Wrestling with Big George- Race Report

So, I signed up for this race in July.  Originally, I was going to do Firmman or another half, but it just didn't work with my schedule.  So, I did some research and found this race.  It's a first year race that was being run in conjunction with an Olympic distance race that they've held for 6-7 years....so I knew that it would have decent direction.  Also, it was fairly inexpensive for a half...only $165.  Given that I wasn't positive I would be able to do the race (due to recovery), the price was appealing in the event I had to bail.

The race was in Lake George, NY.  So, Jenn and I found a dog-friendly hotel and decided to make a weekend of it.  We left Friday night and drove part way.  We got up early on Saturday and finished the trip.  When we got to LG, the Oly race was going on (it was held Saturday...and the half on Sunday).  I went about doing my pre-race warmup.  I went out on the bike for a quick 25-30 minute ride.  Immediately I realized that I couldn't shift into the big chain ring.  So, I just kept it in the small chain ring and rode around a bit.  I packed the bike back up and went for a 15 minute run.  During the warmup, I really wasn't feeling good.  I just didn't have much snap in my legs.  Afterwards, I found a bike mechanic and had my bike adjusted....shifting problem solved.  Then it was onto breakfast, where I did my normal carbo load (biggest meal of the day) and I basically ate for 3.  Finally, we headed out to drive the bike course.

I always suggest seeing the bike course before the race....and this was no exception.  This bike course was no joke.  After a short semi-flat section (about 3/4 of a mile), it begins climbing out of town (ala LP).  It's basically a 5 mile climb.  Unlike LP, while you do get some good downhill sections, it's not a screaming downhill.  But, the course was very fair.  On the website, the course shows a Category 4 and 5 climb on the course.  All in all, the course looked great....good roads and little to no traffic on most of it. I had a second reason for driving the course here.  After I registered, I realized that they capped the race at 250 people....not very big for a half ironman.  So, I knew that, even in my current shape, there was a good chance that I could be out front for part of the bike.  The remainder of the day did not go as planned...hotel wasn't ready; traffic around Six Flags Great Escape was a nightmare (registration was there); wasn't getting hydrated or rest.  But, as per normal, my wife did her best impression of Mother Theresa and settled me down.

I woke up around 4:30 on race morning, got in my nutrition and headed down to the race.  Pre-race was uneventful, except my stomach was a mess.  I must have made 5 trips to the bathroom.  I also wasn't feeling that great.  Jenn wasn't worried...because this has happened before and I've raced fine.  I was in second wave....with waves going 3 minutes apart.  The first wave was Men 39 and under....so I knew that my competition would be in my wave and in front of me.  I wasn't too worried about any of the later waves.

SWIM:  I've been feeling pretty good in the water.  So, my plan was to keep the swim long and steady.  Finally, my wave went off.  I got right to the front, along with one other guy.  He seemed to be swimming well...probably a bit faster than me, so I decided to drop back and grab his feet and let him do the work.  This lasted all of 10 seconds when I realized that this guy could not navigate.  When I looked up, he was headed in a 45 degree angle from the buoys.  So, I reset and decided I would just swim on my own.  I ran across this navigation-challenged swimmer throughout the swim.  The swim was a rectangular swim....and very open...not much contact.  About halfway on the way out, I began passing the first wave.  About halfway on the way in, I realized that there weren't many people from the first wave left to pass.  But, I could still see my buddy who was doing a tour of the lake...back and forth....he even ran into me one time, which is quite ridiculous since there was no one else even close to us...and the lake is HUGE.  This guy's navigation was so bad (worst I've ever seen), that he should have beaten me by 45-60 seconds...but only managed 9-10.  Out of the water and through transition (30:35).

BIKE:  Jenn yelled at me that I was in 6th place overall...including the first wave.  The guy in the lead had about 5 minutes on me.  I used the initial flat part of the bike to get into my shoes, which were already on my bike.  Then I dropped into the small chain ring and began the climb out of town.  First, I picked off my buddy from the swim.  Then I would spot riders way up the road, one by one....and use them to gauge off of.  I felt really good, early.  I tried to keep my power numbers in check.  Around mile 21-22, I saw a rider.  I thought that there was one more guy in front of him, based on Jenn's early assessment.  But, while I was working to catch him, I caught a glimpse of a car in front with the hazard lights on.  Hmm...was that the lead car?  I passed the guy around mile 23 and tried to ask him if he was in front....but he either didn't hear me or didn't want to tell me.  But, I had a strong feeling he was.  I received confirmation later when I passed a couple of spectators out on the course. I locked in and tried to stay consistent.  I was fortunate to know the course....it helped.  I will say that one thing the race director could improve is to keep the lead vehicle within sight of the lead rider.  There were several times that it disappeared in front of me....for several minutes.  This wouldn't have been a big deal, but the roads weren't closed.  Not only is the lead vehicle there to "lead", but it also helps notify the other cars that we're racing.  I got buzzed pretty close by some NY jackass, even though I was hugging the line and there was no other traffic in either direction.  Once I was in the lead, I caught myself going up a short hill in the big chain ring.  I quickly scolded myself and decided to be conservative for the rest of the ride...small chainring on all hills.  As I headed into T2, I figured I had a decent lead....at least I was hoping, since I wasn't quite sure how I was going to run.  I will be honest....I looked back many, many times.  I was fearful of a late charger catching me.  Coming into transition in first was pretty cool....more so than a sprint or olympic...as there is so much anticipation for the first rider to come in.  I had my normal quick transition and out onto the run (2:37:17....note:  bike was estimated at 57 miles).

RUN:  As I headed out onto the run, nobody else had come in on the bike yet.  I hadn't previewed the run, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Not to mention, this would be my first 13 mile run since Kona last year....and my third bike/run of the year.  Normally, this is when I "go to work" and make up ground.  But, my run is so unknown, that I was honestly worried about getting caught.  I had a case of the swivel heads at the beginning. The run went straight up hill...and continued to go up for about 3 miles....it was tough.  Much of the run was on a bike path.  It was a lollipop shaped course...two loops.  The turnaround was about 3.5 miles in.  I checked my watch and started looking for the next runner.  Finally, I saw a runner.  I estimated that I had a 6.5-7 minute lead.  Although I felt awful at the beginning of the run, I started to get my run legs and was feeling okay.  While the bike was very humid...it was cooler, 74-79 degrees.  But, the sun was out on the run...and it was getting hot (while still humid).  At this point, I knew that no one was catching me.  I would have to have a complete meltdown.  As I got off the out and back section, the run went back on the road and downhill.  This was very tough on the quads.  As I headed back towards transition, one of the race directors was joking that I had 10 miles on the field.  Second loop was uneventful.  Many more people on the course during this loop.  Again, one suggestion for the race directors would be to have a lead bike, which they didn't have.  On the out and back section, I decided to check my lead again.  I estimated I had at least 9 minutes on the next racer at this point.  I was fairly conservative on the second loop.  As much as this was my longest run of the year...it still went by fairly quickly.  I was happy about this, as I hadn't worn socks and my feet were really getting chewed up.  This was mainly due to the humidity...my feet were just squishy in my shoes.  As I headed into the finish, the guy joked that I now had a 20 mile lead.   I headed across the finish line and was happy to be done.  Before the race, I anticipated that I could run between 6:45-7 minute pace.  I was pretty close to that estimate (1:27:22).

















FINISH TIME:  4:36:39

While this was a small race, it was still very cool to win.  I've won other races...but winning a half ironman is an experience that I may not have again....especially at my age!  This was a nice way to finish my very short season....and gives me some fuel for next season.  They also gave some pretty unique awards.  Now, onto my short off season...before the build up to 2012!

Cranberry Sprint Race Report

So, yesterday was my first race of the year and first triathlon since I raced Kona last October.  It was also my first race in the 40-44 AG.  It was the Cranberry Sprint Triathlon.  I was using this as a tuneup for my half ironman next week in Lake George.  In some ways, I was more nervous for this race than the half.  Not just because it was my first race post surgery, but because you have to go so hard in a sprint (redline the whole way).  Also, I had no idea how fast I could run.  My running has been improving...but I'm very far off from my normal self.  Not to mention, I've barely done any hard running.  This race would represent my first sustained "hard" run of the year.  I was interested to see how my body would react.

For some reason, I hadn't been sleeping soundly this past week.  And Friday night was no exception...in fact, it was even worse.  But, I got up at 5am....got my stuff together...and drove down to Lakeville.  Upon arriving, I immediately saw my teammate, Kate (Blumberg) O'Malley.  It was nice, since I wasn't sure any other teammates were racing.  As I walked through to registration, I had to keep my ego in check.  I typically go to races like this with the mindset that I'm going to win (not that I always do....but that's how I approach it).  Although I seemed to still have the mindset....I wasn't sure the body was going to keep up with the mind on this day.  After registering, I got my bike and gear together and headed to transition.  I ran into another teammate, Rachel Saks-Aronis, who was positioned right next to me in transition.  Funny thing is that I was #1044, Rachel was #1045....and Jamie Strain was #1046, but Jamie didn't show.  While setting up transition, the race director made the announcement that it was a no-wetsuit swim.  Fortunately I brought my speedsuit.  When I signed up for this race, I registered as an age-grouper.  But, during the week leading into it, I was having second thoughts....and should have signed up for the elite/open division...which, in retrospect, I should have done. 

I was in the 5th wave (40+ men).  Our gun went off, and I went to the front.  I had a really good swim (although I had to navigate through the previous wave of 30+ women).  After a very, very short swim, I was first out of the water and into T1.  Man, what a shock to the system.  I usually run well out of the water....but my legs were dead.  I got on my bike and onto the bike course.  My shoes were already on my bike, so I started to get my feet in the shoes.  I should have looked at the course in advance and waited until the first big downhill to do this.  Anyway, I got my first foot in, but the strap came undone as I put my second foot in.  After fumbling a few seconds, I just rode with it undone.  Not ideal, but not catastrophic either.  Being in the 5th wave meant I had many people already on the course....many riding the yellow line.  I yelled "on your left" the entire ride.  Since it was a 2 loop course, going through the start of the second loop was really congested and I couldn't ride more than 12-14 mph.  After finishing the second loop, I headed into T2.  I had a much better second transition.  Out onto the run course.  I had no idea how this was going to go....so I dialed back a little and just tried to run hard.  I could tell I didn't have my normal legs....but I was still passing people and running relatively fast.  I thought going into this race that I could hold about 6 minute pace....and that's about what I did.  I ran the last mile or so pretty hard...and finished strong.  Since I was in the 5th wave, I wasn't sure where I finished overall.  I figured, after talking with a few people, that I was in the top 5.  I was 5th, but wound up 4th after a penalty was issued to one of the elite guys.  Oh, and I won the AG by 4-5 minutes.  I think I like being the 40+ guy kicking some young ass.

Mixed feelings about this race.  I definitely had some hiccups, which is to be expected.  But, I wish I would have raced elite so I could have been in the mix.  All in all, it was great to get back out there, even though I'm not anywhere near my top form.  I'm excited to race again next week. 

My Sports Hernia- Part III

When I woke up in the recovery room back in April, Dr. Busconi was there.  He told me that I probably wouldn't remember the conversation....but I did.  I asked him how things went.  He said "great".  They found a "hole" (tear) in the muscle (not just a thinning of the muscle which can also be the case) right away.  The procedure was relatively quick.  My immediate response was "awesome", does this mean I'll recover quicker!  A short time later, Jenn drove me home.  Having surgery in the pelvis/groin region makes sitting in a car difficult.  I immediately set up camp on the couch in our lower level family room, right next to the garage.  Jenn made sure I was comfortable.  A bit later, I felt good enough to walk the stairs to the kitchen to eat something.  But, as soon as I made it up and sat down, the "good feeling" went away.  As I made my way to the stairs to go retreat to the couch, the light faded away...next thing I knew I was on the floor....blacked out.  I was fine...but it freaked Jenn out nonetheless.  Fortunately I was not on the stairs at the time, or it could have been ugly.  Mind you, I was on some heavy painkillers.  I spent the next few days recovering on the couch.  I was only on the painkillers for about 1.5 days (I have no idea how people become addicted to Oxycondon....it's awful).  By day 3 I was fairly mobile.  We had friends staying with us for the marathon...and I really had no choice but to get around a bit.  I even made it down to the hills in Newton to watch the race w/my teammates from the Boston Triathlon Team. 

The recovery protocol from my surgery is 2 months of nothing....no lifting of any kind for about 6 weeks or so, since the repaired area is so affected by it.  This is almost unavoidable.  I mean seriously, I'm not even supposed to lift groceries.  I tried to follow my recovery protocol....but I definitely went beyond what I should have been doing....several times.  In retrospect, I'm glad I waited to have this surgery (rather than have it in the winter).  With Jenn traveling so much, I would have been screwed with all the snow we had.  Anyway, I will say that in some ways, it was nice to have a forced break from training.  I mean, I wasn't allowed to do anything.  It was liberating...not feeling guilty for not riding, running and swimming.  But, at the same time, it made me want to do it more....ignited the fire....which had dimmed a bit.  After 2 months of relatively nothing....I was to begin PT.  So, I set up an appointment with Alex of Marathon Physical Therapy....a friend of mine....but who also has an office within throwing distance of mine.  I never thought I'd be so excited to start physical therapy!  (to be continued)

My A Race

Okay, so I'm back training.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to race this season at all.....but I have signed up for a couple of races.  I told myself that I wouldn't race unless I could be respectable on the run.  Whether I am respectable or not...that's still up for debate.  I still have much work to do.  I'm up to 10 miles....in the mid 7s.  I need a couple more long run....and some quality runs.  Why long runs?  Oh....because I signed up for a half ironman on Labor Day!  I'm doing the Big George Half in Lake George.  I just needed something to work towards.  I'm also signed up for the Cranberry Sprint the week before.  My ego expects me to do pretty well at the half.....but my head is trying to lower my expectations.  I guess we'll see who wins this battle of wills:)  One month to go!

My Sports Hernia- Part II

Once I had my surgery scheduled, I tried to put it out of mind.  The last thing I wanted to do was "think" about surgery.  So, I went about my business.  Although I wasn't really training, I tried to get in the pool occasionally, and I definitely tried to stay on the bike.  For me, I definitely wasn't in "good shape", but I wasn't in bad shape either.  As April 14th approached, I started to search the internet again for information on the surgery and recovery.  I stumbled upon a blog post by a local guy (with the same last name) who had the same surgery by the same doctors.  Since I had some questions, I emailed him.  He emailed me back and we set up a phone call....the night before the surgery.  As much as I was afraid of what he was going to tell me, it was a good conversation and I am very appreciative that he took the time to talk.

So, the actual procedure is called a Pelvic Floor Repair....it doesn't involve mesh, like most people ask.  It involves reattaching the muscle and then letting it heal.  On the morning of the surgery, I followed all of the pre-surgery protocols.  No food, only one cup of black coffee.  Jenn drove me to the UMass Hospital in Worcester.  I sat down in the waiting room.  "Patrick".  Oh shit....that was fast.  No time to even sit down. They brought me back to prep me for surgery.  Since I was going to be back there for a while, I had Jenn come back with me.  I had multiple people come by....nurses, doctors, anesthesiologist.  Nothing like using the bathroom with an IV drip attached to your arm.  This was actually when I really started to think about what was ahead.  I was kind of "in the dark" about the procedure, recovery, etc.  Dr. Busconi came by and chatted a bit....cracked some jokes.  Then Dr. Litwin came by.  I finally know what people mean by "bedside manner" of a doctor.  I liked him a lot more after this visit.  He was just very calming and reassuring....which was what I needed.  Jenn kissed me goodbye, then they finally brought me back to the operating room.  At this point, the anesthesia was really kicking in...I was barely aware.  I remember seeing a bunch of people......then I woke up in the recovery room....(to be continued)

My Sports Hernia- Part I

On April 14th, I had pelvic floor repair surgery for a sports hernia.  The problem really presented itself last November.  After racing Kona, I needed some motivation, so I joined the Somerville Road Runners to run indoor track with them.  That turned out to be short lived.  During my second track session I felt pain in my left hip/ab area.  It could have been a number of things....tear, pull, strain....but for some reason, I knew it was a sports hernia....I just did.  I took time off in hopes that it wasn't....and it would heal on its own.  It didn't.  I ran sporadically in November and December.  But, the pain kept getting worse.  The thing for me wasn't so much the running....it was the afterwards.  After running, usually the next day, I would be in bad shape....not being able to walk w/out pain.  It was debilitating.  Fortunately, running was the only thing that really caused the pain.  I could still swim, bike, ski, etc.  In fact, skiing is what caused me to push my surgery out until April.  I had a big ski trip planned in February, so I waited to see a specialist until afterwards.  In retrospect, I would have set up my surgery a little sooner.  But, as I had never had surgery before, I had no idea how it worked.  I didn't realize that the actual surgery can be 2-3 months after the visit with the specialist.  Since I really wasn't planning on any big racing this year...it really wasn't a big deal.  In fact, the forced time off may be the best thing that could have happened to me.

After my big February ski trip (Big Sky Montana), which was epic, I started to look into seeing a specialist.  My friend, Jeff, who's a doctor, gave me a list of recommendations....but ultimately told me that there's a guy in Worcester who is the best...Demetrius Litwin out of UMass Medical.  I had done a lot of internet research.  I had read about many doctors who performed the procedure to fix a sports hernia.  Dr. William Meyers was the closest specialist that I had read about.  I'm sure there were others...but Dr. Meyers was supposedly the best.  I hadn't even heard of Dr. Litwin.  But, Jeff assured me that not only was he good, but he trained with Dr. Meyers.  Dr. Litwin is the head of the Department of Surgery at UMass, a teaching hospital.

My appointment with Dr. Litwin was in the beginning of March.  I was pretty excited about it, because I really wanted to get healthy.  This was the longest I have gone without running in 20 years....it was getting frustrating.  I sat down with Dr. Litwin and he started asking questions.  At the end of appointment, we had no answers.  He basically told me that it could be a sports hernia.  He told me that we could wait to see if it heals on its own....a few months to a few years.  I think he saw the frustration in my face....so he told me that he was sending me to his colleague, Dr. Brian Busconi, head of Sports Medicine at UMass.  I'll have to say, as nice at Dr. Litwin was, I really wasn't too fond of him after my visit.  After trekking across Worcester to a different campus, I saw Brian Busconi.  He was definitely a bit more laid back....a guy's guy.  I felt that he understood me.  He knew I wasn't about to wait a few years to see if the injury would heal on its own.  I'm about to turn 40....and as much as I want to be doing this in 20 years.....I don't have too many more "fast" years left.  I wasn't about to take the wait and see approach.  Brian scheduled me for an MRI.  The MRI didn't show anything....which wasn't surprising.  Sports Hernias rarely show up.  My surgery was scheduled.  The actual surgery is handled by both Brian and Dr. Litwin....two doctors.  Now, I just had to wait until April....(to be continued).

Back in the Saddle

It's been a rough winter from a triathlon/training perspective.  Following Hawaii, I decided to run indoor track w/the Somerville Road Runners.  That lasted a whole 2 sessions.  During the second track session, something didn't feel right in my hip/ab area.  It was a weird discomfort/pain.  I know my body pretty well, and though that I might have a sports hernia.  After laying off the training completely, I finally went in to get the issue diagnosed in February....and low and behold, it was a sports hernia.  I had surgery in April...and have been rehabbing over the last several weeks.  I'm back training (lightly) again.  I've been laying low since I discovered the injury....not really even posting much about it on Facebook or anywhere else.  But, now that I am starting to come back, I'll start posting again.  I plan to post an in depth post about the surgery and the pre and post process.  When I discovered the injury, I searched high and low for information....and it was sparse.  I did find one blog post from someone who had the same surgery, by the same doctors.  I even contacted him directly and we spoke on the phone before my surgery.  It was invaluable.  So, I want to make my experience available to others....and the road back to triathlon.