Oceanside 2022

I went into Oceanside feeling fit and ready to race, albeit slightly tired, with IMStG 5 weeks out.  

Coach Marilyn sent me the best pre-race I have ever received, and I took it to heart 100%. A few key takeaways from that, there were more, but this is the gist of it! 

• Focus on You and only YOU, and do the very best that you can every step of the way
• Be aggressive and relentless the whole way……….Being OFFENSIVE is the key...

My competition was steep, as in she won 70.3 Worlds by 12 min and placed overall quite well, in addition to 5 other strong Kona racers, so the goal was to focus on me and only me.

This is the 11th time I have raced Oceanside, so I know the course inside and out. It really comes down to execution, nutrition, and attitude. 

Swim:  27:07

I started with the 25-30 min group, well placed, and passed over 35 people, primarily green gaps who either think they can swim faster or just want to be out front. The waves were 2-4 feet and nothing crazy if you can practice and understand the ocean. The Water temp was around 60, so tolerable. The ocean is large, so there are no issues getting around them. I swam hard, + we had a generous current pushing us North, so that was helpful. Felt tremendous and got onto the bike.  

1 Precision Hydration Gel, 5 min before the swim 

BIKE  2:40:16 

This is an Oceanside Bike PR, so yes! But I really wanted to crack 2:40. However, the guy in front of me was not interested in hauling ass down the narrow chute. So be it! This was an interesting bike. Rolling out of T2, I realized my bottle on the down tube was GONE, not there. Well, damn, no clue about that.  🤷‍♀️. Once I was on the road, I went to drink out of my aero bottle, and it was making slurping sounds; clearly, it was nearly empty. Oh, fuck! Literally no fluids until mile 18; I was literally swallowing my saliva in the hope of hydrating myself.    I had 2 packages of Precision Hydration Chews and started eating those, which are the BOMB. So I punted and went with Gatorade Endurance + the chews. The fact it was 55 degrees is what saved me.

Legs feeling good, power spot on, and then I hit a bump end now power, gone! Okay, time to ride by, feel, I know how to do that; I pushed it a bit and felt strong; I know this course and know where to push and when to hold back. The last 8 miles on Vandeveer tells how one rode; either you are struggling for watts and staying aero or pushing strong; I was the latter on Saturday.

Into T2 and onto the run

RUN:  1:47:52

Heading out of T2, it took me a bit to get organized; gels in my Smashfest 4 Gel Pocket Bra and salt tabs into my rear pockets. Coach has said, don't stress about the first 1/2M; when I looked at my watch, I was running 8:45 pace, shit, slow. I settled in and picked it up, and my legs found they were pleased around 8:10-8:15, so I ticked off the miles.   This run course is the best; miles 1.5-3, there were people every .25 miles I knew, so it was like a party. I say Les around mile 1.5, and I got the intel that 1st was over 12 min head and 2nd was 12 min behind, so this was me racing against me. I was feeling great and loving every mile. Onto lap 2, waiting to feel terrible, and it never happened. So much so that I negative split the run for a solid sub 8:00 mile at the end.   

Nutrition:  500ml bottle with 30g carb of  Precision Hydration 30 Drink Mix + 1000mg sodium from a Precision Hydration 1000mg tab.   I was worried I was a bit low on sodium and calories, so I drank this in 2 miles.   Then had 1 PF gel at 30/60/90 min. At every aid station, I had water/Gatorade/ and then at mile 6 started the RedBull. I took an additional 900mg sodium of PH Sweat Salts.   This was solid all-around. The extra gel at 90 minutes was the key to a strong finish.

5:03:14, and I am damn happy! This is 4 min off my Oceanside PR, which I did 13 years ago!  

Onto Ironman St George in 4 weeks, and I am stoked!   Great chat with M about the final build. There is a lot out there, but the key is not overdoing it. I often tell my athletes this, don't get greedy!  

Recently, a few have asked me why they think I am racing so well?

• Implicitly trust my coach and do what she says. Hard is hard, and even more critical easy is easy!  
• Consistency, day in and day out, week after week.  
• Nov and Dec were about shedding fitness, doing what felt right, M had me hitting the gym hard, but the rest was minimal; I lost a lot of bikes and swim fitness.   I stay with my coach year-round to ensure the offseason is still a time to make some gains, not overtrain, and ensure we are ready to go when the time is right.
• Strenght, I lifted heavy Nov/Dec and early Jan, and since then, its maintenance, a lot of mobility and core. 
• I am training my body to take in more calories/grams of carbohydrate on the bike and run. This does not happen overnight, but I can see it working. 
• Clean eating, I eat copious amounts of leafy greens, but I also eat copious amounts of carbs, rice, sweet potatoes, and bread, knowing that is what my body needs. Don't get me wrong, you will see me on a long ride with a Dr. Pepper and Lays Potato chips. And cutting back the 🍷

I love this hometown race! Huge thank you to all the cheers and support out there on Saturday! The Smashfest Crew, the Betty Squad, Polly, Maureen, people from the past that I heard and recalled seeing you later.  

And my absolute favorite part of the day is racing alongside my athletes!   Watching Alex have a breakthrough race and a massive PR. Stacy smiled all day, embracing 0 technology. Kasey was determined and focused and even smiling despite the pain. And Chris, his first ever triathlon, and he finished like a boss!