Two weeks ago I raced in the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon. Yes, two weeks ago. I know, a report on a race that happened two weeks ago is old news, but I've been busy. Better late than never, right? Anyways, onto the race.
This was my second consecutive year doing this race. Last year, the first through third overall finishers got huge trophies but unfortunately I ended up coming in 4th. I don't think I've won a trophy since when I was 13 years old and playing baseball, so my goal was to place in the top three this year and go home with some hardware.
This race is unique because it is on a marine base and the transition area is at the bottom a long boat ramp that is used to launch hovercraft into the ocean. Unfortunately, spectators aren't allowed down near the transition and swim start, so they have to watch from above on a hill.
The swim was short but difficult due to a nasty northern current. It was so bad that the first wave got swept up shore and had to basically swim backwards to round the first buoy before proceeding on. I was lucky to be in the third wave and was able to learn from the mistakes of the swimmers before me. I compensated for the current by running south a little on the beach prior to entering the water. It worked well as I don't recall having to swim against the current while going out to the buoy, and I ended up having the fastest swim split. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture from the swim, so below is a picture of me at the end of the Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier swim that I raced in the previous week.
The start of the bike course takes you up the big boat ramp and then on an out and back course into the Marine base. They say the course is rolling hills during the 1st and last quarter and flat in the middle. It actually has a gradual climb going out and then nice gradual descent on the way back.
I lost the race last year on the bike so I wanted to focus on getting a good bike split this year. I decided to pretty much put the pedal to the metal for the whole bike leg knowing that I didn't really need to save much for the short 5K.
About a minute out of T2 another runner caught up with me from behind. At that point, I had a good feeling that I was leading my wave and saw that the guy that had caught me was in a previous wave, so I didn't get bothered. It actually turned out to be a good thing because he was a speedy guy, so I just hung with him the whole way and let him help pace me. He ended up having the fastest run split and the carrot that he was holding in front of me helped me run to the second fastest run split.
For the entire 5K we ran together. His fast pace helped me run a 16:40 5K split.
The run was around the ACU-5 portion of Pendleton where they have hangars to service the large hovercraft. It was a flat and fast course that felt like it was over before it even started.
At the end of the race I was told that even though I was in the third wave, there were only two people that had physically crossed the finish line in front of me. I knew I was in good shape and simply had to wait to see if there were some fast older guys (in later waves) that beat me.
Here's where things get interesting. When results were posted, I went over to look and saw my name was nowhere to be found. I thought, OK, there must be some glitch so I'll go talk with the race organizers to get things straightened out. I walked over to the timing tent and explained the situation and gave some information to one of the workers. Soon after, a lady (I assume to be the race director?) came over to me and said*, "We timed you at 1:13:53 and Heather Jackson finished in 1:16:05, so we want to make sure there is no funny business going on." For those of you who don't know, Heather Jackson is a local pro triathlete who has numerous top 5 finishes at 70.3 races this year. The RD was essentially accusing me of cutting the course short because I had a faster time than a (female) pro. My reaction: What??!!! I was shocked. I didn't know that this triathlon was actually a quadrathlon where the 4th event was defending your finishing time. I also later found out that they did the same thing to the 2nd overall male finisher, but because they thought he was too "old" for his time (he is 42). I was eventually able to explain that my time was legit and soon the results were updated. I guess I should take this whole incident as a compliment, but it left a weird feeling in me for the rest of the day.
I ended up coming in first overall with a 2 minute margin over the second place finisher (Heather). I was sad they didn't have trophies this year, but am happy to have my plaque.
*Note, I'm not sure if that is the exact quote, but I know she did compare my time to Heather Jackson's and dropped the "funny business" accusation.
For you boxing fans, I later found out that in preparation for his September 17th bout with Floyd Mayweather, WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz raced in the Pendleton Triathlon last Saturday. He came in 9th in the 20-24 age group with a time of 1:36:56.
Next up is Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Henderson, NV on Sept. 11. With only three weeks left, I'm continuing to focus on shifting my mentality towards longer distance and trying to prepare for the Vegas heat. It should be a fun one.
