Great honor from Team in Training

Just today, the great people at Team in Training offered me the position of coach for the up-coming fall season. And of course, I accepted!

This is very exciting for me as this past season I had become more involved with working with a lot of the participants in terms of their actual training and racing, where as before I had concentrated on the organizational and fundraising aspects. I loved helping them improve and it was a blast seeing every single one of them cross the finish line in Hawaii or Palm Springs.


So now, I'll be coaching in an official capacity; actually co-coaching with Tim Petlin who is one of my all-time favorite TNT people. We'll also have a couple assistant coaches and a whole host of captains and mentors to help, most of whom came from this past Team. They are all great and fun people and I know the new season is going to be fantastic.

I'm very grateful for the opportunity and to those that really supported me. I suppose my love for TNT and triathlon really shows.

I'm dedicated to doing the best job I can with this new Team. As always, I will get to know each and every participant and do whatever I can to help them. It wasn't that long ago I was a newbie myself so I find it easy to relate to the millions of questions and general apprehension that comes with being new to the sport.

This adds a bit of a twist to my Ironman training but Coach Tim also has an IM in the fall as does Asst. Coach Emily, so we'll keep each other honest in our training.

Also, I've come to realize that my involvement with TNT really fuels my passion for triathlon and that can only be a good thing as I move forward with this huge undertaking.


Kickoff for the new season is May 17th. BRING IT ON!!

Desert Tri 2008

I have to say, I really didn't want to do this race. I had signed up well in advance during a triathlon high, forgetting that you need as much mental as physical preparation for a race. And coming off Lavaman and 8 days of vacation -- then dealing with the subsequent backlog of work and other responsibilities -- I should have known that I wouldn't feel like doing this event. Also, I was heading to Vegas immediately beforehand to meet up with some friends then driving straight to the Palm Springs area.... And yes, it turns out I was a bit hungover and certainly tired.

Is that enough excuses??? Well, turns out I had a good race anyway. :)

Desert Tri is "international" distance which is just slightly shorter than Olympic in each of the three legs. Coming off 2:46 in Hawaii, I expected to do a bit better, hoping to come in close to 2:30.

The swim is in a man-made lake and my wave (the last to go) wasn't that big, so I had plenty of space to maneuver. I came out of the water right at 20 minutes (.75 mile distance) and was really pleased until I realized I was very dizzy and felt completely dehydrated. I took FOREVER in the first transition, as I walked the entire way and then almost fell over trying to get my wetsuit off. I didn't even mount my bike until almost 25 minutes!! Terrible, terrible T1 time and completely due to the fact I had partied too much 1.5 days earlier.
But once on the bike, I felt okay and took in lots of sports drink. After making the first couple of turns, I realized that the slight breeze was not going to be much of a factor, so I just got down in aero position and cranked. I did the 24-mile bike leg in just under 1:12 which is pretty good for me.

T2 was fine but I was still feeling pretty dehydrated. I decided to go out a little harder on the run as I knew the course was pretty flat; two loops around the lake. The first loop was fine but I was starting to fatigue as I passed the TNT cheering section to start the second go-round. With a couple of miles left I picked it up the best I could but it was starting to get warm and I struggled a bit. I came in at 2:26:04 which was better than I had expected; believe I was just under 47 minutes on the 6-mile run.

I'm kicking myself now because if I hadn't done so pathetically in T1 I could have been pretty high in my age group. As it was, I think I finished in the upper third but not close to the podium.

And all the times were relatively fast, an indication of the course and conditions. But still, I felt pretty darn strong most the way and realize I've come a long way in the last year.

If I can continue this rate of improvement, I think I could get age-group competitive in the Olympic/International distances, which seems to be my sweet spot. I love the challenge of the longer races but at these middle distances the swim is a higher percentage of the overall race and that is to my advantage. Plus, I can hang with the big boys on the bike over 25 miles but over 56 or 112 there is always going to be a lot of time between us.

Also, I'm starting to get more confident on the run leg. I like to run but have never known how hard to go and have completely crashed and burned a couple of times. But Sunday I kicked it up from the outset and it all worked out and I realize I could easily go harder still.


And now, the training turns pretty hard core. I only have two half-Ironman races before the biggee on November 1. I'm looking forward to the challenge!

Fun, fun, fun

Even though this blog is centered around my triathlon training and racing, from time to time I’ll post on the subject of my primary motivation for doing all this: It’s FUN!!!

Triathlon (and Team in Training in particular) is filled with fantastic people that are – as you might expect – out-going, interesting and just plain cool. Also, many of the races are held in wonderful locations and/or have social aspects to them that make an event much more than just the time you are out on the course.

Now that I have several races under my belt I’ve been able to worry less and celebrate more. At first, you are so focused on the complexities of the sport (Do I have everything in my bag? I’ve got to keep my mind straight in transition! Boy, I hope I don’t bonk on the run...) it’s hard to take much else in. But the last couple of races I’ve relaxed much more, chatted with people on the course, thanked the volunteers, smiled a lot and generally enjoyed myself.

All events are fun but Lavaman is one of the truly special experiences. It’s set on the big island of Hawaii in and around the awesome Hilton Waikoloa Resort and about half the 700 racers are from Team in Training. All this conspires to make a very relaxed, friendly and fun time.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of resort hotels, as their manufactured trappings usually come across as a pale imitation of natural settings. But I have to say, this particular resort is pretty great and the many pools, gardens, vantage points, natural bodies of water in addition to the buildings are pretty breath-taking.

I arrived late Wednesday night even though the race wasn’t until Sunday. Most the TNT people were coming in late Thursday and Friday, so I took the better part of the first day to myself. I went and ran most of the race run course, swam a few laps in the salt water lagoon (where I ran smack into 3 big sea turtles) and laid by the pool. Then, I met up with a friend that night for dinner and by Friday almost everyone else was there.

That day, several of us went over to the swim site (about a mile from the hotel) and had a fantastic open-water swim.

I also went to Costco and bought a bunch of beer and booze and two huge rolling coolers because I knew the TNT Victory Party ended at 9PM the day of the race and also knew there was no where else to go, as the resort is very self-contained. My friend Setal and I spent the afternoon kicking around the little village of Kona and had a nice lunch. That night, about 10 of us went to dinner together.

On Saturday morning, the team met as a group, retrieved our bikes (they had been shipped all together) and took a swim at the race site. Things were pretty rushed for a number of reasons but we also took our bikes out onto the main highway just to make sure they were all ready to go and to get a bit of a feel for the course.

That night we had the traditional pasta party. I stood in the ‘clap line’ as the TNT staff applauded all the participants that had raised money to participate in this event. I know the close to 300 TNTers raised well more than a million dollars just through Lavaman.

The pasta party was beautiful, set outside on a huge patio overlooking the lagoon and waterfall. The inspirational speaker was our own Kyle Garlett, who was has not only survived multiple bouts with lymphoma and leukemia, he’s had one shoulder and hip replaced due to the cumulative effect of the chemotherapy drugs. And just last year, he had a full heart transplant that was needed for the same reason.


The really special thing was that Kyle was also speaking as a participant!! He had actually completed the Malibu triathlon as a member of my team last fall, but this was to be his first Olympic-length race. As always, he gave a clever and moving speech.

The day of the race, we met as a Team at 5:30AM to get organized then ride over to the transition area together. Then, we helped each other setup, when for a little jog, then it was down to the beach for a warm-up swim.

Several people on this team were really fearful swimmers and standing there on that beach looking out at those pylons waaaaay out there, plus the hundreds of other racers massing in the water… Well, even as a strong swimmer you are going to get serious butterflies. I made sure to get myself up near the front of the start but was really worried (yet hopeful!) for about half a dozen of my teammates. I wished them luck and then got ready to take off.

During the race, I didn’t see many of my teammates. I made sure to shout encouragement to those I did see and also had a few little chats with people on the run.

When I approached the finish chute, Emily Chung from my team saw me right away and jumped out to take a couple of photos and was screaming “You killed it!”. Emily is a strong triathlete in her own right (will be doing the Ironman with me) but was there just to vacation – and she was awesome about taking photos, cheering everyone on and helping with errands and the like.

Then, I got to watch ever single one of my teammates finish and that was a blast. There were a few that got really emotional, as the that finish line represented overcoming significant fears and/or physical obstacles. I think I was as happy for them as I was for myself.

Afterwards, it was time to take in the event party, complete with unlimited beer and a fantastic spread of food for the athletes. We hung out for hours until it was finally time to head back to the hotel and get out of the sun.

I barely had time to get cleaned up and changed for the Victory Party, as I needed to get all the booze organized in the two big coolers – get it iced down and ready to roll for later.

The TNT party was fun but pretty laid-back. There was a nice buffet but only one bartender for hundreds of people and that with the absurd price of drinks, kept the lid on a bit. There was a pretty lame DJ but that didn’t stop the more out-going (including me) to get out on the dance floor and have a good time.

Then, it was time to move on and we picked a smaller pool that was somewhat removed from any rooms and right on the ocean. With some help, I wheeled down those two monster coolers and the majority of the Team plus a handful of guests slowly but surely started devouring the drinks.

Of course, people were thrown in the pool, a couple went down the water slide in their clothes and it was general mayhem. But I have to say it was really satisfying to see everyone cut loose because last year we all went home and to bed by 9PM. When I left somewhere around 1AM (that’s 4AM California time) it was still raging.

The next morning, hangovers and stories abounded. I won’t repeat them here but most of it was just good, clean fun and nobody was hurt or lost at sea.

That following Monday, a group of 9 of us headed north up the coast to explore more of the island and specifically to seek out a good hike that led you down to what was described as an incredible black sand beach. We stopped at a little place for lunch and then found the trailhead, which was pretty high above the rugged and beautiful beach below.

That turned out to be a wonderful afternoon and I was really glad to see more of the island, as the area around the resort – while amazing – is pretty barren due to all the lava flows.

Monday night about half the team left for home but the remainder (about a dozen or so) were invited to Kyle & Carrie Garlett’s suite at the Marriot next door. I rolled over what was left of the alcohol and we ordered pizza and salad. Later in the night, we all went around the room and told our stories about the race and where we drew our inspiration. It was really, really cool.

I was leaving for home on the red-eye Tuesday night but still had a full day to enjoy. In the morning I ran the race course again apart from the last mile on the lava trail. I felt fantastic and topped it off with a nice, easy swim in the saltwater lagoon. Really helped to flush what soreness remained.

Then I had to be packed up and on the road, as two of my teammates were hosting a BBQ at their timeshare condo further south on the island. I went back to Costco to get supplies and then met everyone there.

There were about 10 of us and we drank margaritas and beer, played some beach volleyball and cooked out. The time flew by and I hated to get up and leave about 8PM for my flight home.

What a fantastic week! Truly, one of the best times I’ve ever had and that means something, because I’ve been fortunate to do lots of great things in my life.

And THAT is why I love triathlon and TNT so much! I’m already looking forward to seeing everyone again at Desert Tri and the reunion party.

Lavaman, the second time around

On Sunday April 6th, I celebrated my one year anniversary as a triathlete by repeating my first ever tri: Lavaman on the big island of Hawaii.

Last year, I performed respectably but was somewhat disappointed in what turned out to be a slow bike time (even for me) and a strangely slow run. I chalked it up to being a newbie, being well under the weather and underestimating the heat and humidity.

I really wanted to return and do it again not only for the race but for the experience. It's held at a magnificent resort and on my first go-round things were so hectic I barely had a chance to relax. So, I booked a full week this year and planned to do it right.

After arriving a few days early and hanging out with friends, the race went very much according to plan which was an absolute first for me. I'm still learning about myself as an athlete, specifically where I should push hard or be more conservative.


My plan was to be more aggressive at the mass swim start (all guys go at once, then the women 5 minutes later) and try and get my time down by a couple of minutes, even though last year I had a pretty strong swim. BUT they changed the course to one loop instead of two and added many more turns and the bottom line was that it was actually harder to find space to swim just about the whole way. I did almost the same as 2007 but that put me in the 80-percentile as opposed to 75-percentile the previous year. It was just slower for everyone due to the course.

I did much, much better in the first transition. I swam right up onto the beach and hit the ground running. Even though it's a considerable jog from the swim out to transition, I was out on the bike in less than two minutes, which was twice as fast as 2007.

I also had my triathlon bike with me this time around and although I was a little concerned about the strong breeze, when I got out to the Queen K highway I just got down in aero position and hammered. The course isn't hilly but it's far from flat, with lots of long, gradual slopes. I didn't come out of my big chain ring the entire race and felt like I was making good time. As opposed to last year, I passed as many as passed me which was nice. Still, there are plenty of people that are just monsters on the bike and I've learned to just let them go and ride my own race. Bike split was 1:19, a 10-minute improvement from last year.

T-2 went smoothly although I always take time to put on socks before going out on the run. I run without them in sprints but over a 10K I don't want to risk the blisters. All went well and I was soon out running across the first lava field.


I purposely kept it nice and easy for the first two miles. Last year I was so frustrated with my bike time I tried to make it up at the beginning of the run and I basically crashed and burned about half-way through. In my inexperience, I had drastically underestimated the heat and the cumulative effect of the first two legs.

About midway, you head along a long, barren stretch of asphalt, down a decent hill then back up again -- twice. This was the area that did me in last year and I resolved to stay steady and in doing so I passed dozens of people that were in the process of making the same mistake I did a year ago. I also passed the only person on my team that was ahead of me and he was really hurting.

After that section, I picked it up as we ran along the golf course and then wound through the resort. They direct you down to this very treacherous section right along the lagoon which is mainly jagged rock and barely wide enough for one person. Fortunately, the only slower runner in front of me found a place to step aside and I continued on without too much trouble.

Then you hit the last mile which is all loose lava rock followed by the sandy beach. I felt really good and realized I could have easily gone harder up to that point, but the footing is really tough and I had to take it easy. The last quarter mile or so was on the loose sand but by that time I was feeling really good about the race and knew my finish was going to be close my goal, so I just relaxed and took in the sights and sounds.

I crossed right at 2:46, just slightly above my stretch goal of 2:45. I wasn't even breathing hard at the end. That was a 19-minute improvement from last year.

I was the first of about 40 from my team, so it was great to be see every single one of them come across the finish line. Four of the guys broke 3 hours which is excellent for a first Olympic-length tri. And everyone else generally surprised themselves with their times, although all admitted it was a tough race.

Afterwards, the event organizers throw a great post-party with all the free beer and food you want. There is also live music and most people hung out on the beach for hours.

All in all, a very good way to start my 2008 racing season. Hope it's a good omen for the longer races to come!