Oceanside 70.3 Race Report
2 days before Oceanside, I found myself sitting in the ER beside my wife who was lying on a gurney, doped up on morphine. The race was to be our first-ever HIM, but suddenly it was the last thing on our minds. The good news: my wife wasn't having appendicitis; the bad news: she had a ruptured ovarian cyst and the race was most likely out of the question for her. The next 48 hours were fraught with doubt, apprehension and negativity.
Long-story-short, we arrived at O-side on Friday, both of us intent on completing the race. My wife was still in terrible pain up until we separated into our respective waves and I knew I'd be worrying about her the entire 6+ hours. Which I did.
SWIM
The water wasn't as cold as I'd feared. This was my first time in my wetsuit since September so I was a bit rusty. The swim felt long, but I managed to concentrate on my stroke and forced myself to breathe every 5 instead of every 3. I also was able to do some drafting. Somehow it all came together and I ended up doing better than I'd anticipated.
Goal time: 40:00
Actual time: 34:52
T1
I was a lame-o who actually took the time to practice my transitions in our driveway. But despite the practice, I had one ridiculous screw-up during the race: I couldn't get my arm warmers on! I dried my arms but for some reason, they would not slide up my arms. I estimate I wasted 3:30 fumbling around with them (although I'm glad I had them on the ride).
BIKE
My limiter. Thankfully, I bought an 11-28 cassette and used every single cog during the ride. The first half I was right on .80% and it felt great. I felt like an A+ student, aceing an exam. I knew in advance that I'd be passed by approximately 1,000 riders so I didn't sweat it. Although I'm pretty sure it was more than 1,000. I think it was Tim who I saw, fixing his tire. I called out if he needed help but he had it under control. My Infinit solution was perfect! (thanks to those who recommended it). The hills weren't as bad as I'd imagined them to be, but they still wrecked my perfect average watts. My normalized power was about 10 watts over what it should've been and I could feel myself draining in the the last ten miles of the ride. If anything needs to happen in my training, I need to figure out how to get my FTP higher. Way higher.
Goal time: 3:30:00
Actual time: 3:32:17
T2
Took a little extra time getting my compression socks on, but it was worth it.
RUN
Definitely hard to slow myself at the beginning of the run. The first 4 miles I seriously tried to keep the pace under control and sort of succeeded. Halfway thru the run, my hips became tight (as they've done in every marathon I've run) which took a toll on my hamstrings (which is what happens in every long run). The 2nd loop I tried walking at every aid station which helped, and I managed to finish the run under the 2 hour limit I was holding myself to. I briefly saw Rich as I turned off of Pacific for the Strand one last time. Also saw several EN-ers who I was hoping to meet at the Brewery later that day, but it never came to be.
Goal time: under 2:00:00
Actual time: 1:48:49
I was really close to finishing sub-6 hrs, and perhaps if I hadn't fumbled with the arm warmers and had controlled my watts better I might've made it. There's always next time. In the end, I saw my wife finish and immediately escorted her to the med tent where we spent the next hour. It was after 4pm when we finally packed up the car. I was bummed that I wasn't able to meet Rich face-to-face, or any of the other teammates. Hopefully that won't be the case in Louisville this August.
Thanks for reading!
Comments
One tip that I was told about last year at Oceanside was to wear your armwarmers under your wetsuit. Sure, they'll be a little wet when you start the bike, but they dry quickly and keep you from wasting time getting them on. I did that for this race and had the fastest transitions that I've ever had, and I was perfectly warm during the bike.
Good luck at IM!
Your wife is hardcore! OMG! I hope she is ok and recovering well.
Carrie
@Mac
Good job on your HIM. I'm glad the 11-28 worked out for you. I hope your wife makes a complete recovery. Rubin
I can't believe your wife raced after the ER scare - hard core! Is she doing IMKY as well?