The Salt Lake bike tour was not a race. It takes place on the Salt Lake marathon course and is actually supposed to be limited to 30 mph.
Still, I really wanted the experience of riding with others and get a feel for that biking competitive event.  This was my first biking event ever. 
The tour started at 6 am in the pitch black night in the rain. I really did not feel very safe. Having no light was a challenge and the rain was reducing the visibility even further. At the halfway point the visibility improved with the day light.
The tour was really fun, I learned to draft behind other cyclist (eventhough it won't be authorized in my triathlons),led the race (oops the tour) for a while.
We finished the course in a little over an hour and because of the rain and visibility issues I didn't push very hard. I finished in the top group satisfied with this fun first experience.
When I stopped the bike to get some food at the end of the course, I quickly cooled down and with the rain and a bit of 35F cool wind, I became hypothermic almost immediately. I had planned to return home biking but it quickly became evident that I was in no condition to do so. I stopped at a cafe and warmed up in front of the fireplace for an hour and then requested a pick up.. 
Fun experience overall
Today, was another first for me. In my Masters swim class I broke 1 mile swimming. Okay it took me about 45 minutes but I finished...
I would even say that I could have swum longer. I did not feel exhausted to the point of drowning.. Encouraging.
This week, I still have to plan my training. Since I finished my spinning class, I have been a bit off my game in terms of training. With the start of the swim group I need to re-plan my biking and running times around that. My finanal phase of ironman training for my race in September starts mid-June so I have to have a solid plan until then.
Currently the thinking is Swim 3x per week Monday, Wed., Thu. @6am
Then 1 long run per week, 1 fast sustained (tempo) run. I am thinking of doing 1 hour on the treadmill at 9mph for that. I have never trained that way but I did that a couple of weeks ago and it really pushed my more than I probably would have done by myself outside. I will probably need a 3rd run somewhere in the week but I am undecided on what to do. Maybe a mid distance 6 to 10 miles with the dogs, Maybe some speedwork...
The bike is where I am most unsure. I should probably go to work and back with my bike as the weather allows, but it is still a bit cold for that. Also the 6am swim means I would have to bike on the road at night to get there and I dont like that. Another solution would be to buy a trainer but I am a bit short on cash as I am remodeling the basement right now...

First of all, I made it safe. I was nowhere near the explosions when they occurred and I witnessed none of the dreadful events as I was already in my plane back home when they occurred.
Therefore, I will not speak about the attack other than to say that my heart goes to the families of the victims of the bombing. I am incredibly shocked and in complete disbelief that anyone would target the joyful and peaceful crowd that the running community is. I mean, I don't care what your motives are. I can not imagine what your message could possibly be to target runners and their cheering families and kids. 
I will stop there as I am already starting to feel pissed off...

Well, I did not plan this trip very carefully. A couple of days before, I realized that unlike the many other marathons I have run, this one starts pretty late in the morning. Yes, 10am for a marathon start is far later than any other foot races I have participated in. That said, I should have been more careful while planning my plane tickets. I booked my return flight to Utah at 2:40pm the day of the marathon. Needless to say, that is a tight schedule and a great incentive to run fast.

I stayed at the Ramada hotel in Boston, one of the only hotels that had vacancy a couple of months before the race and that was fairly close to downtown. I arrived there Sunday night at 11:30pm. Yep a tight schedule I said. I would have liked to arrive sooner, maybe even a day earlier to enjoy the city, but the marathon week end is so busy in Boston that all the flights and hotels seem to double or triple in price. I could not find an affordable direct flight so I booked a 1 stop flight with a late arrival time.
The hotel was not terrible but not that nice either, For a 5 hour night, it was going to be plenty sufficient. However, $250 a night was a bit stiff for it.. The taxi cab driver that took me from the airport to the hotel confessed that this hotel is normally $80 a night...
The late arrival at the hotel the day before the race on Monday meant that I had not had the opportunity to pick up my bib at the expo. The weeks before the race I struggled to find a solution as the race organizers stipulated on the website that there would be absolutely no bib pick up on race day.
A week before the race, I put a message on the marathontalk.com website (a popular British podcast about marathon running) and on the Boston race page a very nice Bostonian offered to pick it up for me and drop it at my hotel.
Saved! 
On race day, I woke up at 6am, not feeling too bad. I took my breakfast and the hotel shuttle dropped me at the train station. After a 10min ride on the red line, I arrived at Boston common park where the bus loading to the start line was underway.

From the moment I arrived in the bus loading area I was impressed with the logistic and organization. The buses loaded quickly, then a volunteer would raise a flag to signify that the bus was full and ready to go. When the wave of buses left, a new one would come in for loading not 10 seconds afterwards. Impressive. Taking into account that these buses had to haul about 25000 people to the start line (about 500 bus loads), getting the timing so right was absolutely awe inspiring.

The bus ride took a good 30 - 45 min. I wanted to sleep but the seating position in these school buses is notoriously uncomfortable so I tried to enjoy the scenery. To be honest, the view was pretty bland most of the way. A sort of generic highway with woods on each side.. Pretty boring.

After the bus unloading I had to use the bathroom, and no surprise there. long lines in a chilly March morning. I took about 30 min for me to get there, and by that time it was getting a bit late for me to get to the start line since I was starting in wave 1.
I jogged / ran the mile to the start line. And when I arrived in my starting corral area, I was impressed with the organization once again. I have run big city marathons before. In Los Angeles, for example, and as in every marathon I have ever run, the starting area is just chaos. People are escalating barriers in a futile attempt to reach their starting corral, crowds are tightly pressed and shoving is the law. 
Not so with Boston. Despite being the biggest, most crowded event I have ever taken part in, the starting area is a model of order.
Departure is divided in 3 waves starting at different times based on pace. Then, each wave is subdivided in corrals signaled with clear signs by bib number and pace, with open entry points so you don't have to perform any stunt to get to your exact spot. Yes, truly amazing. It seems simple enough, but I have never seen that before, and with 25000 people to manage, it was done better and in a more orderly fashion than marathons with 500 people I have been a part of. Bravo Boston!

Since everyone is able to get to their exact right starting spot, when the gun went off, every one around you starts at the right pace, The elbowing and pushing chaos that rules most marathon starts is minimized here.

I started at about 6:30 pace. A bit faster than my overall projected (qualifying) pace. This meant I did have to do a bit of slalom around people in the first couple of miles.
The atmosphere was completely wild at the start, The cameras were filming, the crowds were cheering loudly and this was incredibly electrifying. I am glad that the other runners slowed me down a bit because I may have over done it otherwise. I completed my first mile in 6:47

Boston is something else... From mile 1 and one, the crowds a cheering and encouraging and screaming louder than at a Justin Bieber concert. I have never experienced anything like it. You really feel like a movie start. High-fives along the course!
I thought that after a while the crowds would start calming down, dispersing, but the course remains lined with super loud crowds from start to end. Incredible!

My running felt great. Maybe it was the crowd cheering, maybe the favorable altitude, the great weather and temperature. I felt like I was effortlessly flying.
I managed to maintain the pace between 6:25 and 6:45 without struggling.
I took water every other mile after mile 3 or 4, plus had 3 gels while running.

Mile 2     6:30
Mile 3     6:30
Mile 4     6:21
Mile 5     6:42
Mile 6     6:25
Mile 7     6:30
Mile 8     6:39
Mile 9     6:35
Mile 10     6:42
Mile 11     6:40
Mile 12     6:33
Mile 13     6:35

At the midway point, I glanced at my watch. I had just run a half marathon in 1:26!  A new PR for me. Wow, this meant 4 minutes ahead of a potential sub 3 finish. On top of that I didn't feel too bad. I was pushing the pace a bit especially on the short uphill sections but it really felt like a pace I should be able to maintain. I tried not to get too excited and refocused on the race. 

Mile 14     6:34
Mile 15     6:48

At about mile 15, I started feeling just a bit tired for the first time. With 11 miles to go, it was manageable. However the next 6 miles would prove to be a real test.Mile 15 is where the hilly section begins. It's nothing too hard, just rolling hills, with a net gain for 5 miles. Then comes the notorious Heartbreak hill. Again, I have done much tougher climbs in Utah. But at mile 21 and after a succession of seemingly never ending rolling hills, it does take a toll.

Mile 16     6:28
Mile 17     7:03
Mile 18     6:59
Mile 19     6:45
Mile 20     7:09
Mile 21     7:37

The hills felt hard but I was still hanging in there. Limited the loss of time. At that point I really could touch the sub 3.

After Heartbreak hill started the easiest part of the course. All downhill from here. Unfortunately, this is when things started to get very wrong for me.
At the time where I should have been accelerating, my legs seem to seize up. They were very stiff and painful. At the time I really thought this was due to my lack of preparation. I had skipped a few long runs due to injury and had basically done less running prep that I have done for most marathons. Now I am not sure this is actually the case. More on that later.

Now I was in a world of pain and it was going to be a fight to finish.

Mile 22     6:53
Mile 23     7:15
Mile 24     7:33
Mile 25     7:51
Mile 26     8:11
Mile 27 (0.45)     8:18

I crossed the line in 3:02:18, grateful that it was over.
I was so close to the sub 3 this time. Sooo close!. Really I lost it in the last 3 miles of the race. And really, even looking back, there is nothing I could do about. It wasn't a lack of determination, a mental check out, or giving up. Just my body breaking down against my will. For that reason I have no regrets. 
The race was such an incredible experience that exceeded the Boston hype and all my expectations.

After reflecting on the race I think my fast decline at the end of the race was mostly a nutritional issue. Given the amount of pain and tightness I felt in my muscles during the race, I was fully expecting to be extremely sore the next day. I wasn't. I experienced the normal mild soreness that typically occurs after I run this distance but nothing unusual. If I analyze my nutrition and hydration in the race, I took in only water and only 3 gels (I normally have at least 6). I also remember feeling hungry in the last couple of miles.
I think my declining pace at the end of the race was due to either a lack of electrolytes or lack of food, or combination. The water intake may have been too much without adequate supplementation with electrolytes.
Next time... I hope I can run St George again this year. It might give me that last opportunity to break 3.

After the race I was once again amazed by the organization. A well thought out chute with enough walking distance to cool down while consuming food, warming foil blankets that volunteers taped around your neck so that it would free your hands to eat, an incredibly efficient checked bag pick up zone.. An amazing sum of details and well thought out procedures, helpful volunteers that made the post race experience all the sweeter.

Once thing was left on my mind. I had a plane in an hour and I still had to pick up my stuff from the hotel (opposite side from the airport). I asked the volunteers where to catch a cab. It was less than a block away and when I got there, the cabs were all lined up and ready to go. I caught one immediately, drove to the hotel, had the driver wait for me to pick up my stuff and then rushed to the airport. I passed through the security area quickly and arrived at the gate while the boarding was finishing.
Yes I was still in my shorts and all salty but I made it. 

Boston is now my reference as being the Marathon of all marathons. It is an exhilarating experience that every runner should experience at least once in their life.
What is next? I still have plenty to look forward to in my running life. A sub 3 hour marathon, maybe a jump to some great ultra races in the future. 
I am still training for my Ironman triathlon and this remains the main focus of 2013.

Using the awesome marathontalk.com network I was able to find someone to pick up my bib and take it to my hotel. Yay!. SO my travel arrangements remain unchanged.

In what world is this an acceptable communication? After training months and months of preparation, planning and training for the race, a couple of lines and ...DONE! Let's just forget about it.
No way! Needless to say I signed up for another race the same day but it took me almost a full day to cancel all travel arrangements and re-book for the new event. Oh.. and of course it cost me real money to do that. So far $250 in cancellation fees of my hard earned $$...
I am feeling a bit down today after the news even though I found a new event to participate in. The reason for cancelling is just unforgivable..  Because another event exists that's too close to this one they have to cancel?!!! What!? The Chesapeake Endurance Festival event has been going for years. How did you not know about it before organizing this one?

Ok, so I could not find an affordable flight that gets me in Boston in time to pick up my Bib at the convention center before the race. I called and emailed but was not able to reach anyone. So potentially I'll have to cancel this one...

All this for a stupid bib.. It sounds so idiotic that I could not pay someone to just mail it to me in advance.

Well... Still waiting to hear back from the administrators.

This Saturday I woke up at 6am to go to my last significant run before the Boston marathon.
The day before I had picked up my bib in the Salt Lake Running company store where I book a bunch of triathlon gear as well. The had some TYR carbon triathlon tops for 50 % off. I bought all the ones they had of my size!
This is what I wore to this race and it felt great. 
The race started with about 2 miles of uphill running (my weakness) so I decided to save my legs and not go too crazy in the part of the race. Off the starting mat I was in 15th pace, worked my way to 13th and during the climb, lost a few spots and ended up in 20-22nd pace on top of the hill.
Now things were going to change. I glanced at my watch to see that I had just tackled the first 2 miles in 15:30. Not too bad for uphill running, and I was not too winded. Downhill I pushed the pace to about 6 min per mile and slowly started to catch some runners.
One at a time I was passing back the runners that had passed me uphill.
Soon, I was entering the top 10. 
I had been following a runner since the beginning of the downhill portion slowly gaining ground on him and at about mile 6 I finally passed him. I stayed in the leadto mile 8.5. Unfortunately he passed me again and could not catch him on the finish line. I really need to work on that finish kick...
I ended finishing 7th overall out of about 350 runner which is not bad. Also I got my first age division win ever with a nice glass medal as a reward! SWEET!
This was my fastest running in a long time and my legs felt it. They were sore for days after this run. I definitely need to do more fast running. I am starting to lose focus there and lose speed.

The race started at 9:30am and I decided to bike to the triathlon location ( about 20 miles south of where I live). I set off at about 7:45 in the morning. The weather was clear but very cold and the miles on the bike were really cold with a bone chilling side wind.
I programmed the GPS in my phone which I placed on top of my back pack so it would wisper the directions in my ear. It worked pretty well except that the address indicated on the race website, the ONLY address on the race page was incorrect. I ended up in the middle of nowhere, cellphone battery dead (it had not charged properly the night before and asking directions to people in the area yielded no result.
I started to to feel slightly panicky. It was now less than 20 minutes before race time and I had no clue where I was or how to get there.
At about 9:15am I asked a guy I found in the parking lot of a bike shop about the race and by chance he knew where to go. He owned a truck with a bike rack and offered to take me there. Pffeww..
I arrived at about 9:25am to pick up my race packet, get tagged with my numbers and set up my transition area. Needless to say it was completely insufficient time to do a proper job of setting things up properly.
I put all my gear down at the transition area and headed to the pool.
The swim was taking place in a 50 yard pool and I lined up in the crowd with my expected finish time. 
The day before I had done 6:30 for 325 yards so I entered the waiting line on the side of the pool about 3/4 back.
This was going to be the first time I tried my Pear Izumi P.R.O race suit.
When I entered the water, I felt like a shark sliding on the water. Amazing.
After a 5 second countdown, I was off starting hard and soon catching up to the guy in front of me. I passed underneath him at the pool turn, kicking the side of the pool wall hard. I kept going hard for another 3 lengths and passed another 3 or 4 swimmers. This was going pretty well, but I was getting a bit tired already. When I finished my 6th pool lengths, I emerged from the water expecting to see race organizers at the end of the pool to capture my swim finish time. But I saw no one. Perplexed, I tured around wondering if I had miscounted the laps or if I needed one more. No.. It seems I was done, I hesitantly came out of the pool and jogged to the transition area. 
I had no trouble finding my bike. I pulled it out of the rack.
I had had no time to put my shoes on the pedal in advance as I had wanted to do, so I jogged to the transition area exit timing mat with my shoes in one hand and the bike in the other. After the mat, I put my shoes on with one hard, holding the bike with the other. Not the most efficient transition method I am sure.
The biking started uphill and I pushed hard and passed a lot of people from the get go. It was a 12 mile biking consisting of 2 laps. towards the end of the first lap, going downhill at full speed I spotted a volunteer gesturing towards me. I thought he meant for me to turn right so I started breaking hard, sliding my rear tired sideways for a good 30 yards, but when I got close , I realized that the volunteer was gesturing for a car to slop and let me pass.I turned back on the track and accelerated again.This is when some fast riders from the lead group passed me. I pushed hard to follow them, but as the crowd led them back to the transition area, I failed to spot the turn for my second bike lap. I arrived in front of the transition area and sensing something was wrong I asked when to start my second lap and another volunteer pointed back uphill in the distance.
I clipped my pedals back on and reaccelerated back up hill to the turn point.
What a colossal waste of time!
The second lap was uneventful. I arrived to the transition area, hooked my bike and slid in my shoes with no socks. Great transition!. I started running but at the exit of the transition area I got a bit desorientated and made a right turn uphill instead of a left downhill turn. After a few hundred yards a volunteer called me back to the right path. I ran hard. I had done no brick training and my legs felt a bit weird after the bike. I did not feel too bad but had the weight feeling that I was running so slow. Just like I was running on a treadmill.
Nonetheless I passed crowds of heavy runners without too much effort. 
At the end of the run, I goofed again. I entered the transition zone and instead of running towards the finish line I turned left in the transition area.
I had to turn back once more and finish the race.
In all, I think I wasted a few minutes in my total time. Another lesson for me> Triathlon is not like a simple run. There are many other things to think about and if I am not thinking about what I am doing. I am definitely making a lot of mistakes.