Catalina Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

What a great swim. I could see the bottom almost the entire time. I seeded myself on the inside and at the front because I was feeling pretty good and wanted to see how long I could keep up with the fast guys. Not very long, but I think I was rght up there with the leaders for the first 15 to 20 feet or so. Yessss!

I am tired of describing the various kicks and thumps and bumps as they are way more the rule rather than exception. There were planty. I kicked and got kicked, bumped and got bumped. The only truly remarkable thing was a guy who actually apologized. Wow. Damned polite of him.

The course seemed longer to me this year. I don't know why.

Same old six and seven. It basically amounts to "Learn how to swim."

I felt good out of the water at the swimout. I got my zipper undone and even remembered to take off my wetsuit sleeves before attempting to remove my goggles, cap and earplugs this time, which, if not done carefully, results in fist full of goggles and swim cap stuck in wetsuit sleeve for protracted period of time. In so many other races I have documented evidence in the form of professional photography of my failure to take this one simple precautionary step. Not this time, I'm happy to report. Instead, I will likely have professionally shot pictures of me at the swim exit with my day-glo orange cap and frogman black seal XP swim goggles still in place. Its a wonder nobody pins a giant "kick me" sign to the back of my wetsuit. For I am the tri-dork.

The sand in the transition requires that you do something to get your feet clean before attempting to put on your shoes, so the notion of strapping in on the fly might present some problems at this race. I sacrificed a bottle of water for the purpose of cleaning my feet.

I might show up sooner in attempt to score one of the coveted end spots where you *might* not have to transition on the sand. Nonetheless, I was a full 30 seconds faster than last year.

I really like this bike course. I have the advantage of not experiencing the previous course which I hear was even better.

I was slow to run out of transition as the area is fairly narrow and a little crowded. I didn't have my shoes completely strapped on which caused me some initial difficulty getting clipped in, and I also forgot to take my bike out of its tallest gear. These few minor pecadillos aside, I then took off at a full sprint once situated.

The course is a little bit narrow and can become crowded, especially in the uphills, so you really need to assert yourself. "LEFT!" "STAY TO THE RIGHT" "HOLD YOUR LINE" all need to be part of your vocabulary at this race or you will absolutely get blocked and held back. I'm getting more and more used to this anyways. After grinding my way to the top of the hill using ever smaller cogs this first lap, it seems like mere seconds on the descent, which peaked at 46 mph in full aero tuck, a quick uneventfull loop through the bottom and then I settle back into the uphill grind that is the first part of lap 2.

A siren interrupts my concentration. Unmistakable. Its a siren. "What, are they trying to test us? You've got to be kidding, right?" Nope. Its a siren and it belongs to a paramedic who is trying to weave his way through about a million bikes. Nobody is yielding. Nobody. Momentarily watching the little angel and demon of my concience duke it out as to whether or not I should yield, then envisioning myself wearing a dunce cap on Wrigley stage while the race director announces to the crownd "Thanks to *Bill* here, there will no longer be a Catalina Triathlon..." then imagining the eternity spent in the third concentric circle of Dante's easy bake, then envisioning myself clubbing baby seals to death, I finally pull over and clip out. Futile gesture as it turns out, as i was one of only a handfull who bothered. I watched several dozen people that I had just passed, pass me while I sat beside the road. Hmmm. I wonder if they all got disqualified as promised in the safety meeting. I hope they are made to wear dunce caps on Wrigley stage after the race.... I know this added a few minutes to my time but I also passed most of these guys back again. Alright fine, in addition to holding the distinction of tri-dork, perhaps maybe I am now Tri-boy scout.

The downhill portion of this race course is fun, but do you ever need to be careful. Towards the bottom, the race director himself is out telling people to slow down.

I only witnessed one accident and two close calls. The subject of the ambulence happened to be the one accident. I don't think the guy was too seriously hurt. The two close calls both involved me. Once I was run off the road into the dirt attempting to avoid a swerving mountain bike. Not a big deal as it was on the uphill. Once I was forced to brake in a fast turn because the bike in front of me was attempting to pass on the inside and got tangled up with another. I momentarily lost traction and began to skid in the turn. This guy was a jackass. Wearing headphones, blocking, just being stupid. I did get the satisfaction of watching him get bawled out by the race director "Hey!!! Use your head!!!!!"

Oh yeah. Almost forgot about the third close call. At the dismount line, I unclipped my right foot and stepped over my top tube before unclipping my left. Rookie move which is almost certain to result in a slow motion crash that would serve to re-up my menbership in the clipless pedal club for another year.... I managed. It was NOT graceful.



I would practice a few hill repeats before this race and spend some time getting used to going a little anaerobic. This course lends itself to it because the downhill gives you time to recover. I would recommend yielding to emergency vehicles. Boy Scout or not, I stopped. That I would not have done differently.

More sand issues. I learned from last year and grabbed my shoes and running gear and headed out to the nearby bench. This was the right decision.

I don't know. Again, besides looking for that end spot.

I tried. I really really tried. I tried to psyche myself up and open up my stride and go after the run just a little harder this year. It worked for about the first 500 yards or until I hit the first hint of an uphill, then it was immediately back to a slow jog.

Upon reaching the summit at Hamilton cove I was able to open it up a little bit. The hill is steep enough as to be barely runnable downhill. You need to brake a bit.

Coming back past the casino and into town, my mind is thinking "we're almost there" This, because at this point last year, we truly would have been almost there. This left me mentally unprepared for the hill that was to come. I like an interesting twist as well as the next guy, but lets not get ridiculous here. This is a hill that seems like its nearly the magnitude of the first. Lots of walkers on this one. I manage to tough it out and am able to open my stride up again on the downhill.

In the final few block of the race, i pass a cave man complete with a large wooden cudgel. I ask him please not to hit me. He says he would like to but he can't catch me. Thus provided with proper motivation, i find the energy to pour on the steam for the finish. What a hot mess I must look like. I have such piss poor running form to begin with and to boot I'm tired and out of shape from a long season of too many races. As I ramble, hobble, rattle and shake down the final few yards, i would no doubt make Quasimodo look like Chris McCormack in comparison. It really is funny to look at. Really. Just the same, i was able to pick it up and finish with some degree of aplomb.

Nothing. I think this is all there is for me.

Ran through the finish line, found Marie, waited around for my buddy who started in a later wave, and then, in pursuit of my goal of a fast and efficient T3, made for the transition area to gather my things and head back to the hotel.

As an aside, there is so much sand in my gear, its the end of the season anyways.... I momentarily entertain the thought of abandoning my bag, wetsuit and the rest of my gear in place as this would surely be easier than trying to extricate it from under the pile of sand it sits beneath. A symbolic "closing of the season" ritual burial of this season's triathlon gear as catharsis, followed by a rejuvenating and rich spending spree signifying the rebirth of my triathlon endeavors for next season..... Cut almost immediately to thoughts of vast tracts of time, weeks, maybe even months of sleeping on the couch as the result of such a move.... Aw nevermind.


Late season burnout for me and too many races such as to disrupt any kind of meaningful training.


I love this race. In part because i love the venue. This is a fitting culminating event for a tough but rewarding season for me. There are peculiarities about this race that may frustrate some. The residents of Avalon will not be held down by anybody's attempts at traffic control no matter how valiant, the transition area is in the sand, the bike course can get downright crowded....whatever. If you can keep it in perspective and remember to have a good time, I recommend this race.