Las Palomas Triathlon at Rocky Point - Olympic Distance

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Las Palomas Triathlon at Rocky Point - Olympic Distance - TriathlonOlympic

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Rocky Point ,
Mexico
Red Rock Company
75F / 24C
Sunny

Total Time = 1h 55m 57s
Overall Rank = 1/234
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 1/37

Pre-race routine:

Jamie and I drove down to Rocky Point on Friday morning, having stopped at Sky Harbor to pick up Jamie's friend from college Jen who was going to join us and run her first 5K race. And of course, the dogs came with us as well for some fun on the beach and in the Sea of Cortez! We crossed the border quickly and arrived at the Las Palomas resort around 1:00pm. We had a beautiful two bedroom 4th floor condo overlooking the pool area and ocean on one side and the Transition area on the back. We were literally 4 stories above tranisiton! Set up was going to be so easy and relaxing. We picked up our packets and had an early dinner at the resort. I enjoyed a few beers and a maragrita and was ready for bed. I slept well. :)

Event warmup:

Race morning dawned and we got up around 6:00. I made coffe and relaxed until about 6:45 when I started to bring our bikes down in the elevator to claim some rack space. It was empty so I put us up at the very front, only about 20 feet from the mount line. As such, i decided to not leave my shoes clipped in and would just run in them instead as it was so short.

Now I had checked the athlete list looking for the two guys who beat me last year and didn't see them so I was optomistic I might be able to win the race. The names I did recognize I knew I could handle, but of course it's the guy's you don't know about who can suprise you. One name in particular I was looking for was Patrick Bless, a 37 year old pro from Germany now living in Tuscon. He won last year and is usually first at other Olympic races locally when he enters. I mean, they guy went 9:14 in Koan the year I went 9:40.

We put on our wet suits up in the room and then went down to the beach about 20min before the start. The weather was great but the wind coming off the ocean was causing a lot of wave action. I swam around to warmp up a bit. There were two waves for the men, under 40 and over 40 seperated by 4:00. They sent the under 40 wave off at 9:00 and I watched as the surf blew them all to bits and pushed them all over the course. I knew what to expect now and made a decsion on the line I would take to the first marker. I stood at the front of my wave and at 9:04, we were off.

Swim

18m 23s
1093 yards
01m 41s / 100 yards

Comments:

I immediatley went hard to get away from everyone. I stayed well to the left as the waves and current were pushing everyone to the right and too far off course. i could see one other guy with me taking this line. The waves were crashing right into our faces and I had to stop a few times to empty out my googles! It was rough getting out there. I felt comfortable and rounded the first marker pretty much alone. Once on the down beach leg, the waves were coming from my right. I allowed the current to keep me well left of any othwer swimmers as I was now getting into the back of the first wave. You couldn't see the buoys due to the waves so I just swam and wuld occasionally glimpse a marker or the Sprint buoys so i was at least heading in the right direction. My thoughts at this time were not of my race but of Jamie who was about to start the Olympic race. I knew this would be the roughest water she will have ever had to contend with and I was hoping she wouldn't panic and make it. I put the odds at 50/50 she would pull out. One of the best parts of this day was when I saw her on the bike, I was so proud of her!

I finally found the turn buoy and headed back to the beach. You would body surf some waves and go flying forward and then the undertow would grab you and push you back out. It was wild! As soon as my hand touched sand, i jumped up and ran out of the water. My watch said 16:XX wich for 1000M made sense and I began the long run to Transition through some deep sand. I mean, it was a LONG way, like over 1:30 over running until the timing mat. It was so far they even had an aid staion along the way! Seriously.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing, it was a good swim in very tough conditions. I don't m,ind the surf and waves, I just rolled with it.

Transition 1

01m 18s

Comments:

Transition went fine, I had to reach down and pull my suit off my heels, but that's par for the course with me. As i was gearing up, i heard someone yell out to Tim Bolen, a good friend and local coach who is in my AG and was 4th last year. I knew he would be close to me int he swim but I would ride/run away from him. I put the bike shoe's on and ran in them to the mount line and clipped in.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing, pretty average T1 for me.

Bike

58m 13s
24.6 miles
25.35 mile/hr

Comments:

Once I got out onto the course, i settled into a nice grove. I had targeted a HR of about 162 but I sort of sat around 157. Due to the three loops with three out and backs, I had a chance to see who was ahead of me fromt he first wave....and there was Patrick. Oh, no. He went by and I was sure I was racing for second place. I was feeling very steady and consistant and each lap I manged to put a little time in on him. The same thing happened last year but there was another athlete between us who finished second. The course becoame VERY crowded by the second loop and I had to shout out "stay right" and "On your left" a lot, especially in parts where the pavement was bad and everyone was trying to ride on the few smooth parts. I drank a full water bottle with 3 gels mixed in for my nutrition/hydration combo. I was very please with this bike and was 2:36 faster this year than last year.

What would you do differently?:

Maybe push a bit more.

Transition 2

01m 10s

Comments:

I didn't get a T2 or run split for some reason but I know my combined T2+Run was 38:02. I figure T2 was a little over 1:00 so I'll estimate it. Everything went fine and I was so happy to be racing in my new ZOOT TT 3.0's for the first time and they were GREAT!!

What would you do differently?:

Nothing.

Run

37m
6.2 miles
05m 58s min/mile

Comments:

I headed out onto the course and settled into another nice grove. I was looking for a HR of around 168 for the first few miles and then building from there but I hit 162 and again just sort of sat there. The rolling nature of the course saw my HR move around a lot, but even on the flats, it was a bit low, eventually climbing into the mid 160's. There was one guy ahead of me, about 100 yards, that I could see. he was from Wave 1 and I was within 20 seconds of him. I ran him down by mile 2. He hung with me for about 1/4 mile and then dropped back. I was starting to catch the back of the 10K run race participants around the half way mark. I felt great, very comfortable, whic meant I wasn't really going hard enough, but I was enjoying myself. At mile 4 I saw patrick going the other way and shot him a wave. By the time I got to the same point on the course, it "seemed" to me it took longer than 4:00 which meant he would have still been in first. I ran back up the one really steep hill and down a fairway towards the beach. The finsih was after about a 100 yard beach run. I had my first beer in hand within 5 min. :)

What would you do differently?:

Run harder.

Post race

Warm down:

I found Patrick by the water and went over to shake his hand. I told him that I hadn't seen his name on the start list and was bummed when i saw him out on the bike. I assumed he had been weel clear of me and told him I was second and he won.We had a nice chat and caught up with our racing and plans for the season. I hung out with our friends until Jamie finsihed 4th in her AG, 15th OA. I was so porud of her hanging tough after a swim that really was hard for her.

With my second beer in hand, we went to get the dogs to let them play on the beach. While up in the room, after a nice shower, another beer, and putting on our pool party clothes, I heard the RD kimo Seymour announce my name asking me to come see him. That's odd. I told Jamie and Jen I would meet them on the beach after going to see Kimo. I found him by the recently posted results with Patrick and the guy I passed on the run course. I asked Kimo what was up. He said, "What wave did you start in?" I said, "Second, I'm 41, why?" Kimo looked at Patrick and back at me and said,"Well, you won." I looked at him and then at Patrick and said,"No, Patrick did." And then he showed my the results and I saw the splits. i had put 1:14 into him on the bike and run nd won the race! I was kind of in shock, so was Patrick. He saw me on the course but had assumed I was in his wave. I went down to find Jamie and told her I had won! And i had another beer. :)

Event comments:

The awards ceremony and after party were EPIC! Free beer, shots, a DJ, it was off the hook! I won a 4500ML magnum bottle of tequila that's almost 3 feet tall! It was hysterical! This race is by far and away the most fun race we have ever done and I would recomend anyone and everyone to try and come do it at some point, you will NOT be dissapointed!

..and then I had another beer... ;)

Last updated: 2009-12-16 12:00 AM

Swimming
00:18:23 \| 1093 yards \| 01m 41s / 100yards
Age Group:	2/37
Overall:	7/234
Performance:	Good
Suit:	ZOOT Zenith 2.0
Course:	Standing star in the water out to the first buoy and then along the beach line to the second marker and in to shore. A VERY long beach run up to transition.
Start type:	Run	Plus:	Waves
Water temp:	68F / 20C	Current:	High
200M Perf.	Good	Remainder:	Good
Breathing:	Good	Drafting:	Average
Waves:	Good	Navigation:	Good
Rounding:	Good

T1
Time:	01:18
Performance:	Good
Cap removal:	Good	Helmet on/ Suit off:	Yes
Wetsuit stuck?	Yes	Run with bike:	Yes
Jump on bike:	No
Getting up to speed:	Good

Biking
00:58:13 \| 24.6 miles \| 25.35 mile/hr
Age Group:	1/37
Overall:	1/234
Performance:	Good
Wind:	Some
Course:	A 3 loop course running on the access road to allt he beach resorts. There were two roatary turn arounds and one, sharp 180 degree turn at the far end of each lap. pavement was smooth in some spots to VERY bad near the 180 turn. there were also some speed bumps as well as sand on the road in spots. I alittle sketchy but a fast course with one short, steep hill you climbed 3 times.
Road:	Rough Dry	Cadence:
Turns:	Good	Cornering:	Good
Gear changes:	Good	Hills:	Good
Race pace:	Comfortable	Drinks:	Just right

T2
Time:	01:10
Overall:	Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes		Good
Jumping off bike		Good
Running with bike		Good
Racking bike		Good
Shoe and helmet removal		Good

Running
00:37:00 \| 06.2 miles \| 05m 58s min/mile
Age Group:	1/37
Overall:	2/234
Performance:	Good
Course:	The run course was mostly on the golf cart path of the las Palomas golf course. It was a very nice course with constant rolling hills and turns, really cool.
Keeping cool	Good	Drinking	Just right

Post race
Weight change:	%
Overall:	Good
Mental exertion [1-5]	4
Physical exertion [1-5]	4
Good race?	Yes

Evaluation
Course challenge	Just right
Organized?	Yes
Events on-time?	Yes
Lots of volunteers?	Yes
Plenty of drinks?	Yes
Post race activities:	Good
Race evaluation [1-5]	5