Santa Cruz Sentinel Triathlon follows a similar course to Big Kahuna but has the appeal of being Olympic distance (~32 miles total) rather than 70.3 miles.
A bunch of TNT alumni signed up. Most of us stayed in the Lanai Lodge which has a great location and very friendly staff but may be too cheap for the faint of heart. :P
Swim: The ocean water was calm and clouds in the east kept early morning glare to a minimum. I started on the left side of the field and fought my way to the front. Unfortunately that struggle resulted in a leak in my right goggle. I sighted with one eye until, with about two thirds done, I relented and paused to fix it. My reticence turned out to be well founded - as suspected at least two guys were drafting me and barreled up on my left when I flipped over and slowed. I battled side-by-side with them to the beach. (Full disclosure: the guys I was trying to draft dropped my squinty a$$ before the halfway point!) Unfortunately my new water buddies hadn't examined the swim exit beforehand and continued to try to push us right toward the pier while I tried to steer us left. This meant elbow-to-elbow negotiations in open water for about 0.25 miles. Fun times. :-)
T1: Most of our group had joined me in line for the transition area opening at 6am. I agonized over picking a transition spot for nearly 30 minutes...I eventually chose one that was quiet, had more room and was closer to swim-run in than it was to bike out/in. It paid off - my T1 rank was higher than any other part of my race!
Bike: The day before the race I realized I hadn't cleaned my bike since the previous weekend and didn't have equipment with me or time to do so by that point. When I started cranking on race day, I remembered that my gears had been acting up a little since my rear flat the same weekend...I was lucky that none of this affected things on the day but damnit I should know better than that 12 triathlons in...To make up the full 40 km (24.8 miles) bike distance, a few miles before the finish, officials sent us down a lane constructed entirely of potholes. They assured us before the swim start that "next year it will be newly paved" but for the duration, I thought I was racing on Treasure Island.
T2: Unfortunately suntan lotion re-application is always going to hold me back but this transition still ranked better than my bike or run!
Run: A friend very kindly shared some GU Roctane the night before the race. I ditched the "nothing new on race day" rule of thumb and scarfed it halfway through the run. Cue Head Music by Eric Prydz (vs. Pink Floyd - Proper Education (Club Mix)) and Junkie XL (You Make Me Feel So Good) and I had a wonderful time all the way to the finish line and end of my last triathlon of 2008.
Next: Bridge to Bridge Run.
Results. Official Photos. My bib number was 545.
I think I'm in the top right corner of the first photo in the official slideshow and I run past 6 - 8 seconds into the video.
Future thoughts: Roctane might be worth investing in for race season 2009. I need to be more thorough about every aspect of my bike/biking and attitude toward it.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Folsom Triathlon - September 7th 2008
This year, in a departure from the schedule of the previous five years, the Folsom International Triathlon took place the first weekend in September. The date change meant a direct conflict with the Big Kahuna Triathlon in Santa Cruz. (Some have said that this was intentional, due to a fallout between race organizers. Folsom's J&A Productions recently re-branded to USA Productions and expanded their reach beyond California. Maybe Firstwave Events weren't interested?) Competitor numbers for Folsom 2008 were down more than a third from 2007. Big Kahuna entry rates were marginally higher...
At packet pick-up, I was informed Folsom tri was no longer USAT affiliated. An interesting decision for an ambitious, growing organization...This also means I won't be USAT ranked in 2008.
I stayed at the Sacramento Marriott Rancho Cordova. There's a Comfort Inn even closer to the race venue but at only $128.68 per night, the Marriott was tough to beat! I checked out soon after 4am - I wanted my choice of transition spot when the area opened at 5am. The early start was worth the effort - I claimed a rack right beside bike/run out and both my transition times were better than in 2007.
In spite of the new race date, conditions were similar to last year - glaring sunlight on the outward swim leg, light head/side-winds on the outward bike leg, heat during the run. Fortunately highs of about 102 °F (38.9 °C) arrived long after racing finished.
Swim: The Elite athletes decided (again) to start with our wave (male 20-29 at 7:06am). Race officials and announcers were apparently unaware of this and there was a little confusion...On reaching transition, I was shocked to see my unexpectedly speedy split time - that surprise may have been what caused me to stop my watch instead of simply splitting it! I realized my mistake several minutes later...
Bike: Having been in the saddle only 4-5 times since my Wildflower race three months ago, I was happy with my performance (even though it was my slowest leg, relatively speaking). About ten athletes overtook me, including some from the male 30-39 wave. I was also lucky enough to avoid a puncture at this attempt (maybe the flat I got while training in Tahoe the previous weekend helped my tire karma!). However I found it a little difficult to get my head "in gear" and this was worsened when I speculated that my fast swim was due to missing some buoys at the turnaround (even though I was with a group of competitors)...[Post-race I was assured by a race official/volunteer who claimed he was aboard the main boat - no-one he saw skipped any part of the swim course, even though sub 12 minute split times for some athletes are unbelievable].
Run: Leaving the transition area, a runner just ahead of me was told he was around 15th. About 1.5 miles in, a spectator informed me I was was 22nd. Several more runners passed me before the finish. My shins bothered me a little - I ran on the dirt at the side of the paved path where I could.
My finish time of 2:13:34 is by far my fastest Olympic distance triathlon to date. Next on my calendar is Sentinel in Santa Cruz.
Results. Official Photos. T2; run in, racking bike. My bib number was 245.
Future thoughts: More biking (and bricks). New bike helmet.
At packet pick-up, I was informed Folsom tri was no longer USAT affiliated. An interesting decision for an ambitious, growing organization...This also means I won't be USAT ranked in 2008.
I stayed at the Sacramento Marriott Rancho Cordova. There's a Comfort Inn even closer to the race venue but at only $128.68 per night, the Marriott was tough to beat! I checked out soon after 4am - I wanted my choice of transition spot when the area opened at 5am. The early start was worth the effort - I claimed a rack right beside bike/run out and both my transition times were better than in 2007.
In spite of the new race date, conditions were similar to last year - glaring sunlight on the outward swim leg, light head/side-winds on the outward bike leg, heat during the run. Fortunately highs of about 102 °F (38.9 °C) arrived long after racing finished.
Swim: The Elite athletes decided (again) to start with our wave (male 20-29 at 7:06am). Race officials and announcers were apparently unaware of this and there was a little confusion...On reaching transition, I was shocked to see my unexpectedly speedy split time - that surprise may have been what caused me to stop my watch instead of simply splitting it! I realized my mistake several minutes later...
Bike: Having been in the saddle only 4-5 times since my Wildflower race three months ago, I was happy with my performance (even though it was my slowest leg, relatively speaking). About ten athletes overtook me, including some from the male 30-39 wave. I was also lucky enough to avoid a puncture at this attempt (maybe the flat I got while training in Tahoe the previous weekend helped my tire karma!). However I found it a little difficult to get my head "in gear" and this was worsened when I speculated that my fast swim was due to missing some buoys at the turnaround (even though I was with a group of competitors)...[Post-race I was assured by a race official/volunteer who claimed he was aboard the main boat - no-one he saw skipped any part of the swim course, even though sub 12 minute split times for some athletes are unbelievable].
Run: Leaving the transition area, a runner just ahead of me was told he was around 15th. About 1.5 miles in, a spectator informed me I was was 22nd. Several more runners passed me before the finish. My shins bothered me a little - I ran on the dirt at the side of the paved path where I could.
My finish time of 2:13:34 is by far my fastest Olympic distance triathlon to date. Next on my calendar is Sentinel in Santa Cruz.
Results. Official Photos. T2; run in, racking bike. My bib number was 245.
Future thoughts: More biking (and bricks). New bike helmet.
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