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 Swim
Comments: This was the part I wasn't looking forward to... I didn't train as much as I wanted to for swimming. I wanted to survive it. I probably swam10 times before the race. 7 in the pool and 3 OWS. I knew I could finish in 30 minutes since that was my time last year so I was good with that and I definitely wanted to improve. First part of the swim went pretty good. I would like to think I was hanging with the middle of the pack swimmers although I do know I went wide because I couldn't see a lot of people in front of me. I got bad eyes and I couldn't really see the "double tree makers" or the buoys so I just tried my best to follow swim caps. After the first left turn, that's when things got a little bit "choppy." I got elbowed twice in the face! Good thing my goggles didn't get dislodged. I panicked for a second after both hits but nothing too serious. I calmed myself and went on my relaxed style of swimming. Maybe I should push the swim next time... I finished the swim in 25:26. I would have had a better time if I didn't go wide but you live and you learn. It's 4 minute improvement from last year's time which was 29:56. One good thing to start the day! What would you do differently?: Try to swim more before race day!!!  Transition 1
Comments: I tried to run from the beach but the pebbles can really hurt man! I took my sweet time putting on my socks and doing a wipedown. I had a longer than I wanted transition at 3:10. Last year's time was 2:58. One "X" mark for me. Oh well. I definitely need to improve on my transitions... What would you do differently?: Move faster!  Bike
Comments: Now this is the part I was really excited about. When I did the two outside rides with Pedro, it felt very fast even with training wheels. With race wheels, I wanted to see what it was capable of. I knew I will almost redline the bike. Only 5 persons passed me and boy were those guys fast! Other than that I was passing people everywhere. Quads were burning on the second half but I'm used to the pain. I pushed all the way to the very end. I didn't get stuck in groups and nobody drafted off me. I was huffing and puffing for the most part. I finished in 1:03:08 for an average speed of 22.8 mph. That was my fastest bike split to date!!!! I guess all those spinning classes on the gym did help! I felt that my quads was tired but I wasn't really worried because I was now about to enter my favorite leg. What would you do differently?: Not much really. Maybe use the Garmin next time but I felt pretty good just going be feel on the bike. Transition 2
Comments: Again, transition this year was longer than last year's. I did it in 2:24 while last year was 2:08. Had to tie and tighten the laces since I left them loose after my half marathon 4 weeks ago... What would you do differently?: Again, move faster!  Run
Comments: On the run part, I was able to grab my Garmin 305. I turned it on and it didn't get the satellite signal until after the first freaking mile! Although just based on effort, the first mile was definitely sub-7 minute pace. My plan for the run was to take it easy on the first 3 miles. From experience, I know I only get faster from there. So on the first four miles, my plan was to keep a pace of under 7 minutes. I tried to shoot for 6:40-6:50 miles and I was able to stick to it. Then at mile 2 there was an unexpected thing that happened. I felt that I needed to go number 2. Realizing that it was only the second mile, I decided to go number 2 on the next porta potty. I was probably there for 2-3 minutes. I felt good right after the pit stop hahaha! So if I remember it right, my run splits look like below. I just felt getting stronger and stronger as the run was nearing the end. At mile 4 though I again had to do a short stop. I was running in my Sacony Progrid A4 which I realized was the wrong shoe to use in a gravely and pebbly run. The pebbles were getting stuck in the drain holes of the shoe. If you have seen the A4s, it has a very thin sole. It's a "race" shoe. I felt the pebbles jamming to the balls of both my foot. I'm still feeling them sore this morning and I'm having a hard time walking... I saw Robert and Mo on the run and they were looking good! Gave both of them a tap tap on the bum and told them I'll see them at the finish. I also saw Thomas about 100 meters ahead of me and about to cross the finish shoot. That guy looked strong on the run! I finished the run in 39:30!!! My first sub-40 minute 10K in a triathlon race! I was very happy about that! Mile 1 = 6:50 Mile 2 = 6:37 Mile 3 = 6:30 Mile 4 = 6:32 Mile 5 = 6:29 Mile 6 = 6:19 What would you do differently?: Maybe try to push it earlier Post race
Warm down: We and the crew waited for everybody else to finish. There were a lot of picture taking of course and chit chat. Oh and by the way Michelle Carrillo finished first in the athena division!!! She was contemplating not doing the race and of course she podiumed for the second year in a row. I think she mentioned that her secret was to train less.... Finished the day with Roehl driving us back home and us stopping at In n Out. That burger has never tasted so good!!! Then went to girlfriend's place where a nice home cooked dinner was made. No better way to end a perfect day! What limited your ability to perform faster: Swim and transitions!!! Event comments: I was 17 minutes faster than last year's time! From 2:30:48 down to 2:13:38. I had time improvements across the board. 4 minutes on the swim, 4.5 minute on the bike, and 8.5 mimute improvement on the run. If only I could say the same about my transition times... I could definitely gone faster on the run without the potty break, running pains but I have no regrets. I had a great race and a great way to start the 2012 triathlon racing season! Last updated: 2012-03-07 12:00 AM
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United States
Klein | Clark Sports
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 138/729
Age Group = 30-30
Age Group Rank = 25/86
I went into the race knowing that this will most likely be a "gauge my fitness" type of race. I didn't really have any expectations going into it just that I wanted to beat my time last year. My 2011 time last year was 2:30:48. It was an average performance which I was ecstatic about by the way. Didn't really get a lot of training since my last half marathon 4 weeks ago and me taking a week of no running and cycling to rest up my battered loins. The 3 weeks prior to the race was characterized by spinning classes in the gym and short 3-6 mile runs outside or on the dreadmill. Also, I got my bike the week before the race. I was able to put in a couple of outside rides and a couple of trainer rides. By the way I named my bike Pedro, he's a black and white 2011 Cervelo P3. That thing is thoroughbred!
Weekend before the race was pretty hectic. Spent Friday with the girlfriend, woke up really late on Saturday morning and brought all my stuff to my carpool buddy's place. We arrived at Lake Cahuilla to pick up our race packets and were able to squeeze in a short swim in the lake. That helped with the confidence and hoping that tomorrow's swim won't be too "rough." After the swim, we went to a friend's place in PGA West where we had a small dinner party and crashed. At the house, two of my friends had to help me set up my new race wheels which I haven't ridden yet. Brand new wheels, tires, and tubes and all of them will be used on race day. Talk about not doing anything new on race day!
Called it a night at 10:30PM. I was tossing and turning all night long. That always happen when I'm sleeping in a new bed. It also didn't help that I'm a light sleeper. I probably woke up more than a dozen times during the night and my bed buddy had the same experience. At 2AM I woke up to strange noises... I heard pooooooooooooooot... plok.... plok... plok... I just smiled and realized what the sound was and tried to get more zzzzzzzzssss.
Me, Roehl, and Michelle woke up at around 6:15AM so we could be at the race site no later than 6:45. We found a parking spot about a mile away from the lake. Good thing we can ride our bikes to the lake! We got our bags and off we went. I started setting up my bike and realized that I forgot my cycling and running shoes in the car. Great... So I headed back to the car. It was a long freaking walk! I tried to jog it but I felt aches on the calf since I wasn't warmed up so I decided against it and did brisk walking instead. So I got my stuff from the car and walked back to the lake. Got there at 7:28 with 5 minutes to spare for my wave start. I got my my race number marked on my arms and calves, donned the wetsuit, and off I went to the lake with about 1 minute left before our wave start.
I'm a very calm person on race day but this takes the cake for sure due to the forgotten items. Sure I'm usually an animated person but on race day I fall into a "zone." I fall into a state of calmness which is great. I don't really get excited until my foot touches the water.