I´m sure some of you are wondering why I didn´t race in Oceanside, even though I said I would. In a perfect world, I wanted to race hard at Oceanside, my first 70.3, and then come back the following weekend and race hard at my ITU season opener in Mazatlan, Mexico. Frankly, that was wishful thinking! While ITU races are somewhat few and far between, 70.3s are not and so I felt it would be easier to reschedule my 70.3 debut than it was an ITU race. Not to mention, it took me a good four or five days to recover from my half marathon in February...I could only imagine what my recovery time would have been after a half Ironman!
The whole intention of racing Oceanside 70.3 in the beginning of the season was that I would need to build a larger-than-normal base during the offseason. That in turn would be enough of a foundation to carry me nicely through the rest of the season. Even though I didn´t race at Oceanside, and paticularly because I called a late audible, the plus was that I still benefitted from building that larger-than-normal base.
That brings us up to present day. After having survived the chaos that is LAX, I´m currently heading south of the border (for more chaos) to participate in my first Continental Cup race of the season. I raced here last year, finished 23rd, and was quite pleased with my performance despite ending up just outside the top 20 (what you would need to finish to score points).
This year´s field is slightly smaller, but still quality nonetheless. The course is a two-lap ocean swim, followed by a basic out-and-back bike along the coast (6 laps), and then 4 - 2.5km out-and-back laps on the run, also along the coast. The bike and the run are all pretty flat and fast. One of the major tests in ITU races south of the border is getting these guys to work efficiently on the bike. As a result, I hav brushed up on my Espanol and I fully intend to dictate when needed!!
The gun goes off around noon tomorrow so be sure to check back post-race for a full report.
Talk soon!
-HH
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