Milkman II

I received an unexpected package from the organizers of the Milkman Triathlon this week. The package contained a coffee cup with the Milkman Triathlon logo and a ceramic medal. The package also had a handwritten note hoping that I was doing better. This was a very nice surprise.

I failed to mention in my race report that the organizers of the Milkman Triathlon run a very nice and well organized race. They are also very nice and went well beyond what I would have expected them to do. While I was in the hospital, they found my equipment and drove my car from Dexter to Roswell. The next day, they called to see how I was doing. Although the race didn't go well, I still had a positive experience because of the organizers.

Milkman Triathlon

Milkman was not good. Not only did I not achieve the goals that Steve and I discussed, I was a DNF. I do not recall what happened. I've been told that I collapsed about 100 yds from the finish from heat exhaustion. I can only assume it is true since I don't remember the last 1/2 mile of the run. I remember running past the 2.5 mile marker. My next memory is waking up in a hospital bed. I stayed in the hospital for over 24 hours so that I could be re-hydrated. I do not recommend spending a weekend this way. The only good part was I got to see my sister since she flew down to drive me home. Thanks sis.

What happened at this race worries me. This was a sprint distance race. In less than 75 minutes, I went from feeling fine to being in the ER at a hospital. I had a similar, although not as bad, experience at Rage as I needed to hold onto Brenda to steady myself at the end of the race. Two triathlon races, and two bad loss of fluid experiences. While the weather was hot at both races, it was not excessively hot. I raced last year in races in Colorado as hot as these races without experiencing these issues. What has happened in one year that I can't seem to tolerate heat?

I'm not sure that I want to do Loveland. If I had to make the decision today, I would not race. Maybe I will feel different next week. I wonder, though, what happens if I take in water, Gatorade, and other nutrition, and I still end up in a dehydrated state? Is it really worth doing a race where I may, even if I do things 100% right, potentially collapse and end up in an ER? On the other hand, maybe this is will not be an issue if I actually take in the proper amount of fluids (both water and Gatorade) during a race. I learned the hard way that I need to be much better at taking in nutrition during a race.

It was been a strange year so far. While I've had two bad race experiences, I've also had many great experiences. Some of the great experiences include:

1. Hiring Steve as a coach - I've done things that I likely would not have done if Steve was not coaching me.

2. Meeting lots of great people through Practical Coaching.

3. Running/walking 15+ miles on the Colorado trail and talking with James during the last 3 or so miles of the run as IT band issues forced both of us walk to the end.

4. Running up High Grade with Sarah. Other than the Colorado trail, it was my longest run ever (almost 13 miles) and mostly uphill.

5. Riding Shadow Mountain with Andrea, Michele B., Anne, and Sarah. For Michele, Anne, Sarah, and me, it was our first time.

6. Running Sharp Tail Ridge with Andrea. I didn't feel like running that day but Andrea pulled me the first few miles until I found my legs.

7. Running with Tyler after swimming two laps in the Gravel Pond. Before I ran into Tyler, I did not feel like running. Running into Tyler (figuratively, not literally) lifted my spirits, and somehow the run seemed to go quickly as he pulled me through the loop.

8. Riding City View with Michelle F. It was my first time up City View, and Michelle was awesome in providing guidance on how to approach the ride.

9. Swimming 5K not once, but twice. Less than one year earlier, I was worried about completing 500 yds in a pool triathlon.

10. Running with Beth during a group run from Waterton Canyon to the Gravel Pond parking lot. We had a great talk for the first part, and Beth made me work hard on the second part as she lifted the speed but always pulled back when I was about to be dropped.

11. Running with Steve, Anthony and Sonja for a portion of their 50 mile Highlands Ranch to Boulder run.

12. Seeing the group at track each week. Highlights include running at various times with Barry, Jewels, Andrea, Sarah, Michele B., Jenna and Doreen.

Overall, the good has far outweighed the bad. And in the end, maybe it was good that I did not cross the finish line before collapsing. If I had crossed, I probably would have qualified for Nationals as I was in the top third of my age group at mile 2.5. Given how I've struggled in heat, I probably should not be racing in heat and humidity. By collapsing just before the finish, I immediately got help that kept a bad situation from getting worse while not facing a decision of whether to risk racing at Nationals. This was probably a blessing in disguise.

Cinco de Mayo 10K

Earlier this week, Steve asked whether I was interested in doing the Bolder Boulder 10K. I'm glad he asked because I had been thinking about asking him whether I could do this race. There was only one problem. I wanted to start in one of the qualifying time waves but did not have a 10K qualifying time since I had no results from Rage in the Sage (more on that in a future post). I could have used one of my 5K times from the previous year. However, I wanted a more accurate 10K time to reflect what I am currently running since I am not running as fast as I was in July 2008 when I ran the Highlands Ranch July 4th 5K but I seem to be running faster than in November and December 2008 when I ran the Turkey Trot 5K and the Jingle Bells 5K. The solution: Steve wrote the Highlands Ranch Cinco de Mayo 10K into my training schedule.

Steve and I did not talk did about goals before this race. However, I am beginning to develop a feel for how Steve wants me to approach races. So, I set the following goals:

1) Finish in less than 62 minutes (okay, probably not a goal Steve would approve but the whole point of doing this race was to get a qualifying time for Bolder Boulder);

2) Start slow and build through the race; and

3) Have enough left at the end to pick up the pace.

As has been the case for the last month, the weather turned bad again this weekend. Last night, it rained. This morning, it was overcast and a cool 40 or so degrees. The poor weather may have kept some people away as something like 65 runners were listed as finishing this race. I am kind of surpised since the weather was nice running weather.

Despite the nasty looking conditions, Brenda and I headed up to the race site early so that I could join Laura for a 2 mile warm-up run. Brenda decided to walk the 5K since she plans to walk Bolder Boulder with her friends. After she has signed up for the 5K earlier this week, she was informed by a friend in Highlands Ranch that no one walks the Highlands Ranch races. I immediately received an email asking me why I didn't give her this information because she did not want to finish last. I didn't tell her because I didn't know this information. When I told her that I didn't know, she informed me that she should've known better because I'm a terrible observer. Later, she told me that I must buy her an expensive dinner if she finished last. Fortunately, she did not finish last as she kicked butt and walked the course in sub-15 minute miles.

After arriving at the race site, I picked up my race number and timing chip. Laura and I then went on a slow two mile run to warm up. Andrea wanted me to run with Laura to keep me from going to hard during warm-up. We ended with some striders and headed back to the race start. After jogging for a few minutes with Brenda and using the restroom in the Southridge recreation, I got to the start line about one minute before the 10K race. There were so few people running the race that I did not have a hard time finding a start position. I try to position myself more towards the back of the small pack so that I would not start too fast.

The gun sounded and we were off. As is typical in Highlands Ranch races, the first portion of the course (maybe first 1/2 mile) was downhill. This seemed to spur people to go out fast, which resulted in me being towards the back 1/3 of the group. It was difficult to hold back but I was pretty sure the course would eventually go uphill so I tried to conserve energy. I settled into was seemed to be a comfortable pace for me. As the road began to go slightly uphill after about the first 1/2 mile, I started catching and passing people ahead of me on the course. The uphill was short and turned back into a downhill. However, I continued to pass people who seemed to be struggling as we approached the first mile.

At mile one, I caught up with a guy running in an orange race shirt. There was also a water station at mile 1. As we passed it, the volunteers asked if we wanted water. The guy said no but he would take a beer if they had one. I commented that a beer sounded good but would probably be better after the race. He agreed, and we exchanged small talk for the next 1/4 mile. At this point, the course was still downhill. I was feeling good and started to pull away from him. However, he picked up the pace and stayed just behind me. As we continued towards mile 2, we passed a few more people.

After mile 2, the course continued to be slightly downhill. I started to open up a gap between me and the orange shirt guy. About half-way to mile 3, however, the course began to go uphill again. The orange shirt guy caught and passed me. It is not for long, however, as the course just as quickly turned back downhill which allowed me to catch and pass him. Of course, this being Highlands Ranch the course once again started to go uphill as we approach mile 3. The orange shirt guy passed me again and opened up a gap on me. Meanwhile, we were both catching up with and passing about two or three other people ahead of us on the course.

As we continued climbing uphill, I thought that it strange I had seen no one running back the other way since the I knew the turn-around was coming up. Finally, there was one guy running back. Then, just behind him a pack of three people. There was a couple of more and then I started to lose count. I need to do better job of counting the number of people ahead of me. In my defense, usually there are so many that I can't keep track. As I crested the top of the hill, I thought I could see the turn-around. I was kind of surprised since not much time had passed since I had seen the first runner heading back (at the end, not really surprising since I think his pace was around 7:12 min/miles - where were all of the fast runners?). Anyway, the turn-around came pretty quick. At that point, I would guess there were about 20 or so people (maybe 25) ahead of me on the course.

As I headed back, the course again went downhill. I quickly caught the guy in the orange shirt. He was clearly a bit stronger than me on uphills but I was faster on the more flat and downhill sections. As I caught him, I told him that he was strong on the hills. He agreed but pointed out that it wasn't doing him any good since I was catching and passing him on the downhills. I laughed and told him not to worry because there were plenty of uphill portions left for him to catch me on. In truth, I was thinking that I had been holding back a little on the downhill and uphill portions and that I had no intent of letting him pass me again on an uphill portion since the race was more than half over.

I slowly started to pull away from him on the downhill. I could tell since I could no longer hear his footsteps or his breathing. After opening up a gap on him. I began focusing on trying to catch people ahead of me on the course. When I passed a person, I would then focus on the next person that I could see.

As I passed mile 4, the course again turned uphill. This actually proved to be helpful as I would slowly but steadily closed the gap between me and the person just ahead of me as the course went uphill. Just before mile 5, the course reached a peak. I could see the 5k and 10K course below. From this vantage point, I observed the course went downhill for a short distance and the headed uphill again. I also thought that I saw Brenda walking on the 5K course. I was excited to see her since I knew that I would pass her as we headed towards the finish.

Once I past mile 5, the course again started uphill again. I saw two woman and a man just ahead of me. One by one, I caught each one of them and passed them. Then I saw Brenda just ahead. As I went past her, I said hi. There were two guys ahead of me but they had a fairly large gap on me. As we neared mile 6, the uphill got fairly steep. While I was making up ground, it wasn't fast enough. Once we got to the top of the hill, the last 0.2 miles was pretty much downhill. Although I picked up the pace, they also picked up the pace. In the end, they finished about fifteen seconds ahead of me. As for the orange shirt guy, he never caught me again once I passed him for good on the downhill section just after the turn-around.

After finishing the race, I got some water and waited for Brenda to finish. She came through at around 45 minutes. She actually walked faster than some of the people who jogged/walked the 5K. I was very proud of her. Plus, since she was not last, I was off the hook for buying her an expensive dinner.

Overall, I was pleased with this race. I felt strong enough at the end of the race to run another mile. Also, other than the early back and forth with the orange shirt guy, I was never passed in the race. I also was continually improving my place as the race progressed. The results showed that I finished 12th out of 66 participants. Best of all, I got my wave qualifying time as I finished in well under 72 minutes with a time of 51:36. In short, it was a very fun and successful training race.

New Blog Feature

Since I've finally have started to sign up for races and events this year, I decided to add a new feature to the blog: races and events that I am doing in 2009. So far, there are three: Rage in the Sage, Loveland Lake to Lake, and the Courage Classic.

At Rage in the Sage, I'm doing the Olympic distance, which will be a first for me. It will also be the first time that I have done 10K run race. Not sure it is entirely smart to do a step up in run race distance by first swimming and biking. Regardless, I am both excited and nervous about this race, which is just a little over a week away.

I've done Loveland before but only as the bike leg of a relay team. This time, it will be an individual effort. I'm interested in how the bike compares from last year now that I also must swim first and run afterwards.

The Courage Classic is a bike event rather than a race. It involves riding for three days in the Copper Mtn/Vail area. I thought about doing it last year but wasn't sure whether I would be able to handle riding three days in the mountains. This year, I'm more confident that I can do it. I'm also doing it because it raises money for Children's Hospital, which means that I need to raise at least $300. The link for the Courage Classic takes you to my rider page where you can make a donation. Any donations, no matter how much, would be much appreciated.

I am still looking for an early July and an August or September triathlon. I know Steve would like me to do Lifetime Fitness in Minneapolis (early July) but I not sure that I want spend money to travel to Minneapolis to do a race. I not a big fan of Minneapolis, and I already must travel there too often (about once every two years) for work. Yes, once every two years is too much for me. If you have any suggestions for races in July, August or September, let me know.