RACE MORNING:
Craig Thorpe, Cindy Blair and I arrive early in the darkened misty T-1 area to drop our bikes and prepare for battle. I see many ONE athletes there, its just like going to Barlett with 3000 of your closet friends. As I'm standing in my wave group waiting to jump in and get started the announcer calls out Andy Potts coming out of the water. Its only been 22 minutes since the freakin race started and hes out of the water and no one else is near him. A minute or so the other top ranked pros come blazing out of the water but Andy was on his bike and gone....damn he is fast...Now my wave is in the water and we are ready to go. My new TYR googles, i bought for 10.00 the day before have the bright lens..nice i can see in the mist..Only for a while as we made the bend in the harbor the swells started to pick up. i picked out a tall lanky age group partner and followed his bubbles the whole way around the track. As I got out of the water, I actually felt really good and thought maybe i got something for the bike.
The first few miles on the bike were somewhat treacherous as the roads are old and bumpy from all the heavy military vehicles on them...Tank ruts...hadnt seen them in a while. I was rolling along and few ONE elites past me which actually gave me extra encouragement...still all was good, 18 mph and staying in Z 2-3..135 HR...Mile 25 arrived and I remember JTD's photo that said "My day starts here" It was just a short climb but the flavor was set for the next 25 miles...rolling thru the base and seeing all the young MP's brought back a lot of memories when I was a young buck Army MP. And then the monster loomed...holy shit the bikes looked like an ant army going up. At the bottom I was glad I had Airpark swapped out my 24 gear for a 26. Up we go, as steep as Golden Eagle and longer..HR going up 156, yikes...first hill done and two big ones to go. As I went up the next hills I just found a training rhythm and forgot about trying to blast up the climbs. HAHA Like I really could. My legs weren't barking at me but I knew I was going to pay the piper on the run. I tried to minimize damage and might have until the last 12 miles which were all into the headwind. I dug deep there and past close to 100 people, not bad I thought...
When we got back to Oceanside i saw my time on the bike was 3:20, wow so much for any record setting day for me. Since coming back to triathlon, running has been the hardest part as i have beat the daily lights out of my legs and hips for so many years, but I have always felt that you have to play the hand that is dealt ya and NO Whining is required. Besides everyone out there has there own issues to deal with. So off I went on the run. Though not fast I steadily made my way around the Strand, up and down the little biter hills until this last section to home. Wow, still thousands of people watching and I'm thinking, Are you kidding me! Seven plus hours later I'm done and just as excited as when I started. At the finish line, I waited for Todd to finish as he had some mechanical issues on the bike. He wasn't far behind and I was sure that he would want to see some ONE support and have a photo op at the finish line. We are the finishers in our club and enjoy every second of the pre-race, race and post race festivities.
Looking back on this race, I can easily see the steady progress I have been making. Although my times didnt reflect the fitness level increase I'm sure it will in time. I have Vineman and IMAZ yet to do, to go along with a host of local tri's through the season. I am encouraged each weekend that I'm out training, as I see so many ONE athletes and there families doing the same thing. This is what I love about ONE Multisport. We have so many talented triathletes that offer all kinds of help, tips and support it no wonder we are such a fast growing and cohesive club. To me it really helps others who may have doubts, can I do this? Yep, you can, just look around and see your teammates working thru the obstacles that are presented to them each day. Well that the rap on this report. Marquee Triathlon is looming large. It looks to be a cool crisp morning for a race. We do live in AZ, dont we!
