Raced Santa Cruz this weekend and decided to write a little race report. This was my 2nd 70.3 (raced Santa Rosa earlier this year). Made a couple of dumb mistakes on my first (mainly not eating and drinking enough on the bike & run) so was excited to race another one with a little more knowledge. I've raced the Olympic distance here a couple times so I am fairly familiar with the swim, bike, and run course. I think it's a great course with excellent weather and scenery. The swim is also normally around the pier so it's very easy when it comes to spotting. I'm also only about an hour and a half away from Santa Cruz which was nice.
Swim: When I first walked down to the beach at about 6:15 am it was so foggy you couldn't see the pier from about 15 feet away. The fog was dense and did not seem to be clearing up. They kept saying in the beginning that they were still scheduled to start at 6:50 so I decided to get in and warm up. Then they told us it would be a 20 minute delay, then an hour. After about an hour and 15 minutes they decided to move the swim and shorten in. It was now going to be only 800 yards (so much for a chance to PR a 70.3). At least we got to swim though. At the awards ceremony we were told that they were 30 seconds away from cancelling the swim for the age groupers. It was still so foggy when the race finally started I'm not sure how some of those lead pros were able to see the buoy's. One nice thing about this race in my opinion was the rolling start. Especially for this race where the bike course is on highway 1, open to traffic, with a fairly narrow bike lane). Time: 11:12.
Bike: I thought this was an excellent bike course. Very scenic, lot's of rolling hills, weather was great. I passed a couple people in the very beginning and then rode solo most of the race. It was an out and back and I think the second half was slightly slower but not by much. One section of pretty bad pavement in in the first and last 3 miles but other then that it was good. Time: 2:23.
Run: Just like the bike course the run is very scenic. Ocean views with a nice coastal breeze for most of the run. Not a lot of shade and because of the late start it was starting to get fairly warm. There was a section of about 3 miles of trail running. I felt great right off the bike but had to keep telling myself to slow it down because I went out too hard in Santa Rosa and was hurting real bad at the end. This race was similar. Mile 8 came and I was starting to hurt real bad. My longest training run's top out at 11 miles and I feel like to have a solid half in a 70.3 I might need to add a couple miles. Started to grab gatoraid & redbull at each aid station and that helped a little. Time: 1:27.
Overall: I was a little disappointed that the swim was cut short because I was shooting for a PR but at least we got to get in and swim. I know it would of been really close. My bike and run time were slightly faster but SC also had a very long run to T1. Was still a great race and I had a lot of fun. I was able to get 3rd in my age group which was nice. I think a lot of the fast guys were in Chattanooga this weekend (I did a 4:26 in Santa Rosa for 9th in my age group.) I think my next race might be St. George. That would be my first destination race. Little history about myself: 30 years old, from the Bay Area, got into the sport about 3 1/2 years ago with no endurance background (rode dirt bikes and lifted weights). No coach or team. Enjoy the training and the lifestyle. Think it's a great sport.
Swim: When I first walked down to the beach at about 6:15 am it was so foggy you couldn't see the pier from about 15 feet away. The fog was dense and did not seem to be clearing up. They kept saying in the beginning that they were still scheduled to start at 6:50 so I decided to get in and warm up. Then they told us it would be a 20 minute delay, then an hour. After about an hour and 15 minutes they decided to move the swim and shorten in. It was now going to be only 800 yards (so much for a chance to PR a 70.3). At least we got to swim though. At the awards ceremony we were told that they were 30 seconds away from cancelling the swim for the age groupers. It was still so foggy when the race finally started I'm not sure how some of those lead pros were able to see the buoy's. One nice thing about this race in my opinion was the rolling start. Especially for this race where the bike course is on highway 1, open to traffic, with a fairly narrow bike lane). Time: 11:12.
Bike: I thought this was an excellent bike course. Very scenic, lot's of rolling hills, weather was great. I passed a couple people in the very beginning and then rode solo most of the race. It was an out and back and I think the second half was slightly slower but not by much. One section of pretty bad pavement in in the first and last 3 miles but other then that it was good. Time: 2:23.
Run: Just like the bike course the run is very scenic. Ocean views with a nice coastal breeze for most of the run. Not a lot of shade and because of the late start it was starting to get fairly warm. There was a section of about 3 miles of trail running. I felt great right off the bike but had to keep telling myself to slow it down because I went out too hard in Santa Rosa and was hurting real bad at the end. This race was similar. Mile 8 came and I was starting to hurt real bad. My longest training run's top out at 11 miles and I feel like to have a solid half in a 70.3 I might need to add a couple miles. Started to grab gatoraid & redbull at each aid station and that helped a little. Time: 1:27.
Overall: I was a little disappointed that the swim was cut short because I was shooting for a PR but at least we got to get in and swim. I know it would of been really close. My bike and run time were slightly faster but SC also had a very long run to T1. Was still a great race and I had a lot of fun. I was able to get 3rd in my age group which was nice. I think a lot of the fast guys were in Chattanooga this weekend (I did a 4:26 in Santa Rosa for 9th in my age group.) I think my next race might be St. George. That would be my first destination race. Little history about myself: 30 years old, from the Bay Area, got into the sport about 3 1/2 years ago with no endurance background (rode dirt bikes and lifted weights). No coach or team. Enjoy the training and the lifestyle. Think it's a great sport.