November 4, 2018
Olympic Distance
Official Time: 02:16:25
1500m Swim: 00:23:10
T1: 00:01:36
40k Bike: 01:04:51
T2: 00:01:24
10k Run: 00:45:24
Overall: 9th of 183
35-39 AG: 3rd of 24
I’m 2 races behind on my blog now, so I’ll try to be brief to get through them both.
I came into Newport Dunes with very low expectations. I was still sore from the very difficult Giro di San Diego I completed just one week prior. I worked out a plan with Coach Dea to focus on a good swim and then take it easy, or just go with how I feel, on the bike and run.
Swim:
Swim was a nice, calm two-laps around Newport’s back bay. They attempted a rolling start, but there was a lot of confusion about the course and corralling by speed since no one could hear the emcee and there was no signage or volunteers organizing how swimmers were to line up, so I just hung back for a little bit after the gun went off, and then crossed the timing mat to start once I realized if I waited much longer I’d be climbing over people in the water. It was a smaller race so I never had any issues with crowding and had minimal contact with other swimmers. I focused on powerful strokes in good cadence and finished the 1500 meters in about 22 minutes (per my watch); just under 1:30 min/100yard pace.
Bike:
Bike course was 3 laps on Back Bay Drive and East Bluff – a somewhat flat and sometimes winding “road”; wider than most bike paths but narrower than a typical street, followed by a steep 11% grade climb up to some fun rolling hills and wide turnaround points.
The pressure was off since I already put in my hard(ish) swim, but it wouldn’t have mattered if my legs felt good or bad because a guy on a Canyon passed me a few miles into the ride and the competitor in me wasn’t having it. I kept him within sight until we got to the steep hill, of which I smashed and retook my position and held until he caught me again on the flats. We went back and forth like that all three laps, but by the end he got into transition about 40 seconds ahead of me.
I met the Canyon guy after the race; his name is Nick, he lives in LA. He’s a really nice guy and now we’re Strava friends. I’m sure I’ll square off with him again in 2019 and I look forward to the competitive push.
Run:
Legs still felt good, but also my recollection of the course map was a two-lap route that would be all flat, so I set out on a pretty decent pace. At mile 2, the path suddenly took a surprise hard right turn up a nice 6% grade hill to a bluff called Back Bay View Park. In the park, the path went out to one end and turned around, then out to another part of the park and turned around forming the shape of a Y, before heading back down the hill. This setup provided a great opportunity to see who’s ahead of you and, more importantly, who is on your tail. I got a good look at two guys pacing each other and gaining on me who were each wearing tri kits from two fairly notorious triathlon clubs in California. So for the next 4 miles, my mentality shifted from ‘stay in a good uncomfortable pace for your own gratification’ to ‘don’t you dare let those guys catch you’. It worked and I averaged 7:23 min/mile pace for the 6.2 miles.
Milestones:
I debated whether or not to make the drive up to Orange County for this race since I felt so spent from the week before. But as I got up to the registration table to get my race number, I was really glad to be there. My friend Scott was collecting his race number at the table next to me. I’ve written about him before (CVC); he has been a great resource and friend since my very first sprint. We kept in touch via Strava, but never raced together. He had completed multiple full Ironman’s when I first met him, his swim speeds and training volume always amazed me and his bike and run speeds were something to strive for. He has always been on another level to me, and until recently, a level I didn’t think I could ever come close to. Scott finished 1st in the 35-39 age group
I set my olympic distance PR and broke into the top 10 finishers overall at this race, both huge milestones for me, but standing on the podium and finishing less than a minute behind a good friend who I have looked up to in this sport since I started was the biggest honor and confidence boost yet.
