Don't stop dating

There are plenty of sources for dating advice. The magazines that are grace the check out aisle at the grocery store preach various methods of getting that dream guy/girl, or fixing a problem in your relationship. For some reason, a few of my friends come to me seeking advice. Being a friend, I don't tell them to pick up the most recent edition of Cosmo, but rather tell them to calm down and try to fix whatever issue is going on. Advice varies case to case, and I have really no idea why my friends ask me for advice. I have never had much success in the dating realm, so most of my advice consists of listening, telling my friend to calm down, and then working through some compromise.

Every Cosmo cover offers 100+ tips to improve... well so I chose this cover instead. 

Now, some of the advice you may read is "Try something new in the bedroom!" or "Explore this part of the city!" or "Try these new date ideas!"The only one that seems like a good idea that I have seen is the "Never stop dating".

This is advice from a florist shop. Definitely been there in my life...

Why do I think this is a good idea? Because the beginning part of dating is the most fun part. Figuring out who the person is, what things you share in common, trying new things, going to new places, etc. This is not a post on dating, however, but staying motivated in training.

While I have not had success in dating, I have had some success in training, and staying motivated with it. My coach, Martin Spierings, has kept things pretty entertaining, but eventually, it gets dull. So how to fix that? Start dating again. So below is a list of tips that start out as a list that you could find in a grocery check out rag, but is meant to help you get started training or push through a rough patch in your training.

This is what my log typically looks like for a week. Lots of boring without some spice. I don't think that dating comes with logs. That would make my life way easier. 

These are in no particular order.

1) Get out. Can't find something to do? Then check out the local gym/pool/track. There are bound to be other people there. Go talk to them. See if you can find a group to latch on to. The more the merrier. They will help keep you committed to whatever plan you have. And you will meet new people.

2) Go some place new. Tired of going to the same restaurant or renting movies from Blockbuster? (Do people still go to Blockbuster anymore? I recently rented movies from a nearby place that I used to go to as a kid. I forgot how fun it was). But in terms of training-try a new trail, bike path. If you are a swimmer, go to a lake/open water place. A change of scenery will do a body good.

3) Take a personal day. Need some alone time? We all do. A day off, or days off, can help you recover from a particularly strenuous string of workouts. The track/gym/road is not going anywhere, and the time off can be an opportunity to refocus your goals. Use the day to do things that have been pushed back on your to do list. Catch up on those episodes of Game of Thrones (assuming you haven't already read everyone's facebook statuses that give everything away).

4) Get cleaned up. One of the perks of dating is getting all put together to go out somewhere nice. Do that for your workout gear. Take extra time to clean up your bike, or to wash your workout equipment. Take care of the equipment that takes care of you in a workout. That includes your body. After a workout, take an extra long shower. Scrub with that fuzzy thing that has a fancy name. Soak up the heat.

This is called a loofah, which is apparently also spelled loofah. Convenient. Use it.

5) Make a playlist. Remember the first time you made your sweetheart a playlist on iTunes and then burned it on to a cd? Every song had some significance. And then after you burned it on to a cd, you wrote on it in sharpie for the track names and artists? Those were the days. For your workout, do the same. So that when your legs start telling you can't do it anymore, you have that track that will push you through whatever workout you are struggling with. Then you can take Jens Voigt's advice:

We can't all be like Jens, but we can all tell our body to shut up and push through whatever perceived threshold we have reached. And if for you it takes the latest Rihanna/David Guetta song to do it, then so be it. I personally go for something along these lines:

You generally don't want to be around me when I am doing intervals and this is going.

6) Try something new. Tired of hitting the saddle for hours, or pounding the pavement, or pumping iron? Then go to a yoga class. Or try a session of crossfit. Or maybe something crazy like aerobic dance. If you like it, incorporate it into your routine. 

There are times I should take my own advice. Some day, I will find someone looking for this:

Favorite pair of underwear

You know the feeling when you put them on. There is a reason why they are your favorite pair of underwear. Despite most of your undergarments being the same, and made of the same material, one of them is special. And you hold on to that pair until you can't legitimately wear them anymore.

Note-not a picture of me, but Hanes Comfort soft waistband boxers are the most comfortable things I have ever worn.

It the same with a swimmer and a pair of goggles. Sure, goggles look the same. And are made of the same parts-plastic, rubber, etc. But only one pair has been on your face for hours upon hours, with just the right amount of tension to keep the water out, and just enough so that you don't end up with a headache from them being too tight. All of the individual variables have been perfected. The nose piece is just wide enough, water never gets in; the goggles are an extension of your face. At a certain point, you don't even think about it. Just like your favorite pair of underwear, they do the job perfectly.

Eventually, that relationship ends. The destructive oxidative powers of the chlorine in the pool eats away at the rubber strap. Usually, the swimmer can see it coming. The goggles get progressively looser, the rubber gets eaten away, and eventually, the band goes SNAP.

What remains of my goggles. Fortunately, they cost at most $3/pair, so not a huge loss, but terrible timing.

Usually, it's not a snap, because the elasticity of the rubber is all gone. It is more of an weak twang. It also usually happens at the worst time-when the goggles are being put on in preparation for practice or a race. The strap is being stretched to fit over your head, and then the world falls apart. The band goes weakly. There is little fight left. This is not like a pair of underwear, where you can justify wearing them for longer, maybe just the elastic band from the underwear is a little loose...the functionality of the goggles is gone.

Very few words can explain the emotions going through the head of the swimmer holding the pieces of what was one of three things to go through all of the pain of training (goggles, suit, body). First is panic, as this traumatic event usually happens right before getting in the water. The "oh sh** oh sh** I am about to step up to the blocks and I have no goggles where is someone with a pair I can borrow right now". The second is despair. Now what am I going to do with the goggles? Where can I get another pair? Then comes BLINDING RAGE as you realize that there is no immediate remedy to your problem. The time you spent getting your goggles to be just perfect was now wasted. You will suffer with leaky goggles for a few workouts, discomfort in the short term as you borrow someone else's goggles or make a quick repair to the broken ones, but it will never be the same. The relationship is over.

All of those emotions went through my head this weekend when I raced at the 1-mile open water National Championships at Lake Del Valle in Livermore, California. I had signed up for the race to get some practice open water swimming for triathlons, and I went out there with some of the members of the Temescal Master's swim team that I do some workouts with. Just after the pre race meeting, about 5 minutes before my race was to start, I was making my way down to the water to get in a quick workout. My cap was on, and I was putting on my goggles, when they fell apart in my hands. I pulled my hands down to see the destruction: The white rubber bands that had held small pieces of plastic against my eyes, protecting them from dihydrogen monoxide were no longer functional.

Phase 1: Panic

A Google image search for "panic" comes up with this-a panicked zombie. The internet is a weird place...

This was minutes before my race. I turned around and went back to my bag to pull out the second pair that I had brought with me, but the second pair were not tinted. I contemplated pulling the strap out of the clear goggles to put in my now lifeless goggles, but realized that time was short, and the strap on my second pair was not 100%.

Phase 2: Despair
Now what? The second pair would not allow me to see the buoys, it was too bright outside. My teammates looked at me, and offered their goggles, but that would be no good. I needed my tinted ones. I contemplated doing the race without goggles. But then I remembered that I had a $5 in my wallet, and there was a swim shop that was selling goods...maybe they had straps?

Phase 3: Blinding rage...

If someone had a scouter, my power level would have been well over NIIINNNEEE THOUSANNND. I apologize to all of you for making this reference. If you don't understand, go here:

I grabbed the five bucks out of my wallet, ran over to the shop, and said "I have five bucks, I need goggle straps, my race starts in 5 minutes, please help". The two employees looked at my dilated pupils, handed me some straps and took my money. I took it and ran. Straps in, goggles on, too tight, but there wasn't time to adjust.

The race: I got in the water (which was a warm 76 degrees), and paddled around for a bit to test the out the new goggle straps I had purchased. They were inflexible and tight, but not letting water in, so they would suffice. I warmed up quickly, as they were starting to call the swimmers over to the in water start line. A lot of the swimmers were clumped on the right hand side of the line, behind one of the race favorites, so I made my way to the left.

As the final minutes ticked before the race started, a woman asked me to confirm the course. This is pretty standard behavior out of most athletes-pre race jitters causes us to want to talk about something. The race, the course, the weather. It's like an awkward first date, except instead of the possibility of the date going poorly and never seeing the other person again, you know that you are going to be in pain from exertion. I told her the course, and a minute later, the race took off.

I fell into a steady rhythm, and as expected, there was a clump streaming to my right. The girl that I had been talking to took off, so I slipped in on her feet. We started sliding over to the other group, as she apparently was not keen on doing all the work.

After about 200 yards, we were in the main group. The leaders started to get away, and I was stuck in the middle. I didn't stress about it, and just allowed the others to do the work, figuring that I could slip through at a turn buoy.

Wrong. One of the major differences between swimming and other distance sports is that once a gap develops, it is very difficult to pull it back. In running or cycling, you can put down a minute or two effort, and generate a sizable gap, or make up a gap. It will hurt, but it's possible. Not so in swimming. A two minute effort might get you 5-15 second gap. By the time I had the space to make a move back to the leaders, they were long gone.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. I kept rhythm for most of it, and hit the beach in 10th place overall. I had wanted to finish higher, but it just means I have more work to do in the water.

Props to my training partner, Liz (who blogs here about being gluten free), who was the 5th overall female.

Double thumbs up as we were both second in our age groups.

Why aren't we rioting already?

Now, contrary to the title, I am not suggesting that the public riots against the government. It is destructive, and rarely solves the issue that it was set out to.

Approximately a year and a half ago, Occupy Wall Street started. Protests and riots spontaneously arose in cities around the United States and the world. The protests were destructive and harmful, with businesses and municipalities losing huge amounts of money. They also generated a lot of amusing videos of people being asked why they were protesting.

Supposedly, the protests were against... something. I think it was income inequality, or the governmental plan to bail out corporations, or the influence of business in politics. Maybe. And the protests went on for a few weeks, and after a while, everybody went home. Nothing really changed, except for the fact that the protests cost cities millions of dollars in extra pay for police and fire (example here), and untold millions in actual damages to businesses, not counting lost business.

Now we have concrete reasons to protest against the actions of our government, but no one is actually doing anything about it.

What are those reasons?
1) Targeting of groups by the Internal Revenue Service. Remember when President Obama said this?

Apparently, it is not a joke. Various groups were targeted by the IRS when they applied for tax exempt status, when other groups were not. If you want a complete line-up of articles on the subject, go here.

Is this reason not enough to protest? Most people fear the IRS. They can bring down ruin upon anyone. Being audited is terrifying. You are responsible for proving your innocence. Now, you have the IRS actively targeting certain groups, asking for everything from facebook posts, books they read, donor lists, and board meeting minutes.

2) The hacking of reporters' computers and phone lines.
Reporters who were writing articles about touchy subjects had their phones and computers hacked.

While the phone lines were not tapped, traces were performed on the phone lines for the Associated Press so that the Justice Department could track who was being called. Article here.

James Rosen, a reporter for Fox News (say whatever you want about Fox News), is being threatened as a co-conspirator for leaking information about North Korea's nuclear program. Article here. His phone lines were again traced secretly.

Sharyl Atkinson, a reporter for CBS, had her personal and work computers hacked during the times that she was reporting on the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. If you don't know what happened in Benghazi, a US Ambassador and several other Americans died. Here is the wiki page. Here is the article about how Ms. Atkinson had her computer hacked.

3) The collecting of phone data from millions of Americans.
The National Security Agency, starting under the Bush Administration, has been collecting data on the phone activity of millions of Americans. Article here.

While the government has said that they weren't listening, there are many who think otherwise.

4) The secret collection of data from major internet sources.

The NSA, through a program called PRISM, has been collecting data from companies such as Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft. This program was exposed by a former contractor for the NSA named Edward Snowden. Here is an article.

Why isn't the public doing something? We have every reason to do something drastic. Hell, just for the tax reason we would have enough cause to do something.

In addition to the abuse of the tax system, we have the infringement of the free press, and the secret collection of private data by the government. 

Other countries that are currently protesting: Turkey, which started out as a protest over a planned business development that would have destroyed a park, which has now turned into a larger protest against a repressive government. Brazil, which is protesting everything from high bus fees, the cost of preparing for the World Cup, and corruption. Bulgaria, where they are protesting the appointment of a security official by their socialist government. Now, I acknowledge that these are huge simplifications of what is going on in these particular countries, but at least they are doing something.

So why aren't we doing something? In my opinion,  it is because so far, most people haven't been affected as an individual. The collection of private data won't change your browsing habits, or how you use your phone, especially when you don't know it is going on. The tracing of the phone lines of the Associated Press and the hacking of reporter's computers won't impact the public as long as some reporting is going on. The information that gets put out by the press might be different, but who will know if the reporters that are doing the hard reporting are silenced? The harassment of various groups by the IRS affects only a small group of people.

But these are all violations of our individual rights protected by the constitution. You would think that our President, who was a constitutional law professor, would know that. Infringement upon the press? First Amendment. Collection of private data? Violation of the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches.  A violation against one individual should be a violation against all of us.

Three words

Three words can mean a lot. Howevever, an addition of other words can change the meaning of everything.

Example: I love you. One of the most important, consequential, difficult things to say. Add more words? I sort of love you. Changes everything. (In fact, the words "sort of" changes the meaning of everything-like "you're going to live...sort of")

This is taken from Demetri Martin:

He is adding words for comedic effect.

I feel like a lot of modern pop music is adding words to that particular phrase "I love you". Take for example this song:

Now, disregard the fact that Jason Derulo feels the need to exhale and inhale all over the mic as he sings. The song lyrics at the beginning seem to paint a picture of him falling in love-doing the little things together. Then the lyrics get progressively worse. 

But the part that really gets me is this line: "We'll be lovers fo sho". I understand the need to make lyrics rhyme, and keeping with the rhythm of a song, but I am putting my foot down. I usually like crappy pop music. However, I can not imagine a situation where I would say to the hypothetical woman that I am love with "we are lovers fo sho". And if I did, and the woman didn't immediately leave me, that should set off red flags.

So many memories

When I was in middle school, I would go over to a friend's house, and we would play Nintendo 64. If we weren't playing golden eye (which is one of the best first person shooters or all time), we were probably playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater. I don't have that much knowledge of video game soundtracks, but the music on that game was awesome. This song brought back a lot of memories:

If you want to relive the whole soundtrack, you can find a playlist here. Tons of ska and punk music to take you back to the days when N64 was the best console around. 

Open the box

Pandora, at times, is a remarkable program. Other times, it is a huge piece of junk (I am keeping it family friendly). I feel like at times, Pandora takes your recommendations (let's say you want to listen to the Beatles), and then throws it into a blender, and says "Oh you like the Beatles... let's see, Beatles, beats, Dre Beats headphones, let's play Dr. Dre!" And me, as the listener, turns off Pandora and goes back to my itunes library.

Occasionally, Pandora gets something right. I started a Macklemore station, and it has played, amazingly enough, a fair amount of Macklemore (if you haven't listened to Macklemore's album "The Heist", get out from whatever rock you are living under). But it has also played some guy named G-Eazy. Here is one of my favorite tracks: (Just FYI, some of the tracks below are not family friendly).

You should also check out Rebel, Lady Killers, and Mad. 

The end of amateur athletics

At triathlons and bike races, my friend Greg and I like to comment upon the bike "porn" that is present. And by "porn", we mean super nice bikes that the person using it may or may not deserve to be on. Unfortunately, the quality of the bike plays a large role in your success at the higher end of the sport, but in the middle ranges, you can be successful without the nicest equipment.

This is an example of bike "porn". Integrated cables, hidden rear brake cables, carbon wheels, etc. These bikes can easily cost $5-10,000.

In fact, with triathlons, through determined effort, regardless of equipment, you can usually be successful. The definition of success can vary, but with triathlons, you can usually end up with placing in your age group, or with a personal record at a particular distance, and call your effort and training satisfactory. 

The definition of success changes when the sport changes. In triathlons, you can be successful and still be an "amateur", meaning that you have no sponsors that help cover your costs. I believe that in many sports, starting at younger and younger ages, it is no longer possible to be successful and still be considered "amateur".

Much has been written about the end of amateur athletics at the college level, and that collegiate athletes should be paid due to, in some sports, the college making money off of the efforts of the "unpaid" athletes. I believe that the end of amateurism is slowing eating away at younger and younger athletes, particular at the high school level and below.

According to their own internal study, Johnny Manziel produced more than $37 million in media exposure for Texas A&M, not including jerseys, shirts, etc were sold because of his talents.

First, two definitions: success, and amateur. For me, success means that you are able to compete at at least one level beyond the "normal" level (for example, the "postseason"). This past year, I was the swim coach and the JV boys water polo coach for the high school where I teach. For these sports, one measure of success would be competing beyond the normal league play. There are, of course, many ways of measuring success beyond playing at a higher level, such as marked improvement from previous years, a better win-loss record, improved skills among the players, etc. But for the arguments within this post, success will be measured as being able to compete beyond league play.

The definition of amateur is trickier. For most, the definition means that you are not paid to play in a sport, and you do not receive any benefits from your abilities in that sport, such as discounted or free consumer goods. I am going to bend that definition: To be considered an amateur at the high school level, you can spend no more than 2 out of the four seasons playing in that sport (fall, winter, spring, summer). So you can do cross country and track, but in the winter and summer, you are not consistently training. In California, you can play water polo and swim (fall and spring sports), but in the winter and summer, again, not consistently training. 

Why this particular rule? Because for most professionals, they only compete in that sport, and do little else. For a high schooler to be doing one sport during a particular season, it is difficult for them to manage their time commitments to that one sport and any other activity they are in-it is hard to be on the football team, and also be in the school play, etc. For students that are participating in a sport beyond two seasons, it means that the student likely doesn't do much else besides that particular sport, just as a true "professional" puts his/her efforts into one particular endeavor.

These actors play football players, but you are unlikely to find them in a real high school.

The reason why I am changing this definition is that I believe that it is no longer possible to be successful as a high school athlete and be only that-a high school athlete. If you only participate in a sport during the high school season, in most sports, I believe that you will not reach post season play, particularly in any individual sport-cross country, track and field, swimming, tennis, and golf. It may still be possible in team sports, but less likely, unless on the team, you have someone who is a "non-amateur" who is able to carry the team to the postseason.

Gone are the days where you can be a 3-sport athlete and be successful at all of them. Gone are the days where you can only participate in a sport only for that season. Why? Because of the rise of "club" teams. (As a note, my youth was spent swimming on year round club teams. My parents drove me to and from practices and meets that were far from home (the further away the meet was, the more likely that location was referred to as "East Jesus". I could never tell where exactly that was, but I knew it was a long way from home.))

According to the internet, this is a real place. I never had any swim meets there though...

For students to be even make it on a team now, they must participate on club teams (formerly called AAU teams, particularly for basketball). These teams have existed for some time in swimming, but now exist for basketball, baseball, volleyball, field hockey, softball, etc. You name the sport, there is a private club team that exists for it. These teams train year round, all seasons, and travel all over the place to compete. Practices are frequently 5 days a week, and 2 hours a day. The clubs start at young ages, some as young as 5 or 6 years old.

The AAU stands for Amateur Athletic Union. They should put the a disclaimer on their logo, with the warning that it is anything but amateur.

So now you have kids that are playing sports at a competitive level at a younger age, and by the time they hit high school, many of them have been playing the sport for several years. It used to be that students would play basketball in the winter at an organized level, and then maybe soccer in the fall, and baseball/softball in the spring. As the kids got older, some would choose to specialize in a particular sport, so by the time they hit high school, they "focus" on one sport.

This type of athlete should be put on the endangered species list, because their numbers are going down...

For a kid to take this more traditional path, the decision to focus on one sport in high school may be too late for him/her to be successful, for their peers may have chosen to specialize earlier. Now, the kid that has been playing other sports and participating in other activities is simply competing for a roster spot on a team against kids who have dedicated substantially more time to a discipline than they have. Now the question is not whether or not the kid can make it to the postseason, it is can the kid make it on to a team.

If the kid can make it onto the team, the kid is now competing against other similarly stacked teams full of other club athletes. The level of competition is higher, and the chance for success is lower, unless a fair number of the athletes likewise play club.

For the sports that I coach and participate in (sticking with water polo and swimming), it used to be possible to be an "amateur" and still be successful as recently as 5-7 years ago. If you were talented and dedicated, it was still possible, but very difficult, to reach the post season in swimming. In northern California, the post season in high school swimming is NCS. Now, that is not the case. All the athletes swim year round. The slowest kids that are barely qualifying for the meet now would have made the top 16 finals 8-10 years ago. You can check the results here. If you take a closer look, you will see that three people broke the high school national record in the 100 breast. THREE. And the high school national record wasn't set by anybody, it was set by an Olympian by the name of Brendan Hansen.

This guy, if he was a high schooler at 2013 NCS meet, would have placed fourth. He has won 6 olympic medals and at one point held two world records. 

Now, in my mid 20s, I occasionally talk with my friends about staying in shape, and what we do for fitness. My friend Danielle (who is blogging about her experiences applying to medical school here) said that she was doing some conditioning after studying. I picked up on that word-conditioning for what? The word choice implies that she is doing more than going to the gym to stay fit, but is training for an event. I inquired further to find out that, even though she is "retired" (her words), she still does gymnastics occasionally (Danielle was a collegiate gymnast for William and Mary). Again, interesting word choice. Danielle and I are both not even close to the retirement age. But the word choice again implies that she was a professional.

I definitely benefitted from being a part of a year round team, and the time and effort that I put in definitely fell under my definition of professionalism. I was able to do so because my parents had the ability and time to get me to and from practices, pay for the coaching, etc. But this is not the case for everybody. Not every student has the dedication, and not every family has the means to participate on these club teams, lowering the student's chances of being successful at a sport in high school.

Is this a good thing? I am not so sure. What are your thoughts? 

Mental math

Reminder-Father's day is June 16-a little less than two weeks away. I couldn't find a commercial like the one I posted about my mom, but I can say that I would be a very different person if he had not been there. He never let me do anything less than my best. One of the things he frequently told me was, "if you are not going to do it right, don't do it at all". That resulted at times in me mowing the lawn twice, cleaning my room (which is rarely was, I know...), re-writing of papers in high school and middle school, until the job was done to the ability that my dad knew that I was capable of. Nothing else should be acceptable. Thank you Dad.

There are many things that you should and shouldn't do during a triathlon. This post is primarily about things you shouldn't do.

There are many more volumes to this. The point is to learn from them.

This past weekend, I raced at the third annual Bass Lake Triathlon. Why? Because my coach asked me what races I wanted to do, so I said that I would do this one. No other reason- thing number 1 I did wrong- always have a legitimate reason to race. Even if the reason is 'because it's there'.

The race was on Saturday morning, and my intention was to leave Friday immediately after school and drive up to get to packet pickup before it closed at 8pm. Bass lake is about 3.5 hours from where I live, so I figured if I left by 3:30, with a quick stop for dinner, I could make it pretty easily. I didn't end up leaving until after 4 because I didn't get the car packed before work, and there was significant traffic on the way up, and I missed packet pick up by 15 minutes. Thing number 2 not to do- don't miss packet pickup. There were still a few volunteers at the race site, and they told me to be at the race site at 5:45 am when transition opened to get my packet.

This is what packet pick up is supposed to be like. You get a baggy full of useless stuff, and your race numbers. Imagine this, but with no people. 

Now it was 8:15 at night, with no packet, I drove to my campsite. The Thursday before the race, I had reserved a site at a campground on the other side of the lake from the race. Pitch black, I found the campground, and then found out that someone had taken my spot because it was so late at night they had assumed that I wasn't going to show up. I asked if they would be willing to share the spot as I would have to be out by 5:30am to get to the race, and they agreed. Thing number 3 to do-get to your lodging early so the hotel doesn't give your spot away, or someone doesn't steal your campsite.

Fortunately, they let me pitch my tent next to theirs. If they hadn't, it meant a night of sleeping in the car...

The next morning, I woke up around 5am, packed up my tent and gear, and drove over to be at the race at 5:45 to get my packet, so that I could get my spot in transition set up and warmed up for the race. Thing number 4-there is never a need to show up that early to a race. Rarely is the race ready to go when transition opens. They didn't start giving out the packets until 6:30. I sat around for 45 minutes waiting to get my number so I could get my spot in transition set up.

With my transition spot set up, I went out for a quick warm-up and then headed down to the water with my wetsuit. Now, some background about the location and course: Bass lake is a lake about 15 miles from Yosemite, and is at about 3000 feet of elevation. The course had some major climbs on the ride, and was rolling hills on the run. I had glanced at the bike map before the race, but I didn't really have any idea about the ride or run was like until I was on the course doing it- thing number 5 I did wrong. If you have the time and opportunity to do so, do the course beforehand. If not, at least drive the course.

This was the course map. The long descent looked lovely, and the two climbs were long. All information that I promptly forgot.

Due to my ignorance, I asked around at the beach if anyone knew what the course was like. Fortunately for me, a competitor let me know that the first 7 miles were flat and downhill, the next 7 were hard hills, and then the rest was rolling. That information proved to be invaluable.

When the swim started, the race finally started to go smoothly. I found an easy rhythm on the swim, and I settled down. The altitude was punishing, and I didn't try to make any moves, and I fell in behind another competitor to have him pull me through the swim. I finished the swim about 5 seconds the lead swimmer, and I ran up to transition.

By the time I hit t1 (transition 1-from swim to bike), I had passed the lead swimmer and I was in the lead. I struggled to get the wetsuit off my upper body on the run up, but once in t1, I wriggled out and ran out with my bike. I normally keep the bike in the big ring in front, and a medium ring in the back so that I can give my legs a chance to warm up before I try to hammer. On this course, straight out of t1, the course goes up hill. The volunteers were yelling at me to gear down. Mistake number 6-not having my bike ready to attack the first hill. I hit the hill and hammered trying to put distance between me and the second place guy. I struggled up the hill. It was significantly steeper than I could handle in the big ring, and so I dropped down to the smaller ring and pushed on.

As described, the first 7 miles were flat or downhill. I hit 45 mph on the main descent in the aero position, and continued to turn over the pedals to keep the speed up. With a hilly course, the speed early could drive the gap up and take hope away from anyone behind me. Mistake number 7-never attack on the downhills, particularly on a course that you are unfamiliar with. There were a few crashes from other competitors on the downhill. Fortunately, I had switched to a different tire a few weeks ago to the Continental GP 4000s, and they tore through the turns and downhill.

Around mile 7, there is a right turn that I completely missed. The volunteers were not ready for the athletes to come through, and the course was marked with what looked to be street signs, so I missed the signal. There were no markings on the road, and no warning about the turn. I ended up having to slow and do a quick turn around-it probably cost me ~30 seconds. Mistake number 8-KNOW THE COURSE and don't rely upon volunteers.

Most of the course volunteers were high schoolers in bright yellow shirts that were updating their instagrams or something and not directing traffic.

My usual strategy on nutrition for olympic length triathlons is to have two gels on the bike, and depending on how hot the weather is, go through one bottle of half gatorade and half water. I can't stand the taste of straight gatorade-too strong and salty for me, so I just mix it before hand. If it is hot, two bottles. The gels usually come around mile 12 and then mile 20, so that I have something in me for the run. Due to the race being so far from home, and being rushed packing, I had forgotten my electrical tape, which is what I use to attach my gels to the bike. In transition I found someone with masking tape, so I used that.

Good for painting. Not for applying gels to bikes.

Well, after going up hill for a few miles, I thought I would get a gel in me. I stood up on the bike to pump to get to a short flat section I saw... and my knee bumped one of my gels off the bike. Masking tape wasn't sticky enough to hold on to the gel, and the gel fell to the ground. I left it, as I had one more left. Mistake number 9-don't use something you are unfamiliar with on race day, and don't forget electrical tape.

In case you wondered what it looked like. I usually stick with Gu Chocolate Outrage. It is delicious.

As the hills and miles ticked off, I took the occasional stand up and take a quick peek behind to see if there was anyone creeping up on me. And then my knee knocked off my last gel. Mistake number 10-do your own race. This is advice that I give to my swimmers all the time-don't look around. Focus on your own race.

So now I had about 8 miles left on the ride, no gels, and a lead of uncertain size. But the hills were mostly done, and I just had to push on to the run.

In t2 (bike to run), I ran to my spot, slipped on my running shoes, grabbed my race belt, and headed out to the run. Mistake number 11-always have an extra gel in your transition spot. Just in case you need it.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into on the run. All I knew was that it was a 10k, and I think it was going to be two laps, but I really wasn't sure. If you take a look at the course map, you will see something like this:

Out and back and somewhere you make a loop through a community or something maybe a turnaround and then what?

Which, in my eyes, means absolutely nothing. The lack of an elevation guide also hurt. I went out with nothing in me, legs burning, and knowing I had a lead. Mistake number 12-understand the course.

I never watched this show, but I think my run could have been put into episode form.

I was running through the sprint competitors that were still on the course, and they started to cheer me on. I hit the first turnaround about 8 minutes into the run, and was very confused. I asked-is this the turnaround for the olympic course? Yes, I was told, and off I went again, hoping that I was still on course. And then I was diverted through a neighborhood, and then told to turnaround again, so around I went. And then told to make a turn back towards the finish, and that I was going to do it again. On the way back in, I saw what I thought was the second place guy. I had no idea how far I had gone, or how big of a lead I had, but the second place guy looked like he was moving pretty solidly.

This was turning into a nightmare. I was struggling on the run, I had no fuel in me, I had no idea how much more I had, and my lead on the second place guy looked to be in danger. All I knew was that I eventually had to turn around and do the course one more time.

I hit the 5k turnaround and had done it in about 20 minutes. Slower than what I had done at my last race, and given the pain I was in, I started to worry that I would collapse. I took a look at my watch and tried to figure out how big of a lead I had. I was truly in the most discomfort I had ever been in during a race. When the second place guy went by, it had been more than 2 minutes since I had left the turnaround. That meant a little more than 4 minute lead, which meant... I had no idea how fast I would have to go to hold on, but if I went the same pace as before, he would have to hold a little faster than 5 minute miles to beat me. Not impossible, but unlikely.

That calculation relied upon me holding pace. I gave high fives and words of encouragement to every person I saw. When I hurt, the only thing that I can do is to try to take the pain away by saying things to others. It probably is annoying to them, so I am sorry. My words of encouragement eventually turned into a self command; I repeated "stay positive" and "anything you got left" to the other runners as I struggled.

I don't remember much of the last 5k. All I know is that my lead didn't change much, and that more than once, I thought about slowing to a walk. I finished the race with a 2:14:21, which is significantly slower than my olympic personal record, and way off of my goal time for that distance. What I do know is that the race has only be around for three years, and that time would have won the past years as well. I ended up holding on to my lead over second place, winning by more than five minutes.

After the race, I downed the pancake breakfast and the free beer they gave out, got my picture in the local newspaper, and then found a campground to hang out until the awards ceremony. I ended up winning a giant glass bass plate, which is pretty sweet.

Pretty sweet if you ask me. 

So learn from my mistakes. I will hopefully try to.