Dwight Crum Pier-To-Pier Swim

Gearing up for the Pier to Pier Swim - a 2.3 miler from Hermosa Beach Pier to Manhattan Beach Pier. It is this Sunday, so the majority of my workouts for the last month have been in the pool. Hopefully the surf will calm down a bit next weekend for the race.

The swim is part of the International Surf Festival. I will definitely be checking out the Six-man tournament in Manhattan Beach next weekend too.

Posted My Best 10k Time Today

Finished the Manhattan Beach 10k in 47 minutes and 45 seconds today. My goal was to beat 50 minutes, but my legs felt good and the weather was excellent for a race (rain was predicted but held out for the race). My pace was a 7 minute 41 second mile. Very pleased with the results.

Los Angeles Triathlon - Still Best Race Around

Competed in the LA Tri again this year. Unfortunately, I had a flat tire on Sunset Blvd., thought I could replace my tube and be back on the road in less than 5 minutes, but I failed to get the glass out of my tire and it popped my spare tube. So I had to wait about 25 minutes for Tri Lab's owner (who was the race support) to bring me a new spare.

While this race is definitely not my best time, I still had a great time competing in the race. Swimming off of Venice Beach, having the LA roads all to yourself on the ride and run is simply amazing.

I did have a very good start, felt strong on the swim and the bike until my flat. Given the set back, I finished the Olympic distance race in 3 hours, 26 mins. and 34 seconds. My swim took 35 mins., 38 seconds. T1 took 4 mins. and 5 seconds. The bike lasted 1 hour, 47 mins., and I completed the 10K in 57 mins.

Los Angeles Triathlon This Sunday

My favorite race of all-time, the Los Angeles Triathlon is taking place this Sunday, September 7th.  The course has changed a bit this year, and it will be the first time I've completed in the olympic distance race.  

The swim will be the usual 1.5 kilomoter (.9 miles) off of Venice Beach.  The water has been warming up all summer, and should be a comfortable temperature for the compeditors.  Wetsuits are not required.  

The bike consists of a challenging 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) from Venice Beach, through Hollywood to downtown LA.  It is a very senic ride through Los Angeles, and it is just amazing to have the entire street to yourself on some of LA's most busiest streets.  

The run is also a very challenging 10k (6.2 miles).  Immediately getting off of the bike, compeditors face a large hill up Grand Avenue.  The run continues up past my office and to Los Angeles Superior Court, where the runners return down the hill back to the Staples Center.

Results for Camp Pendleton Tri

The Camp Pendleton Tri was great. It was the first time I completed an olympic distance race. I finished 44th out of 58 people competing in my age group. While, not great, I am happy with my time. Since it was the first time I competed at this distance, I was just trying to get comfortable with the distance. My total time was 2 hours 53 mins. The swim took me 34 minutes, the bike leg was 1 hour 26 minutes, and I completed the run in 53 minutes.

I have to say that the Marines were hands down the best hosts and workers for any tri I've competed in. They were polite, and gave you plenty encouragement during the race. Great group of people.

Next race - the LA tri. I'll be doing the olympic distance again, and trying to improve my time.

Camp Pendleton Tri - This weekend

My buddy, Angel, and I are competing in the Camp Pendleton Triathlon this Saturday. It is an olympic distance race on the Marine's home base outside of San Diego.

The race has been sold out since June 10th and will be the first time I've raced it.

Goals for the race:
Basically to beat my buddy (Angel - I know you are thinking the same thing), and/or to finish in the top 1/2 of my age group. Based on last years results, this means that I need to finish with a time better than 2 hours and 41 minutes. My training has not been what I would have like it to be coming into this race, but this is usually the case for all of my races.

Here is a map of the course:

Results for Redondo Beach Triathlon

The Redondo Beach Triathlon was on June 8, 2008. I've been busy with work (and took a vacation) so I have not been able to update this blog as much as I would like.

Anyway, here is my post race report. The race was a sprint distance race, with a 1/2 mile swim, 6 mile bike and a 2 mile run. The ocean was still a bit cold and it took a few minutes to warm up. The bike portion was relatively flat, but at the turn around near the start of the race had a substantial hill. However, if you got your momentum up going downhill, you could definitly pass a few people on the up-hill. The run was a very flat and fast 2 miles around the Portofino.

My total time was 1:01:49. If finished the swim in 22:21, and T1 took me 1 minute 47 seconds. The bike stage took me 20 minutes and 2 seconds, and T2 was 1 minute 36 seconds. I completed the 2 mile run in 16 minutes and 3 seconds. I was pleased with my result at 19th overall in my age group (total of 39 people in my age group).