Onionman Race Report

Considering the events of yesterday, my first race of the season certainly promised to be an interesting one. Onionman has been the kick-off to my racing the past 2 years, and based on my training this year, I was really looking forward to seeing what I could do down in Walla Walla in '08. But yesterday's crash threw all that up in the air.

It is sort of a tradition to make this race a one-day affair, which means that the day begins darn early. Like 3am early. I made it out of bed pretty quickly (for me) and felt ready to go. A quick check of my hands and legs, and they looked not so bad...maybe this IS do-able!

Time for breakfast.......whew!
Loading the car....Andy is smiling now, but very soon, she'd be back asleep :)
We picked up Kirk at precisely 3:45am, which was exactly on schedule. Then it was off to pick up Virginia, who wasn't racing, but is such a great supporter she agreed to the early drive down. Oh yeah, and she braved the rain to cheer us on. Nice!!
As we pulled onto Virginia's street, we were greeted by a HUGE American flag. It was amazing. Apparently one of her neighbors hangs this flag by hand on Memorial Day, 4th of July, etc to honor America. A very inspiring sight to see, especially at 4am, and a great reminder of the many sacrifices from our nation's heros. Thanks to Virginia's neighbor and to all of my fellow service men and women, past, current, and future.
As we headed down to meet up with Johnny B, we were a bit ahead of schedule, which for guys like Kirk and me, is always good news. Once we had Johnny's stuff loaded, it was on to Walla Walla! As the sun came up, the weather was looking good, and the temps slowly rising thru the 50's and approaching 60. Good news. I was feeling confident, ready to tough out my injuries and race.

30 miles north of Walla Walla, it all changed. The rains came, and only got heavier as we kept getting closer to the race site. Ugh. We stopped at a gas station for our last pit stops at 7:15am in a driving rain storm, and I had a decision to make. I was very worried about racing in these conditions, most especially about the bike. If I raced and took another spill, I would never forgive myself. For some reason, the thought of racing very conservatively never entered my mind, maybe because I know how my competitive juices get going when I have a race number on. I decided that if it was still raining at 8am (1 hour prior to race start) I would back out. It just wouldn't be worth the risk, with Ironman coming up in a month. I felt comfortable that it was the right call.

We get to the race sight, still raining. Hard. I decide to get my race packet and get body marked, just in case, although I am now telling people that I probably won't race. Its about this time that I start showing off my hands and legs to prove to people that I'm not just wussing out. :)
I showed my A+ teammate Jessi my awesome wounds, and tell her that I don't think I'm going to risk it and race today. She smiles, says "yes you are", and then leaves me with my thoughts. At this point, I think "yeah right, you don't know me. Once I've made up my mind, its over. I'm out" The rain lets up a bit, and a few more Tri Fusion folks give me the same message: wow, that looks bad...you better get your transition set up. My thinking gradually changes from "crap, maybe I won't be able to back out of this after all" to "hmmm, maybe I actually CAN do this"

So, I go get my bike and transition bag and go start setting up, still in the "just in case mode". Jessi asked me a few more times if I was going for it, and I say "I think maybe I'll give it a go", but she isn't convinced just yet, because I used the words "I think".

Here's me "thinking" it over :) "It looks like I'm going to do this, but am I crazy???"
30 minutes to go, and the rain mercifully stops, even though I have now set up my entire transition in a steady rain. That was fun. I walk by Jessi, she gives me an inquiring look, and I scream out "LETS DO THIS THING!!!" Its on. I am committed. Oh boy.......

Jessi is probably now feeling victorious at this point, having beaten me at my own game. I think it was her recommendation that I just give it a shot and go really easy and conservatively on the bike that put me over the top. Yeah, I can live with that.

Rick Phillips was also working on me throughout this half hour, but maybe a bit less subtly. Instead of curious glances my way, its more along the lines of "You big wimp, put your freaking wetsuit on" With friends like this.... :) Thanks, buddy.

Wetsuit is on....no turning back now. But still, a shred of doubt lingers.....
The first genuine smile of the day. I am ready!

My warmup went pretty well, and the water wasn't terribly cold. The first few minutes of submerged hands were fairly painful, but I tried to block it out and get down to business.

Once the gun sounded, I stayed back and way out to the left, trying to stay out of trouble and avoid any contact with anyone. I only hit one set of feet, and it was painful enough to force me even farther out to the left. The visibility was absolutely zero, but I was pretty pleased with my sighting and managed to not swim too much extra. Overall, my swim was a good, steady, easy effort, and I attribute alot of that to my new wetsuit. It was awesome!!! I was a little nervous about the fact that this would be my second swim ever in it, but it felt great from the first stroke. My beat up hands made it thru the swim ok, and I proceeded to jog slowly up to transition. Still in easy race mode.....

My T1 was surprisingly calm and collected, and may have even been one of my best in recent memory. Even my time wasn't all that slow, even though I didn't feel like I was moving all that fast. Once out on the bike, I took it really easy the first mile, since its uphill on a twisty, bumpy road complete with some awesome speed bumps. I really felt all the bumps in my hands, since I wasn't in aero yet, and it was tough. I took it super-easy around all the corners, and let the other folks I was riding with take all the risks. Once we got out onto the highway, though, I settled into a nice rhythm, and I started picking riders off pretty quickly. It was kind of weird. I purposely didn't have my watch on (thinking this would keep me from trying to "race"), and I felt I was going easy, but I was moving past these people pretty quickly. Hmmm... The road was wet, but I tried to block out my negative thoughts of crashing again and just focused on riding a good cadence. Just before the turn, I caught up to Jessi and for the first time all day, I realized that maybe I was doing ok. I've seen Jessi swim and bike, so to be up there with her was a real confidence boost. Not to mention seeing a friendly face and rocking it A+ style!! Once I hit the turn around, I kicked it up to the big chainring and powered away. No more thoughts of going easy....I was in true race mode now!! A few miles from the transition, Jessi and Rick caught up to me and provided good motivation not to slack off. We ended up coming into transition together, even though the last mile was sheer torture. I couldn't be in aero much, but the bumps totally killed my right arm/hand. I even had to ride one-handed a few times, just to get a break. Ugh.

I had a really good T2 (my one and only strength in triathlon) and sailed off on the run.

Headin' out on the run....

My poor feet were totally numb for the first 2 miles of the run, but I pushed through it pretty well. The first mile of the run was also very muddy, which made for some interesting footing. The combo of numb feet, mud caked on the bottom of my shoes, and the trail condition was tough to deal with. But I just powered through it as best I could, and even closed on and passed some people. Once I got to the paved trail, I settled into a more steady effort, not pushing too hard, but not laying back either. Without a watch on, I was forced into just running on feel, which I think helped me over the long haul. I was shocked to see my run time after I finished..."somehow" I was able to run 43 and change, which averaged to sub-7s. Whoa! Considering where my day started, I'll certainly take that!!

Adrenaline wearing off after the race....wow, I feel pretty beat up! But still happy with my performance.After a stop in the Tri Cities for a milkshake, I started feeling better....

One of the best parts of this annual road trip with Johnny B: the signs tempting us to go visit Kahlotus! We are not really sure what a Kahlotus is, but we bet its pretty interesting.....

Me and my biggest supporter. Always a good day when Andy is there at the finish!

All in all, it really was a good day. Certainly a roller coaster of emotions and decisions, but super-fun. And that is always my bottom line goal for any race: to have fun! Thanks to everyone who helped me get thru the day, Andy, Kirk, Johnny, Virginia, Jessi, Rick, and the rest of the Tri Fusion team. Now, its off to heal up and get ready for the next race!!