triandgiveadam: HITS HUNTER MOUNTAIN NEW YORK #10

Hunter Mountain New York.

Success! Well I am officially 1/3 done towards my goal in 2012. There have been many struggles and many victories so far this year. I have loved moments and I have hated moments. This particular weekend was a mixture of success and also frustration.

I stayed at home as long as I could to be with the kids. I managed to take Lucy and Lily on a recovery run with me, and they rode their bikes beside me. They loved it and Lily asked if she could come on all my runs with me. Of all my kids, she misses me the most. I also was able to take the kids to the water park in Provo, Utah before hitting the road. Last Christmas, someone did the 12 days of Christmas for our family. On one of the days, we received season passes to a waterpark so that Sunny would have something fun and FREE to do with the kids in my absence - thanks again to the person or persons who made that happen!

I arrived into Albany, New York really late on Friday night and headed straight to the hotel. The race was located on a mountain called Hunter. Hunter Mountain is a resort type of town, much like Banff, Alberta (area close to where I grew up) or Park City (close to where I live now). I love this type of landscape. My phone died on the way to the resort and I lost my GPS directions to my destination. In the middle of the night and in such a small town, nothing was open. I drove around for an additional 30 minutes before finding it. I checked in and went straight to bed!

Saturday June 10, 2012

I woke up and headed to the race site to check in and get a quick run in. It was raining pretty good. The sprint and Olympic races were just wrapping up and everyone was cold and wet.... but everyone was super happy. This was a spectacular race site and possibly the prettiest of the year. The course was going to be challenging with many climbs on the bike and run. I was greeted nicely by the staff at HITS and got all checked in. I cheered as the remaining athletes crossed the finish line, and then watched the kids and novice division race in the rain. Again, everyone was in good spirits despite the weather. This is one of the reasons I love the multi-sport industry so much, everyone for the most part, has a great attitude.

I am trying to eat better when I am on the road and they made it pretty easy in Hunter, as there were no fast food options. I located the only grocery store and picked up some items for the weekend. Healthy, and hopefully good for my body to recover and perform! Pre-race dinner is the potato and the broccoli. I just hung out and relaxed the rest of the day.

Sunday June 11 2012

Race day in Hunter Mountain. This was race # 10 and I feel pretty good. The course seemed challenging, but fair and I didn't see any major issues coming up that would stop me today. I had been congested most of the week, but seemed to be at the tail end of that. The weather was being supper cooperative and the rain had stopped. The swim course was a two loop swim around the perimeter of the late. The water was smooth and felt pretty fast. There were a few shallow parts on the swim where you could see the long grass right below you. You could see how fast you were going. In big water where all you see is darkness it is tough to really tell how fast you were going. I found a huge mental advantage when I would be swimming the sections that had this grass and the sections that didn't. It was really amazing to realize this. I had a good relaxed swim and managed a best on the year with a 1:09 - I bet it was short ;)

Me and Deb (from Utah) - Thanks ASEA for my new race suit and an awesome product!

The bike was hilly, but had some fast sections. I came up on about mile 30 and there were a bunch of the half distance athletes on the side of the road changing flat tires.... I thought to myself "war zone and all of the casualties" I soon realized what was causing the flats as my rear tire leg go of all of it's air. Glass! Someone thought it would be a good idea to smash bottles on the race course. It was white glass so you could see it till you were on top of it. I quickly changed the flat and was back on the road. First flat of the year.... not so bad right!!

I continued on the ride through the mountains feeling good and in control. I was passing racers from the half Ironman who only did 1 loop of the swim. My progress quickly came to a halt again when I flatted on my front wheel. I quickly changed this second flat and was back on the road. I normally don’t carry 2 spares and 2 co2, but threw them on board last minute before heading out the door, who knew! Little did I know, I needed to throw 3 more tubes and air to have made it through this ride! I had biked back into 3rd position in the race and had only 22 miles to go when BANG - I had blown another tire. This one was not like the first two... it was explosive and all the air let our very quickly. The first 2 were small punctures that let the air out steady till flat. This time, I had no extra tube and no more air. I started to walk and walked for about 10 minutes before the next cyclist came up. I pleaded for tube and cartridge and like any good triathlete they gave me their spare to help me out. As I was putting the air into the tube everything seemed ok. I mounted the tire back on the bike an BANG, the tire blew and I hadn’t moved an inch. Upon closer examination of the tire I had a small gash in the side wall caused by the initial glass incident. Normally I would take a used gel pack or dollar bill and place it on the inside of the tire, so that the tube wouldn’t push through the side making it explode. I waited again for the next athlete to come up and ask them for a tube and cartridge and of course they also stopped and helped me out. This time when putting the air in the tire, I used only 3/4 of the air making the air pressure only about 70 PSI hoping that would stop if from pushing out and exploding. I made it all the way to mile 110 of the 112 mile ride before my 5th tire blew. I was close to transition, so there was traffic coming out from the half Ironman race. I flagged down a car with a bike on the roof and asked again if they could help me. They did and I changed my last tire of the day. When I stop riding, my PowerTap stops spinning so the time stops on my clock. My total race bike time and my computer time differed by almost 45 minutes. That is 45 minutes of standing on the side of the road changing tires and waiting for support, only slightly frustrating. I was now back in 4th position with a marathon run to go...you never know what can happen in 26.2 miles of running.

No more tubes or Co2....

The run course was hilly and very challenging. Come to think of it, this may be one of the hardest courses on the HITS and IRONMAN circuits. The HITS series may be small, but they sure know how to pick challenging course that really push us as athletes - love it! I started to run with no urgency, not really caring if I hit the podium. Doing so is just an added bonus, but like my smart coach says, “Keep your eye on the prize,” and “Does the decision you are making help or hurt the big picture?” I always hear her saying, “Make smart decisions,” and “Stay within yourself!”

So, with these thing running through my mind, I walked the up hills and ran the downs. I had zero urgency, but rather a goal of completion. My goal should always be to have my mind on the task at hand, but always have the next race in mind. I stayed steady and people in front of me started to run into problems. The leader pulled out at the 13 mile mark due to mismanaged nutrition and stomach issues.... and second place male was suffering and also started to slow. Feeling great from forced rest breaks on the bike, and really taking it easy and controlled for the first of the two lap run, I picked up the pace on the second loop, still and always staying in complete control. With 4 miles to go, I had managed my way past the sufferers and into second position. I ran out of real estate on the leader and ended up in second spot. This put me on the podium for the 4th time this year. Yes!!! The HITS races are not well contested for now and it makes it fun for me to be able to contend and play like I am fast, it’s super fun!

Happy to cross another finish line - thanks ASEA!

I crossed the finish line and was welcomed by the incredible staff and race director Mark Wilson. He shook my hand and said, “Way to turn a bag full of lemons into lemonade!”
I smiled and thought to myself how close Ironman racing resembles our daily lives. We aren’t always dealt the perfect hand... but if we keep moving forward putting one foot in front of the other, eventually things will go our way. A second place finished seemed impossible as I was standing on the side of the road with flat number 3, 4 and 5. But holy crap.... chin up and one foot after the other found me with a well deserved podium finish!

I was referred to a local pub called Last Chance Cheese and they served up a dynamite open steak sandwich and sweet potato. It was just what the doctor ordered after 140.6 miles of not much more than liquid. The next day was spent being absolutely lazy and in bed of my hotel room. The Hunter mountain resort was a wonderful place to stay! I would love to take Sunny there for a weekend get-a-way and enjoy some hiking and exploring in the mountains there.

Boy do I look like I just ran an Ironman - ha ha!

Open Face Steak Sandwich - just what the doctor ordered!

I slept in and headed to the Albany airport for my flight to Munich Germany. I checked my rental car in and proceeded to the check-in counter. Upon my arrival, I was informed that the flight was delayed, but that I should make my connecting flight in Washington. United has recently merged with a another airline and they adopted the other airlines computer system. Having limited cash, I needed to pay $100 dollars with cash and $100 dollars on my debit card to check my bike. This was amazing to watch, as it took over 30 minutes and 4 United workers to figure out how to complete this transaction. My non-english speaking clerk at my local 7-11 could have taken cash and divided the rest of the payment between 3 credits cards in less than 60 seconds. Come on United, you are a billion dollar company, get your crap together! My $200 dollar bike check fee is clearly not going towards training. During the painful display of horrible customer service, my flight went from delayed to cancelled, meaning I was now stranded. Now get his part. They booked me on a flight for 2 pm the following day. They took my money to check my bags and then gave them back to me and told me I couldn’t check them till 4 hours before the flight....ok so now what. I don’t have a car. I’m not from here. I can’t go through security cause I have luggage. There is no food on this side of security. They won’t store my bags for me. I’m stuck in the lobby, tired and hungry with a long night in front of me. The Albany airport did however have free WiFi internet. I logged onto Facebook and the trusted IronCowboy fan page. I put out a request to anyone in the Albany area to see if someone would be willing to come and pick me up and provide a couch to sleep on and transportation back to the airport. Amazingly enough, there was a girl, Jenny Eldredge, who used to live in Utah who is friends with my wife and in-laws. She saw the call for help and sent her husband right over to the airport to rescue poor little me. She now lives in Albany and was gracious enough to let me crash at her place for the night and watch the NBA finals basketball game - go Heat! This year is turning into a huge eye opener to me. I am amazed at the human spirit and the unity of man kind I am experiencing. There is NO WAY I would have made it to this point, even this early in the journey, without all the incredible “come togetherness” by all of you! I am sure this won’t be my last call for help, and I have no doubt that Jenny will not be the last person to offer a helping hand wanting nothing in return. Completely inspiring. We are all in this project together!