The first race of the season is in the books, and this time it was my turn! Oceanside 70.3 sells out within hours of opening up for registration. Jeremy happened to be on the computer nine months ago when it opened, and signed me up. I had been nervous about racing because I didn't feel like I had a lot of time to really train with my surgeries. As the day drew closer though, I knew I had it in the bag. I may not have spent as many hours training, but I feel like the hours I did spend were a lot more effective. I went into this race feeling strong and confident. I had a couple goals I wanted to meet: first, I wanted to break 30 min. in the swim. I knew I could pretty easily, but I still needed to see that split. Secretly I was hoping for a Roka first out of the water award, but I didn't strategize right for that to happen. Secondly: I didn't want to be blown away on my bike. I'm not a super strong biker and it's discouraging seeing all those racers pass me. I was hoping to hold between 19 and 20 mph. Third: I wanted a strong run, under 1:45, where I didn't bonk because my nutrition was wrong. To save you all the suspense, I met most of my goals and was really happy with how I did.
My race began early, I left my hotel and walked to transition. Jeremy snapped a pic of me heading out.
Game face for the folks back home.
I wasn't in transition very long before it was wetsuit/warm up time. It was cold. 50 degrees really isn't freezing, unless you're wet and the wind is blowing off the ocean. I was shivering waiting for my turn to start. I kept thinking how much energy I was losing just standing there shaking. I saw Jan Frodeno getting into the water for his start. I wish I could have taking a picture with him for Jeremy's sake. It was a rolling start which meant we just all shuffled into the water one by one, self-seating ourselves. Suddenly I was in the water and it was go time. Our hotel was right on the bay where the swim was held, and our hotel room was as close as you could get to the shore. I knew that Jeremy and the kids would be watching, so I pulled off to the side and waved and hollered at them as I swam by. It's not very often you get to see your swimmer and know it's them. After I waved I finally settled into race mode. The water was smooth, and there were only a couple collisions with other swimmers, so it was a pretty smooth leg. One disadvantage to the rolling start is that I didn't know when to start my watch, so even though it read 29 min., I wasn't sure if it was accurate. It was fast enough that I was pretty happy. I took a little bit of time trying to warm up before hopping on my bike, then it was time for my weakest leg.
As expected, racers just started passing me from the start. Coach Dan Dan the Ironman told me to hold a steady pace at the beginning and slowly build throughout. So even though I was being passed, I didn't want to get sucked into their race and blow myself out too early. There were a lot of racers, 3500, so I always had company on the course. Most of it ran through Camp Pendleton where the Marines took care of us and cheered us on. Instead of pedestrian crossing signs or school zones, we had tank crossing zones. I thought Jeremy would appreciate that. I settled into my race and did well up the three hill climbs. When I started getting to the end, around mile 45, I was feeling pretty done. I knew I was slowing down. I knew I was running out of steam. And I knew I didn't do as well along the whole bike course as I was hoping. The silver lining, was that I didn't crash, and didn't have a flat tire-my two biggest fears on race day.
By the time I came to the run the weather was perfect! I also knew that I'd have a chance to see Jeremy and the kids a couple times on the run course, so I was looking forward to that. I was told to run an 8:30 pace at least for the first six miles. I didn't. My first mile was too fast, at a 7:46, but then my next six ranged between 8:00-8:20. I was still feeling good. I was nailing my nutrition, and my legs felt strong. Running by the beach was amazing. There were a few miles when we had to jump up one road and ran through the neighborhood, but there were so many people out cheering us on that it didn't feel lonely. I saw Jeremy and the kids the first loop, but then couldn't find them again. I can't blame Jeremy for that though. Trying to keep four kids safe and from being lost on the beach, while watching for his wife is not easy.
It was a two-loop run, and when I started my second loop I knew I had this race in the bag. I started building every mile. Every mile brought me closer to the end! My last splits were 8:05, 7:49, 7:25, and 7:06. That was a crazy strong finish! According to Dan, it was too strong. I didn't wear myself nearly as much as I should have during the previous 66 miles. But I finished and I did great! Swim (29:31), T1 (5:07), Bike (3:08:53), T2 (5:04), Run (1:44:25), Final time (5:33:00). Ultimately I took 4th in my swim, but I'm going for that 1st place finish at St. George next month. And I finished 15th in my age group.
After I finished we hung out on the beach with the kids.
I had cooled off by then and was a little tired (surprise, surprise), so laying on the sand felt just right. Of course, it meant earning a tan line like this again! Agh!
It was a long walk back to the hotel (nearly three miles and the girls had to walk the whole time), so we opted to order dinner in. Not a bad post-race view if you ask me.
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