Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Terrible swim for me. When I was getting suited up on the beach, one of the prior waves started and all of the competitors started running left, down the beach, instead of straight into the water. Someone told me that there was a pretty strong current pulling to the right and in the first few waves most of the swimmers had gotten off-track and had to swim back against the current to get around the first turn buoy. I went out and checked it out and the pull was noticeable. I figured I'd try the same thing and run down the beach a ways before heading into the water.

At the gun, I followed the masses down the beach and headed in where I had planned. The first part of the swim started off fine, but when I got almost halfway out to the buoy, we got hit with a pretty big set of waves. I got down under the first few, but after 3 or 4, I started to get tired and the waves kept coming. I got pounded pretty good a couple of times and my goggles got knocked around. I stopped and looked back and thought I was getting pulled off-line. Then I got hit by another wave. They were about 4- to 6-footers and had some punch. I stopped and had thoughts of heading back to the beach, but just then I caught a glimpse of the turn buoy and it was pretty close. The swell had also either just died down, or I was past the break, so I just trudged on. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful. Not much contact at the buoys and the second turn came pretty quickly. I had noticed that a lot of the swimmers were coming in way off line, due to the current, so I tried to aim such that the current would bring me back in line to the swim finish. I felt like I was out there forever.

Head out straight for the buoy and do a better job of duck-diving to get under the power of the waves. I think I wasted some time running down the beach and I might have gotten farther out before the set came in if I would have just headed straight out. I need to trust my swimming ability. I'm not the fastest, but I'm not awful. I got psyched out of executing my plan. I'll know better the next time.

Also, swimming in, I probably should have just swam straight and let the current take me a bit off course. It wouldn't have hurt all that much to run back towards transition at a bit of an angle. I may have wasted some energy, and perhaps swam farther, angling in and fighting the current just so that I would come out of the water in line with the finish.

All of the run up the beach is in the swim time, so transition times should be fast. I got the wetsuit off ok and commented to my rack-mate, who had just gotten to transition right before me. We had chatted before the race and then again coming out of the water after warming up. I headed out first, shoes on my pedals.

Nothing. This went pretty well.

I never really felt comfortable on the bike, but the first stretch uphill was really hard. It's not that steep of a grade - or too long of a hill, but I would typically be up out of the saddle to maintain my speed on a climb like this during a short race. I waited too long to work my feet into my shoes, so I ended up sitting for most of the hill.

I started in a later wave (6), so I knew I would be passing a lot of people on the bike. All military went out in the wave immediately before us and there were the younger age groups in front of them - some in the mountain bike division - in 5 minute intervals. I obviously hadn't passed many people during the swim, so there would be a steady stream of riders out on the course. I got passed early on by a guy in our wave and then the top 3 in the 45-49 AG caught me on the way up Las Pulgas, but despite not feeling all that strong, it was still motivating to be flying past other racers with much lower numbers written on their calves.

My friends, Conrad and Heather, were out for their long ride and made a point to stop and cheer at a couple of points along the bike course. I saw them very early on when we made the first turn onto Stuart Mesa and they were just a bit farther up the road when I was heading back. Very cool of them to come out and cheer!

I've been struggling lately to get my heart rate up on the bike. My legs have felt dead and I think I've been doing too much running. Heading into the race, I had run just under 50 miles in the previous 5 days - including a pretty nasty 20-mile sufferfest out on the Noble Canyon 50k course. For this distance, my cadence should be up around 100 rpm, and I was down around 90. I did stand on the hills, which would have brought it down a bit, but I still feel like my HR and cadence were too low for a 30k TT effort.

Push harder. Keep the cadence high. I wasn't all too worried about it with Lake Stevens looming and I kept the view on the bike computer off of cadence and just tried to manage heart rate. When I first started the bike, I was close to 160 and figured that was too high for me for the distance. I wanted to be between 150 and 155 - and figured the ideal HR would be about 153. Towards the end, I just didn't have the juice in the legs to keep it up. It's a good barometer of my fitness heading into Lake Stevens and a sign that I need some rest. Spending more (some) time on the CompuTrainer probably wouldn't hurt, but with the weather being as nice as it has been, there's just no desire to ride the stationary bike indoors.

T2 went well. Didn't lose a shoe at dismount. Put on socks so as not to do any more damage to my feet before Lake Stevens. Didn't take much time. Ran out with my race belt in hand.

Not much. Maybe not take the time to put on socks, but with the condition of my feet, I needed them on this day.

While the first uphill section didn't feel too tough, I felt slow and I wasn't making up ground on many people. Once we got up to the flight deck, it was a different story. I felt great and started passing a lot of people. I caught a couple of runners in my AG right away and I was wondering where I might be standing in the division race. I had a feeling I was around top-10, but I also knew my swim was miserable and I didn't really see that many AGers on the bike. I would have to pass a lot of people. I saw a few along the way and when we made the kick for home, there was a group of three people that were going to finish together. I couldn't tell, but it didn't look like they were in my AG and it would have taken a pretty aggressive sprint to pass all 3 of them. I looked back and there was no one in sight. I thought about the race next week in Lake Stevens and figured I'd just cruise on in. I turned my bib around, zipped up and trotted on home.

Push harder earlier in the run. I think I may have left a bit out there, but I was concerned about racing too hard this week. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, don't leave it all out here today.

Walked through the chute (it was cool up and over some type of military equipment - see photo). Chatted with a fellow Tri-Clubber and waited for results to post. Duane was already in with a 1:21, but that was the only result. I ended up in 6th.


The swim set me back and I didn't have it on the bike. I'm hoping to be at peak next week, so it makes sense that I felt a bit sluggish. It's just a good indication that I need to taper. I'll do some short stuff with some intensity, but not much volume.


It is a well-organized event. The swim is very challenging - especially if your wave gets hit with a set during the entry. The bike course is not easy with rollers and a steady incline to the turnaround. You do get a chance to recover coming back down and then the run is flat once you get up from transition to the flight deck. It is kind of an odd course as it just winds around service roads and parking lots on the base. It might be nice to have them set up an out-and-back along the beach or something instead.