After COVID shutdown racing in the March of 2020, I was still holding onto some hope that the racing will return by the end of year. It sort of did, but I ended up not racing any physical races for the rest of the year. I signed up for a marathon in Arkansas in mid Spring and got into a good running shape, but unfortunately ended up getting injured with 3 weeks to go. Had to cancel the plans to travel to Arkansas, and started getting back into the pool and into the saddle. Eventually, races returned and I did my first Olympic race in Lake Perris in April. It was a pretty pathetic showing since my swim skills definitely needed re-sharpening, and the bike power was largely gone. After that, I started a more focused training program with the goal to race the Malibu Olympic Tri and eventually Arizona 70.3 that I had rolled over into after Santa Rosa 70.3 got cancelled twice.
I rebuilt my trusty NP3 with some new components, got a shorter set of cranks, and started getting more time in the saddle over the summer. I definitely got into a decent shape and even came in 6th in my age group in Malibu, and I felt that I largely could have placed better had I had some slightly better luck on the bike course. The training was going well, especially in the pool where I was swimming the best splits of my life. With 3 weeks to go to Arizona, I focused on recovery and a few longer rides/runs. I also committed a cardinal sin - I decided to switch to the new source of nutrition for the bike using Maurten after it tested great during the last long ride and run. I also installed a new Profile Design Aeria HSF bottle, which required a new stem which required a slight change to position and some recabling... so basically the rule about nothing new on the race day was largely violated. But I thought that this would be my opportunity to go sub 5 for the first time, albeit on an easier course.
Wife and I drove to Phoenix on 10/15, got there by 4pm and I went to get my registration packet picked up. It was pretty warm even for the afternoon. The Ironman village was pretty empty, and I got through the pickup process in no time. Afterwards I stopped by the 5 o'clock athlete briefing and did not get anything super informative out of it outside of the fact that the swim was going to be going in the opposite direction of the last time I swam IMAZ. OK, so pretty much all into the sun. Armed with this bit of knowledge I headed back. We had pizza and beers for dinner, watched some Netflix and I headed to bed early-ish.
The next morning morning I tagged my gear with the provided stickers. Lucky number 84! Here it is, all good to go, even the wife's flip flops:
Wife headed for a drive to Tuscon to check out the local attractions (Biosphere, etc) and I headed to the Rio Salado park at 11 to drop off my bike. The fancy AWA transition section was a tad empty, and I left the bike there after deflating the tires to prevent them from blowing up in the hot sun.
It was pretty damn warm again, and so instead of the planned run back to the rental (about 1.5 miles away) I simply walked. The forecast for the race day was predicting temperatures about 3 degrees cooler, and with some overcast periods, and I was really hoping it would come true. The good news was that the water in the lake was relatively cool, and the swim would not be a bathtub like. I settled on the decision to go with the sleeveless wetsuit, and with that thought I focused on resting and relaxing for the remainder of the day. Can't recall what I had for dinner, and ended up heading to bed at 9pm hoping to fall asleep quickly. Ended up tossing and turning and eventually falling asleep by 11pm.
Got up at 3:45am, had a breakfast of 2 Eggo blueberry waffles with peanut butter and 2 bananas, had 2 cups of coffee and my awesome wife drove me to the race site. Got there and started with getting the tires pumped. Unfortunately the first pump I was able to borrow had a funky presta end and I could not get it to grip the valve even after several tries. Lined up to use one of the free pumps and somehow ended up using one with a weird gauge. Tried another pump and it seemed to be ok. I pumped both tires to 80 psi and started setting up nutrition and the rest of the transition items.
Lined up to potty at around 5:55am and after hitting it, headed out to the swim start. The line was already formed but it was easy to slip into my self seeded corral of 35-39min. The lake looked pretty clean that morning - the only gross thing that I could see was the dead duck about 25 yards from the swim platform. Life can be hard in Arizona, and I am sure that the creatures lurking in the depths of the Tempe town lake can appreciate a protein snack in the morning. With that, the race got going and at around 6:39am I headed into the water and my day has really started.
The swim
It was pretty uneventful. I felt great, swam fairly easy, sighting was good, and the water temperature felt perfect. Since I breathe to the right most of the time in races, it was a little bit harder to keep it in the straight line, but there were plenty of feet near me to keep me directionally correct. I think that this might have been the first time since Oceanside 2018 that I can actually enjoyed a 70.3 swim. Came out of the water with the time of 37:57, 29th in the age group.
The run to T1 was a little long and slippery but I was able to get the wetsuit off, although I had to stop for a 10 seconds to zip up the Roka one piece - as the zipper popped open in the water.
The bike
The course is shall we say an urban adventure? 3 loops, each loop is roughly circling the Tempe Lake, 5 u-turns per loop, you get to climb the Curry hill 2x per loop. It looks like a weird multilegged blob from outer space.
The ride started well, I was maintaining steady power and despite being slowed down by the ridiculous u-turns the first lap flew by quickly. I was getting pretty warm however, and grabbed a water bottle at the first aid station to dump on my head and the upper body. What I was getting concerned with is that every time I'd apply some power out of the turn, I'd get some squeaking coming from the bike - and it seemed like it was coming from the front wheel. I really did not want to get off the bike and since on the flats it seemed to be fine I pushed on.
On the second loop the sound became more pronounced and going up Curry it got LOUD. It really started to appear like a spoke was busted but I talked myself out of stopping to check it out. It was getting hotter and hotter and I had to get water from both aid stations on that loop. Also with everyone out of the water, it got very busy on the course. There were also lots of beginner athletes with unsteady bike handling skills, so I had to dodge them periodically, as well as the cracks and potholes (Rio Salado was especially bad).
The 3rd loop was even more crowded, the sound coming from the bike was just as loud, some u-turns were very tricky to negotiate with 4-5 cyclists trying to make them at the same time. I started soft pedaling coming out of turns and up Curry Hill being torn about stopping to check this out and knowing that I am maybe 4-5 miles away from finishing.
So I sort of limped to the end of the lap, got my feet out of the shoes before the dismount line and ran into the T2. Bike time was 02:45:49. The second transition was quick - I reapplied the sunscreen, changed into Vapoflys and socks, grabbed my hat, sunglasses and my belt and headed for the run start.
The run
The course was 2 loops, largely running east-west along the lake. I popped a Maurten gel right away and washed it down with water and picked up the pace a bit. After the first couple of miles, I really started to feel the heat as the sun was more less directly on top of me all the time. At that point it dawned on me that a sub 5 time was out of reach unless it cools down about 5 degrees. I decided to run tempo for a while, hydrate as much as possible, chug some Cola and see how I feel after the 4-5 miles. I still felt like crap after crossing the bridge on Rural road, but after making my way to Priest Dr and getting on the bridge back to the south side of the lake, I suddenly found my wings.
I picked the pace and the 2nd loop flew by quickly. I was passing people all the time and honestly everyone looked cooked and completely beaten up by the heat. I pushed the pace from mile 12 onwards, and finished strong. The run time was 01:32:51 - fastest in the age group. Overall, this put me into the 10th spot in the age group. A good viz of the results here.
And done done - with 2 water bottles and a smile!
After the race
My wife met me at the exit from the finish line. I was pretty conked and wanted to head out as soon as possible. Unfortunately the transition was not fully open yet and it took me about 30 mins to get through the line to get a volunteer to accompany me in. I packed my stuff quickly and headed out. That's when I discovered that my rear tire was inflated to the point that it would not spin at all. The overinflation before the race must have been extreme - it was likely that I accidentally pumped it to 100 psi or more, and then, as the day heated up, the latex tube expanded and added another few psi. C'est la vie, bring your own pump next time dummy!
We headed to the parking lot, dumped my gear in the back of the car and then walked to Mill Ave for some sustenance and beverages. Ended up at Illegal Pete's since it had a nice patio and was not busy, and who can say no to Mexican food and fruity beers after a hot race?
All in all, I think that the race went well. I did not like the bike course - it is boring, crowded and the u-turns are not my thing. I love racing in Tempe though and will be back there in January for the Rock'n'Roll marathon. The Maurten experiment was largely a success - it is a solid (yet highly liquid) choice for the bike, though I need to figure out why it was making me pee up a storm. Could have been a combination of caffeine and maybe something else. I will test it more. And now, onto building for the next marathon!
It's funny how things change over time. For a while, I could not really bring myself to sit down and write a recap of what I see as my worst IM race so far. But now that we are in the midst of a cancelled season, and after having spent a ton of time reading numerous threads on the web about various races cancelled/postponed/not coming back at all, I have realized that there is a non-trivial chance of this being my last IM race for a long time... and so, it is time to write it down, because some key lessons were learned on 11/24/2019, and in retrospect there were some bright spots in my IM number 6. Alright, here it goes.
In terms of the gear, I was worried about the desert heat in the middle of the day, so brought with me my old Rudy Airwing helmet and my LG M2 one piece suit. The wind situation was pretty uncertain, so I opted for the trusty Zipp 404 FC set that handled well in any conditions. I definitely remembered the lesson from Boulder and brought my Hoka Cliftons v1 reissue edition shoes. The lower legs felt a little tired from a big hike the weekend before, so I brought some calf sleeves just in case... for placebo effect mainly.
Here's the bike setup for the race.
In theory I was about 25% fitter in mid-November based on the Elevate app as compared to my pre-Boulder fitness level. By the end of November I had logged about 1800 miles more vs the previous year. I had my bike dialed in real good. I was swimming well and often. It looked good, and I was heading into the race thinking of going sub 10 hours. With that mindset I drove to Phoenix and got there late on Thursday night. The whole place was drenched from the rains in the last 2 days - so much for the desert!
Day 1
Woke up on Friday and had to switch rooms the first thing in the morning. I ended up with a room right next to the elevator after the check in since I got there so late and at night the noise drove me nuts. The hotel clerk was super accommodating and I ended up with a massive room upgrade too! That was a good start. I ate breakfast after moving, went food shopping, got the necessities (PB, gatorade, bagels, turkey, Budweiser 😀) and met up with my buddy Brad at 11am at the IM village. We got checked in, went down to Tempe lake, made sure it is still there - and it was pretty gnarly looking water quality wise as always, with debris and dead fishes.
After enjoying the view, we made plans to grab dinner later on. I went back to the hotel, assembled the bags, checked the bike... realized that I was probably short a tube, a GU or 2 and possibly a CO2 cartridge. Made plans to stop by a bike shop nearby before dinner to get the missing items.
Took a nap and then headed downstairs for some hot tubbing. Almost drowned my cell phone, had a bit of a scare with the water getting into the charging port (hair dryer to the rescue), and then drove to the bike shop. After buying the stuff I was looking for and receiving a sage advice to get some Gatorskins to avoid thorns inflicted flats on the Beeline highway, I met Brad for some beer and Mexican food near ASU. We talked about the weather, whether it makes sense to pre-swim tomorrow, old work anecdotes... He had to leave early to pick up his wife from the airport, and I drove home, and was in bed by 10.
Day 2
Got up at around 6:30 am and did a quick pre-ride/pre-run near the hotel. It was pretty chilly and I did not do anything too strenuous. The area was not super bike friendly or perhaps not friendly period
and so I was back in the lobby for breakfast by 8.
I had my drop off time at around noon, and I drove to Mill ave. Everything went well, except for somehow getting stuck behind a very slow moving train at the rail crossing for good 15 mins! After the drop off walked around the village again, but headed back by 1. Later at night met Brad (and his wife Mara) again and we tried to get into an Italian restaurant near their hotel, but it was packed. We ended up in a place that looked a bit like Chucky Cheese's but had decent sandwiches. Brad told me that he had swam in the morning and the water was cold. I joked that now he knows what to expect and is already infected with the TTL bacterium. And yep, more dead fish and odd colored things were in the water during the swim!
Well at least we will have a protein snack available if it comes to it. Was back at the hotel by 9:30, and in bed by 10.
Race day
Got up at 3:00am, ate 2 bagels with PB and bananas and a Starbucks espresso. The forecast looked perfect - mostly mid 60s to the low 70s, some overcast, no real wind. Was out of the door by 3:50 am, parked at the same lot as I did on Friday. The T1 was the usual chaos. Found my bike, attached the bottles, the batteries and the Garmin, pumped the tires to about 90 psi, checked on the gear bags... tried to meet up with Brad, but we kept missing each other. Went to the water at around 6:40 am. It was still dark, but the sun was poking through the clouds. Lined up with the 1:10 group and started making peace with the Universe once again.
Swim
I took it pretty easy early on but got into a good rhythm after 200 yards. However, by the time we got to the 1st bridge, I started to get cold. By the time we turned around I was very cold - as in starting to shiver. No idea why - the water did not seem that cold... but yeah I should have listened to Brad. The swim to the Tempe bridge was the worst. I wanted to quit several times, and caught myself looking longingly at the paramedics who would rescue me from this watery hell. I tried to go faster but the muscles were not having it. The last 800 yards were done on pure adrenaline. It almost felt like I was struggling for my life in some bullshit 2 mile swim, how pathetic. Never been happier to see the finish platform before. Total time 1:27:48, Garmin file here.
T1
We had to run from the exit point near the museum back to the park - about 600 yards. I was so cold that I was not thinking clearly.... and took off my weitsuit. That was a seriously dumb move. I got even colder by the time I got to the tent. Had to sit full 20 mins near the heater (which got crowded quite fast), sip some chicken soup and shiver in my space blanket. Eventually I got warm enough to put on my bike gear with removable sleeves and head out. Total time 28 mins.
Bike
The first few miles through Tempe were a struggle. Was still cold, shivering and not quite seeing straight. Tried eating a a Clif bar that I taped to the top tube, and after about 15 mins I started feeling a bit more normal. The first lap on Beeline was not bad, and the turnaround came up quite quick. I lost the sleeves, stopped for 20 seconds to stretch the back and flew down that hill. During that stretch for the first time in the morning I felt fine. A bit better than fine perhaps. The second lap came and went quick but I started to get that grinding sensation in the lower back and the slow ambient heat from the desert was starting to bake me ever so slowly. On the way back into town I got a new set of bottles from the special needs and a cold cola, chugged half of it and continued. The goal was to start preserving energy for the run since I knew that the 3rd loop will be a struggle - and always is.
But to the contrary it went pretty easy. I had to push some watts up to get to the turnaround, but coming back felt quite good save for some chafing in the nether regions. Unfortunately the spec needs already chucked my bag, so I could not get my lube... but the good people manning the station gave me some Vaseline and it helped. I pulled into town feeling kind of exhausted and having to dodge the pot holes on Rio Salado. Bike time 5:53:18, Garmin file here.
T2
It went quick. I left the shoes clipped in as always, grabbed my bag, threw on the HR strap, changed socks, put on shoes, calf sleeves, race belt, a hat and sun glasses and was out of the door. Total time 5 mins.
Run
I knew that the swim and the T1 fiasco killed any chance of it being a PR or anything close to it. I also knew that during the first 20 mins of the bike I burned a lot of matches... so the goal was to run a steady pace of about 8:20. I was planning to stick with the trusty diet of cola and water, and an occasional Clif shot or 2. It seemed doable pretty much until mile 11 or so where I started to feel (quite suddenly) that the bottom is about to fall out. In fact I was panicking that I could not even make it to the split to the 2nd lap. I got there though and the next 3 miles went ok, but once I crossed the lake I felt that I had to hit the portapotty which meant peeling the top off from my sweaty skin... and that's when the run/walk started. From that point everything was bugging me. The M2 suit was chafing, the glasses were hurting my nose (I ended up chucking them), the shoes felt wooden... The race was effectively over and I sort of limped along to the finish line, although I ran up that pesky Curry Road hill with some spark. It was a weird feeling - the stomach was perfectly fine, but the energy was just gone. I walked the 24th mile aid station and after that jogged to the finish line in darkness. Mike Reilley butchered my last name for the 2nd and the final time that year - here the finish chute video. Thanks Mike nonetheless.
Run time 3:59:03, Garmin file here. The total time was 11:49:24 good for the 80th place in M45-49.
Post race:
Well I was exhausted. Ate some food at the finish line with some equally beat up triathletes. Tried looking for Mara or Brad, did not see anyone. Went back to the park, collected my stuff, reconnected with the world and limped back to the car. Got to the hotel at around 7:15pm, ate a little bit more food and had a beer finally. Mara texted me as I was eating, and confirmed what I saw on the live tracker - Brad was walking. I grabbed some Gatorade and water and headed back to the park. Eventually found Brad and Mara, and they were walking roughly through mile 15. Brad was looking wrecked, and definitely could not hold down any nutrition. We walked together for about 30-35 mins, tried to talk Brad into finishing since he had time... then I crossed to other side of the lake from the museum site to meet them there since my feet were starting to kill me.. That's when Mara texted me that Brad gave up after feeling dizzy from dehydration and got carted back. Shit. I walked back to the park, checked the med tent, he was not there... his bike was still in transition... kind of went back and forth and then Mara told me that he was ok. Knowing that his mood was probably not great I headed back to the hotel now completely exhausted. The day ended up like this.
The day after I got a hold of Brad, exchanged some texts, he was alright just tired and obviously upset about the DNF. I was not happy either, but it was what it was. I started planning ahead to 2020 (lol, goes to show what we know), stopped by the Cosanti store in Paradise Valley and got my wife a bell she wanted to hang by the front door. Drove back, listened to the podcast... and that was the end of the 2019 season. Though I had lots of Trislide left!
I signed up for IMSR 2018 after receiving an assurance from the wife that she'd be able to go there with me. Of course, then the circumstances changed and it became a solo trip. I had a place to stay in Santa Rosa with my friends Cynthia and Shawn, so I was all set.
The training spanned January through early May with a break for Oceanside 70.3 and a business trip that followed it. I changed up a couple of things this time around. I put a heavy emphasis on structured training 2x a week via Zwift's 12 week FTP builder program. I also bought a Vasa ERG system on the cheap over the winter break and started utilizing it for 3 sessions a week + 1 longer session in the pool. I really felt strong in the pool towards the beginning on May - I was able to do 10x100 yards at 1:30 and so on. The bike did not progress as well as hoped - I felt that I just did not push it hard enough. Still with a few peak weeks at 15 hours plus I was hopeful that this might get me closer to KQ.
Pre-race
I had to travel for work right after Oceanside, and so I trained very little that week. I got back into town, put a few 15 hour weeks, and after predictably got a head cold. I could not shake it off, so the week before the race was my downtime, save for a few minor workouts. As of Wednesday, my snottiness started to go away, but I still felt that my airways were not 100% clear even the morning of the race.
Got into town on Thursday afternoon. Stopped by the race venue, got my athlete bag and headed over to my friend's house. Got some "athlete's" food en-route - bread, peanut butter, bananas, cheese, turkey, mini-starbucks espresso cans, Gatorade, etc. Got my race bags sorted out, hung out with the hosts, went to bed early, slept some solid 9 hours...
Woke up and did my usual pre-check routine. Went for a short ride around Fulton Rd... not without some wild stuff happening. I picked Wood Rd as a rougher part of the course, and coming out of it - hit a gravel patch and almost skidded into the busy traffic on Fulton. Got home safe, but the wind and the roughness of the road was no joke. Made me worried enough about Saturday. The run was fine although it was getting pretty warm by the time I got back.
The nutrition plan for the bike was 2x bottles each with 3x servings of Infinit custom mix with 276 kcals per servings, 4x Clif shot gels on the frame, water at the aid stations, and a frozen mini-Coke can in the special needs bag. The run as always was going to Cola + water taken as needed. The rest of the day was spent shuttling the bike, dropping the run gear, hydrating, sweating the windy sunset... went to bed at 9:30pm, slept again like a baby.
Race day
Got up at 2:45am, had 2 slices of bread with peanut butter and syrup, a banana and a real cup of Cuban coffee (major crack if you ask me!). Grabbed my frozen drinks and headed out. Parked by 4am at the Macy's parking lot, and was on the shuttle by 4:10am.
I was at the T1 by 5am. It was still dark, but there was plenty of lights. Set up my bottles and my gels on the bike frame, proceeded to pump the tires... the rear tube exploded when I pushed the pump head down on it too hard. Replaced it with a spare latex tube I had with me, and was all set.
Headed down to the swim start at 6:15am and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make my way to the right self seeding corral - unlike the last year's 70.3 where I was stuck with no hope of moving up. I lined up in the middle of the 1:10 swim group and waited for the start. Had another Clif shot gel with caffeine, sipped some Gatorade, onward into the battle! The volunteers were letting 5 folks into the water at a time, so it took about 12 mins for me to start swimming.
Swim
The course consisted of 2 laps, with an exit and re-entry at the end of the 1st lap. Seemed like each lap was exactly the same as the the lap of the 70.3 last year. The water was quite warm this time around - to the point where I thought that I could have swam in a sleeveless suit.The first lap was totally unremarkable, although with lots of contact for some reason around the turn markers - the sighting was easy with the exception of the first few hundred yards that were directly into the sun. I was riding the feet the entire way so the effort was pretty minimal. We got back into the water and I continued to draft about half way into the 2nd lap until someone whacked me on the left foot and somehow dislodged the timing chip. I could feel the velcro strap dangling, so I had to stop, roll up the ankle sleeve, close the velcro the best I could in the water (it is awkward!) and continue the swim. It was a bit harder without anyone to draft off of and I had to do my own sighting. Came out of the water a bit winded probably due to the water being warm - swim time 01:20:02. GPX here.
T1
The organizers have laid a long rubberized carpet up the ramp this time around, so I ran up the hill with no problem - although it was as steep as it was last year. Took the wetsuit down to the waist and had the strippers pull it off under the bridge. The velcro strap was loose still, so I retightened it and proceeded to the changing tent. A quick change - helmet on, throwaway socks on, shoes on, wetsuit and goggles into the bag... I had a disposable riding vest I brought with me just in case it was going to be cold - I put it on initially but dropped it before the exit from T1 - it was already WARM. T1 time was 07:19
Bike
The course started with a fairly long descent into the Dry Creek area and generally followed the 70.3 course from last year for a while. Then it switched to the old Vineman course which took us to the Chalk Hill area. The road quality was ranging from ok to poor. The 128 stretch was very jarring, and the supposedly resurfaced Chalk Hill part had some truly dangerous potholes in the shaded areas. The first climb went ok, although the road was partially blocked by a truck that somehow got stuck there at the most inopportune time. I had to descend carefully with all the holes in the road surface. It just got worse after we passed Shiloh Road - the Mark West Station area was unbelievably bad and there I had the bottle holding my spare kit pop out. Luckily the rubber band area held up and only had to fish it out from the ditch. Later I have discovered that the plastic part of the bottle cage that holds the bottle secure came loose and got lost somewhere along the way. About 5 miles down the road on Eastside or Wohler I ran across the section that had a huge lip in it - which forced me into the opposite lane... had to do some Sagan level shit to avoid getting hit by an oncoming car.
Then it got hot and dry all a sudden and it was 10 miles to go to the next aid station... and I was running out of water. The stretch of Westside road had all the rollers in the world and I was just getting hotter and hotter... and so I think that that's where I cracked. Really made me regret using Giro Aerohead on that day - it is a hot helmet in conditions like this. I made it to the aid station on Kinley but I think that the race was over by then. It was the mile 56 or so and all I wanted and I dreamt of was the frozen Coke in my special needs bag. I made it there after climbing what would have been normally a piss ant sized hill... took in half of he can contents and suddenly my nose and my throat and my eyes were on fire and just blowing snot. Crazy stuff. The 2nd pass over the 128 was painful and I stopped looking at the power readings - in my mind I was no longer racing, I just wanted to get home. I made it over Chalk Hill again, it was a relief to climb out of the saddle for a bit, I knew it was going to make my run slower, but I could not care less at that point. I passed the lap marker on Shiloh and we turned towards Santa Rosa... and the wind suddenly picked up. I was getting blown all over the road, Laughlin Road which I have ridden a bunch in the past was suddenly this obstacle course of the blown up riders, Woolsey Road was even worse - I saw riders swerving all over the road... and the road quality was just abysmal in some spots.
Eventually I made it back into town, with the last 10 miles being a total blur. I was focused enough to get my feet out of the shoes before the finish line and do a decent sprint along the bike racks. Bike time was 6:01:08. GPX here.
T2
I got to the changing tent, all I had to do was get the helmet off, drop the bike socks and put the running socks/shoes on. For a minute, I sat there thinking - what's the point? I am not racing anymore, why suffer? Then I talked myself into running 1 lap, to see how it feels... maybe the inspiration will come. I put on my running belt and a hat and headed out. The T2 time was 04:50
Run
Basically - jogged the whole thing. Stopped by the porta potties twice. Walked most of the water stations after mile 14. Had Cola and water judiciously, even sampled the red Bull (yikes) every now and then. My friend Cynthia saw me at mile 17, I hugged her and her kid, she told me to to push through this, that gave me a good moral boost, so I snapped out of it and did not just walk the last 5 miles.Ran the final 2 miles fairly hard to wrap this up - run time 3:52:23, for the total time of 11:25:42. As an aside, the course looked a little short, perhaps about 0.5 miles off. GPX here. Post race Got my medal, my hat, a space blanket... tried eating some grub but had no appetite whatsoever. Not even for free beer or spicy Spanish food. Just nothing, total self negation, everything running on empty, maybe that's just the way it was meant to be - the cleansing of the soul, of the mind. Collected my gear, walked to the car, loaded everything in, the brain was not working, to the point of not knowing how to pay for parking. Drove back to my hosts' place, showered, was treated to sushi, beer and a fantastic conversation on the future of the human race... somewhere along the way I crashed and did not wake up til the mid morning the next day. Still, dreams crushed once again. Til the next time - of course.
