half ironman number two under the belt

Jim and I pre race setting up T2 ( pic stolen)


The end of the swim and the big scary lake ( pic also stolen)
All done and all went well.

Wow what a difference number two was. I was calm and ready both physically and mentally.

So i had a rested week both by choice and by a work trip top Portland.

On Friday I took my bike to the drop off with Tri-Rob and dropped my bike. the water was a bit choppy as the wind was up but knowing the area I knew likely it would be calm in the morning so no worries. The funniest thing was looking at the redbull inflatable swim buoys. Last year I remember them being 20 feet tall and this year with a little more relaxation I noted they were about 6 feet tall.

Sat morning up at 5 am ( as usual) and had some cream of wheat and made a peanut butter and honey sandwich to t ake up with more for an hour before the swim start. went to Sunriver and met with Tri- Rob and his buddy Jim from Bend. We got dropped off up at the swim lake in the mountains as this is one of the few races I do that the T1 and T2 are 56 miles apart as opposes to two loops coming together at the same point.

SO we hang out in the sun to warm up in the morning at th start with everyone. Met Scott from triscoop and he was doing his first so wished him good luck, ran into my old friend Woody who was taking pics for the event as well as Eric and long time friend form almost 12 years ago who used to wrench at Hutchs Bicycles and had not seem him in awhile and he was like" wow! you got in shape!" and that always makes ya feel good.

The water temp was good ( about 62) and got in and swam about 100 yards to get used to the water on the face ( a Bruce tip that is invaluable) . BOOM the race started. and the swim started...wow I actually feel comfortable. the open water swim the week before with Bruce really helped since I had worked on my sighting and it really helped out this race. Last year I was lost and this year I knew where each buoy was and actually swam in a straight line, I felt great during the whole swim and finished in a group instead of the back of the pack so that felt good.

out of the water to the bike. I decided to wear socks this year which was a first, took a few seconds but I figure if its not a sprint race whats a few seconds? off we went and started passing those silly swim masters people from the get go.......but then:

stomach cramps...damn where did that come from? my side really hurt for about 10 miles. no reason and did not want to eat or drink for 10 miles but thankfully it passed so i was able to eat and sped up.

i tell you though I got chicked a few times. there were some strong women there ( that looked good too) and I could bnot keep up with them. at least they were good looking and fast...what else could a guy want???

Bike went well, passed a lot of people and the people that passed me had super sweet fast bikes with disc wheels so not harm there.

Transition two to the run another first I ran with new shoes with laces instead of quicklaces. only had to stop and retie one time. run run run run....caught Jim and we ran together for about 1/2 a mile and then he needs a porta potty and I chastised him for it.....go in your shorts i kept yelling,,,,,but then I needed one too so we traded porta potty stops and I lost him. the run went ok, not as strong as I wanted but decent. So i come up to this guy in a Beavers tri suit from my alma mater and start up a conversation with him about the Oregon State Beavers going to the Baseball world series and then I mention I know the older sister ( my swim coach Vanessa) of one of their members Alex Polvi....the guy turns to me and says "I am Alex Polvi!" hilarious. so at that point i have someone to beat as i chastise him for going the same speed as a dude that has like 15 years on him and I take off........I beat my swim coaches little brother.....I guess thats worth something?????

finished in an unofficial 5 hours and 39 minutes. Tri - rob rocked the house in 5 hours and Jim was about 4 minutes in front of me.

ok official times are in:

overall 5 hours and 37 minutes

swim was 47 minutes

T1 3 min.

Bike 2 hours 34 minutes

T2 1:53

Run 2 hours and 10 minutes

overall 220 out of 442 ( so middle of pack just like my MOP nickname)




Next day I feel pretty good but it will be a rest day for sure.

looks like I cut almost an hour from my time last year....a freaking hour!!!! so I will get official results and post with pics later