There was a lot of apprehension going into this race. I had never really fully recovered after IMCdA. One of the main reasons was probably because I jumped into training too soon. I was going through a string of injuries in the past 2 months - sprained neck, inflamed VMO, ankle sprain, mild version of plantar fascia - in addition to a week of fever/cold/cough. In hindsight, I think this was my body's way of telling me to take it easy and rest up. I was a bit freaked out and started treatment at Team Clinic, a local physical therapy & sports clinic. Before the race I underwent 6 sessions of cervical traction, stim, ART and stretching. I was keeping the training light and not doing anything that hurt. That meant no runs longer than 4 mi. As a result I was nervous particularly about the 13.1 mi run. I was however able to do a sub 3hr rehearsal ride on the race course 2 week before the race and also a long ride up Mt. Hamilton a week before, which gave me some confidence boost. Thankfully, on race morning, I was injury free and well rested with expectations dialed down which helped me not feel too nervous about the run.
We drove to Santa Cruz on Saturday afternoon for packet pickup, and the plan was to stay at a hotel there. After packet pickup we checked in to the colorful Sea Breeze Inn facing the broadwalk and then stepped out for early dinner at 6PM.
After returning to the hotel we prepped the gear. I hit the sack at 10PM, but couldn't really fall asleep all night. When the alarm went off at 4AM, I was already awake. The usual race morning routine followed - coffee, Granola+Chobani breakfast, Osmo preload, stretching, and hot shower. In the background played my fav triathlon pump up song, Remember the name, which some may find cheesy, but it helps me get in the zone.
FFWD>> next 1.5hrs - drove to transition, setup the spot, hit the port-a-potty downed a gel, and headed to the beach - to get to the meat of it.
I was in the second wave which flagged off at 7:05AM. Couple of minutes before I realized that I had not zipped up my wetsuit, so scrambled a bit there. As usual, I started on the right front side, and for the first time ever, had a smooth running start and high knee jog till the water was deep enough to perform a flawless dolphin dive into the ocean. I quickly found my rhythm and didn't worry too much about finding a pair of feet to draft. The swim was mostly uneventful except that I would realize after the race that my bike jersey hanging outside the wetsuit around the neck had caused intense chafing. I was pleasantly surprised to see 29:xx on my Garmin at the swim exit. High five'd TFers in speedos (Kevin, Andrew) at the swim exit. The swim booties helped subtract the pain from the long run to T1.
I jogged to the bike mount line, did a regular mount and took off. Started easy as I tried settle my HR. Big bummer was that my power meter was dead! Last time I changed the batteries was before IMCdA and I haven't used the TT bike much since then - mostly been using my road bike. I fiddled with the Edge 500 for a few minutes trying to get back power data, but to no avail. Since power was enabled, Edge 500 was trying to derive speed from the power meter data. So I finally turned off the power meter so I could at least see speed from GPS. Knowing the speed was critical to decide when to back off and when to coast. There was some tail wind on the way out, which is why it felt much easier, and I was at the turn around well before the estimated time. I knew it was going to be hard on the way back, and indeed the headwind kicked in right after the turn around. It was pretty strong for ~10 miles after the turn around and then subsided. Without power data, I was going by HR and feel. I made it back to transition in 2:47:xx.
I did a smooth flying dismount and jogged to my spot. The vaseline in the socks had held up so I didn't bother changing them - quickly slipped on the shoes with EZ laces, grabbed the race belt, bottle and took off. I put on the belt and hat as I jogged out and took it real easy on the small hill immediately out of the transition. Caught up with Jason Hable who had apparently passed me on the bike, and ran 3-4 miles with him. I was trying to cap HR at 165 and the plan was to stay under that cap until mile 9 or so. I finished the Coke by mile 5 and then started filling up with Heed at the aid stations. I was carrying 2 gels which I was saving as a last resort. Just before the turn around, as Monzy passed me, he encouraged me to pick up the pace and break 5. We had 47 mins to break 5 hrs and ~7 miles to go. It seemed impossible to be able to go sub 7 pace for the rest of the run. Given my run training or lack thereof, I was not confident in my ability to hold on to that pace during an HIM run. But I decided to give it a shot and tried to keep up with Monzy. He slowly pulled away from me, but I was still able to see him in front of me until mile 10 or so. The last 5K was extremely painful, and the last 3/4 mile run on the beach was the worst. My quads, calfs, hamstring, glutes, everything was on the verge of cramping, but I managed to stay just under. Crossed the finish line in 5:01:xx, saving that 5 hr mark for Oceanside 2015.
I did a smooth flying dismount and jogged to my spot. The vaseline in the socks had held up so I didn't bother changing them - quickly slipped on the shoes with EZ laces, grabbed the race belt, bottle and took off. I put on the belt and hat as I jogged out and took it real easy on the small hill immediately out of the transition. Caught up with Jason Hable who had apparently passed me on the bike, and ran 3-4 miles with him. I was trying to cap HR at 165 and the plan was to stay under that cap until mile 9 or so. I finished the Coke by mile 5 and then started filling up with Heed at the aid stations. I was carrying 2 gels which I was saving as a last resort. Just before the turn around, as Monzy passed me, he encouraged me to pick up the pace and break 5. We had 47 mins to break 5 hrs and ~7 miles to go. It seemed impossible to be able to go sub 7 pace for the rest of the run. Given my run training or lack thereof, I was not confident in my ability to hold on to that pace during an HIM run. But I decided to give it a shot and tried to keep up with Monzy. He slowly pulled away from me, but I was still able to see him in front of me until mile 10 or so. The last 5K was extremely painful, and the last 3/4 mile run on the beach was the worst. My quads, calfs, hamstring, glutes, everything was on the verge of cramping, but I managed to stay just under. Crossed the finish line in 5:01:xx, saving that 5 hr mark for Oceanside 2015.
