John Tanner Sprint 2- September 7, 2013 2nd OA and 1st AG

I went into this race with no expectations since Louisville was 2 weeks ago.  I had done Tanner 1 earlier this year and I absolutely love the course.  I drove down morning of and the great Mavic rep threw me on some demo wheels as I set up transition!  It was great seeing so many familiar faces here!  I walked down to the swim start talking smack with Brian Wortham, a fellow ALL3SPORTS teammate.  I worked over to my normal swim start area up front and the count down started....

I tried to actually kick on the swim this time.  In Ironmans, I never kick to save my legs.  But why not, it was a sprint and I was a swimmer.....I should be out close to the front.  Kicking helped a lot.  I turned the first buoy in second and on the first guys feet.  Working our way around a pack of four of us hung together as the front runner put about 10 yards on us.  I exited the water with the other four guys all about second place.

I was in and out of the transition pretty quick choosing to put my shoes on first and run out.  I past 3 guys in transition and jumped on the bike.  Peddling out of the park tightening my shoes down and spinning I passed another.  There were now only two ahead.  I saw another within reach and he did not seem to be gaining on me.  I down shifted and hammered.  I usually find my legs dead trying to go so fast in only 13.8 miles.  Today they felt great and I was moving steady.  I caught the second place guy at mile 4 or so as we hit a climb.  I caught a glimpse of Tillery, the first place guy, on a straight away and decided to hammer for 5 minutes to see if I could gain some ground......NOTHING.  HE WAS STRONG and gained 2 minutes on me and was out of site!  Solid.  I was feeling good though and holding Dan off who had moved into 3rd.  I loved the Mavic wheels!  After dodging a cop who was in the middle of the road on my turn into the park, I prepared for the 5k frolic!

I hit T2 knowing I would need to run quick to maintain 2nd Overall.  I got out as quick as I could considering I have to have my socks:)  I just ran hard and did not look back....I knew Dan was close.  The hills burned and as I approached the turn around I saw Tillery and knew he was out of reach.  I made the turn and saw the gap back to Dan.  I had it in the bank as long as I didn't trip over myself...which actually happens far too often :)  I pushed hard just in case to the line.  Done!

I love these races and they put on such an amazing series!  I will be back, Lord willing, year after year.  Plus the material the shirts are made of this year rocks....my wife has stolen them all!

1hr 8min 6secs

Ironman Louisville- August 25, 2013

This was my focus of 2013 after wrapping up the double iron in March.  I went in feeling good and ready to do my first WTC race.  This was my fourth Iron distance and at this point I was going for speed and not just the finish.  I was ready!  Nutrition in my last 4 races had been my issue.  Major GI issues around mile 9/10 of the run.  After talking it through with many people, I went all liquid for the race and training.  I also cut ALL gluten for the 3 weeks before the race and no dairy the week of. That was tough but if it worked then I didn't care!  My amazing wife did so much to help me with this aspect!

I road up to Louisville with a great group of friends, 7 others, who had done the race 6 times.  They knew the ins and outs which was nice.  Also, a great group representing All3Sports was in town!  We got in Thursday afternoon to the Gault House and were upgraded to the suites through one of their "connections."  Sweet!!!  The hotel was amazing and historic.  It was also the hub of everything for the race and walking distance from transition.  Amazing.

Friday we were up and checked in after a wonderful breakfast in the hotel.  Friday we did a lot of relaxing and also explored a little of the city.  I took the bike out for a real light spin down to the swim start and transition just to see where they were.  All was good!  Saturday I slept in and made my way down to the practice swim nice and late.  A current!  Everyone said the swim had no current but after the practice swim...there was a current indeed!  Most people were happy with this, especially since there were no wetsuits.  As a swimmer, the harder the swim is the better for me...oh well.  It was probably a good thing since I had been in the pool 4 times in the last 7 months.  After a light brunch, it was down to the 1.5 mile underwear run!  That was good times!  Laid out my transition bags and took a nap for most of the afternoon.  Finally walked down and turned in my bike after the crowds died out.  I get a text from my parents about an hour before that they had drove up and surprised me!  That was so awesome!  Enjoyed an early dinner with my parents and the crew and it was off to bed.....double checked alarms 10 times and then was out.

Race morning.  Up at 4 am and had some coffee, gluten free toast, and some gluten free oatmeal.  Surprisingly was not too jittery.  We had about a mile walk to the start so we began to wonder that way.  The group I was with had it down.  With a time trial start, they knew how to get near the front without getting there early!  That was great.  7am hit and we ended up only about 3 minutes back from the front.  It was on!

Swim

I had a nice awkward slipping jump off the dock.  The swim started upstream for about .6 miles in a narrow inlet before opening up and turning downstream.  I spent the entire first 30 minutes weaving people.  It was not too bad and distracted me from the whole swimming thing.  I felt good the entire time but could definitely tell I did not train at all in the pool.  I made it out in 58 minutes and was through T1 in just over 3 minutes thanks to amazing volunteers.  Onto the bike!

Bike

I was ready for this and had been riding with a guy a lot faster than me for months.  He had whooped me into shape.  I really enjoyed the bike course.  It was actually hillier than I expected but this was an advantage to me since I do live in the mountains.  I felt great.  It was gorgeous on a short out in back with some fun descents.  I am glad I was near the front for them though.  I can see why they had some crashes in the main pack!  We had two 30 mile loops before heading back in.  The first loop was nice and quiet with a few of us going back and forth.  I tended to pull ahead in the climbs and get caught in the flats.  5 of us were in the same area for about the entire ride.  About mile 65 or so it got really hot.  I was dumping water on myself constantly and tucking cold bottles in the back of my kit.  I was still feeling great and in my element.  The second loop was crowded!  We were dodging left and right the entire 30 miles.  There were a lot of people walking their bikes up hills or weaving like crazy.  It was sketchy getting around them.  I had a guy drafting me for a solid 5 miles before he got penalized.  I gotta say I was happy to see him get dinged....My pee couldn't even get him off my wheel!  My nutrition was pretty good but I think I needed more liquids.  The biggest mistake was dropping 400 of my calories and not having a backup.  I had to make the call to either have 400 less calories in me or take course nutrition that I hadn't trained with.  I took two bonk beakers knowing they were gluten free.  The last 10 miles I spun out and sat up.  I felt great and was ready for the marathon!  I was off the bike in 5:21!  Ahead of schedule.  It had been hot but I still felt good.  I was out of T2 in under 3 minutes and onto the run.

Run

I started the run with a guy who was shooting for the same time as me.  We ran side by side for 6 miles.  I was trying to ease off and was still running a little quick.  Around mile 7 it happened.....AGAIN!!!  My stomach started aching and I knew it was coming.  I hit the first toilet hoping it would settle down after that.  I slowed down the pace and tried to settle it down.  Didn't work.  I was stopping again....and again.  I hit the turn around knowing the last 13 was going to hurt.  My legs were strong but I couldn't stop my stomach.  Every mile!  I was walking and when I tried to run bad things happened in my stomach.  Around mile 17 the vomit started.  It was both ends and I was miserable!  I was ticked off!  This was happening again...really?  I slowly made my way back.  My GI issues drug me from 8th to 46th.  I was done in 11:32.  I was pretty down but glad to be done.  My parents and a couple friends were there waiting.  It was an amazing finish.  If I wasn't so sick, it would have been even better.  4th Street Live finish is definitely cool.  I got an IV which helped to stop the nausea.  My legs were pretty good and I was walking around fine.  I wish I was not sick and could have pushed the run and been a little more sore.  We hung out near the finish watching the rest of our crew finish.  I enjoyed watching everyone.

Overall, I was pretty frustrated with the race.  I am over it now.  I am glad I have the health to do Ironmans!  God has blessed me!  I had such great support before, during, and after this race.  Time to move on.  Another Iron Distance on October 26!  I am working on finding a great nutritionist and dialing this thing in.  Once this is dialed in....it's on.