Archive for category Race Events

My First Swim Meet

Posted by sheila in Race Events on November 20, 2010

Today there was an “All Comers” swim meet at Mt. SAC where I participate in the Masters Swim program. It was open to anyone who wanted to swim: high school, college, masters or club swimmers. Anyone. Entry fee was $5 and swim as many of the 13 scheduled events as you like. Today’s meet was distance format on a Short Course Yards course. They had a sprint format one in October but I had to work that day so could not attend. I would have MUCH preferred the sprint one.

Weather was cruddy today. Cool and raining. Not many people showed up for the meet. 17 total competitors. I heard that the sprint format meet last month had a lot more. Five of today’s swimmers were older: ages 48-69. I was in this group. The remaining twelve were very young: ages 17-24. Notice the huge age-gap.

I arrived at the pool at 8 am. Louis, my coach, asked me what events I would swim. I had picked the 200 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle. He said we could start warming up. The meet was supposed to begin at 9 am. I swam about 500 or so yards in warmup. Most of it slow and easy. A couple of short 25s a bit harder with faster arm turnover. And some practice on my flip turns. I’ve been learning flip turns for 2 weeks now, and they are passable but not very good. Before the meet started I also got a chance to practice a dive off a starting block. I’ve never done that before. Louis just said to make sure I tuck my head down, which I did. No problem. Read the rest of this entry »

,

1 Comment

Orange Country Triathlon – Race Report

Posted by sheila in Race Events, Races on October 15, 2010

So on Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010 I did the Orange County International Triathlon. This is an Olympic Distance triathlon, which officially means swim 1500 meters, bike 40K (24.9 miles), run 10K (6.2 miles). The swim was in Lake Mission Viejo and the bike and run in the surrounding hilly areas. However the distances in the actual race course for this triathlon, as with most others, varies from the “official” distances for an Oly Tri.

We went down to the race expo and packet pickup the day before at about 1 pm. And that’s when I found  out I had to set up my T2 (Transition 2 area) the day before the race. In other words, that very day. I had not brought any of my running gear with me. No shoes. Nada. So we had to drive back home, get that stuff, and come back. I guess next time I shall read the emails better.

Fancy T2 marks

Turns out Chris had some sidewalk chalk in the trunk of the car, so I copied other people’s idea to mark my transition spot (I was lucky my spot was on the paved trail and not in the dirt like some of the others). My markings were much more artistic than the others. They did help the next day with locating my rack space at the end of the bike. Basically, I put my running shoes and a cap in the Walmart bag, loosely wrapped, on my bath mat. Didn’t want the stuff just sitting out in the open overnight.

Read the rest of this entry »

,

2 Comments

Malibu Nautica Classic Triathlon Race Report

Posted by sheila in Race Events, Races on September 18, 2010

Malibu Nautica Triathlon

So last Sunday, September 12, 2010, I did the Malibu Nautica Classic Triathlon. This race is a half-mile swim, 18mile bike and 4 mile run: a bit longer than most sprint distance races. I really enjoyed this race. The biggest drawbacks are the cost, as it is quite expensive compared to many other races, and the fact that when registration opens it sells out in a few minutes, making it difficult to get in. But the swim course at Zuma Beach is quite nice. The bike ride is along Pacific Coast Highway from Zuma to Leo Carillo and back. The rolling hills are a bit challenging, but overall a nice ride. And then a very, very flat run along the beach. The event was well-organized and I can’t think of anything negative to criticize. Well, maybe one thing. Which I will talk about later. But rather minor.

Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

Strawberry Fields Olympic Triathlon – Race Report

Posted by sheila in Race Events, Races on July 25, 2010

So this past Sunday, July 18, 2010, I raced the Olympic Distance at the Strawberry Fields Triathlon in Oxnard, California. One thing I will say about this race, is that if we do it again, we are going to stay overnight in Oxnard the night before the race. Under ideal conditions the drive from our house is about 1.5 hours, but when is traffic through L.A. ideal? OK, at 4 am on Sunday morning yes (heading to the race on morning of), but for packet pickup the afternoon before NOT. Must have spent 8 hours driving to/from Oxnard this weekend. Blech!

Here's the finish line. I'm not there yet.

Saturday, the day before the race, we went down to the packet pickup. We got there late in the afternoon, about 4:30 PM. It was chilly and windy. After the 100-degree temps we’d been experiencing at home the past week, the tank top I wore was just not sufficient. It seemed the race might be cold the next day. Packet pickup was well-organized. Transition area was nearly set up. We drove the bike course just to see what I had in store the next day. One thing about this race, the run and bike courses are some of the flatest I’ve had the opportunity to run on.

Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments

2010 race schedule

Posted by sheila in Race Events on February 22, 2010

Wow, I didn’t realize how long it has been since I last posted here. Oops.

Anyhooo… I’m 2 weeks out from the Napa Valley Marathon. March 7, 2010. Training is going “eh”. I will finish the race, but I have no expectations for my goal or finish time.

Two weeks later… L.A. Marathon. So that’s going to be interesting to see how it goes running two marathons two weeks apart. March 21, 2010.

After that, my plan was mostly triathlons for the rest of the year. But, looking at my availability, I am really not able to get to one until July. So, I will focus my training on triathlon after March. But I will do some running races until I can get some actual triathlons into my schedule.

Here is my tentative schedule for this year (2010):

You may notice, from my previous post in 2009, that I left the Ragnar Relay off. I have already taken off time from work for the Surf City Half Marathon, the Napa Marathon, the L.A. Marathon and I will probably have to take off time for the Catalina Tri. I don’t want all my vacation days to be for races. So…decided to give Ragnar a miss this year. Maybe next year. (Anyhow, my daughter Kaitlin is graduating from college this year…have to save some days off from work for that!)

For the past 3 years I’ve done the Huntington Beach 5K on the Fourth of July. May do that one again, but there are certainly other possibilities. Probably won’t be trying for a PR this year, though, given the proposed race schedule.

Also, we’ve done the Dana Point Turkey Trot for the past 3 years, also. But that event is really crowed and… dunno…might do a different one this year.

No Comments

How Crazy Is This?

Posted by sheila in Race Events on August 10, 2009

Help me decide, or give me your thoughts/comments/opinions…

In my race schedule for this season, I had picked to do the Oxnard Splash-n-Dash on Sept. 13th. But I didn’t realize when I picked that (which I have not yet registered for) that it is a 1 hr 45 min drive from my house. Yikes. Such a long drive for a relatively short race. I was going to do the long course (1000 meter swim followed by the 4 mile run).

I looked for alternate events that have an ocean swim on a weekend between now and November when I’m not working or already doing another race. Kinda tough. Iron Man & Half Iron Man distances are too much for me right now!

But look at this: Mermaid Tri in Santa Cruz on Sept. 27th. Instead of Oxnard Splash-N-Dash Sept. 13th. Is it crazy to drive 5-6 hours on Saturday for a Sunday race? And then pretty much drive right back home? And if I drive that far, I’d want to do their Olympic Distance course, not the Sprint distance. Am I up for an Olympic Distance for my 3rd triathlon? What if we stay overnight on Sunday and drive back at the crack of dawn on Monday. My 7th grade daughter would miss school. That is wrong and bad. I shouldn’t take her out of a day of school for my race. Sigh. But I want to. Don’t want to drive right back on Sunday.

Also, my older daughter goes to UC Santa Cruz, so we would get to see her (if briefly) that weekend if we drive up. Hmmmmm.

So…

  1. Which event? Oxnard Splash-n-Dash Sept 13th (“local” but pretty far) or Santa Cruz all women Mermaid Tri Sept 27th?
  2. Am I nuts to do Olympic? I can already swim 1.5km and running a 10K is nothing. Just have to up my bike mileage which is pretty low right now (max dist of 15 miles).
  3. Take my daughter out of school Monday or drive our butts right back on Sunday?

I should be able to make these kind of decisions myself… I guess I really just want to do Santa Cruz but driving 5.5 hours up and back Sat/Sun just seems like such a drag. Boo!

,

5 Comments

Race Schedule August 2009-March 2010

Posted by sheila in Race Events, Training on July 29, 2009

OK, I’ve finally made some decisions about my racing schedule. Since I just finished the San Francisco Half-Marathon this past Sunday, I found that I had not signed up for any further events, nor did I have any training schedule.

Not to worry. I did a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. And today I did my own triathlon: 1500 meter ocean swim in 45 minutes; 3 mile run in 23 minutes; later in the day 14.8 mile bike in 1 hr 6 minutes on a hilly course. Tomorrow I will swim laps at the pool.

Anyhow, I do need to sign up for events and put together some more training. And I’ve finalized my events up through March 2010. Here they are:

Aug. 2, 2009 (Sun) 5K Paws for Cause

Aug. 16, 2009 (Sun) Hansen Dam Triathlon

Sep. 13, 2009 (Sun) Oxnard Splash-n-Dash (I think the long course)

new -> Sep. 27, 2009 (Sun) Mighty Mermaid Triathlon Santa Cruz (olympic distance)

Oct. 11, 2009 (Sun) Long Beach Half Marathon (completes my California Dreaming award)

Nov. 7, 2009 (Sat) Catalina Triathlon

Nov. 26, 2009 (Thu) 10K Turkey Trot at Dana Point

Feb. 7, 2010 (Sun) Surf City Half Marathon – I think I have to do this every year. I’m a legacy runner for this race.

Mar. 7, 2010 (Sun) Napa Valley Marathon

Mar. 21, 2010 (Sun) Los Angeles Marathon

Apr 23-34 (Fri-Sat) Ragnar Relay L.A. (Santa Barbara to Dana Point)

OK, so I have to get my credit card out and start registering for some of these. And tomorrow I’m going to have to hunker down and start writing my training schedule for at least through November 2009. That is always so much work.

So, from no events to 9 events. Really, though, I’ve been thinking about most of these for a long time. Just hadn’t committed to the registration and written out my training plans. Working on it, working on it!

, , , ,

5 Comments

Triathlon Checklist

Posted by sheila in Race Events, Tools and Gear on June 12, 2009

So when I was preparing for my first triathlon last week, I made up a checklist of my gear. To make a list I searched Google on the phrase “triathlon checklist” and used these sites for my list:

racechecklist.com — Triathlon Race Day Checklist

Triathlon Checklist

Triathlon Packing Checklist | Triathlon

http://www.triathica.com/resources/triathlon_checklist.pdf (PDF)

So from the above, I came up with this list for my first Sprint Distance Tri:

Wear these things in the morning:

  • tri suit (tri top/tri shorts)
  • socks/shoes (running shoes for me)
  • sunscreen
  • body glide (I actually forgot to put this on but didn’t matter)
  • Boston jacket (wear any jacket you like)
  • watch (Garmin 305)

Bring these things in a bag

  • hat/cap for the run
  • sunglasses (for bike/run)
  • sweatshirt (for after)
  • crocs (after race shoes)
  • flip flops (slip on sandals)
  • sunscreen
  • goggles
  • extra pair goggles
  • swim cap (they give you one but…)
  • race belt
  • water bottles, filled (one to drink from in transition, one to clean feet with)
  • bike bottle, filled
  • sweat pants (for after race)
  • bicycle
  • bike helmet
  • toilet paper (we were told they run out sometimes)

So I went over that list above twice before we got in the car and drove away. And my hubby still had to remind me to bring the bike helmet at the last second!

No Comments

My First Triathlon – Race Report

Posted by sheila in Race Events on June 9, 2009

So after just over 3 years of road racing (running), including 4 marathons, at least a dozen half-marathons, several 5Ks and 10Ks, I finally decided to do a triathlon. I got into this via cross-training for my marathons through the FIRST program, which requires cross-training on the non-running days. I didn’t like swimming at first, but the more I did it, the more I didn’t dislike it. Last spring I took a semester swim course at a local community college. It was a tough class and really got me in shape for swimming. Now I actually like swimming. Well, in the pool, anyhow. The bike part never much worried me.

These are other swimmers (faster ones) in my same swim wave.

These are other swimmers (faster ones) in my same swim wave.

Eventually I signed up for a small local tri that fit into my schedule. Sunday June 7, 2009. The L.A. Triathlon Series which is hosted in San Dimas, California at Frank G. Bonelli Park, only about a 15 minute drive from my house. This must be the closest race to my house that I’ve ever done. I was doing the Express course, which is Read the rest of this entry »

,

16 Comments

Wharf to Wharf Race – Santa Cruz

Posted by sheila in Race Events on June 2, 2009

Here’s an event that looks like it would be fun to do some time. It’s scheduled for late July and is already sold out for this year. Same weekend as the San Francisco Half Marathon & Marathon (which I am doing the half marathon this year). Anyhow, this race, called “Wharf to Wharf” is only 6 miles. But starts in Santa Cruz and runs down to Capitola. Beautiful area and I could totally see doing this race instead of SFM some time.

Wharf to Wharf – ‘It’s the Best Little Road Race in California’

This is a classic event. This year will be the 37th annual running.

No Comments