Open water season ends

It's officially fall here in Southern California, which means that the fun we've all had swimming in the ocean (and making friends with various sealife) is now officially on hold until next year.

Which sucks for me. I much prefer swimming in open water to swimming in the pool, but even though I'm totally game to hop in the ocean when the water's below 60 degrees, no one else is, so I'm stuck staring at the black line until summer.

Yesterday, a group of us went for our last OWS of the year - I just dragged my legs, although I could have kicked as the water made my feet, hands and face go numb after a few minutes.

The downside was the visibility - about 18 inches (although given what's probably in the Santa Monica Bay, that might be an upside. I don't really want to see the shopping carts and used condoms.), except that every so often, we'd swim through these odd warm patches of water.

I know that it's just an ocean current thing, but part of me kept wondering what it was that could pee that much and how close it was to our group.

We swam about a mile, which was a bit longer than usual, but we had to swim an extra few hundred yards to find a place to exit that wasn't crowded with surfers.

I don't mind surfers, but I don't want to be swimming near them when one of them loses a board.

We managed to go through the surf zone in between wave sets, which is good for swimming but bad for body surfing.


It was a great morning, and I'm sad to see the seasonal end of the ocean swims.

Guess I'll have something to look forward to for next year.

Because of the injury, I've dropped out of what was to be the final race of the year - the Palm Springs HITS Olympic. I'll probably go and cheer team mates, but it's not the same as actually doing the race.

My Achilles Heel

So the soreness in my left Achilles tendon escalated during Sunday's race, and when I went to the doctor Monday, he gave me the bad news that it's now full-blown tendinitis, and told me very firmly that there is to be no running of any sort in my life for at least the next four weeks. 

Which is fine, there's still biking and swimming - except that Tuesday, when I got in the pool and tried to do a flutter kick, the tendon hurt when it contracted, so now - no kicking, either.

Except that I won't give up swimming. I just won't.  You can't make me.

I figured I'd just use the pull buoy and still manage to get some swim work in - which was fine on Tuesday. Tuesday's workout is very drill-heavy and focused on form, so I really got a chance to pay attention to my catch and pull.

Today, however, was the masters workout with the Sadist (and yet he looks so normal), and true to his reputation, it was 2200 meters of speed work.

All of which I did with the pull buoy.

I can still feel my arms, but I kind of wish I couldn't.

The upside is that after a month of this, I'm going to be super ripped! Yay! 

What Not to Do

Instead of posting yet another boring race report (good swim, good bike, bad run. Same as ever), I thought I'd share a post-race parking lot photo for your enjoyment:

Yes, that's a very expensive bike and very expensive race wheels left in the bed of a pickup truck - not locked, and no owner anywhere in sight. Plus there's a wetsuit if you care to grab that, too.

I'm stunned that someone would be this, well, trusting in the second largest city in the US, which, by the way, has had a rash of bike thefts in the last few months.

Hell, I wouldn't even leave Gary unlocked in the bed of my pickup, and I'm fairly certain no one in the parking lot of a triathlon would want to steal Gary.

I threw Gary in the back of the car and drove off in search of post-race food after taking this picture, but I sincerely hope that this person - whoever they are - came back from where ever they were to find their bike and wheels still there.

Fall Means Furnace in Southern California

It's time for the annual Santa Ana winds, which means just when the rest of the country's getting pink-cheeked from the frosty air, we're cooking like proverbial hush puppies in the deep fryer of life.

The winds create a hot, dry heat that burns the eyes and makes anyone with allergies wish they were dead. 

I went for a quick run this morning before work - I'd intended to get up at 6 and run for an hour, but I overslept so I decided to do a half hour run. I stepped out of the house at 6:45 and it was already hot and dry.

I spent most of the run coughing due to the dry air, and by the time I got back from an easy, easy run (30% walking, actually) I was sweaty and gasping.

What I really want to do is go jump in the ocean and stay there until it cools off, but sadly, I've been working too much to get in more than a quick workout here and there. I've also been drinking what seems like gallons of water and not peeing at all, which I'm told is bad.

Local news is predicting the heat breaking over the weekend, which will be wonderful. 

Sunday is the Playa del Rey sprint tri. I'm woefully under trained, but it's just a sprint and it's so hot I don't really care, so I'm not sweating it much (insert groan here).

Santa Monica 5000

Sunday was the Santa Monica 5000, which I had signed up for a few months ago and then promptly forgot about.

I hadn't done any running since Malibu (not even for a cab), but it was such a beautiful day that it made up for any lack of training on my part.

I rode my bike to the start, since I figured parking would be evil (and it was), and then checked in and got my number. I'd forgotten to bring my race belt, so I had to pin the number on my shirt, which was really annoying - I kept hitting it with my hand and I'm sure I'm going to look pregnant in any race photos.

The start was huge! All of the various races (pro/elite, kids, baby joggers, 5k, 10k) went off in waves through the starting corral. I hung back as the corral was really crowded and it was too early in the morning for me to be dealing with body contact.

I ran into my friend Dan (who has run the LA Marathon three times!) and he was kind enough to slow down and run with me for the  first quarter of the race, and give me some pointers, which was very cool.

After the first water station, Dan took off like a rocket and I stayed at my pokey pace. I was actually running slower than I had after biking 40k a couple of weeks ago, but the sky was blue with fluffy clouds, the day wasn't too hot and everyone was in a great mood.

Halfway through the 10k, my glutes started to stiffen up, so I kept having to stop and stretch out, which is probably helped contribute to my time being so slow - 1:14 (I averaged just under a 12 minute mile).

Still, it was fun and at the finish line, they had cheerleaders, which was awesome even if the did run out of pancakes by the time I finished. To console myself for the missing of the pancakes, I joined a few fellow racers at M Street Kitchen and had some of their fantastic bacon!

One gorgeous day and one shitty phone pic.

Vacation!

Since completing the Malibu tri, I've not done much working out. I did some yoga, did some swim classes concentrating on form, not distance, sat in the steam room, and basically just relaxed. I've ridden the commuter bike for short trips, but between workout fatigue and work being busy, I've been much more sedentary than usual.

Except I forgot that I'd signed up for the Santa Monica 5000, a 10k that's happening on Sunday. This Sunday. As in day after tomorrow.

I haven't done any running (real or otherwise) in over a week.

I figure the worst that can happen is that I have to walk more than run.

Hopefully, I'll finish before the pancakes run out.

Malibu Tri race report with photos

Finished! Where's the booze?

The Malibu "International Distance" (since I guess we can't call it an Olympic any longer), was the first race I've done longer than a sprint.

The clock makes it look like it took me longer than it really did.  My overall time was 3:31:26, which, since my goal was to finish in under four hours, was pretty good.

First off, this was the biggest transition area I've ever seen. Yowza. It was crazy.

The swim was really wonderful, if a bit cold. The water was really clear, which is unusual for Southern California. It was a 1500 m parallel to the shore swim, and I went wide to avoid the crowd. I was about 20 feet further out than most of the people, which was really nice because there was no contact, but a bit difficult because I had no idea how to gauge how fast I was going. I had to pop my head up several times to get my bearings, but I swam pretty straight, which was good. I wasn't really concerned about the swim, so I just took it easy and swam at a moderate pace and enjoyed myself.

I ended up passing many of the breast strokers from the previous wave, but since we were the last wave, there was no one to overtake me. 

Swim time: 41:07

I staggered out of the water, took a few seconds in the showers, and then wobbled over to the bike. I'd gotten a camping sink - sort of a collapsible bowl and used it as a footbath, which worked great. I rinsed off, tried to dry off, put on my bike shoes, and was off.

T1: 8:26

I have no idea how that happened. It felt a bit slow, but not 8 minutes slow. I guess I took a nap that I don't remember or something. I know I didn't make a phone call or have a drink. Oh, well.

Gary and I head out. Gary looks considerably more fresh than me.

The bike was wonderful. I just love riding on PCH and with one traffic lane closed and right-of-way through the intersections, it was just fantastic.

I felt good on the bike and Gary rocked the house, except that I'd somehow gotten sand in my shorts on the swim and had some chafing issues since I'd forgotten to use the lube cream that I'd bought. Oh, well.

At the turnaround, they had bottles full of Accelerade, which I can't drink as it gives me a potty emergency, but I still grabbed a bottle just in case since my bottle of Perpetum was running a bit low.

The main problem I had was what to do with the bottle since I had two on the frame already - I ended up sticking it down my bra, which surprisingly didn't bother me at all, I just had to remember to pull it out before the photographer took my picture as I was heading back into transition.

Looking at this photo, you'd never know I have a water bottle shoved down the back of my shorts.

Bike time: 1:30:31, average speed 16.4

I can usually do 40k in about 1:15, but that's when I haven't just been swimming for a mile.  The main problem that I had is that for the last half of the bike I had to pee like crazy and I just can't bring myself to wizz on the bike (although it might have washed out some of the sand), so I just had to suffer.

T2: 5:10

Again, I don't know where that came from. It didn't feel that slow, but I guess it took me a while to put on the compression socks.

The run is the part I was really worried about - I'd anticipated having to run/walk it and having it take about 90 minutes.

After a break to pee at the first restroom I came across (my bladder was so full I'd stopped caring about time), I felt pretty good on the run.

The Malibu tri run is really gorgeous - it's along the beach path, and there's a wonderful view of the water and the sand. There was one area where the ground was flooded and it was slippery, but other than that I just ran along and didn't have to walk very much at all. I cheered my friends and drank water at the aid stations (and stopped completely at one to eat a Cliff Bar and chat with the volunteers), and felt really good, but not particularly fast.

A surprisingly un-forced smile

Imagine my surprise when I completed the run in 1:06:10 (10:50 pace).  It's not that fast, but it's way faster than I've been running all season, so I'm extremely happy with it.

After I finished, I hung out at the expo (sadly, rather small), ate something and cheered for the people coming in behind me.

We'd gotten a hotel, so I went back, hung my wet/sandy stuff up to dry, and then took a shower.

luggage rack used to dry wet stuff

I had trouble staying awake until after dinner, of course.

I got to bed about 9:30 and slept like the dead.

Sunday morning I woke up, and then went down to the hotel's pool, where they had a continental breakfast laid out by an outdoor fireplace. I ate a well-earned pastry, and sat for a long time with my feet up, just watching the clouds.

I was sore for about four days afterwards, and I had a fantastic time.

I'm hip and didn't even know it!

Today, I took Gary to Bikerowave for a pre-race tune up and scrubbing (no matter how hard I try, I just can't get all the sand out of Gary's chain unless I take it off and put it in the solvent tank - the chain, not the sand).

While I was there, another guy came in with a Centurion (one model up from Gary), and informed me that that these bikes are the new hot thing amongst the hipster set.

Dammit.

I feel like I need a sign that reads "I had this bike before it was hip" so that no one mistakes me for a hipster while I'm riding.

I guess I'm okay, though - I'm not wearing anything that could even be remotely interpreted as 'hip' and Gary's got a lot of uncool aftermarket parts that some guy in a fedora and girl jeans just wouldn't tolerate.

Also I haven't yet changed Gary's bar tape because I'm being silly and superstitious. We've ridden the Malibu course four of five times with the old bar tape and I'm afraid to change it before the race. I know it's stupid - flame on.

The race is Saturday! I don't know if I'm ready, but Gary is!

Busy!

Work has been insanely busy, which is good - overtime equals money, after all, but it also means that I haven't got a lot of time to do much else with my life, including biking, running or swimming.

I've gotten a few swims in, but I haven't been running due to a sore Achilles tendon, and haven't been on the bike for almost a week.

Which is super bad, since I have a race in 11 days. 

I'll do the Malibu Olympic distance on September 17, and I feel like I just haven't gotten enough saddle time, but there's not much I can do about it,since I'm not willing to quit my job to finish a few minutes closer to the middle of the pack.

Oh, well.  Just remind me that the purpose of all of this is to have fun. And get a T-shirt. But mainly to have fun.


Also, I got the score of a lifetime at the TriLAB's Labor day sale - TWO DeSoto women's tri tops and shorts for $11 each.

At least I'll look good when the people who actually had time to train blow past me.

Extremely belated race report

Work's been beyond insane, so I'm just now finding time to write a race report for the Hansen Dam sprint triathlon.

Swim: Eeeeew... Just.. Ewww. The "open water" swim takes place in the lake that's stocked with catfish for 'sport' fishermen - the water was close to 80 degrees and smelled like a dirty aquarium, which, I guess, in a way, it was. Gross buckets.  Also, I got kicked in the face at the stare - not a normal face kick, but a full on heel to the chin contact.

I had to stop at the first buoy and tread water for a few minutes to get my bearings. Of course, this then put me to the back of the really slow swimmers, so the rest of the swim was spent trying desperately to get around the woman who was swimming zig-zag and always seemed to be blocking my path.

No one from the group behind caught me, and I actually overtook some of the breast strokers from the previous group, so I guess I did okay. Not great, but okay. 500y in 14: 27. Okay, it's terrible.

Note to self: next time, don't get kicked at the start.

Bike: did I mention that Gary made that course his bitch? I did? Good, because he did. It was moderately hilly, with nothing really over a cat 2 climb. Once again, no one from the later group caught me, and I managed to catch some of the slower mountain bikers from the previous groups. More importantly, I felt okay going downhill at close to 40 mph. Yay! Bike: 11 miles in 34:02. Not it's not going to set a record, but it felt good.

Run: This is where I stunk up the joint. By the time I started my run, it was starting to get hot. Really, really hot. I gulped some water in T2, but was suffering on the run by about yard 100.

Compounding the problem was the running on horse trails - loose sand. Awesome. I gave up trying to run the uphills and just walked them. Also, I doused myself with water at every aid station.

Finally, I crossed the line after doing 5k in 36:47. Okay, that's bad, but I knew it was going to be bad. It's fine, though. I had a great time (except that damned sandy fun), and it's only two weeks until Malibu - first Olympic distance!