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With Reno high temps in the 20's I loaded up the van and fled town with no real plan in mind other than head south until the temps were at least in the 60's. The van is fully pimped out with a cozy bed, dog crate, and ice chest. I drove as far as I could on I5 south the first night. I wasn't sure how comfy the setup in the van would be, but I slept a solid 7 hours.... in a rest stop. Sweet!! Woke up and finished the drive to Huntington Beach. I had fully intended on camping in the van the entire week, but got an invite to stay with some friends that I met at Ultraman this year. Thanks Keevin!! I also got invited along on a little ride. I hadn't been on the bike outside since day 2 of UMH and had only managed 2x45 minutes inside on the trainer. I heard that we were jumping in on the Long Beach New Years Day ride. I was told the pace would be fast and there would be 500+ people. We planned to regroup part of the way through the ride at a Starbucks along the course. 
In spite of knowing before hand the logistics of the ride, I was in no way prepared for the sight or sound of the peloton as it rounded the corner. I started pedaling to meet their speed, but felt like I'd never be going fast enough to latch on. Finally I merged into the group, but found myself towards the rear of the 600+ riders. It was really amazing to see and be surrounded by the riders, but really nerve racking. It took a lot of concentration to stay away from the rift raft and keep up when the group surged. I heard that we were doing 30+ during sections of the ride, and the one time I managed to peek at my HR monitor I saw an unbelievable 178. I don't think it's ever been that high on the bike before. There was a police escort we were blowing through most stoplights, but stopping at others. The slow and then sprint surges finally got the best of me and I was relieved to get spit out the back. I sat up and cruised into the coffee shop to regroup with everyone. After that the ride mellowed out and we headed to Dana Point for breakfast buffet. The return trip entailed a little more suffering with a stuffed belly. 
Breakfast in Dana Point with Keevin, Monique, and Rick 
A fantastic way to spend NYD! 
Monique and Slater FletcherThe rest of the weekend included some beach runs and taking Bliksem to the dog beach for her first ocean experience.
Bliksem playing in the waves
Freedom from the leash
This is my super cute growl that says play with me please
I got sand everywhere...Next up a quick trips to Joshua Tree NP, Saguaro NP, and White Sands NM......
In reflecting over the past couple months a topic has come up a time or two. The average person I talk to wants my perspective on if my sport is clean, and by this they mean doping. Lance Armstrong has been making major headlines all summer and this is often the only connection these people have to cycling or sport. As far as Lance is concerned, others will have to decide his guilt or innocence, but it did bring up the topic of cheating in sport. Most athletes I know all are vehemently opposed to doping, but what about other forms of cheating. We all say that we want a clean sport and to participate on a level playing field. What about the gray areas? Where do we draw the line? Does deliberate acts like drafting count? or how about prescribed medicines that can potentially increase performance?During the last couple Ironman races I've participated in there has been rampant drafting. In Kona this year I was passed by a peloton of at least 30+ riders. I watched a woman draft off a man as they passed me. She continued to draft as they pulled away from me. When the referee flashed a red card for drafting she proceeded to argue with the referee. I passed her as she was serving her penalty in the "sin bin", but was later passed back as she drafted off yet another guy. Talking with people after the race I learned that this is indeed a race strategy some use. They figured that the 4 minute penalty they receive is well worth the time advantage of drafting. It's basic risk versus benefit. They hope to not get caught, but if they do they still gained time and saved their legs. As frustrating as it is to get passed by these people I know that my time is the result of my effort. I don't know if there is an easy way to solve this problem at Ironman. It did seem like there was a good amount of referees, but what do you do with a pack of 30? With 1800+ athletes on the road it is crowded, and those that choose to draft can. Only their choice of doing what is right will keep them out of the draft zone. Another gray area is the use of inhalers by athletes. If an athlete has asthma then go ahead and use your inhaler because you need it. What I think is interesting is that a much larger percentage of elite athletes have asthma when compared to the general population. Why is this? There has been much debate whether use of inhalers in people without asthma does or does not improve performance. Do these give an actual boost or just a mental one? I guess my issue with the use of inhalers by athletes NOT having asthma is the intent to cheat. Whether or not they get a boost, their reason for taking the medicine is to improve performance. They can "legally" do this by applying with USADA for a therapeutic use exemption along with a doctors diagnosis and script. Is this the "gateway drug" to trying other performance boosters? Where do they draw their line or do they? At the end of the day we all have to look ourselves in the mirror and face what we are. I never have understood cheating on any level and don't have any idea how someone can accept an award (or take it away from someone else) knowing deep down that they didn't come by it fairly. It makes you a morally/ethically bankrupt person to cheat at whatever level. What I would like most of my non athlete friends to know is that most athletes are clean and fight fare. It's a shame that the few among us that cheat are the ones that are remembered by the masses.
Besides the swim, the run was the most intimidating part of this event for me. It's not so much the distance of the run, but rather it is all on road. 99% of my training is on trails. The only time I run on road is to get to the trail, which is 3 minutes by foot from my front door. Trail running is my meditation. I get totally lost and feel so incredibly lucky to run in such beautiful places. I tend to get injuries when I run on road, but this is probably more due to the fact that I avoid it until it comes to race day. My ouchy spot post run tends to be my anterior tibialis, and I was a little worries about this going into race day. With the worry about my legs I decided to run in compression socks to help mitigate the damage to my legs for as long as possible. It worked.... for a while. 52.4 miles takes a toll.The morning started early, very early. The night before I bought some more rocket fuel at the gas station in the form of 2 spam musubis. When my alarm went off at 3am, I rolled over, turned the light on, and started to cram them down. They actually tasted good. Salty stuff after all the sweet gels the day before were a nice change. The run didn't start until 6am, but because of some serious procrastination on my part we had a 40 minute drive from the hotel to the start. Next year I'll get started on my reservations early..... I promise.As I went to put my shoes on I felt some pain in my right toe. Noooo, there was an enormous blister on my big toe right where I used to have a toenail, until Ironman claimed it's victim 6 weeks prior. The soft new skin was just no match for 260 miles on the bike over the past 2 days. Not knowing where to find a needle in the van at 4am after it had been hit by 2 days of Ultraman tornado, I pulled out a safety pin from the race packet and began surgery. 15 minutes later my foot was nicely bandaged and ready, I hoped, for 52 miles of running.
Waiting for the run to start. It might have been the only moment all day that I felt cold. Too bad it didn't last.One, two, three, go! It was still dark outside as we all started..... much too fast. Ooops. I know better than this, but my legs felt good. The first marathon went by quickly and felt easy. Then the heat began, my stomach started protesting, and my right leg started hurting.
My plan was to leave the socks on until they felt hot, and then change them and change out my shoes. The first half of the run I wore Avia Avi-Lite and for the finishing stretch I wanted the Avi-Bolt. The Bolts gave me the extra zip I needed to maintain my lead, plus they just look really fast. The socks still felt cool, so I left them. I also wasn't sure if I sat down to take them off that I'd ever get back to my feet again.
Just before the turn in Kawaihae. Photo by Timothy CarlsonBetween my stomach protesting and my right leg pain I was alternating imodium and ibuprofen with a little improvement. I was all too familiar with this course as it's the last half of the Ironman bike course. I knew how much further I had to go and I knew I'd get there.... eventually. I slowed my pace in hopes that my stomach would stop it's revolt, and I got a little relief. The last 13 miles were torture, but I kept on right, left, right, left, repeat. My right shin felt like someone had placed a knife in it and every time it touched ground they turned it. My crew kept me moving forward, and I think they knew it was bad when I wouldn't take anything else to eat and stopped talking. No sound from me is a bad thing. The last 10K or so of the course I also know well from many a long IM day. One of those long IM days was this year, and I knew where every bump in the road would be. Finally on the top of the last hill I could see the top of the old airport buildings. Woohoooo, going to make it! I might be dragging my right leg behind me and forcing my stomach into some kind of compliance, but I was going to make it across the finish whether my body cooperated or not.
Somewhere on the Queek K.... with my crew and pacer Taylor Seavey. 
Post finish and ocean dip with my wonderful crew. Thanks again Seavey family!
With Wendy Minor, my hero, she is an Ultraman finisher at age 65. This is proof for all my 50 year old patients that tell me they can't. You really can, it's all a state of mind.
With mens champion and all around nice guy, Mike Le Roux.
My favorite shoes. How can you not run fast when you're wearing these?Immediately after the race comes the question, are you coming back next year. My first response, while hobbling back and forth to the bathroom every 10 minutes for 6 hours, was an emphatic NO. My thought was there are so many races to do and so many places to see. I've heard rumors of Ultraman Brazil, and I haven't been there yet..... Definitely on my to do list. After a couple weeks of reflection though, I will come back. The friends and family I've made through Ultraman are priceless, and I couldn't imagine not going to the family reunion next Thanksgiving.On my to do list for next year is to spend more time running on pavement to get used to the pounding. My right leg swelled to about 3-4x the normal size the day following the race. Ouch! Spent a couple days post race on crutches to give my right leg some well deserved rest. It still felt like a knife was stuck in there, and I was worried I was doing more harm than good by shuffling around on it. The good news is that 2 weeks post race I'm back to running, on DIRT, sweet dirt with my dogs.
Bliksem with her wiggly wrap around the seat sneak kiss.
The unspoken part of Ultraman is trying to get in as many calories as possible as soon as the day is done. I normally enjoy eating and am not picky, but after racing I generally loose my appetite for a while. I ate a burger after getting off the bike, we checked into the hotel, and then we headed to the group dinner with the rest of the athletes. I was a little worries about getting hungry in the middle of the night, so I took some food back to the room. It was so cold up at the top of Volcano that I didn't end up eating my hot potato but put it in my pocket and slept with it.Race morning came early and I didn't want to climb out of my warm bed. I was relieved after a quick peek out the window to see stars. No rain. It was chilly outside and the roads weren't wet, but I felt very lucky to be mostly dry on the first descent.
Still trying to squeeze in a little sleep. When I planned for this trip I didn't think to bring arm warmers, so these beauties I picked up at Target. They started out as argyle socks, but made great arm warmers. Day 2 bike start is on the top of Volcano with about a 20 mile descent to start. Lucky us with clear skies, but there was a bit of spray off the road. We were allowed to stay grouped up until the turn down to red road. I normally enjoy riding in groups, but it was a bit high speed and twitchy at moments which meant keeping focus.
Keeping with the front pack. Right behind me are the ladies putting the pressure on. Hillary Biscay and Shanna Armstrong. Photo by Rick Kent, Josh Baker
After making the turn down to red road the group split up and I was on my own.... kind of. I knew the Hillary and Shanna were close behind as I could see their crew vehicles preparing their drink hand offs as I went by. The leapfrogging of crew vehicles continued. My plan was to up the pace when I got to red road. No crew support is allowed on that section of road and I wanted to get out of sight. Despite it being a coastal road it has a lot of rolling hills and my legs felt great. I dropped the hammer and mission accomplished! Once I turned off red road I saw their crew vehicles for the last time that day. Around this time I started to have shifting issues. Not sure if it was all the vibration from the old section of road we crossed or not. Shifting slowly went from bad to worse, but I tried to stay relaxed.
This is along the red road section. That's my hocus pocus focus expression. Photo by Rick Kent, Josh Baker
Another shot of red road. I was really bummed my crew didn't get to see the view along here.
All forward momentum seemed to stop when I hit Hilo. At race briefing they said there are 8 traffic lights. I stopped at 7 of the longest lights I've ever seen. I kept turning around to see if I was the only unlucky one. Christian was riding through the lights at the same time as he had went off course a little earlier and had to backtrack. Because of my shifting issues he'd have a good gap on me coming through the intersection, but then the light in front of us would turn red as I'd slowly spin up. We'd chat a bit at the light and then repeat.
Somewhere after HawiAfter Hawi there are about 40 miles of rolling terrain. My legs were feeling great, but my bike was not. I couldn't talk her into shifting into the big ring any longer. I tried to deal with it for a while as I hadn't seen bike tech in a while, but kept finding myself spinning out. After 10 miles of this I gave up and asked my crew to call for bike support. They were there fairly quickly and we both pulled over. I stayed as relaxed as possible when you're standing on the side of a road during a race. I used the opportunity to pee behind the tech vehicle, eat a banana (not at the same time), and finish off my bottle.Thanks bike tech for getting me rolling again so quickly. Shifting wasn't perfect, but it was so much better than before the stop. Woohooo, I had my big ring back and felt ready to fly!This is where the Spam Musubi rocket fuel came in handy. My crew had handed me one sometime after Hilo and every chance I got I'd eat another bite. Tastiest thing I'd eaten all day. So nice to get in some real food after taking gel most of the day. I polished it off just before the climb to Waimea started.
The final climb over the Kohalas before descending to Hawi.
photo by Timothy CarlsonI had no idea I was going to break the bike course record by over 40 minutes, but I was stoked. The best part was that Hillary and Shanna also broke it. I love how tough competition brings out the best in all of us. New bike course day 2 record of 7:57:58.
photo by Rick Kenk, Josh BakerOverall it was a great day. With racing at this distance you have to take the bad with the good. Unexpected things are going to happen. What is important is how you deal with them. The same goes for energy level, it goes up and down and then back up again. I always remember that good moments will follow the bad and often it just means I need to eat more. :)
I couldn't have done it without my crew. Thanks Siri, Darian, and Taylor for everything. photo by Rick Kent, Josh Baker.The fourth event followed the bike ride. Ice bath and eating and eating and eating. From last years experience at Ultraman Canada I knew that I would have tummy trouble on day 3, so my goal for day 2 night was to get in as many calories as possible. Mission accomplished again. Huge Chinese takeout with some local fried doughnut like things. I ate until stuffed and took the rest with me and finished it off 2 hours later.
In spite of knowing before hand the logistics of the ride, I was in no way prepared for the sight or sound of the peloton as it rounded the corner. I started pedaling to meet their speed, but felt like I'd never be going fast enough to latch on. Finally I merged into the group, but found myself towards the rear of the 600+ riders. It was really amazing to see and be surrounded by the riders, but really nerve racking. It took a lot of concentration to stay away from the rift raft and keep up when the group surged. I heard that we were doing 30+ during sections of the ride, and the one time I managed to peek at my HR monitor I saw an unbelievable 178. I don't think it's ever been that high on the bike before. There was a police escort we were blowing through most stoplights, but stopping at others. The slow and then sprint surges finally got the best of me and I was relieved to get spit out the back. I sat up and cruised into the coffee shop to regroup with everyone. After that the ride mellowed out and we headed to Dana Point for breakfast buffet. The return trip entailed a little more suffering with a stuffed belly. 
Breakfast in Dana Point with Keevin, Monique, and Rick 
A fantastic way to spend NYD! 
Monique and Slater Fletcher
Bliksem playing in the waves
Freedom from the leash
This is my super cute growl that says play with me please
I got sand everywhere...
