Tri to Endure

Hansen Results

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:32:00 +0000

This was the first time Tami and both ran in the same triathlon. I started in the first wave, and Tami was in the 3rd wave. Due to the super short swim, I was coming out of the water as her wave was going in, so I gave her a loud "GO TAMIII" as I came up the ramp.

Tami finished 37th in her age group, and 250th overall with a time of 1:27:01

That's about 2.5 minutes slower than last years time, but with less than half of the training. Her swim and both transitions were actually faster than last year, but her bike and run were slighly slower. Overall, considering the light training, she was very pleased that she kept her time under 1:30

I finished 18th in my age group, and 32nd overall with a time of 1:05:13

I know I have room to improve on the bike. I just haven't been finding the time to get out and ride as much as I should.

Official results are posted at http://www.resultsbyprimetime.com/

Hansen Dam Triathlon

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:53:00 +0000

My wife and I are signed up and will be competing in the 4th annual Hansen Dam Triathlon this coming Sunday (Aug 17). Tami did her first triathlon here last year.

This year we're dropping the kids off with my sister and we're both going to compete. She hasn't trained as much this year, but she thinks she can improve her transition times enough to still beat her time from last year. We're also going with two newbies from our local YMCA. I always love to be there when someone finishes their first triathlon. There's nothing quite like that first tri.

Wow! Did you see this?

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:40:00 +0000

Did you see the 4x100 freestyle relay at the Beijing Olympics last night? If you haven't seen it, stop what you're doing and go to NBCOlympics.com to find it, or click here right now and watch it. It was the most amazing race ever.

Individual and team world records were shattered and the American swimmers made up a lot of ground in the last 100 to win by just .08 of a second ahead of the favored French team. That's the smallest margin of Olympic victory EVER for this event.

Hypoxic Club

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:03:00 +0000

The Masters club I've been swimming with has something called the Hypoxic Club Challenge

Porter Valley Masters Hypoxic Club Challenge

To become a member of the Hypoxic Club you have to be able to swim at least one half lap (12 ½ yards) without taking a breath. To reach every stage past this initial step you must complete a consecutive half lap. For example, step one is 12 ½ yards, step two is 25 yards, step three is 37 ½ yards…etc. There is no final goal to reach when attempting Hypoxic Club because you can always try to push yourself that extra yard! As your fitness levels, endurance, and efficiency increase you will be able to extend your distance.

Requirements: For your attempted distance to count the majority of that distance must be swum above the surface.

So this Wednesday, I gave it a shot. I was certain that I could swim at least 50 yards without taking a breath, and thought I might be able to go another half lap if I got a good push off the wall. Well, I was able to go a full 75 yards (3 lengths in the pool) without a breath - giving me the current top position in the challenge. Our coach even sent an email to the club (probably to get some of the better swimmers to join in and take away my top spot).

>>To give everyone who was not present an update on the Hypoxic Club challenge, last night one our newer swimmers raised the bar to a higher level. Jeff attempted and completed 75 yards without breathing, smashing the old record by 25 yards. Great job Jeff!

No more weddings

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:59:00 +0000

The two big summer weddings are both over (see bachelor party entries below). Which means my Usher and Best Man duties have all been fulfilled, so I guess that means I can get back to training.

On the swimming front, I've still been attending swim 'lessons' with the Masters swim club at least twice per week. The coach has me doing flip turns now, and my 100m free is down to a new PR of 1:09.6. Not that fast compared to the real swimmers on the team, but that's very fast for me. I only wish I could keep that pace for more than a hundred meters.

Pismo Beach (Bachelor Party #2)

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:31:00 +0000

Another good friend of mine is getting married this July, just one week after my friend Joel is getting married (see Kern River) - so last weekend we all went up to Pismo Beach for the bachelor party. Many of the same friends who went to Kern River for the rafting adventure were there for the ATV adventure. Most of these guys have been friends for over 20 years.

We were even able to get one of our friends to fly in from Germany as a surprise for the bachelor. It's good to have old friends, and especially good to be able to get together for events like this.

Pat (the bachelor) is in the center kneeling down

ATV'ing on the dunes
It was a several mile walk back after ATV riding. Check out the kite surfer in the distance. These guys would get 10-20 feet up in the air when they jumped the waves.

Masters Swim

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:31:00 +0000

I joined a Masters Swim club this week. It's the first time in my life I've ever done any sort of organized swim training. My first swim with the team was on Wednesday. What a butt kicking!

The best thing about it was that I swam pretty hard for a full hour without getting bored at all. Normally the thought of more than 30 minutes in the pool bores me to tears.

I spent the evening in the #2 slow lane, so there's plenty of room for improvement. Coach Dan said I had a good fundamental freestyle stroke, but there were plenty of things he can help me work on to improve my speed and endurance.

Tombstone

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:40:00 +0000

This picture shows the boulder (called Tombstone) that flipped us. This picture was taken on our 4th run down the river.

You can't see me very well in this picture, but I'm in the front left seat wearing my Drymax trail running socks. They really had to work overtime to try to keep my feet dry that day. The bachelor (sitting front right) almost wore a pair of cotton socks on the raft, but I saved him at the last minute and gave him a pair of my drymax socks before we left camp.

Rafting on the Kern

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:52:00 +0000

A very good friend of mine is getting married in July. This weekend, I went with six of my best and oldest friends (since Jr. High) on a rafting adventure down the Kern River in California. This was definitely a top 10 adventure for all of us.

The pictures below are from our third run down the river. After each run, we'd switch positions on the raft so we each had opportunities to ride in the front, middle, and back of the raft.

The best part of the day was when we got high-sided on a boulder and the raft went completely upside down and dumped all of us. We got to ride IN the river for a few hundred yards while the guide got the raft back upright and we all climbed back in.

If you ever get a chance to go rafting, I highly recommend it.

(you can click on the images to see a higher quality version of each picture)

SOCKS!

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:00:00 +0000

The first box of drymax socks arrived yesterday. Yep, I said the first box.. There's still two more shipments coming later in the year!

Thanks drymax and GYGO!

A day at the park

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:22:00 +0000

Victory for Victims Results

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:52:00 +0000

Jeff: 3rd place in agegroup - 20:43.4

Melissa: 8th in agegroup - 38:55.2

Jennifer: 23rd in agegroup - 39:03.5

Tami: 24th in agegroup - 39:03.6

Victory for Victims 5k

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:45:00 +0000

Everyone over the age of 12 in the So.Cal. Wrigley family signed up for the 5k race today. From left to right we've got Jennifer (sis), Melissa (niece), Tami (wife), and Jeff (me).

Official times were not posted before we left the event, but unofficially I recorded my time as 20:40 and the girls finished together in just under 40 minutes.

This was Melissa's first 5k ever (official or unofficial).

After claiming she might faint during the run, Melissa saw the finish line with just a few hundred yards to go and sprinted ahead of Jennifer and Tami to win the Wrigley Women's division!

Melissa sprints ahead with only 0.1mi to go

New Runner

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:07:00 +0000

My niece Melissa has expressed an interest in running with her Mom on her next 5k. So this Sunday - she's going to run the victory for victims 5k River Walk/Run at Lake Balboa Park! This is especially awesome since it was only a few months ago that her Mom ran her first 5k ever.

18 months worth of socks!

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:45:00 +0000

So the drymax challenge is over. Thanks everyone who voted for me, and especially to my friends and family who went out and got their friends and family to vote for me. Most of the compliments I received were on the music, not the video - so an extra special thanks to Jen for finding such a great song!

Here are the results straight from Through Th3 Wall

As the winner of the challenge I get 12 months worth of drymax socks which basically guarantees I'll have the driest feet in Los Angeles for at least the next year. I don't know yet how many pair of socks that will be, but I'll be sure to let you all know. On top of that, the cool folks at drymax socks are also giving 6 months worth of socks to my new friend and drymax challenge nemesis Steve Stenzel.

GYGO drymax challenge - contest entry

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:29:00 +0000

Share the road

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:55:00 +0000

Introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:05:00 +0000

This site has mainly been setup to help my local training partners to find information, races, equipment, and anything else we might need for Triathlons and other endurance events - especially in and around the Los Angeles area.

As I get closer to my first Ironman in 2010 I will use this blog to document my journey.

-Jeff