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Playa Del Run - Race #2: Santa Monica - Aquathlon


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Santa Monica, California
United States
Playa del Run
Total Time = 43m 4s
Overall Rank = 67/148
Age Group = M 45-49
Age Group Rank = 4/10
Pre-race routine:

I did the race on a bit of a whim. I'd been traveling for work so much in May that I brought the family from Texas to LA for the weekend for work/vacation getaway. I saw this race and I didn't need a bike, so I signed up on race day morning!

I hadn't swum much all month due to travel, so this was a nice training session / race for me. Also, I'd never done a real ocean swim with cold water and waves and all, so I figured this would be a good experience.

I really wasn't planning on writing a race report (this was really more for the training and experience than to compete well in the race), but since a fellow BTer made the effort of entering the race info, why not?
Event warmup:

Warmed up about 10 min in the water. Wanted to get used to cold water and waves. I don't think I've ever swum in water this fricking cold! I even thought about a DNS during the first minute of warmup (no need to freeze to death while on vacation!), but then it started feeling warmer further away from shore (is that normal)?
Run
  • 00m
  • 0 miles
  •  min/mile
Transition 1
  • 00m
Swim
  • 17m 6s
  • 1094 yards
  • 01m 34s / 100 yards
Comments:

Given I've never done a beach run start before, and am always afraid of cold water (bad experience with hyperventilation not long ago), I ran fairly slowly to the beach and ran into the waves slowly before started swimming. I was probably #100 of some #150 by the time I started actually swimming!

The swim itself was fine. I kept my stroke long and slow. I stayed on the far left of the group most of the time. I mainly breath on my left and thought it bizaare to see no swimmers and no land -- almost like swimming alone. I probably wandered a bit too far to the left and swam some extra yards. I stopped very briefly a couple of times to sight. My shoulders felt a bit tired toward the end, but not too bad.
What would you do differently?:

Work on sighting.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

No timing chips. Someone was manually checking times on the run from the beach to T1, so the swim time includes some T1 as does the run.

I had some trouble getting my wetsuit off so I lost a few extra seconds.
What would you do differently?:

Practice wetsuit removal!
Run
  • 25m 58s
  • 3.11 miles
  • 08m 21s  min/mile
Comments:

Not much to it. I got passed by plenty of faster runners (I'm slow!), and also passed a few.
What would you do differently?:

I should have tried to run faster, but hey, I was on vacation!
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around and ate and drank.

We didn't stick around for the post-race festivities (had to get back to the hotel and get family to the airport), but I heard I missed some great giveaways.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Not much recent swim yardage.

I finished 4th in my AG, just 6 seconds from #3 and 36 seconds from #2. I could easily have made up those 36 seconds by being more aggressive at the swim start, by not messing up my transition, and by running a bit faster! (The #1 finisher in my AG was just plain faster, but only by about 90 seconds...)

Event comments:

Very informal, but I thought it was pretty cool. I had a great time! Timing chips would have been nice. Nice people, nice atmosphere!




Last updated: 2007-06-11 12:00 AM
Running
00:00:00 | 00 miles |  min/mile
Age Group: 0/10
Overall: 0/148
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
T1
Time:  00:00
Overall:
Putting on cap, goggles and wetsuit:
Getting out of shoes:
Swimming
00:17:06 | 1094 yards | 01m 34s / 100yards
Age Group: 3/10
Overall: 0/148
Performance: Average
Suit: Sleeveless
Course: Beach run to water, out about 50 meters, parallel to shore about 900 meters, back 50 meters to the beach, sand run to T1.
Start type: Run Plus: Shot
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time:  00:00
Overall: Bad
Removing cap, goggles and wetsuit:
Getting into shoes:
Running
00:25:58 | 03.11 miles | 08m 21s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/10
Overall: 0/148
Performance: Average
Course: Flat 2 loops on grass and sidewalk.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-06-11 12:28 PM

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Master
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Tyler, TX
Subject: Playa Del Run - Race #2: Santa Monica


2007-06-11 8:34 PM
in reply to: #839133

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Veteran
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Redondo Beach, CA
Subject: RE: Playa Del Run - Race #2: Santa Monica
Hey... that was me that put in the race info! Glad to see that you jumped in while on vacation. These races turn out to be some of my best workouts.

As you've noticed these aquathons are real low-key and informal. They keep the entry fees down by making it a swim/run event vs a full triathlon, keeping the run on the grass and off the streets, plus all the food and merchandise is donated, and they save a ton of money by not having chip timing. This all results in a $35 race fee ($40 on race day). I'm surprised more people don't do these races. Anyway, glad you enjoyed yourself.

For anyone who is interested, they put on a series of 6 of these at different southern California beaches from May through September, plus 3 more on Thursday evenings on the beach at Playa del Rey. More info at http://www.playadelrun.com/index.html.
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