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 Swim
Comments: Good swim for me. I went out past the breakers as fast as I could. They threw me to the right a little bit but I wasn't afraid to attack that ocean and dive under the waves. I got kicked in the face right as I reached the first buoy and had to readjust my goggles but remained pretty unphased by it. Felt comfortable during the whole swim. Passed some girls, got passed by some, passed some guys! Wasn't sprinting but kept it on the tougher side of moderate for the whole swim. Coming in was okay until I was at waist deep water. It seemed like there was a strong undertow. I felt like I was trying to get my legs out of molasses. What would you do differently?: maybe get a little more aggressive with my swim. I think I could have handled it. But overall, I am super happy. I felt like I had a really good swim.  Transition 1
Comments: i was ready to get on that bike! What would you do differently?: bring a towel. I realized I forgot mine when I was already driving to the race. maybe an extra bottle of water to get the sand off my feet.  Bike
Comments: I've rode this course about 5 times through training. I did bricks on this course. I was so comfortable with it. It's funny, while training I decided on the spots I would go all out on and the spots I would save my legs on. Today I went all out on every spot on that course! I killed it. 18.2 isn't as fast as some but it's my fastest bike split ever. I looked at my Garmin and realizing I was ahead of schedule thought for a second that I might want to slow down. But I was feeling so good so I went for it. My hill training came into play, no one passed me on any of the hills. No one! Hunted those girls down. I was riding with this one pink Nike girl for a while that would say "left" for both of us as we passed. :) she was my friend for the course but I ended up breaking away as she went "crank it, yeah girl". What would you do differently?: Absolutely nothing. Well, get a Tri bike so I can ride aero, that's all. But that is coming soon enough. Transition 2
 Run
Comments: My one goal for the entire race was to have a good run. all my tempo sessions told me I could sustain a 7:30 pace. Even if I had a mediocre swim and bike, I wanted a good run. I did this. My legs felt so heavy and it would have been so easy to slow down. I looked at my hand that had "no regrets" written on it. I thought of Doug and all the people in the World Championships last weekend that had to run 13.1 after their 1.2 and 56. I just tried to keep passing and passing. I watched my pace fluctuate 7:30 8:04 7:45 and was okay with it. I decided to keep it comfortably hard for the first 5k then take off for the 2nd. something sparked in me and I just started going. I felt so good and couldn't believe how good I felt. I was pushing but it didn't hurt one bit, it felt amazing. I saw Doug when I thought I still had a mile or so and he said "800 meters left" and I took my threshold pace to an all out sprint. I yelled to him that he has to watch me finish so "he better hurry" which was amusing to the guys running behind me. They yelled at him "better hurry bro she is flying". I went so fast to that finish line and felt so amazing. I want to have that feeling over and over again. What would you do differently?: Maybe start a little faster so I can have a quicker time overall. but negative splits are so fun! Post race
Warm down: I told my friend Jordan I would finish by 10:18 if all went according to plan. I crossed that finish line and walked out. Jordan showed me his iPhone- "10:18" :) Doug was such an important part of my race today. He inspires and motivates and supports and loves me to no end and makes me feel like I can do absolutely anything. Maybe one day I would have felt like this all on my own, but he helped bring it out of me.I get to see his training and effort level and dedication every day, and I draw on it when I'm having hard days. One of my best friends came to watch me finish too, and it meant so much that these people came to see me. Hung out, bought a track jacket, ate a banana. Went to five guys for the first time and was not impressed. then the real fun part- I had to get ready and go to WORK!! boo. that's okay, I am still flying high on cloud 9. So happy with my performance. What limited your ability to perform faster: NOTHING I AM A MACHINE Event comments: I'm 24 and if I was still competing in the 18-24 group I would have WON! but I turn 25 soon so I was in the 25-29 group for the first time for this race. those girls are fierce! The ocean can be unprdictable.The bike is somewhat challenging but the run is flat. train on rolling hills and you'll be good to go! Last updated: 2011-05-09 12:00 AM
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United States
Michael Epstein Sports Productions, Inc.
71F / 22C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 360/
Age Group = F 25-29
Age Group Rank = 10/48
Slept remarkably well until 3am. I woke up and felt like I had forgotten how to swim. I knew I could bike and run but swimming in an Ocean felt like something I was definitely NOT comfortable with. I squeezed my boyfriend's hand and managed to get back to sleep for maybe an additional 15 minutes. I've ocean swam plenty of times to practice, even did the course swim a bunch. Still, I was freaking out. This race meant so much to me because it was my second Olympic. My first one I was doing just to do, to finish strong and have a good time but mainly just to finish. I ended up feeling like crap for that one! But this one, MALIBU... I wanted to actually do well this time, and that's where all the nerves were coming from. I signed up for this race almost 8 months before today. I had completely amped up my training. I did my first plan that had two a day workouts. I did my hill climbs and intervals and thresholds and tempos and reached a point where I thought I was breaking down but ended up breaking through. I had a good taper. I focused on my nutrition way more than I ever have. I wanted to kick ass and I knew I was ready to but was almost afraid to. It's so easy to go easy.
Alarm went off at 4. Right out of bed, starbucks was already in the fridge from last night (iced latte). ate oatmeal and got my race suit and morning clothes on. I have my routine down but my extra nerves this morning kind of threw my focus around. My boyfriend does the most amazing job of amping me up yet making me feel relaxed at the same time. He played good race day songs for me while I drove and told me it was my course, my race. Maybe it's because I'm newer to the sport, but race day mornings are some of the most memorable lapses of time to me. I remember the song played and all the conversations and have such visuals of each morning before a big race I've done. One day I'll start to forget, once I have 10 Ironmans under my belt. But for now, I really soak it up. Once we parked I found a good spot for my bike and felt comfortable because I had already checked out the bike out run out etc the day before and knew my rack was 5th from the end. Didn't talk to anyone this time besides Doug on the other side of the gate. I really took my sweet ass time setting all my stuff up. I think I was trying to hold on to the pre-race because I was deathly afraid of the race. In the pictures Doug took of me, my face looks like I had just seen a ghost. Ate my powerbar energy fruit smoothie bar like planned and got my wet suit on. headed to the mandatory meeting.
walking to the swim start, wanting to puke, and there was Doug. Here to relax me again! Who knew he was coming to come to the swim start all the way down at tower 9!
I got in the water and instantly felt better. It felt warm and I swam around a bit, went past the breakers, felt my stroke out. I was feeling good. Watched the first wave go out. went back to shore and anxiously awaited my wave, 30 minutes after the official start!