Nearing the End

It is now less than two weeks before the start on Ironman St George. I drive one week from tomorrow to St George to get ready for the event and get acclimated. I really am hoping for warmer weather because I am tired of being cold.

I finished my last round of hard workouts with a 2.4 mile straight swim Friday, a 5hr 15 min ride on Saturday and a 10 mile run today (which sucked as normal). I have a swim tomorrow before getting a day off Tuesday. Wednesday I have a triple swim/bike/run then get on a plane for Jacksonville for a sales call on my off day. Friday I have another strong workout day followed by a 90 minute deep athletic massage from hell.

I posted this on Facebook and also want it here because it is important to me this Easter. 15 years ago, on Easter morning, my Dad & I were in an unfamiliar church numb and sad. My Mom died a few hours earlier (she was 73) as the result of T1 diabetes complications. Christ dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and then arising again victorious over sin & death was very real. On that Easter morning, my Mom's faith became sight and it was a great resurrection day celebration for her! That thought got me a bit emotional today during church. I really enjoyed church today, the celebration, the message and sharing it with friends.

I am the perfect example of the game in Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong". This is the end of my endurance journey. I love swimming and I have learned to love cycling. I have also learned that I have no business running. Whether I finish Ironman or not, this year has been amazing. I have literally met hundreds of diabetic athletes and have had to opportunity to make an impact on a few and make some lifelong friends. If I don't finish, an ambulance will be involved because I am very OCD about finishing things that I start. I am amazed by my fellow captains and the barriers and challenges that they have busted through this year. They are an inspiration and I appreciate them letting me pretend to be in the endurance crowd for this year.

Follow the excitement and carnage on Saturday May 7th. My bib number is 1553 and you should be able to follow me at:   

Ironman Live Tracking - Bib#1553

Thanks and it was an amazing ride

Brian Phelps

Apex Training Weekend Finished - Taper Begins

I will start by saying that I have enjoyed this journey and it has been healing for me. I have met hundreds of new friends in the active diabetic community and am encouraged every day by them. It seems like I meet someone new on every training ride and every swim.

This apex training weekend started on Friday with a 4000 meter straight swim in a pool with my wetsuit on. My buddy, Steve, went with me and did 2000 straight himself. Ironman is a 4000 yd swim so this was approximately 4400 yds. I did it right around 58 minutes and it felt good. I pushed the last 1000 meters. After the swim, a young man swam over and ask me to watch his technique. His name is Sam and is training as a special ops para-swimmer. I LOVE coaching technique and he had good technique but I was able to give him some tips on increasing endurance. That felt really good.

Saturday started at 6:10am for a 114 mile ride on my bike which had 6800 feet of total climbing. I met up with Steve at mile 9 and met up with Joel at mile 28. Steve turned around at mile 34.5 and ended at 69 miles (a new record for him). I told him that I had to run for 30 minutes right after my ride so he promised to do the same and he did it!

My riding buddies, Steve & Joel

Steve, Joel and I met up with a new friend, Stacy, at Steve's turnaround point. She completed Ironman St George last year and gave me some great inside information including a look that could kill when I asked her if she was doing it again. The simple answer was "NO!!!". Joel & I continued on and he veered off to go to his son's track meet and set a new distance record for him at 18 miles. Steve & Joel are both signed up a half Ironman distance triathlon in September.

Once Joel split off, I had to figure out how to get to the base of Lookout Mountain. Fortunately, Stacy caught up with me and she was also going to do the Lookout Mtn climb for the first time and she knew how to get there which was a great help to me. I took a longer break to check BG and eat and Stacy went on up the hill.

My tour guide to the base of Lookout Mtn - Stacy

This is the mountain that beat me when I moved from Visalia to Golden, CO to attend Colorado School of Mines. A roommate who biked noticed that I also had a bike and asked me to do Lookout Mtn with him. I accepted but should have taken a clue from being exhausted just walking around campus at 6000ft after living at 300ft for 18 years. I started up the mountain with him and got very dizzy after a 1 or so and turned around and went back to the dorm. I never attempted it again until today (28 years later). It felt good to beat it without stopping once. I took all the photos while riding.

The start of the ride to the top of Lookout Mtn where the signal tower is at the top. 1350 vertical climbing in 5 miles

This is a view of my college campus in the foreground with the Coors Brewing facility in the background all in Golden, CO.

View of Golden, CO

This view shows how much elevation was gained in just about 1.5 miles

A long way down

A view from my bike as a hit the snowline

A view from the top!!! Very satisfying

It was an amazingly fun ride. I put in more climbing than the St George course so I felt good until I found out that my teammate, Christian, put in 12,000 ft of climbing the same day. The worst part was that I had to miss my Triabubby, Zyler, test for his Blue Belt in Krav Maga which he passed!

Now on to Sunday, short and well short (not sweet). I ran 16 miles, two laps around Aurora reservoir. Starting temp 51, ending temp 43. I fought off a low at the beginning. The cold front came through and blew like crazy for 80% of the run and I froze the whole time but I finished. It snowed a bit and then rained a bit and ended with a nice sunset.

This was the hardest weekend and we taper down from this point. I am ready, mentally, to get this thing done.

Thanks

Brian Phelps

Spring Break - New Start - Ironman CA Report + SWAT Team

I had a fantastic and tiring week. It started last Friday & Saturday with the Masters State swim meet with my son and daughter. Sunday I ran, went to church and then loaded up and drove to St George on the way to California. Monday morning, I got up early with our son to swim Sand Hollow and check the water temp. Air temp was 40 degrees, the water was calm and 46 degrees. I did swim 1/2 mile and it caused a ice cream-like brain freeze. It also made my feet numb and made walking on rocks very difficult:

 

We then drove into the San Joaquin valley where I was born and raised and where our son would be starting the next phase of his life. We stayed in Exeter and I got a nice bike ride in on Tuesday with memories flooding my mind from my childhood. This is me on Rocky Hill overlooking my homeland

We finished Tuesday by visiting Sequoia National Park. Wednesday was busy with a 70 minute run and a 30 minute swim in Lake Kaweah. We finished the day playing baseball with family. This is a photo of me with Daniela who is one of my Triabetes cheering squad:

Photo of two more San Joaquin Valley cheerleaders, Brynn & Braelyn:

We left for Oceanside, CA after a stop to have dinner with more family in Bakersfield. Thursday we made it to the beach by Noon in time for me to check in for Ironman California - a 70.3 half. The girls enjoyed boogieboarding and I joined them in the water on Friday.

I had a great meal with two fellow captains and a triabuddy and his Dad at Pelly's.

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Rohto 70.3 Ironman California Race Report:

The day started out with a near disaster in more than one way. We were awoken at 3:55pm by the Carlsbad SWAT team telling us to evacuate our rooms silently and immediately. I explained my situation and they let me grab my bike and race gear. I wasn't going to argue with armed SWAT carrying percussion grenades.

News Feed on Arrest in Room Next to Ours in Oceanside

Note that we found from the Carlsbad PD when we got back to our room after the race:

SWIM: I ate a lot of fruit for breakfast with some yogurt and coffee. PRP was successful. My BG was 140 at the start of the swim and 161 at the end of the swim which I hit with 1 unit of Novalog. I did the 1.2 mile swim in 29 minutes which was 11th out of 307 in my age group. Water was upper 50's. My transition was 8min52sec and I was very careful not to forget anything. I did put on my riding shorts and riding jersey which had my Dexcom receiver, food and insulin. I also had one bottle of Hammer Perpetuem and one bottle of eFuel. I drank a lot of water at transition.

BIKE: It was overcast skies and windy on the ride. My BG's were good and when it got to 151, I gave myself 2 units of Novalog in the thigh. At mile 29 I had some small sore or cramping muscles so I took 4 Advil. I continued to fuel as much as my body would take and finished the last 7 miles with 60 grams of glucose tabs knowing what happens to me on the runs. I was slow on the flats and slight uphills and fast on the steep uphills and downhills. The strong wind hit on almost every downhill which was discouraging. I stayed within myself for the whole bike with an average HR of 132 and a peak of 153. My lactic threshold is 141 which I stayed under except for the steepest of climbs. My time was slow at 3hrs37mins but I felt good and got stronger throughout the bike. This put me at 167 out of 307 in my age bracket. Here are a set of graphs showing my BG, Speed, Elevation and Heart Rate during the ride:

RUN:  The run is the run and is my nemesis. I was fairly steady at 13 min miles for awhile with some short stops to stretch my hams and calves. I also walked each aid station where I took water. The base of my middle toe of my left foot became increasingly painful. At mile 9, I had a very enjoyable conversation with another type 1 who asked me how my diabetes was treating me on the day. His name was Jeff and was from the DC area. We are now friends on Facebook - awesome. At mile 11, I had to walk for a longer stretch to get the pressure off of my toe. I actually tweeted my situation. Right after that, I was able to run again and I am very thankful to my friends who later told me that they were praying for me to finish after they learned of my race situation. My "run" was 3hrs 1min. Here are the graphs for my run:

 

Overall, I finished with a time of 7hrs 22 min which was 204 out of 307 with 1hr 8min left until the cutoff. I have a great deal of respect for these long races. I really concentrated on fueling and my BG's. I nailed both. My biggest threat, once again, was my feet. If I take my result, double it and add 1 hour, that would put me at a finish of 16 hours at Ironman St George with only one hour to spare for a finish. I have to fix my toe sensitivity before Ironman St George. 

As we were packing up to leave, a man named Craig pulled up with a bike on his Jeep. I assumed he was in the race. He asked me how the race went and told me that he was a part of the SWAT operation that morning. We had a great conversation and he asked for my contact info to follow our team's progress through Ironman St George. Our group then got in the van and drove to St George for the night. The next morning I swam the lake again and measured the temp. It was mid 80's in St George all week and it was very windy churning the water. I measured a water temp of 55 and it was noticeably warmer. The rangers said that the water was already warmer than last year's Ironman. We then drove home to Denver.

Thanks

Brian Phelps

My Finishing Medal and a T-Shirt I bought at Sand Hollow Reservoir in St George, Utah