This was my first marathon and although I had trouble and missed my goal of 3:30 by 8 minutes, I am still incredibly happy with my time, especially as I would be the first to admit, I made a lot of rookie mistakes. (Splits in brackets belong to Philip Steinman, my LA Road Runner Group 2 (3:30) pace leader).
My first mistake was needing to go to the bathroom on the start line. I wasn't desperate so I let it go in the hope that I would get my fluids in balance once on the run.
In the first mile, it was all about grouping together with Philip and the others to make sure I was holding back enough. In the jostle, I managed to get just ahead of the group, but not by more than 10 meters. Although I kept trying to slow myself down to join the group properly, it felt like they would also slow and my relative position didn't change.
Mile 1: 7:41 (7:53) // Philip started ahead of me so I went faster to catch him
Mile 2: 7:35 (7:42)
Mile 3: 7:52 (7:54)
Mile 4: 8:24 (7:57)
As we took the hill at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, everything felt good but I was closer to the Cliff 3:30 group in front than Philip behind me. I desperately wanted to drop back but I also realized that I wanted to buffer a small amount of time to do a bathroom break and rejoin not too far behind.
Mile 5: 8:08 (8:26)
Mile 6: 8:40 (8:16) // Bathroom Break
To my surprise, when I exited the porter potty, with the though of having to chase down my group, Philip was right there. I thought he was up with the others so this confused me a little. He seemed to be on his own so I tucked in with him as we ran around Echo Lake.
Mile 7: 7:54 (7:57)
Mile 8: 7:54 (8:02)
Mile 9: 7:52 (8:08)
Without realizing it, as I dodged puddles and concentrated on avoiding crowds to take decent apexes, I was creeping away from Philip again. This was the part of my race that I think was my biggest mistake.While looking around to locate him, I saw others from group 2 just ahead of me. Stupidly, I decided to try to run up to them, rather than hold back. The problem with doing this was that there was someone else from the group just ahead of them and then the big pack from the Cliff 3:30 pace group ahead of them.
All of a sudden I craved being in a big group again so I set out to try to catch them. Big, Big mistake. I ended up on my own in limbo and making only slight progress. To top it off, Philip was probably only a couple of meters back the whole time and I should have been running on his shoulder. For some reason I couldn't locate him while he probably had me in sight the whole time.
Mile 10: 7:55 (7:48)
Mile 11: 7:41 (7:50)
Mile 12: 7:45 (7:54)
Mile 13: 7:45 (8:00)
While Philip was thinking at this point that he is on target for a 3:30 finish with a negative split, my world was feeling completely different. I was getting close to the Cliff 3:30 group and could see Carlos and others from our group but I didn't want to be going this fast. I just wanted to get up with the group and then slow my pace again. It seemed to be taking forever though.
Mile 14: 7:38 (7:47)
Mile 15: 7:15 (7:28) // Bridged the gap to the Cliff 3:30 group on the steep downhill
I finally caught the group ahead, joining Carlos and some of the others. The problem here was that I think I put my right leg under stress on the steep downhill and although relieved to be in the big group, I think I had taken more out of my body than I had wanted.
Mile 16: 8:03 (7:48)
Mile 17: 8:28 (8:01)
As my legs start to stiffen and towards the back of the pack, Philip glides past looking great. I see him nod to the others from group 2 and in a smooth move, takes them off the front of the pack. This is the last I saw of these guys and I was struggling to stay with the Cliff Group too.
For the next 4 miles I knew my body had hit a wall. My focus changed from hitting my 3:30 goal to getting to the finish as fast as I could. I started walking though water stops and taking on fruit and snacks in case I was low in nutrients. This is new territory for me so I tried everything. I am guessing my run pace was around 8:45 but with taking on fluids and stopping to stretch I was adding seconds here and there. I just wanted to keep as much form as possible.
Mile 18: 9:02 (7:59)
Mile 19: 8:47 (7:52)
Mile 20: 9:16 (7:53)
Mile 21: 9:32 (8:10)
Jumping torrents of water running down hills and big puddles was taking it out of my already sore legs, but worse than stopping was knowing that I was just extending the amount of time I would be out there. I focused on short strides with good cadence and it started to feel like I was in a sustainable rhythm.
Mile 22: 9:08 (8:19)
Mile 23: 9:05 (8:14)
Brentwood was amazing for me. I knew I was hurting but I also knew I would get to the finish and the last couple of miles would be better than the previous 6 or so.
At the end of mile 24 I see my wife and 2 year old son with a group of our friends. I'd already said goodbye to a 3:30 time so I figured it was time to reward them for standing out in the cold rain for hours waiting for me to arrive. I give my wife and son a big hug and a kiss and high fived all of my friends, before tearing myself away and setting off for the finish line.
Mile 24: 9:18 (7:58)
I stop briefly to encourage fellow group 2 buddy Jamie who looked in a world of pain and was briefly walking. He sets off faster than me and for a brief moment think that I couldn't stay with him. I dig deep when I see that during my family stop, the Cliff 3:40 pace group had overtaken me. I'm not having that I thought.
Mile 25: 8:34 (7:42)
I picked up the pace and reeled them in, overtaking that group and opening up a clear gap. No sprint finish for me, but a solid 6:00 mile peak.
Mile 26: 8:18 (7:25)
Finish Time: 3:38.33
As I said at the start, this was my first marathon. With only 16 weeks of training, I went from doing sprint distance triathlons to running 26.2 miles in under 3:40. I think next time, I will get in a bit more mileage and maybe some speed work.
My Performance
iPhone GPS Data
Now, most of the people that witnessed the race would be wondering now why I haven't really mentioned the weather. For those that didn't know, a freak winter storm passed through LA during the race and actually hospitalized a lot of participants due to hypothermia. The honest reason why I didn't mention it above too much was because I really believe it didn't affect my race as much as my basic tactics and I wanted to stress this. On the start line, everyone pretty much agreed that having rain would be better than a hot day. I don't think we really expected a cold and windy storm like this but to an extent, this statement still held true. Let's look at my race again quickly from the weather point of view.
Going back to the beginning of the race we started in the dry. It took me only 16 seconds to cross the start line after the gun went off. The luxury of being in a the sub 4 hour start corral.
By the first mile, the rain had started. It felt good. Refreshing. It grew heavier but stopped again soon after. If the race continued like this, it would be perfect.
At around mile 4 or 5 it was raining again and I saw a flash of light to my right. I asked those beside me if it was lightning or a camera flash going off. Just as we were thinking the latter, a low rumble filled the air followed by a massive crash of thunder. A huge cheer went up from everyone. What are we doing running in a thunder storm. It still felt great though.
It was probably around the half way mark that it started to feel miserable. The rain was coming down heavier and the intervals between the showers was reducing. The problem now was that we were not having any opportunities to dry out. Standing water was a problem as well as small streams of water across the road. We are always warned to try to keep our feet dry and this was now impossible. It wasn't too uncomfortable, it was more the worry that my feet may suffer and affect the second half of the race.
Beverly Hills. This was fart of the race that I thought I would look forward too. All I can say is that Beverly Hills does not look as appealing in the rain. The roads were flooding and we had to leap and bound around rivers and lakes, up onto side walks. My legs didn't like the plyometric workout that was being asked of them. I suppose I should do more of that in training next time around :-)
The final quarter of the race was all about getting to the finish. It was cold, it was wet and the weather was set in for the day. As we got to the sea front, the cold rain and wind combined for a dangerous combination. This is what was causing the hypothermia in so many athletes. Luckily, my wife came to the rescue and got me into a warm car pretty quickly.
We had finished a race that we could definitely talk about for years to come.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Malibu Triathlon Classic 2010 - Race Report
Last year I saw this race as my breakthrough event. I got on the podium for the first time, although technically I finished 4th so this was due to the podium being 5 deep. That being said, it was by far my best result and as the race was very competitive, it lit the fire that has now allowed me to focus on being competitive in the events that I enter.
Up to this point, I have had a great year so far with one second place and three age group firsts. My focus on this race was to improve on last years result.
Before the race
I like to think my pre-race routine is kind of set at the moment and I felt nice and relaxed going into my warm up. I took all of my nutrition as usual and after the mandatory pre-race talk from the race organizer Michael Epstein, I took to the water for a good warm up. The water was cold at 58 degrees F but all of our recent practice sessions this year have been similar so not long into the warm up I felt pretty comfortable. I watched the first wave head off and saw a great swim from Chris Lieto.
After the 3rd wave had set off, I made my way to the start, hooking up with fellow team mate Jamie Specht.
Swim
As the gun went off, I raced into the water. Even though I always try to start at the front, It always feels like I am a bit slow off the mark. This time was no exception.
 | |
| Myself and Jamie on the right |
T1
Bike
The chase was on. Now was the time to try to reel my two friends in on the bike. If I hadn't done it by the end of the bike, they would both probably have me on the run so this was the crucial stage for me.
 | |
| Sorting out my feet |
The boys were nowhere in sight so at first, I did not have the confidence that I would reel them in, but about 4 miles into the course, I spotted what looked like Josh up ahead. I put in a push and closed the gap. The pass was made on a false flat I think and I made sure I had good speed to take him and open up a gap. It was not long before I passed Jamie in a similar move.
At the turn, I realized that the wind had actually been behind and was now a head wind. This was different to previous years and also my recent training.
In a way I knew this was going to be to my advantage due to my strength on the bike but it also meant that my pacing was out. There are normally climbs on the course on the way back that would allow you to treat them as 30mph+ false flats when a tail wind is present that today were transformed into pretty hefty obstacles.
As I rounded the final turn that takes us back into the beach parking lot, I looked out for Josh. It was a good 30 seconds after the turn that we passed each other. This meant that I had about a 1 minute lead.I nearly lost it on a speed bump on the way on though as I mistimed a pass and had to bunny hop it instead of squeezing around the side. We had been warned against this and it is only because I have been practicing this on my way into work that I was able to avoid a catastrophe. It even gained me some time as I was up to nearly 30mph at the time.
T2
My dismount went well and I made good ground through transition. My shoes went on and I chose to keep the glasses on too this time.
As I was exiting transition to head out on the run, I saw Josh coming in on the bike. This actually put me about 2 minutes ahead.
Run
At the turnaround, Josh didn't seem to be taking time out of me so I maintained my pace and tried to finish strong. Josh's brother Zach was also doing great at this point. He was way ahead of me from the wave before. Last year I caught him on the run but this time he was easily going to stay clear.
Finish
 | |
| My Move |
After the race
The race felt good and at first I thought I had finished close to my target time but then I realized that I had miscalculated the finish clock and the 15 minute, wave 4 offset. I had hoped to go 4 minutes faster than last year but in fact, I was 4 minutes slower. But everything felt great. What had gone wrong.
My swim felt good but was actually over 1 minute slower than last year. In fact all of my splits were slower than last year except for my run time that was only 4 seconds quicker.
The bike course may have been slower than last year because of the head wind on the normally fast way back but the only explanation I can offer that explains the other times were a combination of back issues leading into the race and a lack of racing effort. By the latter part, I mean that I don't feel I ever really left my comfort zone and could maybe have pushed harder.
Podium
Although the times were not exactly to my liking, the podium was a much better result. Although I only finished 16th Overall, I finished 2nd in the M30-34 age group. To make things even better, Josh Wills finished only one place back in 3rd and to round off the podium, Jamie managed to pull off a great performance to grab 5th. Congratulations to Tyler Willingham for taking first place by a convincing margin.
 | |
| Myself, Tyler, Josh and Jamie |
Zach pulled off an equally great result grabbing 5th in the M25-29 age group to get himself a podium position.
Lots of things to take away from the race but a great day had by all.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Ready to race
So we are 3 days away from the big race of the season for me. I say big not because it is necessarily more important that the others throughout the season, but because this is by far the most competitive event I plan to enter this season, with over 2000 competitors.
I also use this even as a reference to how good my form is and how the seasons training has improved me over previous years.
I have done this race each year for the past 3 years and it was the first triathlon I did in the US when I came over from England 4 years ago.
Last year I finished 4th in my age group and if all goes well, I intend to do even better this year. I have done well this year in other races with three 1st place age group finishes so hopefully I can keep this form going.
My taper is going well and I am holding off a cold I think so fingers crossed, I will make it to Sunday fighting fit. My markers also look positive with both my swim and run paces looking good in training. If I can go into the race relaxed and recovered, it should be good.
I am also leading the Sony Pictures Triathlon Team into this race so from a team point of view, it is looking like a good year. We have over 100 competitors fighting it out against the likes of Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, NBC Universal and Dreamworks. We have raised nearly $50,000 for the Childrens Hospital LA and hope to pull out some fast times on the team this year.
Hopefully I will be reporting a positive race next week.
I also use this even as a reference to how good my form is and how the seasons training has improved me over previous years.
I have done this race each year for the past 3 years and it was the first triathlon I did in the US when I came over from England 4 years ago.
Last year I finished 4th in my age group and if all goes well, I intend to do even better this year. I have done well this year in other races with three 1st place age group finishes so hopefully I can keep this form going.
My taper is going well and I am holding off a cold I think so fingers crossed, I will make it to Sunday fighting fit. My markers also look positive with both my swim and run paces looking good in training. If I can go into the race relaxed and recovered, it should be good.
I am also leading the Sony Pictures Triathlon Team into this race so from a team point of view, it is looking like a good year. We have over 100 competitors fighting it out against the likes of Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, NBC Universal and Dreamworks. We have raised nearly $50,000 for the Childrens Hospital LA and hope to pull out some fast times on the team this year.
Hopefully I will be reporting a positive race next week.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Strawberry Fields Triathlon 2010 - Race Report
This was my first trip up to the Strawberry Fields Triathlon. The Breath of Life triathlon was just up the coast a month before and I used that primarily to get used to the flat courses in this area. It actually shared a large part of the bike course so I really felt at home with this before we got there.
This would be my first proper ocean based race of the year. Breath of Life was in the ocean but was sheltered inside the Ventura harbor.
So back to this one. I actually nearly pulled out as I managed to pick up a cold since the "Keep LA Running" 5K. My head was bunged up but I seemed to be just about holding off a transition to a chest infection. I decided to go for it anyway as a friend of mine had told me that you tend to feel better during activity and it will come back afterwards.
My wife Sam and my son Ben, were packed into the car and off we set up the coast. We were staying just down the road from the venue with a beautiful view of the marina so I was quite excited.
I had new wheels for this event and for the first time ever, I was racing with a disc wheel. It was actually going to be a set of Zipp 808's with a disc cover at the back. This is an affordable alternative to getting two rear wheels to cope with different wind conditions. As it happened, it was really windy by the race venue when we checked in on Saturday afternoon. It is typically less windy early in the morning so after a discussion with race director Jamie Silber, I decided to stick with the disc.
That night we chilled out at a local restaurant. I had been told that the transition is fully allocated which means that there is no fighting over prime spots. You have your space allocated and you go with it.
Other than having less of a scrabble in the morning, it also means there is no rush to get to the venue.
A relaxed and very quiet night meant that I was feeling pretty good in the morning. I was to ride to the venue on my own and Sam and Ben would have breakfast at the hotel and walk down later.
The ride in went well and I still arrived pretty early but things didn't go quite to plan with regards to pre race preparation. I rushed down a small energy bar and half a breakfast cookie. I intended to eat a lot more than this but I didn't feel like eating and I was rushed for time. I also missed my usual GU gel and only just squeezes in a GU just before the swim.
Due to a long toilet queue, I was now running really late. I was using a new wetsuit for this race so I had been hoping to allow a good amount of time to warm up and get used to it. Unfortunately at this point, I was rushing to get into it with only 5 minutes left before the start. I ran down to the beach and jumped straight in. The water was really cold. I'm normally good with cold water but this was really really cold. I submerged myself quickly and took a couple of strokes. For some reason I just couldn't adapt. I needed much longer and I didn't have the time.
We all lined up for the start. Luckily they were running behind otherwise I don't think I would have been able to get into the water at all. The countdown started and the gun went off. I don't feel I got off too fast but at the same time, it wasn't too slow.
As we hit the water, the cold hit hard again. As usual, it was much better the second time but I didn't navigate the surf particularly well. I seemed to go from being near the front before the waves to seeing at least 20 people ahead of me. Not a great start. Once I was swimming, things calmed down. The first buoy arrived really quickly and wasn't even clear of the surf. I went slightly wider to avoid the break and arrived at the second buoy really quickly indeed. After the final turn to shore, I heard a panicked shout before being hit by a big wave. I didn't have time to react and got tumbled but I stayed in the wave and finally got released right in the shallows. I stood up and looked across to my left to see Josh, my training partner, also standing up. We exchanged a funny hello and set off up the beach.
My run up the sand towards transition was solid and I had a good pace going. In past events I have felt that this was a really weak part of my race but Breath of Life was a real turn around for me and I kept this going into this race.
The clock showed that I pulled out 10 seconds on Josh just running up into transition. Josh made up a bit of time during transition where I had a slight fumble getting my wetsuit off over my timing chip. I think I had it too low where it should have been under the wetsuit. Something to remember for next time.
I left transition just before Josh and just after the lead pack. Unlike Breath of Life, I could see all but one of the riders ahead of me. One rider passed me while I was still securing my feet in my shoes but once in, I was able to hold him about 20 yards ahead of me. We seemed to be pulling away from the rest of the pack which felt good but at the same time, I didn't feel like I had the zip in my legs like the previous race.
On the back of the course, I put in a slight push. I was able to take the place away from the other guy. At this point, I was wondering whether I was leading the race. This was soon corrected by a motorbike and the leader passing us going the other way after the turn around point. He was about 1-2 minutes ahead. It did mean we were running a close 2nd and 3rd with another pack about a minute behind. I didn't see at this point, but Josh was in this one.
The rest of the bike course went smoothly with the other guy just passing me again. I had a great running dismount taking the place back on the way into transition. This transition was really fast and I grabbed my stuff and just went for it.
We left transition together again and set out on the run. My legs didn't feel great at this point and the other guy quickly passed me. Unlike the bike leg, I didn't feel like I was able to hold him.
This is still a problem for me but it is one of the main focus points to my training now. About 4 minutes into the run, another guy passed me. He was going really fast and passed both me and the second place man pretty quickly. I was now in 4th on the road but luckily I was fast enough to hold on to this place to the finish. As I came up to the final turn, I saw Sam cheering me on with Josh's wife Leandra. It's always nice to see this and I gave Sam a high five as I passed.
Josh was still a minute back and we did a near identical run. I think Josh was 3 seconds faster than me.
The good thing was that I was the first to finish in my age group. Josh was second just a minute back at the finish. We had talked about this being our goal for the race and a 1-2 finished meant a good race for us both.
Overall, I was pushed down one place by the time the later waves had finished, but I was pleased with my 5th place finish.
With better pre race preparation and a clean bill of health, I am pretty confident there is a better performance in me for next time.
Next stop, Malibu.
This would be my first proper ocean based race of the year. Breath of Life was in the ocean but was sheltered inside the Ventura harbor.
So back to this one. I actually nearly pulled out as I managed to pick up a cold since the "Keep LA Running" 5K. My head was bunged up but I seemed to be just about holding off a transition to a chest infection. I decided to go for it anyway as a friend of mine had told me that you tend to feel better during activity and it will come back afterwards.
My wife Sam and my son Ben, were packed into the car and off we set up the coast. We were staying just down the road from the venue with a beautiful view of the marina so I was quite excited.
I had new wheels for this event and for the first time ever, I was racing with a disc wheel. It was actually going to be a set of Zipp 808's with a disc cover at the back. This is an affordable alternative to getting two rear wheels to cope with different wind conditions. As it happened, it was really windy by the race venue when we checked in on Saturday afternoon. It is typically less windy early in the morning so after a discussion with race director Jamie Silber, I decided to stick with the disc.
That night we chilled out at a local restaurant. I had been told that the transition is fully allocated which means that there is no fighting over prime spots. You have your space allocated and you go with it.
Other than having less of a scrabble in the morning, it also means there is no rush to get to the venue.
A relaxed and very quiet night meant that I was feeling pretty good in the morning. I was to ride to the venue on my own and Sam and Ben would have breakfast at the hotel and walk down later.
The ride in went well and I still arrived pretty early but things didn't go quite to plan with regards to pre race preparation. I rushed down a small energy bar and half a breakfast cookie. I intended to eat a lot more than this but I didn't feel like eating and I was rushed for time. I also missed my usual GU gel and only just squeezes in a GU just before the swim.
Due to a long toilet queue, I was now running really late. I was using a new wetsuit for this race so I had been hoping to allow a good amount of time to warm up and get used to it. Unfortunately at this point, I was rushing to get into it with only 5 minutes left before the start. I ran down to the beach and jumped straight in. The water was really cold. I'm normally good with cold water but this was really really cold. I submerged myself quickly and took a couple of strokes. For some reason I just couldn't adapt. I needed much longer and I didn't have the time.
We all lined up for the start. Luckily they were running behind otherwise I don't think I would have been able to get into the water at all. The countdown started and the gun went off. I don't feel I got off too fast but at the same time, it wasn't too slow.
As we hit the water, the cold hit hard again. As usual, it was much better the second time but I didn't navigate the surf particularly well. I seemed to go from being near the front before the waves to seeing at least 20 people ahead of me. Not a great start. Once I was swimming, things calmed down. The first buoy arrived really quickly and wasn't even clear of the surf. I went slightly wider to avoid the break and arrived at the second buoy really quickly indeed. After the final turn to shore, I heard a panicked shout before being hit by a big wave. I didn't have time to react and got tumbled but I stayed in the wave and finally got released right in the shallows. I stood up and looked across to my left to see Josh, my training partner, also standing up. We exchanged a funny hello and set off up the beach.
My run up the sand towards transition was solid and I had a good pace going. In past events I have felt that this was a really weak part of my race but Breath of Life was a real turn around for me and I kept this going into this race.
The clock showed that I pulled out 10 seconds on Josh just running up into transition. Josh made up a bit of time during transition where I had a slight fumble getting my wetsuit off over my timing chip. I think I had it too low where it should have been under the wetsuit. Something to remember for next time.
I left transition just before Josh and just after the lead pack. Unlike Breath of Life, I could see all but one of the riders ahead of me. One rider passed me while I was still securing my feet in my shoes but once in, I was able to hold him about 20 yards ahead of me. We seemed to be pulling away from the rest of the pack which felt good but at the same time, I didn't feel like I had the zip in my legs like the previous race.
On the back of the course, I put in a slight push. I was able to take the place away from the other guy. At this point, I was wondering whether I was leading the race. This was soon corrected by a motorbike and the leader passing us going the other way after the turn around point. He was about 1-2 minutes ahead. It did mean we were running a close 2nd and 3rd with another pack about a minute behind. I didn't see at this point, but Josh was in this one.
The rest of the bike course went smoothly with the other guy just passing me again. I had a great running dismount taking the place back on the way into transition. This transition was really fast and I grabbed my stuff and just went for it.
We left transition together again and set out on the run. My legs didn't feel great at this point and the other guy quickly passed me. Unlike the bike leg, I didn't feel like I was able to hold him.
This is still a problem for me but it is one of the main focus points to my training now. About 4 minutes into the run, another guy passed me. He was going really fast and passed both me and the second place man pretty quickly. I was now in 4th on the road but luckily I was fast enough to hold on to this place to the finish. As I came up to the final turn, I saw Sam cheering me on with Josh's wife Leandra. It's always nice to see this and I gave Sam a high five as I passed.
Josh was still a minute back and we did a near identical run. I think Josh was 3 seconds faster than me.
The good thing was that I was the first to finish in my age group. Josh was second just a minute back at the finish. We had talked about this being our goal for the race and a 1-2 finished meant a good race for us both.
Overall, I was pushed down one place by the time the later waves had finished, but I was pleased with my 5th place finish.
With better pre race preparation and a clean bill of health, I am pretty confident there is a better performance in me for next time.
Next stop, Malibu.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Keep LA Running - 5K - Race Report
So technically this was a training day for me, but I decided to spice things up a little and enter a 5K road race that was located close to where I live in Playa Del Rey.
It was a perfect morning. Slightly damp in the air and overcast. The start for the race was about 2 miles away so I decided it would be a great warm-up for me to run there.
I was due to start at 8am so I tried to time it so that I wouldn't be hanging around too long but this backfired on me a little as the race organizers delayed the start at first by 15 minutes but eventually by 30 minutes.
I must have warmed up 4 or 5 times that morning. In contrast, I normally do not warm up enough at all and really suffer in the races so this actually wasn't that bad. It was also somewhat closer to the situation in triathlons so it was great practice.
The delay also allowed me to meet one of my running heros growing up. The great Zola Budd (Pieterse), who was at the event as a special guest and would be participating in the 10K.
Zola is a middle distance runner and has some very impressive times under her belt. Check these out:
1500m - 3:59.96
1 Mile - 4:17.57
3000m - 8:28.83
5000m - 14:48.07
She also won Gold at the 1985 and 1986 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
For more info on Zola, please check out Wikipedia.
I had a really good opportunity to chat with Zola before the race and we talked about our new love for Newton running shoes and also my travels around her homeland, South Africa. I also managed to get her to sign my race bib and a fellow LA Tri Club member, (Thanks Beth), kindly took a picture of me with Zola.
As you can tell, I was already having a great day.
So, finally it was time to head up to the start of the race. The expo was in the beach car park where the finish line was but the race would start up on the main road that passed along in front of the airport.
While warming up, I bumped into my good friend Simon Gowen, who has coached me on my running and really helped me realize my potential. He was scheduled to run in the 10K but due to the delays, switched to the 5K at the last minute. At first this was great but all of a sudden I realized that I knew someone racing against me which put the pressure on. Simon's friend Brent was also there next to me on the start line so this was turning into a real race for me. In previous training runs, both Simon and Brent have been faster than me, but this was last season so I had no idea where we would stack up.
I felt like I did a great warm-up. I ran to within 1 minute of the start. The clock counted down and the gun went off for the start.
I felt good right away. One guy was clear at the front but I was keeping at the back of the front pack. Even though I felt good, I has a feeling I wasn't going to be able to sustain the pace so I slowed slightly. My Garmin watch later told me I had started off at a 5:30 pace but slowed to 6:00.
Just before the first turn around point at 0.75 miles, first Simon and then Brent came past me. It was a steady pace but it was still hard for me to latch on to their heals. As they started to gap me I felt that I had to stay in contact with them. This was just like my last triathlon. I knew I had been able to hold on before so I made an effort to catch up to their heels.
I was able to pull in the gap, but at the same time, Brent was catching Simon so I looked up the road and decided to but in a push to catch the next runner ahead. This was about 10 yards further but I was able to close the gap fast.
At this point, I was afraid that Simon and Brent would have seen this move and as I slowed to a steady pace, would jump on my heels again. I spotted the next couple of runners and decided to repeat the move. One at a time, getting on the heels of the next person, recovering slightly and repeating the process.
These burst of speed were around 5:30 pace with some as low as 4:45. Each one felt good, but as the lead pack disappeared, it left fewer and fewer runners to track down that were in my range.
As the 2 mile marker came into view, I slotted in behind the last runner in range. My breathing was a lot heavier now so remaining at this pace felt good.
At the entrance to the parking lot, a volunteer cheered me on and told me to up my cadence. They were right of course. The first thing I do when I get tired is drop my cadence which creates a snowball affect which makes me more tired.
We had dropped down on to the beach parking service road. This was the last stretch and I felt like I wanted to finish strong. I was still right behind this one last runner with the lead pack way ahead, probably already finished.
I decided that I was going to stay with him until the 3 mile marker and then make my push for the line. I glanced at my watch and I realized the pace was dropping to a 6:20 pace and my average was reading 6:02. I decided to go earlier and picked up the pace with about 0.2 miles to go. I wanted to make sure I was not followed so I made sure the pace was fast for me. It was under 5:00 pace with a maximum pace of 4:18 reading on my watch. It felt good and I have realized that as long as I know where the finish line is, I could probably keep that pace going for longer if I needed to. Something to remember for next weekends race.
I finished in a time of 00:18:56 with an official average pace of 6:05 but my watch measured the course to be slightly long at 3:17 miles this worked out to be a 5:59 average. This finally beat my all time best and broke the 6:00 mile mark I had targeted for the season.
I have also never been competitive before in a road race. Although the really fast guys were nearly 4 minutes faster than me, I still finished 4th in my age group and 21st overall. This was my best 5K by far.
In comparison, the last 5K road race I did, about a year earlier, had me finish in a time of 21:13 and placed 13th in my age group and 102nd overall.
Things are looking up for me in the world of running. It was fun.
Incidentally, Zola said this was her fastest 10K time in 10 years. She finished second overall in a very fast 36:41. Good work!
The full results can be found here: 5K 10K
Next up, Strawberry Fields Sprint Triathlon.
It was a perfect morning. Slightly damp in the air and overcast. The start for the race was about 2 miles away so I decided it would be a great warm-up for me to run there.
I was due to start at 8am so I tried to time it so that I wouldn't be hanging around too long but this backfired on me a little as the race organizers delayed the start at first by 15 minutes but eventually by 30 minutes.
I must have warmed up 4 or 5 times that morning. In contrast, I normally do not warm up enough at all and really suffer in the races so this actually wasn't that bad. It was also somewhat closer to the situation in triathlons so it was great practice.
The delay also allowed me to meet one of my running heros growing up. The great Zola Budd (Pieterse), who was at the event as a special guest and would be participating in the 10K.
Zola is a middle distance runner and has some very impressive times under her belt. Check these out:
1500m - 3:59.961 Mile - 4:17.57
3000m - 8:28.83
5000m - 14:48.07
She also won Gold at the 1985 and 1986 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
For more info on Zola, please check out Wikipedia.
I had a really good opportunity to chat with Zola before the race and we talked about our new love for Newton running shoes and also my travels around her homeland, South Africa. I also managed to get her to sign my race bib and a fellow LA Tri Club member, (Thanks Beth), kindly took a picture of me with Zola.
As you can tell, I was already having a great day.
So, finally it was time to head up to the start of the race. The expo was in the beach car park where the finish line was but the race would start up on the main road that passed along in front of the airport.
While warming up, I bumped into my good friend Simon Gowen, who has coached me on my running and really helped me realize my potential. He was scheduled to run in the 10K but due to the delays, switched to the 5K at the last minute. At first this was great but all of a sudden I realized that I knew someone racing against me which put the pressure on. Simon's friend Brent was also there next to me on the start line so this was turning into a real race for me. In previous training runs, both Simon and Brent have been faster than me, but this was last season so I had no idea where we would stack up.
I felt like I did a great warm-up. I ran to within 1 minute of the start. The clock counted down and the gun went off for the start.
I felt good right away. One guy was clear at the front but I was keeping at the back of the front pack. Even though I felt good, I has a feeling I wasn't going to be able to sustain the pace so I slowed slightly. My Garmin watch later told me I had started off at a 5:30 pace but slowed to 6:00.
Just before the first turn around point at 0.75 miles, first Simon and then Brent came past me. It was a steady pace but it was still hard for me to latch on to their heals. As they started to gap me I felt that I had to stay in contact with them. This was just like my last triathlon. I knew I had been able to hold on before so I made an effort to catch up to their heels.
I was able to pull in the gap, but at the same time, Brent was catching Simon so I looked up the road and decided to but in a push to catch the next runner ahead. This was about 10 yards further but I was able to close the gap fast.
At this point, I was afraid that Simon and Brent would have seen this move and as I slowed to a steady pace, would jump on my heels again. I spotted the next couple of runners and decided to repeat the move. One at a time, getting on the heels of the next person, recovering slightly and repeating the process.These burst of speed were around 5:30 pace with some as low as 4:45. Each one felt good, but as the lead pack disappeared, it left fewer and fewer runners to track down that were in my range.
As the 2 mile marker came into view, I slotted in behind the last runner in range. My breathing was a lot heavier now so remaining at this pace felt good.
At the entrance to the parking lot, a volunteer cheered me on and told me to up my cadence. They were right of course. The first thing I do when I get tired is drop my cadence which creates a snowball affect which makes me more tired.
We had dropped down on to the beach parking service road. This was the last stretch and I felt like I wanted to finish strong. I was still right behind this one last runner with the lead pack way ahead, probably already finished.I decided that I was going to stay with him until the 3 mile marker and then make my push for the line. I glanced at my watch and I realized the pace was dropping to a 6:20 pace and my average was reading 6:02. I decided to go earlier and picked up the pace with about 0.2 miles to go. I wanted to make sure I was not followed so I made sure the pace was fast for me. It was under 5:00 pace with a maximum pace of 4:18 reading on my watch. It felt good and I have realized that as long as I know where the finish line is, I could probably keep that pace going for longer if I needed to. Something to remember for next weekends race.
I have also never been competitive before in a road race. Although the really fast guys were nearly 4 minutes faster than me, I still finished 4th in my age group and 21st overall. This was my best 5K by far.
In comparison, the last 5K road race I did, about a year earlier, had me finish in a time of 21:13 and placed 13th in my age group and 102nd overall.
Things are looking up for me in the world of running. It was fun.
Incidentally, Zola said this was her fastest 10K time in 10 years. She finished second overall in a very fast 36:41. Good work!
The full results can be found here: 5K 10K
Next up, Strawberry Fields Sprint Triathlon.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Breath of Life Triathlon 2010 - Race Report
So my next race should have been Redondo Beach triathlon a couple of weeks ago but a trip to England forced me to change my plans. As a result, I filled my schedule with another race I had been considering, Breath of Life up in Ventura, CA.It was a new race for me but it was also a new venue for the race which made it a level playing field. As with all my races scheduled this year, I am doing the sprint distance so that I can continue working on my speed. Looking at the course, I was very pleased this was the case. The swim course for the Olympic distance race looked very complex and I heard lots of nightmare stories of athletes getting very lost out there.
The sprint distance event was going to start 10 minutes after the last wave of the Olympic distance event. This put me in wave 8, the latest start I have had so far. This was the first sprint wave, putting me with the 34 and under bracket, but more interesting was that we would be linking up with one of the later Olympic distance waves as we shared the last part of their course.
Swim
The gun went off and I must admit, I didn't react as fast as I thought I would. I wasn't in the front row but just behind what looked like some fast young swimmers. Even though I was in the middle of the row, I still managed to find some clear water but I failed to latch on to anyones feet which I was disappointed with.
I was amazed just how quickly we got to the first buoy though.
We knew we were going to connect up with the Olympic distance swimmers but I didn't realize there would be so many colored hats out there. Actually, we ended up linking up with about 5 different waves so it got a little chaotic. As far as I can tell, the majority at this point were missing the last buoy. All of the youngsters in front of me in my wave seemed to head straight back after the 3rd buoy which I wasn't very pleased to see. There was a lifeguard on a surfboard telling people to round the last and 4th buoy but not stopping those that didn't. If it was this confusing for the sprint distance competitors, I don't even want to guess at how bad the Olympic distance swim was.
The exit from the swim led us up the beach and around some sand dunes. This part the day before had looked pretty bad but in reality it was fairly easy. I have really eased down my kick in the swim so my legs felt strong at this point.
T1
I had a smooth transition with just an additional squirt of water to clear the sand from my feet before continuing.
Bike
My bike mount was my best so far. Back to basics and making sure my feet were firmly on my shoes before continuing. I got up to speed before putting my feet, one at a time into my shoes. It felt good on the course. I quickly got up to the 25mph I had as my target and set out to catch those ahead of me. One by one I overtook all of the kids I had seen in transition. One of the USA twins was ahead of me blatantly drafting on the bike. Again, it was very disappointing seeing something so obvious not get picked up. Apparently, he and his brother are on team USA and allowing this kind of cheating to happen at that level is upsetting.
Anyway, it didn't affect me as I blasted on by, still feeling very comfortable.
On the bottom part of the loop, I was caught by some other bikers. I had eased down slightly to take on fluids and a GU gel. Once back up to speed, there ended up being about 5-7 of us all together. I think it was about 50-50 sprint and Olympic distance athletes but there was no way of knowing.
We exited the loops and headed back to the finish. It was actually quite hard at this point as there were so many of us together but I am really pleased with everyones ability to avoid drafting by spreading out sideways. I'm looking forward to seeing the photograph that was taken as we all came back into the harbor.
My dismount was nearly perfect. They had two lines marked. One as a warning and the second the official dismount line. This confused us a little as we all got ready to dismount too early but after coasting a little bit further, I had a clean dismount and headed into transition.
T2
The bike of the 15 year old I talked to before the race was already there. I underestimated him. My T2 went smoothly as well and I set off through transition at a fairly good pace.
Run
As I said in my last post, my run is by far my limiter in terms of being competitive in a race.
My breathing felt heavy even though my legs felt pretty good at this point. I was caught by a 22 year old in a UCLA outfit. He seemed pretty nice and muttered encouragement as he passed. I increased my speed slightly to try to stay with him. I did, which made me feel better. On one of the corners however, he didn't round one of the cones that stated, stay left, and he gapped me by 5 or 6 yards. This made all the difference and he started pulling away from me. The next part of the course was a nasty little thing they called the maze. A zig-zag section presumably there to stop cyclists.
It was just after this section that we saw the 15 year old. He was flying. Out in front on his own. The turn was only around the corner but he had a lead of over a minute.
At the turn around, a number of guys ahead of us continued straight on, leaving me in 3rd place. There was a little gap behind me to the next guy and I was holding the UCLA guy ahead of me. As we approached the maze again, we were guided around the outside, but instead of taking a tight right to get back down onto the path, the UCLA guy went straight ahead. It wasn't his fault as the marshals on that bit of the course did not tell him where to go but I still lost out another 15 yards or so.
To make things worse, the guy behind me, Josh, was reeling me in. With about half a mile to go, he overtook me. I looked down at his ankle and saw 33. The same age as me. I had lost 1st place in my age group. I have to admit that I hate this feeling. At first he gapped me but I put in a burst and tucked in behind him. I was at 100% and he kept pulling away. I kept putting in burst to stay with him. He seemed to have a fair bit of support which didn't help me.
I saw the finish line to the left and put in a final burst to put me on his heels. As we rounded the corner, I knew we only had 30 yards to go. I drew all my effort and kicked hard. To my surprise, there was not a counter kick to match mine. I pulled out a couple of seconds and claimed my 1st place in my age group.
Josh was a really nice guy and we talked for a while afterwards about different scenarios where he could have won. With me just behind him on the run he had admitted to being on 100% as well. I had no idea that by sticking with him, I had been draining him of energy. He had nothing left at the finish.
Overall, this was a great race for me. I would say my best performance yet and I was really happy with the result. Here are my times:
Results
Overall: 5th
Age Group 1st
Swim: 7:24 (Includes run up beach to transition)
Bike: 36:09 (Includes T1 and T2. 24mph est on bike)
Run: 19:33 (6:18 Mile)
Total 1:03:07.8
How is my training going?
It's been a while since my last update. I raced this weekend but I will do a separate blog for that one.
So how has my training gone since my last race in April? My perspective on this would be, better than previous years, but not on schedule at all. My biking has picked up again to how it was last September. My swimming that had previously jumped up early in the year has plateaued, maybe even taking a slight step back and I have been plagued with calf tightness that is hampering my running.
The backwards step in swimming could be accounted to training fatigue which a taper may help with, but I am also having issues with a slight tweak in my right shoulder and tightness in my back. I have a feeling I am messing up my catch so I will aim to address this as I resume my training today.
As I have said, I am happy with my cycling and on the flats, I am slowly increasing my pace. I also did a climb in the Santa Monica hills a little while back which I impressed myself at. I was on my tri bike and still managed to stick with some on my friend Geo's race buddies. Although my HR monitor messed up its readings, the course data can be found here.
My run is my real issue. I haven't been able to settle in to any consistent run training as I continually get slight injuries. I am not sure what is causing the issues, but I feel that if I drop back to training for good form and as soon as it feels like it is slipping, stop, recover and start again with good form, this should hopefully improve things. I think I get injured when my form falls apart. I should also try to up the frequency of my runs and maybe reduce the distance for a bit, while I recover.
Anyway, time for my next race report.
So how has my training gone since my last race in April? My perspective on this would be, better than previous years, but not on schedule at all. My biking has picked up again to how it was last September. My swimming that had previously jumped up early in the year has plateaued, maybe even taking a slight step back and I have been plagued with calf tightness that is hampering my running.
The backwards step in swimming could be accounted to training fatigue which a taper may help with, but I am also having issues with a slight tweak in my right shoulder and tightness in my back. I have a feeling I am messing up my catch so I will aim to address this as I resume my training today.
As I have said, I am happy with my cycling and on the flats, I am slowly increasing my pace. I also did a climb in the Santa Monica hills a little while back which I impressed myself at. I was on my tri bike and still managed to stick with some on my friend Geo's race buddies. Although my HR monitor messed up its readings, the course data can be found here.
My run is my real issue. I haven't been able to settle in to any consistent run training as I continually get slight injuries. I am not sure what is causing the issues, but I feel that if I drop back to training for good form and as soon as it feels like it is slipping, stop, recover and start again with good form, this should hopefully improve things. I think I get injured when my form falls apart. I should also try to up the frequency of my runs and maybe reduce the distance for a bit, while I recover.
Anyway, time for my next race report.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
LA Tri Series #1 2010 - Race report
My second race of the season was another new one for me. Out in San Dimas is a small but popular family run race series that is set at Bonelli Park. It's a beautiful setting and I would recommend this race for good experience without the huge crowds.
I had planned to drive out here on my own on race morning as it would keep the costs down by not getting a hotel and would allow my family to sleep in peace. It's also good for me to practice being able to race with just the stuff I need. In the past, I have carried around way too much and now that I am a lot more organized and have a good transition bag, I am finding the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.
So I woke up at 4:50 after a slightly disturbed nights sleep. This didn't bother me too much, I have been given good advice that the important nights sleep is 2 nights before the race and I new I was well rested in that respect. I also knew that the car was fully packed with everything I needed for the race and all I needed to do was get into my race clothing and set off. Being prepared and organized is one of the best lessons I have learnt so far.
15 minutes later, I was on my way. I was so chilled out that I had time to fill the car up with gas so that I definitely had enough for the journey.
Once on the open road, I started on my pre race fuel. I started with a banana and followed this up with a breakfast cookie. I wanted to keep things light in my stomach as this was a short distance race. I sipped on water as I drove. I would take 2 GU gels before the start of the race as specified on the packet.
The roads were foggy which did trigger an element or worry about the race conditions but as the sun came up the mist burnt away and we were left with a beautify setting. The temperature was rising fast but for racing it was just right.
I was relatively early to the venue so I took my time to pick up my race packet and get my bike sorted. I got a pretty good spot in transition. My race number was also pretty good, #111. In Malibu last year I had #444 and finished 4th in my age group so if the pattern continues I could be in for something special. As it happens, I wasn't expecting to be this good today. I had been nursing a torn calf muscle. I have been able to swim and bike without too much issue but have struggled to run. This has resulted in no running at all for the 2 weeks leading up to this race. The hope is that I will be warmed up enough after the bike phase to be able to run and get through the race.
As usual, I headed down to the swim start for a warm up. I have changed what I do here and instead of doing basic swimming to warm up, I mimic more of the drills I have been doing from my swim training. This consists mainly of balance drills but I think it works well to recalabrate my stroke to wearing the wetsuit.
After my focused but rather brief warmup, I headed to the start. I got a last minute tip from my good friend and coach, Ian Murray, about how to best position myself for the swim start. With his advice, I lined up to the left at the front. I was in wave 1 so I had a clear course ahead of me.
Swim
The gun went off and I ran into the water with the front guys. I have changed my racing technique recently to a much more relaxed and more balanced movement, with breathing only every 2 strokes. This controlled breathing has helped me in the open water swims. The last race I did, I found myself very close to 2 other competitors that always seemed to splash me when I went to breathe. As a result, I lost my rhythm and lots of time. This setup has resulted in an even faster pace while keeping it sustainable. I don't feel like I am gasping for air anymore. The ultimate result was being able to see the first guys come out of the water and knowing that I was not too far behind. My split was 6:58 which equated to a 1:23 pace for 100m. This is by far my fastest pace yet and I was less that 1 minute behind the leaders onto the bike.
T1
The exit of the water was up a hill to transition. It looked steep but was actually quite manageable. My transition went smoothly and I was out on the bike in a good position. I had not practiced the mount all year and this has been a bad part of some of my previous races. It went slightly better this time although still not smooth or fast. It helped to have a gentle down hill out of transition.
The one thing I did do differently this time was have my glasses taped to my bike. This is supposed to save a couple of seconds in T1 but it resulted in a partial disaster. To open up one of the arms, I flicked the glasses and as a result, one of my lenses flew out. I saw it land on the side of the road but it was not the time to turn back so I continued on with one lens in and the other missing. It must have looked weird but it deflected enough wind to do the job I needed them to do. [Note to self. Do not try anything new on race day.]
Bike
The course was unknown to me so this was a bit of a disadvantage. I wasn't sure when to push and when not to. The good thing however was that we were to do 2 loops of the course so the second time around would be much better. Not long in, I felt a real lack of energy. I have experienced this before and I had an idea why. Two things, as a "B" race, I was training through this one. This means that I was not due to peak for the race and I wasn't supposed to taper either. I did stack up my more intense workouts earlier in the week but I was still not rested for the race. The second reason was that I don't think I was very hydrated. I realized the day before the race that I hadn't been drinking much but when I tried to correct this, I still forgot to drink the fluids. It's amazing how important the right amount of hydration can be.
The course was described as flat but I would disagree. Okay, there were not too many hills but the way the course is designed, the first short climb was right after a hairpin corner that due to the dirt across the corner, it made it really hard to get a run into the hill. This was then followed by a long flat stretch around the airport that should have been great, but a strong headwind knocked the pace out of everyone. The riders in front were moving away from me but at the same time, I seemed to be moving away from the riders behind. The end of the loop consisted of a relatively long but shallow climb which I liked and a very fast decent where I hit 43mph before returning to the start and repeating the loop again.
The second time around felt much better but my overall pace was only 22.5mph. A little less than I had hoped.
T2
The dismount went much smoother this time too. I got my feet on top of my shoes with plenty of time to spare. I also didn't get lost in transition like the previous race. The one thing I did decide to do was to put my Garmin Forerunner in my back pocket to try to record some of my run. This added 5 extra seconds to T2 and resulted in a heavy(ish) object bumping around behind me. [Note to self. Do not try anything new on race day.]
As it happened, one of the bumps had turned it off so it wasn't worth the hassle but looking on the positive side, I used it as a gauge of how much up and down motion I had when running and was able to correct it.
Run
As I set off on the run, I struggled straight away. My left calf was strapped but felt like it would cramp if I didn't let off. Another competitor passed me and recognized me as one of Ian Murray's friends. His name was David Lee and we exchanged happy thoughts about finishing the race soon. Although I had to let him go, he acted as a rabbit ahead and as the calf muscle released slightly, I was able to focus on staying ahead of those behind me. One other competitor passed me, (Mathieu Gonin), with a pace that was 5:44 per mile and I just hoped he was the last. Luckily he was.
The run course was a loop with a small out and back built in. This out and back was the main hill on the course but also gave a brief snapshot of who was ahead and who was behind. The leaders were coming back down the hill as I was heading up. They were setting a really fast pace. Just before the turn around, David passed me heading back down. As we passed, we high fived each other. Although this is primarily an individual sport, I cannot emphasize enough the benefit of racing as part of a team and making friends out there.
The turn around point had revealed that I was in 11th place in my wave. It also revealed that there was a gap behind me. No-one looked faster than I could run but I didn't know for sure, so I dug in and made sure I gave it what I could.
Finish
I finished with at least the same gap I had seen at the turn around point behind me. I was pleased with the finish but slightly disappointed with my legs on the day.
As the results came out, although my name was nowhere to be seen, I realized that my time in my age group was better than the printed fastest time. I asked the timing stewards and they went away to investigate. On returning, they said they had identified my timing chip but it had not been associated with me. A quick correction and the result was confirmed. I had won my age group for the first time.
To be fair, my age group on the day seemed to be the least competitive of the main ages. If I had been 5 years older or younger, I would have finished just off the podium, but I will take the win.
More importantly for me was my overall placing. This was much closer to how I thought my performance had gone. I finished 19th overall, 2 places behind Ian Murray. This is the area that I am hungry to improve. My swim was great today but my strong point, the bike, let me down and the run did also.
Finally a big congratulations to Drew Haberkorn for finishing first overall. We hung out together after the race and we realized that we live a couple of miles from each other. Hopefully we can do some training together sometime soon.
The race results can be found here: http://www.trievents.com/results.htm
I had planned to drive out here on my own on race morning as it would keep the costs down by not getting a hotel and would allow my family to sleep in peace. It's also good for me to practice being able to race with just the stuff I need. In the past, I have carried around way too much and now that I am a lot more organized and have a good transition bag, I am finding the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.
So I woke up at 4:50 after a slightly disturbed nights sleep. This didn't bother me too much, I have been given good advice that the important nights sleep is 2 nights before the race and I new I was well rested in that respect. I also knew that the car was fully packed with everything I needed for the race and all I needed to do was get into my race clothing and set off. Being prepared and organized is one of the best lessons I have learnt so far.
15 minutes later, I was on my way. I was so chilled out that I had time to fill the car up with gas so that I definitely had enough for the journey.
Once on the open road, I started on my pre race fuel. I started with a banana and followed this up with a breakfast cookie. I wanted to keep things light in my stomach as this was a short distance race. I sipped on water as I drove. I would take 2 GU gels before the start of the race as specified on the packet.
The roads were foggy which did trigger an element or worry about the race conditions but as the sun came up the mist burnt away and we were left with a beautify setting. The temperature was rising fast but for racing it was just right.
As usual, I headed down to the swim start for a warm up. I have changed what I do here and instead of doing basic swimming to warm up, I mimic more of the drills I have been doing from my swim training. This consists mainly of balance drills but I think it works well to recalabrate my stroke to wearing the wetsuit.
After my focused but rather brief warmup, I headed to the start. I got a last minute tip from my good friend and coach, Ian Murray, about how to best position myself for the swim start. With his advice, I lined up to the left at the front. I was in wave 1 so I had a clear course ahead of me.
Swim
The gun went off and I ran into the water with the front guys. I have changed my racing technique recently to a much more relaxed and more balanced movement, with breathing only every 2 strokes. This controlled breathing has helped me in the open water swims. The last race I did, I found myself very close to 2 other competitors that always seemed to splash me when I went to breathe. As a result, I lost my rhythm and lots of time. This setup has resulted in an even faster pace while keeping it sustainable. I don't feel like I am gasping for air anymore. The ultimate result was being able to see the first guys come out of the water and knowing that I was not too far behind. My split was 6:58 which equated to a 1:23 pace for 100m. This is by far my fastest pace yet and I was less that 1 minute behind the leaders onto the bike.
T1
The exit of the water was up a hill to transition. It looked steep but was actually quite manageable. My transition went smoothly and I was out on the bike in a good position. I had not practiced the mount all year and this has been a bad part of some of my previous races. It went slightly better this time although still not smooth or fast. It helped to have a gentle down hill out of transition.
The one thing I did do differently this time was have my glasses taped to my bike. This is supposed to save a couple of seconds in T1 but it resulted in a partial disaster. To open up one of the arms, I flicked the glasses and as a result, one of my lenses flew out. I saw it land on the side of the road but it was not the time to turn back so I continued on with one lens in and the other missing. It must have looked weird but it deflected enough wind to do the job I needed them to do. [Note to self. Do not try anything new on race day.]
The course was unknown to me so this was a bit of a disadvantage. I wasn't sure when to push and when not to. The good thing however was that we were to do 2 loops of the course so the second time around would be much better. Not long in, I felt a real lack of energy. I have experienced this before and I had an idea why. Two things, as a "B" race, I was training through this one. This means that I was not due to peak for the race and I wasn't supposed to taper either. I did stack up my more intense workouts earlier in the week but I was still not rested for the race. The second reason was that I don't think I was very hydrated. I realized the day before the race that I hadn't been drinking much but when I tried to correct this, I still forgot to drink the fluids. It's amazing how important the right amount of hydration can be.
The course was described as flat but I would disagree. Okay, there were not too many hills but the way the course is designed, the first short climb was right after a hairpin corner that due to the dirt across the corner, it made it really hard to get a run into the hill. This was then followed by a long flat stretch around the airport that should have been great, but a strong headwind knocked the pace out of everyone. The riders in front were moving away from me but at the same time, I seemed to be moving away from the riders behind. The end of the loop consisted of a relatively long but shallow climb which I liked and a very fast decent where I hit 43mph before returning to the start and repeating the loop again.
The second time around felt much better but my overall pace was only 22.5mph. A little less than I had hoped.
T2
The dismount went much smoother this time too. I got my feet on top of my shoes with plenty of time to spare. I also didn't get lost in transition like the previous race. The one thing I did decide to do was to put my Garmin Forerunner in my back pocket to try to record some of my run. This added 5 extra seconds to T2 and resulted in a heavy(ish) object bumping around behind me. [Note to self. Do not try anything new on race day.]
As it happened, one of the bumps had turned it off so it wasn't worth the hassle but looking on the positive side, I used it as a gauge of how much up and down motion I had when running and was able to correct it.
Run
As I set off on the run, I struggled straight away. My left calf was strapped but felt like it would cramp if I didn't let off. Another competitor passed me and recognized me as one of Ian Murray's friends. His name was David Lee and we exchanged happy thoughts about finishing the race soon. Although I had to let him go, he acted as a rabbit ahead and as the calf muscle released slightly, I was able to focus on staying ahead of those behind me. One other competitor passed me, (Mathieu Gonin), with a pace that was 5:44 per mile and I just hoped he was the last. Luckily he was.
The run course was a loop with a small out and back built in. This out and back was the main hill on the course but also gave a brief snapshot of who was ahead and who was behind. The leaders were coming back down the hill as I was heading up. They were setting a really fast pace. Just before the turn around, David passed me heading back down. As we passed, we high fived each other. Although this is primarily an individual sport, I cannot emphasize enough the benefit of racing as part of a team and making friends out there.
The turn around point had revealed that I was in 11th place in my wave. It also revealed that there was a gap behind me. No-one looked faster than I could run but I didn't know for sure, so I dug in and made sure I gave it what I could.
Finish
I finished with at least the same gap I had seen at the turn around point behind me. I was pleased with the finish but slightly disappointed with my legs on the day.
As the results came out, although my name was nowhere to be seen, I realized that my time in my age group was better than the printed fastest time. I asked the timing stewards and they went away to investigate. On returning, they said they had identified my timing chip but it had not been associated with me. A quick correction and the result was confirmed. I had won my age group for the first time.
More importantly for me was my overall placing. This was much closer to how I thought my performance had gone. I finished 19th overall, 2 places behind Ian Murray. This is the area that I am hungry to improve. My swim was great today but my strong point, the bike, let me down and the run did also.
Finally a big congratulations to Drew Haberkorn for finishing first overall. We hung out together after the race and we realized that we live a couple of miles from each other. Hopefully we can do some training together sometime soon.
The race results can be found here: http://www.trievents.com/results.htm
Friday, March 12, 2010
Working on my swimming
For the first part of this year I have really been working on my swimming technique. I have been swim training for about 3 years now and before this season, have seen very little gains in my overall pace. Okay, I have improved my fitness, but I always seemed to have problems with getting faster, especially as most of my friends at Masters swim training are going considerably quicker than me.
This year, I thought that I would look into my swim stroke and get it analyzed from a third party point of view. For this, I turned to TTS and coach Ian Murray for a 4 week swim clinic. Essentially for me, this was a back to basics course with the important point that someone was going to be evaluating every step I take.
Their drills work on balance first then slowly develop to introduce efficient propulsion. Slowly is the important word here. I have always been impatient with my swim drills and never really understood what I was doing or aiming for, but as the weeks moved on, this all came together and I was already starting to feel much better through the water.
The video camera came out in the final session and filmed our progress. At this point, I was hoping to see a complete transformation in my stroke but I could still feel old habbits coming through and it was stressed to me that this was just a start and that I had a lot of practice to do before this became totally natural.
This was by no means a put off however. In the pool, my times were already coming down fast and with all of the pointers I was given in the classes and the issues highlighted when being fimed underwater, I have a lot more speed still to come.
I did my first Threshold swim test (T1000) today. This is a way of determining my 100m pace. I swam 1000m continuously in a 50m pool. The time for this was 00;15:18. To get my T100 pace I just need to divide this by 10, (being careful to convert to seconds first). The result is 1:31.8.
Last year, although I had never done a test like this before, I would have expected this T100 pace based on a T1000 swim to have been closer to 1:50.
With technique changes alone, I am guessing I have gained 20 seconds per 100 and I would also add that the pace felt really comfortable and sustainable. This was not the case last year.
My target for this year is to try to get down to 1:15 T100 pace.
This year, I thought that I would look into my swim stroke and get it analyzed from a third party point of view. For this, I turned to TTS and coach Ian Murray for a 4 week swim clinic. Essentially for me, this was a back to basics course with the important point that someone was going to be evaluating every step I take.
Their drills work on balance first then slowly develop to introduce efficient propulsion. Slowly is the important word here. I have always been impatient with my swim drills and never really understood what I was doing or aiming for, but as the weeks moved on, this all came together and I was already starting to feel much better through the water.
The video camera came out in the final session and filmed our progress. At this point, I was hoping to see a complete transformation in my stroke but I could still feel old habbits coming through and it was stressed to me that this was just a start and that I had a lot of practice to do before this became totally natural.
This was by no means a put off however. In the pool, my times were already coming down fast and with all of the pointers I was given in the classes and the issues highlighted when being fimed underwater, I have a lot more speed still to come.
I did my first Threshold swim test (T1000) today. This is a way of determining my 100m pace. I swam 1000m continuously in a 50m pool. The time for this was 00;15:18. To get my T100 pace I just need to divide this by 10, (being careful to convert to seconds first). The result is 1:31.8.
Last year, although I had never done a test like this before, I would have expected this T100 pace based on a T1000 swim to have been closer to 1:50.
With technique changes alone, I am guessing I have gained 20 seconds per 100 and I would also add that the pace felt really comfortable and sustainable. This was not the case last year.
My target for this year is to try to get down to 1:15 T100 pace.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Desert Triathlon - Race Report
So many positives and negatives from this first race of the season, but to be honest, without the negatives, I wouldn't have so many things to improve on for the next race so I see these as positives anyway.
So the weather was a big question mark for race day. We are out in the desert and they rarely see rain but this time around, it was on the cards. I was in the first wave of the day, kicking off at 7:30am. This was such a blessing as the skies were clear but it looked like the weather was rolling in.
Without warning, the horn went off for the swim. Normally there is a 3..2..1.. count down but for some reason this was missing for the first wave. This caught a lot of the swimmers out, not least myself but I was towards the front so I went for it anyway.
The start was brutal. I had never done a lake swim before and the first big difference that I noticed was how tightly packed everyone was. I was right in the middle and I now realized that I would have done better starting towards the side and maybe swimming a little further but in clean water. I was cut off so many times by athletes swimming in random directions. With nowhere to go, I needed to sit up a couple of times to get space to swim. After turning the first Buoy, I found clear water and started to get into a comfortable stroke. After the second buoy, I found clear water to the outside and started picking up places. I wasn't in the lead pack but I headed out of the water at the front of the chasing group.
With numb feet, it's hard to tell how sharp the shingle was, but after the race, it seems that I has cut up my feet a little on the swim exit. This didn't bother me for the entire race so I'll leave this part there.
I found my bike without a problem but messed up the bike mount. I didn't cleanly get my left foot on and my shoe flipped over jamming between the pedal and the ground. I fumbled 3 times to recover before stopping and putting my left foot in the shoe and starting again. This time I got going and quickly picked up the pace. On the way out to the main 10 mile loop, I got up to 30mph which felt great. As the course got a little windy though my speed reduced to about 22-23mph. For early season, this still felt good so I was pleased with this. No-one passed me and due to the duathletes that got out on the bike course early, I had plenty of riders to chase down. I'm not sure if I actually made up any positions, but I definitely did not lose any, so I was doing well.
The dismount caught me out as well. I hadn't taken my feet out of my bike shoes so on seeing the dismount line, I quickly got my right foot out and removed my left foot after stopping as swiftly as possible. Only a second or too lost but still something to get right for next time.
T2 resulted in a couple more seconds lost as I initially got the wrong bike rack to return my bike. Lots of empty racks which make it hard to identify your slot, also give you confidence as you know you are one of the first back off the bike.
A smooth change and off on the run. There was no-one around me. I couldn't see anyone in front or behind. It was a strange situation to be in. As I passed the first water station, I asked how many were in front. I was told Seven. I had no idea whether these were all triathletes or duathletes but regardless, this was far better than I had expected coming into this early season event.
The start of the run course does a small loop before heading around the lake. This was the first opportunity to see where the competitors were in front and behind. The lead runners were a good distance ahead but more importantly for me, as a runner that needs to improve his pace a little over the coming season, the next runner back was a bout a minute behind. I had 3 miles to go to stay in front of him, with no other runners in sight.
Half way around the lake, I could see that I was being reeled in. The last race of last season saw me get overtaken on the run with less than a mile to go to the finish, resulting in me being pushed back into 4th place. I was gutted and that feeling started to build up inside me. I didn't know if I was in a podium position or whether I was actually racing this guy, but that sinking feeling of finding out that I had missed out by such a small margin was giving me the will to fight for my position.
Everytime I looked around, he was ever closer, but with less than 1 mile to go, I picked up the pace. I was holding him off and once we got on the sand for the final quarter mile, I gave it all I had. The gap remained at 20 seconds or so and I felt that I had a great race.
The rain had held off just long enough for me to finish and to top it off, I had placed 2nd in my age group and 12th overall.
A great start to the season and a lot of positives to walk away with.
I felt sorry for the International distance racers who had to tolerate a very cold and wet course but on this day, it seems I was racing the weather too and won.
Finish Time: 01:09:37
Overall Rank: 12
Age Group Rank M30-34 : 2
500m Swim: 00:09:16
Rank: 22
T1: 00:01:31
14 mile Bike: 00:38:05
Rank: 18
T2: 00:01:14
3 Mile Run: 00:19:31
Rank: 22
So the weather was a big question mark for race day. We are out in the desert and they rarely see rain but this time around, it was on the cards. I was in the first wave of the day, kicking off at 7:30am. This was such a blessing as the skies were clear but it looked like the weather was rolling in.
Without warning, the horn went off for the swim. Normally there is a 3..2..1.. count down but for some reason this was missing for the first wave. This caught a lot of the swimmers out, not least myself but I was towards the front so I went for it anyway.
The start was brutal. I had never done a lake swim before and the first big difference that I noticed was how tightly packed everyone was. I was right in the middle and I now realized that I would have done better starting towards the side and maybe swimming a little further but in clean water. I was cut off so many times by athletes swimming in random directions. With nowhere to go, I needed to sit up a couple of times to get space to swim. After turning the first Buoy, I found clear water and started to get into a comfortable stroke. After the second buoy, I found clear water to the outside and started picking up places. I wasn't in the lead pack but I headed out of the water at the front of the chasing group.
With numb feet, it's hard to tell how sharp the shingle was, but after the race, it seems that I has cut up my feet a little on the swim exit. This didn't bother me for the entire race so I'll leave this part there.
I found my bike without a problem but messed up the bike mount. I didn't cleanly get my left foot on and my shoe flipped over jamming between the pedal and the ground. I fumbled 3 times to recover before stopping and putting my left foot in the shoe and starting again. This time I got going and quickly picked up the pace. On the way out to the main 10 mile loop, I got up to 30mph which felt great. As the course got a little windy though my speed reduced to about 22-23mph. For early season, this still felt good so I was pleased with this. No-one passed me and due to the duathletes that got out on the bike course early, I had plenty of riders to chase down. I'm not sure if I actually made up any positions, but I definitely did not lose any, so I was doing well.
The dismount caught me out as well. I hadn't taken my feet out of my bike shoes so on seeing the dismount line, I quickly got my right foot out and removed my left foot after stopping as swiftly as possible. Only a second or too lost but still something to get right for next time.
T2 resulted in a couple more seconds lost as I initially got the wrong bike rack to return my bike. Lots of empty racks which make it hard to identify your slot, also give you confidence as you know you are one of the first back off the bike.
A smooth change and off on the run. There was no-one around me. I couldn't see anyone in front or behind. It was a strange situation to be in. As I passed the first water station, I asked how many were in front. I was told Seven. I had no idea whether these were all triathletes or duathletes but regardless, this was far better than I had expected coming into this early season event.
The start of the run course does a small loop before heading around the lake. This was the first opportunity to see where the competitors were in front and behind. The lead runners were a good distance ahead but more importantly for me, as a runner that needs to improve his pace a little over the coming season, the next runner back was a bout a minute behind. I had 3 miles to go to stay in front of him, with no other runners in sight.
Half way around the lake, I could see that I was being reeled in. The last race of last season saw me get overtaken on the run with less than a mile to go to the finish, resulting in me being pushed back into 4th place. I was gutted and that feeling started to build up inside me. I didn't know if I was in a podium position or whether I was actually racing this guy, but that sinking feeling of finding out that I had missed out by such a small margin was giving me the will to fight for my position.
Everytime I looked around, he was ever closer, but with less than 1 mile to go, I picked up the pace. I was holding him off and once we got on the sand for the final quarter mile, I gave it all I had. The gap remained at 20 seconds or so and I felt that I had a great race.
The rain had held off just long enough for me to finish and to top it off, I had placed 2nd in my age group and 12th overall.
A great start to the season and a lot of positives to walk away with.
I felt sorry for the International distance racers who had to tolerate a very cold and wet course but on this day, it seems I was racing the weather too and won.
Finish Time: 01:09:37
Overall Rank: 12
Age Group Rank M30-34 : 2
500m Swim: 00:09:16
Rank: 22
T1: 00:01:31
14 mile Bike: 00:38:05
Rank: 18
T2: 00:01:14
3 Mile Run: 00:19:31
Rank: 22
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
KO'd
So, I went to the doctors yesterday to try to find out what has been plaguing me for the last 6 weeks. The evidence points towards a trapped sinus infection that won't let go. I had tried easing down my workouts, giving myself days of rest but nothing was improving. The fact the the infection is trapped and the usual clear out process is not happening makes sense. I have a nasal spray and a course of antibiotics so I am hoping over the next week or so things start to improve,
Luckily for me, even though I have a race in 4 weeks time, I am in the stage of training where I can lay off the intensity and concentrate on improving technique.
Fingers crossed things get back to normal quickly.
Luckily for me, even though I have a race in 4 weeks time, I am in the stage of training where I can lay off the intensity and concentrate on improving technique.
Fingers crossed things get back to normal quickly.
Friday, February 5, 2010
2010 has started
So we are already one month in to 2010. I would normally be in my off season right now given my past 4 years of triathlon seasons as reference but this year I have aimed to be a little more organized.
For the first year, I am actually trying to follow a good periodization schedule which takes into account the years intended races. This means two things. One, I have to know what races I intend to do before I start this schedule, and two, I will be starting the build up as of January. In comparison, I only started training properly in April last year with my first time in the water coming in the Redondo Triathlon in May. To help me out, I am using the online training package, TrainingPeaks.
This year, I plan this race to be my third of the year so hopefully I won't be caught out by my lack of swim fitness.
As a result of this extra planning, I am also addressing some of my weaknesses in the sport. For the most part, this is done by addressing efficiencies in technique rather than adding quantity.
I have been working hard on my running cadence. I downloaded a nice application called BeaTunes that is a variant of iTunes. It is primarily designed to help you fix and analyze your iTunes library. I am using it to add Beats Per Minute (bpm) information to all of my songs. With this done, I have made a playlist of all songs that have a bpm of 180, (or 90). I can then play these songs as I run and I have a perfect beat to try to stick to. I am naturally running a little slower than this at the moment, but I am feeling the cadence getting faster over time.
I can listen to the same playlist on my way into work on my bike as I am aiming for 90 bpm here too.
As for the swimming, I am going back to basics. I am currently being coached by Ian Murray from TTS (Triathlon Training Series) as part of a 4 week clinic. My session today for example was 40 minutes of balance drills without taking a single stroke. It's addressing some crucial basics so I am pretty confident with how things are already feeling. We'll know in 4 weeks.
Finally, On the bike, I am doing drills as well. One legged drills are helping iron out any dead spots in my pedaling which my left leg nerve damage hasn't helped with.
Anyway, back to my schedule. My first race of the season in next month, (March 7th), at the Desert Triathlon where I will be doing the USAT sanctioned sprint race. Let's see how things improve before then.
For the first year, I am actually trying to follow a good periodization schedule which takes into account the years intended races. This means two things. One, I have to know what races I intend to do before I start this schedule, and two, I will be starting the build up as of January. In comparison, I only started training properly in April last year with my first time in the water coming in the Redondo Triathlon in May. To help me out, I am using the online training package, TrainingPeaks. This year, I plan this race to be my third of the year so hopefully I won't be caught out by my lack of swim fitness.
As a result of this extra planning, I am also addressing some of my weaknesses in the sport. For the most part, this is done by addressing efficiencies in technique rather than adding quantity.
I can listen to the same playlist on my way into work on my bike as I am aiming for 90 bpm here too.
Finally, On the bike, I am doing drills as well. One legged drills are helping iron out any dead spots in my pedaling which my left leg nerve damage hasn't helped with.
Anyway, back to my schedule. My first race of the season in next month, (March 7th), at the Desert Triathlon where I will be doing the USAT sanctioned sprint race. Let's see how things improve before then.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Focussing on areas of improvement
So as the season comes to a close, I am looking back at what I and others are referring to as a breakthrough season for me. I got two 4th place finishes in my age group in my last 2 races of the season and consistently finished within the top 15 overall.
I have seen huge improvements in all areas of my triathlons, especially my my bike leg and transitions. I am now up with the fastest in these areas. My run was by far my weakest part last year but I did see encouraging improvements over the season. Finally, my swimming seems to have improved greatly in the pool but for some reason in the open water I am about the same as last year.
So taking a look at where I am, I feel that I have 2 main areas or improvement for next year. I need to be up with the first pack of swimmers from the start so I really need to nail what is slowing me down in the ocean. It could be a comfort thing, or a lack of racing experience in the water. It could require a better warmup structure before the race, or just better technique in my stroke. Lots of areas to look into.
The second area of improvement is in my running. Although I have increased in pace from 8:00 miles last year to 7:00 at the start of the season and then a peak of 6:35 at the end, I need to get under the magic 6:00 by next season to be able to hold off the fastest runners at the end of the race. 6:00 pace for a 5k would be great. 6:00 for a 10k pace would be even better.
As priorities go, I am going to focus on my running first while trying to keep a base level of swimming and cycling going over the winter and we will see how things go from there.
I have seen huge improvements in all areas of my triathlons, especially my my bike leg and transitions. I am now up with the fastest in these areas. My run was by far my weakest part last year but I did see encouraging improvements over the season. Finally, my swimming seems to have improved greatly in the pool but for some reason in the open water I am about the same as last year.
So taking a look at where I am, I feel that I have 2 main areas or improvement for next year. I need to be up with the first pack of swimmers from the start so I really need to nail what is slowing me down in the ocean. It could be a comfort thing, or a lack of racing experience in the water. It could require a better warmup structure before the race, or just better technique in my stroke. Lots of areas to look into.
The second area of improvement is in my running. Although I have increased in pace from 8:00 miles last year to 7:00 at the start of the season and then a peak of 6:35 at the end, I need to get under the magic 6:00 by next season to be able to hold off the fastest runners at the end of the race. 6:00 pace for a 5k would be great. 6:00 for a 10k pace would be even better.
As priorities go, I am going to focus on my running first while trying to keep a base level of swimming and cycling going over the winter and we will see how things go from there.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Playa Del Rey Triathlon - Race Report
After my success in Malibu, I was looking for one last race to finish off the season. I was tempted with LA Triathlon but I am still unsure about the spread out location of the race so I settled on a local event in Playa Del Rey. This was the second year for this race and I heard from my friend Josh that it was pretty good last year. I signed up and turned my attention to training again.
My buildup to the race was mixed with ups and downs. I had been doing some speed work both in the pool and on the track. I did my first 6:00 mile run, (on a treadmill), and my fastest 100m swim time of 1:15. Both these were encouraging but they were also relatively short bursts of speed so I have lots to work on for next year with the aim to be able to maintain these speeds over a much longer distance. Just while things were looking up, I injured my back again. This time it was caused when trying to perform squats on an unstable surface for the first time. Although not excruciatingly painful, it stopped me being able to do stuff and hit my flexibility hard. To add to this, I managed to contract the Hand Foot And Mouth virus off my son with 2 weeks to go before the race. Normally people get this as a child but coming from England, this must not have been the case for me.
Luckily for me, my symptoms were not as bad as my wifes but I was still given doctors orders to take it easy otherwise the virus would stick around longer. I had no choice but to hold of the training. I was also due to race in a 5k the weekend before the Playa Del Rey triathlon but I had to pull out of that one.
Race Day
I was excited about the race, not only because I felt that I could do well, but because I knew my wife and son were going to come down with me to watch me race. My wife has watched all of my triathlons leading up to this year but since our son Ben has been born, we felt that he was too young to wake up so early and drag him to the races. This was the first triathlon he would attend and I was excited to have him there. I'm guessing he won't remember it when he grows up, but daddy will and that's what counts.
I realized that I wasn't feeling 100 percent for this race but I also thought that being a small event, I still had an outside chance of placing.
On the way to the car, we looked out of the window to be greeted by a blanket of fog. Not great I thought. The race was due to start at 7am and I felt that the mist would not clear. I wasn't looking forward to a duathlon so I kept my fingers crossed that the fog would lift.
As it turned out, the organizers of the race delayed the start so that the fog had time to clear. They also spaced out the waves a little more than usual to allow the swim to clear of one wave before the next one started. I was in wave 3 so I made sure I was in the water warming up before and during the first waves start. Not only was this a recommended time to warm up, but it gave me a great view of my Sony team mate Jamie Specht getting in the front pack on the swim and exiting 5th with the leaders.
Wave 2 was all of the women 49 and under. With the extra spacing of the start waves, the worry catching the slower swimmers was removed which meant clearer water for us. They did however let the girls go at an unfortunate time as a huge wave came in just as they were entering the water. I have never seen so much chaos at the start of a swim. Bodies were tossed in all directions. Very unfortunate. They got going in the end.
The Swim
It was our time next. The gun went off and I was one of the first to touch the water. I had a good start. There were no big waves. I remember a couple of high knee steps, a couple more dolphin dives, one dive under a wave and then into the swimming. There was one crest that nearly caught us out but it only resulted in a missed stroke and we were on out way. I think I was about 10th around the first buoy which I put down to bad sighting and then myself and the other load swimmers started to stretch out. I tucked in behind a swimmer, but he ended up being all over the place so I looked around for someone else to follow. There was no-one nearby so I tried to swim cleanly for a bit to try to see if another faster swimmer would come by. Finally I decided to drop back behind someone that was fairly nearby but for some reason they came by me and I couldn't seem to latch on. I had messed up my swim a little but I kept moving forward and rounded the last buoy. The was no surf on the way in but I had a good swim right up into the shallows and exited strong.
T1
I ran up the long beach section, through the water containers to remove some of the sand and into transition. I saw about 10 people in my wave that were already there but for some reason, they were still all there when I left for the bike portion of the race so this made up for the slightly weak swim.
The Bike
My main comment would be that I did not feel strong. I was passing riders from the wave ahead but I could not see any of the riders I was racing head to head with. I was averaging about 23 mph but before the race I was hoping for close to 25 mph. It seemed to be windy in every direction. I guessed it would be the same for everyone else so I kept my head down and pushed as much as I could. At the first turn around point I noticed the group of riders that seemed to be racing hard from my wave. There were four or five of them and they seemed to be holding the same sort of pace as myself. They were a couple of minutes ahead of me but I took the turn and pushed hard to catch them. I took down a GU gel on the slight decline at the end of Westchester Parkway and took down some Gaterade as I headed back down Purshing. The gap seemed to have closed to a couple of the riders by the second turn around point but it was only towards the end of the course that I caught one of the riders.
T2
The dismount went smoothly and I ran into a fairly empty T2. Helmet off smoothly, taking my glasses with it for the second race in a row and I grabbed my race belt and hat and set off through transition. I had stored the empty GU gel wrapper up my tri shorts so I decided to extract it and throw it in the trash while I was in still in transition. It didn't slow me down and I felt good about not littering.
The Run
Simon told me that I was in 4th place in my wave as I entered the run course but I didn't know how that equated to my age group so I set off with two main tasks in hand. To try to catch the runners ahead and to try to hold off those behind me. My pace felt solid for me but I always felt that it wasn't quick enough for either task. I was picking off runners from the waves ahead of me but it was only as I approached the half way mark that I saw anyone from my wave ahead of me. They were heading back and about 3-4 minutes ahead and running strong. Not long after I turned, I saw a runner from my wave in hot pursuit. I was about 30 second up on him but he looked very strong. I dug in and tried to hold him off. With less than a mile to go, I heard the footsteps behind me of the runner I had just seem. He slowly came past me and I upped my pace to stay with him. This I only managed for about 30 seconds. Although I didn't have my GPS watch on, it turned out afterwards that he was doing sub 6:00 mile pace. I'm getting there but was not quite ready for that at this time.
It also turned out to be a pass for 3rd place which was very disappointing even if I wasn't quite feeling 100%. I had come so close to a podium position but was pushed into 4th in the last mile. Next year, the run will be my weapon along with my bike. I had run my fastest 5k in a race with a pace of 6:35 so this was very promising given the way I felt. My wife said that I wasn't looking my best as I came to the end of the run so I'm wondering if I dropped off the pace a little in the second half or whether my stride now makes my running look easier. I'll assume the first and work on this for next year.
Race Roundup
As a round up to the season, this was a great event and I really look forward to doing it again next year. I had set a theoretical target of 1:04:35 based on my malibu results and purely scaling them for the new distances and ended up only 1 minute and 16 seconds shy of that. The swim was slightly over but the longer run up the beach may have accounted for that. The bike was nearly 2 minutes longer than anticipated but as I was still one of the fastest on the course, I would put this down to the conditions and the layout of the course. Finally my run was nearly a minute faster than my estimate which I am really please about. I need to continue to improve in the run and really work on racing in the water before next season.
My buildup to the race was mixed with ups and downs. I had been doing some speed work both in the pool and on the track. I did my first 6:00 mile run, (on a treadmill), and my fastest 100m swim time of 1:15. Both these were encouraging but they were also relatively short bursts of speed so I have lots to work on for next year with the aim to be able to maintain these speeds over a much longer distance. Just while things were looking up, I injured my back again. This time it was caused when trying to perform squats on an unstable surface for the first time. Although not excruciatingly painful, it stopped me being able to do stuff and hit my flexibility hard. To add to this, I managed to contract the Hand Foot And Mouth virus off my son with 2 weeks to go before the race. Normally people get this as a child but coming from England, this must not have been the case for me.
Luckily for me, my symptoms were not as bad as my wifes but I was still given doctors orders to take it easy otherwise the virus would stick around longer. I had no choice but to hold of the training. I was also due to race in a 5k the weekend before the Playa Del Rey triathlon but I had to pull out of that one.
Race Day
I was excited about the race, not only because I felt that I could do well, but because I knew my wife and son were going to come down with me to watch me race. My wife has watched all of my triathlons leading up to this year but since our son Ben has been born, we felt that he was too young to wake up so early and drag him to the races. This was the first triathlon he would attend and I was excited to have him there. I'm guessing he won't remember it when he grows up, but daddy will and that's what counts.
I realized that I wasn't feeling 100 percent for this race but I also thought that being a small event, I still had an outside chance of placing.
On the way to the car, we looked out of the window to be greeted by a blanket of fog. Not great I thought. The race was due to start at 7am and I felt that the mist would not clear. I wasn't looking forward to a duathlon so I kept my fingers crossed that the fog would lift.
As it turned out, the organizers of the race delayed the start so that the fog had time to clear. They also spaced out the waves a little more than usual to allow the swim to clear of one wave before the next one started. I was in wave 3 so I made sure I was in the water warming up before and during the first waves start. Not only was this a recommended time to warm up, but it gave me a great view of my Sony team mate Jamie Specht getting in the front pack on the swim and exiting 5th with the leaders.
Wave 2 was all of the women 49 and under. With the extra spacing of the start waves, the worry catching the slower swimmers was removed which meant clearer water for us. They did however let the girls go at an unfortunate time as a huge wave came in just as they were entering the water. I have never seen so much chaos at the start of a swim. Bodies were tossed in all directions. Very unfortunate. They got going in the end.
The Swim
It was our time next. The gun went off and I was one of the first to touch the water. I had a good start. There were no big waves. I remember a couple of high knee steps, a couple more dolphin dives, one dive under a wave and then into the swimming. There was one crest that nearly caught us out but it only resulted in a missed stroke and we were on out way. I think I was about 10th around the first buoy which I put down to bad sighting and then myself and the other load swimmers started to stretch out. I tucked in behind a swimmer, but he ended up being all over the place so I looked around for someone else to follow. There was no-one nearby so I tried to swim cleanly for a bit to try to see if another faster swimmer would come by. Finally I decided to drop back behind someone that was fairly nearby but for some reason they came by me and I couldn't seem to latch on. I had messed up my swim a little but I kept moving forward and rounded the last buoy. The was no surf on the way in but I had a good swim right up into the shallows and exited strong.T1
I ran up the long beach section, through the water containers to remove some of the sand and into transition. I saw about 10 people in my wave that were already there but for some reason, they were still all there when I left for the bike portion of the race so this made up for the slightly weak swim.The Bike
My main comment would be that I did not feel strong. I was passing riders from the wave ahead but I could not see any of the riders I was racing head to head with. I was averaging about 23 mph but before the race I was hoping for close to 25 mph. It seemed to be windy in every direction. I guessed it would be the same for everyone else so I kept my head down and pushed as much as I could. At the first turn around point I noticed the group of riders that seemed to be racing hard from my wave. There were four or five of them and they seemed to be holding the same sort of pace as myself. They were a couple of minutes ahead of me but I took the turn and pushed hard to catch them. I took down a GU gel on the slight decline at the end of Westchester Parkway and took down some Gaterade as I headed back down Purshing. The gap seemed to have closed to a couple of the riders by the second turn around point but it was only towards the end of the course that I caught one of the riders.
T2
The dismount went smoothly and I ran into a fairly empty T2. Helmet off smoothly, taking my glasses with it for the second race in a row and I grabbed my race belt and hat and set off through transition. I had stored the empty GU gel wrapper up my tri shorts so I decided to extract it and throw it in the trash while I was in still in transition. It didn't slow me down and I felt good about not littering.
The Run
Simon told me that I was in 4th place in my wave as I entered the run course but I didn't know how that equated to my age group so I set off with two main tasks in hand. To try to catch the runners ahead and to try to hold off those behind me. My pace felt solid for me but I always felt that it wasn't quick enough for either task. I was picking off runners from the waves ahead of me but it was only as I approached the half way mark that I saw anyone from my wave ahead of me. They were heading back and about 3-4 minutes ahead and running strong. Not long after I turned, I saw a runner from my wave in hot pursuit. I was about 30 second up on him but he looked very strong. I dug in and tried to hold him off. With less than a mile to go, I heard the footsteps behind me of the runner I had just seem. He slowly came past me and I upped my pace to stay with him. This I only managed for about 30 seconds. Although I didn't have my GPS watch on, it turned out afterwards that he was doing sub 6:00 mile pace. I'm getting there but was not quite ready for that at this time.
It also turned out to be a pass for 3rd place which was very disappointing even if I wasn't quite feeling 100%. I had come so close to a podium position but was pushed into 4th in the last mile. Next year, the run will be my weapon along with my bike. I had run my fastest 5k in a race with a pace of 6:35 so this was very promising given the way I felt. My wife said that I wasn't looking my best as I came to the end of the run so I'm wondering if I dropped off the pace a little in the second half or whether my stride now makes my running look easier. I'll assume the first and work on this for next year.Race Roundup
As a round up to the season, this was a great event and I really look forward to doing it again next year. I had set a theoretical target of 1:04:35 based on my malibu results and purely scaling them for the new distances and ended up only 1 minute and 16 seconds shy of that. The swim was slightly over but the longer run up the beach may have accounted for that. The bike was nearly 2 minutes longer than anticipated but as I was still one of the fastest on the course, I would put this down to the conditions and the layout of the course. Finally my run was nearly a minute faster than my estimate which I am really please about. I need to continue to improve in the run and really work on racing in the water before next season.
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