Vineman Ironman 70.3 Race Report

July18, 2010
Ryan Moll
Vineman Ironman 70.3

Distances:
1.2 Mile Swim
56 Mile Ride
13.1 Mile Run
Total: 70.3 Miles

Friday July 16, 2010
Friday was an interesting day. I had thrown my back out really bad the day before and was scrambling for a way to get an ‘adjustment’ before driving up to Santa Rosa. Luckily Bob pointed me to a friend of his that was able to get me in super early in the morning and did a release technique followed by applying Rock Tape. It was still sore but I could stand up so I was good to go.

I arrived at Windsor High School which was the finish for the race at around 2pm on Friday and decided to ride the 13.1 mile run course. I have a theory about riding run courses, if I have to change gears on my bike at all…it is too hilly. The course was considered ‘rolling’ and ‘hot’ which was an accurate assessment after my ride. The middle section of the course was along an airport and out to a winery. Zero shade, hot wind and ‘rolling.’ This made me re-think ever considering doing the Badwater Ultra

It was s short little prep and I was off to the hotel to check in and rush out to meet the Smith’s at Infineon to watch the drag races. I figured it was a good way to kill some of my nervous energy and to do something I’ve never done. It was time well spent except for the fact that I threw the back out once again and had a difficult time standing up. The pain was pretty bad and I was definitely worried about the race. Nikki showed me some exercises to loosen up the lower back muscles that worked like champ. I went to bed high on Advil and woke up with minimal stiffness. Thank you Nikki!

Saturday July 17, 2010
Being the anxious animal that I am, I woke up at 6am after going to bed around midnight. I had a nice huge buffet breakfast and was ready to start the day. I met up with Nikki, Trista, T.C. and Sally to shuffle things in their hotel and head out to a pre-race swim. Trista was going to ride the course after swimming and Nikki and I were gonna hang out at the river till it was time to check in at the Finish line. The swim was pretty eventless and we headed out to the Finish to check in and get our shwag. By the time we were done at the check in, it was hot…really hot. Nikki and I drove the run course again to make sure that we knew how much it was going to hurt the next day and the dealt with the morons at the Extended Stay.

I want to throw in a little plug about exactly how BAD the Extended Stay North in Santa Rosa is in this report simply because it played a big role in the weekend. I made a reservation for a non-smoking King room in March. On Tuesday July 13 a representative from Extended Stay called me to inform me that they no longer had a room for me and that I would need to go to another hotel a few miles away. Normally that would have been fine but I was up there with people and we were car pooling everywhere so it simply would not have worked out. I ended up making a reservation at the Fountain Grove Inn next door for double the price of the Extended Stay and they (Extended Stay) agreed to pay for the first night because of the issues. I was happy at that point. On Wednesday, they called me to tell me that they moved some things around and were able to accommodate me for the weekend but I didn’t feel comfortable with the way they were talking to me about it. The next day I cancelled their reservation and stuck to the Fountain Grove Inn simply because I wanted peace of mind about where I was staying, this turned out to be a very good decision. They lost Nikki and Trista’s hotel reservation on Friday night and on Saturday they wanted to move them to a ‘smoking’ room. Their reservation was for a non-smoking suite…made in March before I made mine. Extended Stay completely dropped the ball with this one. Why would they even think it would be OK to have athletes doing a very long race stay in a smoking room? While we were talking to the hotel staff, quite a few other people were complaining about the way they were treated. One couple was in a room without AC. It was 88 degrees in their room at 5pm without help in sight. They ended up leaving to drive back to Concord so they could sleep until 1:30am to drive to the start. Extended Stay never apologized to them nor to Nikki / Trista for screwing everything up.

RACE DAY
July 18, 2010
Sleep is never really something that happens for me before a race. I popped my Ambien around 9:15pm on Saturday and was out like a light at 9:45pm. I was enjoying my sleep until I rolled over at 2:00am and remembered what day it was. Bingo I was up and ready to go but laid in bed till 3:30 trying to calm down. The morning went very smoothly, I met with Nikki and T.C. for a carpool to the start which we had to be one of the first 50 people to arrive. Transition was MUCH larger than I thought it would be. Rows and rows of racks, people on top of people. It was a insanity…luckily I didn’t have to use the bathroom and had plenty of time to get the transition stuff ready and laid out. I was scared to death of the swim for some reason.

Swim (36:52)
The water was nice and warm when I got in a few minutes before my wave was called to warm up. I pee’d a few times in the wet suit which was very relieving and swam around for a bit before some lady was waiving and yelling at me to go back through the start to activate my chip. Thankfully I listened to her.

The swim began with a bunch of guys my age wishing each other good luck. The countdown began and we were off! The first few minutes absolutely sucked. There were bodies everywhere and I felt like I couldn’t breathe or really swim. I was faster than some of the guys and when I would back off to give myself some open water to work with, I would catch right back up to the wall of people. The river was super narrow so there wasn’t an option to head out to the edge and swim around people…I was stuck. I made it past the first bridge in around 7 minutes which was a full minute slower than I did in my warm up the day before. I stood up in the shallow water to see what was going on around me and actually walked for a few steps. It was a welcome break while I calmed myself down a bit. Things opened up a bit from there but they had these big florescent buoys’ that I was sighting for my line but I later learned that they were the lane markers for the return of the out and back. I guess I should have gone to the mandatory Race Meeting the day before.

I was at the turn around in 20 minutes which was a little slower than I wanted but I survived and was on my way back. The return was much easier as the field had thinned really nicely and I cruised on in trying to pee a little but there was no such luck. I exited the water 36 minutes after the start. This was almost 2 minutes faster than Auburn!

Transition 1(6:12):
Sally was there to point out the row where I left my bike which was a huge help since I tend to get ‘tunnel vision’ when I am out of the water and can’t remember anything. I stripped the wet suit and got my stuff together but I was sloppy and slow. My feet were covered with sand and gravel and I was trying to dry them off and get the shoes on. I had decided to roll without socks for the ride as I practiced a few times. I figured it would save me a minute or so in transition and it would be easier to put on the socks in the T2 for the run. This would have worked well had I not tossed my watch in with my wetsuit in my transition bag. I was about to roll out and realized that I don’t have my damn watch. I asked Sally if she saw it anywhere and she said no so I dumped all of my stuff from the bag and found it, re-packed the bag and I was off. I was there for over 6 minutes which is not the worst but time could be made up in a few places.

Ride (4:32:23):
When I left T1, I felt AWESOME! I mounted and rode up the first hill out where most people were walking up. I hit River road with no one ahead of me that I could see and tons of people behind me. For a brief minute, I felt like I was leading the pack! I was in the saddle at a nice comfortable 20 mph pace. The heart rate was low, I was hydrating and took a salt pill. The cool temp and marine layer made it very enjoyable. The training had paid off!

I was coming up River road and said to myself “Thank God I am not going to have any mechanical problems today.” Just then I heard a metal clang followed by a hissssss coming from my rear tire. I knew what I had just gotten a flat in an Ironman and my heart sunk. I pulled over by a campground where some spectators were waiting to cheer on their family. I jumped off, tossed my water bottles and flipped the bike over. I was soaking wet from the swim and my hands were freezing. This was my first flat since I bought my Zipp 404’s earlier this year. I quickly got the tire off after plenty of choice cuss words to accentuate my frustration of flatting 5 miles into a 56 mile sprint. I grabbed the new tube and it dawned on me that I hadn’t prepped the tube. My Zipps require a valve extender and the core of the tube needs to be removed for the extender to fit correctly and allow the tire to be filled. I tried to get it off with my teeth but it wasn’t moving. There was a sinking feeling in my gut that my day was done at mile 5. The family of spectators was talking to me a little bit and I asked them if they happened to have a pair of pliers and thought to myself, ‘who the hell has pliers at a race?’ Well, they did have pliers and ran to their campsite to get them for me. As it turns out, they were waiting for their daughter who works for the Lance Armstrong Foundation to ride by in her first triathlon. They had come out from Austin to cheer for her and we talked about the volunteering that I do for the LAF and the Livestrong Challenge, it was a good bonding time. Without their generosity and help, I would have not been able to move forward on the ride, I am very thankful for them. Once the pliers arrived, I quickly pulled out the core and inflated the tire, I was ready to go. I put the wheel back on the bike and saw that the tire was actually sliced. There was a half inch slice right across the tire and I knew that I wouldn’t make it far. There was nothing that I could do, I had to give it a shot and go as far as I could on that tire.

I made up some time, passed a bunch of the people that had passed me and was hammering up one of the rollers. I came over a bump and lost a water bottle and again I got frustrated. A flat tire and lost hydration within 10 miles of the ride, my confidence was running thin.

I was picking up pace and the weather was warming up as the marine layer was burning off. I knew I had about 40 more minutes until the sun was beating down and day would rely on my nutrition strategy. At mile 23, I was cruising up rollers on my way to the Canyon road turn and I will never forget the sound of the hiss from the back tire again. I was slowing and my head dropped, my day was done. I was out of tubes, had a tire that was sliced all the way through without a way to repair it. I dismounted and had a lump in my throat. My family was on the ride course along with a group of close friends anticipating me flying down Airport blvd in a few hours.

What are you supposed to do when you have a mechanical issue in an Ironman race? I had no idea! In all of the rides and races I have done, I had never had a flat or any type of issue. I remember Troy Soares who I saw in Auburn tell me to keep moving forward no matter what happens. I took his advice and the 3 mile walk in cycling shoes felt like an agonizing eternity. About 2.5 miles into the walk, I thought it would be a good idea to take my cycling shoes off to try to save the cleats in case I would actually get a chance to ride again that day. I was very surprised to see how many people actually stopped in such a competitive race to see if I was OK and needed a tube. They were so gracious to offer assistance on a day like that. It felt like a family…while focusing on our day and how successful we could be, there is a human side and we are there for each other when it is needed.

The traffic control dude at Canyon Rd. was me coming and asked if I was OK. After explaining what happened he offered his cell phone and a sheet of numbers to call for Mobile Support. I gave the first two numbers a call and got their voicemail. The last number went through and a guy from NorCal Bikes in Santa Rosa was “12 minutes out” and would help. I was pretty excited knowing that although I lost over an hour so far, I may be able to make the cutoff and finish. While I was waiting for NorCal to show up, a truck pulled up and asked if I was with the race. I said, “yes” and asked if was the mobile support and he said no, that he was taking people back to the finish who were stranded. Immediately I thanked him for stopping but I was waiting for the mobile support truck. Approx. 40 minutes later, the mechanic was at my bike and we were talking about the situation. He was a nice guy and did the change pretty quickly considering he had to access the situation and pull from the parts he had in his truck to change the tire. I have him my info to pay for the tube and tire ($57) and was finally on the road again.

By this time, it was hot out and I was at 3h 47 minutes from my swim start. I had pee’d out most of my hydration and electrolytes while walking and waiting for the support, it was a very discouraging moment for me. As I began to pedal, I was heading up the Canyon Rd climb and starting to pick up momentum. I knew I read somewhere that there was a bike cutoff at 5 hours or 5.5 hours after your swim wave but I wasn’t sure if it would be enforced or not. At best I was going to be able to ride into Transition 2 and walk over to my family to end my day…in my eyes that was not acceptable; I had to fight harder than I had fought before. I was over 30 miles away from the bike finish and I had less than 1 hours and 45 minutes to get there with a the Chalk Hill climb coming up around mile 40.

I picked up momentum and was starting to pick my pace up. I was thinking about a quote from Lance Armstrong, “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” I never quit. The legs came back when I heard the timing chip beep at the halfway point; it was time to dig deep. The rest of the ride to T2 was a blur, I hammered past everyone that I could while trying to maintain hydration. Another bottle was lost at another bridge which was like another kick in the gut. 15 miles to go to the Chalk Hill water station on half of a bottle of Gatorade. I took a SaltStick and never left the aero position until the water stop. I grabbed water and Gatorade and had to fill up my real water bottle that luckily never ejected from the cage.


Chalk Hill was very hot by the time I got there but I was very focused. I grabbed ‘free speed’ on the downhill sections and used it to propel me up the climbs as far as I could. The last climb took a toll on the heart rate but what choice did I have. I didn’t get passed by a single person from Chalk Hill all the way to T2. I kept yelling “LEFT LEFT LEFT” as I flew past people who were working to finish their bike portion. I saw my family in the distance on Windsor Rd and was yelling to get their attention as they were watching the runners coming towards them. My mother and father turned around as I flew past them. It was a breath of fresh air to have them at my race. I pulled into the high school and saw Becki & Dave with Kelly & Tim and all of the kids. I waived and they cheered. I hit the transition in 5 hours 10 minutes from the time I started my swim but I was there!

Transition 2 (4:52):
The first thought I had was “Oh my God look at all of these bikes!” I was definitely a late arriver but found my shoes stuffed under someone’s bike on my rack. Quickly changing into my running stuff I fully expected them to yank my timing chip when I started the run. Needless to say, they didn’t but I was sure that I was 10 minutes too late.

Run (2:59):
On my way out, I ran past the DeSaguns and Smiths and let ‘em know I thought that I was DQ’d from the race but I wanted to keep fighting.

Trying to find the run pace is tough in 90 degree heat and thousands of people lining the streets watching the race. You don’t want to walk right out of the gate and look like a wuss so I decided I was going to push the run until turning into the neighborhood and then see how I felt. I made it exactly to the turn before the cramps in my right hamstring came. I pushed way too hard to get to T2 that I didn’t really keep anything in the tank for the run and I began to walk. As I walked passed the 1 mile marker I was discouraged knowing that I was going to cross the finish line but it would be listed as a DNF due to the time constraints and the fact that I was walking at that point.

I walked with a woman named Jody who was from Sacramento. We laughed together since we were walking so early in the run and she was talking about her last 70.3 experience. Apparently she collapsed on the run course but she made it to the end. She was telling me how dizzy she was and I was encouraging her to drink and take in salt. She didn’t want to because she said it was sloshing around in her stomach. After telling her to slow down and let the water get into her stomach, she will feel better. We walked and talked until mile 5 where she dropped me when I took a leak. It was good, she was one of those speed walker soccer mom types and I couldn’t keep up with her anyway, haha.

At the midway point at the winery the heat was really starting to take a toll on my body. I wasn’t really tired but I was afraid to run because of the cramps. I looked down at my watch and I did some math. If I ran 12/min miles, I would finish before the 8 hour 30 minute cutoff time and would be an ‘official’ finisher. I thought back to something that I told Laurie who I met a few weeks ago and was helping her plan the Journey for Jessica Walk A Thon. I told her that thinking about Jessica Huse who has been lying in a bed for the last year unable to do anything would inspire me to push when I needed to. I thought about how grateful I am to have the ability and freedom to be outside doing a race, running in Ironman. It was time to race against the clock, if I got 4 miles out with 50 minutes to go, I would be able to be official. No more hiding behind my fear of cramping and deal with the heat as it came.

A new run strategy was born on the Vineman. I ran 100 steps and then walked till my heart rate came back down and would repeat. Looking at the watch was too stressful because it felt like I was standing still. Before I knew it, I was doing 12’s consistently and making progress. I turned onto Windsor Drive and was in the home stretch with 19 minutes to get to the line. It was hot, I was dizzy and found myself squirting Gatorade on my head to try to cool down, anything to stay cool enough. I was cramp free and physically I was not tired but was super hot and dripping with sweat. Thankfully, I made the turn into the high school and saw the friends who I imagine could see how tired I was as I muttered a few words to.

The Finish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS9VMpN7ju8
I rounded the corner and I was in the Finish Chute jogging on the grass. I could hear the announcer as I came in and the fans were cheering. I was the only one in the chute and the announcer said something about me not looking tired and I should be out there in 2 weeks for the fill Vineman (140.6 miles). I smiled and laughed as I listened and took it all in. Despite a ton of opposition and wanting to throw in the towel on the bike, I had made it to the finish in regulation time. What am awesome feeling!

I ran through the finish and they put my first M-Dot medal around my neck, a medal that a year ago would have never imagined I would ever have to call my own. My parents were there on the side of the finish cheering for me which was such an amazing thing to have after such a long day.

I hugged my mother and father and to my surprise my father seemed to have a little something in his throat when he congratulated me. Perhaps he was choking down some tears! Words cannot express how thankful I am for my mother and father who have supported me through all of the ups and downs in my life. My father has always been an inspiration to me, pushing me to move forward on so many things. He is the one who taught me how to ride a bike as a kid and would run beside me holding the saddle until I could go on my own. I wonder if my father thought about what a role cycling would play in my life when he bought me my first bike and patiently dealing with me being a frustrated 5 year old yelling at him that I didn’t want to ride because I didn’t think I would ever get it. I remember my mother and father both teaching me how to swim at the pool in our apartment in Marin when I was probably 3 years old. My Uncle Don and my father and I swam across Lake Naomi from the beach while my mother watched with anxiety with my grandparents.

30 years ago my parents taught me what it means to set goals for myself and to do whatever it takes, no matter what how hard it gets to achieve those goals. Quitting and giving up were never an option. Would they have ever imagined that I would cross the finish line of an Ironamn 70.3? Without the love and dedication of my family I would not be where I am today, less than 6 weeks away from competing in Louisville Ironman (140.6 miles) and I am proud to say that I am ready both physically and mentally.

Donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation for the 2010 Louisville Ironman can be made here:
http://januscharitychallenge.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=327166&lis=1&kntae327166=F05C960F7283407EA3759C7F1C8786FD&supId=280045842

Statistics:
Swim: 36 minutes 52 seconds

Bike: 4 hours 32 minutes
Pace: 12.34 mph (Bike 1Split : 8.87mph Bike 2Split: 19.38 mph)

Run: 2 hours 59 minutes
Pace: 13.71 mile

Total (official): 8 hours 19 minutes
Unofficial (minus bike downtime): 6 hours 40 min

Nutrition:
8,800 calories approx

Swim:
1 Hammer Gel
1 Salt-stick
Total Cal: 90 cal
Total Sodium: 245 mg

Ride:
2.5 Bottles Ensure
2 E-Gel
1 Cliff Bar
4 Salt Stick
48 oz water

Run:
½ bottle Ensure
1 E-Gel
1 PowerBar Gel
3 Salt Stick
50-60 oz water and Gatorade mix
6 fig newtons