The TriathleteNut

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.

Steve sent me pictures that Mindy took during Race Day.

6:30 AM drop off at Griffith Park. It was cold.

25 meters away from finishing the race!

Just moments after the race.

Steve, me and two of his girls: Alyssa and Crystal.

In front of The Disney Concert Hall

iTunes purchases
Hurt by Christina Aguilera
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
Over My Head (Cable Car) by the Fray
Smack That (Dirty) by Akon
Buttons by The Pussycat Dools
Fergalicious by Fergie
Irreplaceable by Beyoncé
When You Were Young by The Killers
Boston by Augustana

Yesterday I got home and bought more music. It’s kinda a random purchase. I was only on the iTunes Store to buy Beyoncé’s, Irreplaceable, and ran across some others I wanted but always forget to buy. Especially, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. Then I came across Fergalicious and I was like, wow, that rocks!

Workout
I listened to my new ‘purchase mix’ during my workout at the gym right after I bought them. That workout was tough – at least the run portion. I nearly gave up after six minutes of running! I felt this sharp pain in my left knee. I haven’t run since the half mary on Sunday figuring I needed a rest. And maybe the rest made my joints stiffer than normal. I stopped running, kicked out my leg a few times, then started up again- really slow. From a walk to a jog, and by 10 minutes in I was running at a decent pace. I thought I’d quit at 20 minutes at a little less than 2 miles, but I trudged on for a 30 minute three mile run. I was thinking about doing another two miles but decided to back off and just do weights.

I was worried for a while. I don’t want to get any injuries due to carelessness, so if I experienced any more pain I would have stopped. But it worked its way out and I was good to go. Whew.

Oh, I had an awesome weight training session! AWESOME!

I can go on and on about things so I have to corral my thoughts and just get them down.

First off, remember that guy Ray that I met on the bus on the way to Venice Beach for the LA Tri (Sept 2006)? I never got to see him again except before the swim and as I passed him on the run. It’s a small world when, out of an estimated 5,000 people who ran the LA Half Marathon, I pass a guy at the mile 11 mark and it’s Ray. We were like, HEY!!! I KNOW YOU!!! I told him to email me. He said I zoomed by him on the bike and that was the last he saw me. And that was in September – three whole months ago. So that was a pleasant surprise.

Back to the day…

It started off with denial at around 2 AM… and every hour thereafter. I was thinking about not running. Calling Steve at 6 AM and tell him I’m not going. I got up at 5 AM, made coffee, got my running gear together and waited for Steve. Even at 6:30 I was thinking, if he doesn’t show then it’s a good enough excuse for me not to go. Well, Steve and Mindy showed up and Mindy dropped us off at Griffith Park.

We walked about a quarter of a mile to the staging area and we froze our butts off all the way there. It was still dark and it was cold! It was 41 degrees!

We did a little jog which didn’t help. We found groups of people huddled together so for a while, we jumped in. The body heat of the group actually helped!

I had decided to wear my long running pants, gloves, a short sleeve tech shirt, arm warmers and a fleece cap that covered my ears. And I was still freezing my ass off. I don’t know how Steve handled it just wearing running shorts, a tech shirt, a hat, and a hooded pullover. A majority of people were dressed for the weather, the rest were shivering while dressed for a run in the California sun.

We got in line for the port-o-potties but after 30 minutes and not even halfway there, we decided to head for the starting line. There were maybe forty port-o-potties! We figured we’d find one on the course and make a stop. The map indicated more than enough port-o-potties for the run.

So we bared the cold for an hour and finally, at 7:45 AM, the race started.

Two miles in and the sun was upon us and we set our sights on a no-line port-o-pottie! I quickly did my business, slipped off my jacket and arm warmers and I was good to go for the rest of the day. Steve had thrown his pullover somewhere off to the side between mile one and two. It would be a homeless wonderland if the homeless just followed the route and picked up the clothing that were thrown aside at the start of the race.

Other than the fact that the cold had really screwed with my joints, the first six miles were easy. But the cold had an obvious effect on my left knee and right ankle. They were stiff and sore and tight.

I started to ‘feel’ the run around mile seven – right after the Hyperion Bridge. We ran through Silver Lake and it seemed everything we came across was a hill. At mile 11 I ran into Ray, gave him my email addy and asked him to email me. The last few miles were going to be a struggle.

Running up Sunset was tough. First, we were tired. Second, all the restaurants were opening and we had to take in the smells of fresh tortilla, fried chicken, and even pizza! It was awesome and torturous at the same time!

And where were all the bands on the street that they promised? There was a church that had a drummer drumming to a CD or something which was nice, but there werent’t any other bands before that. And that was like late in the race!

At mile 12 there was a cool percussion set under the over-pass, which really got us movin’. Boy, the beat of the music sure helps sometimes!

And when we finally made that last turn for the finish I felt like I was dragging my feet. My legs were shot. My energy was there, my breathing was fine, but my legs were absolutely on their last… well… leg!

We crossed the finish line together with a feeling of accomplishment.

That race would have been absolute boredom if it weren’t for my pal, Steve!

We talked most of the way through. We were reminiscent of the past. It’s funny, Steve said, “Just think, when we’re like 80 we’ll look back and say, ‘remember the day we ran the half mary?’” And here we are, close to 40 and saying, “Remember when we were like the first to ever get online with our Commodore 64s and post at a local Bulletin Board?”

That was 25 years ago!

Steve and I have gone our separate ways as we left high school. But something or another always brings us together: Martial Arts, paintball, and now running.

Steve was there, a year ago, when I ran my very first 5K race. He had one race under his belt and I agreed to do a 5K after only 2 weeks of training. He was there, again, with me on my first half mary. Again, he already had a half mary under his belt which he did in a little over two hours (2:05 I believe). And here he is, hangin’ there with me through two hours and twenty four minutes of a life changing, future life reminiscing event – until the very end. He could have done it faster but… he did it with me: a metaphor to our life as friends. Friends can go separate ways, never to ever reconnect, one leaving the other behind and just finish life on their own. It seems no matter what, Steve and I will always be starting things and most likely finishing things up together. Just like the race.

Steve, happy that it’s getting warmer, and me on the right…

Anyway, here are our splits:
Mile 1: 0:10:49
Mile 2: 0:11:33 (port-o-pottie break)
Mile 3: 0:09:46
Mile 4: 0:10:38
Mile 5: 0:10:12
Mile 6: 0:10:47
Mile 7: 0:10:50 (Hyperion Bridge)
Mile 8: 0:10:43
Mile 9: 0:10:59
Mile 10: 0:11:12 (running into Ray at the end of mile 10!)
Mile 11: 0:11:27 (the torture of food upon us)
Mile 12: 0:11:00 (running to the beat of drums)
Mile 13: 0:10:22
Mile 13.58: 0:04:25 (a blistering 7:45 per mile pace!)
FINAL: 2:24:43 for a 10:39 min/mile average pace.

OFFICIAL CHIP TIME: 2:24:44 (My garmin was off by -.01 seconds!)

There were 5,000 scheduled to race. Only 3648 crossed the finish line.

We actually ran 13.58 miles and not the 13.1 miles a Half Mary is supposed to be. I can’t even imagine having to do it again to make it a full marathon.

Yet…

LA MARATHON… HERE WE COME!

Official Results:
City of Angels Half Marathon - Half Marathon
Place Overall: 2320 out of 3648
Men: 1407 out of 1839
M 35-39: 227 out of 290
AgeGrade: 41.91% Place: 2781
FINISH: 2:24:44 pace: 11:03
10K: 1:08:03 pace: 10:58
Chip Time: 2:24:44

Yule Log Jog (Nov 5, 2006)
10K Personal Best- 0:55:19

Ouchy-owie!

That’s how I’ve felt for the past three days. My hamstrings kill. I did not do a single workout for 13 straight days. It was horrible. I was under the weather right after my race on November 5, and took a week off and still didn’t feel 100% for a week after so I decided to take a break from it all. THEN… I ran on Saturday the 18th and did a weight workout which included leg presses. OUCH!

I don’t do heavy-heavy weights. And this was on the low end for me: 180 pounds. And usually I’m absolutely fine the day after. Usually I can do another hard workout the next day. Usually I’m ready to swim, bike or run the next day even after a hard workout. I’d consider this past workout an easy one. And I have limped around for three days.

I have to try and fit in 15+ miles running this week. My plan: 3 miles today; 8+ miles on Thanksgiving morning; another 3ish miles on Friday and another 5 miles on Saturday. That’s the end of my workout week. That brings me to 19 which is a bunch of miles for me. Then on Sunday, the start of a workout week, I’ll hopefully do 13 long slow miles.

Wow. That’s a serious goal. And I toned it down big time. I was planning to do 5/8/5/5 but I’ve never done that many miles in a week before so that would be a big mistake. Looking at it now, I might just do 3/6/3/5 for 17 miles… but 19 would be good – especially on Thursday morning when I need to workout before eating a whole turkey and half a pie.

So that’s where I am on my Triathlon Training. Next week I start back on a strict swim program and I get back on my bike. If it rains, I’ll be on a trainer working on conditioning. My goal is to keep up with an hour Spinerval DVD. I’ve lasted 15 minutes. But if I can do the whole DVD my Triathlon season will start off with a bang!

My New Year’s Resolution will be to do more BRICKS. And not just a bike/run but a bike/run/bike/run. Shorter distances but more transitions! Am I crazy? Most Triathletes are.

When do you stop watching your kids run and NOT get the feeling they’re going to fall? I’m tellin’ ya… my kids run and it’s so hard for me to watch. It’s not that they run poorly, have bad form or are just clumsy runners, (well Bella might be), it’s that they go all out and sprint and you figure its bound to happen – they’re going to wipe out.

I digress… The 1st Annual Saucony Three Point One was held at Bonelli Park. Bonelli Park is only a hop away from where I live. There are paved roads for running, trails for running, places to ride your road bike, places to mountain bike, picnic areas and a LAKE!!! Yes, a lake. And before my Triathlon in June (where I suffered through my first outside the pool swim) I never knew about Bonelli Park Lake. And its only a twenty minute ride from home to a beautiful place to bring your family. I’m planning a picnic in a couple of months.

Again… I digress… The turnout for the race was very respectable for a small, 1st Annual race. It was well organized, the announcer really set the tone of excitement, and they were able to draw a few elite athletes. I don’t know their names but one was a female who was on the cover of Runners World, there was another Male who just won some huge event and was like world ranked or something, and the number sixth ranked high school girl in the nation.

My race started at 8:15. I did a little jog with Jacob just to get warmed up. I was feeling tight. I ran a personal best 5K four days prior during training (26:19) and did a recovery run two days prior. I felt prepared but I wanted to warm up, get myself really ready, get my heart rate up and just go for it. I was hoping to run under 27 minutes and was not thinking about a Personal Best because it was such a struggle to do the 26:19 on a flat course. I was unsure about the course for this race, but under 27 minutes and I would be happy.

I made my way to the middle of the pack at the start line and as they blew the horn I took off. I maintained a decent pace but was getting passed by everyone who lined up behind me. Was I running that slow? I looked down at my Garmin, I was running a faster pace than I wanted and decided the right thing to do was slow down and don’t worry about other people. I figured EVERYONE was running faster than they wanted. I was. I checked my Garmin at a ¼ mile and was running a 7:00 minute pace. That’s bad. There was no way I’d make it to the end at that pace so I slowed down.

A mile in and I was faster than normal: 8:11 but I was feeling okay.

I decided that it was a good pace. I was really pushing it but that’s what you do in a race. You push it. I checked my HR: 194. Wow. I was really pushing it! What was I going to expect after mile two? Well, I decided to see.

Before I hit mile two I heard the announcer, from across the lake, call the winner. It was around 14 minutes into the race and someone had already crossed the finish line and I was a little more than halfway through. WOW!

Mile 2 split: 16:21: a 8:10 per mile pace.

Right on the money! Almost the exact pace from mile 1!!! My HR: 194 beats per minute. I’ve never sustained a heart rate for this long at Zone 5. But this is where you’re supposed to be when you’re racing so I was aware of what I was doing. It felt great.

Then the dreaded last mile and sure enough, I felt it. My legs were heavy. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I was struggling and the fast two mile split times proved a bad decision… maybe.

I made a turn and felt the tiny incline take its toll. And that’s when I decided to pick it up. Go for it. Torture myself for a mile and enjoy the rest of the day.

Yes, I started that last mile slow. But I finished it off well. I saw the finish line and a runner several feet away. I passed her. I was pumping my arms and had my sights on another runner 20 feet away.

I could have passed him. I had enough left in me. If I ran by him it’d be a real close finish and I decided to let it be and not blow by. The photographer was at the finish taking finish line shots and I didn’t want to get in the way of his picture. Yeah, stupid, but its just a recreational race and I wanted him to enjoy it as much as me. So I backed off from an all out sprint. But I was still going hard, mind you. I could have put the hammer down and pound it out hard and gave it everything I had. But I didn’t. I gave it 99% of what I had instead of 110% and finished 20 feet behind the guy in front and I was happy about it.

I figured to have run under 27 minutes. I figured it was a very, very decent run and I was extremely happy with my performance.

I ran the last 1.14 miles in 9:30: a 8:20 min mile pace. Yes, slower than the first two miles which was expected because of their faster pace – and I usually have negative splits. If I planned it better, I may have had negative splits and a faster race.

Final time: 25:51.

Did I say I wanted to run under 27 minutes? Well, I did. And I beat my Personal Best by 28 seconds. WOW! I did it. I ran a great race.

SPLITS
Mile 1: 8:11
Mile 2: 8:10
Mile 3: 8:28
Mile 3.1: 01:02

HEART RATE
Mile 1: Ave 181, Max 192
Mile 2: Ave 191, Max 194
Mile 3: Ave 195, Max 196
Mile 3.1: Ave 197, Max 198

Based on my HR data I really gave it my best shot. I was in Zone 5 for a total of 21ish minutes out of my 26ish minute run.

Awesome. It proves all that conditioning, the 9 mile LSDs, and ‘race day’ adrenaline is totally different than a training day all out effort for me. Consider four days prior when I ran a 26:19 5K Personal Best and my HR rate was in Zone 5 for under 10 minutes and I struggled more on that run than I did on this.

Training pays off in a 28 second dividend!!!

But that’s not the highlight of the day…

The 1st Annual Saucony Three Point One also had a Kiddie Run. Ages 5 and under ran ¼ miles and ages 8 and under ran ½ mile. The older kids ran 1 mile.

Bella was very, very excited to run this race. For weeks she kept asking, “Can I run the race now?”. I kept having to tell her, ‘not yet.’

Jake… excited about it, but really wasn’t demanding to run it “RIGHT NOW!” And on this morning, right when he woke up, he said he didn’t want to run a race. I gave him a two minute speech about saying something you’re going to do and doing it instead of saying something you’re going to do and NOT doing it. I reminded him about the word ‘courage’ and I ended my two minute speech with… “And you know Jacob, I guarantee that after you do the race you’re going to want to do it again and again. Just like, Papa.”

I left him in bed and if he didn’t want to run it after that little speech, then so be it.

One minute later, literally, as I poured milk into my cereal bowl, he came out in shorts and a shirt, slides with his socks on the hardwood floor into the dining room and announces, “I’m ready!”

“So are you going to run?”

“YUP!”

Yeah… that’s my boy. Courage, baby! Courage.

So here we are, Bonelli Park – their papa just ran a race and nervousness sets in for Jakey-boy.

Pre race jitters… at least for one.

Bella… no problem. She was ready and willing to go. Her race was first. I asked the Race Director if I could run with the kids and they said yes. Awesome. A cool down run for me!

It was an out and back. Bella got in a race stance and as the horn blasted in our ears she was out the shoot like a bat out of hell.

Her arms pumping, her little legs turning, her face was a face of determination, a face of a champion giving it their all out effort, a face of someone who was going to leave EVERYONE in the dust and cross that line the winner.

Well, she didn’t pass anyone. Everyone ran by her. She was the smallest, the tiniest little racer in the whole 5 and under field. And did it matter? Nope. She was still going to give it everything her little heart could possibly give.

Would she last 400 meters? Uh… probably not. I was behind her and called out, “Slow down… don’t fall!” It was hard to watch.

At 100 meters there’s a tiny tiny little hill. TINY. And that was her ‘wall’. Her feet slowed, her arms pumped higher and harder, she was struggling… she still had 300 meters to go. She was only a quarter done and she reached up to me and asked, “Can you carry me?”

“Uh… no, Bella, this is a race. Papa can’t carry you but I can hold your hand.”

So we held hands and jogged. We got to the turnaround point and her jog was as fast as her walk. 100 meters left and she was gasping for air and dragging her legs but then… when we saw the finish line and I told her that Mommy was waiting I let go of her hand and she started up on a good running pace. Not a sprint like she started, but a run, er… run/jog… well, a jog/walk. And she saw Mommy, Jakey, and Emo Vivian (Emo=’Auntie’ in Korean). She waved at them with 25 meters to go and the announcer says through the loudspeaker, “And she’s waving to the crowd!”

I ran ahead, crossed the finish line and squatted down with arms wide open. She ran into my arms and I kissed her and told her how proud of her I was. She got a medal for crossing that line. What a race.

And now… Jacob’s turn. He was nervous. But he was ready. And as the horn blasted once again, Papa, who just ran a total of 3 + miles already, jogged behind Jacob and his little legs. And yes, it was hard to watch. I’m so fricken paranoid. I called to him, “Slow Down, Don’t Fall.” SLOW DOWN DON’T FALL?!?!? That’s not how to race is it? Well, until they can handle running on their own without me following, I’m going to yell, SLOW DOWN DON’T FALL!

We watched another little girl bite it. And I mean bite it. When adults fall they tend to be able to catch themselves. They can fall hard, but they are strong enough to turn their bodies, recover during the fall and prepare for the hit in fractions of a second. This girl just BANG fell. And it was awkward, on her side, arms flailing, legs in the air kinda fall. It looked extremely painful. But full of proof - see… SLOW DOWN DON’T FALL!

We passed kids that took off way too fast and petered out. A quarter of a mile in at the turnaround and I was like, “damn I’m tired”.

Jake kept his pace, didn’t slow, we weaved around kids and parents, we went around slow-pokes, and we got in view of the finish line where Mommy, Emo Vivian and Bella cheered. Jake poured it on. I guess I could have sprinted ahead and let him run into my arms but I was tired. And he was doing fine on his own. He crossed the line, with papa behind him, and I grabbed him and kissed him and told him how proud I was of him. He got a medal for finishing.

And they wore their medals proudly. They deserved it.

Proud owners of Saucony Three Point One & Kiddie Race Medals!

I don’t know why I didn’t time their race. I totally forgot. But they did it and that’s all that mattered.

Now THAT was the highlight of the day. No times, no personal best goals, just two of my kids finishing their first race – with many more to follow.

I hope.

With Emo Chi-Chi (Vivian)

The running family…
Jake, Mommy, Bella and Papa

These were submitted to the Tri Website I am a member of (www.beginnertriathlete.com). The word is that the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors were trying to convince the Race Director to cancel the Swim. Even with these huge waves, I would have been PISSED if they canceled it. If I can do it then there’s no need to cancel it… LOL

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Click for bigger picture

AND… This is what THEY said about me “TriathleteNut” on the website: (I’m walking with my chin up and of course, my feet on the ground. DRY GROUND!!!)

“I gotta say TriathleteNut sacked it up BIG time. I swim in the ocean a lot, surf, body surf, grew up in it, and these waves were freaking ME out.” (ChrisM)

“TriathleteNut wins the Bravest BTer award, considering how nervous he was in the weeks before the race! ” (galig)

Both ChrisM and galig did the triathlon as well.

And here are some of me…

I look like a Smurf with that swim cap on don’t I? Goofy pic.

It was a long way back to Transition 1 after the swim.

The ride was great. I rode past the Disney Concert Center.

And finally the finish line… 2 hours and 29 minutes later!

Whew.

I ordered two pics from Byron Moore Photography. I got them on CD the other day so here they are.

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Pictures

I drove to the Triathlon on my own leaving Glendale around 5:30 AM. At 6:30 Donna and the kids headed out to Redlands.

I took some pictures with my Camera Phone. I wish I could have taken more especially as I did the events.

Maybe next time I’ll figure out how to do it without ruining my phone or my times.

I bought an orange Biking Shirt so Donna and the kids would be able to point me out. It worked - but it didn’t match my Tri-suit.

I’ll need a bright yellow or orange Tri-Suit for the next one!

Here are some Phone Pix…

The early morning drive to Redlands.

The sun finally coming up ahead.

A sign of a beautiful day to come.

Checking up on my bike through the rear view mirror.

Transition setup.

The transition area.

One hour till race time.

Racked and ready to go.

And pics from Donna…

Ten minutes till race time.

The race course.

Two minutes till race time.

Aproximately 27 minutes into the run.

Apoximately 20 minutes into the bike.

On my back gasping for air.

Finished.

Transition mess.

The whole event (the race festival) was a thrill and exciting. They expected over 1,000 runners there. It’s not the atmosphere of the LA Marathon, but it is what it is (or it was what it was) - the first organized race I’ve been a part of and it was electrifying!

I stood at the starting area behind the faster runners. It was nice to know that there were three people that I knew. Steve, one of my lifelong friends and his brother in-law, Mikey. Both had run a 5K event about a month ago. Vivian, my wife’s cousin, and I were new to all this but it was nice to run with others we knew. Steve has been running with Mikey doing 3.3 miles at the Rose Bowl and Vivian has been running for a while. I realized I was the least ‘seasoned’ runner. I had two weeks treadmill work and one road run under my belt but felt comfortable enough to hold an under 11 minute pace - which was my goal - to finish the race with a pace between 10 and 11 minutes.

Mikey, Vivian and I decided to pace each other as Steve was going to take off ahead of us with his under 9 minute pace.

I looked at our first challenge. Right off the start we would have to do a climb. My goal was to take it easy, make the climb, make up time down on the other side and get my running legs some time to get going. From what I’ve experienced in the two weeks of running, it takes about a mile for my legs to actually work! They feel like led for ten or so minutes and then they are fine.

Three minutes to go and I felt like I had to pee. I looked around for the bathroom. Did I have time? No way! Two minutes to go and I was feeling the excitement build around me. It was getting really crowded, there was a buzz of conversation and finally, before we knew it, the countdown from three… two… one!

A fast walk turned into an uphill run as people found their space and we spread out.

Yes, my legs felt like led. And adrenaline pushed me to the top of the hill as I saw Steve begin to disappear ahead of me. Vivian and Mikey were right behind as we made the decent and the turn toward the 1 mile mark.

Mikey caught up to me at the 1 mile mark and I looked at my watch to check my pace. It read: 9:15. Whoa. That was way too fast. Usually my first mile during workouts are the slowest. Then I pick up and end with a faster last mile. This pace excited me as well as worried me. I liked that pace but knew it could tire me too fast. So I slowed up.

There’s something about running with a group of people – nobody speaks to each other, but all have a common goal. It’s like a force of energy pulling you together and pushing you forward. There’s also a sense of serenity. Peace. Almost spiritual.

All this until your breathing becomes labored. And your mind tells you that it’s impossible to continue. And that’s exactly what happened to me.

And the battle inside my head began.

I start making excuses as I tried desperately to search for the 2 mile mark that never seemed to come. The voices in my head kept reminding me - that its okay to walk if I want - that two weeks training was not enough to all of a sudden finish a 5K at a reasonable time - that since its my first one its okay to give up. These thoughts can make any runner lose focus. It made me lose focus and I ran past the 2 mile mark without even seeing it.

And then I found myself in absolute pain.

“Pain. Love it, hate it, get angry at it. Breath it with every breath, feel it with every step and use it. It lets you know you are still alive, more alive than most people will be in their whole lives.” – Strauss

Despite the pain, turning for the last stretch gave me more motivation to keep going and to pick up my pace. I heard my self talk out loud - just a little bit more - push it - pick up the pace - catch Mikey and Vivian who are a few seconds ahead.

Finally, after what seems like eternity, I saw the finish line. And I was at the heels of Vivian. And I gave it a little bit more push, I pumped my arms a little harder. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest, and then I crossed the finish line and fumbled with my stop watch and desperately tried to remember what button to press to stop the time.

31:24.

I feet like a champion. I felt like I could have and should have done better already – despite all the negative thoughts during the run. And before I even handed the race volunteer my race tag number, before I even had a few seconds to catch my breath or realize the race was actually done, I couldn’t wait to do another one!

And consider this - I hate running.

I wouldn’t run if I didn’t have to. I started for health reasons. I started so I could live long enough to watch Jake walk to the plate as the leadoff hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I did it so I have a chance to be there when Bella eventually becomes the comic relief of a sitcom - which seems she’s been preparing for since birth. I did it so I can see Jessica play basketball in college and eventually graduate Med school like she wants. I did it because of my beautiful wife and because I feel like I’ve accomplished everything whenever she says, “I’m proud of you.” I did it for my wife, my kids and my desire to stay alive.

“I run so I do not lose the me I was yesterday and the me I might be tomorrow” - George Sheehan
And consider this – I’m a terrible swimmer.

I’m doing a Sprint Triathlon in June.

And I’m scared to death!!!

Thanks to Mindy, Steve’s wife, who got to the race just as we got down the hill. She was able to take some pictures.

Here we are about 1.5 miles into the race. Vivian, Me and Mikey.

Me, Vivian, Mikey and Steve. That’s not sweat on my shirt. That’s half my water bottle.

Me, Steve and Mikey.

I can’t wait to experience something like this with my wife.