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 Swim
Comments: Well, I thought I was in the lead...so surprised when I found out I was absolutely smoked in the swim. Some dude turned in a 7:44. No wonder I thought I was in the lead. To be 4th though was a disappointment. I got off to an ok start. Ran to the water very fast and got in ok. Couple guys passed me right off the bat, but I wasn't going to let them go. I stayed right on them. This must have been when the other three took off. Somewhere between the start and the first buoy. As I passed the two guys in front of me about halfway through, I didn't see anyone ahead of us. I seriously thought I was in the lead. I gave a good performance and when I rounded the last buoy, I picked up the pace. Got out of the water just fine. There was about a 100+ yard run through the sand onto the bike path and then to the first timing mat. Also, the shorter the swim, the more getting in and out of the ocean become a factor on time. Obviously I didn't swim over 2 minute/100 yard pace. I'm still not thrilled with this swim though. I'm mad that I didn't see the 3 guys take off and know where I was position wise. I try and make judgments based on where I am. What would you do differently?: Be better aware of where I am in the race. Try and get better at spotting swimmers getting away.  Transition 1
Comments: Didn't wear a wetsuit and had the fastest T1 time in AG. I skimmed the overall results and saw one guy that beat me had a :56. What would you do differently?: You'll see....see bike....lol  Bike
Comments: So I blaze out of transition and hop on my bike. There was a hill leading up to the looping course, so I decided no to try and put my shoes on up the hill. When it flattened out, I reached down to put my shoes on....but something was wrong...when I put my shoes in the clips, I put them on BACKWARDS! The wrong shoes were on the wrong side. Oh shit! What do I do? Do I stop and change them. No way...so I slipped them on and strapped them down. Felt a little weird but really didn't affect me at all. This was the first preparation mistake I have made in Triathlon and it pissed me off. I pride myself on fast transitions and being prepared. Those are the only things you can directly control and there is NO excuse for not being perfect in them. You can't control who shows up and you have limited control over how you feel and how fast you are...but you have absolute control over preparation and transitions. I guess this had to happen once for me to now pay attention and make sure it doesn't happen again. Anyway, rest of the bike went smooth. I felt really good. The course was tight and there were a ton of people on it. It was pretty sketchy in some sections as the difference in speed was pretty great to most of the competitors. I just made sure to be very vocal and let people know I was there. I made the final turn back down to transition and got off the bike with no issues. I didn't bring any water on the bike and at this point I could use a drink. What would you do differently?: Put your damn shoes on right! Transition 2
Comments: Another good one. Best in AG and right up there in the overall. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: I've been running a little bit differently in the past couple days. I've increased my turnover slightly and I must say that it has helped. I'm not thrilled with this time even though it would have been a PR 5K if I had continued another .10 mile. I just want to really get my run time down. I'm going to start run specific training over the off season to help with this. First mile went good at 6:38. Next mile was a little slower at 6:50...I wasn't going to run a mile over 7 minutes, so I picked up the pace. I know that sometimes, later in a race, when you pick up the pace you are actually running the same speed as earlier except you are more tired and it feels faster. There were two things going through my head, don't slow down and don't get passed. If someone was going to pass me in the last mile, they would really have to be cooking. The new running style has one significant benefit, I don't feel as fatigued in my legs and back. Although I do think it raises my HR just a little. Let me train with this style a little and I'll figure it all out. So I picked up the pace, no one passed me and I was pretty sure I had won. I waited for the results though. Last mile was a good 6:33. What would you do differently?: Nothing...just run faster...gonna work on that over the off season. I would like to get my 5k times down to 6 minutes flat. Post race
Warm down: Nothing What limited your ability to perform faster: Not much. Just need to get faster. Event comments: Great way to end the season. I came into this race with zero expectations because I just raced LA Tri pretty hard last week. This was just going to be a fun little race...and turned out to be a great win to go into the off season. I'm going to work hard on my run over the off season and come back even stronger next year. Last updated: 2010-09-15 12:00 AM
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United States
MESP
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 4/745
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 1/60
Woke up pretty early, about 3:45, as I had a fairly long drive to Hermosa Beach. I really like getting to races early, getting a close parking spot and relaxing while setting up transition. I also want to get a good spot on the rack.
One difference about this race, I didn't eat breakfast. I was just not hungry. So, I brought a banana, muffin and Gu Gel with me in case I got hungry over the next couple hours. I left the house at about 4:30 and arrived at about 5:15. Got a great parking spot next to transition and rolled in.
I was on a very strange rack. The transition was in a court yard type area and they had park benches and concrete, decorative blocks here and there, all kinds of weird stuff. My rack only had 7 numbers on it. I was the first to arrive. Got the end spot, set up and just sat on the bench right next to my bike for a little while...lol. Never really got hungry but did eat the banana about an hour before my start time. Everything was good so I headed out of transition and down to the beach.
I decided not to wear a wetsuit for this race. The swim was only a 1/4 mile and the water was warm at last week's LA Tri. I was cold standing on the beach and hoped this wasn't a mistake. After the prerace meeting, I headed down to the water for a quick swim. The water was 67 degrees and warmer than the outside air temp...lol. It was awesome!