Racing for me, most often, means meeting up with good friends. I often choose a race venue dependent on where my buddies live. San Diego was no different. My best friend, Greg aka "GP", from PA school at Wake Forest lives there with his wife Emily (who happens to also be a classmate of mine from PA school) and their 2 twin boys that are 3 months old. When Oceanside 70.3 opened up last year, it was a perfect marriage for a trip.
1.) Got to catch up with GP and his fam
2.) Great place to start the triathlon season in sunny SD and it wasn’t a full IM (I raced IM St. George IM last year and it was a bit much too early to chew)
3.) San Diego is a great place for Heather and I to visit and enjoy the warm weather, HJ is a beach bum! ;-)
I arrived on Wednesday evening and was super excited as I haven't met the boys yet, only saw tons of pics.
Once there, I awoke Thursday AM for a nice little bike/run and got it out of the way. GP had plans to go to the shooting range, so I obliged and off we went. What an experience! Growing up around a farm I have shot various guns for fun, but never been to a shooting range. GP has a few himself so we "tested" them out. A doc buddy of his came along and we decided to have a marksman competition. Needless to say, I am not a sharp shooter. I passed on the semi-automatic 12 gauge as I figured I didn't need a sore shoulder for the race.
Friday AM I slept in. Typically my sleep 2 days out is the most important and this one wasn't any different. I got my pre-race workout completed of a quick little S/B/R session with a few quick pick ups to prime the body. For the swim, Greg had this grand idea to take me to La Jolla Cove where many swims leave from. However today, I would head out on my own. We picked a buoy that was about 800 meters from shore and the idea was to swim out and back. Now mind you, I haven't been in the Pacific before and I knew it was going to be cold, but I figured it wouldn’t be that bad. Afterall, in 2009, Jeff and I raced at Otillo, which is a race in Sweden and the water was like 48-49 degrees farenheit, so I figured I could handle it. Besides, last year St. George was like 58 degrees and this was similiar. So I threw on my new BlueSeventy Helix wetsuit ang goggles, but didn't bring a swim cap.
Now to start things off, I am not too keen to swim in the ocean alone, so my anxiety was a bit higher than normal. Secondly, there were 100+ seals on the rocks and playing in the water near the shore. Again, not too thrilled. Don't sharks like to eat seals....yeah I'm pretty sure. So off I went and BAM....the water was SHOCKING!! But I thought, no worries, it will get better. I got pass the break, finally, and I am swimming with my head out of the water for 3 strokes, face in the water 1-2 strokes, then head out of the water for 3 strokes, etc because my head is freezing. I do this for a bit of time and the water on my face/head is not getting better. I began having a shreaking headache at this point and now I am out in the middle of the ocean, frolicking like a wounded seal 400 meters from shore. Yeah...lets just say that "warm up" swim ended a bit quicker than planned. The good news is it reminded me what I needed to do for the race the next day. Double swim cap and use my silicone ear plugs.
Peter and I Post race
I rode and ran post swim and got checked in at the race expo. There athlete check-in process was nice. They were very expeditious in getting everyone in and out without too much hassle. At the same time, I bumped into 3 other Wattie Elites and it was good to finally meet them.
Race morning was a bit different than normal. I was in the last swim wave, of which I have never been. This meant that I went off an hour and eight minutes after the pro's went. It was kind of weird watching people come into transition and I hadn't even put my wetsuit on.
Once I got my wetsuit on and got into my corral, it wasn't long before the gun went off. The water was quite shocking, but with the silicone ear plugs and double swim cap, it was bearable.
I lined up on the buoy line....BOOM, the gun went off. I sprinted out for about 200 meters to steer clear of the folks behind me. I sighted and saw 3 swimmers up the way. I was happy where I was so I decided to stay on my plan. Not long after, we began coalescing with the previous waves. I felt descent in the swim. About half out, we made our turn to head back which was basically at the mouth of the bay and swells kicked up.. I stayed tucked, next to the buoy line and really didn't get bothered too much. Finally made it to the boat ramp, and made it into T1. I briefly looked at the clock and I knew I had swam 30:XX. Slightly disappointed, I ran steadily to my bike.
Upon arriving at the racks, all the bike were still there and there were only 2 other guys standing their getting ready. Maybe my swim wasn’t so bad after all. I was able to make it out of transition fairly quickly and out on the bike course. The weather was quite misty as the marine layer was in full effect.
As you can imagine going off in the last wave, there were a ton of people out on the bike course. The bike course was much more difficult than one would think. There was one steep hill on the back half of the ride that was 39/28 gear worthy. IT was tough. I finished pretty strong and hit T2 ready to run.
Out on the run, I was able to settle into my pace pretty quickly, but I didn't dare look at what pace I was running.
For me, pace doesn't really matter in a race, I run as hard as I can at a pace that will get me to the finish line the fastest. Ultimately, regardless of my pace, the pace work is already done during the previous weeks training. After 5K, I looked down for the first time as this was when I really felt settled in. Upon looking at my watch, I was running faster than I had ever in a half.
Thanks to fellow wattie Bill Risch taking this awesome grit pic
Not long after, I was passed by someone in my age group. This guy was running a pace that I couldn't even respond to, so I kept at my game plan. Around mile 6, I was passed by another guy, this time not so handedly. I kept his pace over the next mile, however, I was getting quite uncomfortable and I questioned whether or not it was a pace I could for the remaining 6 miles, so I settled and returned to my previous pace which was well faster than anything I had done before. Not much changed over the ensuing miles. With 2 miles to go, the first guy that passed was walking and I made sure to pass with authority. Not long after, I passed another person that I had never seen. The 2nd guy that passed me was still up the road, I could see him. I kept pace, but so did he.
I finished strong and ended up on the podium. This was my first podium at an Ironman event, a nice "notch" in my belt buckle. It was great racing with so many fellow Wattie Ink Elite Team Members, I would have never thought how much it really makes a difference. It's incredible to have great support putting us in the best gear that triathlon has to offer. Thanks again to all of our sponsors (look to the right of the page).
Up next for me is another half-distance race in North Carolina. I'll be racing the White Lake Half on May 5th back in my ole stomping grounds. Should be fun. THEN, the real training begins for IM Coeur d'Alene which takes place June 24th.
Last but not least, I have to thank my wonderful better half, Heather for traveling with me and ultimately supporting this crazy addiction callled triathlon, I couldn't be any luckier. And to my boy GeePeeZee, thanks for the hauling me around and cheering on race day, was awesome! Laura, Walter and the boys, it was awesome seeing you guys out there on the uphill corner! Thanks again!!
Rockin' the "dub",
Crazy J
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