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 Swim
Comments: Somebody up there must have heard my plight. I start right in the middle with the whole crowd. I am part of the first wave which includes my age group and all of the elite racers. The elites pull away immediately, of course, and I find a pair of feet to follow who seem like they know where they are going. I am right in the midst of the swim start maelstrom and I don't mind at all. So you get kicked once or twice, big deal. The traffic jams are much worse rounding the buoys. It turns out that the pair of feet I am following does know where they are going because I only have to sight twice in the first two-thirds of the swim course. Unfortunately, when those feet switch gears and start to breast stroke, I am forced to figure something else out. Oh yeah, that whole open water swim practice thing that I never did? Wouldn't that have come in handy? I could have probably shaved a minute or so off of my time if I didn't have to make a few major course corrections right before and right after rounding the last buoy. I swim in until I grab several handfuls of sand and set out on a dead run for the 1/4 mile or so to the transition area. For all the fret and apprehension, this was a whirlwind of a swim. No gasping, gagging, fighting for breath, threat of drowning, flocking kayaks with concerned looks from lifeguards, or panic. What would you do differently?: uh, practice. In open water. Sighting. With my wetsuit. And this time I really mean it.....  Transition 1
Comments: Absolutely no problem at all finding my bike. I must have really chosen the location well. While stripping my wetsuit on the run to the transition area , I do get my goggles, cap and earplugs stuck in the sleeve. After a few moments of panic, but no lost time, and in a blinding flash of the obvious, I realize I'm not really going to need them on the bike or run anyways. I am mildly annoyed at the conspicuous absence of the realy slick tri bikes that racked next to me, evidence that despite their starting in a later wave, they must have passed me somewhere along the way, the two supremely fit young ladies. Helmet and glasses on, wetsuit the rest of the way off, socks on, right over the thin layer of sand on my feet, bike shoes on (I decided just to run through the transition area in them, and I'm off. It feels fast to me. What would you do differently?: Maybe practice putting shoes on while riding. Maybe not. It felt pretty fast.  Bike
Comments: What a total blast! I grew up spending virtually every weekend at my family's boat in Shoreline Marina, so this is just like a really intense, hurry-up version of a nostaligic sightseeing tour for me. The scenery is exhilerating. Oil Islands done up like Disneyland, The Queen Mary, boats of every kind in the marina, palm trees by the myriad, the downtown Long Beach skyline, all great. Add to this the fact that much of the bike course is along the same route as the Long Beach Grand Prix...., Classic. I pass many and get passed by many. Mostly though, I get passed by those with really slick tri bikes. I don't know whether it's that the riders of the really slick tri bikes are just that much more serious about the sport and thus, are that much better trained or if the gear has something to do with it. I am sure of one thing though. I HAVE GOT TO GET ME ONE OF THOSE. Talking Marie into a third major bike purchase in the space of one year won't be easy, but nothing worth having is.... I'll start campaigning for it tonight. This could entail hours and hours of groveling and pleading, countless hours of time spent on home improvement projects in compromise and ultimately several nights of camping out on the living room couch, but I'm in. It's going on my list of short term goals. The finish is fine. I am able to unstrap my shoes on the fly, but when I try to ease out of the shoe, the cleat comes loose from the pedal. Running in the shoes is no big deal. What would you do differently?: Get me one of those super slick, top secret, double throwdown, space age, streamlined, Cervelo or Felt or Javelyn tri bikes. Yesssss! Transition 2
Comments: This goes nothing but smooth. I had previously stuffed my race belt with number into my shoe, that goes on easily. I get into my shoes easily, grab my hat and water bottle and I'm off. This also feels very fast. What would you do differently?: Besides maybe hydrate a little bit better on the bike so I don't have to bring the water bottle with me, nothing.  Run
Comments: The run is definitely where I need the most work. I passed a few people but mostly got passed. I was getting frustrated with this. To boot, I was running with my water bottle. At some point I realize that I am the ONLY person running with my water bottle. Somewhere along the way, I decide that the water bottle is my problem, so I lash out at the evil thing and throw in into a nearby trash can. After this, I feel like I'm running faster. I'm sure I'm not actually runnning faster, this because I'm still getting passed at the same or greater frequency than prior to eschewing the bottle... Oh well, whatever feels good, right? Despite my water bottle based nuerosis, I do manage to save enough energy to really pour it on at the finish. I feel great as I lope across the last few hundred yards to the finish line at full run. What would you do differently?: Train harder for the run. Clearly, I need it. Post race
Warm down: Find Marie. Hang out for a few minutes, encourage a few other racers as they finish. What limited your ability to perform faster: Talent?, genetics?, athletic ability? Oh, and lack of super slick, double top secret, shiny new tri bike Event comments: This, the Long Beach Sprint Triathlon, is what happens when mother nature, the host city and the race organizer vow to cooperate, lock arms, clasp hands and decide to put on a race. Mother nature in charge of coercing the sun to rise at the exact moment the race starts, miraculously causing the waters at the filthy and unsanitary mouth of the LA River to be relatively clear and completely calm, and for dismissing the otherwise everpresent Southern California marine layer. The City of Long beach in charge of shutting down virtually the entire bike route to any kind of vehicular traffic and allowing the use of the Shorline Marina bike path for the run route. Pacific Sports, the race organizer, in charge of laying out a simply marked, well tended race route, aid stations and transition area. I felt like I "raced" if not quite competitively, in this one as opposed to "participated" in order to see if I could finish, which was the case with my last race. I hope to actually "compete" in the next one In my admittedly limited experience, this was a supremely well organized event. I will definitely be back next year. Profile Album Last updated: 2006-08-20 12:00 AM
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United States
Pacific Sports
68F / 20C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 432/1100
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 56/100
After a night spent in Alamitos Bay on my family's sailboat, Marie (SO) and I arrive at the race site at 5:30. I half-heartedly and with slight modicum of success, attempt to eat something then go to the transition area to get set up. I take quick note of the two overtly, in-your-face, fantastically athletic looking girls with the really slick tri bikes in the racks next to me. Slightly intimidated by their superior fitness, experience and gear, I quickly layout my transition area and more or less completely fail to negotiate my way into my wetsuit unaided (Marie to the rescue.) It's about a half mile walk to the start of the point to point swim, so we set out. I leave Marie safely situated on the beach, walk to the edge of the water and then begin my premeditated and much rehearsed self-reassurance-affirmation-prayer-mantra-chant, "God, please don't let me choke on the swim again. God, please don't let me choke on the swim again....."
After the disastrous swim leg at my last race (almost DNF), I vowed to respect the open water swim and get in at least a few decent workouts, in my wetsuit, in open water, before my next race (this one). That was six weeks ago. Then I must have lay down for a nice long relaxing six week nap or something because I have done no such thing. I haven't even looked at my wetsuit since then.
Pathetically now on the morning of the race, I am dialing up any diety or superior being whom I think might take my last minute call.
Taking a moment off from my open water paranoia for a moment, this is a remarkably beautiful morning. The sun is just coming up as if it's gonna pull on a green swim cap, don some goggles, run down the beach and start the swim with us. The water is completely calm, not even a wind ripple.
Swim a few meters out into the lake like still ocean water then back and call it good. A few extra strokes isn't gonna save me from my failed training regimen now, and all higher beings appear to be screening their calls this morning.