Review of Jim Gourley's "Faster: Demystifying the Science of Triathlon Speed"

I was rather disappointed with this book because it didn't cover a lot of the physiology involved with performing at peak speeds. It was fairly mechanical in nature and while it was complete from a physics standpoint, it didn't apply the physical concepts to the practice of triathlon to the extent I was expecting. In sum, the book's final chapter is really all I needed to read.

The book was helpful in some ways though, and there are a number of things I want to employ from this book. I am recording them here so I remember them:

1. Swim: Triathletes should try to keep as much of their body out of the water as possible. This reduces drag, since there is more drag in the water than in the air. Wet suits aid in keeping an athlete near the water's surface, so maybe this is what the author is talking about. Otherwise, I'm having trouble visualizing a swimmer exposing a lot of his body surface to the air while still maintaining a good swimming posture and form. Indeed, wearing a wet suit decreases drag by 10% and has been shown to save a swimmer enough energy to increase cycling efficiency by 12%. Wet suit thickness between 3 and 5 mm is best, as the thicker the suit, the greater the buoyancy. My wet suit is 1.5 mm in the arms, 3 mm in the torso, and 4 mm in the legs.

2. Swim: Pressure drag is the most significant element (80%) of total drag, so a swimmer should minimize the surface first passing through the water. This means streamlined arms while gliding. This means a horizontal body position to reduce the amount of surface traveling perpendicular to the water. This means kicking from the hips to keep the legs from producing too much extra drag.

3. Swim: technique matters. The career swimmers are faster than triathletes because they place their arms, legs, head, and torso precisely in the most efficient positions. It's not brute strength; rather, it is body position that ultimate produces the most propulsion. I will set up a swim lesson with Josh to polish up my freestyle stroke. There is a note here that strong swimmers are actually faster in wet suits without sleeves because the sleeves alter arm position. I own a fully sleeved wet suit and I like it a lot. Even though I am a stronger-than-average swimmer, I won't get a new suit.

4. Swim: Most propulsion comes from the arms (not legs). Ways to produce the most speed include faster arm movement underwater and increasing the surface area of your hands by separating fingers by about 8 millimeters. I already spread my fingers, so no adjustment is needed in this area. As for faster arm movements, I think Josh has told me to do that. It's worth trying. This does not necessarily mean a faster stroke rate, though. I can still glide between strokes, assuming I can minimize pressure drag during the glide. A wet suit actually helps reduce stroke cadence by 14%.

5. Swim: Drag can be substantially (20%) reduced by dragging other swimmers. This can be accomplished in two ways. First, you can follow another swimmer directly behind, which is best, but also hard to do because you really have to tailgate them (your arms enter the space just behind their kick). Second, you can be offset 1 meter next to them, so that your hands are in the same line as the first swimmer's shoulders. I can definitely do this, but only if the two of us can swim in a straight line (and I'm not good at that).

6. Swim: Data show that if I go all-out on the swim, I'm likely to suffer on the bike later. Slowing down to 80-85% swim effort can avoid this effect. I will try to remember this strategy, since I tend to go as fast as I can during the swim.

7. Swim: Just a note relating to my swimsuit choice for competition: tighter fit is better because it limits muscle deformation, which reduces drag.

8. Bike: Make sure your bike is in excellent working order because this segment represents the greatest time investment during the race. I will do what I can with maintenance during the cycling season and, if necessary, take the bike into the shop a couple weeks before my Ironman to attend to any last maintenance or adjustments.

9. Bike: Strong legs are much more important than a "fast bike," so spend money on what makes YOU faster, not what makes your bike faster. The author uses this to make the case for training with a power meter, since it will teach me the level of effort necessary to produce the most force under various road conditions. It will also protect me from overworking my engine and burning out too quickly. I looked up the price of a power meter, and I don't see many options below $700, which is half the price of a new bike. I don't find this a reasonable purchase because heart rate and pedal cadence can be used to gauge my level of effort. Indeed, I recently read in another source that heart rate is a direct correlate of oxygen consumption, which itself a direct correlate of power generation. The book also notes that Strava can take the bike GPS data and calculate power for a ride segment, after the fact. I looked into this, and it is not true. If you don't use a power meter on your bike, all Strava will do is give you your average power per ride. This would give me a single number, and I don't think that's useful. In sum, I will take HR training very seriously as I do bike training, because I can monitor HR during my ride and try to keep it as consistent as possible. This is pretty much what power is use for: consistency in effort. 

10: Bike: A lot of people are concerned about the weight of their bike and components. However, the human rider represents the greatest proportion of weight, so to experience the best gains in speed and power, a rider should lose weight when appropriate. Even 2-3 pounds of bike weight does not save much race time (maybe 5 seconds per mile at a 4% grade...which is fairly steep), particularly on flat race courses. Conclusion: lose body weight instead of bike weight, and really, none of this is as important as reducing drag.

11. Aerodynamic drag is reduced considerably at speeds more than 15 mph when one transitions from the hoods to the drops of a road bike. Further reduction in drag is very significant at 20 mph when one transitions from the drops to the aerobars, pulling arms in, and curving the back. Savings occur at slower speeds than 15 and 20, respectively, but those are easier numbers to remember. I will use those thresholds to dictate my body position.

12. An investment of 10% of bike cost should be spent toward a professional bike fit. For me, that gives me a budget of $1,200 x 10% = $120. I'm pretty sure a professional fit costs $175 or more, so maybe getting one will be an extravagance. I plan to do it anyway.

13. The position of the rider on a bike is 57% more important than the bike model (in terms of drag savings), so by improving my riding position I am pretty much getting a bike that is much faster, without actually having to buy a new bike. A fancy helmet represents only 25% of an improved bike position. Likewise, wheels reduce drag by only 25% of an improved ride position.

14. If I ever do buy a fancy helmet, research shows that the ones with shorter tails and steeper taper angles are better than the super pointy alien heads I like to make fun of. Air ventilation holes make no difference in terms of drag, so the more the better.

15. If I ever do buy fancy wheels, deeper rims is not always an advantage. Headwinds favor shallow rims, but cross winds favor deeper rims. The author did some calculations and determined that headwinds are more likely to be encountered than those that hit the bike from a cross angle, so my shallow rims are just fine. (what is my rim measurement, anyway?) compare to p. 99...Ok, and what about the increasing popularity of wider tires? That actually makes sense, given that a wider wheel slides through the air better than a narrow wheel with a tire that bulges out from the wheel on both sides. All in all, the best disc wheels will save 20 watts of effort, which saves about 2 minutes for every 25 miles of distance. See, 8 minutes is just not worth it on an IM race.

16. Tire choice makes an easy difference in drag reduction. The text is a equivocal on the significance of it, though. In one place, the author says that wheels reduce drag by a fraction of a unit, while tires reduce drag by a fraction of a fraction of a unit. This seems to indicate that tires don't matter. But later, the author shows that good tires can shave a minute off a 25-mile race, which is certainly small, but measurable nevertheless. It's easy and inexpensive to buy fast tires, so I will make sure I upgrade each time I race. (I still have my race tires from last time, and those may still be good)

17. Tire pressure of 110 psi is ideal for minimal rolling resistance. I already inflate to that pressure.

18. Clean the chain often. The author says to degrease it each time, and then lubricate with any oil--it doesn't matter what kind.

19. The race number stuck to your bike creates drag and it will be minimized by having it positioned stiffly to your seat post. I already do this with zip-ties.

20. Run efficiency is increased as we reduce the vertical displacement of each stride. That is, less bouncing up and down as I run. I think I am pretty good in this area already. I also want to maximize the distance covered per step and reduce the time spent in contact with the ground, says the author. However, he proposes a solution to all three of these things by saying: "shorten stride and increase cadence to 180-190 steps per minute." But ok.

21. As runners fatigue, their cadence drops and they spend more time on the ground per step. Both of these act as positive feedback on energy requirements so that fatigue then generates more fatigue and performance plummets. This promotes the idea that pacing is very important throughout a race so that I never get fatigued.

22. The most efficient runners minimize vertical displacement to the point where their feet only come 7.5 cm from the ground. I'm not saying I'm an efficient runner, but my impression is that I don't have a lot of vertical displacement.

23. Body weight is an important factor in running in the area of heat dissipation. Heavier runners don't dissipate heat as well, so they have poorer endurance. This is the reason why there are athenas and Clydesdale categories. Anyway, this is also another reason to shed pounds if I want to be the best triathlete I can be.

24. There is a fair amount of discussion of running shoes in this book, with the conclusion that scientific studies have not found any performance differences between cheap shoes and expensive shoes, nor between brands or sole designs. The author says to choose a comfortable inexpensive pair and replace the shoes often, soon after 300 miles. As a rule of thumb, therefore, I will replace my running shoes after 350 miles. Shoes degrade at this point, and studies show that the runner's foot and body start to alter running form to adjust to the change in cushioning, and "not in a good way." Indeed, even if a degraded shoe did not have a negative impact on foot architecture, the studies show that runners in worn shoes spend more time on the ground per step (see #21 above).

25. Running on a treadmill: Set the treadmill at at least 1% incline to better mimic the workout you get when running outdoors.

Ironman Maryland Race Report

Race: Ironman Maryland

Date: September 28, 2018

Location: Cambridge, Maryland

Time: 14:21

Overall Rank: X out of XX 

Age Group Rank: X out of X 

Results: http:

 

I returned to work today and met with a few students to help them review for an upcoming exam. One of them got an average score on her first quiz and a below-average score on her second quiz. She told me she wants to be a surgeon. I wouldn’t rule that out as a career for her, but her first few quiz scores suggest she’s going to struggle to achieve that goal. In my role as a professor, youth-group leader, and step-parent, I know of so many kids that dream big. They want to be the best in everything they do. However, that kind of success is very rare. As an adult, I find that I am good at doing lots of things, but there is always someone better or something more I could have done. So what does this all have to do with my second Ironman race? Everything. I am like that student who scored okay on her first quiz but not so well on her second. I finished the race but didn’t perform as well as I wanted. I’m never going to be at the top of my age group. I’m never going to win, but the drive to be better next time remains. Until I became an adult, I never knew that athletic endeavors were a true metaphor for life; success comes from hard work; success may come a lot later than you expect; your definition of success may change with time; and success usually has more to do with how you deal with adversity than it does with how many competitors you beat. I don’t know yet whether or not I will do another Ironman 140.6-mile race. I think I will. I had an amazing time in Maryland, and I’ve still got some work I’d like to do. Here are some stories from this weekend:

Sandwich Snafu

My “secret sauce” that boosted my spirits during my first Ironman in 2016 was a 6-inch Subway sandwich I ate halfway through the bike route. I attempted this again this year, but after picking up the sandwich Friday night, I forgot to put it in the motel room refrigerator. Discovering this error at 4:15am when I got up, I threw the sandwich out and had less of a lunch on Saturday than planned. I didn’t anticipate that missing a sandwich would have much impact on my race, but in retrospect, my body really did miss the extra 340 calories and 1,090 mg of sodium.

 

Porta Potty Problem

I narrowly avoided a disaster right at the start of the race. There were only 33 porta potties set up for 1400 athletes and family members to use during the hour before our 6:45am start time. I got in line at 6:22am. My turn to use the facility didn’t come until 6:44am. While I was in line I went through my two options: (1) start the race on time in an uncomfortable state, or (2) use the toilet and start late. I decided on the second option. This was to be a 13- or 14-hour race, so I figured starting a few minutes late wouldn’t be a big deal. This choice would have been fine had I brought my wetsuit, goggles, and morning clothes bag with me to the porta potty. However, I left these items in the transition zone with my bike (because I never anticipated spending 22+ min in line), and had to go pick them up after I was done using the bathroom. 

 

The huge crowd of athletes and guests trying to use the portable toilets prior to the race at Ironman Maryland. This almost cost me any chance of finishing my race.

The problem was that according to the rules, the transition zone closes at the start of the race. When I attempted to enter, a volunteer stopped me and said “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t let you through.” I lingered and paced for a moment, thinking about what to do. I wondered if I was finished already, without having begun. Then I wondered if I could swim the 2.4-mile course without a wetsuit and without goggles. I wasn’t about to quit now, so this is what I was going to do. Swimming in open water without goggles would have been a severe hardship. I was nearly ready to accept this fate when I saw a race official, and I pleaded with her to gain access to my wetsuit bag. She said no, but she decided she could get my stuff. “What do you need?” she asked. I said “grab everything!” Of course I needed my wetsuit and goggles, but the clothes bag contained my wallet, keys, and phone. 

Mine is not a fancy bike, but it gets the job done.

 

Maybe the official broke a rule on my behalf, and for that I am both sorry and thankful. She saved my race. I ran over to the drop-off site for my clothes bag, put my wetsuit on, and lined up with other swimmers. Fortunately with the time-trial entry, there were plenty of athletes who had not yet entered the water, and I had time to regroup and settle my nerves.

 

Waiting for our wave start of the swim at Ironman Maryland. Not my photo. I'm not sure where I downloaded it from.

 

2.4-mile Swim Course

I really enjoyed the swim. It was not as crowded as I anticipated, and I saw no jellyfish. Apparently there were some this year, but not as many as in past years. I honestly looked forward to encountering a few because it would make for an even better Ironman challenge. The water was not choppy, but a strong current pushed the swimmers to the left as we started the loop and to the right as we finished up. The swim course was actually two loops around the same set of buoys, and as I finished my first loop I could hear the announcer at the water exit cheer for the “first woman to finish the swim!” How do people swim that fast!? Maybe I wasn’t a fast swimmer, but my body was handling the distance well. My arms did not feel fatigued and I could have gone on for another mile or more. The only pain I experienced was early in the swim when my lower back started to hurt. At first I couldn’t figure out why I’d get pain in that area since swimming doesn’t tax the muscles there. However, the biologist in me realized that it was “referred pain,” that is, pain felt in one location due to a problem at another location. In this case, the wetsuit was too tight at my crotch and was causing “my boys” to be unhappy. I stopped swimming for a moment to adjust their position. In case you didn’t know, athletes regularly talk about bodily functions, so my testicular discomfort is just another detail to keep this story interesting. You are going to be okay.

 

Swim course at Ironman Maryland. Good weather and calm waters. Not too crowded, and no jellyfish. A great swim!

I finished the swim in 1:29, which was 1 minute slower than in 2016. This difference is insignificant and I was pleased. Compared to my gender age group, I was 109 out of 199 athletes (top 55%). My swims at other triathlons usually put me in the top 25% of my age group, but not at Ironman. These are more experienced and better trained athletes than the weekend warriors I usually compete against.

 

112-mile Bike Course

There were so many athletes exiting the transition zone at the same time that it took a dozen miles for me to filter through them and go the speed I wanted. There are penalties if athletes are caught drafting (following too close), blocking (riding side-by-side), or passing too slowly (a pass must occur within 25 seconds), so it took some time and effort to pass someone. I didn’t want to burn too much extra fuel by repeated passes, but I was feeling some adrenaline and wanted to! To my credit, I kept my speed nice and steady at 18.5 mph for the first 43 miles. Between miles 43 and 52, my Garmin shows I slowed to around 16 mph. I just looked at the course map and this section matched up precisely with my travel on the west side of the loop going north on Route 9. Guess what direction the wind was blowing? That’s right; I was getting a headwind in this section.

 

I remember someone asking me a few days before the race, “Will all the birds in the National Wildlife Refuge distract you?” My answer was “No, unfortunately, I’ll be keeping my head down and concentrating on going fast,” but that’s not entirely what happened. There were beautiful, open, and watery sections of the landscape where I looked for birds to keep my mind occupied and my spirit playful. I saw a heron, some egrets, mallards, cormorants, and fish crows. In addition, I heard blue jays and cardinals, woodpeckers and wrens.

Typical scene on the bike ride at Ironman Maryland. I took this photo the day after my race.

 

Given that people were not supposed to ride side-by-side, there was very little talking among athletes. It would not have been easy to share my sighting of an egret with anyone. It was heartening to find at least two sets of partners doing the race together. In one case, I heard the guy behind me giggle as he passed me, and I asked what was funny. He said he just saw his girlfriend up ahead, and watching their reunion was fun, if only fleeting. He passed her and kept going; that’s fine. In another case, in the windy section I came upon a man and woman, both in their upper 50s and in matching triathlon suits. He was following her, and as I passed him I asked if that was his wife. He said “Yes, we are doing this together. This is her second Ironman, and this is my first!” It was mile 86 and he was still very excited. I truly hope that my wife and I will go on some big adventure like this when we are that age. It’s important to keep doing new things, and do them together.

 

Lunch was at mile 64 in a high school parking lot. Mom and Dad had ridden a bus to get to that spot in an effort to see me, and there they were at the entrance to the parking lot! I couldn’t stop right there, though, so I continued a little ways to the place where they were giving the athletes the “special needs bags,” which we had packed for ourselves. This is where I was missing my Subway sandwich, but I had packed an apple and a bag of chips. I ate those as I walked through the parking lot to see my parents. My Garmin tells me I stopped for only 10 minutes to eat and talk. This is less time than in 2016, and that’s probably good. In fact, the walk was good for me because I was experiencing a lot of hip discomfort on the left side during the bike ride, and this cleared the pain up for the remainder of the day.

My bike speed during the Ironman Maryland race (blue line, right vertical axis). My heart rate is shown by the gray bars. Lunch occurred midway through the race.

 

I feel like a lot of people passed me during my short lunch. The second loop featured far fewer cyclists. I got a burst of energy after lunch and went more than 22 mph for the first 10 miles. This also corresponds to a tailwind, but I didn’t know that at the time. I just felt good, and despite worrying about burning out, I pedaled hard in high gear.

 

I knew I was still “on track” when I finished the bike leg. I knew that in 2016 I had completed the bike course in 6:42, and my official 2018 results show a bike time of 6:38. Isn’t that extraordinary? The two bike courses were in different states (I was in Ohio in 2016) and under different weather conditions, but yet my performance was nearly the same. In fact, if I remove the “lunch break” from my bike data, in 2016 I spent 6:19 on the bike going an average speed of 17.8 mph. In 2018, I spent 6:15 on the bike going an average speed of 17.8 mph. Amazing!

 

Nutrition and Hydration

Done with the swim and the bike, I was ready to start my run. I felt good, but that feeling wouldn’t last. They say that nutrition/hydration is the fourth leg of triathlon and this is where I floundered. An endurance athlete is supposed to consume about 200 calories per hour of exercise (this is a simplification of data in a book by Matt Dixon). For me on the bike, that would be 6.5 hrs x 200 = 1,300 calories. I didn’t document every GU energy gel, Honey Stinger waffle, banana, and mini Clif Bar that I consumed, but I tried to stay on a schedule where I ate and drank something every 20 minutes, and I think this would add up to at least 1,300 calories.

 

My fluid intake was not far off recommended parameters. I should have been drinking around 24 ounces per hour. For me, that would be 6.5 hrs x 24 = 156 ounces = 5.5 bottles of water/Gatorade. I recall discarding 3 empty bottles from my bike (aid stations were placed every 15 miles on the route to resupply athletes), and the two still on my bike at the end of my ride were nearly empty.

 

I think I got into problems with sodium and other electrolytes. Guidelines suggest a sodium intake of at least 700 mg per hour during an event like Ironman in cooler weather (today’s air temperature was around 70 degrees). Looking at my intake, I estimate I was getting 375 mg from food, 143 mg from Gatorade, and 66 mg of salt supplement per hour. That’s only 83% of what I should have been taking in. These are pretty rough estimates, but what if I had consumed that Subway sandwich for lunch? That would have raised my salt intake to an average of 752 mg per hour. I never would have thought a sandwich would be so important!

 

Having just finished the 112 mile bike ride, I'm about to start my 26.2 mile run at Ironman Maryland.

26.2-mile Run Course

After a quick visit with Mom and Dad in the transition zone, I started out on the run. I felt great. In fact, the bike shoes had felt tight and getting into running shoes gave me some relief. I started with an 8:15 min per mile pace, and quickly dialed it down because I knew that wouldn’t be sustainable. However, just two weeks earlier I maintained an average 8:45 pace for the Air Force Half Marathon, and I felt optimistic about today’s run. I therefore chose to stick to a 9:00-10:00 min pace for today’s race.

 

My Garmin watch data shows I stuck to this goal for about 3.5 miles. From there, I steadily slowed down. At mile 5, I had a 10:51 pace. At mile 6, I had a 10:48 pace. At mile 7, I had a 10:53 pace. By this time I was feeling dizzy and weak. There were other runners around me who were experiencing some of the same symptoms; they were weaving back and forth, and some had already knelt to the ground as if they were trying not to faint. Just a little before mile 8, I decided I was in bad enough shape that if I continued to exert myself, I would lose my balance and fall over. So I walked. I walked for 38 minutes. This section of the running route took me into the town of Cambridge where crowds were cheering for early finishers. Since the course was looped, I would have to pass by this point twice more before I was done. Spectators didn’t have any way to know how far along I was, so most of them seemed to think I was finishing. As they encouraged me, I got emotional. They were so happy and yet I was so sad because I was walking and had many miles to cover before I would finish. I never doubted that I would finish; I just knew I wouldn’t finish early, and I felt like I failed. I eventually convinced myself that I was feeling a little better in the head (not dizzy), so I tried to run again. Immediately, I got an abdominal cramp and my calf muscles were twitching. I pushed through this for 16 minutes to the next aid station where I stopped to walk and get food and drink. Attempting to run again, I found that I couldn’t get my legs to move fast enough, and my calves were going to seize up at any moment.

I walked for another hour and 28 minutes. I really, really wanted to run, so I tested my legs twice more during this period to see if the cramping was over. No success. I stopped at a porta potty and found my urine to be thick and dark. The muscle cramps, weakness, and dark urine suggested my water and salt levels were still out of balance. At that point, at mile 17.5, I determined that I couldn’t run and so I would just concentrate on walking fast and trying to have a good time doing it. Today wasn’t my day. “Let’s move past it,” I thought. I turned off the “run” setting on my watch and switched it to “walk.” I started to converse with a few other walkers. I started to look at the colored clouds and the setting sun at dusk. I thanked God for helping me get to this point in my race and my life.

 

Run cadence measured over the first 17 miles of the Ironman Maryland run segment. Green levels indicate pretty efficient running for a person of my height. But then as I started to suffer from electrolyte imbalance, I slowed (orange) and eventually had to walk (red).

My running pace during the first 17 miles of the Ironman Maryland run segment is shown by the blue line. Heart rate is in gray. I had to walk after mile 7 and again around mile 12.

Ha! That didn’t last. Six minutes later I thought “I’m at mile 18 and if I keep walking at a pace around 15 min/mile, that’s 2 more hours to go! I won’t finish until 9:45pm.” That would be well before the midnight cutoff, but I wanted to be done now, not two hours from now. So I started to run. I ran 4 miles without stopping. I saw Mom and Dad cheering for me along that stretch but I could not stop for fear of losing my momentum. I did the second loop through the town and saw all the same spectators there, and they could see I was feeling good and they thought I was about to finish. I let them think that, and I gave them a bunch of high-fives. My calves started to seize up after 4 miles, so I slowed to walk again, but my spirits were high and I had just gotten to mile 22. This thing was almost done. I could do the rest. My watch battery died, so I don’t know how much of the remaining 4.2 miles I ran and how much I walked, but it was a mix. I was walking at mile 25 and knew I could run the rest of the way, so I started up one last time and entered the town again for all the spectators’ support. Unfortunately, the dinner hour was done and a lot of them had either gone home or moved to the finish line.

 

Indeed, the finish line was lined with spectators. I wanted to get the most of it so I started on the left of the chute, slapping hands as I passed, and then I switched to the right side. I immediately saw my parents with their cow bell, white board sign, and the two funny, spinning, colored light toys they acquired somewhere during their own life journey (One showed up in 2016 but I didn’t remember them having two!). I ran past them and got to the finish line with my arms in the air. I really felt like I was hamming it up, but when I see the video of me finishing, I look pretty tired and not as enthused as I felt.

 

Me at the finish line

of Ironman Maryland 2018.

 

Volunteer Catcher

There were hundreds of volunteers helping with this race, and one position some of them had was “catcher.” These folks are at the finish line and grab you by the arm just as you finish, making sure you don’t fall over. I didn’t need catching, but I appreciated the calming presence of my catcher. He steered me by the arm to where I got my finisher’s medal and where they removed my timing chip. He steered me over to another volunteer who gave me a hat and a shirt. He steered me to the photo area where they took my photo. Then he asked me what else he could do, and I asked him “Where’s the food?” For those of you who know me well, that was a very “Jim” thing to say. If I had lost myself during the marathon, I was back now. I was well.

 

My official run time was 5:54. This compares to 5:01 when I did my Rev3 race in 2016. I’m surprised that walking about half the marathon only slowed me down by 53 minutes (compared to 2016 when I was able to run nearly the whole thing). But the math helps me understand it; a fast walk is only 3 or 4 minutes per mile slower than a slow run.

 

I admit to being disappointed in my finish time of 14 hours and 21 minutes. This is 43 minutes slower than my personal best in 2016, but it’s only a 5% difference. I really can’t complain! I didn’t do it to win. I did it to have fun and feel alive. I tell my students all the time that life is full of challenges and you grow the most when you have to struggle. Things that come easy are not worth much. So yes, I think I’ll do another. I’ve got more work to do, and there will be more joy to come.