Topyko Triathlon

In the same spirit of getting me motivated again, I joined Triathlon Club San Diego, apparently 2400 members and biggest in the nation, at least judging from my swamped inbox, their email list is super active, looking for the right rides to join now.

I’m getting a little bored of training all by my self to be frank, so I joined the Hi-Tech Bikes Triathlon team. I’m hoping this will get me motivated to do some more miles on the saddle… now when do I get my free team bike?

After a summer break, did 3 races in October and November. I like these late season races since they are a little cooler, and since the summer is never a good time to train, fall races are at a good time for me.

Mission Bay Triathlon, a Sprint distance organized by Kozenterprises, has become a classic event that I always sign up for. I missed beating my PR by a few seconds but was a very enjoyable race.

San Diego Classic Triathlon, Olympic distance organized by Moment Cycle Sports. First edition of the race in San Diego Bay and hilly bike ride twice up to Cabrillo monument and back. The organisation certainly needs fine tuning but there was a good show of athletes. Organisation glitches included my first wave being in the water in pitch dark, with no lights indicating our position, a power motor boat came roaring down the canal and nearly went over all the swimmers, nice start! Saw a couple of racers nearly run down on the bike course by a pick up truck getting out of a drive way. It was good to do a longer distance that a Sprint, it is actually more enjoyable because the pace goes down and it does’nt feel so tiring for some reason. Maybe I should try a 1/2 IM to see what that’s like. I’m just not sure I can withstand the physical torture of sitting on a bike saddle for 56 miles!

Silver Strand Half Marathon, another regular race I sign up for. Quite fast and flat, this is the race where I can PR. Towards the last miles, the sun gets hot, the wind picks up and the slight uphill can hurt, but a fun race, always meet up with friends there.

That last race was brutal on my toe nails, 3 went purple and are painful, even 3 days later. This is despite wearing super large shoes, so not sure what does it, maybe the slamming on the asphalt.

Next week end I’ve signed up for a barefoot running clinic with BareFoot Ted.

I’ll let you know how that goes.

Another nicely organized triathlon from kozenterprises. It seems that there are more and more participants every year, the swim seems particularly crowded to me. I was also surprised by what seems to me like a unnecessary splurge on high tech equipment by many amateur racers. Are we in a recession? Apparently not. I was surrounded by new $3000+ tri bikes (Cervelo, Kuota etc…) with sharp Zipp wheels, profiled athlete feeding systems (hey guys this is a 1 hour effort, how much gel and sport drinks are you going to carry along?). I can only say it makes me laugh when I rack my $700 bike at the same time they do… yet I have to be honest, there were many bikes already racked by the time I got to T2.

Coming off a painful marathon recovery and a overall lack of motivation, it was good to be back in a race. I always sign up for the 2 sprint distances held in mission bay, easy swims, easy in and out (provided you park along the river not in the parking lot).

Michellie Jones was competing with the elite athletes, giving the local guys some challenge. I was impressed with how fast she gets in and out or T1, she was 7th overall.

And finally, I just had to smile at the Duathlon start line pinned to the trash cans…so local.

The Mizuno Wave Rider 12 took me to the end of the Carlsbad marathon but also took off 2 of my nails…despite choosing 1/2 a size larger. I would recommend sizing up a full size on these.

New shoes for the new year: a pair of Mizuno’s Wave Rider 12. Some pretty unfair pricing here from the shoe manufacturers. I bought this pair at a well known french distributor called Decathlon for 120 euros. The same pair (albeit in a different color) is available in the US from Road Runner Sports for $98.99 ($89.09 for VIPs). Using today’s exchange rate that pair of french Mizuno’s is at $167.4 !!! That is nearly double the price. Sounds like European runners are getting gouged. I checked out other brands, a pair of Asics Gel Kayano 14 are at 160 euros at Decathlon while at $136 at RRS (actually now on sale at $89.95!!!). Sounds like there is an arbitration opportunity here, start shipping your shoes to Europe!

Now back to the shoes, they seem as light as the Wave Rider 9s I also run with. In the cold winter they don’t seem too warm though as cold air gets in the top mesh surface. I ran a fast 10K with them and still appreciate the wide toe box that they have, although a little more arch support would be welcome for me. On trails, you do feel the stones through the sole, the Wave Ascend 3 feel better on the trail. Anyhow, I’m planning to use these for my upcoming marathon in January, I’ll let you know how they ran.

Happy running for 2009.

Topyko.

The heat was “ON” for the 2008 Silver Strand 1/2 marathon. A beautiful morning in Coronado, but one look at the flat surf with offshore winds blowing back the surf backwards kind of said it all… Santa Ana winds were growing. I started off quick, maybe too quick and the first 10K were fast and nice. I passed the mile 7 marker with some light winds. By mile 8, the wind was decidingly strong and blowing right into my face. Combined with the sun starting to heat up, everyone started to hide behind each other to get out of the wind. Drafting was the name of the game until the right turn into Imperial Beach in which the houses gave us some shelter. Running on a slight up incline into the base the wind was pushing us up, then at the turn around it was 2 miles of finish against the wind and heat again. My focus turned from “this is going to be a PR” in the first half to “are my going to finish this?”. As I got passed by runners who were obviously immune to the heat (or who decided on a more leisurely start than I did), I just slowed down to a jog. Then I passed by 2 runners being helped into an ambulance and decided to slow down some more. An hour later on the bus back to the parking lot, I felt for those last runners who were still out there on the last few miles, they had the hardest race of all of us.

Anyhow, I ran in some new Long Distance shorts which are awesome. I picked these up from RaceReady.com . These long distance shorts have pockets everywhere, and in places that don’t bother you when you are running and the pockets are full. I stuffed in these: gel pads, keys and a cell phone. Very comfy and lightweight too. And ok, you might not look like the trendiest guy on the run.

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to run les 20km de Paris. The race attracted 25,000 race participants for its 30th anniversary event. The crowd was huge, and I spent the whole race dodging other racers. So much that I hardly had time to enjoy the surroundings. The start is at the Trocadero bridge, right in front of the Eiffel tower, then through the Bois de Boulogne, along the Seine river all the way to the Louvre, then over to Rive Gauche and finish under the Eiffel Tower. It was surprisingly warm this year for October, drinking stations were spaced out every 5K and mobbed. The finish line was a disaster and the crews that handed out medals and drinks could not keep up with the in flux of finishing runners. I saw at least one person close to passing out in the rush to get water after the finish line. We were literally compressed against each other, in a typical french crowd management system which anyone who has taken the RER A at rush hour will recognize. Needless to say, this is the last thing you want after a 20K run.

Much to my surprise, compression socks are selling big time in Europe. I saw many many runners with these socks, usually in fancy colors. I was wearing a pair of pure white compression socks made by Jobst that I bought for less than $10 at my local pharmacy. Beats the $40 that Nike is asking and the compression is quite strong. The basic rule is that if you have trouble putting them on or pulling them off, then you know you are “compressed”. The socks did feel like they provided good support, but can’t say for sure if its psychological, or physical.

In my search for the wider understanding of compression gear and whether this is just another marketing ploy, I have purchased a pair of white Oxy Socks from Twin City Knitting. I must say, compression socks are not the most fashionable gear out there, it takes some courage to wear these.

The Oxy Socks offer a comfortable mesh material and a good cushioned foot. However, although my pair fit my size 11 feet well, then have a tendency to drop down. They are far from tight and I don’t get a firm compression from them. My advice: avoid these and go by a pair of compression socks at the pharmacy.

Verdict “Gadget or Product”: Gadget

Another pair of new shoes, I’ve had these for about 2 months now and have probably logged 50 miles on them. They seem to hold up really well on the trails. Initially I was worried because they feel quite light for a trail shoe. There is plenty of cushioning and the thick soles make it easier to run on stone laden trails. The tox box is large. However the heel is not that well kept in place. I had to lace it all the way up to the last hole to feel comfortable, without the heel wanting to come out of the show on each stride. Overall I’m very happy with them, they feel less sluggish and more responsive than the Mizuno Wave Rider 9′s I’ve been running with.