I made a personal goal to take as many pictures I could this season for the team.  So far, I have taken more than 2000 pictures which I have placed on my photo gallery.  But throughout the season I wanted to add more by taking video, so I finally purchased an inexpensive Flip Mino camcorder.  This little device stores up to an hour of video and plugs right into a PC or Mac to allow downloading the video and performing some basic editing functions.  It also allows for easy uploading to YouTube, so I played a bit around with the cam during yesterday’s training ride. It was a wet day and at one point we had a string of flat tires but the team was bright and chipper so early in the morning.  Video is a bit shaky, but it having fun with it regardless!  Take a look:

The ride today was a 40 mile inland loop.  As Coach Trent is focusing on brick workouts, we also had a 6+ mile run to do after the ride. The key is to train the body to do a long run after a long bike.

The course started at the east end of Los Pensaquitos Canyon, and we rode inland to Pomerado, then north to Rancho Bernardo. Then a cruise through Fairbanks Ranch, and back to Los Pensaquitos by taking the 56 bike path.  A fun route with some rolling hills.  

It was drizzling at the meet-up point.  We debated if it was going to burn off or get worse, but Trent decided that we will go ahead with the ride.  The roads were somewhat slick with a light misting so we had to be extra careful and avoid the paint whenever possible.  At the second stop light, I ended up with a slow-motion-can’t-unclip-fast-enough fall because my chain came off the sprocket.   Not a great way to start the ride, but it was the first time that I had fall this season.  Once I got my chain back on and checked over everything, I was back on the ride.

Once we were a little bit in-land, things dried out a bit.  It would have been nice but we managed to get stuck at nearly every stoplight on Pomerado.  Once we crossed back over to the west side of IH-15, we into the drizzle again which stuck with us for the rest of the ride.

After the ride, we hit the trails for a run.  Goal was 60 minutes or more.  Since it was drizzling, it was cool and made for a nice, but somewhat muddy run.  

In all, just over 41 miles with 2500′ of climbing on the bike in 3 hr 9 min and 6.2 miles on the run in 1 hr 10 min.

Bike: Elevation versus Heart Rate

Run: Elevation versus Heart Rate

I was looking forward to spin tonight.  After last week, I felt stronger for the Saturday ride and I wanted to keep building up the strength.  However, spin wasn’t in the cards for me it would seem as I left my bike trainer in my garage.  I don’t know where my mind was, but I did have the luck to pack my helmet so I went for “Plan B”: Mt Soledad repeats

Since we do spin at La Jolla High School, we are just at the bottom of Mt Soledad, which has many nice bike climbs, ranging from a slow climb to a very intense steep ride on Via Capri.  The bonus is the wonderful view of San Diego when you reach the top!

I elected to do two repeats up Mt Soledad by way of Nautilus as this was a mid-week ride and the ride this weekend is going to be brutal. The first climb didn’t seem as difficult as I expected and I didn’t max out my HR on the trip up, which was a good sign for me.  I did get close to max on the second climb, but I was already working hard and was expected.

8.85 miles in total for both climbs, which is comparable to the milage I usually get during spin, and the time for both loops was 50 minutes.  Plus with 1350′ of climbing, it was a good choice for tonight.

As for swim, I didn’t go to because of work.

Here is the summary data and elevation profile from Garmin Connect.

As this is a recovery week, the distances are shorter and the overall intensity is lower.  The course was basically a loop from the coast, inland around Penasquitos canyon and back.  Total distance was just over 26 miles, and climbing was more than 1800′.  Not a terribly difficult ride at this stage in our training program, but it did have moments as we had to go up Sorrento Valley, Black Mountain, and Torrey Pines.  The elevation profile was interesting and I wouldn’t consider this a “flat” ride.

I felt good overall, and even climbed up inside of Torrey Pines and  didn’t come close to max HR like I normally do.  

I am now using Garmin Connect to upload my training profiles, which plots the routes against Google Maps instead of the more basic mapping in Garmin Training Center.  I occasionally used MotionBased.com, but uploading to the site was always hit or miss.  Connect seems more reliable and has less issues uploading data from my Forerunner 305 and Garmin is migrating away from MotionBased anyway.

Ran almost 7 miles along Lake Hodges.  It was a typical warm and sunny San Diego afternoon so I was looking forward to enjoying the quiet but scenic route. Recently the the new pedestrian/bike bridge over the lake was completed, so it is now easy to get to the north shore of the lake from Rancho Bernardo park.  Wanting to check out the bridge, I made my way to Bernardo Summit.

Most of the trails on the south side are wide and mostly dirt, but heading up Bernardo Summit was rocky and narrow.  It was a good climb, and I went up about 600′ up before I hit the halfway point of my run.  Next time I will go longer and head up to the top — if I can find the correct trail. My pace was slow on the way up, 12.5 min/miles, and I am not really fond of hills.  

The way down was much faster, I cruised down at at < 10 min/mile pace, which is great for me.  It might have been a bit too fast as near the bottom, my foot caught a rock and I fell forward.  Nearly a full face plant, but I managed to break my fall with my hands with only a few scrapes.

Coach Trent had a strength spin on tap tonight, which I was ill prepared for.  I was expecting the normal ILTs, cadence, and standing drills.  Instead, we had some large gear drills, some standing, “bursts” and in the middle, we did two rounds with medicine balls, running steps, and then two laps around the track.  Spin was just over 38 minutes and track drills were about 15 minutes.  Tough session.

I neglected to bring my running shoes, so I did the track drills barefoot.  Fortunately, the track was rubberized so my feet didn’t get abused that much.

The strength drills left me wiped out for the swim.  My shoulders were sore and tired from the medicine ball drills and I struggled to get into a groove.  I ended up only doing about 1100 yards before I felt I was close to drowning.

My HR profile for the spin is getting better.  During one of the early bursts, I was able to get up to 160+ rpm and my HR didn’t jump extremely.  However, towards the end of the drills we were doing standing drills while increasing gears and cadence. My HR climbed because I was getting really tired.

Cadence vs HR

The middle of May has been all about work.  Office move at work and training up in Irvine made for very long days. Training took a back seat, but it did give a chance for my body to get some much needed recovery.

Beautiful ride today through the Elfin Forest. 48 Miles in all with 2500′ of climbing, from Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, up to Carlsbad, inland through the Elfin Forest, then back to the coast.  The weather was great overall and the pace was fairly fast.

As Wildflower had passed, the team is refocusing on Vineman and everyone was looking forward to this long ride.  While we have a few months left until the event, it is time to bring up the intensity a bit.

Though we all started the ride together in a large pack, by the time we were to Calsbad, we were in much smaller groups.  I was in a fast-pace group for a while and tried to stick with Emily who ate up the hills like they were candy. Once we hit the Elfin forest, the pace really picked up and I was struggling when we reached Harmony Grove.  By the time we got onto Del Dios, I was left on my own.  

I wasn’t familiar with the route and while on the Elfin Forest, my map blew away, so I was concerned about taking the correct course back to Moonlight Beach.  I knew the way from Del Dios, but we were making a turn to the north to add another 8 miles or so to the ride.  Fortunately, while going down Del Dios, I managed to make up enough distance where I had someone in my sights and was able to follow them the rest of the way back.

Part of my struggles was from nutrition.  I had Clift shotblocks as well as two bottles of Cytomax.  I also stopped at Sag before we entered the Elfin Forest.  But my stomach wasn’t feeling great from so much Cytomax and by the time I made it back to the start, I was fairly nauseous. 

Chasing the group and having an unsettled stomach left me with empty legs when it was time for 30-45 minute run.  I ended up walking with Penny since she was still recovering from her bad crash during the half-ironman in Oceanside this past March.

Wildflower

Wildflower was what this weekend was all about! A weekend of camping, racing and fun. Amazing would sum it up the best!

Wildflower is a camping triathlon and is knicknamed “The Woodstock of triathlons”.  More than 7000 particpants, families, and friends all descend to Lake San Antonio for the Long course triathlon (half-ironman distance), Mountain Bike sprint triathlon, and Olympic triathlon races.

I wasn’t racing in either of the events, but I went up to support my team mates and especially my “mentees” Erin M., Leavy, Tony, and Shae who were all doing their very first olympic distance triathlon. I cheered them on and took hundreds of photos of the races.

Friday

It was fairly long drive from San Diego, taking a little bit more than 5 hours to get to the camp site.  I elected to take the 5 all the way up to Hwy 46, which wasn’t very scenic, but the traffic gods were favouring me as I made it through Los Angeles without any significant delays.

It was raining when I arrived and setting up a tent in the rain isn’t so much fun, but Erin R. gave me a much needed hand and most everything stayed dry.  The mud was another issue all together.  I hung out with the team for a bit, and it was great seeing that our honoured team mate Alfred Duron made it up for the weekend!

Honoured Team mate Alfred Duron

Dinner was at Team In Training’s Inspiration Party, with great food and a wonderful recap of why we are here this weekend — supporting the mission to find a cure and supporting our honored teammates.

After dinner we all shared a few stories while huddled under a canopy safe from a gentle rain.  Eventually we all turned in for the night as the long course team had a very tough day a head of them.

The rain was soothing as it softly hit our tents.  The NYC chaper of TNT was still out and about singing but sleep came quickly anyway.

Saturday

Blissful sleep was rudely interrupted by the large truck that came at 4am to clean out the portable toilets.  Nothing like a loud diesel engine and lots of slamming doors to jar you out of that dream of better things.

Around 5:30 the camp site was stirring as the long course participants began to get ready to head down to the start in a few hours.  We shared a great breakfast with the team and Coach Trent was masterful with the coffee — thick and strong!

The morning air was crisp and cool and the sky was clearing. A welcome relief from the showers of yesterday.

I made my way down to the start with some of the olympic course team mates and began the day of taking pictures for the team.

Marnix on the run!

The transition area was huge and looked like total chaos as athletes racked their bikes and setup their spaces as the race was soon starting.  Coach Trent was out talking with each of the team and making sure they are ready for the full day of racing. With fresh coffee in hand, I made my way down the boat ramp for the race start.

The Pro “Elites” started the first waves. It was amazing to watch them start and see how fast they competed.  Andy Potts was favoured and he had a strong swim, but slipped exiting the water.  Making up time, he eventually took the race in 3:59:41 — under four hours!

Marnix, Tony, Allen, and Brian, Theresa and Vic all put on a great race – 70.3 miles of swimming, biking and running.  They all looked great, though a bit tired!

Congrats Long course finishers!

Another TNT Inspiration dinner and then relaxing around the camp fire.  More stories and celebrations for all the long course finishers.  Coach Sam talked to the olympic team to prepare them for their race on Sunday.

Everyone turned in early again as the morning was going to come fast.

Sunday

Again at 4am the sound of a large diesel engine startled me awake.  Some of the team were up by 5am as nerves started to take over.  Breakfast again with the team and everyone went through their pre-race rituals of eating, stretching, and packing gear while the rest of us enjoyed pancakes and coffee.
The morning was pleasant though it did look as it would be warmer than the day before. It was still a great day to day for a race and it wasn’t as hot as in past years.

After checking and re-checking to make sure they had all their gear (and not forget their bike shoes as Coach Trent infamously did one year), the olympic team left down to the transition area at 7:30am.

I made my way down again and gave lots of encouragement to my nervous mentees.  I knew they were all well trained and they would do great, but having been in their shoes years ago, I know all the crazy thoughts in their heads.  Serious pre-race jitters!

A pleasant surprise was seeing Coach Gurujan participating in the event.  This was his 274th (or so) triathlon! He was my first TNT coach when I trained for and completed the 2004 Los Angeles Olympic distance triathlon.

Coach Gurujan and Diana

The collegiate waves went first, and there was some serious competition in that field. After the collegiate waves, it came time for the TNT waves — there were 260 or so TNT participants from 6 different chapters (including NYC) with athletes participating.  The adrenaline was already flowing and everyone was getting anxious to get started.

The first TNT men’s went first, followed the first TNT women’s wave. With only 5 minutes separating the waves, it was likely that some of the fast women swimmers would overtake the men, so I told Leavy I would give her $50 if she caught Tony in the wave ahead of her.  She gave a valiant effort, but wasn’t able to catch him out of the water.  Leavy still had a great swim! Shae and Erin were in later waves so they still had work at keeping their anxiety under control.

Getting Ready!

So much was happening as waves were coming out of the water while other waves were just starting.  A continuous flow of triathletes swimming and exiting and then transitioning to the bike.  As the collegiate waves went first, they were already finishing their bikes and heading out on the run while some of the later waves were still in the water.

It was tough to watch everyone as they were spread out across many waves and they all had different race paces. I moved to the bike in/out transition to try to get some pictures of the team doing this leg of the race as well as getting photos as they entered the finishing chute from the run.

To top off the race day, the team took a jump in Lake San Antonio. How refreshing!

Go Team!

Congratulations!!

Journey Home

I elected to take the 101 along the coast instead of taking 46 to 5. It was a beautiful drive back, though it did add about an hour extra to my drive.  I have never taken the 101 north of Los Angeles before. The extra hour was well worth it as the scenery was simply lovely!