One Weekend, Two Triathlons, Two OA Podiums.... Oh, and One Macca

I was feeling pretty worn down after Kona, as you can imagine. But I knew I had to suck it up for a fun weekend on tap. A while back, I found out there were two local sprint triathlons taking place Oct. 20-21, and I knew I had to do both. I've never done back to back races, but given their distances I wasn't too worried about the load. However, after Kona mayhem, I was worried about my ability to simply put together a swim-bike-run at all haha. It probably didn't help that I've been busy as heck every day/night since being home from Hawaii, and going into Saturday's race I was, again, running off about 5hr sleep. One word: coffee!!!

My partner in crime for the weekend, Macca! Us waiting for swim start at
the Seal Beach Triathlon, sometime after the "stingray shuffle" song. Ha.
Thanks for picture, 623 Tries :)

Also, while in Kona, I found out my double-sprint challenge was going to become a lot more special. At the Clif after after party, I was hanging out with Macca and his agent, Scott, and they said Macca would be doing both the sprint tri's that I was doing, as well. While I did think that was random for him to do such low-key races, I also thought it was very cool. I have even more respect for Macca after these past couple weeks in which I've been able to see how he operates first-hand. Especially at the races this weekend, he was so cool to all the folks out there, taking pictures and having a blast. He told me he just loves having fun the small little "ma & pop" races, and it showed. He even declined a podium finish so others could get a chance to be on top.

As for me, I had fun too, but I didn't decline any podiums ;) I managed to eek out two overall podiums in two days. I got 2nd in Saturday's race, and 2nd elite/3rd overall in Sunday's race. In fact, in Sunday's race I PR'd the course by 5 minutes from my time last year, and did better in swim, bike and run - and that was in rainy conditions! Needless to say, I was pretty damn happy that I could dig deep and race hard. I think the biggest reason I did well was simply because I was excited to do a double sprint challenge, enjoy the experience and make myself suffer big time! I'm sure Lucho's coaching has helped too ;)

Race Day #1: Seal Beach Triathlon
So Saturday was the Seal Beach Triathlon. This was a new race, consisting of a 1/2-mile swim, 7-mile bike and 2-mile beach sand run. It was the first time this community has had a triathlon in 20+ years, and the race organizers did a great job hosting it. I actually was a guest speaker at one of their clinics earlier this month, and it was nice to be involved with everything.

Exiting swim at Seal Beach, and happy. Thanks for pic Scott Fairchild.
Note: New kits for me are in the works for 2013. No more old stuff haha.

The wave starts were based on predicted swim time, and I put myself in the fastest group for a good challenge. It was a beach entry with waves, and considering a longer-than-usual run in/out on sand included in time, I was pretty please with my swim. All those OWS are paying off. I still lost it on the swim, though, I think. One of my most memorable moments of the weekend happened during the swim start that I must mention. Right in front of me, Macca and a young dude, maybe 12-13 years old, were running into the water together, and I couldn't help but think how cool that was for both parties, and for the race organizers for making it happen!

Anyways, Onto the bike and we were warned beforehand that it was going to be a bit of a sketchy and slow course because it was an out-and-back on a narrow bike path. I was glad to be ahead in the race so I avoided some traffic, but it still got a little crazy. That said, there were lots of volunteers out there making sure things went smoothly.

With Macca at Race #1. Sleepy eyes :)

OK, it got crazy at the run - holy moly! I didn't really realize it was going to be DEEP, soft sand; I never run in that stuff so I was hurting. I went from a 7:00ish pace out of T2 to a 9:30-10:00ish pace haha! I found some strength, thankfully, and managed to keep my overall pace in the 8:00's, but it was one tough run and no joke. I was happy to be done, and that was just 2 miles haha. Thank goodness they had complimentary massages in the post-race expo - I took full advantage. Must say: Mad props to Josh Rigsby and the Seal Beach Tri race crew. Great job on a first-time event. I would totally recommend this race for beginners to veterans. Great swag and prizes given out too!!

Women's podium #1 for me.

So a podium in race #1 was pretty cool. The winner, Megan Monroy, is a stud short-course girl (just won LA Tri AG Overall), so I can't complain getting 2nd to her. Later that day I loaded up on Whole Foods, had a beer later on, and attended a private Lululemon "R+D Night" Party.

Post-race good times at Lululemon Newport Beach event.

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Race Day #2: Newport Beach Triathlon
This was my third time doing this race, and I've won my AG twice. I got some wise advice to sign up elite because that person said not only do I have the ability in such a crowd, but because I'd avoid a lot of traffic on the bike in particular (a two-loop out-and-back course that can get crazy). So this was actually my first-ever elite race, and I'm glad I managed to prove worthy of being in that division with landing on the overall podium. (One AG'er beat the 1st place elite and me.)

Thinking: "Oh dang there are a lot of boys around me."

The swim start was something! There were about 40 in my wave, and only two girls, including myself. I was a little afraid to get banged up by dudes, but not really that afraid. I lined up behind the front row and just enjoyed a sweet draft for most the swim, and had a big swim PR of 12:57 for a 1/2 mile. I've never been so happy with a swim in all of my races. Also because I felt strong, confident and in control. I held a good line and was able to push it. Unfortunately, you have to run a crapload before you hit the mat to start T1 so my official time will be 15:00 (last year it was 17:00), but whatever, I know that I am finally improving!

Readyyyy.... (many more boys to the left about to work
their way in, too)

Go! Where's Macca for the draft?! Haha.

Onto the bike and it was wet and rainy with puddles and all. Thankfully there was essentially no traffic and I was all on my own for the first lap. Man, I really need to get better so I can stick with this elite stuff, it's nice ;) I finished the first lap in 21:xx, and was very surprised because last year it was close to 24:xx. My power was easily in the 190-250w range, so I knew I wasn't going overboard, and I just held the pace. Lap #2 was a little more trafficy as more people were on the course, but I manged to pass people effectively and hold pace. I did see quite a bit of drafting going on, and even yelled to one girl after watching her for 3-5min hanging on  a wheel, saying, "Hey, you might want to think about stopping that drafting." And she did. She knew she was being bad. Anyways, off the bike in 42:00 flat, with a ~21.5 mph avg and feeling like a rockstar!!!

Finishing the run. Face of pain. Note wet conditions.

Then the run. I won't lie I was feeling a little bonky and wishing I had brought a gel or something on the course. I had nada. Oh well. Only 3 miles. Dig deep. I saw Macca fairly soon in and we exchanged kind words (he's been seeing a lot of me this weekend, haha), and after that something really sad/scary happened... I saw ambulances, and then a big guy on a stretcher who looked like he was in bad condition - something happened to him on the swim. The emergency crew/police MADE ME STOP as they rolled him into the ambulance, and would not let me run by - even with ample room to do so. That made me realize the dire nature of the situation. Of course there was a part of me that was a bit upset about having to stop because I was doing so well; however, I got over that right away because the man was clearly in bad shape and needed help. I felt just awful for him. I later found out, he did pass away that morning. Not something I like to think about, but it is something that's becoming a big problem in our sport.

But back to the run. About 30 seconds or so later after being stopped, I was able to get on my way, and soon after grabbed a cup of gatorade at the one aid station, thank goodness - relief! Then one big hill to run up, turnaround, down the hill and home stretch. Finished the run in 20:02, but it was short, only about 2.85 miles, so my avg pace was about 7:00 or something. (On their results it said I avg'd 6:41 pace psshhh.)

Women's OA podium #2 for the weekend, on a roll!
I love my new Kona-special Zoot visor!

Originally, I thought I was 2nd OA, but then a speedy (and apparently well-known AG'er) knocked me to third. No prob. In fact, had this been last year, I would have totally won overall with my time of 1:18:xx! It was a major PR on the course and a major surprise that I could do that, so I was one cloud nine. Not to mention, my very good friend from high school, Marcai, did her first triathlon at this race too, and I've been helping her prepare. Good news- she killed it getting 2nd in 25-29 AG!!! Holy crap! Being there to watch her fall in love with the sport was so so so special!!! She's hooked, of course.

The Finish

So that's it! I made it through my "double sprint triathlon challenge," which involved a party of two: Macca and I. It is definitely a weekend for the memory books because who knows if that will ever happen again. Time for a brew....

Sorry, but gotta post one more with the man post-Newport.
Cheers to double sprint weekends!

RR: Sprint Triathlon? Sure, Why Not...

As a coach, I'm normally not an advocate of last-minute races being added to the schedule. I like to have rhyme and reason to a race schedule, and time to work toward a race or at least prepare, whether it's an A or C race. Being random isn't a good plan. But, there are asterisks to that. I think there are cases where it's OK to be sporadic and do something last-minute for fun and within reason....

On Friday night I found out I'd be doing a local sprint triathlon Sunday morning. I haven't raced in about two months, nor have I really been doing what you'd call specific "triathlon training." But what the heck?! I'm still in shape and a sprint would just be a fun, hard workout in an environment that I love being in... And, yes, I've still been riding my bike (mostly slowly), running a decent amount and strength training a lot. But swimming, I have not been doing. Maybe three swims since Canada. (Giving the shoulder some time to rest and heal.) That all said, I would never jump into a big race like a half-Ironman or more given where I'm at, nor would I advise that for someone, but I knew a sprint was safe and OK in the condition I'm in.

I can't forget to mention the other two big attractions for doing this race:

One: It was going to be the first triathlon for an athlete I coach and I couldn't miss that. Heck, I had been planning to be at the race long before I knew I was participating! She and I practicing ocean swimming last week in Laguna....
Two: My boyfriend was doing it too so we'd get to race each other--I mean "race together"--for the first time :)

~~~

Sunday morning the alarm went off at 5 a.m. At that moment racing didn't seem like such a good idea, staying in bed did, haha. But once we got going I was amped, and rightly so: The Kring and Chung Newport Beach Sprint Triathlon has been going on for 34 years and is a very well-run race on a fun little course. The race organizers and volunteers are amazing, lots of goodies pre/during/post race, and of course some fabulous prizes! I did it back in 2009 and got 1st AG, I think (I just remember the gift certificate I got for El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant - score!).

As we drove to the race site, I chowed down some oats and thought up my oh-so intricate race plan: GO hard and make it hurt. Don't let up until the finish line.

And we were off.....

Swim
After spending the better part of the morning with my athlete getting her all squared away, my wave went off in the foggy, chilly weather at just after 7 a.m. The water was warm but tasted like ass. It was nasty, not as nasty as Mission Bay, but still gag-worthy. I felt pretty decent on the swim but had no clue what pace I was potentially holding, swimming itself felt foreign and like I had lots of kinks to work out. All I knew was my HR was high--due to inefficiency and lack of training on top of still trying to "go fast." It was a 1/2 mile and I got out at 15:xx and change, at which point I tripped when standing up--smooth! Not all that concerned with the swim because what can you expect when you don't do a sport for two months and then try to race? It's just too bad they had to add the run back to transition to our swim time, making us all look even slower ;) On a positive note, the shoulder felt fine, yippee!

T1
Nothing special except I messed up my watch. Funny that I can get the Garmin to run smoothly for a whole Ironman, but I mess it up in a sprint.

Bike
In addition too fog, it was misting out so I remained soaked the entire race; the drowned rat look was a very good look for me, let me tell ya! ;) The roads were kind of slippery, but thankfully the course wasn't too technical or sketchy so you could still hammer. It was mostly all flat along Newport Back Bay with one steep hill that you have to do twice (two-loop course).
I saw the BF and my athlete, and the both looked smokin' fast so that made me happy.

I was having derailleur/chain issues and decided to stay in the big ring up the steep hill out of fear of something messing up from switching between small and big ring. Yup, that pretty much fried my legs, but I went without any mechanicals so I was content (like I said, offseason, so not doing much bike maintenance thus derailleur/chain issues that weren't fully fixed pre race lol).

Other than that, I spent most the ride passing people, especially on the second loop, and reminiscing on the olden days.... Flashback: I first started riding Back Bay when I was 3 or 4 and on the back of my dad's bike, we'd ride that trail weekend mornings to go pick up donuts. Great memory but WOW, times have changed. I don't think my dad or I have had a donut in years, and now I was racing on that road like a madwoman haha.

Finished the bike in 43 something, about a 21 mph average. I know me, and I should have been faster, but whatever.

T2
All I gotta say is I need to work on bike dismounts for racing from here on out. At least my hideous dismount is accompanied by a smile :)

Run
I've been doing some run intervals with my strength workouts at the gym and I'm training for that Xterra trail race, and based off that I knew I could pull off a sub-7 pace for 3 miles. believe!

When I started the run I noticed I was surrounded by only men. Hm, doing alright I guess. A couple spectators then gave my splits on how far back I was from the lead women, and how many were in front--to my surprise, only three were in front at the beginning. At one point I ran my way to second, but then got passed by the eventual winner and sat in third.

I felt really good on the run. By that, I mean it hurt, but 6:40-7:00 pace was doable. I had a couple people yell to me that my form looked good, which must have been in stark contrast with the drowned rat look I still had going on in the wet weather. Then this older guy said the funniest thing as I passed him: "Ya know, in my day, it'd be inappropriate for a young girl like you to pass an elder like me...." or something like that. I said "you're funny" and kept running.

Those 3 miles went by fast... I ended with a little sprint down the finishline, and my run time was just over 20 minutes, a 6:45 average pace. Nice.

Finish
I never caught my BF, which I had contemplated trying to do being that he started two waves before me, but I was close! I still beat him overall though hehe... granted he did swim and bike slightly faster than me. Even though my overall time was faster, I have to say this guy is a total stud: It was only his third triathlon ever (first was in July this year), and he finished top-10 AG for the first time! He'll be an animal in no time!

Annnnd: My athlete who was doing her first tri also finished in style, going faster than the predicted goal time and earning 7th in 35-39 AG! Can't beat top 10 for a triathlon debut! Best part, she can't wait to do another one!!! Happy coach :)

I managed to pull off 1st AG, which was a pleasant surprise. I thought I had secured 3rd overall female, but turns out there were a couple older women in the wave after me who beat me by about a minute when all was said and done. Oops! Never forget about the waves behind you, not to mention the superb ability of the veteran women of the sport! Yowza! That said, it was still fun during my run when I thought I was "racing" for the overall podium :)

Podium.... who's the bum in the beanie?! I mentioned this race has good prizes... this year another gift certificate for mexican, TYR gear and a flat of bottles of a new, healthy drink!

Oh, and I got another gift certificate to the same Mexican restaurant for earning 1st AG. Guess what I did last night.... Margs and Mexi!

We might be headed to Catalina in a couple weeks for another round of hurt! ;)



PS - BIG thanks to John's sisters for coming out to the race and taking pics!

Race Report: Newport Beach Triathlon

Today was amazing. Must have been my breakfast. I've found the perfect pre-race/pre-hard-training day concoction: Slow-cooked oatmeal with butter, milk, a scoop of vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, almonds, fruit and stevia for sweetness! Amazing, I highly recommend.

On to the race. I did the Newport Beach Triathlon this morning, which is a longer-ish sprint: 1/2 mile swim, 15 mi bike, 5k run. It was a fairly flat course, so you basically go all out. I finished in 1:20:14.8.... Got 1st in my age group, 8th female and 96 overall out of 750 racers. I'm super stoked on that, considering there were some legit racers out there. The top male overall finished in 1:05...smokin'!

Pre-Race

Got to Newport Dunes at 5:30 a.m., paid $10 parking (ridiculous!) and set up transition in the dark. That's it, I'm adding flashlight to my race-prep checklist! Saw some of my friends, and made a friend who racked next to me named Carol, an Ironman rockstar who I would later come to find rides the exact same speed as me on the bike.

Swim
The swim was in the very disgusting Back Bay, which is worse than Mission Bay. Straight up nasty. The swim was in a counterclockwise circle, which sucks because I usually end up breathing on my right side only in races (although I always breathe bilateral in practice), so I was looking the wrong way. But I'm getting better a spotting and staying on track. And to my surprise, I had a really good swim! I was out of the water in 13 minutes. And that's including some blind swimming due to heading right into the sunrise. I really felt like I pushed myself and aggressively worked through the crowd, it was a big wave-all women under 39.

T1

So the run to our stuff took forever, no joke like 2-3 minutes! And I think that's added onto our swim because I don't recall touching a mat for quite a while. Other than that, no fuss in T1. In, out & go time.

Bike

A two-loop course on a very narrow street (Back Bay Drive). Mostly flat expect for one steep grade of about 1/4 mile that's repeated. Translation: haul @$$. My goal on the bike is always to catch people who out-swim me, particularly those female calves with 20-24 ages. I passed quite a few chicks today, guys too for that matter, and felt like I was in a good position overall. I also didn't have to deal with a lot of a lot traffic because I was in the second wave, so that was nice. My new friend Carol and I were neck-in-neck literally the whole time, kinda crazy! She's 30-34, so not a threat AG-wise. I did the bike in 43 minutes and averaged about 21 mph. Felt & Zipps did me well.

Here are some pics I took of Back Bay Drive on a pre-race course drive, beautiful area....

T2
I have to say, I do well in T2. I don't waste a second. So I won't waste words talking about it.

Run
I'll admit, I was most nervous about the run. In fact, I think I subconsciously held back on the bike a little so I'd have good running legs. After Oceanside, there's a bit of fear. But it was only 3 miles, so I was just over-thinking it. Whatever. Biggest observation of the day: I always burp very big whenever I start a run off the bike. Oh man, all that gas just comes out after the position change. Quite funny and definitely not lady like- I totally burp like a big ol' dude drinking Budweiser.

Anyways, feet were a little numb when I started, but things were going well. There was only one 1/2 mile-ish hill to climb. I still didn't see too many women around, so I was determined to keep a good pace going. I had my eye on one woman about 30 seconds behind me. Meanwhile, I saw my friend from swim class, my friend who works at Edge Cyclesports, my ex-boyfriend (random!)...so I was cheerfully saying my hellooos!

20 minutes later I made the left turn into the straightaway to the finishline and that one chick who was trailing me started sprinting to pass me last-second style. Uh-uh! No way was she getting past me! I started sprinting like a madwoman and I beat her! (By literally .2 seconds.) We laughed about it afterwards...I was 1:22:14.8, she was 1:22:15. Turns out I ran a 20:37 5k, impressive for me!

Post-Race
At first I was one of the top females overall, but I got bumped back by a couple smokin fast 40-somethings who started after me and who showed that course who's boss! It was actually very inspiring to see how gnarly these ladies are!! And 8th female is still pretty nice!

In my 20-24 world, I was stoked to grab 1st place. Not a bad way to start off the day, or the still-fresh season for that matter. I also realized this is only my 4th tri since 2007!! Man, did that pump me up to make it a solid post-race training day.

Here's me (in the middle) with 2nd and 3rd in my AG.
Me and Carol, who got 1st in 30-34 females! Perk of the day: I've found a new riding buddy!! We're both doing Vineman, so good training times ahead!

This picture is sooooo special to me! My beautiful grandma showed up to root me on. I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited, and it was awesome feeling to make her so proud! Words can't describe how happy I am that she saw me get that medal.

Getting a big Grandma hug and squishing her dog Coco (aww!)So after all was said and done, I still had a ton of energy to burn... despite the extreme heat (high 90s?) and extreme winds. Hey, to me that means good training weather... makes you tough! So I went out for a spin through Santiago Canyon+. Thought two water bottles w/ Cyto would be enough. Oh man, was I wrong. I was parched after about 15 miles. I stopped at a park to refill, but that wasn't enough. Not to mention, I was battling some major winds! Let's just say, I didn't see too many bikers... only the Harley kind (Cook's Corner anyone?). I cut the ride off at 35 miles to save me from destroying my body.


I stopped by Irvine Lake for a pic, and man I was tempted to go jump in! Holy $@%&! Can you see that sexy stream of snot going down my face...niiiice.

An immediate calorie-dense smoothie followed that ride. It tasted like heaven! I was hungry for dinner merely minutes later, I was a calorie-burning machine today! I'm hungry again just while writing this!!!!

So now...all training and two races until Vineman. Hard work ahead. I'm damn excited!