Lake Lopez Triathlon Race Report (And Cool Camping Pics)

Lake Lopez is near San Luis Obispo, and for a few summers when I was a kid we were up there all the time for my dad to go windsurfing and for us kids to enjoy the lake.  Very sentimental place.  I camped with my good buddy Alex and my mom and her boyfriend, Michael.  Julia, sadly was on a show - next time!  Anyway, I'll keep this brief.

My goal was to (hopefully) PR and possibly go sub 2:40.  But I did not do my homework on the course and decided to "do well" in the field (like top 5 age group?) would be great.  Since it's a small race I knew that might be possible.

Woke up early - freezing.  Air was in the 40s.  Let's swim in a lake?  WTF am I doing here?  Shockingly the water was warmer than the air.

Swim:  Good clip.  Towards the front of my wave start.  Could not spot the buoys or beach in the last quarter due to sun glare.  Lost at least 30 seconds getting in line.

T1:  Not feeling your feet makes getting into the bike shoes tough.

Bike:  Tail wind.  HEAD WIND + HILLS.  Long long rollers and false flats with the course culminating at mile 19 with a CRAZY hill.  We're talking 16% grade I'm told.  Dudes in $5000 bikes WALKING their bikes up.  It took all I had to make it to the top, then it was mostly downhill back.  I flew, but still only averaged about 18mph on this tough windy course.

T2:  Problem with my shoe, but oh well - only lost 15-20 sec.

Run:  A chore.  Man it was tough getting into a groove.  Rolling hills again and a long false flat until the turnaround.  Paced it well and tried to push the pace the last few.  But it was tough work!

Final time: 2:47...bummer!  BUT....good for 5th in my division!  (Although I think there were only about 10+ in the division!!!)

It sure felt great to soak in the lake afterwards.  Did another brick (bike/run) today (Sunday) and had TWO blowouts.  My tire is totally gashed and I'm lucky I didn't have to walk back!  After I patched the tube I ended up literally putting a few dollar bills in between the tube and the tire!  Can't remember where I heard that trick, but it worked for me!

Camping at this cool spot was a blast.  Great weekend.

Here are some cool pics I took last night:

The LA Marathon Experience

What a day!  (Well, yesterday...)

I woke up at about 4 AM to ride with a few friends from the Westside to the start at Dodger Stadium on the dark streets of LA.  The sunrise once we arrived was stunning.

I went out with the LA TriClub as a "pace timer."  On our bikes we basically leap-frogged the elite athletes and called their times into the media.  

Talk about a bird's eye view.  For several miles we would tail the field of elite men by mere feet!  It was amazing.

We were caught on TV quite a bit!  (This newscaster got a lot of sun...)

After the race I did a sequence of timelapses.  I got some killer vantage points with my Media Pass (long story!)

All in all an incredible day and I'm proud of my friends who all had a killer time on such a great course. (LA FINALLY got it right!)  Great job runners!

Solvang Century Race (Ride) Report

It's been a crazy week of training....a peak week, and since my injured IT Band has been recovery nicely a lot more intensity has been thrown in.  The highlight was my first 100 mile ride --- the Solvang Century.  I stayed up at my mom's house, about 30 minutes from the small Danish town of Solvang.  After waking up at 5:15 I suited up and headed Northeast.  I saw a small red fox run across the road as I neared the start, that definitely woke this nature lover up!  The first thing I noticed was the insane wind.  It's not often that you look at a forecast and it has ARROWS (representing wind) as the icon (usually sun, clouds, etc...)  They had predicted 20-30 mph winds all day....Yikes.

I started slightly after 7 AM and worked my way through the farm land.  From time to time massive "pelotons" would streak by at 20 mph and then get promptly broken up at the sight of a roller.  It was really fun spending some time in these large groups of 40+ cyclists.  It certainly helped with the wind!  I ended up meeting up with another LA Tri member, Chris Bird at around mile 30 --- we stuck together for 15 or so miles before I went off on my own.  At times I was powering through the crazy wind by myself, at times I was leading pacelines.  Rarely could I find a group that wasn't riding too fast or too slow.  It's ok, all that wind certainly made the trek rougher, which was the point of the day!

Somewhere in all of the insane beauty the course offered we were halted as cattle crossed the road!  So witty dude yelled "cow up!"  I laughed.

My coach, Rom had told me to really push hard the last 30 miles, which included the hardest rollers on the course (and also the most tired legs.)  I took this to heart, and despite hitting "mini walls" at miles 60 and 80 was able to push through, passing hordes of people who went out too hard.  The last 10 miles I was finally on the right side of the wind and flew into town at 30+ mph.  If it weren't for the crazy rough road this would have been the best part of the day.  The last bit of the course was the same as the SB Wine Country Half Marathon - so I got to avenge the two hills that cost me those 2/10 of a second that had me go just over 1:50 last May!  Cruising in I noticed that the finish was 1 miles short by my count.  I wanted those triple digits!  So I road up a half mile, turned around and called my first 100 miler complete in about 6:08.  Very happy with a 16 mph average on the windiest day I've ever ridden in.  

Although I was totally spent, I was oddly energized.  Despite thinking on the course "and I'm planning on running a marathon after this?"  I can actually begin to wrap my head around the idea.  Training is working...but I'm still freaking bloody tired!  But my spirits are definitely lifted by my most recent purchase at the expo....a Dr Pepper cycling jersey!  I think I'll have to wear this in my big race...

4 Months to Go

It's been awhile since my last blog update, and for good reason.  I've been busy, but also injured!  Thankfully I'm on the upside, but the IT Band issue never got better.  Despite still swimming and cycling through it, my run has suffered.  I've still been putting in light miles, but I started physical therapy, will get orthotics for my running shoes and will be back at 100% VERY soon.

The bike has improved drastically.  Two weeks ago I was in Santa Barbara for the week premiering my piece "The Remarkable Farkle McBride" for over 3,000 school kids.  It couldn't have gone better and we're looking at planning a family concert for the public in the fall.  With any luck it'll also go to other orchestras.  Exciting!  

The Orchestra

The Kids

During my stay I went on an EPIC ride.  I made it up the famed Gibraltar Road, despite having to catch my breath (and legs) 4 times.  I netted about 4,600 feet of gain in just 45 miles.  Killer.  The climbs have continued, as this last weekend I set a Latigo PR of about 57 minutes without standing up out of the seat.  Me and the crew added Piuma as well which was 5 miles of pure hell.  STEEP.  But I'm feeling more and more confident with my climbing - netted about 5,200 feet of gain in 75 miles.  France has 5,900 in 112 miles - so I'm very close!

Top of Gibraltar Road, Santa Barbara

Top of Latigo Canyon, stretching and waiting for my friends.

The bike fit I just got from Nate Loyal is phenomenal.  Great guy too - actually saw him randomly TWICE on my long ride.  Descending Las Flores (very steep) a motorcycle pulls up beside me and the dude says "How ya doing buddy?  It's Nate!"  Too funny.  He's asking me how the fit is, etc.  Awesome.

So I'm in PT, stretching a TON and getting better and stronger.  Can't complain.  Less than 4 months out, except for the run (which is coming back!) I'm feeling right on track.

*** If you'd like to hear a highlight reel of the orchestra piece drop me a line and I'll forward you the link! ***

Bike Mileage PR and IT Issues

Quick blog today.  I've been dealing with some IT band issues ever since my big build two weeks ago.  It's definitely getting better, but is definitely holding back my training a bit.  A few random items of note:

• My mom turned 60 today.  Yay Mom!
• My orchestra piece for the SB Symphony is complete.  Phew.
• Only 147 Days Until IM France, but who's counting?

Other than that, I took a great ride up PCH with my great friend Eric.  We made it all the way to Big Rock (about 40 miles North of Santa Monica) for a huge mileage PR - logging 83 miles in about 5 hours of riding.  My big complaint about Eric (I can him Ewik) is he's way too serious:

And we managed to get dropped (no surprise there) by the BMC Pro Team!  Eric and I both had the same idea of sprinting to try and keep up with them for a minute at what must be their recovery pace.  We both redlined and descended back into reality very quickly.  See how far away they are by the time I got the camera phone out?!  (That's their van following.)

Then we saw this:

A great day with another ride (climb) tomorrow since I'm sidelined from any running for another day or so.  But on the upside the swim is really coming along.  I did a 50 meter sprint in sub :40 the other day.  I'm told that's not too horrible.  At least I have a trace of natural ability in one of the three disciplines!  :)

Till next time!

Why.

3 years ago today my hero and best friend, Dr. Eric Westheimer succumbed to his valiant fight with brain cancer.  It was a battle, one which had started nearly a year prior with a sudden and severe stroke.  That year I learned both more about my dad and more about myself than I ever thought possible.  Even though the rolls seemed reversed at the time (as I was caring for him) - his determination, humor and joy for life through it all will forever inspire and guide me.

As I look back to the last 3 years since I lost him, I see a pattern at first glance, then I quickly realize how spontaneous and non-linear bereavement is.  I was lucky enough to come upon running in 2007 - what I hope was the toughest year of my life.  My father's determination inspired me to dig deep within myself, take something completely foreign to me (training) and (pun intended) run with it.  Enough with the cheese.  I'm grateful for this, as running and triathlon continue to expand my soul and remind me constantly to love and embrace life.  In a way training has served to be a "surrogate father" of sorts.  There's nothing like a solitary run to look within and remember dad.

This may sound strange to some, but hawks and other raptors have come to have a very special place for me.  Shortly after my dad died my mom and I began seeing them (or noticing them!) all over.  My dad always liked them (and pointed them out as obnoxiously as I do now!) but there's something incredibly spiritual about the graceful way they fly.

I've gotta admit the last few weeks have been a little hard emotionally.  I made it through the holidays without much grief but then was quickly reminded a few days after the New Year of the looming anniversary.  Today.  And this is the first year I haven't been distracted by running in Houston!  So on a recovery run last week I was so tired.  It was hot.  I had to climb Latigo Canyon on the bike the next day.  I was so ready to quit 30 minutes in.  It wouldn't have effected my finishing the Ironman.  So I resorted to a special playlist entitled "Marathon Help."  What comes on?  "I'm on a Boat."  My dad would have loved that song!  (Our humors were essentially identical.)  I was smiling, and that was the burst of emotion I need to run through the next hour.  It turned out to be a great run and I really channeled my dad for the remainder.

The journey did not end two years ago when I ran my first ever marathon.  It began.  Knee deep into Ironman training I can tell you it's been tough!  And I'm (obviously) dedicating that to the man who continues to inspire me from above.  (My dad.)

LA 13.1 marks the end of my hardest training week.

Wow.  Ironman training is no joke.  I'm in a build month, so hard work almost every day.

This week included run intervals, a short tempo run, two swims and two bike trainer workouts (intervals.)  Not to mention a 90 minute "easy" run, two strength/core workouts and the biggy of the week - a 4.5 hour bike ride that included climbing Latigo Canyon.  Damn I'm exhausted typing this out!  And my "real" work has gone well on top of it - so I'm happy to say that the training is actually making me MORE productive (My concert piece for the SB Symphony is nearly complete!)  I need to be busy this time of year as January is hard for me.  (More on that later this week, it relates to the loss of my dad.)

Anyway, I woke up early to head out to the inaugural LA 13.1 race.  The plan was to do about 20 minutes of warming up, run miles 1-3 in upper zone 2 (easyish) miles 4-11 zone 3 (medium) and miles 11-13.1 in zone  (hard.)  I stuck to the plan and while it was tough on tired legs I have to say it was -slightly- easier than I thought it would be.

I saw a lot of my friends as it was an out and back (most were ahead of me!)  My friend Roxanne from the LA Tri Club caught me at mile 9 or so and we ran together for a bit.  She wanted to walk the water station so we said goodbye, and I slogged on.  She again caught me at about mile 11, when I was supposed to turn it up!  Man I was dreading it.  But it was just 2 miles, and I've gotta say I was pretty proud of myself for finding the rhythm.

We came through the finish line at around 1:59 - an effort I'm proud of.  I made my dad's "gorilla face" at the line - can't wait to see the photos.  About 13 months ago I ran the City of Angels Half and it took my absolute maximum to finish in 2:03.  And that was with rest.  Very happy with my progress.

After the race I ran into some more friends and then decided to go soak in the ocean for a bit.  The water was pretty cold, but after about 5 minutes up to my knees I realized "oh sh*t."  It was a tradition for my dad and I each winter to run into the ocean.  And here I was.  I didn't really have a choice, so I went for it.  I played in the waves while yelling "Ba-fute-sai" (it's a silly game we invented.)

All in all a good day - I'm looking forward to tomorrow (Day Off - of training that is!)