After a solid 7 hours of sleep, I felt alert shortly after the 5:30 wakeup call. Pre-race meal consisted of a Clif Bar, bagel with cream cheese, a banana, and 2 cups of coffee.
I fought some stiffness in my right quad and hamstring in the days leading up to the event. Some stretching exercises Friday night helped, because my leg was almost 100 percent at race-time, and wasn't a factor at all on the course.
Swim
The water was 61 degrees at the start, which felt positively balmy compared to last year. I did a quick warm-up 5 minutes before my wave start. I felt good, loose, and relaxed at the sound of the horn.
The swim course is a two loop triangular route that takes us out through the kelp forest, across relatively open water, then back through the kelp. I started to get a good rhythm by the last leg of the first loop. But I had a little trouble finding my own water the second loop. The course tends to get crowded on the swim and parts of the bike. I swallowed what felt like a gallon of fine Monterrey Bay seawater with the waves from other athletes around me. I came out of the water a little ahead of last year's pace, which was important for me to meet my goal.
The end of the swim, though, was difficult. Julie told me I looked a little wobbly coming out of the water. I felt fine, but vertigo is normal after long, open water swims. As I came up the stairs from the beach to the transition area, I slipped and fell, catching the brunt of the fall with my right knee. I didn't feel much during the race, but it has been pretty much throbbing since. At 32min, my time was slightly faster than last year, but off the 30 minute pace I had hoped to set.
T1
T1 was an absolute disaster. My hands were still numb from the swim, and I struggled to get my wetsuit off and it was very difficult to get my gloves on. Knowing I had shot my T1 time, I rushed off without my sunglasses. But after that transition, I took the 10 seconds to run back to get them. Ugh.
Bike
Pacific Grove is a fun, fast bike course. It's four loops from the Lover's Point transition down past the golf course along the water. Totally oblivious to the course, I actually missed the first loop turn -- heading straight toward the transition area instead. The marshal sent me back on course, but I cursed myself for the next 10 minutes for such a stupid mental mistake.
There are many reasons to love the P.G. transition area: numbered rack spaces, ample grass, incredible views. But a benefit to the athlete are the long entry and exit runways for T2. While it increases your T times, they are long enough to give your legs an actual transition, so you can hit the run course at almost full speed when you cross the mat.
Run
The run is perhaps my favorite of any race I've experienced in the sport. It's a mostly flat, 3 loop course with stunning coastal views and superb aid stations at the start and turnaround points. Running out is over a bike path with a parallel dirt train, and coming back is on the street. With typical morning overcast, temperatures hovered around 60 for the majority of the race, which kept me fresh through the run. As noted above, I was able to hit my stride early on the course, and maintained a steady pace for the first two loops. I tried to pick up my pace in loop #3, although I didn't keep loop splits. I had enough in the tank to pull off a strong finishing kick, nabbing 18th place (woo hoo!) by a nose over a fellow age-grouper (see the full results HERE ).
Since the run course only needs 2 aid stations, both are well stocked with water, poweraide, and cold fruit. Both stations are also long enough to allow the athletes to get multiple drinks and/or fruit in one pass, without having to slow down. Since Vineman, I've been turning more to fruit on the run as both a source of electrolytes and cold fuel to lower my body temperature. I left all gels behind on the run -- which wouldn't be a main source of energy for me on the Olympic distance, anyway. Still, I took orange slices at the start of each loop, which I think helped me maintain my energy for the final leg. Finished with a 7:17/mi pace, setting a new Olympic distance PR at 2:39:22.
Other Race Notes
While the loop course can create some crowds for the athletes, it is an exceptional race for spectators and families. Given the course layout, it is a great choice for athletes at all levels and first-timers (I will caution all newbies to prepare for the swim, though, since it is a challenge given the water temps and the kelp). The folks at Tri California do a tremendous job; I had no lines all weekend (registration was easy, plenty of bathrooms, not even a wait for body marking) and the typical tri spirit is out in force in Pacific Grove.
The town itself does a great job supporting the race. Hey, the mayor is a participant! In fact, I like Pacific Grove so much, I decided to give it some dedicated space HERE. I'll be back next year…
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