Something must be crazy with this swim because this is waaaaaay too fast for me. Got out of the water and my watch said about 24 minutes though and that's with me going way too far outside the buoys on the way out and having to cut back in. First 200 was a little rough, it was cold and it took me a while to catch my breath but I just concentrated on form and it went a little better. Had some goggle problems in the beginning too.

The way in went better, I realized the current was pushing a little north so I tried to sight more often and stay in line with the buoy even though it felt like I wasn angling too far out. For the most part it worked and I think I had a really strong overall swim.

I probably should have warmed up just to get a feel for the water temp first.

They didn't break out the transition times (it's included in the bike split) which bummed me out because I was really trying to work on them this time. I tend to spend too much time staring at my stuff and trying to figure things out, so this time I planned it all out in my head beforehand. Wetsuit off, helmet stuff first (garmin, gloves, sunglasses, stuff snacks in trisuit pocket), then ground stuff (race belt, shoes, socks).

Get one of those pansy looking mini water tubs to wash my feet in. I thought they were kind of lame but I ended up with 3 blisters after this race so shows what I know! :D

Overall time includes transitions, according to the Garmin my actual bike time was about 1:24. I forgot this was a regional qualifer until I got on the bike and got smoked by just about everyone :). This was never meant to be a big A race for me and I've been base training for so long now I don't remember how to go fast :p. From what I could tell my pace was usually around 17-19 most of the time which I'm happy with. Oxnard has a lovely constant headwind/tailwind thing I've encountered in my long rides a lot which is a pain but probably evens out by the end.

They made a big point of enforcing USAT rules so I was a little paranoid at first about accidentally drafting or blocking but I probably didn't need to be.

Get stronger on the bike? Speed will be my focus a little later in my IMAZ training so we'll see how I do at SB. I'm thinking bike will be my focus next year since I don't plan to do another ironman in 2010 (I plan to focus on studying for the CPA exam instead).

I think I managed to speed up this transition a little too but again, I don't know for sure.

Haven't done a brick in a long while so the first mile or so felt weird. I should mention at this point that I seriously had to pee and honestly considered stopping during the run to go to the bathroom but I kept telling myself now, it's only an Olympic, deal with it. The first mile seemed to take forever, but by mile 4 or so I got in my groove, again I'm used to distance not speed so it takes me a while to warm up. I managed to average a pretty good pace considering what I have been doing in my training runs so I'm happy with that.

Only walked through every other aid station which was good, I think the more conservative running form my coach has me do helped me be able to keep up the pace and not walk so much as well. Saw lots of people out on the run which was fun too.

Bricks probably.

Took my shoes off ASAP, blisters were killing me, then finally went to the bathroom :). Packed up my stuff and put it away, then got my free beer at the beer garden (and it wasn't Miller or Bud, yay!) and my free burger, chips and a banana at the BBQ. Hung around to see my results and some of the awards (the top two females overall were in my AG, I didn't stand a chance :), first race I haven't podiumed at in a while though, I know, boo hoo poor me).


Generally the fact that I've been training for distance, not speed lately, probably.


Overall a very good race. Although I just realized I think they said they'd have aid on the bike course but I don't think they did, probably should check the website to confirm though. It was organized and the volunteers were great, they had some adorable little girls at the finish offering water and to take off my chip. Like I said, not an A race for me, but just something to keep up the tri mindset and have fun, and it was a good location and course for that. It was nice to do a flat race for once.

Real goal was to beat myself and I bested my Carpinteria time by 12 minutes and finally got sub 3 which is awesome! Of course Carp was hillier but not the point. My swim improved by 6 minutes and my run by 2, so as long as I can keep improving I'm happy.