TCSD Club Race 9/15

I am a joiner by nature. I think clubs are a fantastic motivating force. When I first got interested in triathlon I looked into the local tri clubs and it looked like there was some interesting opportunities in Orange County. The OC Tri Club has great folks and they have some outstanding training opportunities. Over the course of the past year I figured I have spent over $500 on race entries. That might not sound like a lot to some of you who have forked over the M dot money, but you should see some of these races. I would've been happy with a banana after the race but sounds like they spent all there money on the cotton blend t shirt...... Anyway, I stumbled across the Triathlon Club of San Diego's website and noticed, aside from all the training opportunities that they have monthly club races. I am about 45 mins. to an hour away from most of their races so I figured I would check it out.

I had done one of their beginner races last month in Glorietta Bay in Coronado and the vibe was awesome! Better than any race I forked out $100 to enter. The food afterwards was the best. This month's race was a sprint distance with a 800 meter (some people afterwards said it was more like 1000+) swim, 15 mile bike and 5k run. For those that are not familiar with the area, Coronado sit directly across the bay from downtown SD. It really is a beautiful area. It took me about 1 hour 10 minutes to get down there and I am chronically early so I didn't have an issue with the makeshift transition and registration ( threw my bike against a tree and laid a towel on the roots).

Swim- I thought the water would be cold since after the week of low 60's temps up in OC but it was actually pretty nice. I stopped going to my Masters swim at lunch last month because work issues were making it hard to escape. It was pretty obvious where that has left my swim conditioning. I honestly considered turning around at the beginners buoy and calling it a day. I felt like my chest was going to cave in. Maybe I started too fast, I am not sure. I finally fell into a rhythm and made it around the rectangular course....at the very back of the pack....oh well.

I think for future races I am going to bring a captain's chair to be my "bike stand" in transition. Why not relax while the blood drains from your brain? Gotta love the club race!

Bike- The 15 mile bike is along the bike path in Coronado and is shared by tons of groups. It also has a number of residential street crossings and stop lights that really have to be obeyed (if we ever want to come back). I got some new clip on bars, profile t2, and I really like them because they allow me some room to stretch out and get comfy in what is the best I can describe as an aero position. I use a road bike that I have tweaked to be a little more tri friendly. I still think the set up is whacked....gotta go to Jeff at Ladera for a fitting. The bike felt great, no lower back pain and I think I was averaging about 25 mph on the was back.

Run- As I have said, I am not a runner by nature....6'2", 230 pretty much sums it up, but I can say that I do get the "runner's high" at times. I have had some issues in the past with the bike to run transition and having spaghetti legs. I just really felt great once I got running. The course takes us right by the the Hotel Del Coronado and the Coronado Golf Course. I was moving along at my sluggish pace and I saw the leaders coming in for the home stretch. They were hooted encouragement at me as they were finishing up their 17 minute 5ks. I started thinking to myself on the run, how lucky am I?????? Here I am, about an hour from home, in a beautiful part of the world, and all things considered I am able to compete and enjoy something that 90% of the population thinks is madness (including my wife). Those thoughts, along with the fact that when I finished I could pack my things up and take them to my car, which was about 50 feet from my transition area, and head home to hang out with my family, just made me feel warm and fuzzy all over. I felt good about my 5k time, 27 mins., and it was awesome to pass people going out and coming who were all encouraging each other to push it. This is a great club. I can't say enough about the people that run it and volunteer every month.

I don't hang around for awards or anything, for obvious reasons, just grab a muffin and some Gatorade/water and hit the road. They had these egg casserole thingies that really looked good but I didn't partake. Again, I would love to see one of those $100 sprint races try to do the job that these folks do.