Made sure to line up at the front of the group at the boat launch. When the wave before us went off, we were allowed into the water and to swim to the deep water starting point. Got in some good strokes. Water was warmer than I was expecting. Right at the start of the race, realized I needed to pee...so that kind of sucked. Went out strong. Tried finding some feet. There was a little action, but it wasn't too bad. I wasn't able to latch onto feet and just kept swimming. I could tell there was a group of 3-4 girls about 10 yds ahead, but I wasn't able to catch on. Was feeling pretty good. First half of the swim was overcast, so sighting was pretty easy. As soon as I hit the turnaround, it felt like someone turned the light switch on. All of a sudden it was sunny...and we were swimming into the sun. Made it difficult to sight and I felt a little disoriented at first. With the fog/overcast in the morning, I went with my clear Speedo Vanquisher googles...maybe should've gone with the tinted ones? Probably wouldn't have made too much of a difference. Ended up sighting more often to make sure I was swimming toward the buoy. At this point I lost sight of the group of girls ahead of me and was just swimming past the slower swimmers from previous waves. When I was about 300 yards from the finish (I could tell I was almost at the finish), I ran into some feet and pulled back for a second. Realized the excess part of watch band was flapping (had come undone), so I tucked it back in. Snuck a quick look at my watch and saw that it read 26:00. Was pretty happy with that. I knew this would be a great swim. :) As I came back in closer to the boat launch, I saw more spectators on my breathing side. Pretty sure I heard Chris yell "Go Jen". Tried looking for him, but saw another guy in an orange jacket and white hat. The smell of boat gas/exhaust at that point was kind of gross. Made a right turn into the boat launch...swam, swam, swam until my hands came close to scraping the ground. Stood up and there were volunteers there to help us stand and unzip. Ran down the Swim In chute. Long run...was running past others who were walking. Pulled my googles and cap off. Slid my right arm out. Had a little trouble with my left because of my watch, but with the long chute, I had plenty of time to finagle it off.

Not have had as much to drink (coffee and water) before the race? Also, could've maybe pushed it a bit harder? I think in anticipation of the rest of the day, I didn't want to go too crazy.

Ran down to my spot (long run). Took off my wetsuit and put my Castelli T1 Stealth top on. Based on Chris's photos, I estimate that it took about 30 seconds to put the shirt on which is pretty good and means I gained some time with its aero benefits. Put on my halo, helmet, shoes and bib/race belt on. First time biking with the race bib, but it's a Camp Pendleton requirement. Put on my shoes, grabbed my bike and ran out. Found it pretty easy to run in my bike shoes since the path was carpeted. Mounted my bike and I was off!

Maybe get my wetsuit off a little faster? Looked up the five girls faster than me. Two were closer to 3 minutes, the other three were closer to 4 minutes...so I wasn't incredibly off.

First few miles were pretty congested. There were a lot of turns and with the congestion, meant i couldn't push it too hard...which was fine because I was able to get my HR settled. Wasn't until after mile 8 that I felt like I could push easily and pass people comfortably. Once we were past the short out-and-back turnaround, there were some good straight, flat stretches where I was able to push. Was feeling great. Loved going 20mph. Also loved being on the base. Where else do you see "TANK XING" painted on the roads?!

Once we made a right turn inland, the small rolling hills started. First few were fine. Then I started getting a bit sick of them. Hard on the legs to "start and stop" continually. Stopped at the second aid station to refill my BTA water bottle. Didn't stop/delay for too long. Thought about peeing, but opted not to.

At some point the first major hill came into view. From afar, it looked long and steep. Was an interesting view to see the dots of athletes climbing the hill from a distance. Once I was on the hill, though, it wasn't too bad. There were quite a few people (15ish) who opted to get off their bike and walk up the hill. :( I got in my smallest gear and spun my legs. Didn't need to get out of the saddle...just kept spinning. It was actually a much shorter climb than I had anticipated...about 1 mile/5 minutes.

Then more rollers and then the next big climb...which didn't feel that bad. I think the continual small climbs and rollers were more annoying than the few larger hills. By mile 30-35, I was feeling a tiny bit restless. Legs were still feeling fine, but mentally was getting a bit spent, especially knowing I still had 20 miles to go. I knew that I was close to 40 miles and once I hit 40, I'd be almost done and there'd be no more hills.

Approx. mile 37-38 was the mandatory 25mph zone. Wasn't a big deal. Had to brake and stay inline with others (no passing).

Once it was flat again and heading back into O'side, legs were still feeling good, so I pushed it. I was expecting quite a bit of headwind, but was still able to push ~20mph while holding 150ish HR. Was passing a lot of people here who were probably getting tired on the bike.

Once back closer to transition, I eased up a bit (more turns) and soon enough, I heard and saw Chris. :)

End of the bike had us zigzagging down what used to be the Swim In chute. It was pretty narrow and had these sharp kick outs where the plants/trees were. Thankfully there weren't any cyclists immediately in front of me to slow me down or immediately behind me to rush me. I took my time and made it to the dismount line.

Nutrition – 150g carbs total
4 scoops of Perpeteum Cafe Latte in 1 SBW bottle on the down tube; large sip approx. every 15-20 minutes (108g carbs)
Water every 10ish minutes; I'd guess approx. 32-36 oz total??
2 Vanilla Honey Stinger Waffles; one waffle at 1:00, the other at 2:00 (42g carbs)
2 salt tabs; one at 1:30, the other at 2:30


Nothing.

I unzipped my T1 Stealth top as I was running with my bike to my transition spot with bike shoes on. Didn't feel like the shoes slowed me down because of the carpeted path. Racked my bike (had to move another girl's helmet which was on my towel...annoying), took off the bike shirt and started putting on my socks. For whatever reason, I decided to sit down to put everything on. Didn't have to put my belt on. Grabbed my hat and ran as I put my hat on. When I hit the end of my transition rack, I saw the port potty was vacant, so decided to go.

Not pee? But I would've needed to pee at some point! My rationale was that it was better not to have to "carry" the extra weight. :)

Felt great at the start of the run...as I always do. Though soon realized that my HR wasn't working on my watch. It was acting up on the pre-race WU run...so something must be up. Turning the watch on and off before the race fixed it, but I wasn't about to do that during my run. Oh well. Would have to go by RPE.

Turns out I mentally hate runs along the beach. I prefer runs that have lots of turns to distract you. Not only was this run two loops, but they were also out-and-back loops, which meant I could always see where I was going and where I needed to be. Instead of focusing on where I currently was, I was thinking about how I really wanted to be on the other side of the cones, on my way back to the finish. I much prefer paths where I can only see a few yards ahead and see those "short" goals rather than the large, long goals.

Mile 1 clicked off great. I knew it was faster than I'd probably be holding, so I tried slowing down even though I felt awesome. Slowed down the second mile and was still feeling good. Mile 3 was still feeling okay. Had a GU with caffeine at about mile 3.5/4. Then the slog began. I was dreading the run. Was struggling...especially the thought of running ALL the way back to transition to start the second loop. It seemed so far away!

At first it started with walking the water stops...then at about after an hour, I did my first walk moment...ran again and then would find another excuse to walk...Had my second GU at about mile 7, third GU at around mile 10. At that point, I realized I probably should've been taking some electrolytes as well? At all the aid stations, I only took ice and water.

It was pretty sunny out with absolutely no shade. Though it never felt *too* hot because of the constant breeze. While the run wasn't hilly, it felt hilly because we had to run up ramps that took you from sea level to the pier...then run back down the ramps...and run up other street ramps to take you up to the neighborhood area.

At some point, I knew I wasn't holding a great pace and I pretty much stopped paying attention to my mile paces. With about 3 miles to go, I realized that I could still put in an okay run. Then with 2 miles to go, I realized I could come close to my Boise time. I was looking only at run time and not overall time. The last mile or so, I was determined to keep running and the closer I came to the finish, I felt like the faster I could run because it was almost over.

By the time I was coming toward the chute, there were two other guys in front of me. They were friends so were running together, blocking the path to the finish. They were running more slowly than I wanted, so I said "excuse me" and ran right in between them. When I realized that I had PR-ed my Boise time by 5 seconds, I didn't feel so bad for running past them and kicking it in the last 100 yards.

Probably didn't come into this race with the best run fitness, but maybe even pacing would've helped? Definitely need to figure out what was going on with the HR monitor. Seems like it cut out early on in the bike. Maybe that info would've helped? Either way, I have NO idea how I was able to beat my Boise run time because at Boise, I ran the entire time...whereas here, I walked 3, 4 or maybe even 5 times....

SUNSCREEN OR SUNSLEEVES. Shoulders hurt because they're burnt. I have sleeves, but didn't wear them. Coming from winter weather, I forgot what sunny beaches can do to you. You don't look as cool or serious wearing them. Fast runners aren't out on the course long enough to get burnt and need sleeves right? I also have a serious watch tan and shorts tan...and a weird triangular tan on my inner elbow from how I hold my arms when I run.

Stretched a tiny bit. Ate some of the food provided, but wasn't really able to stomach much. Sat with Chris as we ate, then walked down to the beach to take a photo. He said my tracking hadn't updated since mile 7 and I knew some people were tracking me, so decided to post on FB to let them know I was done. Of course when the results were finally up, found out I was 6th and only 59 seconds off the podium. Incredibly happy with the results...but wondered where I could've gained those 59 seconds back! :)


Wasn't an A race so didn't do the complete build I was capable of. Not having HR on the run really sucked. Really happy, though, with the personal results of the race. PR-ed by 5 seconds on a harder course with less of a build.