2006 Pacific crest Half Ironman

Wow what a race.

So it started out 9 months ago with the decision to do this...I could not swim....I signed up anyway. Here is how the day broke down.....

Night before: Cant sleep, really worried about the swim, I tossed and turned all night. Just could not relax. I woke about 5 am as the sun was barely up.....I called jetpack from my porch and had to tell somebody I was freaked. Bruce finally shows up at 6:30 and he can tell I am buzzing with nervous energy. He has been to many races with me and can read me like a book. We talk smack back and forth and it calms me....That's what friends are for.

At the venue: I drop the shoes off and the bike is already at the lake yesterday and we wait for a shuttle to take us up to the lake. I am queasy on the bus from too much nervous energy. Once at the lake I see the actual buoys ......Holy &%&^$&^$...they are twice as far out as I saw last night......Oh my. I am gonna be sick. no time to spare because we are in the last bus so wetsuit on, bike all ready and I slip into the water to feel the temp.....perfect.....ok one less thing for me to worry about. I lay in the water face down and fell assured as the wetsuit supports my weight. ok I feel better I will not sink to the bottom of the big lake. The pros go, then 1 minutes later the next wave then 4 minutes later our wave. next thing I know 5,4,3,2,1 GO!!!! I am off in a sea of arms and legs....but I admit not as bad as the nightmares I had. still in panic mode I have many doubts about 200 meters in......What am I thinking?????? I see a guy in a wave grab a bout at buoy 2....he is DNF.....I WILL NOT DNF if this takes me all day. I am alone and have lots of space and feeling ok......."wham" an arm hits me, its the next wave catching me.....ok relax, I kind of breast stroke and find my place.....ok I am better. The buoys are huge and easy to see and the crowd is easy to follow like a pack of lemmings so sighting not as abad as I thought.....buoy 4.....Ok I am in a rythem...I will make it ok....I keep on and see the last buoy to turn and start to turn for the finish.....wait where are those guys going???.....oh another buoy even farther out??? crap. ok swim on....so after 55 minutes I swim 1.2 miles....the last 200 meters I has the biggest smile on my face!!! I DID IT!!!!! wow what a great feeling.

T1....out of the water....lots of bikes left that's good!!! Pretty decent T1 and off on the bike, I start down the road and realize my left TT bar with my shifter is loose?.....I pull over and pull a tool out and fix it. It only took about 5 seconds so no biggie.....NOW it all about PACMAN FEVER....I am eating up dots on the bike. down the road I go passing these Masters swimmers....yeah you can swim like a dolphin and I swim like a rock but I got you on the bike!!! so the bike portion feels great. I think I averaged about 20 MPH and with a Mountain pass in there that's not too bad. All in all the bike was a pleasant place to be and I felt at home on the bike and the home course.


T2....roll the bike in after 58 miles ( yes 2 miles longer than a normal half but no way around it due to geography) into the T2 and that went smooth as well.....Lets see I brought a hat to run in but I hate wearing hats,,,,I will leave it .........BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!

as I leave the T2 I spectator cheers on his friend "hey you want a beer or martini at the end?" a martini he yells back and I chime in that I want one as well. He yells back to me..."Gin or Vodka?" and I yell back Gin of course.

The run starts out ok, legs a little stiff but the heat starts into me right away at about mile 3 and never lets up.....PURE HEAT!!! It is well into the mid 80s with no shade at the hour I am running...Brutal, I see a water table and I am not thinking fluids I am thinking water to pour over my head!....Ice down the tri suit, nothing helps...but at least everyone else near me feels the same...One of my worst runs ever. But I shuffle along.....I feel pain, sore neck...I think Of My friend Jetpack and his fight for surviving Cancer and it really pushes me....this is over in an hour...buck up little cowboy.....The last three miles feels like another 10..ARGGGGG THE HEAT!!!!


"Hey you still want a gin Martini????" the spectator yells at me again, Yeah You bet Ice cold Please I yell back...." Go get em" he yells, it was nice encouragement.

I just want this to be over and I am pacing with three guys that are really fit and I am surprised they are not way ahead of me...They say that this race will not have a sprint to the finish and we all agree as we are tired.

1 mile left......What's a mile? Geez this is taking forever...I can hear the finish line.....800 meters someone says then see Bruce yelling for me ( he is of course fully changed and looking fresh as he finished in 5 hours) he yells "kill it!!!! My neighbor is behind you and you need to beat him!!!" I yell to the super fit guys to kick it up and they can't, I run now at an all out sprint and feel the wave of the crowd...Then out of my side vision I see a guy yell " MOWHAWK!!! GIN!!!" I look over and the spectator that I never met that has been encourageing me since T2 hands me a cold beer 100 feet before the finish and says "its not gin but is cold".....Thanks cold beer guy I salute you. I pop it open and take a swim and race across the finish!!!!!!!

I AM A HALF IRONMAN FINISHER!!!!!

official stats:

SWIM: 55.02 minutes

T1: 3.34 minutes

Bike: 3 Hours and 5 minutes

T2: 3 minutes

Run: 2 hours and 25 minutes

total: 6 hours and 33 minutes