2013 Oceanside 70.3

leisure pace. trying to smile + stay positive.

So after 5 years of living in So Cal I finally raced Oceanside half ironman. It's a hometown race and it's pegged as one of those races where you freeze at. Okay, so after the Panama 70.3 humidity disaster of last year, sign me up! For racing, I embrace the cold! I know my body doesn't perform well in the heat and sun, so I begged for rain and cloud cover and freezing ocean temps. I swim in the cove {almost} year round and while, yeah, it's freezing, I'm used to it. And I know most of my competitors aren't.

You can't always get what you want.

After a crappy night sleep experiencing some wicked lower back pain from standing at the expo for the past 2 days and the Crohn's flare, race morning came early. Kyle and I picked up Noko at 4:30am and we made the trek up to north county. Managed to scarf down an entire bowl of Malt-O-Meal {with heaping spoonfuls of brown sugar} and I made sure to drink plenty of fluids on the drive up. Kyle dropped us off at T2 and we situated our run stuff and rode the bikes over to T1. Got set up and then saw Kyle where we watched the Pro's swim through the harbor so I could take a better look at the overview of the buoys. Put myself into the {cattle} corral and waited until our group was the next released into the {62 degree WARM, what?!} water.

okay! made it to the start liine. ready for the long day ahead.

Swim: 24:16, 1st 30-34 AG, fastest amateur female, 5th overall
Wave 17 {lucky number, lucky swim} 7:30am, 50 min after the pro's and the gun goes off, and there we go. It was a pretty uneventful swim. Goggles performed beautifully {no fogging/cracking issues}. I drafted for a while, then I took the lead for a while, then the girl started tapping my feet like we were pacelining, so I flipped over, adjusted a goggle, took a few backstrokes, let her pass me and I stayed on her side for a while. I didn't like her line going into the turnaround so I took a shorter line. Ended up emerging after the turn pretty close to her so I started drafting again. Saw the husband at his post, I waved and yelled "Hi!" as I knew he'd get a chuckle from that. I gave one final push to try and drop the girl, but knew it was pointless, so I let up and coasted into the turn, where I had the inside line and took a wide corner to the chute and hopped out of the water before her. Success!

Bike: 2:54:13, 12th AG, 47th amateur
Took some time in transition and got out onto Kermit and his new wheels and started off pretty easy. Lisa passed me just as we passed onto the base at Camp Pendelton. After the first climb I realized my HR monitor wasn't working so I started playing with my Garmin and I was becoming quickly frustrated so I quit that. Christine passed me and from then on it was a race. And it was fun. I knew I didn't have a shot at hell in placing in my AG, but I sure as heck wanted her and Lisa to do well, so I kept up the pace and kept them motivated to keep the first girl in sight {B+L kit?}. We were swapping leads through the base and into San Onofre and back onto the base. I felt pretty good going into the first hill and unfortunately let her and Lisa slip away, and I never saw them again. I hit a LOW point after the downhill. The winds started to pick up and I felt like I was going no where in my small ring. It was almost a bonk, except I was eating enough. I had enough caffeine. I just chalked it up to not enough training and a crappy, exhausting week. It started to get scary when my eyes started drying up and they kept involuntarily closing. I really thought I was going to end up in the ditch or crashing. Those were not good moments for me. I didn't think I'd be able to finish the bike, much less run. I caught some legal drafts back to T2 and walked my bike to my rack. It's a race for goodness sake, and I'm walking. Think angry cat face. I dump Kermit and thank him for a job well done for getting be back safely. The new Zipp Firecrest 404 650s were amazing and I feel bad I couldn't do them justice. I walk to the "run out" exit and see Julie who is yelling at me to start running. So I started running.

go Kermit!

ramps of death

Run: 2:17:05, 57th AG {not kidding}
And that was the run. I "ran" the entire run besides the ridiculous ramps/and steep hill jaunts that make the course a crazy rat race. I ran through the aid stations. And I ran to the finish. I was so glad to have so many people out there I knew. It was a mental game for me to attempt to enjoy this experience. My ankle/foot hurt with every step. My quads and hamstrings were steps away from cramps but the salt tabs, coke, and ice were doing their magic. My lower back was less barky than I thought it would be. I wished I had a visor. Yet, my smile worked. It was infectious. There was no use grimacing through the race. After mile 4, I asked Brian what my swim time was, I almost had a heart attack. I almost tripped on my face. I almost started crying. But what I did do was smile. Seriously, I did not believe him. Good thing the race wasn't on April 1. I knew that no matter how I finished, I would always have that swim. And so I smiled.

finish chute. yes i did look back and check for girls.

OA: 5:41:22
I ended up 25th in my ridiculously stacked "new" age group. Even though this was my slowest half ironman to date, even though it wasn't my hardest earned finish, this race will still hold a different place in my heart. I overcame obstacles and kept a mostly positive attitude. I will get my revenge for this race, maybe not at this race, but I wish to fully conquer the 70.3 distance in a way I know I'm fully capable of.

phew. filled with positive emotion and some tears.

I'm a tactical racer. I hate running. It's not about tactics, it's about laying it all out there. And I'm no good at that. Swimming is tactics and technique, course corrections and effort management. Cycling is very much about race planning, strategy, nutrition, pacing, course knowledge. Running is about pain and frustration and just isn't fun. I really really need to get stronger and much more efficient with this running game and I know I can enjoy it. But the journey getting there is tough.

thank you sherpa kyle.

P.S. I would pay good money to start with the male pro's and get the hole shot behind Andy Potts. I really really would like to know if I could hang with them and what I'm capable of without having to swim over and around the masses.

p.p.s I WANT THESE. BADLY.

second by a second

Whelp - that goes down as a lesson learned. Went out to the Desert International Triathlon and lost in a sprint finish to the line that I didn't even realize I was entered into until it was too late. Always go hard to the line. Lessons learned every time I race in this most of the time awesome sport.

Packed and got Kermit race ready on Friday, I worked a half day on Saturday, and Kyle and I were off to the desert - Palm Springs area - and set up camp. I love this race for many reasons, but the $15 lakeside camping at the race site is definitely a reason to make this a yearly race. We ate at a little Italian restaurant in Coachella and came back to the new {already broken in by mountain men} tent for a relatively good night sleep.

Race morning brought the usual run around craziness. I left Kyle in charge of packing the food/camping stuff, as the triathlon race packing is enough for me to handle. Whelp, lesson learned. Make sure to check the fuel in the Jetboil before relying solely on hot water to cook the oatmeal for breakfast. He blamed it on {mountain man} Frank for putting an empty canister back in the pot. We had nothing else besides beer. Okay, improvise. I have 3 Gu's and some Powerbar energy blasts that I had planned on using for the race. Maybe someone will have something in transition. I need to get over there to register and get my bib and jerry-rig my bike number on. Kyle was trying to find something when I suggested the Clif tent - where he begged for an entire bar and not just a sample. They begged him not to tell anyone - and so an entire mint chocolate chip Clif bar was breakfast.

what's for breakfast?

Setup transition, ran for warmup, slammed down my pre-race vanilla GU, made my new goggles {which freaking crackled again after putting them on my face!! I've about had it with these sweedish goggles and the layer on the inside crackling upon first use!} and got in for a quick warmup before swimming right up to the beach starting line. Beautiful sunrise over the lake and luckily a bit of puffy clouds to shelter it enough to not be blinded the entire first half of the swim. 3, 2, 1 swim all out to the first buoy 15 yards out. Don't want to get caught in the mess of that. Pretty much a solo swim from there on out. Started crawling over those darn grey caps before the next buoy and through the turn and all the way back to the exit. I really should get better at running so I can toe the line with the elites in these small local races and actually draft a good line during the swim. #swimmerproblems #notarunner

Out of the water feeling pretty good considering Jake and I swam to the pier on Friday. Through transition with nothing notable. Put on the sweet new Giro Selector aerohelmet from the hubs for valentines day. Wow, I can actually say I noticed a difference. I love the visor; it puts me into this zone of aero focus. The bike was awesome. Kermit has been pulling his weight lately, since my ankle/heel have been slacking. I was a bit nervous about the drafting fest  of last year {only reason I don't like this race}, but to my surprise, it was actually clean riding around me, and I was stoked! Another girl and I were trading off {legal} leads and I'm sure we were both helping each other push the pace. Just a very basic 2 loop rectangle flat course with a couple of hairy turns due to the road surface, cone placement, bike traffic, and the handling skills of triathletes. Had 28oz of water from the aerodrink, 3/4 bottle of APX, and 1 vanilia Gu.

near the end. not looking back.

Got off the bike and I actually felt amazing and ready to dread the run. :) Nah, I didn't have any expectations but to just think about my form and only stop if the heel pain went over a 5. Surprisingly felt alright and kept chugging out 8:20s like I was going to be there for a while. Saw Kyle a couple of times and he reminded me to go hard into the finish, after looking back and telling me there wasn't anyone behind me who looked like they were on their 2nd lap. Whelp, lessons learned. Go hard to the finish even if your sherpa has no idea who the competition is.

My foot hit the timing mats before hers, but she leaned into the archway/finish line and squeaked out the win. I'm not unhappy at all with my performance. I'm not even angry about the finish. I've had my fair share of out touching going both ways in my swimming career to know when to get pissed. My swim was faster than last year and the course felt a bit longer. My bike was spot on, and it was actually legit racing. My run was slower, but it was to be expected. Last year I was coming off Panama 70.3 fitness and this year I have ankles and heels that don't agree with my hobby. And that's exactly what it is - a hobby. I graciously accepted my 2nd place by a second tile and enjoyed the 3rd transition at the pool bar.

second by a second, on the stand with a 3?

ah yes. 3rd transition back into the {much warmer} water

 Anxiously excited to see how I hold up at Oceanside - swimming, riding, and running twice the distance. It's only 2 of those. Plus a little more. It won't be that bad. It's only a half of an Ironman...eeek.

Oh, so the tonsils are officially getting the boot, 2 days after Oceanside. And I'm "out" for 2 weeks. So look for some really boring blogs coming up about how much pain I'm in and how much I hate tapioca pudding. I'm currently accepting soft food donations {literally I hate tapioca, so don't even think about putting those "fish eggs" in my house}, good movie/TV series recommendations, and fro-yo dates {delivered to my house, naturally.}