Moraga Treeline Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The 10:30 is an estimate right now, until the numbers are posted, but it's close, I think. Since this was my first swim race ever, I swam well within my comfort zone. 10:30 is sweet for me, because I seeded myself with a realistic 12, but still got out of the water without breathing hard. Passed 5 people or so. Never realized how deep or warm the Campolindo pool is, even though I've been there more than almost any other pool, this is the first time that I've ever swam in it. Fortunatly, didn't have to wait to get out of the pool, since there was only one person directly ahead of me by about 5 seconds, and she got out quick.

Get faster :) I'm not a strong swimmer, so the idea was to not blow out in this stage.

The transition included a 200 yard sprint to the bike. I started the watch when I hit the ladder to get out of the pool. I pumped it on the sprint passing 2 more racers, and got everything on quick. Made the decision to go sockless to gain a couple more seconds.

Very nice bike ride. The course has some rollers and was mostly closed. Passed a lot of people on the way out. This was the first time I was riding on my HED3s, and that takes some getting used to. Got passed by a real biker at mile 6, who had started 4 minutes behind me. He was gone within a mile. I think I started going into coast mode about mile 10, until another guy on a tri-bike passed me at JM School. Looked at him, and decided that this was not going to happen, so I passed him back up, and kicked it up. Should mention right now that Julie is a very strong biker. I didn't pass her until mile 12, and she was looking very strong.

The only issue that I have is that I almost got run over twice. Since it was a mostly closed course, there were some cars, and I had two of them, at different points, decide to make a right turn directly in front of me. I appologize for the number of curse words that I was screaming at them, but I've run into the side of a car before, and I really don't want it to happen again.

Had issues getting into the transition zone, as the biker in front of me was slowing down and riding directly in the middle of the lane. Oh well, not that big a deal. Need to practice getting off the bike quicker, but got my shoes off and my running shoes on, still sockless. Thank goodness for my Yankz, and that I had been practicing without socks for a couple of runs.

Ran past the waterstation, because they moved it from last year, so I backed tracked a little to get a cup of water.

Felt good coming out of transition. Passed the guy who had been cutting me off in the transition zone which felt nice :) Got passed by a guy wearing a UC Davis Tri-Club uni, but he was the only one who passed me. Because the first 2/3rds of the course is uphill, I was running well within my comfort zone, and passing a lot of people. My youngest daughter was actually leading the team at the second water station, and cheering me on. My wife was cheering me on at the turn around at the top of the first hill. Got to the top of the second hill and kicked it going down. Got to the parking lot, and Evelyn and Geoff were there cheering me on for the last 400 yards. Made it up the hill to the track, and tried to get it into another gear for the final track run, but I got to the end of the oval, looked back, and there was no one else on the track. I was kind of hoping that someone else would be catching up with me, to give me some sort of inspiration for the last 100 yards :)

Mostly walking around.


Well... I need some more swimming. I gave up 6 minutes to Evelyn in the swim, so.... I just need more time in the pool. Other than that, I need to start getting more tempo runs to pick up my 5k pace. A 24:30 isn't bad for hills, since my best is a 22:42 on a flat stand alone 5k, but I can get faster. Should have been pushing a little harder on the bike, since it was only a sprint, and I finished well within my comfort zone.


It's a fun race, and local, which makes it even better. The start is always well organized, and it's a good course. The awards at the end could be handled better, especially since this year, for some reason, they were combining the women and men, but all in all a very fun low pressure race. Highly recommended.