Race: Day at the Beach Triathlon (Hermosa Beach, CA)
Date: June 12, 2011
Start Time: 7:30AM
Location: Redondo Beach Pier /Veteran’s Park

Another triathlon race  in the books, albeit this one was of the ‘super-sprint/mini-sprint’ variety. That’s right — I signed up for a Tri that’s half the distance of the supposedly shortest distance! Why’d I do that? To practice my ocean swimming, of course! Before I go into the details of the swim this time around (and it’s a bit fuzzy now that I’m writing this recap several weeks a month after the event!), I want to get some notes down for those interested in jumping into Triathlons, or were considering this particular event!

Pre-Race / Packet Pick-up
Having just finished running the Camp Pendleton Mud Run, I left as soon as I could to avoid the traffic from Oceanside to Redondo Beach. I still hit some traffic and I was worried that I might miss the packet pick-up and didn’t want to pay the extra $10 to pick my bib up the next day (lol I’m cheap). I made it to the South Bay in time and proceeded to the RB Triathlon Lab where I was greeted with awesome race goodies — a nice technical shirt for participants (in XS, even!), a cool keepsake swim cap made out of silicone, rather than the usual latex-eat-up-your-hair-kind, our timing chip was on a thin neoprene strap (you had to return the strap but I was grateful for it because it meant no chaffing!), the usual bib, helmet sticker and bike bib.

My sis and I browsed through Tri Lab briefly to check their wares and went on our way to have our carbo-load.

Race Day
Even if we both were doing the super-Sprint (which, by the way, was classified as a Youth/recreational division — naturally), we were equally nervous because the swim portion involved 400 metres in the ocean. Anyway, we got to the Redondo Beach Pier a little after 6AM (sis kept going to the bathroom!) unloaded our bikes, checked the air and pumped our tyres, and then made our way to the transition area. The super-sprint bike racks were placed at the very end of the transition area and it was somewhat of a madhouse since there were clearly more people who were registered for the super-sprint and there didn’t seem to be enough space for everyone (I clearly remember two bikes that were just in the middle of the transition area on their own bike stands! LOL) Still, we set up quickly because we knew getting into our wetsuits was going to take a bit of time.

Fast-forward to singing the National Anthem, listening to some inspirational words from the Race Director and then making our way down (as in stairs) to the beach, the waiting game began and my nerves had to remind me that I sucked at ocean swimming.

Swim
I stayed at the end of the pack (as usual) so that I wouldn’t have to “fight” with anyone entering the water. I remember hitting the water (and remembering what Coach Dave said during one of his ocean swim clinics), dove under an incoming wave and was surprised to have made it through with no worries. More waves were cresting and arriving and I just kept at it. I was literally going through these waves so much better than I had in the Hermosa Beach tri that in a few minutes, I was out and swimming  towards the first buoy.

Panic @ the Pacific.Then it arrived — a mini-panic attack! I think I must have gone through the waves too fast or summat that I was hyperventilating. I didn’t try to catch my breath and stop, either as I kept moving (side-stroke) so that I don’t remain bobbing for a period of time. In hindsight, I think I needed to stop right there and bob in the ocean to gather my thoughts and breathe deeper. I still made it around the first buoy, despite hyperventilating through the entire time. I attempted to swim as usual but could never find my rhythm! It also didn’t help that the waves were still quite high, albeit weren’t cresting. These waves were unnerving that it carried you up just when you thought you were ‘flat’ on the ocean as you swam laterally… It’s difficult to explain but the waves at the Hermosa Beach tri weren’t as “active” this one in Redondo Beach. I don’t know how I managed to move on without any rhythm in my stroke but I made it to the second buoy and then was making my way towards the shore.

Long trek to T1
I made it back to the shore in what took like a forever swim in the ocean. I managed to pose for an “action shot” for the waiting photog as I was on my way back up to transition.

Thumbs up for surviving

I think one negative of this race was that the transition area was quite far from the swim end (at least for me).  You had to run from sea-level up the hill to the parking lot just to get to T1. Even if I was jogging up the hill, despite my body yelling to walk (as some participants did), it still took me nearly 7 minutes in T1 — most of it was spent getting out of my wetsuit! After wearing my shoes, getting my helmet strapped on, and having an internal debate whether I should wear my gloves — I didn’t — I finally walked my bike out of transition and onto the mounting area.

Bike
The course was fantastic — much wider than the HB Tri bike course and no potholes! For a small race, they gave you loads of room albeit the “hill climb” in the end! I love the bike portion because it’s where I could make up the time lost in the swim and T1. However, since this bike-leg was just a fraction of what I’ve previously done (single-loop for recreational participants) before I knew it, I was climbing out of the hill (nearly hit a dude, too, cos he was stopping mid-race! in the climb!) and was returning to the transition area.

Musclely-dude stopping midway!

Made it through, albeit slightly annoyed

You can see the look of frustration on my face after narrowly passing the guy. I suppose I should’ve just ridden in the “fast” lane, but I knew I wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way of the other riders.

Run, aka 1-Mile Trod
I think I underestimated the remaining legs of the race after the swim (i.e., bike, T2 and run) because I felt deflated in the run! Compared to the Hermosa Beach tri, I was going my absolute slowest in this run (took nearly 14 minutes) as I couldn’t get my feet to move faster! I don’t remember if I took some SportBeans, either or an electrolyte replacement beverage at T2. I was just plain fatigued — and I just had to do a mile!  I also noticed that I don’t run as fast if I’m not following someone who’s setting the pace. Since I was in autopilot-mode, I should’ve just stuck with following someone who had a quicker pace than what I was running. Again, I think back to the Hermosa Beach Tri, since the bike portion was considerably longer, I was able to recover from the swim as I rode the bike so that when it came to the run, I had a considerable amount of energy left! Still, at the finish, despite my body yelling for mercy, I managed to have a smile on my face for the photogs.

Requisite Asian peace-sign pose

Notes for the future
Ocean swim: More in-and-out practice. Focus on mental game.
T1: Get out of wetsuit quicker. Avoid chatting with other participants whilst there. LOL!
Bike: Go faster. Have faith in my speed.  
T2: Go even quicker. (I just need to remove my helmet and put my hat on.)
Run:  Find a pace-setter and stick with him/her.

Chip Results:
Clock Time: 00:49:51
Swim: 00:15:22
T1: 00:06:53
Bike: 00:12:23
T2: 00:01:36
Run: 00:13:39

Oh! This tri had the best finish-line goodies for participants: free brekkers! They had Breakfast burrito, cheese pizza, and mini-bundt cakes… Some of which you can see in the pic below.

Do I has summat in my teef?

Onto the next Triathlon… Hermosa Beach in October!