Wednesday, September 15, 2010

some race pix

others can b found on my facebook page....hv fun....enjoy...









stats

4 those that r interested, here's my stats from sunday:

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

thank u list

jst wanted 2 give a big shout out 2 everyone that helped me achieve the dream of finishing an iron-distance race this year;
thank GOD 4 giving me the ability to do and finish the race; thanx 2 my family; mom, dad, sister and especially my bro, 4 doing and showing me what iron-distance race is all about; thanx 2 the g/f 4 putting up with me and everything else that u had done, i really really appreciated and feel that i am loved. thanx 2 the coaches (mike and mike) 4 coaching, criticizing, training, encouraging, pushing, pulling, and believing in me. thanx 2 all the teammates that helped thru out the training times from winter. thanx 2 mel 4 always being available and making ur place available. thanx 2 butter 4 sticking with me in training and race(s). thanx 2 nev 4 always encouraging me and making ur place also available along the long run. thanx 2 storrs and keller 4 encouraging me and making me learnt a lot from triple-t experience, including camping. thanx 2 the j's 4 believing in me and giving me lots n lots of tips 4 running. thanx 2 the twitter friends (dustin and troy) and teammates (brian) 4 always checking on me, cheering me, and encouraging me. thanx 2 bob and tim 4 always encouraging me. thanx 2 nancy and herb 4 ur encouragement along the way, whether it was on the bike, or on the run. thanx 2 jenn 4 making ur place available 4 swim. thanx 2 lisa 4 encouraging me. thanx 2 andy 4 making urself and the place up at the lake available. thanx 2 jeremy 4 always making any training session a fun time. thanx 2 kerry 4 always making me thinking abt beer, since u'r the queen of the beer mile. lol....hahhaha....and 2 all other teammates and friends that i did not mention, thanx 4 always encouraging me every time we met anywhere, God bless u all....

14:57

1st ever 140.6 journey of myself on foot

the day started with waking up quite early. i was awake around 1am, but then was able 2 get back to sleep until sometime close 2 4am. did my race routine; showers, coffee, breakfast, medication, drugs, and everything that i always used, put all the stuffs (special needs bags and other bags) that are needed for the race in the car. drove to the race site. got there around 5.30am, as planned.
as soon as i got there, ate a powerbar, got 2 the bike, placed all my nutrition on the bike and bags, then pump up the tires. took care the special needs bags, got numbered and weighted (185lbs). by this time it was already 6.15am. time 2 put on the wet suit and walk over to the beach for the swim start. as i walked, took a gel, chit chat with some other athletes and other ppl around. the water looked pretty calm, no wave visible and didn't feel any wind, or 2 much breeze. so, i said, '...nice, this is good...'. then they announced the race start would b delayed, since it was still pretty dark.
the wave started with all pro men, then pro women. as i waited 4 the start and talked 2 the g/f, i started to mapped out where i'm heading on the swim. the g/f asked abt my hr and i think it was in the 90's. i try 2 b as calm as possible, regardless of how daunting this thing is. man....what was i thinking and what did i sign up 4? oh well....2 late now....
as the siren went off, i started walking to the water, since the lake was pretty shallow until abt 25 yards in. then, i said 2 myself, '...here we go...' as i started 2 swim, i felt pretty good and calm. trying 2 stay within the game plan, which was not to get caught up with the ppl around me. trying to find some empty space to swim to a point, but 2 no avail, it was a mass start, so....'good luck' finding empty space around. still....finish the 1st loop in about 40min. looked at my watch and i thought, '...great, rite on pace...' as i walked along the beach 2 start the 2nd loop, saw the g/f, hi-5, then back to swim again. as i got to the turn around of the 2nd loop, suddenly i felt like i was being thrown in different directions than where i was swimming, then i realized, '...omg, guess the wind decided 2 show up now...' at this point, i decided 2 find somebody that i can draft off 2 help me get back 2 shore, and i did. finished the swim in about 1:25, and again, i thought, '...great...'
rite on track. (thanx 2 mike, andy, jeremy, and butter)
get 2 transition, grabbed my bag, went 2 tent, ate, changed to bike gear, and oh btw, thanx 2 the volunteer that help peeled off my wetsuit, and prep 4 the long bike ride.
at this point, i jst lost track of how long i was in transition. got 2 my bike and started pedaling.
the bike started with clouds in the sky, no sun, with some wind, as expected. as early as possible, i was trying 2 find the pace that i wanted 2 b. got 2 abt mile 10, then i realized, '...omg., got 2 go..' so, i went 2 'relieve' myself. then, after feeling much better, and everything seems 2 go as planned with strategies, nutrition, pace, etc,until abt mile 50, then the wind decided 2 jst blow really really hard that the corn field looked swaying really bad. at this point, i was trying 2 find some 'breaks' along the road 4 tail wind, but 2 no avail, can't catch any. every turn and every road that i was in, there was either a head wind, or a side wind. after that, i realized my back started 2 ache, and then, apparently one side of my left cleats ran out, that resulted my left bike shoe 2 came off 2 easily, so i had 2 adjust the way i pedaled. along the way, saw the leading pro men went way ahead of the other pro men, since i did not see other pro after the first 4 abt 5-10min, a couple of ppl passed me and passed a couple of ppl. trying to manage things (the hillz, which not that bad - thank GOD; the pain; nutrition, drinks, etc)
as i got 2 mile 50, got my special needs stuffs and take in some additional nutrition with me. felt a little better after that, but yet, the wind jst didn't want to stop, oh well.....but then, at around mile 75, i saw this one noisy car with cow bells sound, then i realized it was my teammates (mike, jeremy, and butter). '...omg, that was really really helpful...' that really made my day on the bike. it cheered me up. lift my spirit and try 2 remember the magic bike word, '...pedal, pedal, pedal....' so i kept on pedaling.
they basically followed me around the bike course, stopped at certain turn, banging the cow bells and cheering me.
after a long while trying to find mile 100, i finally got 2 it and realized that i got 2 prep 4 the run. started taking in some of the nutrition as planned 4 ahead. then, finally, as i saw some of the cedar point rides from afar, i started to feel a little bit better. by this time, it was abt 3pm, i think?!
got back 2 transition and check out my bike time, as i thought it was abt 7hrs. saw the g/f, said hi, got my bag, went 2 the tent; changed, ate, drink, apply some sunscreen, changed shoes; and again, lost track of my time in transition, oh well...
got out of transition, saw the g/f again, since she was volunteering and said 2 her, '...c u in a couple of hours...'
the run started good. trying 2 stay within the planned pace and not walked. saw the teammates again as i got out of the causeway off the park. but, as i got 2 mile 3, my stomach felt like it cannot take anything in. a little hard 2 breathe. drank a little water, but still jst not feeling good. that got me walking 4 abt 1/4 of a mile, but yet, still i tried 2 b in running motion as much as i could. then, i saw the teammates again. at this point, i felt really really sucked; cried a bit; felt like i can't go; felt like i was failing, felt like i was abt 2 give up, but i knew in my mind, i would not quit. mike came up 2 me and started walking with me and asking me questions, but still, i jst felt really really sucked. but, thank GOD 4 teammates and encouragement, i was able to revved up some energy and power to run again. much slower off course. as i got 2 mile 8/9, i started 2 remember tim's suggestions (run/walk) from gct (thanx, tim) until i got back 2 the park again 4 my special needs bag b4 the start the 2nd loop of the run. at the special needs area, i changed my shirt, since i knew i was going 2 b out in the dark and it would get cooler without the sun. at this point, it was abt 7/8pm. ate some chips (thanx, geri), stuffs, drugs and everything that i left on the special needs bags. walked along the transition with the g/f until abt the area that she cannot get 2. and then, suddenly after all that, i jst felt much better, heck, even great and knew that i can dfntly finish this with running, not walking. so, i ran until i saw the teammates again along downtown sandusky with their cow bells, music, camera, cheered, hi-5s and everything else. at this point, i realized i can dfntly get back 2 the planned strategies 2 tackle this and again, the teammates were following me at every mile of the run until abt mile 24. at this point, it was dark, proly abt 9/10pm. then, finally, until mike said, '...run, damnit...' so, i said 2 myself, '...yeach....run, damnit....' so i ran all the way to the inside of cedar point park and there it is, the finish line with jumbotron with my pix on it, bright lites, and the loud cheering from everyone around, the teammates, the g/f, and the loud announcer.
as i crossed the finished line, i lifted up the banner, kneel down to kiss the finish line, and the announcer yelled, '...hansen, u r the revolution...'
looked at my watch, it was abt 6hrs marathon with total time of 14:57 for the first 140.6mile journey.
overall, it was as i expected; hard and enjoyable, and i was dfntly happy with the result, with the things that i did and wanted 2 do.
all in all, thank GOD 4 everything (mind, abilities, physicality, heart, passion, body, legs, hands, feet, focus) and everybody (parent, brother, sister, g/f, coaches, teammates - past and present, friends) that enable me 2 do this.
to u all, God bless.....

Saturday, September 11, 2010

thanx

thank u 2 all the people that have been supporting me thru out until today. thank u, God, thank u 4 family, my mom, my dad, my brother, and my sister. thank u 2 all my coaches (mike and mike) and teammates in human powered racing; past, present, future. thank u 2 all my frenz (close, not 2 close, far, and not 2 far) from churches, small groups and everyone that have believed in me, that had looked up to me, and even that had looked down on me. thank u 4 everything that each and everyones of u had taught me, shared 2 me and had allowed me to teach and to share. and especially my g/f. thnax 4 always continuing pushing me.
this has dfintly been a long journey. a long pathway that got me to somewhere that i never thought i would be. and there'll b more pathway coming up. this is just one of them.......
thank U, GOD.....

almost

iron distance race, here...we...go....

Thursday, September 9, 2010

approaching

as the days approaching to my main race, rite now, i'm pretty close to the race site. stayin' at one of my friends/teammates' parent's place, which is really really great. dfinitely not too far from the race site. got settle in since yesterday. got a chance to do some running and riding around the area to get myself acclimatize.
so far, the area is nice, the place is great; can't complaint, considering no charge. this place dfinitely beats anything. i wonder, why can't we hv a training camp here then?
oh well....
i proly don't need to be here since yesterday, but then again, i'm staying at someone's else's place, therefore gotta to respect their time.
tomorrow, i will b around the race site for quite some time. it would dfinitely b time to b thinking more and more abt the race.
got some pix around the area, jst couldn't load it yet, soon....
jst wanted to give a big shout out to quite abit of my friends and teammates for training with me; pushing me; pulling me; taking care of me; encouraging me; even tho sometimes i don't really show too much appreciation, but yet again, and again i really really do appreciate all of that.
thanx for the support.
will continue on more tomorrow, especially after getting to the race site.
Gb..........