Much of this Ironman was about me (as usual), but in many ways it was very much about a rising endurance athletic star, Scott Callender. I work with Scott (affectionately known as “Scooter”), and I think it was my bright idea for him to get involved in triathlon in the first place.
My training leading up to the race was terrific, and I have numerous training partners that I have enjoyed spending time with in the pool, riding our bikes throughout Southern California, and numerous runs, with the best of those being in Aliso & Wood Canyons.
The posse of Quinton, Art, and Scott converged on Coeur d’Alene, and we all trained using different methods and coaches. In the end, we all put it “out there” during the race, and I am proud of my commitment, effort, and race performance. I am also proud of Quint, Art, and Scott. All three of these men motivate me in many ways, and I am blessed to call them friends.

A constant at each of my Ironman events has been my sweetheart wife, Kim Marie. She has not been feeling so great the last few months, so for her to volunteer her entire day at Ironman and help out, was unbelievable. She is my rock when I race, and Lar- Dog needs his rock.

My training was spot on throughout the year, and I had some really terrific racing events leading up to this Ironman event. My racing since January included three half marathons, an Olympic distance triathlon, a century (100 mile) bike event in the ridiculous hills of Santa Monica, and 2 half Ironman events. Suffice to say, on race day I was ready to rumble.

The weather leading up to the event was all over the board. One day it was predicted to be in the 80’s, and then it was supposed to be windy, rainy, and cool. I have raced in super cold (Wisconsin in ’06), and VERY hot (Hawaii in ’07). The other obvious fact is that everyone who races, gets to enjoy whatever weather race day brings, so I just say “bring it.”

Kim & I arrived in Idaho on Wednesday, which gave me plenty of time to get my bearings and to swim, bike, and run some parts of the Ironman course. It started off with a Thursday swim in the beautiful and majestic waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene. As I pulled up my wetsuit, I was joined by Ironmates Quinton, Art, and Anna. Once we began the swim, I could not help but take immediate note of the gallons of water I was seemingly swallowing, and the waves pushing me around. I couldn’t believe a lake swim could have such conditions, and hoped it was just a windy day that was causing this. (More on the delightful swim later.)

Later on Thursday, the same group did a bike ride, which was basically a tour of the Ironman run segment. I was happy to see the run course, and thought that it would provide for a pretty quick marathon as the terrain was relatively flat, with only one biggish hill.

I ran on Friday for about 20 minutes, and Saturday was basically a day off my feet, with no training.

Isn’t this interesting and fun to know all the great details about me and my training? OK…time to just tell you about the race and the day in general.
I must say that I was very stoked to have numerous friends and acquaintances participating in the race, along with a lot of spectators that I know. The double loop swim, bike, run, allows competitors and spectators to see each other frequently throughout the day, and that is a real kick in the pants.

The Swim

Here’s the deal. This was the hardest, most difficult swim I have done…ever…period. I was warned about this, but I must not have believed it. I struggled mightily on the outbound swim leg. The wind was pushing the water and the waves were smashing into me. All the while I had big trouble breathing, and was sucking in that nice lake water. I don’t think I swam a very straight line either, and that compounded the problem. Basically, I wanted to quit and go home. Fetal position seemed like a nice option, but damn it, I am a freakin’ Ironman, and I will not give up that easily!

The first turn buoy was a total mess of people that were completely stopped and treading water; what a joke. I finally found relief on the trip back to shore, as the wind was at my back. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I had to do another freakin’ loop of the swim and enjoy the pounding once again! I exited the swim winning the battle, but concerned that I may have lost the war. My swim was a very poor time for me: 1h18’. I was 51st on the swim in my age group: how pathetic!

The Bike

I jumped on the Lar-Dog Lucero and busted the move for my 112-mile adventure. I rode VERY smartly and held myself back in the first 50 to 60 miles. Trust me, I was working hard, but I was holding back just a “bit” for the first 3 hours. At around the halfway mark of the bike, who should I pull up next to other than my training partner…SCOOTER! He was all smiles and encouraging as usual.

I started putting more effort into the ride as it progressed, and I ended up with a great bike time of 5h37’. My average speed was just under 20MPH. This is a hilly course in many sections, and I was 100%+ jazzed at my execution of a very solid Ironman bike split. I moved up a bunch in my age group off the bike, and was in 13th place when I entered the 2nd transition area.

The Run

I am a strong cyclist, but an even stronger runner. I zoomed through T2, and began to see how may old bastards (males 50 to 54, look out!), that I could “run down.” Kim was there and she cheered me on numerous times, and every time I saw her throughout the day, I was extra motivated. I have no “bigger fan” than my sweetie Kimmie.
For pacing, I run with a Garmin (GPS)…and guess what, it was frozen up and inoperable; thus I was without a stopwatch. Have no fear though…Kim to the rescue. She grabbed my backup watch, and handed it to me at mile three. What a God send!

I quickly got my running legs beneath me, and felt decent as I started to click off the miles. At mile seven, I had my first serious hamstring cramp. I ended up stopping numerous times throughout the run to stretch them out, as they cramped badly and stopped me dead in my tracks. I also was taking in a lot of fluids, and made three porta potty stops. None of this crap helps your time, but there is really no choice than to deal with it as quick as you can and move on.

I had an unbelievable battle with another age group competitor on the run. He and I traded places several times, and at the end, he was just too much for me and got me by about a minute! I tip my hat to him, as I gave it my all, and he was better. I ran a personal best Ironman marathon of 3h41’, and was 6’ shy of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. It has been a goal of mine to qualify for Boston in an Ironman.

The Finish

My run moved me into 9th place in my age group, and 7’ from garnering a slot to Kona (you know, the Hawaii Ironman). I am disappointed I didn’t “punch my ticket” back to the big dance, but it is truly bittersweet. I now will have a whole lot different type of summer (not having to train for Hawaii), and can look to get my “endurance fix” doing some other “cool” events or things.

One of my takeaways from this year is a deeper sense of appreciation for simply having a lifestyle, and the ability, and body to be able to participate in these kinds of things. I am blessed beyond measure, and I will continue to be grateful for all that God has given me. I am proud of Scooter who became an Ironman, and I am thankful for my training pals who I have gotten to know on a more personal level in the past months.

Finally

If you have read this far, congratulations. Now this is the important part…
Go out and do YOUR Ironman. Life is short. Your Ironman is whatever you want in life…something that takes hard work and determination. Something that you need to learn, something that stretches you beyond your little comfortable zone that I suspect you are hanging out in.

There is sweetness and a life-long satisfaction in attempting to do something that is hard, different, and new…and something that not every civilian will or can do.

When I trained this year, my theme was to “Do today what others won’t, so that I can do tomorrow, what others can’t.” It’s time for you to find your IRONMAN!

Larry Davidson

I planned to head down to the Lake Forest 5K on the 4th to market Triathica’s membership specials and hand out some free training zone assessment coupons. The day before the race I realized it would be hard for me to not participate in the festivities, so I signed up.

Not wanting to run alone, I tried to find some people to do it with me. The best I could get was a “maybe” from one of my friends who is not exactly the most athletic person I know — no worries. When I called race morning, I was able to change the maybe into, “Sigh…I’ll meet you at the parking lot in 15 minutes…grumble…grumble.”

I arrived at the Ralphs parking lot next to the race a little after 6 a.m. After a few Triathica marketing activities, I was ready to head down to the starting line to get my bib and race chip. I saw a few people I recognized, but not as many as I thought I was going to see having lived in Lake Forest my whole life.

After standing around for a while I was contemplating whether or not the beers the night before were a good idea, then the gun went off. Actually, I didn’t hear anything, but people started moving so I followed.

I think I underestimated how slow my friend was. After a few seconds moving at a snails pace I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to just go for it and turned it into a workout and a good time-trial benchmark. I darted to the outside and began passing people. The first part of the course was just under a mile long and slightly downhill. I love downhill.

I felt great for the first mile, I think I easily ran sub-6 and the only people ahead of me were all the 120-pound cross-country kids from El Toro High School, one or two girls, and a dude in a dog costume.

He had to have been a cross-country runner because the dog was flying. I’m pretty sure he ended up beating me, which is pretty embarrassing, oh well.

The rest of the race went pretty well. I slowed down a bit on a long uphill section, but made up most of the ground I had lost on the downhill. There was a girl in front of me most of the time that I was determined to pass, but didn’t want to make my move too soon. Typical man, right?

We came around the last turn on what I thought was the home stretch. I kept looking ahead to see if there were any more turns or detours we had to make. Then it looked like some people were veering right onto another detour from the finish line. I didn’t have a watch on, but it felt like it should have just been straight to the finish line from there.

My eyes must have been playing tricks on me because there was no turn, just about 800 meters until the finish. Time to turn on the boosters. I managed to pass probably around 10 people in the final stretch. One guy I recognized from high school tried to match my speed. I knew for a fact he was a cross-country runner back in the day and he still looked in good shape, but somehow I was able to hold him off.

I crossed the finish line but did not get a look at the time and had no watch. A guy came up behind me and thanked me for pushing him hard. I guess we had gone back and forth the whole race and my final surge helped him push himself harder. He said his time was around 19:40 so I figured I was in the 19:30 range.

After more marketing duties, I left to go run some errands. I kept thinking about my time and knew I wouldn’t be able to wait for them to post the results online. I decided to swing back by the race and check it out. They were already halfway through the award ceremony and I strolled over to look at the standings.

Jarrett Pflieger – Div (3)

3rd place? Could this be right? This was my first 5K, how could I possibly have made the podium? I waited around for the ceremony to end and walked up to the announcers. I asked to see the award standings for 20-24 year olds. Somehow the winner’s time didn’t show up on the initial results printout I was looking at. I ended up taking 4th and missing out on a medal by less than 30 seconds. Bummer.

Overall I was very happy with my time (19:33) and pace (6:18). I plan to ramp up my training for the Pacific Coast and OC Triathlons and hopefully improve my run splits. Can’t wait for my next 5K to test how my training is coming along!

Jarrett Pflieger

For $30.00 you get a great trail race and either a burger or hot dog meal or a series T-shirt. Either way it’s a great deal!

The three races take place on various Thursday evenings at Peters Canyon Wilderness Park in Tustin. The event is very well organized and is located at the park so it’s a great place to bring the entire family.

Since this was my first time to the event I had no idea what to expect. I made my way to the starting area a bit late and heard one of my Orange County Triathlon Club buddies, Stan Gertler, call my name. I elbowed my way into the starting corral alongside Stan and we were off.

I understand the race may circle through Peters Canyon from either direction, but both are challenging. Stan assured me that this was the “easier” way. Didn’t seem like it to me!

Essentially, the majority of the course is run on the trails open to hikers, mountain bikers, coyotes, and anyone else that wants to use them. We encountered everything, short of the coyotes.

The first half of the 5-mile run was very challenging with lots of climbing. At one point I was contemplating walking but didn’t. It was tough!

The second half of the run was mostly downhill. What a relief!

I got a side-stitch at about mile three that didn’t go away but felt like I was pushing a pretty good pace. I passed a few other runners as we neared the finish. One guy in particular was in my sights. I let the younger runners and women pass me without a fight (that’s right, I don’t mind being “chicked”) but anyone near my age group will be challenged.

Good thing I mounted the challenge because I found out later that the guy I passed with about 200 yards to go was in my age group and had been in 1st place.

I won my age group with a time of 37:16 (7:27 pace) and Lamar Sepulveda finished in 2nd (M50-54) with a time of 37:17! A great race I’ll remember for a long time.
Ron Saetermoe

This year a good friend, and Triathica member, Mark Arenal said he was going to step-up his training and do a half Ironman again. He had done one sometime in the ‘90s so he sort of knew what he was in for. I wasn’t planning on doing the race this year but when Mark said he was in, so was I.

Mark rented a small cottage right on Bodega Bay, which is about 45 minutes from the Vineman start. We both brought our families and had a blast there. The scenery was amazing and the cottage, quaint.

We went to pick up our race stuff Saturday morning and realized what we would have to deal with the next day . . . the heat! It was blazing hot just walking around the expo. We could only imagine cycling 56 miles and running another 13.1 in it!

On the way back to the car I dropped to the ground clutching my left foot. I looked at my toe and saw the stinger, still in my toe, pumping poison into me. I was going to survive the sting, but the bee . . . not so much. Thankfully, by Sunday the bee sting would be the least of my worries.

Not having trained much prior to the race I didn’t have high expectations for myself. Actually, that’s a lie. Even though I hadn’t trained, I still wanted to PR (get a personal record).

Race morning was perfect. The air was cool and still. Mark and I drove to the race start in his rented motor home, which I now have on my triathlon checklist as MANDATORY equipment. It was so great being close to the starting line and being able to use the rest room as much as I wanted.

We caught up to another old friend, Pete Condy and his wife Chris. Pete looked in great shape and ready for the day ahead, and for IM Canada.

My wave went off at 7:42, which was kind of late. I knew this would mean we’d be out in the intense heat later on.

My swim went very well even though I couldn’t find another swimmer to draft off of. There was a group ahead of me but they went out so fast there was no way I was going to catch them so I just settled into my pace.

For anyone that doesn’t know, another attractive feature for weaker swimmers is that the swim takes place in the Russian River and doesn’t have any current. In fact, in some places the water is so shallow you can actually get up and run!

No true swim split was available because of a malfunction in the timing company’s equipment.

My bike also went well. Since the bike portion of the race is typically my weakest, I generally see lots of riders in my age group pass me by. This time I only counted two and I had passed four that were ahead of me. According to my Ergomo my numbers were:

Average RPM: 90 (nailed it!)
Average heart rate: 168
Average watts: 182 (normalized)
Average MPH: 20.7

Since it was still relatively cool on the bike I started out on the run feeling good. I was sub-8:00 but could feel myself beginning to melt. By mile five I started my walk/run routine. I was told after the race that it got up to 105! Since I don’t train in the heat it’s no wonder that I was melting down.

I did see Mark on the run. When I saw him he was looking great and high-fived me. I also saw quite a few of my OCTC mates and called out to them as well.

Swim/T-1: 34:04
Bike: 2:41:13
T-2: 2:47
Run: 2:01:36
Total: 5:19:41 (13/109 = top 12%)

This was a PR for me so I was very happy about that. But, you know how it is . . . woulda, coulda, shoulda . . .

Ron Saetermoe

I did, however, go into the race with certain, albeit, unrealistic expectations. Gee, I wonder if I’m the only one to do such a thing . . .

My goal was to hold a 7:00 minute per mile pace as long as I could, with the hopes I could hang on for the entire race. This would have resulted in a PR (personal record) for me.

I felt good after using the restroom a good six times that morning. Coulda been the “carbo loading” the night before (Asahi Super Dry).

I entered the corral with 9,000 of my closest friends about 15 minutes before the start. A guy standing just ahead of me had an Ironman Arizona singlet on. We chatted a while about his race in November 2008 which was my second IM. I didn’t have a great day, but mine was better than his because he ended up in the medical tent.

The gun went off. I knew that the first part of the course would be pretty fast as there were some good downhills. Once I got clear of the traffic I got into a groove. First mile: 6:55. Perfect.

I was a bit more labored than I hoped and my heart rate hovered around 170 or so. My max heart rate is 200 so I still had some room but it shouldn’t have been so high, so early. Oh well, I pushed on.

Mile two: 6:55 again. Perfect.

I managed to say right on pace (I’m actually very good at calculating my pace – not as good at keeping it).

At mile six, my IM AZ friend caught me. I didn’t even know he was behind me. We were running at about the same pace so I stuck with him. The only difference is that I was doing the half, and he was doing the full marathon. He was probably 20 years younger than me so I guess we’re square.

Mile eight: 7:00. Slowing down a little but still good.

It got tougher from this point forward and I knew I was slowing. I would have let IM AZ go but he was slowing too. The course this year ran along the Back Bay in Newport Beach which is a favorite place for me to run and ride – it is also up hill from the Pacific Coast Highway with a very steep, but short hill at the end.

It was at about mile nine that I realized I wouldn’t hold 7:00. No worries, no one is paying me to race today . . . or any other day for that matter. I would do my best and enjoy my “catered workout.”

I began to struggle at mile 11 but held on for dear life. No punk IM dude that was doing the full marathon was going to drop me! We hung together until mile 12, which is where our paths diverged. I went left and he went straight. I wished him luck with a “shaka” (Hawaiian greeting) and pressed on.

That last mile was a struggle and a couple people passed me but I just had no kick left. I was toast at the end of the race but was greeted by my girlfriend Suzie and a friend from the Orange County Triathlon Club, Chris Davis. THANK GOD!!!

Time: 1:34:29
Pace: 7:12 per mile
Age-group place (M 50 – 54): 4/166 (2.4%)
Overall place: 101/4,554 (2.2%)

by Ron Saetermoe

Woke at 3:00 a.m. and had my usual breakfast of an English muffin with peanut butter and jelly, cottage cheese with blueberries and walnuts and a glass of OJ. Still wish I could drink coffee. Life would be so much easier.

Did my final preparations (you know what I mean) and loaded the rest of my stuff in the car. Noticed how calm and warm it was. Fantastic!

Got to the Oceanside pier at about 4:45 a.m. (I hate to be late for stuff.) Got out of the car to unload the stuff and noticed it was about 10 degrees colder and windy. Crap! Oh well, nothing you can do about it other than hope you forgot your bike or something so you don’t have to race. No such luck. Game on!

Got my stuff set up in transition and noticed my Gu flask holder was broken. Took out my trusty box cutter (always a good accessory to have . . . along with some electrical tape) and cut the thing off. Stuffed it into my Bento Box and was ready to go. After racing for over 25 years I don’t think I’ve ever had a race where something didn’t go wrong. Hopefully, this would be it for the day.

Caught up with a bunch of my bros. Everyone was nervous, but in good spirits. Several of us had estimated our finishing times so we could compare notes later. FYI, I predicted 5:15 which would have been an 11:56 improvement over this same race in 2008. Today was going to be a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run.

While my training was fine going into the race I still wasn’t where I could have been having finished IM Arizona in November and having to take time off to recover from hernia surgery. Never the less, I felt good.

The water temperature was 59 degrees and felt cold getting in and swimming to the race start (it was a wave start and we went off with the 18 –24 year old males). I’m guessing there were about 150 of us.

The swim went well but I didn’t push too hard. Got an elbow in the left eye, which filled my goggles with water. Had to stop twice to empty it out. Good swim – nothing to write home about.

T-1 was fast . . . fastest in my age group.

I have been working on my cycling (my weakness) for the past year or so. This has always been my weakness so I was hoping to improve on my time of 3:00 hours from last year. 10 minutes would have been nice. 9:33 improvement to be exact. Pretty good.

I borrowed Russ Jones’ race wheels again (I used them for IM AZ as well). Kinda windy for discs but noticed some of the top pros were using them so I was confident they would be fine. The only problem is that the rear cassette (gears) on Russ’ wheel only has 23 teeth where my normal, spoked, wheels have 25. That meant going up hills was going to be a challenge; and it was. There is one HUGE hill on the course and it took everything I had to make it up. After that my legs were none too happy! Anyway, I was thankful I had his wheels for most of the race and since he’s one of the top sprint age groupers (M50 – 54) in the world, the karma would be a good addition for the day.

My ass was killing me at about mile 45. The OCTC shorts simply don’t have enough padding. Next time, OCTC singlet and another set of shorts!

T-2 wasn’t quite as fast. I normally run without socks (not something you should attempt without practicing that way) so that was my plan on the day. Shoulda wore socks! Felt the blisters forming at about mile four. I think the problem, in retrospect, was the fact I didn’t lace them up tight enough. Oh well!

Saw most of my buds on the run. The run course is two loops so you get to see nearly everyone at least once. Quinton looked great. Larry looked focused. Scott looked like he was having way too much fun. Kirk? Not so good.

I developed a side stitch late on the bike and that continued on the run. Don’t know why they happen and I don’t know what to do to get rid of them. Probably around mile 6 – 7 it went away, however.

The run went fine without any real events. I passed a bunch of guys in my age group on my second loop, but most of them were probably on their first loop of the run course so it didn’t really matter. I did pass one guy that was on my loop. Always gratifying. He made it past me at one point, but faded in the end.

This year we did a lot more running in the sand. Just what your legs need in a 70.3-mile day! I nearly fell a couple times but survived it . . . just like everyone else.

All things considered, I was very happy with my day . . . a PR (personal record).

Overall time: 5:12:47
Overall place: 19/109 (17.4%)
Swim time: 30:57 (1:38 100 yd. pace)
Swim place: 11/109 (10.1%)
T-1 time: 2:48
Bike time: 2:51:01 (19.6 MPH pace)
Bike place: 31/109 (28.4%)
T-2 time: 1:57
Run time: 1:46:06 (8:06 mile pace)
Run place: 20/109 (18.3%)

by Ron Saetermoe

On Saturday after I picked up my race packet, I decided to go down and check out the bike course in Newport Back Bay where I would be racing. Once I got there I pulled out my trusty light blue/hot pink, 1980s looking Trek 1100 road bike. It doesn’t look like much, but it gets the job done.

A few days prior I had upgraded from running shoes on flat pedals to actual cycling shoes with clip in pedals and cleats. I messed around with them for a few minutes in my neighborhood and WOW what a difference. I couldn’t wait to try them out on a longer ride, and what better time to practice with them than the day before a race right?

The bike course was FAST and AWESOME! There was only 1 steep hill on the whole course, which is something a 6’1” 185 pound dude likes to see. I wasn’t using much effort and I felt like I was flying. My first triathlon race ever was the Orange County International Triathlon in which I wore my running shoes on the bike. Needless to say my quads were fried after the bike portion, but on the bright side I did have the fastest T2 time.

My fast practice ride through the Newport bike course was abruptly paused when I happened upon a gathering of people on the side of the road standing around 2 women lying on the ground scratched up and grimacing in pain. Apparently a cyclist was coming down the hill and collided into somebody running along the path. Somebody was already on the phone with 911 and nobody seemed seriously injured, so I decided to continue with my ride, hoping this wasn’t a foreshadowing of events to come the next day.

I was almost done with the ride when the unthinkable happened. I was passing by an older couple and for some reason I decided to get out of aero position, just a gut feeling I guess, or maybe God trying to save my skin. Right when I was about to pass them, the lady decided to make a sharp left turn and investigate something on the opposite side of the path that interested her. She did not look both ways. I vice gripped my brakes and the only thing I could think to say was woah woah woah. My woahs must have got her attention because she stopped at the last second and I was able to narrowly avoid her a foot or two at best.

I’m a pretty nice guy so I didn’t bother turning around and yelling anything. Her husband was already doing enough yelling at her anyways. It was like he read my mind.

After my ride, I proceeded down to Corona Del Mar to make sure my open water swim capabilities were still lurking somewhere within. I hadn’t swum in open water since my first triathlon 7 months prior. I swam for about 20 minutes at a moderate pace. The water was freezing, but I felt comfortable with my stroke. I felt less comfortable walking down the crowded beach in a full body wetsuit with a bright yellow swim cap and goggles. Apparently this isn’t the “normal” thing to wear to the beach these days and I got quite a few looks. Oh well, now it was time to go rest for my race the next day.

I have a hard enough time falling asleep at night as it is, trying to sleep the night before a race is a battle I will probably never win.

I planned to be in bed before 9am the night before the race. Seems easy, but difficult for a night owl. To follow through with my plan, I had to decline an invitation to a friend’s barbeque so I could go through my pre-race checklist and make sure I had everything in order.

While I was going through my checklist I decided to pull my bike back out of the truck that I left there from the previous ride. Good thing I did because the front tire was completely FLAT. I had just put a brand new tube in that morning and it held up fine during my ride, so I still have no idea what happened. What I do know is that I am probably the worst tire patcher on the planet. After a few attempts I gave up trying to repair it and luckily found a spare tube lying around the garage, pumped it up, and everything was golden. I did get in bed early, but falling asleep was a different story.

I woke up the next morning with only about 4 or 5 hours of sleep, but felt surprisingly refreshed. For breakfast I had a protein shake with oatmeal, a banana, a little milk, and a tablespoon of peanut butter all chucked in the blender. It was only a Sprint triathlon so I didn’t bother packing any race nutrition. At this point I was actually less nervous than the night before.

I got to the race around 5:45am only to find a line of cars about a half-mile long, scrambling to pay $10 to park in the lot next to the race. I decided to park up the hill a ways and just walk/jog to the transition area for a good warm-up.

Saw a few people I knew while setting up my transition area. I felt relaxed at this point and just wanted the race to start.

After waiting at the waters edge for what seemed like an hour, the gun finally went off. I’m still new to swimming so I decided to go to the far right and stay out of the congestion. I may have to rethink this strategy since I caught up to the main pack quickly and got a few face fulls of feet and many mouth fulls of polluted sea water. About halfway through the swim I could have sworn I swam over a body floating below the water’s surface. It turned out to be some kind of drainage tube in the bay that caused the race officials to move around the buoys after the first wave had gone and make the course a bit shorter from what I hear, LAME. I must have not been the only one to hit it.

Heading around the 3rd buoy back towards the start, I probably had the largest and brightest object to site with known to mankind, the Sun. When I looked up to site and went blind for the next 15 seconds, I knew I was headed in the right direction.

Besides running into rogue pipes and slow swimmer blockades, I had a decent swim. I didn’t realize I was even tired or winded until I got out of the water. The everlasting run to the transition area didn’t help matters. It literally felt like a half mile.

I threw on my fancy new cycling cleats and headed out on the bike portion. What was probably my least favorite event in my first race turned out to be my favorite in this race. I felt great on the first loop of the two-loop course and passed a handful of people. Only about 5-10 people passed me the whole bike portion. By now I’ve grown accustomed to the buzzing whoosh sound of fast approaching disk wheels. Man I need a better bike.

Besides climbing the one steep hill on the course twice, the only time I felt really tired on the bike was on the way back from the final loop. There was a shirtless dude in front of me that I had been swapping position with the whole ride. I set my ego aside and decided to take it easy to save my legs for the run. Good decision.

After getting my foot caught in my shoe and narrowly avoiding a tumble at the dismount line, I ran into the transition area for a fast T2. Thank you Zoot Ultras.

Now its time to run. My legs felt like tree trunks….. Redwood trees…..Two General Shermans strapped to my hips.

I had done quite a few transition workouts, but I don’t remember the pain being this bad. I also thought my toes would need to be amputated from frostbite I had developed on the bike. I’m not sure which pain was worse. Not to be outdone in the pain department, my gut decided to develop a side stitch that would just not go away no matter what I did. I told myself I wasn’t going to walk, but I had to slow down 2 or 3 times from the side pain. The pain in my side didn’t leave until the very steep hill right before the turning point. Yes, running up the hill made my side pain go away, go figure.

After that large hill I was cruising. I guess running on flat ground after a very steep hill tricked my mind into thinking it was cake. I pushed pretty hard for the last mile and a half, not wanting to leave anything on the table. In my first triathlon I felt like I was setting the world record for the 100 meters in my sprint to the finish line. I wanted to make sure I was not going to have that much energy left in this race. I didn’t.

I ended up placing 7th in my age group (20-24) and was very pleased with my results considering the limited training time I put into this race (less than a month) and my ghetto equipment. I had a lot more fun at this race than my first one and I think Sprint triathlons are my new favorite distance.

Overall time: 1:23:19
Overall place: 107/661
Swim time: 13.13
T-1 time: 1:51
Bike time: 43:57
T-2 time: 1:04
Run time: 23.11
Age Group Placing (20-24): 7th

by Jarrett Pflieger

As the days got closer, Waterman’s kept telling how I better get a really fast run time, and that they are talking a lot of smack to the other companies in the team event such as H20 Audio and Cliff.  Knowing that I wasn’t going to be completely fresh because I am not training specifically for that event I immediately got nervous.  I took a look at the website and realized that I am probably going to be racing against an Ironman champion or an Olympic medallist. YIKES!  I’m not quite to that level yet!

Talking to Waterman’s and doing the numbers, they figured as long as I get within four minutes of the top competitor, our team would have a very good chance of winning.  I have never really met my teammates, but man, they have got to be fast if they can clean house with a four-minute gap!

Race day came along and I decided to hitch a ride at 5:00 a.m. to get down to the race.  I brought my bike so I could ride back home to complete my training day.  I met one of my teammates, Tyler Anderson, who was the swimmer for our team.  Might I add that his breakfast of choice, in which he called power food, was a chocolate covered donut – gross!  Once we got down to the race I met our paddler, Rob Rojas, who often swims with the group that I swim with at Ole Hanson Pool at noon in San Clemente.  He is known for his exceptional stand up paddling skills.  He’s what you would call a “ringer.”

It’s 30 minutes before the start and my legs are heavy from my brick workouts the day before.  I feel nervous, realizing that the pressure is really on.  I don’t want to let my team or my sponsor down!  As I warm up I start to feel a little better, but still not “race day” ready.  I get to the start line and I realize I am running against Luke Bell, Kate Major and Natalie Coughlin; yes an Olympic gold medal swimmer!

The gun went off and my heart jumped and I started running as fast as I could.  My game plan was to run the first mile at a good fast pace and just push it as hard as I could for the last 2.1 miles.  The first mile I was running with Kate Major.  The course was difficult as most of it was in soft sand with rocks everywhere.  My first mile was 6:28. I decided to start coasting through to save a little for a kick at the last mile.  My pace dropped a bit but I did manage to give myself a little kick at the end.  I finished with a time of 20:58. Luke bell finished in either the low 18’s or high 17’s.  I was within three minutes!  I did my job.  And yes, I did beat one big name, Natalie Coughlin, but wait; she’s a swimmer not a runner.  To my credit I did beat an Olympian!

Being the triathlete that I am I quickly changed into my swimsuit and did the mile swim as well.  I did well and was excited to come in the middle of the pack being in a competition with many “real” swimmers!

Our swimmer, Tyler Anderson, beat the competition in the mile swim by nearly a minute and Rob Rojas, the stand up paddler, blew the competition away by six whole minutes!  We won the Surf Monkey!  It was awesome going up on the podium with a team holding up our big ceramic monkey on a surfboard, obviously purchased on the boarder of Mexico, probably the coolest prize I’ve ever received.

After receiving our award I got on my bike a road a solid 25 miles back home, against the wind.  It felt great to be a part of a team again.  I couldn’t stop smiling on my ride home; the new friends and teammates I made were awesome. I got to rub shoulders and actually compete with big names.  I even got a poster signed by surfing legend Dave Kalama, yes, I felt like a huge dork asking him for his autograph.  Overall it was a successful and exciting day and I cannot wait for more team competitions and to repeat our team’s win at surf monkey next year!  Go Team Waterman’s!

Sara Davis

Starting from the swim, or should I say the open water kickboxing free for all, I got nailed in the face within the first minute. It was windy and the waves were about one-two feet high. Does not sound like much, but when you are trying to get through it with 2200 of your closest friends, it is a big deal. The entire way around was a fistfight and the women were the worst! Each corner you came to looked like a feeding frenzy for sharks, nothing but white water with arms legs and heads franticly trying to find open water. Everyone squeezed in to get as close to the buoy as they could.

After the first half I expected it to get better but it did not, so I walked with most of the others to the next buoy, as the water was only 2 feet deep. I probably lost a minute but it was a reprieve from getting kicked in the face, grabbed by the legs, or pushed down into the water by someone trying to swim over the top of you.

The second round was somewhat easier, but still a fistfight. I got my stroke together and relaxed more on the second round. Not sure what the spit was, but I would be confident the second half was faster. Exiting the water was a great feeling. Not only to get out of the fight, but to get to my favorite part of the race, the bike.

My transition was slow, as I have never used the ‘bags” for transition before. I am used to running up and seeing everything laid out for me on the towel, so it took a minute to get used to that. Once the head clicked into gear I was fine. It is great to have your own helper sitting with you, unpacking and packing your bag so you don’t have to worry about anything.

The bike felt great, as I knew it would. This course is somewhat flat, but there was a
15 mph wind from the east and there were some rolling hills to contend with. I followed my plan and took the first 10 minutes to get the heart rate down and relax into a groove. I hovered at 120 bpm and held it there; this is about 70% for me. Once out on the main portion of the course it was obvious this was going to be a “draft fest.”

Everyone was packed into the course so it was difficult to find some clear road. At one point I was in a pace line doing around 30mph, passing another pace line doing 27 mph with marshals riding along side waiting to ‘book you’ with a four minute penalty. I tried to keep the seven meters distance between bikes and managed for most of the way, however as soon as you came to a hill everyone bunched up. It was tough.

To be true to myself I decided that I would head to the front of the pack as often as I could and make sure I was working hard (85-90% HR) and then decided to nail the last 22 miles of the bike leg completely on my own. I bridged around ½ mile between groups, riding at 28mph totally on my own. Not very clever given this was an Ironman, but the HR was staying around 85% so I felt good.

There were a lot of crashes on the course; my thoughts go out to all the people I saw crash or heard crash (yes, you can hear a disk wheel hitting the floor hard from a few hundred yards away, even if it is behind you). There were some nasty situations. Warning to all first timers (as I was) these normally happen at the aid stations, so keep far right it you are not wanting aid and if you do need aid, keep your eyes in front as much as you can.

The bike, although enjoyable, was a long, long leg. Four hours and 44 minutes was my time. I ate well, mixing every 15 minutes between Hammer Perpeteum and Power bar gels. I used between two-four Endurolytes every hour depending on how I was feeling. I don’t do solid food during a race, but I think I need to change this, as you will find out from the run.

So a funny side and slightly gross (not to anyone who has done an Ironman), but have you ever wondered what you do when you need to pee on the bike leg? Sure, you pull over and use the portaloo (Porta potty for the Americans)… yeah right. No, you pee on the bike as you are riding. Well, this has challenges, one is that this is not something you really practice while out for the Saturday morning ride with friends. Not sure what the guys and girls would think of this.

So I talked to people on the course that had obviously emptied their bladders. “Pour a bottle of water on yourself” was one guy’s solution, works for him but not for me. “Stop pedaling and crouch down” was another suggestion, but again did not work for me. So I ended up not taking a leak for the entire bike (count also the wait time on the beach and the swim, so probably six plus hours. My second transition time was extended by at least two minutes from the break I took as soon as I walked in.

I have to thank Edge Cycle Sports of Lake Forest, CA for their support with the bike and wheels, a great setup by Hank and the team there. It is a great Bike / Tri shop as well for setup, sales and service with a world of knowledge on bikes. www.Edgecyclesports.net

Coming back into transition was bitter sweet, the bike had ended, but I had a great time and I was excited to start the run. The run started easy, Tim Monk (a fellow racer who qualified and raced in Kona this year, and an inspiration to me) said, “if the legs have spring in them at the start of the run you should be good.” Well the legs did feel good. I ran the first six miles at 126 – 130 bpm at an indicated pace of 6:40-7:20 (on my Polar).

I talked with a guy at the six-mile mark who said, “13 miles is the key, get to there and then get ready for trouble.” I focused on 13 miles to show it who was the boss. Passing 13 felt good, I was still holding the same good pace and felt as though I would be able to hold this the entire way. At the turn around point I saw the family and Rick / Kelly, great feeling to see someone you know cheering for you.

As I made the turn, Casey from The Woodlands came sprinting up to me. He was starting his first loop and this was a welcome break for me to talk with him although I was not the most talkative due to the focus on getting through the race. I have to
thank Casey for doing that; he did not need to sprint up to me at the start of his run as he did. This could not have helped his overall run.

As I forged ahead I could sense a familiar feeling in my guts. I always seem to have problems with ‘the guts’ when I run, but I managed to get to about mile 18 I think before I had to sprint into the portaloo on the run, I spent six minutes in there, not good. As I started my run again I could feel the stiffness that was not there six minutes before in the legs, especially the hamstrings.

In my times I can see I lost four-five minutes in the third segment of the run because as I continued running at 130 bmp and 7:20 – 7:50 pace, the hamstrings started to cramp at mile 19 as I entered the state park for the second time. Not good news, but if this was easy, everyone would be doing it.

My father in law, Mac, had died earlier this year. Sadly, as he was a fantastic bloke, I had the body-marker write ‘4 Mac’ on my right calf when they were putting my number on in the morning. I talked with Mac a lot during the next seven miles. He found some athletes in the sky and massaged my hamstrings for me every time they needed it. I did not stop to stretch; he had my back. Thanks Mac.
I promised the body I would walk very aid station for the run home, and this worked. Small goals were good for me. My ankles started to cramp, leading to my toes curling up on every foot strike, I felt good however apart from this. When I was running I was holding 7:30 pace with 130 bpm.

Another quicker bathroom stop was called for, not too bad this time though. I noticed three guys around me in my age group. Two of them had been on the bike with me, Roman and Pierre. Roman had a guy on a bike riding with him the entire way on the run, helping him hold pace (Cheating). Every time I walked the aid station he would get away, but by the time I reached the next aid station to walk again, I would catch him and Pierre. The last aid station was ½ mile from the finish, so do I walk? Or do I run? I promised the body I would walk every aid station so I did.

I took my time; coke and water intake was good. The last ½ mile I ran under six minute pace. As I came close to seeing the finishing area, maybe about ¼ mile, I ramped it up. I had already passed Pierre as he was huffing and puffing, Roman was ahead. I went passed him as though he was standing still and the run down the finishing chute was a full on sprint. I passed the third guy beating him by one second on the line (Sorry). Amazing what adrenaline does for you.

That was it, done!

Thanks to Kevin, an unsuspecting volunteer who then spent the next two minutes holding me up while I got my balance, breath and vision back. The plan was then to go get drunk like I do after most other races, this was different though. The body takes so much abuse that it simply shuts down. I was shivering, felt nauseous, felt as though the ground was moving around under me, and I still had severe ‘issues’. We did manage to get to Harpoon Henry’s for chicken wings, a big fat burger WITH bacon and cheese and a margarita. I managed two wings, ¼ of the burger and only ½ the margarita. Walking to get the bike was tough, as I collected my stuff and headed to the car.

I have spent all night sweating like a dog and wide-awake. It felt like the Flu, as the body was busy trying to repair whatever it could. I think I slept two hours maybe, drank a carton of Orange juice and hallucinated all sorts of weird stuff. Would I change this? No way, it was all worth it!

The morning after was a new day. I feel great, had a big fat IHOP breakfast and then off to the race site to buy all the ‘Panama City Ironman Finisher’ clothing and gear I could get my hands on! Not sure about a roll down slot to Kona, not sure I even want to do it right now, but I will go hang out and see anyway. My decision I think is still ‘No’.

Lastly, thanks to my wife and kids for putting up with the craziness that has been
Ironman training, and everyone else around me for either their support or the extra help to make sure I can hit my goals; especially at work, you know who you are!
What next? Not another Ironman in 2010, I can tell you that! I need to hit some anaerobic workouts as all of this aerobic work has slowed me down. I plan to race local quarters with a view to getting on the Podium, also hitting the 70.3 IM (Half Ironman) course to try to qualify for the World Championships for that distance which is in Clearwater, FL next November. “Stuart Lowndes, you are an Ironman,” sounded great.

Some statistics from my race and training:

There were 2423 people started the race, 2328 finished. There were 1300 Ironman
‘Virgins’ including me. I came 66th overall, 45th if you take out the professionals that were above me. I beat 13 of the Male Pro’s. I was 19th in my age group out of 385 finishers.

In the swim I came 277th overall, all of the Pro’s beat me. I was 54th in my age group out of 385 finishers.

On the bike I came fifth in my age out of 385 finishers (I think that deserves a new bike). I was 31st overall out of the 2328 finishers; only 14 of the Pro’s beat me on the bike! Not bad for a Quintanaroo Seduza with Dura Ace gear.

On the run, even with my ‘issues’ I came 29th in my age group with a 3hr 28-minute marathon, good even without the swim and bike! I was also 98th overall including the Pros.

Over 28 weeks I swam a total of 243,410 yards or 138 miles, I biked a total of 3,853 miles and ran a total of 803 miles. During this time I burned 270,575 calories, or the equivalent of 68lbs in weight. I ate an estimated 700 Powerbar gels and over 200 Powerbars.

“Yeah, the big mouth bass get pretty huge out here,” the park ranger informed me, “but I’ve never seen one bother a swimmer yet.”

Maybe the reassurance that I wasn’t going to be swallowed whole during the swim portion of the race explained my feeling of calm as I stood waist deep in the water waiting for my wave to start. Or maybe it was deep breaths of foggy air filled with that indescribable smell of chaparral. Or maybe it was because it wasn’t my first tri anymore. This was #2 and I knew I could do it.

Ron took off two waves ahead of me. “Just enjoy it,” he said before he left. It was his birthday and he was celebrating by doing the Olympic Distance, with two laps around the swim course. I was doing the Sprint and only had to do one, and joked that he would probably lap me. I wasn’t far off. Although I finished the swim ahead of him, he blew by me about a mile into the bike. “You go, Birthday Boy!”

The ride took us out of the south exit of the park, onto the Ramona Expressway, and looped us back up to the north park entrance. There were several other riders around. Some passed me, others I passed. “Where are all the women?” I wondered. It wasn’t till the 300-foot climb toward the end of the ride that I saw the first other female cyclist, stopped mid-climb on the steepest part of the hill. “Bad place to have to start up again,” I thought as I reached the crest and enjoyed a nice downhill back to the transition area.

I was looking forward to the run to the dam and back on a trail that gently wound through chaparral. Cheers of “girl power” from the volunteers encouraged me as I started feeling a bit more confident on my legs. About a third of the distance into the run, I saw the first woman coming back the other way, running strong. I turned and spyed a 40 on her leg. She was in my age group. Then three more women, not in my age group, ran past before I made the turn at the halfway point and started back to the finish. Could I be second in my age group? No, I couldn’t believe it, as I passed a 14-year old boy, the same age as my oldest son.

With the finish line in sight, I picked up my pace and felt excited. The last thing on my mind was to look over my shoulder for approaching racecars, and that’s what it felt like when a speedy 15-year old girl passed me on my right. “What just happened?” I just had to laugh, especially when the announcer called out, “Janet Richard from Lake Forest just crossed the finish line.” Feeling like a celebrity as my transponder was removed, I celebrated with some oranges and Fig Newtons, as I waited for the results to be posted.

To my surprise, I was the 6th overall female, and 2nd in my age group, beaten by the overall first place woman with a time about 12 minutes better than mine. Well, I wasn’t about to beat her anytime soon. But getting passed by a 15-year old at the finish line? That vexed me! If only I had transitioned a little faster. If only I had attacked that climb a little more, or swam in a straighter line. If only I hadn’t gotten stuck at that traffic light! I know I did great, but next time I want to do better.

Those teenagers!