Every other year I head to Henderson, NV for the Silverman Triathlon. In years past I have done the Full Distance course. This year I decided, based on the amount of training I was able to do, it was best to do the Half Distance course.
I flew out of Jacksonville, FL to Las Vegas. It took a couple of hours to retrieve my luggage and rent a car. After that it was off to the bike shop to pick up the bike I was renting for the race. The bike was a Cannondale Cadd9 and it was Petty blue. They put my pedals on the bike and adjusted it a bit. I test rode it and it felt good, I was excited.
Now that I had the bike it was time to check in at the Silverman Expo. It was still early so the Registration tent wasn't crowded at all. I picked up my packet and walked around the Expo a bit to enjoy the free samples and look at the different vendors. The Pre-Race Pasta Dinner was early that evening so I decided to utilize the daylight to get my camp set up at Lake Mead.
I found a great spot just up from where I camped several years ago. It was beautiful! I set up my tent, inflated my air mattress and unrolled my sleeping bag. Everything was set for my return after dinner.
The dinner was great. Lots of food! We also got to enjoy Ironman Champion Dave Scott and then meet the athletes representing CAF (Challenged Athletes Foundation). These athletes had been injured during military service. They were very inspirational, I looked forward to meeting them out on the course. I looked around the Banquet Hall for Travis and Arron but didn't spot them so I headed to my tent.
I climbed in my tent around 9pm and slept till 4am. I slept and felt great! I cleaned up and headed to the Starbucks in Boulder City. They opened at 4:30am hallelujah! I got all of my reading and podcasting done and then headed to the Expo for the Pancake Breakfast. Shortly after arriving I received a text from Travis, he and Arron were by the kids Jumpy Jump. We found each other and got in the long Breakfast line. We had good time to catch up before we got our food. After Breakfast was the Pre-Race Meeting.
Race Director Frank Lowrey led the meeting. He provided race and course information and took time to answer questions. There was also time for the USAT Official to remind us of all the important rules we needed to obey. If we failed to obey any of them we would be penalized. After the meeting Dave Scott returned to talk about the course and answer any triathlon related questions. We ducked out just before the meeting concluded.
The rest of the day was spent on packing transition bags, tweaking the bike then riding some of the hills around Lake Las Vegas. It helped me get a better feel for the bike. I rode the mile and a half climb out of Lake Las Vegas then rode out into the desert a bit. I love that portion of the bike course. I snapped a few pictures before riding past Lake Las Vegas to tackle the Bike Trail and the Three Sisters. This is a challenging section of the bike course that comes later in the ride for the Full and Half Distance athletes. I climbed Two of the Three Sisters and decided that all was good with the bike and my legs.
After returning to the car I grabbed my transition bags and headed to T1 to check my bike and bags in. After this was done I took a look at the swim course, it looked a bit long for both the 1.2 and 2.4. Others seemed to feel the same way about what they saw. We knew that we would all have to swim the same course so no worries. With the course being so narrow I was a bit concerned that 800 plus Half Distance triathletes would be fighting for space at the start. This concern made me think long and hard about where I wanted to start.
After picking up some dinner I returned to my tent to settle in. Generally the night before is a bit of a restless night. This night I was tired but was unable to fall asleep due to noisy neighbors. I finally did after midnight! 4:30am came early. I cleaned up and headed to Starbucks to read. After that I drove to Lake Las Vegas to go through body marking and take care of last minute details before the Full Distance race started at 7pm.
I met up with Arron and Rhonda as well as Travis and Kippy. We chatted a bit and spent some time in prayer and taking pictures. We all were a bit nervous about what was to come.
7am arrived and the Full Distance triathletes began their swim. We weren't starting till 8:30am so there was more than enough time to hydrate, stretch, pray.... Finally 8:15am arrived and they encouraged us to get into the water and work our way toward the start line. I lowered myself in the water, it was cold! I swam toward the start line and the side where I could stand up (I didn't want to tread water for 10 minutes). Final last minute instructions were given then the race started.
Just as I thought, the first half mile was full body contact swimming. It slowed me up a bit but it wasn't too bad. I checked my time at the turn, I was at 21 minutes. I was on target for the 45 minute swim I predicted. Shortly after the turn to head back in I was kicked in the goggle and it dislodged from my face long enough for water to pour in. I raised up for a moment to empty out my goggle and reposition it. Some time lost but not bad. I kept raising up to spot the buoys, it was difficult on the way back in due to the way they were positioned for the out and back swim. I lost a bit more time but stayed calm. Then with about 200 meters left I began to cramp in my hamstring. I popped my head out of the water and took deep breaths. I also stretched my leg, feet and ankle. I was so close. I swam the last 200 upper body only, ended up climbing out of the water at 49 minutes. As soon as I climbed out both Quads cramped. This was interesting, I never had cramped in my Quads before. I sat for a moment then was helped up. More deep breathing.
I flew out of Jacksonville, FL to Las Vegas. It took a couple of hours to retrieve my luggage and rent a car. After that it was off to the bike shop to pick up the bike I was renting for the race. The bike was a Cannondale Cadd9 and it was Petty blue. They put my pedals on the bike and adjusted it a bit. I test rode it and it felt good, I was excited.
Now that I had the bike it was time to check in at the Silverman Expo. It was still early so the Registration tent wasn't crowded at all. I picked up my packet and walked around the Expo a bit to enjoy the free samples and look at the different vendors. The Pre-Race Pasta Dinner was early that evening so I decided to utilize the daylight to get my camp set up at Lake Mead.
I found a great spot just up from where I camped several years ago. It was beautiful! I set up my tent, inflated my air mattress and unrolled my sleeping bag. Everything was set for my return after dinner.
The dinner was great. Lots of food! We also got to enjoy Ironman Champion Dave Scott and then meet the athletes representing CAF (Challenged Athletes Foundation). These athletes had been injured during military service. They were very inspirational, I looked forward to meeting them out on the course. I looked around the Banquet Hall for Travis and Arron but didn't spot them so I headed to my tent.
I climbed in my tent around 9pm and slept till 4am. I slept and felt great! I cleaned up and headed to the Starbucks in Boulder City. They opened at 4:30am hallelujah! I got all of my reading and podcasting done and then headed to the Expo for the Pancake Breakfast. Shortly after arriving I received a text from Travis, he and Arron were by the kids Jumpy Jump. We found each other and got in the long Breakfast line. We had good time to catch up before we got our food. After Breakfast was the Pre-Race Meeting.
Race Director Frank Lowrey led the meeting. He provided race and course information and took time to answer questions. There was also time for the USAT Official to remind us of all the important rules we needed to obey. If we failed to obey any of them we would be penalized. After the meeting Dave Scott returned to talk about the course and answer any triathlon related questions. We ducked out just before the meeting concluded.
The rest of the day was spent on packing transition bags, tweaking the bike then riding some of the hills around Lake Las Vegas. It helped me get a better feel for the bike. I rode the mile and a half climb out of Lake Las Vegas then rode out into the desert a bit. I love that portion of the bike course. I snapped a few pictures before riding past Lake Las Vegas to tackle the Bike Trail and the Three Sisters. This is a challenging section of the bike course that comes later in the ride for the Full and Half Distance athletes. I climbed Two of the Three Sisters and decided that all was good with the bike and my legs.
After returning to the car I grabbed my transition bags and headed to T1 to check my bike and bags in. After this was done I took a look at the swim course, it looked a bit long for both the 1.2 and 2.4. Others seemed to feel the same way about what they saw. We knew that we would all have to swim the same course so no worries. With the course being so narrow I was a bit concerned that 800 plus Half Distance triathletes would be fighting for space at the start. This concern made me think long and hard about where I wanted to start.
After picking up some dinner I returned to my tent to settle in. Generally the night before is a bit of a restless night. This night I was tired but was unable to fall asleep due to noisy neighbors. I finally did after midnight! 4:30am came early. I cleaned up and headed to Starbucks to read. After that I drove to Lake Las Vegas to go through body marking and take care of last minute details before the Full Distance race started at 7pm.
I met up with Arron and Rhonda as well as Travis and Kippy. We chatted a bit and spent some time in prayer and taking pictures. We all were a bit nervous about what was to come.
7am arrived and the Full Distance triathletes began their swim. We weren't starting till 8:30am so there was more than enough time to hydrate, stretch, pray.... Finally 8:15am arrived and they encouraged us to get into the water and work our way toward the start line. I lowered myself in the water, it was cold! I swam toward the start line and the side where I could stand up (I didn't want to tread water for 10 minutes). Final last minute instructions were given then the race started.
Just as I thought, the first half mile was full body contact swimming. It slowed me up a bit but it wasn't too bad. I checked my time at the turn, I was at 21 minutes. I was on target for the 45 minute swim I predicted. Shortly after the turn to head back in I was kicked in the goggle and it dislodged from my face long enough for water to pour in. I raised up for a moment to empty out my goggle and reposition it. Some time lost but not bad. I kept raising up to spot the buoys, it was difficult on the way back in due to the way they were positioned for the out and back swim. I lost a bit more time but stayed calm. Then with about 200 meters left I began to cramp in my hamstring. I popped my head out of the water and took deep breaths. I also stretched my leg, feet and ankle. I was so close. I swam the last 200 upper body only, ended up climbing out of the water at 49 minutes. As soon as I climbed out both Quads cramped. This was interesting, I never had cramped in my Quads before. I sat for a moment then was helped up. More deep breathing.
I got up and ran to the changing tent. Along the way there were wetsuit strippers who helped us get out of our wetsuits quickly. In the changing tent I focused on nutrition first (GU, Gatorade...) then changing. I finished and ran to my bike. Leaving the transition area we had a carpeted switchback we had to push our bike up. Once up top we could mount our bikes and begin a grueling 56 mile ride.
The climb out of Lake Las Vegas was consistent. After that the ride along Lake Mead was up and down with very fast sections. I rode well and passed quite a few. Just before the turnaround there was a slight upgrade that seemed to steal all of my speed. After the turnaround it was much of the same till we got to the right hand turn that sent us out into the desert. I love this section of the course though it is challenging. I wasn't quite sure where the turnaround was and I did not have a bike computer so I just had to relax and stay as consistent as possible. The rest of the ride was good. I rode the Three Sisters well and then did better than expected on the false flat on the desert trail. Once we got into town I was a bit confused because the course was a bit different than two years ago. I couldn't wait to get up on Horizon Ridge, I really enjoy how fast this section of the course is and how beautiful the view of downtown Las Vegas is. I got to the bike finish and felt good. I dismounted and headed to the changing tent. I grabbed a bit more nutrition and put on my running shoes. Now was the part of the race that I had to survive.
As expected the run was challenging, slow and consistent for me. My knees were ok but the lack of run training due to knee pain was evident. Everyone on the course was amazing. One spectator jumped in alongside of me going up a long grade and encouraged me all the way, it was awesome. I had several opportunities along the way to give praise to the Lord. I crossed the finish line feeling ok. After a some fluids I tried to eat, no good. Eating would have to take place a bit later.
Since I couldn't eat I retrieved my bike and and gear and caught the shuttle to my car. I loaded everything in my car and returned to the race finish to see how the guys were doing, grab some food and a post race massage. I accomplished all that I set out to do. The food was great, the massage fantastic and I was updated on the guys. Arron encountered some difficulties so he pulled out of the race. Travis was making consistent headway and would be coming in several hours before the cutoff. I visited with Arron, Rhonda and Kippy while we waited on Travis. It was so awesome to see Travis coming down the shoot, he looked great. We congratulated him and got a finish line video shot and waited for him to get some nutrition in his body.
After all the bikes and gear was collected we headed to the hotel for a great night of rest. I crashed with Travis and Kippy, what a blessing! The next morning I retrieved my tent and headed into Vegas so I could lodge close to the airport. That night I got to visit The Verve, a church for those who don't like church. It was awesome. What a great way to finish this journey. I look forward to a 2012 return if the Lord wills.
