Finishing the Galveston 70.3 Triathlon
4-11-16
Sunday
- 3:45AM:
I
woke up from a decent night's sleep, not great but decent. I woke
every couple of hours mostly because I managed to get a slight
sunburn Saturday. Dang, this is way to early. I got up, put my
contacts in and put on my brand new Zoot tri shorts that I purchased
because I had left mine at home. By getting up early and getting to
the race site before 4:30 I was able to park right by the Tri Life
Racing tent and trailer. It was worth getting up early for parking
spot. I went back and forth to the car a dozen times Sunday. Coach
Sean already had things set up and told me to sit down and take it
easy; so I did.
About
and hour later Amanda, Bob and I went to transition to set up. I had
some jitters about the wind and my ability but my teammates are great
encouragers and motivators. Then about 7:20 Bob, Danny and I donned
our wetsuits and headed for the swim start.
Swim:
About
7:50AM all of us 55 and older men jump into the water and made our
way to the start boueys. Then at 7:52 the horn goes off and the day
really begins. The swim was smooth, easy and unremarkable. It is a
long way to the first turn bouey and I managed not to be run over or
run over any one. The water was nice and calm and a pleasant
temperature for wetsuits. Everything went well and as I turned the
corner to head in it was good to see that the distance in was shorter
then the first leg out.
Seeing
as how it takes me time to get my land legs after a long swim I
grabbed the side rail with both hands as I made my way out of the
water to the stripping area where two wonderful volunteers ripped my
wetsuit off for me. Apparently I did the 1.2 mile swim in just under
39 minutes, better than my time in the relay last year.
With
my balance issues I find it easier to sit down in transition to put
my shoes on and get ready for the ride. Part of that is spraying
sunscreen on myself. I managed to miss the back of my legs plus
during the ride my shorts cinched up exposing unprotected skin. I
would feel that all Sunday night.
Bike:
To
jump back a little bit to Saturday; I started kidding about how many
people would pass me on the ride. Someone suggested I count. So
that is what I did to keep my mind occupied, to make fun of my speed
and prevent me from pushing to keep up. (Numbers later)
The
ride started well with 90 cadence and 15+ mph which is good for me.
My heart rate started in mid zone 3. It later backed off into zone 2
where it stayed most of the ride. I think it was about 10 miles in
there was a rider on a stretcher on the ground being stabilized by
paramedics for transport to a hospital. All any of us could do was
hope and pray they were OK. Never did find out.
The
ride started getting harder because of the wind. Flags made it look
like a cross wind but the grasses
indicated a slight into our face angle. All riders battled that for
28 miles. The ride was hard and
my speed was all over usually in the 12 to 14.5MPH range; sometimes
faster and sometimes slower. At mile 28 I decided to stop for a
minute to grab a banana and prepare for the ride back. I planned on
a 2 minute stop. This is where the day started getting interesting.
As
I was stopped I started having troubles breathing and at one point
felt light headed. This extended my stop to 5 minutes plus. It
abated a little and I was beginning to think I was just having some
kind of panic attack, got mad and took off riding again.
Since
the weather and my schedule messed with my doing longer rides for
training every mile after the turn was my longest ride of the year.
It was nice to have the wind at my back and I was able to ride
faster, for the most part. My butt was getting sore so I would pedal
a while then stand on the pedals to stretch and get off the seat for
a few seconds. As time went on I did this more often. I decided to
stop again for a couple minutes at the 42 mile water station.
Maybe
I wasn't paying attention while riding or my body positioning helped
but when I stopped my breathing troubles kicked in harder again.
There was a truck trailer there providing shade so I got off my bike,
propped it up against the wheels of the trailer and put my head and
arms on the side of the trailer. Guess I didn't look too good
because one of the volunteers came over and asked if he should get a
medic for me. I said no. Again my 2 minute stop lasted 5+ minutes,
I got mad and took off riding again. I really think the riding
position keep my breathing better, go figure.
I
had planned on doing the ride in 4 hours but with the extended stops
it was about 4 hours and 10 minutes.
I
finished and made it to transition where I again sat down to change
shoes and stuff. Apparently again I did not look good because a
volunteer came over to ask if I needed a medic. I said no and he
insisted on staying by me for a while. (The volunteers were good,
caring people. Thanks) I changed and headed out to start my
run.
Numbers:
Numbers:
I
told you the numbers would come later. I am proud to say I passed 4
people on the bike ride. And I laugh when I say I was passed by about
717 riders. It was averaging about 100 riders for every 3 miles on
the first 15 miles. I did not have to worry about being penalized
for drafting because they were going by so fast. If they weren't
going too fast when the even hundredth would pass I would call out
something like: “Congratulations, you are the 600th
person to pass me”. That got some laughs.
Run:
This
is the part of the race I had worked so hard on and had figured I
could do a 12:45 to 13:30 minute pace even after the ride and swim. I
had also figured that I would need to walk at the beginning to get my
legs back and walk more than I have been. So, I walked about a half
mile and started jogging. Almost right away I started having
troubles breathing and was wheezing after less than 100 yards. What
the hell was going on I asked myself. Both my children had asthma
including exercise induced asthma. Is that what I was experiencing?
I tried walking some more than jogging again. Same thing happened. I
was now breathing fast
and shallow while walking. I could breath OK while walking but it was
fast and shallow.
I
ended up walking more and more. I stopped at the aid station just
past the 3 mile water station and explained what was happening. They
listened to my lungs and said they were clear and suggested that it
could be my throat constricting. (Another 3 minute delay) Again,
what the hell? When I had stopped I really questioned if I would
cross that finish line. Since it was not asthma I figured I could
walk it the rest of the way if nothing else, damn the time.
As
I passed the water station starting my second loop one volunteer gave
me a cup of ice and another put 2 cups of ice down the back of my
jersey. I found chewing the ice helped my throat. I tried jogging
again and was able to go further before having difficulties
breathing. By that time my legs were wearing out, I was still
breathing heavy while walking and thoughts of finishing were fading
in and out.
The
Will to go on:
I
most likely would have stopped if not for all the support I had
gotten from Coach Sean and all my Tri Life Family before the race and
every time I saw one of them during the race. From Jeremy while
passing me on the ride saying “How are you doing Mr. Roberts”,
the Falkner boys cheering me on while they waited for their relay to
finish as well as later informing me they beat their dad to Coach
Sean and teammates cheering me on as I passed the tent. How can one
disappoint that kind of love and support.
They
say triathlons are an individual sport. Physically yes, but mentally
I had a whole team carrying me to the finish line.
Finishing:
I
made it through the second loop and figured if I could keep the same
pace I would be very close to finishing in regulation time. The
third loop started strong with ice at every water station to help my
breathing. The ice ran out at the later stations. The breathing had
taken it's toll, mostly mentally. As I came to the mile 12 marker I
calculated that I needed to do an under 13 minute mile to finish in
time and my heart sank. I didn't feel I had that in me. But dang it I
was going to cross that finish line so I kept walking. I was
trudging along when then I saw Coach Sean who had backtracked almost
a mile to find me. He got on my case and said I was going to start
running and kept after me to breath slowly and deeply. He pushed and
pushed. He had me jogging most of that last mile and I was able to
cross the finish line jogging. I don't know if I made it in time, it
doesn't matter. I finished with pride. Thanks Coach Sean.
Afterward:
Right
after crossing the finish line I half tripped, half collapsed as they
gave me the medal. I was helped up by some medics and I braced
myself against a tub of ice water and proceeded to drop my medal. One
medic said “No, I will pick that up for you”. I then put it
around my neck so I wouldn't drop it again. I finally made my way out
the finisher chute where Coach Sean and others greeted me.
Coach
Sean didn't stop there. He hovered over me like a mother hen to the
point of grabbing my neck and guiding me back to the tent. Seems
like my lack of balance had me veering off in one direction or the
other. He sat me down, made me rest and got some Angus (not regular)
but Angus hotdogs and fluids in me. Bob graciously helped me,
sometime later, retrieve my bike and gear from transition. After
sitting probably another hour I made it back to the hotel, showered,
plopped into bed and slept for 4 hours.
Thanks
to all who believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. I did it,
not alone, but I did it. Not to be redundant but:
They
say triathlons are an individual sport. Physically yes, but mentally
I had a whole team carrying me to the finish line.
Vocal
Cord Dysfunction (VCD)
I
am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV but I did some internet
searching as to why I was having troubles breathing and found this
possibility.
Vocal
Cord Dysfunction (VCD).
- “VCD is sometimes confused with asthma because some of the symptoms are similar. “
- “In asthma, the airways (bronchial tubes) tighten, making breathing difficult. With VCD, the vocal cord muscles tighten, which also makes breathing difficult. “
- “Much like with asthma breathing in lung irritants and exercising may trigger symptoms.”
Symptoms
include difficulty breathing, especially in; wheezing; throat
tightness and hoarse voice. Those that were in the tent afterwords
may have noticed my voice was slightly hoarse.
It
is interesting that one of the treatments for VCD is Deep Breathing
Techniques. Remember what Coach Sean had me doing at the end? Yes,
deep breathing. I will be investigating further to prevent or
control this on long races.
[Update]
Apparently, according to the information on Finisher Pix, I missed the
time by just over 3 minutes. I crossed the finish line and they gave
me a medal & hat. I
did it.
End of discussion.
