5 weeks to go, another Olympic Tri

I ran the Dina La Vigna Olympic Triathlon in St. Buenaventura Beach State Park in Ventura CA. A VERY well-run race. Professional, good volunteers, nicely executed. The course is pretty good, although I saw 7 people on the bike changing flats and it made me wonder about the roads. Having the run on a boardwalk that was technically open to the public was a little annoying, but there were no real problems.

I improved my time, though the courses were not entirely comparable. This was an ocean swim (so NOT a fan). It was a MUCH flater course, but every leg was also faster:

20:48 1.5K Swim (4 mins less)
1:25:43 40K Bike (11 mins less)
51:17 10K Run (1 min less)
2:37:49.8 OverallA very special thank you to Richard, who did not need to get up at 4:30 a.m., particularly after the week he had, yet did anyway. The swim shocks me in particular, since swimming in the ocean has a high suck value....mostly in the form of salt water gulps.

I got a Neoprene Wetsuit. It's a little big on me, I'm not thrilled about that (ordered online).But the bouyancy is still nice to have, and makes a pretty big difference in the race.

End of Week 28 - First Olympic Tri

Learned a lot.
Like I am not a fan of swimming in wetsuits.
Like my bike is old.
Like I am not the best biker.
Like I am still a huge chicken at riding down hills (and get passed by a LOT of people!).

But it was a good set of lessons to learn...less than 2 months until the IM!

Los Angeles Triathlon Series Frank Bonelli Park San Dimas, CA
June 7, 2009

1.5K (.93 mile) Swim 24:42 pace: 23 min/mile
40K (24.85 mile) Bike 1:36:28 pace: 3:52 min/mile (15.45 mph)
10K (6.2 mile) Run 52:20 pace 8:25/min mile

Total 2:57:47

I think the only reason I ran so fast is because I was SO pissed about the bike.