Race Report: Santa Cruz Triathlon (Olympic)

I'm so glad I decided to register and race the Santa Cruz Triathlon as part of SVTC's push to win the Southwest Club Championship again (we won). It was great to end the season with a PR at the international distance.

I wasn't sure just how well I'd do, given all my jet lag issues and lack of training the week leading up (I was on a business trip to Kenya from Sept 10 to Sept 17 and only did three 5km runs around the hotel property in Kenya in the "taper" leading up to the race). Hell, I wasn't sure I'd be able to break the 3:00 mark as I was hoping after seeing my progress during the club's training day on the Santa Cruz course back at the end of August.

No better way to find out than just doing the damn thing, so here's how it went down:

Woke up super early after about 5 hours sleep and made the drive down to the transition area across from the Dream Inn and got there just as it opened. Great spot near the bike out/in, just where I wanted it. Over the next hour, TONS of SVTC folks showed up for the day, so was in good company.

Lucky me, I'd done all my packing the night before, so I wasn't missing anything on my transition mat (unlike forgetting my Gu for Vineman). Got my wetsuit on and walked down to the beach with the 1000 other folks. We started waaaay off down the beach toward the roller coaster in a "swim pen" which I think shortened the course a little (?) but then they had buoys we had to stay outside away from the pier which probably made up for the off-angled start.

The water was smooth and the visibility was good (no fog). I was in the fifth wave, taking off at 8:20am, twenty minutes after the clock started. I felt good swimming in the pack, and it wasn't long before we were all strung out with lots of room between us. Yet, I couldn't quite repeat the form of the training day, and I kept drifting to the left, which meant I was drifting away from the pier, adding distance to the swim.

Nevertheless, I rounded the end of the pier faster than I expected to get there (took it wide, tho) and before I knew it, I was stripping off the top of my wetsuit running up the hill to transition. Seemed like I was in the back of my wave, but hadn't been overtaken by too many folks in the wave following, so felt ok going into T1.

My swim time was 34:19 (ugh!) ranking me in the bottom quartile of the race

T1 went smoothly (only 3:55 including the run up the hill) and I hopped on the bike and hammered through town, knowing this was my time to shine. I wanted to at least average 19mph to set me up with a cushion on the run should my wheels fall off from fatigue. As usual, I passed many more on the bike than I got passed by, and the 20 or so who passed me were all on tricked-out tri bikes, so I felt good at my pace/progress. By the time I got back to T2, I'd only spent 1:11:19 on the bike, for a pace of 20.8mph! (305th overall on the bike).

I made it through T2 as quick as I could (putting on socks this time!) but still managed to lose 3:08 in transition and then it was on to the run.

Unlike the weather on training day which started off with a foggy swim and then a hot run, the clouds never lifted during the race, so it was nice and cool the whole time, and was I grateful for that on the run.

My goal: don't get caught on someone else's faster pace on the way out. Then don't stop, don't walk: just push through. And with the exception of pausing to slam down gatorade and water at the aid stations, I didn't stop! Mind over matter brought me in with a 56:16 run time (9:04 pace).

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to approach the finish line at a sprint seeing that I could nip the race clock before it clicked over to 3:09:00 and I caught it just before it did, finishing in 2:48:57! (77th in my AG, 397th male, 500th overall)

Totally smoked my goal of 3 hours and couldn't be happier with the outcome. I'm already looking at where I can gain time next year. I'm pretty sure I can take at least 4 minutes off the swim, another 3 minutes off the bike and 3 minutes off the run.

And if I can recapture a minute from the transitions, I'll be breaking 2:40 next year :)

Garmin Forerunner 310XT swim accuracy

I've owned my Garmin Forerunner 310XT for just over a month now, and the thing that has frustrated me most has been the accuracy of the 310XT on the swim.

See, I'd owned the Garmin Forerunner 305 for a year and really enjoyed using it to track my on-land legs of triathlon training and racing.

So when I saw the 310XT coming out, I knew I had to have it, even though the 305 was still functioning just fin. Imagine, I thought, with the 310XT I could track just how much I drifted off-line in the open water swims!

So, imagine my dismay when I wore my 310XT for the whole race in a sprint triathlon, and the map at right is how the 400m swim looked when uploaded to Garmin Connect. (click it to get to the activity details on GC)

Say what? I know for a fact I didn't do any loop-dee-loops on the swim course, and while my sighting is bad at times, there's no way I'm that jagged in a swim. And a half mile course? I don't think so.

Ugh.

So I gave the 310XT another try on an open water swim training over in Redwood Shores that I knew to be one mile long. As you see in the map at left, the jaggies were back, and while the time was good (just over 30 minutes), the distance was incorrectly logged at 2.15 miles. Again, click the map to get the activity details on GC.

Grrr!

So, before participating in the Silicon Valley Tri Club's practice session for the upcoming Santa Cruz Triathlon, I decided to consult the internet to see how to make the 310XT more reliable on the swim.

The verdict? Tuck the 310XT under your swim cap. Not at the top of your head, but at the back of your head, so when you're looking down in the water, the GPS unit is facing up. And lo and behold, it works!

Take a look at the map on the right, and you'll see just how smooth the path is (yes, I'm proud of my sight lines) and the distance accuracy is so very close to perfect as well! (with 10% which is a great improvement over the +100% accuracy of wearing it on my wrist).

By tucking the 310XT under your cap, the timing of the distance is a little longer than it should be what with turning it on before putting your cap on, but the accuracy of both distance and path can't be beat.

I'm now pleased as punch that I can more accurately track my sighting abilities on my open water swims using the 310XT.

Next thing to conquer? Getting the damn thing to pair to my Garmin Heart Rate Monitor that I've been using with my 305. Always something to tinker with!

Vineman 70.3 race report

Just 24 hours ago, I was finishing the hottest half marathon I've ever run. Hell, it was my hottest run, period. Yet, I persevered the 90+ degree heat, and made it to the end to complete my first ever Ironman 70.3!

My race plan had a target of six hours to finish my first half Ironman: I'd do the 1.2 mile swim in about 45 minutes, the 56 mile bike in 3 hours and the 13.1 mile run in 2 hours. That'd leave me with 15 minutes for transition times and for leaks on the run pace and still bring me in under six hours.

The week leading up to the race was an unintentionally severe taper. I had two big work projects land on the same week, which had me sleeping less than 5 hours a night from Monday through Thursday, and a flourish of 28 hours at the keyboard Thursday and Friday alone. I kept assuring myself I'd get my frustrations out on the course, and sure enough, that was a help come race day.

The Swim
My wave (men 40-44) took off at 6:38am in a warm (75 degree) Russian River. Compared to my previous tri, the Escape from Alcatraz, where the water was just 58 degrees, the river felt positively balmy. Didn't stop me from wearing my wetsuit, though, so I could take advantage of the extra buoyancy.

As we waited in the deep water for the horn to sound, I got a chance to admire the scenery, looking upriver to the two bridges we'd swim under. The sun hadn't yet come up over the hills, and there was a beautiful mist rising from the surface of the river providing a little blanket of fog for us to swim through.

Then the horn sounded and all enjoyment of the scenery ended abruptly when two minutes into the swim I got a foot to the face knocking my goggles off, I stopped to readjust them and got bumped into/run over by a couple guys from behind (totally expected) and when I finally slipped into a nice steady rhythm, I noticed just how narrow the swim course was. It was impossible to get more than a couple feet away from anyone at any time, unless you wanted to fall way off the back.

About a third of the way up the out-and-back course, we passed under the second bridge, and shortly thereafter got into about 3.5 feet of water. As I was swimming along in half-foggy goggles, I was startled to see shapes looming above me before realizing it was some of my fellow age-groupers actually wading through the water! I tentatively put my feet down on the rocky river bank and waded alongside them (was this legal? was this smart? was this tiring my legs prematurely? was this dangerous?) before dropping back into my freestyle for the remainder of the swim.

The turnaround for the swim was just over half-way, and while the current of the river was negligible thanks to the dam at Johnson's Beach where we started, I could swear my swimming was faster coming back to the beach. I touched down at the swim out and quickly scampered to my bike, making it out of T1 just 46:06 after the race started. My race plan was holding!

The Bike
After a short steep climb away from the beach, the first five miles of the ride is nice and flat. I was feeling good about the swim and my legs felt strong for the bike, I just knew I had to keep some in reserve for the run at the end. I'd broken the bike course into thirds and knew if I could hit my targets on the hour, I'd stick to the race plan.

Over the first five miles, thanks to my aero bars, I averaged over 23 mph, giving me some ground to lose on the rollers of Westside Road. We turned off River Rd and began the initial climb onto Westside and about a mile and a half into the twisty rollers, that's when it happened: just seconds ahead of me, an oak tree fell across the road, pinning two triathletes underneath it.

You can read my separate post on being one of the first on the scene of the tree fall, but for this race report, suffice to say I spent about 5 minutes at the crash scene before things look like they'd stabilized and I was relieved by a fellow triathlete so I could push on.

I proceeded to mount up and pedaled quickly away, realizing that if I'd only been a few seconds faster on the swim or in T1 or hadn't sat up to take in some liquid in the first 5 miles, that could've been me under the tree. Of course, thinking like that will quickly make you crazy, so I continued to push on. At about mile 9, I came across the first spectators since the crash scene and I stopped to tell them there was a tree across the road pinning two cyclists at milepost 1.5 of Westside and please call 911. Whether or not they did, I'm not sure, but by the time I got to mile 17, a CHP car was flying the other direction with it's lights flashing. The calvary was on its way.

Adrenaline must've been on my side after the crash, because I made my target of 19 miles in the first hour of riding, and then I made it to the 38-mile mark in 1:45. The steep climb on Chalk Hill Road at the 45-mile mark, which seemed so big back in April when I recon'd the route, was relatively easy and from there it was a quick downhill to T2. Even though I'd forgotten my gels in the hotel room (DUH!) and only managed to choke down half a Clif bar on the ride to supplement my energy drinks, I was feeling pretty good.

After all, I'd finished the ride in 2:54:53, still on track for my race plan!

The Run
Ugh, the run. My legs felt wobbly coming off the bike into transition, and when I got to my transition spot, I could already feel the heat was going to suck. How I managed to piddle away 5:48 in T2 is a mystery, but poof! there went some of my cushion for a six-hour finish.

I pushed out onto the run course and the first two miles seemed to go pretty well. I was averaging 8:30 pace, but I knew it was unsustainable given the heat and how my reserves felt.

I slowed to a walk on the first big uphill and resolved to run wherever the road was flat or downhill. If I could just manage a 10-minute mile over the course, I could make my goal!

But I could feel my legs start to tighten, and I spent more time walking than running as I tried to coax as much out of my quads and calves as I could without seizing them up.

A highlight for me was seeing my friend Dan at the aid station at mile 4 (and mile 9). He's done several Ironmans and was/is an inspiration to me as I've started doing triathlons. He checked in with me as he handed me Gatorade and water, walked with me through the aid station and told me to pace myself (unlike the yahoos on the side of the road screaming "push it!").

Another highlight was seeing all the other SVTC club members out on the course and giving/getting encouragement and high-fives as we passed each other. I'm so glad I got the SVTC tri top to wear in competition to stand out from all the other age-groupers sloughing along.

The turnaround loop at La Crema winery was beautiful what with the ponds and vines, if only there'd been some shade out there! And the run back was more of a fast-walk/slow-jog. More encouragement from Dan at mile 9. A fellow SVTCer passed me at mile 9.5 with a "less than 4 miles to go, let's run it in!"

I was melting on the run, yet thankful my day had started at 6:38 so I could avoid the heat that the last waves would be enduring two hours later (at my pace). I pushed myself as hard as I could, knowing my two race buddies, Neil and Thom, were behind me, trying to catch me.

By mile 10, I knew I wouldn't make my six hour goal. I was averaging 11 minutes per mile in my combined run/walk approach. My quads and calves and hamstrings were thisclose to seizing up on me. I was gulping down water and gaterade and cola and gels at each station to try and fuel me to the finish.

I managed to run the last mile in, cheered on by the crowds and their cowbells. And when I made it to the finish chute, I knew there was nothing to stop me from making it to the end of my first Ironman 70.3

The Finish
When I heard the announcer say my name halfway down the chute, I couldn't help but crack a huge smile at the achievement. I crossed the line, arms outstretched, sweating to beat the band with just shy of 6:21 showing on the race clock.

I'd strung together a 2:26 run to finish my first half ironman in a time of 6:12:58

I've already started going through the if-onlys in analyzing this race, and to me that's a sign I'll be doing more of them. (maybe even a full Ironman?)

But for now I'm trying to simply savor the accomplishment. I've got the mettle to do it, and the medal to prove it.

Final Vineman 70.3 Stats

Swim + T1= 46:06
Bike = 2:54:53
T2 = 5:48
Run = 2:26:09
Total = 6:12:58

Rankings:
Overall 1040 of 2286
Men 779 of 1517
Age Group (40-44) 158 of 320

San Francisco Triathlon (olympic) race report

I concluded my 2008 race season by competing in the Olympic distance 2008 San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island today.

In all, given the fact that for the last month I've been sick with the cold and flu more than I've been healthy, I'm rather pleased at my 3:11:50 finish time (the picture shows the overall time... I started 30 minutes after the first wave)

My splits (as seen on the full SFTri results list):

• 1.5km swim: 37:43
• T1: 4:20
• 40km bike: 1:23:41
• T2: 3:24
• 10km run: 1:02:41 (yes, I walked stretches of it)

And this meant I placed 265 out of 333 men who raced today and 60/71 in my age group M35-39. Definitely not the fastest in the bunch (the winning time was 2:04:49), but I was racing to finish this thing, my longest race yet, not to place.

THE SETUP
The skies were overcast this morning, with a fog hanging over the city of San Francisco, but not covering Treasure Island itself. Temperatures were cool (mid 50s?), ideal for spending multiple hours on the course. The sun was trying to peak through the clouds, but without much success.

Thom and I had picked up our race packets the night before, so we were able to go directly to the Transition area to rack our bikes, set up our gear and get marked with our race numbers. The transition area was plenty big enough, and the racks actually were marked with our race numbers, so there wasn't any jockeying to be had for the spots closest to bike in/out (thankfully).

As an aside, I couldn't believe how nervous/anxious/tight I felt before the start of the race today. While I thought I was pretty calm, my stomach was doing flip-flops and I felt tight all over. Very unlike me to get so worked up over a race like that, but then again, this was my first season racing and my longest one yet. I swallowed the butterflies and pressed on.

THE SWIM LEG
Then it was down to the waterfront to start the swim. Two waves went off before us, so we were able to see how they swam the triangle course (two laps) and listen to the announcer chide the swimmers for swimming outside the midway markers in addition to the corner markers (you just have to stay outside the corners).

The swim start is a "bobbing" start which means instead of leaping from a platform or running into the water, you just swim out to the designated buoy line and float there until the horn sounds marking the start of your wave. Having learned my lesson from prior triathlons, I made sure I started from the far edge of the wave so there was a minimum of swimming on top of others or getting clobbered by others. The water temperature was a chilly 58 degrees, but with my wet suit and neoprene cap I was actually quite warm and with my open water swim practices at SF Aquatic Park (closer to the Golden Gate) in colder water this felt quite nice.

With only 71 guys in our wave and 1.5km to swim, it actually felt like I was swimming alone for all but a few pinch points rounding the markers. Once I was making my way past the final marker and heading for the steps out to transition, I got a shot of adrenaline with the knowledge my most feared part of the triathlon was almost over!

Once I made the stairs it was time to try to engage my legs again, which was no easy feat. All I can say is thank goodness there were plenty of volunteers on the stairs to help us swimmers out of the water. If not for them, I'd have tumbled backwards into the water as I lost my footing on the second step. But, they pushed me in the right direction and before you knew it, I was trotting through the transition area to my spot to get ready for the bike.

THE BIKE LEG
It didn't seem like I spent that much time in transition (but it was 4+ minutes), and then I was running my bike to the mount line before saddling up to set out on the first of six laps around the island. Talking with one of the elite racers the night before, I'd gotten the advice to keep track of laps by tearing off six bits of Power Bar (you know how sticky they are) and affixing them to your handlebars. Then, as you complete a lap, you peel off one of the Power Bar bits and eat it and know how many laps are left.

On each lap, there were 26 corners to navigate (21 of them 90 degree turns and one 180 degree turnaround) which made for quite a technical course. All but a quarter mile of the course was flat, but there was a nasty bit of a hill leading to the turnaround and it seemed to get steeper with each lap completed. Throw in the fact that the condition of the pavement itself wasn't too grand and some of the corners were surprisingly dirty with rocks and sand and you had quite the recipe for a challenging course.

My pace was significantly slower than prior races where I'd easily stayed above 20mph. This time around, I averaged slightly less than 18mph, and I attribute that to the fact I took the corners cautiously given the conditions and didn't do a good job of accelerating out of the corners anyway.

I was more than happy to climb the hill for the last time and then bomb on down to the entrance to the transition area to start the run.

THE RUN LEG
My T2 was a minute faster than T1 and aside from having some troubles transferring my Garmin from the bike to my wrist, it was rather smooth.

I hit the pavement knowing I had three laps of out-and-back flat running along the eastern shore of Treasure Island. Thanks to my training for the half marathon, I actually felt a lot better running than I thought I was going to after the previous two legs of the race.

The first lap went pretty quickly although I could feel my energy plummet as I worked through the second mile. When it came time to do the turnaround closest to the finish, I got confused and almost turned to early. If not for the helpful cry of a spectator saying NO!NO!NO!NO! I'd have failed to know to keep running through the gates by the finish line so as to cross the mat at the turnaround. When I emerged from the gates I gave her a running ovation as thanks for the help.

As I neared mile three, I could feel my calves start to tighten up, so I slowed to a fast walk for a bit and tried to zen my way back to relaxation. I took on quite a bit of endurance drink to try to help the situation. It helped marginally but for the first time ever in a race, I worried that I might cramp up so bad that I couldn't finish.

Nevertheless, I pressed on in my running with a few walking spells and made it to mile five before my quads joined the about-to-cramp party. At that point, the finish wasn't too far away, so I picked a hare in front of me and closed the gap to beat him by six seconds at the line.

THE FINISH
I can't recall having been so happy to finish a race as I was today. Yes, the half marathon was an accomplishment, but that was only two hours out on the circuit. I'd just put in three-plus hours at race pace and I could feel it. I had no blisters or anything like that, it was just my leg muscles were so spent and my body was tired.

The apres-finish setup was good with lots of yummy food, plenty of water and Joint Juice and, the best part: free 10-minute massages! While I was on the massage table getting my legs worked over, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

The Tri-California folks put on a great event, well administered and staffed with plenty of volunteers. My only complaint was about the condition of the pavement on the bike ride, but I think that's a bit beyond their realm of responsibility.

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Accelerate out of the corners on the bike
• Feed/hydrate consistently throughout the bike and run legs
  
• Relax and enjoy the entire experience

And with that, my first triathlon season comes to an end.

If you'd asked me a year ago whether I'd be doing a triathlon in SF Bay in November, let alone an olympic distrance tri, I'd have denied I'd be crazy enough to do such a thing.

I'm glad I was crazy enough to do it. It was a ton of fun and feels like a real milestone in my getting in shape via extreme sports.

Another open water swim in SF Bay

This morning I took my brand new BlueSeventy Synergie wetsuit out on its maiden swim in the San Francisco Bay up at Aquatic Park by Fisherman's Wharf.

Even though I am battling a cold, I had to get in the water with the San Francisco International Triathlon at Treasure Island just three weeks away.

My friend Thom and I drove up to the city at 7am, and you could see the marine layer was pretty thick at that hour. No sunny swim for us. When we arrived at Aquatic Park and met up with our third swimmer, Warren, the air temperature was only about 56 degrees F which made changing into our wetsuits on the stairs quite a chilly procedure.

Swimming a loop around the buoy line at Aquatic Park covers .35 miles. The swim distance for the upcoming tri is 1.5km (.96 miles), or just shy of three laps around the buoy line. With the water in the Bay is all of 62 degrees, and my feeling out of sorts anyway, I set out from shore with designs on doing one and a half laps. I just wanted to get accustomed to swimming in my new wetsuit and being out in the chilly water and try to gain a little confidence in my open water swim abilities.

It took about 400 meters for my face to finally numb up enough that it no longer hurt having it in the water. And wouldn't you know that I was actually enjoying myself by that point, too!

Without the walls of the pool to necessitate turns, I was able to really focus on my form. Believe it or not, I found I actually could relax as I swam along, watching my arms pul through the water below me and feeling the crown of my head pierce the water line as I moved along.

Before long, I was finishing up my second lap of the buoys and decided I'd go the full 1.5km before climbing out.

I don't know if it was the new wetsuit or the refined technique or just the pure enjoyment of being in the water looking up at Russian Hill early on a Saturday, but I really had fun out there today. And when I climbed up onto the beach, I still had gas in the tank and know I could've gone for a run or a bike ride if I'd had my equipment with me.

Moreover, I've got all kinds of confidence in my swimming abilities now. Considering it's my weakest leg of the three triathlon disciplines, that's a major accomplishment for me.

I can't wait to finish the racing season out on Treasure Island in three weeks.

Pleasanton Tri for Fun #3 race report

My results: I finished the race in 1:10:05, which is a nice improvement over last time.

My breakouts (and comparable from June's race of 1:12:33):

• Swim: 7:24 (8:08)
• T1: 2:33 (3:00)
  
• bike: 30:27 (31:25)
  
• T2: 1:20 (1:40)
• run: 28:21 (28:20)

So with the exception of the run, I was improved all around! The funny thing is, I've done more running than anything else since the last time I ran the race. I actually think I ran faster this time, but I paused about 30 seconds into the run to stretch out my right calf which was cramping up after the bike. Without that pause, it'd have been improvements across every single area. Woohoo!

My color commentary on the day:
As I prepped my transition area this morning at Tri for Fun #3 under a beautiful pink and orange sunrise out in Pleasanton, CA, I found myself wondering how in the heck did it get to be August 16 already?!

No matter how time had flown, it was still time to race. I'd done my first Tri for Fun in June (race report here) so today's would be a good way to gauge just how much I'd improved in the last 60 days. I can't say I'd spent the whole 60 days prepping for the triathlon. In the meantime, I'd trained for and summited Mt Whitney (14,495'), taken a 2 week road trip vacation and kinda fallen out of a disciplined approach to improving my times.

As always, the race was well-organized with check-in and transition setup going smoothly (for those of us who got there before 6am). The Shadow Cliffs lake level was lower than ever, attributable to how little rain we've gotten this year, but it was still no-wetsuit-needed warm and mostly clear.

According to race organizers, there were 1,000 of us on the course this morning, split out into six waves (competitive, M16-39, M40+, F16-39, F40+ and relays/others) departing at five minute intervals. And just like last time, there was a very congenial attitude amongst the "competitors" with a warm welcome for the hundreds of first-timers doing the race.

I'd been steeling myself for a hot run (yes, even at 8am) but temperatures were quite comfortable even as we hung around cheering for late finishers past 9am.

Changes I'd made since running last race? I resolved not to take the long outside lane in the swim, I'd gotten a one-piece trisuit and I'd purchased a number belt. I also resolved to push harder on the bike and not walk up any of the hills on the run course (a bad habit I'd formed on the last Tri for Fun).

And in doing all the above, I managed to shave 2.5 minutes off my June time, and I'm rather proud of my improving in each area (calf cramping during the run aside) instead of taking out a big chunk in a single discipline. On top of all this, I posted negative splits for the bike and the run, so I think I'm developing good habits there, too.

My competition:
Of the three of us (Thom, Neil and me), I still came in last, but felt more respectable than last time as our times were closer. I also posted the best bike time of us three even though they both have Aero bars and I do not (still haven't installed mine), so just watch out when I get more aerodynamic!

Shadow Cliffs Tri for Fun Maps:
I saw a lot of traffic came to this site after my June race report looking for maps of the course. Good news for those searchers: I wore my Garmin 305 for the bike/run legs this time, so I have the map data as well as some good data to analyze re: heart rate and pace.

The Bike Map
Bike leg goes clockwise around this route with an out-and-back in SE corner


The Run Map (explanation below)

The run leg follows the jeep trails on site and goes in somewhat a clover shape that starts at the green pin, goes by Heron Pond and then cuts SE down around the Arroyo del Valle loop, back by the Heron Pond to do the NW loop and then all the way down to Arroyo del Valle again before heading along the Shadow Cliffs Lake shore to the red pin finish.

Next time?
Unfortunately, I'll be out of town for the Tri for Real race. I'd really like to see how much I could improve on that one over this, but it's not to be. I'll just have to wait for Tri for Fun #1 in 2009 on my way to doing my first half Ironman.

good reason to respect the swim

When I read that a triathlete died in the NY Triathlon during the swim leg, it only cemented the respect I have for being careful when wet in a triathlon.

Now, the NYTimes has published an article examining triathlon swim deaths -- not only the NY Triathlon death, but two more than came this past weekend (making 8 this year so far) and all of them have happened during the swim leg.

I've always joked with my friends that I like the swim leg the least of all the sports in triathlon because "it's the only leg in which I could die trying to finish it."

Any medical problem in the water is more likely to turn fatal than one that arises during a bike ride or a run. “Water is not a forgiving environment,” Dr. [Pamela] Douglas said. “It’s really hard when you’re swimming to sit down and say ‘I’m going to take a breather.’ ”

And it seems I'm not alone in my "respect" for the swim leg:

Many triathletes point to the swim as a triathlon’s most stressful segment. Most swims take place in open, often cold, water with hundreds or even thousands of other swimmers vying for position. “Nothing can prepare a newbie for the start,” said Russ Evenhuis, a triathlete in Olympia, Wash. “It can be like jumping into a washing machine. You will get swum over, kicked, hit and banged into.”

A triathlon’s open-water swim hardly resembles the pools where most triathletes train, said Neil Cook, a New York City based triathlete and coach. “There is no wall 25 yards away, you can’t see the bottom and the 50 to 150 people around you are more than you’ve probably swam with in total during your training,” he said. “Oh, and you are wearing this wetsuit that’s tighter than a girdle and you can’t breathe.” Raise your heart rate and blood pressure under these conditions, he said, and “any weakness you have will become apparent.”

I do know that since my first triathlon earlier this year, I've concentrated on becoming a stronger swimmer, and that's taken the edge off my concerns about the swim. But I think no matter how hard I train, I'll always look forward to T1 more than any other part of the race.

Tri for Fun Pleasanton race report

Triathlon number two, the Tri for Fun of Pleasanton, CA, is under my belt, and I think I'm hooked. For this race, there were no timing chips distributed, only a clock overhead at the finish line so you can eyeball your time and subtract out your wave start to get the total time.

I managed to finish the 400m swim, 11 mile ride and 3.1 mile run in 1:12:33 which is better than the 1:15 I was aiming for, but I think with a little more work, I can pull it closer to the 1:05 mark by the time the August race rolls around.

I wore my Timex watch to capture the splits plus or minus a second or two and they fell out like this:

• Swim: 8:08
• T1: 3:00 (!)
• bike: 31:25 (avg 21.1 mph)
  
• T2: 1:40
• run: 28:20 (9:40 per mi)
  

The good: The swim went much better this time than last. I was a lot more comfortable in the water, and had a nice stead stroke throughout even though I took the long way around hanging on the outside of the pack. The bike was definitely my strongest and a big improvement riding my Felt instead of the K2. Happy I averaged over 21mph and with aerobars, I'll go even faster next time. Only two walking episodes on the run and these were on short uphill sections when others were barely moving faster while they were "running" up the hill.

The bad: My T1 time sucked, plain and simple. I didn't even have to wrestle with a wet suit! I do know I spent a good 30 seconds trying to get my tri shirt on, which is something I struggled with in my first race, too. I've got to work on my run pace to get that down (no walking!) and make sure I leave more of me on the race course. I again crossed the finish line (overtaking someone in the last 100 yds) with some energy left in the tank. Better planning will mean I push harder longer and bring my times down.

For next time: Several things I plan to do before the next triathlon on August 16, one of which is already done:

• swim: work on the open-water swim and sighting techniques
  
• T1: I stopped by Sports Basement yesterday and used my 20% off coupon to buy an Orca one-piece tri suit and a race number belt to chop a good 40 seconds off my T1
• bike: install my aerobars and train with them
• T2: practice dismounting technique
• run: work on my increasing pace and continue to increase endurance

Still, I had a great time yesterday and enjoyed the camaraderie of Thom and Neil and the friendly competition between us three (Thom finished ~4 minutes ahead of me and Neil finished 30 seconds ahead). I know we'll push each other in future races, too.

I'm also so very proud of a couple of my triathlete coworkers, Linda and Dimple. Not two weeks after dismounting at the end of the 570+ mile ALC bike ride from SF to LA, Linda showed up in Pleasanton with a strong showing in the race. And Dimple notched another achievement by competing in and completing her first triathlon. I'll find out Monday if Dimple's going to become a repeat racer like Linda and I. In any case it's great to work with folks like these.

Now, it's time to focus on making it to the summit of Mt Whitney on July 11.

update: avoiding cramps while swimming

I'm happy to report I've made it through two consecutive Masters swim workouts of 2000m each without getting those debilitating cramps in my calves.

Woohoo!

I attribute my success to a couple pointers I'd picked up researching the cramping-while-swimming problem:

1. Good kick form: when switching to the breast-stroke kick mid-workout, I've concentrated on my form. Unlike before, I've kept my foot locked in place throughout the entire kick stroke. Previously, I'd relaxed the ankle, and I think that was contributing to muscle fatigue.
2. Biting my upper lip: Really, it works! (for me) This past workout, I could feel one of my toes starting to cramp up, so I bit my upper lip as best I could for the next length of the pool (kinda hard to do that and breathe appropriately) and it worked! I don't know how or why, it just did. Yes, I must've looked like a piranha, but I was a cramp-free piranha.
   

I hope tomorrow's swim makes it three in a row without cramping.

Oh, and I also learned not to try to bite my upper lip while doing the breaststroke: it simply opens up the nasal passages for a good flushing of the sinuses. You're welcome!

dealing with muscle cramps

My calves and feet cramped up again this past weekend during the Masters swim workout.

It seems I'm not the only one suffering from muscle cramps, though. Joe Friel went into the latest research on why we cramp (mainly: we're not yet in shape. theoretically: dehydration, elecrolyte imbalance, poor biomechanics) and offered suggestions about how to deal with them yesterday over on his Trainingbible blog:

When you feel a cramp coming on there are two ways to deal with it. One is to reduce the intensity and slow down—not a popular option in an important race. Another is to alternately stretch and relax the effected muscle group while continuing to move. This is difficult if not impossible to do in some sports such as running and with certain muscles. Actually there is a third option which some athletes swear by—pinching the upper lip. Strange, but true.

Last Saturday, I managed to complete about 1500m of swimming before my left calf started to cramp up during the kicking part of our workout (about 400m behind the kick board). I tried stretching it out at the end of each length, but then the cramp moved to my foot and even to my big toe.

Heeding the advice I'd read just last week, I relaxed as much as I could and swam through (with) it. Ultimately, I wound up going 2100m, so it's not as if the cramping ended my session as it had before. I think I'm getting close to the source though: it's the kicking, stupid. Until joining Masters, I'd always cheated and barely kicked at all ("saving my legs for the bike/run"), but now the Masters program doesn't let me cheat, and I'm paying for it in the cramping.

Next time, I'll try pinching my upper lip to see if it helps.

my training is unfocused

Thanks to an abnormal work schedule these past two weeks, I'm sorry to realize that my training regimen is more like an aspiration than anything that resembles a plan.

Maybe this is inevitable given the strict training schedule I was on to complete my first triathlon, and I've plateaued. Maybe now that I know I can complete a triathlon, I'm taking my next one (an untimed "Tri for Fun" for granted as I look at the bigger fish to fry this summer: making it up Mt Whitney again (July), doing my first Alcatraz swim (September) and a half marathon (October).

This is not to say I've stopped working out, though. As my Forerunner 305 will attest, I've put in the miles on bike and on foot, including today's hills workout on the bike. And I've swum with the Masters program each week, to boot.

So all's not sedentary. In fact, in the last two weeks, I've gone running here in Redwood City, in Seattle and in Boston. Three cheers for running shoes on biz travel!

I guess it's time to knuckle under and train in earnest for the three events in the next month on my calendar:

• June 1: Open Water .75 mile swim at Lake Del Valle
• June 8: Muddy Buddy race in San Jose
• June 21: Tri for Fun in Pleasanton

If you're going to be at any of these three, let me know! In the meantime, I'll be getting focused.

cramping while swimming masters

I made it to my second Masters swim workout yesterday morning and wound up swimming my farthest distance yet (2100m), but still not as far as the rest of the folks in the program.

For the second week in a row, however, I was stymied due to awful cramping in both calves and eventually both feet. I can't say I've had cramps like this before, but wow are they painful. Maybe it's due to dehydration but that feels more than a little ironic given I only get cramps working out while swimming.

So what's up with the cramping?

While I'd have thought the cramps would affect my running, they haven't. I'm able to enjoy a five mile run after an initial half-mile of working through the calf pain, so it's gotta be the swimming.

Several folks at the Masters swim suggested it's because I'm incorporating new kicks into my swim routine (read: breast stroke) and my legs just aren't used to it. I found a discussion forum on the US Masters Swimming site where the issue of cramping is discussed, and user "gjy" speaks to the situation in a way that most makes sense to me:

I am going to further guess that if you continue to do swims in the same conditions you will have fewer and fewer cramps as both your body and muscle gets acclimated to the activity. The best prevention may be just getting used to it. But it doesn't always work that way. Unfortunately, you may have to get a few more cramps to find out either way.

So, I'm just going to have to muscle through this. In any case, I'm happy to see my distances increasing and enjoying the camaraderie of the folks in the slow lane with me :-)

What was this week's swim workout?

Warmup (500m)

• 300m free
• 100m non-free
• 100m kick

Sesson 1 (600m)

• 200m butterfly (free for me)
• 2000m free
• 2000m breast

Session 2 (1000m)

• 8x25 (free, non-free alternate)
• 6x50 (free, non-free alternate)
• 4x75 (free, non-free alternate) <--cramping started here
  
• 2x100 (free, non-free alternate)

And the rest of the group added another 1200 meters of session 3 and cool down, but I ended after session 2.

my first masters swim workout

I finally took the next step in my swimming skills development and joined the PCA Masters Swim Team here in Redwood City. I've got my US Masters Swim number and everything. Yup, I'm legit.

My primary motivation for joining the masters program is to increase my swim endurance as I prepare to do the Swim from Alcatraz in September. I know a side benefit of this training will be that I'll do better in the swim portion of my triathlons (lots of room for improvement on that front). And finally, now that I'm getting into longer distances in my workouts, it's just more convenient to do it with the masters than trying to squeeze it in around the masters workout sessions at the pool.

Still, I've never participated in a grow swim workout, so this morning I was a little anxious about getting in the water and revealing my shaky swim skills.

Lucky for me, my swim coach I've been taking lessons from (Tom) was the guest coach for the masters this morning, and my slow-lane companions (Kathleen, Mark and Dorothy) were very kind and patient in helping me make it through.

The swim session was a 75 minute session with the first fifteen minutes a low-key warm up.

Tom called us all to one end of the pool and revealed the first session of our workout: a combination of 25m kick - 100m stroke - 25m kick across four different strokes (butterfly/free, back, breast, free).

Since I don't know butterfly, I did freestyle the first leg.
The second leg taught me I don't know how to do the backstroke as well as I'd hoped (and was a comedy of me bumping into the sides of the lane).
The third and final legs were actually pretty good and before I knew it, I'd already completed 800m of swimming (including the warm up).

Then Tom turned the whiteboard around to reveal the main workout session, a ladder of freestyle distances up and down with a 30 second break in the middle:

• focus on flipping your hips: 25m, 50m, 75m, 100m, 125m, 150m, 175m, 200m
• (30 second rest)
• focus on increasing your hip flip rate: 200m, 150m, 100m, 50m

Cripes... that's 900m even before the "rest" stop, and another 500m after that. Add on the 800m I'd already done, and I was venturing into swimming endurance territory I'd never even dreamed of.

About half way up the ladder, I was struggling, and Tom saw it. He gave me a tip on improving my form (I was crossing over my body on my arm stroke) and when I applied the tip, I could feel the water moving faster around me. Had I been on a solo workout, I would've kept doing the wrong form. This is a nice benefit to the group thing!

In the weeks leading up to my joining the masters, Tom had warned me not to try to do the whole masters workout the first couple times, as they were pretty rugged.

He didn't have to worry. On the last lap of my 175m leg on the way up, both my calves cramped up something awful and I had to get out of the pool to stretch them out.

I took the cramping as as sign I'd done enough for my first time out and called it a day. Still, I'd swum further than ever before in this workout, a total of 1,500 meters.

Glad I took this step, I can tell it's going to do me worlds of good. (I can't wait to get my US Masters Swim membership card in the mail!)

what to do after my first triathlon?

So how to keep the training momentum up now that my first triathlon is over?

The answer is to sign up for other physical challenges, so now I've got a summer full of them. If you're going to be at any of these yourself, let me know!

• June 8 - Muddy Buddy - San Jose, CA
  
• June 21 - Tri for Fun - Pleasanton, CA
• July 11 - Climbing Mt. Whitney (going up to 14,500' again!)
• Sep 20 - Alcatraz Invitational Swim - San Francisco, CA
• Oct 2 - Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon - San Jose, CA
• Nov 27 - Silicon Valley Turkey Trot - San Jose, CA
  

Looks like there's a hole in my schedule in August... depending on how our vacation plans go, I might run a 10K up in Canada mid-August. But maybe I need to find another triathlon to compete in instead?

Regardless, the event that's got me worried and is pushing me to train better is the Alcatraz swim in September.

Starting in May, I'll be joining the PCA Masters swim program to get my swim groove on. Given how much trouble I had with the swim in my triathlon, I can only think this is going to be a good thing.

my first triathlon - setup to swim to T1

Now that I can call myself a triathlete, I'm sharing the experience of my first race (ICE Breaker Triathlon at Granite Bay, CA on April 13, 2008) so maybe you, the reader, can learn from what went right and what didn't go so well in my race.

Today, I cover my experience all the way from checking in at the registration table through the first transition (T1). (see also: the bike and T2 and the run and the finish)

All the advanced preparation for the race went as well as could be expected.

My friend Thom and I got to the registration at just about 7am. Upon picking up my race packet, I was reminded that I'm 38 years old by the woman verifying my registration (thanks), and I was assigned number 141 for my first triathlon. Thom got number 140, so I think there's something about alphabetical order in the number assignments (our names are similar through the first two letters of the last name).

We were in the transition area well ahead of most folks, so much so that we had our pick of the transition area to set up our stuff. Of course, the best racks -- closest to the bike in/out chutes and in the middle of it all -- were reserved for tri club members. It pays to pay for membership, so it seems. Of the unreserved racks, we chose a rack that was close to the Run exit thinking that our ability to ride bikes in the transition area made sense to be as far from the bike in/bike out chutes without suffering much of a time penalty for doing so.

Time to set up my transition area: I hung my bike by its seat, spread out a towel and laid out my bike shoes (and socks) by my running shoes (and socks), and put my sun glasses inside my bike helmet. Last thing to arrange: two packets of Gu and a water bottle full of Power Bar replenishment drink. Because I didn't have a number belt (will get one before the next race), I pinned my bib to my tri top and laid it across my bike's handlebars to change into after the swim.

With my transition areas set up to my liking, we still had over 90 minutes to wait around for the start. I took my bike out for a spin to make sure all was working okay (it was) and to burn off some of the nervous energy that had filled me up since waking up early this morning. Once I'd returned from my short two-mile ride, I walked the transition area looking at people's bikes and setups to get a glimpse of what might come if I decide to keep doing this.

There was a "Baby ICE Breaker" race (basically, half the distance of ours) that started at 8am, so I watched all the racers work through their swim and then run the third of a mile from the lake up to the transition area.

It would seem the smart peeps brought flip-flops to stage by the shore of the lake so they could run up the shore without the jagged-rock-to-the-sole problem. Needless to say, I wasn't one of these planful people. In any case, there were still lots of bare-footed folks running up, so I took heart that it'd be okay for me.

What surprised me watching the Baby ICE Breaker was how many folks were still completely in their wet suits (farmer johns or full suits) as they entered the transition area. Granted, these were newbies (like me), but, as was confirmed for me later, taking your suit off while you're still in the water is the way to go. The last thing you want to do is run up the beach, legs pumping and expanding in the wet suit, while the suit dries to your skin. Yes, these folks struggled mightily in T1 to get out of their wet suits and into their bike gear.

So, once the Baby ICE Breaker racers were out on the bike course, I put my wet suit half way on (legs only) and walked the third-of-a-mile to the lake shore to get ready to race.

By now my nerves were in high gear. The markers delineating the triangular half-mile course looked VERY far out in the water from shore. I waded in and started swimming around to get acclimated. After swimming in the Bay last weekend, the water in Folsom Lake felt positively warm (63 degrees).

It was just a matter of waiting for my wave to take off at 9:14am.

The first wave (29 years old and younger) took off at 9am, providing me an opportunity to see how far out folks ran before starting to swim (about 75 feet). The second wave (30-34 years old) took off at 9:07am and my heart was now in my throat knowing I was next.

As we milled about the start area (you had to be standing on shore), the first swimmers started climbing out of the water after just 9 minutes to do the swim (wow!). I knew I'd take a lot longer, and kind of got lost in thought about my own swim and didn't pay attention to where I was standing in my own wave's staging for the race.

When the countdown from 10 started, I realized I was not in the best position on shore: in the middle of the course, up front, with racers four deep behind me. Oops.

The starter yelled GO! and we were off, running into the water. I think I ran in a little farther than I should have before diving forward, but nerves and adrenaline were in high gear. When I finally dove in, I started to freestyle as best I could, considering I was surrounded by flailing hands and feet and arms and legs.

That's when things got dicey for me. If I wasn't swimming up and over the guys in front of me (heels to the face and shoulder), there was some guy swimming up on top of me from behind. I couldn't seem to get to an outside lane to get clear of traffic, and I wasn't relaxing (by any means) into my strong. Truth be told, I was a little panicked, and doubt flashed through my mind whether I was doing the right thing.

The first 200 yards of the swim were miserable going.

Then, our pack of swimmers strung out a bit and a gap opened up. I was able to make it to the outside of the pack and start to focus on relaxing during my stroke. I kept stroking and breathing, breathing and stroking, crawling through the water on the way to the first turn marker.

Because the level of the lake was so low, the first marker was in shallow (thigh-deep) water. Everyone took the liberty of standing up on bottom and running/wading around the marker. This change of posture was a nice respite from swimming for me, and when I dove into the water on the far side of the marker, I was getting more confident in my swimming, but GEEZ, it was a long swim. I'd only really done pool swimming, and since I'm not an expert at the flip turn, there's breaks built into my swimming.

Not out here in the lake. I did a little bit of backstroking to get a handle on my breathing. I never was able to get better than breathing every stroke. It was a tough slog.

By the time I was on the leg leading into shore, I was more than ready to get the hell out of the water. I was just so over the swim. My motivation for swimming the last 200 yards was "this is the only leg you can die on (by drowning) so just get it over with!" It was so inspirational to see the guys ahead of me pop up in the shallows that I got a burst of energy and swam quickly to where I could touch bottom with my hands. As I ran up the shore, I stopped and sat down in ankle-deep water to peel off my wet suit. It was a little bit of a struggle to get it off my legs (I'd put Body Glide on my calves to help with the process), and yes, it added time to my swim leg, but I more than made up for the delay via a quick T1 to the bike.

Wet suit in hand, I bade good riddance to the swim. My worst leg was over, now on to the fun stuff.

But before that could start, I had to run up the third-of-a-mile across the sandy shore to the transition area. During my run, I passed a couple folks who were faster swimmers than me, and huffing and puffing, I made it to my towel. Hey, Thom's bike was still in the transition area... I coulda sworn he'd be a better swimmer than me.

I rinsed off my feet, slipped into my shirt and put on my helmet/glasses/shoes before downing a Gu and drinking some carbo-water.

As I was about to grab my bike, Thom made it into T1. Turns out during the swim he started coughing up blood and had to grab onto a boat and get help. That explains why I was out of the water first.

I wished him luck and clipped into my bike to start my favorite leg of the race.

And I'll tell you about that leg in my next post.

first experience with open water swim

My first triathlon, with its half-mile open water swim, is one week from today. I needed to get a practice in open water under my belt, so I entrusted Dan (three time finisher at the Iron Man distance) to help me with my first open water swim.

Dan picked the Aquatic Park in San Francisco as the site of the swim. Yep, chilly San Francisco Bay. Gulp.

Truth be told, I was nervous about the swim. This was to be my first time out in the open water swimming with purpose since I was a little kid (meaning: not just horsing around jumping off a boat offshore or snorkeling around). I knew the water was going to be frigid, and I don't like cold water much. I also didn't relish the thought of being such a newbie in front of Dan (there's that darn ego getting in the way).

I tried to sleep as best I could, but still was a bit fretful and restless in bed. Even so, I woke up at 6:30a to eat some oatmeal and gather my gear together: swim suit, swim cap, goggles, sweats, towels, body glide and an energy drink and Clif bar for post-workout. As I drove north to San Francisco, I felt a certain twinge of anxiety, but I knew I'd be in good hands.

Dan and I met up at 8am at the Sports Basement at Crissy Field so I could pick up my rental wet suit and also to buy some wax ear plugs, at Dan's suggestion. I'd discounted the effect that frigid water on the eardrums can have on one's sense of balance, so I appreciated the tip (the first of many to come) coming from Dan's many years of experience.

By 8:30am, we'd found parking spots at the Aquatic Park and were walking toward the big amphitheater of concrete seats above the small beach.

I don't think we could've picked a better day to swim. The sky was clear, the wind was calm and the temperatures weren't too bad. Air temperature was 47 degrees and the water temperature was 52 degrees. Thank goodness for wetsuits! There were already several folks from a Team in Training group in the water swimming along the buoy line, so we plunked our stuff down on the steps near their stuff (safety in numbers?) and proceeded to change into our wet suits for the swim.

As we were changing, Dan gave me the rundown of things to do to prep for the swim:

• Apply Bodyglide to your calves (ease of suit removal) and your neck area (cut down on chafing) before putting the suit on. DON'T get Bodyglide on your goggles... it's a mess if you do.
• When you put your wet suit on, make sure there's no gap below the crotch before slipping into the sleeves... you don't want a big gap for water to pool between your legs.
• Always wear a brightly colored swim cap in open water so it's easy to be seen. I have a dark grey one and planned to buy a bright cap until Dan told me I'd get them at the races I enter and would soon have too many.
• Put your ear plugs in before getting your ears wet so they stick in place better
  

After donning our wet suits, we ran down the beach a hundred yards or so to get the blood flowing and then waded into the water up to our knees. My feet went numb rather quickly, but my calves felt nice and warm thanks to the wet suit.

Then we walked in up to our chests, and I was doing ok until the cold water leaked into my suit via the zipper line up my back, and WOW was that a shocker. Not quite take-your-breath-away cold, but a stark reminder that I was going to be suffering with my face in this chilly stuff.

Dan suggested we just try and swim 20 yards or so to ease into things and pop back up to reassess our progress. He recommended we do some crawl, some breast stroke and even float on our backs as our faces got used to the water temperature.

Then the magic moment: I put my face down in the water and swam a bit. Shocking cold aside, I was kind of pleased that these first strokes in the Bay went pretty smoothly. Sure, I couldn't see more than two feet due to the cloudy water, and instead of chlorine, all I could taste was salt, but the experience wasn't as frightful as I imagined it could be.

By the end of the 20 yards, my face really hurt due to the cold water. We treaded water a bit and talked the how-tos of sighting in open water (big landmarks, sneak the peek at them into your stroke, adjust as necessary) and then swam a stretch again.

Over the next half hour, we swam back and forth along the shore line enough for me to realize this whole sighting thing can really mess with your stroke efficiency. I found I most enjoyed the swimming when I was able to track alongside Dan and not sight at all. Only once did I mis-time a breath and take in a mouthful of water, but I didn't gag like I thought I would, I simply spit it out and kept going.

By the time our swim was done, I was feeling pretty satisfied with how well the session had gone... even though I couldn't really feel my toes or fingers.

Dan gave me some last instructions on exiting the swim and starting the first transition in a race:

• don't stand up too early too deep and judge this by touching the bottom three times with your hands during your swim stroke before popping onto your feet.
  
• Begin to disrobe the wet suit ASAP because it's easier to take off when it's wet.
  
• Get your feet as clean as possible before donning your socks/shoes for the next leg.
  
• Wear synthetic socks on the bike leg so as to avoid blisters from wet feet in cotton socks.

And by 9:30am, my first open water swim experience was done, and we were drying off and putting on our warm layers. While we were dressing, Dan gave some tips for the race next weekend along the lines of getting into the water before other folks do to make sure my goggles are working, the wet suit feels right, pick a spot on the edge of the masses so that I can duck in and out of the crowd as I need to, etc.

As I listened to him, I marveled at how warm the sun felt in the 47 degree air in comparison to the water we were just in. That didn't stop me from hurrying to get my sweats on, and I cranked up the heated seats in my car on my way back to Sports Basement to drop off my wet suit.

I really appreciate Dan guiding me through my first open water swim. He was a good teacher, and I know I'll be able to use his tips next week at the race. Although the water won't be so cold at any of my triathlons I enter this summer, our swim from Alcatraz is just five months away, so I know I'll be back at the Aquatic Park many more times as I get ready to swim the distance this fall.

swim coaching really helps me relax

This past weekend, I had my first session with my swim coach, Tom, and boy was it worth every penny and minute of my day.

Tom emphasizes "body balance" in his teaching technique, and while I'd initially though I'd never make it through an hour-long session, the time wound up passing way too quickly for my liking.

Instead of jumping into the lanes to start swimming, we instead went over to the deep end so Tom could see how my body naturally floated in the water and then he guided me through several drills to help me learn how head position dictates how the rest of my body "hangs" in the water.

After a little while of kicking along with my arms hanging at my sides moving my head up and down in the water to get the positioning just right, Tom had me swim on one side to see how my body reacted when I'd turn my face up to get a breath of air.

I was rewarded the first couple times I tried to breathe with some water in the lungs, but I got the hang of it and learned to relax a lot more in the water and not try to rush my way through the breathing exercise.

Turns out that "relax while you're swimming" was my greatest lesson of the day, and one I've been able to put into practice in my two swims since the lesson. When I've relaxed, I've been able to go farther and faster and easier than ever before.

And I know this is going to be difficult to do during the race, but at least I've learned the lesson early.

Oh, and I did my second brick this past weekend: 55 min biking followed by 20 min running and I felt really good afterwards. No soreness like last time. Progress!

racing registration and tri club dues

On a tear this evening, finally getting around to doing the registrations I've been meaning to for a little while now. Items completed:

• Formally registered for the SERC Alcatraz Invitational Swim (Sept 20) - looks like I'll be swimming a lot this summer!
• Signed up as a member of the Silicon Valley Triathlon Club
• Got my long overdue RoadID (wrist, red, interactive) so I no longer need to carry my driver's license around with me when I run or ride.

And, to top it all off, my first session with my swim coach is Saturday morning. Ready to learn how to move through the water better with his help, as he focuses on body balance in the water.

Onward and upward!

triathlon training status: no more solo?

I'm coming up on five weeks away from my April 13 ICE Breaker Triathlon, and I'm at the end of my second "R&R" week in my 12-week training program. Time to assess where I'm at.

Weight/body shape: While I've managed to finally drop to 191 pounds, I still feel like I've been losing the same damn three pounds over and over and over again as the scale has been cycling between 192 and 195 (now 191 and 194) for a month. I weigh myself every morning as a check-in, and I so wish I could see a 189 one of these days. I'm definitely on a plateau here and need to push through. On the other hand, while my weight is hovering in the same range of numbers, my body shape has shifted dramatically. Case in point: last weekend, in a hurry to go swim out before making dinner, I grabbed a pair of chinos to change into post-swim. Last Spring, I had to squeeze into these size 36 chinos, and when I put them on after drying off from my swim, they barely hung onto my hips (no belt). Wow. that felt good! Thanks to the swimming and lifting, I'm getting more of a V shape to my torso and my abs are a lot more defined than ever before. My own body image is definitely on the up and up.

Running: I feel really good about my running ability, in that I've got a solid base to work from. I know I'm not fast, but I feel like I've got the endurance now to go and go and go. I've made it past the "I don't like running" phase, and I actually enjoy my time pounding the pavement. (Especially given my Nike+ iPod system). In the next week, I'll cross the 100-mile threshold since using the Nike+ transmitter, and I'm looking forward to hitting that milestone. As I think about my 2008 goals post-triathlon, I'm seriously considering adding Rock-n-Roll San Jose Half Marathon to the list (October 5), especially if I think I'm going to do my first marathon next year when I turn 40.

Bicycling: This has always been my favorite sport of the three, and I truly enjoy my time on the bike. Given my endurance bent, the only thing that holds me back from doing more miles on the bike is the time and the caution going to far as a solo rider. I've got a nice K2 Astral 3.0 hybrid to ride, and while I'd like to upgrade to a street bike, I've told myself to hold off on any equipment upgrades until after I do my first race.

Swimming: Of the three disciplines, this is the one in which I've made the most gains (hard not to, since I started out at ZERO experience). I've learned to enjoy the laps in the pool, and think I've done a pretty good job of teaching myself the basic form and function, I also see that this is the area in which I'll need to get some outside help. I know I can complete the half-mile swim in the race (I'll have at least one open-water swim practice before the race), I just don't want to rag myself out doing so. At this point, I need someone to critique my form and give me tips on how to be more efficient. A friend has given me contact info for a good swim coach, and I now need to schedule the intervention. I've also gotten to know the Masters coach and he's more than happy to have me join the program immediately, but I don't want to over-train on the swimming portion of the tri. Once the tri is over, however, I am going to join the Masters program. Why? Because I was able to finagle a registration to do the 13th Annual Alcatraz Swim on Sept 20. It's a mile-and-a-half open water swim, and the thought of it scares the bejeezus out of me. All the more reason to do it! (Sí, se puede!)

Overall: While I'm enjoying the training, I can also tell I'm beginning to suffer from trying to do it alone. The motivational kick needs to be a bit stronger, so I think it's time to join a club. Poking around the net a bit, I think I've found one already: the Silicon Valley Triathlon Club. While I've missed all the beginning of the year specials, it looks like I can hop in on the New to the Sport (NTTS) activities at any time, and they've got regular weekend workouts nearby.

I'll keep you posted on how the interventions go.

triathlon wetsuit rental

Following the very good advice of several experienced triathletes I've spoken with, I've decided to wait to purchase a wetsuit until after I complete my first triathlon in April (same goes for a good bike, too).

Of course, this means I'll either be reaaaallly cold in the water for my first race, or I'll have to find a place to rent a wetsuit. But rent from whom?

Lucky for me, I've registered as a volunteer at this weekend's Stanford Treeathlon here in Redwood City.

The race organizers make the following recommendation on their race info page:

Wetsuit Rental: Although the Stanford Treeathlon does not have an official wetsuit sponsor, we as a team have had very pleasant experiences renting wetsuits from both Sports Basement in Sunnyvale and The Runner's High in Menlo Park.

I'm a huge fan of Sports Basement already, so no doubt I'll be renting from them a couple times (once for practice and the other for the actual race on April 13).