Love-Hate Relationship with Ironman

UPDATE: Looks like all the ranting on the internet (Facebook, Twitter, and blogs) has paid off and we can now all celebrate the short-lived program that was Ironman Access. See the official statement from WTC CEO and President Ben Fertic here: http://ironman.com/mediacenter/pressreleases/ironman-access.

The WTC has been busy lately… what with announcing a new olympic distance series, stepping on some toes when moving the 70.3 championships, and now launching a ridiculously expensive membership club??? There’s definitely more ranting than raving going on with regard to the latest news stories.

Adding up the Costs

Triathlon is expensive enough as it is. First you need to pick a race and register. Depending on the race (distance, location, popularity, and who’s running it), this can be as little as $60 (this is the LEAST I’ve ever paid for a sprint triathlon) or as much as $575 for an Ironman (if you’re lucky and fast enough to nab a spot at any of their races) or EVEN MORE if you’re going for a foundation spot or a longer race (yes.. those DO exist).

Next.. get yourself some gear. This is where you can spend as little or as much as you like. Basically, all you need is a swimsuit, goggles, running shoes, a bike and a helmet. That’s the bare-bones of it. But, once you’ve been bitten by the triathlon bug, there is NO END to wanting to upgrade parts, buy the newest shoes, get the snazziest (yes… I use that word) kits, plus all the accessories and non-gear needs … anti-friction lube (Glide ), special shampoo and conditioner to get the chlorine out of your hair (my choice is TriSwim), customized sunglasses (Oakley Jawbone), Garmin (so many to choose from), Yankz!, etc.. etc… the list goes on and on.

Now add to all that gear (which is used on race day) the gear that you’ll use during training. I’ve got training shoes and race shoes for running. I’ve got an indoor trainer for the bike with it’s own wheel (so I don’t wear out the wheel I actually use on the road). I’ve got a treadmill (ok.. I didn’t technically buy this one, but I use it… so it counts). I’ve got numerous books regarding training plans, strategies, skill specific workouts, injury prevention, nutrition, stretching, and more. I’ve got recovery apparatusses (apparati??) including The Stick, massage ball, compression tights, ice packs, and EMS.

All that seriously adds up to thousands of dollars over the course of one year. Some people do it for much less… some people do it for much much more. I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, due mostly to Minh’s bargain-hunting skills and nose for sales and coupons (we NEVER buy anything full price). Now WTC wants me to add $1000 to that? Are you KIDDING ME??

What will $1000 get me?

1. Exclusive advance registration to Ironman events
2. Second chance in the Ironman Lottery Program
3. Two VIP passes per registered event
4. Official member ID Card
5. One-year subscription to LAVA Magazine
6. Discounts on Ironman partner products at shopironman.com and at Ironman’s on-site event retail stores
7. 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship NBC broadcast on DVD.

Let’s break that down into what really matters

1. This one’s helpful because Ironman events sell out so quickly now that you have to commit before you even know if you’re going to be ready for it. Case in point, Ironman 70.3 California. I just realized TODAY that it’s SOLD OUT and I hadn’t even registered for it yet. Even the foundation slots are sold out. RIDICULOUS! Scratch that one off my race calendar for 2011…. grr…
2. Another chance at the lottery is a perk, but the lottery is also STILL very expensive (and you don’t even get that money back if you don’t get a spot). Plus, I’m a firm believer that participants in the World Championships should deserve it, not win a spot out of luck.
3. The VIP pass probably consists of entry into a special food tent and drinks (if that). Not really worth it, especially if you’re bringing out MORE than just one friend or family member.
4. Yet another thing to add to my stack of useless cards.
5. Yet another yearly subscription that I won’t read because I get all the same information on the Internet.
6. A discount perk that may be worth it at times, but probably won’t compare to the discounts and deals we can find on eBay or with some good searching.
7. A show that you can stream for FREE on the internet (or probably even download if you’re so inclined). I’ve got all of them starting in 2005.

So… it would seem that the only worthy perk to membership in Ironman Access is the ability to register early for events. But is that really worth $1000?? I think most of the triathlon community is on the same page about this topic.. and the resounding answer is… NO, it’s totally NOT WORTH IT.

You can read more rants here, here, here, and on Facebook.

Bikes, Barriers, Beers, and.. Pandas?: SpookyCross 2010

Having never experienced (seen or ridden in) a cyclocross race, Minh and I decided to head out to this year’s SpookyCross – race #5 of the Socal Cross Prestige Series. Since we were there anyway, we decided to volunteer to course marshal for a little while. You’d be surprised at how many people think they can “beat” a racer crossing the course. Craziness!

BEST COSTUME OF THE NIGHT!!! too bad (or perhaps a good thing) he didn't ACTUALLY race..

Ready.. Aim.. FIRE!!!

Someone ACTUALLY had a kid in one of these bike carrier things.. NUTS!

Dude on a UNICYCLE!!! Only in cyclocross!

These wrestlers were SMASHING the pumpkins they had out as a bonus "barrier" on the course.. TOO FUNNY!

A moving cyclocross COURSE.. talk about CREATIVE!

Here are the videos.. turn the volume WAY WAY DOWN if you don’t want to hear the cowbell and Minh laughing HYSTERICALLY in the background…

APOLOGIES: We forgot the “good” camera in the car, so had to settle with taking pictures with my dinky point-and-shoot. After using the “good” camera, the little camera is so unsatisfying. Most of the pictures came out blurry (During a race? Go figure) and the camera speed is so slow that some of the pictures are either too far away (timed early) or too close (timed late). Also.. once darkness fell, the ability to take pictures dropped exponentially. I had to resort to video, which turned out better (I think).

Here are some pictures from the Elite Women’s Race.. Seeing these women race made me kind of wish that I was out there racing, too.. instead of just spectating. Maybe next time…

Justin "Super"Mann chasing after wife and pro Allison (of Rock'n'Road) during the Elite Women's race

Elite Women's leader Coryn Rivera of Peanut Butter & Co

Allison Mann (of Rock'n'Road) hopping up the "steps"

Carolyn Reeves, representing the TEAM (Sho-Air/Sonance/Velosport) in the Women's Masters 45+ race

Beth Walsh (Nytro) in her FIRST EVER cyclocross race!

I gave up on pictures after the Costume Race.. so the Elite Men’s Race ONLY has video. We didn’t stay for the whole thing since Minh had to go close the laundromat.. but we DID catch the first couple laps. Man.. those men can FLY!!!

On the podium: (5) Brandon Gritters of Rock’n'Road, (4) Brent Penzlow of Celo Pacific, (3) Brian Lopes, (2) Sid Taberlay of Sho-Air, and (1) (Top 10 Tour de France Finisher) CHRIS HORNER OF TEAM RADIOSHACK!!

Race Report: Big Rock Triathlon

Minh and I headed out to Lake Perris SRA (State Recreational Area) for the Big Rock Triathlon on Saturday. We headed out Friday night for some camping so that we wouldn’t have to get up SUPER early on Saturday to make it to the race.

FUN FUN FUN... sitting in traffic..

"Late-night" Race Check-in

Our only sources of light (for the night)..

Big Rock was my “first” olympic distance triathlon last year. Technically, I didn’t finish that first time because I only did one lap on the swim because I felt like I wouldn’t survive a second lap. I came into this race knowing what was in store for me: a smooth 2-loop swim, a fairly easy bike with one big hill, and a relatively flat run across the damn and back to the start. I also came into the race with low expectations on my performance because of my training (or lack of training) in preparation for this race. It’s nearing the end of the season, and although I didn’t do THAT many races this year, I was obviously feeling burnt out from the training and finding excuses left and right to get out of it. The goal was to finish and to perhaps do a bit better than the year previous.

Stats from LAST YEAR:
Swim – 22:28 (only one lap.. double it and I would have been LAST out of the water)
T1 – 8:41 (super LONG because of approximate .25 jog from the water to transition)
Bike – 1:27:24 (not a bad bike split)
T2 – 1:58
Run – 1:05:38 (not a horrible 10k)

I had A LOT of time to kill before the start.. so I hit the bathroom about 4 times and walked down to the water to check it out before the start of the race.

Lake was glassy smooth.. like swimming in a pool..

SWIM WAS GREAT!!! The water was SO warm.. around mid- to lo- 70s. And the water was smooth and glassy. Like swimming in the pool, but not too hot that a wetsuit was unbearable. Visibility in the water was worse than the ocean, but that wasn’t a problem. I think I probably kept a better pace than I usually do during practice, but that was to my advantage. Tried my best to find feet to follow, but always ended up overtaking the feet I was behind.

Good swim.. followed by a rather mediocre transition..

T1 was slow, again.. mainly because of the jog/walk from the beach to transition. I had a stitch, so I couldn’t jog the whole thing. Wish I did, because I came out of the water the SAME TIME as 2nd place, but her T1 was 2 minutes faster than mine.

The bike was a little slower than I had hoped for. There’s a small hill near the start to get over, and because I hadn’t been on my bike in a while, I wasn’t strong as I had hoped. There was also road construction on Ramona Expressway (part of the bike course), so I couldn’t go as fast as I would have like through there (needed to be extra careful to stay in the coned-off bike area). The hill was good, though. My pace may have slowed to a crawl, but I made it up.. perhaps faster than last year. Then the nice long DOWNHILL back to transition. I passed maybe 20 people on the bike. I wish I had gone 2 minutes faster though.. because the girl in 2nd had a nearly identical bike split (and she only started 2 minutes ahead of me).

That dude's about to get PASSED!!

Bike Leg: 2 loops of relatively painless spinning..

T2 was fast. Just swapped shoes and took a gel and water. I didn’t wear gloves on the bike, so there was no worry that I would forget to take those off.. I almost forgot to take off my helmet, but remembered to put on my visor… haha.

Ready or not.. heading out for a long run across the dam...

The run was.. weird. My legs wanted a quick turnover because they were used to being on the bike. So.. even though I usually start the run with a much slower pace, my legs wanted to go faster. The rest of my body, however, wasn’t feeling it.. I developed a rather painful stitch that lasted the entire run. Eventually, my legs caught up with the rest of my body, and I started to feel a little worst for wears. First my lower legs, then that pain left to make way for my quads, a little in my knees, but a lot of pain in my right hip. I did a lot more walking than I wanted to, but it would seem that I just wasn’t ready to run 10k. Towards the end, I was feeling a little dejected on the run, but started using another runner to pace me. Probably the only reason I finished stronger than I was feeling in the middle of the run.RESULTS:

Run run run...

Swim – 0:27:05 (2nd place – 0:27:04)
T1 – 6:04 (2nd place – 4:48)
Bike – 1:23:06 (2nd place – 1:26:15)
T2 – 0:52 (2nd place – 1:30)
Run – 0:59:16 (2nd place – 0:58:34)

TOTAL: 2:56:24 (2nd place – 2:55:13)
3rd in AG (F25-29), 10/21 Female, 74/105 Overall

FINISH LINE!! (liquids and food)

YAY! Podium!! If I was just a tiny bit faster.. I would have gotten 2nd. Maybe if I pushed a little bit harder on the run.. but.. ALAS… we can’t live in a world of “what if”s and “could have been”s. Compared to last year.. I was a little bit faster, but the main improvement was on the swim. I’m happy with that. Just shows that a year of training (partial training and slacking off ) has paid off a little bit. Now.. imagine what next year will be like when I actually FOCUS on training.

PODIUM!!!

Race Review: Xterra SoCal Trail Run #1 – Point Mugu 18k

Sunday marked my first venture into Xterra country with the start of the Xterra Trail Run SoCal Series. Four hundred or so runners headed out to Point Mugu State Park (just on the edge of LA and Ventura counties, between Malibu and Oxnard) for the Point Mugu Trail Run. I had previewed the course in September, so I more or less knew what to expect. Goal time was 2 hours (that’s about a 10:45 min/mile pace) – I knew I would be able to handle the flats and the downhills, but it was the climbs and the singletrack (getting stuck behind people) that really made me worried I’d be on the slow side.

Sunday morning came, and Minh and I got up EARLY (5AM) for the drive up to Malibu. The plan was to leave by 5:30AM for the 2 hour drive. We made it to the race earlier than expected (7:00AM), either due to Minh’s crazy speedracer driving or the lack of traffic, or both. I was asleep most of the time, so I can’t really say. We got a pretty good parking spot, since we were there early. Checked in and hung out in the car for a little while.

The essentials for the race.. number, GU, and Garmin

Marked for the run... I haven't put one of these on in YEARS...

At about 8AM, I decided to go for a warm-up run and hit the potties for the last time before the race. I have been suffering from a mild case of shin splints for the last couple weeks, so I hoped that the compression socks would do the trick.

Off on my warm-up.. see you later..

Practicing "technical" stuff on the warm-up.. this isn't even the half of it..

Course talk from the "devil" (race # 666)... "watch out for the unavoidable poison oak."

Even though I’m not the fastest runner, I always like to start these races near the front. It’s a little disheartening to get passed by 100+ runners early on in the race, but it beats adding a few minutes on my overall time from starting in the back. I tried my best to keep to the side so that people could pass me easily too. I may have expended a little too much energy at the beginning though, because I was feeling it pretty hard on the ascents during the first few miles.

"And they're off!!" Already getting passed by atleast 100 runners...

After the start, Minh headed off the assigned meeting location (somewhere between Mile 5 and 6, where the 11k course meets up with the 18k course). He took some pretty nice pictures of the trail, so you can see how much MORE technical it is compared to our local OC trails. I’ve never run anything like this before, and I’m pretty sure we DON’T have trails this technical in OC. Most of our trails pretty smooth, and even the rocky ones are pretty wide.

It was pretty foggy throughout the whole race..

I got passed quite a bit during the run, but I was still keeping a good pace. I ran when I could, but had to walk a lot of the ascent. I didn’t feel too bad though, because I didn’t really get in anyone’s way. For the most part, I slowed to a walk/hike when the people behind or in front were also slowing, and I always stepped to the side when I could to let people pass. I picked up the pace a little bit on flats and downhills to make up for whatever time I had loss on the climbs.

The first water station wasn’t where it was supposed to be (around 4.5 miles).. but luckily I still had enough water to sustain me until I did hit the water station (a little past mile 5). I also didn’t cover myself in poison oak like they had warned would be inevitable. There was poison oak all over the first half of the course, but I was able to avoid it. Even the one spot that was COVERED in poison oak overgrowth didn’t affect me…. perhaps I’m one of the few lucky ones that’s not sensitive to it? Minh’s not even sure if he saw any poison oak.. but then again.. he doesn’t know what it looks like.

FOG! You could hear the ocean, but you couldn't see it..

Just before Mile 6, and the last long steady uphill of the race, I met up with Minh for the bottle hand-off. He prepared a bottle with Heed and a gel for me. It was nice to get a COLD bottle, since my bottle was starting to become not satisfying. Luckily, the weather was cool and foggy, instead of sunny and hot like the preview run. It stayed nice and foggy the entire morning, so it made for PERFECT running weather.

Ready for my bottle hand off...

18k and 11k course merges for the rest of the race

Once we hit the top of the last climb, I was feeling good. I knew that the rest of the course was just downhill switchbacks, and I decided to just let my momentum carry me to the bottom. My knees were starting to hurt, but my shins were feeling pretty good. What’s great about this downhill is that you can occasionally see the start/finish area, and you can HEAR the announcements going on. It’s really motivating to get to the finish. I passed a few people on the downhill, but mostly I just stuck to my pace and tried to finish strong.

FINISH LINE!!!

The picture being taken by the guy in red can be seen below..

Pretty cool picture... I'm gonna buy it.. but haven't gotten around to it yet..

FINISHED... see you at the next one!

I finished in 2:03:13, which is a lot better than the preview run and about what I had expected for myself. Things to work on if I want to be competitve (and I do)… overall speed, hills, ability to recover after hills (this probably goes for cycling and general running also).

Xterra Trail Run SoCal Series #1 – Point Mugu 18k
2:03:13
6 out of 15 AG F25-29 (190 overall)

After this first race, I’ve decided that trail running is a million times BETTER than road running (marathons specifically). On the road, it’s pretty boring. You don’t see anything interesting and it’s just the same road over and over again, 90° turns, and thousands of people around you the whole time. With trail running, sometimes it’s just you and nature, the terrain changes completely from wide and flat to technical singletrack to switchbacks. The views are INCREDIBLE, whether it be of the ocean or the mountains or a wide open field. Sometimes you see someone ahead or hear someone behind, but for the most part it’s just you and nature. It’s great. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to road running only… Maybe if I think I’ll qualify for Boston. That’s still a goal in the back of my mind somewhere.

Race Report: San Diego Triathlon Classic

I went into the race with a goal finish time of 3 hours and 30 minutes. Here’s how that was supposed to break down: 45 minutes for the swim. 1 hour 30 minutes for the bike. 1 hour for the run. 15 minutes for transition and allowing for any technical/mechanical difficulties (potty breaks, flats, dropped chains, bonking,etc.. ). I thought that was a pretty good goal to hit – easily attainable with effort but not to far-fetched that I would get disheartened.

Race Morning – Setting Up

We got up at the not-so-early hour of 5AM. Since the hotel was right next to the race venue, we figured we didn’t need to get up TOO early. Transition was about half full by the time I got there. I headed in to get my area set up (sans bike), and found a good spot in the middle of the rack. Transition was awesome. The racks were super tall (taller than usual) which made it a bit hard to rack the bike, but made it super easy to duck under the rack (which is something that I’ve done in pretty much every race). The racks were also super spread apart, so there was plenty of room between racks to run through and not bump into anyone else.

Race Venue

Minh had just put new brakes on my bike and did some adjustments before the race. I didn’t have a chance to ride it before heading out on Friday, so I had to take it out for a quick ride before the race started. Everything worked beautifully, so I took it into transition to rack. To my surprise, someone racked her bike right on top of my transition area (where I had set up the rest of my stuff). Luckily, there was barely enough room to squeeze my bike in (facing the opposite direction and sandwiched between two other bikes). It wasn’t a huge problem, but a little annoying.

Ratio of Port-o-Potties to Racers was good.. even had some specific for #1 or #2 ONLY!

They cleared out transition at 6:15AM, so everyone was out near the water to watch the pro men start. Water temperature was supposedly 68°, but felt cooler than that. Water visibility was low (very murky, but also very shallow). They had given us a warning flyer at the expo that there are chemicals and PCBs in the water, but that the levels are low enough to be not harmful, or something like that. It was hard to understand because the notice used lots of double negatives. Maybe it said “not unharmful.”

The Swim

Nice shot of the swim course

The swim was ok. I just told myself to keep a good, steady pace and not get psyched out. I got passed by a bunch of girls (but mostly because I started near the front.. don’t want to add extra distance by starting inthe back), but I also passed a bunch of girls later on who must’ve started fast, but slowed down later. I got passed by a bunch of people starting in the wave behind. That as both exhilerating (because I could catch a draft for a few seconds as they were passing) and terrifying (because I got kicked in the face a couple of times). The swim seemed to go on FOREVER (seemed much longer than the IM 70.3), but maybe because I had difficulty sighting (ended up sighting mostly off of other swimmers in front of me) and kept zigzagging. I had some good energy out of the water though, and was able to jog to transition.

Coming in from the Swim.. I actually had the energy to jog!

T1

T1 always takes FOREVER for me. I have the hardest time getting my wetsuit off. And then takes forever to get my socks on with wet feet. Yes.. I wear socks on the bike. I can’t bike without socks. I can’t run without socks. I like my feet to be blister free and snug in my socks.

The Ride

The bike ride was.. unexpected. Since most of the bike course was on the Point Loma Naval Base, we weren’t able to pre-ride and do course recon. I had heard that there was a big hill, but didn’t know really what to expect. I also was hoping that there would be port-o-potties on the course, because I really needed to go. Unfortunately for me, the hill was LONG and STEEP (at least at the beginning) and there were no port-o-potties, so I had to hold it. Actually, the hill was not as bad as I had thought it would be. It looked intimidating, but I just found a good gear (i.e. granny) and kept cranking till I got to the top. My quads were burning, but I made it unscathed, and passed a bunch of people on the way up. The rest of the lap (we had to do two laps) was pretty “easy” with a super fast downhill back to the beginning of the lap. I maxed out at 33.4 mph!!! (in contrast to the 6.2 mph I was cranking going uphill).

Lightning FAST!!!

T2

T2 was much faster than T1, as expected. I just swapped shoes and headed out. Almost forgot to take off my helmet (that would have been embarassing).. but totally forgot to take off my cycling gloves (yes, I wear those too). Ended up having to take them off and stuff them in my pocket for the rest of the run.

The Run

The run was good. My legs felt a little off after the bike leg, but my main focus was finding a port-o-pottie. I still had to go, and now I REALLY had to go. I knew there were port-o-potties outside transition, but they weren’t on the run course (and I wasn’t about to add extra distance to my run). So I ended up holding it… for about a mile. Then the course FINALLY meets up with a bathroom.. took longer than expected because I actually had to WAIT for a stall. But, I was happy to be relieved, and continued on my run.

Heading out on the run.. this is after I FINALLY got to use a bathroom..

My right shin was acting up (shin splints??? I hope not), but eventually it went away. I was able to find a good groove for the run, stopping to walk for a few seconds here and there when I would get a side stitch or hunger pang (I didn’t take any gels in transition like I was supposed to, and ended up only taking 2 GUs during the entire race). The run was a nice flat course through NTC Park, with half of it on dirt/grass, and the other half on asphalt/sidewalks. It consisted of two 5k loops, which felt like forever, but ended up going by pretty quickly. I finished just under and hour, and when I look back I think I could have pushed myself a little harder on the run and gotten an even better time (break 3 hours maybe??). Overall, though, I was really happy with my run leg.

RESULTS

I pretty much smashed my goal time of 3 hours and 30 minutes. Even though I finished in the middle of my age group (19 out of 41), I finished 25 minutes ahead of my planned goal… 3 hours and 5 minutes!!! Here are the stats:

Swim Leg – 1500m – 0:39:47
T1 – 0:04:18
Bike Leg – 40k – 1:20:58
T2 – 0:01:43
Run Leg – 10k – 0:58:45
Total Time: 3:05:31

F25-29 AG Rank: 19 out of 41
Gender Rank: 129 out of 255
Overall Rank: 504 out of 771

Post-Race

The folks organizing the San Diego Triathlon Classic really know how to take care of their racers. They had pizza and drinks and fruit and snacks… but most importantly.. they had BEER AND WINE!!! They also had a really cool “home-made” trophy for top 5 finishers in each age group, and a sweet raffle for some Zipp wheels. Overall, it was a great experience. .. and I got to see Chris McCormack (not during the race, but after). I should have tried to get my picture taken with him, but I didn’t think about it till after the fact. He won, of course.

Chris McCormack saying a few words about the race..

GALLERY:

Let’s GO!!!

Race Venue

Ratio of Port-o-Potties to Racers was good.. even had some specific for #1 or #2 ONLY!

Swim Start and Finish was up/down these stairs

Pretty view of the water… was pretty dark that morning..

We ended up taking one of these signs home with us.

Shot of Transition before the race..

Floating around waiting for my wave start..

Swim Start.. I think i’m either right next to or behind the buoy..

This is my wave.. of on the 1500 m swim…

Nice shot of the swim course

Coming in from the Swim.. I actually had the energy to jog!

Heading out of T1.. Trying to adjust the aerobottle.. it was rubbing on the wheel..

Heading out on the Bike Leg.. still needing to go to the bathroom..

See you later, MINH!

Chris McCormack coming in off the bike.. with his puffy cheeks!!

Back for the last few miles after two laps on the bike..

Lightning FAST!!!

Check out this guys CRAZY “aero” helmet that he paper mache’d together!!!

Heading back to T2.. looks like I’m illegally drafting.. but we weren’t going fast enough for it to matter..

The run course ran along side the water that we swam in earlier..

Heading out on the run.. this is after I FINALLY got to use a bathroom..

Grabbing some water at the aid station.. Minh told me later that they ran out of cups..

Need to learn how to drink and run without spilling all over myself..

Home stretch on the run.. trying to give it all I had left..

Stuffing my face with bananas after the race..

Puffy cheeks full of banana-y goodness..

I’m thinking I don’t want to go use any of these.. haha..

Cool “home-made” trophies

Pro Mens Podium.. Of course IM World Champ Chris McCormack would win…

Chris McCormack saying a few words about the race..

One of the race organizers, trying to be “inconspicuously” out of the way..

Zipp Wheels (404 front, 808 rear) being raffled off

Pre-Race Report: San Diego Triathlon Classic (EXPO)

I’ve been doing triathlons for about a year now.. and here’s the funny thing… I’ve never actually completed an olympic distance event. My first triathlon ever was the Los Angeles Triathlon last year. I had originally signed up for the olympic distance, but switched to the sprint the day before. And even then, I didn’t do the swim. The second triathlon I had signed up for the Big Rock Triathlon at Lake Perris. I had signed up for the olympic distance, but ended up doing only one lap on the swim (because I thought I was going to DIE) and then did the rest of the race. Since then, it’s been a bunch of sprint distance races and the Ironman 70.3 California in Oceanside. Until this weekend…. heading south for the San Diego Triathlon Classic.

Pre-Race:

I took off work early on Friday so that we could beat the traffic heading down to San Diego. We had packed everything in the car in the morning so that we could leave straight from work, rather than having to run home first (which is a little out of the way). We were on the road to San Diego by 3:15, and the drive was relatively smooth – took about 2 hours with light traffic around Oceanside/Camp Pendleton.

We went to the Expo first, to make sure that I got all checked-in before they closed at 7pm. I was already hungry, but figured I’d stick it out to get some schwag. Good thing too, becuase they had a wine/beer garden set up (compliments of the sponsors – Barefoot Bubbly and Stone Brewery). They also had cheese and crackers and fruits available to snack on.

Barefoot Bubbly at the Wine/Beer Garden

Free Food/Snacks provided during the Expo

Cheese, Crackers, and Fruit to go with our FREE wine and beer

After the expo, Minh and I were satiated for a little while, so we decided to walk down to the new Moment Cycle Sport store at Liberty Station to enter the raffle. They were going to raffle off a set of Zipp Wheels (404 for the front and 808 for the back) after the awards ceremony on race day. We got a little lost on the way to the store… actually.. we walked right past it and then couldn’t find it for a while. Instead, we took fun pictures in the abandoned/deserted halls. We did eventually find the store (which was closed) and signed up for the raffle.

WEEEE!!!

YAY!!!

Liberty Station used to be the Navel Training Center

After the expo and scavenger hunt, we headed to the hotel to check-in. It’s a little bit deceiving to say “we headed to the hotel” since the hotel was right next to the park where the expo and race was going to be. (Note to self: If possible, try to get a hotel RIGHT NEXT TO the race venue. It saves SO MUCH time and energy in the morning and afterwards getting your stuff there and back and getting cleaned up and such). It was a pretty nice place. They only had dbl/dbl rooms left when I booked, so we ended up with a huge bed to throw our junk on. We settled in a little bit and found a place to park the bike before heading out for dinner.

Getting settled in.. this place is more than 2x bigger than the last place we stayed (i.e. cruise)

Parking spot for the bike.. for the night..

I have been craving Five Guys since they opened their FIRST OC LOCATION a couple months ago. Unfortunately, it’s all the way in Anaheim Hills (nowhere close to Fountain Valley) and the one time we were in the area, the line was out the door (and Minh was not about to stand in it). Luckily for me, there was a Five Guys at Liberty Station. I didn’t want to be completely unhealthy, since the race was the next day, so I only ate half of my baby burger and a handful of fries. We also stopped by Trader Joe’s and Vons for pre-race breakfast and water. Then it was back to the hotel for bed.

These potatoes will soon become delicious fries.. Five Guys Fries blows In-n-Out Fries OUT OF THE WATER!!!

Baby Burger with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayo, and grilled mushrooms

Race Day Report – coming soon…

Race Report: Over the Hump Series Finale

Seems like summer is truly coming to an end, especially with the finale of the Over the Hump Mountain Bike Race Series, which has comprised of most of my mountain bike racing season. The conditions were perfect for the series finale last night: perfect temperature (not too hot, not too cold), sunset scheduled for AFTER racers finished, water truck was out to relieve us of some of the dust on the course. Over 400 riders came out to participate in this last race of the season, which is the most of all 12 races. Lots of spectators out to watch their friends and family give it one last go for the series podium, and to watch the showdown between Sid Taberlay and Tinker Juarez. I came into the final race knowing that I had third place in the bag as long as I finished.

Showdown between Sid (354) and Tinker (949).. Sid ends up winning by a minute..

Race start was smooth enough. The girls started off with a pretty fast speed, and I got towards the front coming up the first climb. But, we ended up bottle-necking through the singletrack, which took my lead down to nothing. I also lost the girls coming out onto the flats (man.. they can fly!). This was the first race that they added back in a little drop onto the “beach” before going over the land bridge. I remember this drop being much scarier when Minh and I first started racing last summer. This year, I just rolled over it, making sure not to psych myself out. It seems much steeper during the race than it looks in the picture.

And we're off!!!

Race started off fast..

It looked steeper during the race..

Notice how I still have my helmet visor..

Biking on the "beach".. the leaders aren't THAT far ahead at this point..

I ended up trying to play catch-up until the climb on the backside of the lake. I got pretty close to catching the lead 4 girls, but ended losing steam at the top of the climb. They were out of my sites for the rest of the race.. so I decided to just put my head down and do my best.

I've totally lost the leaders at this point.. but still pushing hard..

Coming around to the second loop, I ended up crashing pretty bad when I hit that single track again. I don’t know really what happened. Either I lost control or grabbed too much on my front brake. Whichever was the cause, I ended up going over my handlebars and crashing head first into the dirt on the first downhill into the singletrack. I also pulled my right calf muscle really bad on the fall. I couldn’t move because it hurt so much. Someone ended up helping me up and moving me out of the way. I limped around a bit trying to stretch out the muscle. In any other race, I would have called it quits, but I needed to finish this race to podium (I had already DNFd or missed 3 races). The course marshall helped straighten out my bike (the handlebars were twisted) and I stretch out enough to make the pain a little bearable. A lot of people passed me while I was trying to recover, but I slowly made my way back.

Down the drop one more time..

Notice now how I no longer have my helmet visor.. and am covered in a thin film of dust..

The rest of the race was just about trying to finish and remain pain free. I could feel my right calf tightening up more and more as I kept pedaling, and my left calf was on the verge of pulling. I alternated flexing and relaxing the muscles to prevent any spasms. My left toes were also starting to feel strained, so I had to wiggle them around in my shoes while pedaling to make sure I could keep the forward motion. I was limping by the end of the race, but I finished. My time wasn’t too bad either, considering I had to stop for a few minutes halfway through the race. I ended up in 8th with a time of 0:56:22.

I limped around a bit afterwards and tried to stretch out my calves and toes. I also stopped by the Dynamic Touch booth to get a much needed massage. Also, stuck around for the awards ceremony.

Final Women’s Beginner podium:

Women's Beginner Podium

1st – Elise Wallace – 439 points
2nd – Deborah Ford – 434 points
3rd – Tran Nguyen – 428 points

Third.. not bad.. Happy with my finish..

We got some sweet awards and schwag for podium-ing in the series:

Cool prizes for podium-ing

- Trophy
- 2 – $25 gift cards to Bike Religion
- 1 – $90 gift certificate to Dynamic Touch (good for 1 one-hour massage)
- SRAM socks by Sock Guy
- Specialized XC Grips
- Specialized Cascade Composite Cage
- 1 tube
- Livewire Energy Chews - Chocolate
- Crank Brothers M10 Multitool

Overall, this was a great series. Not sure if I’ll race the entire series next summer, but will definitely make it out for a few races.

Race Report: August on the Trails

Before I head out on my LONG AWAITED vacation to ALASKA (!!!), I thought I’d post a general race report on the off-road races I’ve checked off this month (so far). Four races to account for: Peters Canyon Summer Series Trail Run #3 and Over the Hump Mountain Bike Races Series Races 8, 9, and 10.

Peters Canyon Summer Trail Run Series Race #3

Love my Oakley Thumps

Slight improvement on my race time from the first race (which had the same course). The race starts at Cedar Grove Park in Tustin. Intead of running the mostly flat main Peters Canyon Trail, we head right up Eucalyptus and run along the ridge (up and down, up and down). Then we finish off the last half of the race coming back on the main Peters Canyon Trail, back to Cedar Grove Park. You would think that hitting the ridge first and getting a nice flat at the end would make the run easier, but you would be wrong. The general consensus (as I walked around eavesdropping on other people’s conversations) was that the clockwise loop (Race #2) was much easier. And it was.. my time was way faster that way than going clockwise.

running AND drinking water at the SAME TIME!!! Crazy multi-tasking!!

Coming back STRONG through the main Peters Canyon Trail

Smiling because I think this is a PR.. by a couple minutes..

Over the Hump Mountain Bike Race Series – Race #8, #9, and #10

Love my Oakley Jawbones, too

Race #8 was an EPIC FAIL because I DNF’d (again). Just wasn’t feeling it during the pre-ride. This was the first week of running the course in reverse STARTING WITH the single track through the cottonwoods. This was a clusterf**k if I ever saw one. I didn’t get out ahead at the start, so I ended up being stuck behind some juniors through the singletrack. That put me WAY WAY WAY behind right off the bat. Heading to the second half of the course, they added in some extra single track with some short, steep climbs (also very soft). Unfortunately, I again got stuck behind a kid right as we were getting into the single track. He was having a BAD race (to say the least). I could tell that he was working way past his anaerobic threshold, and was cursing up a storm. He ended up screaming and falling into a PIT. I stopped to make sure he was ok and get him out of the pit (and out of the way of other racers). Needless to say, I just called it quits once I got back to the start. I was already way to far behind to even think about placing, and I just wasn’t feeling it that night (mentally or physically).

already stuck behind at the beginning of the race

At this point.. I'm already contemplating whether or not to finish the race..

Race #9 was much better on the morale. The course was the same as last week, with one change. There was an optional section of rolling climbs instead of a steep “hike-a-bike” section. I tried both options during the warm-up pre-ride and decided that they were equivalent (you ended up at the top at the same time, regardless of which way you took). I would make it a “game-time” decision during the race depending on which was seemed “faster” (i.e. less crowded).

Right before our group started, Sid Taberlay (pro-rider for Sho-Air) was coming back through the finish area.. with NO RIDERS anywhere close to following behind. He ended up winning the race by MORE than 3 minutes. CRAZY!

There goes 5x Australian National Champ.. just in a local race..

I was able to stick right on Elise’s wheel right at the beginning of the race, so I didn’t get left behind. This also allowed me to save some energy as I wasn’t trying to play catch-up the whole time. At one point, I passed Elise and jumped on Jennifer’s wheel (she was in the lead at the start of the race). When we got to the optional split-off, she took the rolling climbs, so I followed her up that. I had a hard time getting up some of the later climbs, which set me back a little bit (Elise and Wendy – new to the race passed), but not too far. I was able to get back behind Elise for most of the rest of the race. When we got back to the optional detour, Elise went straight toward the hike-a-bike, so I followered her up that. However, I had some bad lines (and got stuck behind some walkers) on the later climbs, which sent me further back from her at the end. Ended up in third at the end of the race, which isn’t horrible.

Race start.. it looks like i'm in the back, but I move my way up quickly..

Passing Jennifer after the land bridge.. don't get THAT much gap between us, but I pulled for a little while..

Positioned and ready for Lap 2

Coming over the land bridge.. you can see Wendy hopping back on her bike after a wipeout when she took this turn too sharply..

Race #10 was the Race#9 course, but in reverse. (with the rolling singletrack split and all) So.. we had some nice climbing, but NO GOOD descents (at least not ones that you could take very quickly). The race was pretty tight at the beginning, with less than 15 seconds seperating the beginner women’s field. But it was tough for me to keep up. There were three ladies at the front that are just crazy fast for beginners (haven’t been doing the whole series), so Elise, Debbie, and I were pretty much chasing most of the race. Those long climbs were where we’d be able to catch up (except Lauren, she flies up those climbs), but the descents (single-track especially) and the flats slowed us (at leat me) down a bit. I also wiped out on a sharp turn, which left me with TWO HUGE bruises. Finished up in 6th, which actually sucks a lot.. but I’ll settle with that. This will still put me in 2nd overall at the end of the series.

Women actually starting IN FRONT of juniors this time..

Lean into the turn... or trying at least..

Just after I wiped out.. trying to get going again..

Stupid "hike-a-bike" section.. might be rideable if it weren't so SOFT and after a turn..

Somehow.. didn't keep the gap this small till the end.. she lost me on the backside of the lake..

Finishing up the race

Only one more race left (for me) in the series. We’ll see if I can manage a win (??). We’ll see. It’d be nice to get atleast ONE win in the whole series.. but it all boils down to whether or not I can keep up.. and then sprint it out at the end.

UPDATE: I almost forgot.. 

My bike started making funny noises after I wiped out in the first lap.. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but since I was still able to move forward, I didn’t think much of it. Minh checked it out yesterday while I was out on my training ride, and found this little kink in my chain:

How did I manage to pop this rivet AND have the chain stay intact??

It’s a wonder that it didn’t just completely break during the race. Still shifted smoothly and everything.

Race Report: Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon

To kick off “One Tri a Month” lead-up to Silverman, I participated in the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon earlier this month (first Saturday, August 7). My last triathlon was back in May (Fountain Valley Triathlon), which doesn’t completely count since it was a pool swim.

RACE... this way..

The CP Sprint Tri is slightly different than the typical sprint triathlon. I know that a “sprint” is any distance less than Olympic, but the format of this race was odd. The swim was “short”, only 500 meters (which does not translate into “easy”). The bike leg was “long”, at 30k (roughly 18 miles). And the run was not quite a 5k (I logged just under 3 miles on my Garmin). For the most part the race went smoothly, as most races go when organized by the U.S. Military.

Insanely PACKED transition area

Staked out my TINY spot in the sea of people

The Swim

The swim was absolutely brutal. You would think, “500 meters? Piece of cake.. 10 minutes tops.” Only.. you’d be totally wrong. This was my second race that was a true beach swim. I’m talking waves crashing at seemingly irregular intervals and getting seriously tossed around. My first was the L.A. Triathlon (which I didn’t even officially finish). I despise ocean swims that involve diving under waves (I’ll take a protected harbor any day of the week over having to dolphin into waves).. mostly because I’m just not comfortable with it. I get this overwhelming feeling like I’m going to drown (nearly did at the LA Tri). Baby waves I can handle, but large swells will be the death of me.

Watching the waves go ahead of us wasn’t that comforting either. Don’t think all us ladies didn’t notice the big, strong guys getting pulled out of the water and calling it quits. Also, don’t think we didn’t notice how LONG 500 meters took. I decided on the beach that the goal was to just get through the swim, no records need to be set. I’m not THAT strong of a swimmer, so to get pass the waves and back to shore safely was the main goal. I could make up time on the Bike.

You can't tell in this picture, but the waves were HUGE

I was happy that I was able to get pass the waves, although it took a lot of doggy-paddling and side-stroking. It was actually a bit easier than I had expected becuase the lifeguards were there letting us know when to duck down for waves and when to “get a move on.” It was difficult for me to get a rhythm at all during the entire swim leg, just because even once we got to the buoys, the water was still pretty choppy. The real difficult part was getting back to shore. I never properly learned the art of body surfing, so I couldn’t catch any of the waves that would pull me into shore. I would try to start swimming to catch them.. but they would just wash over me… and then toss me around a bit. I made it back to shore about 18 minutes or so later. Getting out of the water, I was a little disoriented, and had a hard time jogging back to transition, so I just took a slow walk to recover my breath as best as I could.

T1

Spent a long time in transition chatting a bit with some of the other girls that came out of the water about the same time as me. Lots of the bikes around me were already gone, so I knew that some of those other girls in my wave handled the water much better than I did.

Bike

Took me a little while to get situated on the bike, catch my breath and take in some water, and get a good rhythm going. But the bike leg was relatively “easy” once I recovered from the swim. The bike leg consists of mostly rolling hills, with a couple longer climbs. I did make up a lot of time passing tons of girls in my AG, but I also got passed by a few ladies (mostly NOT in my AG). I just decided to keep my cadence and go my fastest, making sure to save a little for the run. Came into T2 in just over an hour.

Heading out on the bike.. why do I ALWAYS put my aero helmet on crooked??

 

Back into T2.. man... that lady looks TIRED..

T2

Nothing to report here. Just threw on my running shoes and a hat and took off.

Run

The run was good. Nice and flat. I ran/jog most of it, only slowing at the water stations enough to actually get the water in my mouth (running and open water cups do not mix well.. or do.. but end up all over my front side). Got passed by some ladies in my AG who came in on the bike after me, but just run faster. I came in on the run in just under half an hour, which is good for me. There was an older gentleman who was using me as a pacer at the end. He thanked me after the race because I pretty much pulled him to the finish (motivation-wise, not in the drafting-sense). I was happy with my finish time, but decided that I really need to work on my running speed. If I can get a bit faster, then I’ll definitely be more competitive (instead of losing all that time that I gain on the bike).

heading out on the run.. .. Inaugural race for the PINK racing shoes..

 

FINISH LINE!!!

Overall stats:

Swim: 0:18:19
T1: 0:04:09
Bike: 1:02:31
T2: 0:02:38
Run: 0:27:10

OVERALL: 1:54:47
PLACE: 24/50 W25-29 AG; 602 Overall

july, July, JULY! never seemed so strange…

FIRST NOTE: Gave the blog a new look.. what do you think?

I’ve been really really bad about updating my blog, I know. It’s not so much figuring out what to write, or even actually getting it all typed out.. it’s downloading – sorting – uploading – captioning pictures. If it weren’t for Minh, pictures would never get off the camera.

Anyway.. July has been an odd month for me. It would seem that there was a lot on the calendar, but I don’t like very much happened. July was also very sparse on the race schedule, with just one trail running race (Peter’s Canyon Summer Trail Run Series Race #2 – July 8 ) and one mountain bike race (Over The Hump Series Race #7 – July 27 – starting up again after a three week break). I tried to take this opportunity to get some good base miles in, but probably only managed a few “long”(er) rides, and to hit the gym (had a one-week pass to Los Caballeros). I honestly don’t know where the month went, but now that I’m at the beginning of August, I feel like July has sent internal morale and physical fitness into a downward spiral. Here’s the month in pictures:

July 1: Got these treats in the mail.. put them on the tri bike later in the month.

Zipp, Zipp... HURRAY!!!

July 3: Long road ride from home, up Back Bay towards the Marketplace and back.

Proceed with CAUTION!

Solid ride: 51.62 miles in 3:19

July 4: Hit up Paul’s Coffee Shop for some “Happy Birthday America!” breakfast. Was excited to see that it would be featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives later this month.

Guy was HERE!

Also.. saw this monstrosity on the way to dinner.. this is the result of fireworks at Irvine Regional Park:

Luckily.. no property damaged or people injured

July 5: Had the day off and was supposed to go mountain biking with Minh at Crystal Cove (El Moro). Unfortunately, my forgetful self forgot socks, so that failed. I did, however, remember to bring swimming gear (wetsuit and goggles), so we ended up doing that instead. Well.. I ended up doing that, Minh just sat on the beach listening to music.

July 8: Peter’s Canyon Trail Run Series Race #2 – Was feeling pretty good at this race and cut my race time by a few minutes

Singletrack descent.. why I love trails..

Smilin' on the home stretch to the finish line

Recovery liquids..

July 10: Second attempt at Harding Truck Trail. Made it up much further this time (5 miles), but not all the way to the top. Minh turned around at about 3 miles. Afterwards, took a stroll around the Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary.

WELCOME!

One of the many "wildlife" at the sanctuary

"Minh, what are you looking at?"

And this was waiting for me at home…

 

 

"BRAND NEW" cross bike!

July 24:

Road ride through Santiago Canyon – Minh has decided that I need to work more hills into my training. This was a tough ride, but I managed to get through it. Started at Cedar Grove Park (in Tustin) and rode out just past Cook’s Corner and back. 31.03 miles in 2:12

LA Street Food Fest at the Rose Bowl – For some reason it felt like we spent the whole day here, standing in lines and sampling street food, but it was only a few hours. Was a good experience, but seriously over-crowded and we didn’t have enough time to try everything. Some vendors ran out of food before the end of the night, which just shows poor planning on their part.

ready to stuff our faces with delicious street food

 

mmm... street food...

.. if I didn't go to college.. what would the future hold??

July 27:

Over the Hump Mountain Bike Race Series, Race #7 – Not a bad ride this week, but still finished behind Elise (actually.. I finished 3rd). I was going strong for most of the race, but she passed me at the top of the last climb, and I knew it was over then. I’m much stronger on the climbs than I am on the single tracks and turns. Once she passed me, I let my guard down and put it on cruise control. Not a good idea.. I didn’t realize that there was a girl (Lauren) close behind me, and she passed me right before the finish.

Was stickin' close to Elise for most of the race

Got passed by Lauren just before the finish

July 30 – August 1:

Spent the weekend in MIAMI (South Beach) for Karen’s Bachelorette Party. It was a lot of fun and super relaxing, but I’ll probably never go back there. Crossing Miami, FL, off my list of places to see and things to do.

View from South Beach (obviously, not of the ocean)