Total Race Time, 70.3 mi: 8:02:04

Swim, 1.2 mi: 45:05

T1: 9:36

Bike, 56 mi: 3:24:46

T2: 4:28

Run, 31.1 mi: 3:36:34

Joe, Lynda, Sue, San, Alvin, Rob, Rick, Richard, Vicky, John S.,

Overall Impression: Great Race Day. Nice venue. Perfect water conditions. Nice roads. Breathtaking views on both the bike and run. City is patchy, but there’s lots to see, to do, and to eat. Alvin’s VRBO rental was spitting distance from transition, and on the way to the beach start.

Road Trip:

Lynda, Sue and I rode up on Thursday (Race day Sunday). We stopped by Paso Robles Eberle Winery.

Pre-Race Transition:
VBRO was so close to the transition, we went down to transition at 5:30a to set up, then we went back to the house for potty break. This worked out perfectly. We walked down to the water at 6:30a. Sue and I splashed around to acclimate to the water. It was cold for sure. But, getting in early helped my to start swim for later. Not a shock to the heart and lungs.

Swim: 45:05, 1.2 mi
Easy beach start. No waves at all. I wore swim booties for the first time racing. Worked perfectly. Kept my feet warm but more importantly protected by feet from the swim out to the loooooong transition from the water to transition. More below. Rolling start. Sue and I lined up at the 33-35 minute Sign. Weird little guy came in and took that sign and walked away. My Garmin 745 XT froze at the starting line. Damit. Sucked. Swear I’m getting a new Garmin at Christmas Sale, if not sooner. I didn’t get swim distance or time on my watch. I did a hard reset at Buoy #2 (15 sec), but the GPS didn’t connect. I swam without it. No noticeable swells, but the first half felt slower for my effort. I didn’t feel into my groove until the last couple buoys. I liked having the pier to look at, and there were plenty of buoys. I tend to swim directly buoy to buoy. Swim out was easy, no waves.

T1: 9:36
Long run walk from beach to Soccer field. You run along a train tracks. Cement and asphalt. Booties were perfect. Other folks put shoes along the T1 sides. I saw Sue in transition. I also saw our old friend Gio; he ran past me on the long run. I wore a cycling jersey and vest. Cloudy.

Bike: 3:24:48, 56 mi

Ride out of town was overcast. Easy to manage. Not too tight, not to crowded for me. Overall there were 4 big hills to climb 5-9% and several rollers that you didn’t have to climb too much, if you carried your momentum down and up. Two lane highway. Closed to trafiic. Smooth roads. Heavy rumble strip between traffic lane and shoulder. I didn’t crossing the rumble strip to pass people, I just stayed in the traffic lane. Throughout the bike, there was lots of riders, but I didn’t have trouble passing. The climbs piled up with people, but it worked out okay.
Mile 5: Got onto Hwy 1 Pacific Coast Highway. First 10 miles were cloudy.
Mile 15: Sun Came out and SPECTACULAR VIEWS. Rocky cliffs, Splashing Waves. Beaches, trees. Amazing.
Mile 28: Northbound: Head winds. At the turnaround, I felt the wind change direction and southbound. I didn’t hear any wind, meaning tail winds from 15-20 mph.
On the biggest downhill, it was smooth road and wide open. I hit top speed 44.9 mph. Wahoo. I passed a few riders.
My belly was a bit uncomfortable, likely from saltwater intake. I hit the aid stations and made sure there was no GI issues heading southbound.
Mile 40: Clouds again pulling into town.

T2: 4:28

Full wardrobe change. Run shirt and add shorts over trishorts. Grabbed by SIS energy jellies.

Run: 13.1 mi, 3:36:34. with official -0007 sec adjust. Not sure what that is about.
Mile 1: Run along the coast line. Really nice. I saw Alvin at Mile 1 aid station. I forgot my supplement pack at T2. Bummer. I saw Sue a bit later. She shared some electrolyte pills. Life Saver. Vicky passed my at mile 2. Richard passed me at mile 3. He took a picture. I was run / walk for the first few miles. My heart rate was outta control. I was hitting 150+bpm, unusual. I walked more to keep the heart rate in check.
Mile 5-6-7-8: Loop through Wilder Ranch. SPECTACULAR views of the coast. Run along trails on the top of the bluffs. Waves crashing onto rocky cliffs. Beaches. It was so beautiful. Rando runner Jonathan asked my to take his picture, and then he took a pic of me and I entered my phone #, and he sent me the pictures! It was so cool to have those pics at Wilder Ranch. I saw John at mile 7.
Mile 9: I saw Rick, San, and Bob around here; I was finishing the .‘lolllipop’ loop and they were headed into it. My right heel pain came on around mile 8. I did more walking more than running.

Finish: 8:02:04. Happy with it. Could have been better with heel, but could have been worse with more pain. The finish was on the beach. They called out my name as I approached. That’s always awesome. Sue got my picture! Lynda came in a couple in a couple minutes later. I was feeling a little woozy after the race. Got my medal and an official pic. Walked back to Transition with Lynda and Sue.

Post-Race Party
At Alvin’s VRBO rental. BBQ dinner, salad, and drinks. Richard and Kate came by with Hibiki Whiskey (Japan) and Don Julio Tequila (MX), and other snacks. Fun times. We swapped race reports and fun stories. Good times. I would recommend this race because it’s a great course, good road conditions. Santa Cruz is patchy and squirrels streets. So, getting around is a little wild. I couldn’t figure out how to get around without Google. There’s lots of hotels and restaurants.

Santa Cruz 70.3
9/10/2023	Finish Time
Johnny (Hongqing Xu)	6:00:13
Rob Egan	6:00:30
Paul Green	6:05:01
Alvin Hom	6:12:59
Vicky Chan	6:20:14
Richard Yang	6:21:22
Rick Le	7:06:00
John Stephens	7:17:01
Lynda	7:41:46 (3rd)
Joe Wong	8:02:04
San Voong	8:10:35
Bob Montes	8:14:14