Griffith Park 10.1k? - 12/16/2007

    How can an out an back course have 3 uphill segments and 1 downhill segment???  I wouldn't have thought it possible, but low and behold that's exactly what the race course was like today at the Griffith Park "Say No To Drugs" 5k/10k - really almost a 10.1k.  In hindsight I ran about the same time as last week on the flat course in Santa Monica, but this one hurt so much more.  No new PR today, my official time being 33:00.86, but considering the extra 110m-130m we ran today, that becomes basically the same time as last week on a much tougher and slower course.  
    Recap:  It was a cold morning, which ended up being not that bad once we were warmed up and racing.  The race starts with the first ~1k going uphill at a pretty good grade. Then a short (200-300m) steep drop into the first turnaround.  Then the course, surpise surprise, goes gradually uphill all the way back, past the start/finish area, to the second turnaround.  At the second turnaround there is about 1 mile back down a 1% grade to the finish area.  I say finish area because if you're racing the "10k" you have to do a second loop.  This is where the course length becomes a problem - after crossing the 5k mark and finish line you run 110-130m to get back to the starting line before beginning a second 5k loop.  But when all is said and done, we were out there to race and that's what happened, it's just that the times were slower than the effort we put into it. 

               New 10k PR! - 12/9/2007

    Yesterday was the 30th edition of the Santa Monica Venice Xmas Run, which we (Santa Monica Track Club) traditionally run every year as an early season tune up.  It was 3 years ago at this race that I first met with Coach Joe Douglas and he agreed to train me.  In that time I haven't run any pure 10k road races, so my 10k PR going into this race was the 34:03 that I ran at the Xmas Run in 2004.  This was a great opportunity to see the progress I've made in the past 3 years.  My race was tactically perfect - not as fast as I could have run, but from a man-to-man race perspective I couldn't have run it better.  Going into the race I was a bit nervous from last race a couple weeks ago where I went out suicidally fast because I was still "off" after being sick for two weeks.  So when the gun went off yesterday I went out to run as relaxed and effortlessly as I possibly could.  I was actually a bit shocked to find that even as I was trying to go as easily as I was I was still instantly at the front, leading the race.  At mile 1 I was leading two other runners, one just off each shoulder, coming through at 5:05 - wow!  At that point I decided that even though the other two guys seemed like they were pushing to run that pace, judging by their breathing, I figured that since they had pushed to get back up on my shoulder I should let them take some pacing duties.  One of the guys took us through mile 2 (where there was nobody to give us our split) and then the third took over and started leading us to mile 3.  It was at this point that I felt the pace was slowing some, so with 50m to go before the 3 mile marker I moved back up to the front and started bringing the pace back up.  That was the end of one of the other two runners.  We hit the mile 3 marker and I believe we were given a split of 15:40 (yeah, maybe I should have taken the lead back a little sooner).  Slowly bringing the effort back up a little on the second out-and-back I realized that the one guy with me was struggling a little to stay on the pace, so after the turn around I lifted the pace a little bit again.  As I hit mile 4 I heard them give me a split of 21:07 (that was definitely our slowest mile) but then I heard them continue counting and give a second split to the next runner back, the gap was formed and now was the time to run.  I hadn't wanted to really start pushing until mile 4, and that was exactly where I was, so now was time to run again.  At that point I lifted my pace again and just started running away.  Pushing all the way to the line I crossed in a new 10k PR of 32:35 (meaning I was running just under 5:10 per mile from mile 4 to the finish).  The next runner back was 28 seconds back, giving me a decisive win.  
    I'm really excited about my race yesterday.  If I was able to do all that while holding myself back as much as I did, I wonder what I'm actually capable of right now.  I realize that next weekend I'll be tired (I'm racing the 10k at the "Say No to Drugs" race in Griffith Park next Sunday), but I still think that I can run faster on Sunday than I just did.  I guess we'll see next weekend.


               Cervelo Test Ride Program - 12/1/2007

    My current bike right now is the Cervelo Soloist Team, but for the past few weeks I had the opportunity to ride around on the Soloist Carbon road bike, and I have to say wow!  The carbon bike rides like a dream, such a smooth ride and amazing power transfer.  All this was made possible by a great program run by a friend of mine, the Cervelo Test Ride Program.  You can get some basic info from the Cervelo website, but the point is, they will lend you a top of the line bike to ride around on and really get a feel for how it performs.  I have to say I'm blown away by the quality of their bikes.  I pretty much already knew this because of the quality of my bike, but even as impressed as I am with my bike, the carbon bikes are even more amazing.  I can't wait to get out on a P3 someday and see how hard I can go.


               OUCH!!! - 11/20/2007

    That was painful.  Maybe I didn't learn my lesson at Treasure Island.  On Suday, Nov. 18th, I ran in a 5k with the rest of my team from Santa Monica Track Club.  This was only 1 week after my experience at Treasure Island, a week that I spent struggling to get well from sickness - caused by my trying to race while sick at Treasure Island.  Since Tuesday I've been so-so, not really sick, but feeling a dryness in the back of my throat (a sign that I'm on the verge of being sick).  I started getting better on Thursday, so on Friday Joe (my coach) gave me my first running workout since before my race, a 7 mile tempo run.  I was supposed to run "fresh" (maybe someday I'll explain our effort terminology), which I did at a 5:30 pace.  Now ordinarily two days before a race is supposed to be the easiest day of the week, but I guess that we since we hadn't decided whether or not I was going to race at the 5k it was fair game to give me a tough workout before the race.  So standing at the starting line two days later I wasn't feeling the greatest, my legs felt off because 1. they hadn't felt normal since before I was sick, and 2. because of the 7 mile run on Friday.  When the gun went off I thought I was going out controlled, but in fact I lit out at about 14 min pace (roughly 4:30 a mile).  I didn't realize I was going that fast, but I guess I should have realized it when I was instantly alone, even with my teammate Floyd running behind me (a 1:46 800m runner).  I ran at the front pushing myself, not realizing how fast I was going, and ran myself right into the ground.  Floyd passed by me with a mile to go and I fought on to try to go as fast as possible.  Coming across the line in second I was completely spent.  I went to my bag to get my clothes to get as warm as possible and was overcome with a terrible wave of nausea that had me losing my breakfast all over the street.  That was by far the hardest I've pushed myself and the most painful a race has ever been for me.  I guess next time I'll know better (I hope).


               Lessons Learned - 11/16/2007

    I've been putting off writing this race recap from the Treasure Island Triathlon (well, Duathlon this year), because I've been trying to figure out a way to sum it up without sounding like I'm offering excuses.  First my result, I had to pull out of the race only half a lap into the 6 lap bike course.  I dropped out because I couldn't ride my bike - every time I started to ride hard I started coughing badly enough that I had to slow down and thus lost any pack that I was in.  I also knew that I was wrecking my immune system because I had been sick since Monday morning and wasn't fully recovered yet.  I know, I know... when you're sick you shouldn't race, period.  No good will come of it, but when it's the last race of the season, and you are looking for redemption from crashing out of your first pro race, sometimes you just need to make the stupid choice and go for it.  I could feel that I was still congested during the first run of the race, but was able to still get myself into a good spot.  But as soon as I started on the bike and the 58 degree, drizzling wind beat against my chest it was all over for me.  I feel that I would have done well had I not been sick, but we won't speculate here.  I enjoyed my experience out there, and despite it all I'm glad I went.  


               InterBike Recap - 9/29/2007

   I'm back from InterBike... man, am I tired!  I was fortunate enough to get a free trip as a model for Profile-Design, modeling the new clothing lines of Profile-Design tri clothes and Bellweather Tech cycling clothes.  We stood around showing off the clothing lines to the buyers and handing out samples of Gatorade Endurance to people passing by.   Before and after our "shifts" at the Profile booth I was able to go around the show meeting with some companies and making connections which will hopefully lead to some sponsorships.  As a bonus I was finally able to see one of the 12 foot posters of my PowerBar ad.  I'm hopeful that in near future I will be able to make some announcements as to some new sponsors - but for now that will have to wait.  I can say that I saw an amazing 10.1 lb bike - a complete, built up bike that weighed only 10.1 lbs, WOW!  The Sinclair/Oakley party on Wednesday night was a blast, but after getting only about 5 hours of sleep the night before and trying to train before and after the trade show I was wiped out.  Thursday after the show we tried to get out to the USA Crit Finals in the parking lot of Mandalay Bay, but alas it was not to be - after a wonderful dinner with the guys from Profile there just wasn't time to get over to watch the race.  But thanks to WCSN.com I was able to watch all the race after getting home and back on my computer.  The products that are set to come out next year are pretty amazing - bikes, components, clothing, wetsuits, everything is a step up from this year.  I can't wait to go back to InterBike next year, but I'll have to make sure that I'm resting during those couple days, because it's pretty hard to do any training while out there.  




               2nd Place Elite and Overall at Long Beach Triathlon!!! - 9/23/2007

    On Friday night I made the decision to race the Long Beach Triathlon.  A little spur of the moment I guess, but I've been feeling good since last weekend, and wanted to push myself now in preparation of the Treasure Island ITU Pan Am Cup race in November.  Despite the pouring rain that the LA/Long Beach area experienced on Friday night I went down to and registered for the race Saturday - kind of a rare these days that you can register for a Tri the day before the race.  So this morning I took my Dad down to the race as my cheering section and prepared to go up against Swiss Pro Ian Pyott (who has won this race the previous 3 years).  Hitting the water, the temperature was a pleasant change from last weekend in Malibu, but the water quality was horrible - a result of the rains.  It's always a bad sign when you can't see your own hand 1 foot in front of your face while swimming.  The swim was great!  I got out fast and was in the top group at the first buoy, and then sat in the back of the pack as we moved down the beach.  Coming out of the water my Dad called out to me that I was 38sec down on the lead and in 8th place (although I must have passed 4 of them on my way into T1).  I came out of T1 and passed another athlete at the "Mount" line - now I was in 3rd.  I took off on the bike course with the next athlete in sight and proceeded to hunt him down during the 1st of 2 bike loops, passing him just before finishing the 1st loop.  I rode on in 2nd place not knowing exactly where 1st place was (which isn't a great thing when there are 3 turn-arounds) but determined to stay close.  The 2nd loop introduced an element of the unknown as the race started filling up the road with athletes from later waves all over the 4 lanes we had to race on.  There should have been some instruction for everyone to know AT LEAST the USAT rule of "blocking" - because I was trying to pass on the left and just keep on going by, but there were times that I thought they were just going to swing wide and take me out.  Finishing the bike I was about 2:40 back on Ian - that guy can ride.  I took off on the run and saw that he had a little less than a half mile lead on me, ~650m or so.  So I ran after him, trying to make up as much time as I could.  I took back 10sec in the 1st half mile (thanks for the splits Dad!), and was told that he looked like he was slowing down.  That may have been a mistake because as the next turn-around I'm not sure I was any closer to him than before, but still I was holding out hope of catching him and crossing the finish line 1st.  At the end I couldn't quite get him, I got him back to about a 90 sec lead - taking back a little over 70 sec in the 3 mile and running the fastest split.  All in all a good race and a great way to spend a Sunday morning. 



               7th Pro at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon!!! - 9/21/2007

   I raced this past weekend at the Malibu Tri against an all star field including Brazilian pro's, local pro's, and Ironman hopeful Chris "Macca" McCormack.  Posting the 3rd fastest run split at 21:20 for 4 miles - bettered only by the top two overall finishers.
   With calm and cold ocean conditions the 1/2 mile swim went well.  After adjusting to my face freezing in the water I found myself in a small pack of swimmers rounding the first buoy.  As I started feeling better, I was able to pick up the pace and found myself working through the field in the water.  After coming out of the water mid-pack I passed a few people in T1 to come out of the transition only 1:30 off the lead.  Through the rolling hills on Pacific Coast Highway we raced on from Zuma Beach to Leo Carrillo and back.  I found myself tightening up a little towards the end of the bike - a problem I hope to soon fix with a lower front end on my TT setup.  So I lost a bit of time during the bike and went to make my move on the run.  After getting held up a little in T2 by the crowds of Age Group athletes making their way from the swim to the bike (making my transition 1 min slower than all the other pro's except the one who came off the bike with me) I shot out on the run.  But pretty soon I found myself flying down the road making up ground on the athletes in front of me.  Chasing down the others in front of me I quickly found myself in 7th place and closing fast on the runner ahead of me, but I was only able to close down to about 15 seconds off of 6th place.  
   Overall it was a great day, and I found out some useful information about how my training is going leading into my next ITU race in November.  It was also a real honor to race against Chris McCormack.  He is a great athlete, and an even nicer guy.  I was really excited to meet him as he prepares to race the Ironman World Championships next month, and wish him the best of luck. 


               Heading to Interbike!!! - 9/18/2007

Look for Andrew at the Profile-Design booth at Interbike (Sept. 26-27).  Andrew will be there modeling their new clothing.  There's also talk that the giant poster of Andrew that has been seen making special appearances at the Boston and San Diego Marathon Expo's will be appearing at the PowerBar booth at Interbike - space permitting.  So if you are out in Las Vegas next week come on over and say "HI".


               Race Recap: Geneva ITU Pan Am Cup - 7/20/2007

So not exactly the race that I was hoping to have, but a valuable experience none the less.  The race course was great, the town was very supportive and excited to have us there, and the weather was perfect.  Geneva has everything needed for a top notch ITU race.  The swim was 1.5 laps of a rectangular course in Lake Seneca, an 8 lap course around the city of Geneva that could be used as a great circuit course, and a flat 6 lap run course in park along the lake.  With spectators lining the course, there was a great atmosphere for the race.  
   MY race however was not that great.  The water was a touch on the cold side, but warm enough that we were not allowed to use wetsuits.  With a national champion open water swimmer in the field, the race took off from the gun.  I was straight out to the back of the pack in the water, swimming to keep in contact with the field.  However, the lead of the women's pack overlapped with the back of the men's pack, and as the women headed to shore a couple of us in the back of the men's pack went astray and followed the women instead of the men.  After the split we had to chase hard to try and get back with the men, but with the speed they were swimming we didn't stand a chance.  So I exited the water a couple min back on the lead swimmers in the worst position to be in in an ITU race - chasing.  What's worse is that we were so spread out in the back that there wasn't a pack to group up with.  So off I went on the bike course, where my bike handling skills (this is ironic, and you'll see why) allowed me to cut hard in the corners to try to make up every second I could on the field.  However, there was one majorly sketchy section on each loop, with a 100 degree right hand turn, with only one lane of traffic to turn into (due to not shutting down the 5 &20 Hwy completely for the 1.5 hours of racing) with cones and barrels cutting out even a little more of the lane.  All this and you had to cross railroad tracks 5 meters before making the turn.  Suffice it to say, on lap 3 I came flying into the turn and my tires lost traction (I guess I was a little overconfident in my handling skills) and I ended up sliding across the Hwy straight into one of the barrels on the road.  Fortunately my bike barely even touched the ground, but my right side was ripped up from my shoulder to my knee.  After jumping up (because I was now laying in the lane designated for Hwy CAR traffic), and getting off the road to take stock of myself I found that my chain was off and wrapped in an odd way around itself and my brake hood had been turned inward from the collision with the barrel.  My body was missing some skin, sore, and my right calf locked up, but no major damage.  But by the time my bike was once again ready to ride I was already lapped on the road and frustrated like hell, so I took myself over to the med tent and had them treat my cuts and scrapes.  Sitting in the tent let me get a good look at how the other athletes were running, which is where my confidence for the future is coming from.  From what I saw, if I can come out of the water with the main field, I can easily ride with them - they were barely going any faster than a single rider could have covered the course, and I know I can run fast enough off that kind of bike to place in top 5, and even win the race.  So for now I need to re-dedicate myself to my swimming.  As soon as my skin grows back and I can get in the water I'll be in the water nearly every day.  But for now, I just need to heal up and run off some of this frustration I feel from ending the race on a bad note.  Next ITU race was originally planned for Aug 19th in Kelowna, British Columbia, but now I think I'll wait until the Pan Am Cup on Treasure Island (outside San Francisco) in early November.  Thanks for checking up on me.