YEAAA BUDDY the title says it. This race is the first time I flew completely alone via flying and staying at a hotel. It was a pretty new experience and quite daunting I must admit. I was pretty stressed all week leading up to the flight but once I arrived I was greeted by a very pleasant Taiwanese driver. As soon as he found out I was from Taiwan, he exclaimed "We're on the same side!". LOL. I was dropped off at my friend Weichung's place, who helped me out with booking hotels and letting me borrow his car(Mucho Gracias!). After a quick lunch with his wife and cute newborn son, I drove off to my stay in Everett near Lake Stevens.
Pre-Race Prep: Friday night was spent a combo of napping, drinking a lot of water, massaging myself, putting the bike together, and hunting for food at Trader Joes. On Satuday for race day check in, I ran into the UCLA Alum crew, Dylan, Courtney, Liz, Greg, and Vivien. I spent most of the time helping Dylan put his bike together and find his skewer but really I just sat there most of the time pretending I was helping him. In the midst of all this I got in a quick swim, quick shake out run with Courtney, buttload of rice from a teriyaki place, and finally a quick bike ride after I got back to the hotel.
Oh yea, I slept like a baby that night, score. I get 10 points. Let's talk racing
Pre-Race Prep: Friday night was spent a combo of napping, drinking a lot of water, massaging myself, putting the bike together, and hunting for food at Trader Joes. On Satuday for race day check in, I ran into the UCLA Alum crew, Dylan, Courtney, Liz, Greg, and Vivien. I spent most of the time helping Dylan put his bike together and find his skewer but really I just sat there most of the time pretending I was helping him. In the midst of all this I got in a quick swim, quick shake out run with Courtney, buttload of rice from a teriyaki place, and finally a quick bike ride after I got back to the hotel.
Oh yea, I slept like a baby that night, score. I get 10 points. Let's talk racing
Swim: 27:54. Okay, I don't know what happened. I know haters gon hate. But I'm working hard on it. The water was awesome, they even had this little cheat line between the buoys so you don't even had to sight. But I sighted anyways just to make sure it wasn't there to trick us. Again, it was early in the morning, I wasn't in the mood to fight with a bunch of 6 feet tall dudes. So I took the start easy, which is something that I need to work on in the future because getting a draft will probably save me 1 minute. I ended up swimming 2nd to last for a while until I caught this dudes feet. This dude was fading but everytime I tried to pass him he would speed up and hit me. I got a bit annoyed and thought getting past him is going to take a while. So I decided to work with him and stay behind him. Half way through I felt that the pace was way too chill so I decided to drop him like it's hot. So I did. He hit me a couple more times but I swam like I stole something for 5 minutes. I got out of the swim about 3rd to last? Not last, Life points, 10 pts earned.
Bike: 2:21:14. The bike felt awesome. I knew I only had minimal training coming in after the crash at Veinman 70.3, but bike training has been just as well as pre-Vineman in terms of numbers and sensations. So I decided to push the bike hard like I usually do, but holding back a bit for the run. I was able to get in a good rhythm early on and quickly passed guys that swam faster than me. I picked up about 3-4 guys (can't really count when I'm racing). I caught Karl Bordine (a 2x national cycling champion I found out after the race, which made a ton of sense...). I've raced against Karl before and knew that he's super strong on the bike. But I was able to pass him on a roller uphill. I thought I had him until the down hill came and he went by me at 50mph like I was standing still. This repeated itself for about 5 mores times, as Karl, being a bigger guy, would slow down on the up hills and I would gain on him and get in his draft zone. Not wanting to be a dick and violate the rules or put on the brakes, I would try to pass him and push way too hard. Over the downhill I would try to push as hard as I can, 350watts+ to stay away, but Karl would come by me like I didn't have a chain on my bike. So after 3 more times I decided or my legs decided for me...that it's best to stay behind. Honestly I was cooked after all the surges. So I tried to take in nutrition and recover for the run. But it was too late....
Run: 1:22:something. Let's just leave it at 1:22.
I was pretty delirious I must admit when I headed out of the transition. I forgot my garmin watch unit. (I have a detachable set up with the wrist band and a bike mount for my garmin 310xt). So I ran without knowing my pace, like high school again! I felt okay for the first 2 miles but I felt kind of out of it. I was running well 6 flats. I was able to catch Karl at around mile 2.5 and kept going. But at mile 4 when all hell broke lose. I started bonking and dying. I felt like I can hardly control my muscles. I tried to muscle it out but was passed by a charging Derek Garcia. Quickly after that I was passed by an age group woman, who I thought was a pro woman at first. At that instant I got really depressed. I was like oh man, Yu, you really suck. But I looked at her bib and was like oh cool....she's just an age grouper. I'm gonna lie to myself and tell myself that she's on a relay team and that's why she's running so fast. I calmed myself down and slapped myself a couple times in my head and said you gotta consolidate and think of something. So I started drinking all the coca-cola I can at every aid station, downing 2-3 cups. After 3 more miles of real strugs, I came back to life at mile 8 and was able to book the last 4 miles and finish in respectable time of 4:14:02.
All my UCLA buddies had super awesome finishes, with Dylan placing 2nd overall, 4:21, Courtney with a 6th place with in her first pro race, Liz placing 4th being in the money, Greg winning his age group 25-29, and Vivien 2nd in her age group 18-24 with a road bike! After the race we hung out and had a great time. It was awesome to hang out with old friends. The highlight is definitely in Greg's words, (maybe modified at bit), "When you hang out with Dylan, expect your meal to be delayed 2-3 hours". :D
The trip started out feeling pretty lonely but it didn't end that way at all.
I didn't fly home until Monday night, so had some time to enjoy Seattle. Visited the space needle and olympic sculpture garden. Also had the time to go to Trader Joes to get some chicken wrap for dinner. Life points, 20pt.
I was pretty delirious I must admit when I headed out of the transition. I forgot my garmin watch unit. (I have a detachable set up with the wrist band and a bike mount for my garmin 310xt). So I ran without knowing my pace, like high school again! I felt okay for the first 2 miles but I felt kind of out of it. I was running well 6 flats. I was able to catch Karl at around mile 2.5 and kept going. But at mile 4 when all hell broke lose. I started bonking and dying. I felt like I can hardly control my muscles. I tried to muscle it out but was passed by a charging Derek Garcia. Quickly after that I was passed by an age group woman, who I thought was a pro woman at first. At that instant I got really depressed. I was like oh man, Yu, you really suck. But I looked at her bib and was like oh cool....she's just an age grouper. I'm gonna lie to myself and tell myself that she's on a relay team and that's why she's running so fast. I calmed myself down and slapped myself a couple times in my head and said you gotta consolidate and think of something. So I started drinking all the coca-cola I can at every aid station, downing 2-3 cups. After 3 more miles of real strugs, I came back to life at mile 8 and was able to book the last 4 miles and finish in respectable time of 4:14:02.
All my UCLA buddies had super awesome finishes, with Dylan placing 2nd overall, 4:21, Courtney with a 6th place with in her first pro race, Liz placing 4th being in the money, Greg winning his age group 25-29, and Vivien 2nd in her age group 18-24 with a road bike! After the race we hung out and had a great time. It was awesome to hang out with old friends. The highlight is definitely in Greg's words, (maybe modified at bit), "When you hang out with Dylan, expect your meal to be delayed 2-3 hours". :D
The trip started out feeling pretty lonely but it didn't end that way at all.
I didn't fly home until Monday night, so had some time to enjoy Seattle. Visited the space needle and olympic sculpture garden. Also had the time to go to Trader Joes to get some chicken wrap for dinner. Life points, 20pt.
My thoughts about my race? everything. I am disappointed. but I'm also happy and satisfied. I know that I'm capable of placing higher and being in the money but the conditions just wasn't quite there. I can't be too disappointed with myself because after Vineman 70.3, with the crash and not being able to really move for 1.5 weeks, I was only able to really get in about 2 weeks of training for this race. When I started running after the injury again I had doubts about finishing a half marathon in under 1:30 because that first easy run I was huffing and puffing harder than a jet engine. So looking back, I've come a long way in a short turn around to have a competitive finish at a competitive 70.3 race. There are recurring issues such as my slow swim, and slower run times compared to last year (1:20+ compared to 1:17-1:20 from last year), which I'm going to fix in the coming weeks and months. Talking to Greg, I definitely don't swim open water enough. I swim open water basically whenever I have a race. Whereas the UCLA crew swims tower26 every week. It's something that I've neglected and trust me, it won't be anymore. As for the run, time to hit the Cupertino hills again to toughen the legs up. That should do the trick. There are some technical stuff like my bottles being a bit too caloric dense, and forgetting to eat a gel before the run, etc, that I also need to not do in the future. Finally, just realizing that I got away from that race in one piece, not too banged up, no crashes, I am pretty grateful for that.
The race of many firsts:
1. First time flying with a bike
2. First time flying alone, traveling alone!
3. First time in Seattle, Space Needle, etc.
4. First 7th place finish at 70.3
That is all folks.
I would like to thank
Keith: my coach for again guiding me through tough times after Vineman. You got me in the best shape possible with what I had and we showed it! upwards and onwards, we will get there.
Jay: the kits and bike again are sweet. I never take those things for granted.
My sponsors: Pacwest Athletics Argon18 bikes, Castelli Cycling, and Newton Running,
UCLA Alumi crew: Dylan, Courtney, Vivien, Greg, thanks for spending time with me this weekend. I had a blast hanging out with you guys. You guys all kicked ass this weekend!
Finally, Weichung and Cindy, thank you guys for your hospitality. I couldn't have done it without you guys' help.
Next Race.....either Pacific Grove or Challenge Rancho Cordova, see you there!
The race of many firsts:
1. First time flying with a bike
2. First time flying alone, traveling alone!
3. First time in Seattle, Space Needle, etc.
4. First 7th place finish at 70.3
That is all folks.
I would like to thank
Keith: my coach for again guiding me through tough times after Vineman. You got me in the best shape possible with what I had and we showed it! upwards and onwards, we will get there.
Jay: the kits and bike again are sweet. I never take those things for granted.
My sponsors: Pacwest Athletics Argon18 bikes, Castelli Cycling, and Newton Running,
UCLA Alumi crew: Dylan, Courtney, Vivien, Greg, thanks for spending time with me this weekend. I had a blast hanging out with you guys. You guys all kicked ass this weekend!
Finally, Weichung and Cindy, thank you guys for your hospitality. I couldn't have done it without you guys' help.
Next Race.....either Pacific Grove or Challenge Rancho Cordova, see you there!