View Troy Gorostiza's profile on LinkedIn

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Encinitas Tri

Back for another race....I got up at 4am today for my first Sprint Tri, not knowing exactly what to expect. I got to the setup area about 5:30am and immediately ran into some fellow TNT teammates...Lisa, Jason, Greg, Susan and a few other peeps I know now from being in this "freak" community.

I was out of sorts a bit this morning, woke up with a headache and when I was putting on my wetsuit before the race I forget to pull up my straps....I obviously fixed that before the race gun went off, but did forget to use the body glide to save my neck from the potential rash from my wetsuit...luckily I did not get one.

At about 6:40 am, the Elite wave took off from the beach for a surf entry. This was pretty intriguing since the swells were rolling in today, definitely overhead and there was one of the strongest north to south rip currents I have seen in quite some time.

The elite group, which Michellie Jones was in, had quite a bit of problems with the current pulling them pretty far south of the direction of the first buoy, obviously they continued to fight against the current and righted themselves, but this left me with the thought....how am I going to do if these world class athletes were struggling?

Well after a few more waves went off, and some of them getting pulled so badly south they had to exit the water and try and re-enter, or actually get pulled in by lifeguards on wave runners...I was up, in the 6th wave. By then we had learned to run about 70 yards north on the beach before hitting the water to adjust for the pull of the current. I ended up getting through the big rolling waves unscathed, but much to my misfortune I did not get pulled south in the waves and had to swim south pretty far, just to turn around the buoy and head north to the next buoy and then in....a 750 meter swim turned into at least a 1000 meter swim or maybe even more.

I exited the water pretty far back in my wave and honestly pretty beat and pondering the thought, "Why am I doing these damn Tri's....I am a crappy swimmer."

I made it to the transition area a bit tired from the swim and long uphill run from the beach and had a decent transition to the bike. Out and back, out and back and before you knew it the bike leg was over. Since this was my first Sprint distance tri, I was not sure on how much to hydrate or fuel, so all I really did was take one gu and a little bit of water, a swig or two from my electrolyte filled aero bottle and then I was back at the T2 getting ready for the run.

I headed out on the run making up some time on the bike and also seeing quite a bit of the people I knew either on the bike still (later waves) or running. The run was and out and back twice, just like the run, so it was nice seeing friends I knew a few times.

I definitely picked up the pace on the run and do not know my exact run time but I know it was pretty good for me, maybe even a PR, under 23 minutes for a 3.1 mile. I felt pretty good a the end of the run, so that redeemed the swim part a bit.

Time to swim like a fish, over and over until my next race.

Thanks to all those there to support me and our fellow Tri peeps, you guys are awesome....

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Finally a Solid Run

Last night (Wednesday) I took off to my usual running spot...Balboa Park. I started off at the norther end by 6th street. I knew from the get go I would have a good run, I just felt comfortable, relaxed and had some new tunes on my Ipod. I ended up running across the Balboa Bridge, to the fountain, then north to the Zoo, then down Park into downtown. I ran down close to the Convention Center and then back up 6th (up that hill) to the park and finally to my car. I did the run in just about 49 minutes and honestly could have gone for another 30 minutes or so no problem. I believe the distance was right around 6 miles, so running right above an 8 minute clip in my zone 3 was a first for me!!!

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Head Winds

So after a day of rest from injuring my lower back playing football on Saturday, I was itching to do a tri specific workout and more specifically, get on my bike. I have been horrible about riding since the Lavaman tri. I have only been on the bike for one ride, about 30 miles and also a few spinning sessions at gym. Needless to say with a race in 2 weeks, I need some bike time.

Since yesterday was absolutely gorgeous I decided to blow off my usual 6pm indoor spin class at 24 hour (why ride in a sauna???) for a pseudo TT ride at Fiesta Island. I got down there about 6pm to what I thought were great conditions. I started off on the west side of the Island by the bowling pin and at first was amazed that I could hit 25mph so easily....well there was a tail wind and soon enough I hit the freaking headwind!!! As soon as I got to the entrance to the island, the wind hit and I dropped almost 10mph. This headwind lasted all the way to the west side of the island, so on a 4.1 mile loop I would say at least 2.5 miles of it were into a headwind. Oh well, I ended up doing 5 laps for a total of a little more than 20 miles with an average loop time of 11:40 (which was faster than my TT there a few months ago)!!! I think the new fitting and new seat are helping me for sure...11 days till Encinitas Tri....uh oh...

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Cross-Training

So after having a big party last Saturday night (thanks to all tri peeps who made it!!!) I awoke on Sunday to a blurred vision, headache and all around soreness from dehydration and playing in my Saturday Flag football league (which by the way is full contact....I know very interesting). I had some good college friends in town that I hung out with Sunday morning for breakfast and then came home to get some much needed rest before hanging out with another close college friend that evening.

So now that I have been back from Hawaii I have been participating in some other sports I enjoy, football and basketball. I am on a football league on Saturdays with some close high-school friends and some other good guys that I have met over the years. I have been playing in this league for the past 6 years, with seasons twice a year. Other than when I have a big race coming up, I always try to play since football is a great outlet for my competitiveness.

So last night I decided to play basketball with a couple of friends in their league. I had played in this league last year when I was not in training for any marathon or triathlon, but this year I did not play until last night since I did not want to risk injury.

I love basketball probably more than football, but I am definitely not nearly as proficient. I am a white guy that canno slam or really shoot all that well, so if you know anything about basketball, these two traits I have are pretty unfavorable to being a good hoops player. However, what I do have is boundless energy, and a real good understanding of the game from a team approach. This lets me rebound quite proficiently and also play good defense.

I decided to play last night since Cole and Paul (two buddies on team from last season) had been begging me to come back and play. Up until last night, the team was 0-5 and had not been closer than down by 20 points to a win.....pretty atrocious. So I obliged, since at the very least it is a great workout.

We started off strong, played as a team on offense and actually played some defense too!!! We were up by 11 with about 3 minutes to go and then what I say from the sideline looked all too familiar to what Cole and Paul told me was happening this year.....the team plays sloppy and stops moving.

I had to watch this demise from the sideline and eventually watch our team blow the lead and the game. I do not know if I will play again next week, since 1 dang game made me so frustrated, I do not know what I will feel like week in and week out if this team continues to lose.....freaking cross-training.