Tracking Progress Against My Toughest Goal Yet

Is it really May already?  Somehow, we’re already 1/3 of the way through 2012 and I feel like the year is just getting started.  I can’t believe I’ve been training, attempting my goals, and blogging about my adventures for nearly 4 ½ months. 

Thinking about my journey so far, I’ve discovered an interesting paradox.  Even though running on a treadmill, swimming laps in a pool, and riding a stationary bike are so boring they make time stand still, my training days as a whole somehow scream by.  How can both be true?  Because that’s the definition of a paradox!  Ok, I have no idea, but I’ve been wanting to work the word “paradox” into my blog for awhile. 

I really do feel it’s true though.  Over the last few months, I was convinced I had plenty of time to get in shape in preparation for my first true endurance test…my Half Ironman debut.  After all, if time stands still whenever I work out that must mean I’ve got plenty of time to get in shape!  


I kept receiving various texts, emails, phone calls, smoke signals, etc. since the beginning of the year asking how I was feeling, if I can run that far, how I was going to possibly finish the race etc.  My answer was always simple:  “The race isn’t until May 5th so I’ll be fine by then.” 

“Then” is now less than 36 hours away.  


This Saturday morning, I’ll get the pleasure of racing against ~900 other participants (including my brother http://schmeis35for35.blogspot.com/2012/01/sibling-rivalry-ive-got-him-right-where.html) in by far my toughest race ever.  For the 74,323^rd time, a Half Ironman is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run.  This is nearly five times longer than any race I’ve ever done.  

As if the distance itself wasn’t enough of a challenge, the weather forecast is for a very pleasant 93, sunny, and humid.  I mean, who wants a cool 68 degrees when you can have 93 and humid!?!  It’s literally going to be the hottest day of the year here in North Carolina.  Awesome.

The weather is a problem for another reason as well.  The wetsuit legal water temperature is 78 degrees.  That means, if the White Lake water is 78 or below at the start of the race, participants are allowed to wear wetsuits.  Why does this matter?  Wetsuits help keep you buoyant which makes swimming more efficient and therefore faster.  If I have to do the 1.2 mile swim without a wetsuit it will take significantly more energy and more time.  

As of 1pm on Thursday, May 3 the White Lake temp is exactly 78…it’s going to be really close whether wetsuits are allowed.  If my luck over my previous 34 years of living is any indication, I would bet heavily the water temp will be 79 degrees at the start of the race.  Hopefully I just reverse jinxed the situation by making that comment. 

Anyway, at 7:00am Saturday morning, the gun will go off and the professionals start the swim.  5 minutes later, at 7:05, the males in the 34-39 age group begin.  That’s where I fit in and that’s where my brother starts as well.  It’s sweet that we both start at the same time.  If we started at different times, it would be much more difficult to execute my plan of trying to rip off his goggles.  Mom, I’m kidding.

For those of you who are early risers and won't be watching Saturday morning cartoons, you can follow my misery live by clicking on the link below.  My brother and I are bib numbers 319 and 320…just type that in the box and you’ll be able to get an update of where we are on the course.  It’s not perfect, but the website updates after each split (at swim finish, bike start, bike finish, run start, run half way point, and run finish).

Follow my brother and me live (Bibs 319 and 320):

http://setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=live_timing&eventID=1924

Given my start time of 7:05am, I need to finish by 1:05pm to meet my goal of finishing in less than 6 hours.  You can check my progress along the way.  Here is a breakdown of my goals at different checkpoints for your reference:

Swim Finish:  35 minutes after start

Bike Start:  38 minutes after start (3 minute transition)

Bike Finish:  3 hours, 40 minutes after start (3 hours and 2 minutes total bike time)

Run Start:  3 hours, 45 minutes (5 minute time for transition)

Run Finish:  < 6 hours after start (< 2 hours, 15 minute run time)

I feel good about my chances until I get to the run.  For those of you who have done a half marathon before, you probably realize that finishing 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 15 minutes isn’t a big deal.  It’s about 10 minutes per mile.  My problem is that I’ve never run further than 8 miles in my life and I need to run the 13.1 miles AFTER swimming and biking for nearly 4 hours straight!  Oh, and remember that it will be 90+.  Oh, and remember my knee pain is so bad after a couple of miles i usually can barely walk.  Can't wait for this.

Since you can’t have live video to watch the race, I thought I’d share a few pics to help you visualize the experience while you frantically hit refresh on your browser to see where I am.

First, this is my outfit.  Let’s face it…this pretty much screams of me being a bad ass.  When I used to play pickup basketball in college, everyone always assumed I was going to be the best player because I could dunk so easily in warm-ups.  While this definitely wasn’t the case, I’m going for the same thing here.  I need to make people think I’m good.  Who would look at me in this outfit and think I was going to finish anything other than top 10?  Sure, in reality I’ll probably crawl across the finish line, but at least I can intimidate people at the start.

Second, here’s my bike.  It pretty much screams bad ass too.  Again, if I’m going to get destroyed, I at least need to look good.  This bike accomplishes that objective.

Third is a pic of all my brother’s equipment for the race.  I’ll bet you didn’t have appreciation of all the preparation required for a race like this.  Hopefully, this photo gives you an idea of what’s required. I think a full time equipment manager is necessary.  A quick list off the top of my head that my brother is bringing includes wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, bike, helmet, biking shoes, running shoes, race belt, 4 water bottles, nutrition jells, salt tablets, sunglasses, Tri watch, heart rate monitor, Tri shorts, sunscreen, and flat tire equipment (spare tube, tire tool, CO2 cartridges, hand pump, etc.).

My list is the same except I am also bringing a super sharp object to slash my brother’s tires.  Mom, I said I was kidding!

Anyway, I have a couple of fears in this race.  The first is my knee pain that has been bothering me so much over the last 5 months will prevent me from doing much of the run.  The 2^nd is that I get too competitive too early and end up completely exhausted with about 5 hours left to go.

As much as I hate to admit it, I really need to pace myself throughout this race.  In other words, I need to go slow to go fast.  Wait, that’s another paradox!

Wish me luck and remember to feel free to follow along through the live timing link.    

Schmeis