jeremygrant.com

Of all triathlons I was most prepared for this one with the one exception of suddenly coming down with symptoms of a hairline fracture in my lower leg coupled with a shin splint exactly 7 days before the race. Knowing that I only had to race 3.1 miles I was able to cut back running from 20+ miles a week to less than 5 and get plenty of rest with the taper to go into this race feeling confident and able to race an easy pace on the run… i expected 10 minute miles in 5K as opposed to my sub 7 minute miles in 10K i had been working on in the weeks prior.

pre race
i was tapering for two days and carbo loading for 4 before race day… the day before i met a friend of mine at registration and we visited the course for a swim in the bay and bike ride one loop of the course. back at home i packed my bags twice, tuned up the bike, put on a new set of tires, cooked up some pasta, ran through some things in my head, prepared breakfast and loaded the car and went to bed way early.

woke up race day at 4:00 am, nuked breakfast, loaded the car and made the drive with some tunes, a power bar and some Gatorade — made it into transition by 5:30. got set up. racked next to some mountain bike with every damn thing you could think of plus a bike lock that remained on the bike when transition closed. walked the transition twice. took the bike out for a warm up… saw the volunteers walking the course for sharp bads, took a try at the turnaround cone. got back and the old dude next to me was cool… he remarked how he felt like a tagged/marked beast of the wild…no doubt we are…. skipped the run warm up for obvious reasons. put the wetsuit on and got ready for the start. met my friend up at his VIP rack and walked to the swim start…. took a few hundred warm up meters in the bay with the rest of the wild beasts….

swim
gun goes off…. second wave… I’m on the inside front of the pack running and then jumping into the water… some cheaters on the outside run on the sand bar for about 35 meters and then jump in… have to remember that next year…. into the swim I’m getting into it and keeping a good pace and remind myself that this is a C race and that I cannot go full steam because i have wildflower (b race) and caliman (a race) in the next 6 weeks to concentrate on… so i let up a little… towards the end of the half mile i;m coming through wave 1 and nearly got kicked in the face… i swam till i could touch bottom and ran up the beach and through the ridiculously long run loop to transition1 … finished 1/2 mile swim in 00:11:37, 11th out of the water in my division of 66. 102nd/800 overall. the orca wetsuit pays dividends.

T1
man was I dizzy, wet suit came off easy and transition went smooth in a decent yet improvable 00:01:41

bike
it didn’t take me long to get into the rhythm and i was riding on a empty course… it was a little chilly, the air was wet and the sky overcast — it was perfect racing weather…. i was hammering nonstop on the aerobars. i saw the leaders of the race as they were powering out of the hills…i was about to deal with those next…there were some hills which i hammered up and overtook some riders… one hill was like a mini lynch hill… maybe a 1/8th mile like lynch — it was cute….the turnaround was sick and i took the whole downhill enforce reaching about 40 mph overtaking a lot of riders. the bell comes in handy sometimes…. i saw a few flat tire DNFs and powered on… the course was really the most beautiful i had been on… it was delightful, even the bugs tasted great. on the second loop i can barely remember now but it was faster and i was passing all the late starters so i got plenty of legal draft seconds… I’ve been practicing that like mad lately…. about a couple miles to the end i almost get overtaken by a rider but i fend him off till the end and i make it into t2 like melted butter….5th/66 division, 48th/800 overall, 15 miles, 0:42:40, 21.09 avg MPH

t2
ah t2, lost in transition this time… i walk not far enough, did i walk past? i walk past, is that me? that’s me… thats not me… oops… ok, thats me….racked…. wow feel slow… its OK… remind myself wildflower is going to kick my ass in two weeks… wobble wobble… 0:01:57 — need to work on this — tri bike shoes are in the future for me.

run
like i said before this was going to be an easy run… no way was i going to ruin my wildflower or caliman races… i didn’t need to push myself on this… i was racing on damaged goods…. so i took it slow… i eased into the run and basically kept the same pace the whole way through. i saw the leaders make their way back as i came to mile 1… then it set in… the pain… i just carried myself through trying to keep cadence and light feet, running the whole time… i just wanted the run to end, then i hit the uphill part… then the turnaround… i just wanted it to end… i was getting passed like i was standing still… all my work this year gone… i was taking it easy… then i see the finish and of course sprint to the line and the photographer misses me i was so fast… ha ha…. turns out my “take it easy” 5K this year is faster than last years 5K PR (personal record). 52nd/66 division, 346th/800 overall, 5K, 0:24:52 0:08:17 per mile

finish
i felt good and was happy to be finished…. where can i find the results? oh there they are…. 17th/66 division, 107th/800 overall 1:22:47 finish time

post race
i got to transition, changed and loaded the car immediately after ( i love doing that) soon after my leg stiffened up and i was walking with a severe limp my friend finished and i was happy for him since it was his first tri… my other friend missed my finish but was there to say hello and make an appearance which felt special. i watched the awards and ate a lot of bananas and grapes… drove home, got a huge double cheeseburger with avocado and bacon, fries and chocolate milkshake, iced the gimpy leg and took a nappy on the couch. of course the day after my leg was bum and I went to swim workout at the gym in my newest t-shirt, some faded body markings, an inflated ego and a nice bronze farmer tan. wildflower here i come…

god i love tri

i was out running yesterday and somehow found myself pacing some pretty fast runners in the palisades with the nike running crew … a couple miles into my 6 mile run my leg seized up a little bit, then a lot… then i couldn’t run so i stopped and stretched again real good… ended up walking back and icing it all night.

today i can barely walk.

i just went out and killed my pier to pier triathlon again… it was windy choppy swim, a windy bike and a decent run… jamba juice and a powerbar waiting for me at the end was total motivation to finish faster this time — and the weird tan lines motivated me to get out there today.

http://www.normann-stadler.info/

his motivation?

“They all told me that a _______ can’t …”

yeah, thats my motivation too.
i’ve been told i couldn’t do a lot of things… some of which i am very successful at

way to go norman! i understand where you’re coming from now.

i won first place

swim was great and fast with my wetsuit. navigating all the bouys was a challenge but the float i had on my chest made it easier. transition one was fast as it could be out of the trunk of my car. i was out of the gate fast aided by some tailwind but i flatted at mile 7 and then had to navigate back against a headwind. i still averaged 21 miles per hour and was within a couple minutes of a sub hour bike. transition into the run was great and i had a lot of bounce. i sprinted the last mile to my car and i was out of there.

i’m planning a training trip up to big bear for some elevation and climbing workouts next weekend.