2005 Ralph's California 1/2 Ironman

After sacrificing much of 2004 to injuries and family business I came out in 2005 gunning for an epic season. I hooked up with Kevin Konczak at D3 Multisport to help guide me through a full load of races, including my first Ironman. I decided to start training with Kevin on January 1st and right away we began preparing for my first race of the season, Ralph’s California ½ Ironman. I choose Ralph’s for several reasons. One, it was put on by Ironman North America and I was eager to do an Hawaii qualifier put on but such a reputable organization. Two, Oceanside, the host city of the race, is only about 20 minutes south of San Clemente where 2 of my best friends live. Three, since the race is a Hawaii qualifier there should be a top-notch field there. I was eager to go up against the best in the sport to see how I size up.

Kevin had me start out my training fairly light and I think this has paid off, as I’m injury free to date. Leading up to the race much of my cycling had to be done on the trainer. Thank god for the TDF DVD set I bought. Those DVDs made my 90-minute trainer sessions bearable and even somewhat enjoyable. As for the running I really felt like I had good form, although this is definitely my weakness so I always need work here. My swimming has never felt so strong. The week before the race I did a taper set that my masters coach gave me. 20 x 100’s on 1:30. I was supposed to hold an even comfortable pace throughout the set. I did it holding 1:13 – 1:15/100 pace. This felt so awesome and it left me super confident going into Ralph’s. As for the bike I was very eager to see what I could do. I just bought my new Guru tri bike only about a month prior to the race and I wanted to see what all the hype about tri bikes was about. I had only a handful of training rides on the Guru but I had already fallen in love with her after a chilly ascent up Left Hand Canyon. I knew she was fast and I was hoping I would be equally as quick.

Going into the race I had several goals. Most importantly I wanted to enjoy the race and maintain a positive attitude no matter what happens throughout the day. I also wanted to beat my previous swim and run splits from the Arizona ½ I did last fall. More specifically I wanted to do a sub-30 minute swim and a sub-1:38 minute run. On the bike I wanted to finish feeling like I pushed myself, because in Arizona last year I was a bit too reliant on my heart rate monitor and in hind sight I feel like I could have pushed my bike leg much harder. For a finish time I wasn’t sure what to expect due to the 3000+ feet of climbing on the bike course. I was confident that I should be able to go somewhere under 5 hours.

I left Wednesday afternoon to go out to SoCal and on my way out the DIA I stopped by Bicycle Village to pick up my freshly glued wheels. After spending a solid hour at the airport parking lot packing my bike into the travel case I was off. I was a nervous wreck during the flight as I had all too many thoughts about lost baggage running through my head. After arriving out in Orange County I assembled my baby and took her out for a test. Now this was my first ride on the Zipp tubular wheels. Man they’re fast, no they’re ridiculous. I now know why the company is named Zipp Speed Weaponry. These wheels are freaking speed weapons. I intend to use these weapons to attack the bike course.

For final preparations I did a couple ocean swims and a few runs in the days before the race. At this point I’m completely confident about my abilities, the biggest unknown now is the race day weather. The forecast says it’s going to be rainy and cold. This will be alright for the run but it could get a bit chilly on the bike. All I can do is wait and see what happens.

On the day before the race Chris, Aim and I went down to Oceanside for registration and to scout out the course. The expo was pretty cool. I met Nicole DeBoom, as she’s friend of a girl I work with and her friend asked me to say hello to her. I spoke with Nicole a little about the race and what she was planning to wear to deal with the weather. She was a super cool girl and she advised me to just go with arm warmers. This sounded like a great plan. I was really impressed with Nicole’s positive attitude. She didn’t seem phased at all with the pending weather and instead said, “well, it’s warmer than it is in Colorado.” I liked this train of thought and it really put me at ease with the whole weather situation.

Next to registration and out to scout out the course. The registration line was super long but the people watching here was second to none. Chris, Aim and I were checking out everyone, their calves, their gear and their attitude. For people who have not been to a tri, the atmosphere surrounding these events is so fresh and positive it’s incredible. This energy is so addictive. Tri is absolutely the best sport ever. After registration we walked through the transition area so I knew where I’d rack the bike and where the entrances and exits were. In looking over the swim course I began to realize just how long 1.2 miles really is. There’s a reason this swim will take about a half-hour. We couldn’t drive the bike course, as it was almost all on Camp Pendelton, so we instead drove the run. This is a 2-lap course and just driving 1 lap of the out and back course shows you exactly how long 13.1 miles are. After all that, it’s was time to go home and rest up for tomorrow.

Back at Chris and Brooke’s place I watched a stage from my TDF DVD set and I got super pumped for the race. I had a ton of stuff to do after dinner. Chris, Brooke and Aim were all a huge help in getting everything ready to go. After setting 5 different alarms I was in bed at 10 and I fell sound asleep.

Next morning Aim and I woke up at a cool 2:30. The weather was chilly and very wet. It wasn’t raining as much as the sky was more in a state of a constant drip and this moisture combined with an ocean breeze to make for a chilly morning. I figured at least everyone’s in the same boat so I’ll find a way to use the weather to my advantage. I took a shower, drank down a quick cup of coffee and ate a Cliff Bar. I prepared all of my energy bottles, got dressed and did a final run through of the gear I was bringing with me. Chris woke up at 3:30 and at 4 am we left to drive down. Funny thing on the way down, both Chris and Aim told me they slept like crap, as they were nervous about me sleeping through the race. I slept like a baby. I thought, “I sure have been blessed as a sound sleeper and I definitely have the best friends ever.”

When we arrived down in Oceanside we were one of the first people there. We parked in a super close-in space and I dialed into my voice mail to check on the message Benny Boy left me the night before. For all 3 of my races up to this point Ben has been my voice of inspiration as he’s left me motivational messages each night prior to a race. His message for Ralph’s was awesome. He spoke about my preparation and about how it’s time to do it up. Ben was out in Chicago celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and in his message he told me how during his time out there he found a new respect for the Irish culture. This made me think about my late grandmother. I felt like her spirit was there with me that day and with her help I knew nothing could go wrong. Ben closed the message reminding me that I’m from Colorado and we know how to do things out there. He stirred up a little emotion in me and I had both Chris and Aim listen to the message. This emotion totally focused me in on what I needed to do so we decided to brave the cold and go setup my transition. The walk in was chilly, windy and drizzling. Not ideal race conditions but at this point I had to focus on my race and let the weather be what it would.

I scored the prime bike slot at the end of the rack and I setup my transition towel. With the rain I left a plastic bag over my stuff to try to keep it as dry as possible. Gradually it began to get light out, although it way too cloudy to see the sun. Race time neared. The scene was awesome. 1800 people getting ready to embark on journey to test their endurance and spirit while the organizers were pumping the sounds of Enya and John Mayer over the transition area.

I slipped into my wetsuit and did the long walk over to the start. My wave was directly behind the Pro Men and Pro Women’s. Just before we entered the water it started raining pretty hard. My god I was cold. I took down a Hammer Gel and I was the first one into the water for my wave. To my surprise the water was much warmer than the air. I guess the water in the harbor is a little warmer than the open ocean. I positioned myself at the front outside of the wave so I could get out quick and hopefully I would avoid getting beaten up in the chaos that is the swim start.

Soon enough the gun sounds and the race is on. I really didn’t have to fight off anyone during the start. I settled into my pace that I felt I could hold or the next 30 minutes. At first I felt like I was getting passed by guy after guy, but I remained focused on swimming my race and not stressing out about what anyone else was doing. On the way out I did a fairly good job at staying on course. As I neared the turnaround, the surf became much choppier and I was eager to start heading back towards the transition area. I turned the buoy and I was home free. About halfway back the leading men from the 30-34 wave passed me (I could tell by the color of their caps) but I kept my focus and soon enough I saw spectators as I neared the swim exit ramp.

I exited and as I ran to my bike I passed by a long string of women waiting to enter the water to begin their race. The rain had stopped to a slow drip and I decided to ride with a vest and arm warmers. When I came up to my bike Aim, Brooke, and Chris spotted me immediately. It was so awesome to hear my friends shouting my name as I hurriedly put on my bike gear. I mounted up the bike and headed out to the course. I did have a little difficulty putting on the arm warmers while I was riding. The bike course was wet so I made sure to take the corners slow. The first few miles winded through an urban area of the base and I kept my pace to a moderate level. I finished the first energy bottle after about 30 minutes and as I reached back to grab my second I realized I had lost it somewhere in the first 10 miles or so. Oh well. I picked up a Gatorade bottle at aid station 1 and turned up the speed as I had a slight tail wind and the next 10 miles were relatively flat and fast. I knew this section well as I ridden it a few times last Thanksgiving when I was out visiting Chris and Brooke. As I powered through San Onofre State Park I imagined that my bike was a missile which I was strapped to. I felt like I was freaking flying through this section of the course. Perhaps in hindsight I took it out a bit too fast but it sure was fun while it lasted. I averaged around 27 MPH through this section. I was fast and I felt great. I passed several of the pro women through here; this was some great motivation to keep up the effort level.

I entered San Clemente and the course took an easterly turn into the mountains on Camp Pendelton. As the climbing started a few people passed me and this pissed me off. Initially I tried to hold their pace then my legs quickly told me better. From here on out I decided to ride my own race and not worry about other peoples paces. After a bunch of rollers, Dead Man’s curve, and 2 steep climbs I began to work my way back to Oceanside. I had heard stories about the hills on the course and I had some doubts that they’d be as steep as they sounded. The people weren’t wrong and there were definitely 3 steep climbs on the course. I was impressed with the climbing ability of the other athletes out there. I feel like I’m a strong climber and it was tough work to keep up with some of the people out there.

At about mile 40 I rode through an aid station staffed by Marines. This aid station was incredible. For one it was right next to a Marine AirField that was loaded with so many helicopters I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road. As I blazed though the aid station there were no other athletes near me and I had about 40 Marines screaming at the top of their lungs at me. This was incredible. I feel like I had a tiny taste of the camaraderie members of our Armed Services experience. Thanks so much to those boys as they gave me a huge boost of energy to push through the final 15 miles of the ride.

The final stretch was relatively flat with a slight headwind. I passed another 2 pro women and I made the final descent into the transition harbor. Aim, Brooke and Chris were all there cheering me on as I glided down the finishing chute. Transition 2 was quick. I ditched the vest and arm warmers and headed out onto the course.

Immediately into the run I noticed that my legs felt awesome. I thought, “my god what’s going on?” I quickly realized what a huge difference the tri bike frame makes going into the run. In fact, the first mile of my run was the quickest of the race at 7:02. As I entered the run course the pro men were just starting their second lap on the run so some really quick boys were passing me. My legs were quick but this is not to say that they did not hurt. Every step was painful and I wanted to do nothing but lie down and fall asleep. Whenever my mind would wander into thinking about the pain, I'd bring it back to a happy place by thinking about my friends at the finish line. I'd think about everyone who has helped me get to this day, and I was able to find reserves of positive energy that carried me through the run. As I approached aid station 1 I remembered reading about how a lot of pro athletes drink Coke at the aid stations. As I watched a pro man in front of me take a Coke I grabbed one too. Coke has never tasted so good in my life. Every aid station thereafter I grabbed a water dumped it down my back then took a Coke and drank about ½ a cup. I was still carrying my fuel belt and I had a gel flask in my hand. The drink in my bottles did not taste anywhere as good as the coke and since I knew that Aim would be at the turnaround after lap 1 and I decided to ditch the belt with her.

Coming back on lap 1 I passed Nicole DeBoom and shouted out “Jlo”. She looked around then recognized me and gave me a shout out. Pretty cool. Then as I was running I began to wonder why I had just shouted Jlo at a girl named Nicole. In my state of mind I couldn’t figure it out but I later realized that since her friend Jen told me to tell her “Jlo says hi”. Somehow that translated into me calling one of the top pro women triathletes in the world Jlo during the race. After the race Nicole actually sent an email to her friend saying that she thought I was awesome as I was her biggest fan out there and it pumped her up when I shouted out Jlo on the course. Apparently she was not thinking straight either.

Back to the race. As I came into the turnaround I spotted Aim, Brooke and Chris. Seeing them all jumping up and down screaming my name was nothing less than awesome. This juiced me up on energy and I threw my fuel belt to Aim and headed out on lap 2. During the second half of the run all I could think about as I passed people, who I could tell were clearly on their first lap, was “thank god I’m not you.” I was so ready to de done with the run. My legs were screaming. I think I was averaging about a 7:30 pace. At this point I didn’t want to think about how far I had left so I broke up the run into 1-mile segments. Instead of thinking I had 6 miles left when I would look down at my watch I would see that I only had 3 more minutes to go until the end of this mile. Breaking up the run into 13 manageable segments totally worked to keep me motivated and focused. Neither this nor Coke were planned but they were both crucial parts to my race that day.

As I neared mile 13 I passed through the turnaround point and I was on the homestretch. This felt great. I was looking for anyone in front of me with a 25 – 29 on their calf. No one in sight so I decided to just pass as many people as I could even through they weren’t in my age group. About 20 yards from the finish I saw all my friends, Martinez, Julie, Wright, Nate Dogg, Aim, Brooke, and Mackenzie all together cheering me on. It was incredible to see so many of my very best friends there supporting me. As I crossed the finish line I did what I’m sure was a super cheesy glory scream. The volunteers wrapped me in a space blanket and I shoved 2 slices of cold pizza down my throat as fast as possible. I saw Chris looking for me and I met up with all of my friends. This was definitely the best part of the race. Sharing this moment with my best friends is what I will always remember. I’m so lucky to have such great people in my life.
It was raining so we all quickly cleared out to go home and take a nap.

All in all it was a great race and I’m really pleased with my performance. I accomplished my swim and run goals, I pushed it on the bike and I finished the race under 5 hours. Most importantly I didn’t let the weather interfere with my race plans. I believe positive attitudes are critical for all successes in life. I’m really pleased with how I was able to put the weather out of my mind and focus all of my concentration on the race.

Over the past year or so through my training and the sport of triathlon I’ve learned so much about myself and about life in general. I look back at picture my mom took of me at my first “bike race” when I was about 10. In the picture I’m a typical dorky 5th grader, but more importantly I’m a young boy full of optimism and promise. I think there is something so special about the spirit of children and I never want to lose my ability to tap into my reservoir of youthful energy. Occasionally, when I have a long day at work and upon coming home I want to be lazy on the couch instead of driving to the pool for a 4,000 yard workout I think of the 10 year-old boy in the picture and the innocent smile reminds me why I spend almost all of my free time, in one form or another, training. I constantly need to go find the energy of that 10 year-old boy. Every time I climb into Ward, I set a new swim TT PR, I do a 4 am 16 mile run, or I finish a ½ Ironman I find that spirit.

In looking back at the race, I think the coolest thing I remember is the perseverance you witness at an event like this. After I hung out with my friends following the race I went into the transition area to pack up my gear. At this point we’re over 5 hours out from the start of most of the field. Here I see person after person just finishing their bike leg beginning to roll out to the run course. Thinking back on this moment and others like this, I realize that for some people simply finishing this race will be the biggest accomplishment of their life. More importantly, all the athletes competing on this day are putting forth their best possible performance. It’s so awesome to be able to witness so many people in their moment of personal greatness, whether that’s a 5-hour or 9-hour finish. Here time’s of no importance, but rather it’s the sense of accomplishment each competitor gains from their own performance. I said that the atmosphere at these events is addictive and this is why. It’s a beautiful thing to see so many people in their moment.

In preparing for this race I know I could not have done this alone. I’m thankful to my grandmother whose spirit is always with me, especially in this race. I’m grateful to my coach, my family, and all my friends. Most of all Aim, Brooke and Chris who all 3 braved the rain and cold all day to cheer me on at the race. Special thanks to Aim who has constantly has endured adjusting our lives to my weekly training schedules. She has consistently been my biggest supporter, she listens to my endless rambling about my training/new bike/swim TT/ect., even when most everyone else would tune me out. She has helped me in so many ways that no one else witnesses. She is an incredible person and I’m truly grateful for her love and support. When I race she is every bit as much a part of the event as I am.

Thank you to all the incredible people in my life. I am so fortunate to have such positive and supportive friends. Each one of you means so much to me.

-Maxwell

Results
Overall : 151st (1885)
Age Group : 28th (199)

Time : 4:53:36 (29:26, 2:40:34, 1:37:10)