The plan for the day was to get a few hours of real training, but not to push too hard. I am racing the L.A. Triathlon tomorrow and even though I consider it just another training day with my eye always on Ironman Arizona, I do want to finish in a decent time.
I started my day by running seven miles with the L.A. Leggers. My usual pace group is 11.5 miles per minute, but today I decided to take it really easy and run with the thirteens. It is still a run, but it was easier than the eleven fives. I ran up front with the pace leader and I think I might have pushed the pace a bit. We came in at about 12.5 minutes per mile. Oh well, everyone seemed to do it pretty well. Everyone looked good. They were excited that they did seven miles at a faster pace than normal.
The Great Magnetic Wife and I went to the L.A. Triathlon Expo. Picked up my race pack and dropped off my T2 bag. The L.A. Triathlon, being a point to point race has two transition areas and so all the racers have to prepare their run transition bags and drop them off at the expo. the organizers then set them up at the bike-to-run transition. That transition is always a little odd, because you have to find your spot based on your race number. Now, I can count pretty well, so it's not that hard, but it is harder than a one transition area race. The first transition is always a little slow also, because you have to completely pack your transition bag before you take off on the bike. The organizers then collect your T1 bag and drive it to the finish. We got large goody bags of energy bars and drinks and all kinds of sponsors knick-knacks. The Great Magnetic Wife was quite excited when she picked up a band-aid dispenser from the Kaiser-Permenente booth.
From the expo I rode the bike course. It has changed this year and not for the better in my opinion. It used to go from Venice into Mid-Wilshire to Hollywood and then Downtown. Now, instead of going north on Highland Ave and into Hollywood, it continues east on 6th Street through Korea Town and some pretty rough areas around MacArthur Park. It then goes north on Alvarado and eventually does a little loop on Sunset before heading Downtown. A good portion of 6th Street and Alvarado are in bad shape. It was particularly rough today with all of the traffic. The other thing about riding a bike on crowded streets in a rough part of town is that there are a lot a vehicles that probably couldn't pass a smog inspection and are spewing nasty exhaust right next to you. It will be a lot better during the race when the streets are closed to traffic.
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