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On this page I'll keep a log of significant triathlon related activities after I finished my first triathlon... Newer entries are at the top. If you want to know what happened before these entries have a look at my first triathlon update page. This log is continued in the next season! See the 2002 triathlon update!
Salmon Duathlon, Knights Ferry, CA: 5k run, 30k bike, 2.5 k run.
Not a stellar race, to say it right away. I had thought I would be in top shape
for this one. But a week without much good sleep and a lot of things to worry
about didn't help. My time was actually OK, but it was not as good as it could
have been. And I struggled during the race, which made this much less fun than
it should have been. Part of it was the hills (much hillier than I had thought,
especially on the run).
My time was 1:43:58 for 5k run, 30k bike, 2.5k run. The winning time was about 20 minutes faster. The first 5k took me 24:30 which is not great, but I had to save energy for the rest of the race. The bike leg took me almost exactly an hour, which is not that bad considering the hills, but I was seriously hurting as I got off the bike. Therefore, the last bit of running was quite uncomfortable and slow: over 14 minutes.
The lesson I took away from this one: do more hill interval training. I had
done some hill intervals this summer, but stopped them when my knee started
hurting. Sooo. Hill intervals: good. Too much hill intervals: bad.
Aside from this lesson I brought a number of nice photos
home from Knights Ferry (in the photo section).
With this race I'll probably end the 2001 season, gently reduce my training, take it very easy for a month or two and then start the serious training again for next year. Hope you found these pages interesting. See you in 2002, hopefully! :)
Halloween XI, 10k, Gilroy, CA.
So I decided to do a 10k race this weekend for training. It was a very small
race with very few participants. Because of that I almost won an age group medal.
I placed 4th in the age group M30-39, which is really the toughest age group
to be in, because that's when all the runners and triathletes peak. It's hard
for a beginner to win anything. But the 4th place is a good one too and I'm
quite happy with my time of 49:05, which is a personal best for a 10k, by the
way. Some more bicycling and I'll be ready for the duathlon next weekend.
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Stanford Home Run, 5k, Palo Alto, CA. A charity event for Habitat for Humanity. A very nice race on the same course as the Challenge for Charity back in April. Again with the stadium finish. I got off to a bad start because I came late! (traffic problems) So I was about 150 meters away from the starting area when the gun went off. First I had to get by all the walkers and really slow runners. But I still had a decent race with a time of 24:40. The real time without coming late probably would be 24:20. This is not a great time but it's OK. I have to do more work on speed though. The winning time was under 16 minutes! I placed 105th and was 20th in my age group (20th out of 46, age group M 30-39). Positive aspect of this race: I noticed that I had enough left in my legs to do a full sprint for the last 200m or so (there was a guy who wanted to pass me right before the finish -- he didn't succeed :) ) Next: I might squeeze in another race (10k) next weekend in preparation for the Duathlon in two weeks. |
Just as an update -- I ran a 5 miler today. My time was 39:43, which was OK,
because my goal was to stay under 40 minutes. However, it is 3 minutes slower
than at the Chronicle Classic just 6 weeks ago. Lack of sleep and reduced training
volume in the last weeks are probably the cause. Also I didn't try to do an
all-out effort to start with.
I decided to do one (possibly two) more races this year. On 10/20 is the HomeRun
at Stanford University. That's either a 5k or a 10k. I'm planning to do the
5k and work a bit on running speed till then. On 11/3 is the Salmon Duathlon
near Modesto, CA. That's a 5k run, 30k bike, 2.5k run duathlon. A good race
to finish the season. Stay tuned.
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Tri for Real, Pleasanton, CA: 700yrd swim, 18mile bike, 4mile run -- My second Triathlon Although I was not entirely back in shape, I had an excellent race this last Sunday! The one thing I was most worried about, the swim, went by really fast (faster than expected), despite a mass start that was really scary and water plants that tried to snag me all the time. The bike leg went very well as well, only the run was tough, possibly because I pushed too hard on the bike. It was a surprisingly cold morning for California (under 60 deg, that's under 15 deg C). Many people like that for racing, but I don't. I was shivering before I finally could get into the warm water of the lake. Of course, riding 18 miles on a bike with wet clothes on is not that much fun either... Fortunately you generate a lot of heat when you race.
Total time: 1:43:13 (my measurement). The official time was: ... I don't have photos directly from this race, but I watched the Tri for Fun a few weeks earlier that was on the same course. |
Somehow, I managed to hurt my shoulder 2 weeks ago. It probably happened when I tried to increase my swim training load. Possibly it was this, combined with stress at work, lack of sleep and so forth. Whatever happened, I decided to take some rest and sharply cut back on training for about 12 days. I did just a few runs during that time and rode my bike to work a few times. Today I was in the pool for the first time in almost 2 weeks and the shoulder is much better, but not 100% OK yet. I'll slowly start to get back into training now. But don't expect any world-class results at that upcoming triathlon, in just 12 days!
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Chronicle Classic, 5 mile run, Palo Alto, CA Right after the Peachtree RR I had a trip to Japan. The severe climate, time and diet change, coupled with no exercise for 2 weeks really did it. I returned and felt like I had never done more than walk from the couch to the kitchen. Exercise-wise, it took me about a month to fully recover from the trip. Such experiences tell you you ain't 20 any more :( Finally I felt comfortable enough to try a race again. Originally I had planned the Tri-For-Fun race on the 18th, but it was booked out already. So I picked a running only race instead (which is probably good because I'm in bad shape on the bike right now. I did make some progress in the pool though). A fast, flat road run near Stanford University. I suspect they measured the course a bit short -- it's probably only 4.75 miles or so. Still, my time was actually pretty good: 36:23 was the official time (and I actually measured the same, just for a change). The winning time was about 23 minutes. I just signed up for my next Triathlon! It will be on September 16! Stay tuned. |
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Peachtree Road Race (10k) in Atlanta, GA Well, the Peachtree is really a special kind of a race. It's a 10k, but it's the biggest 10k in the world. They have a cut-off at 50.000 participants -- otherwise they would probably have about 2-3 times as many runners. So there is always a lot going on to get race numbers (including some black market activity). I lived in Atlanta for quite a while, but back then I wasn't running so this was something I just HAD to do. Running the PTRR is sort of a status symbol in Atlanta. Only people who finish the race get the coveted Tshirt, the design of which is kept a secret till the finish of the race. Wearing a PTRR shirt in Atlanta is like wearing a badge that says "look at me, I'm fit". It's a big deal. Still, flying across the whole US for just one day just for a race where there are so many people they you are condemned to walk would be a bit silly. So I said to myself: I'll do it only when I get into one of the seed groups (meaning you start earlier and can actually run). That was the reason why I had to finish the S.J. Mercury Press run in March in under 55 minutes -- because with that finish time I would get into a seed group. Well, to make a long story short: I did manage to get both into the race and into start group 1B. Not that this is such a great start group (there are 4 groups that start earlier than that one), but they actually gave us a champion chip for timing. That's essentially an RF-Tag you wear on your show so you get timed when you run over the finish line. Lucky for me, I had just done BRAG about a week earlier, so I was still a bit used to the Atlanta climate (hot and humid). I was twice lucky that the day was actually cooler than expected but I was unlucky that the route was much hillier than I had remembered it. So I didn't achieve my goal of running it in under 50 minutes (well, jet lag etc. might have to do with it too). I measured 51:25 and the official time was 54:49 (factoring in that my group started 3 minutes after the start of the actual race). It's not a bad time, considering that half the race is more or less uphill, but I'll just have to try again, and train more for those hills... |
June 16-25 - Bicycle Ride Across Georgia, BRAG.
Well, it was that time of year again and although I live in CA now I really wanted to spend some time in good ol' GA again. The route this year went to St. Simon's island in the far south, a place I never had a chance to see in my years in Georgia. So that was a good opportunity. You can find more info about BRAG at the BRAG Web site. I also have a travel report about an earlier brag in my travel report section and I do have a lot of photos from this year's brag in the photo section.