IM Arizona: Spectator Report

“Wow.”

I think that I said that 5 or 10 times while my wife and I were watching all of the athletes race Ironman Arizona. “Wow” followed by some random triathlon fact. Or, even better, a random math calculation. “You know dear, the people who are still on the bike right now (3pm) will probably not get done until 9pm."

As promised, I spent most of Sunday in sunny Tempe, AZ (try to find a cloud in one of my pictures! It is like Wheres Waldo) watching the Ironman Arizona triathlon. It was not only the first triathlon that I've seen, but also the first time that I've gone to a race without going to specifically watch someone. I've volunteered, but never just went to hang out. That said, it was a BLAST. Here are a few of the highlights.

Speaking of volunteers, IM AZ had a TON of them. I believe that I heard somewhere around 3,000. For example, here is a guy whose sole job was to tell people when to turn around and do another loop or when to go to transition. His shirt was very descriptive: Pointer.

Since this was a loop race, it was hard to tell who was "winning". Moreover, I had a hard time telling if someone was doing well and looking like they should after 90 miles on the bike, or if they had only gone 30 miles on the bike and were having a very VERY bad day. Mostly I just judged people by the cover and assumed that if they had a teardrop alien shaped helmet, they were probably doing really well. Obviously, this guy is smoking fast.

IMAZ had lead motorcycles for the lead man / woman, and lead mountain bikes for men/women 2-5, but it was still very hard to follow. Here I am making my Ironman TV debut. Oh, I guess the leader, Jordan Rapp, (guy in the red tri-suit) was in there too.

The most amazing part was transition. It was quite a scene. One minute it was empty and quiet, the next, controlled chaos. The scene in pictures (click to make larger):

Leader coming into transition, shoes off

Bags, lots and lots of bags

Mostly empty bike racks

Mostly full bike racks!

Changing area for T2. Note that I didn't get near the womens change entrance. You're welcome.

Running shortly after transition

Watching transition made me so tired and hungry that I decided that I needed to do some carbo loading. Frozen yogurt. Glorious.

My wife and I cheered for all of the triatheletes, but since the day was getting a bit long we decided to go check out the leaders. We weren't there in time to see the winner Jordan Rapp cross the finish line, but we did get to see him in come into transition (see above). We did however get to see the female winner, Samantha McGlone, cross the finish line and set a new course record!

Overall the day was a blast. While I don't want to sign up for an Ironman right now, I could see myself wanting to do it in the future. Maybe during a mid life crisis. I'll drive there in my mid life crisis convertible!

In closing, to all of the Ironmen who may stumble across this post. A few questions from a guy who mostly runs:

• Which part is the hardest? Of the bikers and runners that I saw, it seemed like the runners were the ones who were grimacing the most.
• How much do those alien shaped helmets REALLY help? I would think that the discomfort of having all of that heat trapped in your head would offset any sort of air advantage.
• HOW do you become "pro". There was an age group guy who came in 4th or 5th overall. So, I guess they aren't the fastest all of the time, right?
• How often do you get flat tires? It seems like that was a major worry for everyone. (I guess there is a rule about having someone else carry your bike to the aid station? I felt bad for this lady.)

Slap Chop Rap

Taking a page from RazZDoodle's SSTIFY (Song STuck In my head FridaY).... (Yeah, I think it should be SSIMHF too) I've had this song stuck in my head all week long. Since I lurve my Funny Foto Friday posts, I figured that I'd post this little ditty today.

According to google, searches for "Vince Shlomi" are one of the more popular ways to get to my blog (second only to "what to do if people think I'm boring"). This Slap Chop Rap video courtesy of an auto-tuner and featuring none other than the shamwow guy and some swap meet townies should tide them over.

IM Arizona tomorrow!

FFF: When I grow up

Kids are awesome in how literal they can be. Have a great weekend!

That's Dodgy!

After my ill advised fast-ish run on Tuesday, I decided to give myself a break on Wednesday. I was a little stiff and sore during the morning, but once I got out of the germ tube (plane) and was able to stretch my legs a bit I felt a lot better. I’m still a bit wonky (the British have the most fun semi-curse words…’that’s rubbish!’...’dodgy!!’) today so unless I am feeling like a rock star, I’ll try to hit the bike tonight and rest up for another longish (6? 7?) run this weekend.

So, while I would love to report about some crazy fun work out or hilarious goings on, I just have a normal dodgy bullet point update with some emphasis on travel. Take a read, I'll bring the crumpets.

• Like I said before, I’m in the bankrupt sunny state of California. While it is a bit strange, and possibly a bit morbid, I can’t help but hope that I feel an earthquake each time I am here. Be honest, you would feel the same way if you visited my previous home of Kansas. You want to see some Dorothy spinning in her house and some flying monkeys. Don’t lie.
• Since I didn’t do any biking or running on Wednesday, I decided to do some obligatory push ups / curls / crunches. I’m basically huge now. Look out Lou Ferrigno. It did get me thinking about this P90X business. I’m sure it works great, but I’m still a little skeptical about things with too many letters or numbers. CSI: NY and NCIS I’m talking to you.
• Since I’m visiting a new location, I’m currently camped out in someone else’s office while he is on vacation. On more than one occasion, people have poked their head in and said “oh, you’re not Ron. You’re a lot younger than Ron.” I then go on the explain that I am Ron I just have been drinking lots of water and taking my vitamins.
• Over the past week or so I’ve been reading Capt Sully Sullenberger’s book about landing a plane in the Hudson. The problem? Basically the only time that I read a book is while on a plane. Let me tell you, this is NOT a good idea. I’ve gotten to the point that I am not a nervous flyer at ALL, but even my mind got to wondering about what COULD happen.
• Finally, Garmin is on my shit list right now. Every time I go to sync my 305, the Garmin tracking software crashes. The only solution that I’ve found is to completely reboot my computer (only a weekly occurrence normally) and go directly into the tracking software. If I wasn’t such a numbers dork (read: whore) I’d stop using it, but I just can’t seem to get enough of those beautiful graphs!

Running, Traveling, and IM AZ

Another run! In fact, I cut my recovery down by a full day - making my run / rest every other day. My wife rode along with me again yesterday for the 3 miles jog which made them go by a lot faster. While on the run/ride we noticed that our local town in Arizona is having a rodeo this weekend and was setting up the carnival rides about a mile from our house. If I have anything to say about it, I'll have pictures soon. If my wife has anything to say about it, I will not.

3 miles / 7:47 pace (8:09, 7:37, 7:36)

Yeah, I ran this a LOT faster than I should have. I wanted to see how much fitness I had lost over the last few months. Unfortunately, it is more than I anticipated - but just like I love the challenge of trying to figure out what the hell T-Pain is saying, I love the challenge of regaining fitness.

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This week I am not headed to my friend Atlanta, or even to glorious San Diego. Instead, I am headed to Orange County W-F. Not LA mind you.... Orange County. I was corrected on this just the other day. While I am nearly certain that I'll run into Rachel Bilson (See right), if for some reason she is on a yacht this week, just like every other business travel trip, I am certain it will be a huge sausage fest. It could always be worse. My buddy Nick is at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference. When he gets home he is likely going to need two showers to wash off all of the nerd smell.

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Finally, I have completely forgot to announce (to all of my triathlon readers) that I am going to watch the IronMan Arizona race this weekend. My plan is to park a few miles away from the main transition area and bike in to avoid most of the traffic. I will have my camera in tote, tourist style, and will have all sorts of pictures and stories to report.

The swim is 2 laps around a man made lake near Arizona State University, the bike goes 30 miles into a local Indian reservation (twice), and the marathon loops around the lake 3 times. So, I think that I am going to be centered around the lake. If anything, I'll get to see some wet suit strippers. Be sure that I'll make all sorts of off color comments about THAT activity.

5 mile run - For the Win!

Well, not really "win" I suppose, but I did finish...so there is that.

5 miles, 8:26 / mile

I had initially started Sunday's run planning on getting in a solid 4 miles. I had bought my wife a bike the day before and she was going to ride beside me screaming obscenities to make me go faster. Well, obviously they worked! I'm not sure what a skull sucking finger troll is, but I know that I don't like being called one.

Before I started out I told myself, just like every time I'm in the Disney store, that I wouldn't continue going if it hurt. As soon as it hurt I would stop. Well, the GREAT thing was that my leg/knee/bone didn't ever start to hurt! There was a bit of discomfort towards the end, but it never got much higher than the level of Winny the Poo on Ice. Since I knew that Sunday was usually my 'long' day, I decided to tack on the extra mile for good measure.

So, short term goal of getting healed enough to jog a 10k has been met. Even though it sounds like my wife and I may just run the 5K version of the Thanksgiving day race we were planning, it is still a good feeling to know that I could do the full 6.2 if I had to.

Speaking of my wife, having her ride along side of me was really fun. She was constantly worried that she was going to run into me, so she would usually stay towards the back. But, it was nice to have someone out there to talk to while on the run. Who am I kidding? More than anything it was fun to finally have someone else to listen to all of my witty observations.