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09-10-08, 01:27 AM
I wasn't going to write this one up but since I really enjoy reading other people's race reports, I figured I should also contribute.
The Pacific Coast Tri is a sprint with a 1/2 mi ocean swim, 12 mi bike, and 3 mi run. This is my fourth time doing this race in the last five years...I missed last years race due to a bad cold. For the most part, it is well run and I think it's a great course.
For those of you who are in your first season of doing tri's, I thought you might be interested in my historical progress. Keep in mind that I'm the kind of person who loves steak, burgers, tacos, pizza, bratwurst, beer, red wine, etc. and I basically train so I can keep my weight in check while eating like a teenager. Even so, you'll see that great progress is possible if you stick with this stuff.
On race morning I needed to get up earlier than usual as my wife took my truck to Vegas for a tradeshow and I can't fit my tri bike in her car. Not a major deal as the race site is only about nine miles away. Still, I was laughing to myself as I was riding in the dark up and over Newport Coast (a two-mile climb) to the beach.
The first wave went off at 7:30 AM and my wave went at 7:54. What was cool about it was that the bike course runs past the swim start so we were able to watch the leaders come through...even more cool was when I saw Michellie Jones come through...it was great that she came to race our little hometown sprint tri.
Anyway, so the gun goes off and for the first time, I decided not to start at the back of the pack. After an Ironman mass start, I figured a wave with 125 people or so couldn't be all that bad...and it really wasn't. I think the water was 62 or 64 and it felt great. As usual, my form wasn't very good in the beginning but I eventually settled in and the total swim was pretty much uneventful. I exited the water at about 16:30 but the timing mat was not on the beach, it was at the top of the steep ramp that climbs to the parking lot/transition area about 80-100 feet high. So my official swim split was 19:01.
Note to race directors - If at all possible, please try to maintain some consistency with these types of things. In the four times I've done this race, the timing mats have yet to be in the same place.
I had a fairly quick T1 (2:33) despite the fact that I wandered around looking for my bike for about 30 seconds. I was basically standing right in front of it but didn't see it...weird, but more on that later. As an apples-to-apples comparison here are my historical Swim+T1 times...
2004 - 27:27
2005 - 23:04
2006 - 25:19
2008 - 21:34 (567th out of 937)
The bike course is two laps and it's on the challenging side due to rolling hills. I felt great and started passing people immediately..even on the uphills which is not normal. This year was the worst ever with riders not staying to the right. There were a few sections where I had to slow way down and wait for things to space out before I could go through. The refs passed out a lot of penalties and I'm sure I lost over a minute...whatever, I still had my best bike time and a lot of skinny people came up to me after the race and commented about me being a strong rider...they probably meant "for a fat guy". Anyway, my total ride time was 37:12 (158th out of 937). T2 was pretty quick (1:35), but I again had trouble finding my spot. I don't know what my problem was, I'm usually really good at that part. Here's my Bike+T2 year-to-year comparison.
2004 - 46:19
2005 - 43:38
2006 - 43:16
2008 - 38:47
If you've read any of my previous race reports, you'll probably remember that the run is my weakest event of the three. In 2004 I had the slowest run time of the entire men's field and did more walking than running. The training miles finally paid off and while it was still my slowest of the three events, it wasn't a total disaster as usual. I simply settled into a pace that I knew I could keep for three miles...even on the soft sand section that was about 1/2 mi long. The crazy thing was that I actually passed some people and I didn't get passed all that much. Truth be told, I was really enjoying myself and I was pretty sure I was on track to break 1h30m which was my secret goal for the day (I came out of T2 at 1:00:21). The last stretch takes you up another mega-ramp from the sand to the parking lot area...it's somewhat of a killer but once I got to the top, I was pretty sure I had my goal in the bag. In the last 100m I ran by Michellie who was done and cheering people on (she did 1h04m...wow). I hit the finishing chute and was very pleased with my time of 1:28:31. Last year-to-year comparisons coming up...
2004 - 41:14 (yes, it was really only three miles)
2005 - 35:46
2006 - 34:02
2008 - 28:10 (715th out of 937)
Overall comparison...though the results were posted differently every year...again Race Directors, please take note.
2004 - 1:55:00 - 923rd out of 1,021 - 132nd out of 136 in age group
2005 - 1:42:27 - 513th out of 670 (men only) - 94th out of 116 in age group
2006 - 1:42:40 - 74th out of 99 in age group...no other info posted
2008 - 1:28:31 - 422nd out of 937 - 49th out of 97 in age group
All-in-all a fun way to spend a Sunday morning. It occurred to me as I was standing in the finish area that I had completed the entire event in less time than the swim took me at Ironman Arizona in April. That gave me a new-found affection for the sprint distance :)
Thanks for reading, I hope it was worthwhile.
Cheers.
-CJ
The Pacific Coast Tri is a sprint with a 1/2 mi ocean swim, 12 mi bike, and 3 mi run. This is my fourth time doing this race in the last five years...I missed last years race due to a bad cold. For the most part, it is well run and I think it's a great course.
For those of you who are in your first season of doing tri's, I thought you might be interested in my historical progress. Keep in mind that I'm the kind of person who loves steak, burgers, tacos, pizza, bratwurst, beer, red wine, etc. and I basically train so I can keep my weight in check while eating like a teenager. Even so, you'll see that great progress is possible if you stick with this stuff.
On race morning I needed to get up earlier than usual as my wife took my truck to Vegas for a tradeshow and I can't fit my tri bike in her car. Not a major deal as the race site is only about nine miles away. Still, I was laughing to myself as I was riding in the dark up and over Newport Coast (a two-mile climb) to the beach.
The first wave went off at 7:30 AM and my wave went at 7:54. What was cool about it was that the bike course runs past the swim start so we were able to watch the leaders come through...even more cool was when I saw Michellie Jones come through...it was great that she came to race our little hometown sprint tri.
Anyway, so the gun goes off and for the first time, I decided not to start at the back of the pack. After an Ironman mass start, I figured a wave with 125 people or so couldn't be all that bad...and it really wasn't. I think the water was 62 or 64 and it felt great. As usual, my form wasn't very good in the beginning but I eventually settled in and the total swim was pretty much uneventful. I exited the water at about 16:30 but the timing mat was not on the beach, it was at the top of the steep ramp that climbs to the parking lot/transition area about 80-100 feet high. So my official swim split was 19:01.
Note to race directors - If at all possible, please try to maintain some consistency with these types of things. In the four times I've done this race, the timing mats have yet to be in the same place.
I had a fairly quick T1 (2:33) despite the fact that I wandered around looking for my bike for about 30 seconds. I was basically standing right in front of it but didn't see it...weird, but more on that later. As an apples-to-apples comparison here are my historical Swim+T1 times...
2004 - 27:27
2005 - 23:04
2006 - 25:19
2008 - 21:34 (567th out of 937)
The bike course is two laps and it's on the challenging side due to rolling hills. I felt great and started passing people immediately..even on the uphills which is not normal. This year was the worst ever with riders not staying to the right. There were a few sections where I had to slow way down and wait for things to space out before I could go through. The refs passed out a lot of penalties and I'm sure I lost over a minute...whatever, I still had my best bike time and a lot of skinny people came up to me after the race and commented about me being a strong rider...they probably meant "for a fat guy". Anyway, my total ride time was 37:12 (158th out of 937). T2 was pretty quick (1:35), but I again had trouble finding my spot. I don't know what my problem was, I'm usually really good at that part. Here's my Bike+T2 year-to-year comparison.
2004 - 46:19
2005 - 43:38
2006 - 43:16
2008 - 38:47
If you've read any of my previous race reports, you'll probably remember that the run is my weakest event of the three. In 2004 I had the slowest run time of the entire men's field and did more walking than running. The training miles finally paid off and while it was still my slowest of the three events, it wasn't a total disaster as usual. I simply settled into a pace that I knew I could keep for three miles...even on the soft sand section that was about 1/2 mi long. The crazy thing was that I actually passed some people and I didn't get passed all that much. Truth be told, I was really enjoying myself and I was pretty sure I was on track to break 1h30m which was my secret goal for the day (I came out of T2 at 1:00:21). The last stretch takes you up another mega-ramp from the sand to the parking lot area...it's somewhat of a killer but once I got to the top, I was pretty sure I had my goal in the bag. In the last 100m I ran by Michellie who was done and cheering people on (she did 1h04m...wow). I hit the finishing chute and was very pleased with my time of 1:28:31. Last year-to-year comparisons coming up...
2004 - 41:14 (yes, it was really only three miles)
2005 - 35:46
2006 - 34:02
2008 - 28:10 (715th out of 937)
Overall comparison...though the results were posted differently every year...again Race Directors, please take note.
2004 - 1:55:00 - 923rd out of 1,021 - 132nd out of 136 in age group
2005 - 1:42:27 - 513th out of 670 (men only) - 94th out of 116 in age group
2006 - 1:42:40 - 74th out of 99 in age group...no other info posted
2008 - 1:28:31 - 422nd out of 937 - 49th out of 97 in age group
All-in-all a fun way to spend a Sunday morning. It occurred to me as I was standing in the finish area that I had completed the entire event in less time than the swim took me at Ironman Arizona in April. That gave me a new-found affection for the sprint distance :)
Thanks for reading, I hope it was worthwhile.
Cheers.
-CJ