Boulder Ironman

What an experience to say the least, almost a week later and my body is finally starting to feel normal. I can't believe that the race has already come and gone so much time, preparation, sweat, tears, and pain has gone into one day of glory. Mental toughness was the name of the game for Sunday, I feel like my brain is my most utilize tool in this triathlon game.

Athlete Check in

My bro Derek rolled up to Colorado on Tuesday, great to see that tall skinny cowboy! We waited for his friend, Ash Dragon, to meet up with us for a quick jog around the lake by my house. Ash is an Aussie that has transplanted to Cali, super cool chick and a hell of a triathlete. As we jogged around we all shared our insecurities about the race, what are expectations are, and questioned our sanity. After the super hot run we went out for some grub, the next day flew by and by Thursday we headed to packet pickup and hit the underwear run...awesome time running up and down Pearl street in my underroos. Friday, Derek and I went for a super easy spin and than it was all about feet up and chilling, after my final session with Mark http://musclerestoration.com/ and getting multiple pieces of KT tape on my back and sides. Crystal and I hit the movies. Southpaw, for a little last minute motivation for the weekend, pretty good flick but my god it was sad. Crystal was sniffling and sobbing throughout the entire movie, but so was I.

Underoos Run

Underoos Run

Saturday we dropped the bikes and our bags off and headed home, the nerves were wide open and I knew there would be little to no sleep. All my fears of the race were surfacing, what if I bonk, what if my nutrition is jacked up, what if I flat, what if I can't run that far...and so on and so on. If anybody had to spend some time in my brain I honestly think they would go to a psych ward. Thoughts race in and out faster than Usain Bolt, and that's on a normal day compound that with the massive pressure of my first Ironman and my head was about to explode. After a rather large meal, we laid down. I envisioned the whole race from start to finish, everything in my plan when and where I needed to execute it.

3:30am.....wow...today is the day, what am I made of, how much pain can I take, and will I cross the line. Derek and I rolled down dropped out special needs bags off and loaded up on the bus to head out to Boulder Reservoir. I threw my headphones in and jammed out to some intense motivational rap music. The bus was filled with nervous negative chatter and I wanted nothing to do with it, water temp was over 78, no wet suites, no worries I was mentally prepared for this and hadn't swam with one in over a month. Once we got to the res I felt like a rookie at my first ever tri, fumbling stuff in transition and feeling like I was running out of time. Found Crystal for my last kiss and hug, man I love those moments, then ran over to the starting line.

Crystal and I before the Race

6:24am...one minute before the gun goes off, I pull my goggles over my head and SNAP the strap breaks and I immediately panic....I turn to the large crowd of friends and families of the nearly 3,000 competitors and plea for anyone that has a spare set of goggles....BOOM....gun goes off and the race has started and I have yet to receive any goggles. Then a young girl walks up as she is digging through her bag, "I have a set"...instant relief...I gave her a huge hug and said thank you. As I put the goggles on I could tell they have seen better days, as I sinched the strap I could see light coming in under the bottom seals...oh well I'm at the waters edge and dive in. Water instantly fills both lens' and I am blinded I try to readjust but every time, BAM hammered by a fellow swimmer...looks like I'm swimming 2.4 miles in the dark. I had the strap so tight that it was digging into my tempels, I was able to let my mind relax and focus on breathing and trying to draft off of other swimmers, for me I could care less about the swim, and on a race this long it is only 10%. Just get through it and get on the bike, as I approached the swim exit I was for sure my time was going to be over 80 minutes. Looked at my Garmin and right at 70 minutes...score!!! I will take that all day long swimming with no eyeballs. Transition went relatively smooth and I jumped on my weapon to do some damage.

About 5 miles into the bike I began passing several groups of guys and they started yo-yoing back and forth and it was getting really annoying. Another 20 miles or so of this I had enough, I put my head down and started cranking and putting on a pace that they would not be able to maintain. My heart rate climbed higher than I wanted but I needed to make a move and get away from those idiots. I settled into a comfortable pace and began knocking miles out, my heart rate came back down and was able hammer down when I needed to. My race plan was simple, if I feel good I go for it. Nutrition was on point, 3 bottles of ensure plus, with my carb and electrolyte mixes, gu's and salt tabs. The last 25 miles on the bike, I was over it and was so ready to be off that thing, several climbs and we are back in Boulder. Cruising down Folsum Road, a sight for sore eyes and sore butt, Crystal was on the side of the road cheering me on! That was the perfect bit of energy I needed to get to T2 and get off this saddle that felt like a saw cutting me in half. Transition 2 was a joke for me...my god over 8 minutes WTF was I doing!!!! Well, for one the volunteer that was helping me packed up my sun glasses into my bag that was already taken away and I couldn't find them so I said "no shades for 26.2 miles....no problem." Second, I had to Spackle on loads of Vaseline in a bunch of fun places. Third, I had to hit the port-o-pottie to pee for the only time for the nearly 10 hour race. Finally hit the sunscreen station. The run was on after an embarrassing pathetic long T2.

Your'e Strong, Fit, Fast, let's Flow!

My plan on the run was also simple, break it into thirds: first 13, 13-20, and 20-26.2. The first 13 was easy, I have ran hundreds of half-marathons and never at this slow of a pace. The run felt comfy and smooth with a super low heart rate...perfect I thought. I knew during this race I would have extreme highs and extreme lows, for me the highs are where I would bank mental strength and the lows are where I would cash those mental strengths in. Six miles in and my pace has been consistent and heart rate low, by the time I hit mile 13 those fun little pains start to creep in my mind. Luckily I was ready and prepared for them, I read Chris McCormack's book "I'm Here to Win," and watched hundreds of videos on youtube about him. My favorite line is "embrace the suck." When the pain hits my legs and body, I have followed Macca's philosophy I welcome it, I feed off of it, I say "well here is the pain, this is what I wanted, this is why I do this, nobody in the world is as alive as I am right now." I will embrace the pain and push through it, giving up and walking is not an option!!!

Embracing the PAIN!

As the miles kept flying by I started passing hoards of people that seemed to be broken mentally and physically, I fed off that I kept pushing. I repeated this mantra in my head prob over 500+ times "Your'e STRONG, FIT, FAST, let's FLOW" over and over and over. If you were running by me I'm sure you heard me say it. The conversations I have with my head are epic and legendary. By the time I hit mile 18 I had to recall what my good friend, Anthony Lee, told me to do. With 8 miles left it is basically an hour..."you can do anything for an hour." Keep grinding relax my stride, focus, breath, push through...one hour is nothing. Before I knew it mile 20 had passed and with less than a 10K left a smile crept on my face, 6.2 miles to the finish, you've got this and my pace began to pick up. I started feeding off the energy in my head, the crowd, and the fellow triathletes I was passing. I honestly felt I wasn't in my body for the last several miles, just flowing out there. The pain of my legs were screaming but I couldn't hear them let alone feel them. The last 3 miles was a mile up hill with a 2 mile section to the finish line, I was able to run the fastest splits of my long painful day. I was passing people left and right zig zagging my way through the masses of zombie like shuffles. With a mile remaining I passed the lead woman and pulled ahead, as I made the turn onto the finish line chute emotions flowed in like a raging waterfall. Tears of joy, pain, and excitement came out as I hit the red and black carpet to the finish, the crowds brought me off the ground with there cheers and as I crossed the finish line 9:52:15...sub 10 my first go at this distance...unbelievable...is this real?

The Best part of me!!!

After...

Coming down the chute there she was my favorite person in the world, Crystal, tired and sweaty from tracking me outside all day, her day was just as hard as mine. A big hug filled with tears, salt and sweat as I embraced her. I am so grateful to have such an amazing supportive wife who puts up with my craziness. While getting checked out bu the medics and doctors I hear Crystal scream in excitement, "3rd in your division and 20th overall!!!!" Tears came rushing back...I'm going to KONA!!!!! HOLY S@#T, NO WAY, I can't hardly believe this. After heading to the massage tent, the feeling of accomplishment of what I just achieved didn't seem real. I am still in disbelief of everything that happened and how the day played out. My legs felt trashed and nothing sounded good to eat or drink. I got out of my kit and cleaned up a bit, Derek was a tad behind me and dealing with some painful hips. He came across the finish line and kissed the timing mat. Tears of pain as I met him in the chute for a bro hug. He was an Ironman!!! Proud of that guy for getting to the finish line in some series pain.

All I wanted to do was lay down, but when we got home and after a painful shower with all my chafe wounds ripping in pain, I could not find a comfortable spot to relax. Everything hurt, and hurt bad. I had a the chills but also had a temperature, my tongue was roasted from the salt tabs. So tired but unable to sleep, the alarm went off at 8 am to head back down to Boulder for awards, Derek and I could barely walk and looked like two old men shuffling to the award ceremony. The results had me 19th overall and 2nd in my division, apparently the guy that was in 2nd wore a wet suit and is therefore not eligible for awards or the Kona slot....WOW 2nd out of 278 athletes in the 30-34 division...HO LEE FUK!!!!

Awards

As I stood onstage getting my plaque I was the only athlete in the top 5 living in Colorado. A fast guy from Texas won, guy from Cali in 3rd, 4th Mexico, and 5th Italy, and me a hick kid from middle of nowhere Kansas in 2nd. HELL YEAH!!!! Shortly after the awards ceremony they had the Kona Slot allocation and for my divison only 4 slots were given. As my name was called I shuffled in pain to be given my lei by 3 time World Champion Miranda Carfrae, amazing experience, $901.00 later I was signed up for the holy grail of triathlon races.

Derek and I

What an experience this has been starting back in January with a plan and executing the plan to near perfection, besides my pathetic transition times. Unbelievable and extremely grateful to be able to do what I do. I would not be able to train and race like this without my beautiful wife who is hard on me but knows I feed off of it. Everyone who was tracking me, I can honestly say at some point during the run I could feel positive vibes and helped me push through. Can't thank Anthony and Derek enough for being there when I need them. Everyone who I trained with and pushed me to race hard, all the haters for not believing in me or believing in my plan I love it!!!! Fuels my fire and puts a chip on my shoulder that I feed on to keep getting better and grinding it out!!!!
GOING TO KONA BABY!!

Miranda Carfrae and I

Rachael Norfleet, Me, Ash Dragon

My Journey into Triathlons

Seems fitting a few days after my first Ironman that I write my first blog about what got me into this insane sport.

About five years ago Crystal and I were watching T.V. and the Ironman World Championships were on NBC. As I was watching the broadcast I was intrigued and blown away with these freak show humans and what they were doing. I thought to myself, "man these people are bad ass and I would love to do something like this someday somehow." At this time in my life I was going through a major overhaul with every aspect of everything.  Anybody who knows me from my college years know that I was a party animal and not shy about getting wild. Those days were over and my life was going in a new positive and healthy direction. Crystal was a major part in helping me, without her I know I wouldn't be who I am today.

Derek and I Hy-Vee 2014

Fast forward several years and one of my best friends, Derek Tidd, whom I have been racing motocross against for several seasons and recently snapped his wrist, decided to do a little triathlon. I was like "that is dumb dude we race dirt bikes, swimming, biking, and running is so LAME!!!" Well, we are so competitive that it is painful, he happened to do pretty well and in my head I said "if he can do that, I can do it...BETTER!!!" So the summer of 2012 I signed up for this tiny little race, looking back now it was pathetic how short of a distance it was 150 meter swim, 12 mile bike, and a 2 mile run. I finished 2nd in my division and was completely exhausted afterward.

King, Anthony, and I

That winter Derek and I decided to sign up for a 1/2 Ironman, Kansas 70.3. We had no idea what we were doing and our training was a joke. I could barely swim when I started and it looked more like I was drowning than putting in laps. The one thing about me is I am determined and once I set a goal I will not only accomplish it...I smash it! I did an Olympic Distance Race several weeks before the KS 70.3 but the swim got canceled due to lightening. So I had no practice with an OWS (open water swimming) start until the 70.3, I hated swimming and am still not fond of it, but in this insane game it is what it is. Luckily I got introduced to an awesome guy by the name of John King and he let me tag along with him and his crew to go swimming off of his boat in the early mornings. I still miss those epic predawn swims and watching the sun rise as we cranked out several thousand yards. The 70.3 was a great race and for my debut in the distance I was able to lay down a 4:49:15. I was pumped on breaking 5 hours on my first go at it. Later that year I did several more Olympic distance races including the Hy-Vee Championships in Des Moines Iowa. I was able to get 5th in my division and receive a 400 dollar gift card! This is the race that I knew I was decent at this sport and needed to ramp up and see what I can do.

King's OWS Crew

That winter Crystal and I went on our one year anniversary trip to Glenwood  Springs, Colorado and fell in love with this awesome state. I was looking on craigslist and found a steal of a deal on a used Cannondale Slice TT frame in Denver and just so happened to make it part of our trip home to swing through and pick up the bike. After building the bike up over the next several months I had a good feeling about 2014 race season, and Crystal and I had made the decision to move to Colorado at the end of summer. I joined the River City Sharks Master Swim Club and made some huge leaps in my swimming. Race season started with the Kansas City Triathlon, an Olympic distance race, then a repeat of the Kansas 70.3. This was the last year the Kansas 70.3 was held and I am glad I got to race in it. This was my back yard and I literally trained on part of the course on a weekly basis I was able to throw down a 4:35:00 and place 10th in my division. I thought "there is no way I can go any faster than that" and was ecstatic with my race.

2014 Kansas 70.3

                                                                    

1st Place Overall Dirty Duathlon

It was time to leave Lawrence behind and start our journey in Colorado, we picked Northern Colorado because the job market was good and one of my buddies I went to high school and college with lived in Fort Collins, Brian Fesler. He let us crash at his place for 2 weeks before we found a condo just outside of Loveland. Training was on the back burner until we got settled in and found our groove. I joined the FAST Masters and linked up with the NoCo Tri Club to meet some people and get some new training partners. Everybody kept telling me "you're in Colorado now and everybody is fast up here." I was just using that as fuel in my fire to want to prove myself as a competitor and a strong triathlete. After competing in several small Olympic and sprint distance races here and finishing on the podium at every race, I knew I had something special. I volunteered at the inaugural Boulder Ironman and signed up the next day. The goal was set and in one short year I would be competing in my first full Ironman.

Swim Start Hy-Vee 2013

Once winter hit it was all about shredding the slopes and snowboarding as much as I could. However, as January 1st hit I had other objectives in my mind and crafted my race calendar. Early March 1/2 Marathon, April hard training, May Sprint Tri, June Boulder 70.3, and Loveland Lake to Lake, and finally August Boulder Ironman. I had worked hard over the winter on my base miles and had a great foundation to start ramping up my volume and intensity. My body began to change and I no longer recognized my legs, it looked like I had somebody elses legs on my body, definitely freaky. I also worked with a swim coach for several sessions, Tess Mattern, gave me a swim analysis and some key pointers to work on my biggest weakness. I hit the pool hard and the bike harder, running was on the back burner because I felt as my running is solid and not in need of an overhaul.

2015 Colorado Sprint Triathlon

As the first race of the season approached Colorado Sprint Triathlon I was confident that I would smash it, my fitness was solid and felt super strong. I ended up having a solid race but got a 2 min penalty for going around a corner too fast and drifting past the double yellow line, lesson learned and I will never do that again. The penalty dropped me from 2nd to 3rd in my division, I was pissed but what are you going to do, rules are rules bro!!! Two weeks after this race was the Boulder 70.3, I had high expectations going in but knew it would be a tough race. I wanted to crack 4:30 and thought I could do it if a swam 32, biked 2:23, and ran a 1:33. When the gun went off I actually had a strong swim and felt fast, not very common for me ever, out of the water in 30 mins, WTF!!! I was so pumped with that and shocked at the same time. I was licking my lips to get on my bike and start smashing, as I rolled out of the reservoir  my heart rate had sky rocket to 170+...not good but quickly settled into a strong quick cadence pace and it began to drop. Halfway through the ride I was hammering it, 25 mph average, HELL YEAH!!! By the time I got back to T2 I was off the bike in 2:14, so pumped but a little nervous and hoped I didn't blow my load for the run. As I started the run I settled into a fast pace around 6:55 mile pace and felt pretty strong until mile 7-10 and felt as though I screwed up and pushed too hard on the bike. I was able to rally and fight back and pass a guy in my division with several miles to go, I tried to break him and put on a strong poker face as I ran by and said "nice work on the bike you were crushing it." I acted like I was cool as Hindu cow and not even tired, I laid down a fast pace to pull away quickly crushing his hopes of catching me. As I crossed the finish line I saw my favorite site...Crystal smiling with excitement and so happy to give my disgusting sweaty body a hug. I asked her my time..."...4:20:28...3rd in your division" "WHAT" I said, "refresh that, no way I just did a 4:20."

Podium Boulder 70.3

As we found a shady tree to get out of my kit, I had a break down and started to cry with tears of joy, I just podiumed at an Ironman event in Boulder Colorado....no f-ing way!!!! This was by far the greatest day in my short triathlete life. On the podium smiling ear to ear after an amazing feat, all I could think about was how proud Crystal was of me and that all the bull s@#t training and healthy eating has been worth it. Few days of recovery and a nice chat with Anthony Lee to get my head right and figure out my plan of attack for the last 7 weeks building up to Boulder Ironman.

The weeks after Boulder 70.3 my confidence was at an all time high and just banked the largest volume week in my life capping it off with a 7 hour 140 mile ride up the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park and back down to Boulder with a lap of the IM course. The weekend was approaching of the Loveland Lake to Lake Tri and I had a little pain in my distal shin/ankle it felt like a shin splint. After a super easy week I felt good going into the Olympic distance race. Swim was decent, bike felt okay not as fast as I was hoping and as I started the 10K run the shin pain was sharp with every step and by the finish line was screaming in pain. I ended the day finishing 2nd in my division and happy about the results but had this feeling of impending doom that my shin was jacked. I quickly iced it but by the time I got home I could barely walk, being as optimistic as possible I rested, iced, and took anti-inflammatory's. The next day the pain was worse and every step felt like I was getting shocked with sharp pain shooting up my leg, to say I was worried was a huge understatement...more like panic...full bore...irrational thoughts that I was done and my season was over. The thoughts that go through my head are beyond conceivable for an average person, I am as insane as a person in a straight jacket, the only difference is that I know I'm crazy, and can't take medication....because I lost that right in my early twenties.

Wifey and I 

A Few days pass and it is not getting any better, after an MRI and a Dr. telling me that I need to take some serious time off and this is an overuse injury. Devastated was my mood and Crystal doesn't know how to handle a depressed Matt. With a hard couple of days of pitty parties and moping around that I know she was thrilled to deal with such an idiot. I decided that I was going to bump up my swimming to 5+ a week and aqua jog as much as possible. Riding the trainer was still causing the shin massive amounts of pain, but I wasn't giving up hope. As I was aqua jogging a fellow tri guy named Troy, told me about this "miracle worker" and that he could fix me, Mark Rise. http://musclerestoration.com/
I was open to the idea of anything to get me back in the game, we were 4 weeks from the biggest race of my life and I could barely walk let alone conceive 140.6 miles of torture. I was already getting acupuncture 3 times a week with no avail, I set up the first available appointment. Mark and his team are amazing and he knows the body extremely well, he made it really simple and gave me several different exercises to release my off balanced muscles. I told him we were on a time crunch and he assured me he would not only get to the finish line but he would get me to the finish line pain free. Wow, pain free would be sick!!!!

After one more session with Mark and his team, he wanted me to start jogging super easy and the second I felt a tinge of pain stop and do my little trigger point exercises. So 20 minutes of pathetically slow trotting around I had to stop several times and hit those trigger points. Two days later 45 minutes of jogging with 4 stops for trigger points. By the weekend I was feeling 99% I couldn't believe it with 2 weeks until the race I felt as if I was back in the game. I needed to do one last big ride but didn't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere and my leg flair up and I would be screwed so I did something pretty crazy, 100 mile ride on my trainer while watching the Tour de France. The mental toughness it takes to sit on the trainer for more than an hour is pretty intense...well I did 5 1/2 hours...mind melter...but my strongest part of triathlon is certainly not swimming, biking or running it is six inches between my ears, my mental toughness and ability to push through things is my best attribute. Next day I did a 16 mile run, granted it was a super slow pace but over 2 hours on my feet running was a blessing seeing how I was feeling less than a week before that. The final weeks leading up to the race were filled with doubt and the feeling that I wasn't ready. Boy was I wrong......

Kansas 70.3 2014