Charles at Pacific Grove

Last weekend saw Charles racing Pacific Grove taking 7th overall (2nd AG) in a time of 2:06:12. Check out his race report below:

Pacific Grove Triathlon was a huge focus race for me this year. Going into the weekend I was fit and looking to finish top 3 overall. I knew there would be many strong competitors and it was going to take a perfect race to get me up there.

If you have never heard of the race before I will let you know that it is notorious for having an extremely challenging ocean swim. What makes it so challenging? The KELP FOREST! While stunningly beautiful and surrounded by a multitude of playful (but sleepy) seal, the kelp is very dense and plentiful. Unfortunately my wave was first, meaning we would be the trail blazers for everyone else (including pros) through the maze of kelp.
I was very nervous about the swim and hoping that I wouldn't "get caught" in the forest. I had heard stories of athletes being wrapped up or snagged during the two loops and losing precious time. Needless to say, the swim requires a great amount of strength both mentally and physically.
Swim
We began with a sprint start into the water and I held back a little to let some of the other guys lead the way. I was in a tight pack when we hit the first rough patch. The water was cold (58 degrees), salty and I was getting beaten up by some of the fellow competitors. At this point everyone was getting caught in the kelp and the only way to get through it was to grab a hand full of the plant and literally pull yourself over it. With everyone doing this there was a lot of elbows and aggression. I was limited to breathing on one side and quickly began to feel suffocated. With the traffic, the elbows, the athletes pulling my at my feet and the forest engulfing my face I was beginning to have a mild panic attack. My breathing became very shallow and rapid as I tried to just find any clear space I could. As this happened I saw about 5 or 6 guys to my right pass me. "Great" I thought and I tried to jump over to the right where I figured it was clear to swim. This became the strategy I adopted. If I ever saw someone swimming through I would jump on their feet.

After I worked my way around the first turn buoy the water opened up a bit so I could actually "swim" and I felt much more relaxed. From there on it was a game of catch up. Every time I found a clear spot I was passing everyone around me. I led a group of about 5 guys around the beach turnaround and got back in the water and quickly caught another group about 50m ahead of me. Once I got the hang of how to handle the kelp and I didn't have to contend with to many flailing limbs I was able to navigate pretty well. It was definitely the most challenging course I have encountered. (24:37 1500m swim)
Out of the water I was in a pack of about 6 guys. Slipped and fell in T1, but otherwise was quick enough to pass all these guys and was in 3rd at the start of the bike.
Bike
Other than the swim the course is overall fairly easy terrain. The bike course winds itself along the rocky coast for a flat 4 loop course. I would say this is a "fast" course but the 180 degree turns on each end of the lap slow things down significantly. Right out of T1 I was faced with the misfortune of having my wheel slightly, but audibly rubbing against either my frame or my brake. This is frustrating since there was nothing of the sort during my bike check the previous day. I decided there was really nothing I could do about this and I tried focused on my watts instead. In the first mile I was passed by a rider who I tried to hang with for the entirety of the course. The road was serpentine and picking a good line was crucial. It was nice to have an out and back loop to see exactly where my competitors were. Although two of the athletes were slowly putting distance between me I was catching one rider. I took in a GU on the 3rd lap and sipped about 20oz of water throughout (figuring that those gulps of sea water were probably enough for my sodium needs). On the final lap I passed the rider and retook what I thought was 3rd place. I really didn't go crazy on the bike, but I rode at a pace that I knew could set me up to crush the run. As I rode into T2 my legs felt fresh and I was ready to have a killer run split. (1:03:55 40k bike)
Run
A quick T2 and I was out on the run with a large distance to the next athlete. I was quickly out at sub-5:40 pace and feeling great. Through the first 3 miles my average pace was 5:43 and was running negative splits with the 3rd mile being right at 5:40. Within about 100m of 3rd place at this point and I was a lock to overtake him. Around the 3.5 mile mark, however, I started to have a tinge in my right side that quickly moved all the way up my ribs and into my chest. It was another wicked side stitch likely caused by my erratic and labored breathing during the swim. My pace dropped significantly for the next half mile and I lost sight of 3rd place. I worked my way out of the stitch around mile 4.5, but from then on I was running on the defensive. I was a bit scared that if I started running at race pace again the stitch would flare up and I would be forced to walk. So I ran at an even pace (~6min/mile) and figured I would hammer out the last 800 no matter what. I lost enough time at this pace that with 400m left I was passed by someone in my AG. I put everything out there to hang with him, but unfortunately I was just in too much pain to match his top end speed and he out kicked me to win the AG. I ended up running 36:12 for the 10k and had I not cramped I know my legs were fired up to run quite a bit faster.
This is the 2nd race in a row dealing with a major side stitch, so it is something that needs addressing in the off-season. As it was I finished with a time of 2:06:12 good enough for 7th overall and 2nd in my AG. I was 1:27 out of 3rd place and beat some really strong athletes nevertheless. Overall I was very impressed with the race as it was probably one of the best run and well organized events I have done in recent memory. I would easily do Pacific Grove again if it wasn't for the gnarly kelp. Although I am disappointed with the result I feel like I'm right where I need to be to finish in the top 3 in such a race and unfortunately I didn't have the "perfect race" I was looking for. Still it was a great season for me finishing top 10 overall in 6 out of 10 races this year with 8 AG podium finishes. Expect big things in 2011!