Description: Hermosa Day at the Beach is about as close to home as you can get for us; the transition zone is less than 2 miles from our house. So it was a no-brainer to do this particular tri, though I'd heard the turns on the bike were a little rough and occasional collisions occured because of how the course is set up. And, of course, I know what the surf's like in Hermosa.
Ah, yes. The surf. MUCH more on that later.
We picked up our packets at
Triathlon Lab the day prior.
Day of, we parked in one of the free lots by the police station on Valley and rode down to the transition area, which encompassed all of Pier Plaza. We racked bikes by race numbers -- my favorite way, because it ensures I can always find my bike.
We got set up, listened to the pre-race brief, and headed down the beach. Waded into the water -- supposed to be 61 F, felt okay, mostly because the sand was freezing and the water felt warmer. And watched the surf.
We were going to get pounded. Moderate waves interspersed with some big ass, gnarly knock you off your feet and hold you under kissing the sand waves.
The gun went off, and we charged in.
The surf was so horrible, I thought I wasn't going to be able to get out past the break. I persevered.
I slogged around the buoys, then had to deal with the waves coming IN.
I made it out and trudged through the soft sand for ~150m up to the Strand. I started jogging on the concrete into the transition area.
The first part of the bike was a hill up Pier Ave. The rest of the course was twice around a loop and then back down the hill to Pier Plaza. There are some subtle changes in elevation along Valley/Ardmore that didn't seem so subtle to me on the bike -- I felt the uphills and flew on the the slight downhills. The hill up Herondo was noticeable but not bad.
I rode screamingly quick down Pier to the transition area, got off the bike, and started the run, which was on the Strand, the concrete path that borders the beach. Water was available at the turnaround point.
The last 20m of the run was in the soft sand.
Food afterwards included bananas, oranges, and Oreo cookies.
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