Before I share the story of the Triple Ultra in Leon, Mexico, you should know
how the whole crazy #trifecta idea came to be. At the 2019 Florida Double
Anvil back in March, I was approached by Joey Lichter, secretary of the
International Ultra Triathlon Association. We had met and become friends
the previous year at the same race.
“You should consider doing some international races,” he told me. “It would
also be great to see an American challenge the top 3 for World Cup points,
we haven’t had one in a while.”
Just like that, the seeds were planted. Curse you, Joey Lichter! But let's be
honest - most endurance athletes don’t need any encouragement, we only
need a suggestion. ("Race entry fees go up at midnight? OK Brian and Ann,
I'll sign up for the 100 miler.")
I pondered what Joey told me for a few weeks after finishing that race. After
all, I had hung with 2 of the best ultra-triathletes in the world in Florida,
nearly catching one of them on the run. The few foreign triathletes that I had
met at US races were nothing but nice, so why not give it a shot?
I began looking at the IUTA website for World Cup races (Florida was one of
them: check). I knew I would need at least 2 more races with strong finishes
to even crack the top 10. Travel abroad was not impossible, but time and
money were limiting factors. Plus I already had committed to Ironman Wisconsin
in September. Could I even make this work logistically?
Mexico jumped out at me because of the triple. I wanted to go beyond the
double, and while Mexico only offered the 1xday triple format (non-continuous
as opposed to continuous), I thought that would be a great format to try
something new. That was the other part of this endeavor - doing new events
outside of my comfort zone, as well as outside of the US.
The triple alone wouldn’t be enough points for a top 10 in the World Cup, so I
looked for another double since it was a format I already had done twice and
had a good feel for. The only race that worked with my schedule was the
Virginia Double Anvil, which would leave only 17 days to recover before Mexico.
I pitched the idea to my coaches. After they processed it over many drinks, much cursing, and questioning my sanity, they were on board. This would be a new frontier for them as well. We put a training plan in place, and the #trifecta was born.
I followed the plan as closely as my schedule allowed. It paid off in Wisconsin, which went perfectly. As you know, things got out of hand in Virginia. World Cup hopes were out the window after that. But there was still Mexico, which I had identified as my "A" race - it was the big one, the one I really wanted to do well at. To be completely honest, I knew the World Cup points were the longest of long-shots. It would have been cool, but after so many athletes completed the Double Deca in Switzerland, I had no chance.
I knew going into Mexico that making the call to pull from Virginia was the right
move at that time, given the circumstances. The question now was would that
pay off, would I learn from my mistakes? Or was I trying to take on too much in
too short of time? Would I ever talk to Joey again after this madness?!?
Monday - Arrival
We took an early morning flight out of Des Moines, connected in Houston, and
landed in Leon just after 2pm. Alex, the race director’s son, picked us up at the
airport. Fortunately for us, his English was perfect! It was about a 45 minute
drive to Leon proper. The scenery was very interesting. First impressions were:
it’s a beautiful mountainous area, with less-than-beautiful housing. I don’t think
setbacks are a thing in Mexico - all buildings are right up to the pavement, even
on highways.
The closer to town we got, things looked better. We were staying
in a nice hotel close to the race site, and we walked to it after getting unpacked.
It was about a half-mile with only some sidewalks and a worn path only inches away from the 6-lane highway.
No sooner had we arrived than we saw Laura Knoblach on the course and Jade
Kent-Madders. Laura is an extremely accomplished young woman in ultra
triathlon, and was seeking to set a record for the youngest finisher in the double
deca continuous (that’s 20 times the length of each leg of an iron-distance
triathlon: 48 mile swim, 2,240 mile bike ride, and a 524 mile run). Jade was
there both as crew and medical support. I met her at the Anvil Series of races in the U.S.. I found Beto Villa, the race director, and immediately got familiar with the surroundings and how things would flow on race day. The break down would be as follows:
7:00am - Hotel shuttle leaves hotel with athletes and crew and drive us to the
park. After arriving, you would retrieve your bike from the racks and walk it up
to the swim start, roughly a ¼ mile away.
At 8:00am the swim begins, and Transition 1 (T1) would be right there at the
swim exit. There were shelters and picnic tables you could set up your
transition area in. First-come, first-served.
Transition 2 and the timing mat/finish line would be down near what was
called Tent City. That’s also where the continuous deca and double-deca
athletes would rest during their near month-long endeavor.
Adjacent to Tent City were large tents that housed a full makeshift kitchen and
dining area, complete with refrigerators, freezers, stoves, microwaves, you
name it. Beto’s wife and her sister cooked GREAT homemade food for all
athletes and crew every day. It was reassuring to know that no one would
ever go hungry while on the course. Keep in mind the logistics involved to be
able to pull this off: the Todo Triathlon technically puts on 8 races
simultaneously: Double Deca Continuous, Double Deca 1x20 (daily), Deca
Continuous, Deca 1x10, Quintuple 1x5, Triple 1x3, Double 1x2, and Single
1x1. Due to the format and length of the Double Continuous, they started this
nearly a MONTH ago on October 27th. The longest races start first, and then
us “short-timers” join in much later so the 1x races all finish on the same day (with the exception of the 1x20, they started not long after the continuous Double Deca).
After getting a layout of the land, we returned to our hotel and went to the
grocery store next door. If you’ve never traveled outside the US, know that
grocery shopping is very different. In the US, we have limitless choices from
dozens of different brands. The selection in Mexico was significantly less.
Among items we could not find: dill pickles, dates, and walnuts. But we did
find turkey slices, chips and crackers, some small Snickers, and plenty of
other items we needed.
Once shopping was done, we wanted to eat out but learned the hard way
that restaurants aren’t open on Mondays. That was a relief, we thought they
had all gone out of business! We did find a pizza place that was open and
had a few cervezas, then called it a night.
Tuesday - Recon and Prep
We decided today was going to be a bit of a dress rehearsal. We woke up at
6am, and prepped as though it was race day. That meant breakfast, getting
gear ready (but not taking it with us), and being downstairs at 6:50 for the
van ride over. We immediately met Juan Contreras, who was doing the
Quintuple (5 days of iron-distance races), as were others in the van, including a few who were doing the Deca (yep, 10 days of 140.6 miles each day)! Juan immediately set a great tone with his personality and humor. He was going solo early, but his family would be arriving the next night (Wednesday), so he had that to look forward to.
When we got to the race site, lo and behold - there was Michael Ortiz! Jade had
told us the previous day he would be there. I’ve known Michael for almost 2
years now, and for those who don’t know, he has raced or completed on his own a 100-mile run EVERY weekend for 48 consecutive weekends! He was already out running with Laura, while also motivating other competitors. Michael has one of those smiles that you just can’t help but return, and his being there speaks to the selflessness of the ultra community: he took the day off work just to fly down and be on the course with the double deca racers for a few hours. His presence had a positive impact on nearly everyone.
Breakfast was provided, including hard boiled eggs, pancakes, coffee, and fruit.
I watched others and their routines, trying to pick up any little thing that could
help. I was surprised by how many people were eating so close to the swim
start. Then again, no one was going into the swim with ideas on trying to finish
in under an hour.
Wendy and I walked up to watch the swim start. There we saw Wayne Kurtz and
Rick Freeman, who we formally met in person for the first time the night before.
They both supplied me with great advice on how to handle the start of the bike
course, as well as safety pointers for the course in general. We went back down
to T2/Tent City and checked in on other athletes. I saw Shanda Hill, a tough-as
-nails Canadian who I had heard of but not met yet. While I was there I
decided to get in 2 laps of the run course at an easy pace. The course was
mostly flat: 1k out and 1k back for a total of 1.3 miles, with the return being
slightly uphill.
One thing I was warned of repeatedly were crazy ‘buses’ full of kids that were a
true hazard and had already caused some wrecks. When I say ‘buses’ they
were these wagons similar to what you’d see at a state fair being towed behind
a tractor transporting people around, but smaller. They would make stops
around the park, and sometimes kids would jump off the wrong side, right into
the path of a cyclist. Three athletes already had severe bike accidents because
of this and their races were over, including Zema who I had raced with in Florida,
and Jorge Rodriguez, both of whom were attempting double-decas. Zema
suffered a broken collarbone that required him to fly home to be taken care of
properly. Jorge had severe road rash and severe bruising, and he was staying
around serving as support, crew, and cheer section for anyone who needed it.
There’s another fascinating story about him that I don’t have time to share here.
I’ll just say he’s an incredibly compassionate, selfless, wonderful human being.
Wendy and I walked to a nearby Walmart (yep, even in Mexico) for other things
we needed, such as Gatorade packets and some food items we didn’t find at
our nearby grocery store. After that, I rode my bike back to the park to do one
lap around. I noted the places Wayne and Rick had warned me about, and
made other mental notes about where more potential dangers might be. My
impression of the bike course was that it was mostly flat and fast, with enough turns and corners to keep you focused (as if kids and other pedestrians weren't enough).
As I was waiting to get the timing chip put on my bike, I met Aixa and Jorge,
who would be joining me in the triple. We heard there was a 4th but didn’t
know who it was. I ended up meeting him at the timing chip tent. His name
was Per, and he was from Denmark. He originally came to do the
continuous Deca and THEN try the 1x10. And you all thought I was crazy!
He finished the continuous, but did not finish in time to attempt the 1x10.
He decided to drop to a shorter distance and picked the triple. He was
good friends with Norbert Lu, who had won the 1x20 in Switzerland a few
months earlier and did the continuous Deca with him, and Norbert
decided on just doing the 1x2 (“just”). They were both extremely nice,
which isn’t surprising - there aren’t very many egos in Ultra Triathlon, if
any. Everyone knows it only takes one little thing to ruin your race, so no
one is ever cocky or braggadocious.
I walked back to the hotel, and then walked with Wendy to Walmart once
again looking for epson salts to soak in after each race. Wendy finally
pointed out the obvious: our hotel room did not have a tub to soak in,
only a walk-in shower! So much for that idea. We found a restaurant next
door called VIPS and had a big dinner there. After that we went back to
the hotel, I had my usual race-eve beer, and went to bed. All I needed
was a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow was race day, after all.
Wednesday - Feeling It Out
I woke up just after 6am, and had a great night’s sleep. We had plenty of time to
eat breakfast and get ready before the van departed. While my bike was already
at the site, we still had to carry over swim and run gear, plus our own nutrition for
the day.
We had a slightly more crowded van with us triples cramming in. When I saw
Juan, it was obvious he was tired. He had a tough Day 2, and he still had 3 to
go. At least his family arrived today, so they would boost his spirits. At Tent
City, things were quiet and calm, easily the calmest of the 3 days. I checked
my bike tires and we headed up to the swim start. The water was calm and
flat. There’s a school nearby, and their bell rings at 7:50, which is a perfect
‘final call’ for athletes to get down near the water. We posed for a picture,
Beto counted us down, and my race was officially underway.
“Just an easy day, like Ironman Wisconsin,” I told myself. “No one else
matters. Steady strokes, nothing crazy, there’s 2 more to do after this.”
Even though I was going at a steady pace, I got out to the lead quickly. My
initial thought was “Wow,” then I quickly reminded myself that most of the other
participants were on their 3rd or 8th day, so that had to be taken into
consideration. Still, someone passed me as we started lap 2. I didn’t mind, it
was someone to draft off of for a bit. He would eventually pull away, but was
never more than a minute ahead. The rest of the swim I had no issues, and
was the second one out of the water in 1 hour and 11 minutes, which was
slightly faster than my Ironman Wisconsin time.
I had a pretty quick T1, and headed out on the bike. Before the first full lap, you have to go ‘backwards’ about 1 mile, then turn around and when you cross the timing mat, that’s when you start your first of 25 laps. I reminded myself on the first lap to be cautious and mindful of all the warnings I had received. The first one went easy, and I started to get comfortable and cruise along. Sure enough, throughout the day, the obstacles started popping up randomly with no warnings: geese in the middle of the path, daring you to run over them; goats coming out to graze, just inches off the path. The good news is there were hardly any kids out though. I still had to be mindful, as it was a very popular park and there were other cyclists, pedestrians, roller-bladers out using it.
I ate and drank following the same schedule I had in Wisconsin. Everything was
almost identical to that race so far, including my bike split. I got done with the
25 laps in 6 hours and 4 minutes, which was 8 minutes faster than IMWI. I felt
great. So far my first day had been flawless, and now it was time to do what I
do best.
The run was warm to start with temperatures in the low 80s. I knew I’d go out
fast, and sure enough - just like IMWI - my first two miles were both sub 9.
Wendy was reporting back to Coaches Lauren and Ebe, and unsurprisingly
word got back to me quickly: “Chill out!” I did as I was told, knowing I had to
keep my legs fresh for two more marathons over the next two days.
You need a little luck to go your way in thee races, and I got some during the
run. Wendy told me that my rear tire blew out suddenly for no reason. She
took it back to the on-site bike tech, and he discovered that the rim tape had
somehow slid to the side, resulting in the tube blowing out. He re-positioned
the tape, added another layer, and replaced the blown tub with my spare. The
good news was it didn't happen out on the course. The bad news was I didn't
have another spare tube with me. I would need that good luck to continue,
since I was also told that flats were far too common on this course for some
reason.
On the run course, a little bit of strategy was playing out among the four of
us. It was unspoken but we all knew it. Per had finished the bike first and
was just under a lap ahead of me. Aixa came off the bike not too long after
me, but indicated early on that she was going to be following a run/walk
schedule. She was moving well when she was running, though, and was
not to be taken lightly as she was very formidable on the bike. Jorge was
not far behind Aixa, and he had the lean look of a fast runner also. It was
fun and exciting, seeing it all play out. We all had to do 20 laps on an out-
and-back course, which made it easy to see where we all were relative to
each other.
My plan was to run the first 20 miles and see how things felt. I felt I was
executing everything well. I had “chilled out” as instructed, but never let up
on Per. He was a lot of fun on the run. We almost always high-fived each
other with a joke or comment at each passing. At one point I was closing in
on him and he knew it: he jokingly asked me to slow down. I told him I
would when he did. He would beat me to the finish by less than one lap,
roughly 10 minutes.
Per and I apparently also incurred the wrath of the weather gods. We were
making comments about the heat and both openly rooting for rain. We got
our wish, and then some. The clouds opened up and let us have all the rain
we needed for a good 45 minutes. Some people stopped for jackets. Per
and I and a few others just kept on running and smiling, but after 45 minutes
we both agreed that we’d had enough. The weather took mercy on us and
dialed it back. Now we had to beat the oncoming cold that would come
when the sun set, especially since we were drenched.
I probably could have caught Per at the end if not for my first experience
with dehydration. I stopped to pee at Mile 20 and my urine was dark red. It
alarmed me because it had never happened to me before. I told Jade and
she instantly knew what was going on. She said it was not the heat so much,
but rather being close to the equator. She had seen it several times in the
previous week alone, and wasn’t alarmed. She gave me her own electrolyte
mix with instructions to drink a bottle every lap until I finished. It worked. My
urine was starting to return to a more normal color by the time I had finished
running, which was 4 hours and 42 minutes.
That gave me a solid Day 1 time of 12:10:38, which was slightly faster than
I had planned. I got a painful/wonderful massage afterward, and was also
fortunate enough to see the winner of the continuous Double Deca cross
the line and offer him my congrats. After that, it was a quick ride back to the
hotel. I showered, used the recovery boots in addition to a portable
massager Sandy Bowman had lent me. We were in bed by 10:15pm. Day 1
was behind me. I just had to hope for another good night’s sleep before
Day 2.
Thursday - Stay Steady
I slept great. We had a routine now and I gave myself an extra 10 minutes,
getting out of bed at 6:10am. I felt excellent. I told myself mentally the same
thing I did the day before: “It’s just a regular race day,” and that helped keep
me calm and not over-think anything. The best part was I didn’t feel sore or
worn down anywhere. I was ready to do it all again.
We met the usual gang at the van just before 7am, and were now joined by the
double athletes. A bit more of a cozy ride over. Juan did not look well.
His family had arrived, but he had a long night. He was still out on the bike
when the rain came, and he didn’t have a great run either. I wished him luck
and hoped for a better Day 4 for him.
3… 2… 1… and we were off again at exactly 8am. I fully expected one of the
new double athletes to take the lead, but Day 2’s swim went exactly the same
as the day before. I led the first lap, got passed on the second, and was 2nd
out of the water. My arms felt a little tired though, likely due to swimming in a
full-sleeved wetsuit two days in a row, which is not common for me. Plus I tend
to swim in sleeveless wetsuits, but I was otherwise enjoying my new Roka.
Time was 1 hour and 13 minutes, only slightly slower than the day before.
Getting on the bike again, I reminded myself that this was the day to be
conservative on the bike. Good thing too, because it was more crowded and
busy than the day before. More buses with kids throughout the day, and I
avoided all of them. However, my day came close to being ruined when I
almost wiped out 500 feet from the end of the bike course. An idiot decided
to cross just below the crest of the hill where we all descend back to Tent
City/T2. I had to hit the brakes so hard, I was worried about damaging my
rear tire. Luckily I just skidded a bit, and scared the shit out of that moron
who crossed when he shouldn’t have (or at least LOOKED UP).
While on the bike I knew I had to hydrate better due to the previous day’s
scare, and Jade told me to drink a bottle every lap on the bike. I tried, but
was only getting a bottle down every 1.5 laps, which was still better than
the previous day. That was good, but I also thought it was odd that I didn’t
feel the urge to pee until after 55 miles. Since I was drinking more, I
should be going more. But I only went three times, all between miles 55
and 112. Wendy was doing a great job making sure I was drinking and
eating. She had quickly figured out the food schedule that the race staff
provided, and had all varieties of food ready for me at least once an hour.
She was giving me probably close to 300 calories an hour, plus Juan had
donated some Skratch he had left over. When she had food ready I would
pull over to our makeshift transition 2 area, quickly eat, then head back
out again. In total, the stops would add about 20 minutes to the ride, but
it was working. I still was off the bike in 6 hours and 25 minutes.
When I started the run I felt great once again. I made an effort to average slightly
slower at the beginning than I had on Wednesday, but still planned on running
through mile 20 and re-evaluating. My pace was solid, but Per destroyed the
bike portion that day and already had about a 1 hour lead on me.
We still joked again, we asked for rain again, and got our wish again! I was loving it. Per and
I were maybe the only ones who did though. Others put on parkas and jackets,
I even saw umbrellas out. I just stayed with my trisuit. I laughed when Wendy
offered me a poncho - I was already soaked, so what was the point? The rain
was coming down much harder than the day before, and it lasted at least an
hour which is rare for the area.
After the rain let up, Shanda Hill - another badass woman out doing the double
deca - was joking around about wearing too many clothes. Apparently she even
flashed someone! I was about to pass her at the far end of the course and we
started joking about it. She has the same sense of humor I do, and by the time
I had passed her, there were briefly two partial moons out on the run course
while it was still daylight ;) Hey, these are freakin' ultra triathlons - we have to
do SOMETHING to keep the mood light (not moon light)!
At mile 10 my urine was dark again. At least this time I knew what it was and
how to deal with it: I slowed down, and kept drinking electrolytes. My legs were
still feeling good, and it showed: my run was 5 minutes faster than the day
before. My overall time was only 20 minutes slower, with a total of 12:34:19.
Per preserved his one hour lead, and by the end of the night we were all pretty
firmly entrenched in our positions heading into Day 3.
We got back to the hotel slightly earlier, which was good - more time to shower
and use the recovery boots. As I went to bed that night it was hard not to feel
excited. I was just one day away from finishing something huge.
Friday - Just Finish
I had another great night’s sleep. When I woke up, it was a weird feeling. On
the one hand, I couldn’t believe this was happening. On the other, it felt a bit
like the movie Groundhog Day. “Just another race day” was my calming
mantra, and it still worked. But deep down I knew this wasn’t “just another.”
This could be an epic day. All I had to do was finish. I could take it easy all
day, do whatever my body allowed me to do. I didn’t even care what place I
came in. If I needed 17 hours to finish (even though ultras give you 24) then
that’s what it would take. Today was going to be a bit of a celebration out on
the course throughout the day.
We were joined in the van by people racing only a single 140.6, so we were
even more crowded. At the swim start I made a change and decided to go with my sleeveless wetsuit. It was about 56 degrees at the swim start, and I was getting asked about the cold. To be honest, I figured the gang from the Netherlands would be practically skinny dipping, but they were all decked out in full sleeved suits also. Beat Knechtle (first name is pronounced BE-yaht) from Switzerland has completed over 250 iron-distances in ultra-triathlon alone. He noticed my sleeveless suit, asked if I was crazy, and said I was the true Ironman that morning. He also pointed out that my nipple was sticking out the side as we posed for our group photo. Beat was another highlight of the week, clearly.
At 8am we were off one last time. I didn’t care about leading the first lap on
the swim today, but it was a good thing I did. My visibility was awful because
somehow I ended up with Bag Balm (which is an anti-chafing lube) inside
my goggles. It had smeared and I couldn’t see very well. I stopped after lap
1 to try to clean them, but that only made it worse. I had to completely stop
and call out to Wendy who had the backup pair ready. That cost me a minute
or two and dropped me from 2nd to 3rd in the swim. I didn’t care in the least.
I was thrilled to be seeing clearly, which meant safely, and nothing mattered more
today than finishing safely. Even with the goggle snafu, my swim time
was 1:16. Beat was so smooth and steady, he beat me by a few seconds
out of the water. Keep in mind this was his Day 10 - what an amazing
individual. I just had to shake his hand when we exited the water together.
I gave Wendy a kiss and got on the bike having no idea how things would feel.
This was all new territory for me, and the bike has always been my weakest
discipline. My plan was to aim for a 7 hour ride. I had strict orders from
coaches with reinforcement by Wendy and Jade to drink, drink, drink, and
eat. So I did. I drank one bottle every lap (approximately 16-17 minutes). I
peed right away on the first lap, which was great because the day before it
took almost 3 hours to go the first time. I did such a good job drinking every
lap, I kept peeing every lap! That was fine with me, it meant that I’d be plenty
hydrated for the run. As for food and refueling, I first stopped every two laps,
then every 3, and we finally figured out a system where I’d only stop every 4.
David Seres - who I met at the Florida race and somehow missed entirely at
Virginia - showed up with more Skratch. It was great to see him. He also did
a McDonalds run and brought back hamburgers! Wendy did an outstanding
job switching up everything drinking: Powerade, Gatorade, electrolyte drink,
and Skratch. She had food for me every hour. We had this thing figured out:
it was just a matter of surviving, and I don’t say that lightly.
Take Juan as an example. On one of my stops I saw him: his race was over.
He wasn’t able to finish his Day 4. When I came through on one of my stops,
he told me that the heaviest rains came while he was still on the bike, and
mud started to cover parts of the bike path. He had slowed considerably,
and by the time he got off the bike, his daughters knew he looked bad. Juan
recognized that, and called his race right then and there. I told him I knew
that feeling, having gone through a similar experience in Virginia. I thanked
him for being an inspiration, and reminded him that he made the right
choice, and that sometimes the ones that seem like they made be hard
ones to make really aren’t that difficult at all. Especially when it comes to
family.
I got back out on the course after that brief chat, and it was the most dangerous
day on the bike by far: those ‘buses’ I mentioned earlier were everywhere,
carting loads of kids all around the park, which led to big crowds of kids running
blindly every which way. I had to slow down every time I came near a group
of them. There were also crews out cleaning up the park, trimming branches
and clearing weeds,, but at least they paid attention. The only downside was
weed trimmings on the bike path, but they cleaned it up quickly.
I relaxed and chatted with the most amount of people on the bike today:
Michelle, who I had competed in my first ultra with in Florida two years ago.
She was doing the quintuple, and this was her final day also. Norbert Lu - who
won the Double Deca in Switzerland a few months earlier - slowed down to
ride side-by-side with me and have a discussion about the day. That was
cool - he’s phenomenal at ultras. To talk ride strategy with him for a few
minutes was very humbling. Aixa had stopped earlier and I slowed to made
sure she was OK. She was having some tightness in her quads, and I told
her to stop by Wendy and get some icy balm I had brought. Michelle would
flat later, and I stopped to turn around and made sure she was also OK.
I made a lot of stops, but was in no hurry. I allowed myself to soak the
experience in (when it was safe to do so). At one moment, I thought about
what I was doing, what I was accomplishing. I was in Mexico, doing an
international Ultra triathlon. Not just any, but a TRIPLE. And I was doing
well! I thought back to a year earlier, when I had e-mailed my Grammy and
told her I was dedicating my race season to her. I got emotional. She
passed away this spring, and then it hit me that she was very likely looking
over me. My luck may not have been luck at all, but a guardian angel
making sure that my final race of the year was not going to end badly.
I thought about a lot of people during those last 25 laps around the park. I
thought about my family, of course. I thought about my first triathlon, and I
thought of all the people I’ve met through racing along the way. I thought of
people I’ve trained with, and people who helped me get to this point, to this
moment. If you’re reading this, odds are I thought of you.
When the emotions subsided, some pain started to return. After all, this is
still a 140.6 triathlon, and things hurt. Everything hurt more than yesterday:
my neck and back were the worst at times, sometimes the neck pain being
as high as 9 on the 10 scale. But the laps kept melting away, and I knew that
the pain would disappear as soon as I started running.
I kept an eye on the clock because you have to do something for 25 laps,
and suddenly realized that I could beat yesterday’s bike split. The slight risk
was I’d have to open it up for the final 2 laps. “What the hell, that would be
cool,” I thought to myself. So I went for it, and my legs responded positively.
The whole day my 5-miles splits were averaging around 17 minutes; I got the
last two down to about 15, and missed equaling Thursday’s ride by only 90
seconds. It felt great to still have that kind of power left in my biking legs
after 3 days.
One last marathon to go, and it started off tough. I broke it down like I always
do: see how the first 10k go, then re-evaluate and see if I can run to 20. It was
the hottest day yet, and rain wouldn’t come for at least 2 hours. My pacing
was good, right about 10 minute miles. I stopped early to have Jade tape my
knees, which helped me stay in a good rhythm early. My legs felt great and surprisingly powerful.
About mile 10 Wendy offered me a hot dog which tasted great. A bit later though, that hot dog combined with all the drinking on the bike turned into a major GI issue, which unfortunately would be the story for the rest of the run. I took some Tums, it was too late. It was the worst my gut had ever felt during a run. There’s a saying in distance running: “Never trust a fart.” It’s funny, gross, and true. I had to make more pit stops than in any other race, about every 25 minutes, sometimes more. I couldn’t get back into a consistent rhythm, it was too much stop-and-go. Per was slowing down and finally taking it easy, but I couldn’t take advantage. He had beat me off the bike again by about another hour. I gained a lap back from him early, but gave it back later on another prolonged bathroom break.
The last run was my only minor disappointment from a performance
perspective: I had done the math in my head and coming off the bike I knew
a sub-13 finish was entirely possible, I just needed a marathon under 5 hours
which was totally doable. When I realized around mile 18 that wasn’t going to
happen, I was completely OK with it. I slowed down and again savored it. I
asked Wendy to walk a lap with me at mile 19, then I ran until mile 24 with
two laps remaining. I asked her to walk with me on the second to last lap,
and thanked her for all she’s sacrificed to allow me to pursue this and my
other crazy endeavors. I also got a lot of emotions out on that lap so I
wasn’t a blubbery mess when I crossed the finish!
I ran the final mile, with my legs feeling strong even at the end. I heard the
music they were playing for me ("Where The Streets Have No Name") and
brought it home. I finished the triple ultra, 3 iron-distance races in 3 days.
What a welcome. Hugs came from so many people besides Wendy:
fellow participants, other racers’ crews, the race staff, even spectators.
Per was so great, he and Norbert both stuck around to see me finish. I
really can’t say enough good things about them. The race wouldn’t have
been as enjoyable without Per to have fun with on the run. Beto gave me
a bottle of champagne to pop open and take some celebratory sips from.
It was wonderful. I felt fantastic, but it also felt like a dream. It was surreal.
Then Jade sprung the news on me: Per and I had both broken the previous
world record for a 1x3 ultra. The previous record was 40 hours, 30 minutes. I
beat it by over two hours with a total time of 38 hours, 5 minutes and 51
seconds, while Per easily set the new one finishing just under 36 hours!
Pretty incredible. Then again, he had already done the continuous deca a
few weeks earlier, so he was in plenty good shape to do a triple! He also
admitted to me after that he had intended to break the world record all
along, but not by so much until I showed up! I thanked him and told him he
made the race fun. His response was, "You made the race HARD!" Another
great line from a great competitor.
It was a moment I didn’t want to end. I almost felt like I was floating. Laura
came through on one of her hundreds of laps, and I walked with her. I
intended it to be brief, to give her some thanks and encouragement. It
ended up turning into a bit of a victory lap. I talked with everyone else who
was still on the course: Daniel and Al, who were also doing the double
deca; Javier, who was doing his first triathlon EVER and it was a 140.6;
David, who was older than I was but had a smile just as big.
I could go on and say something about every single participant. Kristian,
Bernhard, Georgeta, Claire, all of them. That’s the best thing about the
ultra triathlon community. We are all family. It’s not an exaggeration or
hyperbole. You get to know everyone’s name and a little bit about them.
Everyone roots for each other, pulls for each other, and at times we
carry each other emotionally. We’re all united by this bond that we know
makes us weird and crazy, both suffering together and celebrating each
other. These are tough but wonderful races, taken on by some of the
toughest and most beautiful people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.
I would have loved to have stayed the rest of the night and cheered all of
them in to their finish. But 3 days does take a bit of wear, and I was looking
forward to sleeping in the next day.
As for what’s next, I don’t know for sure. I know I’m probably going to take
a year off from ultras since Kaitlynn is going to be a senior next year, and I
don’t want to miss any of her senior year activities. Training for these takes
a huge amount of time - mostly on weekends - and Wendy deserves to
have me around more.
I can say this, though: I know I’m capable of more. How much more remains
to be seen, but since finishing, I haven’t had any negative twitches, twinges,
muscle spasms, or anything. I didn’t even get a single blister! The worst thing
I ended up with was awful-looking race tan-lines. The fact that I came out of
it unscathed is a tribute to my coaches Ebe and Lauren of TCE Multisport, to
Wendy for making sure I was eating and drinking, and Jade who was keeping
an eye on Wendy keeping an eye on me.
I also need to acknowledge Kyle and the entire staff of Kyle’s Bikes who have
kept Phoenix (my bike) in excellent condition, even after the nasty spill I took
back in May; Matt Zepeda with Zoom Performance, who has been an
excellent swim coach [in addition to being another great tri coach] and continued to provide me with additional advice and
suggestions; Sandy Bowman at Healthsource, who helped me with my neck
and shoulder pain and provided the portable massager; Kathy Haage, who is
not only a great neighbor but is an outstanding massage therapist to boot.
Extra special thanks to my sister-in-law Vicki, who flew out from San Jose to
look after Phoebe while Kaitlynn was busy with all her high school activities.
I also need to thank everyone who’s ever cheered me on, said an encouraging
comment, raced with me, trained with me, offered advice, or has done so for
others. We all need encouragement in our lives. You never know what someone
else is going through. We wear facades sometimes to mask pain or discomfort,
but that’s not why you always see me smiling during races. That smile is almost
always genuine. I’m so fortunate to do something I love, I want to share and
express that feeling out on the course. During races we all have our dark
moments, and I hope my smile and a thumbs-up brings someone out of that
dark place, even for a few seconds. If I’ve ever inspired you, I ask that you do
me this one thing: smile at someone today. It’s a bonus if you smile at someone
who looks like they need one. It may not sound like much, but you could end up
being the best part of their day just by doing that little thing.
Thanks for doing that, and thanks for letting me share another race story
with you.
#trifectacomplete
#fornow...
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