Newport Beach Triathlon

What a great end to the 2012 triathlon season! We decided to close out the year with a really local sprint race, Kring + Chung Newport Beach Triathlon at the Back Bay. This is where we ride and run, and it's a fast, fun course. We rode our bikes to the race early Sunday a.m. and despite a bit of initial lethargy, we got our wetsuits on and headed down to the water's edge. It's billed as an open water swim, which is kind of funny, since it's more like a briny, sort of dirty lake. We did some warm-up laps and gathered on the edge of the water, waiting for our waves to go off. 

The Swim (.5mi ~ est. 16:00): I had a little issue with my goggles. I didn't know that our fancy schmancy goggles had an anti-fog coating on the lenses. I was taking preventative anti-fogging measures on Saturday by putting anti-fog drops in our goggles and buffing them clean. I was dismayed to see that they just weren't getting clean! Buff, buff, buff....hm...blurry. Adam happened to catch me in the act and informed me that I was buffing and de-fogging the anti-fog coating off the goggles. Whoops. Needless to say, I couldn't see a damn thing on my swim and stopped four times to clear them out. I did finally hit a good stride about half way through, but since we had a little run to transition I don't really know what my time was. 

The Bike (15mi ~ 46:26, avg 19.4mph): I love riding my bike. I don't really care where or for how long! This section of the Back Bay is fast and flat with the exception of a steep, short climb and little grade up Eastbluff. I was stoked to not see too many women and I hammered my way around the bay. After Orangeman's Stonehill climb, Eastbluff was cake. I saw Adam twice and felt like I was back on track with my race after my mediocre swim. I played leap frog with a strong female rider and another guy and came in to transition hauling ass. Maybe next year I'll check out some of those fancy flying mounts/dismounts, but for now coming to a complete stop and dismounting has kept the asphalt out of my skin.

The Run (3mi ~ 25:08, 8:23/mi): I started the run and knew my heart rate was insanely high thanks to my Garmin buzzing away. It was definitely into a zone I didn't know my heart went! I felt okay though, so I settled into a quick pace and once I knew I wasn't going to keel over, I kept pushing as much as I could. The run is a blast. Short, sweet with only one slow hill to the turn around. After that hill, I did what I could to hustle. I felt like I ran out of gas about 1/4 mi from the finish, which was a little disappointing, but I went out hard on the bike and on the run, so...sometimes that happens. I came through the finish chute and felt damn good. I came in 5th in my AG, and while I secretly wanted to come in 3rd, the other girls were just a little faster!

It was a really fun race and it's always nice to ride from home. Adam took 1st for his AG!!!!! So proud of my champ! I cannot wait to see what this winter's run training + next years coaching does for our races. This was a great way to end the season and I'm stoked to have PR'd on the bike (for that course) and the run is pretty close to my Pac Coast PR of 8:20/mi. I never thought it'd be feasible to be in the 8 minute range, so I'm really looking forward to where I can take my 5K pace. Half marathon pace is a different story, but I'm working on it!