Solana Beach Triathlon Race Report

Smug & Cocky

Q:  Who was the smug & cocky sonofabitch who claimed he could finish the Solana Beach Triathlon in under an hour?


A:  Me

Yeah, well that didn't happen.  I finished in 1:06:03 instead.  Yet, I've really got nothing to complain about.  My normal inclination would be to moan about the swim.  But that actually went pretty well - I stayed with what I'm calling the "middle pack" the entire time.  In fact, I drafted behind a guy on the beach bound segment (the course was "U" shaped around two buoys beginning and ending on the beach) and didn't have to sight the entire way in.  Why I put complete faith in this guy's navigation skills I'm not sure, but this guy ended up being a regular Magellan and before I knew it I was on the beach running the 1/3 of a mile up the ramp to transition.  My final swim time (including the run to transition) was 13:44.  At first I wasn't super stoked on this, but after the race I heard almost everyone complaining about their swim times so I felt a lot better about it.  I'm guessing either the course was longer than a 1/4 mile or there was some sort of current working against us.  Either way, I think I ended up doing OK on the curve. 

Slowing and turning somewhere...

I was in and out of T1 in 1:57, and I'm generally happy with anything under 2 minutes.  Once on the bike, everything went fine.  Well, almost fine - I had a little bit of trouble clicking in to my pedals.  But it's always the things you do a million times that go wrong at the worst possible moments, so I just went with the flow.  The course was two 4 1/2 mile slightly rolling loops on Coast Highway. There was a moderate cross/headwind going north and a cross/tailwind going south.  My average speed for the first and last mile where a mildly disappointing 18.5 MPH I'm guessing due to a fairly long haul between the timing mat and the actual mount/dismount line, but the rest of the time I averaged between 20 and 23.5 MPH depending on the wind.  This is where I am at in terms of bike fitness at the moment so I'll take it.  Plus I passed plenty of other riders.  My total bike split was 26:22.

Run finish

T2 took me 1:37, so I was happy with that too.  As far as the run, I held an average pace of 7:20/mile.  The first mile 7:23, the second mile was 7:27 (weird), and the last mile was 7:14 for a total split of 22:21.  Again, nothing to really complain about there.

In the end, I was 23rd of 87 in my age group and 260th of 1100 overall.  I finished 1:47 faster over last year.  A year older and almost two minutes faster?  I'll take that.  I also feel I raced to the best of my ability and made very few mistakes.  And through the entire race I felt I maintained the perfect combination of hard work and enjoyment.

Chris K, Ian and me

Mary, Ian and my Mom (who is in town visiting) came down to cheer me on.  Chris K from the Manly Runner lives in the area and also came down.  This was very cool and much appreciated.  And a big thanks is due to Chris for the bike and run pictures - I think they are pretty good.  Cheers for that.

After the race, we went to breakfast at a local place called Honey's.  If you ever are in Encinitas, check it out - it's a very legit breakfast spot.  We had a nice conversation about all sorts of things, including some quality reminiscing about our mutual pal Kovas.  I ate pancakes and drank a bunch of coffee.  Basically it was the perfect meal.

So how did I talk myself into thinking that a sub one hour race was possible?  This is how - I over estimated my abilities by a minute or two in every discipline.  I didn't leave enough time to get from the beach to T1, I didn't factor in the wind on the bike course and I didn't have the legs to run a 21 minute 5K.  But despite the fact that my prediction of a sub one hour sprint triathlon will be publicly displayed on the Interweb forever, I'm 100% OK with this race.  But now it's time to go longer - it's about 7 weeks until the Big Kahuna 70.3 in Santa Cruz.

The 2011 Gear Guide

Kovas may not believe this, but I actually do like gear.  And as I've gotten more involved and a little better at the sport, my gear has evolved too.  But as you know, replacing and/or upgrading is expensive.  So I always ask the question "Will I really use it?"  If the answer is an honest yes, then I'll go ahead and make the purchase.  I'd like to think that this self diagnostic keeps me on the less severe side of the otherwise neurotic and/or impulsive behavior that quickly takes hold when I see some piece of equipment that I like.

Do I always get it right?  Not a chance.  As a righty, I've definitely purchased a fair share of "left handed wonder tools" that now either sit in the garage or barely managed to sell on eBay.  But as my performance has improved, I think my gear choices have improved too.

Here's some of the stuff coming with me to San Diego:

ORCA EQUIP WETSUIT

I started my triathlon career in a 2XU sleeveless wetsuit.  I originally went sleeveless because I had absolutely no open water swimming experience and had read tons of horror stories about how people would put on a wetsuit and completely freak out the minute they hit the water because it felt like they couldn't move their limbs or breath due to the tightness of the suit.  I hoped that a wetsuit sans sleeves would only be half as bad.  Though I've gone on to have plenty of trouble swimming, I never have had any trouble with a wetsuit.


I wore the 2XU for my first two seasons.  But towards the end of last fall, a funny thing happened - my arms started to get really cold on swims.  I've always been a wimp when it came to cold water, but suddenly even 65 degrees was unbearable in the sleeveless.

So earlier this year I bought an Orca Equip full-sleeve suit.  I also tried on suits from Tyr and Blue Seventy but this one fit the best.  And it's been keeping me nice and toasty in the water since March.  San Diego will be the second race in which I've used it.

Other swimming gear:  Tyr Tracer swim goggles.

SPECIALIZED TRANSITION

The Bianchi is no doubt jealous, but I am loving the Specialized right now.  As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I've recently replaced the saddle with a Fizik Arione Tri 2 and the aerobars with Vision's Trimax model.

When I bought the bike, it came with a Shimano 105 gruppo.  As it stands now, I'm running a Dura-Ace/105 mix.  The rear derailleur, cassette and bar end shifters are Dura-Ace, the front derailleur and crankset are 105, and the brakes are still whatever came with the bike.  My wheels are Mavic Carbone SL and the tires are Vittoria Rubino Pros.

After some consultation with Jeff from Dangle The Carrot, I'm going to go with a Speedfil hydration system this weekend.  At first I was concerned that even though I wanted to start test racing the set-up I'll be using in Santa Cruz, using the Speedfil on what amounts to be an 18 mile bike ride would make me guilty of some pretty severe douchbaggery.  But Jeff came back by saying that under the circumstances, testing trumped all and that I was bound to "see guys with 6 GU's duct taped to their frames and carrying 3 bottles of water/nutrition so the Speedfil won't even register on the poser scale."

He's probably right.

Other bike gear:  Giro aero helmet, Louis Garneau triathlon cycling shoes.

ZOOT ENDURANCE TRI SUIT

This suit was one of those deals that was too good to pass up.  I got it on a promotion and it's about as simple as triathlon suits come.  For starters it's mostly one solid color, and I don't mind the black accents around the leg grippers.  Most suits out there have multiple colored panels that I'm just not a big fan of.  Secondly, it's designed specifically for short course races so there are no extra pockets that I've found are usually the first place a suit starts to wear out.  It's just a really simple suit that fits well.

I'm still debating whether or not to run sockless in my Zoot 2.0 racing flats or take the extra minute to put on socks and run in my Newton Distances.  The Zoots make for a very fast T2 but the Newtons are just more comfortable.  I'll decide soon.

Other running gear:  Home made Andreas Raelert style headband, Oakley Jawbone sunglasses.

And Then Hell Froze Over

You can find anything on the Internet

I don't know if it's the extra intake of spinach.  I don't know if it's the single yoga session.  And I don't know if it's because since visualizing that I was dolphin wasn't working, I tried visualizing that I was a swimming unicorn instead.  Or maybe I was inspired by Kovas' vague promise to try and come race Oceanside with me next year.  Whatever it was, there is no doubt that some sort of magic descended upon me this evening when I swam back-to-back 8:07 440's, which translates to about 1:50 per 100 yards.  After I did it the first time I naturally assumed it was the current.  But when I got the same time going back (AND passed another swimmer) I nearly drowned due to the shock.

Unfortunately, the 3rd and 4th intervals dropped back down to nine minutes plus.  But whatevs, I'll take the first 2 for now.

(Note/disclaimer:  If this is the first time you are reading my blog and are wondering why I am giving myself high fives for swimming 1:50 per 100 yards, you should know that I normally suck at swimming.  I thought I should clear that up.  Thanks.)

Snake Epidemic

If you've read my Blog for awhile you know I am no fan of snakes.  I used to say I "hated" snakes, but after some thought I've decided to pull back back from that opinion.  "Hate" is too strong of a word, and there is very little in this life that I truly hate - I try not to be like that.  A better word for my feelings towards snakes isn't one that I normally default to when describing my emotions.  It's a pride thing I suppose, and also probably has to do with when I was a kid and how pleased I was with myself when I got to the point that I no longer needed a night light.  That word is "afraid".

So there you go, I'm afraid of snakes.

As such, it should be easy for you to empathize with me on this post.  Much to my obvious chagrin, I have encountered a bunch of snakes while trail running this month.  Here's a breakdown:

Monday, April 4th, Bolsa Chica Wetlands

6.02 Miles, 1 Snake

Sunday, April 10th, Crystal Cove State Park

8.56 Miles - 1 snake

Wednesday, April 13th, Bolsa Chica Wetlands

7.02 Miles - 2 snakes


Friday, April 22nd, Bonner Canyon Ridge Road/El Moro Ridge Road

7.53 Miles - 0 snakes

Tuesday, April 26th, Bolsa Chica Wetlands

5.42 Miles - 2 snakes

Add all this up, and I've encountered 6 snakes in just over 28.5 miles.  This works out to seeing one snake every 4.75 miles.  This also means that based on past metrics, there is about a 20% chance that I will see a snake every time I run a mile.

These are unacceptable odds.

So, what are acceptable odds?  Naturally, I'd prefer nil.  But how about at least one "0" directly to the right of the decimal?  .02% would be fine.  .002% would be better.

I have some options.  I can avoid trails all together until the snakes go underground again in the fall.  But I'd rather not do this because Kovas's enthusiasm for trail running has proven itself contagious (the bastard).  Specific to Bolsa Chica Wetlands,  I can stay off the single track and only run on the flood control levees.  I would assume that snakes will not bother slithering up the 10 foot embankment just to sun themselves.  I could also find a running buddy who is not afraid of snakes.  My new friend would lead all our trail runs.  I think I'd feel better if someone was ahead of me making the initial contact with the snakes and then satisfactorily resolving the situation so that safe onward running is possible.

Or I could just get over my fear of snakes......

Nah, I'm good.

The A** That Shall Be Kissed

Wow!  41 comments on the original post.  I think that's a record for me.  Never mind when I handily PR some race and write a post in hopes of celebrating the moment with you guys.  Whatevs, huh?  It's clear where priorities lay.  But I guess that's how it is when everyone wants their ass kissed.

As I mentioned, Kovas and I decided the best course of action was to pick the winner completely by subjective selection.  But that didn't solve the problem of which of us would actually pick.  So for that we used random.org.  I asked Kovas if he wanted low or high.  He chose low.  And then I used random.org to pick a number between 1 and 10.  It was 8, so I got to pick the winner.

After some deep thought on Sunday's trail run, I chose amanda@runninghood solely for her slang use of the word "kissin" in her comment.  Plus, I like her blog header.  Never mind the beautiful sunset, the kid has some pretty dope striped pants on.

Kovas and I will start the ass kissing shortly.

Want Your A** Kissed? Here's How...

Kovas and I have kissed a lot of ass.  First it was each others.  And then, confident in our ass kissing skills, we branched out to kiss many a fine ass including Chris K, EMZ and many others.

I'd like to think we've gotten pretty good at it.  But for whatever reason, over the last few months we haven't done a lot of it.  That's about to change.

One problem, though.  We have no idea who's ass we should kiss.  Though anyone who has had their ass kissed by us can rest assured that the love is still in the air, we'd like to kiss some new asses.  So if you'd like yours kissed, then let us know by leaving a comment here.  And telling us why you want your ass kissed certainly won't hurt your chances.

Our decision on who's ass to kiss will be purely subjective.  The only parameter guiding our choice will be that there are no parameters.  We are going to pick whoever we feel like picking at the moment we decide to pick.  We might even pick a few people, who knows?

If we pick you, we'll kiss your ass for a week.  You are likely asking what exactly this means.  We have no idea.  That said, we are confident that you'll know your ass is being kissed when we are doing it.

By the way, if we don't pick you, please don't be disappointed - I'm sure each and every one of your backsides deserves a big ol' smooch.  But we can only kiss so much ass.

Seriously Warm And Fuzzy

It all started yesterday when I upgraded to Firefox 4.0 Beta.  Once I installed it, my homepage defaulted back to a mozilla.com page.  And on this new homepage was a link to Firefox Live, which is a page dedicated to streaming live video of Firefoxes cubs in their habitat at the Knoxville Zoo.

Mozilla has put together a pretty impressive set-up.  You can watch the feed from any number of angles, including "Cub Cam - Frolic", "Cub Cam - Snooze" and Cub Cam - 360 Cute".  I started with "Frolic", but didn't see anything.  When I switched over to "Snooze" I saw one of the cubs, but it quickly moved out of the frame.  So I started to experiment with "360 Cute",  using it to triangulate where the action was and then switching to the other cameras as applicable.  I stayed on the site for an hour.

It's an hour of time I'll never get back.  But that's OK - I don't want it back.  Because watching Firefox cubs basically do nothing was oddly entertaining.  And as the site's tag-line suggests, Firefoxes ARE seriously warm and fuzzy.  I like me some warm and fuzzy from time to time.

But the problem with my brain is that it wanders.  I started wondering how easy it would be to set up my own live stream.  A quick Google search answered that question and within 5 minutes I had an account on ustream.tv and was streaming video of me talking to my boss on the telephone.  True, not that exciting.  But the video feed is only part of the equation.  You also need an audience and an event.

A big part of success in social media is leveraging the crap out of all your assets.  I have this blog, which has a bit of an audience.  I also had my crack team of web marketeers - Jeff from Dangle The Carrot, Mandy from Caratunk Girl and Kovas from Midwest Multisport Life to start a blistering Twitter campaign.  "Blistering" may be an overstatement, but then again hype is a-ok when it comes to marketing:

@17281posse @jeffirvin Beavers on Bikes? Life Altering Event Happening http://www.theroadmultisport.com Sat 10 AM to 10 PM PST! Please RT!

The event part is easy.  Following the logic that hype is a-ok, creating an event can almost be an afterthought.  All you have to do is convince everyone that the event that took you 5 seconds to think of is pure awesomeness, perhaps even life changing.  Don't believe me?  Search YouTube.  Anything goes.  Everyone is Spielberg and mediocrity is regularly rewarded.  And I have mediocre down.

So perhaps for the first time in blogging history, I have created a Bike Cam.  For the next 12 hours, you will be able to watch my bikes sit in my still as unfinished living room.  I have also strategically placed the dog beds in the shot.  So if you park yourself in front of your computer all day and/or check back often, chances are you'll get a glimpse of Natasha and Joe.  That's my seriously warm and fuzzy.

Please spread the word.  Let's see if we can take the wind out of the sails of those damned Firefoxes, at least for a day.  PS - sorry about the commercials.


Free live streaming by Ustream

Exercise Is Good For Your Brain

If you read my post Sunday, you know that I am getting myself off of Celexa and that exercise has been really helpful managing the withdrawal symptoms.  What I didn't mention was that even though my doctor said it was OK to stop, he didn't know that I was going to try quitting cold turkey.

You can Google "exercise and mental health", and the information you'll find in the countless articles essentially point to the same thing - exercise does wonders for mental health, with the leading theory being that the release of endorphins during exercise is what makes you "feel good".  I now know this to be true, first hand.

Without getting into the chemistry, when a patient stops taking an anti-depressant, it's a huge shock to their system.  In other words, with it's new found "freedom", the brain can very easily jump on the express train to Crazytown.  And remember, I didn't step down my medication - I straight up stopped.  So not only was I on the express train, the train had no brakes.  But I didn't realize this until yesterday.

The side effects of withdrawal were completely manageable on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I think this was the case on Friday because it was the first day.  Saturday and Sunday were work-out days including both high volume and intensity.  But yesterday was a swim day, and a lazy one at that.  In fact, it was essentially an active recovery day.  So I didn't sweat it out, pound the pavement, grind the gears or do anything remotely as strenuous as I did over the weekend.

And mentally, I was a complete wreck.  Ask Kovas and Chris K.  Ask the empty half gallon carton of ice cream that was full yesterday but is now in the recycling bin.  Ask the poor Expedia customer service rep I was berating at one o'clock this morning because there was a problem with a travel reservation for one of my employees.  Since I couldn't sleep, I figured there was no better time than the present to call her.

But just because I'm temporarily crazier than usual doesn't mean I'm not realistic.  It was time for a strategy shift.  I briefly considered making sure I could either run 10 miles or cycle 50 miles every day for the next few weeks to guarantee a huge daily endorphin fix.  But I quickly realized that wouldn't work.  Instead, I called my doctor, explained the mess I had gotten myself into and asked him to help drag my ass out of it.  I didn't get a lecture.  He actually said that some people can just stop.  But it looks like I'm not one of them.

So I'm back on the Celexa - half my old dose for 2 weeks, and then half of that for another 2 weeks.  And then (in theory) I'll be done.  In hindsight, I see the wisdom in this.  Hopefully, I'll get some sleep tonight and not crazy dial any more toll free numbers.

By the way, I rode 42 miles today.  I figured it was a good insurance policy.

Ladies Night At The Road

Jennifer from The Running Artist sure knows how to get on my good side.  Consider this comment from yesterday's post about the Surf City Half Marathon, for example:

Jennifer said...

Wow, you did great! But yikes, Bret Michaels has some smokin' hot legs! He he.

Andreas Raelert

The way I read her comment, "he he" is essentially the same as "wink wink".  As in she immediately recognized that though both Bret and I have a preference for bandannas, given the context of the photo she understood that it was actually of me.  Plus, Bret isn't bald, which is another huge give away.  On a side note, I'm actually thinking of switching to the Andreas Raelert look, but for now it's bandannas.

But back to my point.  Following this logic, I thought it safe to assume that the legs she is referring to are also mine.  And if you don't mind me saying, I have to agree with her.  OK, OK - I'll step off my high horse for a second.  Perhaps I should say that I think they are my best feature, at least to the extent that endurance sports are concerned.

So wanting to give Jenn (or anyone who thought the same but for whatever reason didn't come out and say it) more of the good stuff, here's another shot of the bad boys, this time compression sleeve free.

This picture was taken just before my recovery run today.  Sure, there's a day of stubble on them, but you gotta admit they are looking sweet.

But endurance sports are all about learning something new as often as you can.  So if you ladies have any insight or tips on how to make them look sweeter let me know.

The truth is, I'm still a little bummed that neither Chris K or I got more write-in votes for the Hot & Hunky Endurance Calendar, so I am ramping up to be a serious contender in 2013.  I wanna be in that sucker.

Not at all into this post?  You can exit to Midwest Multi-Sport Life here.

Note: Sarcastic Font assumed throughout, except for the last paragraph about Midwest Multi-Sport Life.  Oh yeah, and the paragraph about the calendar too.

The Three Muskateers

So Kate from the appropriately named blog Run With Kate has now dubbed Kovas Palubinskas, Chris Korn and I "The Three Musketeers".  That means you are now only to refer to Kovas as "Athos", Chris as "Pothos" and me as "Aramis".  I'm dead serious about this.

Though The Three Muskateers has by now been made into countless bad movies, the original novel was written by the French writer Alexandre Dumas around 1844.

A brief plot summary:

The poor d'Artagnan travels to Paris to join the Musketeers. He suffers misadventure and is challenged to a duel by each of three musketeers (Athos, Aramis and Porthos). Attacked by the Cardinal's guards, the four unite and escape.

D'Artagnan and his new love interest, Constance, help the French queen give a particular piece of jewelery to her paramour, the Duke of Buckingham. The Cardinal learns of this and coaxes the French king to hold a ball where the queen must wear the jewelery; its absence will reveal her infidelity. The four companions retrieve the jewelery from England.

The Cardinal kidnaps Constance who is later rescued by the queen. D'Artagnan meets Milady de Winter and discovers she is a felon, the ex-wife of Athos and the widow of Count de Winter. The Cardinal recruits Milady to kill Buckingham, also granting her a hand-written pardon for the future killing of d'Artagnan. Athos learns of this, takes the pardon but is unable to warn Buckingham. He sends word to Lord de Winter that Milady is arriving; Lord de Winter arrests her on suspicion of killing Count de Winter, his brother.

She seduces her guard and escapes to the monastery in France where the queen secreted Constance. Milady kills Constance. The four companions arrive and Athos identifies her as a multiple murderess. She is tried and beheaded.

On the road, d'Artagnan is arrested. Taken before the Cardinal, d'Artagnan relates recent events and reveals the Cardinal's pardon. Impressed, the Cardinal offers him a blank musketeer officer's commission. D'Artagnan's friends refuse the commission, each retiring to a new life, telling him to take it himself, and so he takes it and later on he becomes a well known lieutenant.

So three were actually four.  Who wants to be d'Artagnan?

Anyway, our first adventure as a newly minted clan will be the Skyline to Sea Marathon and Ultra Marathon.  Athos and I are doing the Marathon; Pothos is doing the Ultra.  Also Kate has signed up along with Jill from Run With Jill.  There may be others, but you need to ask Athos who they are because he has become the de facto event coordinator.  In fact, I borrowed the gold I needed from him to sign up, as I am currently in the Nether Regions slaying dragons.

Regardless, our crew will be sponsored by Endurance Athlete Project.  EAP is a start-up, so funds are tight.  But the following sweet race kit is being made as we speak:

Come join us...

The Triathlete Grows Up

More Night Maneuvers

I was emailing back and forth with Kovas on Saturday.  In addition to him turning me on to a great Beatles documentary on the History Channel (which led me to watch the Woodstock documentary that came on next which then led me to listen to nothing but Sly and the Family Stone for the rest of the weekend), he made a comment that, based on my Facebook feed, he had noticed that I hadn't cut my training back as I had originally planned.

I (of course) got immediately defensive.  But I knew he was right.  My volume hasn't decreased that much over the last month.  I'm only going to be a tad short of 40 hours for November, which has less to do with cutting back and more to do with taking time off while sick.

The truth is, I don't know how to take time off.  I have a vague idea that any good training regimen calls for athletes to take it easy for a month at the end of the season.  But I don't know the definition of "taking it easy". 

So I did some research.  And while opinions vary, the common recommendation is to stay active, but decrease volume, lose the heart rate monitor and work in some activities like hiking or mountain biking.  This way, you can preserve an aerobic base, but give your body and mind a much needed rest.

Of course, these recommendations are given with the assumption that an athlete has come off a season's worth of structured training.  But thus far in my career,  I've done little structured training.  My training has consisted of swimming, biking and running purely for the joy of it.  Sure, I reduce my volume every 4th week and occasionally run or bike up a hill twice.  I also modified my swimming workouts a few months ago to be more drill focused.  But I've never lived and died by a strict daily training plan.

So far it's worked out OK.  I've always managed to dig a little deeper when it's mattered and go longer or pull out a better split time.  But between Kovas' comment and poking around on the web this weekend, I'm starting to look at training differently.

In all honesty, a structured training plan scares me a bit.  Because the thing about I most like about endurance sports is the freedom.  And though I am careful to make sure I train in reasonable ratios amongst the 3 disciplines, I rarely take it further than what I mentioned above.  Academically, I understand how a structured plan would be beneficial.  In fact, it may be just what I need considering the concerns I had in a post last week about fitness gains in 2011.  But at the same time I am afraid of being beholden to a plan and having some of the joy sucked out in the process.  I don't want the party to end.

It's not the volume of training or the types of training I'll need to do.  Time can be manufactured and I am not afraid of pain.  It's the added layer of responsibility of having to do certain things at certain times that gives me pause.  I'm married, have a 5 year old son, dogs, a mortgage, two car payments and a job - Isn't that enough responsibility?  Apparently not.

I think I know what I need to do, and that's to try a structured training plan.  I'm going to need to be stronger for the Hawaii 70.3 anyway.  I was watching some video of the bike course. Between the long climb to Hawi and the wind it's going to require a level of riding I still need to get to if I want to race strong.  And of course I'd love to go faster, who wouldn't?

Perhaps this is me maturing as an athlete.  Yeah, OK, I had fun for two years doing whatever I wanted training wise.  But I probably owe it to myself to step up my game a little bit and really see what I'm made out of.  And if that means adding "structured training" to my list of responsibilities after my job, so be it.

So suck it up, buttercup.  But I do need to get that rest in first.

Good Luck To Some Pals

A couple good friends of The Road are racing this weekend so I just wanted to wish them luck.

First up is Kovas Palubinskas from Midwest Multisport Life.  He is doing the Red Bull Trail Daze in Willow Springs, IL.

Regular readers of his blog have probably noticed that Kovas has picked up quite a passion for trail running.  And though he's never out and out said it to me, I'd guess it's his main focus at the moment.  So it's cool that what looks to be like a great event is so close to home.  The million dollar question is did he pick the "Hard but Short" route, the "Medium but Tricky" route, or the "Easy but Long" route?  That answer and so much more will be revealed by Monday on his blog.

Run strong, Kovas...

Second up is Big Clyde from the Clydesdale Project.  Clyde and his 11 year old son Samson are doing the 40 mile route of the Tour de Tucson cycling race in Tucson AZ.  Apparently there is a guy named Crazy Jim on their team too.  If I lived in Arizona I'd want to be right there with them because this sounds like a cool race.

BC and Samson have been training hard so I am expecting a strong effort.  When I was a kid, I liked my sports hero's in pairs like Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann or Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.  These days it's pairs like Mark Cavendish and Mark Renshaw or Samson and Big Clyde.

BC, I hope you guys have a good race both as cycling enthusiasts and father and son.  Allez!!

DIY Half Marathon

How do you put on an event like a half marathon?

This is mostly a rhetorical question, I suppose.  I know it involves permits and coordination with the city, police and fire departments and any other number of municipal offices.  Liability insurance would have to be secured.  Vendors for services like chip timing, photography and start/finish line infrastructure would have to be hired.  You can't have a race without entrants, so there is plenty of marketing that would need to be done.  A service like Active.com would have to be brought on for registration processing.

At some point there is bound to be a problem with the permit application and your dreams of being a race director will slide perspicuously close to the edge of a chasm.  In fact, this will probably happen a few times throughout the process.

Then there is the money.  And you'll need a lot of it before you sign up your first runner.  You can spend your own, but like my Daddy always said - "Why spend your own in business when you can spend someone else's?"  Finding sponsors is an obvious solution - but where do you fit this in?  You've got a classic "chicken or the egg situation", where you'll need the money before you actually have a race but it's going to be tough to get the money without a race.  Think the studio tapes/record company scene from Boogie Nights.

And then finally, you need to find an army of volunteers to make everything from aid stations to course marshaling happen.  I'm certain I am forgetting a lot as well.

Sounds like a lot of work, huh?

San Gabriel River

Well, that's unfortunate because I may have stumbled upon the perfect half marathon course.  For conversational purposes, I'm calling in the "River To River Half Marathon".  Theoretically, the race starts in a marina/hotel complex just north of the San Gabriel River Jetty, crosses into Seal Beach and follows Ocean Avenue through town.  It then turns east onto Seal Beach Blvd and then south onto Pacific Coast Highway where it crosses the Anaheim Bay Bridge.  From there the course cuts south into the exclusive seaside neighborhood of Sunset Beach.  At about the 5 mile mark, the course crosses into Huntington Beach, merges onto the multi-use path, and ends 8 odd miles later feet from the banks of the Santa Ana River.

Santa Ana River

It's not like I'm the first one to discover this route.  I can think of 4 races that use the Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, with the Surf City Marathon being the most notable.  But to me, there is something cool about running from river estuary to river estuary where the distance just happens to 13.1 miles.  There is a certain natural order of things feeling about it that appeals to me.

Of course, there would be a much simpler and DIY way to do this - just get 10 or 15 or 20 or more people together on a Sunday morning and just run it.  Permits?  Who needs permits?  All we'd need is someone to start a stopwatch and record times at the finish line plus a few more people with water, gels and whatever else along the route.   After all, we are just a group of friends out for a run.  And maybe the next year it's just a bigger group of friends.

As to an entry fee - How about everyone brings a bundle of firewood and a full cooler for a post race beach barbecue?

Think about it, this would be fun.  I hereby nominate Kovas and Chris K to the planning committee, they need something positive to work on together after all that Ipad business.  Do I hear a second?

K-Venom Giveaway

I'm not sure that many of you know this yet, but Kovas Palubinskas over at Midwest MultiSport Life is about to launch a new performance drink called K-Venom.

K-Venom is the only performance drink on the market that is made with a proprietary blend of Kovas's own sweat and genuine Gaboon Viper venom.  K-Venom contains no artificial flavors or colors.  Best of all, K-Venom has no high fructose corn syrup and only 25 calories per 8 ounces.

A few days ago when I asked Kovas what set K-Venom apart from the other performance drinks on the market, the usual jovial Kovas suddenly became oddly cold and distant.  "5 Words." He said.  "My sweat.  And Viper venom."

I got to try it out today.  K-Venom's self described "intake parameters" are simple - 1.  Slam 16 ounces of K-Venom.  2.  Hold on for the ride of your life.

I slammed 16 ounces of a yet to be named lemon/lime flavor.   It was entirely drinkable, but had a little bit of an odd aftertaste.  I'm guessing that was the Viper venom.

After I burped, I set out on an 8 mile run.  For the first 10 minutes, I felt unusually good.  But I wasn't sure if this was the K-Venom or that I was just fresh since I hadn't run in a few days.  However, by mile two I started to feel a warm tingle from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.  The tingle continued to intensify for the next two miles.  I usually don't like "rushy" type drinks, but K-Venom was different.  It wasn't a "jittery" tingle.  The only way I can think to describe the feeling is by saying I felt extremely strong, extremely confident and unstoppable.

By the time I got to the turn-around point at mile 4, the K-Venom had completely kicked in.  I don't remember much about the last 4 miles, but according to my Garmin I ran those 4 miles in under 16 minutes.  That's pretty fast for me, so I was pretty pleased with the time.  Also, the police where just here looking for a guy in a black tech tee and CEP compression socks.  This guy apparently had destroyed three lifeguard towers while running at a blistering pace down the middle of the beach.  I told them it wasn't me.  Like I said, I don't remember much about the second half of the run, but I do know I suck at running in the sand.

Other than some unexplained gashes on my shins, I didn't feel any side effects after finishing the run.

K-Venom will not officially be available until 2011.  That said, it's already been banned in 30 states, so it might be a little hard to come by at your local multi-sport store.  But Kovas has been awesome enough to give me the opportunity to give one lucky blog reader a LIFETIME SUPPLY of this extremely potent drink.  To enter, all you need to do is:

1)  Follow my blog (mandatory).
2)  Follow me on Twitter @17281posse (mandatory).
3)  Follow Kovas here. (mandatory)
4)  Leave a comment on this post as to why you feel K-Venom will improve your performance (mandatory).
5)  Send me a short video of you pretending to be a Viper (mandatory).

Good luck.  But then again, be careful what you wish for.

Meet Chris K or Die

Yesterday, Chris K over at BQ or Die formally confirmed his intention to participate in next February's Surf City Marathon by announcing that he had, in fact, registered that very day.  For those in the "know" (e.g. all of us), we've been expecting this announcement.  However, his journey towards Surf City was anything but sunshine and ponies.  The summer held some dark days where Chris was only able to aqua-jog due to injury, and even darker days when he couldn't even do that because some kid popped a turd in the pool.  What up, little man?  Don't you know Chris has a date with destiny on Boylston Street?

But Chris is back.  The Newtons are laced up and he is back on the road in preparation for a Boston Marathon qualifying time.  Word has it he's on an 18 week marathon training program.  Word has it he is feeling motivated.  As such, I have no doubt that the Superbowl will be as interesting as a late night repeat of Sports Center after his race goes down the way I expect it to.

Being inspired by the Inspired, I just registered for the 1/2 marathon.  To be honest, I was going to do it anyway, but the date and time of said registration is all down to Chris.  So a message to Chris:  I don't know when, where, or how, but you and I will be getting our high fives on at some point on February 6th.

Kovas, the pressure is on, buddy.  Never mind that I blew off the trip to Chicago, take the high road on this one.  Rumor has it Glenn is running too.

Ode To Duran Duran

from     Patrick Mahoney reply-to     Patrick Mahoney to Kovas Palubinskas date Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 10:32 AM subject Blog Post mailed-by gmail.com no one got the patrick nagel joke. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ from Kovas Palubinskas  to Patrick Mahoney date Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 10:34 AM subject RE:  Blog Post mailed-by yahoo.com That's because Nagel is an artist and not a joke. You might lose some followers on this, unless you quickly follow up with a Duran Duran ode. Just a suggestion. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ from Patrick Mahoney  reply-to Patrick Mahoney to Kovas Palubinskas date Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 10:38 AM subject RE:RE: Blog Post mailed-by gmail.com noted

When someone asks how I got interested in the music business, I usually tell them that when I first saw the Duran Duran "Rio" video on MTV, I asked my mom how much she think it cost to make.  Thus began a lifelong quest to balance art and commerce.  Though this story is more anecdotal than factual, there is no doubt I noticed the difference between a Duran Duran video shot with 35 millimeter film in some exotic location and the typical cheap looking "band performs in front of a tinfoil covered backdrop as a unicorn runs by in the background and/or a vase with a single rose falls to the floor and smashes apart in slow motion" video fare of the day.

The music was also good.  Early Duran Duran was a mixture of Chic or Sly and the Family Stone and the Sex Pistols.  "Duran Duran", "Rio" and "Seven And The Ragged Tiger" are brilliant albums.  Even when I got into punk rock and was thus compelled to pare down my "commercial rock" record collection, Duran Duran stayed, along with AC/DC, Aerosmith and the Who.  But just to set the record straight, I NEVER dressed like a New Romantic.

The band made a few crappy albums in the late '80's, but the 1993 "Wedding Album" was great.  Since then, their recorded output has been only so-so, but I always check it out.  They've earned that status with me.

In 1994 or so, a friend of mine (also a Duran Duran fan) and I got our first America Online accounts.  One day we had the fantastic idea to create fake user names and pretend we where members of Duran Duran.  He was NRhodesDD and I was SLebon26.  We would spend hours sitting a chat room we called DuranLink in an attempt to try and convince anyone who dropped in that we where really Nick and Simon.  We would claim that though we would much prefer to be sitting in a private jet on the way to Belize with 10 cases of Perrier-Jouet and a kilo of blow, our record label was forcing us to use AOL to connect with our fans.  In those days, you could get away with almost anything online, and I'm pretty sure we had a lot of people fooled.  Creepy?  Yes.  Ahead of it's time in terms of a marketing medium (despite the fact it was a total sham)?  Also yes.

I had a run in with greatness once, in 2006.  I was browsing the best sellers table at a bookstore in London Heathrow and picked up a copy of the Kite Runner.  The guy next to me also picked up a copy.  Being that one of those awkward "oh we're both going to read the same book" moments just happened, I glanced to my left to get a better look at my opposite in the awkwardness.  It was Simon Lebon.  We chatted for a minute, no doubt making small talk about grabbing the same book.  I for sure didn't bring up AOL.  But like that he was gone and in line at the cash register.

I've only seen Duran Duran once.  It was the original line-up reunion tour from a couple years ago and MAGIC, a big trade show that takes place in Las Vegas, paid them huge bucks to play the opening party.  So it was an hour of all hits.  I must admit, they where awesome.  I may have even danced.

Oh, and if you spent the '80's under a rock or where not born yet, you may not know who Patrick Nagel is.  But I'm sure you've seen his work...

What's in your closet?

How do you raise the blogging bar?  One theory is to join forces with another writer and hope that the combined output is more dazzling than either could do on their own.  Ah, but an ironic twist this is.  Most endurance sports are individual pursuits - a single athlete versus other athletes or the clock.  But Kovas from Midwest Multi-Sport Life and I have no problem bucking the system.  Are we early adopters of a new trend in blogging?  Or do we just want to be the blogging world's version of Hall & Oats?  Only time will tell.

Today we compare/contrast our equipment and how it is stored. 

Kovas = regular font

Patrick = bold italic font

Some people have a gear closet, others a gear room. Patrick and I suspect that Jeff has a climate-controlled vault with a secret lab for nutrition research. I have space down in the basement, sharing the area with children’s toys and boxes of varying shapes and sizes. Some might call it a Pain Cave; to me, it’s The Corner.

As you can see, it straddles a not very fine line between organization and complete chaos.

I haven't named my area, but it's the front right quarter of my garage.  Save for clothing, most of my stuff (at least theoretically) goes here, and shares the space with tools, a workbench and and a few restoration projects that have not been touched since I've started triathlon. 
 

My bike is a Look 555, with Campagnolo, Bontrager, and 3t components. It is way more bike than I deserve, but as I ride and get stronger, I hope the cycling gods are at least chuckling a little less. My favorite riding gear is my Garneau bib, Bigfoot Triathlon full-zip jersey, and my Sidi shoes. 

In the foreground you can see my Cycle-Ops trainer and riser block, for riding inside. My other bike is a Fisher Rig 29er, one speed to help teach me not to pedal squares. In the future, when I compete in offroad triathlons, this will be the bike!

My bikes (a Specialized Transition TT bike and a Bianchi Mono-Q road bike) take center stage in this little world.  In fact the bikes are the only gear that consistently ends up back in the same place every time.  You can't see it in this picture, but there are various piles of supporting gear strewn around.

If you look close enough, you can see various other bikes in the background: a couple of beach cruisers, Ian's Specialized Jr. BMX bike, and Mary's mountain bike. 

Why is my Xterra Vortex3 inside out? That’s how it came home from the Bigfoot Triathlon and I really like the blue color, so inside out it has remained. If I ever actually swim again, I can’t imagine I’d find a better wetsuit for the price.

Don’t know why the Xterra logo is upside down.

Why is my 2XU SC:2 sleeveless wetsuit inside out?  Because I just finished rinsing it off from this weekend's open water swim.  In all honesty, I HATE rinsing my suit.  It's one of those things - despite the fact that it only takes 5 minutes, it feels like it takes hours and I'm loathe to do it.  The suit is hanging next to a Zinfandel vine that I've had for 5 years that has never borne any fruit.  In fact, this year the vine barely has any leaves.

One of these things is not like the others… I’ve been partial to this line of Nikes recently and I rotate between the Lunartrainers and the two pairs of Lunarglides. Recently, Somnio sent me a pair of Westridge trail shoes to test out and so far they are really great. This is really an embarrassment of riches really, who needs 4 pairs of running shoes?

This high-tech storage system was custom-designed by me, but I believe patio furniture stores sell something very similar. 

As far as running shoes go, I am a Newton man (right).  It makes buying new shoes really easy, I just go get the exact same pair.  There is not any other gear that I use that I am this TOTALLY loyal too, preferring to experiment with new things as I replace them.  That said, I currently wear New Balance 875's (left) on the trails and Zoot 2.0 racing flats (center) when it's go time.

 

In the corner reside the hats and some minor swag picked up recently. As the years go by, there will be more. Oh yes, there will be more.

I don't have a hat/swag section.  Consider those items part of the "supporting gear" that currently lives in various piles.  However, this would be a good time to point out that the laundry service in my house is super-efficient.  Currently drying on the rolling rack is a pair of Louis Garneau bib shorts, the black version of a "Runners High" tech tee (best. tee. ever.), a Tyr one piece tri-suit and a San Diego Triathlon Series cycling jersey.

The remainder of my gear resides in this dresser, organized VERY neatly (some might claim anally): socks and small stuff up top, swim stuff top drawer, bike stuff center drawer, and running at the bottom. Nothing hierarchical about it and I just realized it’s the typical order of a triathlon. There are NO coincidences!

(Sleek and modern, a most useful hand-me-down.)

Storage for the various pairs of shorts, tees, compression clothing, socks, arm warmers and whatever else I have is in an unremarkable drawer in the closet of the bedroom.  Lately I have been obsessed with Capo crew length cycling socks, with the pair below being my current favorite.  I wear them when I ride, but then I keep them on all day.  I like to think that rolling around town with shaved legs in a pair of duo-toned cycling socks gives me a certain "don't-mess-with-me-unless-you-want-a-metric-wrench-to-the-side-of-your head" look.  That's right, I'm an American and I just used the word "metric".

Kovas, is this where I am supposed to ask everybody where they store their stuff?  We never discussed this part...