The TriathleteNut

Ahhh… I did it. I bought a new pair of shoes. And 10% off at my LRS and it even feels better!

The shoe of choice: Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7!!! The orange one!

I can’t wait to go for a run with them.

Next up will be the Saucony Pro Grid Omni 6 which I’ve ordered.

I haven’t bought a pair since August of last year! Yeah, I’m due!

I’m retiring two pairs with, unfortunately, only 60 miles on each, but I’ve realized they are too uncomfortable. They are my Brooks Trance 6 (61.2 miles) and Mizuno Wave Alchemy 5 (61.4 miles). It’s weird how close in miles they are. I guess I rotated pretty consistently. Even short runs (5K) they seem a little ‘ploddy’ if that makes sence. And I hate that feeling. I try to do at least a 5K+ on each run and I’d rather run comfortably on short distances anyway instead of ‘putting up’ with that feeling of wondering whether the shoes feel good or not.

With my current pair of Brooks and Saucony, I slip them on and run and immediately know they are comfortable.

When I get the Saucony Pro Grid Omni 6, this 4 -shoe rotation will last a year before another pair is needed!!! And of course there’s my trail running shoe: Saucony Grid Omni 5 TR which has only 20 miles on them. I need to do more trails. This Saturday I’ll run the trail as part of a BRick.

My ultimate goal in miles is: 1200 in 2007!!!

Last year I did 415 miles running. That’s it. That’s all. I was on a path to do more than 520 but I slacked off big time in November and December. I had a slow start this year – being sick in December didn’t help. But my goal is 1200 plus miles!

Here are my 2006 month totals.
JAN: 17.2
FEB: 12.2
MAR: 18.3
APR: 13.5
MAY: 17.2
JUN: 23.0
JUL: 37.6
AUG: 57.8
SEP: 66.9
OCT: 73.3
NOV: 32.7
DEC: 44.7
TOTAL: 415.5

“Run when you can,walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up”!
~Dean Karnazes

1200 in 2007 will be accomplished! I GURANTEE IT! It’s only an extra 785 more miles. Yikes.

Back to my shoes:

A runner and his shoes: they’re like best friends - you know where you’ve been with each pair, you know when they got soaked in the rain, and you know what race it got you through!

I placed my new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7 next to my GTS 6 last night. The GTS 6 have close to 100 logged running miles on them and they look worn out: dirty, worn, old, yet still comfortable. They were my shoe of choice of the LA Triathlon last year: they still have the permanent ink on the back of the heel with my race number and name – they’ve been through a lot. And there sits my new GTS 7s: clean, not even a 100 yards in them and I can’t help but wonder – where will this pair take me for 300+ miles or so?

And then there’s my ‘go-to’ shoe: The Saucony Grid Omni 5 with 118 logged running miles. I ran a personal best 10K in these shoes. I ran the LA City Half Marathon with them. And I used them at the Imperial Beach Triathlon. They got soaked in the rain during the Redlands Tri two Sundays ago. These are the warrior shoes. These are the shoes of choice for any and all future races until they’re retired. 200+ miles more to go in them and that 200 will come fast in 2007!

If I do 100 miles a month and rotate 4 pairs, by next year I’ll be purchasing another two pairs. BUT… I might actually do more than 100 miles a month average this year – which is good motivation to buy another pair!

Hope my legs hold up!

Yeah, not until you hit the 10 mile mark and you’re thinking, I still need to run a 5K and an extra mile!

Wow.

“Success is not measured by what you accomplish but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” - Orison Swett Marden-

Training for your first Marathon means getting by all the obstacles along the way. Like: a 14 mile run on a Sunday morning. The odds are, you’re probably not going to finish a Marathon if you don’t prepare. So, every obstacle you face in training, from waking up and getting motivated, to actually getting past the last tenth of a mile of a long run day, is a struggle against overwhelming odds: your body and brain’s ability to actually accomplish the task. It’s’ all mental’ as they say. Well, its pretty damn physical too.

The hard part is never the Marathon, or the race - whatever it may be. The hardest parts are the days leading up to it.

So Steve and I decided to do a 14 mile ‘out & back’ run together. This would be the longest distance for each of us. We have yet to venture into the realm of anything past a Half Marathon and today was the day to do it. We also haven’t run anything longer than 13ish miles since our LA Half Marathon in December.

The ultimate goal is to complete a marathon, and more specifically, The Rock & Roll Marathon on June 3rd, 2007, in San Diego, CA.

This month 14 miles; April, we’ll do 17; May: 20; and finally, June 3, 2007 we’ll do 26.2 miles together.

OUCH.

I’m confident in Steve’s ability to run the distance. He focuses on ‘the run’ more than I do. I try to divide time between my Swim/Bike/Run adventures. So, I’m pleased that he’s willing to pace me throughout, instead of forging alone, and we can experience another one of our ‘shared’ milestones.

7AM was the start time. We decided to do the ‘easy’ course through Glendale. A relatively flat run from my house to Burbank, instead of a steady incline through Montrose up to LaCanada.

The one thing good about our course was the lack of streetlights. Just one or two along the way and the rest is smooth sailing.

I had a 20 ounce of water and 10.5 ounce of Gatorade. Steve had two 10 ounce bottles with him and by 7:12 AM, we synchronized our Garmins and we were off and running.

We did the “run a mile, walk a minute” thing. We talked along the way. There were a few people out training early in the morning, but we didn’t come across that many during the first 8 or so miles.

Once we got to Grand we decided to run up to Brand Park. It’s a pretty tough incline from Kenneth to Brand Park’s parking lot. We’ve done it before, but for some reason, today was a little harder than before.

When I look at our splits, I noticed my HR went up a little: from an average of 176 the first 4 miles to 184 on this one. This was around the 4-5 mile mark. We decided to go on some side streets before heading back down to Kenneth. I’ve never ventured out on these parts – there were rolling hills, which provided another challenge during our run.

As we entered into Burbank, we decided to make our way back down to Kenneth, continue on into Burbank till mile 8 then head back home. We figured if we didn’t detour up to Brand Park again, we’d have to zig zag around to make it a full 14 miles before hitting home. So we extended our ‘out’ portion to 8, and hope the ‘back’ portion would lead us straight to my house by mile 14.

Side note: I felt a sharp pain in my left knee right around the 5 mile mark. But it came and went and didn’t hurt my run at all.

So here we are, the sun coming up, it’s getting warmer, and we still have, wait a second, we still have 6 whole miles to go. That’s a 10K run! That’s a long run left.

Our hydration was running out. And my feet were feeling it.

The highlights of the run were our conversations about alcohol, grams of fat in alcohol, training, eating habits and Steve’s secret ‘uncanny’ like secret powers. I didn’t get into my secret powers that much because it’s still kind of a secret. Some people know about it, but my sister and I are like the “Wonder Twins” as we share the same power. He tried to demonstrate his but it didn’t work: My assumption was that he was too tired to ‘focus’ on it.

I remember mile 10 because both of us felt it was a tough mile. We were close to Kenneth Village, where we could buy a Gatorade or water if we needed. Fortunately, I didn’t need too much hydration – if it were later in the day I would have needed a lot to keep me cool. I had a few gulps left and figured we’d make it to Nimbley Park for a water break before our stretch run home.

The run back on Kenneth was awesome. We came across 40+ people who were also running. We passed several groups along the way - they were in small groups, large groups as well as individual runners. We figured they were training for the LA Marathon which is only two weeks away. It was awesome seeing all these people out there on the road.

The last hurdle of the run came as we got back onto Mountain. It seemed like a steady climb for some reason. The first little hill is always the hardest part of my run when I do it alone. Even on those quick 4 miler days.

Steve led the way up that first hill and I focused on his feet. He seemed pretty strong going up and I did my best to keep pace. Before I knew it, I looked up and we got to the top. Oh, I noticed he kicks his right foot out – an over-pronator like me!

I led the way on another little incline and tried to pick up the pace. We approached Nimbley Park, and we’d hit our 14-mile mark, but way short of home base!!!

We crossed mile 14 in stride, shoulder to shoulder, just like we started the day. We walked across the street to stretch and get some water at Nimbley.

And let me tell ya. My legs were shot. My muscles were tighter than any other run I’ve done before. My feet hurt and I knew I had at least two blisters.

And then the hardest part came: the .86 mile walk home! We over ran our ‘out’ by almost a mile and still had to walk home.

But we did it. It was more painful for me than it was for him. He said he could have run another mile. I maybe could have, but it would probably lead to injury.

We shook hands and went home to recover.

Normally I can take a nap and my legs would be good. But we had to be up and out for a Birthday Party in an hour so all I could do was ice my knee for a few minutes, take a shower, have a couple of hard boiled eggs then head out to Torrance for some BBQ ribs!

Sitting felt good.

So there you have it. Steve and my first 14miler plus a .86-mile walk - which was harder than the 14 mile run itself. LOL

Here’s my splits - with HR data.

MILE - SPLIT - AVE HR (Run a mile walk a minute pace.)
Mile 1 - 0:11:26 – 167 (Nimbly Park)
Mile 2 - 0:10:57 - 178
Mile 3 - 0:11:50 - 176
Mile 4 - 0:11:35 - 176
Mile 5 - 0:12:21 - 184 (Running up to Brand Library/Park)
Mile 6 - 0:11:54 - 182 (Rolling Hills)
Mile 7 - 0:11:10 - 178 (Just into Burbank)
Mile 8 - 0:11:31 – 176 (Ending our ‘out’ portion of the run)
Mile 9 - 0:11:27 - 181 (The start back Home!)
Mile 10 - 0:11:02 - 181 (Ouch!)
Mile 11 - 0:11:10 - 179
Mile 12 - 0:12:17 - 174 (Saying ‘hi’ to all the runners that we came across)
Mile 13 - 0:12:07 - 175 (Hills up ahead)
Mile 14 - 0:11:42 - 181 (Nimbly Park!!!)
Mile 14.82 - 0:18:38 - 141 (Home!!!)

TOTAL: 14.82 miles – 3:01:07 – 174 Ave bpm

Next month 17!!! Anyone want to join us?

I’m debating what races to do! I can’t afford all of them, maybe one a month? I don’t know.

THE ONES IN BOLD ARE FOR TENTATIVE FOR SURE.

The Pasadena Tri is on 3/10 and the UCLA Tri is on 3/11. Should I do both? One? I like the UCLA one (I did it last year), but then the Pasadena one is where I train, but its like $75 and probably not much of a challenge. Pretty flat so its fast, the swim is only 150 meters and its close to home. Whereas the UCLA Tri is a 4 mile run, the bike is up and down hills, and the swim is 400 meters, and before the swim you have to run a half mile to the pool so its a toughy!!! it’s not that far from home either (20 miles away) - and its only $60!!!

Yeah, I think I’ll do the UCLA Tri. It’s bigger, badder, and more challenging for the money.

I wanted to do one Triathlon in San Diego - maybe the Imperial Beach on 9/26 (since I did it last year) or the Xterra (the one I missed because of my cousin’s death) is on 5/6.

The San Bernardino one on 6/24 is the one where I DQ’d myself for missing a turn. I’m not so excited about it - except conquering Devil’s Canyon as I had to walk 1/4 mile up it.

March 10 (Saturday) – Pasadena Triathlon (Pasadena)
March 11 (Sunday) – UCLA Iron Bruin (UCLA)
April 15 (Sunday) – Ice Breaker Tri (Sacramento)
April 29 (Sunday) - PossAbilities Sprint Triathlon (Loma Linda)
May 6 (Sunday) – Xterra Wetsuits Spring Sprint (San Diego)
May 20 (Sunday) – Encinitas Sprint Tri (Encinitas)
June 3 (Sunday) – Rock & Roll Marathon (San Diego) June 10 (Sunday) – Redondo Beach Triathlon (Redondo Beach)
June 24 (Sunday) – San Diego International Tri (San Diego)
June 24 (Sunday) – San Bernardino Sunset Rotary’s Tinman Triathlon (UCSB)
July 29 (Sunday) – Solano Beach Triathlon (San Diego) August 26 (Sunday) – Imperial Beach Triathlon (San Diego)
September 9 (Sunday) – Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon (Los Angeles)
September 20 (Sunday) – Mission Bay Triathlon (San Diego)

First, I’d like to thank my wonderful, most beautiful family, who braved the cold and rain to root me on till the very end. I didn’t think I’d see them out there as I came in from the last lap of the bike portion, but there they were and I heard them loud and clear as I sped by at 30 miles per hour.

Thanks, Donna, Jacob and Isabella! I knew the kids would love the rain, but Donna… thanks honey! If it weren’t for you, I would be a couch potato!

And thanks to Donna’s sister Kathy and her husband Peter for taking us in to feed us after the race. We were in Redlands and San Bernardino was just 20 minutes away so we got dry and warm at their place! I’ve never eaten so much rice and Chinese Broccoli for breakfast in my entire life! It was awesome! And spicy!

Wow… It’s been a year since my very first Triathlon. If you remember, I cramped in both legs and nearly drowned. This is the same Triathlon, just a year later.

The trepidation and fear I had a year ago was not as big as this year – but still, I was apprehensive and nervous.

It was a mini-sprint: 5K run, 10 mile bike and 100 yard swim.

My time last year was 1:17:20. That was because of a very torturous 9 minute swim!

I had projected a 1:15:00 finish time last year and was on course to do it. But cramps and the swim got in the way.

I thought I could possibly finish this Tri in an hour if I ran personal best 5K, did a 10 mile bike in 30 minutes and swam the 100 yards in 4 minutes. But when I wrote my averages down it was impossible.

Here was my plan:

RUN PROJECTION
8:30 5K pace to finish the 5K in 0:26:21: If I did it in 8:17 pace I could have maybe hit a personal best 5K but that would mean no legs for the bike. So my goal was slightly slower, just so I’m not bent over as I got on my bike.

BIKE PROJECTION
10 miles in 35 minutes. That’s doable at the Rose Bowl but there’s isn’t a hill at the Rose Bowl. It was ambitious but a goal. It would cut 5 minutes from last year’s bike time which is totally doable!

SWIM PROJECTION
4 minutes. I can do 100 meters in 2:20 at the gym, 100 yards is 91.44 meters which meant, at a struggling pace, I can do the swim in 4 minutes or less!

TRANSITION TIME
I gave T1 and T2 0:1:30 each.

For a total PROJECTION OF: 1:08:21 which is seven minutes faster than my projection of last year.

Ultimately, my goal was to go all out.

And that’s what I did… until it rained.

THE RUN
The sun blasted through the dark clouds. It was raining just minute’s prior to the start but now the sun was out. It was going to be a nice day. The race started about 15 minutes late and everyone was anxious to get going. And finally we were off and running.

It felt good to stay with a group. I wasn’t getting past too much and I maintained a decent pace up the gradual incline. I knew it was eventually going to be flat and fast on the back stretch then I’d have to run up an incline again at the end.

The run felt good. I felt like I was going too fast after mile 1 and had to hold back. If I continued the fast pace, I may have hit the wall. The way I felt at the end really showed my 2nd mile pace was too fast. Normally, I have negative splits but this run didn’t reflect that. I hit my lap button as I entered T1 and jogged slowly to my area just so I can rest up a little for the bike. My Garmin registered 3.07 miles for the run – a little less than a 5K.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1 0:08:45
Mile 2 0:07:53
Mile 3 0:08:58
Mile 3.07 0:00:45

FINAL 0:26:21 for a 8:35 min/mile pace. That’s 5 seconds slower pace than projected but Mile 2 really took it out of me. I didn’t manage it very well.

I redlined it most of the run. It was tough.

Here is my average heart data per lap.
Mile 1 179
Mile 2 194
Mile 3 199
Mile 3.07 200

194, 199, 200!!! Wow. That’s why my ribs hurt the day after. I was breathing hard!

Some thoughts I had during the run:
ChiRunning. Remember, ChiRunning!
Man I’m going too fast. I’m not going to last.
I need to catch that guy.
I need to speed up.
ChiRunning, baby!
Yes, I passed ‘that’ guy!
I’m slowing up. I’m too tired. This is a good pace. ChiRunning! Go Faster! Relax!
Why is that little girl so far ahead of me with a mile to go?
Screw ChiRunning! Struggle! Finish. Jog.

T1
I decided to keep my long sleeve tech shirt on because it was getting cool. I had a sleeveless tri top underneath. T1 was fast. I took a quick gulp of Gatorade. My transition towel was wet so I carefully kicked off my right shoe and slipped on my bike shoe without stepping on the towel. And in a fraction of a second I forgot to do it with left shoe and I stepped on the towel and my sock got wet. I got my helmet on, unracked my bike and noticed people riding in the transition area (like last year) so I snapped my left pedal on and biked out of T1.

T1 time: 0:01:09! Awesome! That included my little walk/jog to my area!

THE BIKE
I got off the saddle and started to go. I was flying. I felt like I had the legs but maybe a half mile in I was spent. My legs were so fatigued I kept pulling back on my gear lever as if there was an extra climbing gear secretly hidden that I didn’t know about. The climb was about 2.5 miles and it wasn’t big. Just steady and tiring.

And then… it started to rain. The first loop the rain wasn’t bad, but the turns were slippery. One guy, just ahead of me, wiped out. We all slowed down around the turn (he was still there during the 2nd lap – I guess his bike was screwed).

The straight away downhill was awesome. The road was rough as there was road construction but I tried to find a good line and go as fast as I could. I saw Donna and the kids as I flew by and waved.

As I climbed back up the 2nd loop I gave Jake a high five…
And then it started to pour.

Wearing that shirt was a mistake. It was soaked. It felt heavy and I was shivering. I couldn’t see with my glasses as the water beaded up so when I lowered them my eyes would get hit with rain. It was better to see though so I lowered my glasses.

My hands felt frozen and as I hit a bump on the road it felt like I couldn’t hold on. But I trudged ahead. I had more energy after the downhill, but now I was more tentative than ever. I’ve never biked in the rain. So this was a first.

In the end, I didn’t go as fast as I wanted but got it done. It was not a full 10 miles though. Not even a full 9 according to my Garmin. Here are my splits.

MILE SPLIT
Mile 1 0:06:12
Mile 2 0:06:21
Mile 3 0:03:00
Mile 4 0:02:08
Mile 5 0:05:04
Mile 6 0:06:22
Mile 7 0:04:37
Mile 8 0:02:47
Mile 8.89 0:03:31

FINAL 0:40:02

The bike portion really hindered my ability to go all out. I felt like I hit the wall the first two miles and struggled, and when I had my energy back I held back due to fear of death! J

Here is my average heart data per lap.
Mile 1 189
Mile 2 187
Mile 3 188
Mile 4 191
Mile 5 189
Mile 6 187
Mile 7 183
Mile 8 174
Mile 8.89 173
Ave: 185
Low: 165
High 194

Hmmm… I guess I didn’t push it at the end.

Some thoughts I had during the bike:
I NEED MORE GEARS!
When is this two mile climb going to end?
Hey, last year people were lapping me by now. I’m on a roll.
I’m not going to make it.
Just go for it!
I LOVE GOING FAST!
Hey, Jake!
Here we go up the hill again.
I can’t see!
Slow down, don’t die.
I’m drowning!
I should have taken off this shirt.
My Garmin is getting wet!
My feet are freezing!
My hands are freezing.
I’m almost done!!!

T2
Everything was soaked. But it didn’t matter, I was going into the pool anyway. I racked my bike, stuffed my Garmin in my bag, took off my helmet, threw my gloves off and struggled a little to get the wet shirt off my back. I kicked off my shoes and decided to run the 50 yards or so to the pool in my socks.

The difference between last year and this year… I ran. I could actually run to the pool.

T2 Time: 0:1:05

THE SWIM

I jumped in and new how it would feel. WARM! The pool was heated and boy did it feel good! My first lap of the snake pattern was easy. I breathed every four strokes and touched the wall. I took about two or three seconds breather as I moved to the next lane and pushed off. Half way through I was so tired I got on my back and kicked the rest of the way, touched the wall and pushed off hard.

As I swam to the finish I was feeling pretty good: winded but good. And I walked out of the pool and rushed over to hand the volunteers my timing thing.

Final Swim Time: 0:3:18. Not blistering, but speedy enough for me.

Donna had a towel waiting as I shivered back to Transition with the goal of getting everything to the car, drying off and getting warm.

It was over. It was fun. It was cold.

All in all I did well. I went all out on the run, I struggled with the bike but really, did the best I could, and I swam comfortably. My Transitions were faster than ever and although I didn’t finish as projected, I finished 5:21 faster than last year. Which, at least, shows improvement with obstacles like the rain.

My final time: 1:11:59

Three minutes and thirty eight seconds slower than projected.

I’m happy with that.

Some thoughts during the swim:
Ahhh… warm.
Push it, reach, pull, stroke, breath…
No rest, just go!
It’s shallow. I can walk!!!

Some thoughts about the race:
I love the rain.
I hate the rain during a Triathlon race.
I could do this faster.
Next year I’ll be in the top 10 in my age group… 40-45!!! LOL

Imagine, just 3:38 off my projection, which could have all been done on the bike. My bike was just a minute or so faster than last year’s time. It could have been ten.

I can’t wait till the next Tri. Pasadena Tri or the UCLA IronBruin! I think the Triathlon fever is back!

Some Pictures…

I had what looked to be a 10 year old girl in my sights with a mile to go. I wanted to catch up to her. I passed her with about a half mile to go. Then… I realized how old I was and how young she was as she sped by me as we approached the turn to T1.

T1 was nice and fast. A quick drink, wet socks and I’m off into the pending storm.

NOTE: Special thanks to Omkar and his wife Nilan and their friend, three up and coming Triathletes, who recognized me from my blog! Nilan recognized me and they greeted me. We chatted for about 5 minutes before the race started. All three were running the race - their 2nd Sprint! It was awesome to meet them and hopefully we can race together again.

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