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Orange County International Triathlon
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Orange County International Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: They had all the swimmers enter the coral and kept all the wetsuited swimmers in the back so that they could record their numbers, so they could removed them from the official rankings. By the time we got through with that process all of the front positions at the beach were taken. I usually try and get up close to the front but didn't feel any desire to push my way up. The gun went off and everyone charged. I took my sweet time, walked in to my waist, tried to find a good line/opening and then dove in. I immediately caught people and started passing, when there was a line. For some reason in this lake I can see very well in the water. I noticed this last year, which really helps in drafting. If there were to many feet I just hung back on a pair and then when it opened I took my shot. After a few minutes I got to some open water and saw some feet ahead of me. I worked to catch them and then basically hung there. I noticed that there line wasn't the best so I took off on my own. I rounded the first buoy perfectly and then went outside to get around 6 people which I did very quickly. Usually I'm a go with the flow type of swimmer but for some reason I was the guy cutting over peoples legs to get to where I wanted to go. It seemed to have worked. The other buoys went about the same and before I knew it I turned the last buoy towards the dock. I swam until I hit my hand on the ramp, popped up and started the run in. What would you do differently?: Try and start up front so I have a cleaner and quicker start. 2008 - 28:54 2009 - 25:05  Transition 1
Comments: I ran up the ramp and through the shoot, when a hand jumped out at me. It was my friend Bill. He said I was looking strong and good luck. He later told me that I was only a few minutes behind him, and he started 5 in front, so he thought I was doing well. I made the run and got to my bike. I always take a bit more time in T1 because I still wear socks. I'd like to get to the point where I don't have to but I always seem to blister if I don't. The suit came off, I dried off, put my socks, shoes, helmet and glasses, grabbed my bike and ran the 20 yards to the exit. I crossed the line, passed about 5 people, jumped on my bike and was off. What would you do differently?: Skip the socks. 2008 - 2:55 2009 - 3:02  Bike
Comments: As soon as I got on my bike I got up the first little incline and then tried to settle in, as my HR always spikes from transition. Sidenote: Because I had not set any goals, other than to finish, I decided I would race without my Garmin. I don't really know why, but I didn't want to have to look at it and know that I was doing badly, so I just decided I'd go by feel. The bike course goes right by my neighborhood and I ride it quite a bit, so I know what's in store. Basically it's either uphill or downhill for the whole ride. About a mile in I pass my neighborhood and my wife and kids were out there yelling for me. I move over and wave and tell them thanks for coming out. This leads to the first big uphill where I am terrible. I know this going into the race and decide I'm just going to do whatever I can to get up, which is basically me over to the right spinning my granny gear. Very sad. When I get to the top I know the course very well so I through it in the big ring get in aero and proceed to fly down. I pass tons of people. I'm surprised that more people aren't doing the same thing. They've expended a ton of energy passing me on the way up and now they are cruising downhill. I don't get it. Anyway from that point until the turnaround I'm flying. At the turnaround we start a long ascent back up the hill that I just flew down. Again I'm in the granny on the right struggling and many of the same people pass me again. Of course at the top the same thing happens, I go aero and crank it down. Funny game. What would you do differently?: More saddle time so I'm not granny gear boy. 2008 - 1:22:17 2009 - 1:20:14 Transition 2
Comments: I come to transition, jump off my bike and then proceed to my rack. I suddenly hear "Daddy!" I was not expecting visitors so that was cool. The day before I took my son with me to the expo and then to drop off my running shoes and visor at T2 and he had told my wife and daughter exactly where I would be. I was surprised he remembered. They were hooting and hollering and my son said he wanted a hug, so I ran over and gave him one and then my daughter wanted in on the action so I obliged. Not the fastest transition but maybe the most fulfilling. What would you do differently?: Nothing 2008 - 1:37 2009 - 1:47  Run
Comments: I said goodbye to the family and lumbered towards the T2 exit. I didn't feel to badly coming off of the bike, but I could tell I didn't have a bunch of energy. My legs were moving, just not fast. I was trying to get into a rhythm after a couple hundred yards and a lone biker is sitting on the edge of a path. I look down concentrating and then glance at him as I get closer. I realize it's a friend of mine. I was surprised and said hey. He looks at me dead serious and says pick up the pace. We both laugh and say, this is all I got. He's a masters swimmer and fellow swim parent and is also a friend of Bill, who I had planned to race with. I turned around when I realized he was waiting for him as well, and yelled that Bill was done. He said thanks and biked off. Along part of the sidewalk is dirt and I prefer to run on it, so I moved over to the side. People would come up on me and then go around to pass. The dirt is pretty narrow in some part so the only way to pass is to go back on the sidewalk. After a while a hear footsteps behind me. They seem incredibly close, like they are going to run into me. They never move to pass, but are right there. After a few minutes I hear a woman say, I'm not trying to rush you, but I like the trail and I like your pace. Believe me, I've never heard that before. We that part ended, we ended up running together for about a mile talking a it. She volunteered last year so I told her about some of what was coming up. She ended up pulling away. That's when the hills started. I walked many more hills than I did last year. I knew that I would going into it. My running sucks and I just didn't have energy to blast up them and still finish with anything left. For the next few miles the woman and I play cat and mouse with me passing and then her passing, so on and so forth. We're laughing about it. We come out of the trails and back onto the road and are on the last uphill. There's an older guy on the side of the road yelling at people. One of the things he says is "You're here to race! You did no pay to walk. You have 1 mile left and you need to start running right now. Get to the top of this hill and finish that downhill strong!" I don't know why but it worked for me. I ran hard to the top of the hill and then ran as hard as I could towards the finish line. When I got close I saw the time and immediately thought I had a chance to beat last years time. I crossed the finish line and had close to zero left. What would you do differently?: Get a lot more running in. Also I needed something other than water and cytomax. I was out of GU and forgot to get some. Anything would have helped. 2008 - 1:03:35 2008 - 1:06:37 Post race
Warm down: I crossed the line and new that I was toast. They told me to rip the bottom off my bib and I was like right. You do it, which they did. They took off my chip and immediately handed me a water. I opened it and took a sip. Immediately out of the chute there was some stand set up and a bunch of kids were handing out otter pops. I got a grape one, found some shade and ate it. I honestly think that otter pop saved me. I was feeling very wonky and that boost of sugar helped me out. I wandered over to get some food, but the line was long. I was looking around for other things to do/eat and a guy came over and said there were only 4 people in line for massages. He didn't have to tell me twice. I got over there waited about 10 minutes and got a nice 5 minute rub down of my legs. Awesome. After that I grabbed some food, checked for my time and then bailed. What limited your ability to perform faster: One thing that I didn't mention is that I was sick. Two days before the race I started getting a sore throat and a pretty bad headache. When I woke up on Saturday I knew I was getting sick but I was in a bit of denial. I took my son to his soccer game, then went to the expo and T2 and then went home and proceeded to lay down on the couch for the rest of the day. My wife took the kids and I basically had the day to nap and relax. I was hoping that it would get me better or at least conserve energy. I went to bed early on Saturday night to get more sleep. When I woke up on Sunday I knew that I was sick, but not sick enough to skip the race. I figured my body would rebel against me after, but didn't dwell on it. After the race on Sunday I was ruined. I spent all day in bed or the bathroom. Monday I worked but left early and on Tuesday I took the day off and stayed home. I'm writing this on Wednesday and I'm still congested and have a headache. Oh well. Event comments: I think this race if very challenging. The swim is easy but the bike and the run are very hilly and I think it makes it quite hard. I personally think this is a great race but the price tag is just too high. I understand with other good races going on the same weekend that it would be hard to justify doing this one. I almost feel that I have to do it since its right out my door. In all, I'm pretty amazed by my results. I can not believe that I bettered my time from last year on very minimal training. The one thing that sticks out is my swim. I have not been swimming consistently at all and to better my time by almost 4 minutes is crazy. The only difference is that I had on a different wetsuit. Maybe that in conjunction with better navigation propelled me to a better time? Maybe the course was short? I have no idea. 2008 - 2:59:18 2009 - 2:56:45 I just uploaded some pictures although one of them hurts me: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/photos/photo-thumbnail... Last updated: 2009-04-16 12:00 AM
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 2009-09-30 12:27 PM |
Expert  709  |  Subject: Orange County International Triathlon |
| 2009-09-30 1:15 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Master 1591   San Diego, CA | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Nice race out there. I hope you're feeling better. Otter pops post race sound like a fantastic idea. I'd be all over that. Congrats on improving on your time from last year! |
| 2009-09-30 1:18 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Extreme Veteran 459 | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Great job on the PR on this one granny gear boy. Imagine if you weren't sick how much MORE BOOTY you'd have kicked! Sounded like a pretty good day for you racewise. Nice work. |
| 2009-09-30 3:22 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
| Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon "granny gear boy" ... very funny! Seems like a pretty good bike split to me. Rocking Phelps-like swim! The run... hey, you PR'd, and that's all that matters. Sorry to hear about your friend. Cracking your rim the night before a Race.... that's gotta be a nightmare. Jeff is back! Next stop 70.3 ... All Aboard!! |
| 2009-09-30 6:55 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Regular 87 | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Great job on the PR, that was an amazing swim! Looks like you had a great race all around, can't believe you did all that while sick too! |
| 2009-10-01 5:40 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
| Mesa | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Nice work improving over last year with less effort! You do look like you are getting sick in that run pic.  |
| 2009-10-02 1:30 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Member 99 somewhere in the northwest | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Excellent job, there is nothing like beating your time on a race you have done before. Great RR. |
| 2009-10-02 1:43 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Expert 856 Pittsburgh | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Great RR! Love that motivation from the guy at the end - I've never heard that one before. Congrats on the finish after all you've been through! |
| 2009-10-03 10:29 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Champion 7821  Brooklyn, NY | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon I think you're officially back on the horse. Giddiyap! |
| 2009-10-04 9:01 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Regular 63 So Cal. | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Hey boss. Congratulations. Feels good to be back in the fray, huh? Fantastic results. |
| 2009-10-06 6:28 PM in reply to: #2434484 |
Master 1632 Almost Canada, WA | Subject: RE: Orange County International Triathlon Awesome job, Jeff and all while you were sick!! Your granny gear boy comments gave me quite the chuckle and I love the motivation at the end from that guy!! |
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Pelican Coast Events
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I woke up at 3:45 AM to eat and then make sure I had everything ready to go by 4:45 as my friend was picking me up. I ate an egg and a piece of WW toast with sunflower seed butter and some water and Cytomax. My friend picked my up at 4:45 and then we proceeded to head over to the race, which is only about a mile away from my house. Transition opened at 5 as well as the road closures. We barely got through the easy way and ended up parking right up front. We got right in to transition and I ended up with the first spot next to the bike exit. That never happens. I got everything set up, used the porta before there was a huge line and then my friend Bill and I went to go see where the new finish line was set up. They altered a bit of the run course this year so that it would finish down by the beach where the expo is.
While we were walking out of transition, we saw the bike mechanic, and Bill said that he had an issue with his bike the night before and he needed to take it over to him. We decided to see the finish first. On the way there he told me that he had hit a rock the night before and his wheel felt funny. When he got home he noticed it was bend slightly so he was messing with it and the rim cracked. Because it happened so late he couldn't get to a bike shop in time to get a new one. He ended up taking his wifes back wheel off and replacing it. He rode it around his house for a few pedals and said it worked well enough but that the bottom end was a little off. When we ended up getting the bike to the mechanic the mechanic messed with it for a minute and then asked him if this was a different wheel, which Bill replied yes. The guy looked at him and said "dude, you're screwed." We laughed and he didn't. Apparently Bills old wheel was a 9 speed and his wifes was a 10. The guy said that it would skip repeatedly until it finally got stuck in the cassette and he would most likely end up going over the bars. He said the only thing that he could do was to put a 10 speed chain on the bike for $55 and that Bill would have the use of about 3 gears. The only other option was to find a 9 speed wheel somewhere. Because transition closed in about 30 minutes there was hardly any time. We called a few people that lived close but it was to no avail. Bill decided that he would do the swim and then bail. It was fairly nerve wracking to watch it all go down. I would have been pretty pissed but he was mellow about it.
The next dilemma: A few days before the race the RD send out an email stating that the water was going to be 78 and wetsuits would not be allowed on the swim. I can't tell you how bummed I was. Last year the suits were legal and I got extremely hot, so I bought a new sleeveless wetsuit to use specifically in this race. The other reason was because my swim training has been so lacking that I really wanted the extra buoyancy. After going back and forth about it, I decided I would bring the suit and figure it out at the race.
At transition they announced that if people chose to wear the suit they would not get an official time and wouldn't be eligible for awards. Awards usually aren't a problem for me and an official time doesn't really do much for me either. Because of my lack of training I was looking at the race as an extended training day. I had no goal other than to finish, so when I saw many people start suiting up, I decided that I would to.
Bill and I and a few others that we met walked down to the start and watched the first few waves go out. I put my suit on and got in the water and swam for about 10 minutes. The new suit felt really good. The other suit I have I bought used three years ago, so the new technology was awesome. Bill was in the wave before me so I got out to watch him go and then I got in the coral and got ready to rock.