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. :)

Is it just me?!?!? I am so nervous about the Tri. 3 days including today is left. I'm having anxiety attacks thinking I'll forget something for T2 (which needs to be turned in tomorrow)! I stood in the shower the other day with the water running down my face. I was breathing in and out simulating being in the water. And I had to get out from under the shower and I gasped for air like I was suffocating!!! It was horrible. I can't even breath normal in the shower right now! I'm trying to visualize Jacob running. It relaxes me. It makes me smile when I see him run all out. He runs so cute and that's what I've been trying to visualize whenever I can. I laugh every time - which might not be good to laugh while swimming, but its one of my most cherished pleasures in life. Bella running is a harder visualization. It's VERY stressful. Her three year old legs move move move but at any moment its as if she'll fall. It's quite amusing and to be honest, I feel like closing my eyes when she runs because I don't want to see her bite the dust... or cement for that matter. So... Forget the 'name game' in the water... JACOB RUNNING is what I'll visualize. I'll make him run for me tonight. :) LOL

I've been feeling TOTALLY apprehensive about the LA Triathlon that I've stayed away from the swimming pool ALL WEEK LONG! You can call it taper, but really, I should have been doing drills, a couple of laps here and there, and just getting used to the water once again. I've done 600 meters in TWO WEEKS! What's wrong with me?!??! I'm so nervous.

It wasn’t as hot as it was last Thursday. Actually, it was close to 10 degrees cooler. Around 80. So I decided to put in a 10K run. Jake was at Piano, Bella was at “Lala’s” and I was home from a shitty day at work. I slipped on the shoe of choice, my Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6, which by the way felt AWESOME!. I grabbed a 10.5 ounce and a 20 ounce water bottle and tried out my new Amphipod Full Tilt Velocity fuel belt. I started at 4:22 PM. Before I knew it I was at the 2 mile mark. My splits were kinda fast for the first two miles which hurt me on mile 4 and 5… But that’s later. My goal was a 10K run but instead of my normal Verdugo out and back, I decided to “PinBall” it as I call it. This meant I’d run and try to find shade on a flat course through Glendale. If I hit a red light I’d “PinBall” in a direction where I could run without running the red. I’d do this going out for 3.1 miles then work my way back. So this is what I call a “PinBall” run. It led me through to Brand Blvd, Central Avenue, back to Brand and as I got to Glenoaks I hit a red and HAD to stop. If I PinBalled I would have been going away from home and I was not going to give my legs hell by doing a ‘long run’ for the week. That would be bad with a Tri coming up. I was just past the 5K mark and thought a 30 second rest would do me good. I hit STOP on the Garmin and waited for the light. The final 5K had a course where there was no lights! Just stop signs and a couple of little hills that really got my heart rate up to the high 190s. I knew it going up and I struggled through it but made it. It was a challenging mile 4 going on Mountain Blvd heading home. Mile 5 meant I was in the final stretch run home. And if mile 4 was hard, mile 6 was harder. I stepped it up and averaged a 9:17 (my 5K average pace) and tried desperately to let it fly with .2 miles to go. That little 2/10ths of a mile final stretch seemed like a never ending run. I was huffing and puffing and really ran through it as hard as I could but only managed a 9:36 pace for that little sprint. Here are my splits: SPLITS Mile 1 0:08:59 Mile 2 0:09:05 Mile 3 0:10:09 Mile 4 0:10:13 Mile 5 0:10:45 Mile 6 0:09:17 Mile 6.2 0:01:53 Total: 01:00:21 Not bad at all. I was hoping an under 60 minute run… 21 seconds over is something I can make up the next time. Google Earth is awesome by the way. I uploaded my run into MotionBased then saved the data and viewed it on Google Earth. I copied it and pasted it into Photoshop and marked the mile marks. Check it out: I marked the mile marks 1…2… etc. And the Start (S) and Finish (F) 6.2 miles. Then I went out to eat pasta with Dale, Dasie, Liza, Debbie (from Dallas), Jake and Colby. It was yum.