Race Results

MICHAEL CHIU #204

SOUTH PASADENA, CA

Age: 30 Gender: M

Distance	Intermediate
Clock Time	02:56:00
Overall Place	571 / 1077
Gender Place	482 / 771
Division Place	84 / 119
Swim	00:35:40
Trans1	00:04:11
Bike	01:18:57
Trans2	00:02:54
Run	00:54:17
Swimrank	808
Bikerank	448
Mph	18.7
Runrank	622
Pace	00:08:45

I getting ready to head out

I've just packed all my stuff in my car and I'm going to pick up my bike from the shop tomorrow. I'm going to arrive at Malibu at around 1 PM for one last practice in the ocean. Pick up my race registration at around 2 and head over to the inspiration dinner at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica where I'll be staying the next two night. I'm going to wake up at 4:15 on Saturday. There's a few yellow school buses that are going to take us to Malibu and we're going to be stuff tight in the bus with our bikes in our laps. It sounds really uncomfortable but TNT people said they've got this down to a science. Hopefully, I'll have a fun race and party hard while all the people racing on Sunday are trying to sleep. Wish me luck.

Racing to catch up

I really need to get my act together and update everything before my big race next Saturday. I want to have this blog as complete as possible before I send out a email with all the details of my next two races so people can read the most up to date information. I want to finish all the stuff about camping by today.

Breakthrough!

We were at Zuma again this week to swim. After putting on our wetsuits (I'm getting really good at this) we walked half a mile down the beach. It felt like the longest walk ever and the anxiety just built up. As we jumped into the freezing water, I'd gotten so used to diving under the waves and have my face, hands and feet numb that nothing was really shocking anymore. I had a good swim and as I was swimming back to the beach I looked over my shoulder ever stroke. I've been practicing the last two Sundays at Santa Monica and all the tips Coach Pete gave me really paid off. I feel comfortable enough to even kick as the waves were coming in and I rode a wave 20 feet to the beach. I got out of the water and I felt really good.

As we stood there with the rest of the people who had finished, we looked out and saw the lifeguard on a jet ski rescuing some people. The lifeguards must hate these few weeks before the Malibu triathlon with all the amateurs out in the rough sea learning to swim in the ocean. A few of my teammates had a panic attack today. I knew exactly what they're going through.

Swimming nightmare continues

Went out to Santa Monica pier 26 to swim with the Westside team this morning at 6:30 AM. It was foggy and visibility was around 30 feet. The waves were a good height and I practiced swimming out to the buoy which is about 0.2 miles out. I was coming back to shore and a got knocked upside down by a wave that broke right on top of me. As I was gasping for air I noticed by goggles near my face and I grabbed them right in the nick of time. I'm so lucky I didn't look my prescription goggles or I'd have to order another pair.

After another frightening experience, I had enough of swimming for the day and I just practiced diving under the waves near the beach with Nina from the Westside team.

Oh, the Rollercoaster of Life

Last week was probably the high point in my training for the Malibu Triathlon on September 11. With my first triathlon under my belt, albeit a short one, I was feeling pretty confident. Today was a mock triathlon at Malibu and for the first time, being hammered by giant waves in the ocean, I felt like this isn't the sport for me. As I was panicking in the ocean, I felt like there was a chance I wouldn't get back to shore alive. It all started so carefree in the morning too.

I drove to Malibu before the sun was out. The staff wanted this mock triathlon to be as representative of the real thing as possible. So we were to show up early and on time to set up our transitions and get registered for the event. They even has an official sounding name, (the now dreaded) Zumaman. Once I arrived I got my race number and had my number and age written on my body with a sharpie.

I scrambled to get my wetsuit on as the westside coach, Tim went over the race details

We lined ourselves along the beach and got ready to do two laps in the ocean (so we could practice going in and coming out of the ocean twice). The guys lined up for the first wave in our light blue caps and the women wanted behind in their pink caps.

This is the best picture I could find of the waves

As the race started we rushed in the ocean, I think for those of us who'd never experienced waves before, it was a complete shock. Being completely ignorant of the power before me, I let a wave break right on top of me and it knocked me over and back 5 feet. I was dazed, my heart was beating super fast. I got back to my feet just in time for the next wave to knock me over again. By now I was already hyperventilating and it felt like there was a great pressure on my chest. I started thinking, "I don't think I want to swim in the ocean, triathlons might not be for me." I barely got pass the waves and into the open ocean and everything I learned from all the drills in the swimming pool was completely gone. I was just moving through the water any way I could.

As we closed in on where we had to swim back to the beach. I saw a girl struggling with me. She told me she was claustrophobic. I think we got strength from each other and as we inches in to the beach. A giant wave hit us from behind. It was even worst than before as it was unexpected and our feet weren't touching the ground. My body felt like it was hit from all sides and I did a few flips in the water. All around me the water was turbulent and I couldn't tell were the water and the air meet. I felt helpless and dying for a breath, and for a moment I felt like I was going to drown. As the wave passed, the first thing I did was yell out but what came out was this high pitched scream. The girl I was swimming with had completely lost it and broken down. I kinda knew what she felt like.

I was in no hurry to get back into the ocean

I felt dizzy and weak as I my legs were finally on the beach. I felt so defeated and when I saw Victor the first thing I asked was, "Do we really have to go again?" "Ya, one more time," was his response in a calm commanding voice. I was able to somehow get through another swim and the rest of the bicycling and running went by without a hitch, but I had a new respect for and fear of the ocean.

You can be my wingman any time

I've reach my fundraising goal! Thanks to everyone for their generous support. Thanks to my friends who so kindly asked me how my training's going and thanks to those who donated without even having to be asked. Thanks to my family who are so generous in all ways. Thanks to my coworkers who are like the steam catapults on an aircraft carrier; you got me started with full afterburners.

Results from yesterday's race:

I'm a Triathlete!

"Congratulations, you're a triathlete!," people said as I ran into the finish line. I had to think about it for a few seconds because this isn't even the event I'm training for. Yeah, I am a triathlete. Sweet!

It was probably this nonchalant attitude that probably helped me from getting too nervous about my first triathlon. I tried to get some sleep last night and went to bed around 10. I kept waking up every few hours and around 1:30, I got out of bed to get ready. Without my glasses on, I could have sworn it said 4:30. Went back to bed and at 4:30 in the morning I got up again.

With all my gear in my car and some breakfast in my belly, I was on my way by 5:30. Once I got to Hansen Dam, I ran into Nancy. A few more cars down, we ran into Irene and James. Our cadre headed to the transition area with all our gear. I found my wave group based on age and set up my bike and shoes.

From this point, I think I'll consider myself super lucky. Like the guy at a TED conference said, people usually only focus on the things that go wrong in their day instead of everything that goes right. While I'll try to focus on all the things that went right. As I was setting up my transition area, my neighbor on my left gave me plenty of room.

Swim start in the calm, murky Hansen Dam reservoir

Right before the race, I took a long practice swim and that got me acclimated to the water. Even though I swam the long way around the buoys that gave me a ton of extra yardage, as I was getting out of the water, I was struggling with the zipper of my wet suit and some kind racer came by and in what seemed like one motion, opened the velcro and unzipped the back of my suit.

Struggling to get out of my wet suit as I transition into the cycling

As I got my cycling gear on, my neighbor said , "Don't you just love this?" A little premature, we're still racing. I had a pretty strong ride and due to some well placed volunteers I was able to slow down in time to make a tight right turn.

Shadow of personal photographer in the bottom right

I had a super fast transition into the run and although I was running at a respectable 9 minute mile pace, I felt like everyone was passing me. I saw my teammate Sheila in the spectators cheering. After running what seemed like 4-5 miles instead of 3. There was a killer hill and I though I was complete out but I heard someone cheer the end is right behind that banner and I dug deep and sprinted in for the finish.

My sprint into the finish line

The coach and all my teammates congratulated me and we stood around and waited for other teammates to complete the race.

Official triathlete

This might be a little premature, but I'd like to quickly recap some things that have gotten my team and I to this point. I think it's incredible how hard everyone is working out. I've seen some amazing improvements in the pool from not knowing how to swim to being able to swim continuously for almost an hour. Everyone making time in their lives to make sure they stay with the workout schedules. Like working out at 5 in the morning. Making time for workouts in the midst of church, family and work. Working out even on vacations and staying strong, commit and brave in the face of family loss.

We're all working hard and improving, together.

Special thanks to James for attending. He woke up at 7 AM and came out to support us and take pictures.

Staying ahead of the peloton then a fake out

Workout: Week 13 - 45 min. run

Who really wants to run 45 min nonstop or alone? I decided to change it to a brick and drag my folks along. I had them drive my running gear to the Rose Bowl. I rode my bike from my house there and did a quick transition and ran for 30 mins.

I kinda tricked my mom into going on a walk. She hasn't worked out in years and she did a 3.14 mi. walk. Not bad. I wonder if she'll be willing to go again the next time I go for a run.

Traitor

I need some extra practice with open ocean swim and Lily from Team John (the group I'm doing the Los Angeles Triathlon with) suggested that I go to Redondo on Sunday and swim in the afternoon with the LA Tri Club. They do a swim in the ocean that's open to everyone. The only requirement is that you have a yellow or pink swim cap and that you can swim 500m without stopping. Double check!

I arrived at 11, at the time it was supposed to start and everyone was already in their wetsuits. I scrambled to get my suit on and I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb being the only one completely decked out in TNT gear. Good news, the water at Redondo was much cleaner and I felt so much better swimming in the water. The one thing I did noticed was the even the slight amount of waves really buffeted me and it disrupted my stroke and breathing. I felt like a twig out there. I struggled to stay with the rest of the swimmers and LA Tri Club mentors were kind enough to keep an eye on the laggers. Once I reached shore I was completely exhausted from head to toe. I was a little weak in the knee.

I'm feeling much better now. I can actually do the ocean swim without throwing up.

Claustrophobia!

Our first open swim in the ocean at Alamitos Bay in Long Beach. Jenn picked me and Irene up in the morning and on our way there we had a fun conversation. Once there, we got some good parking and picked up our brand new wetsuits.

Felisha unveiling our new wet suits

The coach showed us some tricks of getting our wetsuits on and things to prevent chaffing. Bodyglide applied on our necks, wrists and ankles to minimize friction. A plastic bag on our feet and hands to help get the tight suit on our bodies. The buddy method of get the suit over our shoulder and the zipper closed without too much effort. The first thing I noticed was how tight the suit was, especially around my gut.

Coach demonstrating the buddy method

Once everyone get their suits on, we waded into the water. The first thing you notice after you get over how cold your feet are is that weird feeling as water seeping into from your zipper. Once completely submerged in the water, it was really fun just floating. It was really effortless with the buoyancy of suit and the density of the salt water.

Getting into the ocean for the first time

Mmmm, salty like a pirate

Alamitos Bay is a pretty substantial size bay with houses and plenty of parking for boat. The water was extremely murky and after a couple hundred meters of swimming. I just felt really uncomfortable. Thinking back I suspect it was either the pollutants in the water or some Power Bar gummi's that didn't agree with my stomach.

Dry heaving

Moments before I lose it

As I struggled to get very far without getting on my back to rest, I felt like this must be what's it like to feel claustrophobic. It's this sense of panic. My chest felt uncomfortable warm and tight. I couldn't really breathe. I feel dizzy and I fought back bouts of nausea. About three quarters of the way through the swim, I started to heave and felt like throwing up. I'd have probably felt better if I did. Once I got back to shore, I finally did throw up a little and I did feel much better. I used my arms like dispersant and quickly got rid of any traces of white foam. Dang, BP should have hired me to get rid of gross disasters.

We finished the workout with a 30 min run along the beach. I wore my brand new sleeveless purple Sugoi. I'm not sure if people were staring at the bright purple color or my t-shirt tanned arms.

I just signed up for my third triathlon this season

Today, I just registered for the Los Angeles Triathlon. I was a little nervous about signing up for this one because of the horror story from last year. There was massive surf and a large number of people couldn't even get into the ocean. They kept getting pushing back to the beach. I've got the short Hansen Dam tri in two weeks. The main event in September and this will be something to do since I've already trained so hard.

Lazy Sunday

Today, I was exhaust from my LAN party at James's new place. Thanks to Viv for putting up with the nerdiness.  I slept at 3 AM last night and today I couldn't get out of bed for my 30 mi. bike ride and 45 min. run.

Once I got home, I plunked myself in front of the TV and did the next best thing. I watched the ITU World Championship Series Triathlon in London on Universal Sports. It was a pure coincidence that was it was on and I only caught the last kilometer of the race, but it was pretty exciting. Javier Gómez was leading slightly but he was running with such ease and grace and close behind him was Alistair Brownlee, trying to keep up, yet in such obvious pain. After passing his limit, Brownlee of Great Britain just dropped away from the chase and Gómez of España won with a time of one hour, 42 minutes and eight seconds. That's about the time it takes for me just to do the cycling portion of the race.

we all go through those moments when we lack motivation, when we are devoid of inspiration, when we find ourselves suffering from a massive brain fart... this is one of those days for me. so for now, while i try to find the best way to tell you how i'm doing and what i've been up to as far as training, i'm going to borrow some words from someone else to medicate all of you through your brain farts....

“… No matter how careful you are, there’s going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn’t experience it all. There’s that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should’ve been paying attention. Well, get used to that feeling. That’s how your whole life will feel some day. This is all practice. None of this matters. We’re just warming up.”

Where's my mind these days?

I got the two swimming days completely inverted and I showed up at the pool at 7:30 PM. The first thing that was a little strange was, "Hey! There's actually parking spaces." As I was walking to the pool, I thought, "Hmmm, why's everyone already in the pool? Argh! I got the days mixed up."

Lake Piru Camping Trip

The camping trip was our first swim outside of the pool and a chance to socialize with our team and the much larger Westside TNT triathlon team. After work on Friday, I scrambled to get my stuff packed into my car and I went to pick Jenn from her place. We raced against the sun to reach the camp site before the sun set. Setting up a tent in the dark is not fun.

Take notice of the cool sunbeams

We arrived in camp, unsure what the parking or campsite situation was, but we were able to unload all our stuff and parked a few miles down the road and got a ride by. I was really surprised when I got back and the tent was already set up. Super impressed that Jenn was able to set it up in the dark.

The next morning after breakfast, we headed out to the swimming area on the other side of the lake. I'm going to take a quote from Nancy because I think she describes the swim in the lake perfectly:

"The open water swim was hilarious - half the participants were calm, cool, and swimming just fine, the other half (clearly including me) got about 5 strokes in, and then hung on to the buoy! Waves, murky water, more waves, made it hard to see, and hard to relax. I did get some great advice to abort the freestyle and try breaststroke or backstroke instead, which I did, but, as Coach Scott said, didn't get me very far. I would say I had a total of about 7 good strokes in at the very end of my swim. The rest, calamity. BUT, it was great to be with other people feeling just as paranoid and frustrated as I was!! Go Team!"

That's me on the right walking on the gross clay like shore

I think the only think I could add about the swim was what freaked me out was the underwater trees. Since the lake is created by the dam. There are some old trees in the water and if you swim into them, you surrounded by algae cover branches. The slimy feel all around you just makes your imagination go wild.

After the swim, we had a BRICK workout and by the time I was back in camp, I was completely pooped. Unfortunately, my idea of relaxing isn't sitting around a giant fire pit and socializing, which was pretty much what we did the entire rest of the camping trip.

We sat around the fire pit for 15 hours over 3 days

If you're wondering, yes, I took this picture because I thought cooking bell peepers over a camp fire was interesting

For dinner, the staff made us a spaghetti dinner and after that we pineapple upside down cake and s'mores. With all the extra marshmallows, we played chubby bunny, which is you stuff a marshmallow in your mouth and say chubby bunny and if it's audible you continue with another marshmallow. It gets pretty gross as you keep stuffing them in your mouth and the heat just makes them melt into one giant lump of sugar.

Waymond, the only eastsider who was willing to play Chubby Bunny

The highlight of the night for me was seeing a double rainbow, oh my god.

It's a double rainbow, all the way. Woah it's so intense.

The next morning at the crack of dawn, I just needed to get out of camp. I took my bike out and rode along the lake. The road was really broken down and it wasn't the best thing for my bike but the view of the sunrise over the lake through the clouds was well worth it.

Sunrise over Lake Piru

By the time, I got back to camp, we all got together to do our morning run practice and I headed home right ahead, skipping breakfast.

Zuma Beach

Workout: Coached bike set practice

I'm woke up at 5 AM this morning. I must be operating on 4 hours of sleep. I was so excited about this workout and the wedding later today that I could hardly sleep. Good thing I packed my car last night; I've got plenty of time to get some breakfast and get mentally prepared.

Set practice is a new word for me. I heard it last night from Tik at the wedding rehearsal dinner for James and Vivian when I told him we were going to Zuma Beach today to ride the same course we'd be riding on race day.

UPDATE:
Driving down the PCH is really slow with all those traffic lights. Once I got to Zuma, it was still pretty early and luckily I was able to get a free parking spot right outside the parking lot.

They had a bunch of bicycle racks set up in the parking lot. This is the usual workout place for the Westside triathlon team. Their team comprises of members from only a few cities on the westside, while our Eastside team encompasses everything else in LA, but still they have more members than us. Many of their team was already there and they look like they meant business. We looks like the Bad News Bears in comparison.

Westside Coach Pete showed us how to set up our transition area and Coach Scott talked us through little tips and tricks to have a smooth, trouble-free transition. The mentors demonstrate how the transition is done and after that, we took our turn and tried the transition ourselves. I was a little surprised that instead of it being pretty low key. Some people were actually pushing and running into each other to vie for a better position off the transition.

Coach Pete showing us how to set up our transition area

Gabe demonstration how the transition is done

Amanda inflating her tires

After the transition clinic, we did a 13 mi. bike ride. I started cramping up in my calves on the way back. Got off the bike and ran 2 miles. I started my run off with Myra and we took a nice easy pace and just chatted. When she went to the bathroom, I tagged along with Quinton and man, we really took off running. He's super skinny and he just flies on the run.

I asked Victor about cramping up. I've been eating bananas everyday, but I guess I'm not drinking enough water. I really need to force down enough fluid for my weight. The formula is half my weight, that's the number of ounces I want to take in during my day. Kim and Tara gave me another tip for cramping, coconut water. It's got more K than bananas; an acquired taste though.

Why do I keep trying to talk to people at LA fitness?

Workout: Week 7 swim drills

As I was jumping into the pool, I notice this lady wearing a black swim cap with an American flag on it - just like the ones team USA wears. As I was swimming, I couldn't help but ask, "Are you an Olympian?" and she misheard me and said, "No, I'm Mongolian."

Picking up my bike and substitute swim coach!

Workout: Coached swim practice
I got off of work early today, because Steve over at Open Road Bicycle Shop called me up and said my bike was done. I was quite happy with it, there's a lot of quality components on it and it looks really sexy. There's a giant red racing strip on it. Steve said, "It looks a lot better than it actually is." Haha, good one, Steve!

Steve posing with my Biachi Via Nirone 7

Today was also swim practice and we had a substitute swim coach. Joy is fantastic. I think she's worked with so many people on their swimming that she knew a lot of great tips that really helped directly with common problem areas. Her best advice for me was to keep my arm straight ahead and gliding as I pulled my other arm out of the water. If you start your stroke too early, it causes your body to sink. This helps maintain my center of gravity and keep my body streamline. She really pushed us too. She kept the drills lined up one after another and it felt like a great workout.

Resplendent swim coach, Joy

The first time I met her at Señor Fish, I had no idea who she was but she let me share her chicken salad as I waited for my fish platter to come out.

Bowling Night

One of our team members, Kim, organized a bowling night at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank. She got a great deal with free shoes and discount games. We ate bowling alley food, talked about our training, and took in the ambiance of the clubbing music and lights.

Kim, bowling night organizer extraordinaire

I had an amazing bowling game where I got a turkey (three strikes in a row) and ended up with a score of 131. I usually never even break 100. Too bad I don't have photographic proof of that. It must have been because I was using Audrey's lucky pink and white tie-dye ball.