First, I’d like to thank my wonderful, most beautiful family, who braved the cold and rain to root me on till the very end. I didn’t think I’d see them out there as I came in from the last lap of the bike portion, but there they were and I heard them loud and clear as I sped by at 30 miles per hour.

Thanks, Donna, Jacob and Isabella! I knew the kids would love the rain, but Donna… thanks honey! If it weren’t for you, I would be a couch potato!

And thanks to Donna’s sister Kathy and her husband Peter for taking us in to feed us after the race. We were in Redlands and San Bernardino was just 20 minutes away so we got dry and warm at their place! I’ve never eaten so much rice and Chinese Broccoli for breakfast in my entire life! It was awesome! And spicy!

Wow… It’s been a year since my very first Triathlon. If you remember, I cramped in both legs and nearly drowned. This is the same Triathlon, just a year later.

The trepidation and fear I had a year ago was not as big as this year – but still, I was apprehensive and nervous.

It was a mini-sprint: 5K run, 10 mile bike and 100 yard swim.

My time last year was 1:17:20. That was because of a very torturous 9 minute swim!

I had projected a 1:15:00 finish time last year and was on course to do it. But cramps and the swim got in the way.

I thought I could possibly finish this Tri in an hour if I ran personal best 5K, did a 10 mile bike in 30 minutes and swam the 100 yards in 4 minutes. But when I wrote my averages down it was impossible.

Here was my plan:

RUN PROJECTION
8:30 5K pace to finish the 5K in 0:26:21: If I did it in 8:17 pace I could have maybe hit a personal best 5K but that would mean no legs for the bike. So my goal was slightly slower, just so I’m not bent over as I got on my bike.

BIKE PROJECTION
10 miles in 35 minutes. That’s doable at the Rose Bowl but there’s isn’t a hill at the Rose Bowl. It was ambitious but a goal. It would cut 5 minutes from last year’s bike time which is totally doable!

SWIM PROJECTION
4 minutes. I can do 100 meters in 2:20 at the gym, 100 yards is 91.44 meters which meant, at a struggling pace, I can do the swim in 4 minutes or less!

TRANSITION TIME
I gave T1 and T2 0:1:30 each.

For a total PROJECTION OF: 1:08:21 which is seven minutes faster than my projection of last year.

Ultimately, my goal was to go all out.

And that’s what I did… until it rained.


THE RUN
The sun blasted through the dark clouds. It was raining just minute’s prior to the start but now the sun was out. It was going to be a nice day. The race started about 15 minutes late and everyone was anxious to get going. And finally we were off and running.

It felt good to stay with a group. I wasn’t getting past too much and I maintained a decent pace up the gradual incline. I knew it was eventually going to be flat and fast on the back stretch then I’d have to run up an incline again at the end.

The run felt good. I felt like I was going too fast after mile 1 and had to hold back. If I continued the fast pace, I may have hit the wall. The way I felt at the end really showed my 2nd mile pace was too fast. Normally, I have negative splits but this run didn’t reflect that. I hit my lap button as I entered T1 and jogged slowly to my area just so I can rest up a little for the bike. My Garmin registered 3.07 miles for the run – a little less than a 5K.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1 0:08:45
Mile 2 0:07:53
Mile 3 0:08:58
Mile 3.07 0:00:45

FINAL 0:26:21 for a 8:35 min/mile pace. That’s 5 seconds slower pace than projected but Mile 2 really took it out of me. I didn’t manage it very well.

I redlined it most of the run. It was tough.

Here is my average heart data per lap.
Mile 1 179
Mile 2 194
Mile 3 199
Mile 3.07 200

194, 199, 200!!! Wow. That’s why my ribs hurt the day after. I was breathing hard!

Some thoughts I had during the run:
ChiRunning. Remember, ChiRunning!
Man I’m going too fast. I’m not going to last.
I need to catch that guy.
I need to speed up.
ChiRunning, baby!
Yes, I passed ‘that’ guy!
I’m slowing up. I’m too tired. This is a good pace. ChiRunning! Go Faster! Relax!
Why is that little girl so far ahead of me with a mile to go?
Screw ChiRunning! Struggle! Finish. Jog.

T1
I decided to keep my long sleeve tech shirt on because it was getting cool. I had a sleeveless tri top underneath. T1 was fast. I took a quick gulp of Gatorade. My transition towel was wet so I carefully kicked off my right shoe and slipped on my bike shoe without stepping on the towel. And in a fraction of a second I forgot to do it with left shoe and I stepped on the towel and my sock got wet. I got my helmet on, unracked my bike and noticed people riding in the transition area (like last year) so I snapped my left pedal on and biked out of T1.

T1 time: 0:01:09! Awesome! That included my little walk/jog to my area!


THE BIKE
I got off the saddle and started to go. I was flying. I felt like I had the legs but maybe a half mile in I was spent. My legs were so fatigued I kept pulling back on my gear lever as if there was an extra climbing gear secretly hidden that I didn’t know about. The climb was about 2.5 miles and it wasn’t big. Just steady and tiring.

And then… it started to rain. The first loop the rain wasn’t bad, but the turns were slippery. One guy, just ahead of me, wiped out. We all slowed down around the turn (he was still there during the 2nd lap – I guess his bike was screwed).

The straight away downhill was awesome. The road was rough as there was road construction but I tried to find a good line and go as fast as I could. I saw Donna and the kids as I flew by and waved.

As I climbed back up the 2nd loop I gave Jake a high five…
And then it started to pour.

Wearing that shirt was a mistake. It was soaked. It felt heavy and I was shivering. I couldn’t see with my glasses as the water beaded up so when I lowered them my eyes would get hit with rain. It was better to see though so I lowered my glasses.

My hands felt frozen and as I hit a bump on the road it felt like I couldn’t hold on. But I trudged ahead. I had more energy after the downhill, but now I was more tentative than ever. I’ve never biked in the rain. So this was a first.

In the end, I didn’t go as fast as I wanted but got it done. It was not a full 10 miles though. Not even a full 9 according to my Garmin. Here are my splits.

MILE SPLIT
Mile 1 0:06:12
Mile 2 0:06:21
Mile 3 0:03:00
Mile 4 0:02:08
Mile 5 0:05:04
Mile 6 0:06:22
Mile 7 0:04:37
Mile 8 0:02:47
Mile 8.89 0:03:31

FINAL 0:40:02

The bike portion really hindered my ability to go all out. I felt like I hit the wall the first two miles and struggled, and when I had my energy back I held back due to fear of death! J

Here is my average heart data per lap.
Mile 1 189
Mile 2 187
Mile 3 188
Mile 4 191
Mile 5 189
Mile 6 187
Mile 7 183
Mile 8 174
Mile 8.89 173
Ave: 185
Low: 165
High 194

Hmmm… I guess I didn’t push it at the end.

Some thoughts I had during the bike:
I NEED MORE GEARS!
When is this two mile climb going to end?
Hey, last year people were lapping me by now. I’m on a roll.
I’m not going to make it.
Just go for it!
I LOVE GOING FAST!
Hey, Jake!
Here we go up the hill again.
I can’t see!
Slow down, don’t die.
I’m drowning!
I should have taken off this shirt.
My Garmin is getting wet!
My feet are freezing!
My hands are freezing.
I’m almost done!!!

T2
Everything was soaked. But it didn’t matter, I was going into the pool anyway. I racked my bike, stuffed my Garmin in my bag, took off my helmet, threw my gloves off and struggled a little to get the wet shirt off my back. I kicked off my shoes and decided to run the 50 yards or so to the pool in my socks.

The difference between last year and this year… I ran. I could actually run to the pool.

T2 Time: 0:1:05


THE SWIM

I jumped in and new how it would feel. WARM! The pool was heated and boy did it feel good! My first lap of the snake pattern was easy. I breathed every four strokes and touched the wall. I took about two or three seconds breather as I moved to the next lane and pushed off. Half way through I was so tired I got on my back and kicked the rest of the way, touched the wall and pushed off hard.

As I swam to the finish I was feeling pretty good: winded but good. And I walked out of the pool and rushed over to hand the volunteers my timing thing.

Final Swim Time: 0:3:18. Not blistering, but speedy enough for me.

Donna had a towel waiting as I shivered back to Transition with the goal of getting everything to the car, drying off and getting warm.

It was over. It was fun. It was cold.

All in all I did well. I went all out on the run, I struggled with the bike but really, did the best I could, and I swam comfortably. My Transitions were faster than ever and although I didn’t finish as projected, I finished 5:21 faster than last year. Which, at least, shows improvement with obstacles like the rain.

My final time: 1:11:59

Three minutes and thirty eight seconds slower than projected.

I’m happy with that.

Some thoughts during the swim:
Ahhh… warm.
Push it, reach, pull, stroke, breath…
No rest, just go!
It’s shallow. I can walk!!!

Some thoughts about the race:
I love the rain.
I hate the rain during a Triathlon race.
I could do this faster.
Next year I’ll be in the top 10 in my age group… 40-45!!! LOL

Imagine, just 3:38 off my projection, which could have all been done on the bike. My bike was just a minute or so faster than last year’s time. It could have been ten.

I can’t wait till the next Tri. Pasadena Tri or the UCLA IronBruin! I think the Triathlon fever is back!

Some Pictures…


I had what looked to be a 10 year old girl in my sights with a mile to go. I wanted to catch up to her. I passed her with about a half mile to go. Then… I realized how old I was and how young she was as she sped by me as we approached the turn to T1.


T1 was nice and fast. A quick drink, wet socks and I’m off into the pending storm.

NOTE: Special thanks to Omkar and his wife Nilan and their friend, two up and coming Triathletes, who recognized me from my blog! Nilan recognized me and they greeted me. We chatted for about 5 minutes before the race started. All three were running the race - their 2nd Sprint! It was awesome to meet them and hopefully we can race together again.


Edited by TriathleteNut 2007-02-13 3:27 PM