I first read about
The Gateway to the Bay triathlon in
Kemah Texas in May of 2010. When I saw the race started from a replica 1800 century style paddle wheel boat "
The Colonel Paddle Wheel" I knew I was going to do this race in 2011. As soon as the registration opened I signed up and started training for my first
Olympic distance triathlon (aka International distance). The distances for the race are; a 1.5 km swim (.93 miles), a 40 km bike (24.8 miles) and a 10 km run (6.2 miles). The training plan was modest, calling for the normal activities you would think; swimming, cycling, running and some strength training. At the end of my training I reviewed my logs to verify I had actually prepared myself for the race. I was happy with my training and most importantly I made it through the entire 8 week training plan injury free, physically. I'll come back to the mental anguish I endured. Towards the end of my training I could feel I had made lots of progress. My swimming times were getting faster, I was able to hammer for longer on the bike and my running speed was faster and I was able to maintain my race pace for longer. I could tell I was starting to peak for my race. My training logs revealed I had swam 33 miles, 160 miles of cycling and run 110 of miles for a total of 303 miles in training for the Kemah Olympic Triathlon.
The mental side of training continues to be harder then the physical side. There is a lot of mental preparation for a workout, I usually do mental prep the day and moments before the workout. The day before involves self doubt with thoughts of "
can I run that fast for that long?", "
can I do that many intervals of 400, 800, 1200, 1600 meters at the track?", "
can I swim that hard?" and
"can I maintain that MPH while biking with the hills and the wind?". Other mental huddles are "
I don't feel like getting up at 4:45 AM everyday to either run, bike or swim", "
I'm to tired", "
it's too hot/cold/dark/windy..." the excuse could go on. Moments before a workout I always think about what
Scott Jones says "
Train with joy or not at all" that's enough for me to get started. If it's not fun or I'm not enjoying myself than I need to be doing something other training for Triathlons. During the workout I have another favorite saying this one from
Lance Armstrong “
Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”
The hardest mental workout I had was my first day back in open water i.e. not a pool. The gym I belong too owns a quarry which is perfect for practicing open water swimming. I swam in the quarry last summer so I figured getting back in the water would not be a big deal, boy was I wrong. The day I went the water was 60 degrees, it was windy and I was the only person in this huge quarry. Being alone in the quarry is a little weird. There's no life guard, that are snakes (I've never seen one), snapping turtles, fish and fresh water jelly fish. So I put on my sleeveless wet suit and headed into the water, it was cold but manageable with the wet suit until I stuck my face in the water and tried to swim. My face was cold, my chest tighten up, I was having a hard time breathing, my goggles fogged up, white capped were breaking on my back and over my head. I thought "if I can't swim here how am I going to swim in the Gulf of Mexico in Kemah or the San Fransisco Bay for the
Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon?" I paused, tried to relax and slowly made my way over the dock for a rest. This was not going well. I did some self talk to try and get a grip and went back in...same thing, except this time I could tell I was holding my breathe. I took a mental note to exhale in the water and concentrate on that. I swam about a 100 yards before I started feeling anxious again, back to the dock. This scenario played out for a hour before I packed it in for the day. I was mental beaten...I realized on the drive home my head was cold the entire time I was in the water, I needed to fix that. The next day I went to the local swim shop and bought a neoprene swim cap.
Granted it's not sexy but I choose warmth over fashion any day. After thinking about my previous swim, my fears and my feeble attempt at an open water swim I went back to the quarry the next day and started over. This time more slowly, I entered the water inch by inch adjusting to the cold and letting my wet suit fill up with water and the water stretches the wet suit out a bit which helps with breathing. With my new neoprene cap I slowly put my head in the water and started to swim. After about 200 yards I could feel how relaxed I was and started to enjoy the solitude of the quarry until I felt a turtle bite my toe. I think I let out a little yelp and rolled over on to my back and looked at my foot. Huh, no blood? I looked at my other foot, no blood. What I discovered was my feet were numb from the cold and when I kicked my toes slapped the top water and felt like something was biting me. I went back to my self talk and started to swim again. I wound up swimming over a mile that day and becoming acutely award of how important it is to be mentally strong. There is more work to be done here.
Fast forward to race weekend...The plan was to leave first thing Friday morning after checking Reid into school and getting him counted for the day. Attendance taken, Reid's out of school and we are off. The truck was loaded for bare. We started making our way to
Bolivar Peninsula which is just northeast of Galveston Island. Our neighbors, The Kramers (Kevin and Shannon), were coming down to Kemah to support me in my Triathlon. These are great friends! The plan was to spend Friday afternoon at Kevin's father's house and do some fishing with the kids. But before we made it to Bolivar we stopped at a Tex Mex restaurant in Katy Texas for the best Mexican food I've ever had,
Lupe Tortilla. Upon reaching the peninsula The Kramers told and showed us all the damage that Hurricane Ike had done 3 years earlier. The Hurricane pretty much wipe out the entire area leaving just a few remaining houses and traces of a previously bustling community. Friday night we headed over the Galveston Island via a
ferry ride and had a fun dinner at the Rain Forrest Cafe, that's all I have to say about Galveston. Saturday morning we took a short trip out into the Bay and did a little fishing. We were dropping the line in the water for some fish called "
croakers". After some uneventful fishing we packed up and headed off for Kemah via the ferry again.
As we entered the little port town of Kemah my excitement went from 5 to 10. Months of training were about to be put to the test. We couldn't check into the hotel so we headed down into Kemah which houses a little amusement park and restaurants. On the way I picked up my race packet and checked in. I have to give the race organizer some credit the check in and packet pickup were flawless. Then we headed over to
Saltgrass restaurant for some lunch. The restaurant sat right on the water so I got to survey the bay for the water conditions. To be honest this did not decrease me stress as I watched 1 1/2 foot rollers and white caps being blown around the bay. Race day conditions called for the same. After lunch we took the kids on some rides. I drew the short straw and went on a ride with Lilly. No I'm not a monster it was a very small ride. After fulfilling my daddy duties I headed back to the hotel with Lilly to prepare myself for the race.
Lilly was a big help with moving my racing gear around the room as I tried to get ready. I looked over my check list, packed, unpacked and packed again. I rested on the bed and watched
iCarly. By the time Carrie and Reid got back to the hotel I was ready for some sleep so I put on the NCAA basketball game, that would surly put me to sleep.
4 AM, I'm up, one last gear check and a bagel with peanut butter and I'm out the door with a good luck kiss from Carrie. Down to the transition area where I unpacked my gear and set up my personal space and chatted with my fellow racers. We had a 1/4 mile walk down to the boat which left port sharply at 5:30. "Be on the boat or miss your chance to race", those were words blaring over the PA system. I met a nice guy in transition who was doing his first Triathlon as he asked me questions about what to do, it gave me confidence in my prep work and my game plan for the day. 1500 racers packed the paddle wheel boat and prepared for a 45 minute ride out to the starting point for the race. There was a lot of nervous energy on that boat ride, people were stretching, talking, drinking water, eating energy bars and trying to mentally get ready for jumping off the boat, me included. With anchor away I made my last minute checks and finished putting on my wet suit. My age group would be the 5th wave off the boat. I quickly made me way down to the first floor of the boat and positioned myself at the back end of the wave in front of me. With last minute instructions from the racing crew about how to jump off the boat I found myself at the head of the line. I'd be the first person in my group off the boat and into the water.
As I came up for my first breathe after jumping off the boat I got my first taste of Trinity Bay. Yep, that's salt water, that wouldn't be my last drink from the bay. Prior to jumping off we all noticed we had anchored some 200 yards from the starting buoy. Great just what I needed...a longer swim. Head down I started my swim to shore. It was a straight shot from the boat to shore along a well marked course dotted with bright 8' tall yellow and orange buoys. To add to the already confusing state I was in from the rolling seas, the poor visibility in the water and fear from being eaten by Jaws people were literally swimming over me. Several time people swam across my back going perpendicular to the heading of the course. I wasn't sure where they were going but it was the wrong way. As the crowd thinned about I found some space to swim in. As I eyed the buoys I noticed I was getting closer to them, as in the current was pushing me side ways. Mental note taken, pull harder with my left to keep a straighter course to fight the current. This little bit of thought occupied my mind for some time. Looking up I passed the 500 meter buoy then the 1000 meter buoy. 500 more meters to go and I'd be home free...just then I latched on to something this women and I never thought would happen during the race. My hand landed squarely in this woman's crotch from behind. I mean I got a handful of woman parts! As I released my hand I stopped swimming expecting some kind of retaliation but she just kept her head down and kept swimming. Oh well and that's part of the swimming portion of a triathlon I guess. As I neared the beach I finally started to relax and enjoy my swim. I could really feel how hard I'd been swimming and my arms were pretty tired. With one last stroke I felt the bottom of the bay and stood up and ran out of the water. Running down the carpet toward the transition zone there were "wet suit strippers". All I had to do was let them unzip my wet suit, take my arms out and lay down. They grabbed the suit from the waist and ripped it off me in about 1 second. I ran into transition and donned my riding gear and I was off. I did the swim in 30:29 beating my goal time of 45 minutes.
Out of the transition with my bike and I'm ready to ride. For the first few miles of my ride I could feel my arms shaking trying to support my bike in the "aero position". The ride is totally flat but had some sharp bends. For the first 10 miles or so I managed to maintain a speed of about 20 MPH and I was passing a lot of people. Then the course took a sharp 90 degree corner and I'm straight into a head wind. I dropped to a lower gear and I'm pedaling for all I'm worth going about 16 MPH. This nasty little section goes on for about 6 miles or so. It's a long straight road. I can see off in the distance I'm about to get to the turn around and enjoy the tail wind home. When I rounded the corner and started heading back the tail wind is amazing. I'm in my highest gear hammering on the pedals. I'm blowing by people. I looked down at my bike computer and see I'm doing 28 MPH. As my brother says "I'm hauling the mail!" Then I hear someone yell behind me "you'll killing me" I say, "what?" "you're going so fast, you're killing me". My response was "get the off my wheel" and starting pedaling faster (drafting behind rides during a triathlon is illegal, so the guy behind me was cheating). I make it back to the transition zone in 1:14 beating my time goal of 1:30. So far I'm nailing my race and I feel great. Out of my riding shoes and on with my running shoes.
As I ran out of transition Carrie, the kids and The Kramers were cheering me on. That was a boost! Unfortunately that didn't last long. About a mile into the run I started to get a cramp right up under my rib cage, it felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I was having a hard time catching my breathe. The run went on like this for the next couple of miles. As I rounded a corner and started down a long stretch I could see Carrie and Shannon on the side of the road holding some signs. I couldn't make out the words but I did recognized that some boobs were drawn into the word WOW! I was starting to perk up a bit. As I got closer Carrie and Shannon moved the signs to their sides revealing their boobs! Oh wait! Those aren't real?! Why do their boobs have suspenders? They were shaking their fake plastic suspender supported boobs yelling "go Brad go!". That was really funny. I had forgotten about my cramp and focused on their boobs. Men don't care if they aren't real. I laughed and thanked them as I continued my run from hell. The last part of the run went up and over a big arching bridge in Kemah, twice! After crossing the bridge I looped back around under neath it and started back up again. At the top of the bridge some old dude with his age of 65 written on his calf passed me. I knew my time wasn't going to be good for the run. I dug a little deeper and managed to ek out a descent last mile.
As I crossed the finish line a volunteer took off my timing chip another put a medal around my neck and I got a hug from Carrie. That's a great way to finish a race! The hug was followed by more hugs and kisses from the kids, Shannon and a hand shake from Kevin. I looked at my watch, did a little math for my time and my finishing time 2:51:39. I couldn't believe it after such a crappy run of 1:04:51 I beat my time goal for the race by almost 9 minutes.
Now having completed the training and the race for my first Olympic distance Triathlon. I have a better understanding of what it's going to take to train for a 1/2 Ironman scheduled for later this year and a full Ironman tentatively scheduled for August of 2012 in Canada!
I'd really like to give a big THANK YOU to my family, Carrie, Reid, Lilly and my friends Kevin, Shannon and Beckett for coming to Kemah and supporting me for my race. I'd also like to thank my brother,
Scott, who is a constant sounding board and source of encouragement. It was a great weekend of family, friends, food, ferries, fishing and racing!
