Ouachita Switchbacks 50k – 2014

        Last Friday was another great, crazy night at the Snyder Home.  We had more company than usual, this time from the Northeast Corner of Oklahoma and from Tulsa.  Matt, Chandler and Kyler, my cousin, were three of the new guests, along with the normal crew of Kasey, Aaron O, and Jordo.  We ate an amazing spaghetti dinner prepared by my wife Kristin Jo.  We then headed out to the Snyder Rock Gym and started climbing and watching Sam Young show us how to climb!  We wore ourselves out climbing and finished the 4^th quarter with KD scoring 54 points!

Top of Winding Stair - (Pics - Jed Kirby)

My father-in-law had come down to watch the little ones and he looked on as Aaron and I mixed our bottles,  and Kasey and I traded our Gels and Shot Blocks.  I looked up at him and he had this crazy look on his face like, “What in the world are these guys doing?”  One of the joys of us all hanging out before the race is us trading stories, training, clothing, and always Strava GPS info!

We had an early start as always and a full car this go around.   Two weeks before at ABF Marathon, Aaron forgot his GPS watch and iPod and this week he left his sports drinks in the fridge.  So I had Kyler put them in his bag and off we went.  I saw Aaron turn around and I called him and he said, “I forgot my bottles,” and he was freaking out.  I told him I had them and he was mad.  Stihl ask what he said and I told Stihl that I couldn’t repeat it!  Always good laughs it seems when you get me and Aaron together! 

The course is a double out and back, head west and then back, then east then back. My dad was running the Aid Station at the top of Winding Stair Mountain, Chandler was running from Winding Stair to the start of the race, Stihl was running to the top of Winding Stair.  So trying to figure the logistics of people in places at the right time was fun planning!

Tom Brennan has been racing for years and he knows how to put on the best races!  Keep them cheap, give swag, beer, and find the crazy hard courses that will challenge you beyond your limits!  He had been cleaning on the trail for many weekends and for that Tom, I thank you so much!  I put in time on the trails and I truly appreciate your hard work on the trails, almost more than putting the race on!

My dad working the Top Aid Station (Pics by Jed Kirby)

We pulled into Pushubee Trail head and the sun was just rising.  I found a great place to take a dig and watch the sunrise and Kasey thought that was pretty funny so had to post it.  Sorry if you got a bad image of that!  We took off at 8am and I had been pumped about this race because Justin Franklin had been posting some crazy fast times and he had won a couple races coming into the race.   Add to that,  Tom Brennan running the race this year as well, and a long course you never know what is going to happen out there!  I jumped out in the front at a pace that felt a little slower than last year.  Ran through the Big Cedar Trail head aid station and Franklin stopped and ran down to the first creek crossing.  I crossed this last year dry, but that wasn’t going to happen this year so I busted into the cold water.  I dropped them somehow at the creek and used this time to talk to God for the next 2 miles.  I couldn’t help but think of His wonder as I ran past one of the most beautiful places on the Ouachita Trail with a creek below.  Then I came upon one of my favorite places on the Trail, the massive Rock Glacier that makes you feel like you are in Jackson Hole, WY and makes me think of God’s mystery and creativity! Franklin had caught me at this point and was amazed also.  We stopped and looked up and then down the glacier.

Franklin and I at the Top

Kristin my Beautiful Wife

Stihl 9-year-old Son at the Top

            This would end the gazing as we pressed the pace up the mountain and dropped Tom in this next mile stretch.  I knew Tom wouldn’t be far behind and figured he would catch us by the bottom of the mountain with his downhill speed.  Great to see my dad for all of 5 seconds at the top of the mountain as I turned to head back down the hill looking at the amazing view one last time as we were at the highest point of the entire OT.  Then I would soon see Tom and a crew of people behind him.  It was great seeing so many runners coming out to run, walk or crawl up the mountains.  Shortly I saw my wife and surprisingly, my 9 year-old son was with her.  She said he was doing awesome and I gave him a high five! I was so proud of him that he had made it this far into the race!  I dropped a Gu and Franklin would pass me and start dropping the hammer but it was all downhill so I didn’t think much about it and was glad to finally get a little bit of uphill to relief the pressure of my quads.  We would go through the next aid station and into a very hilly next 3 miles to the 28k mark.  Franklin really pressed down in this area.  I felt it was easy but hard at the same time, so I eased up on hill climbs.  Getting to the aid station was nice, but difficult because it would have been nice to call it a day right then! As we headed out I grabbed many gels and a new bottle.  I was hot, and this is when I notice Franklin pulled his shirt off and I took my gloves off!  Yes I took my gloves off; this is a sign for me that I will never run well if the gloves are off in a long distance race!  I then began feeling upset at my stomach as we started climbing a big climb and I watched as Franklin disappeared into the mountains.  I then remembered back to last year and remembered how this climb was so hard.  I tried to keep a good effort up and finally stopped to try to relieve some stomach issues and nothing, but my heart rate came down and I started feeling better so I started running again.  At this point in the race, on top of the east mountain, it is so rocky and very difficult to run.  Walking it is difficult also, so I figured I would try to run as much as I could.  Soon enough I see Franklin on a rock so I check on him and then head down the mountain feeling better and better with every downhill step!  I then head onto the new course and the change of dirt road as my feet say, “oh yeah!”  I then feel my muscles say “oh yeah,” as I crossed the Kiamichi River which was really astonishing.

Tatur Aid station is the best! Loud music, great food and Brian Hoover ask “You want a daiquiri?”  I did want one, but mainly I just wanted to set there.  But it was a race, and I was in 1^st place!  Brian you’re the best! Crossing the river the second time my toes were very cold, but it felt great and it was great running the road again.  I then saw a dog in the distance and Tom coming around the corner.  He and his dog Penny weren’t far behind.  He said, “Now is the time to go for a sub-5-hour run!”  I was thinking yeah!  Then I hit the next climb and was thinking yes, but my body was thinking no! But I pressed on with what I felt like was a good pace.  Another climb up the hill until where that darn top is so rocky!  Crazy thing is, if you were hiking you have a great view of a mountain to your North and to your South that you could really enjoy.  But with racing you are glued to staring at the trail in front of you so you don’t trip and fall on your face!  I continued to get over the rock null and down the backside, but I was out of liquids and asking another 50k guy for a drink!  He said I need credit for helping you, I should have said, “I just lightened your load and helped you!  But he did help me so much.  So thank you random 50k brother!  I then ran pretty well down the mountain and hit the last flat section and picked up the pace as I came to the last dry rocky creek crossings and the last little climb to the top. 

I heard a yell and I fought to hold in the tears as I remembered running last year with my favorite running buddy, Jesse my 8lbs Toy Fox Terrier.  She finished the full 50k!  She was amazing dog.  She unfortunately was hit by a car this fall.  I know she would have run again with me this year and she would have torn the trail up again! I will never forget her running so many miles with me, but especially at 2013 Ouachita Switchbacks! 

Finish Line

Would love to break 5 hours on this crazy hard course but will need some more training and need a colder day!

1^st Place & Course Record 5:17

(Sorry I didn’t give me course description)

http://ouachitaswitchbacks.blogspot.com/2012/10/course-description.html

Athens Big Fork Marathon 2014

             It was another trip with a big crew from Oklahoma with George Haney (his 3rd race ever) Aaron O and Jordo (from Tulsa), Kasey Ng (my cousin), a healed ready to run Kendal Repass, his wife Hali, my wife Kristin, my 9-year-old son Stihl, and the course recorder holder Tom Brennan.

My fifth trip out to ABF Marathon to run over 8 mountains see my favorite Aid Station that comes all the way from Texarkana, then to turn around and run back over 8 mountains!

            The race director at the beginning has everyone raise there hand if they have gotten lost before in this race and almost every person that has raced before has gotten lost in previous years.  We gather for the race picture and Aaron says to me, “I forgot my watch and my radio.”  He still had his warm up clothes on so I ask, “you still going to race?” And he said, “a Yeah.”  So I said , “well get those clothes off he is gonna start us right after this picture!”  So he started rushing around and my wife was running to the woods for a last min bathroom break and she would miss the start so I yelled at Stihl to run with Hali.  Hali looked just as relieved as Stihl because they both were counting on running with Kristin and she wasn’t at the start! Later I come to find out she hit a 7-min mile to make up for lost time.

Tom and I were in the front and a guy asked which one of you has the Course Record. Before I could say “he’s not here today they say he is a ghost and his name is Tom, and he starts in the back and then comes flying by on the second half of the race and you never have time to see him.”  Tom had said, “I have the Record and it is for sure the slowest Marathon CR in the Nation.”  The reason Tom stated this because the race measured 7,000 feet of vertical gain and it is one rough single-track trail.  This year was going to be a little more difficult with the past storm leaving a mess of branches and trees across the trails.

Wilson Klutts (Happen to be on the Trail)

            The temp was perfect but it was a bit humid for the guy that sweats on the 20-degree lite run in the winter but my hands freeze so I am pretty much a wimp I know but love to run in the cold!  So after a couple miles it was Tom and I pretty far out front and I was trying to decide what kind of time I wanted to chase after for the day!  Tom had set some good guidelines for me on this race years ago and the main one was not to look at your watch on the way out!  I looked at my watch the year I was in the lead and I pushed myself into a big crash after the turn around so Tom was pretty spot on!  This would be my game plan the complete way out only looking at my watch only to guess when I needed to hit some fuel.  I only talked to Tom a couple times after we had hit the single-track southbound trip out.  I mentioned all the trees down, pointed out some deer, and asked him, “Is this the 8^th mountain?”  He replied, “yes.” And I thought, FINALLY!  We hit the forest road before the turn around and ran together and talked about what time he thought we were going to hit the turn around. Tom said, “my guess is a 2:15” I told him my guess was a 2:15 and he said you can’t guess the same number and I told him I had hit 2:15 3 out of the 4 previous years and I said if I had to pick another number it would be a little slower than 2:15.  We hit the turn around at 2:17 grabbed some grub and headed back out.  And I said to Tom, “2:04 will get your course record, looks like it will live another year!”

A surprising 3^rd place came onto the trail only trailing by 6 minutes.  I told Tom he could lead and pull a little while and we stopped for a potty stop and pull is what he did! We hit the first mountain on the way back with an up temp pace and the flats between were the same story.  It took all I had for the next 3 mountains to stay with Tom on the downhill sections as he blazes down them faster than I have seen any other trail runner.  We got into the Blaylock Creek aid station (Mile 18) the race director! Thanks so Much STEVE! Saw I was gassed and Tom also saw I was gassed so he broke out of the aid station pretty quick.  I was down to one last gel so I snagged a big piece of Cake and took off behind Tom.  He blasted across the creek and I ran up creek 20 yards and played frogger across to keep my feet dry!  This was the first year I had ever had dry feet this far into the race!

We hit the steepest climb on the way back next and Tom seemed to finally let off the kill it button and was I ever glad!  This would be my slowest pace of the race but was still trying to regain composer.  I love an out and back course when you say on the way out I am going to run that when I get back to it, and I had already made up my mind I was going to run the 13^th mountain.  Tom set a good hike pace in and I was still running, so I made up some ground quickly that I had lost on the downhill making a pass with my steady pace up the 13^th.  Didn’t really try to make a move, I thought what is the point he will catch me if he is felling good and never know just keep pushing is what I kept in my head.  I hit the next big climb, hiked hard seeing my wife at the top kept me moving what I felt like fast.  Slapped her on the butt, and she smiled I didn’t say a word I just kept moving! 

The last aid station (Little Missouri River) I noticed Tom was not right behind me anymore, I got one last big drink of water.  Running the last mountain always feels good, coming near bottom of the backside before the single track ran out onto the road I saw blaze orange waist up to cap running!  And I knew this was George Haney, he said after the race, “I hadn’t seen anyone in a really long time and I hear the loud noise coming down the mountain and then a huge hawler, and I didn’t need to turn around I knew it was you.”  This was his 3^rd race with World’s Highest Hill his first, man is he ever tough, he and many other runners were doing the Fun Run almost 18 miles and 4,600 feet of elevation! Doesn’t the sound fun?

            Looking at my watch when I hit the road I knew I would have to run hard to get a PR on this course so I picked up the pace which helped my peace of mind knowing a legend and the course record holder wasn’t far behind me!  Tom is one tough runner and his course is going to stand for many years even if a fast marathon toes the line they are going to have to work super hard to get his record!

I was surprisingly dehydrated from sweating so much!  Hard to think you can do that in January but I was soaked from head to toe!  So I got inside to the great cheering crowd gathered around the fire!

Zoom in on the Snot!

Always good times at ABF and plan to go there for many years to come!  You will not find more beautiful country around these parts near Oklahoma or Arkansas.  Proud of my wife and cousin and my son that wanted to go 17 miles but my wife turned him around at the 4 mile mark so he got 8 miles and 1,000 feet and he loved it!  Go climb a mountain and you will not be sorry you did when you get to the top you feel like you achieved so much and you will see some of God’s beautiful creation that he created for you and me!
                                                    1st Place 4:29:40

LOViT Trail Marathon 2013

         Poteau, OK 4:45am I hit the alarm went off and my wife said, “Are you really going to the race?” It was 33 degrees outside and raining and had been raining all night.  I told her, “There are 3 guys in the living room that are ready to roll, I’m going.” She said, “Your Crazy…. Be Careful.” As her head hit the pillow to go back to where I wish I was at that point in bed sleeping!

            Aaron Ochoa and Jordan Christy from Tulsa had drove down because the ice had hit in Tulsa and there would have been no possible way for them to make it to the marathon leaving from Tulsa.  My cousin Kasey Ng was the same story so they were ready to head out the door to 5:15am coffee in hand to meet Tom Brennan, Matt Aguero, and Sam Young missing one more due to injury Kendall Repass, and yes I just said Matt Aguero and every time I said that before the race everyone was like, “wow, how fast is he gonna run?”  Matt hasn’t been on the trail running scene because of his obsession to run the fastest Marathon he can run.  Which makes him one of the best Road Marathoners in Oklahoma.

48 at the start not 63!!!!

            We cheered the complete drive to Hot Springs as the Temp rose 1 degree at a time from 33 all the way to 48, the weather channel said it was going to be 63 at the start with a 100% chance of Rain every hour.  They did hit the rain part correct but the Temp was so hard to figure out how to dress for such a race.  We got there right before the start and all 35 of us lined up and they said good luck you guys have fun!  The trail runs along the Ouchita Lake which is one of most beautiful lakes around Arkansas and Oklahoma and the trail is what I remembered being pretty flat and a big climb at the turn around, this race was an out and back course with 14 out and 12 back making for a great run!

            As it rained we ran and we ran it rained.  I took the lead on the trail and no one was going to push the pace it seemed so I took what I felt was easy and Tom was yelling I was going to fast.  I wanted to go out at record pace that was set by Tom 2 years before this race when I had ran with him and he was using it as a training run and we got to mile 19 and I had never seen a man take off that fast after running 19 miles of trail.  He was gone with-in 3 miles and I was stuck sucking wind up the last hills walking knowing Tom was running.  But this is 2 years later and my fitness is better for sure and had to at least have a shot at breaking my previous time of 3:40 or Tom’s Record of 3:35.   I knew Matt was just going to use this run as a training run and not burn it up like he normally would do a race.  But I also knew if I could get him to chase me to the turn around he might set the course record at a super fast time.  I Tom was going to have it as he jumped out in front of me and slowed the pace at mile 4.  But it was far from Tom slowing the pace down, it was mother-nature as the heavens opened up and the rain fell harder and the trail began to fill with water.  I watched Matt in his racing flats slip and slide and wish he was wearing trail shoes, “funny stuff!”  I can’t image running in a shoe that you would slide every step but I was sliding in my Brooks PureGrit also so I guess it was all fair.  We hit might 10 aid station and started down hill before hitting the climb.  Matt had jumped out front before mile 10 aid station and started pushing the pace.  I don’t think this was on purpose I think he is just so stinking fast when we hit that road section he was like yes and started feeling good!  Matt was looking for the trail at one point and almost ran straight into the woods as Tom and I laughed pretty hard!  Then a mile later I was trying to point him to the wrong direction on the trail and he wasn’t having it!  We then had our first real creek crossing at mile 12 and I said, “Look there is a rope!, Matt said, “oh that’s nice as plunged straight through the middle of the creek far away from the rope and we then laughed again! 

Matt then pushed the climb to heart rate raise and I started walking in the back as Matt and Tom were running and Tom said to Matt, “I thought we weren’t ever going to hike.”  I had been using my long legs and been hiking for awhile at there run pace!

We had a great time at the turn around and took some pictures.  I tossed my hot hands (which they don’t work when they are soakin wet) 

Matt and I at the Finish (still raining)

            From the turn around back we had a very gradual pace never really picking it up.  We weren’t racing and this was apparent early in the race but it was a great training pace and it was very hard with the weather in control of a lot of the pace.  That being said was one of the best 26 mile runs I had ever had with 2 of my favorite running buddies as crossed the line together with a time of 4:03:33 official.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and looking forward to many hard trail runs for 2014 coming up!

Tulsa Route 66 Marathon 2013

Photo By: Chris Barnes 2012

      Tulsa Route 66 Marathon started in 2006 and my first run of the Route 66 was in 2009.  Since that time I had run 2 other times and ran 2 of my fastest times I had ever ran at any other marathons.  This would be my 4th running of the Route 66th and I would love to say I have had 40 of them by the time I am 70.  I have told people it will be my staple marathon and I want to do this race every year even if it doesn't fit in my training schedule or I am hurt I will finished this race!

Amber Lynch and Scarlett

     So my wife and I loaded up, headed to Tulsa on Saturday morning leaving our youngest daughter for the first time overnight away from her momma with my sister Amber Dawn Lynch.  This would also be the first 1/2 Marathon my wife had done since having our 8 month old beautiful little girl.  The boys spread out between the other grand parents so we had a great weekend a head of us.  We got our race packets and some gu and then headed out to start Christmas shopping.  Later when we made it to the mall and I was almost ran over by a Mall Cop on his little stand up patrol thing, I was finished!  I headed out and got some coffee and started working on my lab-top.  My wife had a good time shopping and then I grabbed some dinner at Maccoroni Grill and I ate at the bar beside a guy from Kansas City and he was running his 5 marathon and he was excited about the course but not the weather.  I told him if the wind held off it wouldn't be to bad.  Then we went on and met a couple other friends for a nice dinner that I didn't eat because I had already ate but we had some great fellowship with them!
     Race Time!  We headed out from the hotel and it was crazy cold that morning somewhere around 28 degree's.  Headed out of the hotel I was warming up in and the National Athem was being sung.  We stopped and then headed to the start line.  Then they said 1 minutes until the wheel chair start and this means 2 minutes until you start the 2013 Route 66 Marathon!  I got to see some good friend at the start.  Ian Campbell that was in my age group and pretty fast, Aaron Ochoa that was running the half at a goal of 1:27 and that is where I wanted to be at for the half way mark so it was good knowing I could keep in sight.  The first mile is always very fast at Tulsa and then mile 2 has a few climbs in it so they usually even out.  I was feeling ok with the 6:30 average pace and I felt kinda funny at mile 3 but nothing I hadn't felt before at mile 3.  This is when Ian started dropping the hammer and held at 6:30 to 6:45 pace running the beautiful course through Tulsa.  I hit mile 6 and knew I was running down hill but it seemed hard to run a 6:45 pace and I was feeling soreness all over my legs.  I thought just get to mile 20 and then it is down hill and you can still get a BQ (Boston Qualifier) today.  So I held this pace which still felt hard down riverside until you climb out of riverside with a pretty good hill and this year a huge head wind!  I made it up to the top to see Katy Kramer that usually runs my pace and I had been with her at the beginning and now I had reeled her back in at the top of the hill and she made the turn for the marathon not to the finish the half as I thought she was running.  I then felt boosted that I had caught her but felt waxed from the hill, wind and mostly my sore legs that were normally in this point of the race feeling great! 

Riverside

    Half Way! I hit the half at just under 1:30.  The 2 years before I had been at 1:25 and 1:27 so I knew that with the way I was feeling I wouldn't get a PR and knew it was going to be very hard to get a BQ.  I did know sub 3 hours was not going to happen.  So I hit a 2 flat miles and both were 7 minute pace and I new I was finished with the race for the day. So I began to slow and my heart fell and I began to get very very cold!  I was wearing shorts and long T with gloves and a shock hat.  I was thinking I was going to have to stop inside somewhere and get warmed up if I was going to finish this race because I was so cold and I wasn't going to come this far and quite because I was cold.  At this point I felt or didn't feel that my junk was feeling frozen.  Never had that happen before in a race but I was getting nervous about it!  But then I ran past a relay station around mile 17 and a Buddy John ran with me and I told him I was slowing down and I was getting very cold but I was going to finish he said I will try to catch you at TU - Tulsa University, soon after there were an array of clothes on the side of the road.  So I stopped and started shuffling though the clothes.  Female Small's and Medium's seemed to be everywhere and I wasn't having any luck finding a shirt that would fit and there it was in all its glory a pull over Jersey brand navy blue hoodie!  It was to big but it was so warm!  I then found a pair of women's sweat pants with a boot fit loose around the ankles fit that came up to my shins.  The lady standing on the corner cheering us on smiled really big and me and I smiled back and took off running very slow! 

What I should of Had on!

    My spirits were still high enjoying the moment of the marathon even if were not running even a remotely fast marathon.  The story of a death march is to me when you are hurting to walk and walk is all you can do.  I wasn't hurting to bad and I wasn't walking yet!  I then ran with a girl from Fort Smith that was on PR pace and she was worried that it was hard the past few miles for the pace she was running.  I explain to her that the past 3 or 4 miles were all up hill and we had been fighting the wind.  Told her she was going to do great rest of the way in and hopefully helped her mind get ready for the final push out of TU.  She also helped my mind get off that I was starting to hurt really bad!  I then thought of how I had only taken 2 days off since the Ironman that was four weeks before and me thinking riding my bike was a day off from running.  But most days I took off from "running" I was biking up Cavanal that was a 2,000 foot climb.  I also had noticed the week before I did the race up Cavanal my time was ok but not a PR and I really really pushed with everything I had and was still not recovered.  With over 256,000 feet of elevation gain on the bike and 190,000 feet of elevation running for 2013 I had forgotten about resting for a marathon and was still chasing summits on the World's Highest Hill in Poteau, OK.  I will be writing another blog at the end of the year about my times on the mountain in 2013 so back to the exciting Route 66 walk race!
      I then stopped at mile 22 and ask a lady for her cell phone.  Not so I could call for a ride but I could call my wife and tell her not to wait on me.  Got her voicemail, "Kristin I am at mile 22 and I am walking so don't wait for me at the finish but I will finish today and I am not hurt or anything I love you!"  Walk race is what it was from this point, I would walk then I would run until my race pace would slow to a walk pace and I would walk again.  I did this for the next 4 miles.  They changed the course this year and it is a great new course and you can see a lot of marathons shortly after the half getting there walk race on.  I got more respect for the 4 to 6 hour marathoner because it was stinking cold and they were moving on like they probably do on every other marathon.  My respect was not gained from me being out there for as long as many of them were out there.  But they were racing just as I race to beat myself.  To line up with thousands of runs to really be racing one person that is yourself!  They had many more miles to go in the cold and they were pressing on and this was encouraging and inspirational! 
    Tuesday after the race my good running budding Tom and Matt got to have some great laughs about my marathon and me slowing down so much in the second half.  Tom checking, checking, giving up, and finally checking again seeing I had finished!  He thought the same as most would have that I would have quite.  And I might have it wasn't my Staple Marathon but I persevered and finshed my 4th Route 66 Marathon and my 42nd Marathon in the past 4 years.  They say you learn something at every race.  I learned so many things I would have to write a full blog to explain them all but learned mostly some races aren't about racing they are about finishing!  I will take note of these rookie mistakes and hit it again and again!  I have a big trail race schedule ahead and plan to get recovered and ready to push it hard again!

Route 66 Finishers 2013

 

Beach 2 Battleship Ironman 2013 - B2B - 140.6

       Well it started 7 years ago when I was setting on the couch weighing in 20 pounds more than I do now with a lot more body fat!  Flipping through channels on DISH doing what most Okie’s do best and I saw Kona the world famous Ironman in Hawaii.  At that moment I was floored at the distance and speed they were traveling and I told my wife right then I was going to do one before I turned 30 years old.  She said, “Do it, your Crazy!” So I got up and went and ran 1 mile around the neighborhood.  Got back and told her I better sign up for a Marathon first, and she thought that was a smart idea.  She is always good at bringing things into a realistic perspective because my dreams are out there sometimes and she might have thought this one was out there! But 7 years later and over 40 Marathons under my belt in the past 4 years the time had come for me to make the journey to Wilmington, North Carolina.

Who better to go with me than my cousin Kasey Ng who was going to do the ½ Iron at the very young age for an Iron event of 21 years old.  He has been becoming a great endurance athlete, this would be his 2^nd ½ Iron and he was pumped for the great course at B2B.  We also would bring his brother Kyler and mom Carrie for support team and drivers for the long journey halfway across the US.

       We drove over 19 hours stopping very few times. One great stop I found in Brownsville, TN was Helen’s Bar-BQ.  Carrie looked a little worried but she said she loved BBQ and Kasey was worried where we parked the car because he wanted to see the bikes!  It was a great hole in the wall Mom and Pop place. Helen had been cooking BBQ for 19 years at that location and had worked there for a total of 34 years.  My first African-American Fire cooked BBQ and it was pretty amazing. There was a lot of history in this place!

-Pre-Race

      We missed the 2pm Mandatory meeting so we had to hit the 5pm meeting or you get a 4 min penalty OUCH! So then we got lost looking where to take our bikes to Transition1.  It was very stressful just making sure you had everything where you needed it when you need it there. 

-Lesson Learned: Read how many bags you are going to have to pack for transitions and pack ahead of time before you leave to make sure you have everything you need in every bag!

After checking some bags and leaving our bikes at T-1 we finally got some dinner. PASTA!

Pre Race Sleep was terrible with loud people on one side, and a crazy loud guy above us, and then super early folks on the other side!  But this is always expected and I always sleep better with my lovely wife and Kasey wasn’t crazy about spooning so he took his own bed!  We were up at 5:10am to get some breakfast calories and final bag packing. Then off to the race and it was really feeling real finally that I was about to toe the start of an Ironman.  We got in the car and it said 35 degree’s. Wow!  That is cold when thinking about getting in the water to swim.  Good thing I had bought some women’s cozy socks at Target the night before to leave at the race start because the sand was freezing!

So they said a really nice prayer and directly after the pray they played Eminem-“Lose Yourself” Everyone started Dancing as I listened to the words “Look if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment would you capture or would you let slip…..” Oh how I wanted to be finished before I even started, and as I thought of this the music faded and they said go!

-Swim – 1:16:29

Very Very Top of the Pic is Me

       This race was a beach start with about 30 or 40 yards and then a 90 degree right turn and everyone was fighting for the inside and I did just the opposite and went way wide left. I wanted to stay on the far left side of the crowd.  This was awesome because we had about 1.5 miles of swimming straight up the channel.   The water was 70 degrees and felt warm, with great visibility in the water, the wind was blowing at us and the water was pretty choppy so when I came up to spot ahead of me and wanted to get a breath it was hard not to get a full breath of salty water.  I was very relaxed and had a great pace going thinking about style and staying comfortable.  About that time I saw a jellyfish and thought about sharks and all kinds of crazy ocean creepy things!  We went past the half iron guys as they stood on the shore line in the cold and then we had a sharp left turn coming so I got into some traffic but got out ok swam a little longer and then I saw a guy standing next to me and was what!  So I stood and walked about 20 yards fixed my Velcro on my wetsuit and readjusted my goggles.  That was a nice break!  It was crazy because the shore line was a long ways away so I guess I wasn’t in the current if there was any but I wasn’t worried about it. I turned the bend and I could see swimmers coming out of the water and at this point I wasn’t sure if my feet were kicking because my feet were frozen and my fingers were very cold.  Climbed out at 1:16 on my Timex and then got my wetsuit stripped by the kind people striping us of our wetsuits.  On to an air tube tent shower and it was amazing.  The people I came into the shower with were gone and then the next group was leaving and I was like well I got to get out of this thing sometime! So I headed out barefoot run on asphalt for a 400 yard run to T-1 transition got my bag and entered the changing tent / sausage fest / Vienna style because everyone was frozen by the time we got to the tent.  It seemed like forever to get my clothes on because I was shivering and wet but finally got out of there!

-Lesson Learned: when it is that cold probably should get some of the bootees and maybe a warm cap.!

-T-1: 12:53

Lesson Learned: Pack a towel to dry off with because I was wet and it was really hard to get anything on when freezing and wet

-Bike – 140 miles - 5:41:44

Mile 100ish

I had turned on my Garmin GPS tracker in the T-1 to find satellites so I could hit start when I got on the bike.  I looked down when I sat on the bike and no satellites so I was a little nervous because my game plan was to keep my heart rate low and stay relaxed on the bike.  I am not sure what the temperature was but it was freezing cold so to deal with the cold I was wearing a Patagonia Down Vest.  Yes a Down Vest and I think I was the only one on the course with such a big coat on but I was warming up finally and kept it on until mile 65.  Everything was going well on the bike at the beginning I had to pee 3 times when I was swimming and by mile 20 I had to pee again!  I had started my buffet of Gu’s, Stinger Waffles, Water, and EFS Sports Drink.  I thought I would hold it as long as I could and when I got to mile 40 I thought I would wait until mile 56 and I thought of dropping my jacket with the special needs bags and having them bring it in for me, but I didn’t’ want to mess with it so I left it on and took a pee just after the aid station and dropped what felt like 40 ounces of weight.  Around mile 60 I took the jacket off and stuffed it inside itself and then slide it between the aero bars.  Surprisingly it felt great outside I was just wondering when we were going to get out of the wind because it felt like I had been against the wind for a long time!  And about that time we turned got more wind and then turned again with a long awaited tailwind.  I was trying to figure out my north and south and see what the wind was doing but it was hopeless it was not working well.  I hear some guys in the T-2 tent talking about the wind and said it was amazing last year and this year was terrible.  So I was cruising along mile 80 when I see my jacket eject from the front and bounce down the road I look back to make sure no one is behind me and then I turn around and snag my jacket off the ground losing a minute or so but not going to lose that amazing jacket that has been with me for so long!  At mile 90 I caught a group. It was the front pack of women and they were battling back and forth on the bike.  This helped me keep my mind off the long bike ride watching them racing while I was just sitting back taking it easy.  I figured I would pick it up a touch for the last 10 so I left them and rolled on into a packed crowd at Transition 2.

-Lesson Learned:  The course was not really hilly at all and it was a great course, I do wish the wind would have worked a little better and I wish I would have done a check bag at special needs so then I could have dropped my gloves and jacket.

Did great with the heart rate maybe could push the second half a little harder but not much!

-T-2 Ran completely around the Event Center while they yelled my number to get me my Running Gear.  I sat down and didn’t get in a huge hurry and wanted to make sure I got a lot of Vaseline in the Hot spots

-Run 26.2 miles – 3:50

Mile 14 Feeling Strong Battleship Bound!

     I took off without my Garmin finding GPS because we had changed inside the civic center so I just took the pace slow and what felt really easy.  I also hit the lap button on my Timex and look at the time and thought man if I could run a 3:40ish I could break 11 hours.  But then I also thought of my good buddy Bryan and many blogs I had read of the death march of a marathon other racers had gone through after swimming and biking.  I kept to the game plan, which was not go any faster than 8-minute mile for the first 3 miles. I hit the first mile in 8:15 and was pleased at the pace and the effort.  The weather was still nice and I was just holding back what felt like through the first 10 miles.  I was now settled in just below an 8-minute pace and took in the great course down the river walk around Greenfield Lake a 13 mile looped course that I was to tackle 2 times.  I remembered the race director stressing that we had to run past the finish line not 1 time, not 2 times, but 3 times and he said we had to promise to run 2 miles past the finished line the 3^rd time until we couldn’t hear the music before we tried to DQ the race!  I thought this was pretty funny because I had decided before this race started I would finish unless I didn’t make the cut off times.  So back to the run I went past the finish line the 3^rd time heading out on my second lap and still feeling great passing tons of other racers and many racers telling me how great I was doing! I was at my favorite place on the course an aid station with load music and cheering!  After I hit mile 18 I felt a feeling I had only felt once before in my quads and it wasn’t a good one, soon after mile 18 my quads were killing me now and I began to slow down to an 8:25 pace for 2 miles.  After mile 20 I then felt the need to walk through a long aid station walk to the turnaround 50 yards and back through the aid station again fueling up double.  Then I decided I would run through the pain and only walk the aid stations back to the finish. Running through the get pumped stations with my head down still hitting the sign! After hitting mile 25 on a steep downhill I screamed as I let it go down this last hill. Finally I would pick up the pace to drag into the finish! 

Lesson Learned:  Train more on the flats in the bike so I can have some quads left on the run!  And then maybe run harder as I go if I feel good. I think it was very smart to go out slow.

My Tear Eyed Moment of Happiness! Kristin would have been there I really would have cried!

Kasey after my last Porta Jon Freeze Out FINISH METALS!

Beach 2 Battleship was a great race and I had a great time finishing my first Ironman! Lot of training and the payoff was great!

Big thank you to my cousins and my cousin Kasey for finishing his second ½ Iron and I am looking forward to the day he does a full!

Beach to Birmingham July 2013

Many times on family trips I will throw the bike in the car and ride home. And sometimes I will ride out early and have Kristin and the kids pick me up.  This was kind of planned and was further than I have ever gone before.  Left out of Grayton Beach, FL after calling Robin’s Bike Shop talking to Robin.  He said, “Hwy 331 north will be good for a long ways and then you will have to decide to hit back roads or stay on 331.”

The Red Bar (Where I started from and where we stayed right beside all week)

So I left out of our Beach House at 1pm on Friday, July 19, 2013 watching my heart rate trying to keep it below 140bpm.  I got to the huge bridge that crosses a beautiful lake stretching from Panama City Beach all the way down to Destin.  It has a segment going across the bridge for 3 miles at 28 mph.  I wanted to go after this segment on my vacation trip but the weather and timing never worked out. A surprising head wind made me not even try for a good time knowing the long adventure ahead of me. Crazy that is one of the biggest climbs around Florida makes me glad I live in Oklahoma!

            So I pressed on to mile 20 and saw it coming right in front of me, a big thunderstorm.  I road into the storm about 18mph and slowed to 14mph in a hurry, I was riding on a shoulder about 12 inches wide and the other 12 inches were a river of water running down the hill.  I pulled over for 5 or so minutes standing in a driveway getting down poured on watching many vehicles blasting by.  It let up a little and I took off.  Soon after this I saw my first road kill alligator! Mental thought add that one to the list to watch out for when biking.

Dead Gator

            I rolled into Florala, AL at mile 56 and stopped for some Gatorade and check in with the wife.  She was in a movie with the kids and I was thinking after the struggle to make it 56 miles I could be that movie with her right then.  But pressing on I stopped at a stop light next to a policeman and ask him if Hwy 331 was a good road.  He said, “Where you headin.” I told him I was heading north and ask if there was a shoulder on 331 or any other road heading north.  He then implied, “son your in Alabama your not gonna get a shoulder for long ways, but Hwy 331 is the smoothest road around.”  A few miles later I hit a slow rain and this rain made me think of Forrest Gump.  I know it wasn’t Vietnam but Forrest spent some time in Alabama and after 30 miles of riding in the rain I started thinking it was never going stop raining.  Oh and the wind was about 4 to 6 mph in my face still!

But things got better for about 3 miles and then I hit mile 90 and looked down to see a low front tire.  I just put a new tire on the front but you never know with biking seems like I’m always flatting out.  So I pulled on a side road, I then wished I had turned around and called my wife to pick me up.  Not because I didn’t fix the tire but because I froze the CO2 air pump canister to my hand and I was screaming in pain.  Then I get back on my bike and remembered I stood my bike up on the side of the road but didn’t know my right pedal was sitting in an ant pile, a FIRE ant pile.  I was screaming yet again.  I pulled in at a lady’s house just after this wondering if she had heard me screaming.  Ask her for some water and she said, “I get you some ice water.”  I told her I just needed the hose to get the fire ants off of me.  She asked where I came from and where I was going and how in the world I got so many ants on me.   I told her it was long story and been a bad 30 or so miles but the next 25 will be good when I get to the hotel she had told me about at Lavern, Al.

The next 22 miles were smooth and fast mostly downhill and felt great to get a 112 miles in one afternoon the same distance as the full ironman so pretty good training.  And Hook’s BBQ is off the hook when you have road and 112 miles and you need a good pulled pork potato and the lady ask, “You want 3 sides with that?”

 Woke up the next morning after terrible nights sleep because my hand was just throbbing and left out about an hour after I wanted to leave the hotel.  Oh almost forgot washing clothes in the shower doesn’t get them freshly clean and cold air from the AC doesn’t dry them either!  Pressing on to Montgomery, Al with no shoulder and lots of cars the next 35 miles, SCAREY! 

Great Road south of Montgomery, Only time I got to listen t music

Finally I hit a back road and rolled into town looking for bike shop to pick up some more air for my tire and get a new tube and CO2 road to the West-side of town where need to say I didn’t fit in I’m sure the old men were thinking, “That boy must be lost!”  Finally found the bike shop on the east side of town ate some lunch and heading north and got about 2 miles of tail wind to finish my ride, then the biggest climb of the ride up a hill into Prattville, AL mile 85.

Not a bad 2 days was hoping for more but lazy Saturday morning and didn’t leave town early enough on Friday so will pick a better route for next time and I’m sure get more next time.

Day 1

Boston Marathon April 15, 2013

             I usually start my blog before the race begins.  But today will start 2 hours after I finished the race.  I stepped out of the shower from the long marathon day for me. And saw 10 text messages on my phone asking if I was ok.  I then turned on the TV to see the chaos at the finish line of the Boston Marathon!  My wife had left to go dinner.  I then called her, hearing the phone ring in my room!  She had forgotten to take her phone!

She came in the door a few minutes later and I was pretty upset about the tragedy and she saw it all over my face!  I told her about the bombs going off at the finish of the marathon and she couldn't believe it.

            Since the time of the bombs, my phone and Facebook has been going crazy with people that were worried about us!  How great it is to feel loved by so many friends and family, from our Hometown Poteau, OK and friends from all over knowing we were at the race!

In 2012 marathon my wife had walked right through Boylston St. looking for a spot to watch me finish the oldest most famous marathon in the world! In 2013 I’m so thankful for my wife and new 3-week-old Scarlett were safe and she had watched me 2 hours earlier from Hereford St. a quarter of mile up course from where the bombs.

            I normally tell a story of events of the race and my thoughts and stories of the trip.  Sometimes they are happy and fun and interesting and I had many ideas for this blog but they are blurred by the victim’s and the family’s of the injured and deceased.  I didn’t run well today and I wouldn’t want to tell a story even if I had ran the best marathon of my life.  It still doesn’t feel really that people lost their lives cheering family and other runners to finish.  I have finished over 40 marathons and there is not a better marathon than Boston.  The fans that cheer you on, police everywhere, fireman, volunteers to make this amazing race take place!  I feel like Boston Marathon Associations did everything they could to prevent this from happening.  My love for this marathon and this city will still remain but my heart will go to the ones that have lost their lives because of the terrible tragedy.  I just heard on the news of 8-year-old boy that is one of the victims with his live taken, he more than likely was there watching his dad run the race.  My son is 9 and he wants to run a Tulsa Half Marathon soon I hope this doesn’t scare him away and I am so thankful my family is safe.  Kristin and I pray again for the victims and families at Boston 2013.

            You may think, “Were where you on OKC Federal Building, on 911?”

I had just ran past 2 bombs sitting in a trash can that were ready to explode!  Lucky I went past and my family and I were in safety!  You also my ask, “Why did this happen?”  It is simply there is evil in this world.

7:20pm Eastern Time Boston, MA   Last Update: 100 people injured and 2 deceased