Malibu International Marathon

A

     Zuma Beach, in Malibu, CA, has a very special place in my heart. It is a beautiful place where I had planned my first A race, where I first got panic at open water swim, where I first noticed my bike strength was not enough, where I will always be able to watch the ocean without people interrupting my view.

     That is essentially why I was mesmerized by the idea of running a marathon through PCH finishing at Zuma Beach. I knew there would be hills at the last half, and without proper training this would not be a race to get a personal best. But as usual, being this the first event there was a special attraction. And I had to run another marathon for 2009.

     It was a chilly morning (43-45F), and parking was available near the finish line, with shuttles to take the runners to the start. My wife was running the half, and would start at the middle of the full course, two hours later, so we had to go separate ways. There was a small number of racers for the full marathon (331 finishers), and the sun came out right before the start.
      Following my training on forefoot running, I decided to make this my first marathon on flat lightweight shoes, my old pair of Asics DS Gel Racer that I used on my sprint triathlons throughout 2009. Addionally to that, I was three weeks on my low carb diet, lighter and feeling more energetic. My watch battery had died, so there would be no time monitoring, what contributed to decrease my anxiety.

       I felt really good at start, and decided to leave behind the 4:30 pace group, as I was able to run confortably at 9 min/mile pace. When we reached the Pacific Coast Highway there was a strong headwind for about two miles, what required extra energy spenditure. But I kept the 9 min/mile until mile 15, when everything came down, as I started to climb the hills. Probably I had muscle fatigue resulting from the current diet mixed with the different running technique. I had to do walk breaks, mostly on the hills, as I did not have a watch to rigorously follow a schedule. At that point, it became a fun run, and I started to chase the other marathon maniacs and interesting people.

      To help me finish the last three miles, I met a runner training with Galloway using an interesting device to time the run/walk/run schedule. That tiny box with loud beeper really pushed me forward, and we finished the marathon few minutes after 4:30, without being passed by the pace group (that or I was really short of oxygen).

       I ran Malibu more than two months after my last marathon (Kauai Marathon, 09/06/09), and a month after I burned out after Magic Mountain Man (10/10/09), so it was my secret pleasure to finish it. I was finally reclaiming my running form back, in time for Baton Rouge Beach Marathon in 12/05/09, and a happy 2009 closure.
      To have the same result as previous marathons was reassuring, with the new diet, the new technique and the new year to come. I was finally going back to my roots, becoming a better runner and triathlete.

Three-Triathlons-Triathlete, second part of three

You can say Nautica Malibu Triathlon (0.5Mi swim, 18Mi bike, 4Mi run) was my A race. This was my first registration, my goal setting and my main event (to support CHLA). That was not exactly a sprint triathlon, but LA Triathlon was a good rehearsal. My realistic predictions did not allow me to consider a time less than two hours, so my goal was to beat 2:10.

Focused on the race, just on the previous day I realized that it was an awesome party, with the huge number of participants and the presence of celebrities. A plus was Jennifer Lopez competing her first triathlon together with us. And everybody on the CHLA team was excited with the upcoming close race day and the numbers of the fundraising.

Because PCH is closed for the race, parking is difficult and participants have to arrive before 5:30 AM. Another day waking up at 4AM, but this time I had a car available. The number of athletes was impressive, increasing the distractions and traffic in the transition area, but outstanding organization made the whole event run smooth and enjoyable.

It was said the ocean was flat on the previous day, but that was not the exact description for that Sunday. As you can see in the pictures (guess who is in the picture?...), the long arm of Nature was heavy, as I felt on the third wave, when I was thrown back and almost lost my goggles. That slap was enough to turn on the adrenaline and make me faster, after few minutes of recovery in slow pace. On the way back, right before the surf, I saw one of the female coast guards who taught me my second open water swim clinic, and saw my panic attack freezing me and making me hold into her surfboard at 50 yards from the beach. In my dreams she recognized me and was admired of my success. Reaching the sand without other surprises, I did not feel as bad as on the previous week, and was surprised with the time. Official swim time was 22:06.

The dizziness of the previous efforts just hit me when I was removing the wetsuit, and that made my T1 last 3:14.5.

The bike leg was smooth, except for the uphills, and I finished in 01:02:07, with the certainty that I have more work to do to improve my bike skills. It was delightful to have a whole lane of PCH to ride.

T2 presented me with the corridors full of people, some throwing up, some bonking, some watching the movement, and with that was a kind of race within the race to be able to rest my bike and leave for the run. T2 time was 1:33.6.

The run started with abdominal cramps, most likely because of the two gels taken on the bike. But my legs continued running in front of my brain until they both got together at the turning point. It was very rewarding to see so many CHLA team members on the run, and to have all spectators cheering for us. Run time: 33:26.8.

With all the energy dispensed, and most likely because of the friendly wave on the swim start, I finished 02:02:28.4, beating my shy prediction of 2:10, but short of less than 2 hours.

Right after the finish, I felt the damage of two weekends in a roll of competition. Mild nausea did not allow me to replenish carbohydrates, and moderate pain on quads and feet requested prompt rest.

Malibu could have been my A race, but right on the night before LA Triathlon I had registered for Long Beach Triathlon. Do you want to know why? Because that was a shorter course (0.5Mi swim, 11Mi bike, 3Mi run), without the pressure for results in front of a lot of people; because my season probably would end that week (due to work issues for the rest of the year); because I still was on my peak; and (again...) because I still had to fight my fear of the open water swim.

Stubbornness, fear and waves can take you very far...