OCEANSIDE 70.3 (First Race of 2011)

I arrived in Los Angeles on the 26th.  On Sunday, I headed out for the last tough workout with my twin brother, as we did three hill repeat loops, with each loop about 25 to 27 minutes.  I felt great on the bike, very strong climbing, but strugggled a bit on the descents and with the headwind. 




Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were full or work and little rest.  However, it was great to see all the Orrick LA people and get a couple of transactions closed. 

RACE

I was not sure what to expect from this race, the professional field was stacked and this was my first race with the top athletes since October 2006. 

SWIM 24:52

I have been putting some good time in the pool, and I am regaining the form I had back in 2006. However, I made a key mistake in lining up for the swim start. I placed myself in the second row of athletes.  I thought I could just follow the guys ahead of me, and therefore be right on their feet. Well, that plan did not work. Once the gun went off the guys in front of me sprinted away (that was planned), but then the guys to their right and left moved to the center to try to get on their feet and in doing so, kicked and punched me a few times. My water polo days taught me how to deal with this, I deflected most blows with my forearms, kept my head up to avoid a direct kick to the face and nose, but I did receive a perfectly placed foot to my ear which I am still feeling today. After about 300 meters the water became choppy, my short polo stroke helped me here, I swam around some slower atheltes, found some clear water and joined the tail end of the firtst pack of swimmers.  I came out of the water in 12th, not great, but ahead of a lot of guys and a good place to start the bike.

BIKE 2:20:36

My bike is my weak link right now. I still need to develop some of the strength for the full 56 miles. At around mile 5 I was caught by a big group that included, Rapp, Hoffman, Lietto, Symonds, Liegh and Schildknect (some of the top cyclist in the sport). This was perfect, my plan was to work with this group through the bike and get off the bike ready to run. All was going well until mile 25, at which time I ran into California's budget woes and lack of infrastructure improvements; I hit a large pothole and out went one of my water bottles; so much for those 200 calories. Next mishap occurred at mile 30 and the first climb. I hit the climb feeling great but my bike did not feel the same. I tried to climb in the 21 or 23 but the bike would have none of it, so I was stuck climbing in the 19, which meant climbing out of the saddle. This was not too bad, I crossed the hill second in group and hung on as the heavier guys flew down the hill. At mile 35 or so, I had a nice introduction to what cycling is all about. Mike Weiss came flying by and blew the up the group. I was at the end of the pack, and by the time I realized what was happening, a big gapped had formed, and I was not with the faster guys. I would ride with Symonds and Hoffman until mile 52 and at that point, the wind was too much for me, and I rode last 4 miles alone.

RUN: 1:24:26

My run had been on fire the last few weeks and I anticipated a sub 1:18 run. However, the bike was a bit too much for me. I started off well, plugging away at 6:10 pace through the first 7 miles, but at mile 7, it went quickly to 6:40-7:00 pace. I was passed by 4 guys in the last 4 miles and finished in 4:13 and 22nd place. Not bad for my re-entry to the pro world and I expect some much faster performances to come.  Finishing 22nd was not my goal, but a 4:13 on a tough course is a good result, and I have lots of room for imrpovement. 

Lastly, thanks to KAWAMI, the race kit is awesome.  

Next up Memorial Texas 70.3 on Sunday, April 10.