🏊‍♂️ Santa Cruz 70.3 2025 Race Report

September 14, 2025

Pre-Race

I came into Santa Cruz 70.3 with few expectations. It was my first 70.3 and my first triathlon in nearly two years, so it almost felt like doing it again for the first time. My goal was simple: get a data point on my fitness and set a baseline for the next couple years in my “triathlon-era”.

Training had been consistent since coming back from injury, with all-time highs on the bike and strong brick runs. The swim was my biggest worry—not about finishing, but about how slow my time might be. Despite solid progress in the pool, I felt like I was struggling to translate this to open water. If I was slow it would just feel like swimming was an uphill battle that I wouldn’t be able to win.

Nerves aside, I was excited. Santa Cruz brings out a huge SF crowd, and the energy of friends racing and cheering made it the perfect place to throw down and let the dog out!

Swim

I was really really hoping to be be sub 35 minutes on the swim, realistically aiming for 33–35. I find open water pacing is tough to judge, so my plan was simply to swim “kinda hard.” On the way out I passed quite a few people, which felt good, but on the way back my shoulders fatigued (really need a new wetsuit) and I slowed some.

It felt good to get out of the water and enter the domain (land) I feel most confident in. I felt like I had swum decent, but not great, struggling to find my rhythm at points. I didn’t wear my watch during the swim because I didn’t want to know my time. When I found out that I swam a 32 I honestly couldn’t believe it. This was a big confidence booster that the work in the pool is paying off.

Bike

This was my first time racing with all the expensive, fast cycling gear — TT bike, aero helmet, aero clothes. I told myself I wanted to go sub 2:30 but knew I could probably do much faster. I was excited to see what I could do.

I know the bike is where there is time to be gained, so if I felt good, I planned to push it. I was targeting 250-255 watts.

The course was hillier than expected. I didn’t want to blow up my legs, so I tried to stay conservative-ish on the climbs — which is hard when you’re used to riding every climb in zone 5, trying not to get dropped.

I felt I rode well within myself on the way out. I hit the turnaround just before 1:10 and averaged 250 watts. Seeing that and knowing there’s usually a tailwind on the way back, I thought sub 2:20 was possible and decided to push harder.

On the way back I averaged closer to 260 watts, bringing my overall average to 256. The return felt less comfortable than the way out, but I still wasn’t in the red zone. No one passed me on the entire bike.

I could see I’d be very close to sub 2:20. I rode strong right to the end, almost missing the dismount line and skidding to a stop just before it. My bike computer showed sub 2:20 since I started it a couple seconds late, but my chip time was 2:20:19 — I’ll take it. Maybe I pushed it a little bit too hard at the end, but in the moment it felt fine.

I’ve been happy with my bike volume and the legs have been feeling strong. I’m pleased with this bike performance — it’s a good data point that my fitness is improving and I can push to get even stronger. The bike is the most important leg, so this is encouraging.

I averaged ~90 grams of carbs per hour, which was my target. I lost some drink mix filling my torpedo bottle, but had a backup gel to compensate. I’ve always used just liquid carbs, but I may experiment with adding gels next time. My stomach wasn’t great after the bike (though it was fine during), and I’m wondering if I needed more plain water, less volume, or just some variety.

Bike picture.


Run

I had the highest expectations for the run. A few solid brick runs off the bike had given me confidence in my run fitness.

Immediately starting the run, I knew it would be a battle — I felt terrible. Honestly more terrible than I’ve ever felt on a run. It was like having the flu where your whole body aches. My stomach felt off and my legs just had absolutely no push.

I went through a few miles of pity party, mentally writing off the race. Knowing I couldn’t push like I wanted really sapped my motivation. What was the point? But I knew I needed to finish this thing one way or another, so I kept going and focused on trying not to walk (though I had a few walks).

My stomach had been feeling weird the whole time with some suspicious burps. Once we hit the privacy of the trails (around 40 minutes in), I decided to just let it happen. I managed a few mini-pukes, then took my first gel of the run.

Shortly after, I started feeling much better and my legs remembered how to work. During the trail section about halfway through, I began picking up the pace but stayed conservative to test the waters

Once we got back onto the pavement, I felt infinitely better than when I’d started and began to actually run. In the final few miles I was able to start running properly. The first half I was only getting passed — now I was doing the passing.

Strava chart.

Starting at mile 6, I ran every mile faster than the last, the "reverse blow up."

It felt good to finish strong. I think this shows I do have the fitness — I just need to harness it better. Even though my run time wasn’t quite what I wanted, I was able to salvage things and hold on for a decent finish time.

Running picture.


Overall

Overall I’m happy with the race. I’m really pleased with the swim and bike — if I can just hold it together on the run, I’ll be in a good spot. I would have liked to go sub 4:30, but Ill take it for a first 70.3.

I’m also proud of myself for battling through the first half of the run without giving up. That first half was serious type 3 fun and I wanted to throw in the towel. To push through that and actually turn it around is an excellent deposit in the confidence bank. Next time I feel like this, I can think back to this experience to pull me out of that dark place.

It also felt good to race a triathlon again after not racing for a while. There are so many moving parts that races can feel daunting, adding to the nerves. It feels good getting another race under my belt, making racing feel more comfortable.

I’ve been absolutely loving training. Every day when the alarm goes off bright and early, I’m genuinely excited to get after it. This is largely due to the people and community. It’s honestly such an advantage being surrounded by psychotic monsters obsessed with this stuff who have no regard for personal comfort.

Huge shout out to everyone who drops me, eats croissants with me and engages in my Strava antics. Looking forward to continue building đź’Ş

Finish pic.


Closing Thoughts

Out of all the races I’ve done, this one and the build into it felt the most fun and relaxed. In the past, these endurance events were really about the challenge — me vs. the race, overcoming mental and physical obstacles to see what I was capable of.

As I’ve done more races and gotten deeper into endurance activities, it’s become less about this intense internal struggle to overcome seemingly monumental obstacles. I’ve really just fallen in love with the act of doing these things. I love training. I love riding my bike for seven hours with friends on Saturday or running in circles until it hurts at track night.

It feels good working towards a goal and feeling like you’re getting just a little bit better every day. Sunday night looking back at the week on Training Peaks brings a sense of accomplishment — you achieved something that week

It also feels really good being surrounded by people who share this mindset. Being around people passionate about something and excited to share that passion with you. I’ve been feeling a strong sense of community lately around running/cycling/swimming. Moving to SF not knowing anyone (as was the case for many of us), it’s nice having this thing we can connect over. This was evident not only in how many people raced Santa Cruz, but also in how many came down to support.

In the future when I think back to this race, the two themes that stick out will be enjoying the process and community.

Running picture

The numbers


Photos: Jack Blodgett

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