The Crash

This year the 4^th of July landed on a Fri which falls into every endurance athlete’s dream, a three day weekend with good weather.  I had raced San Diego International the previous week and was 3 weeks out from Vineman 70.3, so a perfect big training weekend.  The week before, Kim suggested Kate and him were going to do one of the local fun runs on Fri and then two big rides on Sat/Sun.  At the same time, Jeff Rangan was organizing a run/hike up Cactus to the Clouds on Sun as part of his preparation for Pike’s Peak half marathon.  After learning how much hiking and little running was involved in the 22 mile excursion, I bailed on Jeff and the track group and was all in for the riding.

On Fri, I ran the Coronado 15k.  I drove down with Jeff, Kim and Kate and had a solid race.  I ran mid 53’s and won my age-group and was in the top 10.  No where near the leaders but a solid run.  Kate won the women’s overall.  Of course the people handing out the awards didn’t care and it actually got pretty funny as we waited for the race director to stop by for a silly t-shirt that they had boxes of but wouldn’t give any to Kate even after the announcer called her up as the winner.  Jeff had a solid race and showed he is on track for his stage race in August and Kim finished but didn’t seem very happy about his race.  

On Sat July 5^th, the plan was a long ride with Kim, Kate and Terry.  We were joined by Trevor (racing IM USA) and Scott.  I was my first time to meet them and they seamed like great guys.  The route was meet in Rancho Santa Fe and ride out Del Dios to Wolford, up Palomar, down Henshaw to Mesa granda and back, ~120 miles give or take.  Kate and Kim were setting the pace on the way out while the rest of us were letting them go.   I was hanging out watching my power meter knowing it was going to be a long day.  Trevor turned off at the top of Wolford and it was just the 5 of us for the rest of the day. We made it to the turn off for Palomar and regrouped at the store.  Waiting for us was Terry’s husband Billy with a minivan full of supplies.  This was a dream day.  I was going on a long ride with a support van.  If you had any idea how many long rides I had made carrying a days worth of food with me you would truly appreciate a support car.  Dreams do come true.

 We started out to through the base of Palomar and Kim and Kate were still going harder than I could so I once again let them go and road my own pace.  At the turn, I finally caught Kim, who informs me he didn’t realize we were going up Palomar.  Sorry man, not your day.  A little later, I passed Kate and held a steady pace to the top.  We regrouped at the top and with Billy’s help were all filled up with food and fluids for a while. 

We cruised down the other side and over the Mesa Granda.   I had never been up Mesa granda and Kate was hanging back with Kim so I road smooth along the rollers figuring we would regroup at Dudley’s.  As you make a sweeping left before the last hard right my great day came to an end.  As I was setting up for the last turn, I hit a small pothole and catapulted onto the road. I went from being able to see Dudley’s to sliding on my face along the road.  I managed to push my face off the road and eventually came to a stop.  I sat up and looked back and saw a pothole.  In retrospect, I hit the pothole and launched myself into the road.  Fortunately, I wasn’t hit by a car, I was far enough ahead of the others that I didn’t take them out and I didn’t black out. 

Immediately, two motorcyclists stopped and one had a first aid kit.  About 5 min later, Billy was there simultaneously a fire truck pulled up.  The fire truck called and ambulance and they looked over me and cleaned me up a bit and released me to be taken to a hospital by Billy. As many of you know, I tend to talk a lot.  I think I said less than 5 words on trip.   Originally, I wanted to go urgent care and they saw the damage to my face and set me to the ER at Scripps Memorial.  I debated going by home to get my insurance and id but the more I thought about and the look on Billy’s face let me know the ER was the only choice.

     After a few hrs in the waiting room, they admitted me and began cleaning up the damage.  After a brief examination, they thought I only needed stitches but I convinced them to give me a CT of my jaw because it hurt to talk/swallow.  They pushed on it but they thought it was OK, I disagreed.  They gave me a chest x-ray and ct scan.  The crest x-ray was clear but the ct scan showed I had broken my jaw in three places.  They brought in an oral surgeon who began stitching up my face. 

    After bandaging my wounds and finishing the stitches, they said they couldn’t get me into an OR until Mon/Tues so asked if I wanted to be admitted or released.   Well, the last time I was in a hospital I got a drug resistant Staph infection so I was voting for release.  The doc thought about for a while and said there might be some problems if they released me so I said I would stay if he would try and get the operation done sooner. 

Now it was about 7 PM and I hadn’t eaten since 12:30 so I was starving.  Patrick, Paula and Kate took my key from Billy and they dropped off my bike/etc.. and grabbed some clothes and more importantly some chocolate milk to drink. I think that is the best tasting milk I have ever had.   The next day they couldn't get an OR but they didn't inform me of this until 3PM so I spent another 15 hours away from fluids but did have several visitors and I could talk with only limited pain so the day pasted by relatively quickly.

    On Mon, they got the OR booked at 5PM.  The operation lasted 3 hours over which they put a plate into my lower jaw and wired/banded my jaw shut.  Jeff and Jen were there when I came out of the OR and talked briefly with my surgeon.  Jen was even kind enough to do a brief background check on him to make sure I wasn’t getting a loser.  Thanks Jen, that knowledge was really comforting going into the OR.  My jaw will be wired close for the next 2 weeks and then have some retainer in it for another 4 weeks.  I am still a little fuzzy on this part but he mentioned he would open it after two weeks.  I will know more on Fri.  

 I have some minor abrasions on my arms and leg that are healing nicely.  I have about 20 to 30 stitches in my lips, a permanent plate in my jaw and a couple of chipped teeth.  As bad as it sounds, it could have been so much worse. As a final stroke of luck, I was trying out the arm coolers made by DeSoto Sports. They are very similar to arm warmers only white and made out of material designed to increase cooling.  I don’t know how much they increase cooling but they were keeping the sun off me and on second ride were helping me out.  Best of all, they took a lot of the beating and saved my arms from some series damage.  Granted it is the shortest period of time I have ever had an article of clothing, I am sure they saved my arms.  Thanks Emilo DeSoto.

Talking is not fun but acceptable in person.  Over the phone it can get very bad because you will not be able to completely understand me and I can’t write out what I want to say.  I will be responding to email.  I am currently at home recovering.  Kona is still on my mind and I hope to get on a bike soon.  I will be taking it easy for a while though.  I will keep you informed. 

Escape from Alcatraz

Escape from Alcatraz is probably my favorite triathlon.  The entire race is so unique that you either love it or hate and I love it.  This year the weather was perfect.  It was clear, sunny and for San Fran warm.  I stayed at a friend’s house in Mountain View the night before and drove up to the race on Sun morning.  Everything was great until I tried to find parking on race day.  I took a wrong turn and got really lost.  Fortunately. I managed to find my way back to the starting area and found parking at the Exploratorium.  However, I was freaking out as I was driving away from San Fran on a highway with no exit in site on race day morning.

            I dropped my bike off in transition and managed to find a good friend Charisa.  We talked and relaxed together on the bus and fairy trip out to the start.  The start is insane and great.  They line the pro and challenged athletes up on the outside of the boat and send them off.  Next, they open a 4 foot opening on the front and back of the boat and everyone files out as fast as they can.  I was off the boat early and began swimming as fast as possible.  It’s swim or get landed on.  It reminds me of the old Disney films were they show the Lemings jumping off the cliff.  FYI, the boat ride kills your warm-up so I tried put Flex-Power on under my wetsuit and it was a great idea.  It kicked in and started warming me up just before I jumped into the bay.  My gamble paid off. 

            The swim is the best part of the day.  You start in the shadow of Alcatraz island, jump into fridged waters (mid 50’s F)  and aim no where near the finish.  It’s the creepiest feeling to know you are swimming at the wrong landmark but knowing the current will pull you to the right place.  I managed to stay clear of everyone and got out of the water feeling OK in 31min and 05 seconds.

            Once you are out, you run around 1 km a lot the shore to your bike.  I swam in booties so I decided to forgo the chaos of finding and putting on shoes and run in them to the transition area.  The booties kept my feet safe, no cuts, and off with my wetsuit and time for the bike.

            The started out smoothly.  I was getting into a great rhythm up the first hill and as I crested,  I shifted to my biggest gear for the downhill.  Suddenly, my chain was stuck and I had to stop.  A volunteer helped free my chain from my bike and I was off.  About 30 sec later, I shifted to me biggest gear again and my chain overshifted and was jammed between my cassette and frame.  I hadn’t adjusted my gears properly when I changed over to my race wheels.  Rookie mistake.  Oh well, now I new.  The rest of the ride I made sure to avoid my biggest gear and everything went well.  I road 54 min 6 sec and counting a couple stops that’s not too bad.

            I was off onto the run.  I latched onto a fellow competitor coming out of transition and got a great pus for the first mile.  The first few miles are flat so I got into a great pace and saw a couple friends on the side of the course cheering me one.  Thanks John and Steven.  After a few flat miles, you go up some stairs and onto the trails.  As I exited the trails, I caught one of the elites and ran with him down to the bay and along the sand.  We stayed together until the famous sand ladder.  I ran smoothly up the wooden planks that form the ladder with only a couple missed steps to slow me down (2 min 14 sec time).  I gapped the guy I was running with and came back on the trail for the run back.  I was moving through the runners on their way out well and bringing runners back until the stairs.  I go down stairs really badly.  I was passed by the guy I dropped on the sand ladder and forced to chase the entire way back.  I pushed as hard as I could but couldn’t catch him.  I was able to reach out and touch him at the finish line but couldn’t over take him.  I ran 48 min 3 sec and ended up finishing in 2hr 19 min and 40 sec.  That put my as the 7^th amateur, 2^nd in my age group and I had the fastest amateur run of the day.  I was pretty happy.

            To make the day even better, Charisa matched my age-group finish with a 2^nd of her own.  We topped off the day with an amazing breakfast at one of the local shops before a long car trip.  I had a great day and still love this race.  I can’t wait until next year.

 

Brian