Southern California - Toyota Desert International Distance and Sprint Distance Triathlon (4/22/2007)

http://www.kleinclarksports.com/deserttriathion.html

Here's one of the other Triathlon i'm doing this month. I did the sprint distance last year as my first triathlon ever. :D

Location: La Quinta, CA @ Lake Cahuilla

International: 3/4 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6 mile run (8:00AM start)

Sprint: 500 meter swim, 14 mile bike 3 mile run (7:00AM start)

The course is very flat and quite nice.

Hey Psydotek... I'll see you there! :D

I am the volunteer coordinator for the race. I hope to see both of you out there. Stop by the Volunteer tent to say hi. :)

Very cool! I already did Strawberry Fields this year. Still to come: Breath of Life (Ventura) and Nautica Malibu.

Looking forward to a race report.

Jim

Bump!

I got this e-mail today detailing your last chance to register:


Well if you haven't signed up for the Toyota Desert International and Sprint Triahlon, this is your last chance. We are closing in on selling the event out, but we will take all registrations we receive via active.com through midnight Friday, April 20th. To register click on the following link:

http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1349741

For more info go to our web site at www.kleinclarksports.com (http://www.kleinclarksports.com)

It is going to be a great day. The water temperature is 68 degrees and we have finisher medals for all who get to the finish line. Hope to see you at the event.

In good health,
Greg Klein
Klein and Clark Sports
Race Direct

Bump, only about 8 hours to start... I better get to bed here. Leaving at 3am...

Good luck tomorrow!!!

Have a good race. :)

Can't wait to hear your race reports!!!! :D

Best of Luck. That's a fun race...although it was about 90 degrees on the run when I did it. Great FAST bike course.

Have fun and have a safe race!!!

Good luck Psydotek!!!

I had to pull out of the race. I didn't get the medical clearance on Wednesday regarding a nagging back injury (facet joints) and the run was a no-no. :( At least the race organizer was kind enough to transfer my entry fee for next year's race. Thanks Shnuddy!

So, how did it go? I was there (volunteer coordinating, you know), so I know the weather was about as good as it can get. Hope you did well and had a great time! :D

Yeah! Where's the race report? Dammit!!!

I'm still working on getting all the pictures sized down here... :p

And i've been nothing but a slug all day after getting home. :lol:

Tomorrow. I promise. :D At the moment, my body is screaming for some sleep...

Here is the only picture I took, just cause the sunrise was so beautiful this morning.
(http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=42835&stc=1&d=1177302109)

I'm still working on getting all the pictures sized down here... :p

And i've been nothing but a slug all day after getting home. :lol:

Tomorrow. I promise. :D At the moment, my body is screaming for some sleep...

Ahem...

For anyone who didn't attend, YOU TOTALLY MISSED OUT! :D

The day was almost perfect. Alot of people were saying it was perfect, but i think it could have been just a tad warmer and less cloudy. Otherwise there was no wind to speak of (which meant no waves in the water and no headwinds to deal with) and the air temperature was around 75 i'm guessing.

I woke up around 3:10AM, loaded my stuff into the car, and headed out about 3:35 with my girlfriend (who has to wake up even earlier to make it to my place). I think we got to the park around 5:15AM where i was able snag a parking spot right at the front. I also hit the bathroom early so i wouldn't have to wait in line later (having an LED headlamp works wonders in a bathroom without lights). Picked up my packet right at 5:30AM and then went back to the car to zone out for about 30 minutes.

My sister, her husband, and his brother arrived right around 6:15 and the parking lot was already filled up forcing people to start parking along the side of the road that loops around the lake. They got lucky and didn't have to park too far fortunately. We had our transition areas set up probably around 6:30, got our body markings, and headed out to the beach around 6:45.

Again as always, even with the wetsuit, the water was cooooold! Seeing how i'm a skinny asian dude, i never did well with the cold. And now that i've probably lost what little non-essential body fat over the last year from cycling and training, i get cold even easier. Seriously, the initial "shock" of dunking my body into the water in order to get used to the water is something i'll probably never get used to. Well, not as long as the water is colder than the air temperature. Right at 7:00AM the first wave of the sprint distance was started (which is the younger guys). Wave 2 was the older guys (ok, 35 and over i think it was), and wave 3 and 4 were the ladies i believe. I waded into the water, took a deep breath, and dove in. The first 25-50 meters are usually the hardest since i don't train in open water so my swim stroke is usually a bit faster and my breathing is shallower. Once i got used to it i found my rhythm and just trusted in my body to go the 500 meters (which i could do easily in a pool). After warming up in the wetsuit i actually enjoy open water swimming more than the pool. About halfway through the swim i started to get passed by wave 2 which started 3 or 5 minutes behind my wave. I don't know what my swim time was yet but i'm sure it was around 14-15 minutes (i did the swim in 16 minutes last year and i'm in alot better shape this year). I hit the shore in the last quarter of the first wave and i'm guessing 1/3-1/2 of the second wave had passed me too.

Running (or in my case, walking) into T1 from the swim was a royal pain in the @$$ though. I had to walk slowly and gingerly due to the rocks and pebbles on the sand and the transition area pavement. Serously, that ish hurts even with the neoprene swim socks i've got (blue seventy swim socks, they're awesome!) After limping to my transition spot i was able to strip my wetsuit off faster than last weekend (thank goodness) and throw on all my bike gear. I wore my tri shorts and UA shirt under the wetsuit and I think the only bit of extra clothing (other than bike stuff) was a long sleeve UA shirt. I was still relatively cold, and cycling while dripping wet does not make for a warm combination, at least not at first. I was probably out of T1 in 4-5 minutes from hitting the timing pad at the T1 entrance (slow walk to my spot, struggle with wetsuit, and making sure i had everything before running off this time). I walked out of T1 with my bike, hopped on at the mounting line, and cycled off.

The bike leg was absolutely fantastic for me. Seriously. Last year i had drank way too much before the start so my bladder was feeling full and only getting more full during the entire bike leg which led to a 1 hour bike time. This year i didn't make that mistake. :D I was flying along the course at about 20mph nearly the entire way. I hit 22-23mph on some stretches and only crawled to 14-15mph for a very short hill right at the beginning/end of the bike leg (along the road leading into the park). I was a bit cold at first since i was still all wet but i had alot of fun flying by people that had beat me out of T1. Probably around the 3 mile mark i saw the first person with a flat walking back to the start with his bike. Then around the 4 mile mark i saw the second person with a flat. After flying by i realized "holy crap, that was Albert!", my sister's-husband's-brother pushing his bike. He had come down from washington state to visit his brother and do the triathlon with us (and he's really good too). I almost brought my extra minipump for him but he said not to worry about it... Fortunately one of the local bike shops set up a station right around mile 2 to fix flats and stuff. So Albert only had to walk about 20-30 minutes before getting back in action (he said the guy had his tube swapped out and fixed in under a minute). :eek: As for me, my ride went great. 40-45 minutes i think and i was back at T2. My cadence was around 90-100 the whole way and i was able to keep up and pass a bunch of people with aerobars and much cooler bikes than mine. ;)

T2 was simple. Rack bike, strip off helmet, gloves, and shoes, put on running shoes, grab water flask and go! 1 minute at the most. The run was definitely not my strong point this year. Last year i was probably slightly overtrained for the run, this year i had to walk a bit here and there. However the run course (one lap around the lake) is a great one since you can easily see how much progress you've made and how far you have to go. I hit the port-o-potty right around mile one (thank goodness!) No joke, bladder management is a major part of triathlons for me. Anyways, after that i was able to keep running for almost the entire final 2 miles. The water stations were also great because they were more than just water stations. They were water AND cytomax stations. I like the taste of cytomax but it tastes even better when you're getting to the end. :lol: I got to the final stretch on the beach and dashed (read: quickly jogged) to the finish and had a time of 1:37.05, nearly 20 minutes faster than my time last year. :D

So finally i have redeemed myself from last years mistakes. And my two friends who did it last year did not (they wimped out and they had even more to redeem themselves from, one almost didn't finish the swim last year and the other got a flat tire which pushed their times to about 2:30). :lol: Albert ended up finishing right at the 2:00 mark which is pretty darned good seeing how he was pushed back about 40 minutes from his flat tire and my sister's husband ended up with a time of 1:17 i think.

Afew extra notes:

I'm glad i bought new shoes before the event. New Balance 857 running shoes. It was evident that my old nike cross trainers were on their way out due to the minor knee pain i was having after last weekends event. This time, my knees and legs were feeling perfectly fine.

ALWAYS make sure you have a way to fix a flat tire. ALWAYS! It ruined my friend's time last year and it hurt Albert's time this year.

Hydrate on the bike and run, not before the swim. :) That's what hurt me last year.

For me, as long as i was in the transition area, i walked so i could catch my breath between legs. This was espically useful during T2 since it let my legs "recover" from the bike just enough so they wouldn't cramp up on the run (which happened last weekend).

I totally recommend this event for anyone who wants to try a triathlon. The course is great, nice and flat for the bike and run. Sorry to hear about Happytime though... :( I kept looking over my shoulder to see if i'd recognize you passing my slow @$$. :lol:

The starting line:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01112.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01112.jpg)
The finish line:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01120.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01120.jpg)
Chatting with my sister and girlfriend before the start:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01124.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01124.jpg)
The 3 of us, me on the left, andrew in the middle (my sister's husband), and albert on the right (andrew's brother):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01131.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01131.jpg)
Dressed up as a spaceman again...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01137.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01137.jpg)
Me in the water at the back end of Wave 1...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01151.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01151.jpg)
Neoprene makes me feel sexy. Or or "I love the smell of neoprene in the morning!"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01169.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01169.jpg)

Heading out of T1 with my bike:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01187.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01187.jpg)
Coming back from the bike leg, about 100 feet from the dismount line:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01199.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01199.jpg)
Running shoes on, heading out of T2:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01207.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01207.jpg)
That's me in the distance:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01212.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01212.jpg)
Finish line!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01218.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01218.jpg)
Albert crossing the finish line:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01227.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01227.jpg)
The 3 of us after finishing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01230.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01230.jpg)
And finally a not quite so sexy picture of my legs, shaved and marked (they look too skinny from this angle):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/th_DSC01233.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/2007-4-22%20Desert%20Triathlon/DSC01233.jpg)

Great Job! Congratulations on the improvements you've made since last year! :) Keep it up! Great pictures too.

By the way, weren't the volunteers great? And the announcer (BTW, he's my husband :rolleyes: :) )

Nice job, and good report! Can't wait for my next event now.

Jim

Nice pictures, great report .... AMAZING gains.

20 minutes faster than last years?!? Outstanding!

Great Job! Congratulations on the improvements you've made since last year! :) Keep it up! Great pictures too.

By the way, weren't the volunteers great? And the announcer (BTW, he's my husband :rolleyes: :) )

The volunteers were great for sure. :D Couldn't do an event like this without them. And your husband is one crazy dude to have the energy to be the announcer. :) It was alot of fun hearing him. :lol:

Results are now up on the website: www.kleinclarksports.com

My times were:

Swim - 0:13:49
Bike - 0:53:57 (includes time from T1 and T2 which combined was probably 6 or 7 minutes)
Run - 0:29:20

Last year i think my times were about 0:20 for the swim, 1:05 for the bike, and 0:35 for the run.

:D

Cool report. What's up next? Any interest in doing the Pacific Coast Tri in Sept? It's a great race.

I'm planning on the Long Beach Triathlon for September (9/23/2007) right now and the last two events of the LA Tri Express series in San Dimas (May 12 and June 9).

And next sunday i'm doing the Loma Linda PossAbilities trathlon if i'm not sick...

http://www.mountainmultisport.com/lomalindatri.html

Yargh! 3 events on 3 consecutive weekends just may be the death of me... :lol: :(

However the Pacific Coast event looks interesting for sure. :) I almost did it last year when i was looking for an "end of the season" event. I have a friend who is planning on doing the Long Beach Tri as his first event so i'll be going out there to support him for sure.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...Long Beach :( Be careful!!!

I wish someone would have told me that before my race turned into Swim-Bike-Ambulance. That is not the safest race around...the race directors are pretty bad IMO. Have fun, good luck.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...Long Beach :( Be careful!!!

I wish someone would have told me that before my race turned into Swim-Bike-Ambulance. That is not the safest race around...the race directors are pretty bad IMO. Have fun, good luck.

what happened CJ???

what happened CJ???

2004 Long Beach Tri. One half mile left in the bike leg and I'm bombing down the Queensway Bridge at 30+ mph. The slower cyclists are not staying to the right (because the race director didn't think it was important to include that in his race briefing...no $hit...he actually told me that when I asked him about it...I quote, "It's doesn't make a difference, no one listens anyway." Yet I digress.)

Anyway...the road is three lanes wide and I'm trying to pass people on the left but they keep fanning out until I'm about two feet from the concrete barrier. The next thing I know, it feels like someone pulled the rug out from under me and I hit the ground in a split second. I'm not sure how long I was unconscious but when I came to, I see Tak with a bloody face asking me if I'm OK. It seems that I have somehow collided with my training buddy but neither of us can remember how it happened.

All tolled, major concussion, broken clavicle, broken scapula, and deep road rash down my entire left side. Tak had some knee damage but I think he got off a bit easier...still sucked for him.

That was my first and last Long Beach Tri and I'm staying away from any race run by Pacific Sports, LLC and/or Jack Carress.

Rant complete. :)

2004 Long Beach Tri. One half mile left in the bike leg and I'm bombing down the Queensway Bridge at 30+ mph. The slower cyclists are not staying to the right (because the race director didn't think it was important to include that in his race briefing...no $hit...he actually told me that when I asked him about it...I quote, "It's doesn't make a difference, no one listens anyway." Yet I digress.)

Anyway...the road is three lanes wide and I'm trying to pass people on the left but they keep fanning out until I'm about two feet from the concrete barrier. The next thing I know, it feels like someone pulled the rug out from under me and I hit the ground in a split second. I'm not sure how long I was unconscious but when I came to, I see Tak with a bloody face asking me if I'm OK. It seems that I have somehow collided with my training buddy but neither of us can remember how it happened.

All tolled, major concussion, broken clavicle, broken scapula, and deep road rash down my entire left side. Tak had some knee damage but I think he got off a bit easier...still sucked for him.

That was my first and last Long Beach Tri and I'm staying away from any race run by Pacific Sports, LLC and/or Jack Carress.

Rant complete. :)
Ouch!!! Sounds like staying away from those events is wise advise; pretty scary! Sorry to hear about that one but glad you're all better now :D

Ouch!!! Sounds like staying away from those events is wise advise; pretty scary! Sorry to hear about that one but glad you're all better now :D

All except for the Drain Bamage :)

2004 Long Beach Tri. One half mile left in the bike leg and I'm bombing down the Queensway Bridge at 30+ mph. The slower cyclists are not staying to the right (because the race director didn't think it was important to include that in his race briefing...no $hit...he actually told me that when I asked him about it...I quote, "It's doesn't make a difference, no one listens anyway." Yet I digress.)

Anyway...the road is three lanes wide and I'm trying to pass people on the left but they keep fanning out until I'm about two feet from the concrete barrier. The next thing I know, it feels like someone pulled the rug out from under me and I hit the ground in a split second. I'm not sure how long I was unconscious but when I came to, I see Tak with a bloody face asking me if I'm OK. It seems that I have somehow collided with my training buddy but neither of us can remember how it happened.

All tolled, major concussion, broken clavicle, broken scapula, and deep road rash down my entire left side. Tak had some knee damage but I think he got off a bit easier...still sucked for him.

That was my first and last Long Beach Tri and I'm staying away from any race run by Pacific Sports, LLC and/or Jack Carress.

Rant complete. :)
Yowch... I'll have to see if i can convince my friend otherwise. Maybe even suggest the Pacific Coast event instead. :)

My times were:

Swim - 0:13:49
Bike - 0:53:57 (includes time from T1 and T2 which combined was probably 6 or 7 minutes)
Run - 0:29:20

Last year i think my times were about 0:20 for the swim, 1:05 for the bike, and 0:35 for the run.

:D
Awesome. :) Those are big improvements!

Yowch... I'll have to see if i can convince my friend otherwise. Maybe even suggest the Pacific Coast event instead. :)

I was thinking about that on my calendar, too, but it comes too close to the LA Tri and San Diego Tri. I did noticed they advertise the LB race quite a bit for newbies: "Try your first triathlon...!" kind of stuff.

For season-ending races, you might look into the Hemet Xmas tri. No one really pays attention to time in that race... just dress up in costume and have a great time. I found this really cool Xmas tree hat that I wanted to wear for Hemet last year but couldn't find a way to secure it to my helmet. I may tape ornaments or tinsel or reindeer ears on it this year. One guy from LATC does the whole race in a Spiderman skinsuit – mask and all.

I was thinking about that on my calendar, too, but it comes too close to the LA Tri and San Diego Tri. I did noticed they advertise the LB race quite a bit for newbies: "Try your first triathlon...!" kind of stuff.

For season-ending races, you might look into the Hemet Xmas tri. No one really pays attention to time in that race... just dress up in costume and have a great time. I found this really cool Xmas tree hat that I wanted to wear for Hemet last year but couldn't find a way to secure it to my helmet. I may tape ornaments or tinsel or reindeer ears on it this year. One guy from LATC does the whole race in a Spiderman skinsuit – mask and all.

I actually was at the Tinsel Triathlon last year. :) I didn't run though, i was there to take pictures and support my friend. The guy in the Spiderman suit was FAAAAST!

Damn fast!!! It's those spidey-legs of his. He took off on the run so fast I didn't get a glimpse of him until before my turnaround (he was way past it). He was motoring down the highway, spidey headmask and all on his bike. I think he podiumed. The Santa guy was pretty fast, too, but the guy dressed like a slice of pizza had trouble on the bike. Go figure.