Well, it seems I’m going to be the lone soldier to keep the ubiquitous “race report” tradition alive here on ST for this particular race. Is it that no one wants to be scrutinized for their shortcomings on their execution of their race? Or maybe it’s that our uber-athletes are afraid of getting their heads chopped off in the event that they dare to claim victory or success in winning or placing well at a big race. Or, maybe everyone’s just too busy, or lazy.
Where do I fit into all of this? I’m just a guy that likes to write, and since my wife doesn’t really like to listen to me talk about how my race was executed, this is my only outlet. So, read if you’re interested. If not, this is your opportunity to click back to other topics.
RACE DAY:
I live 20 minutes from the venue, but I wanted to nab one of the coveted harbor parking spaces, so I was up eating my 3 Kashi Waffles slathered in Mrs. Butterworth’s by 4:15am and out the door by 4:35am. I made the drive jamming to some swing tunes from Michael Buble and ate a banana and slugged some Gatorade on the way. Yeah, I hear ya…Michael Buble…that’s right! I am a drummer, so I can appreciate the complicated rhythms of jazz baby!
Got into T1 and set up and then waited in line for the portapotty. Out front, the waves were FIRING and since no surfers could park in the harbor area, there was one guy out scoring all the pre-dawn waves. I briefly fantasized about joining him and bailing on the race, but throwing away $250 and weeks of hard training wouldn’t allow it.
SWIM:
Being in something like the 18th wave gave me a lot of time to “hang out” at my bike looking at my setup 50 bazillion times, making sure everything was in place and that no one else screwed with my stuff. I finally got the wetsuit on and sauntered over as the first wave of pros were coming in. I still had 20 minutes to wait in line before my wave started.
Finally, we’re off at 7:37am. I started wide and in front and found basically clean water for most of the swim with minimal contact. I focussed on my form after getting an impromptu lesson at the Endless Pool at the Expo on Thursday. I caught up with stragglers from prior waves about halfway out, and managed to shave 2 minutes off last year’s swim. Woo hoo, off to a good start.
Swim time: 31:54
BIKE:
T1 was okay, but I wanted to put my gloves on, and that took about 30 seconds. It was warming up quickly, but I hate having cold hands, so what are you gonna do…
Anyway, got off to a solid start and since I’m very familiar with the course, since half of it is on my training route every week, I knew where to give it some more and where to back down. My goal was simply to beat last year’s effort. Last year, with a moderate SW wind, my bike time barely cracked the 3-hour mark. This year, less wind, so I was determined to shave some time. I kept a hard effort (for me) and powered along averaging about 20 mph on the flatter front side of the course, knowing the hilly backside was still ahead. I fueled up as much as I could between about mile 5 and mile 25, and then we turned east and then south again on the backside of the course.
Man, I really wish I could train on this part of the course. Hey, I pay taxes, so I paid for those roads, right? Maybe I should take the USMC to court to allow me to ride back there? Ahhh, I’d never win. It is hilly, green, and beautiful back there this time of year. One poor bastard either dropped or broke his chain on one of the three tough climbs and literally tipped over right in front of me. I asked him if he was okay. He seemed to only have a bruised ego at that point.
I got a bit tired in the middle of all of that, but sort of got a second wind toward the end of the bike and managed to dig about 7 minutes out of last year’s bike time. Okay, so far, mission accomplished. I took 2 minutes off last year’s swim, 7 off the bike.
Bike time: 2:53:06
RUN:
The run! Oh man, last year I threw down a 1:40 1/2 mary, and vowed that I would likely never beat that again. Being that I raced Superfrog 1/2 just 6 days prior and had a sore heel for 24 hours post-race, I knew I was going to be in pain tomorrow, but really wanted to see if that 1:40 was within my reach again. I had stopped fueling in the last 10 miles on the bike because, from experience, I know that too much gel and Gatorade sloshing around in my gut doesn’t work well when I start running, so I felt good at the start of the run. Just a minor hint of heel pain (thanks to ongoing PF issues). So slight that I was easily able to ignore it. I started out at what I thought was about an 8:20 pace or so. My plan was to pick it up after the first 3 miles and try to get it well under 8 minute/miles.
You know how some runs, you just feel like you have that spring in your step? You feel like you’re floating along and it’s just easy? This was not going to be one of those. It wasn’t terrible, but I wasn’t “floating”, that’s for damn sure. Plus, last year, we didn’t have to run on the sand, which I’m sure contributed to my 1:40. This time around, yes, about 100 yards of sand were covered 4 times during the run, so that would have knocked at least a minute or two off my pace. At any rate, after the first lap, I began imagining how nice I would be to go sleep on the beach there, but knew if I could gut it out for a bit longer, I would have my Oceanside PR. At 45 years old, PR’s are validation that even though I may be getting “older”, I’m not getting “old”! So, I got into my suffer mode and just tried to run as fast as I thought I could maintain for another 6.5 miles without puking or collapsing. Saw some friends along the course and said “hi”, but I couldn’t help but constantly look at my watch to see if I was on track to break last year’s 5:21 time or come close to my 1:40 half marathon.
Meanwhile, I did the unthinkable and wore a pair of shoes that I had only one run in up to that point. They were an updated version of my old pair, so I figured I’d be fine, but they seemed to be narrower, so I could feel a nice blister forming on my left foot. The sand section just abused it, so that was another bit of pain to try to ignore. So, finally, finally, I could hear Welchy and Mike Reilly and knew I was CLOSE, so I opened it up with all I had. I wasn’t going to break my 1:40 from last year, but I was going to finish in record time for this course. Woo hoo! I passed a guy in my AG in the last 300 yards and pushed across the tape glad to be finished. Damn that hurt! 5:14 was my time.
Run time: 1:42:55
TOTAL TIME: 5:14:33
POST RACE:
Grabbed my hat, tee, and medal and got some pizza, Coke and cookies and chatted with a few guys before lining up for my massage. That is one of the simple pleasures in life! The ONLY time I ever get massages is at races that have them free for the athletes since I’m too damn cheap to pay for them, so there I was practically falling asleep on the table and suddenly it’s over. Damnit! So, I sat there post-massage thinking about my odds for a roll down to 30th place in my AG for Kona, and since my wife has no interest in us going to Clearwater again (bummer), that wasn’t an option. I actually asked Paula Newby-Fraser how many slots my AG (45-49) would get for Kona, half thinking there was an actual shot at things rolling down that far, but realized I must have inhaled some alcohol while getting my massage and hobbled back to the car for the drive home.
My foot hurt like hell on Sunday and I massaged it and rolled a rolling pin across the heel, and by Monday afternoon, I could walk normally again. Strangely, the rest of my body felt great, no soreness, etc., and I even went bodyboarding twice the day after the race, so I think I’m doing something right as far as training goes, I’m just not very fast. I can live with that.
