I love the Orange County Triathlon for many reasons. One of the best is that I can train on the race course since it's so close. This year was my 4th time racing here and I was definitely looking forward to it. Oceanside was my "A" race this year, but OC was a close 2nd.
The training: yes, I had been riding through the canyon at least once a week. I felt like I had my climbing training dialed. My swimming has been improving incredibly. My run was on par with the previous year. I was ready for a PR, even if just by a few seconds.
The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was not too hot like in previous years and no rain was in sight. No fog in the morning for the swim was a definite plus too. Here we go!
Swim: the water was a perfect temperature (70 degrees) and felt wonderful. I was wave 3 and excited to have a few friends racing with me. I got into a groove quickly and felt great. After a while I noticed a women swimming on my right who was going the same speed as me. I figured I'd use her for spotting so I wouldn't have to look as much. I had an inkling she was one of my friends, but I couldn't remember what her wetsuit looked like. Before I knew it the swim was coming to an end. I don't look at my watch until I get out of the water and was so happy to see my time. Wow! I had killed my time from last year by over 5 minutes.
Swim 28:24
T1: I got out of the water and my friend Heather was right next to me. It was her swimming next to me! We really should train together. I ran into transition and stripped my wetsuit quickly (that's a first!). I grabbed my bike and I was off!
T1 1:53
Bike: I felt great and didn't feel too tired. That was my problem I guess. I was flying on the first half of the bike, but when I got to the point that is the half-way point for time I was surprised to see I was way off. Was there wind? Were my legs tired? No and no. Hmmm...what happened? Not sure, but I needed to kick my butt to get back to T2 to get my PR. Unfortunately the second half of the bike is mostly uphill. I got my act together and managed to keep the same mph for the rest of the bike. I was really upset at how horrible my bike was, but I knew I still had a chance to PR.
Bike 1:21:14
T2: Lightning fast and I was off on the run.
T2 1:05
Run: My legs were feeling the effects of my extra push on the bike. They were tired, but I managed to keep one foot in front of the other. I was still passing people right and left. I started my Garmin right when I exited T2, but it wasn't getting location. Sadly, I waited over two miles for it to start with no avail, so I have no stats for the run. I took my last Cliff Shot gel after about 10 minutes on the run. The first two miles are slightly downhill or flat. I tried running fast to make up for the hills that awaited me. I had 50 minutes to get to the finish line to PR. The previous year I ran a 47:36 run, so it was possible. The hills started and I kept running. No stopping for me, even if I was running as fast as some people were walking. I made it up the dreaded Vista del Lago hill and saw that not only was I going to PR, but I had a chance to go under 2:40. I happily ran towards the finish line. Since I didn't have an accurate race time, I didn't know how close I was to coming in under 2:40. Turns out I was just a few seconds over. Oh well. It wasn't my goal. I jumped across the finish line to a new PR. Yippee!
Run 47:24
OC Triathlon 2:40:03
(3:49 PR)
Skyler and I both got to race, thanks to a friend watching Desmond. Skyler's day wasn't as great as mine, but he still did great! I love being married to such a talented man!
Heather and I first met before Ironman Arizona. I think we will always have a connection because of that race. Ironman is a life-changing event and I'm happy we got to share part of our day together. I'm hoping we get to start training together. She's fast on the bike and I could sure use a training partner.
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