Race Day

Any last word before you go kill yourself??  I did like their selections of music, it got everyone so relaxed. The crowd.. jes, I can hear them from 500 yards away.  We actually had to swim about 200 yards before the start which it wasn't a bad idea. But I dad no idea they started, as I was still back there floating on the super salty water..

The whole scene turns to an ocean white.  Consider 2500 people swimming on the course all at once.. it was awesome!

Look at this clear water, it's exactly what it looks while I was there.  I can see everyone under the water paddling, and divers underneath taking photos.

Trying to catch my breath after a 1:42 of swimming (slow huh? I know), when I got to T1, all the bags and bikes were basically empty.  I seriously need to improve my swimming techniques before my next IM.  I think I can easily shave off 20-30 minutes.

"COCA" or  "AQUA"!!! These items were helpful, but cannot overcome the strong head/side wind coming at the East side of the island.  I couldn't thank enough with the crowd in the downtown portion of the course, but in the East Side of the island is a lonely place.  Prior to this race, my training averaging 19 mph.  During the brutal portion of the bike course, I was going 12 mph.  I have never, I mean never hated riding my bike as much as that day.  I felt like I was on bike forever, not to mention I had cramps on Lap 2 where I couldn't fully stretch my legs.  The Infinit drink and Gatorade from the stations were helpful, but after a few bottles of them, my stomach just couldn't handle anything sweet anymore.  I did pack my beef jerky at the half way point which I gladly did.  Without the salt and protein, I think I would have probably fainted on the beach. 

After 7 hrs, I finally make it to T2.  My legs were.. well let's just say.. I just want to sit down, and here we go off to the marathon.  "Why did I sign up for this"?

VAMOS!!  SI SE PUEDE!!!   I really enjoy that from the crowd.  They were LOUD and amazing!  Some of locals don't even know what's going on, and they just love cheering us.  That was a very memorable part of Cozumel.

Running my last lap with 8 more miles to go..at this point, I was looking at my watch, and I need to run the last 8 miles in 1 hr 20 minutes to break 14 hrs.  After this photo shot, I told Cathy to meet me at the finish line exactly in a hr 10 min, then this is where I met Kitii Dan from iamtri.com.  We both encountered a rough time at the bike course.  We chatted, shove hands, and off our feet running like there is no tomorrow.  Dan repeatably gave me motivation during the last 4 miles , and I got to tell you... keeping up with this sub-3 marathoner isn't easy.  This guy is an amazing athlete in an incredible shape, I can truly say without him, I wouldn't have ran as fast as I did, and couldn't have broke 14 hrs.

OMG crossing the finish line!!  I thought I am going to be a bit emotional, but I simply ran out the energy to even think about it.. I just felt like.. I am done, here is what you asked for to earn title.  I gave Cathy a big hug.. after a while I ended up the medical tent suffering a major neck pain and hypothermia.  Slept there for about 20-30 minutes..

Will I do this again?  That day, I said "HELL NO", afterward my answer changed to "most definitely". My next event will be the LA Marathon in March 2011, looking to run a sub 4.  Ironman?  No plans yet.. let's see if I can come back here in 2011.  I will also enter the lottery for a Kona slot every year until I am old enough to qualify for the 60+ age groups.

DAY 4 - The Day Before the Race

 

Without her, I don't think I can finish the race alone.  Dropping my bike off along with my T1 and T2 bags.

1491 "Uno-Kutro-Nueve-Uno"  I think that's one of the coolest things about being a triathlete.

Here is my last meal before the race.  I didn't make it to the pasta dinner, so I went on my own pasta dinner nearby my hotel.  I had a good conversation with the waiter, and he was super hilarious.  He gave us a 15% ironman discount along with free nachos.  That's the nice thing about being an IM there, we get discounts in most places around town, as long as you have the green IM wrist band, they are the STAR!  As you can see, I am having a mango margarita even the night before the race, and my Ironman commrades around us are also drinking beer.

DAY 3

One last photo in Playa being head out to Cozumel.  Look at that blue Caribbean water..  I can never get bored of looking at it.

After 40 minutes on the ferry, here we are in Cozumel... this is where different cruise ships pull in here everyday.

Checked into our hotel Flamingo.  It's located on Calle 6, about 1km from the IM Finish.

Here is the bar at lobby.  Full breakfast is included, and they have excellent food there.

Our pre-race meeting.  The lady who are doing the presentation needs to have better word selection next time..lol, a lot of people are amused with some of the things she said.  Overall, it was very informative.

After the meeting, we went by a small beach bar, did a short swim while enjoying the beautiful sunset.  I never had such tasty margarita for years.

Hi!!  I see fishes down there!  The water is crystal clear.

Back to the hotel and start setting up my 5 bags.  Red means "Run", blue means "Bike".  Yellow is the run special need, and green is the bike special need.  Special need bag is placed in the half way point during the bike/run course.  I never used the run portion of the special need bag, but the green bag from the bike portion did save my life.  As you can see, I placed a pack of Infinit drink along with a pack of beef jerky.  Those two later saved my life, without these items, I wouldn't have made it on the bike course.

DAY 2

Day 2 of my trip, lay on the beach and do nothing.

Have you tried this burger with Doritos chips in it? 

Tequilla .38 Mag.

Day 1 of my trip

The actual journey to the Ironman begins on Wed 11/24.  Here I am arrived in Mexico City for the layover flight to Cancun.  I was advised not to leave the airport with the short amount of time.  Well, they made me pick my luggages during the layover, so even if I got the time, there is no way I am going off to site seeing with these big luggages.  So, we stayed in the airport, took a few photos, ate at the airport restaurant, walked around.. and got on the next flight to Cancun.  I consider the Juraez International Airport as a world class, modern one, far more advanced than our old LAX airport.

Finally, after 14 hrs on the road, we got to our hotel in Playa Del Carmen.  I have to say, the hotel we got is just so-so, but the location is right on the main strip which is on 5th Avenue.

Playa Del Carmen is a small little town about a hour South of Cancun.  It's full of nice Euro-ish outdoor restaurants and shops throughout the long strip. While Cancun is more for party college kids, Playa is more suitable for people who are in their 35+, quiet and less crowded place for couples. 

LA Cycling Day

Our LA Mayor, a.k.a. Mr.Telemundo.  From the speech he is giving, this guy has a lot of charisma.  I was going to ride with his group, but I got tired of waiting.  These news reporters wouldn't stop interviewing him.

So, this is the day, 7-mile event that they set up in LA for cyclist.  All free of cars, only cyclists, runners and walkers.  LA the finest were everywhere, one officer even came up to me and ask me about my Look.  At first I thought I did something illegal...lol.  Normally, cops don't act that friendly.  When I ran the LA Marathon, only the Fire Fighter guys were cheering.  Cops were all standing there with their dark Oakley sunglasses looking like a mean prison guard.   Nevertheless, I had a great conversation with him.

Gotta love LA. It's my home!  Oh Brasil..no, this is just a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. It's the infamous farmers market at the Groove. Back to my training log.. 5 more weeks to go, and I am still dogging it..only 9-10 hrs per week of training.  Next week, I need to double that amount. 

Training Log 8/30 to 9/20

12 weeks left:
Mon: Run 40 min
Tues: Run 40 min, Bike 10 min, Run 26 min
Wed:  Recover, a few sets of push ups
Thurs: Bike 2 hrs, Run 26 min
Fri: Recover
Sat: Walk all day at USS midway/Sea World..lol
Sun: Bike 5 hrs (Irvine to Camp Pendleton)
Total Trainning: 9 hrs 22 min

11 weeks left:
Mon: Nothing
Tues: Run 60 min
Wed: 6-8 sets of push ups/pull ups
Thurs: Bike 2.5 hrs.
Fri: Run 50 min med fast pace
Sat: Drill in Vegas
Sun: Drill in Vegas
Total Training: 4 hrs 20 min

10 weeks left:
Mon: Run 1 hr
Tues: Swim 10 min, weight training.
Wed: Bike 1 hr
Thurs: Run 10 min fast pace
Fri: Bike 2 hrs
Sat: Bike 3 hrs, Run 20 min
Sun: Swim 20 min, Run 10 min
Total Training: 8 hrs 10 min

90 mile ride from Tustin to Camp Pendleton

So, I didn't do a LA-SD ride like I was going to do.  Instead, I did a OC-Camp Pendleton ride, roughly 90 miles round trip.  I started at 2pm and ended up going back to Peggy's house in Tustin at 8:30pm in the dark.  On the way back, I ate at this burger joint in San Clemente, and hit a pot hole and got a flat.  That delayed about 30 minutes.  Got back to Irvine, pitch black, freezing my ass off, with cycling lights.  Stupid google direction got me going to the wrong way for about another 15 minutes.  Overall, a good experience.  Will I do this again.  Ah... may be not alone.  (Juan, I know you are reading this, you said you will do one)

Once I passed the front gate on base, the headwind was a serious business.  I went from 18-19 mph to 10-11 mph.  By the way, Camp Pendleton is a huge base with miles of shooting range and big forest.

I wanted to turnaround here, but was curious to see that's over the hill.  5-10 minutes later, I climbed over and there was nothing.  I took a little relieve up there, and start heading back. 

Lesson Learned:
My weakness: 1) hills 2) headwind
My strength: the opposite of above... lol  No serious, I need flat + a little tail wind = my strength 

USS Midway in San Diego

A relaxing day in San Diego with my fiance, this is at USS Midway. 

HH-46 Sea Knight, I worked on this helicopter before.  Not only did I work on this kind of helicopter, I worked on this "particular" one before.  I remember the same serial number back in 2002 when I was assigned to Detactment 4 of my Squadron.  What a surprise to me..  The HH-46 had already been decommissioned, the HH-60 is their replacement. 

This was the kind of bed I slept on every night for 6 freaking months.  The become very comfortable after a long day of work.  You can actually open up the bunk and put your stuff underneath.  The Navy made this very convenience for everybody.

Junior Officer 0-1 to 0-3, they get a more comfortable bed that is comparable to the CPOs E7-E9. 

Typical work center for the fighter squardons on the ship.

Other aircrafts on the flight deck.