Santa Barbara Tri - Long Course

Mission Complete!

By some form of miracle I finished the Santa Barbara long course Tri.
Over all time: 3:36:32
Age division place: 4Th! (Good enough for an award!)
Place over all: 143 out of 727
splits (not including transition times are as follows:
swim: 30:08
bike: 1:36:29
Run: 1:23:46


After setting up my transition area and helping my mom out with hers I headed into the ocean for a brief warm up with a friend.
OH MAN WAS IT COLD!
My face was instantly numb and I was glad I had a chance to swim around and prepare myself and get a small warm up in.
I was sure to keep an eye on the time and the beach as last time I did a tri I nearly missed the start of my wave and ended up sprinting to the start line.
Upon completion of my warm up I sought out my Momma to give her the bad news: the water temp. She doesn't hold up so well in the cold being from Palm Springs!

Before I knew it I was in the water swimming. The sun had come up now and the water immediately warmed up. About ten minutes into I started thinking that this was one of the worst decisions Ive ever made in my entire life and I'm an idiot for putting myself through this again.

Next thing I new I was rounding the buoy and half way through the swim. There were alot of swimmers out there and the Field was just starting to thin out to the point where I could actually settle into a rhythm. My researching of sight lines turned out to be a mute point as the sun was rising and absolutely blinding. I couldn't see the final buoy until I was about 10 feet away from it. I just had to go with the flow and follow the crowd.

My transition from swim to bike was rough. I was shaking, had trouble focusing, and was very light headed. I took the first couple of miles on the bike slow. Warming up and going over my plan in my head. Since I didn't have a TT bike and am a little sluggish on the flats the plan was to sprint every hill grade and incline. I got to the first grade heading up towards the 192 and must've passed about 15 guys. I continued on and passed another 15 up torrow. about 5 or so passed me again right after the turn onto the polo fields. Then it began to get interesting.

The Field was really crowded and a group of about 10 slowly began to over take us. They key word being slow. In USAT sanctioned event there are pretty strict rules regarding drafting. Technically once you come within three bike lengths of another rider you have 15 seconds to pass and then return again to the left. If you cant pass in 15 seconds you have to back off and wait until you can. Once you pass you must immediately return to the right of the road or else its considered blocking.
One the larger group began to over take us no one was really going and there was a bunch of about 20. I tried to stay to the right thinking that they would blow by. But they didn't. A couple started yelling and there were some F bombs and some aggression brewing. Realizing I wanted nothing to do with that energy I found a gap, jumped through, and held a faster pace then I would've liked. Pretty soon I was at Goob, and while some of those boys could talk they sure couldn't climb. I Didn't see anyone from that group for the rest of the ride.

I hammered up goob, and kept my head down and pace up all the way to torro when operation domination took effect. I cranked up torrow passing another 7 guys. 3 of whom caught me before the finish line.

I by no means had the best bike time, but I felt very good about it. I stayed focused, kept my cadence smooth, and utilized my strengths.

Back to the transition zone. I forgot to untie my shoe laces. Rookie mistake that cost me probably a minute. It was probably for the best as I utilized that time to follow the Doc's orders stretch out my I.T. Band! I started the run slow. VERY slow. Considering two days ago I couldn't run two blocks I didn't want to aggravate my injury. The Goal was to finish.

For the first 3 miles i ran about 12 to 14 minute miles (I had no watch or bike computer so I really don't know how fast my splits were). I would try to speed up and then my knee would start to hurt so I'd take it back again. I was lacking in confidence and that really effected my performance. But I kept telling myself better to take it easy and finish then have to walk back. For miles 4 and 5 I started to pick it up and then at the run around settled into my usual pace. My knee hurt, but the pain was slight and by this point I realized that I would be able to finish.
I had some problems with my breathing muscles spasming and had difficulty breathing. Had I trained properly and been at a hundred percent I should've been able to average about 7 to 7:30 minute miles: about 15 to 20 minutes faster on the run.

I came across the finish line totally stolked. I finished, had a great time, got to race with my mom and some friends, and even got a tile award to take home to boot.

Caitlin was a trooper and woke up at 5 with me. I swear I think shes the one that deserves the award not me. With out her it wouldn't be possible... Not even close. I couldn't ask for a more supportive, loving, beautiful person to share my life with.

My Mom ended up coming in at around 4:40. By no means her best time. But considering her set backs in training and her old age... SHE KICKED SOME SERIOUS ASS.

My knees been tight all afternoon. I'll probably pay the price for running in the weeks to come. We'll see how I feel in the morning. Worlds is still up in the air at this point.

Next event on the horizon...Everest Challenge?