Tri-California puts on another fantastic event. 650 triathletes enjoyed a day that started out with heavy fog and, by late morning, ended up sunny and warm. The water temp at Lovers' Point was slightly warmer this year at 56 degrees (brr!), and the kelp was slightly thicker since the organizers were not allowed to "trim" it this time around.The fog was pretty tough on the bike; I needed mini windshield wipers on my Oakleys! Had to settle for now and again bending down and using part of my singlet to wipe away most of the water.
The sun burned its way through by 11:15 or so, and by the time the pros started racing at 11:30, the fog was almost completely vanquished. I finished up the run bathed in sunshine, and the beauty of the place hurt almost as much as the racing did.
The pro men's winner was Darren Wood, followed by Eric Bergen, and I believe either Greg Thompson or Andy Kelsey was third. The women's winner was Sara Cox, the British transplant now residing in Encinitas. Lauren Alexander took 2nd. I can't recall the order of the rest, but I believe it was Heather Fuhr, neo-pro Lisa Rainsberger (sp?) in her first triathlon EVER (!), Holly Nybo, and Wendy Ingraham. Geez, sorry to be so inaccurate! As usual, I was pretty much a vegetable when I finished, so forgive my inaccuracies. Hopefully someone who had more brain cells left by the end of the pro race will post the correct finish order.
I finished respectably in 2:54:47, 5 minutes slower than last year, but I was more than happy with it. I approached Pacific Grove as a training race this year; I just haven't been doing enough speed work since I've been focusing on longer stuff this season. My swim was actually faster than last year, which pleased me enormously. I have no idea how my bike compared to last year because my bike computer decided to fritz about 3/4 of the way through, and I somehow accidentally hit the stop button on my watch during T1. I ran almost exactly 10:00 per mile, and was perfectly happy with that. In fact, I may actually have been faster overall this year except that I was extremely leisurely in the transitions---I even went into the bathroom before heading out on the run (I'm afraid I've gotten too used to doing that in the long races!). And, my transition spot was singularly lousy compared to last year.
So, all in all, not a bad performance. I placed 12th in the F 25-29 age group. I believe there were all of 17 women in that group, so I guess that makes me the front of the back of the pack ;-) My pals Deb & Deb each got first place in their respective age groups (40-44 & 45-49). RSTers I spied at Pacific Grove included Myke Morgan, pulling out a gutsy performance in the elite category; Steve Blum, who chugged on by me in the run; Ralph Lindzon, whom I recognized by the words "Hong Kong" plastered across his butt (yep, an RSTer all the way from Hong Kong!); Tim Iverson, whom I saw only briefly in the morning before the race; and, of course, our most stellar performer, Greg Thompson! Congratulations, Greg, on an excellent race. I found out afterward that Steve Locke was there as well; I wish I'd known, would have loved to meet USAT's own David who dared to challenge the Goliath of Les McDonald (unfortunately, the results weren't the same...).
Once again a marvellous race in a beautiful location with the best bunch of volunteers in the world. Only not-so-good thing: Race Directors Terry & Betsy Davis are going a little over the edge with all the quotes from the Bible everywhere. Don't know about everyone else, but it sorta makes me uncomfortable. If they want to put on their races for God, great, but a slightly more secular, less Fundamentalist approach would be less off-putting. But that may just be me. Anyone else care to comment?
Another gem of a race!
Tri-Baby