Monthly Summary - May 2011

Here's May 2011:

Swim: 13,600 meters
Cycling (outdoors): 264.9 miles
Cycling (indoors): 0:30 (hours)
Run: 98.0 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 6 sessions

Approximate monthly total training/racing time: 40.5 hours

Weight: ?

And with that, May is over. There was Wildflower and then it was May and now it's June. I'm not entirely sure where it went. It was an "off" month. And I mean that in a bunch of different ways. I came out of Wildflower, needed time (more than expected) to recover, then ran the Pasadena Half Marathon, needed time (more than expected) to recover and then the month was over. I never got into a training rhythm. And I've been feeling particularly unsettled. I'm feeling "unsettled" for a bunch of reasons - in life primarily because we found out a few weeks ago we have to move, which is a daunting, massive pain in the ass and because I feel like there are some other life changes coming soon (exciting, I hope, but still making it hard to feel that the ground is stable beneath my feet). "Unsettled" with training because for first time in five years, summer is here and I'm not in the middle of training for a big "A" race. I really need to fix that. May was a nice break, but I'd like to focus. As I mentioned earlier this month, I won't be adding a long race to my schedule, but I need something on the calendar to keep me motivated and alert.

The training highlight of the month was my PR at the Pasadena Half Marathon. But I bet I remember this photo a lot longer than I remember the PR:

The "life" highlight of May was a quick trip Elizabeth, the dogs and I took to Joshua Tree for Memorial Day weekend with our friends Ze and Jody. We spent two nights at the Rattler Ranch Cabins. I'd highly recommend a visit. Rattler Ranch is two cabins a few miles from the entrance to Joshua Tree - they both have a kitchen and are simple and comfortable. Going with another couple was great - we cooked, played games, read and relaxed. We went on a couple hikes - a short one with the boys and a longer one without them. We went out one night to the Joshua Tree Saloon for dinner, pool and darts.

Last year, I went for a long-ish solo run in Joshua Tree National Park. That was a great way to see a fair amount of the Park. This year, we hiked five or six miles but spent a bunch of time playing on the rock formations.

A few photos from our hike with the dogs:

Sunset:

A few from our longer hike/bouldering Sunday morning hike without the dogs:

More Pasadena Half Marathon Photos

This time without the annoying "proof" watermark.

It's sorta obvious that Kate was just having fun, while I was really working!

Pasadena Half Marathon Photo

Since I wasn't wearing a bib/race number (explained in my race report), I can't find my official race photos. But I'm in a bunch of Kate's. This one is the best. Obviously.

Also, check the facebook comments for some good humor courtesy of Billy and Colin.

Altra Instinct - Shoe Review

The other week when I posted my review of the K-Swiss R-Ruuz racing flat, I mentioned that I had another shoe review in the works. Today, I'm reviewing the Instinct from brand new running shoe company, Altra Running.

I found the Instinct somewhat by chance. In my search this year for a new lightweight everyday trainer for road running, I've read about and/or tried on a bunch of different shoes. But I've struggled to find a shoe that combines the following:

• relatively light (hopefully 6.5 - 8 ounces)
• low to the ground
• flexible
• has a low heel-toe drop
• and most important, is comfortable on my foot

On the "comfort" side, the main issue I've been running into is that my second and third toes are longer than my "big" toe. Since most shoes have a pretty drastic curve from the big toe around to the little toe side of the foot, the result is that when I find a shoe that "fits" me in the traditional sense (big toe distance from the inside of the shoe and heel fit), generally my middle toes are bumping into the front of the shoe. If I go to a bigger size to accommodate my middle toes, the heel gets too loose. This issue alone has eliminated a lot of shoes for me (including the New Balance Minimus line, the Terra Plana EVOs and recently, even some of my beloved Brooks). In late March, I read a review of the Instinct on Runblogger and was intrigued. I checked out their website and saw that they weren't yet in stores, but would be in the next few days.

Altra's website further explained two of their biggest selling points: that their shoes are "zero drop" - meaning that the heel is no higher than the toe - and that the shoes are actually foot shaped. You can see from this photo that the toe box is wider and much less curved than the sharply curved toebox in most running shoes.

The width of the Instinct allows the toes to spread out while running and the more rounded toe box allows room for my middle toes to stretch out. (I don't know if my funny shaped feet are what Altra mean by "foot shaped", but it works for me!)

The weekend after reading about the Instinct, I happened to be in Sherman Oaks and stopped into Runnergy for the first time. And there were the Instincts. They had just gotten them in a couple days earlier. Almost immediately after trying them on, I decided I was going to take them home. In the last five weeks I've put a little over 50 miles on them.

The Instinct is the first shoe I'd found that fit almost all of the qualifications above and so far, I'm really enjoying running in them. The right size for my heel and big toe (11.5) also gave the rest of my toes rooms to breathe. It has just enough cushion to be comfortable on a long run but I still get a decent feel for the ground. The zero drop helps promote good running form and keeps me on my forefoot and midfoot. It's quickly become my go-to everyday road trainer and after a few weeks of 4-6 mile runs in them, I've started using them on my longer runs. My calves were a little sore after my 9 mile (longest so far) run in them, but that's to be expected as I increase the mileage in the zero drop shoes. Also, frankly, I liked the sore calf feeling, it told me I was really working my calf muscles!

My only complaint about the Instinct is that they're a little heavy. They're listed at about 9oz for size 9, and that makes them the heaviest shoe I run in by nearly two ounces. On the other hand, they do feel lighter than the 9-10oz shoes I was running in last year. Given that, I'll train in the Instincts, but doubt I'll race in them for any distance. (They have another model, the Adam, coming out soon, and I'll check it out, but it doesn't look like a racing shoe and it's tough to tell from looking at it how it would fit into my shoe rotation. I did read somewhere that a racing flat-type shoe is in the works. I'll definitely give that a shot when/if it appears.)

I will readily admit that the Instinct is weird looking. The shape makes it look boxy and maybe even a little clunky. It does not necessarily inspire "speed". I also generally like flashier, brighter running shoes. When I first looked at them, these concerns crossed my mind but they went away once I put them on and ran down the block. Comfort definitely trumps styling here.

As a side note, I've read a few complaints online from Vibram loyalists who don't like the Instinct. The Instinct is not a "barefoot" shoe. It is much more "shoe" than the Vibram - less flexible and more cushioned. For long runs, I find the Instinct to be more comfortable than my Vibrams. But if you're looking for a shoe that mimics the Vibram, this isn't it.

Pasadena Half Marathon Race Report

I swear, this one is actually going to be relatively short.

I signed up for this half marathon knowing that I was not fully recovered from Wildflower and that I definitely wasn't trained to set any speed records in a road half marathon. But since it had been over four years since I raced a half marathon, I wanted to see what I could do today and set a benchmark time for the near future.

I got out to Pasadena at about 5:15 for a 6:30 start. The morning was a little chaotic because, despite the fact that I'd paid extra for race-day packet pick-up, my packet wasn't there. That meant I had to wait until right before the race to get a no-show's bib and timing chip. It was a bit of a hassle, but the race director, Israel, and his staff, handled it well. I got my timing chip and bib at about 6:25, quickly put the chip on my shoe, decided I didn't have time to pin my bib on and started weaving my way through the crowd to get close to front.

As I was making my way through the crowd, I ran into Kate Freeman, who told me that she was going for sub-1:30 (= running 6:50/mile or so). I figured I'd tag along with her for as long as I could, knowing that with her recent 3:11 at the LA Marathon, she might be dropping me before too long.

Running with Kate was great and we ticked off the miles, running pretty uneven splits, from low-6's to high-6's. The course has a couple "big-for-road-racing" climbs, but we cruised up each of them. Running through Pasadena makes for some nice scenery, but this time, instead of enjoying the sights, I pretty much kept my eyes on the road and concentrated on running. It started raining just after the race began and continued a steady drizzle/rain for the entire race. Except for making my shorts a little water-logged and heavy, the rain didn't bother me at all. I ran in my K-Swiss K-Ruuz and they held up great, both for the distance and in the rain. They didn't hold much water and never felt particularly heavy.

I felt strong through about 10 miles (the end of the last climb) but struggled to find my kick for the final 5k. The last 2 miles are a long, steady descent and even though I ran the final 5k in 20:14 (~6:31 pace), it could have been a time to really drop the hammer, which Kate did, finally dropping me to finish a bit ahead of me.

In the end, my official time was 1:29:05, good enough for 36th overall, 33rd man, 7th in my age group and most importantly, a 2:50 PR. It felt good to run hard and push the pace. I am excited to have gone sub-1:30 and am confident that this leaves me room for improvement! (It also gave me renewed appreciation for how hard it is to go sub-3 in a marathon. Running at that pace for another 13.1 seems crazy!)

As for my thoughts about the race itself, the course is fair, with some good climbs and descents and nice scenery. The online course profile makes it look like there's a steady two mile climb from miles eight to ten. In reality, there was a steep, probably 1/2 mile climb starting around mile 8 and then only a slight grade for the next 1.5 miles. The final two miles are a fast descent. The race start and finish were smooth and well organized. My only complaint with the race was that the mile markers were a little inconsistent. I got used to not having them in trail races, but in a road race where splits really count, I was hoping for a conspicuous marker at every mile. I might have missed a couple, but I'd estimate they only had them about at 50% of the miles.

Official time: 1:29:05
Pace: 6:48/mile
Overall: 36/2,450
Men: 33/1,048
Age Group (35-39): 7/181

Wildflower's Done, What's Next??

Coming down the finish chute at Wildflower. That Pablove Triathlon Team kit looks damn good!

And here's a finish line video from Wildflower. Push start and you can see me coming into the finish. My signature pink hat stands out nicely.



Wildflower is behind me and the only other 2011 race I'm signed up for is SOS in mid-September. I'd like to sign up for a few other races, but first, there's a bigger question to answer - what kind of races do I want to do? Do I want to do triathlons, road races or trail races? I know there's some overlap, and with SOS on the horizon, I'll need to continue swimming, cycling and running, but since I only want to add a couple more to my schedule, I need to make some choices. The only thing I know for certain is that I will not be doing an Ironman or 100 mile ultra this year. I've had one of those on the calendar each of the last four years and physically and mentally, I need a break from that kind of distance and the disciplined training it requires.

For starters, I just signed up for this Sunday's Pasadena Half Marathon. I haven't run a non-triathlon half marathon in over four years, when I ran my 1:31:55 PR at the April 2007 New York Road Runners Brooklyn Half Marathon. I'd like to beat that PR. I'm in very "different" shape now than I was then - I have four more years of endurance racing experience and 13.1 miles no longer seems nearly as long as it used to. On the other hand, as I mentioned the other day, so many years focused on going long has made me sacrifice speed over endurance. Either way, I'm interested in setting a benchmark time on Sunday to see where I'm at with road racing. I guess I'll find out on Sunday!

Then, I'd like to do two or three other races between this Sunday and SOS. Depending on how Pasadena goes, maybe I'll find another half marathon to do or maybe I'll look for a summer road marathon. I'm also considering the Santa Barbara Triathlon (Long Course) in late August. It's a little close to SOS, but I might be able to make it work. Depending on my dad's cycling schedule, I might do the Grand Tour double century on June 25. There are a few 50k or 50 mile ultras either before or after SOS that I'll look at as well.

In other words, I have tons of options and no plan. I sort of expected to write this post and find the answer. Any suggestions?? Stay tuned!

K-Swiss K-Ruuz Shoe Review

I have lots of pairs of running shoes. And most of them are Brooks. But recently I've been running in a couple different non-Brooks shoes. Today, I'm going to briefly review the K-Swiss K-Ruuz racing flat. (Billy wisely explained to me that "K-Ruuz" is K-Swiss speak for "cruise") . I'm also working on a review of the other non-Brooks shoe.

Despite the fact that I have a lot of running shoes and most of them are pretty light, coming into this season I didn't have a pair of road racing flats. With Wildflower on the horizon I knew I needed something to race in. While I was trying to decide whether to get a pair of the Brooks T7 Racers, I was given a pair of K-Swiss K-Ruuz to check out. (The shoes did come from K-Swiss, but were not given to me as part of the blog or with any promise of a review.) In 2008, I tested and reviewed one of K-Swiss's earliest running shoes, the Ultra Natural Run. It was a decent first effort, but not really a good shoe and I ended up giving them away very lightly used.  That was the last pair of K-Swiss shoes I tried.

The K-Ruuz is listed on the K-Swiss website at 6.5oz for both the men's and women's shoe. Running Wearhouse lists them at 7.1oz for men's size 9. The 7.1oz weight seems right to me, but I don't have a scale to verify. That weight makes them a little heavier than some racing flats out there, but puts it about on par with my much-loved New Balance MT100 trail shoes. The shoe feels relatively low to the ground, even if it does have 10mm of rise between the toes and heel. They look like American flag bowling shoes and that might turn some people off, but I dig the look. My initial impression running in the K-Ruuz was that it made me feel fast. And really, that's what a racing flat is all about.

Over the few weeks leading up to Wildflower I put about 40 miles on them, with a long run of 7 miles. I swapped out the stock laces with some Yankz, my favorite quick lace system. A few people questioned my use of the K-Ruuz on the Wildflower "trails", but that wasn't an issue. Mostly because the "trails" at Wildflower are really just dirt roads, and the K-Ruuz will hold up just fine on any dirt surface that isn't too technical or super rocky.

They're well ventilated with a bunch of holes at the heel and the toe and they have a long set of drainage holes down the middle of the sole. I was hoping to do some sockless running in them before Wildflower but only wore them without socks for one short run. I think they'd be fine sockless, but I'll have to do more trials of that before using them in a race without socks. For triathletes especially, they have tabs at the top of the tongue and the heel to help get them on more quickly.

There's a little bit of cushioning, enough to make them totally comfortable for a half-marathon, even one on moderately rocky dirt roads like Wildflower. I think that I could wear these shoes for some longer marathon training runs and hopefully even for a marathon itself.

The sizing is a little strange: I usually wear an 11.5 in Brooks and New Balance. But I was warned to go down a half-size for the K-Ruuz, so I went with a 11. And they're still a little big. At first I was worried that I would have too much room in the forefoot, but I actually like the way they fit and am thinking about going a 1/2 size up in some of my other shoes.

The K-Ruuz were great for Wildflower and I plan on using them for other road races I do in the coming months.

p.s. Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom and to all mothers out there!

Wildflower Long Course Race Report

My plan was to go with a "more photos, less words" theme for this race report. But if you've been reading my reports over the years, you know that's not really my style. So, it looks like you get "more photos, more words". Lucky you!

One of the most exciting parts of Wildflower was that it was our first race representing the Pablove Triathlon Team in our new kick-ass kits. We also had Pablove stickers to put on our bikes and helmets but I decided to take it a step further and on Wednesday, I visited Brandon at Bolt Barbers for a little hair art.

That evening, I met Mike at his place, then we picked up Warren and got a send-off from his brother Ken.

Then we drove up to Paso Robles to spend the night at the Travelodge. I wouldn't call the Travelodge a "dump", but that's not a huge stretch! My favorite part was the Spanish serenade we got at 6:30 Thursday morning from the dudes hanging out outside our room.

Once up we had breakfast at the Cowgirl Cafe in Paso Robles.

Then we hit Trader Joe's for a giant cart-full of groceries.

And then we drove to the race site at Lake San Antonio. We walked around there for a little bit while we waited for Pete, Kimberly and Bruce to get in so we could get into the rental house. The race site was still being set up and there weren't very many people around.

The house Pete found for us was great! It was about 20 minutes from the race and had amazing views of Lake Nacimiento.

Once we unloaded all our crap, Mike, Pete, Kimberly, Bruce and I went for a little hilly run on a dirt road just outside the housing development where we were staying. After making lunch, Mike, Warren and I went back to the race site to jump in the lake and paddle around for a few minutes in our wetsuits. The water felt great. A little crisp when we first jumped in but just right for a race swim. Then we went to packet pick-up and checked in for the race.

Thursday evening, we (and by "we", I mean our resident chef Mike), cooked a big, delicious hungry-man dinner of grains, spinach and salmon. And then, well, in a house with six triathletes, it was bedtime.

Friday morning started with a bike ride on part of the race course. The ride went well and the few fast pick-ups I did felt great. I was feeling strong and fast. Friday afternoon, we went back down to the race site and walked around a bit before settling back at home for an early dinner of pasta, salmon, spinach and veggies. We spent a couple hours setting up bikes and getting everything in order for the morning.

Some of the Pablove stickers on my bike:

Warren's all ready:

I fell right asleep and slept great. When my alarm went off at 4:30, I was mostly ready to get up and moving. Breakfast, a couple of trips to the bathroom, final gear prep and we loaded the car and were off. Getting into the parking area was really easy.

And we were in the transition area at pretty much exactly 7am.

We had plenty of time to get set up, go for an easy warm-up run and take a few Pablove Triathlon Team photos (I just noticed that I don't have any photos of us in our kits. Bummer. That will have to wait until the official race photos are out).

The pro men started at 8am.  My wave was scheduled to go off at 8:30, so at about 8:10, I made my way down to the swim start.

(Quick interlude before I get into the race: I haven't raced very many half ironmans. And my PR is still from the first one I did, Timberman in 2006, where my time was 5:12:19. It's crazy that that is still my PR. I was self-coaching, just learning how to be an endurance athlete and did the race on my alloy/carbon Felt road bike with clip-on aerobars. I'm more experienced and more fit than I was then. But it's still my PR. The main reason is that I just haven't done the distance very often. In my heart, I was hoping to beat my Timberman time at Wildflower. In fact, I really hoped to do around (or even sub) five hours. That's a time I have in me. But as you'll see, it's unlikely to happen at Wildflower and definitely wasn't happening last Saturday.)

Finally, the race report begins. And unfortunately, this is also where the photos end. For now at least.

Swim:

The first few minutes of the swim were an unmitigated disaster. I dove in right behind the front guys and started swimming without too much contact, but pretty much right away I felt like I couldn't breath. I tried slowing down my stroke, breathing more often, poking my head up a bit, but I felt like I was going to drown. This went on for what seemed ten minutes, but couldn't have been more than one or two. I wasn't even at the first buoy and I thought I might have go find a kayak and call it a day. Seriously. So I stopped and put my head up. I took a few deep breaths, cleared my goggles and started slowly swimming again. And somehow I found something of a rhythm. I don't know what it was - I really don't think I started off too hard.  Maybe it was because I wasn't used to the wetsuit?  Thankfully, the rest of the swim was uneventful. I felt smooth enough and swam fine. I never found any feet to draft off for more than a few seconds at a time, but I was just happy to be moving through the water and breathing.

Swim time: 33:22 (354th overall; 1:43/100 meters. It wasn't my best half iron swim, but I'll take it)

T1:

I moved efficiently through T1. My wetsuit came off relatively quickly and other than a bit of a traffic jam at the bike exit, I barely remember T1. With some practice, I can shave time off this pretty easily.

Time: 2:37

Bike:

Ugh. The bike. My time (3:00:43) really disappointed me at first. I really thought I could do it closer to 2:40. I rode 2:50 last year at Oceanside and put a lot more time on the bike leading into Wildflower than I did last year. I know Wildflower is a harder course, but I still thought 2:40 was realistic on this course. In retrospect, I didn't appreciate how hilly it is and there was no way I could have ever predicted the damn wind. (In fact, before the race, people were telling me that based on history, I should expect either no wind or a tail-wind for big chunks of the race...) It seemed like the only times there wasn't a headwind pushing against us, there was a nasty cross-wind, threatening to knock us over. Battling the wind was exhausting and stressful and slowed me down a lot. There aren't a lot of "flat" sections of the bike course, but there are long sections of the course where you should be able to get down on the aerobars and cruise. But on Saturday, being in aero meant getting pushed around even more by the wind and there were a bunch of times when it felt dangerous to stay on the aerobars. So I sat up, became a bigger target for the wind and slowed down. Dammit.

For nutrition, I had one super-concentrated 840 calorie bottle of Infinit on my downtube and the Aerodrink between my aerobars. I put one Nuun tab into the Aerodrink before the race. I took a sip of the Infinit about every 20 minutes and washed it down with water. I refilled the Aerodrink with water from the aid stations. The Aerodrink isn't particularly pretty to look at, but it works. By the end of the bike, I'd nearly finished the bottle of Infinit and felt well hydrated.

Anyway, I got through it just fine. I felt good on the climbs and maintained a relatively comfortable level of effort. The long steep hill at around mile 41 (lovingly called "Nasty Grade") was tough, but I just put it into a high gear and spun my way up.  I accepted the fact that I wasn't going to get anywhere close to 2:40 and realized that my hopes of beating my Timberman PR were pretty much definitely dashed. I tried not to get down on myself but it was a struggle. I think I started losing confidence and that stopped me from pushing harder. Either way, I cruised down the hill into T2 and hopped off the bike, hoping for a good run.

Bike time: 3:00:48 (274nd overall; 18.50mph)

T2:

Fine, just fine. I should be at least 30 seconds faster, but again, transitions take practice and I haven't worked on this at all.

Time: 2:28

Run:

When I started the run, my legs felt good but my head was still a little mixed up from my "disappointing" bike. Immediately after exiting transition, you run through a pretty big crowd. I got some nice comments about the Pablove kit and got a big shout from Kimberly.

I got to the first mile marker (mile markers? I missed those things racing ultras!) and looked at my watch. 9:23. Really? WTF? I felt like I was moving considerably faster than that, but I think the bike bummer caused me to think that running a 9:23 first mile was actually possible. I just stuck with it and kept moving my legs. I was running at a steady, relatively even pace, moving through people and not being passed by very many. The second and third miles came at 7:31 and 7:25 (full splits are below). I was taking water at every aid station - one cup in my mouth and one on the head. Mile 5 includes a long hill and I actually took a lesson from my ultra book and walked the steep parts. Miles 6, 7, 8 and 9 are rolling and cruise through the crowds in the campgrounds. This was my favorite part of the entire race. It's a fast section of the course and the crowds provide a huge boost. I was feeling good and having a great time - smiling and shouting at people, cheering them on and generally having fun. I took my second gel at around the 9 mile marker. Miles 10 and 11 are an out-and-back where you go up a hill, down the other side, then back up and back down. I walked parts of each climb - probably not because I had to, but because I felt like that was a smart strategy. In retrospect, I probably should have been willing to seek a little more pain. It's a cruise from mile 11 to mile 12.5 and from there it's a steep descent down to the finish line. I still had good legs under me for that descent and passed a bunch of people.

(As it turns out, I didn't hit the "lap" button on my way out of transition, so that 9:23 was T2 plus the first mile of the run. This makes much more sense and I'm surprised I didn't figure it out during the run.)

Run time: 1:40:48 (131st overall; 7:41/mile pace)

Total time: 5:19:58 (26/212 age group, 142/1240 male, 152/1667 overall)

I crossed the finish line feeling good. Maybe too good. Don't get me wrong, I was very very happy to be done, but I felt like I still had juice in my legs.

After I finished, I ate about a dozen fresh strawberries and waited for Mike, Pete and Warren to finish. We went and stood in the lake for a little bit to "ice" our legs before going back to transition to change out of our kits. Then, it was a giant ice cream cone, a 10 pound burrito and some garlic french fries while we sat on the grass listening to some live music and re-capping the race.

Post-race reflections:

My race result was completely "decent".  I didn't PR the distance or any individual leg of the race. On the other hand... well, I could make excuses until Wildflower 2012, but I won't. I finished strong in my first real race since my surgery last September and, even if my time wasn't what I'd hoped for, I did relatively well against the field. For example, I thought I could do a 2:40 on the bike. But if I'd done that, my bike split would have been the 30th fastest among age groupers. I don't belong there! I also don't think I should have been 274th, but I need to recognize that not achieving my goals wasn't a "failure". I underestimated how difficult a course Wildflower is and let the winds on the bike get to me psychologically.

The other big "error" I made is a hold-over from my year of ultramarathon training.  Coming back from surgery and my hip pain and with ultra training on my brain, I spent nearly all of my training time in the sort of "middle" training zone. (I wrote about exactly this before the race.) Consistently working moderately hard, but rarely doing anything too intense. That was a good strategy for 100 mile ultra training where long-sustained steady effort is required and it was a good strategy for recovery from surgery/injury because I didn't want to re-aggravate any injury. But it doesn't work so well when I want to push myself in a race. I walked steep hills at Wildflower even though I was feeling good enough to run them. That's what you do in an ultramarathon because feeling good on a hill at mile 10 has nothing to do with how you'll feel at mile 35 or 65 or 85. But when the run is only 13.1 miles long, I could have and should have pushed harder the entire time. I think that I've just forgotten how it feels to go "hard" and was too scared that if I found that zone I might fail altogether. So before I take on any other challenges this summer, I need to incorporate regular speed and threshold work into my training.

During and after the race, people commented on the fact that I was smiling and happy during the run. I love having that reputation, but maybe I should work on smiling a little less - not because I'm unhappy but because I'm working too hard to be that happy!

A couple other thoughts about Wildflower. The race is really well organized, especially when you consider how big it is and how remote the race site is. The volunteers at the expo, along the course and at the finish line were great. A bunch of the volunteers on the course commented on our rad pink and grey Pablove kits, which was fun. Running through the spectators in the campgrounds was a blast! I'd do the race over and over again just to have that experience. I'm not sure if there will be a re-match for me in 2012, but I wouldn't count it out just yet.

Run splits:

mile 1 - 6:55
2 - 7:31
3 - 7:25
4 - 8:01
5 - 9:51
6 - 6:24
7 - 7:06
8 - 7:52
9 - 7:09
10 - 8:35
11 - 8:40
12 - 8:14
13.1 - 7:08

Monthly Summary - April 2011

(Wildflower finish line on Friday - taken hoping I'd see it from the other 

direction sometime early Saturday afternoon)

Here's April 2011:

Swim: 23,835 meters
Cycling (outdoors): 373.1 miles
Cycling (indoors): 4:25 (hours)
Run: 118.7 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 2 sessions

Approximate monthly total training/racing time: 54.5 hours

April was a good month. My training was fine and I didn't have to take any unplanned time off, but mostly April was good because it represented my return to racing after a seven month "break" (and my return to triathlons after 13 months!). I closed out the month with a great long weekend up at Wildflower and a generally successful race.

Here are the race "vitals":

Swim - 33:22
T1 - 2:37
Bike - 3:00:43
T2 - 2:28
Run - 1:40:48
Total - 5:19:58 (26/212 age group, 142/1240 male, 152/1667 overall)

My detailed results are here and full searchable race results are available here.

It's a tough course that was made even more challenging on Saturday by a crazy headwind on the bike. And I posted the other day, I've been worried about some weaknesses in my training and the race exposed them. Hopefully I'll learn from the experience for future races. I know I'm being cryptic, but I'll go into it all in my race report, which I'll hopefully post (along with a lot of photos) within a few days.

In addition to finally getting back to racing, in April I started running with the Coyotes again. I hit the trails with Jimmy five times in April. It was great to get back out there for some early mornings in the Santa Monica Mountains and I pushed myself on each run, something I hadn't done enough of during the first few months of training this year.

My final "accomplishment" this month was that during April, my total swim and outside cycling distances for the year surpassed the amount that I swam and rode outside in all of 2010. Of course, my running distance is way, way off, but I guess that's what being a well-rounded triathlete is all about!