Timely post as I just registered. I'm expecting about half of the run to be on the sand, and at least 2-3 miles of that on soft sand. The soft sand part could be longer, I'm really not sure at this point.

Everything I've read indicates this is not a PR course, despite the appearances of a very flat, fast bike. That's fine by me, as I'm not in PR shape and plan to just have fun. I'm also rooting for big surf.

In terms of logistics, for anyone who's done the race and responds, I'm staying up the coast from Imperial Beach, about 8 miles or so in Coronado. How is traffic coming south on the 75 race day morning? Can I get through, or should I go the long way and take the 5 before heading back west toward Imperial Beach.

Thanks!

I would imagine the traffic won't be too bad on race morning from Coronado since the race is small and there probably not a ton of people staying in Coronado. If you do go the 5 that will be pretty empty at that time, but I would take the Coronado Avenue exit instead of Palm to enter IB.

The race course is along the Strand so it will probably already be cut down to one lane entering with a possible detour at the end.

I wouldn't decide until talking to people at the expo.

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The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Jens Voigt's wheel, but cracked.

Report back when you guys are done. I’m thinking about doing it next year.

For the swim, being good at surf entry and exit is important, particularly if it's a big surf day. Bonus points if you can catch a wave and body surf in. I passed like 20 people once right at the exit. And even when outside the breakers, you're going to get tossed around a bit. This is a swim for the open water swimmers, not the pool heroes.

Yeah, the bike is pretty straightforward. Usually a bit of wind.

For the run, it may have changed since I've done it (I stopped doing it when it became WTC) since I don't remember that much soft sand. But yes. You get bogged down. It's important to keep your legs turning over because you feel like you're stuck in one place. You just have to stay with it and remember everyone's going through it. One year I went sockless, and that ended up being a mistake because I spent the whole run having my feet chafed by sand.

There is a bike path you can take along the strand called the bay shore bikeway. A nice easy flat warm up..will need some lights

Thanks to both of you who responded with travel logistics. Very helpful.

I am very much looking forward to the swim.

My plan for the run is to remind myself that at least I don't have to run it as a "sugar cookie."

Run is about 12.8 Miles so I guess in the end times equal out to a 13.1 road effort

The run has a ton of sand and a lot more of it is softer than I expected. Last year was high tide so the sections along the water were pretty soft too. Heavy traffic means dodging people that all want the same line you do. Each lap you cross from the water to the road through the very soft sand 4 times (4 laps total?). It is 12.8mi but way more brutal than a regular 13.1. The bike was also long last year for what it's worth.

I recommend to start adding soft sand into your runs asap. Run on soft grass, loose bark, whatever. You want your legs used to soft ground with poor energy return. Up your cadence a bit and lean slightly forward. I practiced this in my training and had great results because of it.

Another thing I did was survive the soft sections, don't hammer them, and whenever I had hard surfaces really push, then back off slightly again on the soft sand. I was like 6:30 pace on asphalt and 9min+ on the softest stuff. Have fun, wish I could make it this year.

I don't think you will have your bike since there is a mandatory bike check in on Saturday.

Another option is the bus line which shoots straight down the Strand and has a stop about a mile from the start.

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The first time man split the atom was when the atom tried to hold Jens Voigt's wheel, but cracked.

I'm doing Superfrog! I have no idea why. I hate the ocean. I suck at swimming. I have no idea how to get through the waves. I did try surfing for the first time in July and the surf instructor guy said, "the bigger the wave, the harder you paddle towards it." So, that'll be my motto. I did do the bike course one time many many years ago before it was WTC as part of a relay team. It was a fast course, though I don't remember my time. I'm also a poor runner, so the sand is going to kill me!

I've done Oceanside a few times and I really want to PR Oceanside in 2019, so I'm doing this to practice pacing and nutrition. Hopefully, the surf doesn't hurt me too badly! See you guys out there.

For anyone interested in this race, I have a few comments about it.

There is already another thread on here with bickering about the size of the waves. I thought they were pretty big. I do not live by the ocean (Las Vegas) so do not regularly practice open water swimming in the ocean. I swim at Lake Mead pretty regularly, which can be choppy due to the winds. I thought the waves were difficult to deal with. It may different if you can practice occasionally or regularly swim in that area. Swimming is my strongest event, but I struggled with the waves. If I do this race again, I would practice strong pushs off the wall in an indoor pool and staying under water for a couple of seconds. Then come up and sprint for the remainder of the lap. Then push off the wall hard again, hold, and sprint. I would make a set of repeating this sequence 2-3 times to practice getting past the break. Once you get past the break, it's just another swim. However, when you swim back to shore, you have to be careful of the break again once you get close to the shore. Some people weren't watching behind them and got rolled from from behind.

The bike is uneventful. I thought it as flat and fast. It is a nice enough course. You have beach views with no car traffic. There is one hill that is an overpass, but it is flat other than that. Repeat 4 times. I had the bike as long by 0.5 miles. The bike is a little lonely as far as crowd support, but that does not bother me.

I had the run as a little short. I had 12.9 miles, but I think some others had 12.8. I would estimate about 7 miles of that is on the sand on the beach. The vast majority of that running is on hard pact sand close to the water. I would guess that about 1.25 to 1.5 miles are on softer sand. Once you get back on pavement though, you can tell you were running on sand. I felt fast on the pavement, decent speed on hard sand but effort was a little high, and like a snail on the soft sand. There are lots of spectators out on the sand. Many people are just hanging out on the beach watching the race.

Great crowd support and well organized.

For what it's worth, in my age/gender group (M, 35-39) there were 3 spots to 2019 Championship in France. The final spot rolled down to number 8.

I live about two miles north of IB and routinely run the beach. I have raced at IB (not Superfrog) a couple of times in the past. The surf on Sunday was the worst of the events I've done there by a good margin, and talking to some front-pack finishers from years past, this year was worse than 2016 or 2017 in terms of surf and current. But that surf and current is part of the deal at Superfrog so complaining about it doesn't really make sense. The SEALs deal with it in training just up the beach, and that's a big part of what this race is about.

I've been flipped on my head at IB before, and it's definitely tough if you don't pay attention to it. Staying under to be prepped for potential anaerobic breath holding is probably good to avoid panicking, but really some of dealing with the surf was common sense - you don't take big surf straight on to your chest. I saw so... many... people... just trying to stand against 6 foot waves. At least turn sideways, preferably dive under it as much as you can or at least duck the wave. And then like any other long distance event, just keep moving forward and keep your head even if you get pushed back. It also helps to relax and not expend a whole boat load of energy trying to fight mother nature.

The best experience is getting out there at least once and experiencing before the race. At least then you're prepared for it mentally and can stay in it. That said, there's a bit of a luck element to when you're going out and the set that happens to be coming in. My first set was a lot tougher than the second set. Overall my swim time was probably 2-3 minutes slower than it would've been in another open water race, and that included the sand run between the laps.

FWIW I also had the run course short at 12.9 miles but I rode 56.3 so it evened out. :-)