Just checking. Going to be there for the long course in a couple weeks. This will be my third time doing the long course and I’m bound and determined not to walk up that damn mountain.
Nobody? For real? OK. Guess it will just be me. I’ll post a report this weekend.
I used to live in SB before I took up the sport (only biked then), so I am jealous you’ll be there racing. Good luck! and yeah those foothills are no joke to ride, but at least they dont have you going up gibralter.
I’d love to do Santa Barbara, but IM 70.3 Santa Cruz is two weeks out and has become an annual race for me since it’s my closets 70.3.
I look forward to your report! SB is definitely on my list of must-do California races.
I used to live in SB before I took up the sport (only biked then), so I am jealous you’ll be there racing. Good luck! and yeah those foothills are no joke to ride, but at least they dont have you going up gibralter.This will be my third time. Don’t know “gibralter” but that last hill (mountain?) is quite a climb in its own right.
Its a road going up into the mountains, Cat 1 climb. Here’s is the segment, https://www.strava.com/segments/658277 - all the KOMs are the pro cyclists that have trained there.
OK, ya. Eff that. I’m pretty much tapped out at any distance with a 6* or better grade.
Race report for yesterday.
Well, weather conditions were virtually perfect. Water temp was a little cold at 66*. I wore my shorty wet suit but really wish I hadn’t. I didn’t do really well on the swim at 39 minutes. A little bit of that was just the waves out to the first buoy. I just couldn’t get comfortable and find my rhythm for some reason. But after I made the turn, I got in my groove and even stayed on course (more or less) virtually the entire swim. According to the official results, my swim was a 2:28/100m pace. Obviously slower than I want but I think some of that time was just being uncomfortable at the start and then the melee and current. On these long courses, I’m not a particularly fast swimmer but can generally hold about a 2:15/100m pace.
It always takes me so long in T1 to get out of my wet suit that my transition time is a joke. I was in T1 for over 7 minutes. To be fair, a good minute or two was just fighting to get my wet hair set up under my helmet.
Once on the bike, I did really well on the flats and descents. But I’m really bad at the climb. I did set up my Shiv for hills to the best I could. I need a different RD that will allow a bigger cassette but I made do with what I had. For the first time in three attempts, I did not have to get off and walk up the last climb (yay, me!). But my average pace over the 34 miles was 15.5mph. That was very frustrating because on reasonably flat ground, I can often hold a 18-20mph pace (on truly flat ground, I can hold 20+ for a lot of that way). My top speed on the descents according to my Velo was 42mph (yikes!).
T2 took quite a while also, but this was largely due to a planned hydration/nutrition break, so not really unexpected.
And then, once again, I blew up on the run. I did try that run/walk/run strategy somewhat. The way the course is set up, it’s a true out-and-back route, so the first two and last two miles are pretty much pancake flat as you run along the beach front. Then, the next 1.5 miles is a continuous climb (with corresponding descent on the return), followed by the 1.5 miles to the turn around and then back being a mix of short, but fairly steep inclines/declines.
So I tried the run/walk/run timed strategy on the flat section, but I don’t run up hill any more. So I literally walked the entire 1.5 miles up the hill. Once I topped the hill, my strategy became walk up all the inclines, run everything else. The result is my run time for the 10 miles was just over 2:19.
My super optimistic goal was to finish the entire course by noon. Given the time trial start and when I entered the water, that would have put me at a sub 4:50 total time. Ya, not even close to that. So my kind of realistic goal was to finish within 5 hours of my start time. That didn’t happen either. Then, my on-the-fly goal was to finish by 12:30. I could at least see the finish at that time, but there was no way I could make it. I had to settle for a finish in under 5.5 hours of my start, and I did with just a little over five minutes to spare.
So once again, this just reaffirms what I already knew - I suck at the run. It also reaffirms the other thing I already knew - I suck at climbing. Had this distance been much flatter, I’m certain I could shave off nearly an hour of that time, mostly on the bike but I would make up a little on the run as well.
But what does this mean for me in November for IMAZ? Well, I’m slightly altering my strategy by focusing on the bike, where I’ll be strongest. My original plan was to just hold a 16.5mph pace on the bike to save some leg for the run, but honestly, the difference between my tired time and my blown up time is only about a minute a mile. I can hold a much faster pace on the bike and get on the run course with a lot more time than that. I need to be out of T2 by 5pm at the latest to give me the time to simply walk the course if I blow up on the bike.
Thanks for the race report, it sounds like a challenging course. I do like hills, so I think the course is suited for me. And good luck at IMAZ! There won’t be any big, steep hills but you might have to fight some headwinds on the bike.
Yes, earlier this year, I went down to Tempe and rode the bike course and ran a bit of the run course. Very manageable hills for me. In fact, I have mapped out a route here at home that is almost identical in both length and elevation to the IMAZ bike course, so I have a perfect practice route.
As for the run, it’s much flatter than what Santa Barbara is so it’s better for me in that respect. It will all come down to how much gas I have left in the tank after the bike segment.
And just as an aside, so much for a recovery ride. I just did Santa Barbara on Saturday, took yesterday off and thought I would get in a short, easy recovery ride today. I got about six miles into a 20 mile ride and noticed I was holding a steady 19.6mph pace. I felt pretty good and thought, “hell, I bet I can maintain a 20mph pace for the whole ride.” Cranked up the tempo and finished in 59 minutes. My Velo calculated 20.2mph pace.
Great work on the race Jen, sounds like a tough course.
How was the weekend in Santa Barbara other than the race? Any good food (burritos especially) wine or other spots you found?
I am the wrong person to give such a report. I do this stuff on a shoestring budget and consider $175 for on night in a Motel 6 to be a rip off. I pretty much bring everything with me and drove home that evening.
Congrats on completing the Long Course. That is a tough course, in particular that 10 mile run with hills. I have “graduated” to the Sprint course, but may try the new SB 25 (Olympic distance next year).
If you do the race again and you want to stay overnight, look into places in Ventura, 30 miles south. Probably get much better rates and just a 25 minute drive in the morning to get to the course.
As to the other post about Burritos, my favorite hole in the wall Mexican food is El Sitio in Santa Barbara. I’ve never had a burrito there. Only had one item there, the #1, brochetta de pollo. My favorite dish. Only get up there a few times a year, so it’s a treat and don’t want to try something else. Though I’ve tried making it at home, and I’m about 90% as good as what they do.
Mainly because of the logistic and expense of the event, this was likely my last time. If I were to do it again, it would almost certainly be the SB25 or even shorter. But as it is, it’s a 6 hour drive each way, plus at least one night motel stay. It simply doesn’t make financial sense to do it any more.
I think it’s a really good event and I appreciated it for the preparation. I often tell people the Long Course is a really good indicator of how you could do in a 70.3 and I believe that. Despite being 20+ miles longer on the bike and 3 miles longer on the run, my time at Indian Wells last year was only a little more than an hour longer than this year’s Long Course.
But given that I intend to dial back my distances after IMAZ in November, I no longer need that level of preparation. I’m going to be dropping down almost exclusively to sprints and aquabikes next year, mainly because of the run. It’s just getting too hard on my arthritic knees and hips.
Congrats on completing the Long Course. That is a tough course, in particular that 10 mile run with hills. I have “graduated” to the Sprint course, but may try the new SB 25 (Olympic distance next year).
If you do the race again and you want to stay overnight, look into places in Ventura, 30 miles south. Probably get much better rates and just a 25 minute drive in the morning to get to the course.
As to the other post about Burritos, my favorite hole in the wall Mexican food is El Sitio in Santa Barbara. I’ve never had a burrito there. Only had one item there, the #1, brochetta de pollo. My favorite dish. Only get up there a few times a year, so it’s a treat and don’t want to try something else. Though I’ve tried making it at home, and I’m about 90% as good as what they do.
Congrats on completing the Long Course. That is a tough course, in particular that 10 mile run with hills. I have “graduated” to the Sprint course, but may try the new SB 25 (Olympic distance next year).
If you do the race again and you want to stay overnight, look into places in Ventura, 30 miles south. Probably get much better rates and just a 25 minute drive in the morning to get to the course.
As to the other post about Burritos, my favorite hole in the wall Mexican food is El Sitio in Santa Barbara. I’ve never had a burrito there. Only had one item there, the #1, brochetta de pollo. My favorite dish. Only get up there a few times a year, so it’s a treat and don’t want to try something else. Though I’ve tried making it at home, and I’m about 90% as good as what they do.Now that I have “conquered” the mountain (i.e. not walked up the damn thing), I think I’m calling it good. That, in all likelihood, will be my last SB event. I do kind of like it, despite it being the polar opposite of what I’m good at, but logistically it’s just becoming unsustainable. From here in Nevada, it’s a 6-7 hour drive, traffic depending, each way plus motel and lugging all my shit there and back. It’s just more than I want to continue. After I finish IMAZ in November, I’m going to be dialing back a lot of my events to more like sprint distances and maybe more aquabike to save my knees. I can hardly see making that trip for a shorter event.
And then there’s the cost. SB is still reasonably priced, but everything invariably goes up. Another event I was considering this year was Long Beach. I did that a couple years ago and thought it might be a good event to do again. Then I checked into it and I could not believe how much they wanted just to do the sprint. Entry plus travel? All for a <2 hour race? Ya, hard pass.