Oceanside 70.3 Race Report 2018

I have to admit that I am disappointed in the outcome. It didn’t represent the training that I have put in the last 4 months building and prepping for this race. I was seeing big gains in the bike and run but they just didn’t translate on race day. I’m still trying to figure out why but at the same time celebrate what I did on Saturday. 

Our accommodations were perfect. We stayed at the North Shore Village (VRBO) buildings which overlooks the harbor and location of the swim and transition. It is important to me to be able to cook my own food so having a kitchen is a must. Parking and driving was difficult on race day and it was a quick walk to transition in the morning and to pack up my gear after. 

We arrived 2 days before the race and enjoyed the ocean views. On Thursday, I got into the water and attempted the beach start. I can admit it was the most scared I have ever been in the water. I tried multiple times to get out past the surf but never got past all the surf boards. Once out of the water, I heard from another swimmer that the beach start was cancelled. He had just got the news from a lifeguard. I was hesitant to be excited because he wasn’t a race official but he got a hug anyways. Later, at the athlete briefing we heard that the surf could be to higher than 3 1/2 feet and it was 4 - 5 that morning. 

The downside of the condo was that there was no coffee near by. I was dying for a flat white so on Friday, we headed out to find a Starbucks. While out, Michael got to go to the Scotty Cameron Gallery. He tried out putters for over an hour and was in heaven. I was happy to give Michael this time because he gives me so much on my journey. 

Race Day Saturday! I woke at 4:30 and was down in transition about 5. I got everything set up, tires pumped and chatted with the gals around me. I just love triathlon because of all the amazing people I meet. I then went outside the fence to eat and spend some time with Michael before putting on my wetsuit. I ate most of my breakfast of 4 hard boiled eggs, Rx bar, 2 bananas and 200 calories of Tailwind. I probably should have worked harder to get in more of the solid food. 

At 6:30, I entered the shoot and got lined up with the other 40-44 minute swimmers. It felt like we stood around forever. The pros actually had to run through us because we were lined up in the swim out. Finally we started moving and made it to the water. At that point we got the opportunity to warm up. I have found getting use to the cold temps (water was 62 degrees) and getting my heart rate down is very important prior to crossing the start line. The had us line up 4 wide and were letting people go every 5 seconds. This was the most organized rolling start that I have done. I felt great in the water but there were the regular people obstacles. I wish people would line up were they actually will finish instead of where they hope to finish. There were many people who just never got going and I’m sure this would have been worse if we had a beach start. 

Swim: 41:00

There were wetsuit strippers! My T1 time should have been better because of this but I am chalking my time up to the shear expanse of the transition area. I did struggle putting on my sun sleeves but I am so thankful for arms that aren’t burnt like my chest and legs. I skipped putting my base salts in my pocket and would pay for this later. 

T1: 8:08

The bike course took us into Camp Pendleton and some really rough roads. If this race is on your list, make sure to secure everything on your bike well or you will loose it. The cap popped of my repair kit less than five miles in and I decided to gather my stuff back up because I didn’t want to tempt fate with a flat tire. Very happy I did this because there were many flats along the way. The rough roads were especially unnerving to me because of my experience at Ironman Canada. The last thing I needed was to hit a bump here and be stuck in a single gear for this race too. Good news is there was no machanicals for Team Thorner at this race. The bike was fun and so much better than riding on the trainer (this was my first outside ride since September). Three hills that were well marked - you didn’t have to guess if that was the hill. Some beautiful scenery and just the joy of the wind in my face. I didn’t know what to think of the Marines and their machine guns at the intersections but at least we were protected and for the most part this was a closed course. I drank 2 of my 3 water bottles and maybe ate a third of my solid food. This was definitely an issue and would bite me later. So I probably enjoyed the bike too much and didn’t race and follow the plan but I sure had fun. 

Bike: 3:20:45

Back into transition, they let us ride our bikes the length of the transition area or this time would have looked like T2. I quickly changed shoes and grabbed a bag of fruit chews that I did eat on the bike. One last stop at the potty and I was off. 

T2: 4:43

I forgot to take my sunglasses off in transition and I hate wearing sunglasses when I run. Though, this day I was so thankful. It was overcast and way too bright to go without. The first mile of the run felt great. I took a look at my watch and was disappointed to see that before the run even started there was no way I was going to make my goal. I really need to change the set up so it only gives me individual event times and not total race time because this was a major downer. Mr quads started cramping soon after and all that missed nutrition and electrolytes started to bite me in butt (really my whole body felt it). I had already decided to walk the very steep uphills but this soon turned into walking through aid stations as well. This was a difficult run and something my hours on the treadmill had not prepared me for. I was dying after the first loop and was fighting all the mental demons. It wasn’t that I couldn’t finish but I was so disappointed at the how. Coming across the finish, I was thankful that I was done and Mike Riley had called my name. 

Run: 2:21:05

The line for post race food was long and there was just so many people that all I wanted to do was get out of there. Michael took me to a pizza place near the finish that we had scoped out the day before. Pizza and beer sounded fabulous. We sat down near another couple - the man had done the race and the wife said she had been tracking me and said I looked strong out there. I was so disappointed in my race I forgot to realize that someone other than my family was tracking me and said I look good. 🤦🏼‍♀️ We walked back to the condo where I left Michael to watch The Masters. I continued on to transition to gather my bike and gear and to figure out what went wrong. 

Nothing went wrong. I had a great race that didn’t have the outcome that I had hoped for. Yes I didn’t follow my nutrition plan, wear sun block but most importantly I forgot to have fun all the way to the end. Race day is suppose to be the party to celebrate all the training you did and not the test at the end. 

Race Time: 6:35:38