Los Angeles Triathlon - Sprint Distance - TriathlonSprint

It was nice to have a few guys swim around you at the same level. We were encouraging each other as we went along.

I got tossed three times on the way back to shore. I just held my breath and struggled to the top. Only one time did I think I was doomed and I swallowed water. The lifeguards were right there watching and asked if I was okay. I nodded as I coughed out water. YUCK!

As I got my feet on the beach I had a huge grin on my face. As far as I was concerned, I had already won the biggest battle. Everything was going to be downhill... Figuratively of course because let me tell ya... the bike and the run - there were UPHILLS... literally! LOL

Put my head down and swim like Dorie. I rested alot and I don't know why. It was probably stress. I should have just really paused and assessed MY physical situation, relaxed and just swam like the pool. The water was flat, calm and I could have done the swim so much better. I was just worrying too much.

Getting the wetsuit off, packing it into my bag along with my towel, cap and goggles took forever it seemed. This whole thing about packing bags was tedious but in the end, really helped as I just picked up my bag from the finish and went home. BUT... it took forever. I mean 5 minutes?!?! Wow.

As I got to the exit and tried to get on my bike, there were a lot of people watching me fumble with the pedals. I decided to just GO and pedal without snapping in which worked out well.

Have my shoes on the pedals. This is what I will practice BIG time during the off season.

Having the opportunity to ride these normally grid locked streets was such a pleasure. It was hard to go all out and I had energy to do so. I was just saving it for SUNSET and the 1ST STREET climb. I use to drive ALL these streets in my late teens having worked in Hollywood for five years from 16-20. It was neat seeing it from the bike. I enjoyed the ride most of all... and then came SUNSET which wasn't that bad. I passed a lot of cyclist on SUNSET and even more on the 1ST STREET climb. There were a bunch of cyclists yelling encouragement to each other. I just got off my saddle and pedaled as hard as I could and when I got to the top I yelled a cheer YEAH!!! It was awesome. And the ride down was SUPER SUPER fun. I wish it was longer. I was worried about manholes as orientation on Saturday the guy said he's witnessed double flats from that downhill on Grand.

Push it.

I couldn't find my bag. A course volunteered pointed me to the right area but I was on the wrong side BUT... an athlete next to my bag yelled, YOUR BAG IS ON THIS SIDE! WOW. What a nice guy.

Then there was the problem of racking the bike. I had to carefully squeeze it in between two bikes and put my handle bars on two other bikes. I figured to get my bike off before they got there so they wouldn't be mad.

I got my shoes, hat, and water bottles out with no problem and ran with them as I put my Amphipod belt on.

Nothing I could do differently I guess. Oh - except to RUN faster. It was a full block run to my rack. Whew.

It was an AWESOME RUN!


NOTHING

Hugs and kisses and water.


Fatigue?


These are my aproximate times for the LA Triathlon based on my Accenture Athlete Alert and my Timex chrono.

Swim (645 meters): 0:29:01
T1: 0:05:34
Bike (20 miles): 1:16:37
T2: 0:05:25
Run (3.1 miles): 0:32:49
Final Time: 02:29:26

Donna couldn't make it to Venice Beach but she had signed up for Accenture Athlete Alert and within minutes of me crossing the timing pad, she got an update. This was a great feature!!! It let her know that I was safely out of the water. It also let her know when I got to T2 which meant 30 minutes or so before I crossed the finish line where she and my family waited. Others around her were like, "I don't even know if my husband made it through the swim." She said others were worried about their significant others because of what people were saying about the waves. If she didn't know that I crossed that pad at Venice, she would have been SOOOO worried!

The Accenture Athlete Updates were VERY close to the times I got from my Timex Chrono. I was off only tenths of seconds.

My Chrono after the swim leg was 29:02. Accenture was 29:01.
My Chrono total time after the bike leg was 1:51:16. Accenture was 1:51:12.
My Chrono total FINISH was 2:29:18. Accenture was 2:29:26.

Transition Times were slightly adjusted based on the information I got from Accenture and my Chrono. I hit the lap button during each transition so the times are as accurate as anyone would possibly want. It's part of having fun doing these Triathlon events. :)

More on the RUN:

So many people commented about the hill that we had to run up right off the bat. It was a wall. I was able to pass a bunch of people on that hill (Grand). Alot of athletes were walking and I was tempted to walk in order to get my legs used to the run. But as I ran, I kept catching up to them, so I decided to keep my legs moving and told myself not to stop till the finish.

Once I got to the top of Grand my legs FINALLY felt good and I ran extremely relaxed.

It was a struggle but a good one, and as I came back down that same hill I saw at least three athletes throwing up. I also came across a few athletes stretching out a cramp. And with 1 mile to go I realized what all that training I did was all about. It was about making it without throwing up, cramping (like I did on my first Tri) and finishing strong. The run was VERY emotional for me. A few times I choked up with only a mile left. Its my favorite thing to do out of the three diciplines.

There was a guy I met on the bus ride to Venice. He was a guy in his early 30s, a Hawaiian Filipino who now taught Special Ed in LA. He loves to surf but hates the water in LA. A strong swimmer without a wetsuit. Ray kept me company at T1 before the race. A funny guy. Totally had that relaxed Hawaiian attitude who kept saying, "I'm so excited. Lets get the race going NOW!" :) He was going to kick ass during the swim. He could swim a mile in thirty minutes he said - in the pool. The last I saw him was 15 seconds before start. He was at the front, looked back for me and waved. I waved back and the count down started. I had told him that I'll try and catch him on the bike because he had a mountain bike. His bike was long gone as I got to T1. But we caught each others eyes as we crossed paths on the run.

I had less than a mile to go... he had more than two. So somewhere along the 20 mile ride I had passed Ray and I crossed the finish line 20 some minutes before he did. If I had seen him on the ride I would have ridden with him for a while. It was nice to make 'a connection' with someone else before the race. It reminds me that Triathletes are great people. I've met so many at the races. And there's always ONE that stands out. Two weeks ago it was madcow at these forums. This week it was Ray. I hope to meet up with him again at another Tri one day. I should have gotten his number.

I didn't go all out on that last turn toward the crowds cheering and the finish line festivities at Staple Center. I looked for my family, and took it all in. I was VERY emotional for me.

When I saw Donna, Jake, Bella and my mom holding up a sign that said, GO GLENN GO! I swear I almost lost it. I had a HUGE grin on my face as I took that little left turn to the FINISH. I took a deep breath, looked up to the sky and said... I DID IT!

I WAS DONE.

DONE!!!

I FINISHED!!!

I hugged and kissed everyone.

It was AWESOME.

I was in such a high - everything around me seemed like a buzz.

And then I went home.

It was over....... Just like that.

WHEW...

They posted the official times for the LA Triathlon. Here it is:

- Official Results
Swim (645 meters): 0:29:02
T1: 0:04:54
Bike (20 miles): 1:17:16
T2: 0:05:29
Run (3.1 miles): 0:32:45
Final Time: 02:29:26

Pretty close to my calculations. I believe the bike ride was a little longer than 20 miles though. Like 21ish.