Jon Cryer vs. Wedgie, round 5

People thought I was crazy when I said that my arch-triathlon nemesis Jon Cryer was evil. For the record, I DEMOLISHED him the first year I did the Nautica Malibu Triathlon... and then he kinda sorta beat me every year since. I don’t mind losing, but Cryer’s public mocking of me is just plain childish. Even after I posted video of him smack-talking me last year, I still had people doubting that Cryer hated me.

Well he’s at it again this year. I want to thank Paulie for pointing out a recent issue of Runner’s World that featured an interview with Jon Cryer. You can look it up for yourself, but no need; I have it all here for you. You don’t need to read the whole thing, I’ll give you highlights:



First note that he calls me a “terrible rival”. How unsporting is that?

It gets worse:



His trainer told him “Wedgie really, really beat your ass man” obviously referring to my first year with the Tri Team. So Cryer started training (and no doubt doping) “...all to crush and humiliate Wedgie.” I even tried to be nice to him: he admits “I tried to trash talk Wedgie before the 2008 Malibu Triathlon, saying all these awful things about him.” I of course tried to be the bigger person: “(Wedgie) came up to me right before the race and said ‘Hey you’re going to win today.'” But Cryer didn’t care. His pettiness sickens me.

Newbie-Relay-Triathlete Michael sent me this article from Bicycling where Jon Cryer openly admits his obsessive behavior:



Can you believe this guy?



“I create a rivalry with a fellow competitor who doesn’t even know he’s my rival. He’s enjoying his life while I’m fiercely devoted to beating him. A few years ago, it was Wedgie, who is actually a really nice guy. I trash-talked him before the race, even though I’ve never met him. He had no idea we were competing, but I did beat him.”

And now it seems that Jon Crybaby is upset that I can’t do Malibu this year (it’s the same day as Ironman Wisconsin.)

“This will be the first race that I don’t have a rival, so I’m not sure how I’ll do.”

Oh, I know how you’re going to do Jon Cryer... You’re going to embarrass yourself.

NOW do you people believe me?! Jon Cryer hates me!

Why Must You Torment Me, Jon Cryer?!

I have Jon Cryer issues. Nothing personal against the guy, it's just that some of the obsessive, compulsive, nerdy character traits he portrays hit a little too close to home. (The definitive example is this clip from Two and a Half Men where Alan has a "plan" to get good movie seats. I am totally That Guy. I am Jon Cryer.)

Anyway, I found out that Jon Cryer did the triathlon last year and is doing it again. This means something, although I'm not sure what. Should it be my goal to finish with a quicker time than him, and in a sense, beat myself? Would I feel badly if Jon Cryer beat me? Is there a chance we could cross the finish line together?

Jon Cryer's presence opens up the possiblity for a surreal experience, and I find the Surreal World far more interesting than the one you live in.

Jon Cryer hates me

For the past three years, I have complained about my arch-nemesis Jon Cryer. Many of you probably think "oh, isn't that funny how Wedgie has this fake rivalry with Jon Cryer." But now, I have undeniable proof that Jon Cryer is evil and is truly out to get me:



(I'll work on defeating Jon Cryer in the race, but it's not too late to help me beat J Lo in the fundraising department:
http://chla.kintera.org/triathlon/wedgie)

Nautica Malibu Triathlon: Race Report

That dastardly, diabolical Jon Cryer has defeated me once again. Beat me by 2 minutes. Just look at him up on stage gloating about his victory. Makes me sick. I did beat J-Lo though. Great, I'm faster than a recovering pregnant lady.

The ocean was pretty calm today. I'm not good at estimating wave height, but I'd say there were some gentle 3-4 foot waves rolling in. Very nice, except for one bizarre moment. We were on shore getting ready, watching the men 35-39 who had just entered the water, when we saw a swell growing in the water. The entire crowd started oh-ing and ah-ing with the wave... Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... I don't what happened out at sea, but out of nowhere this giant 10 foot wave simply engulfed the swimmers. Then the ocean was calm again. It was spectacular.

I thought I had a pretty good swim. It probable the straightest swim I've ever done (I tend to zig zag), and I was pretty much staying with my age group the whole time.

I felt good on the bike. Only a handful of people passed me - like maybe 5 - and I passed a ton of people. (Granted, one of the reasons why hardly anyone passed me was because I was one of the slower swimmers in one of the last starting waves, so there were very few people behind me to begin with!) My speedometer is broken so I couldn't pace myself, but I'm very familiar with the course and I felt like I was pushing it pretty hard without burning out.

On the run, I expected to do 8.5-9 minute miles, I did 8:15s so that was good.

I had the Best. Finishing Announcement. Evar. Better than Ironman. The emcee for the day was Konrad Ribeiro, who does personal training and has worked with our tri team as a group and with individuals. So he knows me. When I approached the finish line, I heard something like this: "And coming in now, Michael Pajaro from Glendale California... It's Wedgie from Disney... Neoprenewedgie.com, the original triathlon blog, for all your triathlon needs go to neoprenewedgie.com" Or something like that. But he went on, and on, and on. It was awesome. (Konrad has training programs and special training .mp3s for download at coachedrun.com He also creates personalized Ironman training programs and can train people for other distances. Check it out, cuz he rocks.)

I felt pretty good about the race, until the data started coming in.

I beat Jon Cryer by 45 seconds in the swim.
I beat Jon Cryer by nearly 3 minutes on the bike.
Jon Cryer beat me by about 30 seconds on the run.

Yes, The King of Ironman T2 lost Malibu in the transitions. But "it's not really my fault". Kinda.

Our tri team has a huge presence at Malibu, and all of the people who were waiting on relay teams or who had finished the race already formed a wall of clapping, cheering supporters. God Bless 'em. Unfortunately, they were standing in front of the signs for the rack rows and I couldn't see the numbers. I was number 721, and I happened to see a bike on one of the racks, number 724 or 729, something like that. So I ran over there - couldn't find my stuff. I looked at the rack to the left, the rack to the right, nothing. Luckily, teammate Jason saw me and pointed me to my area - 2 racks away. I don't know if I was racked in the wrong place or if #72x was wrong, but it cost a lot of time. I also had trouble putting the bike jersey on over my wet skin (I like to have a dry shirt for the bike) but Peter saw me struggling and gave me a hand. Oh, and I also put on my running shoes instead on my bike shoes.

In spite of my transitions, I should have done better on the individual legs. Given my current condition, I think I ran a pretty good race. The problem is I should have been in better condition. I skipped workouts. Others workouts I showed up to and just watched. And this is what happens. Funny how that works.



As usual, I parked my car about a mile down the run course so people could get a little Team Spirit along the way. This year I added the whale. And no, I did not drive to the race with the whale on the roof. (My car was covered with about 20 Go Disney signs, but I forget to take the photo before taking them off. So use your imagination.

More to come.

I'm coming for you, Jon Cryer!

Tomorrow is the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. This was my very first Tri two years ago, where I defeated my arch-nemesis Jon Cryer. Last year, through some underhanded, dastardly cheating, Jon Cryer beat me. This is the Rubber Match, and you're going down Cryer, you hear me?!!!



(no celebrities were actually threatened in this entry.)

WINNER!

Poor Charlie Sheen.

He's had a rough couple of weeks, and I suppose it was inevitable that he finally have a nervous breakdown. Can you imagine having to show up to work every day and have to deal with that evil, evil Jon Cryer?

For the uninitiated, Jon Cryer is my arch-nemesis. It began in 2005 when I crushed him at the Nautical Malibu Triathlon. He is such a sore loser, and it his been his life goal to torment me. He has a way of getting into your head, and as a result he has beaten me every year since.

Don't believe me? Scroll through these articles and videos and be appalled at how cruel and cocky he is towards me.

So to Charlie Sheen, I say this: I understand your pain. I know how horrible Jon Cryer can be. Be strong and don't give him the satisfaction of getting to you. It's too late for me, but you can still save yourself.

Jon Cryer kicked my ass

The results are in; Jon Cryer beat me by a staggering 5 minutes in the Nautica Malibu Tri. Let me tell you, it's a tough pill to swallow to have to admit that Ducky is the better man. At the time, I thought I was having a good race. Turns out, in the 3 years I've done this race this was my slowest swim. My slowest T1. My slowest T2. My slowest run. It was my fastest bike, but only by 18 seconds.

So here is my excuse: I did 3 races in 1 month (Lake Arrowhead Tri, Disneyland Half Marathon, Nautica Tri.) And by training for all 3 events, I wound up training for none of them. And it shows in the numbers. (Wait a minute Wedgie... didn't those other people do the same 3 races as you and still have good finishing times? Shut up.)

I still had a fun day in Malibu. Congratulations Mr. Cryer.

Nautica Malibu Triathlon Race Report

I did a triathlon!

Now the sad thing is that this shouldn't be news. But the reality is the last time I did a triathlon was Kona back in 2010. Three years ago. Yikes. But I just did the Nautica Malibu Triathlon once again.

The most important part of the race each year is setting up my car. It usually looks something like this:

Every year, I lose a few signs. Some blow away, I give some away, and some just get so nasty looking I have to throw them out. And this year, I was running short. So a few weeks ago I went to Tri Team Captain Robert and said "hey, you know what people really liked? Those signs we printed up many years ago. I bet the team would love to have signs again to show their support." And Robert said, "hey, that's a great idea!" and had Gabe design some new signs to match our new jerseys. I think the signs look GREAT and we have them because of my selfish needs. You're welcome.

Now if you look closely, you'll notice the signs aren't the only thing that's different. I got a new car this year. A smaller car. Which means I can't fit my bike and an inflated killer whale pool toy in the back at the same time. So I had to huff and puff and blow up the whale at 4:30 in the morning in the dark in a parking lot. Pain in the arse.

As for the race itself, it was horrible. Or at least my performance was. It was my slowest finish ever - by 10 minutes. I'm not making excuses, but I do have a few... "explanations." For starters, it was supposed to be a hot day. A very, very hot day. And we were warned over and over again about the heat and how important it was to hydrate and I was a hydrating fool. The problem is, it turned out NOT to be a hot day. In fact, it was kind of chilly. So if you've been hydrating all morning and wind up not sweating as much as you planned - you're gonna wanna pee. Really bad. Normally I should not be stopping for a potty break during a 2-hour race, but it had to happen.

I had to stop a second time on the run for something more important: when I got to my car on the return, I noticed that a few of the signs were starting to fall off the hood. So naturally I HAD to stop to re-tape and make sure they were back in position. I mean, what would happen if somebody were to run by and see my car? They'd think to themselves "Cool! Go Disn-... wait a minute...some of the signs are MISSING! I'm not motivated at all now." I thought it was time well spent.

This next part is going to upset a lot of you, but not more than it upsets me: turns out, my arch-nemesis Jon Cryer also had a terrible race, but he still beat me by 90 seconds. That's far less time than I spent in the bathroom and fixing my car. Go ahead Cryer, gloat for another year... But my car still looked cooler than yours.

Pre-Nautica Malibu Tri

Tomorrow is the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. My very first triathlon was in Malibu, and this will be my 5th time doing the race. You would think that if there EVER was a time to get a PR in Malibu, it would be right when you're coming up to the end of some Ironman training. I should be at my peak skill level at swimming biking and running by now, right? Well, it doesn't work that way. See, before a race, of any distance, you're supposed to rest. But this isn't really a good time for me to be resting. I had to do a 52-mile bike ride today with hills (it was supposed to be 60 miles, but it was windy and I was feeling tired.) And then tomorrow evening I'm supposed to do a 12-mile run, which I'll probably reduce to 10 or so. I have absolutely no idea what this will do to my race time tomorrow. This is the biggest event of the year for our Tri Team and it is always a lot of fun so it's very important to me that I do the race. But it is NOT important for me to do well. (Having said that, hopefully I'm just sandbagging and I'll have a good race.)

I don't know if my arch-nemesis Jon Cryer is doing the race again. I beat him my first year, but he defeated me the next four. Last year, Malibu was on the same day as Ironman Wisconsin so I had to skip it. And since he knew I wasn't there for him to humiliate, he dropped out of the race as well. Don't think I've forgotten, Cryer... this isn't over.

Oh and go team disney.

The Big Day

Living in the city, I sometimes forget the meaning of the word "dark". Well, I was certainly reminded of it the day of the triathlon. We had the Fear of God instilled in us regarding parking, so I woke up at 3:30 to be in Malibu by 5:00. In the morning. And let me tell you, it was DARK. There was no sun, no moon. No street lights, no front porches with the light left on. Just DARK.

I was one of the first Disney people to arrive, so I started to set up my "Transition Area" on my own. They have these long bars to hang your bike on, and I struggled to lift up my front tire over the bar to hang it on top. A very sweet woman came up to me and asked "Is this your first time?" Was it that obvious I was a tri-virgin? She then tells me "I have a suggestion that you may want to try out if you like..." Apparently, you're only supposed to hook your handlebars on the pole, not the entire front end of your bike. Ah, that made things much easier.

You know how much your feet hurt when you walk across the hot sand? Well I kid you not, my feet actually hurt a bit because the sand was TOO COLD. That's right, it was very uncomfortable stepping out of my toasty socks on to the sand which hadn't seen sunlight in nearly 12 hours. (mmmmm.... I said sandwich...) Of course, that wasn't nearly as painful as going for a pre-swim swim in the 59-degree ocean water. I am SO glad I listened to advice of people who told me to make sure you get yourself wet and used to the water before the race began. It was a bit of a shocker, but at least by the time the triathlon began I was so numb that it didn't matter how cold the water was.

The swim itself was surprisingly uneventful. My group (Men 35-39) was the largest group of the day with 162 people. I was worried about having to fight for space with all those people around, but the group spread out pretty quickly. And I am proud to say that although I was hit and grabbed a few times in the water, I held my ground. If I wasn't fast enough for them, they could just swim around me, I wasn't going to get out of their way.

The run/jog/stagger back to the transition area was longer than I expected, so I was pretty dizzy by the time I got there and pretty much plopped down to the ground to get out of wetsuit. But it went somewhat quickly and I was off on the bike. For the first few miles, I wasn't sure what was wrong with my foot: there was this strange tingling/pressure thing going on. I thought that maybe I had a bunch of sand stuck by toes. That was the sensation. I then realized that my toes had gone numb, and what I was feeling was the circulation starting to return. I thought about stopping to warm them up, but that would ruin my time. Besides... If my toes were ready to fall off, the only thing holding them together would be my shoe, and I'd be better off waiting until I was back near medical attention to let that happen, right? My toes did not get back to normal until pretty much the end of the ride. I heard from other people who said they had the same feeling.

The run is probably the most physically exhausting part of the triathlon. One thing that helps is that it's an "out and back" course, which means that as you're running out, the people who started in earlier waves are now passing you on the way back. (and by "earlier waves" I mean people who actually started AFTER you, but are much faster and are now 10 minutes ahead of you.) For the first mile or so, it was very cool; lots of Disney people passed me and we high-fived eachother and I'd enthusiastically yell "Go Team Disney!" By mile 3 however, things were a little different. I was tired and losing energy, so as I passed people my cheers were now more of a "geh teh deh" whisper.

The final 100 yards or so were wicked awesome. The course becomes a 10-foot wide path lined with hundreds of people clapping and cheering and shouting "Go Disney!" when they saw my jersey. As far as I was concerned, I was at the Olympics. Many of them held out their hands, and I high-fived a few of them. I then started worrying: what if they were holding out their hands for someone behind me? What if they were hoping to connect with their wife/husband/cousin to give them that final boost of energy to make it to the end, and I knocked the hand out of the way? Ah, screw 'em. I'm the one out here cramping to death and if I wanna smack a hand, I'm gonna do it. There was a very strange, narrow 90 degree turn about 50 yards from the finish line which didn't wipe me out but it was close. (Brad figured out the turn is probably there to make sure the sponsor's banner appears in all the photos at the finish line. Brad is smart.)

So that was pretty much it. I thought I felt great after finishing. That was until we started walking back to the transition area. My legs were done, and I probably looked like a little old man walking through the sand. We had passes to go to the "Celebrity Brunch" but that was pretty much a bust for me. It was a 20-30 minute line for food that I couldn't eat. I'm told it was excellent, but I don't eat souffle or whatever the hell all that fancy stuff was. I wanted a box of Oreos or a Snickers bar and they just didn't deliver. I did watch Jon Cryer scarf down his food and also saw David Duchovny roaming around. I behaved myself and just let them be- I didn't think Mr. Cryer would appreciate me coming up to him and explaining how he was my nemesis.

Kind of a strange thing on the drive home... I realized that I hadn't gone shopping to fill up the fridge with lots of crap after the tri: chips, cookies, chocolate etc. And I just didn't feel like dealing with the supermarket thing: finding a parking spot, waiting in line while they do price checks, whatever. It sounds trivial but I was tired and just wanted to get home. As luck would have it, I passed by the "Canyon General Store & Grill". Perfect. It was a nice Mom & Pop Shop, I could zip in, zip out, and support the small businessman. I couldn't see the parking lot from the road, but when I pulled in I saw about 75 Harley Davidsons parked in the lot. With their riders. Great, it's a biker hangout and I'm pulling up in a car covered with "Go Disney!" posters and I'm wearing a glowing yellow bike jeresy. Somehow I didn't think they would care that I had just done a triathlon. I parked off to the side as far as I could, got out of the car and quickly ran to the trunk to get another shirt to put on. Fortunately my spandex shorts were already covered, but I did still have the bright yellow Disney bobby-socks. Oh well. I went in, got my junk food, and walked out very slowly, being sure not to make any sudden movements.

Pre-Nautica Malibu Tri Sandbagging report

First of all, I am declaring the Nautica Malibu Triathlon a SHAVE-WORTHY EVENT. This was my very first triathlon so it has sentimental appeal, and it's the big year-end race for my Tri Team. Plus I need all the help I can get to beat Jon Cryer. I'm going in smooth.

I have done this race 3 times, and each time I have been getting slower. I think it's about time I got a PR, so I want to beat 1:53. I'd really like 1:45-1:50. However, just so I can get my excuses lined up ahead of time, there is a potential problem; I have a slight injury.

For the past month or so, every time I started riding my bike (which is really only about once a week) I felt a pain along the outside of my lower leg. I didn't really think too much about it, but this past Tuesday I pushed a bit harder on the bike with Gerald and Brian (that'll teach me) and I think I did something bad. My theory is that the clip on my pedal got out of alignment a bit so I was pedaling with a slightly twisted leg. For two days afterwards, I could feel a constant ... not really "pain", but a definite soreness in my leg. I reset my clip today and took the bike out for a short spin. I felt a little bit of soreness, but I'm hoping that was just residual pain from earlier in the week. It certainly didn't feel as bad as every other time I got on the bike.

So there's my excuse. Well, that and the fact that I've gained 8 pounds since Ironman.

Moving Targets

I don't understand why people even bother registering for events in L.A.; they keep changing. The Pasadena Marathon was cancelled the day of the event because of wildfires. It will now be held in March. The L.A. Marathon was scheduled for March, they moved it to May. And now the Nautica Malibu Triathlon has move up one week to September 13th.

September 13th, 2009.

Why does that date seem important? Oh! Now I remember! September 13th, 2009 marks the 10-year anniversary of when a massive explosion near Moon Base Alpha tore the moon out of Earth's orbit in Space: 1999. Yes, it is a significant date indeed.

That, and it's the same day as Ironman Wisconsin.

So I can't do Malibu this year. The is the BIG event for my Tri Team. It's why we exist. I can't go to the big Tri Team Rally the Friday before. I can't cover my car in "Go Disney" signs and park it along the race route. I can't wear my mouse ears on my bike helmet. I won't have my ass handed to me by Jon Cryer. Kind of bummed.

How J Lo can you go?

My tri team exists primarily to race in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. The event is a fund-raiser for Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and Disney is certainly a huge supporter of children's charities. I will be facing my arch-nemesis Jon Cryer once again, and I will have much more to say about him later. But I have new problem to worry about.

Yes, the stories are true. Jennifer Lopez is racing in the triathlon. So far, J Lo has raised 2.3 ZILLION dollars for Children's Hospital; I've raised 10 dollars. She's making me look bad. Sure, Jennifer Lopez will be there with her smooth, toned legs running along the beach, her golden skin glistening in the early morning California sun as her hair catches the ocean breezes as a soft gentle whisper... but I'll be there with freakin' ears on my head. Shouldn't that count for somethin'?



If you want to tell J Lo to stick to making movies and music and leave the fundraising to scrawny middle-aged balding men, Just click on the link. (You'll be helping a great cause as well.)

http://chla.kintera.org/triathlon/wedgie

Malibu

Curse you Jon Cryer! My arch-nemesis (who I crushed last year) has defeated me at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. It's On, baby. I will see you next year in Malibu, Duckie, or I will see you in Hell!

Mister P. did not win any overall trophies; he did not place within his age group. But if there was an award for "Most Popular Triathlete", Mister P. would have been quite the contender. More on that later.

Woke up at 3:30 am, left at 4:30, arrived at 5:30. The run course follows along the beach parking lot, so I made sure I had a front row spot so that my teammates would have a little inspiration along the way. I hope they noticed.



I did something amazing which I am quite proud of: I only had to go to the bathroom once before the race! OK, technically I went twice but the second time doesn't count. I didn't even want to go, but 15 minutes before my wave started there were no lines at all for the port-a-potties. You had your choice of stinkholes and when life hands you an opportunity like that you don't pass it up.

The swim was a little rough. It was by far the most congested, grabbing, kicking, feeding-frenzy swim I have ever been in. I hated it. I wasn't frightened by it or worried about my time, I just hated the chaos and the frustration of not being able to actually reach forward with a stroke. This was a short 1/2 mile swim, which thinned out after 5 minutes or so, but while I was in the jam I thought to myself "I could never do an Ironman", where the swim could stay congested for an hour or even more. I would go insane. I think I kept a pretty constant pace throughout the entire swim, so I felt good about it.

I had two unforgivable mistakes in my transition. First, one of my bike gloves was inside out, and I had to struggle to invert it. It sounds like a tiny thing, but it was frustrating and cost time. Then, it seems that my bike was racked up all morning with the chain fallen off. I never bothered to check it, so I had to put the chain on right before the ride. Again, it's not a huge deal but it was just stupid time which shouldn't have been wasted.

It's an 18-mile somewhat-hilly course, and I think I was fairly aggressive with it. I admit I am a complete coward going down hills and ride my brakes half the time when I get around 30mph, but I rock going up hills. Maybe it's the way my bike is geared, or maybe it's my iron willpower, but I cruised by a lot of people up every hill. I started losing steam around mile 16, but by then it was all flat so I could just cruise into the run.

The run was a bit frustrating because at some point in the morning I lost my watch. (I later found it buried in my transition bag.) I really like to be able to pace myself along a course without pushing too hard early on and running out steam. Ever-supportive-Annie offered to loan me her watch, but I told her I had enough issues without having to actually wear a woman's watch. Without my watch I just had to guess at a pace. I felt pretty good the entire run, I didn't even remember that I was having problems with my foot. I had some energy left over at the end so I probably could have run it faster. But then again there's nothing wrong with crossing the finish line and still feeling good, rather than collapsing, right?

So, how well did Mister P. do? He was about 90 seconds slower than last year. I'm perfectly fine with that. I was about 2 minutes slower in the swim this year. No problem there; the currents were different, crowds were different, 2 minutes is fine. I was 2 minutes slower in T1. OK, that's not great, but that's mostly poor organization on my part and isn't a reflection of not training enough. I was 2 minutes FASTER on the bike. Frankly, I felt like I was doing ever better than that but it is still an improvement. I was 15 seconds faster on the run. I lost my time in the swim and T1. Not losing any sleep over that.

Since this was my Tri Team's primary event for the season, I thought I'd do the tri in style.



Yes, I wore the ears on the bike and the run. No, I didn't keep the ears on for the swim. Let me tell you, I was HUGE! I don't think 20 seconds went by on the run without somebody yelling "go Disney!" "way to go Mickey!" "nice ears!" It actually became a bit of a problem because at first I would respond to everybody with a "go Disney!" shout out or something, but after a while it was just too tiring having to yell every 20 seconds. I would just give a wave from then on. William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman (husband and wife) were two of the celebrities on the Disney Team. They were running together and passed me on the out-and-back course, and Macy waved at me when he saw my ears. So even the celebrities were drawn to me.

There is one bummer about the day that even now makes me sick when I think about it: I missed the team photo on the beach (there were 270 of us in Malibu yesterday). It was just a stupid misunderstanding on my part regarding when the photo would be taken. We took some other team photos this year, but the beach shot is the definitive one and I'm not in it. Bummer.

On a happier note: after doing a triathlon, the last thing I want to eat is an orange, or a granola bar, or any of that hippie-health crap they have at most races. Malibu had its share of that, but they also had THIS waiting for us:



Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! This is why I tri.

Taper Shmaper

Tomorrow is the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. Last year, this was my very first tri. In the week or two before a race, you're supposed to taper your training- take it a bit easy. Unfortunately, my marathon training schedule had me doing a 15-mile run this weekend. I debated how "fresh" I wanted to be for the tri, and ultimately decided that I'm far enough behind with the marathon training so I did the long run yesterday. We'll find out tomorrow what kind impact it had.

It's tough for me to come up with goals/predictions for the tri because I've been more focused on the marathon but of course I'd like to do better than last year (when I was THRILLED with my time.) Last year, I couldn't swim in a straight line; this year, I still can't swim in a straight line. If water conditions are good, I'll do well. If they're not, I won't. Bottom line I don't expect a big change in the swim.

I've focused more on distance than speed with my running, and I don't think I'm much faster than I was last year. My stamina should be better, but my foot isn't at 100%. Again, I don't expect much difference with my run time.

Now the bike is where I'd like to see some improvement. I have the clipless pedals, I had a bike fitting, and I think I'm generally a better cyclist now. Maybe not by a lot, but better. I'd be happy with a 2-3mph improvement over last year.

Oh, and once again, Jon Cryer is going down.