Race Report...Pacific Coast Tri

[cjbruin]

Hey guys, official results aren't posted yet but I figured I would get started anyway. This is the event that started my new found fitness last year so I was looking forward to it to see how much I improved. The event is a sprint with a 1/2 mi swim, 12 mi bike, and 3 mi run. Last year it took me 1:55:00 and this year I improved to about 1:42:30! I thought I would be a bit faster but I have to be happy with a 12:30 improvement...especially when you consider my goof ups (such as my shoe falling off my pedal when I was trying to put it on (DOH!!!).

I'll post a complete race description once I get the results but as a teaser, this is a very challenging course that includes a nasty hill from the beach to T1 (I'm pretty sure that it's at least 100' high)...I'm guessing I had about an 7 min T1. The bike course has a couple of steep hills. The run includes about 1/2 mi on sand followed by another monster hill from the beach up to the finish.

I estimate that my times were:

Swim 18:00 -- my wife said that I was in the top half of my age group -- there was a pretty good current.
T1 - 7:00
Bike - 41:00
T2 - 2:30
Run - 34:00 -- I am a really horrible runner

Most of you are much faster than me...keep in mind, I'm about 45-50 lbs overweight. I figure if I can knock 12 min off every year, I'll be winning my age group by the time I'm 42...yeah and monkeys might fly out of my butt :rolleyes:

[chrisesposito]

That's quite an improvement; Congratulations!

[OC Roadie]

Nice work, congatulations. I'm waiting for the Santiago TT's next month so I can compare to last year. I hope to knock off a couple of minutes.

[suzyultra]

Way to go, 12.minutes is quite an improvement, as for winning your age group nothing is impossable if you believe you can do it!!!

[psycofish]

Ugh I know what you mean about the sand run. I did a sprint this weekend and half the 3.5 mile run was on soft sand. How awful,I mean do you shorten your stride, lengthen your stride or just keep the same form (I tried to shorten but I don't know if it helped). Congrats on the improvement (see all those toys do help at least that's what to tell the wife

[H2OChick]

Awright CJ! That's great! 12 and a half minutes is a significant improvement. And I'll bet you felt better, too. Just keep plugging away and having fun. My husband lost 40 lbs. last year and it's done wonders for his basketball game and his self-esteem. And remind yourself that you're out there and you're DOIN' IT! Which is a LOT more than most folks can say (present company here at BF excluded, of course.)

[MHR]

Great race and nice improvement - keep up the good work. What's next?

[^*^BATMAN^*^]

Dude, awesome, 12 minutes is huge. What is up with the T1 time, do they have timing mats at the water, or the entrance to the transition area? You will forsure get down to better times if you just keep it up. Awesome job though, keep it up.

[TriBob]

Great PR!

[Vuroth]

Awesome! Way to go!