Pre Race:
I had three weeks following 70.3 Worlds to prepare for LA. The first week was rough. My IT band became quite irritated following Vegas and it took about 4 days following the race before I was even able to walk without a limp. I basically rested for a week and then slowly tried to get back into the swing of things the following two weeks. My training was very sparse as I didn't want to further irritate my IT band injury. In the days leading up to the race, I didn't feel close to 100%, but my body was in a way better condition than it was in immediately following Vegas. I was ready to go.
Swim:
It seems that every year, a big swell comes in just in time for this race. This year was no different. There were consistent overhead sets coming in as we were waiting to start. I was excited to get out there and swim through them.
Photo courtesy of triathlon.competitor.com
Bike:
Transition went smoothly and I was off on my bike headed towards downtown. As my heart rate started to settle and I began to get into my groove, I noticed that I felt sort of flat. I just didn't have the kick I normally have for an Olympic distance race. I believe it may have been all of the recovery time I required after racing in Vegas. Although my body was rested, it felt flat.
One thing I like about the LA Tri is being able to ride through all of the communities as you approach downtown. The bike course definitely provides a different type of scenery than I experience at most other races.
I came into T2 with a split of 1:02:09. Comparing my bike split the other athletes in my division, I can see this is clearly an area in which I need to improve.
Run:
The LA Tri run has gotten me for the worse the past two years. Both years I developed bad stomach cramps and last year my left ankle was injured. Knowing that my leg was still a little gimpy due to the IT band issues I was having, I decided to hold back at the beginning a little more than I usually do for a 10K run. This ended up working fairly well. The run course is two loops, each with a pretty massive hill to run up. Once I made the first loop and noticed I was feeling pretty decent, I realized that all I had to do was make it up the hill again and then cruise the last 1.5 miles to the finish.
I finished with a run split of 34:22, which on paper looks great, except it appears the run course was about 0.4 miles short. Still, a much improved run from the previous years.
Here's some moving pictures from the race. If you pay close attention, you will see me adjusting my goggles at 0:54.
I ended up finishing 4th in my division (elite amateur) with a time of 2:00:03. Hmmm, this is the second time this year I was three seconds short.
Overall, I am happy with my race. I dropped about 5 minutes from my previous year time, although I believe some of that may have been due to the run course being short. Cracking the top 3 in my division was a goal going into the race, but some fast guys showed up and and prevented me from doing that. I guess that's just the way things go. It was overall a good way to end an up and down year.
Next up is vacation!! While most of the triathlon community will be focused on a little race going on in Kona, I will be making a trip to Kauai for an extended weekend to wind down from the busy triathlon season.
