I learned more about Cancer... this time from my friend.

I feel like I have to share all my experience at once, so this is going to be a long one. If you don't want to read everything... skip a few paragraph and start reading after the red text.

Before joining Team In Training, I really don't know much about cancer. My first 'encounter' with cancer happened 10 years ago when my grandmother had advanced stage of breast cancer. I love my grandmother. She lived modestly and care about her family. She was sick while she was in Hong Kong so I flew back a few times to see her. Doctor said she has a few more years to live after the chemo treatment. However she did not finished her treatment because it was too painful for her. She went with alternative medicine and passed away. I was at college during that time. She did not get to see me graduate from college, she did not get to spend money that I earn (cause I was at school), and she did not get to see my wife and my kid (I am still looking for 'the girl'). I know these are some of the things that she look forward to. I know there isn't anything I can do, but this is one of my biggest regret in life. Now I am reduced to offer my respect by burning paper money and material things made out of paper when I visit her at the grave.

I am devastated of her passing, but I think I had an easier time just because she is half way around the world so I don't see her in a regular basis. My family also know about her condition for a while so we know that this may happen.

Fast forward 10 years. My second encounter about cancer is from Team In Training. I joined the marathon team and I started to know people that get affected by cancer. I met cancer survivors and I started to know people that lost their love one from cancer. I still remember my coach broke down in tear while talking about his dad. Yet I try not to think too much about it. The survivors that I know were doing fine so I don't want to bring it up.

I think it's typical response from people. Since most of us don't know how to react we tend to avoid the topic all together.

Few months after joining Team In Training my friend told me her mom has Lymphoma. I care about my friend's family and I offer any help I can. I talked to the mom and offer my support. She did her treatment and she is fine. But beyond talking to them and eat with them I did not do anything else.

Everything changed in Sept 2008. My honored teammate Tyler got sick. One day the doctor said he needed bone marrow transplant, few days later the doctor said he needed chemo instead. During that week I was literally riding the roller coaster from hell. Not knowing what may happen really put me in fear. I felt useless about the situation because there wasn't anything I can do. This is the reason why I joined the Ironteam. I want to do something for the Kid. If Tyler can go thru chemo, I can learn how to swim.

So up to this point, I pretty much don't have to really think deep about cancer. I continue to train for my Ironman, fund raise for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and I eat. I continue to be myself.

You can start here if you want (Sorry if I jump around... too much feeling is going on and I can't tie everything together!)!!!

Then 2 weeks ago, I got a text from my friend. She said. "I am going to start my chemo tomorrow and I am scared". The sentence is short and emotional.

I called her and she told me she listened to the doctor about the treatment but she wanted to talk to someone that actually been thru Chemo. I called up Virginia Garner (a good friend of mine, also a honored teammate) and have her talk to my friend. Virginia shared her experience and offered tips better cope with the disease.

I know cancer can happen to anyone. She is young, beautiful, and very active, why her?

So few nights ago I went out to dinner with my friend and talked for a long time. She told me she had a routine check up and the doctor found out she has an early stage of cancer.

But before she can deal with the treatment, she needed to overcome her emotion, found out more information about cancer, and think about the cost of treatment.

I know medical treatment made a lot of advancement in recent years, but cancer is still cancer. If I were to have cancer, that would of be a death sentence for me regardless of the stage. Since both of us are serious backpackers, I am glad that her hiking experience and her mindset help her control her emotion and being positive. I talked to her and we realized we both thought about our own death and how we need to move on and keep hiking if one of our close friends die from a mountaineering accident. It actually happened to her in 2006. One of her closed friend passed away while doing a winter ascent of Mt Morgan. It took her a few good months before getting out there again... but this is something we have to do. We need to move on. I wouldn't want my friend to stop hiking/running/doing triathlon if something happened to me.

ok... getting back to the cancer. My friend started to read up information about cancer and she also talked to the hospital about her treatment. She was a month away from having insurance so this thing took a big chuck out of her saving (for people that don't know, a chemo shot is $10,000 per dose)

All these things reinforce the idea that when you are seriously ill, you don't just deal with the diseases, you need to deal with everything that surround it. A lot of time you need to talk to somebody but your friend/family don't understand. It also make me realized why The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is spending money on things like educational material and first connection program. I used to question why they spend money on 'educational' material and web broadcast? Why do they set up the First connection program so people can talk to other people with similar cancer. Now I know.

After she had her first chemo treatment her hair started to fall off. She realized that some people started to treat her different. People started to stare at her. She told me she would say hi to some people and they wouldn't even look at her or response. She became very aware of how people see her. She was getting the impression that people see her as a sick person now, not the old person they used to know. She wonders why. She is still the same person... only with no hair. Why do people act differently? Maybe these people think that she is contiguous? I don't have an answer for that. I think some of these people are trying to avoid contact because they don't know what to say or how to react? I used to be one of those people.

She is now feeling more confidence about her new appearance. People actually talk to her about their own experience (either themselves or people they know) and she think this is helping others. This is one of the reason why I am writing this blog.

Sometime people ask why I fundraise for Team In Training and why I sponsored a family from the Children Hospital. I still remember one of my friend question my motive because I don't have a strong reason for doing Team In Training. Apparently helping someone and 'I think running a marathon is kind of fun' was not enough. I'll probably say the samething if you ask me why I am doing the Ironman with Team In Training. It doesn't matter. I think you just have to go out there and do some charity work. Donate money or become a volunteer. You'll find your reason one day.

Everything is working out so far. I am glad my experience allow my friend to talk to Virginia.

The experience make me think more for others. In turn I become a better person. These experience is not something that I can understand by reading an article or a book, you need to experience first hand. Sometime the experience is not a good one, but we all have to learn from them and move on.

Louis

Ironteam 2010

The season is started and I am training for another 9 months. There are a few things need to take care but I'll give you guys an update soon.

But I did get the new ironteam facebook page set up. If you have facebook and you want to see what's going on in my team, be a fan. (The page may sounds like me because I am the one updating the content LOL)

Ironteam Facebook Page

My first Walk Of Shame

Back in Oct 11 2009 I ran the Long Beach Marathon. I wanted to PR this race. I was so determine to go under 5 hours I even follow the pace group. My knee bother me early on but I push on to mile 16. Then everything fell apart. My knee started to hurt and I have to slow down. I did not want to injure myself because I was flying to Hong Kong that very same night... and did I said I haven't pack! I chill the run and I finished around 5:30. I did not even run the finish. I walked across the finish line with my friend Da and this girl Andrea because they are also in pain. Andrea ran like 29 marathons and she was laughing at herself because she felt so bad. Another failure after LA Triathlon. Oh well, you can't have the best day all the time, you get up and walk again.

Nike Human RaceTraining

Some of my friends are attempting their first 10k so I made something for them. You can say I am wrong or whatever. But this is better than them going out and do their own thing.

What are you doing? Finish your first 10K!

So, I am not a coach. Don’t kill me if you end up injuring yourself =P. But I did ran 5 marathons, a bunch of half, and an Ironman (swim 2.4mi, bike 112mi, and run a marathon) so I have ideas to help you to reach your first 10k.

For those of you who are doing your first 10K. I can’t stress this enough. You are training to complete your first 10K. Don’t worry about how fast or how slow you run. Our goal is to get you to the finish line and injury free. This is especially true with first timers. They worry about running too slow, over-train, run too fast, and injury themselves.

Clothes and Shoe

I don’t want you guys to spend a lot of money (unless you want to LOL). But in general you don’t want to wear cotton. You want stuff made with polyester.

The only polyester thing I suggest you to get it’s polyester socks. They help you so you are less likely to get blister (and this time is real… not beach chair LOL)

For shoe, I guess you can continue to use what you have. But if you want a pair of running shoe, you talk to me or Josephine (if you know who she is). Don’t go out to Nike outlet and buy a pair of running shoe =)

Interval Training

Most people who does marathon don’t run the whole thing. A lot of people do Interval. You’ll hear me say 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1. What does that mean? The first number is the number of minute you run and the second number is the number of minute you walk.

So when I say 2-1… that means run 2 mins, then walk for 1 min… then run for 2, walk for 1, run for 2, walk for 1…

I suggest people with no running experience to try 1-1, 1:30-1, or 2-1. You should be able to do this for your whole workout. If you do 2-1 for 30 min and you got very tired half way thru… then you should lower to 1:30-1.

If you think you need extra break, you can do 1-2. But try to keep walking for 1 min and see what happen first.

How to keep track of your Interval

Well I don’t want you to spend a lot of money on running unless you are going to keep doing it. For starter any digital watch with a stop watch will do. You just do the interval with the time. (it’s tougher if you are doing half min like 1:30). People can’t do math while they run, it’s true!

But if you want to spend the money, you can buy a digital watch with a dual interval timers (nowadays some watches have multi timers). How it works: say you do 2-1. It beeps every 2 min (tell you to stop running and start walking), then beep again after 1 min (tell you to run). It will do the same thing if you do like 1:30-1… 2:30-1:25. You don’t have to count and it has a countdown to how much you need to run/walk.

Not all watches have this funny. Sorry, your Baby-G probably don’t have this feature (but you can use your Baby G and just keep track of the interval yourself).

Timex is usually the brand of choice. Something like below will do.

http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpage-TISLK50PK.html

I strongly suggest you to get your watch at an actual running shoe store. They know which watch you need and they will teach you how to use it. (I have a timex and I don’t really know how to set mine up… I use my Garmin watch for Interval). It may costs a bit more, but save you a lot of trouble. They sell Timex at target but you really need to look for the right model… and the staff is probably not that useful.

Local Running Shoe Store

Run With Us (Pasadena)

Snail Pace (Pasadena)

A Runner’s Circle (Los Feliz)

Nutrition

Remember to drink during your training. Eat something an hour before if you were to run in the morning.

Schedule:

I gave it some thoughts and came up with the following schedule for people who never ran before. ALL TIME/DISTANCE are supposed to be easy pace. REMEMBER, YOU ARE TRAINING FOR YOUR FIRST 10K (6.1 MI RACE) AND YOUR GOAL IS TO FINISH. You can worry about your time on your second 10K.

Here is the breakdown.

When I say 30mins, just jog 30 min easy pace (with run/walk interval). If you can’t do the run walk interval. Just walk (but try to walk fast).

When I say 3mi, just go 3 miles EASY PACE (You should be able to sustain this pace and even talk whil you jog). Again please do the run/walk interval. On 10/17 you will I have 4.5mi/1hr10min. You stop whenever one of those comes first. If you ran 4.5 mi, then stop. If you ran for 1hr 10min but you haven’t reach 4.5mi, STOP!

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat
10/04 REST	10/05 30mins Or Almansor Park at 7:30PM	10/06 REST	10/07 Arcadia Track: 6:30pm	10/08 Walk 40mins	10/09 REST	10/10 3mi (Don’t go to Rosebowl, football game)
10/11 REST	10/12 40mins	10/13 REST	10/14 35mins	10/15 Walk 40mins	10/16 REST	10/17 4.5mi/1hr10min
10/18 REST	10/19 30mins	10/20 REST	10/21 Very Easy 30min or Walk	10/22 REST	10/23 Nike Human Race Fri Night	10/24 Gun starts at 12:00am

My LA Triathlon Race Report (DQ)

LA triathlon starts at Venice Beach and it ends at downtown LA. I got to downtown at 4:30am this morning and I spent 15 minutes looking for a parking spot because none of the parking lot appears to be opened. I ended up parking on one of the meter parking and bike my car to the shuttle.

I got to the transition area and setup all my stuff. I walked around and bumped into a few of my Ironteammates. We did warm up and the water is very choppy. I am concerned because I get motion sickness. Whatever, we'll see what happen.

So the Gun start and we all headed to the first buoy. I decided to walk a little bit and the wave is very strong. As I was walking I can feel the water retrieving to feed the wave... I was like oh god. The wave itself wasn't really that big of a problem. But you get these double waves where you dive under one and you will get hit by the second one. Which is also ok. But then you also get wave from different direction... well actually 2 directions. I get wave coming straight at me and I also get wave that come at a 45 degree angle... and did I say the water was very choppy.

Usually I just need to dive under a few waves to get to calmer water. This time I lost track. I am concerned because it seems like every time I swim 1 feet forward the wave will push me 2 feet back. After I don't know how long I made it to the first buoy.

I then focus to swim to the second buoy. As much as I try, I need to take a breather every few minutes because I wasn't sure where I was going. I try to swim straight but I am just getting beat up by the choppy water. Then I wanted to vomit. Since I didn't want to waste time I actually try to vomit while I swim. That did not work out because there is nothing in my stomach!!!

I didn't want to give up just yet so I continue to swim. Eventually I swim to one of the lifeguard and rest on his board. That was half way between the first and second buoy. I know it's kind of nasty but I try to vomit while resting on his board (my desperate attempt to feel better). Again nothing. I thanks him and continue to push forward.

The choppy water did not improve and I continue to swim off course. When I got to the next buoy I again took sometime to rest on this lifeguard's board. Again, I use this time to rest and vomit.

I moved on.... for a short period of time. I was thinking this is very bad. Physically I am totally capable of swimming the distance (even though I haven't been swimming). Mentally I am good. But this whole motion sickness thing sucks. The turn buoy is still a good distance away. I then have to swim close to the shore (more choppy), then I have to swim against the current.

I can continue with this thing and I am sure I'll get to the finish line eventually. But given that I wasn't really going anywhere and that I need to stop every 20-30ft to take a breather because the water is so choppy.

I raised my hand to have the lifeguard come to me so I can rest. I rest a little and told her I am calling it a day... I am maybe 30 meters from the half way point. There was a lifeguard boat around the area so I got up and tell them I want to go back to the shore. The guy radio my number to the med tent, then I jump back to the water and climb on a board attached to a jet ski.

I was kind of glad that I made the decision because even the time I spent on the jet ski seems like FOREVER!!! Eventually he told me to get back on to the water and just walk back to the shore. Geez I even have problem with that!

Fine, my first disqualification. I was ready to surrender my timing chip and take the shuttle back to downtown LA. When I got to the finish line I don't see any race official. I went to the Med tent to let them know that I am ok. I continued to the transition area. No Race Official there, so I was like screw this I am doing the bike and the run too. I jumped on my bike and start riding.

My fear was realized. I still want to vomit and I am physically tired from battling the waves. I did not go very fast on the bike. And yes, there wasn't any porta potty. I was going to try peeing on my bike but I couldn't get myself to do it. I will wait until I hit transition area in Downtown. I did my good deed by giving away one of my tube. So that's 1 tube for Vineman and 1 tube for LA Triathlon.

I got into T2, did a quick change and head out. What the heck... no porta potty. Right then I know this is my last LA Triathlon.

The run was uneventful. I took a few pictures of Carlos and Tom. When I see TNT people I will say Go Team. When I see WB people I will say Go WB. When I see KP people who are struggling I offer a high five to them and tell them to give me a big smile.

Toward the end of the race a KP girl was walking so I tag her shoulder and told her to run with me. We finished together.

Overall it's a bad day for me.
-lack of direction for parking
-lack of porta potty during BOTH THE RUN AND THE BIKE COURSE (ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME)
- and of course the choppy water... but that no one has control of.

P.S. My friend was listening to the podcast and he said the official were actually consider to cancel the swim. But this doesn't give me an excuse to quit.

There you have it, my bad tri day.

Good Job for all my teammates that were able to conquer the Pacific Ocean.

Onigiri is good for you!

http://missionbee.blogspot.com/2009/09/onigiri.html

Aero Helmet and a digital SLR

When you wear an Aero Helmet you are telling people that you are fast. So every time I passed a dude with the Aero Helmet I laugh at him. Actually I shouldn't be shallow like that because he may have mechanical issues or he may be injured.

Recently I felt the same way about Digital SLR. I have a digital SLR but I don't know how to use it. I always set it to the Auto Mode and I just shot away. I feel like I am the guy riding with the Aero Helmet. I feel like I don't have what it take to shot with a digital SLR.

I am now a photo and mission captain for the Ironteam, maybe it's time to learn.

My new blog about losing weight

After Vineman but before the next season begin

After Vineman (Aug 1) I did the following

Hills are alive 10K
AFC Half Marathon (America Finest City)
Disneyland Half Marathon
Mt Baldy Run to the top
Malibu Triathlon Classic Distance

Wow, that's a lot of events!
Well this Friday I am going to do the YMCA Climb to the Top (US Bank Building)
Then next Sunday I am going to do the LA Triathlon

I am still debating about the Long Beach Triathlon but I know I am going to do the Nike Human Race on 10/24.

Then the new season starts.

As much as I did all these races I did not train after Vineman. I know I have another 9 months of training so I want to rest as much as possible now (not training that is). I do not want to get burn out... a perfect excuses huh?

A New Project

Hi guys,

I am going to be a captain in the 2010 Ironteam. I am planning to do 1 or 2 more ironman in 2010. Not sure which one yet.

However I am determine to lose some weight. Since I want to encourage others to do so, I created a new blog. Please check it out from time to time as I am going to do my best to inspire!

http://www.missionbee.blogspot.com/

Full Vineman Race Report

This is my account of what happened on Aug 1, 2009. I swam 2.4 miles, rode 112 miles, and finished off with a marathon (26.2 miles run). One after another for a total of 16 hours.

This is the summary
If you took the blue pill and you want to continue, here it is.

It all started at 3:00am in the morning.

3:00 am: I woke up, shower...etc

4:00 am: Left the hotel room and went to the hotel lobby. The meet up time was 4:30 am but i did not want to stay in the room. Staying in the room make me nervous.

4:45 am: head out to take the shuttle. During the ride I told my teammates that today is Tyler's birthday. I did not get much responses because most people were listening to music.

5:30 am: Arrived at Johnson's Beach, got my bike, dropped off bike special food bag, pee, and head down to transition area.

6:00 am: I setup everything at the transition. I did a few dry run from swim out to my rack just to make sure I got it in my head. I went to the restroom, talked to my teammates, then headed back to put on my wetsuit.

6:20 am: Headed out to the swim start and warm up. As soon as I got into the water my nervousness went away! My beta male imagination about negative events that may happen... gone! Perhaps my mind was getting focus. Perhaps I realized there is no turning back. After all, chicken out as an Team In Training member is never an option for me. Jokes away, I think I was ready. 10 months of solid training. Two amazing coaches, tremendous supports from family/friends/teammates/donors (not in order)... there was nothing to worry about.

By now I was second away from the start, Coach Paul told us 1000 times to stay in the front of the pack and let other swim pass you. Well, I stayed at the back. I just didn't feel like getting swim over by someone, getting kick in the face and then lose my goggle.

6:30 am: At 08/01/2009 6:30 am, I, Louis Kwan from Monterey Park, finally started my first Ironman... the final exam from a course call Team In Training Ironteam. I just want to finish, kind of like taking a pass/fail option in a class. I am going to improve my time on my second ironman. This ironman is just a test to see if I can finish an ironman without any major issues.

Full Vineman Swim 2.4 miles (3862 meters) 2 loops
time: 01:56:20.8 (~ 1/2 hr for each 1/2 the loop)
time of day: 6:30 am - ~ 8:30 am
Description: This is a two loops course in a river. No sharks, No seaweed to 'grab' your leg, no monster wave. In fact you can actually stand up in part of the course because the river is so shallow.

I started swimming and was uneventful for a while. A lot of people passed me and I did not care. I kept on swimming, 1 meter at a time. After a while I started to see people stand up walking!!! I did not give in and continue to swim. However at the turn around point, I stood up and started walking because a lot of people were walking. Then I felt like I was cheating so I dived back to the water after several steps. My speed picked up as I was now swimming with the current. After 20 minutes I saw the Red Pyramid 'Turn' around Buoy and I was happy. One lap down, one more to go I thought. BUT... when I got to that buoy, I realized that wasn't the 'turn buoy'... the real one was sitting where I started... several hundreds yard away. This totally screwed me up. Right then everything was in slow motion. The next few minutes felt like hours. (below is a diagram for reference, don't look at the cartoon yet... I'll explain in a second)

swim course. click picture to enlarge

This picture is taken on top of one of the bridge

Eventually I finished lap one and the slow motion thing went away. I continued to swim and I reached to the turn around point half an hour later. Right then I needed to make a decision. I knew I need to pee and I knew I can hold it until I finished the swim. However peeing at the transition area means I need to 'run' to the porta potty and back... thus wasting my time. Since I promised Coach Paul/Rad not to 'mess' around during transition, I decided to pee in my wetsuit so I can saved a minute or two in transition. BEFORE I GO ON I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE PEE IN THEIR WETSUIT. IN FACT MOST OF MY TEAMMATE DO... WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TRIATHLON! Now the real question is... how? During the season I been trying to pee in my wetsuit with no success. I don't recall my mom saying stuff like 'Pee in the swimming pool, it's fun'. Actually I been trying to pee the last 1 1/2 hr and nothing came out. I tried to pee while swimming... no... not working. I tried to pee while I am just floating (like a dead fish)... no... not working. I concluded that standing up may work. So after the turn around point I stood up and started walking away from other swimmers (I do have my manner you know... I don't want to pee while people are swimming next to me).

So now I just stood there pretending to rest and pretend to be busy. Like how you would pretend to chop onion in the kitchen when in fact you are trying to steal food before dinner. Then a hand padded my shoulder, It was my teammate Marie. She said she saw me standing and she wanted to make sure I was ok. I told her I am ok and I was trying to pee. Right then she pushed me away and started swimming (now you can look at the cartoon). I thought that was very funny. I did pee a few seconds later and I was happy. I accomplished something before I even finished my 2.4 mi swim! Anyway, I let some water into my wetsuit so I don't feel like I am swimming with pee. Soon after, I saw the finishing arch and I headed to that direction. As I get closer I kicked harder to make sure blood are going back to my brain. This way I won't feel dizzy when I jump out of the water. Next thing I know, I was out of the water.

Taking off wetsuit: Each wave has a different color cap. Mine is Yellow. Elite + 34 and under

T1: Transition from Swim to Bike (07:56.5)
As I was running... well I think I was walking... ok let's try this again. As I was walking out of the water I can hear people talking to me, it was Coach Paul and a few other teammates. Paul said 'It's not that bad right?' and I knot my head. Since I told Paul I am not going to mess around I did not stop for them. I kept on running and focus the task to take off my wetsuit. I took off half of my wetsuit (upper body) and I started running to the wetsuit stripper. In theory, you lay down, get your ass up in the air and the stripper will pull the wetsuit out of your body so you don't have to spend like a minute trying to take it off yourself. I ran up to the strippers and there were a bunch of them. They were all yelling something at me and I heard nothing but noise. I felt like a solider in an amphibious landing. Since I knew what I am supposed to do I just sit down with my back on the ground and let them to do their thing. Next thing I know I was up with my wetsuit on the shoulder. I found a wetsuit stripping video from another race, check out 0:23

Thanks to the dry run I did before the race, I ran straight to my bike and started to prepare for the bike. I grabbed my cycling short and went straight to the changing tent. I got in and there was another guy changing. I notice the curtain was a bit too small for the tent but I didn't really care. I needed to get out of the transition, I don't really care if you see my butt. I took off my tri short and put on my cycling short, then I ran back to my transition area. I was happy that I was in and out just like that. I got back to my rack and did the sequence like one of those Honda Car Robot (the one that build car... not ASIMO... or Strong Machine 2).

I did the following
1. Dry myself (a quick wipe)
2. Change from TNT tri top to TNT cycling jersey (I wasted time to change because I have been biking with the same clothes for 10 months and I don't want any surprise by using my TNT tri top and short).
3. Put on Heart Race Monitor and Nip guard (didn't stick so I didn't put my nip guard on)
4. Put food on my left jersey pocket, (Id, insurance card, cash, eye drop... all in one ziplog bag) and tire repair kit in the middle pocket, and an extra tire tube on my right pocket.
5. Spray sun screen on my body. Apply sunscreen lotion on my face cheek, nose, and my neck (well I did not apply it, I got a lot of it and just wipe it across my face... ONCE!!! just to save time... that's why I look so white on my pictures =P)
6. Put on Glove, Sunglasses, and Helmet, and also turn on my bike computer.
7. Put on Sock, and Shoe.
8. Put my wetsuit and all the other stuff in a bag so that the volunteer can transport my bag back to the finishing area (I did a dry run just to make sure everything fit in my bag so I don't waste my time trying to stuff my bag... smart huh?)
9. Started running to the transition exit with my bike.

Somewhere between step 1 - 9 I heard Paul and my teammates tell me to hurry up. There were actually kind of far away but for some reason I can hear them. I want to tell you guys that as much as I have 1000 steps I was focus to get out fast. More importantly I was making good time. I knew they were trying to encourage me and tell me not to think about this thing too much... but at that moment I snapped and told them to shut up. Seriously, I told them to 'SHUT UP'. Sorry Coach Paul and whoever that were there. I am sorry!

I did 1-9 and started to head out. Since the whole transition area is on a pebble parking lot, I was actually running on carpet. And since I was kind of dragging my bike on an uneven surface my bike was hopping left and right. As I was running to the exit I almost took out a swimmer at the wetsuit stripper station... 5 seconds after I lost control and my bike fell to the ground. At this point I was like... ok... I better 'walk'. So I walked very fast and I actually caught up to the guy in front of me. Since we are all on this one lane carpet I was kind of stuck behind him. I can go to the rocky area and go around him, but I need to carry my bike because I don't want rock to get on my bike (you never know where the next sharp rock is). Right then I saw Coach Rad and I gave him that 'dude this guy is blocking me' kind of look. He told me to chill... slow down, so I just walked out of the transition area. I saw Aubrey, Matt, and Sarah on my way out and they took pictures of me. I really appreciated my teammates. They did the half ironman back in May and they drove all the way up to Napa just to cheer for us. It was awesome! After I walked up this little hill right out of the transition area I got on my bike and I was on my way.

Vineman Bike 112 miles (180 km) 2 loops
time: 07:45:49.3 (~ 3:30 for 1st loop 4:15 for the 2nd loop)
time of day: 8:30 am - ~ 4:15 pm

Bike Course (Click here to view full size map)
My Garmin Connect Player... if you want to see a little dot moving thru the course (click to see my actual pace for the bike)

The first few miles were all mental. Since I got off the swim late there wasn't any biker around me. I wanted to bike as fast as I can but I told myself to resist. My time will come, I need to pace myself. I was cold and I regret not riding with a bike shell. My back was a bit tight and I did not pay much attention to it. While I was on River Road car will pass by and yell Go Team! That's always nice. At around mile 5 I started to catch up the slower bikers. By then my back started to hurt and it made me ride slow. It did not help at all when there are rollers in this part of the course. I bike up, down, up, down, up, down. They were by no mean big hill but it drained the life out of me. I wanted to stop and stretch but decide to push forward. I told myself to ride out of it. I calculated that if I were to go at this speed, I will not make the cut off... I need to at least keep moving.

It took forever but I managed to get to the first aid station at around mile 20. I throw away one of my bottle and grab a bottle of water from the volunteer. It was a little scary because I was riding and grabbing the bottle at the same time... something I did only twice (in case you are wondering, people do this to save time!). I drunk some of it and poured some of it on my jersey to keep my temperature low. Then I caught a break. I rode out of the back pain!!! Yay! I am now going at around 18-20mph instead of the 9mph that I was doing. I continued to ride and passed more people. At around mile 29 I caught up to Marie.

At mile 43 I arrived Chalk Hill, the biggest hill in the course. Since my coach have been giving the team tough love, I got up the hill with no problem. I rode further, then saw Jen, Tom, and Kelly cheering at the sideline. By that time I was making very good progress. I was actually passing people on an uphill when I saw them.

At around mile 51 I saw someone in trouble and I stopped to gave him my CO2. He was very happy that I stopped because he ran out of CO2. I had extras in my bike need bag (waiting for me at mile 56) so I was happy to help out someone.

I started biking again and I was riding pretty close to the 2 girls in front of me. Right then I heard motorcycle behind me. Concerned about race official I slow down to get out of the girls' draft zone. Next thing I know the official were writing down the girl's race number in a little notebook!

After a few miles I decided to stop and to pee. I stopped at an aid station and lay my bike down (because road bike don't have kick stand). Then I realized my back are in a lot pain... to the point where I cannot bend my back!!! Great, what am I going to do? Keep moving forward I must. I went to porta potty, got back on the bike, and started riding. I stopped at the half way point to resupply myself. I needed to put the bag on top on my aerobar because I cannot bend my back. Balancing my supply and bike... with my back hurting like hell... is definitely a balancing act. I swapped out what I needed and took off.

I was going so slow I was discouraged. Marie passed me and asked me if I am ok. I told her I am ok and told her to go ahead. But I wasn't. I was going ultra slow but I continue to make progress... 1 meter at a time. You see that big blue square on the map... that's where I was hurting the most. Freaking rollers did not help either.

Eventually I told myself to screw this not stopping thing and stopped. I stretched my back and got a little better.

By now you guys are probably bored with this going forward stuff, but that's what I did... moving forward.

At mile 73 I got back to the aid station and a ton of teammates were there to cheer for me. Matt went up to me and cheer for me as Pikachu. Coach Paul/Rad were there. Sarah and Aubrey was there. I stopped and the girls hold the bike for me. I said I wanted something to drink and I think Coach Rad went to the aid station and got me some water. I told Paul/Rad about my problem and they said to just stretch it out and go smooth. I took sometime to stretch my back and it was helping. They kept on telling me that I was doing a good job but I did not feel like I was doing well because I was going so slow. I think Captain Awesome and Caroline were also there to cheer. I am sure there were more people over there but those are the one that I remembered. Sorry if I forgot to mention your name! All your support was well received.

After a few minutes I left that aid station and continue my ride. Again, I started feeling better and I started to go faster. Then my chain came off. While I was fixing my chain Irene passed me and I was happy to see a familiar face. When I got to the next station I stopped for a minute and I stretched.

By now I started to talk to the cyclist around me because we were kind of at the same pace. Actually I was faster than them. But because I stopped at water station we ended up going at the same pace. There were a few people that I like to mention.

Girl A: I think she was 26 (from looking at the age on her leg). She was struggling. I tried to talk to her but she did not respond =(

Woman with Lavaman jersey: I actually talked to her for a bit. She was a TNT alumni.

The older Cyclist: We were about the same pace. He usually passed me on the up hill and I would passed him on downhill and flat. We joked and encouraged each other. We rode near each other for maybe a good 15-20 miles before I needed to stop and pee.

After 7 hr and 45 minutes, I finally finished the bike. I was happy just to get off my bike!

Overtaking the cyclist in front of me: actually I just stand up in front of the camera to look cool =P

T2: Transition from Bike to Run (05:54.9)
After I dismounted I ran to my rack and rack bike. I was looking for a change tent but I don't see one so ran with my biking short. I don't remember the exact sequence but I did the following.
- Remove Helmet
- Remove Grove
- Remove Cycling Shoe, Cycling Sock
- Took off my cycling shirt and put on my TNT SGV Marathon Purple Shirt with the phase '4 Tyler' on the back
- Try to put on nip guard again but it won't stick!
- Put on Running Sock
- Put on Running Shoe
- Put on Running Belt (the Belt where it has the number attached)
- Spray Sun Screen. Put on sun screen lotion on my face... again... just one wipe! (Now that I look at the picture I look like a Geisha!)
- Took the Garmin Watch off the bike and put it on my wrist
- Put on my Mountain Hardwear Cap (Like I said before, I want a part of hiking on me)
- Put on my running belt (with half a bottle of liquid)

then I took off... well... before I really took off, I went to the porta potty to pee. Then I ate like 1 oreo at the aid station at the transition exit, then took off.

Vineman Run 26.2 miles 3 out and back loops
time: 06:07:55.5
time of day: 4:28 pm - ~ 10:30 pm

Run Course (click for full size picture)

My Garmin Connect Player (Click to see my actual pace)

As soon as I ran out to the street I see a crowd of people cheering. I saw my LA teammates and the Northern California Ironteam. I continue to run and saw a lot of Ncal Ironteam people cheering for you at around mile 1. I liked how the guy ask for my name when my name is on my shirt. I ran a little and saw Eurie. I asked her if she is ok and she complained about something that I can't help. I asked her do you need this, this, or this instead (stuff I do have). She said she was fine and gave me one of those 'If you don't disappear RIGHT NOW I will never eat Korean Fried Chicken with you' kind of look. Since fried chicken was on the line I ran away from her as fast as I can. I saw Sharon and we ran together for a little bit. I then saw David and we ran a little bit. I saw other teammates as they were finishing their first loop already. Anyway, since this is a 3 loops out and back course (meaning you go from point a to point b... then back the way you came), I got to see everyone in my team. Everyone was looking good!

I stopped to pee, eat, talked to cow, and then I reached the turn around point. Stopped at every aid station to eat something, pour some water on me, pee, and then I finished lap 1.

I moo at them during the run and they look at me funny. photo by: The Zen In You

orange mountain hardwear cap: To show my passion for the mountain. To show my hiking friends that they can also run marathons and do triathlons if they want to.
Team In Training Purple Marathon Jersey with the phase '4 Tyler' on the back: My root for doing endurance sport. The reason why I sign up for an Ironman.

On lap 2 I chatted with a few more people and had even more fun at the aid station. Unlike a marathon aid station, an ironman aid station has water, gatorade, and cola. They also have energy block, power bar, oreo, tortilla chip, and fig newton. So I usually mix and match my intake. Too bad they don't have hamburger =(

I wasn't tired but my pace was very slow. I average about 2 hr for a little over 8 miles. I did not give it much thought since I know I will make the cutoff. I was actually in la la land because nothing was hurting so I was just running and walking. However, some of my teammates were in pain but they keep pushing forward. They inspired me!

Now that I think about it, I think I was slower because my body was trying to save reserve. Being a hiker I can never go all out. As many hikers agree, reaching to the top of the mountain is only half way, you have to have enough energy to come back down... safely! I rather go slow and not hit the wall.

During the second part of the second loop, this shirtless man came up to me and started talking to me. It was the older guy on the bike!!! We talked a bit and he disappeared. He walks fast, very fast!

As I am finishing off my 2nd loops some of my teammates were already finishing up their last lap. I saw Pikachu and a few other teammates. I saw Captain Awesome and Caroline. Coach Rad was cheering for me. I was just doing my thing. I had a cola at this station and then gatorade/oreo at the next. Life is good.

By the time I finished my 2nd laps the crowd got thinner and it started to get dark. I put on my Petzl e+LITE so I can see the road. Then it got dark.... very dark. Which did not bother me at all because I am used to hiking in the dark. Also I am not scared running in the dark. I usually scare myself when I am on the mountain because the cave people may come out and eat you (Damn you Ronnie for making me watch 'the descent'). But I am in the city so I am good... at least that's what I think =P

Getting Dark!!! Photo by The Zen In You

By now there were even less people running so the volunteer at the aid station were very... I meant... very attentive! When they see me, they would yell 'What would you like'... and I would yell 'Cola and Water'. Then the volunteer would have it ready for me when I got there.

Soon I am at the turn around point on lap 3. The guy who's was manning the turn around point is actually a Leukemia Survivor. I stopped, he said Thank You for doing it (he knew I am part of TNT from my shirt), I shook his hand and told him 'Thank you, you guys gave me the courage to do this', then I ran away.

As I was running back I want to make sure all the rest of my teammates were there doing their last lap but it was too dark to know who's who. One person I did saw is Ncal blogger Friend/Teammate Jennifer Jay. There were probably 5-6 people running with her!!! Talking about support!

As I was getting closer to one of last aid station I wanted to thanks the volunteer in a different way. I had been thanking volunteer and officers (they direct traffic) all the day and I want to do something different, so I came up with a plan... When I stopped at that aid station the volunteer asked me what do I need. I pretended to think and I said. 'I needed a high5 from everyone of you'. The volunteer bust out laughing. Good Job Louis.

Next thing I know I was 1 mile away from completing an iron distance event. I saw Coach Rad and he wanted to give me a high5. Since my arm was kind of tight I told him I didn't want to give him a high5 (sorry Rad). Pikachu also came and ran with me (apparently Matt finished his shift and now we have Efren the Pikachu). I started running faster and faster, then I was in the Windsor High School running the last 100 yard of the race. I wanted to go as fast as I can but I stopped because there was a person in front of me and he just crossed the finished line. I waited until the volunteer was able to hold up the ribbon thing, then I dash for the finish.

I crossed the finish line after 16 hours 3 minutes and 57 seconds. I just finished an ironman. But that wasn't the thing that make me happy the most. What made me extremely happy is that I wasn't that tired at all. In fact I still have several hours of energy in me! 4 hours back I knew Ironman is durable and I know I can do another ironman. Crossing the finish line just confirmed that fact. You can argue that the reason why I wasn't that tired is because I didn't go as fast as I can. Well my goal is just to finish and I do not care about my time. I will go faster next time.

I am already thinking about the next Ironman LOL (lot of laugh)

What happened right after Vineman
After I crossed the finish line, I received a medal, removed my timing chip, picked up a finisher shirt, got a cup of water, and then I was surrounded by my teammates and my coaches. My awesome Campaign Manager Rachel pinned my ironman finisher pin to the medal. I told her I needed to go check out and she said I'll take care of it. Sarah went to pick up my stuff from the swim... Javier (Carlo's friend who I met at the LA Marathon) video tape me and he actually waited for me when he was freezing his butt off. In fact everyone was freezing their butt off... including me. So my first order is to get warm. Since I have no 'concept' of getting warm inside the medical tent, I went to the only place where I can get warm... my transition bag. I went to the transition area to put on my mountain hardwear beanie and my mountain hardwear shell. I also put on my shell pant and opened a package of handwarmer for it to get warm. I then pack up everything and pushed my bike out of the transition area. I was going to push my car to the truck but Sarah (or was it Aubrey) came to the rescue by pushing my bike to the truck.

After a short while, everyone came in. Yup, everyone in my team finished. That's very important to me. Later I found out that Doctor Harned had 5 flats, fell in the dark during her run, and still managed to finish the race with blood dripping off her knees. Good Job Doctor.

My VIP teammate award go to Eurie. Eurie is freaking awesome. Before Ironteam, she never race before, not even a 5k. She went to the info meeting wanting to sign up for a half marathon but ended up signing up for the Half Ironman, then she switched to the Full. She inspired me.

After we took a group photo, we all headed back to the hotel and slept.

A few teammates weren't around when we gather for the picture =(

What I learned from the Ironman experience?
- You don't need a six pack to do an Ironman
- You can join the Ironteam even if you don't know how to swim, bike, and run
- You don't need any racing experience to join the Ironteam
- You can eat whatever you want during your ironman training. You just won't lose weight *_* (I thought you can eat whatever and lose weight =P)
- You can achieve anything you want if you put your mind into it
- People pee in their wetsuit and people pee while they ride... yes girls too...
- Mt Shasta is still the toughest thing I ever done. Actually this is not a fair comparison because I did not train 10 months for Mt Shasta. The Cold, The Wind, The Lack of Air up at 14,000 ft, The 17 hours day... ya it was tough for me.

The most important thing I learned from this Ironman training is.:
- battling cancer is much harder than doing an Iron Distance Event
Don't get me wrong, Ironman is not easy and all my teammates deserves a big high5. Below is a few comparison that I came up with

Time
Ironman training: 10 months of training and a 16 hours day
Cancer treatment: treatment can last for years.

Money
Ironman training: wetsuit, bike, shoe, helmet, nutrition... maybe several thousands
Cancer treatment: $10,000 for a dose of chemo. Think you have insurance? Think again. A lot of insurance policy has a life time cap. I know a cancer survivor (she is in her late 30's with 2 kids) who is going to run out of insurance coverage because she is reaching the life time cap (1 million dollars)

Pain
Ironman: During the last 10 months I vomited a few times, experience nasty back pains on my back (I compare the pain as doing a bone marrow transplants... even though I never done one before) and I broke down maybe just once or twice because it's too hot or I did not drink enough water.
Cancer Fighter: Lost of hair, lost of strength (people stare at a man when his wife carry all the grocery), vomit during chemo, radiation, staying at the hopsital

Recognition
Ironman: Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life!

- commander Collins, USN (1978)

Cancer Fighter: Nothing. Do you think people brag about how many chemo they completed? One is too many for me!!!

Mind Set
Ironman: When you are tried and you can't go on, you tell yourself to keep moving. If you really want to give up, you can. Seriously, I do it because it's fun.
Cancer Fighter: They cannot give up. Because losing the battle is not an option. They need to constantly move forward.

There you have it. Why I have so much respect for people who are battling cancers. Why I think health is more important than most things in life. My first half ironman and ironman are my tributes to people who are battling cancers. They taught me to continue move forward and not focus on bad things that already happened. They are my heroes.

Tyler Cordova, the toughest kid I know! He is currnetly in City of Hope doing radiation and chemo.

Messages for my friends
- Get out there and do something that you always want to accomplish. No need to lose 5 lbs first, no need to wait for a better time. No need to get an expensive bike. No need to join a gym membership first. The best time to do something is now.

- If you want something, you need to work for it. There is no magic lose weight program. You cannot eat whatever you want and get lapband a week after. If you want to lose weight, you need to exercise and eat healthy. I am sick of watching all these lose weight and self help commercials.

- Thank you for your support, thank you for reading this.

The Next Step
I am going to be the mission/photo captain for the 2010 Ironteam. I am planning to do the Wildflower Half Ironman and Full Vineman again. This time, however, I am doing it for myself. Part of me want to do Ironman Japan in 2010, but I want to have more experience first before going international.

Now that I finished this race report, I can go clean my room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ExtrasJavier actually video taped me
Video 1
Video 2
My Official Race Photos (I did not carry a camera during the race)

My roommate Edmund made a video. Check it out. You'll get a sense of what went on that day (You need to use firefox to open... I think)
Edmund Vineman Video

This youtube video kind of sum up how I felt before my race. Also my shout out to the troops.
- Everyone was nervous leading up to the event
- Coach Paul/Rad gave us last minute instruction before we took off.
- Coach Paul/Rad told us to be happy
- Bad things may happen, but we are trained to deal with it

Days leading to the Vineman Full Ironman Race

Mon (7/27)
Working hard at work. Lot of stuff to do! I then headed out to Team Send Off Dinner. I went to REI to get batteries for my headlamp and cadence but they sold out. Dinner was a blast. Mentor Linda did an awesome job with that Ironman Jeopardy Game. And yes, my Pikachu anime expo picture were there as one of the question... I think the question is something like... where was Louis. Answer: 'What is Anime Expo'. ding ding!

Tue (7/28)
Started packing for Vineman. I had Katsu Don for Dinner... my pre-race ritual!

Wed (7/29)
I woke up at 6am to finish my packing. I took off around 10:30 am. I bought sushi, tonkatsu, and spam musubi for lunch but I only ate a little bit. After a long long time, I got to Sonoma a little after 7 pm. My roommate Edmund arrived with his family and we went to dinner together. His kids stayed over for the lunch and I did my part by giving them endless Japanese snacks.

Thur (7/30)
I started off with a Buffet since Edmund got me a ton of free buffet tickets (yay for being a diamond Hilton member!) I was doing anything I can to take my mind off the race, so I got myself some egg, cream cheese, smoked salmon, a bagel, and make myself a Lox Bagel sandwish LOL.

bike check at 11 am. Next thing I know I headed out to the swim start to swim a bit. 20 minutes to be exact. We got back to the hotel and the team went out for dinner. Flavor... the same place where I had dinner the night before.

I went all out by eating a salad, this raw beef appetizer thing, and a seafood pasta. I think I paid like 50 bucks.

After I got back to the hotel I went to the supermarket to get some stuff. I then started preparing my bottles for Sat. I knew Friday will come and go so I wanted to make sure I get all my stuff ready!!!

See... I did 3 things today and it took the whole freaking day! Crazy!

Fri (07/31)
Today we have this Team In Training Branch at 11:30am. We ate, listened to last minute tips from our coaches and other coaches from different chapters. I think one of the woman said the Team In Training team will cover something like 7000 miles tomorrow... and I am one of the 140.6 mi... that's pretty cool.

Again, next thing I know we were at the expo getting our timing chip and package. We then setup the run transition and head back. I took the 10 minutes that I have and got myself 2 Vineman Cycling Jerseys and a visor hee hee.

We then went back to the hotel and check in our bike. After I checked my bike Coach Rad/Coach Paul waved me over and want to talk to me one on one about tomorrow. So we got into this empty conference room and I felt like I was walking into a confession box... ready to confess my sin. The three of us sit down and Coach Paul said... let's hear it. I was going to tell him I once forgot to pay my share at work happy hour but I soon realized he was talking about my plan... so I was like. Tomorrow I am going to swim, bike, and run. I am going to do what I have been doing all along and I am going to follow my nutrition plan. I told them I am not going to fuck around in Transition (people were concern about my transition time because I took super long in the half ironman). I told them I will overcome any issue tomorrow and I will finish.

I am actually very confidence but I feel like I need to tell them I am super confidence. I feel like I have to sell my confidence to them. I felt like I was pitching a solar power flashlight! They told me they are not worry about me as long as I don't fuck around. I felt a sense of relieve. Coach Paul also commented about it was fun having me in the team. Among many things, I think it has something to do with taking pictures for the team, being a nerd, do weird stuff, eat unhealthy stuff, have good endurance, being very supportive to my teammates, and of course... show up as Pikachu in a bar!

We had a pasta dinner party after bike check. We got together in a room one last time and listen to our coach and focus for tomorrow. Everyone was very serious! But Coach remind us to have fun tomorrow.

I continue to prepare for Sat. I talked to Edmund for a bit and we turned off the light at 10:30pm

F#@#!The last few days went by fast!!!

Sat (08/01)
I save the game day for another post