2009 in Review..

Well it's here, the last day of 2009 and many of us are looking back at our year and wondering, where the Hell did it go! haha.. I am no different, so let's fly through and recap the year of JT.

January - Humm.. I was living in LA and not really living, if that makes sense. Got laid off from work.

February - Turned 38, decent birthday but not one of my best. Still in LA but looking forward to training for RAGE 70.3 in April.

March - Left LA behind for bigger and better things in Las Vegas! Life is Happier. Attempted to ride a century in the King of the Mountains Tour of California with Formulaic in his build up training to Ironman Coeur d'Alene but my ITB won out at mile 85 and left me walking for about 2 miles till the check point.

April - Rage 70.3 is on and a great tough race as usual. I have a great bike but a sucky run as usual on this race and fail to catch Formulaic! (maybe 2010). IronLuke comes out and joins in putting his test to the Vegas terrain. Met Antonette, the Team in Training run coach and began helping her and TNT.

May - Somehow my inner feelings of running an Ultra came out and I started training for my first 50 miler! while still training for Buffalo Springs 70.3 in June. Took and passed my Nevada Chiropractic State Licensing test. And my great friend Formulaic and wife Kelly, welcomed there new baby into the world.

June - Raced Buffalo Springs 70.3 with John Tuggle and CoachLiz two of my all time great friends in life! Good tough race. Formulaic joins the club of Ironman in completing Coeur d'Alene as I am glued to the computer all day long tracking him and good friend Dr. Victor Leach of Biomechanics of Las Vegas.

July - Settled in at an office and start working my business. Met Molly Sheridan who was running Badwater 135 and needed a crew member, so I signed on for the task. One of the BEST things of the year in meeting her and the people connected to her, Bailey, Jimmy, Georgina, Brendan, Bill, etc. Experienced a wonderful event at Badwater with Molly and the crew. Official training for Ironman Cozumel has started.

August - Completed my first 50 mile run with great friends Antonette, Jimmy, Cynthia, Jeremy and Donna! We all made it! Great experience, great memories and a great running partner that helped me along the way, thanks Antonette. I continue to help TNT and the peeps raising money for blood cancer. I meet Desiree and we start dating.

September - Business is slow. TNT is good and preparing for SOMA 70.3 in October along with Ironman training continues.

October - SOMA 70.3 at the end of the month is a great fast race for me, PR. Desiree is introduced to the world of triathlons and the craziness.

November - Formulaic feels Iron is not enough and takes on and completes Silverman 140.6. Once again, I'm following along but this time it's on the course for most of the day. After being sick and falling behind in my Ironman training I am in the final push to taper for Ironman Cozumel. Learning Stretch to Win - Lower body fascial stretch is one of the best things I have done career wise and am looking forward to expanding it here in Vegas.

On Nov. 29th, after forgetting all my bike nutrition, panicing, rushing back to the villa, getting my bike nutrition and making it to the start of the Ironman Cozumel, I completed my 2nd Ironman!! with John Tuggle, CoachLiz and IronLuke all on the line as well. It was a great day and experience with friends!

December - After returning from Cozumel, it was off to Walnut Creek, CA. for Team in Training Certification for triathlon coaching with Dave "The Man" Scott! It was great class and lots of great information and looking forward to Coaching the Las Vegas TNT season with Brendan! Capital of Texas triathlon in May 2010 is our event which is a great event I have personally done and helped CoachLiz with before. Christmas is great with Desiree and life is good. Business is still slow and a change in office locations has even made it slower but 2010 will bring bigger and better opportunities in the new location.

The year has been good. A lot has changed in my life this year and even though some of it was not good, tough times and stressful it has been a step in the right direction. I met people I would have never met anywhere else if I had not been in Las Vegas, I have completed things if I had not been in Vegas and I would not be going in the great direction if I would have not been here. I am thankful for all the things this year and the people I have met. I am thankful for Desiree as she has brought great insight to a part of my life that was missing for a long, long time. I only hope I have helped or brought something to the people I have met along the way and continue to meet in 2010.

Happy New Year's, be safe and see you next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rockon'

and so it has begun..

Since last week I have been in some more negotiations for a new office space. We are getting closer but still not 100% settled on terms, so in the mean time I am enjoying my time off through Christmas and New Years.

Now, on to more exciting stuff. The Long RUN.. or..umm, the long shuffle.

On Saturday, Desiree and I met up with Mr. & Mrs. Formulaic and of course baby formulaic at The Yard House for some pre-Christmas shopping beers. Once finishing up beer and lunch we were all off to shop for the rest of the afternoon making our arrangements to met up Sunday morning for a run. The evening was spent walking around and probably on my legs more than I should have been and I was starting to get tired and quickly looking for places to sit down and rest.

The next morning I met up with the Form family and we were already to go. Form started asking me why I was carrying my camelbak and all my gear and I followed up by saying because it's 9 miles out and back. He quickly corrected me and letting me know it was only 4.5ish out and back and we had to do it 2 times. UGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! LOOPS!!! NO!!! KILL ME NOW!!! I am just not in the mood for loops these days but as we crossed the street it was go time and I had no out.

The first out at 4 miles proved to be much easier than the 4 coming back and as all was working well with me I could start to feel my legs becoming tired around the 8 miles. Once lil Form and mom peeled off to head back to the parking across the street from where we started I was deeply wishing I should go with and how could I muster some excuse to Form to make this happen but by the time I could really think of anything it we were running again, back out! Again, the out part was much easier and although by mile 12 I could feel some sort of right hip flexor starting to bother me the turn around came and it was only 4ish back.

At mile 13.1 I took a look at my watch and the time was 2 hours 30 mins. Hey not bad for half marathon time but the number next to my time was the Heart Rate and seeing high zone 4 almost 5 made me concerned. I started taking in more water but felt I was doing okay with hydration and salt. I could feel my right hip aching more around the 14 mile point and my heart rate just seemed to not want to come down. Only during the walk breaks would it drop but spike as soon as we ran. By mile 15 the wheels were off and going in different directions other than the direction I needed them to go, forward! I was trying to figure out why the HR was so high but nothing was coming to mind other than the pain from the hip flexor is now triggering response. By mile 16 the pace was over a minute slower and pulling into the finish at mile 17 I was super glad to be done as so were my legs!

A quick change and wash of my salty crusty faced made me think that maybe I was losing more salt than I thought on such a cool day run. We stopped and ate some lunch and I was back at the house showering up and ready to eat again about an hour later. The Right Quads/Hip Flexor was just not happy and overall the legs became achy as the night progressed. I didn't get to ice bath or polar bear in the swimming pool because it was too late after the run.

I was actually disappointed in my run simply because I was thinking that 3 weeks after resting from Ironman that I would be able to run 18 miles without too much effort but that proved to be totally wrong! It actually felt harder than running the 26.2 miles after swimming and biking 3 weeks ago!! WTF! I thought maybe the lack of salt intake, standing around too much on Saturday shopping or the Spin workout on Thursday may have all played a part in the hard run but ultimately there all excuses. Maybe my legs were just not ready for 17 miles and they let me know. Either way I got it done and can only look down the road and not behind for the rest of the training, now Officially underway for Old Pueblo 50.

rockon`

Confused lifting and moving on.

After settling back into things and getting back to the gym all seems to be going well. I do seem to be a little off focus in the gym but I know what I do when I get there but the feeling of walking in and not really knowing what I want to do is something I don't want to get in the habit of so I have been working on my workout routine along with my train up for my Ultra starting with PF Chang's Marathon on Jan 17th. Looks like the Formulaic will be in tow for this line up, and being as he does have the faster marathon time in an Ironman and stand alone between the two us, it just might be Game on! Remember what I learned from IMCZ..!!!

On another note, business wise. After coming back from IMCZ and San Fran I got to my office where I share/rent space from another doc and was told immediately that we had to get out because he was behind several months on the rent! Although my financial arrangement with him has been in my favor and being as I have not made that much money lately. The worst part has just been looking for a new place relatively quickly so that I can continue to provide my sports services and my new fascial stretch therapy to the lower body.

So far things are looking up as I have officially cleared out of that office and am in finally negotiations for a new location office which will help me in many ways as well as help the other doctor. I am excited!!

rockon'

In/Out Vegas, San Fran & The Man!

Leaving Cozumel on Thursday was a interesting deal simply because the majority of the plane was IM people. I was a little nervous as well because when I got to Houston I had to go through customs, grab my bike box and then recheck it through another check point area where it would be shipped off to the Vegas flight, all within 75 mins.! Yikes!! Luckily, everything went pretty well and fast and I got it all competed in about 35 mins so I had time to grab a snack being as my stomach was still not too happy from picking up an intestinal bug, yuk!! Just as I got to the gate they announced that flight was being delayed about 25-30 mins due to maintenance, so now I had plenty of time to relax. Soon it was time to board and I made it to Vegas.

It was nice to be back home and in my own bed. The night was quick and next thing I was up Friday morning doing laundry and packing again for San Fransisco. I had to run a few errands and then I met up with my Dad and we headed out to the airport via the expo at the Mandala Bay for the Vegas rock n roll marathon, my Dad was running the half marathon. The expo was pretty good and saw Jimmy and Jill working the expo at a couple of the booths. I also stopped to talk with race director Joyce, from CalicoRacing. After the expo my Dad dropped me off at the airport, i checked in and realized the plane was delayed, great, again! I found where Brendan was hanging out in the terminal, met up with him and we chilled watching people come and go.

Why was I heading to San Fransisco? For Team in Training certification for Triathlon coaching for the Las Vegas chapter!! As Brendan and I are going to be taking over the Tri team now for 2010 with our team participating in the Capital of Texas Triathlon Olympic distance. It will be great to take a TNT group to participate in this great event and because I have raced it myself and helped CoachLiz with her team at this event it will be great to have a team myself.

Getting into San Fran we jumped aboard the SpeedShuttle and holy shit this was quite the experience! It was basically, sit down, strap in, shut up, and hold on! This driver was a wanna be Nascar driver weaving in and out of traffic, jamming the breaks and gas. We finally made it to the hotel and I was never so glad to be out of a vehicle, I could only hope the ride back on Sunday would be better.

Checked in to the hotel and got settled in to the room and went to bed. Remember it has been less than 24 hours since I flew into Vegas and flew right back out so I am beat! I am feeling better with the stomach thingy but still not out of the woods.

The morning came and Brendan and I were up and headed down to the convention room where the class was being held. We were actually the first one' there and got a good seat. As we were setting our stuff down the instructor for the weekend walked in, Dave "The Man" Scott! Yes! He quickly said good morning and then Brendan and I went to grab some breakfast treats outside the room. Once everyone got settled in and class started one of the first things we had to do was go around the room and introduce yourself, tell where you from and how you got involved with TNT. A short 15-20 second Bio. There was about 50 of us in there and after we went through the whole room, Dave asked if we would run back through every ones name starting in the back row. As the names were called out, bill, Jane, Betty, john, Lisa, etc.. and back at the front row Dave then pointed at the back row and started saying, bill, Jane, Betty, john, Lisa, etc.. all 50 of us!! Yea he got hung up on a few but pretty much nailed every ones name!!! Show off!! haha, it was actually pretty cool.

There was lots of information to learn and get through and all of it was very interesting learning about putting schedules together and how to adapt the training from new athletes to veterans. After lunch we jogged about a mile over to a park to do some run drills. Now it has only been 6 days from Ironman and as soon as we started running my legs quickly reminded me! It was more like.. "dude, are you freakn' serious? Did you somehow forget we just did an Ironman 6 days ago and now your trying to run to impress who, Dave Scott, Heck.. he's already at the park by now and will never know if you walk, please walk, please!!!" Well I didn't walk and just kept a slow steady pace and made it to the park where run drills were taught and repeated. Then it was some nice invigorating glute/hip exercises that made your glutes burn from fatigue! It was all good but damn, It makes you realize how weak you are, which is a major problem in runners. After the drills we jogged back the mile to the hotel.

On the way back Dave left almost last and the majority of the group took off like it was a 1 mile race or something. My legs were feeling better but now tired from the drills and just jogged. Dave started making his way through the field and soon caught up with Brendan and I. We were just about to make a right turn on the running path when Dave was just kind of saying hello and made the right turn just a couple of steps ahead of me and Brendan and then I saw this fence on the right side of the path and now Dave was a couple more steps ahead and I quickly kicked it in and sprinted to the fence line, beating him out just a step before, Raising my arms and yelling "I beat Dave Scott to the line!!" Dave laughed and said "dang John, I was just getting ready to kick it in too." I said "well Dave it will be the only time I will ever beat you in anything so I had to take my shot." He just laughed and we chatted about Cozumel and Silverman as we made it back to the hotel. But I Beat Dave Scott!!!!

The afternoon was spent on bike positioning and Sunday was spent on swimming and nutrition. The swimming session was very interesting as just about everyone jumped in the outdoor pool at 8am Sunday morning with the temps in the high 40's and cloudy, so if you know San Fran, that's COLD! I was going to get in but had forgot my goggles and asked to borrow some from another person that was not getting in but by the time he got them for me everyone was in the pool lanes and Dave was evening out the lanes. It actually ended up better for me that I did not get in because I actually learned how and what to look for in swim strokes and I think that was more helpful. Brendan jumped in and was on the far left lane than where I ended up coaching from. Dave had everyone swim and started point out head positions, hand entry, cross over, face roll etc. We then had each person swim in the lanes and look for those specific things and then help them correct. After several laps the swimmers were working on several different mechanics of there stroke. This was the disadvantage of not being in the water is that your stroke was not being analyzed by many eyes and Dave so I being as mine sucks anyways I found it better to be on the Coaching side to learn. After more laps and walking around from different sides of the deck it was time to create the washing machine effect!

Basically everyone got in one lane and lined the sides of the lane with a kick board and some noodles. Then everyone started pushing the water back and forth towards each other and the swimmer swam right up the middle of this mess!

Getting whacked with the noodles and trying to breath in the chop! It was crazy! Then the coaches grabbed the kick boards and rotated them down to the end of the line where the swimmers could continue the chop. It was totally crazy and I walked by Dave and told him that it was way worse than any Ironman Start!! He agreed! Brendan said it was pretty tough and pushed you around. It's a great idea to recreate a choppy situation for swimmers that may freak out but it doesn't have to be that extreme, but again was totally cool!

After the massive swim chop we finished out the day with nutrition and some exercises with stretch cords which again only made me realize how weak I was! The day ended with a question/answer session and a great coupon to get a free pair of compression socks from CEP which I have already requested! We also got our TNT Certification Certificate and are now officially Team In Training Triathlon Coaches!

Then it was back in the NASCAR shuttle which was a little better but now it was raining so it made it more intense. We got to the airport only to find that the plane was delayed about 30 mins, ugh!! but being as we had 3 hours to kill we drank a couple of beers and ate dinner.

Landing back in Vegas was again great to be home and back in my bed! It has certainly been a long couple weeks starting back from the week before leaving for Ironman and heading down to Tempe, AZ. for the fascial stretch therapy certification class.

This week I have finally settled back into the groove and even hit the gym yesterday to do some cardio and start on my glute weakness training along with some stretching. It all felt good to be doing something and starting to get back in the groove. This week also brought a nice surprise when I got the office where I share space and was told that we were basically being evicted because the main dude hadn't paid the rent in a few months because he was not making enough money to cover it! So now, I have to find a new office to work out of by Jan 1! WTF!!! I could say many things regarding this topic but it won't change the fact so I'm not giving it any negative attention, find a new place and make it better than this one!

rockon'

Run to Finish. Ironman #2

Run: 6 hours 18 mins 39 sec.

The run is 3 loops of an out and back 4 mile-ish route from the heart of downtown out past the airport and passed a couple of resorts and houses.

As soon as I came out of the T2 tent, the streets are loud and people on both sides cheering everyone on. I was still getting things situated with my hat, Garmin, etc and I walked the first block. I turned the corner and Holy crap there was a lot of people there. I started running and my legs actually felt good. I took a glance at the pace and noticed I was running 9:30/min which was Way too fast and told myself to slow down. It was actually tough to slow down and must have been due to all the energy and crowds but I managed to bring the pace down but again I was running too fast and finally after the first mile I clocked in at 10:06.

I knew there was no way I would be able to hold that pace and again told myself I had to go slower. I was actually nice to be on the run with the sun still shining and seeing all the people, shops and working through the aid stations. As the second mile came I was till 10:40 and this was using my 5 minute runs/1 minute walks, I was just running too fast so the 3rd mile I really slowed it down. By this time I had already seen Liz heading back to town on the opposite side and yelled out to her but she was in the funk zone and didn't say much. Soon after I saw Luke and he gave a grimace of this totally sucks!! but was running at a good pace.

I kept up my pace slower pace and was feeling pretty good, I made the turn around and started heading back. I looked at my watch to see how far back Tuggle would be as I figured he would be coming soon. I first saw Christy about 4 minutes back and we talked briefly, she was struggling and worried she wouldn't complete the run. It was hot and so I just checked with her to make sure she was still taking nutrition in which she was. I said well your only a few minutes behind me so hurry up. I kept running and by mile 5 and 6 I started walking a little more. I had slowed down b/c I was feeling tired and I was looking to see if Christy would catch me to run together.

The sun was setting and almost dark by mile 7 and heading back into town where all the people were. Just then I spotted Tuggle on the other side and yelled out. He was doing okay but already struggling. I said just keep going no matter what! He then asked where I was on the run.. I said I'm finishing up my 2nd loop, (really it was the 1st) and the look on his face was like You Freakn' Suck! But I quickly retorted and said Just kidding, only 1st loop and then the look on his face was like.. Vigil, If I could punch you I would right now, I started laughing at him but someone he didn't find it too funny, I thought it was funny though. HAHA! Anyway shortly after it was a nice to see Norma pop out of no where from the sidelines and chat with me for a few minutes. She snapped some pictures and she said Luke was doing good. Just then Christy had finally caught up and Norma took our picture and off she went. Christy and I talked for a few minutes before we started running again but I quickly noticed that she was running way too fast, too fast for me that is, around a 9:45 pace. As we approached the main section of town we ran through all the people now even more loud and crowding the streets. It was a pretty good feeling to be there and making the turn around to head back out of loop #2 with the finish line less than 100 yards away didn't even phase me at this time. We ran back out and soon was past the majority of people and still running a 9-10min pace. I finally told her that she was running too fast for me and that I would have to slow down being as we were only at mile 9. She agreed and we walked for a while but there is where the wheels started coming off for me!

At this point I had not really taken any Gu's and was just working on water. The run at this point became almost non-existent and running from post to post was work. I just couldn't run. Christy asked what was going on and I said I'm in the funk! She asked if I would talk some nutrition b/c she noticed I hadn't taken anything in some time so I popped a Gu. She encouraged me to run and I would for 100-200 meters but then I was dropped to walking. Inside my head I am doing System checks...

Anything hurting?

Yes, the ball of my left foot. Why? Some sort of blister is developing but its okay to run.

What else? ... My butt cheeks. WTF? Ya! Why? Not really sure but I feel like I'm chaffing or something but I can still run.

What else? I'm tired and I can notice the 90% humidity now. How's the heart rate? Good, nothing crazy, actually Zone 2, your fine so run!

Anything else? Nope, I just can't seem to find the run gear.

Christy again asks me to run and so we start. I would run a little further but the walking was winning out. We are around mile 13.1 and have made the turn heading back into town and the people. I did notice that she was a little edgy and wanted to run more so I told her to go and run ahead that I just couldn't right now. She slowly took off and told me to keep running and work to catch her. As I got closer to town I hit the aid station which was around mile 16 and started taking in some coke. I was also carrying my pringles from the run special needs that I had picked up but didn't really eat any at that time b/c I just could. For some reason I was ready to eat them so I ate the whole pack of chips, downed a Gu and some Coke and headed around the bend to center of town where the streets were even LOUDER, more Crowed and Cheers were crazy. You actually couldn't even hear yourself think it was so loud! I heard people cheering that I was done and quickly flashed a #1 finger at them saying I had one more lap and they quickly said No Problem you can do it! Gooo Joun'.. I heard.. (hey its close to John).. haha.

I ran this whole section through town and back to the aid station simply because the locals were just cheering and pulling so much for you that you had to! By this time I was approaching mile 18 and finally I started to have some power to run. The humidity along with the 1,000,000 mosquito's that were feasting on every athlete out there was something to deal with. Luckily for me I found a lady on the side of the road spraying people down with bug spray and quickly got in line and I didn't really have much problem after that with the blood suckers! Finally, the infamous wall came and went as my now I was actually feeling Okay to run and walk in short intervals. Just before mile 21 I saw Christy making the final turn around and heading home. She was about 2 minutes from the turn around so total of 4 to catch her. She yelled out for me to hurry and she would wait for me but the lure of the finish line is just too strong come this point in the race and I know I didn't slow down any more than I was going and I never saw her again, she finished 9 mins ahead, I got chick'd, I guess. She did say if I had not slowed her down she would have blown up and I was glad to be able to help out.

Coming back into town the streets had thinned out with spectators and even athletes as many had already finished. By mile 24 I was happy knowing that 2.2 miles left was pretty much a done deal and it was just a matter of getting there as fast as possible to avoid staying out on the course any longer. My foot was completely blistered and burning by now, my butt cheeks were burning by now and I was just ready to be done. Not only that my Garmin had died out and my Timex was not longer keepn' a tickn' it took it's lickn' in the ocean and slowed faded out the whole race so I had no time and I just kept running with a few others around me all working to get to the end. Finally, the last mile more crowd and spectators and the final cheers as I headed to the end.

I hit the final aid station, took one last drink of coke and water and started to run. It's about a 1/2 mile to the finish and with all the people I knew I could run it in. I started running and as I got closer the crowd noise got louder! More people were cheering and saying "you made it Ironman".. "You're an Ironman" This only made me not want to stop and with the smiling faces there was not way I could. I waved and high fived some as I hit the mile 26 marker! I started running a littler faster and as I passed that final turn around spot I knew I WAS DONE, that I was heading for the finish line, unlike an hour and half ago! There were some volunteers there and they marked my number in some book they were tracking and told me to watch the curb/ramp. I jumped up on the curb as I made the short left turn and OMG! the Finish Line, I could see it! What I also could see what the stands on both sides of the chute that was filled with people, the big JumbO Tron over head as you ran in, the lights, the cheering. It was amazing. I could hear the announcers calling out names as the few others ahead of me were finishing. Being about 50 yards from the finish line I looked around and could just see smiling and clapping people! I raised my arms and enjoyed the energy! I thought to myself, this race was tough, tougher than Coeur d'Alene. Different demons, different obstacles. I couldn't really hear if my name was announced but I am sure it was, I crossed the finish line at 15 hours 3 mins and I applauded even my self! I was done.

As I started walking past the finish line I got my Finishers Medal and some shell necklaces they were giving out with the medals. I walked around this bend and some guy took my chip and then continued to walk past the medical tent where it seemed full with IV'ers, people just laying around and who knows what else. I was glad not be in there or need there assistance especially being in these conditions. I then saw SpeedySpeedRacer laying on the floor to the side and asked if she was Okay. Yes, she was just resting but that Liz was in the medically tent. I went to the med tent and found her wrapped up in towels and sleeping. I checked on her and she was okay just needed to rest and recover. I left and went to get some pizza and a sprite along with my finishers t-shirt and towel. The Hat guy was supposed to be around here but I never saw him and didn't get my hat till the awards banquet the following night. I sat around for several minuets and then went and got my finishers photo taken. I then started feeling dizzy and just wiped out so I had to leave but still needed to grab my bike and gear bags. I walked, if you call it that by know because I had stopped the blister on my foot was screaming about me and it was more like a one legged limp. I got my Pre-swim bag, then walked to get my bike where they had the bike gear bag. I checked out and hopped back on my bike to pedal the 3 blocks back to the villa. Let me tell you, it was not a fun thing to crawl back on the bike with my butt cheeks burning! but I made it back, threw everything down and jumped in the shower b/c I was stinking myself out.

Overall I learned a couple of things for this race.

1), I will not slow down and wait for anyone again as I think it took me out of my rhythm and later cost me in performance and I got Chick'd hahaha.

2), even though I rinsed off at the water showers after the swim, I would changed clothes completely for the bike and run on any Ocean swim!

3) Even though we had a great villa with a kitchen I would choose an all inclusive resort.

4) Bug Spray for Special Needs bags, both of them.

5) My Nutrition worked and had no issues.

6) I still felt under prepared for the run, even though I had a huge run base coming off of Headlands 50, I thinking dealing with calve issues and being sick hurt my run overall. Bike and Swim training was good.

I am sure there are others but those come to mind rather quickly. I can honestly say that I like the Iron distance. For me, I like the feeling of being out there and just working at it and seeing how things play out. The half distance doesn't give me the same feeling and of course Olympics is more about the speed, of which I have none and doesn't seem to be my forte. I can't wait to do another one where ever it may be. For 2010 I am not foreseeing any Iron distances but Vienman and Silverman are always around. I actually entered the lotto drawing for the NYC Marathon so if I happen to get lucky and get selected that will be my big event next year, if not, I won't know till March when the drawing is held what I want to focus on. In the mean time, I am recovering and taking it easy.

Thanks for following along in the race recap.

rockon'

Bike.. recap.

Bike: 7 hours 4 minutes 48 seconds

As soon as I got on the bike I quickly settled in and started rinsing my mouth with water to get rid of the salt water taste and I started passing people. One guy I passed actually Yelled at me! "Vigil!! Man, you're gonna pass me and not even say Hi, dang, that ain't right!! haha" It was Tuggle and honestly I didn't even noticed who it was when I was passing nor did I even think I would see him so soon on the bike as I thought he was farther ahead. I yelled back at him asking how his swim was and actually slowed up to chat shortly with him.

I quickly found a few athletes that were going about the same pace as I and we all just settled in to passing others. The ride so far had been nice and the speed's I kept seeing on the Garmin were 19-23mph, the road were pretty good and the sides of the roads were lined with these small short trees that covered much of the island, too bad they were not tall enough to provide any shade.

It didn’t take very long once leaving T1 till the South side of came and here is where the talk was on the 9 mile length of. Before I actually made the turn I could feel the head wind picking up so I was clued into what was expected once making the turn, or so I thought. As I made the turn I quickly noticed the salt blast of wind from the ocean in the face and the second thing I noticed was the drop in speed. I adjusted my gears and looked down at my Garmin to see 13.4 mph, Shit! I then took a look at the beach/ocean to my right and was wowed by the sands and the water rolling in. The winds were definitely kicking and I knew this section was not going to be fun.

I stayed aero while trying not draft anyone as there seemed to be more athletes now in this section. As I approached the aid station for bottle handout I thought I better grab some water as I didn’t want to run out not yet knowing where the next aid station was exactly. As I lined myself up I saw my Iron friend from Coeur d’Alene,Christy, and she was ditching a water bottle. I quickly yelled out to her and then I was looking to grab a water bottle but the volunteers were a little over zealous moving around the aid station to the athletes instead of the athletes coming to them and I missed the water handout. No worries, I still had plenty but just wanted to make sure, so the next aid station was a must. Just after this aid station seemed to be one of two small baby hills, more like inclines which made it actually nice to go up to change things up. Afterwards it was more flat cross-headwind and another aid station where I grabbed my water bottle and then I finally saw the left turn to head back into town.

( A side note here, since coming out of T1 there has been some locals along the way cheering everyone one, we passed a couple of beach and resort entrances and there was locals and visitors lining the intersections cheering and even on this far side of the island there was just a handful of locals watching)

I made the left turn along with others and we all quickly noted the wind was gone it was a HUGE relief, the speed came back up and it was almost a recovery time period. I did notice though that the 9 mile section was more like 13. As I started making my way back into town I noticed more and more locals starting to be on the course, all cheering from both sides of the roads with nice big smiles. Then Rutger came flying by me with another guy and the lead motorcycles, its amazing how fast the pro’s are! As town approached more and more people were on the route and it made it really fun to ride into town, there was a couple of turns and the roads were actually pretty great!

I made the final turn, where T2 is and it’s time to start the second loop but remember we actually started about 4-5 miles from here so this is the short loop. Also the road just passed T2 for about 2-3 blocks was actually pretty crappy, bumpy and even some good dips, but again it was only about 2 or 3 blocks and there was so many people there you really didn’t even pay attention to it. I actually venture to say that next year they will have this section paved. I did look at my watch at this point and it read 2 hours, but again I wasn’t all the way around on the full loops. I calculated it would take me about 2 hrs 15 mins to complete the next full loop. Back on the main road heading towards the park is a long straight and pretty uneventful. I did see Tuggle’s crew and they yelled out at me which was nice and helped me keep going. I crossed the starting point and I actually stopped at the aid station to use the port o can which was empty and clean, I heard others say they had dirty port o cans all day long but I had good clean ones, if there is such a thing. I went #1 which was good, grabbed some more water and off I went.

Now for some reason during all of loop 2 I had a nagging right foot ache that wouldn’t go away. I tried moving my toes around, pushing with the outside of my foot, pulling up more but nothing seemed to be working and it was burning aching so much so that I could not even push down with a good power. As I got closer to the south side of the island I noticed that head wind starting to creep up but this time it was a little sooner than the first loop and by the time I actually got to the south island and made the turn for the 13 miles-ish the wind was worse! Now my foot is bothering me and the wind is worse. BTW I am taking my salts and nutrition as planned and all is working well here with no complaints. I tried to stay aero here but again the damn right foot wouldn’t allow me and by now I guess I had been working on the right so much the left felt lonely and decided my left big toe needed attention so it went numb! I have had this before on a couple of rides and I have to wiggle my toes around and it will come back so now I had to do both so they wouldn’t get jealous of each other.

As the next aid station approached it was actually the Bike Special Needs hand out and although I didn’t even use this bag b/c I carried everything with me, I found it a good opportunity to stop and stretch/relax my feet. As I got to station, there was many athletes there getting there bags but what I noticed was a more of a cluster fuck! I mean there was bags everywhere and the poor volunteers were completely over run by athletes and under staffed. I got off my bike to relax my feet and actually walked over to the water handout and grabbed one. I saw athletes grabbing bags and throwing them to the side as it wasn’t there number and yes, there was a lot of numbers not in order. This will be clearly one of the areas that needs to be improved for next year.

I got back on the bike and finished out the south side of the island taking notice of the ocean and the beach just to make the time go by. My feet seemed to be doing better which was good but there was nothing like making that left turn from the south side to head back to town. After making it back into town I noticed more people were out lining the streets and cheering along. I completed the 2nd loop and looked at my watch, 2 hrs. 34 mins! Shit I thought but oh well, nothing I could do now but try and pick it up. This whole time I really didn't even notice the distance, I guess it was somewhere 60ish but I never saw my actual mileage till I hit 100 miles on the South windy side.

Heading back around for the 3rd loop I noticed again how the wind became more of head wind way before the South side of the island and this only meant the wind was going to be stronger. I stopped and used the port o can again with no problems and off I went. During the bike leg, I calculated I used 12 mins of stopping time which would have netted me blow 7 hours but again, oh well now. Making the turn to the South side confirmed how much the wind had kicked up during the day and later several athletes all agreed the wind got worse as the day went on. This last time around I vowed to stay down and stay aero for as long as possible and now that the feet were on board with the rest of the body I was actually able to do this for most this 13 mile section but again there was nothing like making the turn to head home. During this last loop I had been riding and playing leap from with Doreen, who I had just met on Friday via Christy and didn't realize it was her till the final 12 miles when we started talking, I would later see Doreen several times on the run and post-IM.

When I made the turn to head back to town I calculated my distance to go and my time and realized that if rode a certain mph I could finish just under 7 hours so I stepped on it and I started pushing about 20 mph, which with the tail wind was not too too hard and I started passing many people including one's in my age group. I would get up right behind them and then fly around and keep pedaling hard b/c I didn't want them chasing me or trying to catch me. Well this worked all but on one guy! I was just about 2 miles from finishing when a guy came up next to me and we chatted about how crazy fun the locals were supporting us and cheering. Then I noticed he was in my age group and working on passing me but just then we caught another guy in our age group and he was out of the saddle pedaling and I told the guy hey, he is in our age group too so let's drop him and he cranked on it and flew by him then made this right turn to the final straight to finish the bike and I started pulling ahead of the guy and then he started cranking harder for me not to pass him, Yes, I was going to pass on the right!! So we are neck and neck and I told the guy, Hey, I am not giving this to you, if you want to beat me in to T2 your going to have to earn it!! As I was cranking harder and then he started cranking it as well and we were basically racing to the dismount. I was at his rear tire when we got really close the dismount and the volunteers were totally waving us to slow down so I grabbed the brakes pretty hard and I said Okay, you got it and he jammed the brakes just before he hit the line.

I dismounted and grabbed my Garmin off the bike and away I went to T2 and my bike went the other direction. A good bike overall with some minor foot achenes which I could only contribute to the humidity.

Now let me tell you on the first loop of the bike I was passing people and then all of a sudden there was an athlete, lady, on a beach cruiser that I was approaching. I saw her and thought NO WAY! Someone has to be on the course but then quickly saw she had a race number and body marked and was clearly on a beach cruiser, that did have gears but sitting totally upright, draw string bag attached to the front and she was pedaling away. I could only think that something obviously went wrong with her bike. I later heard that the frame broke on it and she made it TWO Freakn' laps on that beach bike and then stopped b/c she knew she wouldn't make the time cut off or she would have! Lady, I give it up to you for doing that, b/c even on a Tri bike it was tough! Talk about determination.

T2: 3:38

I was quickly handed my T2 bag and went into the change tent. I again found a place right at the front where I put my stuff down, changed out my shoes, put on my trail running shorts, hat, put the bike gear in the bag, handed it off and away I went. Feeling good.

rockon'

Swim..

Swim: 1 hour 28 mins 50 seconds

As Luke and I were floating waiting for the gun to go off, we really couldn't hear any official count down and next thing i know i saw athletes taking off and swimming and then heard the horn. Being as i was wide left i did feel some people creeping up on me as soon as the swim started which i figured were the faster swimmers that still happened to be towards the back. it wasn't too long and i noticed my speed suit was rubbing the back of my neck so i kept messing with it and pulling on it but i couldn't get it comfortable, i even stopped briefly to try and pull my tri jersey up to cover it but that didn't work either, i knew if i didn't fix it some how my neck was going to be rubbed raw before the end so i quickly unzipped it about 4 inches and it opened the neck line up taking the rubbing away, YES! I kept on swimming and next thing i know i am making the turn around the 1st buoy and still not really a washing machine effect. there was plenty of swimmers and drafting going on and i worked to grab a foot after making the 2nd buoy. this worked for a while until my drafting guy slowed down and i passed him. The water is sooo amazing and clear, you could see all the way to the bottom, the fish, the reef. I would even site the buoy, draw a line on the ocean floor and follow it for much longer than any other siting i have done in open water. At this time the current of the ocean is also giving a nice push and swimming is just going great. This was the long section of the course and swimming did seem like it took a while and i even started looking for the 3rd main buoy and nex thing i know there it was.. it was really a submarine. Made the turn around it and swam to the 4th buoy to turn left and head home, here is where i really experience the most swimmers. I have caught up with many and now we are on the main line heading home. I tried to swim a little towards the right to clear the swimmers but there was just more and i notice looking under water that there was many heading for the exit so i just held my line. Coming into the final few hundred meters everybody picked up the pace i was swimming with and I was soon reaching for the stairs!!! I crawled up the stairs, stood up and looked at my watch, which is in one of my pictures and the look on my face is WHAT!!

T1: 7:32

The run down the dock to the showers was a long ways and here is where Luke tapped me on the back as he ran by, Luke! I yelled. It was great to see him other than running out of the change tent I wouldn't see Luke till the run. I stopped in the water shower and tried to rinse off a lot b/c I knew the salt on the body would not be a good thing and I was not looking for "Salty Mixed Nuts". I grabbed my change bag, ran into the tent and found a nice spot in the corner where i quickly got my bike gear on and out the door i went telling Luke to "hurry up, this ain't no rest home!!" I ran to my bike, turned on my Garmin, put my Moeben arm coolers on and away I went.

rockon'

Start of the race recap.. Ironman Cozumel.

As I have been starting to really think about all the stuff that has happened on this Ironman trip I am still a little confused and trying to process all the wonderful and not so wonderful stuff. So I will start and progress over a couple of posts.

The overall trip to Cozumel from Vegas was non-eventful which is what you want when traveling over Thanksgiving Day. The airport in Vegas as pretty empty and I did have a change in my bags not being checked through to Cozumel which was fine with me b/c I was worried if they had to stay in the back of the airport holding luggage section and some how get over looked and then I would send up on a beach cruiser bike for the 112 miles, like some unfortunate female athlete, more on that later. So I picked up my bike and luggage in Houston and rechecked them on Friday without any additional costs, nice. Arriving in Cozumel was interesting.

You exit the plane directly on to the taxi way and walk into the airport to stand in line for customs and passport check. Once completed you grab your luggage and go through security where they x-ray it all over again in this huge machine, big enough for bikes to go through. Once scanned you are out front with hundreds of people welcoming Ironman racers. It was nice but a little confusing trying to figure out taxi's and transportation as they are trying to maximize the use of the van's and take as many people as they can in one trip. Luckily CoachLiz and I were dropped off first at our villa called Casa Deja Blue. Located in the part of town that the locals call Beverly Hills. Once at our villa we met the owner, Joni, who is just wonderful and so thoughtful to try and help us in any way she could. Our villa is a 2 bedroom, 2 baths, one located in each bedroom with a living/kitchen area in between the bedrooms on the first floor. Each room has it's own entry way, great closet space, bathroom, a/c unit and the pool is just outside the door. It was a good place to stay and gave the ability of having a kitchen and living room area to watch TV.

After getting all settled up we headed over to packet pick up only to walk into the Ironman store which had all ready been seriously picked over and ALL the XL everything was gone. I ended up getting a few things but I would have liked to get one of the other great tech shirts they had but no XL. I did buy a finishers hat, yes, you had to buy one, no give out at the end of the race but when I went to pay the took my hat and put it in a box under the table. He then handed me a little note book and told me to write my name and race # in it and when I finished he would give me my hat!!!! and if you don't finish I will give you a refund, CRAZY!

After buying the Ironman gear we then went to packet pick up which was pretty well organized. The downside of this was we got to pick up our ironman Cozumel jackets so when I got there I told the guy XL but guess what? They were all gone. He said they had some but they were out. Now I am not sure what the hell happened here because when you registered it specifically asked what size jacket you wanted and they should have had enough. Now the Large jacket did fit and I actually like how it fit more like a tight running jacket but the sleeves were a little short, cant win them all, huh. Once we finished this, we got some CO2 and then went to eat to return for the athletes meeting which overall wasn’t that much more informative but I did see my iron friend Christy from Coeur d’Alene and her dad. By this time I had also run into Iron John Tuggle and Iron Luke, here for their first IM’s. after we just went back to the villa and chilled.

Saturday morning it was up and rode down to Chankanaab park which was about 4 miles from the villa. We checked out the transition area and then did a little pre-swim. Also I first met fellow bloggers Great Times and Claire, Speedyspeedracer. Now this swim was something else. I have never swam in the ocean before so jumping in was quite interesting. First of all, you could see straight to the bottom, like 50 meters!! Amazing. Then you could see all the tropical fish swimming around. As I took a few strokes I was quickly introduced to the world of ocean salt water in my mouth and went into panic mode! I stopped and floated around for a minute or two dunked my head under water of couple times and took off swimming again. The ocean was a little wave but nothing more than Lake Mead but the salt was still freaking me out. After getting out of the swim I was wondering if being the water for the full swim and taking in bits of salt would upset my stomach for the bike, I was in pre-race anxiety freak out mode! As I was drying up I was saw Luke and Norma as they were just getting there to get in the swim. Oh by the way, the swim practices were canceled on Thursday and Friday because the ocean was really kicking some nasty swells and waves and talk was already going around that if it didn’t calm down there might be a swim issue, luckily there wasn’t. Once we finished up swimming we headed back to the villa for food and get gear bags and get ready for bike check in. we rode back down there at the required times and all was pretty smooth. My bike rack ended up being great because no other athletes actually showed up for the race so I was the only one on my rack! Once dropping off bike and run gear bags we grabbed a taxi over to subway for dinner and headed back to the villa for chill time and last minute race preps.

RACE MORNING:

I woke up at 3:30 and went to make my pre-race PB&J and start hydrating. I was feeling pretty good and not too nervous b/c the palm tree outside the door was not blowing or moving at all like it was yesterday so I had a good feeling the water was going to be calm. Getting all ready to go I packed up gear bag with the special needs bags, which I was not actually using a bike special needs b/c I was carrying all my nutrition and I also had my pre-swim bag for the morning clothes. We walked up a couple of blocks to Clares hotel to catch a taxi with her to the race. Once we got dropped off it was port o potty duty in total blackness as there was not lights outside the park area where the first set of pots were. The gates opened up and we all went in to do our stuff. I got to my bike, checked my tires, all is good. I open my transition bag to get my nutrition and load up only to shuffle through the bag and not find it. What?!! No way where is it? I panic but look again and I realize I left it sitting in my room on this shelf.!! OH FUCK! I close my tri bag run over to Liz’s bike and tell her I have to go back, I take off running to the entrance, grab a taxi and tell the guy to go fast back to my villa and if he could wait for me to grab my stuff and bring me back as fast as possible!! He said sure no problema’. OMG, I asked for it and I got it. The speed limit on the stretch we were going was 30km/h.. we were going 90-100km/h!! I darted around this bus that I totally thought we were going to side swipe and end up under the wheels. At the villa I ran in, up sure enough!! Grabbed the bag and out I went back to the taxi where again we went 90-100km back to the race. It only took about 15-20 mins and I hooked the guy up with $20 and told him thank you very much!! He went to give me change and I said no, it’s all yours! Out the door, I went flying back to the transition area only to notice that they were now accepting special needs bags so I dropped off my run bag and went to the bike. Stacked up my nutrition, garmin, tires, check, check, check. Whew.. still have time to relax. I then found luke and liz but I quickly went to drop my pre-swim bag off and head over to the dock for swim start. I then found Luke walking around and so we just found a spot on the dock and waited. The Mexican national anthem was played, the dolphins were doing tricks and jumping in the water. Once that finished the pros started and then instructions were given to make way to the docks for athletes to start getting in the water. Luke and I headed to the left side dock and i went down the stairs and got in and started swimming towards the start area-ish. it was about 200 meters from where we entered so more like a warm up swim which was good b/c there was no pre-warm up swim allowed. Luke and I were right next to each other at the start floating along as the current was slowly pushing us backwards. We moved up a little closer to the starting line area and were a little wide right.. next thing i heard it sound of the front swimmers crashing and slashing as the horn went off!

The swim to come..

rockon'

Cozumel

Cozumel

Off to Cozumel..!!

okay fellow blogger family.. its time to head to Cozumel... I am actually at the airport now waiting to board and let me tell you, flying on Thanksgiving afternoon is actually kind of cool.. no lines, no people... very dead here at the Vegas airport.

I was down in Tempe last week but too bad it was not to see Ironman Arizona, it was more to get take a certification in fascial stretch therapy and OMG it was Amazing!!! I was so happy to have had the time, money and opportunity to learn the first section of this amazing stuff. Can't wait to show all my local peeps the great feeling it can help in your overall flexibility and fitness.

Now, I was able to get all my packing and things arranged by Weds so today i was really able to enjoy the morning with my parents, coffee and the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Mom made a great Turkey dinner yesterday and we all enjoyed, I am very Thankful..

Josh, my friend, sorry I have not emailed you the stretching stuff but will do so when I return! enjoy your run as well!!

I will have Internet access while down in CZ so will be updating here and of course on Facebook..

until then.. Race #922 John Vigil aka JohnnyTri...

rockon'

Taperitis.. and a fond farewell..

Of course now that taper has started I seem to be in taperitis and thinking that I need to be doing more but this point in the game, less is more! On Sunday I went to the gym and did a bunch of nothing just to occupy some time and it felt great! I really can't wait to get back into the weights and start Ultra training for the 50 miler in March!

In the mean time I still have 11 days till the Big Show so let me recap some thing:

First off Preliminary weather report from AccuWeather.com is good but not so good.

As you can see the extended forecast is calling for sunny skies and temps of 83* but feeling like 103*! I imagine with the humidity! Freakn' Criminy!!

So race day strategy may be changing up really will only know come closer to the main event. Either way I am ready as I can be!!

Now with that being said I pretty much am ready. I have all my Swim stuff, goggles, etc.. Bike is tuned up, cleaned, I have my bike box from great buddy Dave, the LV Tri Club President, and I have my new running shoes. I am going to be wearing TNT Triathlon singlet and short but for the bike I will wear biking shorts over the top and still undecided to run in the tnt tri shorts or I will put my trail running shorts on over them because I love all the pockets and just have they work for running. I have training a few times with my tri shorts underneath so I am really good either way.

With the next few days I will get a short run and swims in and then I will be heading out to Tempe, AZ.. no I wish to see IMAZ.. more like for some great training on some chiro stuff I am going to be incorporating into my office, more on that later.

Okay.. so we'll chat later..

But before I go I want to give a HUGE Shout Out to IronWil who will be taking a step away from the blogging world.. it will be a lonely Bloggerville without her. I have followed her since the first time I signed up for my blogger back in Sept. 2006. I have found her blogs to be inspirational, motivational, life and just plain friendly. I will miss you Wil and look forward to still meeting you !!!!

rockon'

Silverman sherpa.. and feeling better.

This weekend was the Silverman triathlon and it's stated it is the Hardest North American iron distance and half iron distance and I must agree it probably is. Formulaic took on the full course and a few other friends jumped in on the 70.3 distance. I must say there is some great schwag for this event and if you dont believe ask S. Baboo as he has done it himself and can probably give you his opinion on how tough the course is.

This year was the 1st time in the history of the 5 year race that weather conditions were perfect. Flat glass water, no winds and minimal 70's temps. I was on hand from the 7am start till Form crossed that finish line 140.6 miles later.

I was at mile 95 on full and 44 for the half on the Famous Sisters. 3 back to back to back hills that are just not nice at this point in the race. The 3rd is just steep and it takes all you got to get to the top of it unless you got some serious climbing gears, which I would totally recommend for this course as it's continuous hills, climbs and hills all day long.

I was glad to be out there cheering everyone on and thinking in 19 days it will be my turn. I am feeling much better in confidence but I am worried about the humidity that will play in as I have talked about for the past several blog posts. My calfs are feeling better and overall I guess I am in taper but I feel more nervous wanting to get a couple of long runs and swims still in. I got new shoes and do need a few runs on them but overall I am confident they will be good for the marathon.

Silverman, 2010? Humm.. A part of me says no F'ing way and the other part says I have to conquer this back yard course, in faster than 15 hours 58 mins! Sorry Form! haha.

rockon'

Reviewing the totals..

Now that the month of October has ended I figured my training totals for the month, at the right on the side bar.

The first thing I notice is how much swim time and meters/yards what ever you want to call it but time in the pool! I really didn't think I swam that much but low and behold I did! and that is great. I do feel better about my swim but I need a couple of more key swims to really seal the deal and I am sure they are coming, like tomorrow's 3000 meter swim in sets of 500's. Nice. Ughh.. choke choke.

Now biking is looking well and the time in the saddle has definitely got me feeling ready and with another 100 miler this Friday and then a couple of "shorter" distances I will be much ready in the saddle.

Run. Well I see my time has gone down there although I do feel I have had some great key running sessions maybe just not the full long stuff I was getting used to in the Ultra world but after Soma I did feel a little off step in the run department but I still can't really nail down if it was the Heat or just not running as much leading up to the event. Either way, I will have the Heat in Cozumel and more running time on the feet, although, I am having a rather annoying calf issue right now and have been getting it worked on so I am hoping for it to be better. I tried running again today but only got a mile and stopped just because I was confident and wanted to give it another days rest.

Staying healthy and injury free is the key over the next 24 days and that's a tough job in itself with a travel weekend coming up the week before Cozumel, some studying for a course I am taking that weekend, finishing up the last training heading to Cozumel, of course Life and work stress.

I am having fun, feeling more confident and excited as we are getting down to the teens of the count down!!

rockon'

Quickly..

I am still alive and getting to it. Training has been a little more time consuming with longer swim sets, biking and running.

I was able to smash out a 112 miler on Sunday in 6 hours 10 mins with another 10 mins of stopping time to refuel at the store and use the bathroom. That will be cut down a little on the actual course so that is good but I had a good day in the saddle, worked my nutrition, salts, gu's.. etc.. Now I am only concerned how the heat and humidity will play out.

As for the run, well not so great. I was scheduled to run 21 on Saturday and by mile 11 my left Achilles/calf was giving me problems so I called it quits b/c I just could not get the calf to loosen up and work so I didn't want to stress it any more. It's better today but still needs a little TLC so hopefully by this weekend we shall be back in action. I am also on the hunt for new shoes in town but not having any luck with my big size 15 foot.!!

Swimming is coming along and after swimming a long set last week I am feeling confident that I will make the swim, maybe not any faster than CdA but that's Okay.. Survive the swim and get to the bike is goal.

Until next time.. !!

rockon'

Soma 70.3 Recap.. !!

I'll get right to the point so we all know whats going on..!!!

After getting packet pick up and bike check in it was pretty much R&R the rest of the day Saturday and then up nice and early Sunday morning with a few breakfast bites and off to body marking!

Once inked up with #1015 and enjoying the mass amounts of space I had at transition but not enjoying the music blaring right in my ear as me and several others were right in front of the mornings PA system! ha!. Once all set up and ready to go it was wet suit mount up time and then line up for the staging.

Swim: (my watch time 44:30 mins) - Official result 47:36

Soma is a floating start with 4 mins between age groups, I was group #4 of the morning. Once in the 71* water it didn't take long to adjust to the temperature and floating around for 3 + mins seemed like a long time but finally the Horn sounds and I start my new Ironman Timex Watch! Off we go and all is good heading out. Breathing well, relaxing and settling in to the other swimmers around, it really wasn't a wash n machine effect at all, lot of water space. Once the sun started to come up it was a little more difficult to site but there was enough swimmers in front of me following them was a little easier. Making the turn around and heading back some how I ended up right on the buoy line and I was quickly getting bumped around so I attempted to move to the outside, right, but there was more swimmers so I held my line for a while and tried again only to find more swimmers, ughh!! Finally, I said screw it and stayed on the line for the experience of being in the mix! I was breathing and staying calm it was just a little weird to have periods of contact, get out of rhythm and then get back in rhythm but next thing I know I'm almost back to the finally head home 100 yard buoy and then it really got crowed and lots of bumping and pushing, actually worse than any other time during the swim but hey, it's the last 100 so kick up and get the hell out of the water. I exit the swim bleachers, a volunteer pulls me up and I hit land and I hit my lap on my watch.

T1: (watch 5:35) - Official 3:36

Now as I exit and start running there are many wet suit strippers but they all seem to be busy and everyone laying on the ground has made it a little muddy so I run to the side of the chute, unzip and pull pull I'm out of my wet suit and off and running. As I began to enter the Run In/Out of transition I notice the timing mat. What? Yes, way over here from the swim exit so that is why my swim time is officially 47:36. T1 was the same as any other, get in and out. I had to wash off my feet so I sat down, rinsed, dried, socks on, and the usual and off I go.

Bike: (watch 2 hrs 54 mins) Officially 2:54

bike is 3 loops with some nice long flats and several dog legs and turns which you just have to be care and slow down on b/c they are 180* turns. Overall it's a flat course with some fast areas as I was rolling along at 21-25mph at times. There are a couple of short hills that rob you of your speed but luckily they are not that long and you get back into it. I would say one thing you have to watch out for is the manhole covers and some rough bumps in the intersections and of course the 1st loop there is so many athlete's that it's hard not to get caught in the drafting position and at times I kept getting passed so I would naturally fall back once over taken but then it was repeated and I noticed I was slowing down and being pushed back so I said screw it and held my pace staying off line with the bike in front of me hoping not to get caught in any drafting zone but I really don't think the officials were watching us mid-back packers on the first loop as I didn't see any of them till the 2nd and 3rd loops and then they were clearly checking for violations but by this time there was plenty of space/distance and you should not have been drafting. So my nutrition worked out well with my Gu's and I probably should have taken a little more salt in but thought I was Okay only to find out on the start of the run my quads started cramping so I knew I didn't take enough. Other wise I learned I need to incorporate some type of solid food, bar, etc.. in addition to the Gu's for calories and I need to use Gatorade Endurance formula more over the next 3 weeks b/c my stomach had a slight sour feeling after using small amounts of it. I am also thinking about trying some Carbo Pro.. Any thoughts or experience anyone??????

T2: (watch time and Official time were about the same 2:35)

Pretty much not eventful.. in and out.

Run: (watch time 2 hrs 45 mins) Official 2:46

is a two loop run course. Once on the run my quads started cramping slightly so I knew I needed the salt. I have been using Salt Sticks lately but I am thinking I will be switching back to S-Caps as they just seemed to work a little easier on my stomach in the digestion part. So once I was able to get running I started with a 5 min run 1 min walk schedule but this didn't last too long at all as my heart rate was sky high and I just seemed really uncomfortable so I switched back to my training of 4/1's. Now this worked for a couple of miles and once I got passed mile 2 it was really hot. No Shade on this run course other than crossing under a couple of bridges so about 10 seconds worth. I took my fuel belt with 4 bottles and my Gu's along with my hand held water bottle I used for Headlands 50. I kept the hand held filled with cold ice water to cool me down and this worked wonderful as I was just enough water to drink and keep me cooled off between aid stations. Now I realized about mile 4-5 that I was not going to use the fuel belt bottles so I emptied the water out of them and I noticed that I was not in the mood for any more Gu's but I ended up taking 2 of them on the run any way out of necessity and I know I needed them. I did and I have always liked the Cola and it works well but my problem is that I love the way it tastes by this time and I drink too much!!! so then I feel a little bloated and I have let my stomach empty but by this time I am at another aid station and I Do it again! Ugh. So I have to learn to control that at Cozumel. By the second loop I felt a little more quad cramping so I took a couple of more salts and was fine. It was really hot by this time, 89* they said and running on concrete probably is hotter with the heat so I was using my hand held like crazy to keep me cool. I was pretty uncomfortable and I had to mentally just suck it up b/c my mile splits were dropping just b/c I was walking way too much. Finally making the way to the end I ran a little more just to get it over with but it was really uncomfortable and I just wanted to walk. I saw the finishing shoot which was about 100 yards from the end but you had to run up a slight hill on the grass to get there so I just started running and next thing I know I see the finish line. I make my way through smiling, glad to be down and still pouring water on me. I grab another bottle of water at the finish and drink it all down even though I felt full I know I needed it.

Overall.. it was a great venue and race and I would do it again! A serious PR on the Bike for me busting below 3 hours, a great swim time for me and so so run time but again Overall PR but then again no other 70.3 has been equal in terrain but I will take it! I placed 117/136. I learned a lot and will be changing some things for Cozumel and that was the main plan and goal for this race as well.

I want to thank Desiree so much for coming with me and being a great Sherpa! She is totally new to all the triathlon stuff so she did her best behind the camera, cheering, Sherpa'ing, and making for a great trip! Also I want to thank my nephew, Marcos, for taking the day off of work, waking up before me on race day, then falling back asleep and later getting to the race site, hanging out with Desiree and just chilln' with us the rest of the afternoon! Always great to have family around.

Now it's on to the last 32 days of training with a century ride coming up this weekend and a 16 mile run. Back in the pool today and implementing some other training into the mix.. the secret weapon! haha! yea right. /span>

rockon'