front door, putting in solitary mile after solitary mile with only their mental toughness to keep them going. Bootsy is definately one of those athletes.

I, on the other hand, am someone who swims with the masters group, rides with the peloton and runs with the pack. I like pushing each other in an effort to reach limits and I enjoying shooting the breeze over a recovery shake or whatever the chosen post workout beverage may be. I find training with others forces me to push myself and varies my workout locations and my state of mind.

Although Bootsy enjoys training with a group, she still puts in her share of lonely workouts; "mental toughness sessions." She puts in plenty of miles on the trainer this time of year due to weather or darkness. But she also realized that while training alone does have its time and place, nothing is more fun than a good laugh during a long run. (Except maybe dropping a minute per mile on her run pace, simply by running with the Swifts.)

In my case, I trained alone for years, certain I was too slow to hang with any group of runners or most cyclists and convinced my location wouldn't allow for group training. As Bootsy and I drifted toward Ironman, I knew I would want to train with a group and when the invitation to join a local Tri group came, we were convinced to do so. This was a perfect fit for me but I have wondered at times if I rely to much on a group setting instead of my own mental toughness.

Bootsy and I have a unique situation when it comes to training together, me a middle of the pack age group athlete, her a world class athlete, her acheivements speak for themselves. We are fortunate in the fact that we can train together, side by side, while both of us get what we need from the same workout. But there is really only one reason for this, I'm male and she's female. Her talent is off the charts but because nature didn't put an average male and world class female on a level playing field, most days I'm able to keep up.

We ride and run together a lot in training but on race day it's a different story, she finishes hours ahead of me. One doesn't have to look far to see it's because of her mental toughness. She's a machine. I can train right next to her everyday, putting in the exact same miles at exactly the same prescribed intensity for months and months leading up to a race but on race day...

So I watch for the little things, looking for any small details I can apply. I take her up on her unspoken challanges to go little harder, a little longer or to stick to the plan which can also mean slowing down or taking it easy. During workouts, I look for slight facial expressions that may give any insight to how much she may be suffering in a given moment. She can be expressionless when suffering so even the smallest change in expression can be a huge indicator. I also watch her away from training in her day to day life, looking for signs or clues of how her body is recovering. I am constantly looking for any of these details so I can use them as a comparison and apply them to my training, to my mental toughness.

There is one other thing she posesses that I do not. That is her ablility on race day to be alone with herself. She has the uncanny ablity to stay in her own head. When things get tough in a race she can block out all the distactions and the pain, staying focused on the task at hand. That in my opinion is a gift.

An iron distance race is a long day. Staying mentally crisp and in the moment for the entire race is nearly impossible. But for those who can do it better then most, well those folks get the opportunity to spend a week or two in October under the sunny skies of Kona. And as for the rest of us, maybe we are just trying to stay out of the rain.

"Maybe we should fall in love" - Ironman Arizona 2014

"We find that we will take flight only when we fall: Maybe we should fall in love."
   
Outside of time it awaits, it lies in wait for your arrival. But you have to know where to look and more importantly be willing. Never confuse motion with progress, physically or emotionally. In order to redefine your limits you must be willing to push beyond yourself, beyond the boundaries you hold within. Do this and a journey of wonder will begin.

Post Ironman Wisconsin this September, it was time to make a decision, time to evaluate what Ironman Arizona would mean to me. I needed to decide what direction I would pursue in an effort to evaluate any kind of result IMAZ would provide. Would this be a race that I would look to the clock and time splits in search of a race identity or would it be something more? I had no idea.

My training for Ironman Arizona progressed on schedule. My head was clear where it hadn't been for other events this year. I was seeing a weekly if not daily physical progression in my build. My training montra had become "This race is today. Ironman Arizona will be physically fought today." Every battle is won before it's ever fought. I thought this would be enough. I was focused on my physically progression, as I should be, it's Ironman for goodness sake. Stay within yourself and get better each and every day.

But it seemed a bit empty...

I know these blog things are supposed to be about the race, a race report if you will. But that wouldn't tell the story of this race. Yes I swam, I biked and I ran. The distances are ridiculous and the race was physically daunting but that's part of the reason why we do these things, right?

Stepping off the plane in Phoenix on Thursday I was relatively relaxed and reasonably clear mentally. This is a race where it's easy to remain that way as long as you stay out of your own head. One of the things about racing here is the general public in the greater Phoenix area thinks of the event as that crazy race out there in Tempe. Outside the immediate area of the race village it's pretty much a non event. This makes it easy to step away from the race, unlike Madison or Coeur d'Alene where during race week the entire cities are immersed in Ironman. Here the media ignores the race, where in Madison it's front page news. We stay in Mesa where cruiser bikes are the norm so we get some strange looks when out test riding our tri bikes. We might as well be test driving a spaceship.

Friday Bootsy and I went down to the village to check in and to take a quick spin on the bike course. I have recently started to ride a Trek Speed Concept. I'm still finding my way around as far as making some adjustments. The newest technology has made this bike fast but also has made it a bit more challenging for a newbie to be confident in his bike mechanic skills. Because of this I decided to take the bike to an on site bike tech where they would dial it in to perfection. But...it took four hours. I wasn't the only nervous athlete who wanted a professional to give their bike the once over.

They guesstimated three hours to get the bike back but "it could be sooner". Because of this Bootsy and I elected to stay at the village and wait. We cruised the vendors killing time eventually finding a seat at a picnic table over looking the swim start. We wanted to take a minute to engage the race and really start to get our heads around what lie ahead.

As we sat together in near silence, Bootsy working through her race and me working through mine, it all came together. Ironman Arizona was a search. My coming back to what is arguably my home course would re-establish my love for the distance and for the course. I hadn't planned this search at all. I thought I had come to test myself which I did but the search was unplanned and frankly a bit of a surprise. As a triathlete that sounds a bit strange. My world is very structured, it has to be. My training plan is broken down to the minute. If you were to ask me this past January if I could join you for this or that on the third Saturday in October I could have answered your question. So the surprise of this race or to have this particular search step forward was to say the least, strange.

I am always looking to redefine my personal limits both mentally and physically. Can I go deeper in an effort to endure something larger then myself? Do I wish I could go faster? Yes! But the definition of this race would lie in something other then the numbers, something other then time. The definition of this race was about looking deep within myself. About searching for and finding a love that remains but sometimes gets confused with motion.

As I worked my way through race day, I didn't get caught up in the numbers: heart rate, power or time itself. I used them as parameters, it's a long day you have to. For this race the numbers were secondary, as secondary as they could have ever been. I used the numbers as a guidance system, but the driving force lie in my heart not as much in my head.

Photo by Kellee Crary

Photo by Timex Factory Team

For all this race has given back to me, I won't be back next year. I won't be back because I love this course, as backward as that may sound. I am stepping away from this course in effort to pledge my love. I want my true freedoms of this race to always remain. Racing here year in and year out may steal the innocence of that love. So, as of now I plan to come back to this course in 2017 but that's a long way out so we'll see.

Next year Bootsy and I will plan to toe the line at Ironman Coeur d'Alene. IMCDA will always be my first love and I am excited to see what lessons it will hold.

"So it's official now. There is nothing we can do. Now you're apart of me and I'm apart you. And we can see how one and one make more then two. Maybe we should fall in love."

Respect - Ironman Wisconsin 2014

“That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.” - Garth Stein

All Iron distance races challenge and if you let them, they will challenge in every way possible. It is up to you to do your very best to control what and how much that challenge may be. It is your sole responsibility to control the things you can and let go of the things you cannot, in every aspect of the event, both on and off the course. Iron distance races commanded respect and Ironman Wisconsin is in no way any different. Respect the race or pay a heavy price, those are your only choices. Respect must come early and continue until your final step or until Mike Reilly calls your name.

Photo by Bootsy

I happened upon a tweet a few months ago that I later looked back for but to no avail, I couldn't find it. At the time it was just another quote rolling down my twitter feed. I read it without much thought but little did know at the time, the words I haphazardly breezed across were the definition of what had been for me the past two and a half years.

For the two seasons leading up to this past Spring I had some niggles. Niggles being the chosen word because no one, especially a male, wants to admit to injury. Injury is an unspoken truth. Injury is weakness. Injury is regression.

But those two seasons are in the past and even at an age where recovery comes a little slower the body has a surprising resilience, an ability to heal and moving on. But the mind can be a completely different animal.

The afore mentioned tweet said something along the lines of "train to thrive not survive". There is a big difference between the two! Over the past two seasons I had been training with one sole and corrupt purpose, to survive. Although I didn't realize it at the time, my only goal for each workout, each day, and each race was to simply get through it, to survive and nothing more.

You train differently when you are training not to get hurt or to not re-injure yourself. My body had done its part but I had been left with a mind that had not been able to do the same. I had lost sight of any kind of mental toughness. I found that I had separated myself from the commitment to training first. The commitment to be out training when the weather is bad, the attitude is bad or the body felt bad under the stress of an Ironman build. I finally had it, my excuse. My reason to take it easy. To stay home when it rained and/or when I mentally just didn't want it. If I push I will re-injure myself, right? My head had been completely removed from the game.

When you live with a world class athlete who is as mentally tough as any person you have ever met, it's supposed to rub off a little. Bootsy is a machine! She has the ability to get through the most wretched stretch of training no matter what or how she is feeling. She just flat gets it done. She pushes me to do the same but only as much as she feels she can. She pushes because she cares and wants to see me do well, but ultimately she understand it's my race, it's my journey.

We all face limiters in life, be them self imposed or not. Limiters can be as simple as time itself. My true limiter for Ironman Wisconsin was my mind and how it elected to use time.

Madison Wisconsin - Sunday, September 7th. 2014.

The weather is predicted to be absolutely perfect, low to mid 70's with some late afternoon cloud cover and winds at 3 mph with gusts to 5 mph. You can't ask for anything better then that.

Lake Monona and swim start.
Photo by Bootsy

We are up early and out the door. A struggle with nutrition is already underway but I felt I was controlling it as I continued to take liquid calories almost until start time. Not a perfect approach to race day nutrition but it was the best I could do on this day. Liquids were the only thing I could keep down. Trust me, I tested solids earlier in the day. No love!

Leading up to this race I had been terrified of the water. Any discomfort came from the pool so I just refused to go. I flat wouldn't get in the water. So about three times a week I got the same text from Bootsy "You swimming tonight?" and the answer was always the same.

I swam less then I ever have or as "some" may argue not at all. I was in the pool a handful of times leading up to Troika and then Calgary but I honestly believed I would swim more as Ironman Wisconsin approached. It didn't happen. Some of it was timing of the race and a professional avalanche that comes this time of year but that wasn't everything. I was as mentally disengaged from swim fitness as I could have ever been.

The Swim -

In a word - uneventful. You get what you pay for so this was one of my slowest swims but not that far off what I normally would expect to swim on a percentage basis.

There has been a change to the swim course since I last raced here. It's now a single loop course and for an athlete who positioned himself to far back at the start, a single loop course was a welcome change. The pack had thinned by the second turn and I was able to settle in.

Swim exit is unique in the fact that you leave the shore to run up the helix, a spiral car ramp of the parking garage of the convention center. The helix is absoultly packed with people and the long run goes by very quickly but it does give me time to look into the eyes of the spectators drawing energy as I pass.

T1 - It's in a board room in the convention center. Kind of cool, crusing the hallways of what is a beautiful building overlooking Lake Monona in full race mood. A quick change and throw down a gel as I head to the sunscreen station.

The Bike -

Having run up the helix on the east end of the building, you ride down the helix on the west end of the building.

The bike course takes you out a 16 mile what will be an out and back section where you complete two 40 mile loops on an oval course in the Wisconsin farm land. So you ride out, do two loops then ride back to town. Because the majority of the ride is completed outside of Madison proper, there are buses to get the spectators out to view the ride. These buses dump the spectators at three very specific spots. There are three shortish (or longish depending on what part of the country you come from. I did hear some flat landers doing some whining out there. If you're from the midwest where the largest hills are the overpasses on your local highway then these hills are longish) steep hills were the fans are deliver. You put bus loads of people in sections of the course that are less the a quarter mile in length, you create quit an atmosphere. An atmosphere that I would liken to a mountain stage at the Tour de France. The atmosphere is electric, alive and in your face. And yes the devil makes an appearance.

The plan was to take the first loop very easy, which I did. I rode along enjoying the atmosphere and the beauty of the Wisconsin farm land. But as the miles slid by my stomach become more and more stressed and by the time I made my way around the first loop and back to special needs anything I put in was met with a gag reflex.

On the second loop my stomach continued down its path of non acceptance and as I drew near to the turn back to Madison I was reduced to trying to get simple water to stay down. I could sip very small amounts and with some effort I could get it down. I was thirsty but I couldn't deliver the hydration in quantities that would support my need.

As the miles passed my pace slowed and on the final 16 mile section back to town it was time to start forcing nutrition. There would be no way to chase calories I had missed but I would be forced to get something in or be faced with a decision in T2 of whether or not I could go on.

I slowed, even pulling over from time to time as I tried to get in a quarter or maybe as much as a half gel in. As I road along I watched and listened for other racers, trying to time any feeding so that no one else was in the immediate area.  If the nutrition was rejected I didn't want a fellow competitor to pay the price.

T2 - Took my time changing. I nursed a gel and a few ounces of water. I stopped at the sunscreen station before heading out on the run course.

The Run -

The first few miles of the marathon went better then I ever thought they would, I was running. I walked the aid stations searching for anything I could get in but was having limited success. Poor hydration had led to cramping but I was able to walk them off.

By mile eleven I was in trouble and I knew it. How much trouble would play out in the later miles of the marathon. That is if I could get to the later miles.

Reality - it can shift and change as the race progresses. Reality can be fluid and it can crush you.

I have always been aware of how harsh reality can be but I'd never been asked to face it squarely in a race. Yes, I have had some struggled in other races but this was different, this was deeper.

As I approached mile 14, I was still in search of a combination of nutrition I could get in and keep down. I was back to strictly water having tried bits of gels, energy drink, cola and at this late hour of the race, chicken broth. As my blood sugar slipped I was left to wonder, could I finish.

I continued going through a series of checks that ultimately boiled down to "can I run". Am I physically able to continue to run because it's a manifestation of deterioration and once I crossed that line to no longer being able to physically run, could I get back?

Time is an absolute reality. I thought if walked the last 8 to 10 miles it would take another 2 or 3 hours to get to the finish. As I pressed on time was replaced with distance. Not the distance to the finish line but the distance of how far I could go before my ability to move forward would stop. Not because I chose to stop but because my body no longer had the ability to move forward.

I have raced a few of these Iron distance races but this is the first time a DNF (Did not finish) had become a absolute reality. At this point in the race I truly believed I could not finish. That my nutrition would run out and I would no longer be able to move forward. A sobering moment for sure.

Night had fallen and it was very dark along the lake Mendota. As I walked through the total blackness I took stock. I wondered what this race meant to me and what a DNF would mean to an already soft mental approach to racing. As I worked the mental side of the game, my body seemed to be recovering a bit. I would continue to walk but I was able to get a few ounces of cola and chicken broth down.

By mile 20 I was back to a run/walk but I was able to run, all be it for only short distances at a time. This is where the race changed for me, I now thought I could finish. I had come from a mind set of just keep moving until I no longer can or someone pulls me off the course to, if I just keep moving I'm going to finish this thing.

In a lot of ways this race was a real disappointment and a boarder line disaster. I didn't show the proper respect to the race, to myself or to all those that support me in this crazy pursuit. In some ways I take pride in this race. I face a very dark reality and persevered, getting to the finish line.

The athlete is blurry because it after dark,
not because he is moving at a high rate of speed.

The ability to race the way I would like to race takes balance, anticipation and patience. But racing is also about the mind. It is about owning ones body and the race is just an extension of that body.

Bootsy raced well here in Madision so she again was on the podium. So we went to the awards ceremony to celebrate her accomplishment. We arrived early and found a table with plenty of room. As the ceremony approached and people filtered in, a very nice and genuine group asked if they could join us at our table. They made idle conversation about the race never letting on that they were pros and one of them had come second on the day. They were just athletes congratulating us all on finishing.

Bootsy on the podium.

Pro athletes within competition may at times be confused for someone who is selfish and egotistical. Try to say hello during a race or workout, it most likely will not elicit a response. But to be a champion you must have no ego at all, giving yourself over completely to the race. Confidence and self awareness can never be confused with egotism.

So it's time apply these lessons to my racing, my training, to my journey. Time to get my head in the game and to give myself back to the race - Ironman Arizona awaits.


What Ironman Wisconsin 2014 looked like for the masses - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB8c0Z891vo

When a race is more then a race - Calgary 70.3

Under Western Canada's wide open skies lie a kaleidoscope of natural experiences. These are lands of brilliant glaciers, towering mountains, roaring rapids, cowboy heritage and lands were wildlife roam free. So much wildlife that signage warning of Elk, Bear and Wolf crossing are commonplace.

Such beauty sounds overwhelming and while the diversity of ways to spend a late July weekend in the Canadian West can be awe-inspiring, a fair amount of it's beauty can be seen in one single event.

When Ironman decided to bring a 70.3 to Calgary they got it right.

We signed up for Calgary 70.3 mainly because it fit the calendar. Bootsy's "A" race this year will be Ironman Wisconsin (I too am racing) so we thought it would be a good idea to get a mid summer 70.3 to test our fitness. Although Calgary is a bit of a drive at 7.5 to 8 hours, we thought it was a race close enough to make a quick trip and still serve our purpose. We had heard good things about the race and there have been some recent upgrades to the course so we put it on our race schedule.

And that's about it. I knew the race was out there but I never gave it much thought. I mean, I knew we were training for and would soon be racing a 70.3 but I pretty much stayed focused on the home front and that fact that IM WISCO is in the near future.

As per usual, Bootsy took the lead on the travel and lodging details. We were traveling and staying with friends in Calgary so again, no worries. As race day neared it came to my attention that there would be quite a local group racing.

A few of the Tri Fusion crew.
Photo by Tom Reisenauer

Friday before what was a Sunday race, we piled into the car and headed North. I had never been any further North then Cranbrook having traveled to Fort Steele with the Photo Arts Club in college so it had been a few years since having been even that far North. What lie ahead would get my quick attention.

As we traveled North from Cranbrook I was simply unprepared for the majestic beauty of the Canadian Rockies. They are truly magical in their scenic splendor. Seven parks of the Canadian Rockies form a striking mountain landscape. As we turned East at Radium Hot Spring we were met with the gateway to the park system, two lanes of traffic leading to pay stations for the purchase of park passes, only one lane for thru traffic. Hmmm... What do they know we don't? Thru traffic or not there was just no escaping it.

The bike portion of Calgary's 70.3 is point to point, so Saturday was spent getting our pre race workouts and dropping bikes and run gear. The swim is held in Audurn Bay Lake and there was some navigating that needed to be done to get us from there to the run venue at North Glenmore Park but with some effort we were able to preview both locations.

Pre race run about to get under way.
Photo by Tom Reisenauer

Preview of the run course.
Photo by Tom Reisenauer

Race morning went off without a hitch other then the fact that I had been placed in the F45-49 age group. I got it straightened out at check-in so I would in fact be swimming with the M45-49 AG (Male 45-49 age group) but my number and corresponding spot in transition would remain the same. This meant I would transition with the women. The only rooster in the henhouse but they were all very good to me.

The swim is held in a small lake where in order to get 1.2 miles it hugs the perimeter of what looks like a backwards y shaped lake. The swim went well. The water is shallow, clear and warm.

Out of the water and on the bike it was cool for the first section. We were quickly met with rolling hills so air temps in the low 50's weren't much of a going concern. 

Photo by Renate Kempen Hein

We would head out highway AB-22X up to Braggs Creek and straight into the foot hills of the Rockies. Here I found myself drifting mentally. You know the feeling of being somewhere and wishing you could stay for an extended period of time. There are few places like this in the world and the Canadian Rockies are one of them.

Once to Braggs Creek the course really picks up. It's slightly downhill back to town and really quite fast.

The run course has some challenges with a few steep pitches that drop you down to, then lift you out from Elbow River. The course then follows the path through Weaselhead Natural Environment Park. This scenic section is lined with Aspens providing deep shade and a backdrop that I envision Sherwood forrest would provide.

After the race we hung around for the awards, World Championship slot allocation and roll down. Bootsy was on the podium but would pass on a Worlds slot, Ironman Wisconsin is the same day. We had lots of friends who got slots to the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Mont-Tremblant Canada so it was fun to sit, watch and listen as dreams came true.

I enjoyed Ironman Calgary 70.3 and I hope to be back in the near future. Part of the fun was the amount of teammates and friends that were racing. I could have never imagined driving 8 hours for a hometown race but that's what it felt like. With so many friendly faces, so much encouragement out on course and such a large group gathering after the race maybe Calgary was a hometown race away from home.

Here's a video of what the race looked like. (Yes I have a VERY brief cameo on the bike) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETfZgKnAWCI

Monday morning we were up and out the door early. We were headed to Banff, a small resort town nestled in the mountains of the Banff National Park, Canada's oldest national park. We visited the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and had lunch in a nice little downtown pizza place.

Love the socks!

The Rockies are a region of Canada that more or less form a boarder between British Columbia and Alberta. The roads here are amongst the most beautiful that I have seen. Much of the Rocky mountains of Canada lie within various national and provincial parks. Yes, they got there first and figured it out fast. The Canadian Rockies continue southward into the states of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Hmmm... Seems to me most if not all of these states host races. The bucket list may have just expanded.

Troika 2014...Three is Better Then One.

The Troika Triathlon is a local Tri that begins and ends in Medical Lake. This year was the 34th annual addition of the event and the first time there were two distances offered, a sprint and a half-iron. I chose the half-iron distance or maybe I should say it chose me.

I have participated in this race a few times over the years, it's a race I love to support. It's local, it's small, it's a race that a fair amount of athletes use to make the leap to long course. Troika was my first half-iron distance race.

When Ironman Coeur d'Alene was moved from Salt Lake, long course or Iron distance racing popped up on our radar. Having never raced long course it was a natural step to a half before stepping up to full iron distance. Troika was a perfect fit to make that happen.

Over the past few years I have raced Troika as part of a team. This year was not to be any different and Team Five Boobs was in place. Earlier in the year race director Scott Ward had spoke at a Tri Fusion monthly meeting about the race. He was kind enough to offer a free slot to both distances for raffle. Well guess who won the half-iron distance slot? That's right, me! I never win anything. Very cool!

I reached out to Scott about the team and he was glad to let us pay the difference between a free individual entry and a team entry. We were set to race as a mixed team. It would be Super Swimmer Tratz with me on the bike and Bootsy on the run. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to race together and liked our chances for a strong race.

Until...

I haven't been swimming much this Spring and my run has been coming along but is not in race condition. However the bike has been good and I was looking forward to a solid bike effort to evaluate my fitness. That was until about two weeks prior to the race when I got a text from Super Swimmer, she had fallen and broken her thumb, she was out. Bootsy has had a few niggles and went to Doc to try to work through them. The decision was made that it wasn't the best time for a race effort, so she was out. Team Five Boobs had been reduced to one single boob.

Once it became obvious that I would be racing solo a change in mental approach was needed. I would go from competing to participating, using this race as a long training day. This race would also serve to draw a baseline on where my fitness is and more importantly, how far I need to progress before Calgary.

In the days leading up to the race I felt no pressure. Just another training day, right? But I still went through the usual pre race prep, securing nutrition and changing out the bike with race gear.

Race morning I arrived a bite later then I had hoped but it was just a training day so my place in transition was of no real concern. I found a spot near the far end of transition with lots of room and athletes with the same mental state about the race as mine. It was a relaxed atmosphere to say the least and very welcome.

I squeezed into the wetsuit and headed down to the water. As the time for the gun approached I moved to the back, I had no interest in a quick start. There was plenty of room on the beach which made it easy to get off to a good start.

The issue with limited swim fitness usually doesn't manifest in the swim itself, my general fitness can carry me through the swim. The lack of swim fitness seems to bite me on the bottom side late in the day. Lack of swim fitness can costs me on the run.

Going into the race I, of course, had a range of times in my head I hoped to swim. Coming out of the water prior to what I thought I would was a highlight of the day but left me wondering if I went to hard and would pay later. Very few blow up in the swim. Everyone has only so much gas in the tank, the swim is the beginning of the emptying of that tank.

Photo by Tom Reisenauer

Out on the bike and I quickly settled in. Again, it's a smaller race so there aren't a lot of people to pass in the early part of the race even for a slower swimmer. There was a tailwind on the way out which pushed us along. It's not as easy to close on other riders with a strong tailwind. We were all moving along well and the miles were ticking off pretty quickly.

The turnaround brought us into a headwind which slowed the field. As we worked our way back toward town I was able to catch a teammate or two. It's always great to see friendly faces as you grind into the wind.

The last 6 or 8 miles I was pretty fidgety on the bike. The floatation of the wetsuit can add tension to my back but with good swim fitness it doesn't seem to bother me much. With limited swim fitness a tight back on the bike is just another price to pay. I would stand to stretch my back from time to time but the stretching and fidgeting were breaking my rhythm. This was costing me minutes not just the seconds it took to stretch my back.

Going into the race I knew the run would be the true test. How my body reacts to the stress of half-iron race pace would be found on the run course and I knew it.

The first loop of the three loop course was trying. My tummy wasn't exactly settled but I controlled it with some nutrition and Gummy Bears. Gotta love the Gummy Bears. I eventually came across friend, teammate, and super fan in Jessi T who had been out on course with her family all day. I was struggling to settle in on the run and when Jessi T encouraged/coached me to "find a rhythm", I had my starting point to build from for the rest of the run.

Photo by Jessi T/Tri Fusion

The second loop went better and seemed to slip by without much trouble. The third loop was a different story. This loop would prove to give me a good picture of where my fitness is currently. There is a lot of work to be done to get to where I hope I can with my fitness, but it was fun to race. With friends and teammates out on course doing the same thing I was, testing their fitness, it felt good to be racing in their company. It was great just to be out there racing with them.

Getting some high fives.
Photo by Reanna Guerrero

I love racing locally. Sometimes I forget just how great it can be. There were so many friendly face out on course with countless cheers of encouragement and high fives. It is a blessing to be able to draw energy from the folks that have come to support you and the race as a whole. And on this "long training day", I can't say thank you enough to everybody out there. My memories of this race will always be filled with your encouragement and smiling faces!

First Love

"I am glad it cannot happen twice, the fever of first love. For it is a fever, and a burden, too, whatever the poets may say." - Daphne du Maurier

There is no second guessing it, you will know. It's like nothing you've ever felt before. You're anxious but nervous, yet completely comfortable. Thoughts bring smiles without realizing it. The feeling never fades and can actually get stronger with time.

Photo by Bootsy

In January of 2010 Bootsy and I were in Tempe for the Arizona Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon. Since we were signed up for Ironman Arizona in the fall we thought we would kill two birds with one stone and preview the IM race course while in town. Renting road bikes to do so seemed like a good idea at the time.

Big mistake! Huge!

Our rentals in Arizona were just the beginning of a love affair for Bootsy, it proved to rekindle an old flame in me. Subsequently, we have rented road bikes on other occasions as well. Once riding the vineyards in the Portland, Oregon area and again locally when our tri bikes were in the shop being tuned.

Bootsy has been sucking around about road bikes for more then a few years now and our foray into rentals had only proven to fuel her fire. I had never jumped on board, always with excuses; "We have races to train for so lets stick to the tri bikes. It's an expense that isn't needed outside of our triathlon pursuits."

The reality is that I know my love for road bikes, with the comfort and stiffness they provide. Just the thought of the ride brings the taste of adrenaline to the back of my throat and reminds me how the road whispers to me as if it were a secret. I simply didn't want my love for losing myself in a ride to interfere with the complexity of triathlon training.

This year we have chosen to race late in the season so we aren't under the same riggers of early season triathlon training. We are training regularly but with a little more latitude and a fair amount of our scheduled rides written as "Endurance Bike - Mountain or Road".

Enter road bikes...

I hate to say it but Bootsy and I aren't getting any younger. We have raced long course triathlon a bit over the past few years and realize we will eventually begin to slide away from the stringent nature of year to year Iron distance training. We can see ourselves moving more toward organized events and away from a regular race schedule.

Grand Fondos and weekend rides through specific areas in our region are things we see ourself doing. Places where we can combine our love for cycling and the intimate views it provides with some photography are things we would like to start knocking of the bucket list. There are plenty of places we've breezed through in the car maybe stopping to get a quick picture or two that we have wondered if we would like to get back to and ride through.

We have the privilege of living in the West. From weekend rides through the San Juan Islands to rides through the mountain of Montana to the rugged beauty of the Badlands of South Dakota, these are just a few areas well within reach. Some of these areas, with their amazing beauty, have pulled us back toward road bikes and the freedoms they provide.

Photo by Scott Jones

So as my Tri bike lies in wait for my return to regular riding this summer, I ride the road and some trails. Yes it's true, I have more then one love and I will return soon enough but first love can be a temptress. A longing can exist for her touch, her feel and how you just may have felt in days gone by.