The TriathleteNut

Pasadena Triathlon - March 8, 2008

This has to be one of my best Triathlons ever! I hit some Personal Bests on this race. I guess the course being a ‘home’ course or training area for me had a lot to do with how I planned to do this race and I’m thankful for that. I do all my BRick workouts at the Rose Bowl and my race plan was to go all out. No ’saving’ myself for the bike or swim. Just let it all out on every single event.

My only issue I had with race day was the fact that I scheduled two triathlons within 5 days apart! Mental note - do not schedule two triathlons within a week apart! Why? Well, as I started my run, I realized that I was NOT fully recovered from the UCLA Triathlon after only 5 days rest.

That being said… I had a plan to go all out on the run. And that’s what I did.

Coming up to the first mile I felt like maybe it was not a good idea! I was teetering with an 8 minute mile and decided that if I just get to the top and around the bend, I can cruise down and not work as hard and still maintain a pace faster than I’m used to.

Well, I did.

I got to the top and rounded the bend and I fought hard to maintain a solid pace as I passed the water station. I rounded the corner and headed down the road as fast as possible. Every so often I’d notice that my pace was a little slower than I wanted so I picked it up and tried to relax. Focusing on NOT tensing up helped me get to the finish line because I was really giving it everything I had and I was on the verge of walking!

But I didn’t slow down!

And guess what! My 5K split was a personal best for a 5K distance but more importantly for a Triathlon. As a reverse Tri, I tend to ’save some’ for the ride. But this time I figured I’d recover ’some’ on the ride before giving it my all. I was worried that I wouldn’t have anything left but maintained my race plan to run hard and to continue the pace into transition to my bike. Normally I take a walk as I reach transition just to catch my breath and rest my legs. But this time I ran to my bike in the Male 40-44 age group section.

So here are my splits:
Mile 1 0:08:08
Mile 2 0:08:25
Mile 3 0:08:22
Last .36 0:02:55
Total 3.36 miles: 0:27:50 (ave 8:17/mile, 7.24 mph)

5K Split: 25:28 (PERSONAL BEST!)

I’m a little disappointed on my Mile 2/3 splits because I felt I should have done those faster than my Mile 1 split. Usually I run my last mile faster but man, I was really fighting hard to keep it up. The downhill helped and yes, my race plan actually worked. But what if I went slower on Mile 1 and really pushed mile 2 and 3? Would that be better? I’ll have to try that run around the Rose Bowl and see if I can match it on a training day.

Transition 1 was fast.

It always could be faster but it was fast enough. I decided to take off my bike shirt because it was getting warmer. So that took a few extra seconds. I slipped on my bike shoes and put on my helmet. But then my helmet was too tight for some reason! I tried it on before the race to make sure it was fitting correctly but I guess after the run, my head swelled with the sweat and heat. I made the adjustment, which again took several seconds. Finally, I grabbed my bike and headed to the exit where I struggled with clipping onto my pedals for some reason.

Mental note: Practice with shoes already clipped onto the pedals for next triathlon!

And off I went.

So despite the extra time spent with the shirt and helmet situation, my transition went smooth. Oh… except that I left my glasses on my towel! Ugh.

T1 Time: 1:48

I didn’t dwell on the fact that I left my glasses in transition. And for a fleeting moment I thought of running back to get it but that would have been dumb. If it were a 50 mile ride, I probably would. But 3 laps around the Rose Bowl I’d let my eyes dry out and suffer a little (my eyes are really sensitive and I get infections [a stigh] if I ride or run without glasses for some reason).

I’m always thinking, I’d make up time on the downhill, but the time I really need to make up is on the uphill. This is where everyone passes me up. It doesn’t matter if they have a tri-bike or mountain bike, I get passed on inclines. Small or large, a steady incline is my monster. On a steeper shorter hill I can really do well. I just need to work on it more. I was going a little faster than I normally do when I train around the Rose Bowl so that was good. And on the downhill I pass everyone who passed me up on the incline. So I know I can be fast on flats or inclines, or as fast as the other cyclists, but I need to be faster and stronger going up. I’ve been focusing on hill training more this year, and it seems to help the endurance part, but for some reason I can’t get enough lasting strength through the climb and have to make it up coming down.

The bike went well though. I was a little dizzy the last 3 miles and tried to clear my head. I was worried I’d get off my bike in transition and fall flat on my face so clearing my head was a priority. I took it slow toward the dismount and lost time cruising to the transition area but I think it helped get my bearings together.

I posted the fastest mile splits for the Rose Bowl and overall for a 10 mile ride so it was another Personal Best at the Rose Bowl!

Mile 1 0:04:28
Mile 2 0:04:08
Mile 3 0:02:14
Mile 4 0:03:22
Mile 5 0:04:25
Mile 6 0:02:33
Mile 7 0:03:36
Mile 8 0:04:35
Mile 9 0:02:39
Last .85 0:02:54
Total 9.85 0:34:54

This isn’t the fastest ride I’ve ever had, but it was the fastest 3 laps around the Rose Bowl I’ve ever had. The fastest ride I’ve ever had was in a Duathlon with rolling hills in Sacramento. I rode 16 miles and averaged 17 mph. But this was the best effort on the Bike at a Triathlon ever! That, following a PB 5K split! Wow.

Transition 2 went well too. No pain, no cramps and no falling flat on my face. I took off my helmet and shoes, grabbed my goggles, kept my socks on and slipped on my slippers.

Whew.

I figured keeping my socks on would prevent me from bending down again and possibly triggering a cramp. I ran from T2 to the pool which was what, 200 million yards or so away. It was a pretty good run and I got to 20 yards away before having to catch my breath.

And that’s where I gave up a lot of time. I took off my socks and walked to the edge of the pool where I stood for about 5 seconds trying to catch my breath. About four people jumped in before I eventually went in. I plunged into the water which was nice and warm.

T2 (which includes the run, walk, and 5 second pause at the edge of the pool): 3:45

I got to the surface and focused on stroke and breathing and let me tell you, this was THE BEST swim effort I’ve ever had in a triathlon. It’s not my Personal Best swim time, but it was my Personal Best swim effort of a triathlon to-date! It didn’t matter that it was only 150 meters, what mattered was that I was focusing on moving and moving and moving!!!

The first turn was a madhouse. People touching the wall, a bunch getting under the lane, there was a couple pushes on my back (hey, it’s LA haven’t you heard of traffic?!) then it was another bump and grind for 50 meters. I was in the mix of things and it felt great to be swimming in a crowd. I was drafting someone in front of me, there was another person on my left that I was able to keep a lead on, and someone was nailing me from my right. I wasn’t reaching as far with my stroke as there were feet right in front of me but I think it helped as a draft. The 2nd lap went smoother than the first and again, a crowd at the wall where people treaded water, pushed people on the back, and fought to get over to the last lane and the swim for home.

That last 50 meters was tough. I had to catch my breath swimming on my side before digging deep and just stroking my way to the finish. I was next to another guy who every time I took a breath he did so we were practically looking right at each other as we swum in close proximity. I was by the wall so I actually got to the line of people waiting to get out of the pool first. And that was a crazy situation in my opinion.

Race Volunteers were calling out bib numbers and punching it in their hand held thing and I’m not so sure this was an accurate ‘finish’ time for 150 meters, or the race in general. I was halfway up the ramp before someone shouted out my number. They didn’t take the bottom part of my race number or anything so I have no idea how the timing of the event worked. But I didn’t really care. I just wanted to rejoice in the fact that I gave it everything I had, it was the best effort I’ve ever given to a Triathlon, and I was feeling great!

From a personal best 5K split, to the fastest average 3 lap MPH at the Rose Bowl on my bike, to the best swim effort I’ve ever had, this has got to be the best performance at a Triathlon I’ve ever had thus far.

150 meter swim time: 4:20 (great for me!) Anything under a 3:00/100 meter swim is great for me and I did this in an average of 2:53/100 meters.

Final time: 1:12:38

WOW! I want all triathlons to be like this!

It will only get better!

The Pasadena Triathlon was a well-run event. I wish there were more vendors during the early morning pre-race period, and more vendors there overall. I was hoping to pick up some gels before the race but there weren’t any being sold. The bathrooms at the Aquatic Center were nice and empty as I think most people didn’t know about them. So I had some convenient bathroom visits a couple times in the 2 hours I waited for the race to start and not that outdoor smelly, dirty public bathroom stuff. Let’s keep it hush-hush.

The transition area was extremely crowded; it could be bigger in my opinion - and closer to the pool if they could figure that out.

The swim should be 400 meters - this would definitely create more space because it was crowded in those lanes! The pool is definitely big enough for 400 meters! UCLA did it their first couple of years: A 400 meter snake swim. And this year UCLA did a 400 meter circle swim that seemed to work well despite the wave start times. Maybe Pasadena could do a Swim/Bike/Run as well.

There were a lot of beginner Triathletes there and I was happy to help them with their questions on transition area and where to exit, run with bike, and general race thoughts, etc.

There were a lot of participants, which makes me believe it was a success. I’d love to see a series of maybe three Triathlons in one year for The Pasadena Triathlon. Each race longer and more challenging - maybe utilize the neighborhood for a longer run and a longer, more challenging bike ride. Tour of California got to do a 5 mile circuit type race, why not The Pasadena Tri? And we could finish (or start) it off with a 400 meter swim or use both pools and have an 800 meter swim where you cross over from one pool to the other!

Overall, this race was extremely fun. It was especially fun because this is my ‘home’ training area - for BRicks. And - it was just a few miles from home and extremely easy to get to. Within thirty minutes after I got out of the pool, I was in a hot shower at home! And by 10:15 I was sitting with my family at Granville’s in Burbank for breakfast; which is one hour after I crossed the finish line.

I’m definitely doing this race again next year!

UCLA Iron Bruin Race Report
March 2, 2008

“Triathlon will humble anybody.”

I was waiting for my wave to start when I overheard someone make the above statement while watching the race. I thought to myself, yes, that’s true. I don’t do Triathlon to compete against others. I don’t compete with my age group. I race to compete with myself - to overcome a challenge and to persevere.

And here we are waiting for our lowly “Sprint” to start. This is not even close to an IronMan distance; it’s a Sprint. So, how can this itsy bitsy teeny-weeny little race be humbling? Well, it is.

UCLA decided to change their course. I was mentally prepared for the 4 mile run, 10 mile bike, ½ mile Run and a 400 meter swim. It used to be more like a “Quadathlon” than a Triathlon but, although it was a challenge, I was looking forward to the ‘old’ setup.

A few days before the race I check out the course to prepare for race day. I am already mentally prepared for the race and I find out they change the course. I quickly looked at the map and thought, 4 laps around UCLA? This is going to be tough!

Instead of a reverse triathlon, it was a regular Swim/Bike/Run. It was still a 400 meter swim but the ride was 13.5 miles around the campus followed by a 2.75 mile run that has a pretty decent run up an incline.

They proudly announced, during the 6:45 AM orientation, that the bike course is now longer with more hills. [sarcasm]Great[/sarcasm].

How hard could it be though?

Okay, so here’s the biggest problem this new format has. First, the race started 10 minutes late: at 7:10AM. But due to the ‘circle swim’ in the pool, they had to start waves of 20 racers every 10 minutes which meant my start time was at 8:50 AM (originally 8:40AM). I was in wave 11 of a total of 12 waves. Waiting for that long for start times is horrible. It’s cold, you get hungry, you build up more and more apprehension and you get mentally fatigued.

I had to wait ONE HOUR AND FORTY MINUTES for my wave to start! It was cold out there waiting, but the worst part, an hour and forty minutes of waiting really got my hunger going. I was so hungry I didn’t know if I had the energy to even swim 400 meters! I ate 3 more SHOT BLOKS about 30 minutes before my wave and hoped for the best.

I got in the water about 5 minutes before start and got adjusted. I figured I’d take it easy and swim at my pace. My projected time was 12 minutes. Which is actually fast.

3-2-1 and I was off. Swimming your own pace is good when training, but when you are in a competitive atmosphere you tend to forget.

So there I was, trying to stay inside the group. I got kicked in the chest, I got kicked in the face, my left ear was nailed, it was a madhouse. I was fighting guys as I rounded the 2 first buoys and believe it or not, 125 meters I was still in the fray. But that was my downfall. I overexerted myself and decided to back off and find some space. Whew. I was tired with 275 meters to go. I took some deep breaths and finally found a comfortable, slow pace.

As I finished the 2nd lap I thought, that wasn’t so bad. One and a half more laps to go and I’m on the bike. Nine minutes into the swim I passed the next wave of swimmers in the pool waiting to start so I tried to push it to the finish before getting eaten up by their wave. I was about 20 meters away before they caught up and the next thing I know I’m out and happy to be on solid ground.

400 Meter Swim: 0:10:56

So 10min and 56seconds later I had finished a full minute faster than I projected.

Transition 1 was quick and easy. Again, it always could go faster but I had to pack my T1 bag with everything so that it could be transported down to T2 for after race pickup.

T1 time: 0:1:30

Down the hill I go, wet and freezing cold. My legs were fatigued which meant I used too much legs during my swim which was bad. But I managed to get down the hill and started to make my first climb up along Sunset blvd. I ripped open a ‘gel’ taped to my bike’s top bar and swallowed it down with a gulp of water.

Then disaster. Two miles into my trek, my chain popped out – and it was on a straight-away! I jumped off, fixed it, and then struggled, for some odd reason, to clip on to my pedals. I lost at least a minute struggling with the chain and wobbling on my bike before getting it going again.

But the first climb wasn’t bad and I decided to take the first 3.3 mile lap (of 4 laps) easy to see how it would be, then I’d put in more effort. The toughest part was mile 3 of each lap. This was a serious climb made for mountain bikes and not Triathlon bikes in my opinion. I passed up several riders who were walking their bikes up, but I wasn’t going to fall into that trap. I convinced myself to keep pedaling despite how hard it was. I still had to do it 3 more times and believe me, I was not looking forward to it. I was wishing for more gears on my 9-speed bike. I wonder if I can get a 10-speed on this thing.

The hills were tough and coming down them wasn’t even enough time to catch your breath or rest your muscles. The downhill was extremely fast and the next thing you know you were back on a climb.

Mile 3 of lap 2 a guy gets on my side and we hold a little conversation up the hill. “We have to do this 4 times right?” he asked. I was like, “Yup, number 2 for me. How about you?”

It was number 2 for him. I wished him well as he pedaled past me.

I caught him on up at North Campus and passed him up.

Again, the mile 3 of lap 3 he caught me on the climb and we gave each other encouragement and joked about coming into Transition 2 early and nobody would know.

I told him that for $75 entry fee, I’m not going to cheat myself out of the torture I paid for. He laughed and agreed. He pedaled past me once again.

I caught him a little further away this time and again, he came up to me on mile 3 of the last lap. I told him I couldn’t believe I made it and he said the same thing. I told him I’d see him at the finish line and he continued on past me.

Finally. Transition 2.

13.5 mile bike: 1:05:26

I walked my bike to the rack and reached down to put on my socks but couldn’t reach down to get it. My left hamstring was tighter than it ever has been and when I tried to sit down, pain shot through my whole left leg. I thought I was done. Over.

I noticed tightness with about 3 miles left in my ride and tried easier gears with a higher pedal cadence just to keep it warm and moving but it was sore and tight. My left side ached, my left calf was cramping, my whole upper chest cramped up and my hamstring was so stiff I couldn’t even bend down. I stretched out my chest, praying to get loose. I was thinking, oh my god, this is it: just lay down and get a DNF (Did Not Finish).

Believe me, the bike ride alone made me want to lay down and give up. But I kept pedaling - finding just enough to get me to the top of each hill. But this was physical pain that I wasn’t sure my mind and body could get past. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t bend down. I couldn’t even get my socks on!

Finally, through pain, torture and a helluva’ struggle, I slipped each sock on. And my pain was so bad I couldn’t get them on correctly. They were a little crooked on my right foot as I felt the crease of my sock inside my shoes. Thank goodness for “Yankz!” (http://www.yankz.com/). Instead of having to tie my shoes, I just slip them on and run.

T2 time: 0:2:19

Slipping my shoes and socks on was easy compared to the hard part - running. I walked as fast as I could to the exit of T2 and started to pick up my feet and my pace. It was tough and thank goodness we got to run around the Intramural Field for about ¼ of a mile because the next thing we had to do was run up where we biked down.

I kept thinking, in 3 miles I’ll be done. Over. No problem. It’s just a 3 mile run! I’ve done several of these with no problem. Just move your feet and run. So I did.

It took a mile for my legs to loosen up. And wow, mind over matter got me through the bike, and now it got me past all the pain and things were good to go.

This is the best part of Triathlon. Getting into the run after all the struggle of the two other parts. This is where you find out that if you put your mind to it, you can actually do it.

And there was that guy again; the guy who shared conversation with me up the hill. He kept looking behind at me and every time I got closer, he sped up.

I was going to catch him. No matter how hard it would be I made up my mind to catch him.

He kept looking back. And he kept speeding up. But every time he did that, he seemed to tire out a little bit more. I kept my pace. It was steady and strong. It was a half marathon pace so it was definitely not fast. But it was strong. I was at full capacity as far as breathing. My heart rate was skyrocketed. But it wasn’t affecting my run. I kept pounding and finally, he looked back over his left shoulder this time, and I was at his heels close to the 2 mile mark.

He gave me a pat on the back as I got next to me and I said, “we made it!” We actually shook each other’s hands and congratulated each other for making it this far. It’s nice to make these small connections while doing a race. It seems to happen every time I’m out there.

And then I was off to catch three more runners ahead of me.

Coming down the hill was such a relief. The finish line was not too far ahead; just a swing around the Wooden Center on a flat surface and a nice long look at the finish line that you could sprint to.

I gave it everything I could that last quarter mile or so.

I couldn’t feel the pain. In my head, there was no more pain.

Just heart.

I strode past the finish line knowing I gave it everything I had. I felt I could have run another mile if they asked, because I was in such a runners high, but I was glad it was over.

FINAL TIME: 1:48:14

My post race activities were to find a drink, pack up my stuff and leave. I still had Jacob’s baseball practice to attend and a dinner I was planning on making.

This was the toughest Triathlon I’ve ever done, I thought. And it was.

I look at the race: 400 meter swim, 13.5 mile bike, 2.75 mile run and think – that’s simple and short but:

“Triathlon will humble anybody.”

Yes, that’s what Triathlon does to a person. Experienced or beginner (like I still am). If you give it your all, Triathlon is no means an easy task despite the short distance traveled. It’s what you do during the short distance that matters.

And it’s not about the Triathlon. It’s about the distance traveled just to get to the starting line. And, for me, it’s the distance traveled after the finish line. I have a long way to go. And believe me, I am humbled by that fact and I’ve said it before – I’m not going to quit.

IronMan here I come!