THE RUN - BLOW BY BLOW BY BROOKS KEYS

The Run

Some would say I am a runner, some say I should focus solely on running, and if prodded enough I may admit I am a runner. However, Peter and Dean asked me several times during the week if I ever thought about doing this race, I was and am still saying emphatically "NO." 52.4 miles is way to long to think about running and I experienced that firsthand on Sunday. I know Peter pretty well and I had no doubt he was going to "go for it", there was no doubt He was going to run his race yet try to set himself up for the win. That did excite me about the double marathon.

I also noticed a strange viBe on Sunday morning as we drove to the race. I knew Peter's stomach was giving him fits on Saturday after the race and I started to think it was in the morning as well. I started to get nervous when he asked for music in the car and there was no talking and definitely no joking around. Some may say this could be good as we put on the game faces, but for a run this long you need to keep it light in the morning and only have a few minutes of focusing. You can certainly use the first hour of the race to compose yourself and post the stakes mentally without losing anything. So all of this to say I had knots in my stomach before the race.

We arrived at the start, and I helped Peter put on his armor…shin guards (compression socks), running shoes (camo of course to represent the south), and the Michael Jordan collection running top (I think Peter was running in a kids small shirt). We made our way to the start and I immediately started prepping bottles and calories. Finally the race started. Apparently these boys like to start fast. I read after the race in an interview after day two that Ribiero was going to mark the other contenders. He was obviously bluffing and went to the front and set the pace, a fast clip, under 60 minutes for first 10 miles. Peter settled in about 20-60 seconds back for the first 8 miles until he got comfortable and ran up to the three leaders (Ruberio, Kregar, O'Keefe).

At this point O'Keefe was going backwards a little and Ruberio greeted the newest member with a funny, "GOOD MORNING Peter, come run with us." Peter went to the front and set the pace for about 800 meters when Ruberio really exposed his cards and started pushing the pace again. Peter continued to run his race and after several miles starting giving them some time back. Looking at historical times it was hard to argue with the tactics we were playing. The 2 leaders went through the halfway point about 4 minutes ahead of Peters 3:02. If Peter even paced his race you would assume to see both guys come back and come back enough for Peter to move into the lead. However, the two leaders gutted out great runs and both ran their best times ever and very impressive times at the end of this race. One thing for sure, all of these competitors at Ultraman were incredible athletes.

A little before the half (or marathon point) I gave Peter a salt tablet and some caffeine. I was hoping this combined with a halfway home reassurance would give him some motivation to make a move. He looked somewhat relaxed and his stride was strong. Less than a mile after the 26.2 banner, he changed shoes. I knew this was okay to do, but not great sign. A few miles later he changed shoes again, I got concerned but kept it internal. About mile 30 or so he walked through a stop to drink, I was past the point of concern and mild worry crept in. About mile 32 the wheels absolutely came off, all racing stategy went straight out the window. I finally asked the question I wasn't planning on asking all day, "Do you want me to run with you?" At first a "no" then "okay come on" So I joined in only thinking okay I have 2 bottles and a gel, don't drop the gel.

We ran a decent clip for several miles, I was trying to talk as much as possible…however, I've been with these guys for a week, so not much more to talk about at this point. I was trying to make sure Peter drank a lot. At first we started setting marks to run to, signs, top of hills, etc. Finally we had the van go every half mile and stop. Before the van I would see what Peter wanted, or really needed, run ahead to the van and fix it or get Dean to fix it. This worked well as with each half mile we got deeper and deeper into survival mode. I first knew this was going to be tough when before we got to 13 miles Peter said his legs were done. Did I mention he had gone to the bathroom 4 times before this point, so you could probably say his stomach was gone too. I tried to keep him positive, told him to be smart, keep moving, and I never mentioned DNF. I knew the only way he would DNF was if it would be against his will. The walk breaks got longer and longer.

Peter wanted to speed walk, that sucked. Here you have a guy in a all spandex outfit complete with shin guards doing the sorority shuffle (or soccer mom sprint) with a guy in running shorts (okay short running shorts) "running" with him. It was not pretty, thank you Tim Carlson for not snapping any photos at this point, and if you did could you please burn them? I was hoping this slowing pace would help Peter not go into further debt but as I saw our pace continue to slow I knew we were in trouble. But at least he realized it when he said, "I am getting a little delirious." Thanks Peter that's what I wanted to hear, don't panic right? Well at least I felt better a few miles later when he said, "I wish I could run naked" Great, now the random comments from left field started flying, and we still had about 10 miles to go. I was continuing to make sure Peter was eating, drinking, and staying as cool as possible. But of course I started to forget about myself, I stopped drinking and definitely hadn't eaten much all day.

Finally we reached the airport the home of our 3 different vans for the week and we knew it was 7.5 miles to go. Half mile after half mile continued, each getting drastically slower. We got to 10k to go. Somewhere around here Dean started getting worried as Peter really was not looking good. I figured I could see how bad off he was if he responded about it and it gave us conversation. Finally we got to 5k to go. I was breaking it down in my head as training run distances from about 8 miles out. Finally at 5k to go I told Peter, "5k what fat people do on the weekend, we can finish this off." He quickly noted, "I feel like I am waddling like a fat person." He was! With about 2 miles to go Penguin waddle references started coming out. There was no more running left. And the walking wasn't even fast anymore. I was so ready to be finished at this point that I stopped thinking about if we would make it or not, then I realized how slow we were walking. Peter said with a mile to go that we weren't running across the line. And with Dean and I beside him he did as he said and waddled across the line in one of the gutsiest athletic performances I have ever experienced. I told him right before the last turn into the old airport, that I was proud of the week he put together and that he showed a lot of character and heart all week and especially during that last 20 miles of the run. He kept apologizing for his run, I told him not to worry, that he had a great race and finished and even with a respectable time. Peter put it all out there and left everything he had on the roads of Hawaii

We crossed the line and luckily Dean and I were there to grab Peter, his legs were gone. We carried him over to a bench and he sat down. He threw up for a while, started to go into shock and then finally laid down and let us elevate his legs. I was getting scared, he was not in good shape and as expected was refusing any medical help. He didn't want to drink anything and we knew he needed to get fluids in him. No IVs were available so I had to resort to feeding him ice. Again thanks Tim for not taking any pictures of this! I was watching the finishing clock and every 2.5 minutes I was giving him ice. This was very strange looking but I knew this would slowly hydrate him and also give me a check to make sure he didn't pass out. Finally after about 2 hours he was talking a little and starting to come around. He sat up and was doing slightly better. I left Peter with Dean and went to straighten up the van. When I came back Peter was doing an interview which made me feel a lot better. About 30 minutes later he wanted to try to walk, he almost fell down 5 times but with each minute he became more and more energetic.

Finally we left to go home, Peter felt a sick on the way home so we had to stop and pull over. We made it home and he laid down for about an hour. We both got really hungry, and we all knew it was a good sign that Peter had an appetite. We finally tracked Dean down after he disappeared with his Crackberry and left for downtown. Peter told us his urine was discolored and had a little blood in it. SHIT. So we got to the restaurant (after Peter again got queezy in the car) and I had one goal, get Peter drunk off water. I even found the pitcher the staff used and kept his glass full to force him to drink. About halfway through the meal I realized I hadn't gone to the bathroom in about 7 hours and was feeling the effects of the sun. I realized I also needed to get wasted on the H2O. So after dinner we went to Lava Java and continued taking shots of water. FINALLY, Peter said he needed to go to the bathroom. We came out and gave us the thumbs up, what a relief. We kept giving him water to make sure we walked completely out of the woods.

We made it out of the woods and I slept great on Sunday night and on Monday morning the humor began, Peter trying to walk. The laughing continued as we trekked through airports on our way home. It reached the pinnacle when we finally landed in Greenville. We were walking off the plane and Peter was a few people ahead of me. We start to walk up the ramp. And I notice this short very old lady in between Peter and myself. She was walking fine, she was just old so it is quite slow. However in the length of the ramp thingy she walked Peter down and passed him. It was classic.

Thanks to all for reading. Thanks to Jim at Beyond Fabrications for the great bikes that had no mechanicals. Thanks to Blue Seventy for giving Peter a sweet suit to help keep him cool yet fast in the swim and for goggles so he could see the rocks that didn't move in the current. Thanks to Rudy for the many glasses that were worn. Thanks to Joe Towson for supporting Peter and his racing.

BACK AT HOME

Well - we arrived back at home late evening on Tuesday - everybody is EXTREMELY exhausted. We'll have one more entry from the running portion by Brooks, who spent with me close to 3.5hrs - this should be very interesting since I was so delirious that I can't remember most of it.  Also - I'll write my thoughts about the race - day by day within the next few days.

Thanks for following the race!

PK

For now - there is one more interesting article on Slowtwitch:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/Kipling_s_Ultraman__631.html

DAT'S DA WAY DEE COO-KIE CRUMBLES!

Well, today was a big day. We had a 52.4 mile run that started in a town called Hawi at 1500 ft. The run descends to sea level that provides some magnificent scenery and then some areas that are not so magnificent.

We decided to stay in Kona last night, which meant we were up at 345am this morning and had to be on the road by 415am to make the meeting in Hawi at 530am. We got Peter in bed early but he had a rough night sleeping with a lot of sweating and lots of bathroom stops. His body was obviously trying to recover from the 2-days of pounding leading into the run. After morning espresso, we packed in the van and jammed to Beastie Boys and AC/DC to the start line of the race. We had not Techno for Peter, so had to go with heavy metal and rap...!

Once arriving in Hawi, we had a quick meeting and a pre-race hawaiian ceremony outside near the start of the race. All the racers and crew members held hands and a blessing was given before the race.

The 36 runners set up at the start line and began running at 6am sharp. Ribiero (Brazil), O'Keefe (Canada), and Kregar (Slovenia) took off like a bat out of hell and Peter fell in behind them at a comfortable pace around 6m45s pace.


He let them go and sat back about 30 seconds behind the lead pack. It's a very long race (double marathon), so Peter let them push the pace thinking that he would attack in the later stages of the race. O'Keefe dropped off and the half marathon split was a blistering 1hr26s when Peter caught the lead group. Ribiero greeted Peter with a "Well Good Morning Peter" and then Kregar and Miro took off again and broke away. Peter decided to stay at a steady pace and not chase.

With O'Keefe out of sight, Peter and the pair of Ribiero and Kregar left the rest of the field in the dust. These guys were flying!


Once again, it is remarkable to see these guys push after the first 2-days of racing at this pace. There is no question that Ribiero and Kregar were not going to give this race to Peter and somebody was going to need to have the race of their life to win it. All three of these guys and O'Keefe where trying to win the race. As Peter said "Its not over until is over."

The race hit 26.2 miles and Peter came in at 3hr02m and about 4 minutes behind the leaders. Peter was looking very comfortable. We had a great plan for hydration, and Brooks did a great job as we leap frogged in the mini-van every 1/2 a mile to give Peter the needed nutrition and hydration to keep him moving.

Around mile 30, we started to see the first signs of trouble for Peter. He was starting to get uncomfortable. He had already changed shoes once and by mile 30 changed shoes a second time.



He started having severe stomach problems that required 4 separate private moments behind the car door as he emptied himself out and at one point he had to send the photographers away to let him go! Things went down hill from this point forward and by mile 33, the wheels completely came off. It was at this point when Brooks and I realized that we were totally in survival mode, and Peter was broken--the lights were gone. Long and short of it, his body was shutting down. We had gone beyond dehydration and were now dealing with heat exhaustion.


For those of you who have ever bonked or worse, had your body shut down as Peter did today, clearly you will understand that this is the worst thing that can happen to you in a race but with 19 miles makes the remaining race seemed like a century run. Peter was cramping severely in his legs, was clearly getting dehydrated, and was sick in his stomach.

Because of his unbelievable split up to 30-miles, Peter had plenty of time to get into the finish without losing too many positions, so we started breaking the race down into small increments. We knew Peter would not quit, so it was our job to keep him well enough to get to the finish line. It should be noted that none of this is an excuse. Issues were ran into today that couldn't be overcome but Peter showed huge character, tenacity, and will and soldiered on. Tony O'Keefe stated that he respected Peter because he went for it but unfortunately sometimes when you go for it, you pay. But we noted to Tony that he was ballsy too because he went for it as well. All of these guys are GREAT competitors and Peter and his crew have great respect for all these athletese. But back to the race.

We were also prepared to pull him out if it got dangerous. We focused on 1/2 mile sections and either Brooks or I paced Peter (1 person could pace with the runner at anytime during the race). Brooks did an unbelievable job pacing Peter and carried most of the load running on the last 20 miles. We walked, we ran, we jogged, crapped, threw up, cussed, and every once in a while laughed our way to the finish line. We tried everything to keep Peter moving from Nuuns electrolytes, red bulls, vitamin c powder, bubble gum, gels, "Pivo", gatorade, Ultragen recovery powders, salt tabs, bananas, EFS gels, Alka Seltzer and sports drink powders. Pretty much all you can eat on the Queen K highway on the way to Kona!!

O'Keefe caught Peter on his way to secure his second place overall finish, and a Brazilian named Conceicao who held a consistent pace from the start and finished 3rd overall in the run. He moved from 11th to 5th place overall for the 3 days.

So after a 3hr02m marathon and posted a total 52.4 mile time of 7hr33m. He maintained 5th place in the double marathon and took 4th overall in the race.

Post race was ugly. Peter was very sick. He was in total heat exhaustion and began vomiting. We had some help at the finish and got Peter stabilized with ice to try and cool down his body temperature, and propped his feet up. He spent close to 2-hours on his back, and we started getting him to chew on some ice, then drink some water, then sit up and by 3 hours we had him back on his feet! It's at this point that we realized Peter has blood running down his race shorts from the chaeffing he incurred inside his legs.


After the race, the reporter from Slowtwitch interviewed Peter and I think said something that summed up the day. This guys has followed Peter since 1997, when Peter did the world record double marathon time in 5hr33m and his opinion was that although that was an incredible day, Peter's 2008 double marathon will go down as his gutsiest performance ever.

We are tired here in Kona...Peter is getting hydrated here at our favorite watering hole again and we ate an awesome Thai meal...Brooks is quite exhausted as he posted a good 15-20 miles pacing Peter and keeping him upright...He is going to post some of his thoughts from today tomorrow.

In retrospect of the day, Peter had 1 simple statement.... "well boys... dats da way dee coo-kie crumbles..."

Congrats to all the athletes, their crews and their families. It has been an unbelievable experience to witness this race from the sidelines and see the toughness of these individuals. The 3-day swim/bike/run challenge is not just a test of endurance, but a test of the will and resolve of each and every competitor. All of these athletes are winners!

Race Results:
http://ultramanlive.com/2008-ultraman-world-championships/2008-results-page/

CATCH UP DAY...!

We woke up for day 2 in the bomb shelter to a loud Swiss snore and a sleep talker from Brazil. We then threw Peter’s kit in the dryer to shake out the little bit of moisture left from Brooks’ hand washing. Note to clothing sponsor, the only athlete here having 1 kit (from 8 years ago) for a multi-day race.

(Brooks and Dean) started to get worried at breakfast, it seemed EVERYONE was feeling great, and our guy was the only sore one in the bunch. We keep Peter positive and blasted the heat in the wan (Czech for Van) to start warming his muscles. The start of today left from the top of the climb from Volcano (from the day before at around 4000 ft and descended 25 miles before hitting some rolling roads, a flat road by the ocean, and then a climb out, before some more rollers, a stretch through town, a beautiful 57 miles of rollers, two final climbs, and a pretty technical yet fun looking descent. I figured another run-on today wouldn’t hurt…Clemson did beat up on the Gamecocks today.

So back to the race, Tony O’Keefe descended like a bat out of hell and put 4 minutes on the rest of the competitors. Peter came down with a group containing the rest of the contenders. Due to his soreness in his lats from cramping in the swim he pulled over we took his jacket off (again note clothing sponsor), gave him the first of 10,000 bottles on the day, applied a fresh pair of Rudy Project glasses and Peter sprinted off to mark the rest of the big boys. It was going to be a good day!

Over the next several miles everybody started to sort out there positions. Peter ended up marking (sighting) O’Keefe with Alexendre Ribeiro and Josef Ajram who are excellent cyclists and strong climbers. He looked strong all day and even smiled (three times I think). The nutrition plan we set this morning worked great. Peter got a little tired of the gels though and it became apparent when he told Dean, “I don’t vont any of doz vucking gels! saw-wee.” Yes, he actually apologized after hammering for 100 miles! Ribeiro turned on the jets with about 55 miles to go, Peter accelerated when he did is well and as the say “the race was on.” Clearly, Ribeiro wanted to put distance between his time and Peter going into the run tomorrow. They both rode hard to the end and Ribeiro came out a little on top today with the second fastest second day time in the history of the race. Peter posted the 4^th fastest ever. Peter has been raving about his new 2009 Beyond Fabrications frameset and 62mm deep Beyond Fabrications carbon wheel set. He likes the way the ceramic bearings roll and how stable the rims were in the varying wind conditions over the last 261.4 miles.

Race Results after Day -2 Total and (171 mile stage 2 bike )

1. Ribeiro - 15hr34m56s (7hr20m41s bike)

2. O'Keefe - 15hr44m56s (7hr36m28s)

3. Kotland - 16hr05m28s (7hr27m27s)

Note: Total time is faster then his 1997 split after day 2 by 13m26s

4. Ajram - 16hr06m53s (7hr31m50s)

5. Kregar - 16hr21m08s (7hr43m33s)

Total Race Results: http://ultramanlive.com/2008-ultraman-world-championships/2008-results-page/

Without witnessing today for yourselves, you will have to trust us when we say this day was unbelievable. The front runners set the pace early and the objective was to put as much time between them and Peter before the run. The pace was brutal, with 171 miles of racing and 8000+ feet of climbing. The toughness of the 4 guys upfront (whom represent Canada, Czech/USA, Brazil, and Spain) was unbelievable. These guys are good, no great! No question from our crew that these racers represent some of the best athletes in the world. It is truly remarkable to see these guys hammer, particularly after 8 plus hours of intense racing the day before. Now everyone gets to sleep and run 52.4 miles!!

There is certainly a gap that needs to be made up but Peter is recovering well and has a positive attitude. This was apparent when as we just drove to our favorite watering hole (coffee) Lava Java and he yelled at all of the bad drivers. Peter has downed his meal and the crew is about to eat our first solid meal since breakfast at 5am. We all have important jobs to do tomorrow. There are some great runners in this race and some large deficits that need to be made up. We cannot give away the motivational talk that has been discussed this evening because we know some other competitors are reading this. Hey Gary Wang! But we have a plan and will execute it well and let the chips fall as they may. Its only a Sunday Stroll.

We want to make the statement that we are sorry if this blog offends anyone, but several of Peter’s friends wanted the play by play of the week. We provide the thoughts that we have discussed or laughed about here, either initiated by the crew or the man him self. It is all in good fun and it provides us with great comic relief and has been a great tool to keep the mood light and in keeping Peter in a good place mentally during this grueling 3-day race.

RACE BEGINS!!

(Check out Christy Brinkley posing for the media!! Hopefully someone from Blue Seventy will read this blog! Maybe we should send in some of these poser photos to Millie Lewis Modeling Agency and see if we can get Peter some modeling gigs on the side!)

Welcome sports fans the fun has begun. We woke again this morning with another ride on the Kotland Espresso Train and ate some light food in the morning before departing for the race. The race started at 630am sharp and the 35 individual participants began their 3-day campaign. The currents were tough and the water was very warm in the swim which produced slower times for the leaders and potentially some cramping. Peter was swimming very strong but overheated and cramped about half way through the swim and fell back a bit in the pack. He was very thankful that he wore his Blue-Seventy 10K Skin Suit, which is designed for open water swimming. He came out of the water in a very conscious state, much more than some of the other guys ahead of him. After being in the ocean for 3 hours, you cannot imagine the vertigo and dizziness you can experience standing back upright....In classic euro fashion Peter was the only athlete to perform the all nude transition. No offense to our other Euro friends in the Ultraman. We helped get him out onto the bike course quickly and he seemed to be okay. After the end of the stage he told us about all of the cramping he experienced on the swim, which resulted in the slow times.

Peter picked off a few guys in the transition and a few more early on during the ride. The first 10 miles were a tough climb and Peter seemed patient yet strong as he ascended. After getting through a few towns after the climb we hit some of the most beautiful road I have ever been on. Unfortunately we are sightseeing while working so pictures are limited but trust me it was awesome. We were like at about 500 ft. elevation and you could see the blue ocean crashing into the huge lava rocks that lead to the fields of greenery and bushes and to our left you could see the mountains that form the volcano here on the big island. I don’t care if the previous sentence was a run-on, because I am tired. (For those who were wondering, based on this run on sentence its obvious Brooks went to Clemson) Peter rode within himself all day, we only called him an asshole twice for not taking our nutrition we offered him at the moment. When the race was finished, Peter had posted the 4^th fastest bike time. The standings are as followed up to Peter’s place:

1. O’Keefe: 8hr08m21s

2. Ribeiro: 8hr13m25s

3. Seedhouse: 8hr17m11s

4. Ajram: 8hr35m03s

5. Kregar: 8hr37m35s

6. Kotland: 8hr38m01s

Below is the Current Total Standings:

http://ultramanlive.com/2008-ultraman-world-championships/2008-results-page/

Attached below is a great article written on slow twitch about day 1 and Kotland...

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Tony_O_Keefe_and_Shanna_Armstrong_lead_Ultraman_Day_One_622.html

We are optimistic for the next two days. It’s a long race, and it seems like the tempo is being pushed on the bike to put some distance on Peter before the run starts. However, Peter feels strong, and much can happen in the 171.4 miles of stage 2.

After the race, we departed to the town of Hawi. We ate an authentic Italian dinner at a wonderful hole in the wall restaurant. The Owner was the chef and from Italy, so we came to the right spot for dinner! After dinner, we set up camp at the Volcano Military Barracks. We are sleeping in the same room with 17 other guys BUT we have pillows, blankets and no friendly pets snuggling up with us at bedtime on floors.

We have helped keep the mood light tonight, as we sit here Dean and Peter are telling jokes and laughing it up, and I think the rest of the athletes are sleeping. Next to the barracks is a recreation center where all the local rug rats entertain themselves on a Friday night. Yep, all the country music, bowling, and booze drinking wrapped into a small dome shaped tin military bomb shelter.

We will wait and see what our man has in the bag tomorrow.

It should be a great day!

Race Day Has Arrived

Just wanted to give a quick update. We woke up at 430am this morning, ate some breakfast, ate espresso and now we are staring ateach other wondering what to do fr the next half an hour! The swim start begins at 630am and Peter will swim along the coast of Hawaii battling current, wind, jelly fish, and of course the oter athletes. A kayaker will be slightly in front of Peter. Our kayaker is a very experienced local who has knowledge of the current. Once Peter starts swmming, Brooks and I will drive down to the swim finish ad set up his bike transition. The key to this race is for us to handle all the details and for Peter to focus on one thing, the race. He will get out of the water between 9am-930am. He will get out of the water and we will get him geared up for the 90 mile bike. Todays bike course has significat elevation and it will be hot. Both good elements for Peter. Our hope is to have Peter back in the van and resting by no later then 230pm. We will keep you posted.

1997 World Championship Times:

Day 1 - Swim - 2hr54m38s, Bike - 5hr12m06s, Total 8hr06m44s
Day 2 - Bike - 8hr12m10s, Total Bike - 13hr24m16s, Total Race - 16hr18m54s
Day 3 - Run - 5hr33m57s (World Record), Total Race - 21hr52m51s

A few years later, Total race time record was broken at 21hr41m22s. Objective for day 1 and 2 is to captitalize on Peter's improvement in both the bike and swim since 1997. Hammer on day 1 and 2 and take some time off of the day 2 total race time from 1997 to provide some cushion on the run.

Off to the start. Stay tuned.

T Minus 24-Hours and Counting

Unfortunately and fortunately we are sad to report today was not as crazy as the past few days. We awoke this morning at the typical 6 am and sat around and got the Kotland Coffee Shakes®. About 8 o’clock Peter and I rode down to Dig-Me beach and did a quick 1 mile swim. On the way out we saw a Sea Turtle. We swam up to it and sat about 1 foot from it and watched it circle around us. It was quite an awesome experience, especially when the turtle crapped on Peter’s face. I won the swim on the way back, I am not counting that he is doing the Ultraman tomorrow, I need the resume builder. Dean ran the 4 miles from the house and met us at the beach. It was a nice thanksgiving morning. We were changing clothes after our workouts and 4 time Ultraman world champ and PK team times member Shanna Armstrong strolled up.

She was about to swim when we informed her that the mandatory pre-race meeting was in 5 minutes. Let’s hope she makes it to the start line on time in the morning. The meeting was quite long and they introduced all of the athletes individually. When they introduced everybody’s favorite athlete (Peter Kotland), they mentioned he puts fear into the other athletes when they see him on the start line. Is that the same fear his athletes experience each week when they receive schedules? If so Dean and I hate it for those guys.

After the meeting we headed back to the ole home-stay and began the process of packing for a two day adventure. We will stay at the top of “volcano” tomorrow night. We then went to Wal-Mart in the afternoon to get the last of the important stuff. The most important thing we bought was the hot pink duct tap and fishing weights. We then put our brains together and under the lead of Cactus Boy Sinatra, we rigged a bright ribbon to hang from the boat to lead Peter in the swim. Finally it was dinner time, tonight Cactus Boy cooked us a pasta surprise. Erring on the side of caution not to make the sauce too mild, Sinatra dumped a ¼ bottle of hot sauce and 4 tbsp of red pepper seasoning into the sauce. After 2 minutes of eating there was a puddle of sweat under Dean and Peter who had already take his shirt off…this hot concoction was do to Peters comment, “I vont the empty stomach in de morning.” The wan (Czech for van) is packed and the crew and athlete are relaxed.

The van is packed, nutrition plan is set and the gear for tomorrows first leg of the race is ready to go. Now its time to get er’ done. Mr. Kotland is ready to pull out a can of whoop ass!! There is no turning back, no backing down, its three days of pain and time to throw down some times to make people see that this Kotland guy is still a threat and an animal. One goal: World Record… stay tuned…. It’s going to be a good ride.

Tomorrow morning 6:30 am we will be underway and will update tomorrow night.

Ultraman II - 3 Amigos Raid the Island

November 26^th

After waking up on our first full day in Kona, we ate a hearty breakfast and drank 12 gallons of motor oil (espresso) before heading to the world famous Dig-Me Beach (Home of the Ironman World Championship Swim Start). Upon our arrival, we met several of the other Ultraman athletes and support team crew members who have traveled from all over the world to compete in this race.

Brooks and I went out after seeing these guys and bought new bathing suits! European style!! The 3 of us headed out for a swim. The water was warm and the buoyancy was incredible in the salt water. After swimming and hanging out with the other groups, we dropped into the post office, picked up Peter’s bike and wheels and assembled his bike for the race. After an afternoon run workout for Peter and Brooks, and a ride for Dean, we piled back into the car and went to have Peter’s bike inspected. A group of the other participants were set to leave for night diving with the manta-rays, so Brooks and I went with them and Peter completed his inspection. Very cool experience with these large creatures swimming around you. After diving, we caught back up with Peter at the Java Lava coffee shop in downtown and saw that Peter was cornered by 2 young girls from Finland and the US. They were mission girls that were on a path but had yet been told what God wanted them to do. Hopefully, God speaks to them soon, because bible thumping at Java Lavas to Peter Kotland will not get you to far. Upon leaving, the girls asked if they could pray for us. Peter so kindly sais, "I don't know vut to pray for, Dean you got anything?." I asked them to pray for our van not to hit Peter during the race by accident or for any other reason!

We should have asked for them to pray for us at our home stay because things have gone weird at home. We drove home to a 2-page note that clearly outlined the do's and dont's of the home. We have 1 light bulb in a lamp, are sleeping on floors, all of our electronics must be unplugged, no fans on in house, our stuff must remain clean around her piles, we are literally living with Ghekkos that crawl around us which eat the ants, and are surrounded by hippy neighbors who seem to be self purging (throwing up) outdoors in the middle of the night. Being hospitable guests, Peter posted the note on the refrigerator just to make things a bit more comfortable for everybody including our host, and we now we try to be up and out before our friend rises and home after she gos to bed. Hawaiian hospitality is a bit bizarre. We spend our time at Java Lavas until We met back up for a vintage Kotland pasta fiesta with 3 gallons of hot sauce that will make you sweat out a few pounds at dinner at our home-stay and sacked out for another night with the Ghekkos.

November 27^th

As with the day before, we swam in the morning and began to work with Peter on his nutrition plan for the race. We picked up his other bike at the post office and headed for registration. On our way to registration, we found a Ghekko in the car. He was sitting on the driver’s seat right above my shoulder and jumped onto Brooks. These things are everywhere!

Registration went smooth, and Peter was interviewed by Slow Twitch online magazine. It seems that Peter’s return to the race is well received and he poses a very serious threat to win the race this year. Of course, our goal is to set a new overall world record time for the race which is very possible with Peter’s conditioning, and staying healthy during the race.


After registration, we stopped home for some lunch, and headed out to the hills for some bike training. We stopped by Cosco to get some drinks and pizza. That place was a nightmare! We got everything we needed and the electric keys to the mini-van stopped working, and we were locked out of the car. In times of crisis like this action was requ ired, so we slapped the pizza box on the hood and ate in the parking lot of Cosco. After about an hour, Peter finally found a manual key embedded in the key chain and we got the doors unlocked. We drove straight to the rental car shop, picked up a new car with a full tank of gas, and headed up the hill.


After a few hours of delays, we finally looked like we were getting to our destination and then the road was shut down and we got stuck for another 45 minutes in traffic. So, we put Peter on his bike and sent him on the way.

Brooks and I backtracked through town and circled around an alternative route to meet Peter in a town up in the mountains. Peter climbed and descended 4000 feet up to a town called Hawi and Brooks and I took up some sight seeing while we waited.












After another trip to Cosco to pick up van supplies for the race, we booked home for a pasta meal at home, and then we took off to the local coffee shop and mapped out the nutrition plan hour by hour for the 3-days of racing.

Not sure what the temperament is of the other teams and their crew, but we are like the bad news bears in the Kotland camp! As usual, we find humor in just about everything, the mood is very light, relaxed and most importantly, we are having fun. However, come game day, Peter will be rested, in good spirits and ready to rock. His support team will be totally in synch to get him home as the 2008 Ultraman World Champion.

NOTE: Photo Album can be seen in its entirety at:
Dean's album
Username - dsinatra@enterprisepartners.biz
password - sinatra21

Happy Thanksgiving and Aloha from all of us in Hawaii!!

Ultraman I - Fruit Loops

Hello faithful Peter Kotland fans. Dean and I (Brooks) have hijacked Peter's Blog for the week. We will keep you up to date on the happenings of the week from the fun and crazy to the plain painful that is screamed out on the Queen K later this week. Of course we had a fun day of traveling. Peter and I left Greenville and had some entertaining flights. The highlight in the plane came when this YOUNG mother a few rows in front of us lifted her baby high into the air while the infant began puking on the lady behind her. Every body around us seemed concerned, Peter and I were crying because we were laughing so hard. We got to Kona and Peter was giving me a quick tour of the island. At one point we were on the main strip of Alii Drive. There was a guy beside us running with a skateboard. He looks over and starts staring! I get a little tense and figure we might get in a fight with a local ALREADY. But all of the sudden this guy shots out "HEY PETER!" It was classic we had been in Hawaii for less than an hour and Peter is already signing autographs. Typical.

Dean landed later in the evening, he said something about an Ironman and being sore and numb. Okay we believed the Ironman part being he just had an incredible finish at IM Arizona (36 minute PR). But we have now reunited the Lake Placid traveling trio, the band is back together. Now for some more fun times and for Peter to kick some ass.


We arrived at our homestay thanks to the handy GPS navigator that has us laughing all the way to the home. Apparently, GPS has a hard time pronouncing Hawaiian streets. We arrived to our headquarters and settled in for the evening. Since Peter has a little race starting on Friday, we gave him the bed. After much debate, Dean and I claimed our carpet floor locations in the home and slept with the Ghekkos, which apparently eat the ants that crawl along the walls of the home. We're not sure what Ghekko poop looks like but will report back as soon as we spot some in the home.



We are now all jacked up like bunny rabbits on Peter's vintage espresso train. We are gearing up for an ocean swim this morning and plan to pick up Peter's bike at the post office. We will keep you informed, post pics and update you as the week progresses.

NOTE: Photo Album can be seen in its entirety at:
Dean's album
Username - dsinatra@enterprisepartners.biz
password - sinatra21

Brooks & Dean

IM Florida

A report is on the way.
Ended up with a DNF, due to too much Ibuprofen intake that caused indigestion during the run. Not very happy with it. I was coming into the race with an ear infection, which has been with me for 3 weeks. Took some antibiotics for a week, but drug testing, and the way they made me feel prevented me from taking them within one week of the race. Ended up with a ruptured ear drum, but it could always be worse.

More is coming up.

IM Louisville

Before the race:

Since I raced this Ironman last year, I figured that leaving Thursday would be good enough to make the trip to Louisville. Thanks to Aubrey (my athlete, and friend) and his wife, I had a home stay at their grandparents just 30 minutes away from the race site. On Friday we went to a short run, just to loosen up our legs, and that was it for the day - very productive! Saturday's program was to do a short swim in the AM, a short bike spin - just to make sure that everything worked well, and then off to check in our bikes and our gear.

Race:

The race started at 6:50; first was the PRO wave, and then the amateurs started in a TT start at 1 second intervals. We woke up at 4:00 (unfortunately thanks to Louisville's county fair being outside of my window, I didn't get much sleep) to consume a few calories before the race. It's always great trying to force yourself to eat at that early hour. We filled up our water bottles and off we went to the transition area. After checking if the bikes were still OK and fiddling with a few things, we started our 1mi walk up the bank of the famous Ohio river.

As I lined-up in my PRO wave, everybody was actually friendly and in a happy mood. We were allowed in the water for a warm up about 5 minutes before the start.

Swim:

The race started at dawn - and as always the first 250-300 meters were pretty much all-out effort. I was able to find a bigger group this time (6 swimmers), and just swam comfortably with rest of them for the entire time. Swim pace was very comfortable, about 70-75%, until I tried to pass them and swim next to them. It was way too hard so I just got back into the group and drafted the rest of the way. Water temp was about 84-85F - pretty hot for an Ironman race. After seeing the time when we exited the water, I figured that the swim was longer (or slower than last year), and everybody confirmed the same.

Bike:

The bike course in Louisville is pretty hilly, but coming from the upstate of South Carolina - it felt like riding at home. I took it easy for the first 25mi - just wanted to make sure that my legs were loose and my stomach didn’t protest after swimming in such "clean" water. Rest of the bike was as usual - some ups and downs for the next 45mi. Even though the temperatures were nearing 90F by the end of the bike, I was able to consume all of my nutrition, and pickup the pace for the last 40mi.

Run:

This time the first 8mi felt surprisingly easy, even thought the temp was in the mid 90's by now. After training on my mental "imagination state" with Greg, my legs felt great and really the first 1hr went by without noticing it. Well after the first turn-around; at my 8.25mi; it was a totally different story. No energy in my legs, my stomach wasn't happy, and the usually self-pity stuff. One of the motivations was the fact that 2 of my athletes were 1/2 into the run course, so to DNF was out of the question, even it was very tempting. Also by the ½ point of the run course I had moved to 10th place (first paying place) so definitely no choice to DNF! Rest of the run was just about survival, forcing the nutrition down, and thinking that the heat had to bother other athletes more than somebody who likes the heat and comes from SC. The temp at this point (1 meter off the road surface) was about 105-110F. Then came the last turn-around, and only 6mi to go. Unfortunately one of the PRO was very persistent in chasing me so there was no way to enjoy (plus there was no way in hell that I'll give race $ away) rest of the run. In the last 5miles, I was able to use Greg Spindler's suggestions from Matrix Energetics to "energy zone transfer" as I sucked into somebody’s energy field (he was running his first loop and was pretty fast). After 2miles this person stopped at a water station so it was up to me and fooling myself every mile (only one more hard mile and then I can slow down, and of course you tell it to yourself every mile).......and then there was the finish line = 9th place!

Overall:

Happy to be back in top 10 after few years of struggling. Learned some valuable lessons, and hope to keep improving. Thanks to all of my Sponsors: Beyond Fabrications; Blue Seventy; Rudy Project; Greg Spindler; Run-In; all of my athletes, and friends

....until the next one

PK