San Francisco Marathon and Camp Pendleton sprint distance

Read Chris' race report.

The San Fran Marathon was today! There were several Techers running including brothers Alex and Julian Romero, Luigi Perotti, Madeline Miller, and triclub members Chris Kovalchick and Emily McDowell (she ran the half marathon). Judging from the results, both had fantastic races. It was Chris' first marathon, and he ran a negative split! A great show of discipline, running within himself, knowing his training, and making sure to take care of himself during the course of the race. Emily's performance was equally as impressive. She has obliterated all her goals this year and we're only seven months in. She started the year only ever having run a single 5k event (is that right?!), and now she has already completed an olympic distance triathlon and a half marathon amonst other things. A well-deserved congratulations goes to the both of you and to the other members of the Caltech community who participated in the event. Results are here.

The Camp Pendleton sprint triathlon is happening next weekend. The same trio that raced in the olympic distance (John, Diana, and Oliver) and racing in this one as well. I'll get results and other news up as it comes in.

As for now, happy and safe training. Anyone want to join me at the Manhattan Beach ocean swim on Sunday? Cheers...

Good luck Camp Pendleton racers!!

The Camp Pendleton olympic distance triathlon is going down tomorrow. As far as I know, Diana, Oliver, and John Meier are racing. Anyone else? Playa del Run #4: Playa del Rey is also happening tomorrow. Anyone doing this?

Strong performances all around

First of all, happy Father's Day to all you dads or dads-to-be out there.

Last weekend was filled with solid race performances. For results, click on Bonelli or Huntington Beach. All three of us who went to Huntington Beach (Diana, Oliver, and myself) qualified for the USAT World Aquathlon Championships in Monterrey, Mexico on June 28. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us will be going because of the event date. I'll be coming off my target marathon of the year (Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN happening June 21!), Diana will be in France, and I don't know what Oliver is doing. Actually, I don't even know how the event is set up because Monterrey is not close to a body of water (maybe the swim is in a pool?).

I'll try to get around to updating things on here after my marathon. Maybe we can get 6pm pool sessions going again now that both pools are open...

Sunday is race day...

...for anyone participating in the LA Tri Series at Bonelli Park, or the Playa del Run in Huntington Beach. Click the "Local Races" link on the right to visit the event websites. Both events will probably be a bit more crowded than usual since LA Tri #2 was canceled and because the PdR is the USAT National Aquathlon Championships with the top 6 in each age group qualifying for Worlds. Make sure to show up early and allow a little extra time to prepare yourself before the race start.

As far as I know, these people are competing this weekend: John M. and Emily at Bonelli Park, and myself, Diana, and Oliver in Huntington Beach. Good luck to all!

Scott and his date with Honu

"Crosswinds, headwinds, tailwinds, heat, humidity and chop were the name of the game at this year's Ironman 70.3 Hawaii."

Read Scott's race report.

Ironman 70.3 Hawaii is today! The race is already underway and I will be posting Scott's splits as they are updated. You can track all the other athletes here. Apparently, it is very windy there (it is Hawaii), but Scott is very strong on the bike. So although he may not end up with a fast time, he should post a solid bike split relative to the other competitors.

Swim: 1.2mi, 39:45, 2:05/100m (Age Grp. place 14/Overall place 407)
T1: 3:06
Bike: 56mi, 2:32:51, 21.98 mph (6/100)
T2: 2:28
Run: 13.1mi, 1:52:07, 8:33/mi (5/120)
Total: 5:10:17

It looks like Scott came out of the water about :27 behind his brother, but had a much faster transition and is already in front of him. This should be exciting as the race progresses... Scott is killing it. A great bike split for windy conditions. Holy mother... He put some serious distance between himself and his brother. About 30 minutes now, but his brother's strength is the run... Macca is already done, winning for the 3rd year in a row. He finished in 4:04:22 (S 25:26; T1 1:49; B 2:13:52; T2 1:49; R 1:21:26)!... Scott just finished with 5:10:17. Looks like he had a rough run, but he still managed 5th Age Grp. and 120 Overall. Not bad sir, not bad. Your brother is still racing, so that means you won that battle. Also, it looks like you will only need 1 or 2 roll-downs to get that Clearwater spot. My fingers are crossed...

New Race Results and Sponsorship Brochure

There has been a lot going on the past couple of weeks. As we all know, Bonelli #2 was cancelled, but Playa del Run #2 Santa Monica was scheduled the same day. As far as I know, only Diana and Oliver were out competing. Diana took home 2nd in her age group, even though she had a tough day. You kick ass Diana! Overall results are posted here and age group results are here. The overall winner, Craig Pansing, is an absolute stud. Shout out!!...

This past weekend, I competed in the Brentwood 5k/10k which was a ton o' fun. I ran the 10k and finished 26th overall (out of 681) and 3rd in my age group with a time of 38:11 (PR). I wanted to break 38:00 but I suck and somehow couldn't manage to go :12 faster. Overall results for the 10k are here with division results here.

And right now, Chris K is running in the Laguna Hills half marathon and Emily in the 5k. Click for results. Emily cut a whopping 3:00 from her previous 5k time (I think she's been sandbagging in her previous races) and finished in 26:52 (PR). Chris also made significant improvement from his last half marathon, finishing in 1:35:11 (PR), better than 12:00 faster than his Rose Bowl half marathon. All these races will prove to be very valuable experiences when Chris tackles the San Francisco Marathon in August. I wish I had done something similar before my first marathon. Perhaps it wouldn't have been such a disaster if I had any clue what I was doing.

So it looks like everyone had a great weekend of racing. Scott leaves on May 29 to race in Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, on May 31. This is his first half-iron distance and I know he put in some great training. Here's to wishing you a fantastic race! I'll be following you online and posting your splits. I can't wait for you to drop the hammer down on the bike. Git 'er done, Scott.

Finally, the last bit of news is that Emily and I finished putting together the sponsor's brochure (it's two pages so be sure to scroll down). The plan is to send this out to the various potential sponsors we posted about (much) earlier this year. We will be including letters with each brochure requesting any specific types of support, etc.

LA Tri #2 at Bonelli Park...cancelled?

...coming this weeked. Stay tuned for more.

I just received an email (this same email went out to the triclub email list, thanks to Lenny!) regarding the race this weekend. This is what it said:

"Last night we learned that our May 18th triathlon might be canceled because of the Mt. Baldy Fire. The firefighters are using Bonelli Park for a rest area. Today it was confirmed that our event is canceled. The fire fighters have commandeered the north side of the Park (where our triathlon was scheduled) making it impossible to go forward. One of the reasons for the north shore is that there is an area where the fire fighter prisoners could be located. I am absolutely convinced that the Bonelli Park Staff are not to blame for this action. We will roll over the entry in the May triathlon to June 8th or to our event on October 5th. We were overwhelmed by this news and we stand to lose a substantial sum but when one considers the problems in China, in Burma, Florida, and the tornado states our problems pale by comparison. We will contact as many triathletes as possible but we could use your help in passing the word. Thanks for doing that. Bill Fulton and the Tri Events Staff."

It is indeed cancelled. Please visit the event website for more info.