San Jose International Triathlon
4:30AM. Roll out of bed, put on my shorts, jersey, and warmups, brush my teeth, get my bags (food and gear) together, and head out the door. I eat a PB&J sandwich on the way, and arrive at Lake Almaden Park just as the sun is rising. I find a spot in the transition area and start set up. Bike in the rack, towel on the ground, running shoes, hat, race belt, food. Cycling shoes, socks, helmet on the aerobars, clean the sunglasses and put them in my helmet, ready for wear. I munch on half a clif bar before I make the requisite stop at the porta-potty. Luckily, I get there before the long gets ridiculously long and only have to wait a couple minutes. I make my way over to the body marking tent, and chat a bit with my friend Ruth, who happens to be racing today as well, with the UC Davis team.
6:30. I do a quick bare-footed jog on the grassy areas of the park, avoiding duck presents, and then stretch as I examine the swim course and take in the scenery. I make my way back to my bike for one last check to make sure everything is in place. Water bottles, shoes, socks, timing chip on my ankle, food, in my hat, race belt and bib on my running shoes. Helmet and sunglasses. Yep, it all looks good. I grab my swim cap and goggles and make my way down to the water. After helping a guy zip up his wetsuit and stretching a bit more, I get in the water for a quick warm-up swim, noting that there are only a few other guys swimming without wetsuits. The water is warm, but pretty murky – in no small part thanks to the ducks, I’m sure – and I can barely see beyond my outstretched arm. Ah well, not much better than Folsom Lake, but definitely not as clear as the pool. And no conveniently-placed black line at the bottom (at least not that I can see).
7:00. Time to send off the first wave – the pros and all the collegiate competitors. The bagpipes tune of “Amazing Grace” starts coming over the P.A. and we count down to send off wave one. 3… 2… 1… With a gunshot and a cheer they’re gone. My wave is next. We get in the water, and strangely enough, only a few guys really head out while most of us kind of just hang back until the last moments before they start us off. And so they send us out to start our race. I manage to keep up with the back of the pack to the first buoy. And then I somehow end up a bit wide of the path everyone else is taking. Okay, minor adjustment as I make my way to the second buoy. My arms are moving pretty fast, and I’m keeping up with the couple guys next to me, but then I decide to smooth my stroke out a bit, relax, and make sure I’m catching some water. I’m breathing every other stroke and sighting when I can. Things are pretty uneventful until I get near the 4th buoy. I manage to be wide yet again and almost end up beached on the shore. I make the turn to the last buoy and then the last turn for the home stretch – where, once again, I’m swimming over grass and rocks (but I think everyone else is, too).
I emerge from the water 29:48 later to AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”. I rip off my cap and goggles as I run up the carpets to the transition area. All the way around the horseshoe, drop off my goggles and cap, grab a bite of the clif bar, put on my socks, shoes, glasses, and helmet, and start walking my bike out to where I can mount up.
The bike ride starts off feeling pretty good. I take it easy at first, not really letting it bother me that people are passing me. The first half of the ride is into a bit of a headwind, but mostly flat. Ruth passes me a few miles in, and I gradually try to pick up the pace as I go. I notice that many riders are passing me in clumps. Almost everyone is pushing a pretty big gear (bigger than the one I’m riding in), and they’re bikes probably cost a multipe of what I paid for mine – Kestrel, Lightspeed, Orbea, and some I’d never even heard of before. Anyway, I make the turnaround and notice something – things just got a lot easier! I ratchet up through the gears and am now moving at a pretty good clip. As I make the turn on to Bailey, I realize I should probably eat my gel before the hill. That slows me down a bit, but again, I’m not worried. I’m just here to have some fun.
And we start the climb of the “hill”. After Auburn International, most hills look pretty tame. I manage to pass a couple people as I climb the hill and start the descent. I take it easy down the hill, as they’ve posted warning signs that the road is steep and bumpy – exaggerated for insurance reasons, I’m sure, as I didn’t really notice anything too bumpy or steep. Eventually, I’m riding in top gear (or close to it), and passing more people. I’m pushing harder, and it definitely feels like I’m working. As we near the end of the bike, I drop down a couple of gears to spin my legs down a bit, and I slip one foot out of its shoe. I don’t manage to get the other one out before we have to dismount (and swerve a bit as I try, almost causing a pile-up). So I walk my bike through the transition area with one sock and one shoe.
I rack my bike, pop off my helmet and shoe, and get ready for the run. Running shoes on, hat on (I remembered to put it on this time!), race number on, spray on some more sunblock, grab my gel, and head out. Again, I start off pretty slow, letting my legs get used to running after 1:17:34 on the bike.
And again, people pass me on the early part of the run (well, throughout most of the run, actually). A woman who’d passed me on the bike (and then I passed her, etc) caught up with me on the run about mile 1. We chat for a bit as we run before she pushes on ahead. The run consists of two out-and-back sections – the first section covers the first 2 or so miles, and the second one makes up the rest. Most of the run is pretty uneventful. I run alongside a guy in my age group for a while, and we chat until I pick up the pace before mile 4. My legs now feel surprisingly strong, and I’m able to hold a pretty comfortable pace. It’s so comfortable, in fact, that I don’t notice how quickly the finish is approaching and I don’t start my finish sprint until I’m almost in the chute. Ah well, so I may have been able to shave a little bit of time off my 56:58 run, but it doesn’t matter. I finished and I had fun doing it.
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