Report: Strawberry Fields Triathlon (Sprint) - 2009

You can read the detailed report with times here.

Pre-Race Routine: Woke up at 3:30am. Had a bowl of cheerios and a glass of orange juice to help the digestive system move along. My wave would not be starting for four hours so this would all be clear of the stomach by then (good thing, too). Everything was packed the night before so it was just a matter of getting dressed, hitting the bathroom, making sure the bike's tires were pumped up, racking the bike, and leaving at 4:30 so I could get to the race site by 5 (when we could start parking).

It was assigned parking in transition so I headed to my spot and set up my little area. Since my bike bag hindered un-racking last race, the bike would hang by its handlebars this time (a wise decision). My water bottle would just be needed for washing off my feet. Put the shoes on the bike and rubber band them up.

Around 6:30 it was time to get into the wetsuits because transition would be closing at 6:40. I tried Bodyglide on my legs to see if that would help getting the suit off. Time to head to the beach.



Warmup: The first wave started at 7:05. I watched that then headed into the ocean to get used to the cold. No run warm up, no bike warm up. All that would have been negated by the 61 degree water, IMHO. Did a little swimming and going under waves. By the time I got out of the water, I was okay with the cold.



Swim: The only way this could have been worse is if I had DNF'd.

I get in the water fine, the water isn't shocking me, and I start to swim. I'm not sighting so well but this is my first real ocean swim so that is to be expected. Then I notice I'm being passed by the rest of my wave. People, I'm a good swimmer. I'm probably faster in a pool than almost everybody else in my wave. Hmm. Then the motion sickness starts.

Before the race I had downed some candied ginger, as that was reported to work. I should have known it wouldn't work on me but you never know unless you try, right? So, I'm getting a bit seasick, which means my swim goes into survival mode: speed is no longer an option, I'm just trying to finish. I was actually swimming fairly well stroke-wise, I was just way slow. Rounding the second buoy and heading for the shore, I'm hating life. I actually heaved up twice on the way in but there was nothing in my stomach (my apologies to the fish for not feeding them). When I finally reached the shore where I could stand up, I saw a wave coming. I had no energy to catch it swimming or resist it standing so my attitude was, "Go ahead and knock me down, I can get back up." It did and I did.

The sad thing was, Dramamine and/or one ocean swim beforehand would likely have landed me on the podium.



T1: T1 started right after the water while on the beach. I was seasick and in no condition to try running in sand so it was a death march to a concrete walkway. Once I got there I did a little jog into transition. I was such a mess that I put my body into auto-pilot and hoped that it knew what to do. When I got into transition, most of my age group was already there. I got out of the wetsuit fairly quickly and squirted the sand off my feet quickly, too. Then it was glasses, helmet, unrack the bike and go. One of my shoes popped out of the pedals (?) so I had to reattach that. My jog with the bike was, as you might imagine, not so speedy, but I got out well before everybody else who was at my rack.

Oh, maybe Bodyglide helps get suits on but I don't think it did a thing to help me get it off.

Bike: I am so freaking pleased with my performance on the bike. I do need to mention, though, that my auto pilot didn't work so well getting into my shoes. I should have engaged my brain sooner. That said, once I was pedaling I was humming along. I was hoping to make it a 20 mph ride, because that sounds cool, but I didn't quite make it. I knew that I wouldn't get to ride a flatter course this year so the plan was to absolutely go for it, giving no thought to the run afterwards.

There was some residual seasickness to deal with but I soon got up to speed. I had the Garmin on the handlebars so I could make sure my gearing was just right. I was getting passed by the fast Olympic guys on their second loop but I was doing most of the passing, and I passed a lot of people.

One thing that amused me was cornering. For the tightest turns we had over a whole car lane to turn, yet people were staying off to the far right the whole time. Me, I looked over my left shoulder, saw that I didn't have anybody coming up, swung wide, and flew into the turns. Blasted by a few people that way.

There were two hills on the whole course and I was very happy with how I flew up them. Heading back into transition I got out of my shoes with plenty of time before the dismount line. I just wish people wouldn't keep telling me to slow down as I approached.

Not bad for a 230 pound guy on an 18-year-old, 14-speed Craigslist special, eh?



T2: This was okay. I didn't get Lock Laces in time to use them in this race so I'll see how they work at Hansen Dam. Other than that, things went well.

Run: The plan was to go out hard so that it hurt. Unfortunately, I could only go so hard before nausea made me back off. That meant I couldn't go as fast as I wanted to but, according to my time, I did hit my current goal pace (yes, I have a lot of room for improvement). My time was about 90 seconds faster than my last tri in March, too, so that's a good thing.

Overall: The conditions in the water were as good as one could hope for in an ocean swim. The bike course was flat with plenty of room (for the most part) to pass, and the run was flat, too. It was a day for speed.

One more thing: the day before the race I stepped on a scale for the first time since December and it looks like I've lost 25 pounds. If I keep up the weight loss, I may not be able to enter as a Clydesdale next year. I could live with that.

You can see other photos from the race here.

Countdown to Oxnard

No training since Wednesday's commute to/from work, fatigue has left my legs, I'm getting ready to do final maintenance on the bike, and I just need to pack. Things are winding down before I head out to Oxnard for packet pick-up and to (slowly) preview the course before tomorrow's race. Here are my plans:

Swim: My first ocean race and first mass start. First thing to do will be to go out into the ocean well before the start and get covered by the cold water until I get used to it and my breathing returns to normal. Then I'll be ready for the race. As for the start, it depends on how many people are in my wave. On the one hand I don't particularly want to get pummelled by all the bodies but on the other hand I will likely be faster than most of them. I suspect I'll take it easy at the start but then speed it up once I've convinced myself that I'm okay. I'm hoping those years of high school water polo will come in handy.

T1: I practiced getting in and out of my shoes yesterday and that's all still good. I have practiced getting out of my wetsuit so that should not be a problem. The shoes will be on the bike so it's just a matter of getting out of the wetsuit (halfway done as soon as I get out of the water), putting on my helmet, and going. I'll bring my sunglasses but I don't think I'll wear them. Should be fast. I'll have a water bottle handy in case I need to rinse my feet after the beach run.

Bike: The course is supposed to be "pancake flat", which is good news for a clydesdale like me. I will have the Garmin waiting for me on the bike so I can use that to gauge my speed. I'll find a speed that I want to be at and make sure I at least stay above that. Flat and only 7 or 8 turns (including one that's 180 degrees), I'm hoping to keep it somewhere above 20 mph. No holding back for the run.

T2: Make sure I'm out of my shoes well before T2. Then it's rack bike, helmet in backpack, put shoes on (no socks), grab race belt and go (putting belt on as I'm heading towards the exit).

Run: Ideally I'd leave T2 in first place in my division to balance out the run :-). My 5k at UCLA was just under 35 minutes so I do want to shave a few minutes off that. The plan here is just to find a hard pace, stick with it, and leave it all on the course. I won't be taking the Garmin with me from the bike so my pace will be based on pain. Sounds like fun!

Dialed Up

I went to start this post and noticed that it has been a month since my last one! Ouchie.

The reason I have been absent is that I have upped the volume in my training. Then add in me watching the Tour de France each evening and I just haven't had the time. Now that the volume is coming back down, I can more easily find the time to post. Much to go over so I'll do it like a race.

Swim: Good news and bad news here. The good news is that my training is coming along very nicely. The stroke modifications have imprinted themselves firmly in my brain and I have been swimming without pain. My workouts have been over 1000 yards and I have been doing sets of 200 with the only problem being that I'm not in the shape I was before I took my layoff. That's to be expected, though, so not a problem. This week I want to get in a few fast 50s to feel how that affects my shoulder.

The bad news is today's ocean swim. I got up nice and early and practiced putting my wetsuit on and taking it off. This would be my first swim in a wetsuit so I wanted to make sure I could get in and out of it (it's a Rocket Science sleeveless wetsuit and they put out a great video showing how to do that). I get it on and meet up with the group from the Los Angeles Tri Club (they have a swim at Zuma each weekend), and we go out into the water and swim past the waves then swim back to shore, just to get used to things. The water's cold but the wetsuit is protecting me. I sure know I'm not in a pool anymore but I know I'll get used to it. I wasn't feeling seasick, which I was a bit worried about, so that was good. We get out of the water and walk quite a ways down the beach (1/2 - 1 mile) and go back in the ocean. Swim past the waves and gather the group together, ready to swim back. It is at this point that I have a minor panic attack and decide to bail on the swim...like a complete wuss. I used seasickness as an excuse so I saved a bit of face but still...

On the long walk back I spent time reflecting on what the heck just happened. I think it was a combination of things. First, I have swum in the ocean before but I have never really swum in THE FUCKING OCEAN before. Swimming in calm bays in warm Hawaiian water is nice but it's not swimming in THE FUCKING OCEAN, which is big and bouncy and huge and murky. What I think really set me off, though, was the combination of cold water and a wetsuit. It was my first time in a wetsuit and I was not used to the pressure on my chest and how it affected my breathing. Combine that with cold water, which always takes my breath away, and you have panic about finishing a longer swim than I would have liked. I am out there in the ocean and thoughts of DNS-ing next week's triathlon and quitting altogether are floating around in my head. And I have a long swimming background!

I would like to publicly apologize to all the people I have (privately) made fun of for wussing out of the ocean swim part of a triathlon for whatever reason.

What to do now? Well, I have a week until the tri, and its swim is only 440 yards so my thinking is that if I get used to the wetsuit, the rest should fall into place. That means I am getting up early on Tuesday and Thursday for a morning workout in my wetsuit--like a dork. I really didn't want to do a pool swim in a wetsuit (for the aforementioned dorkiness factor) but my back's against the wall on this one. If I get used to swimming and doing some fast sets in the wetsuit, which I am hoping will simulate the breathlessness from cold water, I should be okay for 440 yards. After that, the club has shorter ocean swims that I'll ease into. They're less convenient to get to but the alternative of continuing freak outs is not an option.

Bike: Now that I don't have to take my son to school in the mornings, I have more flexibility in my schedule. That has resulted in my being able to bike to work twice a week. Part of the commute is a suburban section with lots of stop signs, and I take that easy. However, most of it is on a road with a bike lane and just a few stop lights. This has been going well and I am seeing improvement.

I had upped the volume quite a bit on the bike so that last week's training was my highest training volume since high school. This week is less since I need to recover for next week's tri. Yesterday's ride was just 29 miles in race gears and I flew (except when I had to repair a flat).

Run: I am still doing just once a week here but I am making slow progress. I'm still slow but not as slow as I was a few months ago. I am still alternating a "speed" week with a distance week. The speed is getting speedier and the distance is getting longer (up to just over four miles). The speed goal for this year is to bring my 5k time down under 30 minutes. The distance goal is to reach a 10k. Slow but steady progress is being made towards each.

Race: The Strawberry Fields Triathlon in Oxnard next weekend was something I had originally wanted to put on my schedule several months ago but it had conflicted with a family event so I couldn't. A few weeks ago I found out that the conflict was gone so I signed up for it. It's a month before the Hansen Dam Tri and it's a short ocean swim of 440 yards, which will be a good intro to that. The bike course is supposed to be nice and flat, too, which a Clydesdale like me appreciates. I am reducing my training volume so I will be fresh for it. This will be my second tri and my first in a Clydesdale division.

The End: That's about it for now. I hope to not let so much time go between posts but I will probably be sufficiently distracted by the Tour de France that I just don't know.

Teaching An Old Dog New Paddles

Today I swam for the first time since April 21. Back then I had to stop because my shoulders were really sore and they were not getting any better. The pain got to be too much and I actually made myself go see a doctor (not an everyday occurrence for me, let me tell you). I went straight to a sports medicine clinic and saw a doctor who, himself, has competed in triathlons (including an Ironman). After an exam it was off to physical therapy for several weeks, then back to the doc, which leads us to me in the pool today.

The physical therapy, while I think it helped in some ways, in other ways it did not. I did get my range of motion back but my shoulders were getting sore from the strain of the therapy and I did not think all of the exercises were helping. After chatting with the doc we decided the lay off the PT, do a few of the exercises at home, and get back in the water with a modified stroke.

What was hurting my shoulders the most was the recovery part of the stroke, where your hand moves out of the water and back up to the front. How odd is it that the thing that caused me pain was the one part of the stroke doing the least amount of work? Basically, the angle my hand was at, together with lifting my arm straight out and to the back was messing things up. I had to avoid that.

Today's swim was all about focusing on technique so I would do just one lap at a time. I started out with form that I had in mind and adjusted it with each lap until I thought I was really onto something. It's not like any freestyle I've ever seen but it's getting me through pain-free, so I will stick with it and see how it goes. What I did was borrow the whole rotation thing from Total Immersion so my shoulder wouldn't be at such a severe angle during the recovery. Also, when I start the recovery I flick my wrist so as my arm is coming up, my palm is not perpendicular to the water's surface but parallel to it. Next, I flex at the elbow so just my forearm is moving (this is where it gets weird), and once that's about at ninety degrees to my upper arm I finally flex at the shoulder and finish the recovery. My hand enters the water not right in front of my head, like I had been doing, but more to the outside. I'm sure it looks a bit odd but, as I mentioned, it seems to be working. It's all designed to not do the things that cause my shoulders pain. If that means it looks odd, I can live with that.

The other bright spot is that I did about 1000 yards and was not the least bit tired, which means my lungs haven't completely left me. My swim will be fine when I start up the triathlons again in two months.

The Ride of a(n Almost) Century

Eight gels, three bananas, an orange, 6:25 in the saddle, and almost two water bottles later, I finished my first (almost) century ride this past Sunday.

The weather had been weird up until ride day. I had checked the forecast, though, and a good day of 70 degress was predicted for the whole route so I was going to need normal gear--no layers.

First up, after the 7am start, was two loops through Griffith Park. It turns out that this included one pretty good hill, which also meant there was one pretty good descent. Since it was right after the start, though, I didn't appreciate the hills as a warm-up. On the bright side, the second loop was easier than the first.

Then it was off to the L.A. River...on a bike path...with hundreds of other riders. Worse, the century riders met up with the 70-mile riders at about the same time: just before entering the L.A. River bike path. That part could have been better organized.

Rode along the river for a few miles, then it was time to hit the city streets. Not as smooth as the bike path but not as rough as some of the places I ride on weekends. Couple that with the stoplights and I was right at home (though I'm sure a lot of people were not). We passed by Union Station, the Twin Towers, and a bunch of industrial property before re-joining the L.A. River for the rest of the trip down to Long Beach. This was nice because as we got closer to the ocean, the breeze got cooler. It also got stronger so there was a slight headwind but it felt good. I do not recall dripping sweat at all (though I was definitely sweating).

Something that amuses me is "skills" that I pick up on my weekly rides that are not really something I think about as cycling skills but turn out to come in really handy. For my first triathlon it was riding in cold weather. For this century ride it was the bunny hop. Now, granted, I don't get much air but I do get enough to go over wicked potholes and other obstacles on the road. I hopped several times during the ride.

Got to the (almost) halfway point for a rest stop. It was the halfway point for the 70-milers but the century riders would actually go past this stop and loop back to the rest stop before heading back. I did not stop at that rest stop again and just kept going.

Back on the bike path and the very slight incline on the way back was overcome by the tailwind, which surprised me. Things were going well until about mile 62 (I do not think it is a coincidence that my longest ride until that point was 60 miles). My feet had been getting numb but now that was becoming painful. Plus my left foot was getting a somewhat sharp pain in it. I knew a rest stop was coming up shortly and I kept looking for it but, finally, I could not wait any longer and pulled over onto one of the many benches (with bike racks!) dotting the bike path. I sat down, took off my shoes, and rested my tootsies. Sure, I was now being passed by people I had passed earlier but I needed to finish the ride. After some amount of time spent sitting, walking, and rubbing I got back on the bike and my feet were fine for the rest of the ride.

After a bit more riding I was starting to get pretty sore in the saddle so I was very much looking forward to a particular rest stop in a small park. Park means grass. I parked my bike, took off my shoes and helmet, and relaxed under a tree. Ah, that's the stuff. I was feeling like I could take a good nap, which I definitely did not want to do so after a nice rest, it was back on the path.

Got off the path and back in the industrial area. Then a funny thing happened around mile 81: I got my second wind. My legs felt fine and I was pedaling pretty well. I did find, though, that if I thought about being tired I suddenly felt tired so I had to not think about it and just pedal.

While my legs were fine I was getting really sore in the saddle. I stopped at the last rest stop, only five miles, or so, from the finish just so I could give my butt a rest. Then back on for the home stretch. It was at this point that I noticed that my Garmin was saying one thing about mileage and the route map was saying another. It looked like I forgot to turn it back on after one of the rest stops. Sigh.

Getting through those last miles was quite an exercise in determination because I just wanted off that bike. Finally, I got off the path, went over the last, small overpass (which I could do out of the saddle with ease--yay out of the saddle-training) and then I was done. The booths we could wander through were kind of a joke, the "special" jersey turned out to be one for the organization that put on the ride and not for the ride itself. Whatever. I grabbed something to eat (I was not as hungry or thirsty as I thought I would be) and then made my way home.

Nutrition went well. I happened to wake up at 3am on ride morning so I took that opportunity to have a bowl of cereal. On the ride I had gels every 45 minutes, just like in training. At one point I tried taking a gel every 30 minutes but that did not work out so well. It was too much and my stomach had just a slight bit of irritation. I took water with the gels and once or twice extra but I was so well-hydrated and the day so mild that, much to my surprise, I did not even go through my two water bottles. I took two bananas with me and I ate one more at the rest stops, along with an orange or two.

I was disappointed that I goofed up with the Garmin but then a read a post today where somebody else said that they recorded the century as being short, too. In fact, the same amount of short that I recorded (92.5 miles). During the ride I toyed with the idea of riding extra just so the Garmin would show 100 miles but I so wanted off my bike towards the end that that idea was thrown right out the window. That and I thought the problem was with me and that I really was doing 100 miles. On the bright side, I know what resources I need to do a century, in terms of time and nutrition, and that I can do it. Triathlons will be starting up again in two months so I will have to wait until November to do another one. I wonder if it gets easier.

Nice and Easy...Mostly

It's the week before my first attempt at a century ride so Saturday's ride was nice and easy. My usual 29-mile loop but easy, easy, easy (except Little Woodley, which you can't do easy because you'll fall over going up a steep hill too slowly). Even went up Balboa in the lowest gear. Interesting to note that the easy pace I was at is the same pace I was at when doing the route for the first few times back in December/January. Ah, progress.

Today's run was planned at a minimum 11:46 pace for 46 minutes. However, I ended up at an 11:15 pace so I shortened it to just a 5.25k (36.5 minutes). Looks like I can pick up the pace or go for distance, but not both.

So...Many...Hills

Yesterday was my second ride with the San Fernando Bicycle Club: the 61-mile version of their "Sierra Highway History" ride (there are also 42- and 74-mile versions). When it was time to go it turned out that there was only one other person heading in my direction (there were two other groups of routes to choose from). I hung with the guy up over Balboa and out of the San Fernando Valley but it was clear that I would not be able to hang on once we got to the first big hill that would drop us into Santa Clarita. I bid the fellow farewell and did my second group ride solo. I can do hills, I just do them slower than most people.

I was humming along nicely when, several miles before the first scheduled rest stop, I was joined by someone (not from the club) who was just out for a ride. We chatted for a bit and he got me moving slightly faster than I normally would have been but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Once we hit some downhills on the way to the stop, he took off (I'm more of a "coast down the hills" kinda guy). I just picked up a Gatorade at the stop, figuring this would be a bad time to experiment with solid foods on a ride, though I did down the banana I took with me. As I was drinking I met someone who was from the club. He explained that he left with a group going on a different route and he didn't realize it for several miles. Since he was clearly faster than me I let him go ahead of me so we could avoid the inevitable dropping of me.

After the break, it was time to pedal some more. I should mention that this was a fairly nice route. Nice views, roads that aren't heavily travelled but are well-paved. I was enjoying myself. At the 40-mile mark I took a left and I made the momentous decision to break with the route slip and eat early rather than ride nine more miles to Carl's Jr. What caused me to make this rash decision? I rode right by an In-N-Out. Who's gonna pass by an In-N-Out at high noon in favor of a Carl's Jr. nine miles away? Not this cyclist.

One Double Double, fries, and a chocolate shake later (note to self: probably should have gotten a lemonade), I felt fueled up. I chatted a bit with some cyclists who arrived while I was eating outside (I spent a lot of time on this trip talking about my Craigslist Special, as I call my bike). I didn't know how long I should wait after a meal to start riding again but I gave myself some time and then got going once more. Twenty miles to go.

Pedal, pedal, pedal. More great views. Part of the ride was going the other way on a part of the Santa Clarita Century route, which I thought was fun. I had to stop and rest up one hill but, on the other hand, I hit over 42 mph at one point and that was with me hitting the brakes because of the gusty winds. Shortly after I hit that I was passed by another cyclist. Too funny.

I was really starting to get tired now. At 50 miles in, which was halfway up the last big hill, I had to take a break. Once I got up that last hill, it was pretty easy getting back (Balboa is much easier southbound than northbound). I did it, though. 60.81 miles and 4:49 of riding (not counting breaks). Today my belts are a half-notch looser.

I would also like to mention that my fueling and hydration plans seemed to hit the mark. I am neither ravenously hungry nor very thirsty, like I have been after other long rides. Gels every 45 minutes (they're 150 cal. gels rather than the usual 100) and water every 30 minutes as well as with each gel. That and the fuel at the rest stops saw me through in good shape. I like to think that I didn't run out of fuel, I ran out of legs. Still, I did make it.

The plan now is to take it easy until the L.A. River Ride in two weeks. Probably no hill workouts until then and just an easy 29-mile ride (emphasis on easy), a run tomorrow and next Sunday and that's it. I wasn't completely recovered from last week's workouts so I want to make sure I am completely rested so I can make that River Ride my first century.