Why is it that right before the first and last race of the season, I find myself shoveling my driveway the day I fly out for the race?  I guess that’s how it goes when you live in Colorado.  Either way, I have to take advantage of the snow as a great way to squeeze in a short snowshoe workout to prep for a race!  I did feel prepared for Oceanside this year and was excited to start another season of racing. 
 
I flew in late Friday night, chatted with some of our sponsors, checked in, and got to bed early for my 3:30AM wake up call.  Race morning I felt ready to go and was definitely excited to race, especially on my new Orbea Ordu that I received just 4 days earlier.   At the race I met up with my other two teammates, Dan and Alex.  I went on a warm up run with Alex and felt great.  I pulled on my Aqua Sphere Icon wetsuit and Kayenne goggles and headed to the 59 degree water.  In my wave I chatted with my friend Adam Zucco who I knew from my racing days in Chicago, and before I knew it we were off!  “Here we go” I thought, as another racing season was upon me.  I pulled to the front of my wave and led the group out of the water with a swim time of a little over 25 min.  I got on my Orbea and immediately felt good, however, I saw that was getting passed early on.  I try not to mentally get caught up in those things as they can really mess up your race.  The hills in Camp Pendleton were tough as usual, but I did my thing and pressed on.  It was my first time using my new Shimano Dura Ace Wheels.  I have to say I felt very confident on them, especially on the descents.  They deliver speed, yet are durable.  Thanks to Dustin at Shimano for hooking me up with them for the season!  
 
Onto the run which is always my favorite.  I started the run feeling pretty good, but knowing I had some work to do.  After 3 miles, I saw some people in my wave I had to catch and settled into a good pace.  Soon I caught some people, downed several Tangerine Power Gels (my favorite) and just focused on what I needed to do. At mile 9, my friend Gordo Byrn passed me at we had a little chat.  The former pro is a class act and all around nice guy from Boulder.  The last 3 miles were tough as I pressed on to the finish, crossing the tape in 4:22 and 3rd in my age group in one of the most competitive amateur fields in the 70.3 race circuit in my opinion.  I have done this race 9 times in a row and have seen a lot of consistency in my times (other than 2002 where the course might have been short?): 
 
2002-4:14
2003-4:23
2004-4:33
2005-4:26
2006-4:23
2007-4:20
2008-4:23
2009-4:19
2010-4:22
 

Thanks to Larry Rosa for all the pics!

The part of the race that was entirely new to me was experiencing my 1st drug test.  Immediately as I crossed the line, I had a a guy from the USADA introduce himself, escort me to a condo, and I sat with about 5-6 other pro athletes that were being tested.  I could not eat or drink anything (unless it was bottled water or Gatorade) for about 1-2 hours.  To my knowledge, I was the only age grouper that got tested, as this is a new rule for age group athletes in 2010 which I am happy to see.

Thanks to everyone at Timex for all the new gear this year.  I am looking forward to racing Wildflower in a month, the Long Course and the Olympic distance races!  BTW – I wore my new Global Trainer for the race and it worked great.  At the end of the race my distance read very close to 70.3 miles!
 
Be safe out there,
 
Tim