Oceanside -#604

Okay, so I know that over a MONTH has passed and I haven't actually posted my race report. Things have been pretty busy, and Facebook pretty much takes up all my time (okay not ALL my time). So here we are, Rich and I with the pre-race picture. It was still dark when we wheeled our bikes over to T1 about 5:30 in the morning. I had my usual oatmeal, juice, yogurt, and nerves for breakfast. This time around I had my COOL tri-bag that Rich gave me for my birthday. I was excited.

Here we are just about to start. Green caps. I'm ready. Feeling good. Ready to race. So how was my swim. NO FREAKIN better than last year. I guess that is better than doing worse than last year but I was disappointed. For some reason I just couldn't get into a rhythm. I couldn't find someone to follow, I wasn't enjoying the salt water, my goggles kept fogging up. Oh well, better time next year. My mom was certainly glad that I didn't drown.

Now it was time to ride. I was excited to see how well I would do riding Donkey this year. I opted to forgo the Zipp wheels as I wanted to simply compare bike to bike. The first 20 miles or so you are going pretty fast. With the wind, and flat. So you think you are having a great ride. Then you start hitting the hills and I was slowing down. About 38 miles out, Rich came up beside me and said that we were barely over 19 mph thus far. CRAP. Time to kick it big time. So for the next 18 miles I went hard. Really hard. I felt good great. Rich says he had a hard time keeping up (but I don't really believe him). As always, the road support was great. I really enjoy racing through the military base and have all of the soldiers cheer you on.


Here we are coming in to T2. It was such a beautiful day. I couldn't believe it. Time to run.

So new this year was running on the beach. Although this is supposed to be "cool". It was NOT. Beach running is hard. Running up hill on the beach is even harder. But with a cool breeze and the ocean right there, I can't think of a better setting. My goal this year was to not stop. Last year I had never even run 13 miles. It was tough and I hated it last year. This year? I rocked. I didn't keep my sub 8:00 min pace that I wanted to but I didn't stop. I am a much stronger runner and I'm only getting better. Anyone that says that they can't run is fooling themselves.

Here we are just after the finish. We both felt great. Crossed (rolled across) the finish line once again, together and 45 minutes faster than last year. I was just as hungry (ate about 10 pieces of pizza, a few oranges, cookies, soda, and whatever else there was) but I wasn't dying like last year. It was a great day. A great race. Already signed up for next year and looking for another 45 minutes off my PR. If you want a fun 70.3 this is it.