Scott Hull's Team In Training Page
Racing to Save Lives at the 23 June 2007 Pacific Crest Half-Iron Triathlon!
Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
Thank you for the "good luck" emails and text messages throughout the season and before the race – that luck helped me survive. Additionally, you have helped me raise over $2500 of my $4000 goal. While I could cover the difference in order to get a humungous tax advantage all for myself (yeah, I COULD be greedy that way…), that amount might be just a little TOO big to be reasonable. Calling all last minute Benefactors!
Contributions can be made through this TNT donation website through 22 July.
Remember, donations are not personally for me – it’s for blood cancer-cure research, patient services, and more. Participation in a triathlon is merely my way to bring visibility to the problem of leukemia and lymphoma . If there is a difference I’ve made through hours of sweat, it is only that I have done my part to get YOU involved.
On with my dissertation! Go TEAM!
Sunriver, Oregon is a fantastic high desert resort, complete with tennis courts, golf courses, rivers, lakes, shops, and perfect weather. Each of the Team in Training crews (the Half-Iron Team and the Olympic Team) were terribly excited to finally get a chance to chase our dreams. On Friday, we checked all our bike components, took a practice dip to check the water (a very choppy and brisk 62 degrees), set up the swim-to-bike transition point (T1), and later had an inspirational pasta dinner. The dinner presentation included a documentary on two of our Teammates whose 5 year old daughter Emily did not survive leukemia. It was so heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. Yes, I cried; and believe me that sort of stuff just makes me tougher.
After a guided relaxation exercise (thanks, Terry, Jessica, and Tim!), I headed back to the condo to double check everything I would be packing to and from the course. And then I re-packed. And re-packed again for good measure. Frankly, I was proud to finish before midnight – just think how long it would have taken had I not been relaxed. 5:45 am came soon enough. We walked to the bike-to-run transition point (T2), hopped on a bus, and by 7:30 the whole team was at the reservoir. Everyone was so calm which testified to the level of preparation provided to us by our wonderful coaches!
At 9 am, I lined up with at least 75 racers in the first wave. Diving into the cool water completely refreshed me. I started to the left of the swim pack, thinking that I did not want to get caught in the middle section's washing machine of human bodies. After leap-frogging from one swimmer to another, I finally found a racer off of whom I thought I could comfortably draft. As we passed the first buoy, I had a flashback to my Olympic distance “practice tri” at Blue Lake a few weeks ago where I ended up drafting behind my mentor Chris. Holy cow, it was not a flashback – I had somehow found him again! Lots of people draft when they can, but for whatever reason, I felt guilty contemplating drafting him a second time, so I switched to another swimmer who had just started to pass. My new best friend carried me to a surprising 33:45, or 73rd out of 443 participants. SHE was fast, not me.
Running up a carpet-lined boat ramp, I heard happy shouts of “Go TEAM!”. I changed out of my wetsuit and pulled on my bike gear. To save time, I had velcroed my gloves to my bicycle aerobars. I figured I would pull them on after I had started biking and after my hands had dried off. I ran the bike as fast as I could to get to the mount line, but a glove came loose part way. I turned around and the glove was in mid-air return to me from a bystander. I froze, thinking, “Whoa – hope I don’t get disqualified for receiving outside help on the bike!” Pushing that thought out of my mind, I began the fastest, most beautiful ride of my life.
After biking for about 50 minutes, I saw the hard left turn on to a cross road which would lead to a turn-around point. Without thinking about it, I had drifted toward the center line in order to make the turn at speed. Crossing the center line, however, can be an automatic disqualification so I needed to move back to the right. I would not have to make a large correction to my trajectory, but there was the possibility that a much faster racer may have moved into my blind spot. I stole a quick but thorough peek over my right shoulder just to be sure. Whew! Clear...
As I darted my eyes back to the road in front of me I was shocked to find that I was about to shoot off the cross road’s gravel shoulder. My front tire bit into the soft, rocky soil and I put all my concentration on balancing and controlling the rear brake. My handle bars moved with a life of their own and they couldn't decide if they wanted to go left or right. The race volunteers may not have seen the near tragedy but there's a fair chance they heard my series of expletives. Both feet had made it out of the clipless pedals and I walked my way back to the asphalt, smiling with relief and willing/praying my tires to be intact. The rest of the ride was fantastic in comparison - even the pseudo heart attacks of pot holes swiftly materializing from shadows and the nearly 20 minutes of anxiously waiting for anything that might remotely resemble a port-a-john.
Unfortunately, within 15 miles of T2 I realized that I had enjoyed the bike ride a bit TOO much. I had placed some electrolyte replacement pills and a packet of pickle flavored salt in a film canister "just in case" I might want to take them before the run. What I had hoped would be discretionary had definitely become mandatory. The muscles to the inside of each leg and above the knee (vastus medialis?) were giving me some serious attitude. As in, they were burnt toast and just past the verge of cramping. I popped the e-pills and tried to make up my hydration schedule.
I trotted the bike into T2 trying to recall how I had neglected to take in a significant portion of the fluids I had been hauling for the past 56 miles. How had I only eaten half of my "shot blok" energy food? On one hand, the bike leg went far faster than I'd hoped; on the other hand, the cost of the additional speed on my legs had definitely thrown a wrench in my plans. I ripped off my bike jersey and pulled on my purple Team in Training run jersey. I can't imagine a time where my legs have felt more wobbly. There were three salty Margarita shot bloks in my bike's bento box which I popped in my mouth, forgetting that I would not be able to get some water to wash it down until a mile into the run. Gritting my teeth and trying to smile for the Team coaches, I made it out of T2 and across the timing mat. By the time I made it a quarter of a mile, I was walking the 1st of 3 uphill miles. The worst of my fears was manifesting: would I even be able to finish the race? Both quadriceps were rebelling, a disturbing tightness was developing in my left hamstring, and my right Achilles was trying to join the party. I would stop to stretch one leg, but that would make the other cramp harder. I had no additional electrolyte tablets and I peered down the trail at what appeared to be a 4+ hour walk ahead of me.
Quitting was not an option. The uphill walk was easier than the mental battle of feeling like I had somehow failed by not being able to run. Runner after runner passed me as I would stretch, hobble, stop, and repeat as necessary. But the runners were all very friendly, so I was able to keep my spirits up. At least three offered me gel packets and many more had words of encouragement, especially those that recognized the TNT purple jersey. And then Coach Seth was on the scene to save the day! Just as he provided so much of what our Team had needed to successfully train over the past 5 months, he gave me everything I needed to finish the race that day. He simply stopped in his run, walked with me for a bit, and with a wise twinkle in his eye said, "Don't worry about it. My right quad is long gone and my left is on its way. But go easy on yourself for these first 3 miles and you will finish this race running." Seth seemed so confident and so calm that there was no way I could doubt him. At mile 2.75 my shambling gait was in fact evolving into running, and at mile 12 I was back to full steam. I caught up with Captain Don who at that point was experiencing his own cramps and was still managing to crush his previous record. Although it took nearly 43 minutes to go 3 miles (almost a 15 min/mi pace), I finished the race running with a big smile and an overall pace of 9:12.
Official results with statistical breakdown for all racers can be found at: http://results.racecenter.com/2007/pchi07.htm
Thanks for stopping by!
10 June 2007: BLUE LAKE OLYMPIC TRIATHLON RACE REPORT!!
First of all, this Olympic distance race just ruined my dream of Pacific Crest being my very first official triathlon - but that's okay! Pac Crest will be my first Half-Iron :) And both will be "personal records" in their own rights....My coaches and mentors say that the worse your race goes, the better/funnier the race report. Sorry, dear readers, this report is going to be somewhat dry because my race went almost as well as I could ever have hoped.
My only mishap was the fact that when I carpooled to the race I somehow threw my watch into the backseat of the car. With 5 minutes to the start of the race, I was streaking through the parking lot, exuberant for having found the watch, but still trying to pull on my wetsuit. I had a stranger double check my neck velcro at the shoreline, and after wading out into the water I had about 40 seconds to "warm up". Other than that, my coaches have trained me well!
My teammates were everywhere, whether participating in the race, or volunteering. At each transition zone and even along the course, cheers and shouts of "Go TEAM!" came out of nowhere and spurred me on. I can't imagine having done this all on my own, and afterward, as we shared our stories, it became abundantly clear that we are all ready for the big event in Pac Crest. Granted, I also think my Pac Crest race report will make for some more "livelier" lessons.
Want to see how long it took for each of my events (swim/bike/run) and each transition? Official results are posted on-line at: http://results.racecenter.com/frames_results.htm (I'm number 114 out of 478 total racers; and number 22 out of 43 in my age group - muy cool!).
05 June 2007: Open water swim! You've seen the wetsuit, but you haven't seen what it can do until today! Not only does it zip me through the water like a dolphin, it seems to give wings, too....
Jessica H. and I got runner up in one of the contest categories for this bellyflop move. Nice!
27 May 2007: If you have visited my training log at http://www.weendure.com/user/time2tri, you will note that I had let the air out of my front tire the previous day during a "brick" workout. Today called for an easy 35-40 mile recovery ride, and I decided to take the opportunity to do the flat tire drill I had narrowly avoided. Granted, the tire was not technically damaged so it was fast and I was not especially thorough. Big mistake.
I went through most of the motions and returned the tire to the bike. The back tire needed some air and I raised my seat post to try out a more aggressive aerodynamic position. As I sat on the bike and practiced riding on the indoor trainer, I noticed a hissing noise coming from my back tire. Surprise! A real flat! Evidently there was glass embedded in the tire which had not caused a problem until I had returned the tire to full pressure.
So, flat tire drill number 2 was accomplished, and I was anxious to finally get on the road. Strangely, my front tire was flat. Was I losing my mind?! Nope, a fine strand of metal about one half inch in length was the culprit. Flat tire drill number 3 - I might need to go professional!
26 May 2007: Four and a half hours of beautiful weather, 50 miles of biking, and 10 miles of running comprised the longest "brick" training workout of the season. From here on out it's all about tapering which means refining technique, logistical preparation, mental toughness, and nutrition. With less than a month, there's not much more I can do to get better endurance, but there's a lot that I can do to overtrain or under recover. 27 days!....
23 May 2007: Yesterday was my first official open water swim practice. Check out my wetsuit! I may need to lift some weights (or eat more pizza?) to fill it out right. Thanks for stopping by!
12 May 2007: Today’s Deja Du (2 x duathlon, each for 13 mi bike/3.1 mi run) was a blast. The Portland Triathlon Club set up the course for their club to practice a pseudo-sprint triathlon (.25 mi swim/13 mi bike/3.1 mi run); my Team in Training would jump into the Club pack once they finished their swim. I was advised to stick to the training plan and NOT do the swim, no matter how alluring. Our team was only there to wear our wetsuits in the water WITHOUT swimming, and then practice our transition off the waterline, out of said suits, and into bike gear. After the bike, we were then to practice transition from bike to run. Easy enough, and certainly a wise plan considering we had two duathlons to do as compared to a single sprint triathlon. I’m a good listener and all. Sure am....
Rounding the first canoe “buoy” in a mass of flailing arms and legs, it occurred to me, “wow, cold water totally ruins my swim stroke”. By the second buoy I also found I overcompensated for my zig-zag trajectory and was sight swimming entirely too much. Despite having my head out of water, I was in fact hyperventilating. Maybe it was because my swim coach was the canoeist and there was no mistaking that she had seen me coming (kindly, Coach Jane did not thump me with her paddle!). Approx. 8 minutes of swimming.
For the first bike transition, I was mortified that I was staggering around like a drunkard, hopping on one foot trying to get my last legging off. The cold water had affected my inner ear and equilibrium was lost to me. What should have taken about 2 minutes, took 4 and a half minutes from the water to when I was on the bike. I was not so dazed as to commit any disqualifying infractions, such as not strapping my helmet or riding the bike in the transition zone. Next time, I will firmly plant my heel for the leg that I am working. Also, I won’t eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich as I run the bike out. Not a safety hazard, more of a gastrointestinal “preference”. Approx. 39 minutes of biking.
The first run transition went smoothly enough. The tough balance to strike was between approaching this as a competitive sprint, and knowing that I would have to do both the run and the bike AGAIN. My out and back splits were within 6 seconds of one another (a negative split at that! Meaning I was marginally faster on the way back…). Approx. 23:15 of running.
Unfortunately, I did not capture the second bike or run transition times on my stop watch. But the second ride itself was probably 2 minutes slower. I am EXTREMELY happy with that. I had counted on dropping from the prior 20 mph average to 13-15. Instead, I think I was just a fraction of a mph off. The second run’s out and back times were also very close (5 seconds difference), although overall I dropped over a minute of time as compared to the first run. By my estimation, I’d earned a right to get tired. :) Approx. 40-41 minutes of biking; approx. 24:25 of running.
Total workout: .25 mi swim/26 mi bike/6.2 mi run in 2hr 31m 33s. Whew! And the rest of the Team? They had almost as many smiles as me - another great workout for everyone.
06-07 May 2007: O', Sad Seis y Seite de Mayo! I was correct on the 5th: overtrained and under-recovered :(
The silver lining is that I now know what it feels like to be both mentally and physically CRUSHED. But far better is knowing that my mind and body respond exceedingly well to acupuncture (thanks, Lili at North Pdx Wellness Center!). There may be no silver bullets for this sort of physical condition, but that session was the closest thing. From here on out, I'm committed to making Mondays "all about me" days with acupuncture, massage, or chiropractic.
05 May 2007: Happy Cinco de Mayo! My longest ride ever has me completely wiped out. I have looked forward to this ride because I knew that it would be longer than the route required by the Half-Iron Triathlon (56 miles). Originally, I was under the impression that it would be 60 miles; then I received the email instructions and found out it would be 65 miles. The actual distance ended up being almost 71 miles with 3000 feet of elevation gain! What's the difference of a few extra miles on a bike, right?
The difference: sheer exhaustion! This might be the closest thing to "bonking" I have approached. My hamstrings were the first to cramp, then my calves, and finally my quadriceps. Three hill climbs in the last 20 miles required me to dip into the well of why I'm training - the people and the cure! Reaching past myself in this way is not a skill I have developed, but it's something I had better figure out. This ride was tougher than the Portland and Eugene Marathons put together. That, and I may have SLIGHTLY rushed my recovery period. Lessons learned :)
03 May 2007: Coach Jane did two fantastic things today at swim practice! First, she handed me a brand new S1 Orca Speedsuit - it's a fearsome looking triathlon wetsuit. I think it has more muscles than I do (which isn't that hard, actually). I'll post a pic at some point.
The second thing she did was video my swimming form using my little Canon SD600 camera. (I've got the feeling I will be able to post it below.) It's my "natural" stroke or at least what I think I could sustain indefinitely. Strangely, I don't think I was breathing very much (once every 7 to 9 strokes is a bit scarce). Cold, open water will drop that down to about once every 2 to 3 strokes.
I should point out that I could reach farther, generate more power from my hips, place my head better, and change the angle of my arm during the underwater pull. You will note that the swimmer behind me caught up. I like to think that she is just REALLY fast :)
29 April 2007: Superb weather for a long run with my brother Cary, starting in the high 40's and ending in the high 50's. Sunny with a light breeze that somehow seemed to become a headwind on mile 25. It was great starting and finishing together! Our pace initially was a bit fast which made the later miles harder, but we dug deep and totally powered through the last few miles. The friendly volunteers and supportive crowds were a welcome source of motivation.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/26-2-Miles-through-Eugene
The course began at the University of Oregon and wound through city streets for the first 12 miles or so, and then followed the river for essentially the balance of the run until the last 2+ miles.
Now begins a serious recovery stage so I can get back to doing my part for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Sleep, eat, sleep, eat :) If I really want to do this right, I better schedule a massage or acupuncture from the North Portland Wellness Center and chiropractic care from Shephard Clinic!
I'm stoked to return to bike/run training with the Team, preferably by next weekend.
24 April 2007: It's the perfect time for me to re-visit why I'm training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. While everyone else is training hard this week, I am cutting back in preparation for a full 26.2 mile marathon this weekend.
Whadya know?! Pure inspiration hit me out of the internet blue. The Society's "Life Mosaic" project documents over 100 courageous cancer survivor's stories. I keep thinking I'm getting tougher with all my training, but these stories will get me every time.
http://www.llslifemosaic.com/lifemosaic/mosaic.jsp
08 April 2007: Whew! Made my goal of updating my training log. I can't believe how far I've come. All the miles are racking up - some blend together, but others are unforgettable. Feel free to take a peek at the training log at http://www.weendure.com/user/time2tri. Since signing up in February with TNT, I have run nearly 175 miles, biked around 305 miles, and swum almost 17.5 miles. All this (and more to come) for Jerry Pisarsky, Julie Bond, and the belief that there is a cure for cancer.
Any brave donators want to donate an amount equal to your best guess for my total training mileage by race day? Door prize for the closest "guess-donation" submitted in the month of April - 10 movie tickets. I'm halfway through my training but the distances will get longer...Thanks for stopping by!
07 April 2007: I am so far behind on my training log! My plan has been to plug in the oldest training dates first at http://www.weendure.com/user/time2tri, but life is full enough I have not made the time. Definitely by tomorrow!
Today's ride, however, was too great to wait to talk about. The ride was to be the longest yet AND it had some major hills through the Scenic/Historic Columbia Gorge Highway. The Northwest rain had returned, which made more than several team members think twice about the challenge ahead. But that did not stop us! No, single handedly, one team member inspired the whole group to push even harder. This team member, unbeknownst to the rest of us, was a cancer survivor - and today he told us his story of why he is training. Not only did he survive the cancer, but he also survived the chemo, the stem cell transplant effects on his body, and a lung infection (requiring a portion of his lung to be removed), and a brain infection that the doctor had no record of any patient ever surviving.
On our hardest ride yet, he and his little daughters provided each team member a hand made bracelet made from the beads of his "good luck" necklace. He is training because he does not give up on his goals. He also thanked each of us and let us know that he personally benefits by our actions. I could have rode all day after that.
01 April 2007: No April Fooling for me! Two months of training down, two+ months to go. I've heard all about the great things my Team members are doing in their communities and with friends/family to raise funds. Sure, I've got to play some catch-up, but it's well worth taking the plunge. From this point forward, I'm all in!
Background: I am training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission.
I hope you'll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!
