2013 Race Schedule:
April:
6th - Arny Johnson 10 mile
Went out way to hard...the excitement of being race ready got to me. Faded off at the end and finished 2nd in my age group and 7th overall with a 1:04.48. I'll take 6:28 for my first serious race back in three years!
May:
19th - Rockford Half Marathon
Wanting to prevent what happened at the Arny Johnson, I went out much more conservative and ran with my buddy Tony, who beat me at Arny Johnson. Instead of going out at 6:15s, I went out at 6:30s. Ended up going 6:32 pace for a 1:25 half and 10th overall. Still in my base training, it was a good sense that it was time to start steping it up!
June:
8th - Prairie Sprint Triathlon
The full Rock River Endurance crew was here! 350m swim, 17 mile bike, 5k run. My stomach is was in knots and I was excited to go. As expected, my bike and run saved me for my overall finish. Continually, my swim harms my time. Mental note is taken and really ramping up my swim. I don't want to just survive anymore in the pool. At the end of the day, I came home with the win! It was a pleasent suprise after my hard work the last couple of months.
15th - Rockford Olympic Triathlon
After last week, I was pumped for my first ever Olympic Triathlon distance. 1500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run. The swim was something I worried about. It's almost a mile! I've done it plenty of times in the...pool. This was open water and I never attempted to swim "fast" for a mile....uh oh!
At the start, I started comfortable. It is designed as a two loop swim with each lap needed to get out of the water then run on a beach then back in. My wetsuit began to take on some water in the arms (of course pick on the kid who can barely swim) and I eventually got to the finish of the swim. The transition was up a steep hill, I'd say 350 - 400m. Definately taking time away from the overall!
The bike was wet, rain coming down. A few bikers even taking some dives and going to the hospital! I pushed on and biked only suffered .5 mph average loss in the additional mileage. The rolling hills weren't too bad as it showed on my run.
Off the bike and ready to get out, I started pushing the pace right away. I went conservative last week and I wanted to see what I could do at a 10k distance. Never having race this distance before, I wanted to know where I would hit the wall. It came at mile 5.9, I'll take it!
After the race, I heard that I probably qualified for USAT Nationals. What was this? I had no idea, looks like I'll add it to my racing schedule!
July:
4th - MELD
Quick 2 mile race that my wife's company was a major sponsor. Gave me the opportunity to race for free! This was purely a "how long can I hang on for?" kind of race. Ended up going 10:32 for 2nd place overall.
14th - Lake Zurich Olympic Triathlon
This was probably my worst experience of an Olympic Triathlon to date. The water was 1 degree away from being wetsuit illegal, the temperature was warmer than normal and the run course had no shade.
As I began to swim, I could feel myself heat up. There was nothing I can do other than tempo pace it in in order to not over heat totally. Though the straightest I think I swam all year, it was a brutally warm swim. About 50m from the end I think I started taking my wetsuit off!The bike course was rolling hills, sharp turns, and rough roads for 40k. Every time you were about to enjoy the down hill, there was a sharp right or left. All work and no play. I guess it kept people honest!
Off the bike and onto the run. Easiest transition, excluding the Ironman. It was flat, easy to spot, and enough space for each bike. By the middle of the run, my tri suit was unzipped and folded over. I was dumping water on myself and really trying to cool off. This would be the only day I experienced this throughout my racing and training - some days are just like this. I kept pushing and fought until the end, which it paid off! I won my age group and was 11th overall!
25th - Madison Aquathon
This was an unexpected race the week before. I was up in Madison and my good buddies Tony and Steve were doing this anyway. Out of my business training and into competition on a week day. For me, it was open water swimming and a hard run for only $10! 1k swim and 5k run. It ended up being my fastest swim, thanks to the current pushing me in :).
August:
10th - USAT Age Group Nationals Olympic Triathlon
This felt like a national race. The transition area was huge and the crowd was electric (around the main area, definately not out on the course). There was nearly every brand there selling what you'd want for christmas and even the free stuff was awesome!
On race day, I felt ready to go. Finally a race that I peaked for to see what I could really do. 1500m, 40k, and a 10k. My goal was to break 2:10, top goal was to break 2:05 so I was definately leaving everything on the course.
Plan: Push a little bit harder on the swim and don't be afraid of how you are going to feel coming out. Get on the bike and take a synopsis of how you are feeling - legs tired? Tight? On the bike, tempo up the freeway ramp, push the rest of the way. Pass as many people as you can! Run - just hold on!
That is exactly what I did. I went 2:09!
I had my fastest swim split of 24:30 (3 minutes faster than my previous races), pushed to a 62 split on the bike (2-3 minutes faster than my previous races), and held on for a 39:33 10k. Even got my medal from Chrissy Wellington!
September:
8th - Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon
Ohh boy, this will be a long one! My goal: 1:13, 5:30, 3:40 for a 10:23. If I only knew...
They days prior were the slowest I've felt in along time. No work was accomplished and I was antsy. Was I number 1908? 1208? I couldn't keep anything straight!
I started in the thick of things, with the masses. Drafting off of swimmers and really didn't want to put too much effort into the early part of the swim. Heck, we still have 138ish miles to go after this dive into the water! I thought I swam straight at Age Group Nationals, but this blew it out of the water. It was nearly perfect...except swallowing some lake water from the huge swells that were happening. As I came out of the water, I saw 1:14. I thought perfect!
Getting through the wetsuit strippers, I ran up the ever famous car ramp to transition. After the good 400m jog from the water, inside the building, grabbing everything to my bike I only took 6 minutes. I set aside 10 minutes per transition so I am stoked!
New wheel set, cool day, confident on the bike…too confident. I was passing people left and right and couldn’t understand why. Maybe because I was going a blistering 25 mph! What the hell? What are you thinking Chad?! 25 mph to start out on a 112 mile bike ride full of hills? I wasn’t pushing it, I was just biking and having fun. As I forced myself to slow down I saw Tony. Wished I would have stayed with him, talk about someone who can pace himeself! I couldn’t slow down my body just wouldn’t let me…22mph, 23 mph, 21 mph, 24 mph…nothing under 20 mph was happening. So I decided to go for a sub 5 hour ride at Wisconsin. I’ll just change my run pace to 9 minute miles. I passed Steve and rode with him for about 3 miles asking where everyone was at. As I passed Clark, you would have thought I was a supermodel. He couldn’t believe I had caught him already. At mile 56, I saw my watch at 2:28…on pace! I’m still passing people. Down the hills I’m reaching 50 mph! I’m just cruising. Then mile 85 hit. My body started to shut down. I’m drinking fluids, I’m eating PB and Js, I even tried a bonk bar. Nothing was working. At mile 100 I just wanted it to be over with. 5 hours and 36 minutes I was off the bike. I can finally just run. I tried shaking the tiredness out of me and it didn’t work. This was going to be a very long marathon. I decided to walk/crawl/jog until Tony caught me and then attempt to run with him…so I did that. As he was catching me, my breathing started to become irregular and my hands became purple/blue. My legs were cramping. 10 months of getting up, time away from my family, and going to bed early wasted on not keeping up with my nutrition on this race. As Tony catches me, we run for quite a long ways…thank goodness he was there. I probably wouldn’t have broken 13 hours if it wasn’t for him.
At mile 15 my body seriously breaks down. Apparently I didn’t look good either. Volunteers seemed to be paying attention to me more than the average competition. Mile 20, I sat for the first time just to stretch and rest. I seriously didn’t know if I was going to make it. I had goosebumps, my legs were convulsing, and my entire hand up to my wrist was blue/purple. I was a zombie at this point. Pain every step and I was hoping just to make it to an aid station. My stomach was shut down, my mind was gone, my vision was blurry. At mile 25, I heard State St and it revitalized me. I actually good muster a jog in.
I want to thank my biggest fans - my family for the support that they have shown me through out this year of my "Comeback". My wife being instrumental on keeping me positive and showing a huge amount of support for my training and racing.
To those who donated for Ironman Wisconsin, I couldn't have done it without you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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