Flat Tire

I did my usual twenty mile bike ride after work around Balboa Park in Encino. Everything was going just fine until I got a flat. I have been very lucky in relatively few flats I have had while cycling. In an odd way, I'm glad it happened. It has never happened to me during a race, but it probably will someday. I really need more practice changing flats. It took me about twenty minutes. If I did it again in the next week, it would probably take less than ten. But I do it so seldom that I forget the techniques of changing a flat.

One really nice thing about it, almost every cyclist on a road bike who came by asked if I was okay and if I needed help. I said, "no, just a flat." I probably could have used some help, but I felt that I really needed to do it myself.

John Thum

Shifting Onto The Big Ring

I have very much enjoyed my bike from the moment I bought it. I spent some time looking for the bike that would be best for me in terms of getting a good road bike, but one I could actually afford. I ended up getting a Trek 2100 ZR from I. Martin Imports in L.A. The guy who sold it to me spent a lot of time with me over my many trips to the store. He made sure I got a bike that fit me and spent a lot of time with the bike fit once it was purchased. 

The only problem started around January when shifting onto my big ring got to be less and less reliable. It would often push the chain too far and end up dumping the chain over the ring. I would then have to stop and put the chain back on. This was certainly annoying, especially because when I was shifting on the big ring, it meant that I was starting to go pretty fast. At a certain point I brought the bike into I. Martin and they convinced me that my gears has worn out, front and back. I was a little leery, because the bike had maybe 1500 miles on it at that time. However, I took their advice and got all new gears. This helped a little, but the shifting was still unreliable and I still had no confidence shifting onto my big ring. 

I brought it back and they told me I had to replace my front chain rings. I was not happy. I started to suspect that that was their standard answer for a shifting problem, because it had been about ninety days since I had it replaced. They worded on it for a while and finally said that the problem was in fact wear on the front chain rings. I said well, that's fine, but that they were going to have to replace it free of charge, because truthfully, they never really fixed the problem from the get go. They agreed. Well, I have my new chain ring and they spent a lot of time adjusting it and my bike is back. They assured me that if there was any problem, that they would do whatever it takes to make it right. It is a true pleasure to shift onto the big ring with confidence when it's time to get going really fast.

John Thum

The Run - Camp Pendleton Triathlon

I had a very weird run. Not in a bad way, in a very good way. I didn't feel particularly good, in fact, I had to stop twice and stretch my calf where it had cramped during the swim. I wasn't feeling particularly strong or fast, I wasn't passing a lot of people, but in the end I ran the fastest 10k that I have ever run at 53:59. That includes stand alone 10ks that are not part of a triathlon. At first I wondered if I was supposed to do three loops on the course instead of two. But no, it was a two loop course and my Garmin Forerunner confirmed that I ran 6.16 miles. So the course was 4/100 of a mile short, but still I have never done a sub-one hour 10k. So I didn't just do a personal best, but I shattered my personal best. I don't get it. Last year on the same course, although on a much hotter day, I did the run portion of the Camp Pendleton International Triathlon in 1:04:20. So I improved my time on the same course by over 10 minutes, a minute a kilometer. I don't get it, I don't know, but it's nice.

My overall time was 3:08:07. Better than last year's time at the same triathlon of 3:13:17 despite the awful swim time.

I really like this race, so I am sure I will do it again next year.

John Thum

The Bike - Camp Pendleton Triathlon

After the truly horrible swim, I was still feeling a tightness and slight pain in my left calf where I had cramped so badly. I spent about thirty seconds or so in transition stretching my legs, figuring this would be time I would make up if I were a little looser. As I went out on the bike, I was passing a lot of people. They were mostly women who had beat me into transition even though they started a wave or two or three behind me, but it is still nice to pass people. About five miles into the bike, I saw the race leaders heading back in and going very fast. 

I generally felt pretty good. I was aware of the tightness in my calf, but it didn't seem as if it were slowing me down in anyway. I had to stand up and stretch my legs a few times, but my speed seemed to be good. I continued to pass more people than passed me. The people who did pass me generally did so on hills. I have come to realize that I am not a very good climber. After now having watched three weeks of the Tour De France, I realize that even some of the best cyclists in the world are not great climbers. And like the riders in the Tour, usually the best climbers are not the best descenders. I guess that I am a pretty good descender because as with almost every triathlon I have done, there is always another triathlete with whom I play cat and mouse on the bike. They will pass me on the climb and I will pass them on the descent. I almost always end up beating them to the run transition and because I am such a slow runner, they almost always pass me for good on the run. 

Slightly past the half-way point on the bike I was passed by my new tri-friend for the day, and fellow L.A. Tri Club member, Heather Richards. I knew she was three waves, or fifteen minutes behind me, so it was a humbling experience. Especially since much of our earlier conversation had to do with how neither of us were very fast at any of the three disciplines. I guess I showed her who really isn't fast!

I felt good coming into transitions. My calf had loosened up a little and otherwise my legs felt good. My final bike time was 1:28:18 which was almost three and a half minutes faster than last year's time of 1:31:45. The distance of an Olympic triathlon bike is supposed to be 40 kilometers or 24.8 miles, but according to my Garmin Forerunner bicycle/running GPS system the length for the bike leg of the race at Camp Pendleton was 26.1 miles. So, overall, not a bad time.

John Thum

The Swim - Camp Pendleton Triathlon

I had a nice warm-up, The Great Magnetic Wife was waiting for me with my Crocs (or as she calls them, my goofy shoes) for the run back to transition. What could go wrong. While my wave was waiting to start, the first couple of swimmers from the first wave got out of the water. About twenty minutes for a 1500 meter swim. Man, that's good. 

We started and everything was going okay. I was swimming at the back of the pack, but that's okay. About half way into the swim I started getting passed by a few folks from the wave that followed. Not a problem. About three quarters of the way through the swim I got slapped on the foot by a swimmer. Not a problem. He then slapped me on my butt. I was thinking, "dude, you hit me once, go around." Then he hit me on the side of my head and dislodge my goggles. The second triathlon in a row this has happened. The time before, however, it was totally random. This guy hit me twice before, he was essentially climbing over me. What a jerk. Getting my goggles, dislodged, although unpleasant, was not the big problem. The big problem was that as he slapped the side of my head, I got a major cramp in calf of my left leg. As odd as it seems they seemed to be related. I must have tensed up when I got slapped in the head and suddenly I was in a lot of pain. 

It is very difficult to stretch out a cramp in the water. I got out of the way of the on-coming swimmers and did my best. The lifeguard came over and told me to hop on the stretcher on the back of his jet-ski. But I told him, I was going to try to stretch out the cramp. It took a few minutes. I attempted to swim again, but I almost immediately cramped again. I took another few minutes, but this time I was able to keep going. I could feel a slight knot in my calf for the rest of the swim and into the bike. This was going to be my second really lousy swim in a row. I used to think that swimming was my best event in triathlon, but that has certainly not been the case this season.

The Great Magnetic wife was waiting for me with my goofy shoes and I put them on as soon and we got to the pavement. Before we got to the pavement their was a run on the sand, that was tiring. 

My swim time, which included the long run back to transition was 45:50. Last year at the Camp Pendleton Triathlon was 37:12. So I imagine that my cramp cost me about seven minutes.

Back at transition, all of the bikes in my age group had left, just like The Breath Of Life Triathlon. I was the last one out of the water in my age group again. D'oh!

John Thum

Camp Pendlton Pre-Race

This is the second year that I have done the Camp Pendleton International Triathlon. I was very impressed with the race last year and I was very much looking forward to doing it again this year. The Marines are very good at logistics and it is one of the best organized races anywhere. It does make things nice. The only downside was that the Strawberry Fields Triathlon was held the following day, so it was a choice. Strawberry Fields is a huge L.A. Tri Club event and so I would have known many folks racing, but there were twenty or so L.A. Tri Clubbers at Camp Pendleton, so I got the occasional "Go L.A Tri!" as I plodded along. Another major factor in choosing this race over Strawberry Fields was that I could stay at my parents house and save on lodging expenses. In addition my sister, Margaret Miller, was visiting from Port Credit, Ontario to go to her thirtieth high school reunion. It is always nice to see her.

The Great Magnetic Wife met me at work at a little after one in the afternoon. We planned on missing most of the Friday rush hour traffic and have a nice driver to La Jolla. Unfortunately, there was a wreck on the south bound 405 that closed all of the lanes except one. We didn't find this out until it was too late to do anything about it. It took two hours to get from my office in Van Nuys to Venice Blvd. in Culver City, about 14 miles. Fortunately, the rest of the trip was pretty good, but our nerves were a little frazzled at that point. Not quite the leisurely, stress-free drive we had hoped.

We managed to get to La Jolla about 6:00 and had a delicious dinner of Mom's King Ranch Casserole. One of my favorites, mmm boy! During dinner, I suddenly had a thought that I did not pack my goggles. I checked my bag and I was right. My mother told me about a Sports Chalet near by and so The Great Magnetic Wife, my sister and I took an after-dinner field trip to get some goggles. That would not have been good.

I did my usual pre-race routine of packing and checking and re-packing and re-checking, or as The Great Magnetic Wife calls, "obsessing." However, this time I got to do it while watching coverage of The Tour De France.

We got to Camp Pendleton early, which I always like. There is about a mile walk from the parking to transition. This is a very well organized triathlon. There was no expo the day before, so I did have to pick up my swim cap and timing chip then. The lines were reasonable and when I got to transition there was plenty of room.

About an hour before the start of my wave, we went down to the swim area to check it out and do a little warm-up swim. I brought my Crocs to wear when I got out of the water because the swim is about a third of a mile from transition and much of that run is on the pavement. The Great Magnetic Wife would hand them to me when I got out of the water.

We saw another L.A. Tri Club member and introduced ourselves. It was Heather Richards, we had a very nice pre-race time, I was very relaxed and ready to go. I finally got into the water, had a nice warm-up and was looking forward to the race.

To be continued...

John Thum

Camp Pendleton International Triathlon

I finished the Camp Pendleton International Triathlon in 3:08:07. It's faster than I did the same race last year (3:14:17) when the weather was very hot, so that's is good news. The bad news is I had a horrible swim for the second triathlon in a row. The other good news is I had an inexplicably good run. A full race report is coming soon.

John Thum

Ow! My Knee Hurts!

Ever since last Friday, I have had some inexplicable knee pain. I have not traumatized my knee at all, but there it is. I should say that I have had some knee pain since I was in the eighth grade and shattered my patella while playing softball during P.E. at Muirlands Junior High in La Jolla. In fact, before I got into triathlon, even the thought of running was painful. However, I believe that running has strengthened my knee and I have generally had less pain than before I started running. It's a little counter-intuitive, but it is the truth. 

This pain is becoming a little frightening. I have no idea where it is coming from and I have not been able to run because of it. I do have the Camp Pendleton Triathlon this Saturday, so I hope the knee cooperates. It is not quite as painful as it was, so it is healing. I just hope this is not a portent of things to come.

John Thum

L.A. County Lifeguards Say I'm A Good Swimmer

I started the day off by going down to Hermosa Beach and doing a "check out" swim for the L.A. County Lifeguards. I am going to participate in the Dwight Crum Pier To Pier Swim in August, a two mile swim from the Hermosa Beach Pier to the Manhattan Beach Pier, and if one did not participate in the previous year's swim, one has to prove his swimming competency. I guess I am competent, because I was approved. We did a 500 meter swim in the ocean, it took about ten minutes. I'm pretty sure as long as you complete the swim and don't drown, you get approved.

I had my bike with me, so I rode from Hermosa Beach north to the Ballona Creek Bike Path and back, about 27 miles. I skipped running because my left knee is inexplicably painful, although better than it was yesterday. I hope it will be even better tomorrow, because the training plan calls for a seven mile run this weekend.

John Thum

Scary And Bizarre Road Rage Incident

The photo above shows the result of a bicyclist ramming into the back of a car at approximately 30 mph. This was not just an unfortunate accident, it was an act of road rage against two cyclists. Read the whole story here. There is also an update here.

What can one say.

I've often joked that when I ride my bike on the streets, that I not only assume that cars cannot see me, but that they are out to kill me. I guess sometimes it is true.

John Thum

Bicycling In Tehachapi

I spent the night in Tehachapi, California on Wednesday night because of work. The training plan called for swimming in the morning, which I did with about one hundred other swimmers at the L.A. Tri Club Ocean Speed Circuit in Santa Monica and then twenty miles in the evening.

I checked into my hotel at about 5:00 and got ready for my ride.  I decided to straight down Tehachapi Boulevard, which is fairly flat and once you get out of town has no stops for miles. Once I was out of town, I was cruising along at about 35 miles an hour with very little effort. Obviously, a very strong tail wind. I have done this ride before and expected this. 

In the hills above Tehachapi there are thousands of windmills and I could see that they were turning very fast. As in the past with this ride, the ride out is a lot of fun, the ride back directly into the wind is tough. It took less than twenty minutes to get to the ten mile turn around point and almost an hour to get back. 

John Thum

100th Post On The Great Magnetic Field!

This is just a milestone post. The one hundredth post since I started this blog in December of 2007!

John Thum

D'oh!

What a day. I started out with a nice swim with fellow L.A Tri Clubber and L.A. Legger Frank Deese. We went probably a little less than a mile at a fairly easy pace. It was a nice swim and a good start to the day.  The plan was to get in a quick bike ride after the swim and then head off to church. After church I was going to do about 40 miles on the bike. 

As we were walking towards the showers, I felt for my car key in side my wetsuit. I couldn't feel it. I took the wetsuit off and it wasn't there. I realized that I didn't remember actually putting it in the wetsuit. I retraced my steps the best I could, but the chances are that I dropped it in the sand somewhere between the car an almost a mile down the beach. My key was lost. 

Oh, well. I have AAA, I would call them to open the car. I also called The Great Magnetic Wife to come meet me.  I borrowed Frank's cell phone and made the necessary calls. I drive a company car, and I knew that there was an extra key at the office. I would get my stuff out of the car, have The Great Magnetic Wife drive me to the office, pick up the extra key, and if all went as planned, I could still get to church by the time the sermon started. 

I was parked in the short-term parking lot, so I only had two hours. After the AAA guy opened the car, The Great Magnetic Wife arrived, we bought a new two hour parking ticket and set off for the office. 

I called the Saturn dealer to see if they could make a new key from the VIN, and they could, but service was closed on Sunday, so it couldn't be done until Monday morning. I couldn't just leave the car there, it would be ticketed and towed.

In the old days, I knew where the key was hidden to the office that has the master key box. It was not there. I called our receptionist on her cell phone to ask her about it and she told me she now takes the keys home. Probably a smart idea, but gosh this put a crimp in the plan. I called Brett, whose office contains the master key box, but he did not answer. Stacey, our receptionist, had offered to drive to work to give me the key, so I called her back and said that we could meet half-way. She lives in Palmdale, about 50 mile away. 

We met in the parking lot of a Jack-In-The-Box in Santa Clarita. I paid her for her troubles, even though she said it was not necessary. But I figured anyone who would just take off on a Sunday morning and drive 50 miles to meet me at a fast food parking lot to give me a key, should definitely be compensated. 

I finally got back to work, got into the office with the master key box and found that there was not an extra set. I looked at each set of keys in there very carefully three to four times. Oh no! I called The Great Magnetic Wife and she said she would call AAA again and have them send a locksmith. 

AAA covers the first $60.00, but the estimate for this job was $235.00. At this point it didn't matter. I drove back to Santa Monica and got there shortly before the locksmith. He was a great guy, but did say something like, "if I am able to make this key it will be a miracle." 

He worked on it very hard. It took him almost an hour, but he did finally get the key made and he also made a duplicate. 

It was now past 1:00 pm. I started my swim at 7:00. I was in not mood to go on a bike ride. I was in a mood to go home on watch The Tour De France on TV.

John Thum

Tri-Ku XX

Even on the 4th

No holiday from Training

The Ironman looms

John Thum

Happy Birthday U.S.A!

If you have not done so in a long time, or ever, for that matter, today is a great day to read The Declaration Of Independence. We are truly blessed in this great nation. I have linked the text here.

John Thum