Dealing with the Damage

In 2005, I made a comeback into the sport of triathlon. I had yet to do an Ironman or half Ironman for that matter and before I got too old, I wanted to be able to check this event off my “to do” list. I took it much further than I had dreamed, and that one Ironman turned into three including two World Championships in Hawaii. In 2007, I was top 10 in my age group there. If I never do a triathlon again, I would be satisfied. It’s been a good run.

I have been training consistently for three and a half years without illness or injury but this year things have not gone so well. Multiple aches and pains have caught up with me. For the past year and a half, I have been dealing with discomfort in my right knee, which, in the past, I was able to endure and train through.

After the Buffalo Springs triathlon last month, the pain in my knee became too much to bear and I was unable to run without an abnormal gait. When the pain became constant, I put the running on hold and started swimming exclusively to see if it would go away, it didn’t, and I feel it actually worsened. I sought orthopedic attention and underwent arthroscopic surgery this week on Thursday 8/7.

I had my surgery done at a local outpatient surgery center here in Tulsa. I used to supervise the nurse anesthetists here so I was familiar with the staff and the routine there. I worked until 10:30pm the previous night and the last case of the evening I did was an emergent incision and drainage of a large back abscess on an obese diabetic man. It was disgusting. We sucked two liters of pus out of it. Needless to say, I was happy that I had chosen to have my surgery done at a clean new outpatient center. The last thing I needed was a nocicomial (hospital acquired) infection.

I arrived at the surgery center at 9:30 am the next day, and filled out the last set of paperwork including living will forms. I planned to have this surgery done under local anesthetic and MAC (monitored anesthesia care)…awake, so this seemed to be a little much. Tim Davis, a friend of mine, texted me on my phone and claimed my bike if I died. I texted him back and told him that bike was his if I didn’t survive.

I was quickly escorted back to the holding area where I received the standard issue a gown, hat, booties, and was placed in bed number 4. There, I got my IV and passed the time by watching my own personal TV where I caught up on details regarding the Brett Farve trade. I hope it works out for him in New York.

I had many visitors by old friends and folks that I used to work with. A surgery center like this is a great place to work. There is no call or weekend duties and the patients are healthy, unlike the major tertiary center where I work. Many nurses move on to places like this, it’s a much better lifestyle.

Pat Case is a nurse anesthetist that I used to supervise and she arrived there early and signed up for the room that my case was to be assigned. Pat is an avid cyclist and is fluent in Italian. She has a second home in Italy, and has ridden most of Italy’s major mountain passes. Pat has even been to the Tour de France. She would always have a copy of Velo News in her bag that I could read when I was working with her. I was pleased that she would be taking care of me.

Dr Ron Hood was my surgeon. He trained in San Francisco with Eric Heiden, the former uber Olympic speed skater and professional cyclist, who is now an orthopedic surgeon. Ron is an expert on knees and sports medicine. I liked the way that he was able to do a good local block to allow the patient to stay awake and watch the surgery. It was what I wanted. The post op pictures just don’t show the knee as well as a dynamic live view.

I was taken into the room and hooked up to all the monitors. I requested not to get any Versed (Midazolam). It is a potent fast acting benzodiazapine, which causes amnesia. I usually give this as my pre-anesthetic and can quickly convert a stressed person into a laughing jokester. It is known as truth serum and is often used illegally as a date rape drug. It has a half-life of 2 hours but I had no idea how I would be affected by the drug. I wanted to remember the procedure so I opted not to have it.

When the scrub tech pulled up some local anesthetic in a 60 ml syringe with a long 18-gauge needle, I asked Pat “I think I’ll take that Fentanyl now“. Fentanyl is a fast acting powerful opioid, which is ten times the potency of morphine. I observe patient’s reactions daily as I administer it, and often wonder what it feels like. It is a frequently abused drug in our profession. I soon found out why.

I felt a lightheaded and a warm euphoric feeling came over me soon after I got it. It was smooth. The next drug I asked for was Diprivan (Propofol). It facilitates inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain mediated by a transmitter known in short as GABA. It often burns as it flows into the vein then it renders immediate unconsciousness. I was commenting on the lack of the burn when the next thing I knew; Pat was quietly speaking my name and waking me up. I opened my eyes, I looked up to the screen, the scope was in my knee, and the surgery was already in progress. “Wow, how long was I asleep?” It’s been a while since I have had anesthetic and each time I marvel at the power of these drugs.

Ron quickly went over his findings. Immediately, he said they found cartilage loose bodies floating around in the joint. There was a tight plica stretched across my lateral femoral condyle digging a groove into it. He demonstrated the damage with instruments. I had a torn lateral meniscus and my lateral capsule demonstrated some tight bands causing my patella to track laterally. The photo shown below is the synovial plica which was removed and causing the problems.

Loose cartilage body

Lateral Meniscus tear

Femoral cartilage groove

I had no pain during the procedure and I asked questions just as I would have if I was sitting back there administering the anesthesia.

The lateral plica is a rare finding. Most plicas are medial. The most likely cause of lateral plicas is trauma or overuse. He said he had never seen anything like it. After he pulled it out, I looked at it. It had the consistency of ligament and I knew that it was the source of my pain. It had gradually gotten thicker, tighter and tougher and had begun to wear a groove into my femoral cartilage as a steel cable would if it were rubbed repetitively across a piece of wood.

He trimmed up my lateral meniscus and did a lateral release of the tight capsular bands and I was done. Here is the trim job ----->

I was taken to the recovery room where I was greeted by recovery nurses, Lacy and Kelly. They were familiar faces that I usually drop patients to in the hospital after they awake from anesthetics. They had moved to outpatient too. Dana eventually was allowed back into recovery to be with me. I am normally reserved guy but the Fentanyl made me euphoric and I wouldn’t shut up. Dana had to tell me to put a lid on it. The cardiac alarm above my bed was going off because my heart rate was extremely bradycardic at 38-39 bpm and it was causing a racket. I’m sure that they wanted to get me out of there.

Lateral capsular tight bands

I was discharged quickly with crutches, a large portable ice cooler attached to a knee wrap, which was great. I didn’t need to take any pain medication and my knee felt better after surgery than it had before. This was a good sign. The referred pain, which radiated into my calf, had also disappeared.

I was able to go to work the next day on crutches. I arranged a long room where I could prop my leg up and ice my knee. I brought my knee cooler with me.

Recovery is going well. I might start swimming again on Monday and then in two weeks or so, I will be able to get back to cycling. Meanwhile, I think I will take a break and watch the Olympics. It’s a good time to be laid up. It’s nice to have some motivating TV to keep me off my feet and keep me entertained.

I am so glad that I made the right decision to go through with taking care of this issue now. It’s a relief to know that the source of my discomfort is resolved. Maybe it isn’t all over for me. I plan on a smart recovery and focus on next season. I look forward to the journey back.

A Breakthrough Race

This weekend Tulsa hosted a Team USA qualifier for the World Duathlon Championship: The Chris Brown Memorial Duathlon. Chris Brown was a triathlete from Tulsa who unfortunately succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Randy Pausch who wrote and gave “The Last Lecture” passed away last week from the same devastating disease. Randy’s national bestselling book and thoughts in his lecture give the basic message of to not give up on your dreams, grab life by the horns and make everyday count. A good read from the mind of a dying man.

Athletes converged from all over the country for our little race. Fleet Feet sports took over management of the race this year and moved the venue from the outskirts of Tulsa to the downtown river parks and Riverside Drive. It was a definite improvement. I was planning to do the race but I have been dealing with injuries recently, more about that later.

Doug Leib, an athlete I coach, asked me about doing the event last week, a few days before the race. I thought it suited his strengths, the bike and run. Doug had not done a duathlon before so I thought why not; it would be a good experience and quality training session. Doug was just moving into the intensity phase in prep for the Triathlon National Championship in Portland Oregon on September 20th

Doug is an amazing story. I love stories like his. He doesn’t have any previous athletic experience. He is a 50 year old whose kids have left the nest. Not to long ago he was sick, out of shape and pushing 300lbs. His health problems resulted in hospitalizations. Being the intelligent man that he is, he made a commitment to turn his life around and get in shape. He started running, lost weight, and started to feel good again. He entered some running races then caught the racing bug. Last year did his first triathlon. He tells me that he is now in the best shape of his life. This year he has stepped up his game and just finishing is no longer a goal. Doug has bigger dreams and goals and with his hard work, he is achieving them. It has been fun to watch the transformation.

I went down to the race venue on my bike on race day to take some photos and provide encouragement for the folks who I knew who that were racing. I kept a close eye on Doug and it was exciting to watch him move through the field on the bike. He was having a breakthrough race. On the final run segment, I shouted some last words of encouragement and told him “I think you have found your event”. On the final kilometer, a 19 year old cruised by Doug and I said “See how long you can hang with this 19 year old guy”. The 19 year old shouted back “I’m also an OU college runner”. Doug was hanging with him too. It was amazing!

Doug executed a flawless race. His first and second run splits were essentially the same time. This is difficult to accomplish in a duathlon. His heart rate profile demonstrated the best effort I have seen from him this year. Previously his efforts on the bike tailed off during last half of the race, so we did some strength work during this past month and he was able to maintain a consistent effort throughout the entire bike segment. He averaged 24.1 mph on the bike and his split was the 6th fastest overall! His time was faster than two of the 50+ former professional cyclists in the field. Doug won the 50-54 age group with a time of 1:30.25. He finished 12th overall , just missing winning the masters division by a mere 12 seconds or so.

In winning his age group, Doug earned a slot and an opportunity to compete for Team USA in the World Duathlon Championships in Italy this September. How cool is that!

I’m so proud of Doug not only for his recent athletic accomplishments but also for making the change his life and realizing the importance of health and fitness. He has a promising future in age group racing. Breakthrough races like this can take an athlete to a new level.

At the conclusion of Pausch’s book, he mentioned that his lecture wasn’t about how to achieve childhood dreams; it was about how to lead your life. It’s sad to see folks wasting their health and lives and not living life to its fullest. Don’t be afraid to go after your dreams and achieve goals that others may tell you are impossible. I believe in the quote on the header of this blog. People like Doug Leib are catching on to this too.

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On a personal front, I have had some chronic problems with my right knee. For the past year and a half, I ran through pain and discomfort. The knee would ache in the morning but I was able to live with it. Currently, whenever I run the knee swells and I have pain all the time instead of just following a run. I realized it was time that I needed to do something about it before I damaged myself any further so I had one of my orthopedic surgeon pals take a look at it. Arthroscopic surgery is scheduled for August 7th. It sucks getting old.

I have been swimming more often to maintain my fitness and enjoying my time off from running. I recently set a state citizen’s record in the 1500 M free for my age group. Former 1980 Olympian, Ron Nugent holds the overall masters record of 18:59. My time was close so that’s something I can shoot for in future races.

Dana and Dara: Striking Similarities

This past week the DVR at the Chance household has been recording the Olympic Trials. Watching all these incredible athletes realize their dreams is wonderful. I have to say that am most impressed with Dara Torres. She is 41 and just blitzed the field in the 50 free and touched out Natalie Coughlin in the 100 free. Exercise Physiologists will tell you that as you age you lose speed and power. Dara has done the opposite and gotten faster. She was always fast and I think modern training methods and these new fast suits help a lot. She has been inspiring to me though.

I remember back in the mid to late 80’s Mark Spitz at 40 tried to make a comeback. He competed in a series of televised 50-meter swims against top competitors like Matt Biondi and Tom Jager for prize money. He was spanked.

I remember watching Dara swim at the LA Olympics in 1984. I can say I had a crush on her at the time. I have seen her in magazines and subsequent Olympics through the years but it wasn’t until now that I noticed some similarities between her and my wife Dana. When I saw her go the end of the lane and get ready for her swims, it was almost as if I was watching Dana. I have included some photos below.
Head shots. I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find a photo of Dana with her hair cut like that and with a black and white dress on.

Some action shots.

All dressed up.

When I was a kid in the 70’s, the Donny and Marie show was popular. It wasn’t really my thing at the time or anytime for that matter. He was never a “little bit rock and roll” to me. Unfortunately, in my younger days I bared a likeness to Donny Osmond. I would always get embarrassed when people reminded me of this. I heard it all the time. I would have rather looked like a famous athlete rather than a lame pop idol. I was looking for photos of Dara and this one caught my attention, our look alikes, Dara and Donny how sweet.

Surviving Buffalo Springs 70.3

This past weekend Dana and I made the trek to Lubbock, TX for the Buffalo Springs 70.3. This would be my 4th year in a row of doing this race. I think that’s a record for me doing any race consecutively. It was my first ever half ironman four years ago and I remembered how painful it was. I thought how on earth can I do twice this distance? This would also be my first race with Dana since St. Croix 70.3 of last year so it made this trip a bit more fun.

Lubbock is a west Texas town in the desert. The geography consists of scrub brush and red rocky soil with very few trees. The major attraction in this town is a museum for the 50’s rock idol, Buddy Holly. The climate is usually arid and hot. It sits at 3000 ft altitude. It’s not a destination race by any means, unless of course you happen to be a Buddy Holly fanatic.

Buddy is dead now. I think I wore a pair of glasses like that in medical school. I think he died in a tragic plane crash. We missed the museum tour.

The Buffalo Springs Lake is spring fed and lies at the bottom of a canyon. There are several steep climbs into and out of the transition area which add to the race’s difficulty. Like Kona, the conditions, including the heat and the winds, usually take their toll on the athletes. I think this is what draws the “hard core” triathletes and having 28 Kona slots doesn’t hurt either. The level of competition is usually very high.

Dana and I arrived in Lubbock on Saturday, the day before the race. We drove down there in 7 hours. It was to be a quick in and out trip so I booked a room at the Quality Inn. How could I go wrong with a name like the Quality Inn? It had to be nice and $69.95 seemed like a bargain.

We went to the Holiday Inn where the race expo was located to get our packets. We met and talked with a few folks then headed to the race site for a quick prerace workout to check the equipment out. It was a great day, warm, sunny, and wind was at a minimum. If race day was like this, it would be perfect. Dinner was at a fine Italian establishment called Orlando’s. We saw some pro athletes there, so it had to be good. The pros are always on top of everything.

We returned to the Quality Inn, stuffed our backpacks, and got to bed early, 9:30ish. The problem with this is, most of the rest of the motel life is still very awake. The walls were paper-thin, but what do you expect for $69.95? To our left we heard the cars going by on the interstate. In front of us, a TV in the next room was blaring. And to our right, kids were screaming and running down the halls. Behind our headboard, the loudest racket was coming from the “sex couple”. That’s right, we heard the rhythmic banging and moaning. This woman was making a lot of noise. Dana and I laid there silent for a while and neither of us said a thing. Finally, I said dryly…“He must be pretty good” Then Dana replied, “Ugh, She’s such a faker! I wish she would just shut up. She’s so annoying. Nice place you picked, Rob!” I always get blamed in situations like this.

Hey, wait a second. Faking it? This poor guy thinks he’s God’s gift and she’s faking it! Images of the diner scene with Meg Ryan in “When Harry Met Sally” flashed into my mind. I think Elaine on “Seinfeld” mentioned the same thing to Jerry in an episode once. Anyway, we turned on our air-conditioner unit and drowned out most of the noise and finally drifted off to sleep. Dana, a light sleeper, said they were back at it a 1:30am. They definitely weren’t racing on Sunday.

Dana nudged me at 3:50 am. The alarm at the Quality Inn didn’t go off, big surprise. Luckily, Dana set her watch alarm, also. Morning. Ug, I hate race mornings, especially ones where you have to get calories in you as soon as you wake up. I suppose four years in a row were starting to wear on me. Motivation plays such a huge part in this sport. This race meant very little to me. Dana was a bit more into it. It has been five weeks since Ironman Brazil and she was feeling fit.

As we were driving to the race site the wind was picking up and we saw lightning in the distance. I didn’t check the weather, but some folks in the transition area said a storm was moving in. This would certainly be a challenge.

Last year I wrote about the sandbar at the start of the swim. Well, my secret was out. Everyone must have read my race report in my blog! So, this year, the pro wave ran along the sand bar almost to the first buoy and so did every subsequent wave. It was hilarious.

I was in the 5th wave, the 45-49 men were leaving with the 25-29 men. I ran along the sandbar but in the process stepped on a rock with my left foot and I felt a sharp pain into the ball of first metatarsal head. My foot was killing me as I started the swim. I soon forgot the pain and searched for some young feet to draft off . I accelerated to a 25 year old guy and just latched on for the entire swim. I remember looking at my watch and seeing 23:50 when I got out. Nice swim, but after that my race went quickly downhill. I was able to maintain my wattage target for an hour but after that I just couldn’t keep it going. I remember that last year I felt I was able to really race this race. Well, this year I was back to just surviving again. My lack of training time on the bike was apparent.

This year at Buffalo Springs, the weather was horrible with rain and winds gusting to 45 mph, which further exploited my weakness. In my training this year, I have been able to get in the runs and the swims, but the bike training time has been a bit tough to squeeze in, and the results showed. You can fake your way through an Olympic distance race with low miles but you can’t do it with a half ironman.

There was a lot of carnage on the course. Folks took the down hills too fast and the slick wet roads caused quite a few crashes. I took those descents very easy. When all was said and done I turned in a personal worst time on this course of 2:46.

I had a decent run though, a 1:35, with a negative split. The usual oppressive hot conditions were replaced with a cool rain this year, so there were fewer implosions on the run by guys that biked too hard, and I only managed to run myself back to 9th in my age group with a 4:49. This was over 10 minutes slower than last year’s time. I think that ties my slowest overall time here, which was the first year I did it. Anyway, I have to be pleased with the result considering the amount of training I have done. Long hard rides are necessary to do well at this distance.

I felt like quitting early in the run but I toughed it out. My left foot was killing me and I couldn’t figure out why. Later, when we were driving home the pain got worse and my big toe swelled like I had gout, then it dawned on me. “Oh yeah, I hurt it on the swim start running along that sand bar“. On Monday I had it x-rayed. Luckily there are no fractures but I still have to put weight on the outside of my foot due to the deep bruise and pain . I guess that’s the price you pay for cheating on the swim. Dana thinks that they should rope off that section next year so the athletes can’t run along the sandbar. “It’s a swim, for goodness sakes, not a water run. “ she said. The swim is under-represented in a half iron distance race anyway.

Dana had a solid race. She thought the bike conditions were tougher this year. It took her ten minutes longer than the last time she raced here, two years ago. She wanted to break 30 on the swim and went 27. Her run was a PR for her on the Buffalo Springs course, but not enough to net a PR for the race because of the slower bike. She was 7th in her age group with a 5:16.

I learned a few things from this race. One, if you don’t put in the time you don’t get the time, and in future races I will add ear plugs to my race equipment checklist.

Volunteering

Volunteering for a race is something every triathlete should do. When you are out on the course focusing on your race, it is easy to forget about the work that goes on behind the scenes to make your race a success.

When Peter Reid volunteered for the Hawaii Ironman a few years back, he chose the go to the heart of the race, the energy lab. I guess he wanted to get a good feel for the race he loved and that usually followed him. I remembered a comment he made in an interview. He said that the 9:30-10:00 guys were the most intense and demanding and were the rudest to the volunteers. I thought, “Hey, I was in that group and I don’t remember any incidents“. There is no reason to be rude to people who come out and stand in the hot sun for hours on end to help you.

If Dana qualifies for Hawaii this year, I plan on volunteering. I think it would be a lot of fun.

I see folks on various online forums complaining about races and race directors. Obviously these people haven’t volunteered for a race and don’t appreciate the work that goes into putting one of these on.

This past weekend was the Tulsa triathlon. I was still feeling ill and tired so I chose to volunteer rather than race it. Dana was doing the bike on a relay team, so I had the kids. I was placed out on the bike course at mile 15 of the 25 mile course. My job was to keep the athletes on track and headed in the right direction. The race was the standard Olympic distance, however this year they changed the course from a hilly loop around Skiatook Lake to a point to point, Skiatook to Tulsa. The route took the athletes due south into a prevailing headwind for the entire ride. This made the course difficult and I think only one rider, Chuck Sloan, averaged over 20 miles/hour. On a positive note, it brought the race back to Tulsa, which brings more visibility to the sport here.

The kids and I got to our assigned position an hour in advance. I chose to make our station a Star Wars theme. Braden had a Darth Vader helmet and cape and we had plenty of plastic light sabers to assist in directing the cyclists like airplanes. While we were waiting, I had plenty of duels with Darth Vader and managed to win a few. We also used the light sabers as baseball bats to hit rocks over the fence at the cows. We examined the road kill at our station. Braden correctly identified the decayed corpse as a raccoon. Dana had a case of Diet Coke in the back of the van so the kids managed to open a few of those and pour them all over the cars interior. It never fails, if the kids have drinks or food in the car it always ends up on the floor. I should have had the carpet and the vans interior coated in plastic prior to bringing it home.

Once the cyclists started pouring by we had a lot more fun but the excitement soon grew old, especially for Darth as the cyclist flow slowed to a slow trickle. Everyone seemed to get a good laugh seeing me standing on the side of the road waving light sabers with little Darth at my side. I think it would have been funnier if he had a Yoda mask on. We spent a total of 4 hours out there. It’s been a few years since I have volunteered. There were quite a few folks that voiced their appreciation for our efforts and I liked that. I think that is something that I’m going to do more regularly when I’m out on the course racing.

Here's a shot of Darth and I bringing the cyclists home. Excitement is high.


Darth started to get a little tired and had a seat in the lawn chair.

Despite drinking this entire mug of
Kona Nightingale, Darth is out cold.

Roadkill...The give away is the striped tail.

After the race, I spent a short time at the finish line returning my gear and talking with a few folks, but I was pooped. I went home and crashed on the couch. It was tough work. I think I was more fatigued than those that raced the course. Jessica Myers won the women’s race in 2:17 and Chuck Sloan went 2:05 for the men. Eric Lundt, one of the athletes I coach, went 2:48 and 7th in his age group in prep for Buffalo Springs in two weeks.

Remember when you race give thanks to the volunteers. They will appreciate it.

Escape from Alcatraz.........and the Denver Airport

This past weekend I had the opportunity of competing in a race that has been “on my list” for a long time, The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. Participants of this world-class field are taken out by boat to the site of the famed prison and dumped off to swim 1.5 miles in the frigid swift currents of the waters of San Francisco bay to the Yacht club. From that point, there is a run, almost a mile, to the transition area, which is followed by a hilly technical 18-mile bike tour of the town. The 8-mile run is less than flat. Most of it is on single-track trails through steep hills, stairs and sand. This race is a mixture of an adventure race and a triathlon. This race is so popular because of the lure of adventure and the challenge of swimming across San Francisco Bay. Was an escape from this famed prison really possible?

A few days before the race I was on call. Unfortunately, I was up all night and my immune system took a big hit. The next day I came down with a sore throat and the fatigue that goes along with an upper respiratory tract infection. It couldn’t have been better timing. This plagued me even through race day. I felt like crap, but I kept a positive attitude and didn’t let it spoil my little adventure.

I managed to arrange a few extra days off work and left on Thursday. After a few delays, I made it to San Jose late that night and stayed with my Epic Camp pal, Mark Pietrofesa. He was a great host and his girlfriend Kammie made us an awesome breakfast the next morning. While staying with Mark, I was able to sample some of the great riding San Mateo County has to offer as well as swam at his health club. On my way out, I saw NFL star Jerry Rice. Mark mixes with the best.

Here are some photos of Mark and I and a bike trail to get to the nice roads in San Mateo county.

Albert Boyce, another epic pal, took us both out to dinner at Le Colonial near Union Square on Friday night. Albert won epic camp and was on the age group podium in Hawaii in 2005. Both he and Mark are a couple of the best 40-44 age groupers in the nation if not the world. Mark just won his age group at the Honu 70.3 and is now a member of the “Big Bowl Club”. Here's Mark's big bowl.
Albert is the man behind"Coffees of Hawaii" .He grew up in the Bay area, and is involved in a few other businesses as well. He is one of the hardest working guys out there. It was relaxing to take in some good food and good company and exchange stories.

Through triathlons, and traveling to races, I have met many fine folks. I suppose it is one of the things that I like about the sport and which keeps me in it. Both Dana and I are developing quite a network of like-minded friends from all over the country. Here's a photo of Albert in Yellow at Epic Camp.
Race day went smooth. The weather was perfect. I got on the boat with Albert and we shot the breeze until it was time to jump off. Being a former sailor of the bay, he showed me some of the nuances of the tides while we waited.

Once the starting gun fired, participants shuffled off the boat like penguins jumping off an iceberg. I had prepared myself for the worst, but I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the water. “Hey, this isn’t that cold”. Being a good swimmer, I ran into a lot of folks before I was able to get to clear water. I was kicked in the face a few times. There is a radio tower off in the distance that the swimmers have to sight. The tower is way left of the yacht club. If you swim to the tower, the ebb current to takes you to the target. I kept a steady course for it and landed smack dab in the center of the beach at the exit. Perfect!

The bike was very hilly and I felt like I just couldn’t get my effort level or heart rate up. I wasn’t able to get myself to the point of hyperventilating. It may have been due to some of the medications that I was taking along with the congestion I had. Tons of people were passing me. I experienced the same on the run. This wasn’t going to be my day, so I decided at that point to enjoy the race and take in the sights and the experience. I had a blast.

I ended up finishing seventh in my age group, and 70th overall, with a 2:32, which I felt was better than I thought I would have been. I thought I was middle of the pack. Albert rocked it and was sixth overall amateur. I just had escaped from Alcatraz, but little did I know that my entire escape experience was far from being complete.

I quickly collected my gear and headed up to my motel to pack my bike and make my way to the airport to catch my flight. Michael Yatsko, another good friend I met at St Croix last year, drove all the way up from the Monterey area to see the race and do a training run. He and I chatted a little while I packed the bike in the motel parking lot. It was good to see him. He is training for his first IM in Canada this year.

I had allowed myself several hours to make the flight. I felt confident that I had plenty of time, but after dropping off the rental car, getting on a number of buses and trains, and waiting in endless lines, with my bike box and all my luggage, I just made it to the gate just as my flight was boarding. Ahh, I let out a sigh of relief. I would make a connecting flight in Denver and be home in my own bed by midnight and back to work in the morning. It had been quite an adventure.

When I arrived in Denver, I found that my flight had been delayed 30 minutes due to weather. There were some folks at the gate who had been at the airport all day waiting for a flight to Tulsa. Each had their own stories, but the flights were overbooked so they were bumped sequentially from each flight as it left. This one was the last flight of the night and everyone was tired and anxious. Some old folks sitting across from me looked very tired. I had pity for them.

By 11 pm, we heard that our flight had been cancelled. I was very angered by the way we were notified. The gate agent disappeared, and then the “cancelled” notice turned up next to our flight on the departure screens. I overheard it from some other folks talking about it and since I had experienced the self-service customer service before, I quickly got in line to rearrange my schedule. I had to call the hospital to tell them that I couldn’t wouldn‘t be there. Others in my group would have to pick up the slack in my absence. I hate to do that to my partners.

Here I am at United Airlines "self service customer service"unshaven and unhappy.

Self-service customer service is a computer kiosk and a phone. Your personal information is entered on a touch-activated screen and if there is a problem, you pick up a phone and speak with some agent in a distant land. This is an ingenious way for the airlines to distance themselves from irate stranded passengers in their time of need. I overheard a lot of frustrated people having it out with the agent on the other end. The gate agents send you to the computer customer service and the phone agents send you to a gate agent whose attitude is “It’s not my job”. Everyone wants to pass the buck.

I managed to get a flight out the next day so instead of sleeping on the floor at the airport like a lot of the other folks, I got on a bus to the Hyatt and got a decent 5 hours of sleep. The exhausted old folks rented a van pooled together with some others and drove back to Tulsa. They were through with the airlines. I couldn’t blame them. They did the smart thing.

I got back to the airport early that morning to be greeted by yet another surprise at the security check in. My new boarding pass had been labeled with SSSS. I was a “high risk” security target. Were they on to me? Did they know I had just escaped from Alcatraz? I was shunted to the super secret security line where I went through everything but a strip search. However, I was placed into a chamber and “blown”. I made it through without the security team finding out about my escape.

I was on standby for the morning flight to Tulsa, but so were 30 other people. There wasn’t a lot of compassion from the gate agents. This flight was overbooked, too, as was the next one, and then the following one after that. It turns out escaping from Alcatraz was easy compared to attempting to escape from the Denver airport!

It’s a real shame how I and the other folks were treated. Here our flight had been canceled, and we were being treated so poorly. For all they cared we could just be stuck at the airport for days waiting for a seat to open up. After being gouged $200.00 for my bike and then all this, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth regarding airline travel. I don’t want to travel by air anywhere anytime soon. However, what did leave a good taste in my mouth was that I was able to try the entire espresso menu of both Seattle’s best Coffee and Starbucks while I hung out in the airport all day.

By 8:20 pm, 25 hours after I arrived in Denver, I finally boarded the plane to Tulsa. When I arrived at my seat in the very back of the plane. I found that I had the middle seat next to a woman with a crying baby. After I sat down a huge fat man sat down next to me in the isle seat. After we took off, I closed my eyes and was just about to drift off when my knees were crunched into my chest. The woman in front of me just reclined her seat all the way back. Oh boy, all these things combined had never happened to me before. What were the odds that I would experience the nightmare trifecta? A fat man taking up half of my space, a baby crying in my ear, and a full recline from the passenger in front. I was also in the rearmost seat, across from the toilet. The unofficial potty monitor -- where everyone thinks they need to ask you if the toilet is open, or make some other comment to the poor soul who got the “potty-monitor” seat. Luckily, the flight was only an hour in a half.

It’s good to be home, but since I have returned work has been rough. The week is almost over and I feel I have never been home. I had to pay all my partners for working for me due to my absence. I am currently on an other night call and all I want to do is just sleep and get over this illness. Exercise is the furthest thing on my category of needs.

Would I do it again? You bet, in a heartbeat! I loved this race. I definitely plan on going back and conquering this course again next year.

Mr. Mom

While Dana was jet setting in Brazil, I used my vacation time to be Mr. Mom and live in Danasworld. Remember that old movie “Mr. Mom “with Michael Keaton? That was me. We are also doing some home remodeling. Thankfully, I have hired the work out. I am smart enough to know my limitations and that every thing can‘t always be fixed with duct tape.

It was great to get my training in during the day while the kids were in school, and then be finished with it all by school pick up time.

Pick up time was my least favorite time of the day. My kids go to a private school so no buses transport them home. It is the parent’s responsibility to be there for pick up. Hundreds of kids are released at once, followed by an onslaught of vehicles converging on the school. You can give me a hemorrhaging gunshot wound, or a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm and I usually keep my cool and my stress level is minimal. However, it’s some thing about all these type “A” housewives in their luxury SUV’s pushing and shoving their way into the line that shoots my stress level through the roof. It makes me want to scream, and sometimes I do. There is a scene in the Mr. Mom movie where the guard tells him “you’re doing it wrong” That has happened to me. The guards have had some words with me. Every time I pick them up, I profess to myself, “there must be a better way”.

Braden, my youngest, just graduated from first grade. Earlier in the week, I took him to a birthday party at Skateland. It was nostalgic seeing all the kids skate. It brought back some memories of my own childhood. I got him into his skates quickly and made sure he was able to propel himself then I headed out to get some grocery shopping done. I had one hour, I thought this would be plenty of time. However, I failed to factor in the time in the checkout line, which took a bit longer than it should have and I was ten minutes late. Later, I heard one of the mothers of one of the other children (not the mother of the birthday boy) was frantically trying call me to pick Braden up. The party was over and I wasn’t there. A small miscalculation on my part and I was in deep dodo. When I arrived they were just loading the gifts in the car, at least they weren’t tapping their feet with cross looks on their faces. This is another reason I can’t come close to performing the responsibilities of motherhood the way Dana can. It takes precision timing and calculation, these are skills I have yet to hone.
Braden’s class had another party at one of his classmate’s homes, and since it was a pool party, parents were required to attend. I suppose that if your kid drowns, it’s going to be your fault. So twenty or so mothers were there sitting watching the kids have a great time. I was able to sit with the other mothers and talk about motherly things. I was fortunate enough to talk with a grandmother of one of the children who does ultra marathons. Now that’s a cool grandma. I had a nice conversation with her. I managed to turn her on to Hammer Nutrition. Brian Frank would be happy. I was able to get in some soft marketing for one of my sponsors at a kids pool party.

I suppose I was being too boring and the host of the party told me “if you have something else to do“……. Are you sure? Do you know the reputation I have regarding party pickups? I was there long enough to see my son in action. I was shocked when a little girl brought him a plate of snacks while he sat on his inflatable raft lounging in the pool then she got in and snuggled up beside him. I couldn’t help but get a vision of an older Braden with hotties hovering around him bringing him beer. “No, No.. Stop!!” Keep him just like he is, a happy “Star Wars” loving seven year old

When I arrived to pick him up (on time), one of the girls was getting him a cotton candy. I told him ‘Braden the party is over.” The little girl said ….” The party is just getting started” Oh boy, these are just first graders. I suppose they are second graders now.

The weather here is just right. The oppressive heat and humidity has yet to hit, so I thought it was a good opportunity to take the kids to the drive in movie. Yes, we still have one open here in Tulsa, the Admiral Twin. It was were they filmed the hit movie the “Outsiders”. This was a new retro experience that is likely to, someday, not be an option for them anymore. I hadn’t been to a drive in for years and once I experienced the sound and picture quality again, I realize why they have become outdated. However, in the past, I don’t think the movie was the main reason we went to the drive in for anyway. It was still fun to sit outside with the kids and take in this experience.

We tracked Dana on Ironman live on Sunday. She had a solid race and was 16th overall and top 10 amateur finish. If she had done any other Ironman race in the series, she most likely would have left with a Kona slot. However, it appeared that some of the fastest women in her age group showed up in Brazil that day. I am so proud of her, she can compete and train at that level and keep this family running smoothly. Believe me; it’s harder than it looks.