Ironman Arizona Stats
Posted by Marty on April 24th, 2008 filed in TrainingRegistered Participants: 2200+
Started the race: 2027
Finished the race: 1689
Quit/DNF the race: 338
Atletes in M35-39 Div: 353
Quit/DNF in M35-39 Div: 41
Kona slots in M35-39 Div: 10
Qualifing for Kona in your first Ironman:
PRICELESS!!!!
My times:
Swim: 1:01:57
T-1: 0:03:23
Bike: 5:06:23
T-2: 0:01:22
Run: 3:35:20
Finish: 9:48:23
Can you say “ALOHA!!”
Posted by Marty on April 19th, 2008 filed in Training
“So your sayin’ I got a chance?!” … from the mouth of Jim Carey in the movie DUMB & DUMBER.
When I exited the water and saw that my swim time was 1:01…that was exactly what I thought, I got a chance …to really have a good race. But I was wrong.
I HAD A GREAT RACE!!!
It was better than I really anticipated. I like to try and estimate what my finish time will be in all of my races by using past race experience and guess-ology. My most accurate prediction before this race was 9:53…I even dreamed about it. However, much to my surprise, I ran a 9:48 instead. I can live with that amount of inaccuracy.
The days leading up to this race were hell…shear hell! I hate going into something and not know where I stand. I had no experience at that distance and I hadn’t really raced in 6 months. I didn’t count the Super SEAL race the week before, due to the inaccuracies in times and the fact that it was so short compared to Ironman. It was simply an appetizer to the main course of IM Arizona.
When I got in the water at 6:41a.m.(I looked at my watch) I was a little nervous. I am typically very calm before races and relatively speaking this race was no different. The PRO’s started at 6:45 and would have a built in lead…they would need it! SUCKA’s!! (mainly the female pro’s, but what ever!)… tic toc… tic toc… tic toc…
Finally, our canon went off … and we went off! Just me and about 2000 of my closest friends. It was nothing but assholes and elbows for the first 200 meters. I had planned to stay close to the concrete wall that ran the entire length of the swim. This would allow me to swim straight and stay out of the ensuing battle that I was sure would be going on next to the bouys. After about 200 meters I found clean water and started to get control of my stroke and pace. I kept telling myself to extend and glide, don’t get in a hurry, keep your heart rate low…etc. So I started thinking about my stroke, where everyone else from Breakaway was, what diseases I was going to get from the water I was inadvertently drinking and wondering just how accurate the weather man really was.
Then, quite simply and quietly, I hit the turn around point of the swim and was heading back to the transition area. I looked at my watch and saw that I was only 28 minutes into this swim. It made me smile. On the way back, I continued to think about many different things, but the thought of Kona started to dart in and out of my brain. I pushed that thought way back in my head and focused on my stroke. “Don’t be such a rookie”, I told myself. You still have a long way to go before you sleep.
I swam under the first of two Mill Ave. bridges and started the home stretch back to dry land. Just 300 meters to go. As I rounded the final red bouy and headed for the steps, I could hear the announcer calling out the names of athletes coming through transition. I started to kick my legs real hard to wake them up. “Wake up Boys! The real race is about to start!”…I hoped that they heard me.
The phrase “It happened so fast I hardly remember what happened” really describes what happened next.
I hit the steps, at the waters edge, hoisted myself up and started running. I glanced at my watch and saw a time of 1:01. It made me do a double take! That was a good swim and I wasn’t even tired…now let’s get this wetsuit off! I ran passed many of the smaller wetsuit strippers (no not the kind that dance with a pole!) …I needed a big sonofabitch that could do it right the first time. And I found him! A large intense looking man, he was standing on the left side of the two rows , waiting like a 450 lbs gorilla ready to tear something apart. Much like a bad prison scene, I offered myself to this behemoth of a man. He grabbed the top of my wetsuit above each pectoral and yanked downward. The speed and force he applied caught me off guard. In one quick pull he freed me from both arms. It happened so fast that I didn’t have the chance to drop my goggles and swim cap. It broke the strap on my goggles as he pulled my entire fist through the sleeve! Next he yelled “SIT DOWN!!”….yes….sir(whimper). He pulled the remainder of my wetsuit free of both legs in one forceful yank, jerked me off the ground with his right arm, handed me my wetsuit with his left arm, then pointed towards the changing tent and said “RUN!!” I couldn’t stop laughing and giggling the whole way to the tent.
Where’s my gear bag…got it! These volunteers are awesome!!
Into the changing tent.
In and out like Superman…and I was off to find my carbon fiber steed waiting in the stable with the other 2000+ war horses. I had been looking forward to this moment for a long time. I found my P3C right where I had left it almost 3 hours before. As I started to run with my bike I noticed that most of the bikes were still racked in transition. That was a very good sign. I was 214th at that point. Time to go to work!
As I mounted my bike and headed out of Ironman Village, I could hear my Mom yelling “Go Marty Go!!” It was like receiving a jolt of electricity through my body. It made me realize that I wasn’t just racing for me, I was representing many people….my family….Breakaway….the Navy. I absolutely had to stick to my plan and maintain control. With that thought and a quick ding of my $7 ice cream bell…I was gone.
The bike course consisted of three loops.
1st LOOP: I headed out of town and started to focus on getting my heart rate below 150 bpm…it was around 160 bpm when I came out of transition. There were a few 90 degree turns to negotiate on my way out of town and onto Beeline Highway. After about 20 minutes on the bike, I hit Beeline Highway and encountered the wind that we were all hoping wouldn’t show up on race day. Well, it did and with a vengeance! I was able to maintain about 17-18 mph going into the wind. I loaded up at every aid station with 2 bottles of water. One went in my aero bottle and the other got poured on my head to cool me. I was drinking an entire 20 oz bottle between every aid station. To make sure that I ate, I set the timer on my watch to sound an alarm every 10 minutes to remind me to eat. Trust me, great idea! I would be fueling completely with INFINIT customized nutrition. That stuff is awesome! I also supplemented my nutrition on the bike with 20-25 Thermolyte salt capsules, due to the high temperatures. After almost an hour of hard work, I hit the turn around point and headed back down the slight downhill of Beeline Highway. The downhill was nice…but the 25 mph head wind was now a tail wind…that was AWESOME!!! I stretched out over the top of my aero bars and systematically began working my way through the gears on my P3C until I bottomed out on my 55T big chain-ring. Now we were cookin’ with gas! I began to pass people…with authority! I started to notice that I was catching up to the back end of the female pros….hee hee hee! I was really humming now, so I glanced down at my bike computer. I was going 41 mph!!…and my heart rate was 138 bpm. I had no reason to slow down, so I just kept dropping the hammer and increased my speed a bit more. It took me 32 minutes to go 18 miles.
2nd LOOP: This loop was more difficult than the first loop because the wind had picked up significantly. I blazed through town dinging my bell everytime I saw spectators or volunteers. They deserved the attention. As I headed out of town I could feel the heat coming on. It was about 10:00 a.m. and the temperature was almost 90 degrees. I hit Beeline Highway again and headed northeast into the wind. I could feel the effort in my legs more now than earlier. The wind started to gust above 30 mph and kick up the dust from the shoulder of the road. At one point I looked up and saw that the road in front of me was completely eclipsed by a dust storm that was covering the other athletes ahead of me. I looked at my computer again and saw that I was only going 14 mph…that’s right, 14…not 41. This sucked!! I stopped looking at my computer at that point. I hit the turn around and headed back to town. Ding ding ding…make way! Chief Taylor comin’ through!
3rd LOOP: My final loop was pretty much the same as the 1st & 2nd loops…BUT IT WAS THE LAST LOOP…YEA!!!!
As I rolled into town, I remembered something I had told everyone. I said that if I got off the bike and onto the run in under 6:15 (on the race clock),we would be going to Kona. This thought lingered as I came to the dismount line and passed my bike off to a volunteer (those guys rock!). I grabbed my “bike to run” gear bag and headed into the changing tent. There was only one other athlete in the tent and he looked like he had had enough, so I got a lot of attention from the other volunteers. I told them to pull off my cycling shoes and socks and pour water on my head. I put on fresh socks and my Avia Bolts, then held my breath as one of the volunteers took 2 one-gallon jugs of ice water and emptied them on my head and body….WOOOO!! Good shit! I shot out of the tent like a canon ball. Thanks guys! Whoever you are?
As I headed out on the run my watch told me that I had been racing for 6 hours and 13 minutes….can you say “Aloha?!” I was now in 40th position Overall!!
My first mile was too fast. I passed the 1-mile marker in 6:55! Slow down Taylor! My next mile was a 7:20…mile 3 was a 7:30…mile 4 was a 7:45….finally! I had slowed down and gotten rid of the bike that I felt like I was dragging. I settled into a steady pace and kept my heart rate below 150 bpm. I was walking through almost every aid station from the very begining of the run because my nutritionist, Kim Mueller of Fuel-Factor, said that I would need to take in 48 oz of fluid every hour!! I didn’t think it would be possible, but I had to try. Man! She is smart. She is definitely the rocket scientist and I am the rocket.
The run course at Ironman Arizona is a three loop course. I knew that if I planned on running a 3:30 marathon, I would have to run 1 hour and 10 minutes per loop. I felt like that was pretty realistic. As I approached the transition area and the end of my first loop, I was feeling pretty good. I looked at my watch as I passed under the first Mill Ave. bridge and saw 1:06!! Holy Shit! I was really doing it. I knew in my guts that Kona wasn’t just some pipe dream anymore. It was well within my grasp, as long as I could just maintain. As I ran passed my family and friends, I yelled “Who wants to go to Hawaii??!!” Everyone around them started to clap and laugh, but my daughter, Kelsey, ran after me saying “I do! I do!” I just love her!! Felipe, my coach, yelled to me that I was in 3rd place and said ”Don’t blow up, Dood!!!” He was so excited, I thought that he might start speaking Portuguese to me. I passed the second Mill Ave. bridge with tears in my eyes, but only for a brief moment. Half a mile later I got passed by two guys in my age group…Bastards! I let them go with little thought and simply held my pace. 5th place, now.
The rest of the run was a blur. I now know that the temperature soared to almost 97 degrees and that many people were being taken away in the ambulance or just simply quit. I felt sorry for them, but just kept running my pace. I was at about mile 15 when I saw Michellie Jones running the other way(she didn’t say “HI”?), but she was about 20 minutes ahead of me. Even the pros were really hurting on that day. There were times during the run when you really start to wonder what the hell was the point?? Then some nice girl at one of the aid stations gives you a Coke with a smile and life seems a little brighter…for about a half mile!
I was shoving water, Gatorade, ice and Coca-cola through me at every aid station. However, I did shove some of the ice down my tri-shorts from time to time. Hell, who am I kidding? I put ice anywhere it would fit…ANYWHERE! It was F$%#ing HOT!!
I suffered through the ups and downs of the run and slowly (but not too slowly) counted the miles down. I hit mile 22 and decided that I was going to kick it up a notch all the way to the finish-line. They must have moved the finish-line back a couple of miles because when I got to the 24 mile marker…I was blown! Wow! What a mistake. I had started to push too soon and was no left dead with 2 miles left to go. So I put my head down and suffered silently…at an 8 minute pace! I rounded the corner of the last bridge feeling like SHIT! I knew I had only 1 mile to go and I was about to finish this long hard day, but I could’t seem to find any joy…anywhere. My feet were killin’ me, my crotch hurt like I had left my bike seat in there somewhere, my eyes were blurry, my lips were chapped, I was starving and I had to pee. SHIT SHIT SHIT!!! I had to keep going.
As I approached the Mill Ave. bridges for the last time, there was a lone woman manning a trash can filled with ice water and sponges. She saw me coming and the pain in my face and quickly scooped up a big handful of sponges. She handed them all to me and said, “Yer almost dun, Hon!! Keep goin’!!” I took the sponges and held them over my head, looked skyward into the sun, and gave them a hard squeeze. The cold water cleansed my mind of all the pain and negative thoughts that might have been holding me back and I started to smile. I found my stride again and started to run hard. I had only 300 meters left and this day would be over. KONA!!…KONA!!…KONA!!…was being chanted by all the different parts of my body that make up my mental committee. You done a good job, Boys!!
I rounded the final 200 meters and finally got to take a left at the split instead of going straight. There was a small sign that said “1st & 2nd loop=straight, Finish=Left”. I love left. As I passed the sign, I saw the Crazy Brazilian, Felipe. He was loosing his shit! He was so excited that I could hardly understand what he was saying, but I knew what he meant. He had gotten my daughter and my nephew to wait there and run beside me up to the start of the finish chute, where my mom was waiting with my cowboy hat and a Texas flag. I’ve had many experiences in my life…but this one was EPIC.
I rounded the corner and saw all the spectators and the finish-line. I picked up speed and started to wave the Texas flag with both arms. I scrunched my cowboy hat down nice and tight and hauled ass through the finish-line tape as Mike Riley bellowed, “Marty Taylor, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!”
I remembered to stop my stopwatch and turned to see the race clock…9:48:23!! I DID IT!! I can’t believe I actually did it! We were indeed going to Kona! Yee Haw!!
I got attacked by two woman after I crossed the finish-line (normally I don’t mind), but they had my arms and just kept asking me if I was okay and did I need anything. I finally barked at them, “Hell YES! I’m okay. I just ran a marathon. Now get off me!!” They persisted. “What do you need??” Again I barked…”FOOD, Goddamn it!! FOOD!!” I guess they finally got my point because they changed gears and simply said, “Okay..? Well, do you want your picture taken?” It sound like a good idea….why not?
I quickly got my picture taken and saw my family and friends behind the barricade. I moved toward them and found my kids. I embraced them with both arms and started crying. The sweat from my face and body mixed with the tears that were running down my face and soaked into the fabric of the clothes that my kids were wearing. It was over and I was victorious in the arms of the ones I loved. Life just doesn’t get any better than this.
I want to thank everyone who supported me and believed in me, even when I didn’t. I truly do love you all!
KONA HERE WE COME!!!
MADD MARTY
Damn Weather Man!
Posted by Marty on April 11th, 2008 filed in TrainingI wish that son of a bitch could make up his mind! I have an Iphone that has a weather feature. It is very accurate most of the time, but it keeps going from 92 to 97 degrees on race day. I’m really hoping that it’ll be wrong and we’ll have a nice calm day with a high temp of 85 degrees!! A guy can hope, right?
Either way, if it is going to suck for me…it’s going to suck for everyone. I just have to suffer at a higher speed than the rest.
More to follow….
MADD MARTY
3 Days till Ironman
Posted by Marty on April 10th, 2008 filed in TrainingI went to bed last night without setting the alarm, planning on sleeping in until I’d had plenty of sleep. Well……at 6:30 this morning my brain decided that it had enough sleep and wanted my body to get up. I find it really strange that a few months ago I didn’t think that I had enough time to get prpared for this race…but now I can hardly stand the waiting game I must play till Sunday at 7:00 a.m.!! LET’S RACE, DAMN IT!!
So I forced myself to close my eyes for another hour then finally got out of bed and had a bowl of Apple Jacks (good shit)…and a cup of coffee. In true Marty fashion, I had’t really started packing for this trip until about 8:00 a.m. Oh well, the only really important things were all my tri-gear and my bike, right? However, the Tempe Fashion Police may come after me for the rest of my wardrobe! Well, I finally got my ass in gear and started organizing things so that I could get on the road before noon. I even got my truck washed (it really needed it!)
By 1:00 p.m. I was in Yuma, Arizona. I pulled into a filling station to donate a kidney, quart of blood and a semen sample to for half a tank of deisel (deisel?!….it seemed like a good idea when I bought the truck). That’s when I saw the mother of all “have to stop” roadside resturants…CRACKER BARREL!! No, its not where white people go to eat. It is a wonderful culinary shrine to all that is fried. Let us pray.
Damn! That was so good.
Back on the road with a full gut and starting to think about the race again….3 more days. I allowed myself to get lost in thought for the next hour or so, imagining what it was going to be like to really compete at an Ironman level.
I had been driving for almost 2 hours out of Yuma when I saw it. It was there in the distance….maybe a mile ahead. A Texas stop sign…Dairy Queen. Aawwhhh….Mmmmmm (said in the voice of Homer Simpson…no relation to Matt, my mechanic) Yes, I was going to stop and have a large Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard! And it was so…let us pray.
Life is good….especially the 3 days before a race. Back on the road again. I would be to the hotel in about an hour, but I was ready to be there now. This “taking my time” crap sucks!
I finally arrived in Tempe and got to my hotel. I pulled up in front and got out of my truck, quickly stretched and to a deep breath of the warm dry desert air. This is going to take some adjustment. As I walked in to the lobby I found the front desk to my right and a large lounge area with a computer to my left. I walked up to the counter and start checking in with “Jennifer”. As we were making small talk I surveyed the rest of the lobby and noticed a woman sitting at the computer, checking her email, I assumed. She looked oddly familiar…but, definitely an athlete. Then it hit me! Holy crap! She must have found out that I was competing this weekend and decided to show up and make me look bad….again! My un-official nemesis, Michellie Jones, was not only racing Ironman Arizona, but she was staying at my hotel!! I hope she didn’t see me! I guess I will have to leave my ego in the hotel room on race day, AGAIN! (I always do).
I actually think she is a incredible athlete and feel very lucky to be in a sport that allows me to race shoulder to shoulder with such a professional. Well, maybe we’re not shoulder to shouolder, but if she would just slow down just a bit we would be.
Well, so far this has been a good trip and I think it will get even better.
Good night.
Train hard and race harder!
MADD MARTY
Firing on all eight cylinders!!
Posted by Marty on April 6th, 2008 filed in TrainingWell, NO! I’m not dead….just been training…a lot! Sorry I haven’t written in a while, but it is my blog after all. LOL!!
As some of you know I am racing in the 2008 Ironman Arizona o April 13th…7 days from now! People keep asking me if I’m ready? I have to say with out a doubt, Yes! And thank God that freakin’ race is almost here! I have been “choppin’ at the bit” to race for over6 months (September 29, 2007 was my last race!). I finally took the crazy Brazilian seriously and started to train hard and not race unless he said I could, BASTARD! Well, I let the hammer fall today at the inaugural Super Seal Triathlon in Coronado. It was an olympic distance course….if you were lucky enough to take the correct path on the run!! (more about that later) My only goal today was the break an hour on the bike portion…and I think I did, or came within a few seconds of breaking that barrier. That meant that I would need to average 24.8 mph or better the whole time. One of the comments from “the guy I passed” was ……”When we hit the south turn around, I looked at my computer and I was going 31.5 mph and you were steadily pulling away from me!!”
Madd Marty loves to hear that shit!
I will need to average 22 mph in Arizona to have a good race…now I believe it is highly possible. Maybe I should take some hula lessons??….well, I ain’t gonna buy the stereo before I have the car, if you know what I mean. But point of fact; the “guy I passed” on the bike finished about 4 minutes behind me in the race. Why is this significant? Because he also finished Ironman Arizona in 2005 with a time of 9:45!! He also said he was in better shape this year. Good job, Buddy!…good-er for me!
I can wait! Bring on the pain so I can go to Kona and get laid…um….er…I mean lei-ed.
Well, I’m writing again so please read my rants often.
Goodnight all!
Madd Marty
p.s. KOZ SUCKS!!
No More Dirt Left….
Posted by Marty on October 8th, 2007 filed in TrainingSo there I was….
Two inches of snow and ice on the ground and an air temperature was 19 degrees(God only knows what the wind chill factor was??) I was running down Schooner Pass(7,200 ft) in Lake Tahoe at 4:00 am, right in the middle of the road, trying not to slip on the ice that had formed in the past 2-3 hours. Occasionally I would see the headlights of a oncoming car and would scurry off to the shoulder and shuffle through the snow and ice until the car had passed. The people in the car must have thought they were seeing things when they saw me. I was wearing a black beanie with a headlamp, blue “Ultra running” wind breaker, Camelbak, a pair of Zoot ultra running shorts and running shoes…yes…and that was it! The weather didn’t seem to have much of an effect on me, I was still warm. It could have been because I was averaging about an 8-minute pace for the past 20+ miles! This fact would ultimately turn out to be a hard lessoned learned for me.
It was about 6 weeks prior to this night that I received a voice message on my phone from my friend Angela. “Hey, I heard you were thinking about going to Tahoe and running in that ultra marathon they have up there. LETS DO IT!! It will be fun. Come on…I know you want to. You’re nuts. Call me. Lets talk about it. Bye.” I didn’t need alot of convincing, and she was right. Apparently, I am nuts as it turns out. So I called her back the next day and said “Fuck it. Why not.” During the next 6 weeks my training focus shifted from triathlon to “Holy Shit, I have to run 72 miles six weeks from now!”…style training. In that time I increased my weekly running totals from 25-30 miles, to 80-100 miles a week! My legs held up pretty well. I ran to work one morning(28 miles), I ran up and down Mt. Whitney(22 miles), I ran around Big Bear lake(18 miles) and a number of other 18-22 mile runs in and around San Diego. Angela and I would run together whenever we could but it was hard making our schedules match. She too is a nutbag!! Probably the most insane chick I have ever met…in a good way.
I almost forgot to mention, we also did a trip to Colorado for a week. I go every year so I can forget that I am apart of society and run around the mountains like Jeremiah Johnson hunting elk. If you don’t know who he is…stop reading and go rent the video from Blockbuster..then finish reading! I love it up there! A couple of weeks before I left, I mentioned to Angela that it would be a good opportunity to get some altitude training before our ultra race. Being the nut that she is, she said she wanted to go! Well?…Okay? I must say that I got to see “The Princess” in rare form for that week. I would love to recount the tale but for most of it she has instructed me that I would “come up missing” if I ever told anybody.(Because she is Italian and ‘knows’ people!) All I will say is that she is a real trooper. The best part of the whole trip was the drive out there and back. I don’t know if Angela remembers any of it, because anytime she got in my truck(passenger seat) she was fast asleep! She did wake up long enough to pick a fight with a 73 year old woman at a Taco Bell in New Mexico. The winner of that one was pretty close, but I think she got the best of the old bitch.
Much to my surprise, Angela had never been more than 2 miles away from her house in Encintas…NEVER! She calls it her “Bubble”. It was a strange new world out there for her and between the marathon sleeping sessions and the fights with New Mexico’s senior citizens, I really think she gained a new appreciation for the American southwest. We got to see the Petrified Forest National Park, the Meteor Crater, Ship Rock(New Mexico), the Navajo Indian reservation(she was disappionted not to see any Tee-Pees)…and many other utterly boring sights. But now we know not to do that again.
Anyways…back to the race.
About 5 hours before the start of the ultra we all went to dinner at a steak house across the street from the Marriott(we had a condo there). There had been talk that there might be some weather moving in overnight. I non-chalantly said “PSSSH! What’s the worst that could happen? It’ll be fine, besides, there ain’t a cloud in the sky.” Now, fast forward 5 hours. At the start of the race the temperature had fallen to 31 degrees and there was a mixture of rain, sleet and snow coming down hard as the wind speed picked up to gusts of over 40 miles per hour! I don’t make much of a weather man. Oh well, you got to love it when it SUCKS!! And it truly sucked. We knew it would be this way….so we had custom shirts made….”LAKE TAHOE, SUCKFEST, 2007″. The shirts could be misunderstood, but either way, it would suck.
I had told Angela that I would run the first 5 miles with her so that it would help me establish a pace and conserve my legs…YEA RIGHT!! Who was I kidding? As soon as the gun went off I was “off the the races”!! My Seabuiscut Genes had kicked in and I was chasing the leaders, only a couple of minutes back. I never did run with Angela. Bad idea….real bad. I kept this pace up for about 4 hours, and feeling quite proud of myself. I ran the first 26.2 miles in about 3:45:00! Not a bad marathon, right? But I still had 46 miles to go.
Alot of things change after 26.2 miles. Mainly….your PACE!!! I had reached the high point of the race at 7,150 feet, at Schooner Pass(mile 20). It was 19 degrees and the wind was blowing real hard but the snow had stopped. It was just plain cold. I stopped at our support van(manned by Greg K. and a guy named Bob?) and traded my wet shoes in for a dry pair. Oooooh….that felt good! I drank a Red Bull and took off again. th This time I was running downhill for almost 8 miles….ouch. I thinkk at that point I would rather run uphill, less painful. By the time I had returned to lake level I knew that this “fun” run…..wasn’t going to be so much fun very soon. My feet had started to hurt and my mind was wandering everywhere. I was running with my Ipod, listening to all kinds of music. I had Prince and his “Little Red Corvette” to pull me up hills, AC/DC was there to keep me “Back in Black”….because that’s where I was, in the dark! I liked having the music, however, my mind would follow the music and shoot off on tangents about my own life. I would thinkk about my kids, my life, my dog, my future and all the places I had been in my life. Physical places and mental places. At one point I was running down a hill crying about some fucking country song about love lost, dog dying, drinking . . . .well. . .you get the idea. In the next moment I had a vision of a bear come into my weary mind. This bear was standing on the side of the road watching this oddly dressed human being running past with one real bright eye, singing and crying! At that moment, I went from crying straight to laughing! I wonder what that damn bear thinks now?
The morning started to make its appearance with a little twilight in the Eastern sky. I was looking forward to the sun. I’ve always heard that it will energize you and remotivate you. But mainly….it was cold and I was lonely. And so I ran.
I was passing time, places and people that were surely turning in different circles of their life, completely ignorant of the fact that a lunatic was running through their neighborhood looking for a special…….bush? ditch? anything! I had to go poop! NOW! It is amazing how these “deep” feelings just come over you so quickly and demand your attention. Well, I found a winner. It was mainly due to default because I was out of time and didn’t want to make an “asshole” out of myself on the shoulder of the road. It was a very nice, well groomed yard with very little exterior lighting…..in a word, perfect! These fine people would wake in the morning to see the 2 inches of snow on the ground. It would be just like Christmas……presents and all!
So I ran away from that shitty situation….LOL! Morning came and things seemed to get a little better. A little. I don’t know what my milage was at this point but time and distance seemed to just drag on and on. It was surreal. I had started to walk alot more and was getting passed by a number of othe runners at periodic intervals. Most were pretty friendly, but they were all hurting. One guy named “Chris” ran with me for a mile or so and we talked. He asked if I was doing good. I replied that I didn’t think anybody was doing “good” at this point. I was pretty sure that we were all suffering to some extreme or the other. (My buddy Dave says, “Its all about who can suffer the best”). And so I ran.
I come from the school of thought that if you are hurting “Just rub some dirt on it, walk it off”. I was having a hard time grasping that concept at this point(I believe it was mile 34). I came around a corner to see my support vehicle sitting there, waiting. What a welcome sight. I didn’t really know if I was hungry, but I was sure that I needed to eat to keep going. So I ate. I had a snack cup of tapioca pudding, a Dr. Pepper and some chips. This is what I call “desperation eating”. This happens when you’re hurting and are willing to try anything in the hopes that it will make it all better. Good luck with that cowboy! While I was eating Greg told me that Angela was hurting pretty bad and that she realized that she wasn’t going to make the cutoff time at the 50 mile mark. It had her very upset and she told him that she wanted to make it at least until 7:15. I was worried about her because she is the type of person that will just put her head down and push her way through the really hard parts….and this was a really hard part. I knew whe didn’t want to quit and it must have been killing her that she wasn’t going to make it. Greg didn’t tell me what was wrong, only that she was in bad shape. And so I ran….barely.
The next time I saw the support van(mile 39), Greg told me that he had just left Angela and she was crying. He said she wanted to get in the van, but Greg told her that he wasn’t going to let her stop until 7:15, her goal. I told him that he was an asshole and that for his own good, he had better go and get her right now….LOL! Angela can be a handfull when she is tired, hungry or just pissed off. He then let the cat out of the bag and told me that she was fine, accept for the fact that all the food she had been eating had decided to take the “emergency exit”. She had left her heart rate stay too high and coouldn’t digest anything she was eating and had a wicked case of diarrea!! Poor girl. I reiterated that he had better go and get her NOW! I grabbed another snack and they turned around and disappeared back the other direction. Leaving me standing in the cold Tahoe sunlight….it was still only 23 degrees! And…so….I…(sniffle)….ran.
Things tend to blur a bit when you are suffering. I know …..I ran(ok, walked) up a big ass hill, where another runner passed me. I also passed the casino where I thought I would run in and place a $100 bet on “Black”…..collect my winnings…..and keep running. However at this point I didn’t want to add anymore distance to this “death race” than I had to! Thought it would make a good story someday….screw that shit! I kept seeing blue minivans drive past me. This was the color of my support vehicle. The only problem was that I could hardly see anything at all. During the sleet storm earlier that morning I must have been hit in the eye by a piece of ice and now my left eye was completely blurry. I have poor vision in my other eye anyways, so I was almost completely blind! I couldn’t tell if the blue minivan was Greg just fucking with me, or there was a shit load of them on the road this morning. Either way, I was ready for a break and I was looking for some motivation. Finally, one othe these elusive blue minivans passed me and did a quick u-turn up ahead. As I shuffled up to the side of the van I saw that they had retrieved Angela and she looked pretty good, considering the shitty night she had just had. We were at mile 42 at this point and I was hurting. I really wanted to get to the 50 mile mark under the 10 hour mark. This would qualify me for the “Western States 100 Ultra”. What the hell was I thinking???!! I didn’t even like running 72 miles, not to mention 100!! I was starting to listen to the different internal committees that were having various discussions about whether “We” should continue. I tought to myself, “If I can just keep rubbing some dirt on this problem, I would make it to mile 50″. One of my committees shouted “It ain’t happen’n Capt’n!!” Apparently…….I was all out of dirt!! I decided that I would make it to the start of the marathon and call it quits(mile 46). I tried to tell some funny jokes the Greg, Angela and Bob? in an effort to distract them from the fact that I wasn’t running. Greg pretty sharp and he caught on right away and told me to RUN! And so I (tried)to run.
The next hour and a half were torture. Every step was painful and I was worried that I would even make it into town and to the start of the marathon. By stopping and wasting time at the last stop….I had gotten really stiff. And now it seemed to be one hill after another. I got passed by another runner, he didn’t even say “Hi”. But, I wasn’t offended because I knew he was hurting too. Finally, I topped the last hill into town and started to pass some houses and businesses. I had never been so excited to quit a race in all my life. I had been running down a list of excuses to use but none really seemed to work. Then I remembered what I had told Coach. Because he didn’t see my reasoning for competing in this race, I told him that I would quit if I felt any severe pain or injury coming on. Well, this situation absolutely qualified for that statement.
I was in town now and hoping that the next corner would reveil the start of the marathon, or at least the support van. As I approached one of the major traffic lights in town, I saw my support van with three welcoming smiles inside. I was relieved and was about to reach the van and stop for the last time when out jumps the “Princess”, hot off her pooping tour of North Lake Tahoe. She says, “Come on! I’ll run with you for a while. Yippee. . . I told them as I continued to run(shuffle) past the van the I was “Done” and that I would be stopping at the marathon starting point. They didn’t really seemed to surprised. I guess it was showing in my face….as well as my pace. And so I ran….
Angela was full of positive energy and she was doing her best to help me continue, at least till we reached the marathon start line. It didn’t take long until we realized that we had actually ran past the point at which we wanted to stop. We were now almost a mile past the point we had meant to stop. When I heard this…..I stopped. No need to go any furthur. I was standing at about mile 47 of this 72 mile run, and very happy to be “standing”. Angela was still bouncing around, wanting to run more, but I was done. I walked off the road about 8 feet to a road sign and took a piss. I didn’t care who saw me or what they might think…I was all out of “Give a Shit”. As I turned to get into the van I saw Angela talking toa lost looking asian girl who had come running by looking for the other marathon runners. Angela told us to give her a water bottle and some Power-Gels because the girl had come to the race completely unprepared. Both of the started to run down the road and away form the van, Greg and I just looked at each other with amazement. What the hell was Angela doing?? We got the van going and pulled up beside her and asked her the same question. She started telling us that she was going to run with the girl for a while and that she was worried about her. Greg and I told her, at the same time, “GET IN THE VAN!” Freakin’ nutbag!!
Finally, we were all in the van and heading to the finishline to return the timing chips that we still had attached to our ankles. We got dropped off about 1/2 mile from the finishline and were planning on walking the distance to the finish until Angela batted her eyelashes and asked these two volunteers to give us a ride. They were about 25 years old and drinking beer in a 1995 Honda Accord. It had been graffetied inside and out. On the short, but interesting drive to the finishline, the driver was telling us how he had 1000 watts of power running through his stereo, but had the “Bass” turned down so he could hear the words to the old school Run DMC song that was blasting out of the speakers. WOW! We finally cam e to a stop and we slowly crawled out of the car and started making our way to the finishline. We still had to walk about 75-100 yards the the line, so we started to run slowly, because that is all I could manage! The spectators started to cheer and clap for us as the announcer called out “Folks….lets hear it for these two ultra runners just now finishing 72 well earned miles!!” Angela and I just started to laugh and look embarassed at the misunderstanding. We ran right up to the finishline and the timing pad that would stop our offical time….then detoured and ran around the whole thing and handed our timing chips off to one of the volunteers. They looked confused, but just smiled all the same. We were done….but not finished. We walked around the back of the finish chute and headed back for the waiting “concert on wheels” in the old Honda.
One hour later we were all sitting in the hot tub at the Marriott and soon fast asleep for a long nap.
In the end, we ran an 83 mile ultra marathon. Angela ran 37 miles and I ran 46 miles. We were both a little screwed up mentally at the thought of not completing the 72 miles. It really rubs me the wrong way and I have been struggling for a week as to how I am going to fix the problem. At first, I thought I was going to just have to let it go. However….we thought of a solution to that problem….Can you say “Do over!” As of right now, we are planning on teaming up again and going to Lake Tahoe over the Holidays and run around the lake unsupported! We will run from 7-11 to 7-11 until we complete the entire course.
Stay tuned to see how the “Do over” goes!
Madd Marty
I’m not dead
Posted by Marty on July 31st, 2007 filed in TrainingThat’s right, I’m Not Dead! I know it’s been a few weeks since my last post so Iwill try and remember everything.
First of all, I have a new position at work. Originally, I was fortunate enough to be in a position that allowed me to walk around all day looking at my watch and carrying a clipboard…..looking very important, but not really doing much. However, those days are over. You should be happy to know that you are getting themost for your tax dollars now that Chief Taylor has a bona fide J-O-B!!
OLD PRO’s 10K:
Bottomline….I ran faster than I have ever ran in a race (tri or foot race)! I had an average pace of 5:50 per mile, 35th place overall. Not to mention I was only 14 seconds behind the 34th place finisher….Jim Vance!(pro triathlete).
CARLSBAD SPRINT TRI:
This was a good race for me. I am getting faster and it shows because the only woman that beat me was that meddling Michellie Jones(said in the voice of the old man from Scooby Doo). She took the heel of her Newton running shoe and smashed the last remaining morsel of ego that I might have had. . . . sniffle. . . .sniffle. I guess I will just have to get faster. Damn it! However, at the 2 mile mark during the run I thought things had changed. I had gradually gained some ground on the guy in front of me during the run and was about to overtake him when I saw a woman up ahead of us both. She was tall and was running hard. This was going to be tough! So, a few yards furthur I caught the guy in front of me (a guy named Cody from Arizona) and he begain to set his pace with mine. We caught up and eventually over took who I thought was Michellie Jones. . . .it wasn’t. But it was Rachel Challis, another pro Aussie or Kiwi woman, who is pretty freakin’ fast. She is the same woman I had to chase down at SD International. We finally dropped her and got within sight of the finish line. Cody(The Wonder Boy) must have been sand baggin’ it, because we were shoulder to shoulder with about 200 meters to go and he just turned it on and kept it on! He put 8 seconds on me in the last 200 meters! Bastard! . . . .good kick kiddo. It’s not nice to make the older guy look that bad.
THIS JUST IN. . . . WORKING OUT AND DRINKING COFFEE CAN KEEP YOU HEALTHY!! YES! I’M SO IN! (I am watching the news while I type)
More updates tomorrow. . . . . .
Madd Marty
NO PRESSURE? RIGHT?
Posted by Marty on June 25th, 2007 filed in Training
The morning was like any other race day. It started WAY too early(4:30am) with a breakfast of oatmeal and orange juice. I wasn’t really nervous about this morning’s race, even though it was my first race as an “elite” athlete. I was actually very excited at the prospect of racing with the “big boys”…..and girls , as it turned out.
I got to the transition area about 5:30 with my tri bag and my bike. Right away I saw Coach and Luke standing at the pro bike rack, chatting with another elite racer. I found an empty spot on the rack for my bike, dropped my bag and started to prep my transition area. As I was unpacking my running shoes and other race gear I noticed the FELT DA(race bike) next to my bike had pink stars and the words “World Champion” written on the saddle. YOU GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!!! I knew that bike. It was Michellie Jones’s race bike! And if you don’t know who she is….well…bottomline: She is the fastest female triathlete on the planet! She won Kona last year and will probably do it again this year.
But hey, No pressure, right? I mean hell, she doesn’t have a penis! I won’t really be racing against her? Not feeling so tough now, huh, Cowboy?
I shook off that feeling and got ready. I chatted with Coach and Luke about the race as I put on my racing flats, then headed out for a 15 minute warm-up run. At this point I was feeling pretty good about the race. When I returned to the transitiion area “Mrs. Jones” was finishing with her prep also. She seemed like any other athlete getting ready for a race. It was time to zip up my wet suit and head to the water.
I got to the beach, hit the water and started to swim. I would have about 5 minutes to get warmed up in the water before the horn sounded and the race would start. I swam to the first bouy, turned around and headed back to the start line. I felt relaxed and confident. My goggles fit great and the water was just right…..OOPS! Sorry. I should have been watching where I was going. I had almost ran over the “fastest female on the planet”!! She popped up and said “Sorry, mate” with a very thick Australian accent. I simply said “My fault, sorry” and put my head down and kept swimming. I started to giggle to myself as I was swimming. I thought “I’m about to get my ass kicked!! He He He He He He He HE HE!!!!”
Next thing I knew the horn sounded and we were off. For about the first 300 meters I hung with the pack….then it got real lonely. “Guys…guys…where’s everybody going? What’s the hurry?” I guess I need to work on my swim. Let’s just say it wasn’t very crowded when I got to the bike rack. LOL!! Cricket, cricket, cricket……
On the bike I would be able to even the odds a bit. The pack had put over 4 minutes on me in the water and I had alot of work ahead of me. I caught up with the tail end of the female division at mile 2…then it was up Canon St. and up hill to Cabrillo National Monument. It was a deceptively hard climb. Once I got to the top I knew I would be able to hammer and maybe even get within sight of another pro. A few minutes later I caught sight of a couple of racers in front of me. My legs were firing on all eight cylinders now and my Zipps race wheels were given off that beautiful “Wah Wah Wah” sound every time I cranked the pedals. I could now see a familiar pink and black rider leading a group of two other riders. Damn it! It was her again. I was about to unleash my secret weapon on the unsuspecting Mrs. Jones. She wouldn’t know what hit her. Just a little closer……closer….closer. NOW!!! Then, like a machine gun firing, I blasted her with 3 bursts of “DRING….DRING….DRING!!!!” She never knew what hit her. My ice cream bell never sounded so good to me than it did at that moment. I just flew past her like she was standing still….however, she was going the other way and was actually 5 minutes ahead of me! My work here was done. I could have happily coasted back down the hill and been completely satisfied with my race…..but there was the small matter of the 6.2 miles….without a bike left to finish. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the two riders chasing her were none other than our beloved Coach and Luke….so I got witnesses. YES!
The run wound up being the fastest 10K I have ever ran, with a pace of about 6:10 per mile. I am very happy with that and the entire race for that matter. I was the last male elite athlete to cross the finish line ….but I did beat 3 female pros. Yeah. Overall, i am very happy with my performance and have identified some areas that need improvement…..i.e. the swim…..the bike…and the run!!
I had a blast getting my ass kicked!! I was also granted the honor of racing with a fellow SEAL Team member, Mitch Hall. He got back from a combat tour 9 weeks ago and placed 7th overall on Sunday. So, lets keep the “no training” excuses to a minimum in this crowd. We are all fortunate to be associated with people of this caliber. Him and those like him(meaning, you!) are the reason I love this sport. Cherish ever day you have with your friends and family and honor every race with your best effort….no matter how long or short the course.
Race hard, Train harder
Madd Marty
There’s No Drafting in Triathlon!!
Posted by Marty on June 20th, 2007 filed in TrainingPardon me, while I whip this out!
If you think that there is any room in the world of triathlon for drafting….Fuck off!! No apology required. Does the term “INDIVIDUAL Time trial” ring a bell?? This sport is rooted in the belief that we are our own competition and and that everyone in the race is racing against the clock. If you witness someone drafting in a race, SAY SOMETHING!!! Directly to that person and an official. I don’t care if it is Chris “Macca” McCormick or Michellie Jones, SAY SOMETHING to them. Anybody who believes that it is “Just something that happens” or “It can’t be helped in a big race with lots of competitors” is just plain naive or lazy.
Even if there were no USAT rules against drafting, what would be the point? You might as well go and join your local cycling club and “sit in” and wait for someone else to do all the work. Don’t be a weak-ass mamma’s boy(or girl)!! We participate in this sport because it sucks….and we love it when it sucks! Don’t make it easier, just to win your age group or a piece of the prize purse. Have integrity….not some, but all or nothing.
So…..if you find yourself in a race and you happen to notice a scum sucking, piece of shit, lazy, cheating, thumb sucking mamma’s boy, leech of an athlete hugging your rear wheel…..hit the breaks, ever so gently(without warning) and allow said “participant” to get a close up view of the asphalt. Even if he does not crash, he will absolutely find a different host to suck off of for the remainder of the ride. Don’t be afraid to “take it on the chin(or rear wheel)”, because it is for the good of us all. Fight back! Stick it to the man! Go down swinging!…..and all that other “Rah Rah” bullshit. Whatever you do, don’t fucking draft! Keep our sport what it was meant to be, an individual test of endurance and skill where you get all the blame and all the credit at the end of the day.
Fight the good fight….and sorry about all the “F” bombs.
Race Hard, Train Harder
Madd Marty
CAPTAIN OBVIOUS !!
Posted by Marty on June 18th, 2007 filed in TrainingYou can’t run 2 big races back-to-back on consecutive weekends….without hurting!! DUH!!! I guess I was starting to think that I was immune, imortal or just plain insane. However, I am back, living in reality and realizing that I have to give my body the opportunity to recover. (That sounds familiar….maybe someone said that to me recently?) Oh well.
This past Saturday I rode with Coach Felipe and the other guys that normally ride on Saturday. We did the Elephant Forest ride at a decent pace. I was doing a pretty good job of keeping up and was feel fine…..until about mile 40. Thats when the wheels started to come of the train. My first indication was that I was having to work harder than normal to keep up with the . . . Felipe & Luke caravan. These guys normally ride fast on these Saturday rides, but Holy Shit!! This was ridiculous! How did things change so much from the last time I rode with them? Could it be the 44.8 miles of running or the 80.6 miles of cycling at race pace in the last 2 weeks?? NO!? Well, maybe?
Yep, I was feeling the deep and lasting effects of fatigue from my big races. It was kind of like feeling the head ache after eating ice cream too fast, but with my whole body. I continued to pedal as I analyzed this new and very mortal feeling(no more super human for you, G.I.!). But I didn’t feel tired before the ride and I had brought something to eat and a plenty of water. However, I was in the process of “bonking” and if I didn’t get some quick energy in me soon, I would crash(literally and physically). Luckily, I was riding with 2 other Breakaway team members and one of them agreed to stop and share a Coke with me. After we guzzled the fizzy drink and had a nice deep belch….we were off. Okay, no problem. Right? Wrong. I was still exhausted. What the fuck!!? I found myself in a place that I had never been before. I would have to…. well…(gulp)….slow down! NEVER! Well, maybe a little. Oh shit, I forgot I still had to climb Torrey Pines hill before I could make it back. Shit! Shit! Shit! This was really going to suck, but I love it when it sucks….in a race! Not so much in training.
I have learned a valuable lesson. RECOVER….or fail. It is just that simple. The next day I was planning on competing in the Low Tide Ride And Stride in Coronado. It was an 8.2 mile foot race that I won last year and had every intention on coming back this year and winning it again. However, I was told by a very wise Brazilian that I shouldn’t race, but recover instead and get ready for the San Diego International Tri the following week. He said “Dude, dude you need to geeve you self a break.” He was right.(damn it!) I needed the rest, so I took it. I also took the next day completely off as well.
It has been 8 days since the TRI 101 race and my legs are still feeling the effects of that performance. Legs. Listen up. You guys got until Sunday morning and 6:45 to get it together….then it’s game on! So quit your whinning, rub some dirt on it and walk it off…..WE’RE RACING!!
Madd Marty