Fight On! USC Wins National Championship

Congrat's to the USC Men's Water Polo National Championship. The Trojans defeated UCLA 7-4 to win their fourth consecutive championship.

Fight On!

To BK -- Unknown to October 8, 2011

BK--you appeared in our yard in 2003. You were a couple of years old, savvy, street smart, but wary of strangers. You would talk to us, but it was many months or even a year before you would come up and let us pet you. We would put out food for you, and you ate it all. Someone must have been mean to you, as I don't think you were giving us the cold shoulder.

Over time you became a fixture in our yard, front and back. In the early days, you would sneak in through the dog door and lick the butter dish on the kitchen counter. This was clearly a message to put out more food.

You were very tolerant. You would let other cats sneak in and eat your food. You must have trusted that we would always put out more. You even welcomed Lola, our lab, when she appeared in the scene. And in the most recent years you kept the critters away from the bunny hutch. Moose was very thankful.

As you got a little older, I worried that you would get cold at night. I bought you a heater and a little house which you liked--but you liked coming in the warm house in those cold months to curl up on the couch in the living room--you probably used that couch more than anyone. When I would get up early to go run, I would hear and see you scurry outside where you would greet me with a good morning meow and ask me to put out some food.

You brought us a lot of presents over the years as well. I appreciated your ability to eradicate the gophers that invaded our lawn, as well as the occasional bird or mouse carcass left on the front porch. You were a warrior.
I'm really going to miss your daily greetings and watching you lay in the sun with Lola. I liked taking care of you and hope you didn't suffer too much in the last two weeks, and I hope that suffering did not offset an otherwise great life. I'm sorry you got lost. You will always be missed.

PS, say hi in Heaven to Miles, Nevada, Buzz, Toby and Defender for us. We miss them too.

OrangeMan 2011 Race Report

For some crazy reason, I thought this race would be a good idea. It would be my 4th 70.3 of the year, and it was right in our own backyard. The ocean by the Ritz in Dana Point is fantastic, the bike ride up Ortega highway is not something you can do at all unless its closed, and a flat run along the beach sounded like a piece of cake.
Check in was on saturday and you had to sit through a tortuous orientation for almost an hour and then get in line with everyone else for your packet. I got there around 4pm and got to my hotel around 6pm. I was staying 5 minutes from the start, which meant I could get more beauty sleep.
I had my pre race chicken parmigiana and caesar salad combo with my brother in law Tom. I enjoyed a couple of sierra nevadas to get me ready for bed. Hey, it worked at Vineman.
I woke up at 3am to eat about 800 calories and then went back to sleep til 4:30am. I got dressed and was in my car by 4:50 and to the parking lot by 5:00am. It was pretty dark out.
I set up in transition, and took a little nap on the grass and then headed out to the beach at 6:30. I was in the 5th wave at 7:12am 7am start for clydes, elites and relays, then a wave of all women, then 2 waves of men, then my wave. The walk down from transition to the beach start was at least 1/2 a mile. And you had to walk down a pretty steep dirt hill, which we would return to on the run--twice. Run up it once in a wetsuit, run down it twice on the run.
The starting area was pretty high tech for the swim. Some volunteer dragged her foot across the sand, i.e. the proverbial line in the sand. Good for some, bad for others. My wave went off, and I was the 3rd person to the first buoy and then I drafted off a guy in my age group for about 1500m. He then couldn't swim straight so I passed him and cruised in for the last 400m. Swim was pretty flat, as you can see behind me. Only one little breaker to get through of about 1-2 feet. A little kelp. Water was 67 and felt really nice. Swim time was 25:20.
I came out of the water and then trudged up the hill pulling off my wetsuit. I breezed out of T1 and the first thing you do, is climb a steep path through the tunnel and out of the Ritz Cove. T1 was 3:53 (long due the ridiculous run from the ocean).
After climbing out of T1, the bike flattens and then has one steep downhill at mile 2 and then flat for 8 miles until you get to Ortega Highway. On this section there are about 10 miles of rollers and then 10 miles of grade at an average of 4-6%. Overall, there is 3,000 feet of climbing on this ride. The turnaround at Mile 28 leads you into pretty much a fast downhill back to T2 except for that big hill at mile 54. Didn't realize it going down, but coming up the grade was 12-14%. Nice little leg crusher before you hit the run! Great group of spectators on that hill though. Bike time was 3:03:14 which is close to where I thought I would be. Only bad thing about the bike was that the aid stations had gatorade sport bottles, but arrowhead water bottles with no sport tops. I asked for a water got that and it all spilled out in the first half mile. And then I missed gatorade at the last aid station. I rode the last half hour without anything to drink -- bad mistake on my part.
T2 was set up well for the in and the out. 1:28 total. On to the run. Remember I said I signed up thinking it was a flat run like Oceanside? Well, I got that wrong. Run was on a very hilly cement bike path with 2 loops. I felt okay on the run, but when I got to quarter point in the run, I was already at 3.5 miles, and immediately knew the race hadn't been marked correctly. In this day of GPS, how can you make that mistake. When I got the end of the first lap, which is identical to the 2nd lap, I was at 7.2 miles. Son of a beeyatch! Anyway, I trudged through the 2nd lap, and my garmin said 14.3 miles in 2:07:03.
Total time was 5:40:59 for 16th in AG and around 71st overall. Considering the long run, which was confirmed by everyone on the course, my overall time wasn't too bad considering the amount of climbing, both on the bike and on the run.
I would say this race is way harder than Oceanside, harder than Vineman and as hard or harder than Wildflower. I wonder how it compares to the worlds course in Vegas. Believe it or not, I think the Wildflower run is easier. I am pretty positive on the race except for the following:

1) Swim waves need to be farther apar. 3 minutes is not enough. I caught the next wave after the first turn buoy.
2) Real water bottles with sport top openings on the bike course? Did someone procure the wrong item or what?
3) Frigging get out there and properly measure the course, especially for the run. Running an extra 1.2 - 1.3 miles made me go a little mental, as I was assuming my watch was wrong and I was just running slow.
4) We don't need a lecture on the red tide at the orientation.
5) Soda, at least some cola, at the race finish.
6) No beer tent.

I might do this event again, depends on timing of other races. It was the weekend after Nautica and the same weekend as LA Triathlon.

Nautical Malibu international Olympic 2011

The Malibu Olympic is a fun race. I did again this year with by old friend Mike. This was his second time doing the Olympic and only his third triathlon.

We got to the parking lot early--5am. Luckily I pointed out where we parked so we could find our vehicle after the race and look for any equipment we may have discarded or hid during the race (inside joke).

Race was fun. Water was warm. Waves were calm. The bike course was great this year. No big winds either way, and the run is nice and flat. I wanted to go kind of all out as a tempo workout for my taper for OrangeMan the next weekend. My plan went well. PR'd by almost 4 minutes and got onto the podium again this year. Also, had my best 10K run ever. Hey, I only got chicked by two females this year--such an accomplishment :-)

Swim 20:57
T1 2:56
Bike 1:07:07
T2 1:39
Run 43:44
Total 2:16:24

AG place 5th
Overall place 32nd

Vineman 2012 Race Report

Vineman is always one of my favorite races. I hadn't raced it since 2008, so I was glad to be going back. I drove up friday afternoon, getting in around 7pm. I was looking for a little 70.3 redemption after the Mackel debacle and the poor showing at Orlando 70.3. I was going to pass on this race, as I just didn't feel like doing the long drive up and back. However, a few things conspired against my intention to not race--Lynda, Lynda, and a college buddy who I haven't spoken with in 30 years, who called me out of the blue and asked me if I was doing the race. Well, I had to acquiesce. Someone was trying to make me go besides Lynda, and I know Lynda and my friend Nick didn't know each other. I told Lynda I would do the race on one condition: she had to find me a ride to the race start on race morning from my hotel. She happily volunteered Trevor and Nicole, the happy Vineman couple.
On saturday morning, I met up with the PTC group, and we did a little jog around some nearby mall. After that, we headed over to the registration. That evening we got together for a little carbo loading in downtown Santa Rosa. After some chicken parmigiana and a couple of microbrews, I slept great, and was up at 4am. And the Trevor and Nicole team picked me up and took me to the race!
I met up with Nick at transition. He hadn't done a tri in 20+ years. He was in for a treat. He was a swimmer, so he just speedo'd it. He planned on riding a rented bike. At lease he owned his running shoes--at least I think he did. We were in the same age group, so we headed over to the river swim together.
The swim went without a hitch except for the very shallow part at the turn around. Usually, it's not this shallow in the middle, but my fingers were scraping the gravel with each pull. The bike is awesome. Chalk Hill is no biggie. When I started the run, the weather was slightly overcast and in the low 70s. Pretty darn perfect. The run went great. Plan was to negative split it which I did by a few seconds. I finished strong with my best run split since 2008. Overall, a PR for me at this distance by 9 minutes and a Vineman PR for me by about 10 minutes. My bike was pretty solid.

Swim 27:12 (non wetsuit)
T1 3:47
Bike 2:49:01
T2 2:30
Run 1:47:09
5:09:39

AG place 32nd
Overall place 352nd

After the race, the food was great. By the way, the transition areas were much better this year than in the past. The bike in and run out were much simplified.

After the race, I got Lynda to drive me back. Then, we gathered at Nicole and Trevor's estate in Santa Rosa for an awesome catered dinner with some great wine. Thanks Nicole and Trevor for hosting us. That was pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty nice and generous of you.

Mt Baldy Ski Lifts

Brutal ride. The 4 miles from Baldy Village to the lifts is killer. 74 miles, 8,000 feet of climbing.

2011 Orlando 70.3

I was in Orlando 2 years ago for work, and it just so happened there was a race. So, when I knew I had to be out there again, I checked the race day --and low and behold, it worked out perfectly. After recent races, like IM Canada and Oceanside, I wanted a warm and flat race. Orlando fit the bill.

I arrived on thursday night late after spending the day in Wisconsin for other work meetings. I was staying about 20 minutes from the start in Disneyworld. The race takes place in the Disney Wildnerness area. Big lake (82 degrees) and the ride is around the outside of the park, and the run is through the wilderness area (3 loops).

I checked in on friday, and on saturday after waking up with the flu, I took my bike over to check it in. Given that you have to take a bus from the parking lot to the race start, they make you check your bike into transition the day before.

I woke up at 2am (actually just got up, as I never fell asleep) and had my 800 calorie top of meal. Tried to get to sleep but just layed there. Uggggghhh. Watching the hours go by was torture. I hate traveling to the east coast--sleep change is tough. Got up at 4am, had a little coffee and some G2. Went out to my car, and its pouring rain. Weather.com said it was going to clear up around 7am. The thunder and the lightening were amazing. We don't get that here in socal.

Made it to the disney parking lot about 515, took the bus over and got bodymarked. Luckily, I alwasy dress for cool weather--I had a rain shell, a sweatshirt and sweatpants--I was warm, everyone around me was shivering.

No wetsuit swim. Water was 82 degrees. Pro's started about 20 minutes late, but the sky had cleared with scattered clouds, and you could see the steam rising off the ground. Supposed to be about 90 degrees that day. I was in wave 9 or 10, so I was hoping for one fast guy that I could jump on and follow as we weaved our way through swimmers ahead of us. I got lucky, had a nice coasting swim on someone's toes--he did all the tackling and blocking. 27:04 swim, 2nd in age group.

Long run to transition--like 2-3 minutes. I hate running in barefeet.

Got on the new P4 and headed out onto the bike course. Course is totally flat. I was riding a new bike, maybe had 60 miles on it. Never do that. My crank was installed wrong and my inside chain ring was rubbing on a bolt by the aero brake. I could feel it more and more as the race went on. Did I say it was flat. I was in the big chain ring the whole time and it felt like I was flying. 2:42 bike, 22nd in age group after the bike, which is one of the better bike positions I've had in a race.

Did I say I only had about 1 hour sleep the night before the race, and maybe 4 hours the night before that. Not good before running a half mary in that humidity. I didn't cramp, was just tired. No speed. I had ridden very easy--my normalized power and my tss were well below, so it wasn't the bike. I definitely had a cold, and with no sleep ran a 2:23 (a lot of walking).

New equipment and nutrition: New Bike: Cervelo P4 with Di2 (awesome). New trikit--1 piece Kiwami (awesome, great chamois, no pinch spots, and not hot--it was hot and humid and I didn't even need to zip down). New nutrition - GenerationUCAN chocolate mix (400 calories paste on bike--tastes like cake batter and unbelievably gentle on the stomach).

Overall 5:39 and 77th in age group. It was a WR split. Worst run ever. Ouch. Onto the next one. I would do this race again. and if you have a family and kids, stay at Disneyworld!

Oceanside 70.3 - 2011 Edition - the Mackel Challenge

What is the Mackel Challenge ? Lynda always gets me into trouble. She tells Mackel www.socalrunning.com that I said I was going to smoke him at Oceanside, and tells me the same thing, Mackel is working to smoke you at Oceanside. Line drawn. She weaseled both of us into signing up. It's an early season race, the water is cold, and it sucks training hard in Jan and Feb.

I was going to the race alone, so I offered to share my room with Mackel. He shows up with this bag. It was a huge piece of luggage. OMG, it was a bottomless pit. Tri Gear. Blenders. Massage devices. It was funny. I thought I brought a lot. But best to be prepared. I used his vibracussor on my IT band and hip which were killing me going into this race.

We were in the same swim wave. We got down there in plenty of time to see all the PTC Peeps. I was trying a new method of swim training, i.e. no swim training. I swam 4-5 times before the race. I swam a 28:04 (2 years ago, I was 26:00), so not working out in the pool cost me 2 minutes, no big deal, but I was a little more winded than I usually am coming out of the water. I knew I had a about 5-6 minute lead on Mackel and it would be more if he hadn't been a water polo goalie in his youth--damn the bad luck on that one.

I'm on the bike, it's about mile 48 and I'm riding with a few people (not drafting!). Shannon was one of them. We turn the corner to head back to the transition, and out pops Mackel. Crap. I knew I needed at least 8 minutes on him at the start of the run and even that would be cutting it close. We came up on an aid station, he slowed to grab a water. I grabbed a water and then put the hammer down. I think I got 4-5 minutes on him in that last 8 miles. It was a risk given my fitness. Too hard bike = really bad run. Even in a half. 2:55 bike (2 minutes slower than prior year but it was pretty windy on the course).

At mile 3 of the run, I still had a 3 minute plus cushion on Mackel. At mile 6, though, my IT band popped. It was brutal. Had to walk it off, but Mackel gaining. I think he passed me at mile 8 or 9. At least RebeccaBob tapped me on the ass when she passed me. Mackel didn't pay me any such respect. 2:09 run. A lot of walking.

5:41 overall time versus 5:17 last year. Thought I was in better shape. Mackel came in at 5:32. So, yes, he kicked my a$$. I propose making Auburn 2012 half ironman our next challenge. Someone suggested Wildflower, which might be good, as long as Steve is camping and carrying around all that gear. I swear that bag was huge.

Snowboarding with the Strauss's

I joined the Rich and Joanne for a trip to Big Sky for a little snowboarding. Both were just starting out and both were total troopers. Joanne took the "I'm going to look good route" with some stylish Snowboarding Clothing and Gear.

Above, see Rich all decked out in his knee pads, butt protector, and wrist guards.

We ate very well and got in 3 days of snowboarding. They were there longer and put in a full week! Check out that car they rented. Obviously, they have never been to Montana before. We don't drive cars like that up there. A moose would destroy that wind up toy. Chevy, Dodge, Ford --name your truck, and I've never seen a truck called a Yaris.

Here is a little video of Coach Strauss. By the end of the trip, he was beat. First time, I've ever seen that!

We had a great trip. Next time we go fly fishing.