The weather was fantastic on Thursday for the Tri Club of San Diego’s monthly summer aquathlon race at La Jolla Shores- foggy but easily over 70 degrees. I arrived early and set up my beach chair to mark my spot for transition purposes. With no wetsuit, I went out for a quick warm up in the water….Brrrrrrrrrr! Temperture must have dropped 5 degrees from the last time I was in, about 10 days earlier.
As the race started, I lined up directly behind the person who was sure to be the lead swimmer (Ben Weston), in the hopes of 1) staying on course, and 2) getting a nice draft! Well my planned FAILED big time. After we got by the shorebreak, two swimmers crowded me out from Ben, and there was nothing I could do- I fell back behind the lead pack and never caught up.
Now, some of this of course has to do with my absolute lack of training this summer. One workout and one leisurely swim in the cove per week is not exactly the training regimine of Aquathlon champions! Also, I’ve only been running about 5 miles per WEEK, and all of them at a very slow pace.
I didn’t know how far behind the lead pack I was but I stayed behind a guy in a yellow cap most of the way. My stroke felt awful! But I maintained a consistent pace throughout the 1000 yard swim, turned the final buoy and rode a nice wave in to shore (according the race results I finished 5th out of about 80 competitors. If you add in the two women that beat me, I’d be 7th. 🙂
My transition was fantastic! Especially compared with my last aquathlon in July. The beach chair kicked ass. I sat down, easily put my shoes on, and took off on the run. No socks this time! 🙂
I was breathing pretty hard for the first 1/2 mile of the run or so. Several people passed me up before the halfway point. I was happy that my legs actually felt strong! I knew I could run a little faster, but I felt pretty good, so I kept my pace even. Then my right shoe came untied! I’m still learning in this sport. I think everyone else in the race had those shoelaces that you just pull to tie, or they ran barefoot.
On the last 1/2 mile or so, I caught and passed a woman that had passed me eariler. Then in the last 50 yards or so, I heard her footsteps right behind me! I turned on my fast twitch fibers and sprinted to the finished, holding of this woman who dared challenge me!
I got the results today, and I finished at 33:57, about 2 whole minutes faster than my last race in July! I think a whole minute of this was transition. Looks like I got 17th place, not bad at all and something to build on for next year, when I actually train for this event! Needless to say, I was sore yesterday from the race,
And I’m proud to say that I only got beat by 2 women! 🙂
