Here are a couple of pictures of the Timex Ford Edge in Nashville, TN (a.k.a. Music City USA).  This was before the Music City Triathlon.  Believe it or not, the Music City Triathlon is one of the oldest triathlons in the country.  Back in the day guys like Mark Allen, Dave Scott and Brad Beven used to come and compete in it.  I’ll post more on the race in a later post.

The whole focus this season was to to back to Hawaii.  I haven’t done the race since 1999.  Well, as luck would have it, I won’t be going back in 2011 either.  You know the old saying, If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all, well, that’s the story of my life.  Here’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

One week prior to Eagleman 70.3 I was out on my last long ride when the unthinkable happened.  Remember what I said about luck. Well, I didn’t have any on this day.  I was attempting to get to my son’s ballgame at 9:30 and riding on roads that I hardly ride on.  On a down hill section of the road I hit the deck at approximately 34.1 mph.  How do I know this?  I downloaded the ride later on in the day and could see EXACTLY where I went down.  I could also see the deceleration of my body after I hit the asphalt.  Honestly, I don’t remember any of the accident.  One minute I was riding and the next I was being helped by complete strangers asking me if I was OK.  Well, I was alive, so yes, I was OK.  If there’s a poster boy for why you should wear a helmet when riding I am him.  There’s no doubt that my helmet saved my life.  The rest of the carnage can be described like this:

Broken nose with three (stitches) on the bridge of my nose.  Four (4) stitches on my shoulder-blade/back where  a hole had been torn (where you could actually see my bone) by my sliding.  Road rash on both knee caps, right forearm, left elbow and right and left side/butt cheek.  Yep, I was a mess.  Being the stubborn guy that I am I tried to ride my bike home.  One legged mind you as my right pedal hit the ground so hard that I bent it.  I didn’t get very far as my vision started to get blurry almost to the point that I couldn’t see.  I thought this would be a good time to call my wife and have her take me to the ER.  Three (3) hours later I was out and all bandaged up.  I was a mess but I was alive.

Eagleman 70.3 was the following Sunday and I didn’t know if I would be able to race.  The ER doc didn’t even want me on my bike the entire week.  Afraid I would rip out the stitches I guess.  I wanted to see if I would be able to race so I covered up all my wounds with water-proof bandages and jumped in the pool, rode my trainer and ran on my treadmill.  Things weren’t falling off of me and the pain was manageable so I made the decision on Wednesday that I would go ahead and fly up to Cambridge, toe the line and see what happens.  Doing the race probably wasn’t one of the smartest decisions I’ve made.

I had some friends of mine set up a home stay in Cambridge.  Blane and Jeannie Weitzel took me in and treated me like royalty. I had a room and a bathroom all to myself the entire time I was up there.  They were awesome!  Not only did they house me but they also fed me as well. Not a small feat by any stretch of the imagination.  Plus, where they were located was less than 1.5 miles from the race.  I could have walked to the race if necessary.  I also got to hang out with the Cambridge MultiSport (CMS) team for the weekend and that was also a lot of fun.  They took me in and made me an honorary member for the weekend.  This was awesome as they had a tent close to the starting line of the race.  Speaking of the race, here’s a brief synopsis of how it unfolded:

Swim hurt, bike hurt and the run hurt. Here’s a couple of pictures of the carnage that was Eagleman 70.3:

Swim was decent.  27 minutes and some change.  Don’t know if it was long or if we were swimming into some currents going out but that’s a bit slow for a 1.2 mile swim.  The Orca Speed Suit felt amazing.  I know that wasn’t the problem.  My right shoulder was hurting with every stroke I took.  I actually had to bilateral breath just to take some pressure off of it by breathing to my right side.  An MRI will be performed soon to see if any structural damage happened when I hit the deck.

The bike for the first 30 miles were into some headwinds.  Nothing too crazy but just enough that you could feel you were working.  I believe I bike around 2:19 and some change.  The road rash on my left elbow was a serious reminder of what happened the week before.  As luck (or no luck) would have it the elbow road rash lined up perfectly with my pad and rubbed the entire ride.  Fun, fun, fun!

Lastly, the run.  Uggggg…the run.  By the time I got out on the run it was HOT!  I didn’t start the race until 8:06.  As a matter of fact Andrew Hodges was already done with his race and I hadn’t even started the run yet.  Again, fun, fun, fun!  The road rash on my knee caps starting hurting me about four (4) miles into the run.  That with the heat and humidity made the run a not so enjoyable time for me.  I was passed by two (2) of my 45-49 year old competitors in the last couple of miles, thus, I thought, ending my chance at a Kona slot.  That wouldn’t be the case as I would later find out.  Anyway, I finished the race in 4:30:  .

So, here’s the story on the Kona slot. Evidently you had to have either $650.00 in cash or a check to take your slot. I had neither.  It’s 2011 and I was under the impression that I would be able to use a debit card to pay for any slots (Kona or Las Vegas) that were  earned.  Boy was I wrong.  Lesson learned.  What did happen (while I was back at the house packing) was that the Kona slot rolled down to me. I wasn’t there to get it and somebody else took it.  End of story, cut and dry.  Easy come, easy go.  I wouldn’t have had the money to pay for it anyway. I did, however, get lucky and nabbed a Las Vegas slot. I had the great fortune of having a friend front me with $325.00.  So, Vegas it is!  Kona can wait.  I’ll get there one of these years.  I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with my Timex Teammates in Las Vegas. It’s not Kona but it’ll do.  Considering all I’ve been through over the past two (2) weeks.  I’ll bet on Vegas every single time.  Also, remember, WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS….STAYS IN VEGAS!

This is a video of an F4 tornado that hit the University of Alabama yesterday.  The tornado then proceeded to track east and then hit Birmingham where my Mom and all my brothers and sisters live.  Thankfully all of them are OK.  Yesterday was a scary, scary day.

Tuscaloosa – Birmingham Tornado

This past Sunday I and about 1,000 other people participated in the 32nd (yes, I said 32nd) annual Music City Triathlon.   This triathlon is the second oldest triathlon in the United States.  The location of the race has moved a couple of times and other things have changed but one thing about this race remains constant, it’s one hot race.  This year the race started on the banks of the Cumberland River with the Nashville city skyline in the background.  It’s a pretty cool venue if you ask me.  The temp at the beginning of the race (around 8:00) was already in the low to mid 80′s.  This was slowly but surely going to change a lot during the race.

Team – Magic is the company that puts on this race.  Team – Magic is a company stationed out of Birmingham, Alabama that puts on numerous races throughout the Southeast.  Mad props to them and all of the volunteers on this day.  I can’t begin to tell you how well run this race was.  How was the race itself?  For me it went pretty well.

The swim started in the Cumberland River.  Because of the current and many other factors the race was a time trial start with people going off at three (3) second intervals.  The issue with the first leg of the swim was that it was upstream.  I felt like I was in Tuscaloosa all over again.  For those of you who don’t know, at last years USAT National Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Army Corp of Engineers opened up the dams right before the start of the race.  Once you got into the water it felt like you were swimming in an Endless Pool.  Well, the same thing happened on Sunday again.  Only this time it was just the river itself causing the damage.  Needless to say my swim wasn’t as fast as I would have liked it to be.  I was gapped by two (2) people in front of me and ended up third out of the water.  This was very foreign to me as I am always one of the stronger swimmers in the field.  I was very much relieved when I found out that both people that beat me were also ex-swimmers.

So, out on the bike I started the attempt to real in the two (2) in front of me.  I did manage to catch one (1) of the persons who beat me out of the water.  The other guy, Craig Evans, was hammering up the road and my chances of catching him on the bike were slim and none (and slim just left).  So, I did what I could to stay in contact with him.  This was achieved by just looking for the motorcycle that was traveling with him during the entire bike ride.  The one thing I did notice on the bike was how the heat and humidity were increasing exponentially.  I was having a hard time just keeping my sweaty hands on my aerobars.  It was really starting to heat up!  Coming back into T2 I was riding on an exceptionally sketchy patch of road and almost crashed because my hands were jarred off my bars.  That gave my heart a bit of a jump!

Back into T2 I racked my Orbea Ordu, threw on my racing flats and headed out onto what I knew was going to be a miserable run.  Miserable in the fact that it was now 94 degrees with 80 percent humidity.  I believe the “heat index” at this time was well over 100 degrees.  I thought to myself that “strong and steady” was the “order for the day”.  So, I set off with a goal to run as hard as I could and still cross the finish line without having to cross the line “Julie Moss” style.  Thankfully there were people on the course who were giving me splits in regards to how far behind I was.  Starting out the run (running up and over a pretty steep bridge, uggg) I heard that I was 1 minute and 30 seconds back of the leader.  Now, as all of you know, running isn’t exactly my “thing”.  I thought that there was no way I could make up that amount of time in 6.2 miles.  Again, strong and steady was all I was thinking in this heat.  I was also making sure that going through aid stations that I was getting in enough fluids to keep myself hydrated and cool.  One cup to drink and one cup over the head for 6.2 miles.  Well, I am happy to tell you that my “strong and steady” race tactic worked.  At mile four (4) I saw my friend Craig running up a hill directly in front of me.  He wasn’t looking too well.  All that was left for me to do now was time my pass and then put up a “mentally crushing”  surge that would give him the idea that I was not going to be caught.  Unfortunately for me, the surge had to be done on a pretty steep hill.  So, I did what I had to do.  Up the hill I went.  Way, way, way outside of my comfort zone.  Thankfully the surge worked.  I was able to recover at the top of the hill and subsequent downhill afterwards.  I was now recovered enough to counter any attacks that came from behind.  Thankfully none came and I was able to cross the finish line first and without keeling over.

Now that the race was over it was time to get cooled down.  It took four (4) water bottles poured directly over my head before I started to feel any relief.  I am here to tell you that it was hot, hot, hot!  Anybody finishing this race today deserved a pat on the back.

Afterwards I was interviewed by an individual with The Tennessean named Mike Organ.  This is the article that showed up in The Tennessean today:

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100726/SPORTS11/7260334/2215/SPORTS/Brentwood+s+Gennari+wins+Music+City+Triathlon

The best part about the race was what happened afterwards.  Evidently 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George was at the race.  Yes, that Eddie George from THE Ohio State University.  The same Eddie George that is a Tennessee Titan legend!  Eddie was there to support a friend of his who was participating in the Sprint race.  Now, I am not sure if it was a friend of his or his wife.  Like I said, the heat was making easy things (like remembering names) very, very hard.  Anyway, this individual that Eddie was supporting had a rough time in the swim.  Eddie asked if I would talk to her about what she could do to ease her anxiety about the swim.  So I did.  I gave her some very informative information on what she could do to help herself in this area.  The one thing that I told her is that “doing” the activity was going to make her feel more secure about it the next time.  I told her that gaining confidence in swimming in open water was only going to come by her practicing in open water.  I also told her that I too struggle with open water swimming.  Yep, I don’t know if any of you know this but over the past couple of years I have almost developed a phobia about open water swimming.  I am fine when I am in a wetsuit but when I am not in one things tend to “go South” for me mentally.  I battle my own demons when performing in open water without a wetsuit.  I think that just by talking about it openly I help myself.  So there, now you all know.

Anyway, she was very appreciative with the time that I spent with her.  Eddie was also very appreciative as well.  It was a good day.  Anyway, I can sum up my thrill of the day with the following two (2) pictures.  Yeah, that’s me on the right!

Looking at the picture on the right tells me that I need to start doing more sit-ups!  Maybe gain a pound or two (2) as well.

I hope things are going well for the rest of you this summer.  And for those of you who are planning on doing Clearwater, please let me know.  I’d like to coordinate staying in the same place we did last year.  Just shoot me an email if you’re interested.

Bruce TWSS Gennari

Don’t know if everybody is aware of what’s going on in Nashville these past couple of days.  This video gives a pretty good account.  While I, personally, escaped the wrath of the storm, thousands of my Nashville neighbors did not.  The damage estimates are in the billions of dollars.  The interesting thing is that many people don’t know what is happening here.  With the New York City bomber and the Gulf oil spill this has not made national news.  You’ll see in the video why it hasn’t.