California 70.3 Race Report
I was feeling confident heading into this year’s Ford California 70.3 triathlon. I put in a nice month of training in Ventura and I was ready to see what I could do, albeit on a non-rested body. I put in my biggest week of training pre-half ironman due to the early time of the year. It would be interesting to see how the body would respond.
Friday, Jim (Phil's mom's husband) drove Shirleymom and I from Ventura to San Clemente where Phil booked our hotel. In turns out that the location was prime. I loved San Clemente and it was much removed from the normal pre-race circus of Oceanside. Phil and his mom shared a room with the chihuahuas so that I could focus on race preparations in a separate room. Pro pal, Alexis Waddel shared the hotel room with me, which made for some extra pre-race fun.
Race morning went smooth, although Alexis and I enjoyed some extra excitement on pre-race morning. While Alexis quickly navigated our super van from San Clemente down the highway (with zero navigational help from me), we hit a bump in Oceanside. After making the exit towards Oceanside harbor, we were directed the wrong way and instead of headed towards parking; we were waved directly down the racecourse towards transition; along with hundreds of athletes who were riding their bikes into transition. It was both comical, embarrassing and nerve wracking at all once. We couldn’t back up; we couldn’t turn and were in constant danger of running over all of the athletes riding in the pitch-black darkness of 5am. Ultimately we arrived at a T-junction where some Camp Pendleton Marines were directing traffic…straight was into the ocean, right was into transition and left allowed us to drive back out of the harbor area. Whew, with only a stern look and some shouting we were back rolling towards a proper parking area.
With the van parked and our gear unloaded Alexis and I made the teeth chattering spin in the blackness to the transition area. It felt like a weird dream, riding a bike with hundreds of apparitions towards the blinding lights of the transition area. Due to our later-than-planned arrival to transition, there was no time to waste!Bike racked, gear laid out, transition flow reviewed, potty line time and put on the wetsuit. Before I knew it, it was time to head to the start.
The pro women’s wave started at 6:43 am. I was pleasantly surprised to find the 60-degree water felt reasonably brisk, but not distracting. The gun went off and so were we.I quickly got into a groove, albeit solo and off any draft packs. In hindsight, I remembered seeing a small group of 3-4 athletes swimming a short distance ahead of me before the turnaround at the far end of the swim course. This is where I should have put in a surge to make that pack. Instead I saw them gradually put more and more time on me between the half waypoint and the swim exit. Lesson learned, get on some feet, don’t go it alone. I exited the swim in one of my personal best swim times for 1.2 miles. A small consolation with the leaders out of the water 9 minutes earlier.
I flew through transition and hopped onto my Blue T14. Now, the early morning temperatures made themselves felt. BRRRR…being wet and riding a bike, soaking wet is one way to wake up!
The bike went extremely well. Within minutes of starting the bike I began passing girls.Naturally this was great for my confidence and kept me on task. Throughout the entire bike I was making continual and constant progress through the field. With every pass, I gained more confidence in my training and myself. Though I did start to feel some significant pain in my back on some low grade hills, I tried to pay attention to what my back can handle...yet ultimately I pushed it a bit too far.
I got off the bike in 15th place, just off of a pack of the top athletes. (I rode from close to 40th place up to 15th).When the run started I could feel my back getting ever more stiff. Still, I put a smile on my face and ran steady. I definitely kept an even, steady pace from mile 1 to mile 13. Unfortunately steady wasn’t fast enough. I dropped back to 22nd by race end. Place aside I was satisifed with my race, I couldn't have done much more. My nutrition was on, my swim reflected my pool training times, I smoked the bike and ran as best I could given the situation.
I crossed the line in 4:57:14. Overall, it was a solid early season effort. Mentally I kept it together and felt strong on the swim, bike and run. I have a good idea of where I am at fitness wise and look forward to more training and preparations for upcoming races.
Next event: Powerman Alabama on 4/15 in Irondale, Alabama.
Congratulations to Andy Potts (rockin' sub 4 hrs!) on his win, to Kate Major for showing us how its done, to Alexis on her 9th place finish and all the Hypercats, SF Tri folks and everyone on course for giving it a go!
Many thanks to Blue Competition Cycles, Optic Nerve Eyewear, Pro Gold Lubricants, Powerbar and Oomph! for your continued support!
-Rachel
Side note:After the California 70.3 I had an appointment with a specialist for my back. Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Sports Medicine Institute reffered me to Dr. Jeffrey Saal at S.O.A.R in Redwood City. Dr. Saal and his staff is considered among the nations best experts for back issues like those I have been suffering. Dr. Saal reviewed past x-rays and MRIs and promptly recommended another MRI for Monday, April 9th. Based on what the doctor said so far, I won’t have to stop training or competing, which is great news. We are simply looking to get a reality check on what I can expect with the disc degeneration that I have.
I was feeling confident heading into this year’s Ford California 70.3 triathlon. I put in a nice month of training in Ventura and I was ready to see what I could do, albeit on a non-rested body. I put in my biggest week of training pre-half ironman due to the early time of the year. It would be interesting to see how the body would respond.
Friday, Jim (Phil's mom's husband) drove Shirleymom and I from Ventura to San Clemente where Phil booked our hotel. In turns out that the location was prime. I loved San Clemente and it was much removed from the normal pre-race circus of Oceanside. Phil and his mom shared a room with the chihuahuas so that I could focus on race preparations in a separate room. Pro pal, Alexis Waddel shared the hotel room with me, which made for some extra pre-race fun.
Race morning went smooth, although Alexis and I enjoyed some extra excitement on pre-race morning. While Alexis quickly navigated our super van from San Clemente down the highway (with zero navigational help from me), we hit a bump in Oceanside. After making the exit towards Oceanside harbor, we were directed the wrong way and instead of headed towards parking; we were waved directly down the racecourse towards transition; along with hundreds of athletes who were riding their bikes into transition. It was both comical, embarrassing and nerve wracking at all once. We couldn’t back up; we couldn’t turn and were in constant danger of running over all of the athletes riding in the pitch-black darkness of 5am. Ultimately we arrived at a T-junction where some Camp Pendleton Marines were directing traffic…straight was into the ocean, right was into transition and left allowed us to drive back out of the harbor area. Whew, with only a stern look and some shouting we were back rolling towards a proper parking area.
With the van parked and our gear unloaded Alexis and I made the teeth chattering spin in the blackness to the transition area. It felt like a weird dream, riding a bike with hundreds of apparitions towards the blinding lights of the transition area. Due to our later-than-planned arrival to transition, there was no time to waste!Bike racked, gear laid out, transition flow reviewed, potty line time and put on the wetsuit. Before I knew it, it was time to head to the start.
The pro women’s wave started at 6:43 am. I was pleasantly surprised to find the 60-degree water felt reasonably brisk, but not distracting. The gun went off and so were we.I quickly got into a groove, albeit solo and off any draft packs. In hindsight, I remembered seeing a small group of 3-4 athletes swimming a short distance ahead of me before the turnaround at the far end of the swim course. This is where I should have put in a surge to make that pack. Instead I saw them gradually put more and more time on me between the half waypoint and the swim exit. Lesson learned, get on some feet, don’t go it alone. I exited the swim in one of my personal best swim times for 1.2 miles. A small consolation with the leaders out of the water 9 minutes earlier.
I flew through transition and hopped onto my Blue T14. Now, the early morning temperatures made themselves felt. BRRRR…being wet and riding a bike, soaking wet is one way to wake up!
The bike went extremely well. Within minutes of starting the bike I began passing girls.Naturally this was great for my confidence and kept me on task. Throughout the entire bike I was making continual and constant progress through the field. With every pass, I gained more confidence in my training and myself. Though I did start to feel some significant pain in my back on some low grade hills, I tried to pay attention to what my back can handle...yet ultimately I pushed it a bit too far.
I got off the bike in 15th place, just off of a pack of the top athletes. (I rode from close to 40th place up to 15th).When the run started I could feel my back getting ever more stiff. Still, I put a smile on my face and ran steady. I definitely kept an even, steady pace from mile 1 to mile 13. Unfortunately steady wasn’t fast enough. I dropped back to 22nd by race end. Place aside I was satisifed with my race, I couldn't have done much more. My nutrition was on, my swim reflected my pool training times, I smoked the bike and ran as best I could given the situation.
I crossed the line in 4:57:14. Overall, it was a solid early season effort. Mentally I kept it together and felt strong on the swim, bike and run. I have a good idea of where I am at fitness wise and look forward to more training and preparations for upcoming races.
Next event: Powerman Alabama on 4/15 in Irondale, Alabama.
Congratulations to Andy Potts (rockin' sub 4 hrs!) on his win, to Kate Major for showing us how its done, to Alexis on her 9th place finish and all the Hypercats, SF Tri folks and everyone on course for giving it a go!
Many thanks to Blue Competition Cycles, Optic Nerve Eyewear, Pro Gold Lubricants, Powerbar and Oomph! for your continued support!
-Rachel
Side note:After the California 70.3 I had an appointment with a specialist for my back. Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Sports Medicine Institute reffered me to Dr. Jeffrey Saal at S.O.A.R in Redwood City. Dr. Saal and his staff is considered among the nations best experts for back issues like those I have been suffering. Dr. Saal reviewed past x-rays and MRIs and promptly recommended another MRI for Monday, April 9th. Based on what the doctor said so far, I won’t have to stop training or competing, which is great news. We are simply looking to get a reality check on what I can expect with the disc degeneration that I have.
