The Utah Half - Why not do just one more.... #16 in the books

 

August 28th, 2010

A humbling day for sure.....


My wife Sunny is super excited for her first half Ironman and asked if I would do it with her.  I though that that would be a good idea and how hard could it really be to do a half at my wife's speed.

Save some of that energy.....

(continue to read to find out how my wife beat me by over an hour... it's not pretty but it is true.)

It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed, not have to worry about my bike on the airlines and having to build it and take it apart.  This half Ironman was put on by racetri and was less than 10 minutes from my house.  Race director Travis Snyder does an amazing job and I would recommend his races to anyone.

I was doing both the swim leg for team Aquaphor and the entire event for an individual time (and remember WITH my wife).  A storm front had rolled in and the weather was suppose to be really bad, wind and rain!  We rolled up to the race site and the weather was perfect with calm water. 

Team Aquaphor Relay.  I'm still walking at this point and they wanted to go home, so I paused and posed for a picture.

I said hi to all  my friends and made sure that Sunny was all ready to go.  Another first timer to the event was BYU football star Joe Semanoff.  This guy ain't built for triathlons but is an athlete! 

No way this guy does well... carry those arms for 70.3...no thanks!

Utah Half Swim;

I kissed Sunny and wished her luck and told her I would see her in transition.  I planned on swimming the swim portion of the race hard for team Aquaphor then wait in T1 and do the bike portion with Sunny.  I swam hard and just had a horrible swim.  I knew the day wasn't going well when a female athlete from the wave behind me doing a very competitive breast stroke.  I got out of the water sprinted to transition and handed off the relay chip to Travis who was doing the bike portion for the team.  I arrived at my bike and noticed that Joe's bike was gone.  Stolen!!  Joe's bike was stolen.  Nope wrong again... that giant mass of muscle that should do nothing but sink beat me out of the water.... It is time to evaluate what I am doing in the water.. maybe duathlon should be my new gig....  I would use Sunny as an excuse but we waited another 12 or so minutes for her to arrive in transition.  Her goal was to beat 80 year old Sister Madonna Buder's swim time of 47 minutes from Lake Steven's - she missed it by just a few minutes. 

This was my fastest part of the race.  Waters edge to T1.  I look good here :)

Utah Half Bike;

Natalie Rasmussen and I waited for Sunny and all headed out on the ride together.  We can't ride "together" but can ride close enough to feed off each others energy and have quick "how you doing?" conversations.  At mile 8 I flatted.  Sunny says "Change it and catch up!"  I thought that was a great idea and quickly changed my tire as the girls rode ahead a bit.  What I didn't take into consideration is how strong of a biker Sunny is.  I turned my self inside out averaging over 25 miles an hour over the next 20 miles to catch her.  I kept thinking that they would be right around the next corner but they weren't.  When I finally caught Sunny I was dead tired and she was just fine and KILLING the bike course.  It is amazing how hard it is to close a 5 minute gap on a good cyclist.  I felt my hamstring tweak and with about 5 miles to go I had made the decision to not continue when we got to the run portion of the race.  I wasn't going to risk the rest of the year.  We finished up the bike and Sunny did awesome posting the 4th fastest bike in the whole woman's field.  A solid time of 2:40, 20.9 miles an hour.  Good friend John Rose also posted a personal best 2:23 on the bike.  Congrats big man!

John PR'ing with a 2:23 - that's fast!

She had a great time the whole time!

Utah Half Run;

I coached Sunny through transition and watch her run onto the run course.  I sat down and was confident I had made the right decision with the big picture in mind.  I made a call to my friend Jess to inform him of my decision and he instantly told me it was a bad idea.  It was my home town (no travel involved) and that I had already completed the swim and bike.  He proceeded to tell me that this was for a world record that I was at worst a 3 1/2 hour walk away from adding a 70.3 to the record total.  He told me he was on his way and that he would walk the entire 13.1 miles with me.  I eventually agreed and headed out onto the run course.... walking.  I was amazed with the support I got from all the other athletes in the field who encouraged and cheered me on.  This is why I love this sport... the people in it are simply the best. 

YES I am done!

We walked the entire two lap course and actually had a good time dong it.  We chatted with the athletes and had a front row seat for all the action.  I am glad I made that phone call and that my friend was willing to come down and support me with what I was facing.  Had it not been for Jess I would have a DNF (did not finish) on my record this year and the world record would end up being 21 instead of 22....  Thanks stud!

Strong Finish... well maybe just a FINISH!

Sunny told me later that she was pissed that I was not cheering her on at the start of the second lap.  She figured I was in some massage tent or chatting with friends.  She then heard I was out there walking.   She finished her race as I was making the turn for my second loop.  She joined us and made it a trio of walkers.  Big John posted a run time of 1:59 and finished with a solid time of 5:04 dominating the Clydesdale division.  Big Joe also rocked the course and finished second to John in his half Ironman debut.

The three of us walked down the finish shoot and chalked up #16.  Winner of the race and local bad boy Heath Thurston was there to announce our finish!  Thanks for all the support on the day and congrats to all the finishers!  So there you have it,  Sunny killed it and I am headed to the doctors.  I have less than 2 weeks to make sure that my hamstring is good enough to toe the line in Muskoka Canada.  I am confident that Hayden at Muscle Works will take good care of me.  We had a burger party at Tyrell's place after the race.  I have a few of these to edit.... hmmmm.