My swim training has been non-existent. With that said, my swim felt pretty solid. Its obvious I need to get in the pool at least a little bit if I want to hand with the lead guys, but pool training is the hardest of the three to fit into my life, so I rely on decent technique and overall fitness. :D
I was in the first wave (we were self seeded by prospective swim time) and it was a group of about 50.
Gun went off and we had a diagonal run down the beach, then a long wade/skip/jump/dive move to get over the shallow lowtide sandbar. Got out through the waves no problem and around the first bouy. Swim was pretty uneventful, then it was a turn towards shore and a long run (a good 200 yards) run through deep sand up to T1 (included in swim time.) My Garmin shows a bit longer than .5 miles, and actual swim time of 16:something.

Actually train in the pool!

Quick T for me. Kept it simple. suit off, belt on , helmet on....on my way. Shoes were already clipped in.

Took off on the bike feeling good. Got up to speed quickly and just hammered away. They'd shortened the course for some reason, but because this a heavily used recreational path that wasnt closed to the public, they had really stressed the safety aspect, and there was no passing allowed 100 yards before or after the the 3 underpasses we hot both out and back. Being in that first wave was good....I passed half a dozen people or so, and never got passed myself. Felt really strong and had a good solid ride. Dismounted cleanly after taking feet out of my shoes, and jogged into T2.

Helmet off, shoes on, go. Wore my Zoot Kiawes since I realized that morning that the entire run was in deep sand and thought they would help me stay on the surface more than bare feet would.

Holy crap this sucked! race advertised a mix of soft and hardpacked sand. Only remotely hardpacked stuff was the tire tracks from the lifeguards, but even that was only a minor improvement. I just started plugging away, shortening my stride as best I could. I was able to count off people ahead of me by the turnaround, and other than being passed by one elite (podcaster Tawnee Prazak) I was never passed by anyone. I saw Macca go by about a 1/4 of the way into the run, and he had the biggest grin on his face. Blazing fast and happy as can be. Crossed the finish line with the closest person a little ways back, and I knew I had to be in the top of my AG. I was tired, but happy.

My wife had dragged the kids out of bed to come cheer me on, so it was great to see them. Went over to the timing tent and saw that I was second in the AG, 10th male, and 12th overall. I had remembered reading that they were only awarding the top spot in each group, and my daughter had a soccer game, so we quickly departed. It wasnt till later that I realized that 1) Macca was in my AG and he was the #1 spot, and 2)the RD had said Macca wouldn't be taking any podium spots. DOH! That means I missed out on me very first triathlon AG win! Oh well. I now have a results page printed for framing that has my name right under a 2x World Champ. Pretty damn cool.


This was a fantastic first race in Seal Beach. Very well run with great support and a small town feel. I'll be doing this race every year I can.