Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon

May 20th, 2012 was a cool dark and at 4:30 am an early morning.  I took a drive into Morgan Hill with as many as 1000 other crazy people who too were up at 4am, to gather around a small reservoir by the name of Uvas Reservoir to swim, bike and run our way to a podium finish at the 21st annual Morgan Hill sprint triathlon.  The morning was cool but calm, the people were quiet and welcoming all the while the steam slowly lifted off the water as the sun barely shone above the tops of the surrounding mountains.  Ah I could sit here all morning with a coffee in hand and camera in the other.  But no I came here to do something to that day I had not done before, and that was to take part in this crazy sport of triathlons.

I arrive early enough to get a good parking spot only a 3 minute walk from the transition area.  I hop out of my car like all the other crazies, unload my bike, grab my equipment bag (of which I need to buy a better backpack) lock the car and make the short trek to fight for a good spot in transition.  I am pleasantly greeted with empty racks as I was smart enough to get there early.  No wait so I assess the entry and exit for each of the three events we have to do and find my best suited place amongst the racks.  I rack my bike, drop my bag and before I do anything else I do my morning Port-o-John visit and get my body markings done. 

Making my way back to my bike I assess the other transition set ups, as this is my very first triathlon as the one I did in April turned into a duathlon because of poor water quality.  What does that mean?  It meant I had an extra piece of equipment in my transition area, namely the wetsuit I had to account for when I came back from the swim.  Transition area is set up and I still have 1.5 hours till gun time, so what to do.  Walk around to keep from getting nervous.  Find a "quiet" place to reflect on what I am about to embark upon today and how I may stay calm under pressure and in what ways will I stay focused on the task at hand....stay afloat, rubber side down, and on my feet. 

This day was to break me into my first mass start swim.  Going into the event I knew I could be very competitive in the bike and run portion of this triathlon being it was only a 16 mile bike and a 5 mile run.  My biggest concern was the swim.  I had not to that point participated in a open water mass start swim, and this was to be only my third time in a wetsuit.  Needless to say I was literally shaking in my wetsuit when I finally got to jump into the water, but more on that later.

Back to the transition area, its T-minus 40 minute to gun time and I start pulling on my wetsuit.  BUT first I have to slather up with body glide to make sure the wetsuit can slid on but also to make sure it will not chafe me during the swim.  Its on and I gather my swim cap, the hideous pink it was, my goggles, make a few quick checks on my transition area, make sure my timing chip is securely in place on my ankle under the wetsuit and start the long walk to the waters edge. 

Standing at the water I feel the nerves begin to rise inside me like the rising tides, the anxiousness get the best of me and I decided to get into the water 3 waves before my start (about 15 minutes).  Its murky, mushy and just plain nasty but I have to wade through it to get to the start which is about 100 meters out.  Making my way to the side of the start line with all the other pink capped ladies I notice my teeth start to chatter, I check in with myself I'm not cold, so crap I am way too nervous.  Time is ticking and my body knows its about to have to pull my using my arms for three quarters of a mile in very close proximity to many other women and some men along the way. 

The last heat before mine is off and all the ladies in my wave move to the floating start line.  I line up at the right side in the front row behind only one woman.  However as we are floating there I notice I am surrounded by too many and we are all kicking each other while we are treading water.  Oh well I cant do anything about it cause the official starts the count down, 3...2...1 BANG!!!  And what a bang it was.  The woman in front of me dove in and kicked her feet up catching me right in the nose as I lean forward to begin my stroke.  I stop dead trying to catch my breath when all of a sudden the woman right behind me is now swimming over me and I catch her elbow in the back of my head as I sink underneath her.  My god what am I doing here, I'm going to die even before I cross the start line.  Trying to regain my composure I finally come up catch a few breaths and take off trying frantically to get in a groove and stop hyperventilating.  Its no use I cannot so for the ENTIRE swim I alternate between 20 strokes and roll onto my back catch my breath for 10 back strokes, roll over and do it again.  Not the best way to do the swim but it was all I could do to stay composed enough for the swim.


The swim couldn't even end uneventful.  Nope I had to slip getting out of the water and fall right on the timing chip on my ankle.  I didn't realize it at the time but it cracked me right on the ankle bone.  Finally I am up the hill, the goggles and swim cap are off, the top of the wetsuit is off and I find my transition area.  Sitting down to get the legs off was the only way to go for me.  Throw on the helmet, socks, shoes, number belt, and sunglasses, I grab the bike and begin running out the shoot.  Once clipped in I take off like a bat outta hell.  Passing people left and right, okay well maybe only on their left but still passing a multitude of people.  I'm in my groove and hold a steady 20mph average pace for the entire 16 miles.  I felt strong and checked in with my body to see if I could push faster, knowing I still had to run 5 miles and starting to feel an ache in my ankle I decided to hold steady at 20.  The transition zone is only a mile away and I check in again to remind myself what I need to do to make a quick transition.  I slam on my brakes, literally skidding through the transition shoot, I am throwing my leg off the bike and already  running while the bike is moving, WOW that was cool!

T2 as it is called, bike to run transition, is super fast.  I rack my bike, shoes go flying off and on go running shoes fully equipped with stretchy laces.  I grab my visor and Garmin and am out the T2 area in under a minute! On the run course my legs are heavy (as they always are the first few miles after a ride), but my left ankle is feeling really weird.  I stumble a few times and realize the timing chip slipped and is pressing into my ankle bone and hitting a nerve.  OUCH!  The damn chip is hurting me and slowing me down, but I don't stop running.  Instead I keep running but with a huge lift of my left leg to try and move then chip.  I am determined NOT to stop running, but it just isn't working.  The legs come to a halt and I bend over to see what the hell is the problem.  Taking the fastest alternative I rotate the chip so it is facing almost the front of my ankle, ahhh relief finally so off I go.  At this point in the race I know I am not in contention for the podium but I still challenge myself to push as hard as I can and keep a 7:30 mile pace.

The run course was relatively flat and exposed as we were on Uvas rd right next to the reservoir.  And because its an out and back I decided to count how many women are ahead of me and if any I may catch before the finish line.  I counted as high as 60 women heading back to the finish before I hit the turn around, and decide its "Go TIME".  So go I did, and one by one started picking off the women till I was staring down the back of woman number 39.  Its a mile to go and knowing I want to push myself as hard as I can I pace her for a short bit, maybe 200 meters, then decided I can keep a bit faster pace for the final three quarter mile and I pick up my pace overtake her and run down the finishing shoot with a smile on my face, throbbing in my feet and ankles and a sense of accomplishment I hadn't thought I would have felt after my less than stellar swim earlier that day.

My official finish time is 2 hours and 55 seconds.  I had no idea what that meant in the grand scheme of female competitors that day.  The event for me was a success, why because I did not drown, I stayed rubber side down, I kept on my feet, and I stayed present every step of the way.  I learned many things about myself and most importantly my limiters in triathlon events, but also learned about my will to press on in the face of adversity.

With the swim being my weakest event from now till July 28th I must spend many many hours in the pool working on my stroke and breathing.  In the next few weeks training is going to get pretty intense as June is going to be the last month to really push the intensity and distances on my training.  June 3rd I am participating in an Olympic distance triathlon the Reservoir tri at Uvas again, then on June 23rd (my 35th birthday, gift to myself) I will be participating in the Silicon Valley International Half Ironman triathlon.  My training plans also include a few of the splash and dash events at Stevens creek reservoir to get that little bit more mass start swim practice in.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more updates to my road to triathlon transition.  Cheers!

Let The Countdown Begin....

When I fist signed up for this summers Vineman triathlon I wasn't planning on doing any other triathlons, actually I was planning on getting back into my bike racing.  Well that hasn't happened and I do miss my racer friends, and the scene, and the competition.  However looking at all the time I am spending to get ready for the swim and run portions I know I just wouldn't have been a very strong competitor this year on the bike.

So here I sit with less than a week till my first open water Olympic Distance triathlon.  This past weekend if you had asked me am I nervous I would have said no.  Now Monday morning and looking at everything I have to do this week, work, errands, equipment prep, race prep, workouts, personal life...YIKES!!!  I think I may be shaking in my pants right now.  I feel unprepared especially for the swim, as I've only done one open water swim in my wetsuit and it was not very successful. 

The one time I was in the wetsuit a client and friend of mine took me with her to Gull Park in Foster city for an easy mile swim.  The day was warm for April and sunny, the water was calm and murky but no creatures to scare me were swimming in it (at least that's what I kept telling myself). The wetsuit went on easily with the help of TriSlide all over my skin, and the suggestion of my friend to sit down. Once on we made our way down to the waters edge where our most fearless friend just walks right in then dives under.  Me however I took a few slow step into the murky sandy water.  Once past the visibility point I stepped on something slimy and weird so of course I screamed, jumped back and said no I am not going to do this.  My dear friends told me the best thing is to not walk in, but just swim right over the "crud", so I did just that.  I was standing in knee deep water about where the drop off was to begin and I just dove in head under and all. Ahhhhhhh I came up screaming cause I was cold and tasted like nasty salty crud.  Once in the water and wet I was told to pull the wetsuit away from my chest and duck down to let the water in and create a layer between the suit and my skin.  I did this but thinking back upon it probably didn't let enough water in because the wetsuit felt very tight around my ribcage.  During the swim I ended up spending a quarter of my swim on my back trying to calm my breathing down, not sure if it was anxiety from being in the water, or the tightness of the wetsuit but the whole breathing thing was not my friend this day.  I managed to finish the swim with only once swimming into my friend. 

The open water is nothing like being in the pool.  There are no lane lines, there are no ends to push off from.  It is just you, your wetsuit and creatures or plant life that reaches the surface and the dark cold murkiness underneath you.  I learned that when swimming in these conditions you need to actually life your head up and look forward every now and then to make sure you are taking a straight line to your destination.  Ha, not me, I took the most crooked line i think in the history of open water swimming.  I just had to keep laughing at myself, but also realized that I am pulling harder with my left arm thus the reason I wasn't going straight. 

With less than a week till San Jose Metro Olympic distance triathlon I feel I need one more chance in the water.  If all goes well I will have another go at it this time most likely at Redwood Shores, otherwise known as poop lagoon. 

This weeks workouts will be more focused on keeping the body fresh and limber.  No need to try and go 100% effort on the workouts since the fitness gains will be minimal and in order to race at full capacity I will need the extra energy savings.  Swimming will be 3 sessions, one run of only a mile on Saturday, and 2 times on the bike.  My Saturday will consist of packing my bag and checking the race packet for information on the event.  Also on Saturday the bicycle will get a nice little clean down and a thorough check of the tires with potentially a replacement of both tubes just to be safe.  After all is packed it will get put away into my car so I have nothing to forget in the morning. 

Okay let the nerves set in, I can feel it just sitting here right now even.  Let's just add meditation to my list of workouts this week too.