Redondo Beach Triathlon

This was my first open water triathlon for the season. Four of my teammates from TriDivas also participated. It was nice to have a group of people I knew there, and one of our coaches was also there to support us and give the newbies some last minute advice. All 5 of us finished out races (four on the sprint and 1 on the mini sprint), two were first time triathletes. 

The sprint was a 1/2 mile swim, 6 mile bike, and 2 mile run.

The swim-- 

There were six start waves, I was in the 3rd wave to start. There were a lot more waves in the ocean though. Once I got to the first buoy, I was past the breaking waves, but still encountered quite a bit of swell as I swam toward the pier. Pretty nice swim otherwise. Long walk up to transition added to time.

The bike--

I tried to be in aero as much a possible, but due to traffic (other bikes) and difficulty breathing (more on that later) I was out of it more than I was in it. It was a 2-loop course, with one uphill per loop, luckily that uphill came after a downhill. Felt pretty good coming off the bike until I got passed in transition by a guy on a beach cruiser (was a relay, that started 10 mins after me.)

The run--

Wasn't much of a run, felt like throwing up at multiple points, walked most of the way. Foot was going numb as I was wearing "normal" running shoes, but not my normal running shoes (Vibram Five Fingers).

So here are the actual results. I had been sick the two weeks before and did not workout at all for one of those weeks, so not the results I was hoping for going into the race. 

Age: 33 Gender: F

Distance--Short

Clock Time--1:20:15

Gender Place--139 / 193

Division Place--22 / 29

All Place--483

Swim--21:15

T1--6:22

Bike--22:11

T2--2:14

Run--28:15

I had no family there as they were all at the Special Olympics of Southern California Summer Games at Cal State Long Beach, which I had volunteered at the day before the race and rushed back there after I finished.

One of the other great things about having teammates, is that they bring friends along. One of these friends was nice enough to take the video below of me crossing the finish line, one of the few points along the run course where I was actually running.

All in all a great race, good post race food (from what I could stomach). I had fun and am looking forward to my next race -- Strawberry Fields in Oxnard.