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