DATE: 01/22/2008 02:28:44 / MOOD: bored
On a sunny, cool Sunday morning just down the coast from Shoreline village, about 1300 triathletes gathered for the annual Long Beach Triathlon.
The transition area was, as usual, full of nervous triathletes and cluttered with bikes, helmets, and the usual paraphernalia.
The ocean there is calm due to a break wall out at sea to protect the marina. Recent storms had brought needed rain but also cooler than usual water temps - the sea was about 55 F that day.
The beach was not closed for the race. Fortunately, though, few people swim in the ocean there and there were not too many other pedestrians and athletes on course who were not racing.
As you may know, swimming is my weakest leg of the triathlon (and considering how unathletic I am in general, that's saying something!). My longest prior ocean swim was 600 meters, and my last triathlon was only 400 meters but for some reason I had a significant problem with anxiety and hyperventilation during that race. Thus the goal for this race was to complete the 800 meter (1/2 mile) swim and try to do so with less anxiety.
The swim course started further south along the beach and swimmers went up the coast and came into shore at transition.
Each swim wave started out 3 minutes apart. First the elite racers and 35-39 year old men, then senior men and clydesdales, then under 35 men, then my wave - under 35 women. Wading out through vast amounts of seaweed - which didn't disentangle itself from my legs until about 100 meters into the swim (just before the first buoy) - and diving into those cold, cold waters was certain to eliminate any residual sleepiness one might have from awakening at 4 in the morning on race day.
As usual, I waited until the majority of my wave was in the water and went out with the stragglers - the swimmers who know they're slow, so we start at the back so as not to be in the way. Another woman in my wave and I both backstroked the race. A couple of others, first timers, were pretty slow along with us. The approach to the first buoy I accomplished with a head-up crawl. However, that is rapidly tiring and ineffecient, and I was still having claustrophobic anxiety about swimming a crawl in the ocean. So I decided to backstroke and enjoy myself!
The sky was a beautiful, cloudless blue. There were plenty of other swimmers (about 150 in each wave) so I could glance at my cohorts and remain fairly well on course. I could feel a rush of water across my shoulders inside my wetsuit with every stroke, cooling the muscles working the hardest. It was a serene and lovely swim ... at least, until the wave after me started to swim over me.
Finally, 800 meters and a few good inhales of disgusting ocean water later, I reached the shallows. Woo hoo! Swim leg complete!
There was a long jog up the beach to transition. I was able to actually jog it, and even get the top half of my wetsuit undone by the time I entered transition. That was a first for me - I'm usually too weak to jog, and nearly fall over if I try to unzip my suit until I sit in transition for a minute. It was a great way to end off my big swim.
T1 was the usual routine: peeled my wetsuit the rest of the way off, exchanged goggles for glasses, clipped on helmet and race belt, slipped on socks and running shoes, and unracked my bike.
Running shoes for the bike leg? Yes, I'm so unathletic that I cannot for the life of me (or I should say for the life of my poor, bruised knees) manage to use bike shoes without falling over. Hard. And often.
The bike course was on closed roads, and went over the bridge to the Queen Mary, and back again (twice). It was a total of about 11 miles (~18 km). The cyclists spread out over the course so that one could bike in relative peace, and enjoy the surrounding scenic beauty. The view from the Queensway Bridge was beautiful. Downtown Long Beach and the shoreline, with bright green grass, leafy trees, a long series of palms along the coast, and the clear, bright blue sky.
After the bike, the last (and thus seemingly longest) leg of the race is the 5km run. We looped down the beach toward the swim start, then back past transition to pass Shoreline Village, out around the boardwalk surrounding the marina, and back again. A few times I slowed to a walk to facilitate deep breathing for a side stitch, and to allow myself a quick drink at the water station, but I ran the majority of the 3 miles. I even had the energy to put in a little faster running the last hundred yards into the finish line.
After the race I put everything back in my truck and headed to the 'Bok for a bit of breakfast. Unfortunately, my pager went off and I had to get my bacon to-go, and head off to a colic. (The horse is doing fine, by the way.)
Stats for the triathlon minded:
overall place: 815/841
age group: 39/44
females: 293/313
overall time: 2:02:41.5
swim: 24:37.4 = 32.49 m/min
t1: 6:25.9
bike: 50:43.9 = 20.9 km/hr or 13 mph
t2: 1:05.7
run: 39:48.8 = 7.535 km/hr or 4.672 mph
run pace: 13:17
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