Photos: Watching the San Diego International Triathlon

1K swim, 30K bike, 10K run This race attracts a strong pro and elite field, as well as gifted age groupers. In its 19th year. Still not a spectator-friendly race (transition area and finish are 4 miles apart), but the athletes who take part can’t get enough of it. The race was won in the [...]

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Photo adventure: Elfin Forest Ride (62 miles)

Almost forgot–I took these photos on one of our Elfin Forest Rides. Don’t do what I did–taking photos or talking on a cell phone while riding is dangerous. But since I got these, I thought you should see it too! Ths is a hilly 62 mile ride. The grades are 10-14% in at least 10 [...]

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Some numbers at track tonight

I got the numbers from my GPS. These were Z3s, and I normally do these at 6:40s. 20 second rest for the 800s, 15 seconds rest for the 400s.   My goal was simply to see if I could run normally after having a so-so day yesterday resulting from a crazy spin session on Tuesday night. [...]

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Fabulous open water swim

The water surface was as flat as could be.  Not mirror-like, but well-behaved.  No swells, no gusts.  A warm 67 degrees.  High tide and the water was very clear today.  Kelp was mostly submerged. My usual swim buddies didn’t show until late, so I ended up swimming by myself.  It’s pretty cool actually, since I [...]

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Tried a core class last night

It was taught by two friends who were Olympic-class rowers in 2004.  They got the Bronze medal in the pairs I think.  The class was held in Studio Michelle, right off the La Jolla Boulevard in Bird Rock.  Parking was okay. Six of us–3 new triathletes, 2 who have been doing tris for 2 years, [...]

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Two-month old photo — where we swim

Camera phone capture. Low tide. Around 5PM in the afternoon.  Favorite venue for open water swims.  From La Jolla Cove to La Jolla Shores (in the distance), it’s about .75 miles so round trip is 1.5 miles.  The buoys are to the left and probably too small to show in any photo.

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New obsession: chasing after rabbits

So what is a masters runner like me going to do? The pace of workouts is so routine now, it’s just getting boring. Lately I’ve been obsessing about chasing our fastest runner (the rabbit in our story). I figure since I can’t really maintain myself at his pace for very long, I might as well [...]

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Vineman 70.3 Bike Profile

Some intel here. Not too bad. 90Km. Larger hill is a 230 ft climb 3.5% gradient then 1/3 mile 7.7% gradient. Not really close to Torrey Pines.

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So I stopped by my local bike shop

And got the following: a rear flasher that straps to the seat post (a new toy perhaps) Perpetuem, plain flavored a full rear wheel assembly with Continental trainer tires and 12-26 SRAM gears. I don’t know what the 12-26 ratio stands for, but they said it’s pretty standard (other choice is a 12-22). I checked [...]

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Running Zone 4 for 2 miles?

I went up to the coach before track.  I asked if there was a typo in the workout schedule.  It said Z4 1 mile and then Z4 2 miles.  Huh?  He laughed and said it’s right.  Plenty of head shaking in the group, and much nervous energy. Zone 4 is harder than a 5K pace.  [...]

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