Simple Math

Getting to here at some point late tomorrow morning for coffee and bagels means.....



Climbing Newport Coast...



Then climbing through Shady Canyon...



Then climbing up and around Starwood Drive in Turtle Rock...



Then descending down through Laguna Canyon...



Then riding south on Pacific Coast Highway for awhile...



Until we pass through Newport Beach back into Huntington.



I'm really looking forward to the ride...just one more sleep.

Last Week's Training - A Review

 It's was a long week...

I'm not sure I've ever done a post like this.  Since we announced Endurance Athlete Project last week, I was thinking today I should spend more time thinking about the source of it all.  After all, I got hooked on training well before I ever put on a timing chip, and certainly well before I even had a serious thought about fully embracing the endurance sports lifestyle.

It's important that you never forget where you came from.  I've been guilty of that more than once in my life, and though I managed to keep a facade up for awhile, at some point things fell flat fast.  Stay grounded, and enjoy life as it should be enjoyed - including where you came from and where you hope to go.  For me, this makes things so much better.

So here's what I did this week:


Sunday, July 11 - Bike - 24.36 miles/1:25

You've got to love weekend beach traffic.  Actually you don't, because it's annoying.  Yet I endure it anyway, paying hyper attention to my surroundings.  Because it can be really tricky out on the road (inclusive of the large number of jacked up trucks and bad air quality).    I rode down to Laguna Beach to check out the Bianchi frameset.  I was either going to buy the frame, leave my old road bike there to transfer all the components over, and then get a ride home, or not buy it and ride home.  I bought it.  When I got home I headed over to the gym for 45 minutes of strength training.

Monday, July 12 - Run - 6.2 miles/00:51:22, Swim w/ Coach - 1150 yards/1:00


The run was decent.  I did a 6.2 in San Diego a few weeks ago a few seconds over 50 minutes.  I'd like to get this down to at least sub 48 minutes in competition by Thanksgiving for the Dana Point Turkey Trot.

I enjoy my coached swimming sessions, but I loved this one because my coach is the one who I bought the bike off. So he brought it with him to my pool so I could take possession.  Nice.  As far as the swim session goes, I guess it's working.  My problem is that I can pull a 1:10 50 yard set during training, but the extra amount of energy it takes me to achieve that 50 second deficit is ridiculous and simply not sustainable.  And currently the speed v energy expended ratio is not much better at 1:30 or 1:40 either.

Tuesday, July 13 - Bike - 24.61 miles/1:24

The debut ride of the Bianchi.  Not my hardest ride ever, I stopped a bunch of times to dial in some adjustments.  Still, it's clear I need to get a fitting.  The difference between a Sunday and a Tuesday in terms of traffic is like Midtown Manhattan at 5:00 PM on a weekday and the most remote stretch of I-80 in Wyoming.

Wednesday, July 14 - Bike - 20:84 miles/1:08, Run -  4.75 miles/00:39:05

I didn't want the TT bike to feel jealous, so she's the one that went out today.  Decent ride, though a little windy.  I was hoping to do a brick, but as I pulled my bike into the driveway disaster came in the form of an email pinging into my Iphone.  I ended up running in the early evening.

Thursday, July 15 - Swim - 1936 yards/00:45:00

Thursday is usually the "rest day" of the week, though I suppose the proper term is "active recovery".  Conditions at Corona Del Mar where perfect - warm, sunny, and calm surf.  The conditions of my stroke still need improvement.  The water seemed clearer than usual, I could see maybe 15 feet underwater.  That said, I quickly decided that I'd rather have zero visibility or be swimming in Hawaii - the "middle" visibility situation was a bit unnerving.


Friday, July 16 - Run - 7.45 miles/1:03

Yep, this is the run where I complained about 82 degree heat on my post for the day.  And, as expected I caught a bit of flack for it.  It's time to HTFU I suppose.

Saturday, July 17 - Bike - 30 miles/1:40

I was supposed to swim and run yesterday, but the Toyota dealer called late Friday and wanted to buy back our Highlander.  I'm naturally dubious about almost everything, but Mary wanted to check it out.  In the end, the deal they offered us was good, though I am still compulsively reviewing both the numbers and KBB trying to figure out where we got screwed.  And we still had to go through hours of torture sitting in the dealership.  But I still got in a good ride which I talked about in yesterday's post.

 Hope everyone has a good week....

Dear Google...

 

Dear Google,

How's it going?  It's Patrick Mahoney here.  I'm a 40 year old male.  I live in Huntington Beach, CA.  I use Mac OS-X, version 10.5.8.  I mostly use Firefox to browse the web, but have been known to fire up Opera when I'm feeling a bit crazy.  The sites I visit the most are beginnertriathlete.com, ampmerch.com, and bbc.co.uk.

But you already know this.

You also know know that I use many of your products, including Blogger, Google Analytics, and GMail.  I am a publisher with Google AdSense, and you currently owe me $2.18.

I've always been uncomfortable with you knowing so much.  But I'm not interested in living in a bubble, so I use your services.  Since you know so much about me, I'm sure you already know how I feel about Microsoft.  But all that does is make you the least worst.

I watched with some interest when you starting catching flack for invasion of privacy after launching Google Maps, especially with the street view feature.  Whether they where true or just urban legends, I thought the stories of people being caught by your image capturing vans in compromising situations where darkly humorous.  I was in London when a story broke about how your satellites discovered the word "cock" laid out in bricks on the roof of a Surrey school, left years ago by students long gone.  The Brits have a knack for making the most of an oddball news story, so I got a chuckle when I read the newspaper that day.  However, as innocuous or immaterial these stories where, the undertone of Google as "big brother" was a little scary.  But it didn't directly affect me, so I didn't worry too much.

Maybe I should have.  Because recently I found this:

  

Figure "A"

 

Figure "B"

Figure "A" is a shot of Corona Del Mar Beach in Newport, CA.  Please note the jetty on the right side of the picture.  The jetty offers a fair bit of protection to the beach.  Thus the waves are typically small which makes this beach a favorite spot for open water swimming.  You'll also note that I have boxed out an area of the photograph and designated it as the "Area Of Detail".

Figure "B" is the Area Of Detail.  You will notice two things. First, there are two swimmers heading in to shore.  Both swimmers are leaving a fair amount of wake, suggesting strong forward motion.  Their position relative to the buoy (the white dot roughly in the center of the photograph) shows that a well executed turn towards shore had just been made.  I have marked these swimmers as "My Companions".

Secondly, there is another swimmer to the right of the buoy.  This swimmer is making no wake, suggesting little or no forward motion.  The swimmer's angle relative to the buoy is roughly 10 degrees to the left of the ideal line.  In fact it's not clear exactly what direction this swimmer is headed.  I have marked this swimmer as "Me".

I realize that your first question will be how I am so sure that you have captured me in your satellite imagery.  My answer is as follows:

1.  I swim at Corona Del Mar all the time.

2.  I frequently swim with two other people.

3.  My two companions are equally matched swimmers.  Both are much faster than I am.

4.  I can't swim in a straight line.

Though I admit that the above is not irrefutable proof, the circumstantial evidence is strong enough for me to make this conclusion.  I know most of the people who swim here and each and every one of them are capable of both creating wake and swimming straight.  I am using simple logic - when you are able to eliminate all other possibilities, those that remain are the answers.

What does this mean for me?  There is now visual proof on the web that I am a terrible swimmer.  No longer will I be able to talk smack or put on my game face before the start of a triathlon.  Because anyone with Internet access can now plainly see that I have no game.

Thanks Google, and good looking out.  I hope the winds change in Washington, someone gets a stick up their butt about you guys, and the Department of Justice goes all antitrust on your ass.

Warmest Regards,

Patrick Mahoney

Snakes On A Trail

Besides being a Jedi Knight, Samuel L Jackson has something else on me. There is no way that if I was on a plane full of snakes I would have the courage (under extreme duress) to yell "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherf**king snakes on this motherf**king plane!" Me? I'd be hiding in the galley, curled up in the fetal position and drooling.

I'm deathly afraid of snakes. So having the displeasure of running into 3 of them in the last month while running in Bolsa Chica has been quite the bum out.


Snake sighting 1 was about a month ago. I was running along the trail, came around a little bend, and there it was. The snake was slithering off the trail, no doubt due to my foot falls. But it wasn't moving fast enough. If I didn't know any better I would swear it was defying me and daring me to take a step closer. I couldn't of course, because I was standing ramrod straight frozen in fear. I'm pretty sure this one was a gopher snake. But a snake is a snake. I was not stoked.

Gopher Snake

Snake sighting 2 happened about 2 weeks ago while crossing a drainage culvert. It was coiled up about 15 feet to my right warming itself on the concrete. I have no doubt this was a rattle snake. Again I was freaked out but kept running - much faster. And every stick I encountered for the rest of my run was a potential threat.

Western Rattlesnake

Snake sighting 3, which was last Sunday, was perhaps the worst. I was just about to turn off the trail and back onto a street. So my guard was down. I didn't see it until it was shooting off into the brush. I only saw it for a second, so I don't have any idea what kind it was. But just a glimpse of the snake was all it took for me to do the "stupid dance" for at least a minute. If you saw my heart rate data from that day, you'd see exactly where I saw it - at 4.6 miles.

You'll note that I've deemed certain places as "forbidden zones" and "areas of a high level of acceptable wildlife". The forbidden zones I will not even enter - because I've heard stories. The areas of a high level of acceptable wildlife are fine. But in the end, so what? Does a high population of rabbits and other rodents keep the snakes away? I doubt it. It's probably worse.

There is plenty of trail currently rated "safe" left, at least for now. But unfortunately they are covered in gravel. I've been trying to use the trail runs to work into my Vibram 5 Fingers. But running on the gravel hurts - a lot.

So either I have to get over the fear or hang up the trails until winter. Neither option is appealing - how would one go about "getting over" a fear of snakes, anyway? I have no idea. But I doubt you just hit a switch. And staying away until winter? Nah, I'd rather not. Dilemma.

Tonight was the weekly swim down at Corona Del Mar. Everything was going great until somebody saw a huge jelly fish. There is only one thing worse than jelly fish - snakes.

Someone take my Iphone away, these self portraits are getting annoying. Just after the swim. I didn't see a jelly fish - this time.

Corona Del Mar

Here's a view of the beach from the bluff. The jetty to the right is part of the entrance to Newport Harbor. My guess is that the jetties have something to do with keeping the waves down. It's $8 to park below. It's not worth it, especially this time of year. There is plenty of parking on the streets behind me.

When I was younger and living back east, "Southern California" meant Los Angeles and specifically Hollywood. That is where I would go when I came to California. I think it was John Taylor from Duran Duran who once jokingly remarked that it took him 2 or 3 visits to LA to find out what lay beyond Sunset Strip between the Hyatt Hotel and The Whiskey Club. I know the feeling, on my first trip here I stayed at the Hyatt and hung out at the Whiskey. I couldn't give a crap about the beaches to the west or the mountains to the east. I was more interested in running into one of the dudes in Motley Crue. Well, maybe not Motley Crue, but I definitely wasn't giving the beach much consideration.

I'm pretty sure John Taylor spends most of his time in Ibiza now. And even though I live nearby, I don't get up to Hollywood too often. Maybe once a month and always for business. I guess the allure of Hollywood has worn out for the both of us.

I spend most of my time in Orange County. You can say what you want about "The OC", and I probably wouldn't argue your points. But we have a good life here. We have our spots and our activities. For the most part, we are able to avoid what you see on the reality shows.

And the training opportunities here are awesome. I've talked about running in Bolsa Chica. I've talked about biking on Pacific Coast Highway and through Santiago Canyon. And now I am all about open water swimming at Corona Del Mar.

Here's a shot from the beach back up the bluff to the neighborhood. Yep, this is typical a California view. And I'm sure there is a hot housewife in a Juicy Couture sweatsuit driving a white Mercedes close by. I guess I just don't see it anymore.

Corona Del Mar is a coastal enclave of Newport Beach. Like most beach communities in the area, CDM is a network of narrow streets and a mixture of new construction and older cottages. I've never quite figured out why people tear down the cottages to build the stucco tri-level houses, but the do. It's expensive of course, but it doesn't feel as stuffy as similar neighborhoods in the area.

The beach is the local go-to place for open water swimming. It's relatively calm, which is funny, because one of the best surf spots around is less than a mile to the north. And there is a network of buoys in place. The 5 buoys are laid out in an "L" shape. As I understand it, it's 200 yards out and then 300 yards south parallel to the shore. Or something close to that. The typical swim is usually out, and then back and forth along the shore until you are ready to come back in the way you swam out.

I know they are hard to see in the photo, but if you look closely, there a 4 white buoys visible. I'm not sure where the fifth one is, I guess out of frame to the left. Note the wimpy waves. Don't worry, within a mile you can typically find chest to head high surf on a pretty consistent basis.

I started coming here about a month ago after it became clear that my pool swims had no chance of translating into anything close to a meaningful race swim. I am always the slowest one, but this is where I have learned to at least get the job done.

I have not been back to the pool since.

And though there is no denying I wish I was a little more speedy, it doesn't really matter that much. Because being out in the open water is thrilling. You just find a rhythm and....go.

That's what I like about swimming, biking and running. The rhythm. The races may have a more urgent undertone, but it's all about a groove and syncopation. I love it. Perhaps it's the musician in me. When I was a kid and played football, I hated practice. Not anymore. It's all rolled into one. No more finish lines.

So as I have ended all my training/travelogue posts, if you are ever in the area and want to go for a swim, hit me up.