jeremygrant.com

the ladies can’t resist us now:

hmm…30 mile sat night ride feels good

i went on a 4 mile hike this morning after a 40 mile ride last night and 12 miles running and 3 miles swimming already this week, later tonight i’m riding about 20 miles and riding to the bike party. going surfing sunday morning… i’m not sure if i should rock climb or run sunday night.

decisions, decisions

Sunday, September 24, 2006 – Jeremy Grant, placed 33 out of 96 in his division and 270 out of 1083 overall in the annual Long Beach Triathlon . The course consisted of a 1/2 mile swim inside the breakwall of Long Beach, a scenic 11 mile bike along Shoreline Drive, Queensway Bridge and past the Queen Mary and a fast 5k run adjacent to Shoreline Village and the Marina.  (article)

Prep
Coming off a few days of recovery from my race two weeks ago I was able to ramp my training back up to full intensity in a week and then taper for a couple days before the race.  The week prior I started my at my new job and also had to fit in another job I am starting to work on.  I was up late a lot and I know this was leaving me a little tired by the time the race came up.  Same thing happened last time.  Saturday I fit in a short bike ride, run and swim before I was off to pick up my race packet, had a my second to last carbo load dinner with a friend (had two plates of pasta!!!) and then went home to pack up, organize and do a little more work.  Before I went to sleep I set all my ten alarms (JK), put my race shorts and singlet on and marked my arms and legs with my bib number (just in case I woke up late).  The dog next door was barking all night long and kept me up a long time and even woke me up a couple times. 

Race Day
I got about 6 hours sleep… that’s ok — i got up in time! (4am) to have a breakfast of a banana, oatmeal, Gatorade, and half a Clif Bar.  Got my stuff together and packed the car and made my way in darkness to my hometown of Long Beach.  The roads were empty with no traffic so I was moving briskly to the sounds of very loud drum & bass, rock, and electronic — getting amped and putting my race face on.  I arrived about 5am and the parking lot was empty and got a spot in section "JJ" (just for  Jeremy).  I topped off my tires and made my way to the transition area.  It was perfect — I was one of the first there – I got a spot on the end and setup all my stuff, walked out to the beach with a Clif bar and scoped the swim course and then walked through the transition area a few times to locate my space.

At about 6am I took a 20 minute bike ride to warm up my legs and get a feel for the course.  Then I went for a 15 minute run to see how my running legs were doing.  Things checked out ok and I felt confident.  This time there would be no walking and my goal was to beat my PR for the 5K.  After I worked up a good sweat I headed back to the transition area, got undressed for the start, got my goggles and swim cap and walked over to the start.  The water was perfect — not cold at all ~ warm even — and I saw wetsuits everywhere…. .  I went for about a 10 minute swim and I was feeling good as I made my way back to shore.  This warm up would really pay off today.

So I was hanging around the start and I see Mom.  She made it in time to wish me luck and see the start.  Baby Jesse and Marisa couldn’t make it since baby Jesse decided to party all night instead of sleeping and was really to hung-over to watch his uncle compete. (JK-he’s teething and didn’t sleep enough).  It was nice Mom made it this time.  So I had a mini Clif bar (perfect for before the swim) and waited for the race to start.  About a minute and a half before the start there was one swimmer out in the water in front of the start line and the director was bull horning him to get out of the water… but the swimmer couldn’t hear him so eventually the guy got out 30 seconds before the first wave start and everyone applauded him as he exited .  Waves 1 & 2 were off and mine was next.  Just before my wave a swimmer from wave 2 ran from the crowd and started 3 minutes late….don’t want to be that guy!!!

Swim
7:06 am my wave started (30-34 Men) and I positioned myself on the outside to avoid all the flailing arms and legs and just swim fast to the first buoy hopefully passing the juggernaut orgy of arms and legs.  It was a smart choice.  I was able to take a lead over most of the swimmers by the first marker and was on my way eating packs of swimmers from wave 1 & 2 as I made it to the end of the swim.  Once I was out of the water I was in the middle of the first two waves of competitors and ran for the transition.  Overall the swim was good…I had plenty of power, control and sighting and it was my best ocean swim yet.Once in transition I came to see a familiar sight — most of the bikes in my division were still racked and ready for their riders who were still swimming.  I quickly got everything on and made it out to the bike course in minutes.

Bike
Once on the bike course I shifted into high gear almost immediately and was riding faster then ever.  I managed to eat up a lot of the fast swimmers of wave 1 & 2 with my trusty girlfriend (I mean Cervelo) and even got a few comments on how sweet she (it) is.  The course was awesome.  It follows some of the route the Grand Prix does and it is FASTTTT.  Even the hills up the Queensway Bridge were swift and I put some hammer down on the decent to the Queen Mary (special thanks to all the hot girls cheering at the turnaround!) I passed a lot of riders, but; I got passed by several riders with huge legs and fast bikes, awesome riders nonetheless.  Making it past Shoreline Village the wafting scent of fresh pancakes, eggs and bacon kind of made me sick.  Those restaurants should be prohibited from cooking during the event (JK).  So I sprinted to the transition area and I felt really good coming off the bike. Ready for the run!!!

Run
Shoes, race belt, and hat and I was ready for the run around the Marina.  I kept telling myself "things can only get better!" and kept my pace to keep running at any and all cost.  Everyone was passing me, even a 62 year old man (double my age!!!).  I have to improve my minute mile by next season — that’s where I am losing time and position.  Anyways I made it to the turn around and with a mile to go I was feeling my second wind coming so I picked up the pace.  I was still getting passed but I felt so good.  A runners high.  As I came towards the finish turn I sighted a guy from my division so I sprinted to pass and recoup one placing before I crossed the finish line.  I felt great, tired, but; great.  I loaded up my pockets with water, oranges, bananas and grapes and lo-and-behold Mom was there to congratulate me.  She kind of missed the finish because she thought I was going to take longer on the run but I fooled her with my blistering 5k time (JK).  She was surprised how fast I was on the bike and swim that was nice to hear.  I’m a beginner but I guess I’m a pretty good one.  After a few pictures we went over to the last hundred yards of the run and cheered everyone on.  We saw some pretty amazing things like men and women in their 70′s, a few kids that must have been in junior high, some really happy beginners and some really BBP’s (big beautiful peoples).

Done
I skipped the awards since I didn’t want to bore Mom.  I got my stuff together, checked my time and packed up the car.  We went to the old house, picked up my sister and my nephew and had breakfast at the neighborhood restaurant (which happened to start up back in the old days along the run course).  Finally I was able to have my mountain of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns….I should be able to work it off before next month’s race… eh?

Have Goals.  Challenge Yourself.  Enjoy Life More.

JG

i was looking through the recylables and look who i found!!!

i had to wait on deck for half an hour while everyone who had a lane rested for two minutes on every lap. how annoying is that?

there was a line of people waiting…it serves me right for swimming at a gym but swimming in the ocean at night is dangerous and masters swim is made for the 9-5ers…eh…i get my workout in but not the best conditions… plus i get to people watch all the strange characters at the gym.

so finally after a couple people tired out and a husband and wife team finished their two lap workout i got a lane…the worst lane…but its a lane (one lane split in two — the one next to the wall). i’ll take this lane because its harder to swim there…but i don’t like it because people here don’t know how to swim and end up pushing me into the wall… whatever…so here’s my workout:

1 x 200 meters easy warm up
6 x 100 meters moderate pace, 20 sec interval
2 x 100 meters alternate hard pace 20 sec interval, easy pace 10 sec interval
4 x 200 meters alternate hard pace 30 sec interval, moderate pace 20 sec interval (main set)
4 x 200 meters moderate pace pull/no kick
1 x 200 meters easy cool down

2800 meters total (1.75 miles) (thats 112 laps…man i wish i could swim in a long course pool)

my goal is to work up to 3800 meters (~2.25 miles) a workout by next season and start doing pyramid sets with timed intervals instead of straight sets with free intervals. i’ll probably buy a tri wetsuit so i can swim in the ocean off season and early spring… either that or find a long course pool in winter (thats a longshot)

i can’t find my speedo since i lost it a couple weeks ago so i have to wear stupid race shorts.

is very nice.