Never get a flat again?

Think about it.  You go out for all of your bike rides, not really ever worrying about getting a flat.  And even better, you get yourself all set up for race day, extremely confident that one issue you won't have on race day is a flat tire.  How is this possible?  You ride solid rubber tires!  That's how!  But that wouldn't be comfortable, or fun, or smart, or any other positive word you can think of.  However, there may be a product that is very, very close to this dream...

A couple of days ago, I was talking to a coworker, and fellow cyclist.  He made a passing comment about "no tubes".  I initially assumed he just meant tubeless.  When I said that I still use tubes, he elaborated on his "no tubes" comment.  He said that this guy created some tubeless tire goo that instantly prevents any punctures from giving you a flat tire.  I replied that I already knew about "slime" and he said, "no, this stuff is waaaaaaay better...and actually works!"  Now, in Slime's defense, I haven't used it, so I can't actually speak as to it's effectiveness.  This coworker told me to just look it up on YouTube and my mind would be blown away.  So I did, and this is what I found...

If you couldn't see the video, go here to watch it.

I will admit, I'm pretty impressed.  Unfortunately, I don't have tubeless wheels, so I can't just go and buy this stuff to stick in my tires.  There is a conversion kit available, which would allow me to convert my clinchers to tubeless wheels, but it would be really nice to try it out, or even talk to a few more people who have used this product before shelling out the $200 for the conversion kit.

It seems as if this product has been around for a while, seeing as this YouTube video was posted back in 2008.  I tried to do some Googling for reviews, and the majority of people seem to be happy.  A few customers noted that the liquid evaporates over time, so there is a need to periodically refill the tires with more sealant.  The other issue that was brought up was that the liquid, over a longer period of time, might lead to oxidization of the wheel.  This could be a problem, as it could lead to the wheel becoming less stable.  However, Stan's claims that this is not an issue with their product.  

For me, I think it would be a great product to have in your training wheels, that you use almost daily.  You would be putting in so many miles without having to worry about a flat.  The question then becomes, is Stan's better than using the thorn resistant tires/tubes?  I don't know!  I guess my main concern is, if it's so great, why hasn't it gained more popularity?

What do you think?  Have you heard of Stan's, or even tried it out before?  Is it something you'd like to try?

Thanks for reading!

Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Recap - The Aftermath

I absolutely loved this race.  It was only my second triathlon outside of Arizona, and my first Ironman outside of Arizona (and obviously first Ironman that wasn't Ironman Arizona).  It was so much fun to be able to share this experience with a large group of people, all of whom support us athletes in our endeavors.  Even more exciting was that I got to be a part of Old Wise One's and The Music Man's first Ironman experience!  And even more impressive was that it was The Music Man's first triathlon ever!  Holy crap!  And on that note, I would just like to say how impressed I am with those guys.  They both came out and dominated their first Ironman race.  I'm thinking about changing their names from Old Wise One to Yoda, since he is now the Old Wise, and experienced, One, and from The Music Man to The Rockstar.

I ended up placing 35th in my age group, which really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  What matters is how I feel I performed.  My swim was slow, and it is what it is.  I originally thought that my CdA swim was way slower that any of my other Ironmans, but I was wrong.  In fact, I swam a 1:19 at Ironman Arizona last year.  The difference was that I didn't have a 14:00 T1 at any of my other races.  I was very happy with my bike performance.  I may have pushed a little too hard on the first lap, but I laid off on the second lap to sort of make up for it.

As I hinted at yesterday, my goal has always been to run a 4 hour marathon in an Ironman.  Well, my run time was 4:00:21.  Not under 4, but soooo stinkin' close that I'll take it.  I'm absolutely happy with this run time.  I feel that I may have even been able to give just a little more during the second half, once I got over that mental wall, but oh well.  I missed my goal time by less that 1 second per mile.  I'm not sure I could have cut it much closer!

Thank you so much to everyone who supported me along the way, especially The Wife.  She's probably excited to have me not thinking about triathlons for a few weeks!  This was truly an experience of a lifetime, and I can't wait to race Ironman again in Arizona in 2013!

Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Recap - Run

I have mixed feelings about the run during an Ironman.  Running is probably my strongest individual sport (not that I actually have a strength in it!), but for some reason I can never put together a great run in an Ironman.  My goal is always a 4 hour marathon, and I am yet to accomplish that goal.  I have gotten better each time, but still haven't figured out the formula for a great run.  I was hoping that Ironman Coeur d'Alene would be different.

I finished up the bike feeling great, got off and jogged through transition.  My T2 time was 4:09, which is much better than the 14:00 that I had in T1.  My total race time at the start of the run was 7:26:01.  My goal was to start the marathon by 7:30:00, so I was now 3:59 ahead of my goal.  My plan for the run, which I was actually going to follow this time, was to run each mile, and walk for 45 seconds through each aid station.  We were told that there would be aid stations at "about every mile", so I trained walking at every mile.

I came cruising out of transition and ran my first mile in 7:49.  My goal pace for the marathon was 9:09/mile, so I had already put 80 seconds in the bank, but I knew that was way too fast of a pace.  I walked through the first aid station for my planned 45 seconds, and then continued my run at about an 8:30/mile pace.  Mile 2 ended up being in 8:23, which was much closer to my goal.  It was a pretty casual pace, and one that I felt I could keep up.  I had passed The Music Man and Old Wise One on the bike, so I knew I would be seeing them at some point after the turnaround on the run, which occurred at about mile 7.  I still had no idea where the rest of the group was though.

I made the turnaround, and was feeling pretty good all the way back into town.  I saw The Music Man, Old Wise One, Iron Husband, and Iron Wife on my way back into town, and they all were looking great!  I was at about the halfway point (13ish miles), and getting ready for the end of lap one, and beginning of lap two, and already starting to rely pretty heavily on the aid stations.  I reached the special needs bag area and kept on running, since I hadn't packed a special needs bag for the run.  It was somewhere around miles 12 to 14 (12.3 to 14.3 according to my Garmin) that I was in dire need of an aid station, and there were none to be found.  Yeah, there was no aid station for mile 13.  Let me tell you how much THAT sucked.  Had I known there would be a 2 mile gap in the middle of the marathon where there was no aid station, I would have grabbed an extra cup of water at the mile 12 aid station and carried it with me until mile 13.  But, there was nothing I could do.

I kept on chuggin' along, hoping to see an aid station around every corner, until I realized where I was on the course again and knew that the closest aid station was still a long way away.  It was at this point that the wind in my sails died down a little.  I could tell that missing that aid station had taken it's toll, and it was time to re-evaluate my plan.  I had stuck with my nutritional plan and pacing plan pretty perfectly up until this point, which was to drink water and Ironman Perform at every aid station, and a Power gel at every 4th aid station.  I decided to continue this plan through mile 16, and then I would remove the Power gel, and start using the Coke.  At mile 16, I took my final gel (and almost puked).  At mile 17 I added the Coke, and tried an orange (and almost puked).  At mile 18 I stuck with just the Coke, water, and Perform.  I ended up sticking with the liquids for the rest of the marathon.  I could tell that I was definitely getting tired, but I was on the home stretch. 

During one of my planned walks through an aid station, I decided to re-evaluate my time goal.  I was able to conclude that I could average 12:00/mile for the remainder of the race, and still set an Ironman PR.  So, I decided to walk for an extra fifteen seconds at each aid station.  Doing this seemed to help mentally, but I'm not sure that it did much for me physically.

I came around the last turn and saw the finish line down the road.  The beautiful thing about the Ironman Coeur d'Alene finish line is that it is downhill for the entire last straight away, allowing you to really put on a show (like you were running strong the whole run...ha!).  I turned that corner and immediately forgot about any pain that I was feeling and really opened up my stride.  Coming down that last straight away, I got my pace down to 7:05/mile!  I looked over my shoulder a few times to make sure another athlete wasn't going to pass me in the last few hundred yards, and slowed down so I didn't overtake the person in front of me right at the finish.  I was able to spot my family in the stands and veered over to them to give my daughter a high five on the way in.  I came across the finish line in a time of 11:26:22, which was a new PR by about 13 minutes.

Now that I've talked way too much about the run, here's another visual assault, only this time it is on the run!

Feeling great on the first lap!

Lap 1

Running by my family on lap 1

Old Wise One on lap 1

The Music Man, happy to be off the bike and running strong!

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

Iron Wife

Coming in at the end of lap 1, feeling great!

High fives for Team IronClan!

Feeling good!

It's always good to smile during the Ironman

And another high five!

Team IronClan!

And back to the race...

Coming around for lap 2!

Feeling good, but not as good after not having an aid station in mile 13...

The Music Man finishing up lap 1

The Music Man!

High five!

The Music Man passing by his mom

It's a bird...it's a plane...

It's Old Wise One!

Feeling great after 1 lap on the run!

Stopping by to check in with Team IronClan

Nothing but smiles for Old Wise One

And back to the task at hand

One lap down, one lap to go!

Starting lap 2!

Still excited after 13 miles!

The classic "thumbs up"

A random competitor with an M-dot shaved into his head!  Awesome.

 And tomorrow, the final portion of my recap...the aftermath!

Ironman Coeur d'Alene Race Recap - Bike

After an embarrassing swim, it was time to get into my race.  I have never been a good swimmer, and I have accepted that fact.  My plan is usually to make it through the swim without wasting too much energy, and then make up time on the bike and run.  This bike portion, however, was going to be different than Ironman Arizona.  This bike portion had some serious hills in it.

I jumped on the bike and immediately got going.  I had no idea where my fellow IronClanners were, but I figured they were all ahead of me.  The bike is basically 4 out and backs.  There's a small one, followed by a long one (which contains the climbs), which equals 56 miles, and 2500 feet of climbing per lap.  Yikes!

Rather than write a ton about it, I'll just give you a visual assault of the bike, courtesy of The Wife:

Iron Husband Mark

Pappy

Pappy (it was colder during the first lap, so he had a jacket on)

Pappy

Pappy

Pappy

Pappy

Pappy

Iron Wife Beth

Iron Wife Beth

Me

Me

Me

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Me

Me

Me

Me

Me

Me

Me

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man (and Sean sporting the Team IronClan Uniform!)

Pappy

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

Me

Me

The Music Man

The Music Man

Me

Me

Me

Me

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Old Wise One

Iron Husband Mark

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man

Me

Me

Me

Me

The first lap on the bike was pretty awesome.  I averaged 20.3 mph, which was maybe just a little much, but I was feeling pretty good.  I was nailing my nutrition plan, and things seemed to be going great.  I had caught up to The Music Man at about the half way point of the first lap (the start of the first big climb), and saw that Old Wise One was just a couple miles ahead of me at the turnaround.  I hadn't seen anyone else out on the course, so I had no clue how they were doing.

During the second lap, the wind came out.  Nothing major, but just enough of a head wind that it made climbing up the hills even tougher, and we weren't able to really capitalize on the downhills following the climbs.  After the turnaround, though, it was pretty nice.  My top speed for the bike ride was actually on the very last downhill, and was 42.9 mph.  I ended up with an average speed of 19.32 mph and a time of 5:47:50.  The best part of the ride was that I started the bike in 89th in my AG, and ended up in 43rd in my AG after the bike was over, so I passed 46 guys in my AG on the bike!  Not too bad.

My only gripe with the bike course was the "no pass zones".  I don't mind that they existed, but rather how they were described at the athlete meeting.  In the meeting, the bike course director simply said "on the last downhill", which made everyone think it was the entire downhill, when in fact it was a very, very short section on the downhill.  There were signs on the course that I thought were very clear, but others did not see them.  So, on the entire downhill, other athletes felt that it was alright to no longer ride on the right, but rather ride on the left because they wouldn't be passed.  I actually had to repeatedly yell at a group of goofballs to move over, and ended up getting the middle finger flung my way.  It would have been much better if the bike course director was precise about the no-pass location, and what would be even better would be if it was described someone in the printed material!  Nowhere in the athlete guide did it mention any "no-pass" zones.  A map of the bike course could very easily highlight where these zones are.  Ok.  Enough of my ranting.

I think I did pretty well on this course.  My average cadence was 74, which is much slower than I wanted (more around 80), but oh well.  My heart rate average was 128 bpm, which is great for me!  Based on that heart rate, I may have even been able to push a little harder, but I was specifically trying to make sure I didn't kill myself for the run.

The aid stations were great, and the support was great.  Unlike Arizona, I didn't have to pee constantly (only once.  I know, TMI...), so that was a success.  And we had the great support of the rest of the IronClan group!

The Greats

My daughter, being a trooper on the early morning

My daughter with The Greats

Some of the homemade signage

The Greats, Grandma Ronda, and Auntie Rachel

Sean (Old Wise One's son) taking a power nap

Next up...the run!