Parris Island Triathlon

As in previous years, we enjoyed a kickoff to the triathlon season at the Parris Island Marine Corps Training Base. Christi, Hunter and I were competing along with 6 other triathletes from our Lexington group. This was my Grandson Hunter's first sprint distance triathlon. He and I have had 5 or 6 swim training sessions, 3 bike rides and 3 or 4 runs in preparation. Team Whetstone was able to observe each of us swim from the pool deck and were all impressed with Hunter's newly obtained swim technique. He and Christi started the swim separated by only 9 other swimmers. My swim time was 10:02 Hunter's was at 11:12. Pretty darn impressive!! Overall I was within 22 seconds of my time last year and we had a pretty tough headwind on the return leg of the bike course. After I finished I went out and helped the team cheer on Christi and Hunter. The rest of the Lexington group were already through. The benefit of having a late swim start time is you are able to have more cheerleaders. I ran the last 0.7 miles with Hunter and the last 0.2 with Christi. Hunter's finishing pace was very taxing to me. Christi bettered her time from last year by several minutes. Evidently she had a successful surgery. Mike Nininger impressed us all competing in his USMC recruit t-shirt, which was a little faded and worn out. Good thing that he could still fit in it. Tim Eichstaedt placed in his tough age group. I was also able to place as the senior member of my age group. Hunter overcame a spill on the bike and finished 3rd in his age group. Not too bad for his first event! Shall I predict that it won't be his last!!

More pictures on Mary Beth's blog

Wake Up!

Picked up Hunter at 6:10 this morning to go to our swim workout before school. He forgot his breakfast and his watch (proof that he's Kenny's boy). I explained on the way to the gym that I lay out everything the night before these early workouts cause I'm only half awake when I get to the gym. We pushed on a few weights for 15 min. And returned to locker room to get goggles and shed long pants for the swim. I noticed one guy looking at me funny before I realized that my trunks were on inside out. Note to self: turn swim trunks right side out, the night before.

Myrtle Beach Marathon

 

I set out to achieve four goals at the Myrtle Beach Marathon 1) Beat my last marathon time at Kiawah Island by 30 minutes, 2) Run the entire marathon, 3) Finish where I didn't "look like I got hit by a baseball bat at the end", 4) Have Fun.

1) Kiawah in December was my personal worst marathon time (not preceded by a 112 mile bike ride). Saturday's 4:12:30 was almost 35 minutes faster than Kiawah.

2) With no runs longer than 12 miles in preparation for Kiawah, the last 6 or 7 miles were filled with walk breaks. With exception of the 5 or 6 steps required to get a Gu and a cup of Powerade down and kiss my bride, there were no walk breaks.

3) After Kiawah my good friend Rick Rikard told me that I looked like I had been "hit by a baseball bat". I may have to wait for the finish line photos for proof but I felt like that was not the case.

 

4) Have Fun. I had the best "Team" support of anybody on the course, my daughter-in-law Jessica was out there running her first marathon, we all missed the sub 20 degree wind chill weather by 14 hours, my plantar fasciitis was being held in check, I was also experiencing this event with a dozen great training buddies and another marathon was in the bag, how could I not have fun.

 

Since I only managed only one 20 mile training run in preparation for Myrtle Beach my biggest concern was establishing a marathon race pace. I took the long runs done before my last 20 marathons and figured the pace for that run and compared it to the actual race day pace of the associated marathon. There were some great race days and there were also a few poor performances. So, I deleted three each of the best and worst ones. The ratio of the long training run pace to the marathon race pace worked out to be 0.97. Using my only 20 miler this time multiplied by this factor determined that I should run 9:38 miles. I wasn't happy with this slow of a pace, so I used the best case result and decided that I would shoot for a 9:10 pace. However, as early as mile 3 I realized that that was going to be too fast and settled into a more comfortable 9:20 pace. At mile 18, I recorded my first of four 10 minute miles. I sat down tonight and calculated my overall marathon pace. Unbelievable as it is, it was exactly 9:38 miles!!! Every now and then we ought to pay attention to history.

 

After heading back to our hotel, we enjoyed playtime at the indoor waterpark, naps and showers.

 

 

 

Then we went to Outback - now there's a good sized dinner table! After outback we used our free coupons (from the race) to go each get a doughnut at Krispy Kreme

 

 

 

Triathlon Season Update

Somehow we got seriously behind by only posting the very first triathlon of the season this year. So here's a quick overview of our season - after each title of the race, you'll see a "click here for more" - this is a link to Mary Beth's blog, if you want to see her story and pictures for the races

Langley Pond Sprint & International - click here for more

International: MICHAEL WHETSTONE

29:46

1:16:15

55:46

2:47:04

Sprint:  MARY BETH CARLISLE

16:36

45:41

28:40

1:36:06

Turtle Crawl Sprint & Olympic   - click here for more

Michael placed 3rd in his age group, Christi placed 3rd in Novice Females, and Mary Beth placed 2nd in her age group

Olympic:  Michael Whetstone

00:26:33

01:31:09

00:53:28

02:53:13

Sprint: Mary Beth Carlisle

00:16:08

00:56:50

00:28:40

01:43:51

Christi Mayo

00:19:10

00:52:21

00:31:58

01:46:48

White Lake International - click here for more

 Michael Whetstone 00:37:58    01:27:37    01:02:33    03:13:13
Christi Mayo            00:49:07    01:37:26    01:25:09    03:56:31
Mary Beth Carlisle   00:41:27    01:56:49    01:16:15    03:58:54

After the race and some play time we drove to Myrtle Beach and finished off our trication with a FABULOUS show at Pirates Voyage!

 

 

Hinson 24

I participated in my first "Ultra" last weekend. The Hinson Lake 24 was held in Rockingham, N.C.. This is a 24 hour endurance event where you see just how many running miles you can cram in before tomorrow gets here. The course was as good as we could have asked for. Relatively flat, tightly packed gravel or dirt, mostly shaded, 1.5 mile loop around a small lake. At first I thought that the boredom of a 1.5 mile loop would be just too much but after following the advice of my mentor, Jerry Rich, I positioned my car, tent, aid station only 60 feet or so off the course. This allowed me to pull off of the course for a brief break to get fluids, electrolytes, Vaseline, etc., without losing valuable time or distance energy. I am glad that the loop was only a mile and a half because it wasn't nearly as difficult to talk myself into another lap as it would have been if it was a 10 mile loop.

My pre established goals were 1) to run further than a marathon which would be a new PR, 2) 40 miles, 3) 50 miles, 4) 60 miles, 5) don't mess up my chances for a good B2B Half Ironman. I accomplished the first three and we'll have to wait 2 weeks to see about the 5th one. I ended up with 50.2 miles. Holy Cow!!! 50 miles of "moving forward" on your feet is tough, tough, tough! Jerry, Rick and I ran the first three or four 1.5 mile loops together. Then we individually set out to endure the balance of the daylight hours as best as we could. It rained (lightly) in the first hour or two. This caused the dirt and sand to coat and stay adhered to our legs. When night came it was DARK! I somewhat enjoyed the experience of running with a head lamp on. Even though I wore it around my waist to reduce the glare. I sent a text to Team Whetstone and said that "these were some pretty crazy people up here." Mary Beth quickly responded with "Y'all are all kinda crazy". I received some sound pre race advice from Ray Krolowicz ,a veteran of many ultras. He said "slow is good". I didn't realize the value of that good advice until about 8 hours later. We ran those first 4 laps in an average of 17:20 and didn't exceed a 20 minute lap until the 11th.

It was unique to be eating and drinking all day long while trying to run. I stayed dehydrated pretty much all of the daylight hours and constantly worked on fighting off cramps. I got so tired of munching on chips, pretzels, cookies and the like. About noon they brought out hamburgers!! You can imagine just how fast they got gobbled up. Now, in my 30 something years of running I have learned that my stomach cannot handle eating a meal with in an hour or two of a run. But, my brain said "you need some serious calories and chips and pretzels weren't cutting it". So I partook. Oh my!! Later that evening they brought out pizzas and again I partook, two slices. Pretty rough stomach pains!!

Of my 33 laps around the lake I only had 3 laps that I walked (no running) the entire lap. I'll call them the burger lap, the pizza lap and the belching lap.

 

Christi, Owen and Emma drove all the way up there to cheer me on. I talked them into doing a few laps with me. They were there for the pizza lap and the burger lap. I think they each got in a 5K that afternoon. Well, except for the fact that Christi carried Emma most of the way. They helped me through at least one of my rest/ crash stops. I hope that my exhaustion and bad attitude didn't persuade them not to come support me anymore. I was feeling pretty rough by this time. They lifted me up the whole time that they were there.

 

 

 

I took time for my second changing of shoes and clothes and pressed on until about 11:26 PM. Wow, 15 hours and 26 minutes of being on my feet, running or walking, that's a new PR. So is 50.2 miles of running in a day, so is 60.4 miles of running in a week.

If I hadn't been there with such good friends and family support I probably would have hated it. Jerry had forecasted that "I wouldn't hurt as bad as I would after running a marathon". Bologna!! Now that I have rested for a couple of days, I can say that I did feel the capacity to go further but not the desire to. We learn valuable lessons when we achieve and when we fall short of our goals. I can say that it was a successful weekend for that. Would I sign up for next year? No. Now, I don't recall saying this but Jackie say's that after my first marathon at Kiawah I said that I would never run another marathon.

Parris Island Sprint Triathlon 2012

Well, it was only the best ever Parris Island Triathlon event that I have had. I was able to race with three lovely ladies and a bunch of other folks. Christi, Jessica and Mary Beth prepared themselves for their first triathlon of the 2012 season. The girls had an awesome showing too. Jessica finished third in her age group in the swim, Christi finished third in her novice group on the bike. Mary Beth and I finished fairly balanced across the three tri events with regard to our respective age groups. Mary Beth placed 9th, 9th, and 7th (S,B,R) while I finished 5th, 5th and 5th. This is particularly unusual for me because I have always been such a weak cyclist. I will gladly accept this consistency as an improvement though. Either I'm becoming a more rounded (no smart elic comments here) triathlete or I'm just slowing down on the run. Or maybe it's both. Team Whetstone took a serious hit this weekend though, with some of our most vocal members out there competing. Jackie had to jog-hop-jog-hop (contrary to doctors orders) from one corner to the other to keep up with all the goings and comings.


I took a look back at last year's results after Mary Beth showed me what her time improvements were. My times were pretty close : Swim -4 sec. , T1 +1 sec., bike -35 sec., T2 +6 sec., run -7 sec.. Overall I was 39 seconds faster than last year. Jackie commented that I "was pretty predictable", but I don't think that she was referring to my race times. I know that I pushed pretty hard on the bike (knowing that IM Lisa Powell was right behind me and about to pass at any moment) and ended up with an above 20 mph average, which might be a new PR for me. The best part of the event for me though was the last .3 to .4 mile of the run because I got to finish the race four wonderful times.

everyone's favorite reason to love Parris Island (cheering at EVERY lap)


Mary Beth's swim


Christi's swim


Jessica's swim


Michael:
Swim 9:56 Bike 31:52 Run 22:29 Chip Time: 1:07:21

Mary Beth:
Swim 11:44 Bike 39:15 Run 26:01 Chip Time: 1:19:54

Jessica:
Swim 11:41 Bike 43:23 Run 27:57 Chip Time: 1:26:05

Christi:
Swim 14:25 Bike 38:52 Run 29:11 Chip Time: 1:32:33


Again this year we visited Hunting Island State Park and made our trication a little more exciting for the kids.

Krispy Kreme Challenge

Yes, it Can be done!! When I saw that Raleigh's Krispy Kreme Challenge course had been changed from 4 to 5 miles, I questioned whether I could complete the Challenge in under an hour. Our family team met 7500 other challengers and casual runners at the NC State Bell Tower to begin the 2.5 mile dash down to the local KK store. My plan was to handle that first portion of the Challenge like a race. I grabbed my not "HOT NOW" dozen glazed doughnuts at 19:19. The last time I ate a dozen doughnuts, in one sitting, I think I was 10 or 11 years old. Even though that was a few years ago, I thought "surely I could down a dozen in about 10 minutes". Not so. I sat down on the curb with my box, a couple cups of water and an empty stomach, ready to go to work on phase two of the Challenge. At the 10 minute mark, I was only through with 6 and a half of those glazed beauties. This is tougher than you think, even when you are hurrying. I felt it would be easier to eat 4 big dense doughnuts than 12 airy ones. So, I squashed my dozen into 4 triple deckers. 18:18 had elapsed before I turned in my empty box to the volunteers and exited the pit. After a few icing fragranced belches and a couple hundred yards, I began to tell myself "it's not a race, it's an experience, slow it down before you lose it." The Challenge was to make it back to the Bell Tower with 2400 calories in your gut in less than one hour. My sugar high told me "this doughboy was running 12 or 13 minute miles". Well I wasn't, I was just glazed, I mean dazed. When I passed the YMCA and saw the bell tower in the distance I picked up the pace enough to break the one hour barrier. The 20:21 return trip time was a "hole" lot faster than it felt. Another part of the Challenge was to make it back to the finish at the Bell Tower without "loosing" the dozen doughnuts. There were a few folks who had the will power to get to the finish, but not enough will to exit the finishing chute before they "lost it". Kevin downed the whole dozen, Hunter followed with 6, Mary Beth had 3, and Jackie, Christi, Owen, Emma, and Maizeigh each had at least one. All in all this was one sweeeet experience.

Ironman Race Day

Jackie and I headed down about 5:45 am to get body marked and to check my bike in transition one last time. We then went back up to the condo to find Team Whetstone gearing up for the day. Being at the host hotel allowed me to be able to walk right on to the beach just before the race start. With the national anthem playing to begin the day's events and participants and family gathered, my emotions were rising. I hugged my family good bye and couldn't help but feel their love and support.

The water temperature was 68 degrees but compared to the air it felt pretty good. We were told that the cross tow would push us left into the buoys so I decided to start wide to the right. As I reached the beach to start, it appeared everyone had the same idea so I pulled back to straight in line with the buoys. Even with that smaller crowd, I was being slapped, pulled and kicked just like in the "Cliff Bar triathlon start commercial" on YouTube (You gotta watch this). I felt the need to climb over a few neoprene clad bodies myself to get out of the crowd. Once I got left of the sight buoys, I realized how much I needed to calm down and get into my normal long swim rhythm. We used to tell our children that when they were scared or afraid that if they would sing a primary song they would be comforted. I took my own advice and began to sing "I Am a Child of God" in my head. I continued to sing primary songs off and on for the remainder of the swim. The beat of these songs worked pretty well with my stroke cadence.

As I exited the water and ran up the beach I laid on the sand so that a "peeler" could strip my wetsuit off. I then ran under the make-shift shower where I got my first woo-hoo's from Team Whetstone.



With the low 47 degree temperature, it required a thorough drying and a complete change to include long sleeve shirt, leg and toe warmers. I mounted my bike to face the forecasted 12-13 mph winds blowing from the NE. We rode through the high-rise building section of the strip for the first 6 miles that created a wind tunnel followed by 20 miles North and then 32 miles East. Nothing but head wind! About the time my legs felt they were zapped, along comes 3 car loads of Team Whetstone hooping and hollering out the windows. This brought on a smile that had been suppressed for a couple of hours.



At about mile 44 I made a left turn and noticed a bunch of blue shirts so busy organizing that they didn't yell to me so I called out to them. They responded with their normal whoops and hollers. Had I really caught the best cheer team out there off guard? Having spent one whole "intense" day as an official Team Whetstone member last year supporting Mike, I know there is always a lookout. So I road on down the road thinking "I wonder who is going to get fussed at for that one?"

At the bike half way I shed my long sleeve shirt, leg and toe warmers, refueled and took a potty break. This was the first one on the bike so I realized I needed to hydrate more. Craig and I exchanged a few words of support around mile 70, where we crossed paths. I came across one of the bottle exchange/trash dumps and threw out a half melted chocolate covered protein bar before I realized I was out of groceries. From that point on I grabbed every banana that I could. Before I even saw the sea of blue on the side of the rode, I heard the whoops and "go big daddy's" of the team. They were spread out along the road at about mile 90.



Knowing what a strong biker Rick is, my goal had been that I would finish the bike no more than 30 minutes behind him. Little did I know that the team was cheering for him just a couple miles behind me! It really surprised me when I heard his voice coming up beside me at about 93 miles. We sat up and rode together chatting for several miles but I knew he was ready to move ahead. I told him that I hoped to see him again before the day was over and he pulled ahead for a distance. We ended up riding pretty close together for the remainder of the bike. Despite the 13 mph wind, I ended up with my fastest 100 mile bike ride ever, averaging 18 mph. I entered the changing area just after Rick and we literally changed clothes cheek to cheek! (I know, TMI) From there I headed out on the run.

I got to see some of the team and get a hug from Kenny as he gave me my GPS watch. I tried to settle into a 10:30 pace but boy, did that ever feel slow. I walked through every single water stop and most every time I saw Team Whetstone. If I didn't walk with them I at least got some high fives and they got a few sweaty kisses. If my count is correct, Team Whetstone made their way around to see me 8 times on the run alone. If ever I needed to hear them cheering it was during the run. During an out and back portion, Rick and I came face to face. We exchanged encouragement and kept on going. The sections where runners were going in opposite directions on the same street were neat because you could see your friends coming at you. I came across Betty at one of these. But with a double loop course you didn't know whether they were on the first or second loop. It was pretty crowded in most sections though and I never saw Cindy. My head must have been too low when she came by.

(Skyping with Joe, Chelsea and Maggie from Virginia!)

At the 13 mile mark I was assisted with my special needs bag. The volunteer actually held my bag while I rummaged through it. I took my Gu and Electrolytes but opted out of the long sleeve shirt and gloves so as to stay a little cool. Believe it or not, I made it to this point before nightfall but the sun was fading fast. By the time I got back out to the state park it was pitch black dark. When you're so exhausted and it is completely dark it's almost impossible not to get discouraged. That's when the walk breaks became more regular. At the 19 mile marker all I could think about was the fact that I had only one loop out at LHS left. My mind said "you can do this, you do it every week" but my legs wouldn't listen.

According to my GPS, I was still under my goal pace for a 5 hour marathon. Somehow I had a 10 minute error on my watch. Don't ask me, I haven't got a clue. Each of the aid stations, on the run, had a theme which helped divert your mind away from those screaming leg muscles. The volunteers were awesome. From the little blue haired ladies at check-in to the young bucks running me down making sure I got what I asked for without having to stop. It had been awhile since I had seen the team and I wondered how they would be able to recognize me in the dark. So, I figured they had packed up and headed for the finish line. I remember vividly seeing mile marker 24 saying to myself I know I can run for 2.2 miles without walk breaks. However, 4 minutes later I was walking again. At mile 25 I remembered last year when we went to cheer for Mike, as he came around the corner with less than a half mile to go he was walking. I jumped right in there with "I know you are not going to walk to the finish line". (I know what you are thinking but, what are good friends for?) Pay back is usually tough so I just knew one of the team would be there holding up a sign from Mike saying "I know you are not going to walk to the finish line, Michael". They weren't there but just the thought motivated me to run that last 1.2 miles. Coming down the shoot with the music blaring, the announcer on the PA system and everyone screaming, I could still hear MY team cheering for me. In all the events I have participated in there is still no feeling like the feeling you get when you are totally spent and you hear those words, "Michael, you are an ironman".





After a cold piece of pizza, a Sprite (better than Gu and Power bars) a brief massage and a shower. I sat down to a wonderful plate of my wife's spaghetti. The family said their good nights and went to bed. Jackie and I went down to the finish line and helped support those who labored down the chute in the last hour. The finish line shut down at midnight. The last finisher that we cheered for came in at 16:58:32. Some of those at the end could not control their emotions. That's alright neither could we. What a wonderful day this had been, a new PR (I remember back when I kept setting PR's in the marathon), enjoying an event with friends, having prayers answered, having my family endure and enthusiastically support me every minute of this event and concluding the day supporting others with my arms wrapped around my sweetheart. What an awesome "tri-cation".

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