This weekend was the Envirosports Sprint Distance Triathlon: a ~1/2-mile swim in Lake Berryessa (near Napa) followed by an 11-mile bike and a 3.1-mile run. I drove up yesterday and met some Team in Training people at the Pleasure Cove Marina, which was shockingly difficult to find. I did, however, manage to unearth it and we spent a lovely afternoon laughing at the eastern Eurpoean shirtless sweaty guys who were blasting eurotrash pop from their car stereos until very late in the evening. We got some great photos of us "dancing" around our campfire (= making fun of europop).
Our dinner consisted of a smorgasbord of "carbo loading" items (which really meant drinking beer, eating sausages with onions and peppers, and lots of oreos - hey, the event was only a sprint distance! Perhaps we were cocky after our Lavaman triumphs...) and sitting around a campfire. I retired around 9:30 or 10, and woke in the middle of the night to what I can only describe as warring tribes of geese. Our campsite was on the very southern edge of Lake Berryessa and bordered the water, and of course there were geese everywhere. Apparently they were re-enacting West Side Story last night but in goose-talk. It was loud. Once I was awake, it was hard to get completely back to sleep, and I kept checking my alarm clock, over and over and over.
It went off at 5:15 this morning, before the sun was up but we had the light of an almost-full moon. I had slept with my tri apparel in my sleeping bag so it was warm when I had to put it on, and I think that was a genius idea. Once dressed, but still in the warmth of the sleeping bag, I started making noise to get people moving. I decided to get up and hike to the restroom instead of waking everyone up and pissing them off.
At 5:30, I knocked on the tents to get everyone moving, and we were on the road at 6 to drive the ~30 minutes to the race start area. Parking was an adventure - lots of windy roads to the parking area and a long walk back to the transition area.
The transition area was set up in a parking lot and there were no assigned spaces (the other two transition areas I've been involved with assigned you a space that matched your bib number), so that was a bit stressful for me. I like rules and assigned spaces so I have my designated space and am entitled to it. Plus, I didn't want to move my stuff for the latecomers. I know, I have issues. Moving on...
Once set up we got our bib number (160 for me) and I realized I'd forgotten my race belt, which is what I attach my number to so I don't have to put anything else on after the swim. I just clip that around my waist and it saves lots of time. Thankfully I'd brought an extra jersey, so I decided to swim in my Team in Training jersey and change into my black jersey for the rest of the race, and I pinned my number to it so it was already to go.
I wrestled into my wetsuit and before the race began I actually got in and swam a bit. This allowed water to get into my wetsuit (really unpleasant) and warm up (less unpleasant), and so the shock of the cold water didn't take my breath away when we jumped in for the start.
The start was interesting - because we had timing chips, we had to walk single-file over a mat that recorded our crossing and that became our official start time. There was also a little cement ramp into the water, then a big splash and you're off! We "self-seeded," meaning we placed ourselves in the starting line-up based on how fast we thought we were. I put myself close to the front but gave some room. I should have seeded farther towards the front, as I was swimming past people the whole way.
The swim was a counter-clockwise circle, marked by large orange buoys. However, on the way out the sun was shining directly in our eyes, making sighting the bouys nearly impossible. Since I breathe left, I swung wide to the right and kept the other swimmers in my sight. This way I added a little distance, but was able to pretty much swim in a straight line without impediment.
The water was ~62 degrees (cold!), and murky. Like with your face in the water you can't see a thing kind of murky. I would swim five or so strokes head down and then do a couple head up to view the buoy and the other swimmers...
Once I found my rhythm I felt fantastic! I actually enjoyed the cold water on my face and the warm-up I'd done left the water in my wetsuit plenty warm and I actually started to overheat a little bit. I was passing people left and right, and when I got out of the water the crowd was yelling and cheering and I had a whole bunch of people yelling "great swim!" as I ran past. That was a fantastic feeling!
What was not a fantastic feeling: jogging barefoot with numb feet to the transition area, pulling off my wet jersey (sports bra underneath, don't worry), and wrestling into my dry jersey (with pinned bib number) as I watched person and after person pass me! Oh, also everyone passing me for the rest of the race, but that's later in the story.
I hopped on the bike and for the first part of the ride really struggled. The course was a bit more hilly than I was used to and I struggle riding uphill. I blame my bike. It's a bit demoralizing to get passed so gratuitously, but I tried to keep my chin up. It took me about halfway into the ride before my legs really started to feel good, and then I decided to just go for it. I rode super hard for the rest of it and started to just have a great time - flying down the downhills and feeling like I was making progress on the uphills at least.
I finished the bike leg and shoved my feet into my running shoes and I was off. I took a water bottle with me, and immediately regretted it. It was heavy, and I'd drunk so much on the bike my stomach was a little sloshy, and I immediately wanted to ditch it. So I did.
On one of the uphills on the run I just left it on a post by the side of the road and figured I'd pick it up on the way back.
The run was HARD. My legs were shot, and I take a long time to feel like I can run normally after the bike. My hamstrings were so tight they hurt, and it was all I could do to just keep moving. But I did. I hit the turnaround and dumped some water on my head before heading back. Thankfully most of the return was downhill, and there was my water bottle as I came back!
The last leg was back on the trail, where everyone seemed to kick it up a notch except me. I just didn't have it in me! I was running, but my legs were shaky and I didn't want to sprain an ankle, so I just put my head down and let people pass me and figured I was running my own race.
(It's still frustrating.)
The finish had us running up a hill, where the photographer was waiting. I gave him a big smile and the universal sign of rock, and he actually thanked me for it. (No, really! He really said, "Thanks for that!")
I finished and the clock read 1:42-something, and that translated into a final time of ~1:38-something. Not too bad for a hilly course with a longer swim than the other sprint distance one I did in February!
At the end of it, they posted the times and in my age group (female 35-39), I finished 11th out of over 20. Of course, after the swim I was 2nd.
Seriously. I need to bike and run faster. That just sucks.
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