2012 TNF SF Trail Championships 13.1


TNF SF Trail Championships : 13.1 - Dec 2nd 2012  
Marin Headlands, CA

I had been looking forward to this race for over a month, so when I heard that rain was forecasted for the event I was a little bummed.  Being new to the Bay Area and the fact that it actually rains here, I have zero experience running on muddy trails nor did I have any clue what to wear. While there was nothing I could do about the first part a quick trip to sports basement solved the second. 100 dollars later I had a new Brooks running jacket & shorts. Perfect.  The rest of the day I fell into my usual pre race routine. 10PM hit, I got ready for bed, set my alarm for 5AM, and checked my work email one last time before going to sleep.  That’s when I saw the email. Race cancelled. F*CK.  Oh well.

The rain came down hard the whole night. No reason to wake up at 5am so I slept in. Woke up at 10am, and had a leisurely breakfast with my parents. Still raining. Finished my coffee. Now what?  Well, I took the last couple days off from working out for the race, and I had a new rain jacket … What the hell, I might as well run.

I started off with the intention of only running 6 miles or so along the bike path in mill valley. Curiosity got to me and I decided to run to Tennessee Valley to check out how bad the trails really were. By the time I got there the sun had come out and there were several other groups of antsy runners who decided to get out and run on the course anyway.  My competitive spirit got a hold of me and I decided to try my luck at “The North Face San Francisco - Sunday Segment Run Challenge”  While I didn’t go all out ( I had already ran 5+ miles) I put a solid 180bpm effort up the 1.4 mile 9% grade Marincello Climb. I couldn’t wait to get home and upload it to Strava to see how I stacked up against the likes of Galen Burrell, Chikara Omine, and Lucas Agricola who’s names plague the strava leaderboards for most of the marin country trails.

Running up Marincello, I was surprised how good of shape the trails were in.  Going down was a different story though.  I looped down bobcat and there was literally a river running down that trail. I almost fell several times and it just felt sketchy going down. I couldn’t imagine trying to race down something like this. Luckily I made it down in one piece, picked back up my jacket, drank some water and ran home.

I ended up running 13.3 miles, climbing 1325 ft and holding a 7:45 pace.  I also made it up Marincello in 11 minutes 50 seconds, which was the 6th fastest time ever up the segment, and the fasted time for the Sunday segment run challenge.  Not bad.  Galen of course had the KOM, but I was able to edge out Chikara and Lucas.  I think if I hit that segment a little harder I could probably move up to 2nd, but Galen’s 10 min 27 sec  is slightly insane. 

Click to see in Strava

2012 BASP #3 - Sierra Point Night Cross


BASP #3 – Sierra Point Night Cross - November 10th 2012  
Brisbane, CA

Cyclocross race #2 !!! Slowly getting the hang of this thing. 

I still don't know how to start so I missed clipping in at the start of the Mens C Race and quickly ended up near the back of the 75 person field. The good thing about this "strategy" was that it was great for the self esteem. Even though I went the same slow speed the whole time I was able to pass 40-50 people over the 6 lap race, and finished in the top 1/3.

 The start of the Mens B Single Speed was a different story with the same ending. This time I clipped in just fine, but everyone blew past me at the start anyway. I learned a lot more during the second race. Everyone had such better lines through the course and by just following the guys in front of me I was able to score some quick lap times despite being dog tired. I finished this one around the middle of the pack.

Mens C - 12:00PM
Lap1: 6:51
Lap2: 6:14
Lap3: 6:17
Lap4: 6:19
Lap5: 6:15
Lap6: 5:50
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Total: 45:34 ( 24  / 76 ) ???
Mens B Single Speed- 3:00PM
Lap1: 6:37
Lap2: 5:31
Lap3: 6:13
Lap4: 6:05
Lap5: 6:12
Lap6: 6:29
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Total: 45:22 ( 30  / 51 ) ???

 Click to see in Strava

2012 Stafford Lake CX


Stafford Lake CX – November 4th 2012  
Novato, CA

My first Cyclocross race !!! I had just built up my Bianchi Roger SS CX bike about 7 days before so i was a little nervous.  I had only gone on 3 rides with it, and had never used Shimano SPD pedals before. 

Mens C - 9:45AM
Lap1: 9:33
Lap2: 9:47
Lap3: 9:47
Lap4: 9:41
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Total: 38:51 ( 12  / 38 )
Mens B Single Speed- 3:00PM
Lap1: 8:49
Lap2: 9:19
Lap3: 9:34
Lap4: 9:30
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Total: 37:12 ( 8  / 16 )
Click to see in Strava









2012 Pacific Grove Triathlon


Pacific Grove Triathlon – September 8th 2012 
Pacific Grove, CA
Swim: 29:18 ( 1:57 )
Bike: 1:10:04 ( 21.2 mph )
Run: 39:46 ( 6:24 per mile avg)
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Total: 2:22:21 ( 4th AG / 16 OA )

2012 Vineman 70.3


Vineman 70.3 – July 15th 2012 
Sonoma, CA
Swim: 31:10 ( 1:37 )
Bike: 2:33:02 ( 22.0 mph )
Run: 1:32:10 ( 7:03 per mile avg)
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Total: 4:41:57 ( 18th AG / 103rd OA )






2012 Lucile Packard 10K


Lucile Packard 10k – June 23rd 2012 
Stanford, CA
Run: 37:15 ( 6:00 per mile avg)

Since I didn't meet my 10k last time, my goal again was to try and hold a 6:03 pace and finish with a 37:30.

Well I met my goal. Kind of. The race was a little short. But either way I felt great running and ended up 4th in my AG and 14th OA out of 468 athletes. 

Click here see this race in Strava.

Below is a breakdown of my splits. 


2012 The 102nd Annual Dipsea

The 102nd Annual Dipsea 7.4M – June 10th 2012 

Mill Valley, CA
Run: 1:03:55 ( 9:18 per mile avg)

First run in 1905, the Dipsea is the oldest trail race in America. The 7.4 mile course from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach is considered to be one of the most beautiful courses in the world, but this beauty comes at a price. The trail includes uneven footing, single-track footpaths, and almost invariably steep terrain, featuring about 4,000-foot (1219 m) elevation gain and loss over the course. The uniqueness of the Dipsea Race course owes largely to the opportunity for competitors to choose from any of several alternate routes on diverging and converging trails, adding a competitive premium for strategy, experience, and familiarity with the course.


My goal was to try and be one of the top 3 "runner", and finish sub 60 minutes.



Just to throw some excused out there; The race was REALLY hot this year, I made the mistake of filling my water bottle with gatorade instead of water and starting with 1420 people in front of you on a mostly single track run was a little more crazy than I anticipated. So I didn't meet my goals, but I did finish 13th place in the "runner" division, had the 93rd fasted time, and finished the race 616 out of 1440 . The best news though is that since I was top 750 to cross the finish line I was invited back next year to be in the "invitational" division. Thanks to CrossFit 5150, LB Tri Club, and Mix1 for your support. 


Click here see this race in Strava.



Below is a breakdown of my splits.  






2012 Wildflower Olympic Triathlon


Wildflower Olympic Triathlon – May 6th 2012 
Bradley, CA
Swim: 23:53 ( 1:35 )
Bike: 1:12:50 ( 20.4 mph )
Run: 41:18 ( 6:39 per mile avg)
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Total: 2:21:21

Pre-Race:

Per the usual routine, I try to eat 3 hours before race time. Since we were camping I was a little worried about what I would be eating since I realized I race better off eggs and bacon than I do off of oatmeal. Luckily we had a grill so I was able to fry 2 eggs, and eat them with a slice of toast, almond butter, and 2 Starbucks shots. 

Swim ( 1500 km ) - 23:53 ( 229th OA ) - 1:35 pace

Swim felt really good this year. I never expect to do well so as long as there are still a bunch of bikes left on the rack I feel confident going into the bike. Compared to last year I was able to take a little over a minute off my time. Score. 

T1 - 2:04

Bike ( 40 km ) - 1:12:50 ( 40th OA ) - 20.4 mph / 225 watts / 94 rpm


My new strategy this year for olympic distance races is to literally bike as hard as I possibly can and not worry about the run.  I had previously held back a little on the bike portion to keep my legs fresh, but at SF Tri at Alcatraz I found that I could still run after killing my legs biking as long as I ate ~ 200 calories and got enough water. 

I took this strategy to heart, and ended up playing leapfrog with fellow LB Tri Club member Jeff Stevens for the entire bike portion. It was good motivation to keep me aggressive. Every time I slacked for even a minute I would hear an "on your left" coming from behind. I think we finished the bike within 5 seconds of each other, and I took 1 minute off my bike time from last year. Woohoo.

T2 - 1:16

Run ( 10 km ) - 41:18 ( 56th OA ) - 6:39 pace


This was the only part of the race I was disappointed at myself with. I have been running a lot this year and really just wanted to KILL the run course. I have been consistently running 38:30 10kms in training so I was hoping I could bring last years Wildflower run time of 42:04 down by ~ 2 minutes to a flat 40:00.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to do this. I ran a great first 3 miles, but I was not feeling good on miles 4 & 5 and I probably took the downhill at the end a little too cautiously. I did take 45 seconds of last years run ... but I wanted more !!! Lesson learned for next year, "Run Faster". 


Total 2:21:21 (23rd OA )

I finished 23rd OA out of 1929 athletes, and 9th place in my AG. This was a HUGE improvement from last year where I finished 52nd OA, and 16th in my AG with a 2:24:32.  I am excited to start off the season so well, and am looking forward to my next race. Thanks to CrossFit 5150, LB Tri Club, and Mix1 for your support. Also congrats to Mark Tripp ( on the right below ) who was 1st OA and only 3 seconds from setting the course record for Mens 30-34.

Click here & here see this race in Strava.






2012 Practice Dipsea 6.8M

Practice Dipsea 6.8M – April 29th 2012 

Mill Valley, CA
Run: 1:07:36 ( 9:56 per mile avg)

First run in 1905, the Dipsea is the oldest trail race in America. The 7.4 mile course from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach is considered to be one of the most beautiful courses in the world, but this beauty comes at a price. The trail includes uneven footing, single-track footpaths, and almost invariably steep terrain, featuring about 4,000-foot (1219 m) elevation gain and loss over the course. The uniqueness of the Dipsea Race course owes largely to the opportunity for competitors to choose from any of several alternate routes on diverging and converging trails, adding a competitive premium for strategy, experience, and familiarity with the course.

It's very competitive to get into this race, and for the first time I actually got in. Once you get in, you can guarantee an entry for the following year by finishing top 750 out of 1500 people. There is a catch though. Some competitors get head starts. For a 31-37 year old male, first time runner, I will be starting the race 51 minutes after the first person starts. I did some math and it looks like based on historical results I will need to get a 1:13:00 to earn a spot for next year. And just out of curiosity if i wanted to get top 3 OA ( first time runners ) I would likely need sub 58:00.
I guess I should start training. 

I flew up to SF to see my parents and was originally planning on doing a solo practice run on the course but my dad saw that DSE runners was putting on a "Practice Dipsea" race. Perfect. I showed up the morning of with my racing flats, signed up and gave it a go.


I ended up 10th place out of 126 athletes which was solid performance for running the Dipsea the first time. 

Click here see this race in Strava.

Below is a breakdown of my splits.  


2012 Mix1 / LB Tri / Crossfit 5150 Kit

I am super stoked how this came out. Thanks to Champion System for helping put the design together, and thanks to Mix1, LB Tri Club, and Crossfit 5150 for the support. I can't wait to race in this.



2012 Seal Beach 10k

Seal Beach 10k – April 21st 2012 
Seal Beach, CA
Run: 38:16 ( 6:10 per mile avg)

My goal was to try and hold a 6:03 pace and finish with a 37:30. I have been practicing running right at my LT threshold pace during my weekly Busters 5 Mile Group Run's, and this was the final test to see if I could do it for a full 10k and subsequently at Wildflower in 2 weeks.

Unfortunately things didn't go as planned. I was anxious the entire night before and couldn't get to sleep until around midnight. When i woke up at 5am to eat I felt "off".  I was hoping this feeling would go away as it came closer to race time.

The gun went off and I had to duck and weave through the crowd to find some running room. things opened up at the 5k turnaround point and I found two runners that were holding the same pace as me. We were all hoping for a sub 38 min. We stayed together up until the start of mile 4.5 where things started to fall apart. My pace dropped to my half marathon pace, and I felt like CRAP. One of the guys pulled ahead, and the other one dropped back even further.  I was running by myself. Around mile 5.5 one of the guys i was talking to at the start of the race came up behind me, and motivated me to push a little harder. I was able to pick my pace back up for the last bit of the race, but it was almost impossible because we had to run around all the 5k walkers that were finishing around the same time.

Not the best performance, but I did PR for my 10k, ended up 12th out of 1846 athletes, and finished 6th in my AG. 

Click here see this race in Strava.

Below is a breakdown of my splits.  





2012 Hollywood Half Marathon

Hollywood Half Marathon – April 7th 2012 
Hollywood, CA
Run: 1:26:04 ( 6:31 per mile avg)

My goal was to try and hold a 6:30 pace the whole time and finish with a 1:25:00. However this was a bit of a  guess since this was my first Half Marathon in 4 years, and my third ever.  

The start was pretty sketchy. There were A LOT of people that didn't belong in the "elite" wave. Heck I didn't belong in the elite wave, but looking around I knew that all the people around me were going to slow me down. The gun went off and as we ran out of the start the chute got skinnier and skinnier. There were at least two fast runners that fell during this funneling process trying to get position and dodge the slow runners. The next 2 1/2 miles were a pretty steep downhill. I tried to keep my pace as fast as I could stand without killing my shins and knees for the rest of the race. Approx 6:00 pace. The next 8 miles were all flat, and I found two great running buddies named Hannah Briggs and Morgan Putnam who I ended up running the entire race with. With our group of three we kept our pace slightly below 6:30 for the entire flat section. We were all feeling good at this point in the race, but were really thirsty. I think they might have forgot about water stations on this part of the course. Our cheerful attitudes turned to faces of determination as we hit the Cahuenga Blvd W Climb at mile 12. It was a 1.7 mile doozy. Our group of three formed a little V formation led by Hannah and charged up the hill. I think this was the only part of the race that we actually passed people. According to Strava we climbed 384 feet with an ave grade of 4.4% and a max grade of 8.3%. At the top of the hill it leveled off for the last 1/2 mile and we all sprinted to the finish line. I was pleasantly surprised I had enough energy left in me for a 5:20 pace. I was exhausted. It felt good to finish.


Thanks to Hannah & Morgan for helping push me throughout the race. Thanks to Mix1 for the Protein drinks at the finish line. Nothing like 2 chocolate mix1's to help me recover after burning 1800 calories on a race. I was very pleased with my performance. I ended up 44th out of 6033 athletes, and finished 9th in my AG. I feel like I have come a long way from my first Half Marathon in 2006 when I finished completely exhausted in 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Click here see this race in Strava.

Below is a breakdown of my splits.






2012 Superseal International Triathlon

Superseal International Triathlon – March 18th 2012 
Coronado, CA
Run: 18:34 ( 6:26 per mile avg)

First triathlon of the season. I was really looking forward to seeing where I was at with my training. I had been putting a lot of time in on the bike and run, and had just started getting into swimming again.

Unfortunately there was some crazy weather forecasted for the weekend, and when I woke up on race day it was freezing cold with 40mph wind gusts, rain and whitecaps on the bay. And then it got bad.  Both the swim and the bike ended up being canceled and the race became a 2.89 mile deep sand run.  Not that many athletes stuck around, but I figured I paid the race fee already, am dressed in my triathlon clothes, so why not do it.

The race was pretty simple. 2.89 deep sand run. The first 1.25 miles was with the wind, the next 1.25 miles was against the wind and then there was a short sprint on the concrete to the finish line. Not much strategy except that I ran as fast as I could.  The winds and sand were brutal. Not that nice feeling that you get when you are running fast that makes you want to run faster.

I ended up with an 18:34, which got me the 1st place medal in my AG and 18th place overall. 


Photo by Louis Roberto




2012 Triathlon Season - Preview

The 2012 triathlon season is finally here. But, before I get into that let me tell you what I have been up to for the last four months.

My main focus over the off season was to get as many base miles in running as I could, doing as much strength training in the gym as I could handle and enjoying as much skiing as I could afford.

In the process I fell in love with running. I never used to like it but somehow over the off season it just clicked. I think it was most likely a combination of several things. First the pool closed for the winter, and it was getting cold and wet for biking so I was a little forced into it as my only means of exercise.  Second, running used to hurt my feet, but about 6 months ago I switched to low drop racing flats and by the time I wore out my first pair my foot pain was gone.  To add to the fun I joined a running club, AREC-LB, so that I actually had some other people to run with.  I also discovered Strava which is a great motivational tool to track your workouts and compete against yourself and others. So with lots of time, no foot pain, a great motivational tool, and people to run with I started racking up some major miles and having a great time doing it.

For strength training I came up my own military style gym workouts to do two days a week at my local gym, and if i really wanted to push myself I went to Crossfit 5150.

Unfortunately this years budget only included two ski trips, but I had a great time during both. Mammoth for New Years, and an impromptu trip to Whistler, BC in february.



Now for the upcoming 2012 triathlon season. This year I will be riding for Mix1 All-Natural Protein Shakes.  They make a great product, and it has really been helping me recover quickly as I start my training for the 2012 season. I definitely recommend everyone to check them out. Mix1 can be found at Whole Foods and most grocery stores.



Last of all,  my current planned 2012 race schedule is the following:




2012
DATE
Superseal International Triathlon
18-Mar
Hollywood Half Marathon
7-Apr
Seal Beach 10K
21-Apr
Avia Wildflower
6-May
Dipsea Race
10-Jun
San Diego International Triathlon
24-Jun
Vineman 70.3
15-Jul
AG National Championships
18-Aug
Long Beach Triathlon
16-Sep
Los Angeles Triathlon
30-Sep
Newport Beach Triathlon
21-Oct

2012 So Cal Super Spartan 8 Mile Obstacle Run

So Cal Super Spartan 8 Mile Obstacle Run – Jan 28th 2012 

Vail Lake Resort, Temecula, CA
Run: 2:05:03 ( 15:37 per mile avg)

Up until this race I had always been hesitant on signing up for a mud run. In my mind I had images of running through mud for 8 miles, having to climb over things that are wet and slippery, and likely falling, twisting my ankle and hurting myself.  However I'm always a sucker for a challenge. So, I made a deal with a friend that if I signed up for a mud run than she would sign up for a triathlon. A couple days later there was a groupon for 50% off Super Spartan and we got a nice little group to sign up. 

Unfortunately everyone in the group bailed but Stephen and I, so we had to do this one alone. I tried not to treat this as a race but just as a fun run. However as soon as the gun went off and after sizing up everyone the competition, I figured there was no reason why stephen and I couldn't be the first two to make it up the first hill.  We started a little more aggressively than we probably should have. That plus a night of drinking before the race took their toll on stephen. A couple stops later on the hill climb stephen told me to just go ahead and meet him at the first set of obstacles.  The first set of obstacles was ~ 2.5 miles away. I ran off to try and catch the leaders, and almost succeeded, but instead of found a nice place in the shade to wait for stephen. At this point it was heating up, and the dry air and lack of water was really getting to everyone. Once we met up he told me to just go ahead and finish the race by myself. 

I had been waiting for about 15 minutes, and was pretty well rested so I took off sprinting to try and catch the leaders again.  The circuit training I had been doing was perfect for this. The race was basically a giant trail run through the mountains of Temecula with some strength training exercises every mile or so. I killed it. I think I passed about 500 people or so during the race, and didn't get passed once from behind.  

I only had one mishap during the race where a group of us got lost and started going down the wrong trail. The worst part was the way back to the original trail was through a bunch of prickly bushes and we all ended up getting cut up. 

I finished the race in 2 hours 5 minutes 10/100 AG and 49/2339 OA. I later found out that the winner had finished in 1 hour 49 minutes. I also found out that the winner got a week long trip to greece. Not that I would have won, but if you subtracted the 15 minutes of waiting off my time then it would have been pretty darn close.  This just fuels the fire though. I'm definitely going to try this again next year. 






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