San Diego International Triathlon, Spanish Fever, and German Cuisine

Race day almost always starts at 5am when my alarm goes off and I start cursing about lack of sleep. I roll out of bed, and immediately hit the showers to shave my body from head to toe. After that I double and triple check my race gear to make sure I have it all and that I don't forget anything. Then I stow all my gear into my new Honda CR-V (yes!), grab Laura (who is still only 31 percent awake) and hit the road for the race.

We arrived at the race start (Spanish Harbor Landing) and I grabbed my bike and all my gear. While walking to the race start I noticed that no one else had their bikes with them. So I quickly checked the pre-race information packet, and sure enough I was supposed to drop my bike off in the transition area last night. Already a fuck up, nice work Christian! So I quietly racked my bike with all the others and hoped no one saw me. Then it was on to the body marking area. Body marking is done by volunteers and involves them writing your race number in permanent marker on your arms and thighs, and your age on your calf (and it's a real bitch to get off).

After getting body marked, I headed back to my rack to get my transitions ready. I laid out my bike shoes, bike helmet, race belt, running shoes, and socks of course. Then I grabbed my wetsuit, goggles, and swim cap so I could head down to the race start.

Let me add here that I have done this race once before in 2004 when I came here with my ex girlfriend Cyndee. She beat me in this race by around 10 minutes, but then again, she is a really fast triathlete. Here are my splits for the 2004 race, 17 minute swim, 2:45 trans 1, 53 minute bike, 2:45 trans 2, and 53 minute run for a total of 2 hours 8 minutes. I was not confident that I would finish anywhere near that time, considering I hadn't trained much for this race and I was carrying about 20 extra pounds since then. Another note is although the race is named the San Diego International Triathlon, it's not really an international distance race. Those are 1.5k swim, 40k bike, and 10k run. This race was a 1k swim, 30k bike, and 10k run.

The race was broken up into 16 waves that started every 5 minutes. The pro men and women triathletes went first as they always do. It's fun to watch them burn through the course at top speed. They always go first so they can avoid many of the slow triathletes getting in their way during the race (although that would be a great idea, putting the pro's last and making them navigate around all the slow people such as myself). My wave was starting 8th, so I would be on the course with all kinds of people. Good times.

I zipped up my wetsuit, put on my swim cap and goggles, said goodbye to Laura (who by the way was the Official CSTB race day photographer), and swam out to the starting buoy. The horn blew and I was off! I felt pretty good during the swim, my triceps were on fire from lifting hard since Ironman, but besides that I was moving pretty good. I completed the 1000 meter swim in a bit less than 17 minutes, which is slightly faster than my swim time in 2004 (the last time I was in real triathlon shape). I exited the water, ran through the transition area to my bike, changed into my bike shoes, threw on my bike helmet and race belt, and I was off!

The bike course was a bit hilly, but they were rolling hills and not too tough to manage. It was a 30 kilometer course (18.8 miles) and I felt okay, but not great. I have lost some leg strength through the year, and my added weight doesn't help much (except for the downhills). No real problems during the ride, and somehow I managed to make it back into the transition area within 2 minutes of my bike time from 2004. I re-racked my bike, changed into my running shoes and I was off again!

The run was a 10k (6.26 mile) run along the San Diego pier. My time in 2004 was a bit less than 53 minutes, and I was definitely, completely positive that I couldn't get anywhere close to that time. My goal today was to run the entire time and not have to walk, while my secondary goal was to finish the run in less than 60 minutes. I plodded along nicely, and as the run wore on, I felt pretty damn good. The sun started to come out the last half of the run, but that didn't matter, my stride was strong and my will and endurance were as well.

I finished the race in exactly 2 hours 17 minutes, which meant my run was like 59 minutes 50 seconds, or something close to that. Mission accomplished on every level! I felt fantastic, I could have run harder, but this was still a great day for me. I can still compete in these races and not torture myself trying to finish. Hopefully I will have a weekend off to compete in another race sometime later this year.

After the race, Laura quickly found me and we basked in the positive vibes and good feelings of the race finishers. Then it was time to head back to pick up my bike from the transition area and head home. It was only 10am, and the Euro Cup Final didn't start until 11:45. So we couldn't just hang out at the English pub waiting that long.

Instead we drove home and laid out on the couch. I was pretty tired, and after calling 2 English pubs to find out they were already at capacity, we decided to get some breakfast and watch the match on Laura's gigantic HD TV at her mansion. I quickly changed into my German National Team Shirt and made myself comfortable. The match was pretty boring until the 33rd minute, when Spanish striker Fernando Torres scored a fantastic goal. This goal would stand the rest of the match, and the Spanish won 1-0. Germany just could never get it's offense untracked, Klose was fucking terrible, and Ballack spent most of the match complaining to the referee. Schweinsteiger, the creative force for the Germans, didn't have his best match today either, his free kicks were miserable at best. I was awake for most of the match, but I did take a cat nap at halftime (thanks for taking a picture of it Laura....bleah). I tried texting Katja Kassin, the only German I know, throughout the match, but she was ignoring me I guess.

After the match, we napped again for the rest of the afternoon, followed by watching a whole lot of nothing TV. Since Germany lost, I had a hankering for some German food (especially sauerkraut) and Laura of course knew of a good German restaurant.

We headed over to Kaiserhof with Laura's niece Nikki in tow (you will see her arm only in these pictures, evidently she is running for US Senate next year). Our waitress, Michele, was Swiss and could have possibly been the nicest person on the planet. We ordered all kinds of strange food, from goulash to steak tartare, sausage platters, Laura had the weinerschnitzel for dinner, and I had the sauerbraten. Of course Laura and her niece were drinking heavily as well (I ended up driving home, surprise, surprise). I had the apple strudel for dessert, paid the bill, and headed back to Laura's casa.

Once back there, I almost immediately passed out again. A fantastic day for me and one that put me in good spirits. I want to thank Laura again for waking up early on a Sunday and taking fantastic triathlon pictures for me and my litle blog. I think this is a great way to end the month of June. I am heading back home tomorrow, because I have a dinner with Kayden Kross planned and I am maybe going with my super tall friend Erika to see Candis Cayne (the TS actress from the TV show Dirty, Sexy Money) perform as well. Stay tuned.

One last thing, Tuesday is the monthly LA Direct Rouge Night that I usually check out each month. Here is the pertinent information in case any of you readers wants to attend:

Rouge Gentlemens Club
14626 Raymer St.
Van Nuys, CA 91405.
Tel: 818-786-1822
www.rougegentlemensclub.com

Featuring:
Charisma Cappelli (lovely girl, had a lot of fun working with her)
Sophia Lomeli (used to be a house dancer at Rouge, great boobs!)
Kacey Jordan (another fantastic performer that I can't wait to work with again)
Angelina Ash (new girl who only recently started doing boy/girl.....she is gorgeous)