Oceanside 70.3 Race Recap

It's been a week since I crossed the finish line and it is confirmed...I am absolutely hooked.  I knew I loved racing triathlons, but completing the half ironman distance made me love it even more!  I'm definitely still riding the high from Oceanside and have been been a permanent fixture on the Ironman website, obsessively looking at all of the races I want to do in the future!

So...on to race week.  I drove down to my moms house the Wednesday before the race and was treated to the comforts of home before making my way to Oceanside on Thursday.

I am super lucky that super star Sonja Weick also works with Coach Muddy, and she was racing Oceanside too.  I was able to connect with her on Thursday to pick up our packets and get a swim and run in.  She has been racing for years, and raced Oceanside last year, so getting tips and insight from her was a HUGE destressor (btw, I'd been more nervous for this race that any before.  I didn't think I was nervous, but I was stress snacking at every opportunity for the entire week before the race...definitely stress induced!!)

Sonja had 3 other athletes racing Oceanside and all of us met up on Friday morning for a quick spin and a tour of the race locations.  I was so grateful to meet her athletes...it was a huge mood booster on race day to see so many people that I knew.  Then we had lunch with Coach and I spent the rest of the day visiting with one of my besties from college and trying my hardest to not stress about the race.

Per race dinner was my standard sushi, then I double checked my bags, settled in with Divergent (bad idea...once I start a book, I cant put it down so I definitely ended up reading longer than I planned but luckily I still feel like I got enough sleep.)

Race day
I was up at 3:30am, hopped in the shower, and ate my race day brekkie of 2 rice cakes, peanut butter, honey, Osmo Preload and Proanox Biogenesis.  I saved my banana until just before the swim start since I was eating breakfast so early.  My mom drove down from LA on Friday night and we spend the night at my aunt's house in San Clemente (about 20 min. north of the race).  We left the house around 4:30am with an easy drive down to Oceanside.  I met up again with Sonja, Coach, and her athletes, put the finishing touches on bike prep, then rode off into the dark to set up T2, and T1.

Dark and Early!!  Headlamps were definitely necessary at 5:30am.

T2 - the calm before the storm

T1 closed at 6:30 and my wave didn't start until 7:30, so I watched the pros start the swim, made a potty stop, and wrestled into my wetsuit.  At about 7:10, I made my way into the corral with all the other ladies in orange caps.

 The water felt great as I got in, but was quite the shock when I put my head in! We had 3 minutes to get adjusted, then the cannon went off.  Honestly, this was the most comfortable I have felt during a swim! After the surprise of swallowing salt water (obviously I knew I was swimming it the ocean, but nothing can quite prepare you for the taste if salt water!) I settled into a decent rhythm...until my left goggle started filling with water.  I tried to ignore it, but it became too much so I popped up, emptied it out, and kept swimming.  It happened about two more times before the turnaround until I finally fixed it for good.  I'd never had issues with these goggles before but I'm definitely taking Katie's advice and buying new goggles before my future important races. Once my goggle situation was resolved, the swim was comfortably hard into transition.  I was right in my predicted  window...I thought I'd be between 35-40 min, and I was out of the water in 37:45!  And I heard my mom with her cowbell as I exited the water.

 

After the LONG run into transition, I stuffed my wetsuit cap and goggles into my swim bag, ate a bonk break mini, and ran off to the bike mount.  As per usual, I pushed the wrong buttons on my garmin...thankfully I noticed and was only 3 miles off.

The bike course was my absolute favorite and I just had a blast.  It was perfect weather, beautiful scenery, nice people, and just enough of a challenge on the hills.  Penny performed wonderfully and I had a great time on the course.  I probably could have taken in a few more calories...my stomach, while not upset, definitely didn't want any more sugar.  Now I need to figure out some salty calories...I think I'm going to whip up some Osmo "Salty Balls" to test out on my next long ride.

Transition should have been quick and easy, but as I grabbed my bib to turn it to face forward, I ripped the bib off my belt!! So annoying! I spent about 30-45 extra seconds trying to put the bib onto my belt, .using the bottom holes.  Threading one hole took long enough that I just tucked the rest of the bib under the belt and took off.

 And that's where the race went downhill.  For the first 3 miles of the run, my calves HURT! They literally felt like they were going to explode! I spent the first three miles contemplating how crazy I was to consider doing a full ironman...seriously, how could I run a full marathon if my legs hutrt during the first part of a half!! At that point, I decided not to look at my watch, not worry about my pace...this was my first race, and my goal is just to finish and get a baseline.  But at around mile 4,  my calves adjusted and were fine the rest of the way.

 My stomach still didn't feel top notch, but half a banana and 2 cups of coke (my first time trying that in a race) did the trick! The heat didn't bother me as much as I'd though it would...but I took advantage of the sponges, sticking then in my bra at every chance, and dumping a cup of water on my head at each aid station.  The worst part of the run, though, were the blisters on both feet.  I don't know if it was the heat, if I had loosened my shores more than normal, or if my feet were swollen from the bike and the heat, but I got matching blisters between the ball and the arch of my feet...boo.

My run was nowhere close to what I expected or hoped, but in spite of that, I absolutely loved the race.  I crossed the finish line with a lady that I had run most of the half with and shared a huge hug of congratulations and relief before finding my mom, step-dad and coach at the finish line.

Screenshot of the live feed as I crossed the finish line, courtesy of my cousin and his GF in London!

Happy, Relieved, and oh so tired!

 

Coach!!

 

This was just the start to a huge journey and I cannot wait to take what I've learned from this race to improve for the future! Next up is a local race in half moon bay...the Silicon Valley Sprint Tri on April 19th (use ambassador code "AllisonGomez" to join me!), then my second go at the Wildflower Olympic course on May 5th!

Thanks to Coach Muddy, Proanox, and Osmo Nutrition for getting me to the race ready to go, and to Beachbody and P90x3 for keeping me strong and mobile!  And HUGE thanks to my mom and John for getting up at the crack of dawn to cheer me on, and to my fiance for being super supportive of all my training and dealing with me on a daily basis...couldn't have done it without him :)

Happy Training!!
#makeithappen