History of the Champion!

     Yes, I know it has been a while since I have written a report. I'll wite them soon. Promise.
                                                                                                                                                 

8/14/2005 - AlcaTri Swim from Alcatraz
     The alarm went off at 5am. I had only gotten to bed 4 hours previous after a long shift at the Vineman Iron Distance Triathlon. I was very tired, and very sore. More, I knew I had to jump in the chilly bay, with all those vicious, biting seals, and I had not been in for a few weeks. This was going to be a long swim.
     To make matters worse, I had a fairly long run assigned after the swim, so I didn’t even have a rest to look forward to. But, I managed to get out of bed, get ready, and get coffee. Caffeine was going to be important.
     Made my way down to the race area and registered. Found a spot on the bleachers and waited. Everyone, I mean everyone, was getting into their wetsuits. They had 2 hours before the swim even started and they were getting in those things. Crazy. Or, maybe they thought I was crazy, I walked to the boat in sweats.
     Found a spot on the boat near the door next to Chuck. The boat pulled up to Alcatraz on time and I got ready. I forgot my swimcap, and so I was also the only person without a yellow swim cap. Oh well, makes finding pictures of me easier.
     We started jumping from the boat like lemmings. Unlike Escape From Alcatraz, this is not the start of the race. They set up a line to wait for everyone to get to before the race starts. It was like 10 minutes floating there.
     Finally the race began. The swim was much like any other. I sighted well and had one drafter behind me the whole way. Every now and then I had to stop to fix my leaky goggles and the drafter would ram into me.
     I was happy to be swimming into Aquatic Park when I did, I was read to be done. Got up on shore and looked at my watch. Not thrilled with the time, but knew I had to see what other people were doing it in to compare. Overall it was an okay swim.

7/31/2005 - VINEMAN HALF IRONMAN TRIATHLON
     Ahh, Vineman. The land of the mighty grape, scorching sun, and fast bikes was becoming. I left the foggy, misty, and rather miserable San Francisco summer day on Friday and headed into the warmth. Up to Guerneville to a nice house and with a great group of folks.
     I arrived to the house with hours to spare before the next racer. I jumped in the pool and swam around. It was very nice. Chuck arrived at around 8 and we went to the Farm House Inn, a great restraint with a great staff. The food was great. It was most tranquil.
     Saturday started slow with a big brunch. Soon Chuck and I went to registration. From there, onto drop off our T2 bags at the Windsor High School. I chose a great place that was easy to find. We met up with Kent and Tom, two other racers staying in the house. Chuck and I proceeded to the swim start to check it out. We had to decide whether to do the swim in wetsuits or not. I jumped in and swam, mostly because I really had to pee. The water was warm, but what to do?
     Had a nice dinner at the house and got stuff ready. I finally decided to race in the wetsuit. My wave was off at 6:38 am, everyone else’s was like 8:30! So, early morning for me.
     I got up at 5am and feasted on PowerBars. I filled a water bottle with coffee and conveniently left it at the house. That was why I didn’t have the endurance I wanted – yah, definitely the water bottle…
     I set up at the swim start. And got into the still wet and very chilly wetsuit. Saw Sammer and his girlfriend.
     I really was concerned that my legs may not be there for this race, and I spent a lot of time thinking about that. I had not had a good run since my trip to Utah.
     But, it was time to get wet. I lined up in the water and after what felt like an hour, we were off. I stayed to the bank side of the swim. Ultimately I think this was a bad idea, I think the current might be faster there. The swim felt okay and it looked like I was with a good group, didn’t get passed by the fast guys behind me until the end. But, my swim time was disappointing. Oh, well.
     I got to T1 and got ready. I spent way too much time in transition. Ran out with my bike and headed to up the hill on the bike. A lot of folks were coming in to set up. They didn’t get in the way and it was a nice way to see friends.
     The wave before us was the 29 and under females. Who could ask for anything more? Incentive to look good and strong on the bike was fundamental to my success. The first part was as good as always, the best, of course, being Westside Road. Felt good to the top of the hill, only passed by a few. One of the women behind me caught me on the climb to the school, but I had the mass to clobber her on the downhill. I knew I was doing well.
     Got to Chalk Hill and it was not a big deal, for once. Up and over. Rachel told me the secret was to go fast after the hill all the way to the end. This was done and she was so right.
     I came into transition under 3 hours, long my goal to do the bike under 3. I was feeling good.
     Then I started running. Okay, the normal pain was there, but I didn’t remember it being this strong. I looked at my watch and I had 2:15 to go to go under 6. Certainly doable I thought.
     I suffered my way to the 3rd aid station and it was time for a bathroom break. As I ran to the port-a-potty I twisted my ankle. Okay, not good. I went, and ran again. The ankle didn’t hurt a lot, so that was good. I was on track for under 6. I got to the last aid station and looped around La Crema. So far, so good. I just needed 10:00 miles. But, boy, was I hurting.
     The rest of the game was watching the 6 hours slip away. Okay, 9:00 miles, then 8:00 miles. It was sad, but I was wrecked.
     One of my problems is that I ditch the nutrition plan on the run. That is what I did here, and it certainly did not work.
     At the last mile, I muscled everything to run in. It hurt so much. Up ahead was one competitor that I wanted to beat. I ran to them and along side them. Then they droped back. I knew she was right behind me, so I grimaced everything in. Finally, the line was ahead. I hurt like hell, and was very glad the race was over. Finished in 6:14, better than my intermediate goal.

6/12/2005 - ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ TRIATHLON
     What can you say about a race that features: a beautiful swim in the bay, a challenging and scenic bike course, the best run course in the world, set on my birthday, and a starting line only 2 miles from my house? Not much more than – wow.
     The morning started exactly as planned and I was super early in the setup. My spot in transition was fantastic, 4th row just a stones throw from the pros. I saw people getting into their wetsuits here and snickered. Should be able to beat them on the swim. The thought of standing around in a wetsuit for 2.5 hours seemed like the torture I am sure it was. Set up was fast and I rode on the second bus out to the big ole boat and waited.
     Shortly they let us on. A bunch of my friends were gathered in the front section so we sat and waited. And waited. And waited. Some were waiting in their wetsuits. Ouch. After about an hour, the boat was underway. Finally towards the island it was time to get in the suit and get ready. I had been hydrating so much I really had to pee. That part was very hard, standing there with a bladder the size of a normal wetsuit. I danced quite a bit to hold it in.
     The pros were soon off and we began to shuffle off towards the water. It took me about 5 minutes to get in through the crowds. I leapt in, hand on goggles and began to swim. I felt great immediately. The water was a good temperature, it was fairly calm, and I was feeling very good in my exactly 31 year old body. I found a comfortable stride and kept at it.
     I sighted for a while, maybe 5 minutes off the Sutro towers, then changed to Fort Mason, then stopped paying attention, just headed towards shore. Turns out this strategy was perfect and I soon ended exactly on the buoy outside the yacht club. I saw a long line of people struggling to get to my line in and on the beach. I found the current they were having trouble with and darted to shore. I looked at my watch – a terrific 40 minute swim.
     After parading to the steps to get out, I clumsily went to pull my earplugs out and knocked one deep in my ear. This was not good. It hurt a lot and my numb fingers were useless. I looked around for a medical tent, knowing this was it – I would die by earplug hitting my brain. Frantically I clawed at ti and managed to pinch it in my nails. I threw them to the ground – even though they were not disposables – in disgust. Put my shoes on, stuffed my wetsuit and ran to T1. And it was a great run too. Fairly short, but the crowds were great, I knew I had clobbered the swim and was kicking ass. Unfortunately, I reached the bike and it was time for a change of scene.
     In reality, the bike was perfect. I executed the plan Phil helped me with exactly. No mistakes. The only thing that even slightly through me was on Lincoln coming through the tunnel I hit the ultimate of bumps and my water bottle shot out. Could have easily caused me or another to a bad accident, but everyone was fine. I was a little unhappy with my time, but not by a lot. Overall I was doing well and was ready for the run.
     The normal clunkyness of starting the run was there. It started to hurt in the lungs fairly early – say at mile 2. The run to the beach was hard but somewhat of a blur. What I remember was so many people I knew passing me either on their way back in or my on the road, just all over. I had to say hello like every minute!
     Once on the beach I was feeling okay. The sand was mushy, but after the turn around I felt a second wind. Sand ladder was daunting, but I knew well what to expect and was not expecting any awards there. Yes, it hurt and was hard, but it went fine. What I did not expect was feeling queasy at the top. I thought I shouldn’t drink or eat for a while to stem the tide – a very wrong decision that would hurt me in the last half mile. I crested the top and made my way back down to the marina. Aside from fatigue and the lingering queeze I was feeling fine.
     The last steps were tough and I started feeling even more wrong. A gal who had lost a contact was feeling blind behind me. We both made our way to the bottom. She was nice, from New York, and about my pace on a good day. We ran together for the sixth to the seventh mile and she was gone.
     I was left alone with feeling bad, and all alone amongst swarms of people who had no idea a race was even going on along the marina green. I kept running and began to pray for it to be over. I hit Crissy Field and felt really bad. Dizzy, nauseated, and just plain tired. I kept going. As I made my way up to Marina Blvd., I stopped. I simply could not go anymore. Some wacko said, “keep going! You’re looking strong!” What I looked like is death. I looked around me in case I was going to keel over, but thought that might take too much energy.
     I don’t know what happened, but somehow I convinced myself to walk. I walked a very short ways, maybe 50 yards, and thought I might as well try to run in. I could see the finish line after all. Each step was a battle with the gag reflex and passing out. I remember feeling like a constant stumble was going on. Samantha passed me in the chute. I thought, that I was doing okay if an age-group winner like her had just passed me here, so I kept stumbling. Somehow I made it in.
     I felt sick for about an hour. The post party at Faye’s help made things a lot better! A great race, that I cannot wait until doing again next year!

5/15/2005 - TILDEN TOUGH TEN
     What is there to say about a race named after me, that is 10 miles of extremely hard trail and asphalt, 1300 feet of climbing, in the heavy mist, and on a day after a hard effort triathlon? Well, probably a lot. Fortunately for my readers, a lot of the pain I have blocked out.
     The alarm went off at 6am. Not a pretty picture. I was tired, dehydrated and pretty sore. What to do? I thought about ditching. I thought about it a lot. I got up, and went back to bed. This went on for a while till I remembered that a few people knew I was scheduled to do this race and I couldn’t let my friends down. Plus, I really wanted the t-shirt!
     So, without food and water I dragged myself to the car. I had a plan. Coffee and smoothie at Java Detour on Van Ness. The problem with this plan is that it was not guaranteed to work. I pulled up at 6:45am to the sight of a darkened building. I caught sight of one person inside, then another. Relieved I put on a happy face. A cute young gal came to the window and told me they didn’t open till 7am. While that might have been okay, I was so shocked I pleaded. She looked disgustedly at me and I drove off. I did have a recovery drink in my car, but thought that surely there is coffee in Berkeley.
     There is not. As I drove up the curvy streets to my park I drank my recovery drink needing something. But no coffee. I knew it was going to be a long 10 miles.
     I parked and register. Nothing much to speak of. A pretty good turn out, but everyone looked very fast. And they were.
     The race began up a steep climb. A gal in front of me wearing a shirt that said Santa Cruz was going at a sustainable clip. I started so near the back no one passed me! At the 1/2 mile mark the slope went down quite steep. I knew this was bad news as I’d be running up in just under two hours. The route continued like that super steep climbs and descents. At the 3 mile mark, I could take it no longer and ran off the path to pee. Everyone behind me zipped by. Damn.
     And then the 4 mile mark came, and the whole race changed. The asphalt ended. Cows, I mean real cows lined the well clod trail. Only a mile to the turn around and it got really, really hard. The number one runner zipped by on his way home. And I slowly advanced forward. Those two miles back to the asphalt were really hard. I am not currently much of a trail runner. I still flashback to twisting my ankle in the Sangre de Cristos mountains! It kinda freaks me out! But I did do it. Walking a few of the ascents because they were so steep.
     I hit the 6 mile mark. Back on asphalt and I got my second wind. I began to tear it up! I ran past all those folks who had past me from the time I had my pee break till that mile 6. I was moving good and ticking the miles off. People couldn’t believe it! I mean they really were shocked. I hear a lot of “Wow! You’re looking strong!” And I was. It would be a negative split to end all negative splits. My speed was something like 1:20/mile faster on the way back. I got to the mile 9 mark and really turned it up. I climbed that last hill like I was on Strawberry Hill with Tom McGlynn and the road runners. I zipped into the finish. The time was not too bad considering I had raced the day before, and had never had a glimpse of trail before. That and 1300 feet of climbing! A great race, good folks, and an awesome shirt!

5/14/2005 - NAPA VALLEY SPRINT TRIATHLON
     At the end of the day it was a close call. Nearly a podium slot, but I came in 7th in my division. But, I did have a upper PR of 15 minutes off of last year’s time!
     It was an early 4am call to arms. I was all set up and was out of the house at 4:30am. I punched the address in the car’s GPS and drove off following its instructions. The route was different than I had previously taken, but it was faster than before.
     And by 6:30am I was there again. At the scene of my second triathlon. Now just one year later I was an old pro. I set up and was ready by 7. Decided a mile jog was in order to get the blood moving. Was happy to run into a lot of the gang including Melanie and Nanci.
     At 7:55am I ran into Krag who was getting ready himself. Took a nice dip to get the wetsuit situated. There are self-seeded waves in this race. I chose to go in the second. Not wanting to get trounced, but thinking that was a fair representation of how I wanted to finish.
     We went off at 8:05am. The swim was good, I fell into a good rhythm pretty quick. I started to draft off one guy but he could swim fast, but not straight. So I went off on my own. I did really well and ended up pulling a pretty good group of about 3 or 4 swimmers.
     Out of the water in about 15 minutes. That was not great, but better than I had been doing. I ran to my bike on the really tiny pebbled roads. My transition was great and fast.
     Before I knew it I was on the bike. I really held back actively for the first mile. Then decided to open it up. I would catch myself slacking off and kept saying “this is a race” and would pick it up. I climbed on the way out almost always out of the saddle to keep things fresh in terms of feeling, resting on the descents. That bike course is hilly. I did pretty well for most of it, got a little worn by the end. At the mile mark to go I de-shoed and got ready to transition.
     Unfortunately my area was pretty far from the dismount line and all those little rocks hurt like hell running back to the transition area. So that part went slow. I did make it, but it felt like baby steps the whole way.
     Shoes on and I was out of there. The first mile I settled into a slower rhythum. This was okay, but I was just trying new shoes that were a bit too tight. The way out is almost all uphill and it was a real grind. Got to the top and turned around for a pretty fast split into the finish.

4/31/2005 - WILDFLOWER LONG COURSE TRIATHLON
     This time the alarm didn’t go off at all. Not at 4am. Not at 5am – the time for which it was set. Not at 6am when I woke with a start to the noise of someone’s generator. The high thudding of a one horsepower engine resounded throughout Redondo Campground H. I had been there for three days – this day was my fourth.
     I got out of bed and made as much noise in the RV as possible to wake David who had promised me a pre-race massage. My hamstrings were like aircraft cables from tent duty. Oh well, it is a WildFlower tradition to be sore.
     All my prep work went well. I was trying some new things on the bike – come on NOTHING new on race day? A race is new on race day...
     David loosened me up well, and I mounted my bike at 7am and rode down to the transition area.
     Damn, if it wasn’t a pretty day. The hills were green with yellow, flowers everywhere, the sky really blue, and beautiful clouds in the sky. It was 60 degrees or so. The WildFlower course is so nice too. Say what you will about the ride up Lynch Hill, but the ride down is stunning. Dangerously stunning because you want to look at the lake and the hills instead of the road.
     I had ran the transitions the night before and knew where my spot was instantly. A good amount of trepidation had slipped in by this point. I set up my little area. Sure that I missed something. I had, but that realization did not come till later. Grabbed some coffee and by the time I got back the pros were starting. 30 minutes to go.
     I got in the wetsuit and went down to the boat ramp. The nerves were firing well. I tried to relax a little. It worked pretty well. At 8:25 the wave before mine started. I went quickly to the water and got wet. Swam out a good ways and then back. I was feeling very confident about the swim from some swims in the days before. So I stood on the line right in the middle. And everyone lined up. Behind ME! All right, bring it.
     The horn went off and 100 triathletes ran behind me for the water. I dolphined in – first one in the water. And my dolphin was of the exact form to knock my goggles right down to my neck. Now, being in the lead with 100 frantic people behind when you can’t swim is a funny place to be. I got pummeled! Kicked, punched swam over and under. It was hilarious, and really pretty fun.
     I swam like hell, and hit my stride early. Sighting was not a problem and made it to the turn around with little more incident. The way back was harder. I lost my afore received stride and sighting was a little off. I paced with one guy and he kept forcing me into the buoys. Soon the purple capped folk in the next wave started zipping by. This disheartened me a little and I lost a little steam. Finished the swim and began to walk up the boat ramp to get my heart rate down. By the half way mark I began running. I came to the spectator crossing and it was swarmed. Tons of people all filing past and blocking my way. I ended up turning in the wrong place and lost over a minute just trying to get back to the timing mat. The jerks. They just wouldn’t move out of the way!
     I got to my area and prepared a little slower than normal. That worked well as I wanted to keep it calm for the long day still to come. Mounted and went off.
     My bike plan was to go out careful up the grade and never go above LT. That worked really well and I think my race was better for it. I also decided to not touch the Perpetum until mile 6. This too was a good choice and I did not get sick at all on the bike. The first climb was not a big deal, the HR stayed in the low 160s and I took my time. Stayed conservative all the way out of the park.
     Lots of time in the aerobars. For most of the bike there is little to speak of. I pedaled, and time went well. I tried to drink a lot, and drink some more. About mile 35 I noticed my Perpetum intake sucked. I shook it and nothing happened. I had failed to mix it enough. I stopped at the mile 38 aid station and added some water to it. Just then a huge pack of about 13 cyclists came through all drafting something fierce. A GGTC jersey among them – very disappointing. Oh well, their problem. I crossed the ole steel bridge and braced for what I knew was coming – Nasty Grade.
     Yes, it is very hard, but not really as hard as Lynch – I never thought that I should just stop. I WANTED to just stop, but never thought I should. The crowd was great pulling us up the hill with horns and cheering, and cowbells. I got to the top and turned right and went up the rest of that stupid hill. And I was tired. I think the lack of calories on the bike had just left me worn out. The next grade was really hard and I was loosing my focus. Somehow managed it at about 5 mph and took the huge downhill really fast. I mean, for me, really, really fast. By the time I got to the bottom I was dizzy, shaken up, and had passed about 10 people (for me to pass even one person on a decent is really something). Then another long slow climb. God, I hate the ride from Nasty to the transition area. It is really hard there to keep any focus, speed, form, and sanity. As I came back in the park I watched the runners with envy – they had 2 hours on me and a lot of pain behind them. Alas.
     Soon found my way to Lynch and went down pretty slow. Back to the transition area.
     On the bike I had discovered what I had forgotten to bring – band aids. I already had a huge chaffing problem going on and I knew the run was going to be bad. I transitioned pretty methodically and ready to suffer for a long time more. I asked the transition aid station for band aids. Fortunately she had two and I applied them as I shuffled out. Their glue was bad, and I could see a problem coming on.
     Truth be told, I was wrung out. My cardiovascular system felt fine, my legs and body felt fine, but I was empty – completely out of gas. I analyzed the problem and figured that finishing was certainly not an issue, but running would be. Okay, I’ll walk the hills. And I did. My run down the hills was at about 10:00/mile, but at least it was a little faster. Got to the backside of the park, this part I was ready to not like, and figured it would be a walk fest until I was out. Oddly, mile 3-4 was run at a pretty good clip, but as I came to the mile 4 aid station, where I had expected the naked aid station, I lost it again. And there it was. The famed naked aid station. But what? No naked? Kids? The only reason I signed up for long course and the aid station was full of 7 year olds? Ha! They were very nice though and I happily took their water. Then the pit climb up. I walked with a guy from Kinkaid up and we had a good time. I have absolutely no idea what we talked about, but it was for about 20 minutes, so it must have been something. Looped around along the park where I was past by everyone I knew. The chaffing problem got worse, and my run became less and less frequent. Ran, where only 1:30 ago I was jealous, and felt bad for those on their bikes coming in.
     Back into the park I was coming up where Team and Training was set up and I saw Deborah and Christie. I stepped up the pace and ran up – needed to look good for the team and Redondo H was coming up. I rounded the turn and went at about 8:50/mile. I waved at the crew giving high fives to all my pals. As soon as I knew I was out of site I went right back to walking. This exertion led to huge amounts of salty sweat and I wound up walking for at least a mile with my eyes closed as the salty sunscreen found my eyes. The next aid station had a great guy with a hose who rinsed me off and saved me. Ran down the grade barely, and walked up. Met some guys from LA and we had a good climb out of it. And the end was near and I knew it. Soon came Lynch again and the run down. I ran through the chute and I was done!

4/17/2005 - ICEBREAKER SPRINT TRIATHLON
     Unfortunately this will be a shorter report...
     The night before I slept up in Sacramento and had dinner with my friend Catherine and her sister. It was nice.
     Made my way to the race and bought a Super Food and protein bar for breakfast. Sipped the Super Food to spread it out. Set up with the Tri and Give folks and a few of the GGTCers. Took a jog on the course to get an idea for the first mile. Rats, a lot of trail.
     The swim was okay, but very wavey for a lake. I had a lot of trouble sighting as a swell would be in the way!
     The bike was good. A 2 loop course. I hammered it hard and averaged 237 watts. Changed gears maybe w rings on the cassette, otherwise stayed hard despite some good rollers.
     The run is where it fell apart. I wanted to nail it pretty well, but it was very trail like and had some huge climbs and descents.
     Overall my time was okay, not great, but far from bad. A better run would have made all the difference. TBF puts on really fun races and are so relaxed, they are quite a joy.

3/19/2005 - RALPH'S CALIFORNIAMAN HALF IRONMAN
     Funny, that already I seem to be stuck with not much to say about my first half. What was it like? How did I do? How do I feel? All these questions and my answers are vague and elusive. Truth be told, I don’t remember very much. The race was similar in some respects to food poisoning, a lot of pain and discomfort there, but the mind blocks it out and you quickly forget.
     What I did not expect was how hard it would be. Olympic distance races became a race where the pain just existed during the race – and it was that dull, good pain of working hard. Ralph’s was something else entirely, and it might have been more than jus me, it might have been something in the water.
     I arrived on the scene at about 5am. My dad parked my car as I went down and got set up. There was so much I forgot for this race, it is amazing I even made it to the start line! I first found I forgot my HR strap. Not a big deal, as I was planning on racing using RPE anyway, but would have been nice. I changed and gave my dad my transition bag. Come to find out I forgot my timing chip! So I wandered around barefoot for 30 minutes looking for him. Finally found him and got the chip, and then discovered I had almost forgot my swim cap too. Okay, so here was the first lesson – despite my brilliance, it would be a wise thing to have a check list for everything.
     The weather sucked. Let’s be honest about that right now. I didn’t like it, and the fact that others didn’t like it either did nothing to make me feel better. It had some impact to my overall time, but not really a lot. I wish I could blame it more, but it just made things a little more uncomfortable, it did not slow me down out there too much.
     So I got into my wetsuit with 20 minutes to go and stood. I had to pee really badly, but it was so cold I didn’t want out of my suit. I thought I would have more time to be in the water than I did. So I stood some more. With only 2.5 minutes before my wave, they let us in the water. Thank god, I really had to go.
     As I said above, it must have been something in the water. The gun went off and I began swimming at what felt like a good pace. After about 400 yards I picked up the pace some more. As always happens for me during the race, the swim feels like it takes forever. Maybe because I mostly only swim continuously during races. I dunno. But on and on and on I swam. I became somewhat concerned about 1/3 of the way there as I started to get passed by the wave behind me. Not that I consider myself a world class swimmer, but I was expecting about a :30 - :35 swim. To be passed that early I knew I was slower than I had wanted. Oh well, I figured, I have a long day still ahead of me, who cares about 5 minutes? As I turned into the harbor it happened, what happens only a few times swimming, but when it does watch out. As I tilted my head to the left I inhaled, but there was no air there at all. I inhaled an entire mouthful of water, and managed to swallow it instead of spitting it out. The water tasted really bad, full of gasoline and harbor smell. I gagged and coughed. This is the water that might have made me a bit more uncomfortable. I did keep going and in 5 minutes more I was coming out of the water.
     I had forgotten my ear plugs, and was a little dazed and tipsy. But I stumbled along shuffling towards my bike. That felt like it took minutes, but I didn’t care. I was not going to go fast in these transitions. After a long 6 minute transition, I shuffled my bike to the line. Still a bit tipsy, it took me about 15 seconds to get my left cleat in the pedal. Hmm.
     And so the bike began. No I had practiced the first 3 miles on the CompuTrainer and was surprised how accurate it was, I remembered those turns and hills. But soon I was out of them. One thing I did do for this race was set my watch to beep every 5 minutes. That was good and helpful to remember to drink and eat. But after the first 3 times it was bothering me a little. I could hardly believe 5 minutes had already gone by and it was time to drink again. (Overall, this plan did work well, and I was well hydrated coming off the bike.) It really was the bike course that would not end. I did what I could and kept going, but even by mile 10 I was starting to feel pretty sick. It wasn’t that I was working to hard, it was a mix of the cold weather and the stomach full of gasoline and Perpetum that coalesced into a sickly goo. I thought about giving up. Actually I thought about giving up a lot. This desire to quit is common for me, especially on the bike, so it was far from serious. I kept going. I got to the big hill. Man, that was very hard. 4 MPH and slow as molasses, but it was one of the few parts where I was never being passed (except by a small handful of super-strong folks). It hurt, but I thought that this was the only serious climb. Unfortunately I was wrong. It is not that the other climbs were that hard, but it was a clear sign that a knowledge of the course makes it much better. By the 40 mile mark I was pretty uncomfortable and took my first bathroom break. I managed to get a fair amount of mud in my cleat that made clipping in impossible for the next good climb. Fortunately that was the last climb. The end of my ride was fast. Downhill and flats.
     I rode into transition and decided to just stop and dismount, nothing fancy required. At this point I was still a little nuts, thinking that I could do a 6:10 if I ran hard enough. I did run the first quarter a little below 10:00/mile, but it was not going well. I had really bad stomach pains the whole way and added two more bathroom breaks. The second quarter started hurting. I rounded the turn around and felt pretty bad. I ditched the Perpetum as anything but water was hurting me. Finally the walking began. At 7 miles I had burned up and was out of energy. That last loop I don’t remember much of. It hurt a lot, I walked a lot, and it did not feel very good. I do remember the great show of support from my GGTC friends, and they kept me moving. With 1.5 miles to go I decided I’d run the rest of the way. I felt a little better, especially as I could see the end.
     The finish line was, and is, a haze. I don’t remember much of it. I know I was glad to be done, but had no idea of much else. So, I guess the answer to the questions at the beginning of this course is simply ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t know what it was like. I didn’t do as well as I wanted, but I also did not foresee being sick, and the cold rain, and the muddy bike course, and the hard cement on the run. I did learn a lot, and I know my next race will be much better…

2/6/2005 - SAN FRANCISCO KAISER HALF MARATHON
     And the ’05 season begins! The alarm went off at a late 5:30am, very nice time for a race prep. I bathed, tried to figure out what to eat for breakfast (failed), did some qigong to get the energy level high. I brought a fuel belt with me with two water bottles and four gels and left the house.
     Drove to Starbucks for coffee and also got a scone and a yogurt drink to get some calories in for the day ahead. Blasted some dance music and headed for the Cliff House. Parking was super easy. I looked around and no one was carrying water bottles. This was a training run for me, but I thought I could give it a try. I changed my plan to gels at the aid stations (there were only 4) and two cups of water at each. I left the bottles in the car and quickly found myself on the bus with a bunch of other runners.
     We unloaded and I found myself in the usual hustle and bustle of race prep. I was smart this race and dressed in sweats seeing that there was a sweat check. Did that and made my way up the line. A lot of GGTCers were hanging out getting ready for the run.
     Coach Phil put in a time of 2:05 on my sheet, so I set that as my goal. The plan was simple first half at 10:00/mile, second half at 9:00/mile. A little after 8 am we were off. I started the watch under the canopy and began. The first mile was a little fast 9:30/mile so I slowed down letting Fernando and Sarah take the lead. Everything was good.
     It is amazing to me, every time I am in a running race there are so many people around me talking about work! I run to get away from those things, and here they are talking about projects, gossip, and the like. It actually works pretty well in my race strategy though, when that happens I speed up a little until they are out of earshot and then resume my pace.
     At mile 6 I really had to go to the bathroom. There was a bathroom with quite a line. I stood there for about ):45 until I heard someone say that the porta-poties were down the hill with no line. I took off and found one with ease. I lost 1:21 in there.
     Back on the course I picked up the pace down the hill to the great highway. This is where things go a lot harder. By mile 7 I was running under 9:00/mile and it was very difficult. I hurt a lot, but kept going. At mile 8 I passed Fernando and Sarah and paced off a gal in front of me who was just slightly faster than me and it kept me moving hard. The pain was huge, but it felt terrific. I knew I was getting better. I was signing the Chariots of Fire theme song in my head as I had watched the film the night before and woke up to the song that morning. Mile 11 was the worst. It hurt like no body’s business and a lot of the people were slowing down to walk around me. I tried to pick up the pace, but it wasn’t there. I was stuck at 9:10 pace. I kept telling myself it would last only 20 more minutes and that seemed to get me through.
     On the mile 12 marker I saw I was doing really well and thought I could go under 2:05. I picked up the pace again, or it felt like I did (I actually didn’t go much faster). The screaming fans were cheering me on and I ran faster. As I got to the top of the hill I sprinted the last 400 meters. That hurt a lot, but I was curious just how hard I could go. I wondered if I could go so hard I would pass out or puke. The answer was no. I entered the gate at 2:05:14. I was pretty happy with the time. If the bathroom break was taken out I would have been well under the goal time.

11/28/2004 - RUN TO THE FARSIDE XX
      All right, I am back! The alarm this morning at 6 am was not a welcome sound, but I managed to pull myself out of bed. Boy, was I sore too from Fridays run. Guess it will take a while to get these muscles back in gear. With little food in the house I had part of a leftover sandwitch for breakfast. Not the best pre-race meal, but it sufficed. A quick drive over to Haight and Ashbury and I met my friend Jordanna. We walked down the dirty sidewalk to the race.
     A quick signin for me and I got my number. I had planned on a 55 minute time, so stood in the 8:30 line as nobody ever seeds properly at these things. 30 minutes later and we were off.
     Took about 2-3 minutes to cross the start line. It was actually pretty nice, a graceful start to the run. Everything felt pretty good.
     The first mile felt like it took forever, but I was not especially tired. I past some, was passed by others. My form felt very strong and comfortable.
     By mile 3 I had totally settled into my pace - a consistant 9:13. From time to time I’d speed up, like once to get in front of a guy who had very bad BO, another to pass two women who seemed content to meander and talk about their jobs.
     Mile 4 saw the only hill, not a bad incline and I passed a lot of people here. I kept to smaller sized strides and using the upperbody to drive up.
     Mile 5's marker was right at the finishline. That was weird, and Stephanie passed me right there. She was like a bullet, gone in seconds. The last mile was kinda bad as I had just seen the finish line and I had no idea where the run was going from there. But I kept with it. Increased my speed at the end as I had some left over.
     All in all, a good run. It felt so very good to be running again. I hate injuries, and choose not to get hurt again.

10/17/2004 - GOLDEN STATE TRIATHLON
     Okay, I did it again. I had promised myself no more drives at 4am, but once again I stayed at home and drove up the day of an event. The issue here was that I had rode over 50 miles the day before, and had to go out that night.
     The drive was pleasant enough and I pulled into the lot of Discovery Park around 6am. Start time was 8am, so I had a very leisurly time of it all. Set up my transition area, but all was not quite right. The racks that were provided were too low for me to fit my bike under so that the saddle would rest on the post. So, I resorted to the brake lever mounting method. Everything else was fine. The Tri and Give folks were all there and they are fun people.
     The swim is essentially down and back and across the American River. I got in the water at about 7:50am. It was nice to be in fresh water again. It was about 65 degrees which was nice too, but sitting in the water that long got a bit cold.
I was in the second wave. I stuck to the outside, the middle of the river and at the front. An ok placement. At 8:05 our wave was off. Boy, some of those swimmers are bad. The placement was just okay because the majority of the trip is swiming against the current, and I did not really think about where the current would be the stongest: the middle of the river. Oh well. I finished 16/38 (42%).
     The climb out of the swim was up a steep muddy grade. I walked it, to save myself from certain death. Got to transition and changed. Not my best time, but okay.
     I started the bike in a high cadence. The course was three loops, mostly flat with a few bumbs. The legs were fried from the bike the day before. I tried to keep cadence high and body hydrated. My computer was out, so I didn't have anything really to go by. While this was a draft legal course, I kept to myself as I don't like drafting much and perfer to be in the aerobars - which can be a bad idea when drafting. Finished 21/38 (55%).
     The run was painful. By this time my ankles were cramped and felt like lead. I had trouble running and twice had to stop to try and loosen them. Not fun. Finished 28/38 (73%)..

10/10/2004 - STATE BAR ANNUAL MEETING 5k FUN RUN *PODIUM!*
     Okay, so I do not get to declare victory in a race like Kona, but from the beginning my Coach told me the way to be assured to podium was to choose the right race. Unfortunately, there was no actual podium, but I did get a nice trophy.
     It was Sunday, October 10, 2004. I vaguely remembered where I was – Monterey – as the alarm clock woke me with an ear full of white noise. 6am already. I was attending the State Bar annual conference. I was up till 1am the night before gambling in a rigged game with no prizes. As any proper attorney would, for there were no actual consequences, I stole about $1000 of fake money and what, much to my dismay, I would later discover to be a gambling chip worth $0.05 of gambling chips. This was not the ‘night-before’ behavior of a champion…
     So 6am. I had a run scheduled to start at 7:45, then had a meeting to go to at 8:30am. I didn’t know how to manage it. You see, image at these things is of some import, and I needed to change out of running clothes into a suit. This is not a transition I had practiced in any transition clinic. Really, what was going on in my brain was I was searching for an excuse to NOT do the race. But what the hell, I went with the suit on a hanger and drove from my meager hotel in Seaside to the posh site of the conference and my inevitable victory.
     I stopped for coffee and had a scone – not my usual race breakfast, but it was only a 5k. The line was long and I became worried about timing. After a long wait, I got my order and drove the .5 mile to the parking lot for the conference. A new problem arose: I didn’t know where I was going. I asked a guy in running clothes where the Plaza was. He looked at me funny and said he didn’t know. I went into the hotel. It was now 7:45 (“oh, well these things NEVER start on time – right?” I thought). I found a bellhop who looked like he knew what he was doing. He pointed me through a set of doors at the far end of the hotel. I walked briskly there. Signs said, the event had been moved, but this time with arrows.
     Five minutes later (7:50) I arrived at the starting line. Four people were there standing around.
     “I take it that I missed the starting gun,“ I said.
     “Yes,“ the man with the stopwatch said.
     “Hmm, how long ago?“
     “5 minutes,“ he said looking at his stopwatch.
     Okay, now the math came into play. A 5k run at 10 minute miles means 31 minutes, 26 minutes for me to run to tie the 10 minute milers. I thought about this. Then I remembered that I had talked to State Supreme Court Justice Chin and his wife for about an hour about running, and they would both be there. So, I had to do the run.
     “Okay,“ I said. “I’ll catch up.“ I started my food pod sensor on my super-cool Polar 625x watch and ran. The first quarter mile I ran WAY to hard. I was doing under 7 minute miles. “Have to catch up”, I thought. I eased the pace a little as I caught sight of the first walkers on the 2k ‘Power Walk’. I settled in to 8 minute miles to get to the 26 minute time goal.
     On the turn around for the power walk I passed a guy I had met gambling from the night before. He was skipping. Hmmm, okay. He was 6’6” and had a stride equally huge. He saw me and we started running together.
     At the turn around I caught up to a cple pushing a 3 wheel baby carriage. They were fast and I rather suspect there was a motor in the carriage pulling them along. Now there were four of us and the pace was pretty quick. With half a mile to go, I backed off a bit. They were ahead of me about 200 yards, but I had passed enough people that I thought I wouldn’t come in last. With a quarter mile to go, I knew where the goal was.
     The octane kicked back in. I ran again at just under 7:00 miles. Everything hurt. I zipped by the couple with the alleged baby. I passed the tall guy. He decided to go faster, so I had to go faster into all out sprint – at 200 yards to go. The crowd was going crazy (all 15 of them). I barely eeked out in front through the finish.
     I figured there was no way I would place here, and looked longingly at the trophies. I met the guy who came in first – a triathlete from Orange County. Met about 4 other triathletes as well as we stood around.
     They started the call of awards with the women. And, yes, there were two age groups! 39 and under, and 40 and over. I knew no ones ages, so I had a shot.
     “In second place, number 19,“ the announcer called.
     “Man, that is ME!“ I thought. I proudly received my trophy. Despite it all, a lack of sleep, a poor breakfast, and giving them all a 5 minute head start, I managed to pull it off.
     Next year I am hoping for the same. The winner ran 6:20 minute miles, just too fast for my blood. But I found the best competitors for me – lawyers who run only once a year.

09/26/2004 - SENTINAL TRIATHLON
     The phone rang at 5am waking me from a crazy night's sleep of weird dreams. The odd pills from Edith to help me wake rested work, but man, some super wild stuff when I sleep. For example, I am not sure if the hotel was super noisy or if I had some weird dreams about it. I think the latter, but have no idea.
Anyway, I got up and stretched for a while and had breakfast of a turkey sandwich I had ordered from room service the night before. I was out of the hotel by 6:15.
     I crossed the street to the transition area and checked in. Swarms of triathletes were everywhere. The race officials required that we get bodymarked before entering the TA, which was not easy when you are carrying a large bag and a bike while wearing a sweatshirt. But, I managed and 776 was written on my arm in a black ink that would not come off for days despite frequent scrubbings.
     I first set up in the second row, which had the bike racks that hold the wheel. I didn't like those, and found Hal on a traditional rack. I moved over there. Set up, and I was ready to go with an hour or more to spare. I walked the TA many times and knew my way around really well. Finally at 7:35 I went down to the beach. I took a 3 minute jog just to get the body working. I still had some time to kill, so I did some quick water warmups.
     My wave was at 8am and started with the elites. (I told everybody I was starting with the elites.) I took a place on the beach start in the middle and outside of the cigar-shaped course. The guns went off, and our wave all ran over the burm and hit the water. I dove when the water was at my thigh, but the water then flooded out so I jumped up and dolphined again.
     The swim was good. I drafted off some people here and there. In no tim I was turing around the pier. The swim back took a little bit longer. But the pace was slow and super comfortable. I probably should have picked it up to about 1:50min/100 (because of the long run from the shore to the TA my real pace was about 2min/100). But the time was pretty good anyway and I wanted to save a little extra for the bike.
     The run to the TA was long and painful. It is a bit longer uphill than at WildFlower and rather gravely. Fortunately my feet were numb. I ran into the TA and was happy to see Hal's bike still there. "Good, I am beating him," I thought. I had decided based on the gravely pavement to wear socks on the bike and set up accordingly. That worked well except I put the shoes on one at a time. Oh well, so I lost 3 seconds. I grabbed 3 gels and shoved them in my shorts at the leg (I decided to race in a tank top not in cycling jersey). I had a great run to the mounting line, as I was taught steering from the saddle. Got up and on and I was off. About 2 miles out I was settled into a nice pace and saw that somewhere I had lost my Gels. Damn. "I hope I don't get dinged for abandonment," I thought (I didn't). The bike was great. The secret was to go all out on the descents to build up on the way up the hills. Never touched the small ring or the big cog the whole race. Most of the time I was in the big ring. I set a goal to go at about 200 watts and kept that up pretty well.
     The biggest problem is I was going head-to-head with some pretty good guys who would tear past me on the flats, but go to slow on the descents and climbs. Passing on a climb is harder than hell, so sometimes I had to back off to not break the rules. I did use the rules from time to time to get rid of folks though, and that worked well. I didn't see many officials out there, but have heard of a lot of penalties, so I guess that is alright. At the bike turn around I ditched one waterbottle (a $9 one) for a fresh one. I had decided beforehand to do this, to sadly sacrifice a waterbottle so that I didn’t have tide with an aerobar mounted bottle too. Turned out I hardly drank on the way back.
I rounded off of Highway 1 into the city again and kept going. I was doing pretty well. As I turned into this business park type thing I felt a sharp pain in my back. Must have been a bee or a wasp. Hurt like hell. Kept moving though, if I was going to die from a sting I was going to die moving. About 2 miles out I increased my cadence to 100. I had done most of the ride at about 95 on the flats and descents and 85 to 90 on the ascents. A mile out I took my feet out of my shoes. Turned out to be a bit early, but didn’t really matter. Saw the dismount line and got ready. As I lifted myself out of the saddle, part of my trishort was wrapped on the saddle. I remembered what Phil said and just relaxed. Tried again. Same problem. Tried again, and was free. My dismount went fine and at a good clip. Shoes stayed in the pedals and I ran with the bike to the rack. I was delighted to see Hal’s bike was gone – I was still beating him. This was a good added push on the bike, and I wanted it again on the run. The transition here was fast. Ate a gel and took a swallow of water, but then I was out of there.
     By the time I hit the timing mat I noticed my calves felt like lead. “Keep going, it will go away.” By the first water stop it was still pretty bad, so I stopped and tried to loosen them a little. Helped a bit, but no time for dilly-dallying, and took off again. My pace for the first 2 miles was about 10min/mile. “No good.” I tried to step it up, but these damn muscles were not behaving. At the turnaround I stopped a tad bit longer. That helped a lot and got my speed to about 9:30/mile. I wanted to go faster, but the brain was holding me back. I was pretty fatigued, and the body just wouldn’t let me fight through it. So I decided to keep up the pace as good as possible.
     Then I saw Hal around mile 4, just sitting there with his bike. The bastard had dropped out. I wanted to beat him handily at the whole race, and not win like this. Damn. That slowed me down a bit. Wanted to walk, but wouldn’t do it. Kept plodding along. Finally the last mile marker was there. Normally I could pick it up a bit faster, but it didn’t work here. Saw the clock and knew I was making my goal of under 3 hours – that was good. I had set a very aggressive maximum goal of 2:40, but that was not going to happen running at 9:30min/mile. Oh well. Still very happy with a 2:54!.

09/18/2004 - SWIM OF THE CENTURIONS
     Pretty easy pace and non-stressful. My course was a little weird due to an S like current. Didn't really settle into a comfortable/fast groove until 2/3 of the way.

08/22/2004 - TRIONE TRIATHLON
     This was not a great race for me, with a very painful proneus longus problem in my right leg. But, I perceveared and had an incredibly fast bike. The swim was way super-currenty and hard. A lot of people cutting this race short on a bike loop or swim loop.

08/08/2004 - ESCAPE FROM THE ROCK SWIM FROM ALCATRAZ (ALMOST)
     The weather gods did not favor us today. The early morning wake up at 4:45 am was to a relentless fog overhanging the bay. I showed up at the site and thought nonthing of it - mostly as it was still dark. 6:10 the announcment came that because The Rock could not be seen from shore, it was too dangerous. (As I write this now 2 hours later, it still cannot be seen). The swim was modified to a swim from AP (Escape from AP?) to the breakwater, along it to the outside and back around. The race director said it was close to 1.5 miles - I think more like 1.2. Ah well, so my great escape would be just a normal swim workout... I self-seeded in the 2nd wave. Pretty good choice I was in the top half of that group. Nutrition was bad, only a Balance bar before and forgot to eat the Crank I was carring in my back pocket. Hydrated well enough though. I chose to push pretty well, by the 20 min mark I was pretty tired. Really it was tremendously steady and I swam roughly the same speed all the time. 1.2 mile in 30 minutes, not bad!

06/13/2004 - SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL TRIATHLON
     Once again the 4:30am wake up time was very early. The pre-race jitters kept me awake and so sleep was elusive. But, I did manage to crawl out and get down to the race on time.
     My swim wave started at 7:08am or so in the water. It started pretty well, I kept far to the right. Unfortunately the person right next to me the whole way could not swim straight and I had to avoid him practically the whole way. The swim though was uneventful and went pretty well.
     I emerged from the swim and pulled off my cap and goggles. This turns out to be a bad move for me as I had to run in full wetsuit to the transition area because my hands were too full. Next time I think it will be goggles on forehead, unzip, then remove. I saved some energy for the run to transition and it went okay.
     In transition I had very lightly buckled my bike shoes. Bad idea as I couldn’t get them on to save my life. Faster with these shoes to leave them unbuckled. I took a gel, popped some salt, and went on my way.
     The bike went pretty much exactly to plan. I started at a pretty easy gear at 90 RPM and increased the gear by about mile 2. I attacked the hill out of the saddle at mile 7 and had no difficulties. The wind tunnel from miles 10-12 was good and easier than in my practice run. The ‘big’ hill at mile 12 wasn’t too bad, I put it in a super-easy gear and just kept peddling. My RPM was pretty much 75 here. After the hill I stepped up a notch and moved pretty well. I was a little fatigued by mile 20, but not too bad. Did the last 1.5 miles at about 95 RPM in an easier gear – that helped a ton.
     T2 went really well. This was the first time I didn’t change shirts and I am going to keep it that way for now. By this point though the sugar in the gels were bothering me, too much but I still needed them.
     Run went pretty much as planned, I had intended to keep the 10min/mile pace from the get go but was doing a little better. I thought about stepping it up at the last 2 miles to beat the 3 hour point. I was super thirsty the whole way and needed sugar, but felt sick from the sugar too, so I would grab both an Amino Vital and a water, do 2 sips of the AV, a sip of the water and then pour the water on me. That worked pretty well. By mile 5 I could have stepped it up to beat 3 hrs I think, but decided to ease back a bit.
     All in all, the race was very successful, the plan was executed well, and I had a good time. I do want to re-evaluate my nutrition on the road to see if there is something better. I may try the new Accelerade gel, as it has some protein in it and that tends to help my stomach…

05/15/2004 - NAPA VALLEY TRIATHLON
     First off, 4 am is really early to get up and go for a race. Not that it was bad, fortunatley I set up to have another GGTCer with me to take some of the pain out of the whole thing. But nutrition wise, that early is complicated. I had an 8:15 start time and four hours is a long pre-race time. I had a big bowl of oatmeal and some protein power, my usual breakfast. By 6 we had to stop at Starbucks and get some caffine and I got a scone as well. It was fine, but probably should have had some better carbs and protein.
     The waves started in a self-seeded manner. 5 waves, I split the difference and went into 3. The swim was great and I was at the head of my pack within the first 5 minutes with 2 other people who we paced off each other. That worked very well. My goal for the swim was to save some for the next two legs and really focus on form. I swam straighter than I usually do in open water which was also good.
     Transition was okay, the run up to it was bad as the ground sucked. I was thinking of getting some of those beach shoes to help with this, but maybe I should just learn to love it? Took one shot of gu then off.
     The bike was mostly great. My goals were learning to hydrate and using cadence. The hydration went better than WF, but there is still a lot to be learned. The cadence worked AWESOME. I have never had or worked with it before, and was very happy with everything. I turned off the speed and just watcheed cadence and distance. I kept at 90 on the flats/downhills, and 70-80 on hills. I only shifted when I was unable to maintain cadence (up hill) and efficent pedal stroke (downhill/flats). The bad was that my bottom bracket on my bike is weird and the chain will drop of the lower ring. I had it in the shop the day before (and it is there now) and they didn't have time to disassemble. I tried to keep it off this ring for the ride, both times when I needed it, it dropped causing my bike to seriously stop. I was able to unclip, fortunately, but lost about 5 minutes between the two (the chain gets very stuck down there).
     The run was so-so. The frist two miles are almost all uphill, though not up a mountain. I had wanted to run the whole portion, but ended up walking about 1/2 mile of it. It takes me a very long time to get into the groove of running, and this is even in pure training runs, made worse by heavy legs coming off the bike. The pace was pretty slow. At the turn around I paired with a gal from Davis and we paced each other in.