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.
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