It’s nice to do some competition that’s a bit sideways from the normal triathlon racing. San Clemente, CA hosts a annual ‘Oceanfest’ which took place this past weekend. Saturday consists of competitions for lifeguards and Sunday is for ‘civilians’. The events schedule went: 9:00 - 5k beach run; 10:15 - 1 mile ocean swim and 5k beach run 'biathlon (as they call it); 12:15 - 1 mile ocean swim; 2:00 - 400 meter swim/400 meter run/400 meter swim (was more like 800 meter swim/100 meter run/800 meter swim); 3:00 500 meter swim. You can do one, all or any combination of these for only $40.
I did all but the final 500 meter swim. I was toast, and even though prodded to do it, I stayed down on my beach towel. I met up with TriBodyBoarder, at his booth, and chatted a bit before we headed down to the next event (I don’t even remember if it was the biathlon or the mile swim - already getting delirious.) A lot of younger pure swimmers, pool rats, come out for this and it’s interesting to watch & swim with them as they don’t know how to quickly enter the ocean, but soon pass you when they get out past the surf. I was amazed watching these young girls pass me - watching them pull away with each powerful stroke and using a strong kick, something we triathletes don’t and probably shouldn’t do. It was also interesting to see old guys looking woefully out of shape kick ass in the ocean - even though some have mighty big guts, you can see the swimmer’s body through that; broad, strong shoulders and lats, arms that seem to hang down to their knees.
So, I did well enough, though with a fourth in the 5k run, and first in the other three events I did (in my AG). It adds up to about two and a half miles of swimming and six and a half miles running (in sand). Tough, but a lot of fun. A great day at the beach.