Shaun Christian Pumpkinman bike

Shaun Christian Pumpkinman half run

Las Vegas PumpkinMan

I had planned this Vegas trip back in August, and thought it would be a fun trip to take as many friends and T3TRI elite boys as possible. In the end I had five boys and three friends that made the trip to come race with me. I picked this course because I thought it would be a great way to gauge my triathlon fitness on a course very similar to what I'll face in May at the St George Ironman.

I took off to Thursday, a day before everyone else. I wanted to to go ride part of the course Friday, and not have to drive 5 plus hours on my birthday or the day before a half Ironman distance. It was a good move in the end, because I got to experience first hand how punishing the last six miles of the bike course were; straight mean!
I met all my peeps around 4PM on Friday at packet pick-up. This is where I started and ended my ride earlier. It was perfect timing because I had been in line for only 5 minutes when they showed up. We got our timing chips, race numbers, and got body marked. We also set up our T2 (bike to run transition). The start of this race (swim to bike) is around six miles away and downhill from T2/ finishline.
We went back to the condo to drop off Chris, Ammiee, and Amy's stuff and then went out to the Claim Jumper for carb loading dinner. It hit the spot but was a bit late for a pre race meal. Chris was awesome and picked up the tab being it my birthday and all. What a cool gift for a great friend. I had a little anxiety at dinner thinking of the race and what I need to do to get ready. I quickly got that out of my head and told myself that this is just for fun.
Race morning always seems too early 0430. I downed an insure, half a banana, and half of some organic bar the gave us in our race bag. I also must have tried to use the damn bathroom 5 times before we left to no avail. I'm a big believer in a good bathroom stop before the race start.

We pulled into the Lake Mead boat ramp parking lot. Right away I was looking for a non crowded bathroom. I went and set up my T1 transition. Amy made the comment that everyone up in the long course section of the transition, where I was, were just like me; type red personality and OCD. As we walked back down transition towards the water, where the olympic and sprint transitions were, they had music playing and people were loose and Amy said "these are my kind of people". I said you have me all wrong, I'm not like the people up there, I'm like these kind of peeps!

I finally found a bathroom and had a great experience there. I went back up to the car to get my Elite boys all set up and to wish them well and then headed to the start. I got in the water and swam about 20 meters out and back., The water was fine! Very clear and perfect temp. Right before we were to start some race lady come over with her megaphone and shout out swim directions that were completely opposite of what we all thought we were doing. Everyone was confused. Some guy came over and took over and tried to clear things up. It was very unclear to me and I moved back a bit and figured I'd just follow. Thirty three minutes later I was out of the water and making my way up to my bike, about 1/4 of a mile up the boat ramp! It felt like a long ways away. Off to the bike.

The bike… the bike was tough. Thanks to my ride the day before I knew that a six mile hill was coming up a mile 50. So, I held back a little throughout the bike ride. I felt really good the entire ride except for my lower back. I've been playing with my bike position for the last month and hadn't been on the bike enough to get used to the new position. I now think it's a great position, I just need to work on core, lower back, and flexibility. Off to the run

I had a fast transition and felt great for the first two miles (sub 7 pace). I caught to halfer's at mile three and ran with them until mile 7.5. At which point I got dropped.

My stomach was pissed! I now think that I consumed too many calories on the bike. I committed a cardinal sin, and was trying something I had never used before on race day; EFS. The EFS went down smooth but was hard to gauge how much I had poured into my water bottle and hence hard to tell how much I was consuming. I'm guessing that I took in between 800-1200 calories in the 3:10 ride. I really only needed 750 and as soon as I tried to take calories on the run I figured that one out. I had rough miles between 8-10.5 but got it back for the last two miles. I lost 4 minutes on the two guys I was running with at the 8 mile mark. finish

I was way happy with my race and how my Elite boys did. It was also a great bench mark for my up coming training for St George IM. It was now time to party!!
Thanks to Chris and Amy for all the great photos

St George Outing

What a fun trip to St george this last weekend. We ended up renting a house for the weekend, which was the best idea ever! Thanks Amy. We had our friends Pedro and Carol join us too.
We got down there Friday at 5ish. Pedro and Carol were 15 minutes behind. We got all settled and headed over to the Expo to pick up our race packets. This was my 5th trip down the registration isle.

I really had no expectations going into this race. My thought was that I hadn't done any speed work and all my training has been based on my A race, the Wasatch 100, three weeks previous. I really took a week off after the Wasatch. This turned out to be a great thing as my legs were well rested.

Pedro and I took off around 4:45AM in route to catch a bus. 26.2 miles later we we're dropped off. Right when I stepped of the bus I knew it was way warmer than I remembered it being in years past. I race here back in 2008 and it rained almost the entire time… from start to finish! We made our way passed all the fire pits and to the second to last row of shitters and waited in line. I focused and told myself that I really needed to unload here or I'd be hating it somewhere along the run. Pedro had to pee bad enough, that he ran in into the bushes. He came back while I was still about five back in line. Pedro hung out with me and decided he better give the shitter a shot too. We both got lucky!

We hung out at the fire pits for a bit before dropping off our drop bags. Pedro took notice that they had a Guatemalan flag, I asked him if he had put Guatemala on the registration form. He did and I replied, "The flag is for you then". We squeezed or way into small space in between the 3:30 and 3:40 pacers. Pedro thought it was too close but I assured that he would be fine.

The gun goes off and I start to make my way to the left to pass on the gravel. I had decided to just go as hard as I could comfortably go for 26.2. I didn't wear my Garmin and didn't even start my watch. Classic Shaun on race day. I did look at the time when I passed the starting line, 6:52AM. As I passed the first mile marker I did a speed check and I knew it was around an 8 minute mile. I got out of traffic around the two mile marker and settled into a pace. I guessed I was around a 7:30 mile. I felt really good. Coming into Veyo I hit the 3:10 pacer and his big following… Wow!! I passed them as soon as I could, Didn't really like that group for some reason. They caught me going half way up the Veyo hill. I suck at hills apparently. This has been a theme at my last few marathons. I pass going down and get passed going up. Hill work…

At the top of the hill I ran into Jason Garlick and asked him how he was doing and what he was going for. He said he was trying to qualify for Boston and needed a 3:14 and then asked the same of me. I said I had no idea and that I was planning on a 3:20- 3:30. I ran with Jason through aid station at mile 11 and then left him behind along with the 3:10 pacer. I came across the 13.1 at 1:34. I was really happy about that and told myself "lets try and negative split this" I ran into Dre and her friend right out of the 13.1 aid station and said HI.

At mile 22 I had a little twinge in both my quads on the outside. I thought they better not cramp. I drank water and Gatorade at all the aid stations and made sure to keep up on that. I pounded my last of 3 Gu's and went for it. I ran the last 3.2 miles pretty hard… I'm guessing 19:55 for the last 3.

I came across the finishline at 3:05:23. I was way happy to be done and to have pushed it as hard as I did. I meet up with my awesome cheering section and waited to Cheer Pedro through. I felt bad as the day really started to heat up and knowing that there were a lot of runners out there.

Pedro came through around 4:35 for his first marathon. Awesome! We all headed home. Pedro BBQ'd as I passed out on the couch out in the patio. Thanks Pedro. We had a great lunch and headed out to Sand Hollow to swim and enjoy the beach there. That was perfect for recovery and an awesome time. Needless to say I slept well that night.

We took our time getting up and out of there Sunday as we had no check out time. We rolled into Orem around 7:15PM. Mercedes and Ryan were so awesome and brought us over some yummy Dinner. I'm so blessed to have such an awesome daughter and son in-law.  What an awesome weekend!

Telos Timp Tri

Well, the race is over!!... :-). This was our inaugural Telos Timp Tri and it went off without a hitch.  The weather was great.

These races are always a little stressful. There's a lot more that go into putting on these races than most people think. From coordinating with the Orem PD, to Timing, to race shirt, to medals, to set up, to sweeping the course, to making sure the sprinklers don't turn on in the middle of the race, to after race food and awards, to taking the race down..... and tons in between. A big thanks to all my volunteers! TeKoi a big thanks to you brother. It's a big relief to have this one over....... There was something missing though :-(

Next race... The Utah Half August 9th!

The good and bad news is that my personal training starts now. I've been missing the triathlon races and signed up for the Ironman Arizona in November. I don't even know the date.... That's how little I've been thinking about it. Well, time for me to start thinking about it! I haven't been on a bike since I don't know when... yeah... it's gonna be a slow bike split. 

My next race is Ogden Marathon May 17th and then Squaw Peak 50 miler June 1st. I'm gonna run well over a 7 min mile pace cause I hate those peeps that run sub 7 min miles and run in lame groups that don't even talk to those that can't hang :-) 

Lose

Lose: To be deprived of or cease to retain. I have experienced lose on multiple levels in the last week, and I can't quite seem to get myself back in order. I feel sad, lost, and uncertain. My heart has been broken. I feel that I have lost and lost big!  Lose... I don't like to loose... I'd much rather win!

Utah Valley Marathon

I awoke around 5am to good tunes. I got up unwanting but made my way towards the bathroom to see if I was so lucky. I spent some extra time sitting there this morning;trying to convince my body that it was a good move. I got somewhat lucky...better than nothing I thought. At these moments I always look back at the night before and and try to calculate if the amount that came out equals the amount entered. By my calculations I was in trouble. 

So I quickly went through my normal, routine race morning. I was dragging. I came downstairs to get a drink and noticed that the crew was outside waiting. We invited Marc, Jessica, Bob, and Millar in. I was second guessing what to wear because I knew it would be a cold start. I ran upstairs and grabbed a hoody. We all pilled in the car.  Mercedes, bless her heart, came along so that she could drive the car back home.

So, were at the starting line. Wait let me back up to last night at the packet pick up. So, I pick up my Shaun Christian bag. Well, so I thought. It turns out that it was Kathy Christensens' bag. Shot out to Kathy.  Back to Bridal Vail Falls. So,  I got out of the car in search of the timing peeps. It was damn cold with the typical early morning canyon winds. I found the timing peeps who were already aware of the mix up. Shot out Kathy! 

It was dark and cold, I made my way over to the fire pits where everyone else was trying to get warm. The race director made some announcement and everyone made their way to the starting line. I was guessing that there were around 90 people? I still don't know how many there were. I gave some hugs out and we all wished each other good luck. A couple of seconds passed and then the race started. I was towards the back and started to make my way up. I decided right then that I was going to push it. In my head I started playing games and went through my last weeks prep work. Ok..... last Saturday a ran the Provo Half slow and easy with  my boys and friends. Sunday I went and ran 22 miles with Aime. Shot out Amie. That was a tough run with plenty of wind and hills. I didn't run again until Tuesday's 5 miler with Alex. I hadn't run since Tuesday,  I said to myself. I thought... well not the most optimum prep week but I was still running hard and still making my way through the pack down the canyon. The field started to dwindle down. 

It was so dark that I couldn't see the leader. I ran with a group of about 4 and then 2 by the time I hit the mouth of the canyon I could only see four-five guys ahead of me. Well two of the guys stopped just ahead of us on Center and University and shrugged their shoulders like... were the hell do we go? The guy right in front of me knew and turned West on Center. Another runner came up from behind and joined us. When we Got to where we could see the big hill on Center I could see two guys way up there cresting the hill. I thought WOW those guys are moving cause I thought I was running hard. I got to the top of the hill and stopped and to shed my pants. NOTE TO SELF: go pick up your pants! So at this point I thought I was in around 8th place counting the two guys that passed me while I was shedding. I made my way back up to those guys that passed me and passed them. 

At mile 9 or so there's a loop section. Well, one of the volunteers at the loop crossover, bless her heart, sent me and the one guy next to me the opposite way. Well she sent us right into the steepest hill of the day only we were going up when we should have been going down. Anyways, no big deal, it was the same distance.

At mile 18 I took my third and last gel. I was feeling pretty good. My legs were saying "What,.. in the hell makes you think we were ready for this" By mile 22 my stomach was cramping every so often and if there would have been a port-o-potty right there I would have paid it a visit. I calculated that I was in 5th. I was making ground on number four and caught his heals a quarter mile from mile marker 23. I rode his heals right up to the mile marker and then passed him. I took a look at my watch and thought I would need to run a 19:45 min. 5k to break 3 hours. I knew that I had slowed down from my earlier pass and but didn't know if I had that fast of a 5k left in me. I kept going and making a little ground on number 3. At mile 25 I knew that I would not catch the third guy and played the not getting caught game. I turned the corner and saw the glorious finishline. I ran my same pace not thinking much or more importantly not looking at the time! There was no fancy clock to tell you where you were time wise and I was going of normal time and not race time on my watch. As I approached the finisline I saw the time turn to 3 hours right before I went through.  The clock was behind the finishline and it was too late by the time I saw it to sprint and break 3 hours. I wasn't that bummed really. I was happy with what I had done. I waited and watch my friends come through. It was a great race. I ended up in four with a 3:04:5 a 6:52 average pace.