Day 326: Last race of 2010

For the last 3 years, I have been doing triathlons, and every year has ended with the same event. Scott Tinley's Adventures takes place 4 hours south from where I live at Lopez Lake near San Luis Obisbo, during the first weekend in October. Its honestly one of the most entertaining events of the year, and has lots of different distances over 2 days, with some pros showing up for the event, including the raining 70.3 Ironman world champion Michael Raelert.

Being the last race of the year, and only 1 month out from the beginning of my Ironman training, I decided to take on the sprint distance, consisting of a quarter mile swim, 12.4 mile bike, and 3 mile swim. This is actually the distance I first started with 3 years ago, and I was really excited to see how much I have improved over the years.

My day started at 5:30 am with a short ride on my bike trainer. I really wish I got a picture of this, but it was still fairly dark out with stars in the sky and our campsite overlooking the race finish line. Honestly, there is no better way to wake up before a race. After about 15 minutes of spinning, I pack up my race stuff and head down the hill to the start line.

I spend the next hour setting up my transition area, and hitting up the bathrooms for the last time before the race and make it to the start line with about 30 seconds to spare. This is way closer than I wanted to make it, as I had to skip my warm up swim, but it will have to do.As the horn blows I dash a few feet down the boat ramp and jump into the water with all the other male racers. The final race of the season has officially begun!

One of the things that makes open water swimming a challenge is the fact that its almost a contact sport. With so many other people swimming around you, its easy to hit arms or get kicked in the face which for the first 2 years of racing has always intimidated me. This year is different, and I'm noticing my practice and training kick into gear as I'm not letting other peoples strokes or some minor contact slow me down or cause me to let up. I'm making clean smooth strokes through the water, and am successful in battling for position over other racers. However, there was one obstacle I was not ready for.

One third of the way into the swim I begin to round the first large orange buoy, and I can feel my wetsuit zipper unzip. At first I thought this was no big deal, as I'll just zip it back up and keep swimming... but alas, trying to zip up a wet suit while in the water causes you to sink, so instead I just continued the swim with it unzipped. The water temperature was about 68 degrees, so being cold wasn't as issue. The pocket of drag caused by an open wetsuit was. I spent the remainder of the swim trying to keep my butt out of the water as much as possible to reduce the drag, and I got out of the water in 9 minutes and 39 seconds, just under my goal time of 10 minutes. After a quick transition I was out on the bike course.

The bike started out with a pretty steep climb out of the campgrounds, and continued along a fairly hilly bike course, during which I was able to reach a top speed of 58.8 km/h (or 36.53 mph) during a long freshly paved down hill, which may be the fastest I've ever gone on a bicycle, and is kind of scary to be honest.

With about 2 miles to go before the turn around point, I can see the lead racer heading in the other direction. A few moments later the next racer, then the next. I count as each one goes by, and I find out I am in 20th position half way though the race, with 3 racers within view. So far, this race is going great.

The last half of the bike has a little more uphill than the first half, including my speedy hill, which is allot slower going the other way. I power though all the hills, and finish the bike in 40 minutes and 23 seconds, just a hair over my goal of 40 minutes, but still pretty good. After a quick transition, I'm out on the run.

In the first 2 minutes, I see the competitor just in front of me, and notice that he is not as strong as a runner I am, and quickly pass him, but for the remainder of the race, hardly see any other racers. I'm some where around the top 25 racers, and I'm in front of the large pack of racers.

Nearing the end of the run is a long up hill and I see a small group of 3 racers. I push it up the hill, and catch 2 of the 3 racers before the crossing the finish with a final time of 1 hour, 16 minutes and 43 seconds. I'm feeling pretty good about my run, but have no idea how this stacks up with the other racers.

Well, I finished 25th over all (188 other racers) and got 3rd in my age group! I was more than stoked to be able to stand upon the winners podium and be awarded a bronze medal for my efforts.

Overall, I call this race a pretty big success, and a great close to the season. Special thanks goes out to my best friend, and brother from a different mother, Alex Alcoba who flew in from Toronto to visit me for a week, and took photos while he cheered me on at this event!

Links:
Race website and Results: http://www.tricalifornia.com/index.cfm/Tinley2010-main.htm

Day 349: 6 Hours 18 Minutes and 17 Seconds

It's 3:55 in the morning on September 12th 2010. My alarm is set for 5 minutes from now, but I haven't slept all night. Instead of sleeping, I have been tossing and turning constantly thinking of what was waiting for me only a few hours from now. Today is the Big Kahuna, the longest triathlon I have ever signed up to do.

For those who have not read my previous post, the Big Kahuna Triathlon is a half Ironman distance triathlon, consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run, hosted near the Santa Cruz Beach boardwalk.

Start time for this race is 7 a.m. and begins with the 1.2 mile swim in the north pacific ocean. Reports put the water temperature at 58 degrees, which is a nice cool reminder that you are swimming in the ocean. I already knew that the swim was not my strongest event, but felt comfortable with the distance required. The swell in the ocean was small, and only a slight northern current was present which was only an issue at the turn around point at the peak of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. 40 minutes at 52 seconds later, I emerge from the water feeling really good and ready to take on the bike.

The transition area is 1500 feet from the beach, which doesn't sound far, until you realize that you are required to run barefoot though the streets of Santa Cruz. Not the most fun I've had, but once I finally reached T1, I was greeted with a pool of water to wash my feet, and some water and Gatorade. Hydrated and equipped with my bike gear I head out to begin my 56 mile bike ride.

By this time its 55 degrees outside and cloudy. Thankfully the wind is calm, but the temperature is less than ideal. I quickly regret not putting on my bike sleeves only a few miles in, but push on regardless. During my training, I am normally able to sustain a 19-20 miles per hour (or 30 kph) but decided prior to the race that I wanted to keep myself at around 15 mph (25 kph) in order to sustain myself though the hilly coastal ride, and leave something left in the tank for the run. About 1 hour and 45 minutes later, I'm keeping my desired pace as I hit pigeon point road and pull a 180 degree turn around a orange cone, beginning my return back to Santa Cruz. 28 miles completed and the weather conditions have not changed. The cold air has begun to numb my fingers and it is making it increasingly difficult to perform the simple task of getting a Gu out of a small pack attached to the top tube on my bicycle.

2 hours into the bike ride, and I'm doing a pretty good job at keeping hydrated, and doing my best at making sure my body needs the calories it needs to complete the race. 3 hours, 22 minutes and 16 seconds after leaving the transition area with my bike, I return only to replace my bike shoes with runners and head out on a 13.1 mile run along the California coast line. I'm tired and sore, but not ready to quit.

About 3 miles into the run, my legs start to experience true fatigue. Running is usually my strength, but its been a long day, and asking myself to run the entire half marathon may be to much to ask. The groin injury that I sustained is beginning to come back to haunt me, and uphill runs are painful. In some cases it pull me to a walk. But around 1 hour in, and I circle around a giant 6 foot tiki god signaling the half way point to the run.

At this point, I'm actually glad that the temperature has only risen a few degrees since the bike ride, as the cool air is keeping my body from over heating, and making this run any harder than it already is. 3 more miles of trail running and I'm back on the sidewalks of Santa Cruz running along west cliff. Pedestrians and residents cheer all the athletes on as they pass by, and this is a big motivator for me, and I need it. As I run the final down hill towards my final task of the race. The last 600 yards of the run will be a beach run through lose sand. My legs are running on fumes, but I can see the finish line in the distance, and nothing was going to keep me from it. 6 hours, 18 minutes and 17 seconds after the starting gun, I cross the finish line. I have finished my first ever half Ironman, and the feeling could not be more rewarding.

A full day has passed since I received my Big Kahuna finishers medal, and I have been able to reflect on my performance at this event. Although I still see this as a large accomplishment in my life, its still only half of what I've asked of myself to accomplish in just under 1 year.

Its hard to believe that just 2 and a half years ago, I barely finished my first triathlon that was less than a quarter the size of the Big Kahuna. I've come so far since then, but still have a long way to go.

A special thanks to Jenny and Jayden who were my personal supporters during the race, and the photographer behind the lens.

Day 351: The Big Kahuna

I find myself constantly asking myself the same questions today. Did I do enough? Am I ready for this? What else do I need?

Race Day Equipment... Did I forget anything?

Tomorrow is the 9th annual Big Kahuna Triathlon, which is an island themed half Ironman distance race, consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run. This particular race takes place near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with the bike and run along the coast line. Today I took a sneak peak at the course after packet pickup, and I must say, that this is a gorgeous course.

I'm really excited to participate in my first half Ironman race tomorrow, but am very nervous at the same time. A while ago I set my goal time at 6 hours, but after some training rides and a small muscle injury from roller hockey a few weeks ago I decided to extend that goal an extra 30 minutes. I'm not sure how accurate or challenging this goal is, as I have never raced at this distance but I think its a pretty fair one, and should be obtainable provided I don't have any meltdowns or injuries. In any case, I will be happy with just about any time I get, as finishing is always the first goal.

That's all I have to add today, and hope to report a successful race tomorrow (Although it may take a day or two to write the blog).

Mahalo!

Links:
Race website: http://www.firstwave-events.com/kahuna/

Day 360: Registration

Everybody has goals. Some people don't even really realize what their goals are, or that they have any, but they do. Some take hours or even minutes to accomplish, while others take years and in some cases lifetimes to accomplish. I've had a few major goals in my life so far, and for the most part achieved everything I set out to do (missing only the billionaire goal I've had ever since I learned what money is) with relative ease. Not to say that everything I have was handed to me, and I haven't had hardships and setbacks that everyone has experienced. But I've never experienced true feeling of failure in something I've really cared about.

I am officially putting that all on the line by attempting what will be the most difficult task I have ever asked myself to do. On August 30th, 2010, I registered for the 2011 Subaru Ironman Canada.

For those of you who don't know what an Ironman is, its a long distance triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run. Professionals can win an Ironman with a time just under eight and a half hours (females are just under 9) with the average finisher coming in between 12-14 hours. Many competitors will drop out from the race, or cannot finish in the allotted 17 hours, with some races having as high as 20% of racers scoring a DNF (Did not finish).

For those of you who have known me over the past few years, you know that I started doing triathlons 3 years ago, and finished about 15 triathlons of various distances. In 11 days I will compete in the Big Kahuna Triathlon which takes place in Santa Cruz for my first ever half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on the bike, 13.1 mile run) which I'm sure will be a real eye opener into the world of long distance triathlons.

I haven't really blogged about, or even really ever wrote anything down about my life and experiences before, so it will be interesting to see how long this holds up. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure how many of my friends blogs I've ever read, so it may be more interesting to find out how many people besides my Mom (and her friends) will actually read this, but I think it will be good for me to look back at in 360 days, just to see the road behind me and all that I put myself though to attempt this daunting and intimidating race.

For now I will have to head to bed for some much needed rest before my 1.5 hour run tomorrow morning, and hope that I prepared enough for the race in two weeks.

Me, Jenn and Jenny: Moments before sign ups, don't we look ready?