The triathlon gods hate me
 

Why do I even bother? It's so frustrating.

Last year when I did IMAZ, it was unusually cold and windy. The cold actually wasn't really all that bad, except on the swim, but the wind really slowed me down on the bike.

This year, the forecast for StG 70.3 is supposed to be one of the hottest in the history of the event. They're forecasting a daytime high in the mid 90s. The fast ones will be done before it gets too hot. But for me, who uses pretty much every minute allotted, I'm going to be suffering the entire time on the run.

I've already paid my money, booked a hotel and taken off work so I'm definitely going. But I think after this, I'm truly going to be done with long courses. I'm just going to go back to my plan of sticking with sprints and aquabike events.

Well…kudos to you, Jen, for planning to at least “toe the line.” It’s been a long, long time since I’ve done a tri longer than an Oly. But, I have done longer individual events in similar conditions. The best advice I can offer is ‘drink early, drink often.’ Number one concern is your personal safety. Hopefully there will be medical/safety observers along the course watching for dehydration and/or heatstroke. Good luck.

Dan

Sometimes you crush the event. Sometimes the event crushes you. St. George crushed me. My first ever DNF. It was so hot and I was just hemorrhaging electrolytes faster than I could replace them. As hard as it was, I had to make the call at mile 7 of the run that there was simply no way to make time. I wanted so badly to keep going but no matter how much I drank, no matter how many gels I took in, the cramping was just getting worse and worse.

I barely made cut off for the second lap, made it by about 5 minutes, but the first lap took almost two hours to complete and I was only slowing down. I had less than 90 minutes to make the last 6 miles. The course was so hilly and by the time I got to the run, I would bet good money the temp on the asphalt was pushing 100*. There was hardly any shade anywhere on the course. It was about the worst conditions I could imagine for that size event.

I feel so defeated right now. I broke down in tears on the ride home. That was after my left hamstring locked up on me and I was in so much pain I had to have mom pull over on the side of I-15 and spend 5 minutes on the side of the freeway rubbing the cramp out of my leg.

I think the thing that makes this sting even worse is that since this is the last time for StG, there's no chance of me coming back and trying again.

Jen, for what it's worth, I think you made the right choice. You survived to "fight another day". It's really easy to get caught up in the moment and push yourself to the point that you do damage to your body that you might take months or years to recover from. - Mike

Thanks, Mike. That's where I was. I normally can't bring myself to quit. I just hate admitting I can't do something. But there came a point when any hope of actually making time was completely unreasonable and continuing just to continue would likely have landed me in medical... or the hospital. It was totally a lost cause at that point and it took so much for me to admit that I lost this one. I'm the kind of person that would rather die than quit, but only if there is still some hope.

Even as I sit here and type this, more than 48 hours later, my calves hurt so badly. It's as bad as anything I've ever done to myself. As the event got closer, the weather looked to be so much more of a factor, but there was just nothing anybody could do about that.

The frustrating thing is that I know if it weren't for the cramping, I had a chance. I stuck to my plan, which wasn't a bad plan overall. I had a good swim. I did pretty much exactly what I planned on the bike. Even the first part of the run was kind of according to plan. I planned for the run to take up to 3.5 hours. I already know I'm slow, particularly after the swim/bike. And I know I'm going to walk up hills, and they were legit hills. The first three miles were almost entirely up hill. I wasn't happy it took nearly an hour for the first three miles but I figured I could make up a little of that deficit on the way down if I could just jog a ~12 minute/mile pace on the downhill section. I just got behind on the electrolytes and could never catch up. Even on the downhill, I couldn't jog because the cramping was so bad. At the 7 mile mark, I was two hours into my "run" and now I was battling cramps in both my calves, my abs, my hamstrings and my right quad. It was horrendous.

The worst part is that, this being the last time they run StG, there's no chance of redemption. When I did IMAZ, in the back of my mind, there was always the thought that if I don't make it, I can try again next year. I knew going in that this was actually going to be more challenging for me than IMAZ just because of the hills. I thought I was prepared. If it was just hills, or just heat, I would have been OK. Hot and miserable, but I would have finished. Hills + heat = just too much for me.

You made it to the third stage. That sounds pretty great to me. Running is hard on the body, even on the flats, much less hills. That's why they invented bikes.

But those conditions you were running in, that's just too much. At least on the bike you've got breeze.

Jen, you'll do great. I love working out in the heat. I think it gives us desert rats a leg up. I actually love the hot punishment. You'll do fine. Just be sure to salt yourself up real good the week before. My wife gets that Redmon salt from Utah. It's delicious and unrefined. Lots of natural minerals.

Ummm... you did read my update, right?

Sorry...I think that I missed your statement that you'll be sticking to sprints and aquabikes. That's basically going to be my gig if I can't get my calves healed. I start back on a treadmill the second week of June.

I competed a lot in my late 30’s into my late 40’s. Tri team events, bike or swim leg, I was really good at both and it was not unusual for us to place top 3 or so. Plu Open water swims, masters pool stuff. Did a team triathlon at Jones Beach State park in NY one year, I was the bike leg. It was a rough and windy day, headwinds of 30-40 on of the bike sections. It just sucked, 13 mph one way, 36 the other, doing that twice. I realized I was not enjoying this and it was not fun. I stopped competing after that, havent competed in 20 years, but might do an ocean open water swim this year with no expectation of placing. Just for fun.

Well, I can't go out on a DNF. Looking at upcoming 70.3 events. I know I still want to do Oceanside. I was stationed at Pendleton for three years so that's kind of a homecoming of sorts. Planning on that for next April. But I need to get a finish under my belt for this year so I'm looking hard at the Tri Cities 70.3 at the end of September.

Of course I'm still doing the smaller events. I did a club event back in April just as practice and I did the Rage sprint tri this last Saturday. I have several other club events this summer, then the Santa Barbara 45 in August and two more sprints in October to round out the year. I have to keep moving, but StG is haunting me.

I may give IW another shot. If not, then Oceanside. My challenge is that I've never been so busy! It has really cut into my training and event scheduling.

Having done IW, I can tell you the swim is not bad as long as you're comfortable in cold water. I swam it in a shorty wet suit. Took a couple minutes to get comfortable, but once there, I did just fine.

The bike course is actually fairly easy for that distance. The biggest challenge with the bike course (so long as it hasn't changed since I did it a couple years ago) is that it finishes going up hill. It's not a bad incline but about the last 3-4 miles is up a couple degrees and you're legs are already spent. If you know this and pace yourself for it, you should be fine. Just don't get fooled early and blow up at the end.

For me, the biggest challenge was the run. I forget if they call it flat or rolling, but they're bald face liars. It's hilly. Not like big hills, but it's a crap ton of up and down. Most of the run course is on a golf course and we've all seen how those things are laid out. You can go up 10 feet and down 10 feet a dozen times in a half mile. I got it done with time to spare but man, was I sore the rest of the day and all the next.

Just stay in shape for an Oly. If you can do an Oly, you're physically fit enough for a 70.3. At that point, the two biggest challenges is going to be pacing yourself so you have gas in the tank for the whole day and nailing down your nutrition/hydration strategy.

Thanks Jen. I'm going to start running today. Half mile on the treadmill just to start. So weak....a freaking half mile! I'll do a swim, followed by my "run", a little weights and a stretch. IW is weird. Two transition areas, gotta dip the wetsuit the day before, parking sucks. I know a few people who worked the event this year and they said it was an absolute s*** show. A guy died on the swim! There's a 70.3 held in October at the same location run by AlphaWin. I may check it out. I did a Oly at the same time last year and it all seemed nicely organized.

I think you'll find that point to point races, like IW, isn't that uncommon when you get into longer distances like a HIM or a FIM.