Peter Kotland - Professional Triathlete

Coming Up

2011-01-06T13:23:00.001-05:00

My new website is coming up. Keep your eye on PeterKotland.com. It's still in progress, but it's a big office goal to have it done soon.

Product Re-test - Optygen HP

2010-03-12T11:21:00.003-05:00

I cherish my sponsors, why, because I love the products. Sometimes my athletes must hate me because I push some of the products so hard. I use them, they help me, so I must tell others. However, sometimes I get scared that I use the products to much or too consistently, especially supplements or sports drinks. So I had a conversation with Robert Kunz at First Endurance when I realized I had been taking Optygen HP for the last 4 years non-stop and didn’t know if there were any side effects. Well besides urine the color of green koolaid, that is normal for endurance athletes, right? Robert recommended that once (or twice) a year for a period of 3-4 weeks I not take Optygen HP. I am 10 days in one of those blocks, and WOW, I can tell the difference. For example, while swimming, my hypoxic 5 stroke breathing, is REALLY hard now!!! Also when I go to the TRACK now, I really see different results. I have been doing the same workout last 3 weeks, and I've done this workout in past years. I am seeing heart rates that are way above what I've seen in the past 5 years, on the average it seems to be 10-15 beats per minute difference.

Okay one more Optygen story for now, this is from an athlete who just set a new marathon PR, 2:46:33. Here is what he said, “I don’t remember but I think the morning of this race was the long race (marathon or ironman, and maybe half) that I actually took Optygen the morning of the race. I usually forget to pack it, or take it in the am because I am so nervous. Well I remembered, and it as well as Peter’s workouts seemed to be the secret ingredient to a great race. I stopped to go to the bathroom at mile 12 and I noticed that my legs didn’t feel like I had been running at pace for 12 miles. The biggest difference seemed to be the peaks and valleys you feel in a long race like that seemed to be flatter. I felt strong and fast when I felt good and if I started to feel rough I felt like it just a fence I had to jump not a wall I had to climb. Until my 24 these seemed to be easy to overcome, but nothing is easy to overcome in the last 2.2 of a marathon. Thanks First Endurance for good products.”

First Endurance

2010-02-20T12:40:00.002-05:00

Slowtwitch.com recently ran a great story about one of my sponsors: FIRST ENDURANCE. An interview with one of the founders Robert Kunz. Personally I've been working w/Robert on developing, testing most of their products for the last 7 years. I got to know Robert personally - what a GREAT guy. Another good thing about their product - they believe in it themselves so. Here is the link: FIRST ENDURANCE.

Winter Blues

2010-01-13T20:10:00.003-05:00

With crazy cold weather in SC, riding my Beyond road bike outside in freezing temperatures - I've trying to find any motivation I can. This brings old memories, from long time ago - yes over 20 years ago this was my sport.

Ultraman Recovery

2010-01-11T14:14:00.001-05:00

Before Ultraman when I told people about the race they looked at me like I was crazy, but then again I guess I am crazy. I shared with you faithful readers about my prerace efforts and hopefully that was interesting. However not many people ask about how one feels 2-3 days or even 4 weeks after these kinds of races. People ask me what I wanted to eat when I finished and to be honestly my palette wasn’t craving any great foods, I just wanted to lay down and chase some more gnomes.

The day after the race we went to the awards ceremony, if you think people looks funny the day after an ironman or marathon, you should come to this awards ceremony. Everyone is so sore that people are scared to get close to others because they fear a touch may send their fellow competitors into cramps or spasms that would lead to death, its pretty funny to watch the athletes interact. It’s the fourth day of crewing for the crew as they must help keep the athlete upright while standing or even worse…walking. I think the debilitating factor of Ultraman is the double marathon, on pretty hard asphalt, after 2 days of racing. Also by the third day your body is already confused (I guess that’s what you call it) so you start the run extremely dehydrated. And then the 3rd Day of 6+ hours pounding on the roads makes your muscles flushed from liquid and pretty sore. Don’t you want to sign up now?

However, this year moving around was better than my first ever Ultraman. After that race I didn’t get out of the bed for a week, hell it might have been 2, I don’t remember. No matter what it still hurts really bad after each one. Now you definitely want to register! Of course the flight home didn't help much either. Last year I flew out right after the awards ceremony, not a smart move. This year was I stayed in Kona another 3 days after the race so my legs were not as bloated on the flight home. It took probably 2-3 more days before my walking stride became normal. Of course all this is to be expected after 3 days of pushing the limits during Ultraman.

Now comes the part that nobody talks about and few think about. The weeks after the race are where the recovery gets hard, the glow of the race begins to fade and the soreness declines but your body still isn’t back to 100%. For about 2 weeks all I wanted to do is to sleep. Not being able to focus on things is pretty hard especially since you have to rejoin the regular world. During this phase I really made sure I kept taking the usual supplements such as Multi-V, and Optygen to aid in my recovery. The stress on the body is hard enough that even walking into a room that some body was sick a month ago would put me under, so I had to be careful. The training was light, yes training, what you think I was gonna just do my work and sit around and watch T.V.! I trained to simply keep moving, to not let the body get stiff, to simply aid in blood flow. The problem is I really had no energy for anything, nothing at all, so it was more moving and not really training. My legs, and even cardio system returned to normal after about 3 weeks, but even as of now; 4 weeks later; there are days that my body is empty, and all I can think about is either sleep or a nap. I figure that 1 or 2 more weeks, and hopefully “Peter” will be back to normal the way everybody knows me.

After that – its time to start over again, with the preparation for the Ultraman Worlds 2010!

Post Ultraman Race (Editorial)

2009-12-07T22:25:00.003-05:00

Last year the Kotland crew used this blog for more than just updating the world on Peter’s performance. In a backward spirit of Aloha they made sure that no ridiculous antics went unmentioned. I would hate to break tradition.
This year the antics started, predictably, with Shanna Armstrong and her crew. Sure she was the women’s world champion, again, and sure Peter has been coaching her for years, but that doesn’t make her exempt. (It probably puts her more in the line of fire really.) Despite the easy going and lighthearted atmosphere we kept around the condo this year, leading up to the race I saw the Ultraman as nothing but a serious endeavor that required nothing but serious attitudes where the race was involved. Johnny showing up in his grass skirt and coconut bra to the swim transition changed all that. Dean, catching sight of this serious looking man in a ridiculous outfit yelled, “Back in uniform again I see Johnny!” The resentful reply came back, “I had to be”. Shanna Armstrong is the best female ultra endurance athlete in the world, but if you want the privilege of crewing for her, you’ll have to put up with any music she wants blasting all day- likely Britney Spears; you’ll have to dance to said music, in your mandatory coconut bra of course. All of this on top of the already taxing job of supporting an Ultraman athlete. There is no shortage of color and character at the Ultraman Race.
At least Shanna’s antics are good natured and well intended. Rip Oldmeadow’s story on the other hand is almost too hot to touch, even here. Details are scarce and I would be walking in murky waters to speculate much, but what is known is that Rip did not seem to be in Hawaii to make new friends. For antics unknown, two of his team members left his support crew emotionally shaken, effectively tearing the lid off a twisted can of worms. After leaving, Rip’s support team confessed to Richard Roll (affectionately known by us as Mr. Hollywood for his glamour shots and impeccable sense of style)
that Rip had talked about, and I am paraphrasing here, emotionally destroying Rich during the race. Apparently Rip didn’t know that one of his disenchanted crew members is a friend of Rich’s, who also happens to be coached by him. I am not sure whether it was that sort of attitude, his series of technical infractions while racing or the cumulative picture of the two that led to his disqualification. Whatever the situation was, having completed all three days of the event and to then not be considered a finisher is certainly punishment enough.
It wasn’t all gloom of course. After all, the entire reason d’être of the Ultraman is to get together a group of people and give them an ultimate challenge while bringing them, in every way possible, to heart and nature of the sport they love. Of course, as is the case with anything that people are passionate about, there are some individuals who stand above all the rest when it comes to expressing their Aloha spirit for the Ultraman. Steve King is one of these people. There are unbelievable views of natural beauty around the island, the race itself is something on a scale illogical, unbelievable and entirely hard to comprehend, and of course I have already told you about Peter’s run in with the frantic garden gnomes. Yet, by far, the most surreal experience I had during this Ultraman weekend was listening to Steve diligently, highly professionally and entirely inexplicably commentating the race over a loud speaker, even though there was usually no one around to listen.

At the first marathon point, Steve had set himself up and was announcing the day’s progress. Dean and I knew that he was taking time splits so Dean decided to go up and ask him how far back Peter was from Miro and Alejandro. But ever the professional, Steve could not interrupt his announcing to answer us immediately- despite the fact that Dean and I were the only two people even close to being within ear shot. The entire scene was taking place in an incredibly remote, miles long straight stretch of desert along the Queen K highway. Sitting there in beautiful nowhere, Steve did eventually give us our answer over the loudspeaker, “And I now have Peter’s time split here, Peter’s crew will probably appreciate this information, he is currently four minutes and fifty seconds behind the leaders, Alexandre Ribeiro and Miro Kregar who are setting and incredible pace.” Nobody can say this race doesn’t have character.
Perhaps one of the most notable ways that the Ultraman goes back to the roots of triathlon, besides being held in the birthplace of the Ironman of course, is that the athletes really are more than just numbers. During the race, nobody even thought about numbers. While each athlete did have one, I don’t think anybody new anybody else’s number- in fact, I couldn’t even tell you Peter’s for sure. The down side to this is that you have to keep track of athletes by their names; the upside of this is that nobody could remember everybody’s name, so nicknames got to be developed on the fly- I have already introduced you to Mr. Hollywood. As another example, during most of stage two Peter was being pursued by a man whose only defining characteristic we knew was that he was from Germany. Thanks to our limited knowledge of him, Jochen Dembeck has been known as “die German” for the entire race. “Peter, you better get climbing, die German is gaining on you.” “Peter, ignore the gnomes, die German is behind you.” (If you find this in any way offensive you may want to know that my nickname is Pecker (a long story that doesn’t involve what you think), Peter’s, who is the ex-Pecker, is now Sparky (also a long inside story which can be summed up by the fact that Peter is definitively not a “Sparky”) and Dean’s is Scuba thanks to an never forgotten incident with some oversized swim goggles.) Of course we weren’t the only ones throwing around nicknames. A fact best explained in a whole different story.

When Peter got up to make his finishers speech at the post race dinner everyone was left reeling a little when he broke the trend of references to spiritual experiences by saying the weekend was a good excuse to act like an asshole to Dean and I and get away with it. Little did they know that Peter was just warming them up for the Ultraman World Champion Alexendre Ribeiro’s speech.

Of course Alexendre included the usual sentiments about it being a great race and he talked about the particular challenges he faced this year and so on. But this national hero of Brazil took it upon himself to elaborate when it came to the details of the third day’s double marathon. As he and Miro ran together he explained, they casually chatted about having to keep up their fast pace because Peter and “the desert guy” were chasing them. Apparently in the middle of their great effort, they had forgotten Mike Leroux’s name but still chose to consider him a serious threat because it was a hot day and Leroux was experienced at running in the desert, and “it’s hot there” as Alexendre liked to make known. So at one point he decided to announce to the crowd that “Miro needed to take a shit, so I thought, o.k good, I can stop to pee while he shits.” (Part of the beauty of this exclamation is the fact that he likely knew no other English word for defecating.) That was not then end of his story though, he still had purpose he was leading towards. Later in the day the tables turned and now Alexendre had to “take a shit.” Only now Miro was not willing to return the favor and wait up during the pit stop because “Peter and the desert guy are coming.” Likely a little distressed that his day’s partner had left him, he was now alone, squatting down next to the road “taking a shit” – a position he reenacted for us on stage – while a stream of cars and the media vans rolled by to watch.
Even though I think I am now completely gossiped out, I can’t end this blog without mentioning that beautiful a moment before the start of the third day during the Hawaiian conk shell ceremony. The Pu ceremony, as it is called here, involves the athletes standing in a circle holding hands while a lone Hawaiian sounds a conk shell and says a Hawaiian prayer. Except for perhaps working in the daycare of a cruise ship or returning to live in a communist country, I can think of nothing so perfectly not Peter than standing in a circle, holding hands around a ritual spiritual ceremony. It was beautiful moment of perfect awkwardness I am not likely to ever forget.
Congratulations to all the athletes and my apologies to anyone whose quirks and blunders failed to make it on this post. I will be back next year, so you’ll get your chance.

Stage 3 - Ultraman 52.4 Mile Run

2009-11-29T21:36:00.009-05:00

Our morning started with a 4am wake up call at the Hapuna Beach Resort (about 20 miles from the start line for the double marathon). It was another great night of sleep, and after some coffee and cleaning up, we drove to the start line at the Hawi Inn. Peter started the day knowing that he would need to post a 6 hour double marathon to have any shot of winning the championship AND Ribiero would have to crash and burn on his run. BUT, with the world record in his reach, a crash was not out of the question for Ribeiro who might go out hard in order to "bask in the glory." Also, in 4th place, 2 minutes behind Peter was Miro Kregar, who won the double marathon in 2008. In an expected replay of last year, Kregar and Ribiero took off at a blistering pace from the start.It was Peter's plan to let them go and then, hopefully, rope them back in on the second marathon.

The morning temperature was rather warm at 67 degrees and quite humid in Hawi. The gun went off in the pitch dark and the boys went flying by as if they were being chased by the police. The 10k (6.2 mile split) was ridiculous! Kregar and Ribiero at 38 minutes and Peter at 40 minutes. The half marathon (13.1 mile) time for Kregar and Ribiero was 1hr26m and Peter was 2 minutes back at 1hr28min- on pace for a sub three hour marathon. An unbelievable pace when you consider this is a 52.4 mile race. Ryan and I were pacing Peter and providing him with an assortment of hydration including First Endurance EFS (an excellent sports powder), water, red bull, coke, water with NUUNS electrolytes, diluted grapefruit juice, and water with alka seltzer. Most of Peter's calories were liquid however we also had First Endurance gel. We would hand Peter 6oz. gel containers with his liquids in it and he would take down 6oz. at a time. We would run next to Peter (at 6:35 min/mile pace) until he finished and then drop back for a refill.

Peter posted his first marathon in 3hr4min, only 4 minutes behind our friends. A situation almost identical to last years race. The question was whether Peter could repeat his split knowing full well that Kregar and Ribiero would fall off on the 2nd marathon. As we made it through the next several splits, it became apparent that Ribiero and Kregar were pulling away and Peter was struggling and slowing his pace. Over the last 9 miles, we pulled the crew van 1-mile ahead of Peter and waited for him with an assortment of band-aids (i.e. First Endurance powders, gels, grapefruit juice, etc...) to get him enough hydration and energy to push to the finish line. When you run this fast for this long, when the tank goes empty, it goes EMPTY! Unlike last year though, where Peter was dehydrated and sick, this year was mostly leg pain and muscle tightening. The legs just wouldn't turnover like they did earlier. However, he was still running sub-8 minute miles. He was definitely in survival mode on the last 6 miles. However, Peter stuck to the plan, would run a mile, then take in fluids at the car and start back up again. But even stopping to hydrate couldn't keep away the gnomes. With two miles to go, the fast paced, back to back marathons had brought Peter to such levels of dehydration and exhaustion, he began vividly hallucinating a swarm of garden gnomes which scrambled out of the pavement and scurryed away from him.

3 miles remaining, I ran with Peter for most of the way into the finish line. We were pacing very comfortably and more importantly, not stopping. We made the turn with 1-mile to go and Peter found a new pair of legs and started pushing the pace back around 6min30sec pace. Peter teaches all of us to FINISH STRONG, and he practices what he preaches. It was a damned hard pace on fresh legs, no less after 51.2 miles of running. Ryan followed us in the van and then pulled into the airport and joined us for the last 1/2 mile run to the finish line. We all crossed together, and Peter finished the day with a run time of 6hr47min.

Two things we learned after finishing. Alexandre Ribiero started puking with 10 miles to go and Peter gained back 50% of the time on Ribiero in the last 10 miles. Anything can happen on a race this long. If our crash hadn't come first, and we had achieved the six hour double we were looking for, Peter would have won. That time was not in the cards today, but it was a possibility that Peter gave his all to pursue.

There was also one last bit of business waiting for us as Mike LeRoux, an Australian Ultra Athlete (who started the day in 2nd) was staying within range to steal 3rd place from Peter. He was 14 minutes up on Peter going into the run. He crossed 16 minutes later and Peter took 3rd place by only 2 minutes. Had we stopped a few extra times or had Peter not buried the course with everything he had in last few miles, third place would have slipped away to LeRoux. Thankfully, we did not leave with regrets about wasted minutes that could have been avoided in the race. Peter put it all out on the road today and showed why he is one of the elites in the world of ultra endurance sports. Peter was beaten by two men today; men that are national heros in their home countries; men who Peter will dedicate himself and his training to once again rival at the top of the sport.

We have tried to offer blogs to give our followers a real inside look at this sport, and more importantly this event (Ultraman Hawaii). This is one of the worlds toughest races, and those who compete at the level of a Kotland, Ribiero or Kregar are truly special athletes. We are very proud of Peter's performance and are honored to be a part of his team.

Run Results:

1. Miro Kregar (Slovenia) - 6hr20m
2. Alexandre Ribiero (Brazil) - 6hr39m
3. Peter Kotland (USA) - 6hr47m

Overall Race Results:

1. Alexandre Ribiero (Brazil) - 22hr10min12sec
2. Miro Kregar (Slovenia) - 22hr39min14sec
3. Peter Kotland (USA) - 23hr04min56sec

ULTRAMAN STAGE 2 (171 MILE BIKE RACE) FROM VOLCANO TO HAWI

2009-11-29T01:04:00.005-05:00

It was still anybodies game after day one, with today’s 171 mile bike and tomorrow’s double marathon still to come. The day started with a 20 mile descent which the athletes appreciate as a great chance to warm up their legs- how much warming up actually happened is still up for debate as the temperature was in the 50’s and the clouds gathered around the volcano were drizzling cold rain.
From the start the main contenders found their way to the front. A group of seven or eight riders were still close together by the bottom of the first decent with the pack only being dwindled by two or three riders in the next two hours. It was not until the race hit the hills that any serious damage was dealt to the field. On a deceivingly large climb, taking the riders from sea level to 1500 feet, Alejandro Rebeiro made his move and would give an incredible performance staying ahead of the all other riders for the rest of the day. This meant that the day for Peter was about limiting any time losses without over taxing himself for tomorrow.
There was quite a bit of jockeying for position between riders with Peter staying in either second or third position all day with only the names of the riders immediately in front of him changing throughout the day. Where yesterday there was some question at times about how Peter was feeling as he cranked into the wind, today he stayed steady, smooth and strong and aerobic all day.
Once again, for Dean and I, the day was about rushing back and forth in the car, providing Peter with constant nutrition and hydration and informing Peter of splits or anything he might require. Early on this task was made difficult by the group of close riders and all of the traffic of their accompanying support cars, media cars and officials made getting in front of Peter more difficult than usual. At one crucial point the road got so busy and the opportunities to pull over became so few that we missed Peter’s feed before a fifteen mile feed zone; after half an hour of worrying if we just got Peter dangerously behind on his nutrition, we made sure to stock him up at the end of the no feed zone.
The race was very fast with the group clocking 100 miles in 4-hrs. and we spent much of the day riding with Dembeck (Germany), Kregar (Slovenia), Oldmeadow (USA), Cokan (Slovenia), and LeRoux (Australia). However, as the heavy climbing began, the groups continued to get split. Peter ended up with Kregar and Dembeck for quite awhile, until Kregar took a spill and fell off the pace. Peter pulled away from Dembeck, caught LeRoux and headed for the last brutal ascent 6.5 miles up to Hawi starting at mile 150.
Despite a dog trying to commit “hairy” kari in front of us –unsuccessfully thanks to my expert evasive maneuvers- the most interesting part of our day did not come until the final 6.5 mile climb starting 20 miles from the finish. We had just gave Peter a feed off going up this beast of a final climb when a pleasant gentlemen pulled up, stopping in the middle of the lane, and proceeding to berate Dean about what is going on with all the bikers. When Dean calmly explains that it is a race, the man informs us that these roads are the worst place on the entire island to have a bike race- despite that road being the calmest most beautiful road we had been on yet. Then as a racer who had been chasing Peter up the mountain started getting close, the man still parked in the middle of the road says, “This is dangerous, someone is going to get creamed.” Annoyed and worrying about the rider who is about to run into the back of the car I yell back, “Yeah, you’re about to get creamed.” After watching the racer get forced into the other lane as he passed, the man finally drove off allowing Dean to get back in the car and ask, “Why are you mouthing off to a cop?” I missed the introduction where the man told us he was with the Hawaii Police Department.
Peter danced on the pedals, and was feeling very good starting the climb. However, Dembeck showed some real grit and climbed very quickly on the final ascent, catching Peter and securing his second place finish for the day.
We followed Peter down the fast and winding 13 mile descent to the finish- where thankfully no handcuffs were waiting for me. Alejandro Ribeiro had gotten there 17 minutes earlier putting us 38 minutes behind the leader going into the double marathon tomorrow- a lot of time to make up. But 52 miles is a long way to run.
At the end of the day, Peter finished in 7hr47min, and is well positioned for a great day tomorrow. Peter’s heart rate averaged only 139 BPM @ 22mph average for the day. He stayed aerobic, and he managed the day very well! He is full of energy, recovering well, and looking forward to a nice little run in the morning.

ULTRAMAN STAGE 2 (171 MILE BIKE RACE)

2009-11-28T22:30:00.003-05:00

We are resting after a long and fun day. We will post the Stage 2 blog this evening (Hawaiian time). Hopefully the live twitter updates have been a good source of live information regarding the progress of the race. As a reminder, the live updates are located at (www.twitter.com/ultraman21). Thanks for all of your interest and support!! Peter is now in 3rd place after 2 days of racing and looking forward to the run. Details to follow.

ULTRAMAN STAGE I (6.2 MILE OCEAN SWIM, 90 MILE BIKE)

2009-11-28T02:12:00.003-05:00

NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO CUT AND PASTE THESE LINKS INTO YOUR BROWSER.

RACE RESULTS: http://ultramanlive.com/2008-ultraman-world-championships/2009-main-results-page/

ULTRAMAN OFFICIAL STAGE 1 RACE REPORT: http://ultramanlive.com/2008-ultraman-world-championships/2009-race-report-day-1/

The first day of the Ultraman started at 430am in the morning. We downed the customary and necessary coffee cups filled with espresso, diligently preparing all the last minute details and were rewarded with a full hour of down time which could have been spent sleeping but instead was spent trying to stay awake. The upside of our extra down time in the morning was that we could keep everything low key and not rush anything.

Fromt the time we woke up until the Swimmers were under way, the day was without a hitch (as far as the race was concerned, however I did manage to break our only camera, which was "borrowed" in a manner of speaking.) Showing up at the swim start, it was incredible between the pomp and circumstance between this Ultraman race and and Ironman. Had I just been walking by perhaps, I probably would have just assumed it was some early morning swim club and not given it a second thought. The streets that would have been inaccessible and packed with thousands of athletes and specators during the Ironman were nearly empty;the only actvity that was noticeable was a small crowd of people surrounding and even smaller crowd of forty-four athletes. So it was with almost complete anonymity that somewhere in the middle of the pacific, one of the most grueling races in the world got underway.

While Peter set off to swim a 6.2 mile open water swim in the Pacific Ocean, Dean and I went back to Wal-Mart. Dodging threw Black Friday shoppers, we managed to find the smallest screwdriver in the store, which was the used to pry, chip, scrape and pound our broken camera back into working order. Already filled with confidence from this first success our morale was boosted even further when we snuck the back of a resort at the 2 mile marker of the swim. Peter and a few swimmers had already completed 1/3 of the swim in 45 minutes, on track for a potential world record. Richard Roll was the only person to hold pace when the currents turned against the swimmers with 1-mile to go, finiishing 6 minutes shy of the world record with a time of 2hr21m.Peter got his chance to perform the long distance swimmers hobble while running into the transition area twenty minutes later in a close sixth position. More important than his position however, his time of 2hr45m was a full 30 minutes faster than last year and everyone in front of him was within a comfortable distance.

The bike course is quick to remind you exactly what kind of race you are running with a 5-mile climb that starts the moment you mount your bikw and takes you from sea level to 2000ft. Rocking awkwardly from nearly 3-hrs of swimming, but still looking strong, Peter headed up the hill to start the final 90-miles of the day. Dean and I followed behind, leap frogging up front to stop and give him either his scheduled nutrition or, more often, whatever he felt like at the moment; after so many miles, food starts to get too dry, too warm, too caloric, and if he were to eat the wrong thing, it might "Give me Gag" (as Peter so elquently puts it!) The locals were nice enough to contribute to our dialogue as well, one of them asking us " are you with the biker? As we just feeding Peter. And after giving him confirmation that we were in fact crew, he logically followed with: "do you want some hashish?"

At forty miles into the bike, Hawaii started to show her temper. The wind blew at an unrelenting 15-20 miles per hour, head on, until the athletes made the final turn that pointed them towards the last one hundred meters to the finish. Peter spent all day chasing, ultimately catching 1-man and beikng passed by only 1 man (Ribiero), the mand who stands to pose the biggest threat of taking te world championship on the podium in Kona.At the end of the day, after posting one mile splits as slow as 14mph, Peter ended the day 32 min back from a splendid performance by Richard Roll. While 33 min is a lot of time to give away, Peter stands a good chance to make up chunks of time on his front runners at stage-2 (171 mile bike race from Volcano to Hawi). Then of course there is the 52.4 mile run, which we all know is where Peter will choose to fight his battle to win the Ultraman.

TWITTER LIVE UPDATES

2009-11-27T10:13:00.003-05:00

WE ARE OFF TO THE RACE. I WANT TO REMIND EVERYONE FOLLOWING THAT WE WILL BE POSTING PETER'S LIVE HOURLY UPDATES ON TWITTER.COM. WWW.TWITTER.COM/ULTRAMAN21. WE WILL POST ANOTHER BLOG THIS EVENING FROM VOLCANO AFTER GETTING PETER SITUATED AND IN RECOVERY MODE FOR THE NEXT DAYS 171 MILE BIKE RACE.

It's All Over but the Crying

2009-11-26T22:28:00.002-05:00

Still on mainland time, Dean and Peter were up early again this morning. While Peter was out for an easy morning run - four miles at 6:30 minutes per miles, you know, a casual jog – Dean was swapping out our little red Dodge for a big white Chevy Tahoe, giving us more room to stage our mobile race HQ.
After waiting diligently and unconsciously from the comfort of my bed for Peter and Dean to return, we all headed out to the prerace breakfast, which was our only official function for the day. We put in our time appeasing the officials with our presence. Peter made the best of the time, taking glamour shots and interviewing with Tim Carlson from slowtwitch.com. Once introductions had been made, the law of the land was laid down and 200+ miles of bike course was reviewed in a powerpoint presentation we set out to make the final race preparations.
First we stopped at our go to place for all of our Ultraman supplies and nutrition, Wal-Mart. We paced down every aisle taking our best guesses at what we might need. Operating on a whim we would buy some things because we could get 100 of them for $2.54 but would nix others because, as Peter put it, “they give me gag.”
Returning back to our condo we added our haul to our growing collection of Wal-Mart crap that has been slowly accumulating each day and is now beginning to take over the place. Since we have been back the day has been non-stop vehicle and nutrition prep. After hours of deliberation Dean and I have settled on Reese’s, M&M’s and Goobers jelly; Peter will be racing on nothing but whiskey, but as backup has trained himself to eat lava rocks in case we can’t find anything over 100 proof.
We will all be in bed early tonight because we want to spend as much time lying awake in bed nervous for tomorrow as we possibly can. Peter will sleep fine tonight of course, he’s ready, but Dean and I still have to worry about messing the rest of it up.

ULTRAMAN REGISTRATION AND BIKE INSPECTION DAY

2009-11-26T02:40:00.010-05:00

This morning started with another round of Kotland’s espresso, which couldn’t jack you up anymore than sticking your tongue onto a car battery. It is the “secret sauce” of an endurance athlete! After polishing off several shots of motor oil, we moved on to a gourmet oatmeal breakfast piled with peanut butter and nutella. Meals become a source of fuel first and foremost, and as sad as it is to say, this delectable breakfast is a very effective source of energy and calories.

The mood remains very light, and we are really relaxed and having a great time. Most importantly, Peter is relaxed and well rested so far. However, the task at hand is upon Peter (who obviously has the hard job this weekend) and his crew (who will execute a 3-day nutrition and hydration plan, work on nightly recovery, and get him ready for the next stage). Once the race starts, we have 21-22 hours of racing over the 3-days! Pre-race, hydration has become a priority. Peter is drinking a minimum of 4 liters of water minimum, and NUUNS electrolyte tabs.

After breakfast, Peter and I ran a 4 mile out and back to Kona Pier. After returning, we packed up the bike and took it down to the bike shop for the mandatory bike inspection before registration. We ran into A. Ribiero at the shop. As the reigning World Champion and 3X Ultraman champ, Ribiero is clearly the front runner and one of the main competitors for Peter (and a great guy). It should be a very exciting competition between these two great athletes (and others).

After the bike inspection, we registered at the Outrigger hotel. It was a quick and painless registration and very good to see our friends from the race. We took some photos and Peter did a quick interview with the Slovenian media. Then we bolted pretty quickly from registration and went down to the Java Lava for re-fueling before the afternoon training. Java Lava’s is a great hangout in Kona. It’s right on the water and gives you huge entertainment as the tourists from the cruises scamper around the Kona village like rabid dogs looking to wear out the magnet strips on their credit cards.

Ryan took a swim in the bay, and Peter took one hour on the bike this afternoon after re-fueling. Daniel and Egi (our guests from Czech) spent the day with us and left this evening for Honolulu to continue their 4-month world tour. Being from Czech, they do not celebrate Thanksgiving, however they have volunteered to serve Thanksgiving meals at the Salvation Army in Honolulu tomorrow. Then they move on to Korea. They have a great spirit, and are truly amazing people and definitely new friends. After Daniel and Egi left, we ate 2 pounds of pasta for dinner with tomato sauce and watched the Biggest Loser.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO OUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS, FOLLOWERS, ACQUAINTENCES, COMPETITORS OR ANYONE WHO READS OUR BLOG UPDATES! WE WISH ALL OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES THE BEST OVER THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY!!

Ultraman 2009 - Here We Go Again!

2009-11-25T01:34:00.004-05:00

It was inevitable that our flights to Hawaii would be packed full of screaming children and excited foreigners making their way to the islands. The only thing missing were the farm animals running down the isle of the plane! Ryan and I waited for Peter to get off his plane. He approached our car with a series of f-bombs and a lecture about the "Little Johnny" sitting next to him that crapped in his pants and the soccer Mom apparently lacked the abilty to smell what the entire plane had been gifted with earlier in the flight. We picked up our race car red Dodge Magnum rental car and worked our way to the condo. We are set up in the Alii Lani condo complex less than 2 miles from Kaihula Kona. Our conditions this year are much better and will make a huge difference in our race preparation and ability to keep Peter rested, relaxed and ready to take on this brutal 3-day race. We took a quick trip to the grocery store, picked up some race supplies and have our meal plan set for the week. Our staples for the week consist of espresso, oatmeal, bread, peanut butter and pasta. We woke and spent the majority of the morning getting the supplies for the race, assemblying Peter's bike, setting up the blog, and setting up Twitter. We also fit in a morning swim at the Kona pier. This afternoon, Peter took the bike out for a quick spin and Ryan and I made our way to the City of Refuge for a bit of site seeing.

After returning home, Peter had his best friend from Czech, Daniel and his Wife Egi visiting. They are traveling the world over 4-months and happen to be in Kona at the same time of the race. We cooked 2 pounds of pasta (jacked up with enough hot sauce to kill a small child), ate bread, and watched an outstanding Matt Damon documentary called "Running the Sahara" for the third. This documentary is about 3 guys who ran the entire Sahara desert, 7500KM over 111 days. That's 12hrs of running and 2 marathons a day in temperatures ranging from low 30's to 140 degrees. Incredible. It makes running a double marathon (52.4 miles) in sub-7 minute pace seem like a cake walk. (Not really!) Our only limitations are in our own minds. I guess when you get in the world of Ultra Endurance eventing, this group of accomplished athletes ask the question... "why not?" Many of these athletes have their own personal missions, however all of them contain an internal drive and confidence that quitting in not an option, and are wired to meet whatever goal and challenge stands in front of them at the time.

Our goal is clear, win the world championship. Peter is relaxed, and no doubt ready. Tomorrow, we will check in for the race, get the bike inspection completed and loosen up with some swimming and running.

Maholo to all of our local sponsors in Greenville. We would not be ready and able for this race without the help of our local sponsors: Signature Patio and Pools, Orthopedic Specialists, Metro Reproduction, Dhillon Cosmetic Dentistry, Carolina Foot Care, Joe at Raymond James, and of course our friends at Run In.

Maholo to all of our merchandising sponsors including Jim at Beyond Fabrications, Blue Seventy, First Endurance and Rudy Project for supporting Peter.

To our special friends Stan and Paula Bilkulege, Ashli Gaines, Ben Renfrow, David Godwin, and Cliff Brown for their personal donations and assistance to this race preparations. Your gifts were generous and Peter is grateful for your support.

Finally, a special thanks to WYFF 4 (Mark Dopher and Geoff Hart) for following Peter and the race, and to Richard Osbourne for his great story on Peter in Go Magazine and offering visibility to this great sport we all love.

ARRIVED IN KONA / GETTING READY TO GO

2009-11-24T16:15:00.005-05:00

Aloha!

Well, we arrived in Kona on Sunday and Monday. We are getting organized and prepared for the race which starts on Friday morning. This blog will give daily updates as to the pre-race experiences and nightly updates during the Ultraman World Championship. The first article has hit from Slowtwitch.com. You will find a link to the odds for the race at the bottom of this blog. Unfortunatley, Jonas Colting is not in Kona this year, so the race has already changed before it even started! Also, during the race, I will be updating our progress live through Twitter. My twitter account is: ULTRAMAN21. Please feel free to follow me and you will received updates during day 1, day 2 and day 3 of the race.

As you can see by the picture, Peter's tapering is going GREAT! This picture is translated to "everyone have a great Thanksgiving." This is a term of endearment in Czech. It's the Peter we all know and love!! Ryan and I will start the daily reports tonight. We are glad to be back in Kona and looking forward to a great week and a great race!

http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/Ribeiro_Armstrong_favored_at_25th_Ultraman_1120.html

Ultraman 2009 Following

2009-11-24T11:29:00.003-05:00

To anybody who wants to keep up with the Ultraman 2009 World Championship updates:

1) this blog - it will be updated by Dean; Ryan - my crew

2) http://twitter.com/Ultraman21

Ultraman 2009 Training Part 4 – October 31-November 1, 2009

2009-11-24T10:59:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was a shorter recovery weekend. On Saturday I completed a “short” 95mile ride with a 4 mile brick run and on Sunday I “only” ran 22 miles at brick run pace. The Ultraman training is coming to the end, its almost race time! This weekend is probably the last pure training weekend, next week I'll follow by an iron-distance race (Beach 2 Battleship) or by a regular long ride/long run weekend. Now to the Halloween Business at hand.

Saturday – Since the race is getting close the typical long power interval ride was replaced with some fast cadence interval sets. OF COURSE the weather gods kept their consistency…rain and pretty steady rain it was almost pouring. Sometimes I feel that these workouts should count as swim workouts as well. Also if I hear one more time that “we need the rain” I think I'll tie that person behind my bike, and will drag them around for 100 miles and of course I will make them wear a speedo!!! I do not have a corn field behind my house so I do NOT need 10 inches of rain per week. In case you are wondering my bike looks like a fighter jet in the cockpit with various computers and information gathering devices. Because it was raining so hard it was hard to see my navigational instruments so I ended up basically doing the entire ride as one big interval

Bike/swim workout was done, and yet again followed by a short brick run.

Sunday – Ahhh…Are you ready for some ~~football~~ running. Again to not break consistency Sunday is long run day. However not being sure of my plans for next weekend…I know you are suppose to decide less than 6 days out whether or not you are going to compete in an Ironman but then again who is sane that does Ultraman…I set my plan to do a 33 mile run. I planned to push the pace for the first 22 miles (2x11 mile loop) and then ease up to a moderate effort on the last 11 mile loop. The first 22 miles went great, sub 6:40's felt very comfortable to almost easy, the consistency is working! When I started the last 11 mile loop – the mileage felt still easy/moderate and I hit the marathon point in the mid 2:50's, so that wasn’t bad either. After that; as usually; the miles and mental games started to set in. I realized how much of this is mental and that it is almost easier to keep up the faster pace. However, I didn't want to over do it so finished the last loop in just under 7 minute pace. This as the fastest long run to date for my Ultraman build so it really boosted my confidence.

After this long run I checked the weather report, it supposed to be in the low 50's to upper 60's next weekend , so “I'll just race an ironman instead of training”, it seems a lot easier.

Nutrition Report for the long run: 3 Red Bulls (to see if I can stomach all the stimulation drinks during the run); 1 liter of EFS Grape Prototype; 1 liter of “Kotland Cocktail’; 1 liter of water. No liquid shots this week – it would make it for too many calories for this run.

Well the next update will be from the island (or from home afterwords). Aloha and Mahola.

Ultraman 2009 Training Part 3 – October 17-18, 2009

2009-11-17T08:25:00.002-05:00

Well, I must report that nothing new and exciting this weekend happened in my training. I know you would to like to read some crazy story from my training or a wild/totally different workout I completed, but my experience and from chatting with other elite athletes I know – consistent training is the key to success!!!

Saturday – Nothing new here – just like last weekend, the long ride consisted of some hill repetitions in the hardest gear my legs would allow. This weekend even the weather was consistent…consistently raining! In the last hour of the ride I gave myself credit for a swim workout; it was raining so hard I could barely see the road surface. However, it was little bit warmer than few weekends ago and I was able to feel my hands and my feet when I finished the ride. As my tradition has become I followed the ride with a shorter brick run.

Sunday – I am CRAZY, I must admit I was actually looking forward to my long run on Sunday. It has become a challenge…to go farther and/or faster than the week before. The first 5 miles were surprisingly easier than last week. I guess that was a good sign, but I was still treating this section as an easy warm-up. When I was planning this weekend's run, I wanted include more hills and longer loops that I could use for future comparison. The loops ended up being slightly over 11 miles, with a stop after the loop to measure my Lactic Acid (LA) and to put some nutrition and hydration in the engine. About halfway into the loop, at 6.3 miles, I had another hydration stop set up. These loops help to eliminate any GPS miscalculation, from now on these loops will be standard and I con compare the splits instead of stressing over the exact distance. The first loop felt pretty easy and I stayed right around 7 minute pace and a LA of 2.7 which verified that it was a comfortable pace. The second loop was purposefully a little faster and harder than the first. I help around 6:50 pace with a LA of 3.5 which is sustainable. Then the hard stuff kicks in, the miles get long and I start expecting the leg soreness to come out to play and I go into survival pace. The GREAT news is this survival mode set in 5 miles later than the week before, it set in this week at about mile 28. I was pushing for 3 loops which would allow me to finish with 34 miles. The last 6 miles were not much faster than my overall pace but I was able to push through the last section. In conclusion my overall pace was in the mid 6:50s and the final LA was 4.7. That’s a pretty high LA number but I really didn’t feel that bad. I completed my longest run in preparation for Ultraman 2009 and the good news was I was 1 second per mile faster than the previous week and had to really work for the last 5 miles.

My run nutrition included: 2 liters of EFS grape flavor, 200 calories from liquid shots, 1 liter of the infamous “Kotland” cocktail, and 2 liters of water. It came out to be 250-260 calories per hour which is a little on the low end.

To be consistent I followed the run with the slowest bike spin of my life to just to loosen up my legs. ***It should be noted that my athletes hate when I give them this ride after their long runs, but it really helps.

Ultraman 2009 Training Part 2 – October 10-11, 2009

2009-10-31T18:47:00.003-04:00

Well I took a “recovery” week after the South Carolina Half last weekend; therefore, I was heading into 2 weeks of hard training, with 2 long runs on the weekends. This is a synopsis of the first of those weekends.

Saturday – Like 2 weeks ago I planned on riding about 120 miles with some sustained intervals. This weekend I was lucky that the weather was actually playing nice. The weather report was temperatures in the mid 60's to low 70's with some rain, but fortunately the rain never materialized. So under humid conditions I headed out for my long ride w/6 hill repeats in the hardest gear as I could push up the climbs. By the time I was done with last one – the legs were fried!!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. The feeling in my legs brought back memories..it was similar feeling to the second day of the Ultraman in 2008 – while climbing the last 6 mile mountain – about 1 mile from the top I almost felt over from my bike.

I jumped off the bike and went on a moderate brick run. My reason for this is just to keep the ironman muscles/mentality together in case I decide to race Beach 2 Battle Ship – an Iron distance race in November.

Sunday – Ahhhh…another week another long run. Like in weeks past, my long run this week was not overly structured. I just wanted to run a slightly faster pace and hopefully a couple of miles farther. Before I started my run I drank one Red Bull – just to mentally wake up. As in prior weeks the purpose of the first 5 miles were just to warm up the muscles and mind, I did not worry about the pace – I was not sure how yesterday's hill repeats would feel on my legs and wanted to really open up the blood flow before I started pushing the effort. After the first 5 miles I was trying to pick up the pace to my “comfortable fast” pace, keeping the distance of the run in mind. The plan was to check my Lactic Acid levels around half way through and at the end of the run. Also this week my nutrition plan was to take in more First Endurance EFS drinks, as well as their Liquid Shots. I had stops set up about every 5 miles to take in my nutrition. At mile 18 I stopped by my house and took a Lactic Acid reading and my LA ended up being 2.9. I was surprised it was this low since I had been pushing a 6:50 pace for the last 12 miles. During this stop I had the “Kotland Cocktail” of ½ grapefruit juice/½ water, and about 100 calories from Liquid Shot. I will probably start adding Vodka to it and sell it to college kids. The next 3-4 miles were still easy and comfortable, but after about 24 miles of running it was simply turning into a LOOOONG run! At the next stop at mile 25 the pace was still in the low 6:50’s so I was still in good spirits. However, the weekend of training was starting to play its toll, but mentally you never want to slow down too much. That’s where I have to start playing the mental games and win them. Earlier I decided that I will make the run 32 miles, with one extra stop for hydration than the week previous. So I convinced myself that I needed to speed up a little bit each mile for the last seven or until I had given everything I had. I managed to average only 6:50 but I was getting sore. After the run my second Lactic Acid reading came to 3.9. Looking back the run was a little bit better than expected, since the overall back came out to be in the mid 6:50’s.

Nutrition for this run – 1 Red Bull; 1 liter or EFS – grape flavor; 28oz of the grapefruit mixture; 200 calories of Liquid Shots

I followed the run with probably the slowest 20 miles ride in my life.

Ultraman 2009 Training Part 1 – September 26-27, 2009

2009-10-01T09:18:00.002-04:00

This, and the following reports will be only the interesting parts of my training towards the Ultraman Worlds 2009 in Hawaii.

For Ironman training I ride a lot of miles on my bike each summer, this year it was about 4,500 miles from the beginning of June to the end of August. So with that base my main focus is to now prepare for the running portion of Ultraman.

To prepare for the run I consistently complete several key workouts. On weekly basis I complete 2 track workouts a week – one of them is usually contains shorter, fast intervals (time doesn't matter as much, but I rather focus on the leg turn-over), and second workout involves longer intervals ranging from 1,000 meters up to 1 mile intervals (time is more of a factor and I recover with shorter jog between efforts).

This past weekend was the first big step toward the Ultraman with this run focus. My weekend looked something like this:

Saturday – I rode 120 miles with some longer uphill intervals followed by a longer (than normal ironman training) recovery. It was really nasty weather, the first cold day since April. The temperature was in the low 60's with some drizzle for the first 6 hours of the ride, and really heavy rain (it probably could have fallen under the MONSOON category) for the last hour. Needless to say I froze on my bike and the temperature reflected my nutrition plan too. I started out with 2 bottles of EFS mixed with ½ a scoop of Pre-race in each, and some liquid shots. That was all the fuel I took in, so by the end of my ride I had only consumed about 500 calories from the drinks and 400 calories from the liquid shots. After I toweled off I went for a short 5 mile brick run, I think it took about 3 miles before I was able to feel my feet.

Sunday – The training plan was to go for a long run. Over the summer I've been running a long run between 20-24 miles every week, so this weekend the plan was to go at least 24 miles to get the Ultraman miles in. I didn't know what to expect after Saturday and how my body would respond to the run after the calorie depletion during the previous days ride so I just tried to relax, and did not set a maximum mileage goal for the workout. As usual the start was pretty slow, and I didn’t even look at my watch for the first 5 miles. I started feeling pretty good, and not as sore I had expected, so I tried to pick the pace up after realizing that the first 5 miles were REALLY slow. Then somewhere about ½ way through the run, the mileage decision was made… “I'll try to run 30 miles this weekend, without slowing down too much.” On all of my long runs the nutrition plan is about the same I try to drink every 5 miles, stay away from too many carbs. Since this was the longest run so far this year, I wanted to include some energy source, and prevent bonking. For the first 15 miles I only drank water. At mile 20 I had 1 bottle of Fruit Punch EFS – it tasted REALLY good, and then the final nutrition stop included a mixture of 1/3 grapefruit juice, and 2/3 of water. There was something about the bitterness of the juice – it was good, and my stomach was OK with that too. So the first long run towards Ultraman successfully accomplished. I took splits every 5 miles (this offsets the mile to mile variation due to the rolling hills, but makes the 5 mile sections should be very similar and valid comparisons) and the recap yielded that my pace was good, it got progressively faster, and I managed to run harder on the last mile. ALWAYS FINISH STRONG.

The 5 mile sections splits: 39'23; 36'22; 36'11; 35'50; 35'59; 35'01 with the last mile 6'34.

I followed this workout with a short recovery spin on my bike.

IM Wisconsin

2009-09-11T19:47:00.003-04:00

Today sucked!! After sleeping about 4hrs - yes even after 35+ IM races I still get all anxious about IM races.

We got to the race site @ 5:50AM - plenty of time to get everything done before the start. Put the wetsuit on, and got ready for the race.

Swim - somehow I ended up swimming with only one other Pro - we swam next to each other for the first 1.5 loops, after that either she sped up or I was getting tired, so I just got behind her, and finished the swim. The swim felt effortless which showed in little slower time I was hoping for, but..58 minutes.

Bike - usually it takes about 5-10mi for me to get comfortable, and another 50-60mi to start feeling really good. Well today just wasn't the day. From mile 1 my legs were MIA - was trying to find them for the first 60-70mi, but it was actually getting lot worse. One of the days where you just don't have anything in them - nothing at all.

So at mile 90 (location of my home-stay) I just had to call it a day. Usually we think about it the next day, and say well - I could have - no NOT today - there was nothing.

There will be another day.

Mid-Summer Update

2009-08-11T09:46:00.004-04:00

Just a quick update for my friends and sponsors.

I can truly say that summer is my favorite part of the year. Especially here in South Carolina. To get ready for training one doesn't have to think twice what to wear. To go run - just a pair of shorts and sunglasses. To go for a bike ride – shorts, jersey, socks, sunglasses, and that's it. The heat doesn't bother me a bit. Just the memories of winter months bring chills to my skin.

With the year being focused on 3 important races – IM Louisville, IM Wisconsin, and Ultraman Worlds, the biggest training has to be done during the summer months. So after a minor bike crash back in May, I decided to do the best I can with my preparations for these races. No messing around, no excuses, no feeling sorry for myself when I get tired. The last 13 weeks of my training have been the best, and the most consistent in the last 15 years of me racing triathlons. The goal is to be standing on a starting line and not being able to find even one thing that I would want to change about the preparation.

Well – now I have to get rested and see how it works.

On another note…I’ve started to work with Robert from First Endurance and testing/using their new Prototype Optygen. Just to compare it – it's like having an Espresso, and then somebody comes with a Double Shot Espresso, so when you think that's the “Shit” – then somebody else shows up and has a Triple Shot Espresso. All I can say – the new Prototype Optygen is the “Shit”.

THE RUN - BLOW BY BLOW BY BROOKS KEYS

2008-12-05T18:04:00.008-05:00

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

2008-12-03T21:52:00.004-05:00

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!

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!

2008-12-01T00:59:00.004-05:00

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...!

2008-11-30T02:07:00.008-05:00

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!!

2008-11-29T21:26:00.007-05:00

(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

2008-11-28T10:14:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-28T01:40:00.006-05:00

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

2008-11-27T11:51:00.013-05:00

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

2008-11-25T12:49:00.012-05:00

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

2008-11-05T12:35:00.006-05:00

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

2008-09-03T16:33:00.009-04:00

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