LA Triathlon Relay

Several weeks ago my cousin Giselle emailed me asking if I wanted to do the LA Triathlon Relay. My initial thought was no ... my race calendar is so full this year, relays are usually overpriced, and a short distance run leg wasn't really on my horizon of running goals for the year. BUT .. (aside from the fact that I did think it would be fun to race with her) .. my cousin said that as a Kaiser employee (her) we'd get 50% off registration fees. WHAT? Okay, I'm so in! I hate thinking about the amount of money I spend on race fees and passing up a 50% discount was hard. So we signed up!

Race Weekend

Well as luck would have it I was scheduled to run 20 miles on race weekend in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon which I'm running with David on October 30th. When I noticed the big "2-0" on my schedule earlier in the week I groaned and though ughh ... its so far! And I don't get a rest day after! Wahh! 

I'm currently suffering from training burnout and have had a hard time motivating for my long runs and have been falling way short of my training goals. I hadn't run over 13 miles since the SF Marathon and had lost my mojo for longer distances. Luckily I was able to coerce my friend Tara (currently training for the Chicago Marathon) into attempting 20 miles with me, so the plan was 20 miles along the San Diego Harbor on Saturday morning. And guess what? We did it! Whoo hoo!!

After running 20 miles do you know what I want to do? I want to lie down in bed and have a burrito spoon fed to me! While this past Saturday did involve a burrito, it also involved cleaning house, running errands, and then driving the 2hours up to LA to stay at Giselle's for the race. 

Sophia - Ready to Swim

Kaiser Perks

Kaiser has a lot of fitness perks in addition the race registration discount. (Totally made me miss working for a huge company.) When I got to Giselle's she proudly showed me our goodie bags and the Kaiser branded tri gear that was free for Kaiser employees. WOW. Tri gear is soo expensive! She got bike shorts for herself and somehow sweet-talked the guy into giving her a tri top for me too. 

Tiniest Tri Top - And I thought the Sony One was Small! (Behind)

Um.. one problem, the tri top was sized for a child! Tri gear runs extremely small and if you have any body image issues .. um expect them to increase exponentially once you put on some tri gear. I put on the Kaiser top and thought okay, I can't wear this!! :( After several instances of "Are you sure it doesn't fit??" and "It really looks okay ...." I figured okay, I think someone wants me to wear this ... I will. SUCK IT IN! haha

Kaiser Crop Top

In It To Win It

When Giselle first asked me to do the tri relay the first thing I thought wast hmm ... if we do this race could we win?? (You know, because I'm obsessed with achievement!) My cousin's husband is an AMAZING swimmer and  knew he'd be one of the fastest in the swim. My cousin just won a local bike race which meant she was good on the bike. And hey, while I'm not busting out 5 minute miles at any point in time ...  I'm a fairly decent runner. I figured between the three of us we had this race! 

Due to time constraints Giselle never had time to get a road bike ... so she'd be riding her pink cement block - I mean pink mountain bike (from Target!!) in the race. Oh man! I rode my Target mountain bike in the first tri clinic I ever did and let me tell you it is so demoralizing! I was the slowest person out there! What a bummer. And its not like I wasn't working hard! Ugh. Anyways, knowing Giselle had to suffer with her mountain bike I figured we wouldn't win, but still figured we had a good shot.We could still be in it to win it!!

Me & Giselle Ready to Race

Race Morning

This race course was pretty different from other tris I've done. The swim was in Venice, the bike was from Venice to LA, and the run was an out and back in LA. The big challenge was that T1 was nowhere near T2. I was able to drop Giselle off at T1 and I quickly drove to T2 to park where she'd finish and I'd start running. I had no idea how parking and traffic would be so I dropped her off before her husband even started swimming and headed straight downtown. 

Giselle & Her Pink Mountain Bike

Giselle & Marc Pre-Swim (No wetsuit?!?)

Well .. I found parking right away  (score!) but that meant I stood around for almost two hours waiting to run. This was an interesting experience because i got to see the first elite triathletes come in and got to watch a ton of participants on the course for the next hour. I *might* have gotten a little misty watching all of the people go by! I'm such a sap!! I love distance racing. :o)

I Love Kids with Signs!

My Turn Yet?

After watching the racers go by for about an hour I thought okay, I need to figure out when I will be running! I texted David who was able to figure out from the race app when Marc finished swimming and when Giselle started running. I predicted a 10am transition from Giselle to me. Around 9:45am I decided to make a quick bathroom stop and then head over to the transition area. As soon as I got out of the bathroom I saw a missed call from Giselle and thought oh no! she's done! I quickly turned on my watch and stood by our transition area.

Hanging Out in T2

Moments later,  instead of seeing Giselle running her bike towards me I saw Giselle sprinting toward me with a smile ... her bike helmet on and no bike in sight. "OMG where is your bike?!?!' I asked her. "Oh, I ditched it over there" she said. WHAT?!?! OMG You can't do that! By then she had the timing chip on my ankle and was like Go! Go! So I shoved my jacket and cell phone in her hands and was off!

Relay Run Time

As I took off I looked down at my Garmin and noticed the satellites hadn't connected. I figured whatever, they'll connect soon. Um, they never did. UGH!! I have a bad habit of running like a maniac in the first mile of a 5K at a 6:00-6:30 pace .. which I totally cant sustain. I know a  ~7:00 pace is a good goal for me and try to keep myself there. Without a watch I had no clue how fast i was running! I was passing people right and left but was afraid of a burnout. 

The course was an out and back and as I looked out on the course I saw a big hill beyond an inflatable CLIFF bar mountain arch. ARGH! Just like at the OC Marthon! Ugh! I hate hills!  I have been training on them and can deal with them ... but why in flat downtown LA would they pick a run course where you had to run up a big hill to turn around and run back down? So annoying. 

Running Down the Streets of LA

I charged up the hill with everything I had ... caught my breath on the flat, and flew down. Man, I love running downhill! A 5K is a surprisingly short course when you're used to a marathon. Before I knew it I was turning the corner to the finish line. I was still passing people all long the way and in between pulling my tiny tri top down every 20 seconds I pushed with what I had to the finish. 

And ... I ended up with a PR! I'm totally amazed considering my last two PRs were on flat courses and this had a big (but short) hill. Official finish time was 22:38 or a 7:18 pace. (Prior PR was 22:55)

LA Triathlon Finisher's Medal

Post Race

Immediately after the race I thought oh crap, I didn't create a meet-up plan with Giselle after the race! Should I stay here? Go to T2? Luckily as I was milling around thinking about this I bumped into her. Many pictures ensued and then we headed to the VIP party a block away from the finish line. (Another Kaiser perk for employees!!) We hung out and had some fruit, Giselle talked to some coworkers, several Kaiser photos were taken, and then it was time to head home. 

Kaiser Group Photo

 

Kaiser LA

Race Results

I had to rush back to SD for some plans I had made prior to the race so I didn't have time to look up our race results. I assumed we had done well but hadn't won, and actually forgot about it until later that night. When I finally looked up the results I was amazed. We did really well!

Smiling Finishers

Swim - Marc

500 meters - 14:17

Division: 3/44

Overall: 6/68

Bike - Giselle

14 Miles - 1:01:20

Division: 29/44

Overall: 50/68

Run - ME!

5K - 22:38

Division: 2/44

Overall:4/68

Finish Time - 1:41:55

Division: 11/44

Overall: 20/68

Seeing these results made me want to do the race again next year. I've planted the seed with Marc and Giselle and hope they are in for next year. 

 Team Gemischte Pot for the win!!!!

Me & My Twin

Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon

This past weekend (which was a 3-day weekend thanks to the blackout!) I ran the Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon in Camp Pendleton. Tara lured me to this race several months ago by telling me the registration fee was only $45. Wow, are you kidding me? Most half marathons these days cost about $90 ... which is a lot of money if you're someone who likes to race constantly throughout the year. (Like me!)

2nd Race for Team Sony

As usual I didn't look at the course very carefully but saw that it was going to be hilly, but felt confident that my weekly hill repeat runs would leave me well prepared. 

Heartbreak Ridge Course Elevation

Pre-Race

This race didn't have an expo and our bibs were mailed to us. Score! Its often a minor inconvenience to have to go somewhere to pick up your bib. At this point in my running career I am so loaded up with running gear that there isn't much I am ever interested in or need at the expos either. Camp Pendelton is about 4 5 minutes north of where I live too so I'm SO glad I didn't have to drive up there to pick up a bib.

Checking in on Foursquare - "Traffic Jam From Hell" haha

Race Morning

The race started at 8:00 am which means I would normally leave my house at 7:00 am to slide up to the start at 7:45 am .. but due to the security checkpoint at the entrance of the base they suggested allowing an extra 30 minutes to clear security. Hmm, so I should leave at 6:30am? I consulted with a few friends and found that they were planning on arriving at the base between 5:30 and 6:30 am. What?!? Ugh.. okay, so I guess I should leave the house at 6:00 am. If you know me, you know my pet peeve is getting to a race super early and milling around. 

When I got to the checkpoint there wasn't much of a delay and I cruised right through security. I had no idea Camp Pendelton was so huge! I drove east for about 10 minutes before hitting a long line of cars waiting to park. I sat in this line for about 30 minutes. So glad I came early! I ended up parking and walking over to meet Tara and Ben right at 7:45am. Sheesh.

 Security Line at the Entrance

Race Start

There were race volunteers marking the calves of ever runner much like in a triathlon. Your left calf was either Military (M) or Civilian (C), and your right calf was your age (um 23 for me *cough*) or Clydesdale (C). I didn't enjoy having my age marked on my calf, but found it interesting to be able to look around and see everyone else's age and whether or not they were in the military. From looking around it seemed like 75% of the runners there were in the military .. and were men! It was like the opposite of a Nike Women's race.

It was moving to be on the Marine Corps base on 9/11 surrounded by so many members of the military. When the national anthem started you could see the whole crowd shift as suddenly every  military member stood to attention with their arms straight down and fists clenched. Looking around brought on a wave of emotions. After the national anthem the first wave started (military), then the second (men), and finally it was time for us (women - woot woot!).

A fellow GOTR coach Lisa came to meet us right before the start and we all started together around 8:15. The course was an out and back on a dirt path. There were some rolling hills from the start, a decent sized hill around mile 3, and then we started to descend a pretty long (loose dirt) hill around mile 4. Uh oh, if we are running down down down to the turnaround point, that means we have to run all the way up this! Ack!

Girls on the Run Coaches

I had bought new shoes about a month ago and have been trying to keep them clean. Um, no shot in this race. When you have 1500 people running through loose dirt, you are basically running through a dirt cloud. Not only did my shoes get dirty (ewe!), but I was covered in a fine layer of dust from head to toe. I even had dust in my eyelashes! :(

Dirt Lashes - Yuck!

Along the course I had fun looking at the ages of people in front of me (on their calves) and alternating between "yay, I just passed a guy in his 20s!" to "wow, did I just get passed by a 74 year old man?!" It was pretty entertaining. 

Eyes on  my Target - Passed!

Another fun part of the course (being an out and back) is that I got to pass people I know! I first saw my dailymile friend Ted (really close to the front of the pack, turns out he got 3rd place in his AG!), then I saw Ben, and then I saw Tara & Lisa in their tutus. (Screaming and high-fiving ensued of course.)

Tara & Lisa Catching Air

I had run a really hilly half marathon earlier in the year (San Dieguito - race recap here) and had finished that race right around 2 hours. This became my goal for this race, but I missed it by a few minutes and ended up coming in at 2:03.

Official Results

Finish time: 2:03:42

Age Group: 23/71

Overall: 677/1443

Whew! We Did It!

Caution: Wearing a Tutu Causes Jumping

There were several things I liked about the race (low registration fee, race bib mailed to you, ample parking, no lines at the porta-potties, plenty of water stops, decent finish expo, D-tag timing), but there were some other aspects that would most likely prevent me from running the race again (the race was far and you had to get there so early, the course was super hilly, and the loose dirt was miserable to run on). 

Latest Bib for My Collection

We also didn't receive finisher's medals for the race which was pretty unusual for a half marathon. Sure, I have a ton of medals and don't need another, but this race was by far the hardest half marathon I've ever done, and I would have loved something to commemorate that.  I'm glad I ran the race though and it was fun running it with friends. And hey, how can you not have fun in a Glam Runner tutu? :)

San Diego Goes Dark

For those of you who don't live in the San Diego area, did you hear that we had a massive blackout last night? The entire county (100% of San Diego Gas & Electric's customers) lost power! More news here.

Poof

Yesterday afternoon when I was at work and nose-deep into analyzing August sales data suddenly POOF! The power went out. Oh no!! When did I last hit Save? ARGH! We all stood around chatting for about 10 minutes before we were told to go home. We have generators but the power was all going to our cleanrooms and freezers to keep all of the goods frozen. It was about 3:45pm and I thought whoo hoo! I get to go home early! Oh wait, I had a 5pm bike date with Tara. Cool, we can bike early!

 Lights Out at Work

I tried calling and texting Tara but the calls wouldn't go through. WTH? I called David and we were able to talk, must have been because she didn't have Verizon like we did. I got a message from her right as I was about to head home that she was headed to our bike spot to meet. I turned North to bike instead of South to go home, and got stuck trying to make the turn.

Massive Gridlock

Um, I didn't just get stuck trying to make that turn, I got stuck trying to move at all! We managed to email while stuck in traffic (funny that data worked but not phone service) and decided to head home. I tried to turn back the the other way and spent the next hour going ONE BLOCK towards the freeway. Well, another hour passed before I even got near the freeway which was only 2 miles away. Holy moly. 

Traffic Was Miserable

I work in an area with the highest density of office buildings in San Diego, and everyone was trying to leave work, and none of the street lights were working! :o( It crossed my mind several times that I could probably bike home in less time (only 13 miles!) but I had no idea which roads were bike safe and then I'd end up having to bike back to get my car. It also crossed my mind that I could have RUN home in the  amount of time I was stuck in my car. Sigh. 

Blackout Priority - Liquor?

When I finally got onto the freeway and started my crawl south I felt bad for all of the cars I saw stranded on the side of the road. Poor people must have run out of gas! Hmm... maybe I should make a point to never let my tank go below 1/4?

Lucy I'm Home

Three hours later I finally made it home. O M G. I was a bit worried about getting home to my dogs and thought about how scary it must be if you're a parent and you can't get to your child at daycare. Yikes. My dogs and I went on a quick walk and then I made dinner. Luckily David talked me into buying a propane grill this summer and he was able to get me over my fear of lighting the grill. I grilled some chicken and ate that and chips and salsa on my back patio. I don't have AC and not having power meant that my fans didn't work. My apartment was boiling inside! Even with the windows open. :( My poor dogs were panting for most of the night.

Grilling in the Dark

Kindle to the Rescue

After finishing dinner I thought okay, now what? What can I do in the dark? Aha! My Kindle! It has a booklight!! I spent the remainder of the night reading Tina Fey's Bossypants until it was time to go to bed. At some point in the night I was startled awake by a loud sound and lights coming on outside ... but then everything went dark again ... then came on  ... and then ... Zzz... I fell back to sleep. 

Kindle w/Booklight

Vandalism in my Neighborhood

3-Day Weekend

Because of the power outage and the concern over keeping the freezers cold and conserving energy my office is closed today! Whoo hoo! Two 3-day weekends in a row? Yippee! I had a long list of errands that I was going to take care of tomorrow, but now I can do them today! So excited. My friend Jenna from AZ is also coming out this weekend and is getting into town this afternoon. Can't wait to see her too. Guess the blackout wasn't all bad!