Tuesday, October 13, 2009

2009 US OPEN - THE BOOGER INCIDENT

I don't know who they are or where they live, but someone somewhere is laughing about the guy they saw running in a triathlon who apparently ate one of his boogers for nourishment during the run portion of the race. I can assure you...they are wrong.

On Sunday October 11, I completed the 2009 US Open Olympic Triathlon in Dallas for the second straight year.

I was able to beat my time from last year despite rainy conditions on the bike and an ailing hip.

Wondering about the booger incident? Keep reading...

I left my parents' house at 4:30 AM heading for the American Airlines Center. Once there, I set up my gear for T2, hopped on a charter bus and slept almost the entire 40 minute drive to Joe Pool Lake.

By the way, T2 is "Transition 2" which means the area and time that you transition from the bike to the run portion of the race.

I arrived at T1 while it was still dark, rainy and cold. Last year it was warm and dry.

I had checked my bike into T1 on Saturday so it was still hooked onto the bar at number 276. It was soaking wet.

My hip has really been bothering me for about a month. Turns out my right leg is anatomically 10mm shorter than my left leg which causes some problems if I don't wear a support in my right heel.

I haven't been able to run very much since September 18 so I was a little concerned how the run was going to go. I've been cycling and swimming instead of running.

What about that booger? Almost there...

Anyway, I got everything set up and went through my mental checklist a few more times. This race is a little different in that you don't transition in the same spot both times.

It's a point-to-point race which means once you leave T1, you don't ever come back to T1. So if you want to see anything you leave in T1 again, you have to have it all packed up in a big bag for the high school volunteers to pick up and throw in a truck. Great.

I fought into my wet suit at 7 AM and made my way down to Swim Start about 20 minutes later. After a 15 minute delay, the national anthem and the start of the pros, we were off.

After four triathlons, I really feel comfortable in open water swims. I need to get faster though because I swam as hard as I could and still only posted a 32:36. My goal is to always break 30 minutes at this distance.

Gaining my equilibrium, I shuffled up to my bike (your always a little dizzy coming out of an open water swim for a half-hour), stripped off my wetsuit, put on my helmet, guzzled a few gulps of homemade Chia Fresca (that's foreshadowing to the Booger Incident), put two Goo gels in my pocket, grabbed my bike and made a quick mount onto the course. I was in T1 for 3:06.

It had been raining and misting for the past few days so the entire course was wet, slick and terrifying.

I didn't see anyone fall, but I'm sure there must have been a ton of wrecks. The moisture definitely hindered my speed but I was still able to finish the 40K in 1:14:04...an average of 20.1 mph.

Not even close to my best 40K time (sub 1:04:00) but it stacked up OK compared to the field. Plus there was a slight wind out of the northeast which are the two directions we cycled for the entire 40K.

Another interesting factor in a point-to-point: if you have a tail wind, it's great! A head wind? Not so great. At least it wasn't very strong.

I had a tough time dismounting due to the moisture but was in and out of T2 in a parking lot near the AAC in about 2 minutes. All you have to do there is lose the helmet and add the shoes.

It was at this point that I made my first contact with the family. I saw my brother Jeff holding his camera out, snapping my picture. The American Airlines Center towered over him as I made the turn to run around it.

My mom, wife and daughter were also there. Haelyn (3-month old daughter) had on an outfit that said, "I love my Daddy." She did really good as a spectator...her first race.

I caught them again on the way around the AAC and headed up the Katy Trail.

I carried more homemade Chia Fresca with me on the run and took some gulps periodically.

And finally...without further ado...the Booger Incident.

The Chia Fresca is water, lime juice, sugar and chia seeds.

The seeds have a tapioca-like texture once they've been soaking in their sweet surroundings. The drink is packed with a good balance of carbs, omega-3 fatty acids, anti-oxidants and other good stuff. Great nourishment during a long race.

Anyway, the seeds won't go through the top of a spout so I had to unscrew the cap and take swigs on a dead run.

The three or four times I did this always resulted in a clump of wet, goopy seeds setting up shop somewhere on my face.

On one particular occasion, some seeds ended up on the tip of my nose.

I noticed the cluster, wiped the seeds off with my finger and inserted the energy-giving, nutrient-packed seeds into my mouth...

...at the exact moment I passed some non-racers that were taking a walk on the Katy Trail that morning. They were looking at me funny.

To them it must have looked like a delirious and exhausted triathloner (I won't use the word "triathlete" when referring to myself) pick his nose and eat his boogers.

Nice, Mark. Nice.

My hip didn't start hurting until about halfway through the run but I was able to manage the pain and finished the final 5K a few minutes faster than I did the first 5K.

The run took me 46:21, and I finished all three modes of transportation in 2:38:08.

About a minute faster than last year (when there was a tail wind on the bike and it was dry and warm) and 182nd overall out of 639 participants. The average time was 2:55:16. I just missed the top 10 of my age group of 44 men from age 25-29, finishing 11th.

To give some more perspective, my personal best at this distance is sub-2:25:00 at the Capital of Texas Triathlon in Austin.

Overall, I was very happy about two things: not dying on the wet bike course and being able to finish despite a questionable hip.

Triathlon season is over for a while. Next stop?

Whiterock Marathon in December.

Hopefully I won't eat my boogers during that race, too.

Thanks for reading.