The Life Time Tri series ended it’s 2014 series and wrapped up the Toyota Triple Crown in Oceanside California on Sunday October 26, 2014.  The field was stacked with 33 professional athletes including Javier Gomez, Luke Mckenzie, Mary Beth Ellis, and Alicia Kaye to name a few.  But I wasn’t there to watch the pro field, although it was exciting to see the speed and the ability of these athletes, I was there to support friends and team mates, and I think it’s safe to say they dominated the field.

The race consisted of two transition areas, T1 was located in the harbor where the athletes awaited their swim start in the brisk cold air. It seems like winter mornings are starting to arrive in San Diego making early morning swims a little harder than normal.  We are spoiled in San Diego so I won’t give you an accurate measure in degrees, I’ll just say it was freezing in our minds…  On a warmer note, the water was perfect temperature in relation to the air so the athletes were instantly defrosted once in the water.

The bike course was made for power.  Heading out on the 76 dead into the wind and was basically a flat course if you counter balance the initial downhill to minimal gradual uphill both going out and back.  This was a multi lap course and it seemed a lot of people skipped a lap somewhere along the way in which took a little bit of time for the organizers to get the overall standings corrected.

The run course seemed to be all over the place but was actually pretty spectator friendly.  Pretty flat for the most part besides the steep uphill from the boardwalk to the coastal scenic drive, and the ramp from the boardwalk to the top of the pier. Lets just call it flat, what goes up must come down, right?

Champion Factory Athlete and Coach Katie Kyme took home the overall amateur win which also included an age group win for the woman in the olympic distance race.  She came out of the water way out in front and furthered the gap in the field on the bike, followed by the run in which she quickly increased her overall lead.  Just a walk in the park for Katie. Crushing it as per usual!

 Mike Radcliffe squeezed in a third place podium for his last race of the year with a solid effort on the day rounding out podiums in the olympic distance race.  Is it your last race of the year Mike?  Or are you going to join us for the Hits Series Triathlon in Palm Desert?  I was doing a bit of running around taking photos with all the different wave starts and didn’t see Mike until the run.  He looked strong but there were definitely moments I saw him letting off a little stretching the legs.  Mike’s been having some muscle pain/cramping for the past few months, to grab a podium spot while having such issues means the future is bright for this young athlete.  Such a strong competitor, will be great to see him in 2015 tackling the 25-29 age group.

 Jon Noon took home the mens 25-29 age group win as one of his last races in this division, but flogged the 30-34 age group winner by 10 minutes!  A little boost of confidence for him going into 2015.  Looking forward to tracking his performance at IRONMAN Cozumel at the end of November.  Overall on the day Jon looked controlled coming out of the water, strong on the bike, and effortless on the run.

 Clem Chavez put down some numbers in the sprint triathlon.  Finishing the race with solid split times when looking over his time sheet saying he placed 4th was shocking to say the least.  Lucky we stuck around for the awards presentation and all of a sudden we hear, “2nd place mens 25-29 Clem Chavez.”  We look up in the stands and he looks oblivious to what just happened, he wasn’t ready to get on that stage, to busy chatting up some chick who was just an innocent bystander.  Great work for his first triathlon.  Pounding out 6:11 minute mile average and a personal best 5k effort!

 Another outstanding performance by Jamie Gough in the 18 and under division, took a 2nd place with a fall on the bike and some slow transitions, but still 2nd place.  Time to do work and get him standing on the top of that podium!  Jamie has some work to do to compete against Konor Sacks, but hey, Konor’s been racing since he was 6 and will go pro in due time…  Going to try and drag this guy out to the desert with us in December for the Hits Series Sprint Triathlon.

 Last but not least, or should I say 1st?  My rockstar girlfriend Andrea took home a 1st place and 5th woman overall in the sprint Triathlon.  Coming out of the water in front and staying out in front the rest of the race with a solid bike effort, maintaining almost 20 mph average then running 7:20 average off the bike.  We talked numbers she needed to hit to win the race and all the numbers worked perfectly in her favor.  So proud of her performance and looking forward to her future progress.

 Before I wrap this up, have a browse through some of the action photos on the day.  Oh, and of course this first photo of the pre race #selfie…..

Jon & Katie pre-race selfie

Javier Gomez http://www.javiergomeznoya.comawaiting the swim start going retro, racing on a 1980’s Specialized Allez Transition.  Finishing the day two minutes back from the leader.

Luke Mckenzie looking cold as he enters the water.

Mary Beth Ellis was the first woman out of the water but couldn’t hold on to the lead.

The pro mens bikes awaiting them in T1.

Javier Gomez Noya going full retro at Life Time Tri Oceanside.

First wave of age groupers head to the swim start.

Katie Kyme getting under way on the bike course.

Clem just started swimming three weeks ago and confronted the swim with confidence.

Jon Noon coming out of the water with a gap in the field just behind the elite men.

Katie with a strong lead out the gates with a rock solid swim.

Andrea awaiting the swim start.  Xterra definitely showing a strong appearance in choice of wetsuit, hard to beat the price.

Javier Gomez and Luke Mckenzie trying to catch the leaders on the run course.

Mary Beth Ellis flying through the aid station nourishing her body with electrolytes.

My first siting of Jon since he took off on the bike course.  This section of the run course seemed a little confusing, the next frame from this sequence Jon had a world of confusion on his face.  Either that, or I was screaming at him and he couldn’t figure out where the yelling was coming from….

My first siting of Mike on the day.  His face was saying I’m in a world of hurt but his body mechanics said, “this is easy!” from my perspective anyway.  The following frames showed signs of butt kicks/shaking the legs to release some pain.

I pulled the camera away from my face to cheer on Andrea as I hear Katie cheering support coming from the opposite direction.  So nice seeing my girls out there cheering each other on sharing a friendly high five as I scramble for this blurry shot.

Katie & Mike looking pretty snazzy in their new Champion Factory speed suits.  The cool max material is incredible, great race kit thanks to Champion Systems.  www.champ-sys.com

Clem clearly in the pain cave here but in fine form and running strong.  I loved seeing the reaction of everyone once they saw me cheering/screaming with the camera and the pace increased ever so slightly.  Whether it was a boost to run faster or to get around someone to get a better shot, I think it was a bit of both…

Andrea coming off the bike checking her time straight out the gun.  I ran next to her for a hot minute to see how she was feeling, she seemed to be smiling and waving to family members which says to me she could have been much faster on the day but still an age group win.  I think were all satisfied with that…

Mike & Jamie making there way to the finisher shoot.  First time I saw Mike smile through out the day…

Katie sprinting in for the overall win.

A beautiful finish line at the Life Time Tri Oceanside season closer host of the Toyota Triple Crown.

Jon & Katie, roommates, walking away all smiles with 1st place trophies.

What a great event put on by Life Time.  I was very impressed with the production of the series.  Toyota offers great prize incentives for the professional field, the swag bags were above average, and the raffle had a plethora of great prizes.  The support of the sponsors, spectators, and quality of athletes makes this event a must do for San Diego based Triathletes.  And thats all she wrote, The Life Time Tri Oceanside, Toyota Triple Crown season closer was a success for Champion Factory Athletes and friends.

 

Author: Topher Riley, CFC athlete, www.topherriley.com