Thursday: I left from Cincinnati early Thursday morning and was out to Seattle by mid-late morning. This was my first trip out to the Northwest and I took in the new scenery as I took the train toward downtown from the airport. I met up with Aaron, made it back to his place, and we got ready for our first ride on the tandem. We were out on the bike for about 2 hours but a good part of the ride was me getting used to the tandem and practicing some of the technical stuff such as getting started together. That night I ended up making some cheese tortellini with pesto, shrimp, and spinach which really hit the spot after the long day of traveling and the 2 hour ride. I called it a night early having been up since 4 am eastern time.
Dinner Thursday Night: Delicious!
Friday: Aaron had to work so we got up early for a 45 minute run with a couple 800's on the track at race pace. The rest of the day I relaxed at his place getting a few odds and ends done and walked to the grocery store to grab a few things. After Aaron got off work, we ran down to a near by lake for our first swim. The water was a bit chilly (~high 60's if I had to guess) especially without wetsuits but wasn't too bad after we got going. We swam for about 15 minutes, allowing me to get the feel for swimming next to him with the tether at our hips and learning how to become more in sync with each other. By the end of the swim, we had found a good rhythm. That night we met up with some of Aaron and Brittney's (Aaron's girlfriend) friends for some pizza. I devoured a delicious mushroom and garlic pizza on a wheat crust!
Saturday: We had planned to wake up, have breakfast and get in a little brick workout followed by a another short open water swim. Aaron has 2 tandems and we wanted to ride the one we were going to use in London. He had gotten a new cassette on his back racing wheel and the the gears weren't adjusting quite right so we decided we needed to take it into a shop before really doing any riding. The shop didn't open till 10 though so we changed up our original plan and decided to swim first. We ran over to the lake, this time with wetsuits, and did another 15 min swim with a few race pace starts and efforts mixed in. We ran back from the lake and got the bike ready to go. We rode down to the shop and Aaron explained the situation. They were kind enough to work on it right away. While we waited, we decided to go grab a cup of coffee at Starbucks (you can't come to Seattle and not get a cup of coffee from Starbucks!).
Starbucks coffee break mid-ride
We rode around Green Lake getting in some good efforts. We rode back to the house and made a quick change for the run. We ran a hard 2+ miles right from the start and did an easy 5+ minutes to cool down. The rest of the day was spent running a few errands, packing up the bike, and making sure everything was ready to go. We had a nice salmon, sweet potato, and asparagus dinner (all on the grill) and called it a night.
Sunday: We decided to get up early and go for a short easy 30 minute run before the long travel day to London. We got to the airport and through security with no problems, grabbed some Starbucks, and waited for our first flight to Chicago. In Chicago we met up with Amanda B. I got a global rental phone since my iPhone 4 wasn't compatible in London but I hadn't gotten a chance to get it before I left for Seattle. As they started boarding the plain, I frantically started figuring out what I needed to do to activate the rental phone. I ended up getting it done but would definitely recommend doing that before you're about to board your plane. It ended up not even mattering though as when we got to London and I tried to charge it, the charger wouldn't work. Oh well. I was never in a situation where I needed a phone. On the plane, we got a pretty decent vegetarian dinner that was a curry rice dish with a mini salad, a roll, and a little dessert. Not too shabby for airline food. After eating I attempted to sleep but didn't have much luck. I was in and out a few times but I don't thing I ever truly fell asleep. The crying baby didn't help either.
Monday: Before arriving in London, we got a little croissant and a dish of fruit along with a cup of coffee. Again, not too shabby for an airline. We arrived in London at 5:50 AM local time when I probably would have been going to bed in Seattle (9:50 Pacific time). We made it through customs without any issues and grabbed our luggage. The girls took the cheaper train into London while Aaron and I took the bus service recommended to him. There were a bunch of triathletes from the US and Australia that were taking the bus too. Luckily we really didn't have anywhere to be as we ended up being on the bus for about 2.5 hours while the bus driver maneuvered the enormous coach bus up and down the tiny London streets. At first it was rather entertaining but eventually it became a little irritating as they literally didn't know where they were going. We went by the same spot multiple times and the passengers started telling the bus driver way to go; never a good sign.
We eventually made it to the hotel we would be staying at Tuesday-Sunday but were only there to drop off the bike before heading for Salisbury. We made our way over to the tube (the underground train system) and each got a 1 week pass which ended up being the deal of the week. London is not cheap! But we were able to hop on and off the tube and get around pretty easily with our Oyster card/tube pass. We made it to Waterloo train station and took the train up to the small city of Salisbury. We dropped off our luggage at the small bar/restaurant/hotel and found a little something to eat and a little coffee to keep us going through the day.
My macchiato, a nice strong espresso with a little milk, from Costa, the Starbucks of London
Mushroom pizza for me, ham and pineapple for Aaron from the local bakery in Salisbury
We got on our Stonehenge tour bus that took us over to the ancient site. Here are some pics!
Me and Aaron at Stonehenge
Amanda and me at Stonehenge
Headstand at Stonehenge, why not :)
Amanda and me in Salisbury
Huge cathedral in Salisbury - home of the Magna Carta too
Aaron, Amanda, and I went and got a bite to eat at a local restaurant. I had a tasty falafel burger with some tomato and avocado. We went back to our little Inn and called it a night. Although there were a few times throughout the day where I wanted to fall asleep, I fought it hard in hopes of re-setting my time clock. It worked pretty well as the rest of the week I was good to go!
Tuesday: After a good night sleep, we got up and went into the "downtown" area of Salisbury where we had some breakfast and coffee. I had my first English breakfast (vegetarian) which included an egg frittata with spinach and feta, baked beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes with an Americano (most places don't really brew coffee, which is interesting). The breakfast was definitely different, but tasty and filling. We took the train back in to London and checked in at our hotel. We met up with some of the team and went for a little run through Hyde Park. We checked out some of the race course and ran on part of the run course. That night we went and checked out Harrods, the giant multi-level, ridiculously expensive store in London that carries pretty much anything you could think of. We found a pub near there and grabbed a bite to eat. I had some sort of vegetable risotto dish that was pretty tasty.
Wednesday: We got up and had breakfast down at the hotel. They had a make your own muesli which for me included uncooked oats, apricots, banana chips, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds and some "semi-skimmed" milk as they like to call it (aka reduced fat or 2% milk). We headed out for a ride which was rather interesting. A lot of Hyde park is no biking allowed and with signs posted saying there was a 50 pound (~80 dollar) fine for biking where your not supposed to, so I was a little cautious. So we decided we would try the main streets to get over to the race course. Bikers in London are crazy! They do whatever they want, weave in and out of cars, going to the front of the lane. We were a little more cautious than that. We eventually made it over to the course area where we were able to ride on part of the course. We were only about 15 minutes in and getting ready to practice a U-turn when I shifted down and all of a sudden there was a loud noise and something was definitely wrong. The derailleur had been placed on wrong and ended up breaking and causing the chain to go into the wheel, breaking 5 spokes. We walked the bike back to the hotel, talked with the team mechanic, and made our way around the city to 2 different bike shops finding a new derailleur and some new spokes. We dropped that stuff off with the mechanic and headed back down to the race site to get in a short swim in the Serpentine, where the race would be held. The water was a very brisk 61 degrees! After our swim, we walked over to Imperial College where we had an anti-doping seminar. That night we found a nice Italian restaurant near by to get some dinner. I had a "fungi pizza" aka, mushroom pizza (I guess this is the 3rd time I've talked about eating a mushroom pizza on this trip...).
Aaron, Brittney, Amanda, and Me
Thursday: The derailleur had gotten fixed but there was still an issue with the back wheel as the spokes we had gotten at one of the shops were too short. After scrambling around Thursday morning, including a short run down to the race site to see if any of the bike shops at the expo would be able to help, we decided to borrow one of the coaches wheels and just stick with that through the race. We went out for a ride, practiced a bunch of technical stuff including 180 turn-arounds and getting in and out of our bike shoes in sync. After the ride we had a couple hours before a team meeting so we went and did a short river boat tour on the River Thames. Here are some pics!
Me and Aaron in our "C Different with Aaron" shirts
Me and Amanda at Big Ben!
After our meeting, we took a short nap. After all of the running around we had done the past day or two with the bike and with the race coming up on Friday, it was good to let the legs rest a little extra. After our nap, we headed down to the race site for our pre-race briefing and packet pickup. After that, there was a swim course familiarization where we could swim on the exact swim course with the buoys set up. We did 2 laps of the course (1500m) with a good race pace start effort at the beginning of the 2nd lap.
Walking over to the swim - Don't forget a swim cap when the water is 61 degrees!!
That night we met up with some of Brittney's friends that live in London at another Italian restaurant. You can't go wrong with pizza or pasta before a race! I got a penne pasta with marinara and pesto sauce, delicious! We took the tube back to our hotel, and called it a night.
Friday (Race Day): Our race didn't start until 2:05 which meant we had plenty of time to sleep in, eat some breakfast, and get over to the race site. We ate down in the hotel. I had some oatmeal with a little milk, some peanut butter, some banana chips, and some dried apricots. I wanted to eat something that would sit well but would hold me over through the race. After breakfast, we went out for a little ride to get warmed up and practice a few more turnarounds. Our ability to be as efficient as possible on the turns and turn-arounds would be important for us to have a strong bike. We gathered our stuff and walked over to the race site with the girls.
We arrived at the race site and had to go through the ITU check in. They verified our uniforms (including size of name, country, and other logos!), measured the tethers for the swim and the run, and checked the bike. I had my usual Cookies n' Creme Powerbar about 2 hours before the start of the race and snacked on a few cola gel blasts during the final hour before the race. We took the bike over to transition and got our stuff set up while we tried to figure out the movement of the the transition area. The Sprint World Championships were going on so they didn't have our portion of the transition area completely set up yet. We eventually figured that out and made our way back to the athlete lounge to do some last minute race preparation. We went for a ~1 mile run warm up, got our wetsuits on, and made our way over to the starting area.
Going into the race, Aaron knew he was going to have some competition that he had never faced before. A guy from England, David Ellis, that was formerly a Paralympic swimmer. Here is how the race unfolded:
Swim: 10:38 - 36 seconds down from Ellis
The swim went well. We got out quick with no issues. About 100-200m in, Ellis and his guide were right in front of us. We were on their feet for a few strokes before they took off and we lost contact. The rest of the swim was smooth.
T1: 2:18 - 15 sec slower than Ellis
There was a long run out of the water that was technically part of the swim before we actually entered the transition area. On our way to the bike, we both wiped out on the grass/mud and fell to our backs (probably lost about 10 seconds). We got up quickly and got through T1.
Bike: 34:02 - 19 seconds faster than Ellis
The bike course was 3 laps and VERY technical with five 180 degree turnarounds and multiple other turns and S-curves. Needless to say, it was hard to ever really get going other than this one long straight away that we had in each direction on all 3 laps. The ground was also wet which resulted in me as the one steering the bike, a little more cautious. That morning when we went out to ride and check out the course, we saw at least three people go down at various points on the course. And countless others had the same result throughout the weekend. To me, its not worth going down and I'm going to ride a little more cautious that risk going down. During the bike, there was one British team in front of us and one behind us and although people were trying to tell us where we sat in the 6b category, it was hard to tell if we were in fact in 2nd like we were or possibly in 1st. The 6a (full blind) individuals started 5 minutes before us so they were mixed in on the course with us along with some of the other para-athletes.
T2: 1:34 - 10 sec slower than Ellis
As we entered T2, I looked over my shoulder and could see Ellis and his guide heading out of transition. I knew with a good run we were within striking distance.
Run: 16:27 - same time as Ellis
As we started the run we quickly found a good rhythm. The course was 2 loops and flat and FAST! About a half mile in, we had a long stretch to go down and I could see them in the distance. I couldn't tell how fast they were going but thought we had a chance to get them if we kept up the pace we were going. I saw them make a turn and timed it to see how far back we were. It was about 40 seconds. A good amount but still seemed possible to catch them. We made our way through the blue carpet and the announcer said something along the lines of "The Americans are looking strong, will they be able to close the distance on the Brits?". On the 2nd lap, I could see they were still pretty far ahead and knew it was going to be tough to close them. We stayed strong the rest of the way, made the turn for the finish, and coasted in to a 2nd place finish.
Finish: 1:04:57 - 2nd place in the 6b category
After the race we went back and showered before coming back to the race site for the category 1 and 2 para-athletes which includes those that are an above knee amputee or those that are wheel-chair bound. Talk about inspiration! That night we went to a nearby pub and had some fish 'n chips!
Going into the race, Aaron knew he was going to have some competition that he had never faced before. A guy from England, David Ellis, that was formerly a Paralympic swimmer. Here is how the race unfolded:
Swim: 10:38 - 36 seconds down from Ellis
The swim went well. We got out quick with no issues. About 100-200m in, Ellis and his guide were right in front of us. We were on their feet for a few strokes before they took off and we lost contact. The rest of the swim was smooth.
T1: 2:18 - 15 sec slower than Ellis
There was a long run out of the water that was technically part of the swim before we actually entered the transition area. On our way to the bike, we both wiped out on the grass/mud and fell to our backs (probably lost about 10 seconds). We got up quickly and got through T1.
Bike: 34:02 - 19 seconds faster than Ellis
The bike course was 3 laps and VERY technical with five 180 degree turnarounds and multiple other turns and S-curves. Needless to say, it was hard to ever really get going other than this one long straight away that we had in each direction on all 3 laps. The ground was also wet which resulted in me as the one steering the bike, a little more cautious. That morning when we went out to ride and check out the course, we saw at least three people go down at various points on the course. And countless others had the same result throughout the weekend. To me, its not worth going down and I'm going to ride a little more cautious that risk going down. During the bike, there was one British team in front of us and one behind us and although people were trying to tell us where we sat in the 6b category, it was hard to tell if we were in fact in 2nd like we were or possibly in 1st. The 6a (full blind) individuals started 5 minutes before us so they were mixed in on the course with us along with some of the other para-athletes.
T2: 1:34 - 10 sec slower than Ellis
As we entered T2, I looked over my shoulder and could see Ellis and his guide heading out of transition. I knew with a good run we were within striking distance.
Run: 16:27 - same time as Ellis
As we started the run we quickly found a good rhythm. The course was 2 loops and flat and FAST! About a half mile in, we had a long stretch to go down and I could see them in the distance. I couldn't tell how fast they were going but thought we had a chance to get them if we kept up the pace we were going. I saw them make a turn and timed it to see how far back we were. It was about 40 seconds. A good amount but still seemed possible to catch them. We made our way through the blue carpet and the announcer said something along the lines of "The Americans are looking strong, will they be able to close the distance on the Brits?". On the 2nd lap, I could see they were still pretty far ahead and knew it was going to be tough to close them. We stayed strong the rest of the way, made the turn for the finish, and coasted in to a 2nd place finish.
Finish: 1:04:57 - 2nd place in the 6b category
After the race we went back and showered before coming back to the race site for the category 1 and 2 para-athletes which includes those that are an above knee amputee or those that are wheel-chair bound. Talk about inspiration! That night we went to a nearby pub and had some fish 'n chips!
Dinner at a local pub - Me, Amanda, Brittney, and Aaron
Saturday: We had breakfast down in the hotel and unlike the other days earlier in the week where I made my own muesli, today I had eggs, mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, along with a big slice of fresh baked bread with some jam and honey. Pretty tasty hotel breakfast! Aaron and Brittney had some laundry to do for the rest of their trip so Me and Amanda went to a nearby Costa to grab some coffee.
Saturday morning coffee date at Costa - A cappuccino for me and an Americano for Amanda
After that, we were going to go check out the Olympic Park, but after reading some poor reviews, we decided to go check out the London Tower. We took a tour through the tower and looked around the giant ancient fortress. We also got to a see a changing of the guard while at the tower which was pretty neat. After the tower, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a Pret a Manger, a little coffee shop with a huge selection of different hot and cold sandwiches. After eating, we walked across the street to the awards ceremony which was being held in Trafalgar square.
Awards Ceremony - Me and Aaron with the Brits who took 1st and 3rd
After the awards, we ate at this Mexican restaurant. I had some veggie fajitas that were pretty good. We made our way back to the hotel, Aaron and I disassembled the bike and we called a it a night.
On Sunday we traveled back to the states. We flew through Washington DC which was a little crazy as we had to go through customs, claim our baggage (including the huge bike box), exit customs, drop off our luggage, and go back through security. I'm 100% for keeping airports safe but it seems like a very disorganized and slow process that could somehow be more efficient. Especially when you have multiple international flights arriving at the same time. Our flight ended up getting delayed out of DC but had it not, we would have been running to catch our flight to Dayton.
I had an incredible time guiding Aaron and am very thankful for the experience. I can definitely see myself guiding Aaron again in the future (if he wants me to :) ) with two ITU races in North America next year including the Chicago race in June and the World Championships in Edmonton as Aaron prepares for qualifying and racing in the Paralympic Triathlon in 2016.
As for me, my season is over. I'm having a hard time accepting my season being over as I feel very fit and would love to continue training and racing. At this point though, there aren't too many other races that I can just hop in and do. I'm taking some easy down time though and will soon begin preparations for next year. I have no idea what my plan will be for next year. I would love to get in a 70.3 or two. Now that I am working, hopefully money will become less of an issue and I can dabble in the half-iron distance next year. It has been a great year of racing for me.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
