Race Recap & Details - Longhorn 70.3 Austin

First, I would like to thank everyone for all of their support over the past months. All of the comments that I have received throughout my journey have made it easier to get up at 5am on a Saturday, or whenever, and get out on the road to train. The number of people that were tracking me in real-time or near-real-time DURING the race was nothing short of AMAZING. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I deliberately put off posting details about the race until today, primarily because I wanted and needed some time to reflect upon what happened yesterday. Below, I will give as much detail as I can about the day, although I am still having mixed emotions about it. This is likely to be a REALLY long blog post.

On Saturday, I was blessed to not only have Tracy with me in Austin, but to have my good friend, John Bliss, drive 3 hours from his house in Houston to spend some time with us and watch the beginning of the race. John and I have known each other a long time, but haven't seen each other in years, so to have him take such extraordinary effort meant a lot. Add to John coming to the race that another friend from Lehigh, Nick Mathers, happened to be racing in Austin and was able to join us, and I had my own little crew of supporters. Not bad for being 1500 miles from home.

Alarm went off at 4:30am Sunday morning, but I was already awake. I had gone to bed at 9pm and actually slept until about 12:30am, when my dreams about the race turned woke me and my mind started going...What was my strategy? What goals had I set? Did I have all of my gear? When should I each my GU gels on the run? If I average 20 MPH, how much faster will that make me over a 19 MPH average? ...the questions just kept coming, and I kept repeating the answers that I already knew...

By 4:35am, I was already dressed and into my routine - make 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, drink a Red Bull to get some caffeine in me, eat one of the PB&J's, double-check my gear, pack up the 2nd PB&J for the road, and get ready to go. We were in the car by 5:05am, just 5 minutes behind schedule, but with a full 2.5 hours before the start of the race, still fine to have plenty of time to get there and settled in. The realty of the day started to settle in.

On the car ride over, I tried to get my sandwich down, but even though I was hungry, I felt like I was forcing it. Looking back, I should have recognized this as a potential problem, but I brushed it off. When we arrived at the parking location, I still had half to go and took it with me, along with all of my other gear, to the transfer buses that were to take us to the race start at Walter E. Long Lake. I figured that I might want it later.

We were one of the first groups to arrive at the bike transition (T1) shortly after 5:30am, when T1 opened for athletes to setup their gear. I got to my bike, which I had left in T1 overnight as required by the event, and set up my remaining gear - bike shoes, towel, baby powder for wet feet, socks, helmet, sunglasses, race belt with bib number, etc. (the logistics for a triathlon can be overwhelming) I wasn't there more than 2 minutes when a friendly face arrived at my bike location. Justin, a member of the Titans (the group that invited me to join the other 18 Titans racing that day) who wasn't even racing that day, had a bike pump in hand and was making sure that I had everything I needed. Tires OK? What else do you need? An amazing amount of support from a group of people that I met for the first time 2 days before. Everything was in order, Justin went on to help the next Titan, and I left T1 to rejoin Tracy and meet up with John, who was on his way over to the race start, as well, but slightly behind us.

The next 1 hr + was mostly stretching, prepping, being anxious, second-guessing myself, and the like. But, just before 7:30am, with the sun coming up over the lake, we saw 2 sky divers floating down from the sky, one with a huge American flag hanging from his feet. Then, on cue, the Star Spangled Banner starts, as the sky divers and American flag decend from the sky.

I split from Tracy and John just after the song ended and before the pros went off on their wave. In all, there were nearly 2200 people in the race, spread out over about 17 waves, each 5 minutes apart. I was in wave #9, going off at 8:05am with the age 35-39 group, letters L-Z. The pros came out of the water just before we went "on deck" for our wave. MAN, THOSE GUYS WERE FLYING! First man out of the water in 23 minutes and change...WOW!

There I am standing in my wetsuit, knee deep in the lake, surrounded by probably 100 other guys. "White caps, you have TWO minutes to start!" ..."1 minute to start." ..."30 seconds..." HORN! We were finally off! I dove into the water (at 73 degrees, in the 60 degree air temperature, it felt nice!) and started to swim. I got kicked by those in front of me. I kicked those behind me. I got banged into. I banged into others. Until it started to open up and people separated themselves by ability or the reluctance to get pummelled by other swimmers.

Normally, I go out way too fast on the swim and have a hard time because I feel like I can't breath. My adrenaline starts going and I just kill it. But, I wasn't going to make that mistake this time. I was going to focus on my stroke and just take it at a comfortable pace. Heck, I had 1.2 miles to swim...more than I had ever done at a shot, without rest. And I did just that. I was comfortable the whole way, except for a few instances where I questioned my sanity as the swim seemed like it just was NEVER going to end...

Out of the water at 37:01. YES! Right about where I thought I would be. The planning was paying off! I soared up the exit from the water. Very little vertigo! AWESOME! Still some there, but much more managable than in past races. This is great! Let's go, get your stuff together and get on that bike! I hauled it to my bike location, pulled my stuff out of my bag and went into the T1 routine. Wetsuit off. Spray dirty feet with water bottle. Baby powder feet. Socks on. Bike shoes on. Helmet. Sunglasses. Gatorade concentrate. That it? Yes, GET GOING!

Out of transition in 4:41. Still within what I thought I could do! On the bike and cruising! Initial hills, no problem as I had an initial average speed of over 20MPH. Maybe this upgraded rental bike will make the difference! I look down at the 4 GU gels that I had taped to my bike bar, and there are only 2! Are you KIDDING ME? Someone thieved 2 of my gels...

The first 20+ miles of the bike, my bike computer told me that my average speed was hovering around 20 MPH. I had kept it up, despite the rolling hills on the course. I had actually gotten up to a maximum speed of over 36 MPH. I wasn't killing it, but I felt good and I was above where I have been in the past and at where I wanted to be. The bumpy roads we were on didn't help, but I was cruising. And never alone on the bike. There were always handfuls of people around, I am sure due to the volume of competitors on the course. I passed many and got passed.

At some point around the 2 hour mark, I felt some discomfort in my mid-section but nothing that was stopping me. Then, I started to have pain in my back, seemingly from the vibrations of my bike coming off of some of the roads we were riding on. Still going... 2.5 hours in (45 or so miles into the race) and my butt was becoming intolerably bruised. I couldn't get comfortable and it was starting to really impact my pace. And now I felt hungry, or something... My average continued to fall and at point went sub-19MPH. "WHY am I doing this again?" I just couldn't wait to get off of that bike! "Just get me to the run and off of this seat!"

Off the bike in 2:58:01. REALLY?! AWESOME! All the pain in my back side was worth it! I was in under the 3 hour mark, which really was my primary mark. Into transition to the run (T2). Rack the bike. Helmet off. Bike shoes off. Running shoes on. Hat on. GO! GO! GO! The only thing I slowed for was to have the volunteers slap sun tan lotion on my shoulders and neck so I wouldn't fry.

Out of T2 in 4:07. A little slow. But, just as I left T2, I hear someone say, "Chris, is that you?" It was Nick Mathers. We were exiting at the same time and about to start the run. This is great! Maybe we can pace our run together! Uh oh, stomach cramps. "Nick, I have to get some water." "OK, Chris, I will see you out there!" he says.

I downed 2 or 3 cups of water, feeling like I had too much salt from the nutrition/drink I had consumed on the bike. I started to run. What is that pain in my left knee? NO! I have never had a problem with my IT band on the left before! Why now? Shooting pain down the outside of my left knee. Tough it out. Keep going. Next water station, 3 more cups of water. Stomach not feeling so good and all tight. What is going on?! Keep going...

The first 3 miles of the run repeated itself at each mile. Run, knee pain, tight stomach, water station, drink water, repeat. By mile 3 the pain in my knee brought me to a walk, after three 10-minute miles, well off of my expected pace. By this time, my hips were starting to ache, as well. Frustration set in. Run, Chris. Stop walking and RUN! I ran 100 feet or so and my knee gave out. OK, walk it if you have to, but you are going to finish this race...

The run course consisted of 2 loops that started and finished at a small arena. Outside of the arena, the Titans dressed in bright orange shirts and accompanied by Tracy and about 50 others, were cheering everyone on. Time on the run at this point for me was about 1:15. Well behind my goal and previous times. I managed a slow, painful jog to where they were standing and they cheered me on. "Come on, Chris! You're looking great!" they shouted. "My TI band is shot," I said. "You got it, Chris! Even if you have to walk it, you've got it!" My pace quickened and the pain seemed to subside. They gave me a much-needed boost...shortly after, the pain returned and I was walking again.

My final loop of the run (walk) course was painful. By this time, it wasn't just my knee and my stomach, but my hips, as well. I was limping badly and had lots of time to think, become frustrated, etc. There were moments when I got angry at my body and at myself. I should have trained longer or harder to have prevented this. Points where it would have been very easy to let emotion take over. Every so often, I would run across a bright orange sign on the run course. "Go Titans! Celebrate the Journey!" they said. I had plenty of time to reflect on my journey. Not just during the race, but leading up to the race.

As I approached the final part of the last loop, I ran into another Titan who was forced to walk due to stomach issues. Roy and I walked for about 1/2 mile together as we got close to the arena. Roy was only on his first loop. I can't remember exactly what he said to me, but it was something like, "OK, Chris, it is time for your glory run. Let's go, I will run with you." And we started and ran until Roy went left to the second loop and I went right to loop around the arena so that I could enter the arena itself and everyone waiting at the finish line.

Now, I never knew if I should believe the stories I hear about the Super Bowl or events where they talk about coming out of a dark tunnel and into a huge stadium or arena to a crowd, but I do now. I was all by myself going around the arena. There were no other runners and very few fans. I came around the corner to a dark tunnel made of concrete walls. A dim light was at the end of the tunnel and I could hear some faint noise that I didn't really make out. As I got further into the tunnel, there were more people lining the walls and they started cheering me on. My spirits lifed and adrenaline kicked in. I hear an announcer calling out finishers. Still in the tunnel. Then, as I leave the darkness of the tunnel, I hear the announcer. "Now coming to the finish line is Christopher Morgan of Lambertville, New Jersey!" I look around and see tons of people and they are all cheering me through the finish. Elation. Sprint, Chris. Push it as hard as you can!!! Hands raised, I crossed the finish line with a total time of 6:31:13.

My first thoughts after the race were these:
1. I am disappointed at my run time.
2. I need to sit down because my hips are killing me!

Despite all of the thoughts that went through my mind, throughout the entire race, there was not one moment where I thought about quitting or not being able to finish the race. There were absolutely thoughts that questioned why I would do this to myself. Subject myself to all of this. But I was always going to finish. Oh yeah, and I did question my sanity about committing to a FULL Ironman next June, after feeling another 3 consecutive hours on the bike...

Mike Ferranti was absolutely right the day that he convinced me to run this race. He told me that his first Half Ironman was a hugely emotional and personal experience. He promised me that it would be the same for me. For me, completing the Longhorn 70.3 isn't the accomplishment, even though it is the marker and event in time. Going into the race on Sunday, I had no question in my mind that I could finish that race. Heck, I thought I would PR every piece of it...I nearly did. But, as Mike would also say, "2 out of 3 is what it is..." "Almost" doesn't count. Triathlon is about putting 3 sports together to a single outcome. Thanks, Mike, for all of your help and support. I know that it won't be too long before you start talking trash around my times, but your willingness to wait until the sting subsides speaks volumes about your character and understanding of the experience.

Looking back, it is because of the journey towards this race that created the emotion as I completed it. I am back in shape after years of neglecting my body; arguably the best shape of my life or at least on my way there. I have lost 10 pounds, despite the added muscle that I have seen on what used to be a tall, scrawny body. And, I have done things that I not only never thought I would do, but never thought that I COULD do. It is the hours of training and sacrifice that made the race so personal for me that, for a little while, I couldn't see the accomplishment. During and immediately after the race (and maybe still a little now), I was so DISAPPOINTED that I didn't hit the times I thought I should hit, that I didn't see what I had done. Thankfully, in part due to all of your comments, I am starting to see it now...

Ironman? Yeah, I can be one of those. Is it hard? Is it painful at times? ABSOLUTELY. But, isn't anything worth doing? Who's up for the challenge?