Guest Blog: Two ITU World Qualifiers in 2 days in 2 states!

And I thought nationals was a tough race.  My first Olympic Distance race (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10k run) made me pretty tired and sore the next day. I can't imagine, being up all night, and then doing a Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) the next day.  But that's exactly what my (crazy) boyfriend Charles did that weekend.  Here's his story.  Enjoy!  ~Laura

" I think it was around midnight that the complete madness and absurdity of the weekend adventure became surreal.  In summary, it was an intriguing rollercoaster of emotions, exhaustion, and overwhelming frustration and yet a glimmer of accomplishment.

Charles and Laura at Lake Champlain for a swim the day before the USAT National Championships in Burlington ,VT (August 20,2011) 

Burlington – USAT Nationals

Tucked away in my bed I was getting prepared for USAT Nationals on Sat morning. With 18 slots per age group up for grabs in the 2012 ITU World Championships in New Zealand, the competition as always is stacked. Going to the last few nationals races, anything can happen on the course to make or ruin a day and missing out on a slot, after all top 18 were separated by six minutes on an olympic distance course.

Without going into much detail the race went well, other than a major swim blunder, but I finished in the top 12, exactly where I was last year. Given all the set back this year I felt this was an accomplishment but at the same time sort of a disappointment.  Where most people’s story would finish here with celebratory beers, my real adventure was only beginning.

Charles exiting the water (in Boulder, CO)

Upon completion of crossing the finish line and over exaggerating a dehydrated stagger to possibly get an IV, I was instead greeted by a man wearing a blue polo shirt. He said are you Charles Garabedian, responding yes, I thought I was about to find out I committed a crime, or got caught clubbing a baby seal. He firmly said come with me, not knowing who he was or what was in his clipboard, I promptly obliged. I asked him if he could hand me water as we left – he promptly replied that I would have to get one myself and he couldn’t give me one.

Walking away from the finish line and away from the race, he finally revealed I was selected at “random” by USADA for drug testing. I was brought into a room with ten other athletes. My photo was taken as I did not have identification on me to prove I was indeed me. At which point the randomness of this test only pertained to people that had finished the race within the top ten of their age group. Upon providing 3 oz of urine for an A and B sample which seems to be a triathlon in itself - I was off and on my way to transition to get the bike packed for a short little trip to Cedar Rapids Iowa. 

Charles coming into T2 - get that helmet off!!

Packing a bike in a soft case takes little effort as it becomes second nature when you compete a lot. However doing it with inquisitive parents and in a hotel parking lot in the high heat of the day took some composure. Checking into my flight, my 2:50 P.M flight had been delayed. No problem, No panic, I’ll go get food with my parents. 2:50 became 5:45 P.M for a scheduled departure. I arrived at the Burlington Airport at 4:45, bike bag was checked and the only thing left was to hop on the plane. United provided me with a “boarding pass.” Going through TSA I was asked to provide my boarding pass, I gave the agent what the United Employee had given me. He told me it wasn’t correct documentation and I need a different boarding pass.

5:10 P.M. – I went back to United to get a boarding pass, and was told to go to the end of the line, even though their incompetence is what had me at the ticket counter.  With three people working the desk and irate customers (four flights had been delayed by 5+ hours) the United employees were deer in headlights. They refused to reissue me a boarding pass because I went into the priority line. After pleading for ten minutes they took the thirty seconds needed to provide me with the correct boarding pass. Being stuck behind the one person who had a body congested of metal shrapnel, the flight to Chicago w/ connections to Iowa left without me. The bike was also not pulled off the plane as every airline is supposed to do.  The next scheduled plane to depart was of course delayed until 10:30 pm. With no chance in hell of getting farther than Chicago, my blood was boiling in rage. Very rarely do I get angry enough to want to violently harm people – I could have taken a flame thrower to the Burlington Airport. I understand how people can go postal.

A very frustrated Charles en route to the Chicago rental car pickup area  around 1am, with a 4 hour drive ahead...

My flight took off to Chicago and knowing I had a long night ahead of me, I slept for about twenty minutes on the flight.  The smell from my wet sweaty racing flats was repulsive and filling the cockpit every time I whiffed the air. I’m surprised they didn’t turn the plane around.  The flight arrived in Chicago around midnight. Turns out my bike had been checked all the way through to Cedar Rapids Airport, and I was in Chicago. With rental car keys in my hand and enough anger to fuel an obsession I drove throughout the night with the guidance of any awake friends [those friends being me and Susan C]. They took care of the details for me, as they realized I was at wits end. Such as giving me directions over the phone to even get to Iowa or simply getting the Cedar Rapids Airport to deliver my bike to the Marriot where Brendan , Dave, and Wendy were staying.

4:30 AM - I arrived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As I opened the hotel door, Brendan was out of bed and chuckling at the ghostly sleepy eyed creature that just entered.  Just enough time to build the bike up and head off to the race start. I could have collapsed right there. Dave and Wendy were kind enough to feed me any remaining food they had. The banana and cinnamon bagel was absolute gold. I tried sleeping in the car, I realized my efforts were of no use.

Charles on Pigman 56 mile bike course

Onward to the transition area I had already put my bike on the wrong wave’s rack – received a time penalty for riding my bike in transition area without a helmet. Or as I saw it sitting on my bike and getting my shoes clipped into the pedals.  Just any additional little ways I could dig the hole a little deeper. After getting a twenty minute lecture on transition etiquette by the head USAT Referee I was able to get the time penalty removed on an emotional plea of all the stress preceding the race start.

Charles in the Half Marathon at Pigman

With nothing more than a vapor trail of remaining energy – the race director let us loose onto the course. The hardest aspect of racing tired is not the physical push but more the mental capacity to handle the small things. All thing considered – I raced to what my body could push through and got the last reaming slot for the ITU World Championships in November – where I will enjoy a much more relaxed travel experience, with Brendan and David."

~Charles G.

Best of Luck to Charles, Brendan, and Dave at the ITU Long Course World Championships (2.5 mile swim, 75 mile bike, 18 mile run) in Las Vegas on November 6th.

Stay tuned for my blog about my last race of the season and more about China.
~Laura