IM New Orleans 70.3

To sum up the entire experience….awesome. This is a long one (TWSS).

Friday 4/16
After a hectic Thursday night and Friday morning, my buddy Jason and I loaded up the Acadia (the tri-truckster) and started our trip to NOLA right around noon. We had to book it a bit so we could make the final racers briefing and pick up our packets that day. We ended up rolling into NOLA right around 445. By the time we parked the car at the host hotel and made our way to the expo, it was 515. We had to kill some time in the expo b/f we could go to the briefing. I ended up picking up a few IM 70.3 New Orleans things and a new tri top. It’s pretty sweet. I feel fast in it. We made our way to the meeting and got to see Chris McCormack (Macca) finish up a talk he was giving. He’s kind of a BA in the triathlon community. Our meeting wrapped up and we had to go wait in line at packet pick-up. Since I race as a Clydesdale (200+ lbs), I had to weigh in before I got my race bib and swag bag (223lbs that Friday morning…lightest I’ve been in a while). Number 1488 and a navy blue swim cap to signify my wave. Usual goodies in the bag. The shirts are rockin.
That night we ate at the Palace Café. The meal was good, but the bread pudding was the best ever! WE took our obligatory walk down Bourbon Street. All I can say is WOW. We weren’t able to meet up with our friend Kate that night. She is the one who hooked us up with the free entries.

Saturday 4/17
No nerves yet. I thought I might start getting anxious on Saturday. We hit up McDonalds for breakfast. While we were eating, a homeless guy accused Jason of stealing his chicken biscuit. It was a little sketch. Jason almost laid him out with a kung-fu elbow to the crotch but stopped himself. Saturday was a lazy day. We tried to watch the SunnyKing Crit on the internet b/c Jason’s bike team was racing it. The feed wasn’t great, but we did get to see a good bit of the racing. Put a lot of focus on staying hydrated and drinking water/Gatorade all day. That afternoon, we had to take our bikes to transition. We went for a quick ride to make sure the bikes made the trip ok and then a quick swim. The water was a little chilly, but it was calm. We said goodbye to our mighty steeds and headed back to the hotel. We ended up being able to meet with Kate this night. She took us to a “locals” place The Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. We all had pizza and lots of laughs. It was a good time. I started getting a little nervous towards the end of dinner. It was around 9 and I knew we were going to be getting up around 330 to get ready and eat before the race. I got in bed and tried to sleep. I tried to not think about the journey ahead. The noise outside in the quarter didn’t help me sleep either. Sirens, yelling, motorcycles revving, voices in the hallway kept me from hitting that deep sleep.

Sunday 4/18 THE day
Hooollllyyy crap. Is the day really here? When my alarm went off, I had a quick OMG moment but then calmed down. I got a shower and put on some tunes. Ate my PB bagel. We donned our race wear and headed to the car. Transition opened at 430. We were nervous about parking. We got a sweet parking spot and headed to set up our transition areas. Note to self, bring a headlamp/flashlight for next race like this. The crowd wasn’t too large but that would soon change. By 530, we were set up and inked up. Now we just have to wait until our wave starts…at freakin 800. We chilled in the car for a while. We had to head to the swim start beach at 645 where we waited even more. Sipped on some Gatorade while we waited. We got to see the pros start off in the water. Those dudes can straight up swim. They were flying through that water. My “hero” in triathlon is a dude name Andy Potts. He’s on the US National team. He was the first out of the water in 24 minutes…that’s right 24 minutes to swim 1.2 miles…holy hell. We all yelled at him as he came out of the water, “Yeah you’d better run”...turns out that hour head start is all he needed to set a course record. More time goes by and more waves start. Then they call out “men’s 30-34, navy caps, make your way to the starting coral.” Yep, point of no return. Here we are with a couple hundred other 30-34somethings ready to lay it all out there and go 70.3 miles. My HR started to spike. I took off my goggles to make an adjustment (bad idea) and put them back on. The gun sounded and we were off!

THE SWIM (1.2 miles, 45:42) (Nutrition: 1 Gatorade Rain, 1 protein bar)
The water was pretty shallow for about 50-80 yards so we walked/ran/jumped for a while. Then I dove in and started the battle. Water rushed in my right goggle. Nothing I could really do about it now. I wasn’t about to chance dropping them and having to swim blind the entire time. You never know though; I might have swam straighter without them. The water was crazy rough. Waves and swales knocked you into other swimmers. You couldn’t help but swim into people when you have that many people out there on the water. By the time we turned to go parallel to the shore, I was in a good rhythm. I was cruising on past people. Carroll was right there to my inside. I kept a good stroke and found myself in some clean water (no swimmers in right front or beside me). I kept breathing to my left since the waves were coming from the right. The swales made it hard to sight the buoys. I kept on and then had an uhoh moment. I hadn’t passed or been passed in a while now. I stopped and treaded water and realized that I was THAT guy. I was they guy that swam way off course. A kayak started heading my way and apologized for losing me in the glare of the sun. Don’t apologize to me, apologize to my wife when you dredge me up off the bottom of Ponchatrain. Well shit! Not the best way to start off the day. I angled myself towards the turn buoy and went at about 85-90% to get back in the pack. I made the turn. I kept cussing at myself for swimming that far off course (probably somewhere around 600-800 meters). I think the anger kept me focused. I kept on swimming and finally saw where we turned into the shore. I ran out to the shore and unzipped my wet suit as I crossed the timing mat into T1.

T1 (4:46)
You come down the hill into transition to the wetsuit strippers. I laid on the ground and they grabbed my suit from around my waist and pulled it right off. This was my first experience with wetsuit strippers and I have to say that I enjoyed it. I ran over to my spot, helmet, shoes, glasses, gloves, bike and I’m off. I have to say I was relatively pleased with my T1 and T2 times.

THE BIKE (56 miles, 3:30:05) (Nutrition: 6 salt tabs, Gatorade, Water, 1 clif bar, ½ power bar)
Off we go for a 56 mile bike ride. I think this was the toughest mentally for me. This was 3.5 hrs of me and only me. The field was fairly crowded for the first 20 miles. There were long lines of people to pass and to be passed by. I got off the bike at the first bottle exchange to use the john. There were several wrecks out on the course. The course was flat but windy and only a couple of climbs up bridges. It was very rough pavement for long stretches. People were losing bottles and nutrition all over the place. Around mile 15, the pros came passing by from the other direction. My man Potts was in the lead still but only by about 20 secs. Knowing that I was out there racing behind the pros was a unique feeling. I kept hammering on the bike waiting for the turnaround so that I can have a tailwind. Finally we made the turn. I was loving the tailwind. It didn’t stick around too long. Seemed like the wind changed on me around mile 35 and was right back in my face. At this point, my knee started to throb. With every pedal, it hurt. I couldn’t stand to pedal without it feeling weak. NOTE TO SELF: go get bike refitted. Once stretch of the bike went out this 2 lane road with swamp/marsh to the left and right. Some of the houses have been rebuilt and others repaired. Many looked as if the families that abandoned them during Katrina haven’t returned. I put the pain out of my mind and finally made it over the 50 mile mark. 6 miles is nothing. Up and over the bridge, through the neighborhood, and back into transition…

T1 (2:42)
I hopped off my ride at the dismount line and headed to my rack. Off with the bike gear and on with my running shoes. I grabbed my sweet NOLA 70.3 cap and headed to the run course.

THE RUN (13.1 miles, 3:17:30)
I tried to jog a little once I got out of transition, but my legs didn’t want to do that. I started walking. About the time I started walking, a lady (Jenny) asked how I was doing. We ended up sticking together for almost the entire run (oh ok, walk). The course was nice and flat. It wrapped through neighborhoods and into City Park. The crowds and water stops were great. Everyone cheered you on. I have to admit, I feel a little awkward walking out there. I guess it is a little of the self-conscious me coming out. I tried to run, but my legs just didn’t want to go. I hadn’t run in about 1 and ½ months b/c of my ankle. having a running partner made the run go by rather smoothly. We talked a bit, but I think we mainly complained to each other about something hurting, being ready to finish, or being ready for that beer at the finish line. We make small goals…lets run to that tree, water stop, (insert inanimate object here). By mile 10 Jenny was feelin pretty rough. We ran/walked a little more together. We ran through mile 11 water stop and I kept going while she dropped back to walk. I was determined to finish this thing. My time goal was obviously unattainable so I just wanted to finish in under 7:45. I kept bearing down as I made my way along Esplanade to Decatur. I took that right onto Decatur and felt a huge relief. There was the finish line just a few blocks away. I started passing a few people. I pointed at one camera guy and yelled “whatup?!” I crossed the finish line and heard my name. This was the most surreal feeling. I wanted to jump up and down, I wanted to cry, but all I really wanted was to get a drink and stop moving! I got my bling and picture taken, grabbed a water, and made my way back to the finish line to cheer on Jenny. She crossed about 5 minutes after me. I saw Jason and Kate waiting for me and waving across the finish chute. Come to find out, Carroll finish in 5:15…stud.

Well, it was my first HIM event and I had a final time of 7:40:35. It was one of the toughest things I have ever completed. I’m pumped to double the distance come November. A couple of final things…

-Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers on my journey. The best tool you can have is everyone’s support
-Thanks to Kate for the opportunity to race in NOLA and for being our “guide” over the weekend. It was a ton of fun catching up.
-Thanks to Jason for putting up with all of my questions and for keeping me from freaking out the day of and days leading to the race. It was a great road trip
-Thanks to my Coach, John, for setting me in the right direction. The swim was the easiest part.
-Thanks to my awesome wife! You put up with a lot by letting me train and compete in these races. I’ve got to be the luckiest guy and Lucas is the luckiest son to have a mommy like you!

I’ll post some pictures when I can do it from home. I don’t have too many, but Brightroom was on-site to take pictures during the race. Follow the link below…

http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=61557&PWD=&BIB=1488

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Triathlon: Why suck at 1 sport when you can suck at 3”~on a t-shirt