Nautica Malibu Triathlon - Classic Distance - TriathlonSprint

Was ready to put together a decent swim considering the small breaks out there and a much more aerobic swim base in 2010. Started mid pack and got to the buoy in the same position. That is when things started to come apart. I don't think I did a good job of rounding the buoy at a 90 deg angle because I found myself going out to sea approaching the halfway buoy. I made the adjustment but then found myself (along with a large group of the relay swimmers and my wave) INSIDE the turn buoy! I was pretty upset at this point and knew that I was out there way longer than I needed to be. I pushed the tempo and got around the buoy and into the T1 chute but knew I had some ground to make up. Was not really winded so I knew I could still pull off a good run later. End result was a time 3 minutes SLOWER than last year due to testing my muscles for an Olympic distance race ;)

Really get a feel for a 90 degree turn at the first buoy and navigate better! The houses on the hill were somewhat visible and I should have looked more consistently. It did not help that my goggles were scratched up quite a bit but I did not want to make a race week change. Don't follow the crowds even if they seem to know what they were doing. Continue to use earplugs... no sick feel this year!

I have been thinking through my transitions a lot more in the last week and it paid off. I had a 7:19 transition time last year due to sea sickness from the swim and "newbieness", big improvement this year. Used a water bottle to squirt off sand and worked great, used it to rinse out the salt taste as well. I had a little trouble getting my sleeve off over my watch but got it through eventually. I have never felt comfortable doing an advanced transition with shoes locked into the peddles (I have standard road clip-ins with three straps) so didn't try it. Legs felt ok running the carpet with the cleats on. The mount zone here is WAY too small for an event like this, I had two potential run ins with people clipping in and not holding a line so that delayed getting fully up to speed quickly.

Invest in tri-specific bike shoes and learn to start with them locked into the peddles.

Plan here was to pace 18mph for the first half then negative split the second half, conserving energy on all good sized downhills. I was worried about a less-than-reliable front derailleur that I needed to tweak with a lot on Wednesday but was very reliable the whole course. I am new to any bikes with gears as of last year and I tried to anticipate the hills better... did so on all but one hill. Thanks to my local tri shop (Triathlon Lab Santa Monica) for convincing me to keep my Gatorskin puncture-resistant tires in lieu of lighter, faster ones... the road had some glass and gross concrete in some sections. Took in more Nuun water than I typically would due to some cramping in my right calf and behind the knee in the first half. Worked through it and never really bothered me later. I followed the plan and negative split like I wanted, put me right at 18mph for the course. I wanted a little faster but was very happy about how I felt. I was in the aero bars or in the horns any time I was not climbing which was a big change from last year. Flexed my calves and took in more Nuun in the last two miles to prep for run.

Nothing really. Maybe take in some more fluids earlier in the bike. Tech-wise, I could see an aero helmet and some nicer race day wheels in the future.

Another big improvement from last year. I don't do really advanced transitions... just get off the bike and run in the bike shoes. First race with the Avi Bolt II shoe and the transition was quick and painless with a little BodyGlide on the major contact points.

Again, tri-specific bike shoe could help here.

Plan was a sub-8:00 pace, I did a 9:20 pace last year. My legs felt good and I was just trying to get them into a nice cadence for the first few minutes. I was surprised to see me running a 7:10 pace at mile 1... way too fast for me. I was afraid I overcooked it and paid for it a bit in mile 2 which runs slightly uphill. After the turnaround I just let the turnover take me down the hill and kept a decent cadence on the flats to finish up with a 7:51 pace. Passed tons of people in my age group which was a satisfying end to the day.

Don't overcook the first mile, try to negative split the run.

Light stretching, BBQ ribs from Houston's with a baked potato :)


Better navigation plan on the swim, hill training on the bike.


17 minute improvement over last year. The race as usual is well run and the crowds never felt like a huge issue (except at the bike mount line). Need more time in the water (technique and navigation) to get me to at least middle of the pack status (19 min 800m should be the target). I didn't let the navigation issues get me down and glad I had some basic race plans in place to fall back on. I think this gives me a lot of confidence for some upcoming races (Playa del Rey, LA Rock and Roll Half Mary) and for 2011 where I would like to add an Olympic distance race to the schedule.