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By jsartain
Today was one of the most satisfying days in a long time. Today was the Saint Paul Tri, located less than 3/4ths of a mile from my abode. Today I won. Today I set a course record (albeit the previous one held by Brett Lovas was done in miserable conditions). Today I ran sub 6 minute miles (5:45 to be precise which was good enough for 1st on the run). Today the bike flowed with simple translation of leg to pedal in perfect sychronicity. It was just one of those days where everything clicks and the world is yours for that moment.
But, more importantly, today I got to watch someone who I admire dearly do something that many of us take for granted. Today, Suzie Danner is now a triathlete. Many of you know Suzie as this energetic woman who is one of the best massage therapists out there. Suzie graduated from the Clinical Massage Therapy Program at Saint Paul College, a program that I teach and direct in. During her second year in the program (it’s a two year program) Suzie had to take a class called Therapeutic Exercise. Jonny-J was the lead teacher in that class and fully beleives (as I do) that students must not master just theory but rather application. Suzie went forward in this class full speed. Suzie was quite overweight at the time. In the course of that semester Suzie lost 80 pounds. Her true character began to shine greatly and she enrolled in the Personal Traner program eager to learn everything that she could and help people that had similar backgrounds to herself. Suzie lost another 80 pounds. Today, many many friends showed up to cheer Suzie on. Suzie has been full of nerves all week but persevered non the less. Suzie finished the sprint race at the Saint Paul Tri running and not walking. She did the bike leg on a cross bike. She was not last out of the water nor last on the course – something she was concerned about. Suzie doesn’t know this yet, but she motivated me today to push beyond what I thought that I was capable of this year. Thanks Suzie, for showing us all what we are all capable of, and for giving me the motivation to overcome a mental block present in me this season. I have new found confidence in my abilities and cannot wait to race with you again!
That’s it for now. An absolutely perfect Sunday capped off with some extra running as prep for Ironman Wisconsin (I ran 17 total including the race) and a great late lunch with my amazing wife. Today I count my blessings. Today I was inspired. Today I witnessed once again human potential and perseverence. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
Jeremy Sartain
By jsartain
Ironman Wisconsin is right around the corner – September 13th to be precise. Pigman Half is a great tune-up race for Ironman Wisconsin and is possitioned at a perfect time. I did this race in 2007 and managed a 2nd place behind super star David Thompson (well behind by the way). This year I knew that the field was stacked and everyone is simply faster all the way around than 2007 at every race. Add to the competition severe weather condidtions and you have yourself an unforgettable race!
Prior to Pigman, I raced with my buddy Shane Swenson at the 2nd Miracle Kids at Lake Ann in Chanhasen. The course was extremely hilly and Shane had a new hand cycle that was deadly fast, especially on the downhills. This kid is fearless and made me run; scratch that, SPRINT on the downhills. Although I wanted to do a few openers to get ready for Sunday’s Pigman half, a couple of those downhills put me a bit on the rivet trying to keep up. Shane always amazes me with his grit and determination. Although Shane was hesitant to do the swim, we hit the water happily and made it through the course without incident. Shane always starts out totally psyched and ripping it (much like I do) and then begins to get a tad redish, bead up with a bit of sweat, and begin to quiet down and concentrate on the task at hand. That’s the typical protocol, but on this day you could hear screams of pure glee as he ripped down the hills in his new race hand cycle machine. I took it upon myself to adopt this scream of glee at Pigman and found myself yelling ‘yippee’ as I hit a downhill tail wind section and clocked 46 mph. Try screaming with glee during a race – it’s invigorating and can get you totally psyched up. You’ll pick up the pace quite a bit and simply enjoy the race more. Lesson learned – thanks Shane! The run (Shane does this in his race wheelchair) was also hilly with plenty of grass, wood chips and gravel. This was a bit more challenging, but again Shane proved to be strong. Prior to the start of the race, all the kids (about 800 of them) have a procession that stops at an outdoor stage. Several people talk about Miracle Kids, hand out fundraiser awards, and much more. It gets a bit long for young kids but it is very important. At one point things were in transition between speakers and Shane yells out a big ‘AHHHH’ immediately followed by ‘sorry’ for breaking the silence. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a position where I wanted to just scream ‘AHHHH’ and NOT appologize. It was completely hilarious and representative of what all around were feeling at that very moment. Maybe I’ll adopt Shane’s ‘AHHH’ as well…. Shane finished up strong and not long after my nephew, Adam (who also raced and smoked his last year’s finish – everyone missed him at the finish line as he came in so fast) found us. We all chatted and congratulated each other on a fine race and then Jennie and I headed out for the drive down to Cedar Rapids.
Pigman. The most brutal conditions I have ever raced in. Downpouring right before the start. A bit of chop and high winds during the swim. Brutal winds and wet roads for the bike. Clouds parting, sun high and humidity through the roof on the run. You hear stories about the wind at Hawi in Hawaii, but this was as bad if not worse for the ENTIRE race, not just a small section as in Hawaii. The rain let up a bit right when we started the swim. I had a fantastic start swimming on David Thompson’s feet for the first 500. After that he decided to start racing and dropped me like I was sea turtle trying to swim with a tuna. But sea turles are more graceful so I got that going for me! I got out on the bike very smoothly and started out super easy. You climb out of the park and the transition from the swim to bike is a long uphill grind, so I thought it best to keep the heart rate in check and pick things up after climbing out of the park. I immediately hit a head wind after leaving the park but found I was staying on top of a solid gear and was steadily moving up. I only had to pass 5 people to get to 2nd position on the road and managed to catch all but David Thompson before the turn around. The wind was brutal and I choked up on the aero bars quite a bit, sat way back in the saddle, and tried to hold the most steady possition that I could while staying as relaxed as possible. The wind was not steady but was gusting from all over the place. You would be lured into thinking you had a tail wind or head wind and then suddenly get blasted from the side. There were several crashes from getting blown of the course and many a mangled wheel from getting blown into potholes. At about 3 miles to go it would be my turn of bad luck. I was beginning to think of the run and taking in a gel and water when ‘BAM’, my front wheel hit a hole that went down to China. Completely my fault – I wasn’t paying attention, got too relaxed and put my front end into the hole. My tire blew and my spair case launched from my bike even though it was well strapped. I had to stop, walk back and pick up the spare tube, co2, etc, which was sprawled all over the road. Since HED loans me wheels, I didn’t want to break it by riding in on a flat. So I decided to take the time to change the tube as this was ultimately a training race (althoug I really wanted to score a top 5). I changed the tube and gingerly aired it up and ‘BANG’ the new tube blew. Upon proper inspection I discovered that the tire had ripped open and the wheel got buggered up. I put the wheel back on the bike and road in very carefully the last few miles. In running the math, I lost 13 minutes plus another 2 in transition as I walked in, sat down and then got my head together to get out on the run. I caught up to Mo Mouw and we ran together for the first 3 miles or so and chatted away. I decided to get a harder ‘workout’ in and picked things up for the remainder of the run. Mo had an acute foot issue soon after I picked things up and wasn’t able to finish. I thought I was just awesome at running as I couldn’t hear Mo’s footsteps behind me and upon looking back couldn’t see him anywhere. But no, I’m an average runner after all! At any rate, I finished 12th overall and was happy that I have yet to quit a triathlon. I only wish that I hadn’t allowed my head to get the better of me momentarily after I blew up my front wheel. In the great words of Winnie The Poo, ‘Never ever ever never ever give up’.
All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Shane rocked the house again, my nephew is continuing with his triathlon racing, Pigman was epic for myself and so many others, and I had some quality time with Jennie. Props to Sarah Viamonte for getting the card stamped on her first half. Sarah is over the hump in regards to recovering from a stress fracture and Pigman was a solidifying test. Her speed will definitely be improving quickly and she’ll be smoking it at Duathlon worlds in September. Lessons learned, experiences had, life is good!
Jeremy Sartain
By jsartain
You blink and summer is almost over. Ahh! I’m just getting going and it’s already mid August. Since my last post I’ve done the Lifetime Fitness Tri, Miracle Kids with my buddy Shane, Chisago half and Turtleman. There has been a mix of results, but all in all things are looking great for Ironman Wisconsin this September.
I finally started doing some rehab again for the remaining scar tissue present in my lower leg. My original pt, Mike Mancini, moved back to Canada (Winnepeg to be precise) last October and I’ve been left to my own devises since. Granted, everything looked great before Mike left, but when you’re racing a lot you find some final touches that need to be addressed. Fortunately I started seeing Dr. Josh Sandell at Spine and Sports Institute. This guy and his team are amazing and are getting me in tip top shape in regards to full range of motion which allows for a proper gait. I no longer look like I’m limping when running and can get a bit more oomph in my stride. It’s going to take until next season to be competent at short course again, but I’ll be up with the top dogs in short course come next year and have full confidence in my long course abilities right now.
Liftime Fitness was a bit of a training session when it came to the run. My swim was alright and I had a ton of fun on the bike – great roadie course for sure! My race was relatively uneventful overall but our team had a great showing and a ton of fun.
Miracle Kids was a blast again this year. I raced with my buddy Shane who has spina bifida and uses a hand cycle and race wheelchair. Shane knocked a ton of time of his last year’s race and we had plenty of time to eat burgers afterwards! I’ll be racing with Shane again next weekend at the Chaska Miracle Kids. My nephew also did Miracle kids part 1 and will be at Chaska as well. He has a great road bike now and can really hammer the bike!
Chisago was a breakthrough race for me. The field was stacked but I had a great swim, super fun bike and incredible run. My goal was to go 4:15 or less and do the run in under 1:30. I went 4:02 (a pr but the course was a bit short) and ran a 1:26. I’d had 2 treatments with Dr. Josh and this really showed on the run – smooth gait and zero pain. I caught everyone on the bike except that David Thompson character but was unable to get away from the two Wisconsin pros. I road the last 20 miles with those guys and put in a couple of digs, but I wasn’t able to shake them unless I really burried it. Since I was uncertain of the run, I choose to be conservative on the bike and ride it in more easily. I’ll be blasting everything at Pigman and will certainly attack the crap out of anybody that I catch and attempts to pace off me. If puking is racing then puking it shall be at Pigman!
Turtleman was one of those epic races that shall always be remembered. I went into it very tired from boat loads of trainig (24 hours in before the race starting the previous Sunday) and then they cancelled the swim due to heavy storm clouds. The race started as a time trial start and we went off solo running over the swim timing mat, along the water line of the beach, up over the T1 timing mat and off to our bikes. The ‘swim’ only took 20 seconds. I went off 4th mixed in with all the ladies as I received a number that originally was assigned to an elite female. I was then in first position on the bike (but not first place overall) very quickly. I hammered the first 5 miles and then backed it off a bit. My head wasn’t in the game and my body was fighting staying up near anaerobic threshold. Devon Palmer and Dan Cohen caught me around mile 15. I went with for a couple of miles but was feeling the fatigue of training coupled with Devon’s pace of 27mph into a friggin headwind. This kid is totally legit and it’s great to see him ripping the crap out of every race he enters. Devon is a super cool kid and my bets are on him at nationals. My run was pokie but I chalked it up to a tempo training run and truly enjoyed myself.
This weekend is Miracle of Mitch with my buddy Shane and then it’s off to Iowa for the Pigman half. There’s a stacked field again and there will certainly be some fast times. This is an A race for me and will be great preparation for IM Wisconsin. After that it’s the St. Paul Tri which is just a couple of blocks from my abode. Nothing is in the books after that, but I may jump into something else if I’m feeling motivated.
Overall training is fantastic. Work is incredibly stressful right now as we are less than two weeks from starting with students. This is always the busiest time of year for me but this year I seem to be staying somewhat relaxed and positive. I’m giving precidence to my training and blocking that time off. Past year’s I’ve sacrificed training for work during this time and lost ground going into Wisconsin. My prep has been focussed mainly on Wisconsin Ironman and I’m simply not willing to let that go. I think that as you get ‘old’ you finally figure out how to prioritize better. Still room for improvement, but it is comming on the prioritization end!
That’s the summary for now. I’ll post in detail about Miracle of Mitch tri and Pigman early next week.
Jeremy Sartain
By jsartain
Well, I’m a bit behind in blogging this year. Last summer I obviously had plenty of time to write a bunch. That definitely helped to keep me sane (well, as sane as I can be). Tons has happened since my last post. I’ve got a couple more races under the belt (Minnetonka sprint, Rochester and Minneman) with lots more to come. I got in a couple of criterium bike races on Tuesday as well. And of course I’ve been busy with ‘house projects’ and found out that my chimney is basically shot and will cost me the other leg. All in all though things are great!
Minnetonka was a key race in which I went in with my brain willing to let my body truly suffer. It was the first race that I pushed super deep and it payed off with the fastest bike split (by 3 seconds over Steve) and a 4th overall. Still the run kills me. It’s simply going to take time. I’m really not that far off 2007 pace, but all these other runner kids have learned how to swim and bike faster! It was nice not to get completely smoked though and great to pick up a ‘fastest bike’ trophey.
Rochester was a solid race. Again, fastest bike split and solid swim for me. The run was defintely longer than a 10k and I got passed by 2 people within the last mile. The result was 7th overall but Sam Hauk from our team won so it was a great day. There was plenty of competition even with the HI-Vee and Waconia events all on the same weekend. Rochester is a fantastic event with a challenging bike and run course and a unique doulbe lap swim where you run accross the beach after the first lap. Talk about hypoxic! It felt like a cyclo-cross race! Do this race if you can sometime. It’s run super well and the prize money is quite solid if you are a fast kid.
Minneman holds a special place in my heart. It was my first tri ever in 2005 and got me absolutely hooked. My buddy Bill puts this on and it is by far the best run race that I’ve ever done, period. This year it was very hard. I spent Friday morning fitting super star Patrick Parish on his bike and then rushed home to meet Sarah Viamonte to do some pre-race training. We road out the gateway trail on our bikes and came to a road crossing where a car looked like it was going to stop but instead rolled by super slow. Sarah was track standing really well but couldn’t hold it upright any longer and tipped over shredding her pinky and fourth finger in my cassette. She felt super bad but fortunately didnt’ take me down. She was bleeding pretty good but we went back to my place, packaged her up and continued our training. Tough chick! I told everyone that her injuries were a result of a fireworks incedent – fitting for the 4th of July (and Canada day). I expanded that story to state that I bet her $50 she couldn’t hand onto it for 30 seconds and that she was extatic to make $30 ($50 minues the $20 hospital co-pay). Again, this is a total tale – she did indeed crash and shred her fingers in my cassette. But the fireworks story is pretty cool. After training with Sarah I ran to Grand Performance, loaded up gear for the shop who provided race support and set up everything including my tent at the race site. ‘Sleeping’ did not occur though. I maybe dozed for an hour as every kid with a drivers licence and willing girl friend attempted to ‘park’ in the park. That and all the excited rednecks lighting off fireworks before the 4th. I swear that everybody goes through their stash of fireworks well in advance of the 4th. The night of the 4th seems very quiet after 11p.m! Needless to say I was incredibly tired for the race. I finished in 7th (I think) but had a good training on the less. I stuck around and helped take down everything, got home at 2p.m and crashed for 2 hours before heading out for a BBQ. We did light off some fireworks with friends but I still have all my 9 fingers and thumbs.
This weekend is the Lifetime fitness tri. I’m planning to rip it up to the best of my abilities but am traiing through for the main goal of IMWI and a Hawaii slot. I’ve never truly focussed on a single race like I am now and am having to have some personal discussions with myself regarding the possibility that I won’t make it. I certainly am not saying that in a negative context but rather trying to be open to the possibility of not qualifying for Hawaii and maintaining a possitive attitude. I’m feeling very confident though but you never know until you cross the line.
Perhaps the biggest and coolest news is that I’m back in the Miracle of Mitch race with my buddy Shane. Shane had a couple of new shunts put in his head last month but things are healing much faster than anticipated so we will likely do the entire race. If not we’ll do a duathlon. Most of you recall that Shane has spina bifida. He’s one of the coolest kids you’ll ever meet. I visited him briefly at Children’s post surgery and everybody there knew him. He’s an upbeat spitfire and I’m totally excited to race with Shane and get another finishers medal! I don’t know anybody my age who has a finishers medal from the Miracles of Mitch kids race! Of course this year I might be able to trasition as fast as Shane. Last year Shane smoked me in T1 as I was cutting off the double garbage bag that I duct taped to my leg that I had cut open the previous day. I had to have Jennie, my wife, run after him and it took me near a mile to catch up with my speed walking with a cane.
That’s the news for now. I’m sure I’ll see a lot of you at Lifetime Tri. Keep the rubber side down and the fireworks away from your hands!
Jeremy
By jsartain
As usual it has been a crazy couple of weeks. Since my last post I did an interview with Rosen Sports (WCCO channel 4), di the Liberty Half, got my nephew his first road bike (he’s beyond excited), and visited my little buddy Shane who had to have a surgery at Children’s Hospital (Shane has Spina Bifida). Add work and some training to the mix and it feels like yesterday when I last posted.
For those who missed it, I was on Rosen Sports this past Sunday. Regions hospital wanted to get my story out and WCCO were the ones to jump on it. It was wild to recall the whole accident and past summer as it now seems like eons ago. They did a great job truly capturing what I wanted to portray with the help of Jonny-J, my wife Jennie, and my physician Dr. Cole. I wish that they would have left in parts about Accua (where I was able to run on the underwater treadmill) and about my P.T Mike Mancini who is the most out of the box thinker possibly on the planet. For those wanting to check out the coverage go to www.tcmultisportsclub.com for a link to the story.
Last week I aquired a used road bike that fits my 9 year old nephew Adam. I had to do some minor work to get it in perfect shape but it went together very nicely. I had Adam come over to Grand Performance where I was working on the bike. He came in the back and I showed him what I called ‘my new bike’. I then took it off the work stand and asked him ‘do you think it fits me?’. Since my nephew is well versed in bike fit, he said ‘I don’t think so’. I looked back and said ‘well do you think it will fit you?’ and his face beamed with excitement. We went outside for him to try it and 10 minutes later I had to grab my bike to go and look for him. I saw him riding down one of the side streets and had to go a bit hard to catch up. He’s been on his new ride every day and will be doing both Miracle Kids tris this summer. Look for the fastest bike split in the 9 year old group from Adam Sartain!
Liberty Half went quite well this past weekend. My goal was to have an overall solid race and go sub 4:30 overall. I went 4:27 and change and felt like I had a lot more in me. I’m still developing top end power on the bike and speed on the run but I have those sensations that it will be there soon enough. Amazingly I was only 10th as there was an incredibly stacked field. Normally a sub 4:30 would get you at least a top 5 but I’m pleased anyway.
Today I visited my buddy Shane whom I had the pleasure of racing with at Miracle Kids last summer. I had been at HED wheels prior to going to see Shane at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis and grabbed a hat for him to wear. It took a minute for Shane to recognize me but he was his typical excited self. Every nurse and staff member in the place knows him well as this kid’s energy is absolutely contagious. I’m hoping he’ll race with me again at Miracle Kids this year.
That’s the basic low down for now. I’ll be finished with teaching a nutrition class after next week and will add more volume to my training. I’ll be doing Minnetonka Sprint Tri on Saturday and then plan for a very long ride on Sunday followed by a 10 mile run. Obviously Wisconsin Ironman is on my mind! Oh, I almost forgot – local tri and nordic ski guy Ben Pop began the Race Accross America (RAAM) today. There is a link to his blog which his crew is updating at www.skinnyski.com. Please check it out and drop a note of encouragement if you can.
Jeremy Sartain
By jsartain
It was a rediculously cold and windy day today for the Buffalo Triathlon. Not my pick for weather for my first true race back but it did help to alleviate any major race pressure as I decided to do this purely for training and to get some rust out of the engine. It was great to be back and see first hand some of the new kids on the triathlon block. But before I go into that I need to mention yesterday.
Yesterday I got up early to help out at New Bri Tri and to watch a bunch of the TCMC team and club members race. Our own Brendon O’Flanagan took the win and Anton Pshon placed an impressive 4th. I slept nervously on Friday as my body seemed to think it was me who was going to race. I guess I lost that brain/body connection that night. Last night though, I slept great, content to simply get a great training race in and experience a triathlon with a fully functioning body.
I was nervous when I did get up and nervous all the way up to the starting gun. I swam a bit too relaxed and had a 22 minute time – I’m certain I’ll get that down to low 20 in a couple of weeks for oly distance. I took a ton of time – about 3 minutes more than everyone else – in T1. I put on socks, bootie covers, a wind proof base layer, long sleeve jersey and gloves (winter ones) before departing. I had to do a bit of cyclocross to hop over one guy who bailed while trying to jump on his bike but it really didn’t hold me up very much. I got going nicely on the bike for the first 5 miles and then the cold really set in on the legs. They got very stiff and I was pedalling squares. I kept moving around my bike to try and find some power but it just wasn’t there. It was a good tempo ride though but I was only the 6th fastest rider on the day. Team member Steven Sander’s had a rockin ride though and ended the day 5th overall so huge props to him!
It’s amazing how you forget stuff when you’re basically out for a year. I forgot a race belt but luckily Jonathan Balubeck had an extra. I forgot to take in a GU at 5 miles to go in the bike like I typically do and instead had one just before T2. This was not something to forget. Having done no training with gels outside of some bike races, the GU really hit my stomoche at the end of the first mile of the run in a terrible way. I had to back the pace way off and essentially jog until my gutts finally stopped screaming at me. Patrick Parish went by like a Kenyan doing a 5k and ran the fastest run time of the day dragging himself into 4th overall from 8th place off the bike. I did get going fairly quickly myself and kept running faster and faster until the end. My time was nothing exciting but I felt like I blew the old carbon out of the engine and things will progress really fast the next month.
All in all it was a great day. I finished 9th overall without cranking it too hard (albeit I wasn’t able to at points). Today gave me huge confidence that I will progress into some semblance of 2007 fitness and took away any doubts of my future abilities. Today was the first time that I ran without slapping my right foot. Today reminded me how much fun it is to push a healthy body. Today reminded me again how many friends I have (I couldn’t walk 5 feet without a ‘welcome back’ said my way). Today was incredibly fun and I can’t wait for the next one!
Up next is the Liberty Half next Saturday. There is a local bike race on Tuesday night at the State Fairgounds that I’ll jump into for some training as well. After that it’s time for some short stuff at Minnetonka sprint and then June finishes with the Rochester Tri. I’m racing almost every weekend with several half IM’s planned but all distances included.
That’s the low down for now. It’s great to be back!
Jeremy Sartain
By jsartain
Well hello!
I know, my last post was forever and a day ago. I found this thing called ‘facebook’ which has taken all my time and proven to be more addictive than the Percoset I once upon a time had to utilize. Boy, that feels like forever ago too!
So here we all are – May 2009 already – with the season already starting. I’m personally avoiding the duathlons as I still truly beleive that running is: A) something you do from the police OR B) done at the end of a triathlon. At least that’s what is listed in my dictionary. I have been hitting a few bike races though, nothing to write home about yet but the fitness gained from racing is great. After a year out the slowest thing to come back is the top end power and speed, but I’m getting those old sensations that it will happen.
Right now the biggest thing to post about is the fact that I am officially registered for Ironman Wisconsin! I must go back to Hawaii to race it for real and that will be my main goal for the season – qualify for Ironman Hawaii 2010 with a superb race at Ironman Wisconsin. As pretty much everybody and their brother is coming down, I’ll have all the motivation in the world to put the cherry on what should be a great 2009 season.
Life has certainly been crazy. I’ve been playing ‘catch up’ since my accident last year and it seems as though I’m just getting there. I have a huge training base and have just begun specific interval work and track work. Consistency has not been great the past couple of weeks as I was finishing up with students at Saint Paul College. Today it’s been an office day cleaning up e-mail and finally getting to my blog. In the process of cleaning up e-mail I came across a huge number of e-mails from so many different people dating back to just post accident time. It was wild to visit those again today and be reminded once again of how blessed I am to be involved with such a great sport and have so many friends. Those will be saved forever so that I can visit them whenever I think that times might be tough. I’m not a scrapbooker but I’m thinking that I’ll put something together bound with the plate that was once in my leg. It would make for a great coffee table book, don’t you think? If I get one of those thick cardboard covers I can put the screws in the front to get that cool industrial look going.
That’s the quick low down for now. I’m excited to get back to racing and fully anticipate being in full swing later in the season. Things will kick off with the Buffalo Tri. I hope to hold my own the first few races but have placed no significant expectations on myself early on. I’m looking forward to turning myself inside out and having that completely wiped out feeling for the rest of the day – that feeling where you just sit out on the back porch after getting home from a race, sip a beer and savour that fantastic, unduplicable (if that’s a word) and almost indescribable sensation of pure and utter bliss.
I’ll be posting with frequency including my racing calendar – I didn’t want to put that up until after the one year aniversary of my accident!
Jeremy
By jsartain
Obviously it has been awhile since my last post. Hawaii was the icing on the cake until the Tri Night Banquet and I needed some time to digest that experience before being able to truly write about it. Before that, here’s my year recap:
2008 started great. I was in heavy training mode a year ago at this time doing 4-6 hours a day in order to create a huge base and go even faster than I did in 2007. I like to win, always have, and learned to put the work in to do so many moons ago. Spring of 2008 came quickly and my fitness progressed like clockwork.
By April I had a great base and was throwing in some good intensity. I did a bike race on April 20th and felt great. Of course April 23rd was the big shift for the year when I got nailed by a car that swerved over 4 lanes of traffic and smashed me at freeway speeds while on my motorcyle. The impact broke my left tibia and acetabulum (pelvis). I crashed on my right but nothing there got damaged thanks to appropriate gear. The entire time I was very cognitive of what was going on. I immediately realized my season was over followed quickly by the thought that my athletic career was possibly done especially when I reached behind myself to feel my hip back where my ass should be.
The short term after the accident is rather hazy. I was in the hospital for 5 days and then at home well medicated. I do recall barely being able to get out of bed and into a chair next to the bed. I remember lots of visitors and my dad and brother converting my main floor bathroom into a handicap accessable one. I remember ditching the percacette for a beer. I remember finally making it outside onto the patio and petting my dog kodiak only to find massive tumors on his chest. I remember the day we had to put him down shortly after that. I remember (mostly) coaching the bike handling clinic from my wheelchair. I remember going to the Gear West Duathlon and finding out how many friends I have. I remember going to most races and enjoying helping out doing bodymarking and kayaking during the swim leg. I remember doing Lifetime Fitness Triathlon on crutches. I remember having the honor of escorting 7 year old Shane who has CP through the Miracle Kids Tri the day after a minor surgery. I remember every step of the Hawaii Ironman. I remember more the good times and less and less the bad times of 2008 as I continue to improve and become more optomistic for 2009. And I remember Tri Night 2008…
I was lucky to get involved with the Tri Night Banquet this year. In year’s past this event has been held at a variety of locations. All previous events have been fun but often with poor food, cramped venues and sometimes not so smooth delivery of awards. This year a committee came together intent on changing things and creating the best banquet ever. We solidified my work place (Saint Paul College) and my brother Nate and his culinary students (Nate teaches culinary here at the college) to do the food. Others had a hand in getting olympic triathlete Hunter Kemper to come to the show. Needless to say the food was fantastic and the venue terrific. Hunter did a great presentation and was impressively entertaining.
For those of you unaware, the Tri Night Banquet is a huge end of year celebration in which various awards are given out. There are performance oriented awards as well as awards for volonteer of the year, most embodies the sport of triathlon, most enthusiastic rookie, and the Thorpe inspiration award to name but a few. The night began with a happy hour social, dinner, Hunter Kemper presentation and then kicked off with the awards that I specifically named. Since I was unable to race this year I helped out at most of the local races. Based solely on numbers I received the volunteer of the year award. It was great to be recognized but what most people don’t realize is that going to the races really helped me. As difficult as it was to be at a race and not race it would have killed me to stay home and dwell on it. Instead I had a blast paddling around in my kayak helping several newbies and of course experienced total and complete sexual harrassment by many women (and especially Helen Gunther) at the first annual YMCA Womens Triathlon. Like I said, I had a blast!
After the initial fun awards local legend Tony Schiller presents the Thorpe inspiration award. Thorpe Running (that’s really the originators name) was a triathlete who crashed badly while training one year. He was paralysed but continued to keep his outlook on life incredibly possitive. He was so inspirational to so many that the Thorpe Inspiration Award was born in his honor. Incredible folk have receive the award over the years. Cancer survivors, a 15 year old with CP who raises so much money for the Miracle Kids Tri that he could get hired as a campaign fundraiser for anybody, and many more. Tony began his speech and soon some slides were up showing me holding little Shane at the Miracle Kids Tri. Tony essentially stated that I had overcome what could have been a terrible year by jumping in to help out without hesitation and had refused to let my situation get the better of me. Tony then called me up to the stage. I was in a state of shock, was tearing up from the pictures, and was shaking as I walked to the stage. I was trying to pick the right words to say – something I am typically good at. There were no great words to say. I tried to recap the year a bit and fit in some funnies. Friends and family said I did a good job but it is truly impossible to summarize something that is such an honor to receive into words. Now that it has been some time I think I can state more so what I felt that night…
I felt honored to the point of lacking the right words. I also felt a bit embarrassed. You see it was not me who inspired but rather everyone else who inspired me. What I mean is that I only took that first step to show up to that first race and help out. I was so well received with kind words, hugs and well wishes that it lead me to go to another race, and another, and another. That in turn lead to me being so head strong in rehab that I began to make such headway that I managed to talk my physician into gradually removing hardware so that I could do the Hawaii Ironman. I ran into Tony at the Lifetime Fitness packet pickup, a race I actually did do, and he invited me to escort Shane at Miracle Kids Tri. This wasn’t a chore or an act of ‘volunteerism’ but rather pure and utter enjoyment. I wrote about Shane in a previous post but the summary is this kid is amazing. I read a quote the other day that sums up Shane: ‘Never, ever, ever, ever give up’. Not the most amazing quote ever but absolutely true for a kid without full use of his lower limbs who powered through 3 miles on a hand cycle until he was so red in the face I thought he might be a radish. I was then inspired by Shane. So I got to have fun and was motivated and inspired by others after my own first step. It’s easy to do things when you have people there every step of the way cheering you on and this was my experience in 2008. I felt that every day and that feeling exploaded at the Tri Night Banquet. So the Thorpe Inspiration Award is not mine. This award belongs to the entire tri community, to Shane, to my friends and family.
As they say time flies when you’re having fun. I’m having fun every day. I now have actual muscle in my left glutes, quad and calve! I’m incredibly motivated to come back in 2009. It will likely take most of the season, but I will charge forward with patience and dilligence one step at a time hearing thousands of footsteps land with each of mine. I want to thank each and every person who inspired me for contributing to my incredible 2008 year. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Jeremy Sartain
Partial winner of the 2008 Thorpe Inspiration Award
Oldest kid to finish Miracle Kids Tri
1st place ‘crutches division’ Lifetime Fitness Tri (o.k, not a real catagory)
2008 Hawaii Ironman Finisher
By jsartain
It’s the second morning after the 2008 Hawaii Ironman World Championships. I’m sitting in our condo north of Kona about 25 miles (or about 8 hours walking time based on my marathon pace). I’m tired, stiff, sore and incredibly happy and greatfull to everyone and anyone who has helped me fullfill my ‘adjusted’ season goal. The fact that I completed the Hawaii Ironman 10 weeks after getting rid of crutches is sinking in more now than at the finish line. I guess you need glycogen to process things!
The preceeding days to the race were the typical busy filled ones. Get up, have a light breakfast, go swim at the pier, get some ART work done on my bad parts, have lunch, go for a spin, get my gear ready, etc. Then suddenly it’s race day and the typical mystery of the day sinks into the gut.
Race morning I got out of bed at 4a.m and was out the door by 4:20. We already knew where to park (thanks to Dave Mercer) and got there without issue. I had 2 hours to get ready but with the lines for the crapper it was certainly needed time. The Hawaii Ironman is the most amazing race when it comes to the amount of volunteers. They have more volunteers than racers at the start line so everything moves super fast with body marking, check-in, etc. It’s amazing how fast 2 hours goes by and before I knew it I had kissed my family ‘good-bye’ and headed for the ocean.
The swim went really well. I was super patient and lined up just behind the ‘twitchy’ folk who were pressing at the front. I didn’t get too hung up in traffic but did have to swim slow the first quarter. I only had one altercation where some 45 year old was doing the ankle/hip/shoulder sling on me. He didn’t get my shoulder as I timed my stroke to assure a nice meeting of his head with my elbow. I barely made it to the race and was not going to get smashed up by some guy who wanted to sling off of people. I managed to knock off his goggles and stop him in his tracks and the lady next to me muffled a ‘thanks’ as we both took a breath. I certainly don’t make practice of getting into bashing on the swim but this guy was way out of line purposefully grabbing and pulling himself forward. After that things really cleared up and I swam a nice comfortable pace to the finish.
Transition was good except that I started to put my jersey on over my Louis Garneau Tiger Shark suit. I didn’t get enough sun screen and suffered burnt arms and calves but I’m not sure any amount would have helped with the super clear skies that we had.
The bike leg was totally fun. I now know what people mean when they talk about the wind to Hawi. We had a tail wind for the first couple of hours but once we began to climb to Hawi all hell broke loose. The wind was mainly at our faces but also gusted from the right. When you’re getting pushed around at 10mph you know it’s a strong wind. I did stop after the turn in Hawi which is actually over half way at 60 miles. I hit the porta jon for a tinkles and a quick stretch of the left (bad) leg. The descent was interesting with the cross-tail winds. You get some shelter from some small rock cliffs but then get blown sideways when the terrain opens up. I could see where the cross winds would gust and braced accordingly but many folk ate some gravel getting blown off the course. Towards the bottom I saw a pro woman in the fetal possition with cones around her in the middle of the road. There were a ton of volunteers and medical already there and a couple miles later I saw an ambulance rushing to the scene. When I turned back on the King Kam highway there was a steady head wind that would pursist all the way back to Kona. Luckily it wasn’t too brutal but I still don’t have a ton of power so it made life a bit interesting. Just when I was getting a bit tired the NBC crew drove up to me in a red convertable car. I had already done pre-interview stuff on Thursday and they were following up on the course. They drove by me and had me out in the oncomming lane to get footage and chat. It made the time go by really fast and soon I was getting ready for the second transition.
Getting off the bike after 112 miles of power riding was a trip. My left calve was tight and everything was fatigued. Luckily my shoulders weren’t too bad considering the death gripping of the bars that occured at times on the bike course. I took time to ice my leg and then off I went into the complete unkown. I jogged along for about a half mile until I ran into my family (my mom and dad, my wife Jennie, aunt Dona and uncle Dave and of course my supper couragous nephew Adam who has the talent to sleep on a sidewalk and the maturity way beyond his 9 years of age to not complain). My left leg was totally fatigued and I knew it was going to be a long, long day. I began to walk. I walked and walked. Everyone along Alii drive was encouraging but unkowingly giving me the advice of ‘walk it off – you’ll be able to run soon’. Of course they didn’t know that I had no time to develop the muscle endurance in my left leg and thus it was not possible to ‘walk it off’. It did make me laugh though and I didn’t have the heart to say anything to the contrary, so I just thanked everyone and kept going. At mile 8 I was absolutely hating life. My hamstings in my left shut down. My knee wanted to buckle backwards. If I stopped I would stumble and almost fall over. I began to feel sorry for myself, something I try hard not to do. At mile 10 I encountered my family again. I stopped on the side of the road, sat down, took my shoes off, iced both feet and my left leg, took 4 advil and debated for a minute quitting. Now is where the true story begins…
Mile 10 was absolutely the low point of the day. My shoes were off, the ice felt oh so good and my mind was on sitting on our terrace at the condo and sipping a beer (or guzzling 10). It was a beautiful picture I painted inside my head that quickly turned into a nightmare. I then thought of how I would feel waking up the next day. I thought about all the people I know who would kill for a chance just to do Hawaii. I thought of my buddy Shayne Stiller who was born with physical issues that he refused to call ‘limitations’ or ‘disabilities’, I thought of little Shayne – the 7 year old with CP that I had the absolute privilage of assisting at Miracle Kids Tri, I thought of my family and friends, and I though of my students – many of whom have overcome huge challenges in life. It was then easy to paint a new picture inside my head of finishing.
I got going from that hellish point of mile 10. I got that deep stuborness brewing again. I was in a trance concentrating with every step of my left leg to assure that it would land properly and not buckle. I spoke to my leg and told it to keep going. I created a connection with it that would last 16 more miles – a symbiotic connection in which my leg knew that if it got me to the finish I would treat it oh so nice with advil and beer later on (I forgot to bring the percacet). I went to places inside myself that I never knew existed. I thought of everyone who was tracking me along the way and who helped me get there directly through actually slicing and dicing me, rehabing me, training with me, encouraging me, sending ‘good luck’ e-mails or indirectly by thinking of me. It was 16 miles of mind over matter and this mattered!
The last 5 miles I hooked up with 61 year old Kona resident ‘Hammer’. We would chat a bit and then simply walk in silence for awhile. It was great to simply be by somebody after 21 miles. There were a few other times that people stopped to walk with me but I was more in need of being by myself until those last 5 miles when I knew that I would make it. At 2 miles to go I looked at my watch. I realized that if my left leg gave out (and it was getting very close to doing so) that I could crawl to the finish and make the cut off. I was incredibly tired at this point. It was the most tired I’ve ever felt.
The final mile took an eternity. I willed that finish line to move closer. When I made the turn to Alii drive there were people all over the street screaming their heads off. As I neared the baracaded area I saw the Mercers and Yndestads and many of the other Minnesota contingents. They were all showered up and looked fairly recovered. They had come back to greet me at the finish. Right at the entry to the finish chute I saw my family. I had that complete emotional rush that hits you like a brick when you are about to accomplish a significant goal but I was too tired to have it turn into physical emotion and I was too afraid to stop walking for fear that my leg would quit.
I actually stopped walking right on top of the finish line. I heard that ‘beeeeeep’ of my timing chip and I just stopped. I stood there for a moment soaking it in. I wanted to turn around and look at the masses of people but could not get my legs to move. Two volunteers draped a towel over my shoulders and wrapped my arms around their shoulders. I stumbled all over but they held me up. I took about 10 steps (and thought about mile 10) up to Chrissy Wellington who placed a lei over my head and congratulated me. All I could do was smile and say ‘thanks’. The volunteers walked me over to a chair. I sat down and Dave, Sarah (Mercers), Cathy and Kerry (Yndestads) came over. Dave gave me a huge peice of pizza that I quickly devoured. My wife and mom had passes to get to me. Jennie went and got my bike and transition bags and I went over (with the help of volunteers once again) to get my finishers medal, T-shirt and hat. I then pondered how I was going to get back to the car a half a mile away. No way was I able to walk any more.
Somehow I managed to swing my leg over my bike and road back to the car. I now was talking out loud to my leg, telling it that it did a great job, would need to do a bit better next time, and that I would give it some beer very soon. The drive home was super quick. I limped the 20 yards to the elevator and the 5 yards from the elevator to our condo entrance. Jennie passed me a beer.
Yesterday I awoke with a deep and almost foreign feeling. I think it was a mix of gratitude, happiness, elation and pure satisfaction. It’s a coctail that one can never get tired of. We stayed at our condo, went to the pool, and ventured out late afternoon to get a long sleeved white T-shirt to cover up my sun burned arms and get a few groceries. We talked and laughed our heads off all day. I made some phone calls and replied to some text messages. I enjoyed feeling stiff and sore and laughed about it when shuffling into the ‘Crazy Shirts’ store right by our condo.
Today I awoke to the same feeling and with the priority of getting this post done. More than anything I want to reiterate my thanks for all of the love and support I have recieved throughout this difficult season. This is not my success. This is the success of everyone and anyone who has helped me. Thanks for the insiration to do what I did. Thanks for the support. Thanks for the High – it will last a lifetime…
Mahalo and Aloha!!!
I’m off to ‘walk it off’…
Jeremy
By jsartain
This shall be a very short post. I got up early this morning, did a swim at the YWCA of St. Paul, came home, finished packing, loaded the car, had breakfast, and now I’m righting this post before heading to the airport to go to Hawaii!
It’s been a crazy past 5 months. Super fit to zero in 6 weeks, being able to flop about in the pool for a couple of weeks, riding the trainer at 2 months barely able to hold 100 watts, and now feeling good in the water, 85% on the bike (for long stuff), and ‘who knows’ for the run. But, I shall finish. Then I will take a week in Hawaii, ignore the news, e-mails and phone calls (other than from friends and family) and vacation!
I can’t thank my friends, family, tri community, Mike Mancini, Dr. Cole, Trent Whitcomb and anyone who helped me recover in time to get to Hawaii. I will be thinking of all of you during my little, um, venture.
Mahalo and Aloha!!!
Jeremy
