Las Palomas Triathlon at Rocky Point - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

I hate every single second of this swim. Every single one. This was awful.

The waves were ways stronger than they looked from the shore, and the first stretch leading straight away from the beach (and straight into the waves) was horrible for just about everybody. I don't think I managed to get in more than two strokes of freestyle the whole time. It was slightly better once we made the first turn, but the waves were pushing us sideways and it was tough to stay on course. My only consolation was that most everyone around me was as miserable as I was.

About halfway through the swim, some woman shouted, "I swear to god I'm swimming, but I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" It made me smile, and then I got smacked in the head by some huge guy straggling behind the other men sprint racers and was barely staying afloat. I couldn't ever really get into any sort of comfort zone, so I spent the majority of the swim side-stroking and quasi-breaststroke/doggy-paddling. Kinda pathetic. I tried my hardest not to swallow any of the salt water, but it was obvious when I got out of the water that my stomach was not happy about it.

Got out of the water and immediately stripped the top half of my wetsuit. It was a pretty long jog uphill to transition, so I walked most of it and ran to my bike once I got to the carpet and off the sand. Oh yeah, and I realized that I never started my watch at the beginning of the race. Awesome.

Umm... actually swim? Practice swimming in the wetsuit? Do more open water swims? More ocean swims? Keep my damn mouth closed and not drink the ocean water?

I was pretty out of it following the swim. I did pretty well getting off my wetsuit, although I did have to sit down to pull it off my ankles. Attempted to dry my face of salt water and threw on my helmet. Realized that the way my hair was braided, my helmet wouldn't fit. Fumbled with my hair for a minute to undo the bottom half of it, then finally got on my helmet, threw on my socks/shoes, took a swig of gatorade, and started running up to the mount area.

Not feel like such crap after the swim, for starters. And figure out a way to do my hair in races that doesn't get in my way.

This was a frustrating ride for me. Biking is my favorite, but I just couldn't get into a groove. This course was kind of funny- two laps with lots of turn-arounds and sections of cobblestone, and huge sections of really really crappy roads. The road was so jarring that I had actually convinced myself halfway through the first lap that my back tire was flat (it wasn't). I also hadn't realized that my computer sensor was knocked loose at some point during the morning, so I had no idea how far or how fast I was going during the ride.

I didn't ride terribly overall, I just didn't really enjoy the ride, which was really disappointing to me. I had been hoping to make up some time on the bike, but I just couldn't seem to relax. In every picture Josh snapped of me, my shoulders look really tense and I look very angry. ;)

I felt a bit nauseous from the salt water, and as a result simply was not able to push myself very hard at all. I also didn't drink any water at all during the bike, which was really stupid and certainly didn't help my upset stomach. Saw one woman hit a patch of sand on one of the turns and go flying over the curb. I think that probably also contributed to my nervousness on the road.

Not suck so badly on the swim. Not try to push myself too hard when I'm feeling yucky. Not let myself get so frustrated and instead just try to enjoy my ride. Drink more water. Remember to check my bike computer right before the race starts.

Legs felt okay when I hopped off my bike. I stopped right after the time mat to take off my shoes (my bike was racked quite a ways downhill from the dismount line) and ran with my shoes in my hand back down to my spot. Got on my shoes pretty quickly, then tried to remove my helmet and it got stuck in my shitty braid again... spent probably a full minute having to rip the elastic band out of my hair, pull out the braid and then put my hair into a ponytail so it wouldn't be tugging at the back of my neck for the entire run. Such a pain.

This was pretty good, but again- I've got to figure out the hair situation.

I was totally not expecting this course to be as hilly as it was. It was across and around the golf course, so parts of it were along the golf cart paths, and parts of it were across the grass. Ran the first mile, then had to walk the uphills for the rest of the course. I was trying my best to ignore the grossness in my stomach, because I really felt like I wanted to puke. There were a few aid stations, and I made sure to take water from each one since I knew I was underhydrated from the bike. I got passed by a lot of people. Towards the end I could finally hear the finish line music and managed to run the last section of the course pretty quickly, until of course I hit the beach sand along the finish chute and just could not pick up speed and sprint no matter how hard I tried. Whoever decided to put the finish line in ankle-deep sand is an evil person. Crossed the finish line, jumped on the slip-n-slide, then walked around in a dizzy haze looking for the water tent.

Not suck on the swim and not get so frustrated on the bike. I was feeling sick and grumpy by the time I started this run, so it was pretty much doomed from the start.

I stood by the water coolers for probably 5 minutes drinking as much fluid as my body would let me. Found my friends, sat on the sand near the finish for a little bit and watched some more people finish. Wasn't feeling ready for beer or food yet, so I went and grabbed my bike and gear from transition and headed back up to the room. Took some time to cool off, change into my swimsuit, and headed back to the beach. Spent the rest of the day on the beach, drinking beers, eating tacos, trying to forget about the race. ha.


Damn ocean swim and waves and salt water. Blah. For most of this race, I was trying to convince myself that from now on I'm only going to race duathlons. (I don't think I'll give up so easily... but I was sure considering it.)


I think that if I had managed to do better in the swim, this entire race would have really been a lot of fun. The bike course is a bit sketchy in spots, but the run is really pretty, and you can't beat the overall scene and vibe surrounding the event. I just allowed myself to get bogged down.

This race is super well organized, there were tons of volunteers, the resort seems really great about hosting everybody... and c'mon, a free after-party with all-you-can-drink booze? On the beach in Mexico? It doesn't get much better than that.