Oceanside 70.3 Race Report-Danny's edition

Less than two weeks after San Juan, Amber and I headed out to Oceanside, California for her to compete another 70.3 event. We had been out here last year and met some great people, Amber had a good race and, of course, she had the Zoot Ultra Team camp the day after the race. This year we were trying to pack all of this, plus meeting up with her uncle Larry in a long-weekend. 

We arrived the night before the race just in time for the pro meeting. She then quickly assembled her bike then met up with her uncle Larry who was at Camp Pendelton before leaving later in the week for Afghanistan where he will be for the next year. Not necessarily the best race strategy but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. 

We awoke early the next morning and set up her two transitions. We did a quick warm up jog and then it was time for her to race. I video taped her from several places(see below) and could actually see her from the pier on the turn around. She was staying in the pack! It looked like she was going to be have a smoking time. Sure enough, she arrived into transition with a time of 24:27 right in the mix!

Look at that pack! Linsey Corbin and Heather Wurtele leading a huge group of women out of the water

Amber in the mix:)

Amber got on the bike right around 10th place and Larry and I went over to a Burrito place for breakfast. 2 1/2 pounds of Mexican food later we headed back to the transition area where we prepared for Amber to show. About 4 minutes sooner than last year, Amber strolls in to the bike to run transition after biking almost 22mph! And then off to the run! Somewhere on the bike, Amber was overtaken by two women so by the time the run started she was in twelfth place. 

Oceanside's run course is great for spectating, Larry and I were able to see Amber eight times during the 13.1 mile run. I was also able to see Heather Jackson tear apart the run course winning the race after putting together a 1:17 half marathon. The other Heather, Mrs Wurtele, also had a great run finishing in second with Lesley Paterson on her tail edging out Linsey Corbin for third. It was great because we could see how quickly she was gaining on some of the pros ahead of her. Behind her, however, Mirinda Carfrae was also running down Amber. Every time we saw Amber she was a little closer to the women in front of her but Rinnie was a little closer to her.  In fact, Mirinda would run down five pros to finish in 8th place. Amber ended up catching three women and was passed only by Mirinda so she finished in 10th place with a time of 4:30:xx. She will give more details on her blog when she gets home. 

Amber on the steep descent

Amber at the finish. 

Amber Glad to be done and ready for some cheering

Amber and Uncle Larry

After the race, we hung out with Larry briefly before he had to cut out. Amber and I headed back to the run course and met up with Jim Johnson, our friend who put us up last year. We spent a while cheering on all the racers before heading back to Carlsbad to meet up with the Zoot Ultra team for dinner. Our friend and Amber's teammate Angi Axmann and her husband JR were there as well as some new faces who all were very friendly and look to be very good athletes.

After a morning run with the Zoot Ultra team, Heather Jackson and Ben Hoffman, Amber spent the rest of the day in Zoot camp while JR and I took advantage of the California sun and spent the day basking in it. We met up again in the evening for dinner and some time on the beach. From the fact that Amber couldn't stop talking about Zoot, I'm guessing she had a good time and is excited about this year's team.

We head out tomorrow so the weekend was really pretty short but fun filled.

Amber peeping back

Up Next: US 70.3 Championships at St George, UT on May 4th.