Saturday, April 11, 2009

Oceanside - Second time around

Okay, I have a number of events coming up so I'd better get this report out. First of all, I had a great time. Second I had a great time, and last of all I had a great time. If you don't like long blog posts then you can just read this first paragraph and move on. Long story short, I bettered my time this year by almost 45 minutes over last year. I know that I can do better. I really like Oceanside and I hope to race there year in and year out until I'm 80. Okay, there you have it. Move on OR Read on.

TriRich and I packed up the Burb and headed out Tuesday evening. We drove about half way and stayed the night in Vegas. Our Vegas stay was short and as always memorable (and this time educational). I'm so lucky to have a friend like Rich. I hope all of you out there in Triathlon world has as good of a training partner as I do.

The next day we arrived in Sunny California. So good to be there. I could (and maybe should) live there. The Beach and I are....... We went out for a run along the beach.

Did I mention that I could (and should) live there? Here I am shortly after a nice 5-6 mile run celebrating in front of the Oceanside pier.

The next day, it was time to take Donkey out for a ride. The race bike course is mostly on Camp Pendleton which is off limits to civilians. So instead we rode south along the coast past Carlsbad and had a nice 30+ mile ride. Did I mention that I could live there? Donkey was ready. My legs felt great.


Later that day we registered and walked around the Expo. Last year the Expo was a big deal. All the vendors, people, excitement. This year it seemed not quite as exciting. Now don't get me wrong, I still bought my share of IM merchandise. One of the booths we stopped at was a contraption to help you be a better swimmer. Must have worked for Rich because he beat me out of the water by 2 minutes on Saturday.

After visiting the Expo it was time to hit the water. We wanted to get out and swim and get accustomed to the water. The waves were pretty rough but we managed to swim up and down the coast for about 40 minutes or so. Then it was time to play. Did I mention that I could (should) live there? I really could.

After dinner we walked around the harbor where the Start/Finish line and transition area is.

Our last activity before the race was an afternoon trip to Knott's Berry Farm. I hadn't been there since I was a young boy. I wasn't too keen on standing in long lines and walking around a day before the race. However, as short as the trip was, we all had a great time. There are a number of fun roller coasters.

Lines? What lines. There were NO lines. Now, this is probably a young persons dream but I for one can only take so much of constant coasters. We were getting our fill and we were getting it fast.
Here we are relaxing in the sun. It was a beautiful day. Did I mention that I could (should) live there?

We finished off the day with a nice dinner at Claimjumper. Check out this cake. Holy cow. Did he eat it? Nope, it was just a camera moment. Guess how many calories are in this tiny slice? 3500 freakin' ones! Wow!

This concludes the pre-race activities and preparation. Game on! Let's race.

4 comments:

Diana and Fam said...

That is awesome that you beat last years time! How could you not? I mean you practice way too much not to! That cake just makes me sick just looking at it....yuck.

Sean Ryan said...

Live here. It really is quite an amazing state.

Kevin said...

I too would like to live near the ocean. Maybe we should both move there and get outta this freaking snow hell.

Heather and Tim said...

What a cool life you lead! No, really. It is inspiring to see someone so dedicated to what they love to do.