I Didn't Come In Last!

I didn't come in last in my age group at the Breath Of Life Olympic Triathlon! Okay, I did come in second to last, but I beat a guy! In the 45 to 49 age group I came in 37 out of 38. Not a great day. In my previous post I said that I thought I did about 3:15 to 3:20. Well, the time was 3:20:05. The full results are here. 

My final splits were:

Swim: 38:52

T1: 06:02

Bike: 1:24:27

T2: 02:51

Run: 1:07:57

Not a great day, with the tone being set by a truly awful swim. See the full race report below.

But, Never Forget! I Did Not Come In Last!!!

John Thum

Breath Of Life Olympic Tri - A Hard Day At The Triathlon Mines

I was quite excited to race another triathlon. It has been three months. I have been training, I generally feel good, it was time to get back into a real situation. 

The Great Magnetic Wife and I headed up to Ventura at about noon on Saturday. We arrived at Buenaventura Beach, the site of the triathlon at about 1:30. Everything went well, we headed out to the beach just to look and ran into Tim Bomba, my frequent early morning ocean swim partner. He was bleeding from his nose and lip. He went out for a swim and when diving through the waves discovered that there was a shelf in the ocean floor and went face first into the sand. We were warned. 

I heeded that warning when I went out for a warm-up swim before the start of the triathlon. The thing I discovered, and forgot from doing this triathlon last year, was that the sand at the shore is very rocky and hard on the feet. As a result, I went into the ocean at the start of the tri quite gingerly. My goal for the day was really to have a good training day. I have not specifically trained for an Olympic length triathlon, I have been doing a lot of long, slow training days just building my base for the Ironman. So I was not going to run in and injure my feet. The swim started good enough, I was swimming well enough and before I expected to, I saw that the first turn buoy was about ten yards away. As I was making the turn, the swimmers were bunching up and then all of a sudden, WHAM, I was kicked pretty hard on the left side of my face. My goggles where askew and half-way off my head. Fortunately, I didn't lose them. However, I did swallow a lot of water in the wrong way. I started to choke hard. I got out of the stream of on-comming swimmers and just had to choke and cough and try to get back to normal. One of the life guards on a paddle board came up to me and wanted to know if I needed to be brought back to the shore. I considered it for a moment, but thought I could get over this. However, it did take a couple of minutes before I could start swimming again. 

While I was getting the water out of my throat, the first swimmers from the next wave stared swimming by. When I finally started swimming again, I was being passed by a lot of swimmers from the following wave. I just was never able to get my groove back. The entire swim after that point was a struggle.

Getting out of the water was a relief, but the run up the sand and back into the transition area was really more of a trudge than a run. I did see The Great Magnetic Wife as I got near the transition area. She said that I did not look happy. The video of this great trudge is below. I was greatly disappointed to see that there were hardy any bikes left in transition and that my bike was the only one left on my rack. It was confirmed, I had a really bad swim.

I took my time in transition, I figured I would have a better bike, if I were a little more calm and recovered from my swim. I don't have any of the splits yet, but I imagine I was in transition for about five minutes. 

The bike was really not too bad. It took about an 1:20 for the 24.8 miles. Hardly a fast time, but certainly in line with how I have been training. The first six miles or so I passed a number of riders and was not passed by anyone. Then I came to a section where I met up with other riders who were already out on the course. At this time I was passed by as many, if not more, than I passed.

The run was the run. I am not a good runner, but I can plod along. I have been training with the run/walk method, so I was going to use it. It did take a couple of water stops to figure out that I should just run a little longer than I normally do, and then my walk breaks would coincide with the water stations. 

The was another L.A. Tri member, who I later learned was named Eddie, who started the run about ten seconds in front of me. I quickly passed him, but he would then pass me during my walk breaks. We always acknowledged each other as we passed. At some point, I decided my goal for the race was to beat him. The plan was to follow closely behind until the last quarter of a mile and then sprint to the end. This seemed to be very doable. On the very last water/walk break, about three quarters of a mile to the finish Eddie passed me and suddenly started running faster. I was keeping up and planning my move, but at the same time I started sprinting, so did he. With about a hundred yards to go I realized I was not going to pass him. Shortly after the finish we introduced ourselves. It was a nice and friendly little competition. It was indicative of the day. 

When I finished, I was exhausted. However, about fifteen minutes later, after eating a hamburger, I was ready to do it again. I would probably have a better time the second time around. I don't know my time, I didn't wear a stopwatch, but I think it was about 3:15 to 3:20. Not a great day.

John Thum

Getting My Geek On!

I haven't raced in a triathlon in three months. The last event I participated in the the Ironman California 70.3 in Oceanside on March 29. I have forgotten how much I like to tri-geek out on the night before an event. I am writing this sitting in a Best Western Hotel in Oxnard, California, having spent the last three hours obsessively going over each piece of equipment from sock and swim goggles to Power Bars and sunscreen. I put the wrist band that allows me into the transition area on and I put my timing chip around my leg, just to be sure I don't forget them. I cleaned the chain and gears of my bike, I have packed and re-packed my tri-bag. The Great Magnetic Wife patiently puts up with it all. In the rest of my life, I am not at all obsessive/compulsive, but in this one area I geek-out completely. I actually enjoy this aspect of triathlon and it helps me prepare for my transistions as I go through all of my equipment. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

John Thum

Triathlon This Weekend In Ventura!

The old countdown clock is under 150 days to go until Ironman Arizona! This is getting a bit scary. 

On Sunday, 6/29/08, I am going to do The Breath Of Life Triathlon, my first triathlon since the Half Iron event at the end of March. It is an Olympic length tri, Swim-1.5k, Bike-40k, Run-10k. For some reason I am more nervous about this event than I was about the Half Iron triathlon, I've been training for much longer distances, but I guess because it has been a few months since I was actually in a race, I am a little apprehensive about getting a good rhythm. 

My time at this triathlon last year was 3:05:50. I don't really expect to better that.  Almost all of my training has been base training, that is to say long and slow. I am approaching this as a training day. I'm just going to do everything at a moderate pace and finish. My goal is not to set a PR at an Olympic length triathlon, my goal is to train to finish an Ironman in November. I have to remember that.

The Great Magnetic Wife and I are heading up to Ventura on Saturday and spending the night in Oxnard.

John Thum

Indoor Brick

The plan was to do an Olympic length, three event brick as the last big workout before The Breath of Life Triathlon next Sunday, 6/29/08. I also wanted to go to church. I was not going to get out of church until about 11:30 and the thought of going down to the beach to swim, bike and run on a very hot summer day with tens of thousands of people did not sound too appealing. My alternative was to do an "indoor triathlon" at the gym. I would swim 1500 meters in the pool, ride 24.8 miles on the stationary bike and run 6.2 miles on the treadmill. What I didn't know was that the Hollywood Bally's was remodeling and their pool was closed.  Oh well, I could still do the bike and run. Not a bad workout and I did skip the crowds.  

John Thum

Hot Enough For Ya?

Every good triathlon training plan calls for regular bricks. A brick is a training session that incorporated at least two of the triathlon disciplines back-to-back. Today, the training plan called for a bike-run brick. The weather man called for temperatures nearing 100. Well, you gotta train. I just figured I would do a very slow brick. The Great Magnetic Wife and even The Great Magnet Parents tried to talk me in to running before my bike, but I explained that I have to train my legs to run after biking. Plus, you never know what the weather is going to be like on race day, it is best to do some running in high heat. My brother-in-law, Will, is training for Ironman Louisville this August. From everything I have heard that is a brutally hot race. I asked him how he is training for the heat and he said, "wearing a lot of clothes." Make sense.

The bike was not too bad.  I rode from Culver City High School, down the Ballona Creek Bike Path to the beach and then along the beach bike path. I doubt the temperatures were over eighty, and with the breeze that riding a bike generates, I felt great. The run, however,  was really hot. I decided to run at the Culver City High School track just in case I was getting over-heated, I would not be too far from the air conditioning of the car. I never felt I was over heating, I did drink a lot, but I was running very slow. I ended up doing about a twelve minute a mile pace.

Twenty-plus miles on the bike at average 17.2 mile an hour pace. Three mile run at 12.1 minute miles. Considering the heat, not bad.  Tomorrow, I will do an Olympic triathlon length brick: 1500 meter ocean swim, 40k bike, 10k run. The weather will still be hot, but I hope not quite as hot.  Welcome to summer.

John Thum

The Great Magnetic Wife's New Blog

I was listening to the radio on the way to work and heard about a website/blog called The Daily Puppy. The Great Magnetic Wife had been talking about puppies a lot lately and so I thought it sounded like something she would enjoy. I told her about it when I got home and I was quite right. It has become her go-to site in the morning after she checks who has bid on her Ebay auctions.

I suggested she start a blog called The Daily Puppet since she has about a billion puppets. I swear, I am not exaggerating, there is about a billion, give or take a hundred million or so. She didn't seem that motivated, so I started it for her, but now she is posting everyday. You can visit the site here. She can't promise The Daily Puppet will actually be updated daily, although, so far it has. If she falls out of the habit of daily updates, perhaps she will change the name of the blog to The Occasional Puppet.

John Thum

Not Feelin' Goovy

The last four or five runs I have done seem to be really hard. I am not sure what is wrong, except that I can never seem to fing the "groove." Often, when I start out, it takes a mile or sore to really feel good, but this morning and for every run I have done in the last couple of weeks, it feels really labored.

The first lines of the Simon and Garfunkle's "59th Street Bridge Song," also known as "Feelin' Groovy," are "Slow down, you move too fast." I can assure you that when I am not in the running groove, I am not moving too fast. Heck, when I am in a total groove, I don't move too fast, and yet I am not feelin' groovy as they promise.

John Thum

2008 Triathlon Season Schedule

I've come to my decision on how my triathlon season will go. My season will consist of the following events:

March 2 - Los Angeles Marathon

Los Angeles, California

Completed in 5:39:37

March 29 - Ironman California 70.3

Oceanside, California

Completed in 7:17:16

June 29 - Breath of Life Olympic Triathon

Ventura, California

July 19 - Camp Pendleton Olympic Triathlon

Oceanside, California

August 3 - Dwight Crum Pier To Pier Swim

Hermosa Beach to Manhattan Beach California

August 23 - Santa Barbara Long Course Triathlon

Santa Barbara, California

September 7 - Los Angeles Olympic Triathlon

Los Angeles, California

October 12 - Long Beach Marathon

Long Beach, California

October 26 - SOMA Half Iron Distance Triathlon

Tempe, Arizona

November 23 - Ironman Arizona

Tempe, Arizona

John Thum

Tri-Ku XIX

Take time to give thanks

To each of the volunteers

Who hands you water

John Thum

No NYC Marathon This Year

The Ironman Arizona is less than six months away and my run with the L.A. Leggers this morning was a reminder of how far I have to go to be ready. We ran seven miles, at one time that would have been easy, but it was rough today. I will run a couple more this afternoon after I do about thirty on the bike.

I am putting together my training plan and have decided that I should do a fall marathon. My choices are the Pasadena Marathon on November 16, the New York City Marathon on November 2, the Toronto Marathon on October 19, and the Long Beach Marathon on October 12. 

All things being equal, my first choice would be Pasadena. It is the inaugural event, I could be a legacy runner. It is close by, no travel, hotel, etc. I have family roots in Pasadena, my Father and Grandfather were born there, my Great Grandfather was the mayor, but alas, it is only a week prior to the Ironman Arizona. There would not be enough time to recover.

My second choice was New York. It's huge, nationally known, we have a place to stay. It is probably a week later than would be ideal, but still far enough away from the Ironman Arizona for full recovery. Alas, I received an email yesterday that informed me that I did not get in. The NYC Marathon is so big that they have to limit participants. One can qualify, however, I am not nearly fast enough to do so. They also have a lottery. It cost $11.00 to enter, but I figured my chances were decent. Certainly a better investment than going down to my local 7-11 and spending $11.00 on the California Lottery. 

I'm still trying to decide between Toronto and Long Beach. My sister lives in the Toronto area and even though she and her husband will be away in Florence, Italy, we will still be able to stay at their house. However there is the expense of getting to Toronto. So at this point, I am kind of leaning towards Long Beach. It is a little earlier than would be ideal, but it is relatively local. I'll decide in the next few weeks as I bring my training plan into the fall.

John Thum