OCPAC Triathlon
I did
the Orange County Performing Arts Center (OCPAC) Triathlon this weekend. This race was
on/off all season because of $ problems but they pulled through with a beautiful
production... LOTS of food, great course, crystal clean water (with big catfish & bass
that you could see) and great prizes!
3 of us drove... we were flying in a BMW but it still took forever! 12hrs driving just to swim/bike/run for 90minutes!... the racing-to-driving ratio is not good.
Brian &
Tracy drove up to watch my race which was really cool! I ran a smart race but my
performance wasn't maximum. I had to struggle through the run... it felt like I was at
altitude! Couldn't breathe well. So it was a good race but not excellent.
Brian ran the last 1/4mi with me (I was impressed!)
Everybody in the group (a lot of SLO triathletes) did real well.
The distances were 1kS-30kB-7kR. I had a real good, tactical swim and a fast transition
(a TV camera was in my face so it distracted me a little). On the bike, for a few miles, I
had difficulty breathing... weird. I expected the course to be flat and fast so I rode my
"flat course" bike ("Dart") but it was actually hilly! (should've used
"Dark") Still, the bike went great and I was happy (especially when passing a
guy on a Softride)
On the run, though, I really had problems breathing. It was weird, it felt like racing at
7000ft altitude! I kept reminding myself I was near sea level. Maybe it was bad air
quality or just not enough sleep or something else. I didn't "race" the run,
just tried to maintain. A lot of people passed me. My friend, Kiet, kicked my butt. I came
in 11th out of 75 in my age. I got to watch a lot of friends win some really cool prizes!
Scott & Kiet (I drove with) won 1st & 5th prizes. Traci Skeen got 3rd. Scott Smith
of S.L.O. got 1st overall!! (actually 5seconds behind Scott Tinley but Tinley wasn't
registered) About 1000 did the race.