Okay, so yeah. This is long overdue! Like two full months overdue. But, I figure it’s never too late for a good race report right? I mean, someone could be reading this, credit card in hand, trying to decide if they want to drop $500 on 2023 Oceanside or not, and this blog could be the deciding factor.

Yes. The answer is YES. You should absolutely spend $500 on Oceanside 70.3.

Let’s get into it!

Oceanside is like THE quintessential Ironman race. Triathlon literally was invented in SoCal! But if you need more convincing, there’s a beach, an ocean, and palm trees!! If you don’t live locally, go ahead and make this your family vacation too.

Logistics

Okay, so I’ve done this race twice now and I will admit, the first time was a little chaotic. But the second time was smooth sailing! The biggest logistical issues for me were lodging, parking, and walkability. There are some hotels close by the race course but they sell out fast. Also, IDK about you, but I’m poor and I am not trying to drop $600 on a hotel room in downtown Oceanside. I recommend looking for lodging in Carlsbad. It’s a bit further from the race, but MUCH cheaper!

Parking is also a little confusing. The first time I did it, the race people made it seem like it would be impossible to find street parking. They actually hand out free parking passes at check-in. With these passes, there were assigned parking lots pretty far from the start, but there are shuttles that come get you and take you to the start/transition. HOWEVER, this year they ran out of these parking passes so I was mildly panicked about parking. But come race morning, we ended up finding SO much free street parking pretty close to the race! So the free parking pass is a safe option, but DO NOT fret if you don’t get a pass!

And finally, the walkability isn’t great. The start and transition area is one place, but the finish line is about a mile away. This isn’t THAT big of a deal, but just keep in mind that after the race, you’ll have to walk an entire mile back to transition to go get your bike.

Swim

This swim course is fun! It starts on the beach and goes out into the ocean. So getting out of the breaking waves can be a little hard! And maybe a little scary if you aren’t comfy with waves. Both times I’ve done this race the waves weren’t bad at all! But it feels like it can take forever to get out of the break! My biggest advice is when you see a big wave about to break on top of you, just dive under and you’ll be fine!

The swim eventually turns and you go into a protected marina which is SO nice! The waters are super calm in there and spectators can easily watch the swim from above. My biggest complaint is that it kind of smelled like gasoline and dead fish, but it’s a marina soo…..

Bike

OKAY SO. Anyone who knows me, knows I love climbing a good hill! And Oceanside certainly delivers some hills. When I did this race for the first time in October, I had recently gotten new wheels and had a new cassette on my bike. I don’t fully understand how cassettes work, I’m gonna be real with you. BUT here is what I do know: I had an 11/28 for Oceanside on my TT bike when I am used to an 11/34 on my road bike (much better for climbing). So basically I ended up trashing my legs on the hills because I had harder gears and was kind of grinding to climb fast. For the second time doing O-side, I switched my TT to an 11/32 and it was A BREEZE.

The bike course doesn’t start out too hilly. It’s kind of uneventful honestly. I feel like the hills are mainly in the middle part of the course and they’re rollers. BUT eventually you end up at the appropriately named, HELL HILL.

The first time I did the race, I had heard of this hill but I wasn’t sure where it was (because I am an idiot who does not read the athlete guides). I remember I kept going over hills and thinking “hmm maybe that was Hell Hill??” NOPE. Eventually I came around a bend to see Hell Hill mocking me in the distance. This fucker is STEEP. Luckily, you can see from about a mile away, so it gives you plenty of time to shift into your small ring (you’re gonna need to!)

Hell Hill is around a mile long, maybe a little less and it’s like 12-15% the entire way. When I had the bad gearing for my first time, I was standing out of the saddle just absolutely dying trying to get to the top. This year when I did it with the good gearing, it was MUCH better. I passed so many people!! Of course they probably passed me later on on the flat section, but alas.

Anyway. After Hell Hill, there are only a couple more little hills and then a loooooooong flat stretch to the finish. I think this stretch is about 10 miles and it may even be slightly downhill! However, both times I raced it, there was a gnarly headwind so that kind of sucked!

This year, I finished the bike with a time of 2 hours and 37 minutes. This was actually a PR for me! I was so excited considering this course has like 4000 feet of climbing (now I need to do a flat course and see how I can do!).

As far as fueling, I ended up having two bottles of B10 drink mix and then had some sips of plain water throughout. I had maybe 3-4 gels and a few Clif Bloks. I was very happy with my fueling!

Run

So the first time I did this race, I actually wanted to quit on the run. Most people know that the run is not my favorite leg. BUT, since I had grinded so hard on the hills, my legs were spent! I hit mile 5 and my calves were cramping pretty bad and I was so over it. That was the first time I have ever truly considered quitting (but I was just being dramatic).

I was super nervous the same thing would happen during this year’s race. BUT IT DIDN’T! I actually felt great on the run!

This run course is an out and back that you do two times. It’s relatively flat, but there are two AWFUL hills. The first is going up the Oceanside Pier ramp. It’s literally like a 30% grade, but it’s pretty short which is good! Then after that, there is another really short and steep hill. But since you do the course two times, that means 4 pretty shitty hills.

I ran the whole course but I did end up walking those hills. I figured they were so steep that I could literally walk them almost as fast as I could run them. I also walked the aid stations starting at mile 5 or 6.

I started out running around a 7:45 pace which is what I was hoping to hold the whole time. However, I don’t train running as much or as well as I should. Eventually, I slowed to around an 8:30ish pace and settled into that.

The entire run I knew I was going to PR my half Ironman distance by a lot. I kept doing the math to see how slow I could run and still PR (LOL). I usually base this off a 10 minute mile (because it’s easy math). So I would be at like mile 10 and in my head I think “ok, even if I run the next 3 miles at a 10 minute pace I will still PR by 10 minutes.” But, I never really slowed more than a 9 minute mile!!

The run went by very smooth and fast. It’s a great spectator course, so having people cheer you along the whole way is super fun and motivating! I ended up running it in a 1:52 which is my fastest run split ever for a 70.3!

My overall time for Oceanside ended up being 5:08, which was a 14 minute PR!

Final Thoughts

This race is insanely fun. The atmosphere is electric and the course is great! I do think this will probably be an annual event for me, especially because it’s so close to LA!

I would say though, if you hate climbing on your bike or are SUPER new to cycling, I might not suggest this race just because of how hilly the bike course is. I was thinking, if I had still lived in Ohio and was training very few hills and I came to Oceanside to do this race, I probably would have died LOL. But, to each their own! It’s definitely not the hilliest course out of all the Ironman branded races!