Race Day 4

Sorry about not having something posted up earlier. TJ Murphy, the editor of Triathlete magazine was here today so we chatted awhile catching up on things, then I took him around and introduced him to some of the support crews, a few of the athletes that were on a break, the timing area and computers and of course the kitchen. Had him chatting away with support crews in no time.

Time to get back to work – one interesting conversation I heard this morning was between Wayne Kurtz and his support crew Rick Freeman. Wayne’s been on the run since last night and was heading to the bathroom and Rick called out – “yell loud if you need help getting off the commode”. When you think of what these athletes have done so far, makes sense that some might need help standing up since you have swam 12 miles and biked 560 miles (Quintuple) and have started running – to sit down and then try and stand up, certain leg muscles might just not want to work correctly. Help - I have sat down and I can’t get up!

Army security vehicle with armed guards in the back. You can see the guy in the front with a machine gun.

Another interesting fact going on and some people have guarded curiosity and interest is the Army vehicles that will patrol thru here once in a while. It’s just not the fact there is a vehicle (painted of course the green like our Army) but the 5/6 guys in the back with machine guns. In talking with Denise Andonie about this – the city is a safe city and this is just a pro-active patrol to make sure the place does stay safe. With the new president declaring war on the drug traffickers and then fighting back – a lot of people are worried about coming to Mexico and they have asked me if it was safe. There might be problems in some of the border towns but Monterrey has always been relatively safe with the normal small petty crime type of stuff and the seedy places in town but where the race takes place and the student/athletes they have that live and train here and the fact that the Army base is right next door – we feel safe here.

All of the Quintuple athletes with the exception of Silvia Andonie are off the bike. Elke finally got off this morning. One statement came out of Wayne’s mouth this morning after watching Andreas Buscher run for a while “I can take this guy”. Well we will have to see. Andreas was feeling good most of the day while Wayne had a hard period this afternoon and took a little nappie late afternoon (might as well as it was decently hot). He is out on the course now and looking much better.

Also Michelle grabbed me by the arm and said come follow – I need to chat with you. I am feeling scared – really scared. I have seen Elke after a few runs in her and not sure I can beat her – is what she needed to tell me. She was tired from all this fun and was feeling overwhelmed. Elke comes from a running background and she was looking pretty good while running – having a slightly faster split than Michelle. It is to be seen as well. She was laying down mid afternoon along the side of the course next to her little tent. And who was laying down beside but none other than her Deca racing boyfriend Marcel. At least they kept it decent.

Stephen Johnson of Canada

I have spent a little bit of time with the Stephen Johnson crew – all of them from Canada. Stephen has raced with me before in the Double. His wife Mary, and good friends Alan and Wicked Wanda (I have given her the title of head instigator for the event) and I have chatted quite a bit late this afternoon and early evening. Also heard a little bit of personalization come out of Mary’s mouth when she called Stephen “Scrappy”. So now we know his nickname.

When you race at this level of distance and the things you are putting into your body you can only hope that everything goes well – especially in the intestinal tract area. Michael Gaertner had problems the second day with constipation which caused him some time. A couple suppositories from the doc didn’t help so he continued on as much as he could. They finally did start working the third day and now he is on a regular schedule. Another athlete didn’t fare so well. He is doing alright currently but yesterday he ended up having two different episodes of a total “blow out” in the rear end department. And these happened on the far side of the course. So a couple hours later after cleaning himself and his clothes, he was able to get back on the bike. His poor support crew has had a lot to help out with.

With the runners going at it now – we have to be cautious on two sides of the road now. Before you just had to look one way when crossing the road – now both ways. Not that the runners are going that fast, but you never know. Both the racers and support crews are usually tired and it’s easy to cross without thinking. So far no accidents, just some near misses.

Well going to close this out. Michael just had his fourth flat on his bike and no spare to be found. Wayne Kurtz who uses Zipp wheels as well is asleep so we are going to bed. Will blog more tomorrow. Promise.

Eileen Steil also has had a problem with her Zipp's. She had one flat then this tire had 6 spokes pop on her at once. Ouch!

Night