San Clemente Ocean Festival Transition

I would say that my racing and training is in a bit of a transition right now. My life has been in a bit of a transition for the last couple of weeks. I am moving to a new phone, a new laptop (i love my new mac) and a new approach to my training for the end of the year. I was contemplating a rest week and before I knew it I had to stay off of my feet and got the rest I didn't know I needed. Funny how it all works out . . .

Last weekend, I decided to skip out on the Big Bear Duathlon because my ankle was not 100% recovered from when I sprained it at the Xterra SC CUP race. Almost 30 days had gone by and with my training volume increasing the future of my healthy ankle was decreasing.

Looking back it was a smart move and Monique and I got to head out to the San Clemente Ocean Festival. So much for paddling less and running more!

This was such a cool event setup. You have the entire weekend of some 25+ events that you can jump into and it is all covered from either a 1 or 2 day entry fee ($35 a day). I was planning on staying off of my ankle so I jumped into a 10K ocean paddle race, 2K paddle race and a 1 mile swim. This was a big contrast from the weekend before paddling in big bear lake. WAVES!

Beth and I are a little troubled about the surf entry and exit

This was another great experience and quite the challenge. Paddling through and over these waves, trying to stay in the boat in the ocean swells and putting in two solid paddle races and a ocean swim proved to be just as demanding as being on your feet. As much as it was a good thing to stay off of my ankle it ended up crushing my dreams a bit...


Well, crushing my foot. I was pushing so hard with my foot on the ski (barefoot) that I managed to bruise my toes at the joint. I thought that I kicked a rock or something but two weekends of paddle races in a row proved to be too much. I am sure my volume, ankle, running and walking around in dress shoes the next day all had something to do with it also but the result is the same.

Monique teamed up with Beth and started off with the 5K beach run and then followed it up with the 500 meter swim/5K beach run combo. Monique posted her fastest 5K to date! Not bad for the sand and her and Beth were still holding a conversation!


Keith was killing it in just about every event... AFTER he was crushing my dreams he told me that he had raced in Kona and at Xterra Worlds in the past. This guy is so quite and humble you would never know he is a secret dream crusher ;-)

We finished up Sunday with a 1 mile ocean swim. Triathletes can be fast and brutal in the water but real single sport swimmers are crazy! I got totally smoked by most of the girls in the water. Awesome to see these big back girls (in a good way) taking charge.


This little girl to my right finished a few spot ahead of me. This was my first open water swim race so now i have a baseline set! 20:10 for the mile. I am hoping to jump into a few more open water swim events this year but first some more much needed rest.