Oceanside, California
Oceanside! I look forward to this trip. Our suite at the Marina is like a little home with our beautiful view of the marina and the crashing waves. We get to watch flocks of diving pelicans fishing the harbor just outside open back door while sea lions bark and play in the distance. It is a great place. It was a lot cooler this year than last year.
I wasn’t as nervous this year, which helped. I did make some mistakes to learn from however. My first mistake was made the day before the race when I spent too much time out in the sun at the pool with the kids. I did not think I was out there that long but I got sun burned. This would play a factor I my race.
Swim:
The water temperature was 55 degrees. That is as cold as San Francisco Bay. I was glad I had brought my “Just in Case Bag” which had a cold water cap to wear otherwise I would have had brain freeze. The cold water was made worse by my sunburn. My hand s went numb and my chest tightened from the cold. I didn’t line up in the front and when the horn went off I struggled for some water to swim in for a good minute or two. The cold shortened my normal breathing. After awhile I warmed up and things felt pretty normal. But I lost some time getting there. About the time things started going well the swell picked up. It wasn’t horrible, but enough to possibly cut into my time. My swim was almost two minutes slower than last year. I was having trouble getting my wetsuit off. I think it was the cold hands. So I started the bike a good 2 and a half minutes behind last year.
Bike:
My goal on the bike was to be conservative enough so as to not destroy my legs for run. That gets a little difficult for me with the Oceanside course given the hills. This year was a very wet ride. It drizzled and lightly rained the entire ride. This made vision a bit difficult at times. I couldn’t shed the glasses because when you were passed by other riders it kicked up water and mud in your face and you needed the glasses to protect your eyes. I had to brake cautiously also. I noticed on my first steep decline when I jumped on the brakes at the end for an upcoming turn that I had lost some of my breaking power. I guess those cork pads on carbon wheels just don’t work as well in the rain. Although I would have preferred a dry day, it could have been a lot worse. I did ride a bit cautious at times. That one hill is every bit the monster I remember it. I was able to take it in the small ring this year which saved my legs a bit. That being said, there is just no way for me to get up that hill without going anaerobic and taxing the major muscles in my legs. That hill costs me. I feel it later in the in the run. Other than the hills, especially the first one, I enjoy the course. It is diverse, interesting and goes by fast. My body temperature seemed to hold up given the level of work I was putting out. I felt a bit cold and uncomfortable at times mostly because of the sun burn I think. There was some head wind and I heard people complaining about it, but I did not think it was that bad. In the end I improved on last year by exactly 10 minutes.
Run:
My T2 transition was almost a minute faster this year and I was happy to get off the bike and start my run. The rain stopped for the run, but there was no sun to be found. That is not a bad thing though. I struggled a bit in the first couple of miles. The doubt always creeps into my confidence in those first miles, but eventually I found my running legs. The course was different this year. I think it was an improvement. The cool weather probably helped me. I was still dousing myself with cups of water and using sponges. I would like to have run faster, but I managed to run a full 9 minutes faster than last year and pull off my fastest 70.3 run to date. Ultimately I ended up with a 16 minute improvement on last year.
I wasn’t as nervous this year, which helped. I did make some mistakes to learn from however. My first mistake was made the day before the race when I spent too much time out in the sun at the pool with the kids. I did not think I was out there that long but I got sun burned. This would play a factor I my race.
Swim:
The water temperature was 55 degrees. That is as cold as San Francisco Bay. I was glad I had brought my “Just in Case Bag” which had a cold water cap to wear otherwise I would have had brain freeze. The cold water was made worse by my sunburn. My hand s went numb and my chest tightened from the cold. I didn’t line up in the front and when the horn went off I struggled for some water to swim in for a good minute or two. The cold shortened my normal breathing. After awhile I warmed up and things felt pretty normal. But I lost some time getting there. About the time things started going well the swell picked up. It wasn’t horrible, but enough to possibly cut into my time. My swim was almost two minutes slower than last year. I was having trouble getting my wetsuit off. I think it was the cold hands. So I started the bike a good 2 and a half minutes behind last year.
Bike:
My goal on the bike was to be conservative enough so as to not destroy my legs for run. That gets a little difficult for me with the Oceanside course given the hills. This year was a very wet ride. It drizzled and lightly rained the entire ride. This made vision a bit difficult at times. I couldn’t shed the glasses because when you were passed by other riders it kicked up water and mud in your face and you needed the glasses to protect your eyes. I had to brake cautiously also. I noticed on my first steep decline when I jumped on the brakes at the end for an upcoming turn that I had lost some of my breaking power. I guess those cork pads on carbon wheels just don’t work as well in the rain. Although I would have preferred a dry day, it could have been a lot worse. I did ride a bit cautious at times. That one hill is every bit the monster I remember it. I was able to take it in the small ring this year which saved my legs a bit. That being said, there is just no way for me to get up that hill without going anaerobic and taxing the major muscles in my legs. That hill costs me. I feel it later in the in the run. Other than the hills, especially the first one, I enjoy the course. It is diverse, interesting and goes by fast. My body temperature seemed to hold up given the level of work I was putting out. I felt a bit cold and uncomfortable at times mostly because of the sun burn I think. There was some head wind and I heard people complaining about it, but I did not think it was that bad. In the end I improved on last year by exactly 10 minutes.
Run:
My T2 transition was almost a minute faster this year and I was happy to get off the bike and start my run. The rain stopped for the run, but there was no sun to be found. That is not a bad thing though. I struggled a bit in the first couple of miles. The doubt always creeps into my confidence in those first miles, but eventually I found my running legs. The course was different this year. I think it was an improvement. The cool weather probably helped me. I was still dousing myself with cups of water and using sponges. I would like to have run faster, but I managed to run a full 9 minutes faster than last year and pull off my fastest 70.3 run to date. Ultimately I ended up with a 16 minute improvement on last year.
