Swim Bike Run: sprint to the finish

After nearly six months of non-stop training, I can finally call myself a triathlete. I raced in the Tri For Fun Sprint Triathlon this weekend at Rancho Seco Park near Sacramento, and it was absolutely one of the best things I've ever done. The race was a half-mile swim, 18-mile bike, and three-mile run. I finished in 1:34:46. I rode at 18.5 miles an hour, and ran an 8 minute mile pace. It was brutally hot, at least by my coastal northern California standards, and I felt like I gave it all I had, nearly puking after I crossed the finish. Want to see pictures? They are here.

On race day they had me listed as finishing 98th, which I was incredibly excited with, but the results posted online (which I assume factor in the various start times for different heats) list me at 140 out of 531. Oh well. That was a bit of a bummer, to drop 42 places, but I'm still quite happy with that finish which puts me (almost) in the top quarter. I'm still waiting for the results to post to see how I did in my division. I don't expect it will be that well; it's a tough division: Four out of the top ten finishers were in the 30-34 age group (including the only female) twice as many as any other.

I had hoped to use this sprint as a dry run for Alcatraz coming up in two weeks, and to that extent it was a great success. I learned a lot. Although I've practiced transitions, and of course all three events, relentlessly, nothing compares to the real thing. Here's where I messed up:

• When I started out on the swim, I was completely jacked on adrenaline and just killed it as soon as the horn blew. I sprinted way too far, and found myself exhausted and gasping a few hundred yards out. I then had to pop my head up and tread water until I caught y breath. I would have been much better served to start strong until I got out of the scrum and then drop back immediately to my race pace. Rookie mistake.
  
  
• I ran through my transitions several times in the hotel room the night before, but when I got to T1 I completely lost my head. I had a plan of action to do everything in methodical order: Wetsuit off, helmet on, socks on, shoes on, etc. But when I got there, I didn't think, and just ran through things as they occurred to me. This didn't always make sense, and I also wasted time doing dumb things like drying off. I also floundered a bit with my wetsuit, which was completely unnecessary. I need to focus, and not let my head wander.
  
  
• I had forgotten to untie my running shoes when I set up my transition area. So at T2, when it was time to go from bike to run, I wound up spending extra time untying and then retying my shoes. Dumb. Yesterday, I replaced my shoelaces with laces locks.
  
  
• When I set up my transition area, I was really worried about being able to find it. So I put my bike on the end of a completely empty rack in the corner. A little more investigation would have showed me that Iw as setting up in the far back corner of the transition area, about as far away from the bike and run starts as I could  get. I think I lost more time getting to and from there than I would have spent scanning for my bike.
  All in all, I felt like I could have shaved another three or so minutes off just by racing smarter. I'm going to try to take those lessons with me in two weeks. But it was a phenomenal experience, and I'm proud to have finished it.
  
  It was also incredible to have Harper there with me. When I was running out of juice at the end, seeing her and hearing her cheer for me, helped me pick it up again at the end. She suffered through two long drives, an incredibly early morning, and I couldn't appreciate it more. Making her proud means more to me than just about anything else in this world, and I'm so glad to be able to do it. Thanks, Harper. I love you.