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 Swim
Comments: Since I'm a lousy swimmer, I started to the right side of the field. That was not a very good decision because I breathe on the left and, after about 100 m from the start, I was hit by a tsunami created by the guy to my left just when I was turning my head to breathe. I gobbled up a couple of pints of water and I choked pretty badly. So badly that for the first time I was considering quitting. However, after a few gasps I seemed to regain the ability to breathe and I started swimming breast stroke. After about 50 m my breathing was back to normal and I resumed swimming freestyle. The rest of the first loop was pretty uneventful, but as soon as I passed from the start to initiate the second loop, I noticed that a pretty thick layer of fog was hanging on the lake. The buoys were gone and there were people criss-crossing and zig-zagging everywhere, totally disoriented. Thankfully the kayakers lined up to show us the way from buoy to buoy. Without their help I'd never made it to the finish. What would you do differently?: How about "avoid drowning"?  Transition 1
Comments: Wasted a bit of time in T1 because of the cold that made everything harder. For starters I wanted to pat myself dry with a towel before jumping on the bike: at the end of the swim the air temp was still in the 40s. Then I put on my wind breaker. That might have been a bit of a wuss move, but I don't regret my decision as I never felt cold during the ride. Then it was time to put on my sunglasses, but - wait - where were they? Frenetic search into my transition gear ... Shoot, I must have dropped them when I jumped on the bike at the dropoff zone. OK, time to suck it up and start riding. What would you do differently?: Don't drop my sunglasses :)  Bike
Comments: I was definitely not prepared well enough for all this climbing, even though climbing is kind of my specialty. However, as a partial excuse, my time on the bike was higher than it should have been because of two reasons: 1) At mile 4 I stopped for about 5 min to help out a girl that was having some serious mechanical issues (the drivetrain of her bike got stuck because at the top of a hill she shifted into an impossible 53x28 gear, stretching the chain to the limit). No one in front of me was stopping so I decided to help her out. I don't regret my decision because my wife, who is a much better triathlete than I am, some time might run into mechanical issues too during a race and I'd be more than happy and thankful to know that someone helped her out. A Karma thing? Maybe. 2) After gobbling up half Folsom Lake I had to stop for about 1 min for a bio-break :) If we shave 6 minutes from my bike time, I'd have probably finished up 57th overall and 9th in my age group. Still pretty lame, but at least the bike would have been more in line with the swim and the run. What would you do differently?: Do more long climbs and longer rides. Transition 2
Comments: My bike dismount was phenomenal :) No, seriously... I had plenty of time to take my feet of the shoes because the transition area could be spotted 1/4 mile away from a railroad overpass. I entered the transition area at a pretty high speed and jumped off the bike right on the "Dismount bike" sign, passing at least three or four guys in the process. Racked the bike, put my running shoes on and zipped to the Run Out exit. What would you do differently?: Nothing, this was the best part of the entire race :)  Run
Comments: As soon as I got out of T2 I felt great and for the first loop I kept a 6:50 pace. Yeah!! :) When I started the second loop, things were not so great anymore, but still decent, as I managed to hold a 8:00 pace. OK... :-| At the third iteration, my legs started feeling very heavy, and the final climb was just pure pain. I think my pace by then was a crawly 9:00. Oh please, I can't take it anymore... :-( But when I entered the grass field and spotted my older daughter running towards me, I just went all out, grabbed her hand and crossed the finish line together. And then crashed down more dead than alive ... :-P What would you do differently?: Probably keep an 8:00 pace all along. Post race
Warm down: Crawling to the food tent. What limited your ability to perform faster: Inadequate bike training. I should have done more long climbs that lots of roller coasters... Event comments: This is definitely the world's toughest half, at least for me. But it was an awesome race, in a beautiful place, with lots of nice volunteers and supportive spectators. Would I do it again? Maybe. Let me talk to my legs and see what they have to say :D Last updated: 2010-02-20 12:00 AM
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United States
BradVentures
60F / 16C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 66/243
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 10/40
Woke up at 4:45am and ate some oatmeal. Left the hotel (the beautiful Rocklin Park Hotel in Rocklin, highly recommended) at 5:15 with the whole family. Got dropped off 3mi from the start because the road was closed to traffic. Jumped on the bike and lost my shades in the process (more on this later). Rode downhill in 40F temp and froze my hands because I didn't have my gloves (like pretty much anyone else). Started setting up transition at 5:45. Chatted a bit with my neighbors and then headed out for a short warmup run.
With temperature in the low 40s a warmup is definitely needed. Jogged for about 10 minutes and then I headed back to transition to put my wetsuit on. Jumped in the water for the 10 minutes "mandatory" swim warmup. Oh, the water felt so good given that it was a good 20F warmer than the air...