Nautica Malibu Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Swim was fairly brutal. I'm a pretty strong swimmer...swam competitively at long distance (500 free) in HS 30 years ago...but I was out of sync for most of this (my first) race. Decided to stay wide and in clear water and trust my stroke mechanics, but I got too wide and then too far offshore and spent a lot of energy (and added distance) working my way back in during the 2nd half of race. Also, though I'd done numerous ocean swim workouts (incl. one longer distance than this), the h2o temp was down appreciably from two weeks ago and, frankly, the cold really weighed me down the first half of the race. I felt like I had no buoyancy and, consequently, I got no rhythm to my breathing and my stroke was choppy. Felt pretty rotten the first 400 yds as a result.

Just before the midpoint, I stopped to reconnoiter--I was way too far out and tending to pull further out. The guy in front of me--the only other swimmer out as far as me at that point--was breaststroking and I thought, "Hey, why not?" I wasn't a breaststroke specialist back in the day, but I do have a good legal stroke and it seemed like a way to get my breathing regulated. Best decision all day. I looked over to my right and I was keeping up with the majority of the swimmers in the pack closer to shore. For not having done it much in the last 30 years, my breaststroke was still more than halfway decent!

Got myself reoriented and then started to freestyle (crawl) again. This time I found a rhythm: breathe on fourth stroke, then second stroke and second stroke again, upping my aerobic intake above what I would normally do. From this point on, the swim improved. Even at its worst, I was probably actually doing okay, but in the second half, I was starting to catch swimmers from the wave ahead of me and managed to merge back into the pack without contact.

Caught two decent waves coming in and got out and into a run pretty quickly. Broke down wetsuit and had goggles/cap off before exiting the beach. Nice support from spectators heading into transition.

Oh, boy...a lot. Worst phase of the race today, by far. Which annoys me, because I am a solid swimmer and did the work in training to get acclimated to the ocean.

During the week, I'd considered gambling on my 30-years-in-the-past competitive experience and setting up at the outside front of the pack with an aim to try to stay in clear water to the 1st buoy. But I got up to the starting line later than I should have, really, and--frankly--I chickened out. I started about four deep on the outside and spent time I probably shouldn't have moving even wider left as I ran down the beach. Should have stuck with my original instinct.

Definitely should have gotten wet sooner and longer. I felt like I was sufficiently acclimated in the five minutes or so I spent in the water warming up, but the simple truth is that the cold destroyed my first 200-300 yds. I love my cheap surfer's spring suit (man, is it a breeze to get out of), but today was an argument for investing in a tri wetsuit before next summer. Maybe the Zoot sleeveless I saw with the legs cut mid-calf...

Also: gotta be more conscientious about navigation sooner. Thought I was doing okay, but I realize that my training swims at this beach were simply a lot further offshore than the actual race course! I was feeling like I was where I wanted to be, but then would discover I was out at the lifeguards' distance. Definitely added too much distance to a swim where I was struggling big time from the start.

T1 started great...despite struggles in the water, I was running well exiting the beach and into transition zone. My single biggest concern with the race, actually, was impact on my feet from the run through the parking lot to my bike, but my rack was fairly close to the swim finish and the carpet runner they had helped. My feet were beat up, but not bad.

Rest of T1 was molasses-time. My small basin of water had obviously been used by someone else to rinse their feet...nice. I thought I had a plan, but, frankly, I was still so shell-shocked by the swim that I was not executing it. Rinsed feet, got jersey and sunglasses on before realizing I hadn't pulled my wetsuit the rest of the way off. No biggie, but it illustrates how disconnected I was. It did result in my having to grab my towels a 2nd time to re-dry my ankles. There definitely was a moment where I know I was done, but stood there staring at my setup because I was so disconnected from the process that I was sure I must be forgetting something. More time (not a lot, but still...) wasted.

Finally grabbed my bike and ran out. Now I was in my element (running...in shoes...finally) and I actually passed a few people in transition.

I just need to practice this. And get things down to a genuine routine. Like today, I decided somewhat impulsively to wolf down about half a gel, mostly just to see if it might positively impact my ride. I don't really imagine it did and it was just one more thing to add time. Practice, practice, practice...

If the swim was a torture fest, the bike leg (which I don't much care for in training) went well. I'd ridden the course several times in training at race pace and had never broken 1 hr (best was about 1:00:30)...I was determined to do so today and ultimately took about 2 minutes off my previous times riding this course. Other than a bad cramp in my left calf after the big hill on the return, I was in a pretty good zone the whole ride.

It's clear that (and this is my least favorite aspect of triathlon) I'm limited by my entry-level road bike. Physically, I'm competitive: I pass people (today and in time trials in training) on hills all the time, staying in the saddle and in cadence. But the guys on the $6000 tri bikes just blow past my $500 K2 on the flats. Sure, many of them are clearly better technical riders than me into the bargain, but the bike...and the money spent on it (and the state-of-the-art helmets, etc.)...I see more and more stacks the deck. Not complaining, really, but it is a reason I'm still more than one foot in the running world...there's a competitive purity there that I have to admit I like. I don't see an upgrade to my bike any time in the near future, and that...along with the need for more serious tempo riding more often...is going to be at least a bit of a ceiling for me. I may upgrade some components along the way, but the reality is that--along with sub-par components from a competitive standpoint--I'm riding a pretty heavy and not aerodynamically optimal frame.

I was hoping for no more than 2:30 on this and didn't make it. I felt like I was organized and moved through the transition well, but I really need practice.

Practice.

Well, that, and not forget to take off my gloves...that ultimately saved me a few seconds, but I did have to struggle with forcing them into a pocket of my jersey as I headed out of transition on the run.

Weird run. On the one hand, because I'd successfully upped my speed on the bike, I felt tight...like the first time I bricked at race pace. I was really having to work my arms more than I normally would and about 1.7 miles in, my lower back seized up, something that only had ever happened before on my one marathon.

On the other hand, looking at my training runs on the course and last year's results, I knew I was likely to be somewhere in the vicinity of top 15% in my AG on the run (didn't quite make that, but in the top 1/4, nevertheless) and the reality is that I was passing people throughout the run...probably dozens, I imagine. Only one person passed me (around the 2.5 mile mark) during the whole half-hour run. I know from reading BT how many people struggle with the run, so this wasn't a surprise--I'm typically a top 5%-8% AG finisher at open runs up to 12K--but it was a little weird to be feeling so off my game and yet be passing so many people. Very schizoid experience...I knew I had enough in the tank to kick the last 1000m or so, but was too tight from the ride to up my tempo for the first 5K. I definitely didn't leave much in the tank, although I was pretty steady on my feet and didn't need much hydration at all at the finish.

Not much. I took a couple gulps of water along the way, something I'd likely not do in an open 4 mile race, esp. with the sort of moderate temps we had today. That helped ease some of my discomfort, I think...the back pain definitely eliminated any shot I had at sub-:30.

What warmdown?

Post race was about A) making sure I had access to the "celebrity brunch" tent, since I didn't get a wristband for it in advance like Liz did and B) making sure I'd cleaned up my transition setup and gotten back to the finish line in time for Liz to finish.

Meant to grab Liz's camera from her transition bag, but forgot and didn't want to chance missing her finish in going back to get it. Had my camera phone, so figured I'd try to grab a shot with that. She came in right about when I imagined she would, but I felt I should be there well in advance in case she blew the roof off the sucker. Thought I got a good photo, but when I looked at it, she'd just exited frame. Oh, well.


Today was really all about the swim. I performed okay in the pool and had worked my weekly workout in the pool up to 2K, including a mile swim. Stroke mechanics in the pool felt great lately, esp. given the 30 year layoff in competitive swimming. But tactically I was a mess today.

On the bike, I need to commit to more tempo rides...I hate them, but I need to do them. I've seen immediate results from the modest hill work I've done in training over the past six weeks, so I know I can improve without making myself crazy with high volume tempo work for now.

The run? I just have to keep reminding myself that a tri run is not likely to ever be the same pace as an open race at the same distance. I was plenty prepared today, but I only had so much ability to open up my stride in the first half of the race after pushing it on the bike as much as I did.

Big message from today: Transitions need more work, too!


First tri under my belt and my wife's. I definitely could have shaved time off the swim and both transitions, but I still came in just about right on my goal (and Liz beat hers, which made for a good day).

When Liz decided to go for this and I decided to go along, I didn't know anything about the "world" of triathlon...for instance, that--although Malibu is a "sprint"--this race is longer in all three disciplines than most sprint events. At a more typical sprint, my time would equate to more like a 1:22-1:23, which I feel good about for future events.

One side note: Liz and I both did fundraising for the race charity and earned entrance to the post-race "celebrity brunch". One problem: By the time Liz finished (she is a 40+ AGer and started in the 14th and last wave) ALL the food was gone. Because I only just popped my head in the tent to see what they had and went off to wait for Liz to finish, neither of us got any of the brunch. Not a good message to send to older AG athletes who went the extra mile to fundraise for the race charity to not have enough food for the number of competitors on the list for admittance to the brunch. New caterer next year, maybe?