Lifetime Oceanside Sprint

I had planned to race the Lifetime Tempe Olympic at the end of September, but there were issues with the water quality and I didn't want to take the chance.  I was okay with it considering I had the Olympic on tap at Lifetime Oceanside at the end of October.  In between there life happened and I didn't get out on the bike very much.  I wanted to end the season on a high note and not be bummed about my fitness, so I decided to switch to the sprint. Little did I know at the time the swim was only a 400...ridiculous!

We headed out to SoCal Friday afternoon. The Trek's love to travel.

Road trip treats. Gluten free cookies & healthy balls!

I was pretty familiar with the race venue because I've done Oceanside 70.3 twice.  Upon arrival, I found that the condo I booked was right by T2 and the finish; very convenient.  Saturday arrived quickly and I got in my pre-race run and ride first thing in the morning.  We drove the course, both the bike and run, and I'm really glad we did.

Some of the nicest race swag I've gotten. Loving this backpack.

Checked in and T2 all setup!

Race morning came quickly and we had an early 4:30 alarm.  I choked down two gluten free waffles with peanut butter and banana and some coffee.  I really don't love eating so early.  We gathered up our bags and headed down to the start on our bikes.  Unfortunately, transition closed at 6:30 am and our waves didn't start until after 8 am.  We got everything setup and then just hung out for awhile. We got to see all the pros head out on the bike which is always awesome.  Eventually we drank our UCAN and headed out on our warm up runs.


I was happy to drop off my dry clothes bag and get my wetsuit on because it was pretty cold and windy at the start.  I lined up at the front of my wave so I could get in the water as soon as possible.  I did a little warmup, got some water in my wetsuit, made sure my cap was without air, and headed toward the start buoys.  I get out to the buoy and the kayak-er says good morning to me; I repeat the sentiment and a couple seconds later I'm hit upside the head.  I turn around to see what's going on and at the same time the kayak-er is yelling, 'woah, woah; hold up'.  A girl stops, looks up, and says, 'stop why; what's going on'.  The kayak-er lets her know that we haven't started yet.  I just laugh out loud and she turns to me and says, 'oh man, I thought we already started; I was chasing you'! I didn't really know what to say other than, 'nope, that was just the warmup'.  Have mercy.

The gun went off and I got off the line as quickly as possible.  That was possibly the shortest swim I had ever raced and my goal was push the pace the entire time.  I'm not an ocean lover so I was happy it was over quickly. I threw my wetsuit in the bag and was off on the bike.  To get out on the highway we had to maneuver through the harbor, which included a tight right turn over some speed bumps and a short steep turn.  I was happy to get passed those obstacles quickly and without incident.  My only complaint about the bike was that people didn't seem to understand to the ride on the right and pass on the left rule.  Riders were all over the place and I spent a majority of my ride saying 'on your left'.  There were a couple of dudes who didn't appreciate being chicked and decided not to move; so irritating. I had to ride over the rumble strips onto the shoulder to pass; those dudes deserved blocking penalties.  There were quite a few people who had no idea how many laps they had to do out on the highway and I could hear them asking the volunteers where to go.  Come on people; it's your job as an athlete to the know the course!  I headed back into town and was excited to get running. Another quick transition and I was out of T2.  I love running on that boardwalk; it's filled with people and it's flat and fast.  I had no idea where any of my competition was and I just kept pushing the pace the best I could.  The entire race I was looking for my parents, but they were waiting at the finish.  I saw my friends Jill & Bill just before I entered the finish chute and that was awesome.  The best part of my day was crossing line and seeing my run time was 20:53...6:44s! Phew, nationals wasn't a fluke.

Sooo happy to see my parents at the finish!

Successful season.

Since our condo was so close to the finish we headed up to shower before the awards.  I was just getting out of the shower and I heard everyone talking about how I was listed as disqualified in the results. WHAT?!  We run out of the hotel room and back down to the finish to find the timing official. They are looking at penalty lists, consulting each other, reviewing messages from race officials; it was the longest five minutes of my life.  They have no idea.  Fantastic.  They finally see that there was a disqualification for a bib number one different from mine; they keyed in the wrong number.  So dramatic! We got everything corrected and they let me know that I was 1st overall! WOW. So shocked.

It was a good Tri Scottsdale day in Oceanside! Fun to race with my teammates outside of AZ.

Happy to see that I do possess a couple of fast twitch fibers.

Erica had a fantastic race landing on the overall Olympic podium.  The flowers were a really nice touch, Lifetime!

I really think it's silly when races don't pull the overall winners out of the age group results.  Why not give more athletes the opportunity to podium?  Anyway, Lifetime didn't pull me out so I ended up with two awards.

A solid 2nd AG & 6th OA for Brian!

I love these two; haven't had them at a race in awhile!

Lifetime always puts on great races; this was no exception. This was also the pro championship race so it was awesome to see them crowned and earn their well deserved paychecks.  Next up: offseason!

Thank you to all of my great supporters; Generation UCAN, Tri Scottsdale, Zoot, Tribe Multisport, Muscle Milk and Fitletic for the support!