Ironman 70.3 Eagleman -- BLTCE 70.3 Championship

Our great friend Tobias Fehlhaber, who is returning to Germany at the end of the summer after four years at the German embassy here in DC, signed up for Eagleman several years ago but wasn't able to compete because of an injury.  He and our other great friend John Havill (aka "The Eagle," primarily because he's a pilot but also because he has a "shaved" head) decided that they wanted to make Eagleman 2015 a half-ironman head-to-head race for as many of our BLTCE friends as wanted to and could participate (Best Little Tri Club Ever...we all belong to other tri teams/clubs but our little group is the best one ever).  

Five guys and two women signed up...and we dubbed it the BLTCE 70.3 Championship. 

When Tobias was last in Germany, he brought back large (enormous!) German beer glassware for the top 3 male and female BLTCE finishers, so they could pour beer over themselves like it's done by the pros who podium at the iconic German iron-distance triathlon Challenge Roth. You'll have to read to the end to see what I mean but I think it's fair to say that we all wanted to get on the podium so we could have that experience. 

Friday, June 12

The weekend got off to a fun start as I loaded my bike...an all-black Felt B-2 that I named "The Stealth Bomber" ...and got ready to head off to Cambridge, Maryland and the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

I arrived in Cambridge and met The Eagle at the house he had rented for BLTCEers to stay in and serve as the race weekend headquarters, nicknamed "The Eagle's Nest."  We grabbed a bite to eat, headed over to check-in for the race and do some ever-important shopping at the expo (where we saw my fellow FeXY teammate Cindy Revesman), went back to The Eagle's Nest to throw on our swimsuits and do a practice swim in the Choptank.  

Tobias, Brian Simpson, and Jennifer Wright (one of our two uber cheerleaders) arrived and we all headed out to get some food at a great brew pub in Cambridge, RAR Brewing.

When we got back to The Eagle's Nest, it was funny to see how nobody could take a break from their phones as we lounged around the living room.  Ah technology.

Saturday, June 13

The rest of the BLTCE contingent doing the race arrived early Saturday AM...John Wirth (aka "W" / "Half-Iron John" or just "Halfie" as the boys started calling him) and his uber cheerleader-wife Amber, as well as fellow competitors Patricia Hickey and Rebekah Stroman.  Leigh Ann drove in Saturday AM as well and arrived early, we all ate some breakfast, and then Leigh Ann and I headed out on a ride...I was doing 30-40 minutes, followed by a 10-15 minute run, and she was going to ride the whole 56-mile course through the Blackwater National Wildlife Reguse because she wasn't doing Eagleman the next day (instead, she was doing the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim that day, where you swim 4.4 miles between and under the Bay Bridge, a monumental feat that she rocked!).  

After my ride and run, I took The Stealth Bomber over to the race site to get it racked and ready for race day...and then I grabbed a couple cold water bottles and raced around the course in my car trying to catch Leigh Ann and give her the cold bottles.  She was having a heckuva ride, however, and I only finally caught up to her at mile 48...thankfully she found a couple spots to get some water on a hot and windy day.

The whole group got together that night for dinner and took a photo of the competitors in our official race shirts.

Leigh Ann and I also got in some priceless photos with Tobias.

Sunday, June 14 -- RACE DAY

After an exceptionally restful night, I got up at 5am and checked The Weather Channel and saw what looked to be exceptionally good weather...high of 82-84 during prime race time, very little wind, rain in the afternoon to cool us off.  Indeed, it ended up exceptional...just not at all as forecasted.

I threw on my race clothes, kissed Leigh Ann goodbye and told her to get some more sleep for her big swim later that afternoon -- and told her to go out and conquer that monstrous swim (she did!) -- and headed over to The Eagle's Nest to meet up with the BLTCE crew.  We all headed over to the race site to get things ready and hang out under the tent while we waited for the race to start.  

We also got to visit with our buddy Fireman Rob (an amazing guy who does the run portion of race in 50 pounds of full firefighters gear, including tank).

As we were waiting, we could already tell the weather forecast was not going to prove accurate...it was warm and muggy and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

Our uber cheerleaders, Amber and Jennifer, and the Wirth's dog, Cooper, waiting at the swim start to watch W and Brian start the race.

THE SWIM

Our swim waves were mostly staggered, with The Eagle going off around 7:07, Brian and I starting at 7:28, W starting at 7:36, Tobias starting around 7:42, and the ladies being stuck with even later start times.  I didn't see The Eagle's swim start, and chatted with Brian briefly before we headed out into the water.  7:28 came, the horn blew, and we were off.

The swim involves a roughly .5 mile swim out to a right turn buoy, a .2 mile swim across to another right turn buoy, and a .5 mile swim back to shore.  The current got strong at the first turn buoy, pushed me off course after I made the turn, and was strong around the second turn buoy and part of the way to shore.  I did some dolphin diving in the last 150 yards, and then walked that last 25 or so to shore (where I saw fellow FeXY teammate Ben Baumgartner, below, finishing just ahead of me despite starting a few minutes behind me).  

I looked at my watch and saw my time...43:07...almost exactly what I did at Ironman 70.3 Raleigh two weeks earlier.  

Not the time that I wanted, but the swim was over and I could get to the bike and the run.  I ran to my bike, saw that Brian (who was racked next to me) hadn't come in yet, quickly threw on my socks, shoes, helmet and glasses -- got a quick "hi" from Stephanie Gerena -- and after my fastest swim-to-bike transition ever (2:05) ran The Stealth Bomber over to the mount line to get the "bombing run" underway.

THE BIKE

I quickly got into my rhythm on the bike and started out on the course...the weather was not as we had hoped, as it was already getting warm.  I drank a whole bottle of water in the first 10 miles (I heard FeXY Coach and teammate Michelle McKenna Lake in my head to drink more) and grabbed a fresh bottle of cold water at the first aid station...unfortunately, I then went around the corner and it ejected from my bike so I had to wait another 10 miles to get another bottle.  Ugh!

As with every race at Eagleman, there was a fair amount of drafting...and, like last year, I ended up in a photo at the head of a pace line (seriously, the guy behind me is so close that we look like we're riding a tandem bike).

There are some really great views of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and the photographers capture some great shots.

The bike ride ended up much hotter than I had hoped -- my bike computer registered 86.5 around 10 am -- and the wind we weren't supposed to get...well, we got it.  I plugged along in a low and aero position and did the best that I could but could tell early on that I wasn't going to equal or break my 2:30:47 bike time from last year.  

Ben Baumgartner and Pablo Torres passed me around mile 25 but I managed to catch back up to Ben at the end of the bike (I didn't see Pablo again until he was at mile 8 on his way back in on the run). As I crossed the timing mat, I looked at my time...2:45:53 (20.26 mph avg)...again, almost the same as the hillier course in Raleigh two weeks earlier.  

I put my bike back on the rack, made another speedy transition (1:38) into my run shoes and hat, while grabbing my hand-held water bottle and nutrition and headed out on the run.  I figured the other BLTCE boys were having similar days and the 70.3 Championship would come down to the run...soon to be dubbed "The Sufferfest"...and I couldn't have been more right (I think we all were within a few minutes of each other's time after the bike).  

The 13.1 Mile "Sufferfest"

It was apparent within the first mile of the run that in the heat and humidity (with a really high dew point) that there was no way I was going to match or beat my 1:45 half-marathon time from last year.  I just had to keep the head up and put one foot in front of the other with as short and quick of steps as I could muster.

As I was coming up to the third aid station, I saw a guy in a DC tri outfit up ahead and recognized The Eagle's orange Newton running shoes.  I caught up to him at the aid station and said "Let's run this one in together" (we had done that a couple years earlier at another race and got one of my all-time favorite pictures) and he turned around and said "aw, shit."  As we ran together he said "so I gotta put 20 minutes into you on the run to make up the swim start lead" and shot off for 10 feet before telling me to run ahead and he'd see me at the finish.  The Eagle is nothing if not a classy competitor and great friend.

The run is a 6.5 mile out and back, and there is maybe .1 miles of shade over the whole course (not counting the one cloud we got for all of 4 minutes, maybe 1/2 mile).  I caught up to my FeXY teammate Cindy Revesman around mile 4.5 (around the time I saw Pablo heading back to the finish at his mile 8) and then saw W when I was at @ mile 7 on my way back from the turn around.  W was looking strong at mile 5.5 or so and I told him to keep it up and the Championship would be all his...and I meant it, he's a great friend and classy guy, and an ultra distance runner extraordinaire, and I would have been happy to see him catch and pass me on the run.  

Shortly after seeing W, I saw Tobias and then Brian and then Tobias again (the first Tobias was actually his doppelgänger wearing an Escape from Alcatraz tri kit like Tobias had just gotten at that race).  They both were looking good and, at this point, I thought The Eagle might get passed by all the other guys.

I stopped and walked every aid station, re-filled my hand-held water bottle with ice and water (which I used as much to spray water on my face and body as I did for drinking), poured ice and cold water on my head, on my body, down my shorts, and put ice in my shirt pockets by my kidneys to help cool off my blood supply as I was feeling the heat big time (my bike computer later showed 106.5 degrees in the grassy transition, so it was close to or greater than that temp on the virtually shadeless blacktop roads).

I pushed hard to the finish line and checked my time...2:03:31 (9:25/mile pace)...with a finish time of 5:36:14 (37 minutes of last year's 4:59 and 7 second slower than Raleigh two weeks earlier). Given the weather conditions, I will take this result and retire from Eagleman!  

Now to see how the boys were doing.  I had expected W to pass The Eagle on the run and then catch me too, but that didn't happen.  The Eagle came in about 4 minutes after me, and W followed about 10 minute later.  Brian and Tobias followed shortly thereafter, as did Patricia and Rebekah (who had the second-best race time of us all), and we all met up under the tent before heading back to The Eagle's Nest for the BLTCE 70.3 Championship awards ceremony.

When all was said and done, the Sufferfest on the run turned out to be the deciding factor...I ended up with the best time overall and shared the podium with W and The Eagle, with Rebekah and Patricia sharing the women's podium.

The glass trophies filled with beer gave us all the opportunity to do a Challenge roth-esque victory pour as I'm demonstrating in this video.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend with some of our best friends, and the boys will go head-to-head-to-head-to-head-to-head again at the BLTCE Ironman Championship at Ironman Lake Placid on July 26th.  Can't wait for more great times and more great memories with some truly fantastic people. 

Ironman 70.3 Raleigh

Ironman 70.3 Raleigh

 Friday, May 29

Leigh Ann and I arrived in Raleigh on Friday, May 29, about 30 minutes before the Expo opened, but didn't make it to the expo until 12:30.  There was a line of probably 60 people ahead of us by the time we got there but, no worries, we both competed in enough Ironman-branded events last year and earned All World Athlete (AWA) status and got to use a special AWA priority check-in line.  We got our race bib, gear bags, bike/helmet stickers, race t-shirt, AWA swim cap (as well as our race-specific cap), and Ironman 70.3 backpack and hit the expo where we bought some more great Ironman gear (because we didn't already have enough!).

After getting checked in, we drove down 25 miles to Jordan Lake, where the swim takes place, to get in a little open water swimming.  The water was really warm -- in some spots, it had to be over 85 degrees, if not hotter -- and we discussed that it was not going to be a wetsuit legal swim.  No worries, we brought our speed suits, hoping that would help us have a faster swim than last year (and I was going to push it harder this year just to challenge myself).

On our ride back to Raleigh, as we discussed our plan to grab dinner at Beasleys Chicken & Honey, Leigh Ann found a local micro-brewery that we just had to check out given its cycling theme...Crank Arm Brewing.  To say we enjoyed this place would be an understatement...we had a tasting flight of all of Crank Arm's beers, but enjoyed the Holy Mole Smoke Porter (with strong hints of habanero peppers) to be our favorite.  I picked up a trucker's hat, growler, and cycling shirt to boot:

Saturday, May 30 -- The day before the race

We woke up Saturday morning and decided to grab a quick breakfast in the hotel and head right down to the swim start, get in a 30 minute bike ride to give our legs some exercise and make sure everything was working well on the bikes, and then do a 15 minute shake out of our legs.  Details aren't necessary, but I did not communicate well with Leigh Ann and we went different directions and both ended up having longer than 30 minute bike rides (and she ended up all alone on the highway that we had to race on the next day with trucks and cars zooming by...big mess up by me!!!).  We headed back over to Jordan Lake, where Leigh Ann found me some great new goggles at the bottom of the lake that I considered wearing on Sunday.

We tried to make plans to meet up with our friend Fireman Rob -- who does the run portion of his triathlons in full firefighter gear (you gotta read up on this amazing guy) -- but we were tired and so was he so we said we'd try to meet up before the race on Sunday.  After a nice 3-hour rest on the bed (I read a book and Leigh Ann took a nap) we met up with our friends on Team FeXY for dinner at Jimmy V's (a great restaurant named after a tremendous college basketball coach, Jim Valvano, who died much too young from cancer). 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, did last minute prep on our gear (drinks, food, clothes, etc) and hit the hay early (9 pm) to get ready for my first race of the year...and a Big Race at that (after missing my earlier first race of the year by being sick). 

Sunday, May 31 -- Race Day

Despite setting the alarm for 4 am, I woke up naturally at 3:23...I guess 6 hours and 23 minutes is enough rest before a race.  Leigh Ann woke up closer to 4 am, we got our race gear on, made some breakfast and coffee, headed down to the Transition 2 (where we switch from bike to run) to set up our run gear, and the caught the shuttle down to the swim venue and bike start.  At the swim start, we met up with our Team FeXY pals and happened to find Fireman Rob sit down right next to us.

The 1.2 Mile Swim

As soon as we sat down and looked at the water, we saw what looked to be significant current flowing from the right to left...straight against the swimmers on the long stretch of the swim course between the 2 turn buoys.  This would turn out to be prophetic.

I swam about as straight a path as I could swim in a half-Ironman or Ironman race...except for a couple spots heading out to the first turn buoy and on the way to the swim finish from the second turn buoy where I was dodging some errant swimmers.

I entered into the swim with a plan to swim harder than I might otherwise, but that current between the two turn buoys would not allow me to have the fast swim I had hoped for.  43 minutes even...my slowest 1.2 mile swim ever...but apparently others swim times were similarly affected by that current.

The Bike

The race director had to change the bike course after a bad accident last year and, I suspect, significant complaints from Raleigh locals about major roads being blocked...and though it added several hundred feet of climbing, it was a marked improvement to the ride.  

It got very hot on the ride -- high of 89 by the end of the ride -- and the aero helmet got a little warm by the end of the ride, but I had a good ride (averaged 20.28 mph) and was pleased with my 2:45:43 time. 

The Hot and Hilly Run

The 13.1 mile run at Raleigh is a two-loop 3.5 miles stair-step run out to the turn around, back to the city, and then do it all over again.  There's virtually no shade on the run out to the turn-around, with a little shade on the run back to the city (particularly if you run on the sidewalks and under the trees along NC State University). 

The first loop went well, averaging an 8:49 pace, but the 89 degree temps were a lot hotter on the blacktop and I started overheating and my run legs just weren't as strong as I had hoped as the heat and humidity and high dew point made the blacktop temp over 95 degrees.  Thankfully, they get an amazing crew of volunteers on the run who had lots of water, gatorade, ice, cold sponges, nutrition gels, and bananas to keep us able to slog through the miles.

I managed to pick off 3 guys in my age group sprinting in the last 100 yards and finished the half marathon in 2:01:18 (9:15 average pace).

Overall finish time: 5:36:07...twenty minutes slower than last year but still a great race.

 

And it was a great time with our Team FeXY friends, some of whom had truly spectacular races...Nathan Rickman finished 1st in his age group (AG) and near the top of the non-pros, Henry Tragle was right behind him for 2nd in the same AG, Jason Davidson finished 3rd in my AG, Xavier Passy finished 5th in his AG, and Kellie-Rodarmel-Gentile finished 4th AG).  Also fun to see Aaron and Jaime Tragle do their first half Ironman, and do a race with other team mates including David Connor, Rob Toth, Chuck Wilkins, Denise and Kirk Kloepel, Jen Sykes, Tanya Good, Torsten Schillmoeller. Special thanks to Michelle McKenna Lake and Scott Lake for being great team leaders and keeping us all together an organized. GO TEAM FeXY! 

All in all, another great race at Ironman 70.3 Raleigh.  I've done it three times and I'll continue to do it again every year as long as Leigh Ann wants to do this race. 

 

Ironman Chattanooga 2014

They say the 4th or 5th year of triathlon is when big gains typically are made and my fourth year was indeed a year of big gains (broke 2:30 at the Olympic/International distance and 5 hours at the half-ironman distance).  I don't use a coach, and have bought training plans in the past, but this year I went pretty much on my own and came up with training plans on a week-to-week (sometimes day-to-day) basis with some modest reference to my old plans from Spinervals and my wife, Leigh Ann's, training plan from Dave Scott coaching.

My goal coming into Ironman Chattanooga -- where the bike course would be 116 miles rather than the typical 112 -- was to have a "complete race" without walking anything but aid stations on the run.  That didn't happen at either Ironman Mont Tremblant 2013 (12:44) or Challenge Atlantic City 2014 (12:31), where I loved both races but haven't been too excited about my results give the electrolyte deficiency sicknesses at both that left me walking a big chunk of the marathons.  If  all things worked out well, and I could have a complete race like I wanted, perhaps I would best my personal best time at Ironman Wisconsin 2012 (11:52).

Ironman Chattanooga 2014...expectations and goals vastly exceeded!!!

FeXY 'NOOGA TRAINING CAMP
Leigh Ann and I took a long weekend training trip to Chattanooga with our triathlon team, Team FeXY ("Fe" being the periodic symbol for Iron, "XY" being the sex-determining chromosomes for "man"...thus, FeXY = Ironman).  We did a 5 mile run on Thursday, a 1-hour swim in the Tennessee River followed by a ride of the entire (at the time) 114 mile bike course before a 3 mile run on Friday, another 70 mile ride on the course and 1hour swim on Saturday, and a Sunday morning preview of the first 16 miles of the run course.  The bike rides on this training trip was HOT and HUMID and SUNNY (mid-to-high 90s) -- the 114 bike ride was brutal (gastro issues all week didn't help) and the 6:20 and equivalent pace on the 70 miler was OK under the circumstances -- and the runs were HOT and HUMID and WET and my pace was right where it needed to be.  Thanks again to FeXY Coaching coaches Michelle McKenna, Scott Baldwin, and Kim Baumgartner for putting together a great training camp, and Scott "Slake" Lake and Christine Wooten for spectacular support, and uber-mechanic Mark Baldwin for getting and keeping our bikes in great working condition and teaching me a lot about bike maintenance on that trip and in the weeks after (skills I would put to use when I helped our new friend and Crossfit Addict owner and head coach Trey McFerren fix one of his wheels on the Friday before the race).

The lesson taken from this trip was that I needed to get in a number of of long, hard bike rides...which Leigh Ann and I did with three 80-mile, 4000 feet-of-climing rides at Quantico Marine Corps Base (including one in POURING rain...because it could rain on race day like it did for our good friend Dan Hallenbeck at Ironman Lake Placid), and two 100-milers (with over 5000 feet-of-climbing) at Quantico....as well as a LOT of long hill running on the George Washington Parkway trail alongside the Potomac River.

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA
Pre-Race
Leigh Ann and I arrived on Wednesday evening, after a 10-hour drive following a 30 minute swim in Virginia, and did a nice 5-mile run to shake out our legs.  On Thursday morning we were the 2nd and 3rd people in line for checkin and to buy our race gear (hats, shirts, mug, pint glass), and were then wandering around the expo at Ironman Village down by the Tennessee Riverwalk when Dan Kennedy of the local NBC station asked if he could interview us...we didn't expect that we would become the focus of both an article and the entire television news story (which focused on the now-projected rain for Sunday's race day...glad we did that bike training in the rain at Quantico!).  Wearing matching FeXY Coaching shirts probably helped draw attention.  We did our usual pre-race ride and run that afternoon following lunch with Leigh Ann's parents Don and Orla Ann Turvey, who made the trip from Oklahoma to spectate Leigh Ann in a race for the first time ever...and an Ironman race to boot.

On Thurdsay night we also had a fun barbecue dinner with our FeXY teammates (see below), before hitting the town for a couple of beers with our good friends Steve and Tina Coren (we hit the hay around 11:30 p.m., which is a lot later than usual for Leigh Ann and me on any given night much less 3 nights before an Ironman).

On Friday, we did a 10-mile training ride on the course and then drove through the historic Battle of Chickamauga battlefield with Leigh Ann's parents before attending the Ironman pre-race dinner, which was hosted by the iconic "Voice of Ironman" Mike Reilly, who tells virtually everyone crossing an Ironman finish line "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" The dinner featured great presentations by the McKee CEO that own title sponsor Little Debbie -- there was wide commentary about the seeming absurdity of Little Debbie sponsoring an Ironman, but they are a local area family-friendly company that fosters and encourages physical fitness (and isn't an crazier as a sponsor than Bud Light or other companies that sponsor Ironman races) -- and an inspirational story of first-time Ironman competitor and local firefighter Jason Greer who was inspired to race and raise money and awareness for children's cancer by a son who is battling neuroblastoma.

Saturday was a day of finalizing our gear bags -- making sure we have everything we will need or want with us for the swim, bike, and run and putting it in bags for us to grab as we transition between elements -- doing a short swim in the Tennessee river and 20 minute bike on the course, and racking our bikes.

That night we had one of the truly best meals I've ever had in my life at Alleia near the Chattanooga Choo Choo -- bacon-wrapped dates, grilled salad, braised short ribs and sweet potato risotto for me, pappardelle with braised short ribs for Leigh Ann, the best cinnamon gellato ever! -- and went back to our room to get our liquid nutrition ready for the race the next day and otherwise get some rest (I watched part of the Notre Dame football game before going to sleep at 10 p.m. -- thankfully they were winning and the win seemed all-but guaranteed).

RACE DAY!
Leigh Ann and I woke up at 4 a.m. and ate breakfast (350cal Ensure Plus, PB&Banana sandwich) before getting dressed and ready for the swim -- I made the final decision to keep the goatee to help put me into my "tough guy, kick butt" mindset (with Eminem Lose Yourself and Eye of the Tiger playing in my earbuds) -- grabbed our water bottles and nutrition bottles and food for the race, met her parents downstairs in the lobby, and headed down to the transition area to get everything ready for the race.  We double-checked our bikes, put our water bottles and nutrition on our bikes and in our bags, and figured out exactly what we needed for the swim (no wetsuit, so grabbed my speed suit, goggles, and swim cap...ready to go!).  We got to the swim start around 5:15 and had to sit and wait for over two hours until the race started...7:20 for the pros, 7:30 for the rest of us.  Drank a fair amount of electrolyte-loaded water so that, hopefully, there wouldn't be a problem during the race (lots of "bathroom" trips before the swim convinced me I was well-hydrated).

The 2.4 Mile Swim In The Tennessee River

We had heard at the pre-race briefing that the swim was going to be fast -- someone allegedly floated down the river on their back in 1h 30 mins -- but I really couldn't grasp how much the current would help until I was in the water.  I jumped in off the dock and by the time I popped up, I was 15-20 feet away from the dock without a single stroke...I knew then it was going to be a fast swim.

The race was set up with the buoys about 200 feet from the shoreline, and we were told to keep them on our left, which allowed me to go far to the right into the middle of the river to not only get the biggest current assist that I could but to take the straightest line possible while swimming smoothly and as easily as possible since my shoulder had been hurting for the past 2 weeks...nice!

I have my Garmin 910XT triathlon watch set up to vibrate and make noise every 30 minutes on the swim, and when it went off the first time I looked up and could see that I was already past the halfway marker...wow!  As I got closer to the turn to the swim exit, I tried to remember if my watch had beeped/buzzed a second time and was pretty sure it hadn't...confirmed when I got out of the water and saw that my swim time was 53 minutes and 49 seconds...20 minutes faster than my fastest time ever (which was with a wetsuit but without a big assist from a current).

I peeled off my swim cap, goggles, and speed suit as I put in a good run over the 0.2 miles to the transition tent, grabbed my bike gear bag, started my bike computer (which I didn't put on my bike b/c it would've timed out during the swim), put on my shoes and socks and helmet and sunglasses, and got a quick spray of sunblock...and I was off.  Transition time 6 minutes 19 seconds...meaning I was on the bike at roughly the 1 hour mark...a helpful point of reference for me the rest of the day...amazing!

The 116 Mile Bike From Chattanooga to Chickamauga, Georgia And Back
As I mentioned earlier, this bike course was made longer by 4 miles over the standard 112 miles to accommodate some local churches on a Sunday morning race and to make the route a little safer for riders (it already had been longer at 114 in August but was made even longer after training camp).  This didn't present a concern for me -- some of my friends were concerned about the additional miles making it harder for them to make the bike cutoff -- and the slightly modified course looked to be a little bit faster with much better roads, so how could I really complain.

The weather was truly perfect -- low 70s, cloudy, little wind on the first loop -- and I felt great and could tell early that it was going to be a fast ride.  I made it over the 5 or so train tracks in the first 3-4 miles and out of town (also last 3-4 miles into town) without any trouble but saw that many people had lost bottles and bottle holders...that could be trouble for them later in the day.  I use a Speedfil mounted to my bike cage to keep 36 oz or so of water (with 2 Nuun electrolyte tabs) on the bike that I drink through a long straw, and use a 20 oz bottle with 700 calories of Infinit liquid nutrition between the aerobars on my handlebar.  Copying what I tried for the first time at Challenge AC, I put my second nutrition bottle with 700 calories of powder on my back cage (held in place by rubber bands) so that I wouldn't need to stop at special needs unless I had a flat and needed another tube -- some local people put tacks and oil on the road and that created flats and problems for other people but thankfully not me -- and also carried 3 Rx bars in my bento.  I made it through 33 miles without needing to stop for a water bottle, grabbed one at mile 33 and topped off the Speedil, and kept plugging away.

I grabbed another bottle of water around mile 45 (where I saw a biker laid out in the road seemingly unconscious with a bloody face...thankfully he wasn't hurt too badly!).  The Team FeXY crew was in historic Chickamauga and were cheering me on as I skipped special needs at mile 52 and I made it through the first 56 miles in under 2 hours and 45 minutes (which could lead to a 5h 30m bike on a typical 112 course).

I realized I could have a really great bike ride -- much better than I would've expected after the training rides in the hot, humid, and sunny days in August -- so long as I didn't blow up or have any problems on the second half loop and return into town.  I reminded myself of the great advice that I got years ago from my great friends and 8-time Ironman Mindy Soranno (race your own race and pace yourself) and 4-time Ironman Don Soranno (go one gear easier on the first loop) -- founding members of BLTCE (Best Little Tri Club Ever) -- and the mantra I learned from Spinervals Coach Troy Jacobson (smart pacing on the bike will allow for a stronger and faster marathon run)...and stuck to my "keep the cadence between 88 and 100" strategy.  I also thought about my great BLTCE friends Brian Simpson (5-time Ironman finisher and fellow IronSpartan) and Tobias Fehlhaber (8-time Ironman finisher), with/against whom I had raced several times this year, as well as Spinervals good friend Mark Cowderoy, all of whom had fantastic bike splits at Ironman Maryland the weekend before my race...and I wanted to hold on and have a similarly strong ride in Chattanooga.

I did a complete stop at the 77 mile water stop to add water to my second Infinit bottle and top off the Speedfil again (adding another 2 more Nuun tabs, and saw 25-year-old FeXY teammate Kevin Wright  who went on to win his AG at 9h 22m and qualify for Kona!) and plugged along for another 20 or smiles without seeing another person (there had been A LOT of illegal drafting and peletons so it was a little surprising to have so much alone time).  I was passed intermittently on the last 12 miles back to transition (got bunched up in the last 2 miles as people got ready for the run) and checked my time as I went over mile 112 (5h 29m 37s...wow!).  I stopped my bike computer at the dismount line and carried it with me into transition and saw that my total time was just over 5h 42m for 116 miles.

Official bike time: 5 hours 42 minutes 4 seconds (avg pace: 20.35 mph).

The Marathon (A Nice 26.2 Mile Run To Finish The Day)
I did one of my fastest bike-to-run transitions at an Ironman race (3m 44s, including downing a 12-oz can of chicken noodle soup...thanks Brian Simpson!) and passed the time clock to see that it said my total race time was under 6 hours and 45 minutes...holy smokes!  I quickly did the math and knew that if I could run faster than a 4 hour 15 minute marathon -- which I thought was realistic given the weather conditions, so long as I didn't get sick like I did at Mont Tremblant and Challenge AC -- then I would break 11 hours.  Under 11 hours!?!?!?!

(Note here...I have a great BLTCE friend, John Havill -- a United pilot who I nicknamed IronEagle -- who finished Ironman Florida last year in 10h 39m and I was truly in awe and didn't think that was realistic for me anytime soon.  And here it was looking possible that I could go under 11 hours myself if things went well on the run.  John also had told Leigh Ann before the race that he would smile forever if she beat me at this race, so I kept that in mind when I looked at the clock and got motivated to go after John's sub-11 time!  And a sub-11 time would put to rest, for at least some time hopefully, the "I'm coming after your PR" talk from our good BLTCE friend Deb Hopkins. ;-))

The run started out great as I headed up the short, steep hill we get right out of transition...I saw the FeXY coaches and cheer section (Scott Baldwin, Michelle McKenna, Scott Lake, John Schaller and Laura Cortina...sorry if I forgot someone!), and they gave me a good energy boost as I headed out for the flat 4 miles on the river walk.

The river walk was flat and fast and, after the turn onto the highway, I was maintaining an 8m 15s pace through 8 miles (which is about where I was at when things fell apart at Mont Tremblant and Challenge AC).  I knew this wouldn't last through the whole run but it gave me a good cushion for a good marathon and a sub-11 time.  Around mile 9 there's a long, slow climb and I was running with one of the male pros as I reached the FeXY crew again...more great cheering before I turned to head over the bridge to the north side of Chattanooga...where the "fun" would really begin.

The north side of Chattanooga is VERY hilly, and there are two long, slow, steep climbs and 2 long, slow, shallow climbs that make the last 3 miles of each loop a real slog and potential sufferfest.  I was feeling great and undeterred so I ran every inch of those hills on the first loop.  My run time through the first half marathon was roughly 1hour 52 minutes, and (after I grabbed my second 12-oz can of chicken noodle soup...thanks again Brian!) passed the FeXY crew heading out on the second loop. I realized that sub-11 was looking more and more likely and the sub-4 marathon was looking like a real possibility (I so wanted to tell the FeXY crew that I was going after sub-11 but didn't want to jinx it).

The second loop of the run is, obviously, the same as the first, but as the miles plugged on my legs started getting more and more tired.  I started taking in some extra calories (2 caffeinated Gu every 2 miles while conning Ironman Perform at every aid station) and knew that if I was going to break 4 hours on the run...it...was...going...to...hurt...some.

I passed John Schaller (who took this photo) and a couple other FeXY folks, caught up with Zoya Schaller on her first loop, and continued the run up the big hill on Barton Ave. toward the north side of Chattanooga.  Those last three hilly miles were hard, but I didn't walk any of it because I wanted that sub-4 marathon.  As I headed down the hill on Barton Ave. past mile 24 I was looking for Leigh Ann (never saw her), passed mile 25 and started over the Walnut Street bridge, and could hear Mike Reilly calling people in...and knew I had to push it a little bit harder.

As I hit the turn to go back down the hill toward the finish, a woman passed me but then didn't hold her pace as she started down the hill, and said "Go for it!" as I passed her back in starting my hard push to the finish line.  As I like to do when I'm having a good race, I really picked up the pace in the last 1/4 mile and ran pretty fast across the finish line...where I heard Mike Reilly announce "Christian Schultz...he's a husband, a father, AN IRONMAN!"

Marathon time: 3 hours 58 minutes 41 seconds

TOTAL TIME: 10 hours 44 minutes 37 seconds

(clock says 10:55 because we started roughly 10 minutes after the male pros)

Every year I have grand thoughts of doing a fancy finish (Blazeman roll, jump in the air, cartwheel) but then I remember what Dave Scott once said "It's a race...finish it hard!" and always opt for running as fast as I can to the finish line and raising my hands in triumph.  

I always strike the pose in the finish line photos. 

Leigh Ann told me to bite the medal at Eagleman and Challenge AC and it's just too fun not to.  Tastes delicious! 

One of our Ironman Chattanooga Facebook cohorts created this image with the Walnut street bridge in the background...very cool.