Mission Viejo, California United States Pelican Coast Events

Total Time = 2h 28m 29s Overall Rank = 62/700 Age Group = 40-44 Age Group Rank = 9/66

My Race Report:

OC Tri Race Report-

Nothing like racing close to home! You sleep in your own bed, the only travel costs are some gas to and from the venue, and depending on the race distance, you're home in time for lunch usually. I was more than stoked to enjoy all of these perks with the reincarnated Orange County International Triathlon. I live just about 25 minutes from Lake Mission Viejo and ride much of the bike route in some of my training rides, so it was familiar territory. I was looking forward to the swim in what is essentially a private lake that I've never been to, and a run in an area that I know, but have never run.

RACE DAY
We'd been having thick fog here at the beach for the days leading up to the event, but if you were a couple of miles inland, things went from cold and clammy to hot and sweaty, and such was the case the day before the race when I went up to register. Race morning, I left the house around 4:45am to get decent parking and it was pea soup thick fog by my house. By the time I had reached the lake, I was above the fog, and it was looking like a great day on tap.
About 30 minutes pre-race, the fog began to descend on the lake. Uh oh! I had visions of the swim being canceled. The water temp was 80, and for some reason, they allowed wetsuits even for potential podium finishers. Not sure why as they made that call even before the fog came in. Anyway, not one to give up a couple of minutes on a 1500 meter swim, I wore my sleeveless DeSoto T1. I was a little concerned about overheating, but figured I would get through as long as the fog hung around and stay cool enough to finish the swim solidly.
My goals for the race: Finish top ten in my AG, and lay down a 45-minute 10K.

THE SWIM
Ran into DocFuel and a local friend of mine and occasional ST'er JChriss in the water warming up. I had no idea which way we were going to swim and honestly, you could see maybe 50 meters ahead, so I just hoped the guys in front of us were going to swim straight so I could follow them. The RD gave us a quick briefing telling us to swim straight out 700 meters. Being in the 4th wave, we watched swimmers in the prior waves zig zag off into the mist, so when we started, I just tried to swim what I thought was straight. I had started one row behind the front, and was able to move out of the main pack after a few hundred meters with minimal bumping. Occasionally, I'd come across someone moving at a 45-degree angle across the pack. About halfway through, I started moving through people from the prior two waves. The fog was lifting now and I could actually see the buoys. I was feeling good on the swim and holding a good pace and think I finished near the front of my wave, and saw 25 minutes and change on my watch as I exited the water. I was encouraged as the racks were full of bikes when I got to T1.

THE BIKE
After a quick T1, I was off on the bike and made quick work of passing folks on the climbs. I was very familiar with the route, so I knew when to push and when to hold back. I'm not fast, but I was able to overtake mainly on the climbs. I wanted to push it on the bike, but knew I had to save something for the run. There was one moment on the return trip where an old gal was running against the flow of the bike traffic on the shoulder of the road and I couldn't help but think that someone was going to plow into her. What the hell was she thinking?
The last 4 miles or so are all downhill, so I went as fast as I could and really enjoyed that stretch and moved into T2 ready for the 10K. My odo read 23.4 miles, or about 1.5 miles short of 40K. Still not sure why they didn't have T2 back at the lake where T1 was. Bike time was a bit over 1:12 which was good for me.

THE RUN
T1 was less than a minute. One of my fastest. I was just glad there were no scorpions or snakes in my shoes after having them out in the dirt all night. It was starting to warm up quite a bit by now, and I began the run with a decent pace. My goal was a 45-minute 10K, and at the start of the run, I was 1:41 into the race. My PR for Oly distance was 2:30:04, so I really wanted to beat that, though I figured it just wouldn't happen on this hilly course. The first couple of miles were downhill along the Aliso Creek Bike Trail. There were water stations every mile or so, and I'd take a cup and swallow half and dump half on my head. Had one gel on the run after mile 2. Then, we turned off into some off-road trails which included some sections through the woods, over little bridges, and back out onto roads. I didn't really know when the hills were coming, so I was always keeping something in the tank. The killer hill was on Los Alisos (I think) which featured a solid 1/2 mile climb. I kept a high-cadence run going and many were walking, so I figured I could gain a couple of spots here.
Toward the end, we came out onto Marguerite, and they had this sadistic zig zag where you pass the finish line twice before finally coming back a third time to make the turn to the finish. I had been pacing myself and was holding about 7:40-7:50 miles, so on pace to get close to a 45-minute 10K, but I think the hills killed that goal. I was really amped up toward the finish with the crowds cheering us on. That's always a big help. I made the right turn on Olympiad, and for some reason had thought the finish was going to be back down by the lake, so I was surprised to see there were only 100 yards to go, so I started my kick later than I would have liked, and saw there was no one around me as I crossed and stopped my watch at 2:28:30. So, that meant I put in a 47-minute 10K, a couple of minutes off my goal, but I beat my Oly PR by a bit over a minute-and-a-half, though the shorter bike course would have to factor in.

POST-RACE
Went to the car and hauled over to T2 and got my bike and then came back to the lake for the awards. I was feeling great and took a dip in the lake and grabbed some grub (fruit, bagels, cookies) and watched the awards. In checking the results, my name was nowhere to be found. I should have been in 9th in my AG, so I had to find the timing folks as they were packing things up and ask them to look into it. Hopefully they'll find my info and post my splits/placing. Not a major deal, but I would like to have my official splits at least. Kudos to the Pelican Coast Events crew for a great race and a fantastic Oly course. Thanks to all the great volunteers who helped direct us at the many turns and intersections along the bike and run.
So, because we're just not having a super great year businesswise, this "might" have been my last race of the season. Can't justify plunking down $100 plus for the Bonelli Oly next weekend when we need the bucks right now, even though I'd love to race it. There's still hope for the Turkey Tri if we have a couple of good months. If that was my last, this was a fantastic season for me. PR's in 1/2 IM and Oly, some memorable races like the Triple T, Alcatraz, and IMLP in the rain, etc. I can only hope '09 is even better!