Training with Ian and Kevin

Last in San Diego was the big surf monkey race that Rock and Huddle put on. As a result, many of my training partners decided to compete in it and avoid the traditional big Sat ironman training ride. However, I didn’t really have an interest in racing the aquathon and thought my training would be better spent getting some miles. I contacted Kevin and Thurs and he mentioned he was going up to LA for a big weekend with Ian Mikelson---crazy strong triathlete who is having a great season.
Since Ian has made a few trips to SD, I thought I would call him to see what was on tap. He mentioned Sat would be 5 hrs of riding through some hills near his home, Sat night a long run and then Sun a massive 7 hr ride up the coast. Definitely some big days and sounded better than Surf Money. Yes, there is something wrong with me. However, I still wasn’t sold because I just didn’t think the riding in LA would be that great. Well, after talking to Kevin again I was in.
So, Kevin and I met up, we loaded up my Honda Element and we drove up to Ian’s parent’s house in Torrance for a IM training weekend to remember. We got Fri night and after being off a block managed to find his house. We couldn’t see the street signs but knew the house with the loud stereo and college kids drinking in the front yard wasn’t it.
On Sat morning, we awoke and knocked out a good breakfast---lots of bananas and peanut butter. The weekend theme. We got rolling around 7 and managed to make several loops around Palos Verdes. Ian had this random connection of roads that made two loops. An outer loop, flatter with more signal lights and an inner loop with a nice climb. Other than losing a bottle after 4 hr, we had a great 5 hr ride for 95 miles!

We got home, ate a little bit of food and lounged around until 3:30. Now it was time to load up and head for the beach and an oceanfront run. The goal was 2hr 15 min out and back from Redondo Beach to whenever. It was flat on not too bad running along the bike path. The only bad part was the AVP tournament going on in Hermosa Beach. We had to zig-zag our way through a lot of people for a mile.
Surprisingly, the run went well. I tossed in 20 min of tempo at 1hr 45 min and it was painful. But other than that the run was a solid 19 miles. It was a great site to see Ian’s girlfriend “T” sitting on the beach after her long run. She was kind enough to go back to the car and pick-up our cooler with drinks.
We returned home and the feast began. Ian’s father Larry, made a trip to the store and had chicken and salmon. We tossed in a couple pizza’s as we prepped the food. I worked the grill and cooked the fish, chicken and some corn. About the time we started to eat, Ian friends Ryan and his girlfriend joined the group. Dinner was great and not having to go to the store was killer. BY now it was late and time to get to bed before Sunday’s adventure.
Sun was crazy long day. I awoke and ate as much food as I could before we left for a 7 hr tour up the coast. It took us a little bit more time to get going than we hoped. We got about 2 blocks away and Ian had a flat, so we turned back to fix it. About 20 min later we, we got rolling again. We wound our way through LA and up the coast and through Santa Monica and finally out to good riding. The rolling hills up the 1 were great. We cruised up the coast to Oxnard and grabbed some food/water and we headed home.
Once again, we got rolling just in time for Ryan to have a flat. We fixed it and started rolling. The wind getting back to the Malibu coast was strong. Kevin took a great a pull to give Ian a break and then we started working together. We were rolling and then Ryan got another flat. 3 flats in one day! We got rolling again and everything was great until this random cyclist hoped in and sat in the middle! We tried to talk to him but he blew us off. Eventually we reached Santa Monica and waited a bit for Ryan who stopped for water after being dropped. The ride was 5.5 hrs by then and I was starting to get tired. Unfortunately, the ride turned to city streets and the bike path and the ride went from great to bad for the last hour and a half. We rolled into the Mickelson mansion with 7 hr and 5 min of riding and 134 miles! Big day. We ate, loaded up the car and headed home to SD.

I arrived home around 8PM. I was dead tired and got nothing else done but some great training. I had 14 hrs of training with 19 miles of running and 229 miles of riding. Ian is a freaking freight train and his parents are great. If the riding was better, I could see myself making this trip a few more times. OK, that’s all from here.

The power of Food Inc

A couple weeks ago I watched the movie Food Inc. I highly recommend this to everyone. The movie describes how food goes from the farm to our table. While I had read both Fast Food Nation and The Food Revolution, something about seeing the processes described in those books just stood out. For example, chicken farms. I knew chickens grew faster and were all similar sizes to allow for assembly line cleaning. OK, breading . However, the consequences I had never thought about. The chickens grow so fast they can’t walk! The movie goes on to talk about the monopoly that Monsanto’s biotech has on crops and lack of labeling and power of the USDA. One of the important messages in the movie is you have the power to make changes by controlling your purchases. Something I thought about but never enough. Wal-Mart is placing a large effort on environment and organic foods. Does anyone thick this is because they want to support the environment and push a big green campaign? No, it’s because the market is growing and they want your cash. At the end of the day, you vote every time you make a purchase. Do you want free-range chickens or those that grow so fast and so close they can’t walk? Do you want hormones in your food? The choice is yours but I know my buying habits are changing.

Vineman 2009

Last weekend was vineman 70.3. Despite completing several vinemans I have never had a good race in Santa Rosa. However, I still really like the race. It normally draws a good field, the course is hard enough to break up the groups on the bike, it generally hot and the run in rolling. Best of all, a friend from grad school lives there and it gives me an excuse to visit her.
The only down side of vineman is there are a ton of waves and this year I was going off near the end. Over an hour and half after the first wave. It was a really strange feeling to be arriving in transition after the pro men had exited the water and I still had plenty of time.
The swim is a 1.2 miles out and back in the Russian river. I got out to a clean start and felt pretty strong. As the group thinned out, I didn’t see too many competitors in front and was swimming solo. The turn around at vineman is always interesting because the river gets so shallow I was touching the bottom. I exited the water in just over 30 min—about the same time as my other half IMs this season.
I got off onto the bike and settled in for what I knew was going to be an interesting bike ride. The early part of the bike course covers some winding narrow roads and there were a lot of competitors in front of me. I was maneuvering my way through the field when I saw I fire truck on the side of the road. Apparently, a tree branch had fallen and landed on a rider and taken 2 others down. The branch caused a bunch of chaos in the area but by the time I got there the road was clear and the athletes were off receiving medical care.
I road smooth for the first third and then gradually picked it up. About 1 mile later a truck pulled in front and slowed my down for mile and I was caught by another competitor. I road the middle segment going back and forth with Chris Geist. As we exited the hills, I cranked it up another notch. I dropped my riding partner and just before entering transition caught the one athlete who passed me in the first mile of the bike. I road 2hr 27 min and felt like I should have pushed more because I was really strong at the end.
The bike to run transition is at a different location from the swim. When I got off the bike, I felt great but as I entered the transition, somehow I got my handlebars caught on a flags guiding you into transition and it took my bike out from my hands. It crashed to the ground and took a couple chunks out of my hand. I gathered myself and ran into and tried to find my shoes. My cluelessness continued and I ran onto the wrong row. I ducked underneath the rack and found my shoes. By then my riding partner was in transition so I said nice bike and was off to the run.
As I exited the run, I was caught fellow tribuys.com athlete Jen Chalmers. She looked great and was on her way to winning her age-group. I felt great and ran out in control hoping to have a good run. While I didn’t feel hot, I knew the day before it was warm and might be later on the run so I took special care to pull in fluids/salt. I actually thought the weather was pretty comfortable but I enjoy warmer weather.
The unique part of the run was all the athletes are very spread out and I knew several competitors. The way out was a string of saying hi to several friends having great races—Ian 1st ag, Charisa 2nd ag and PR, Kevin 4th ag and PR, Susan PR..etc…
I rounded the winery and knew the course was predominately downhill from there and it was time to push hard. I felt great until mile 9 and then the next two miles were a little tough. At mile 11, a told myself, just 12 more hard min and you’re done and managed to get it rolling again. I knew I was doing well in my wave but with 2 other waves I didn’t know how I was doing overall so it was push all the way to the line. I crossed the line in 4:15:39 with a 1:15:54 run!
The prelim results had me listed as second in my age-group, I was nervous with two waves out on the course, but I was 4th amateur overall so I thought I could hold onto a podium finish. Fortunately, I maintained my position after all the 35-39 men had finished. After some food and conversation, I packed-up my stuff and road to Karen’s for a shower as Dave road back to the start to get the car. Dave conveniently forgot his backpack so I had to carry both our gear home. Nice cool down but man the backpack got heavy over the past few miles.
After a quick shower, I checked on the chickens and Charisa and other stopped by for a shower. Steven was kind enough to grab a burrito for me. We made it back to the finish line just in time for the awards ceremony. They started it early! When does that happen? We missed Ian getting his award and got Kevin there just after they announced his name. On the bright side, we got there just in time for Charisa to go up. Then another fun surprise happened. They announced the fastest time of the day at 4:11. Ian was saying how close he was and I was sure the original results had someone going 4:05 in my division. However, by the end, they must have had his time wrong because I won my age-group by over 6 min and was the 3rd amateur. It was a really nice surprise.
My goals going into the race were to get on the podium, 1st qualifies, and run under 1:20, 1:15:54 works. The race went well and everything seems to be progressing in time for Kona. I still need some serious help with my swim and to keep working on the bike but any time I win my age-group and finish in the top 5 overall I have no complaints.
I have a couple good Dave stories to tell in the coming days..

525,600 minutes

There are approximately 525,600 minutes in a year. I remember this number mainly because it was a song in the musical rent. While the song refers to how you measure the value of a life, I prefer to think what I was doing this time last year. More importantly, to be very thankful it isn’t last year.
On July 5th 2008, I crashed and broke my jaw in three places and my elbow in one. This year, I managed to survive several long rides over the July 4th weekend and even the week after. This weekend was great. I am racing vineman next weekend so it is time to start taking it easy. The group I run with, BSK, was hosting a cross country run to raise money for the Vista track/cc team.
I packed a backpack with some shoes and clothes and left my house just before dawn. I road my bike up the coast to Oceanside and along the way tossed in a couple tempo intervals. I made it to the race in time to toss my bike in Molly’s car and pick-up my registration. I ran the event as a solid tempo run in just over 18 minutes. More importantly I felt relaxed and comfortable the entire time. After a little cooldown, I watched the women’s race and then several of the BSK kids and myself went out made breakfast at a friend’s apartment. This was a way better weekend then last year when I couldn’t chew.
On Sun, it was Carlsbad triathlon and Steven was completing his second triathlon. Steven is always at the races supporting Charisa and myself so it was a must see event. I got a nice run in before the triathlon started and managed to make it back just in time to see the leaders coming out of the ocean. While Steven was the leader, he did have an amazing race. He sattered his time from last year and looked great all day. Once again, post race it was a nice breakfast and tour watching event so that makes for the perfect weekend. A little bit of training, a couple races and pancakes/waffles in back to back days. July 2009 is way better than 2008.

SDIT

A couple weeks ago was the San Diego International triathlon. It consists of a 1km swim, a 30km bike and 10km run. In my book, I call this a short race. However, it’s local and nice course so always worth a race. Not to mention, it helps to break-up the training and racing a just fun.
The pre-race was great. I got to the race early, had a great warm-up and managed to talk to a few friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Many of my friends were racing elite but I chose to stay back with the masses and get some work in moving through other age-groups. That and knowing Chris Foster and Luke Bell would destroy me in the elites.
The gun went off for the swim and I managed to get out cleanly. I was just about to latch onto another competitor when I was pushed off his feet. Then gapped off by the other athlete. I hate when that happens. If you are going to take my tour guide please stay with them. So I spent most of the swim solo and managed to come out in 13 min 11 secs and judging by the bikes in the rack fairly close to the front..
After a smooth transition, I headed out on the bike. My hear rate and power were close to where I wanted them to be, so I settled down into a good pace. When you go off in the 4th wave, you have a lot people ahead and I was moving through without too many problems. With a couple loops up top, I managed to see a few of the elite racers I knew but somehow didn’t see any of the age-groupers I knew were racing. The bike went well, except for this strange feeling on the way down to T2. I was going down this hill in a gap in the competitors so I was all alone. I hate that because I start to wonder if I took a wrong turn or should have done another lap. I did everything OK and came off in 46 min and 21 sec.
Coming off my bike I saw 4 bikes in the rack so I knew I had run hard to get everyone. I headed out on a flat fast loop and felt really relaxed. It was my first run in my new Brooks racing flats and they felt great. I love the feel of racing flats! I ran strong for the 1st 5k and then the plan was to take off after that. I passed my first age-grouper at mile 1.5 and by the turn a little later had a huge gap on him. I didn’t see any one else until mile 3 when I caught Pablo. He said, “It’s about time” but I didn’t recognize him until I saw him after the race. Pablo is looking fit. I then pushed hard thinking there was someone else up the road. Last year, I ran with 10 sec of the guy who won my age-group and I didn’t want that to happen this year. The only down part was a 19 year old who I passed in the last half mile decided to kick like made and beat me to the line. No worries mate. I was 10 min up. I finished in 34 min flat. I was very happy with my run.
I ended-up winning my age-group in 1 hr 36 min and 6 sec. I was the fastest non-elite---first sand bagging age-grouper. I was 9th overall and only 20 sec behind Patrick. I good day for me. You never can complain when you win! Now it’s time for some training and Vineman.

Wildflower report 09’

The Wildflower long course( half ironman distance) triathlon is probably one of my favorite triathlon. Unlike most other big triathlons, WF has a very low key feel. It is hosted about 30 min west of Paso Robbles at Lake San Antonio. The vast majority of the competitors camp the night before and I think that calms most of the field down before the race.
Other than the low key factor, the course is a great race course. The Swim is lake swim in questionable quality water but a pretty easy navigation. The bike is hilly at the beginning and end and rolling in the middle. The run is really hilly and partially on trails for the first 7 miles before flatting out a bit and then running you down a big hill and making you U-turn and go up it and then bombing down a steep hill to the finish. Basically, it’s a hard course and compounded by generally really hot. It’s my kinda course.
The 1.2 mile swim went OK. I got out to a descent start and after a little jostling everything went smoothly. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a set of feet to draft so I spent the entire time swimming by myself swerving in and out of slower swimmers from earlier waves. As I exited the water, I heard the announcer counting down the next wave so I knew I swam just under 30 min. Not bad but a little slower than I had hoped.
After a decent transition, I headed out on the 56 mile bike. The only bad part about the WF bike course is the road quality. If you have anything loose on your bike, it is going to bounce off and into the abyss. The first 20k goes over some big hills and is constantly rolling. I took my time and held back knowing I had a long day ahead. About 20 k into the bike, I found another competitor and we went back and forth through the rollers and helped to make the flat part fly by. You make a turn and start the gradual climb to the base of the big hill on the course nasty grade. Through here my pacing partner disappeared. Just before the crest of nasty grade, I caught one of training partners Chad and knew I was having a solid bike ride. Just before entering the park, about 5 miles to go, my pacing partner from early in the bike caught me and put a little bit of time of my heading into transition.
I didn’t get my bike split and it’s still not posted, but as I entered transition, I didn’t see too many bikes on the rack so I knew I was in the mix. While the weather was ideal for Wildflower standards, a good 15 degrees cooler than normal, it was starting to heat-up. As I exited transition, I caught my bike pacing partner. I told him good bike and promptly ran away from him. I stayed really calm and in control for the first 10k. It has steep hills that kill me if I push too hard. After surviving that part, the trail nears the park entrance and flattens out. This is where it’s time to run hard. I began pushing and every time I wanted to ease up I thought about California 70.3 where I had the second the second fastest amateur run, beat by 2 seconds. As I started the long downhill, I saw Tim Hola running up, first in my age-group, and started looking for others. I found one more just before the turn and hoped I could chase him down before the finish. I pushed super hard and caught him near the top of the hill at the 12 mile marker. FYI the mile markers at WF have little to do with the actual distances. The bad news was, I had to push like mad as I crested the top and ran the long steep hill to the finish. I ran for my life and held him off.
I finished in 4 hrs 32 min and change. I ran 1hr 23 min and 54 seconds. Thank fully, I was a minute faster than my girlfriend Emily who anchored the winning mixed relay team. I finished 2nd in my age-group and the 10th amateur. I have no complaints and think my race went well. My legs where completely shot so I knew I gave it everything I had. Fortunately, one of my training partners was at the Complex tent, so I let the computer fire my legs for a cool down as I relaxed in the shade. Definitely, the way to go.
I am still a long way away from Kona and my form seems to be coming around. Next stop is Auburn in a few weeks. Another epic course that I have been wanting to race for years.

The best award ceremony ever

In April, I completed Ironman California 70.3. After a battling a couple infections over the offseason, I went into the race knowing it wasn’t going to be my best race. My goal was to see where my fitness I was and grab an Ironman Canada slot. While my age-group had Kona slots, I knew I wasn’t going to be fast enough to get one.
The race went just as I had anticipated, I swam just under 30 min, rode around 2 hr and 30 min (slow but expected) and ran around 1 hr 20 min. The run was solid and only 2 seconds off the fastest amateur run of the day. My finishing time was just under 4hr 30 min and good enough to be on the first page of results and 6th in my age-group. I was 2 min off the podium but hey I am not fit so something I readily accept.
Afterwards, I talked to a few friends who managed to place well enough to get Kona slots. I was happy for them just about everyone I knew had a good race or one that represented there fitness level.
The good/bad news about California 70.3 is they have spots for other ironman races. All you have to do is finish, wait for the awards to end and then get you place or maybe fight for it with your time if too many people want in. I was planning on getting one for Canada and traveling up there with several friends. Because I had a couple friends on the podium, I made it to the award ceremony early to show my support for their great performances.
The magic started in the women 25-29 where a friend got a roll-down spot for Kona. She was coming back from an accident so it was great to see. It continued in the women 30-34 where my friend Charisa got here stop. She was planning on Canada as well but It was great to see he get a spot. In the men 30-34 Patrick finished 2nd and earned another trip to the big island.
Now it was the 35-39. It had 2 spots and the first two guys passed. There were two competitors remaining on the podium and with 2 spots I didn’t think about getting one. The third place finisher took the spot, a friend from my days in CO Tim Hola. The announcer looked at the final guy on the podium and asked if he wanted the place, he shook his head no. I glanced over at Patrick and the look on his face was priceless. I had the spot. As the announcer went to find my name on the sheet, my friends exploded in applause before my name was called off. I grabbed my wallet and moved my way through the crowd to claim my spot.
I was in shock. I never dreamed I would have a Kona slot. I thought maybe before the season started but after all the problems in the offseason, I knew I wouldn’t place high enough. It turns out the roll-down gods where good to me. I was on my way to Kona. I think the smile on my face was permanent. The best part was seeing the genuine happiness of my friends for me. While I didn’t win anything, I have never felt so great after any award. I was on my way back to Kona and several of my friends would be there as well. I can’t wait..