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 Swim
Comments: Crazy, crazy, crazy. All of a sudden they herd us out the door on to the deck and then scream at us to "GO GO GO!!!" like we were attacked Normandy. I had no idea where I was or swimming to, just jumped off and looked desperately for the tower. After about 5 minutes the coldness wore off, and I was able to swim pretty well. I finally got into a rhythm, then someone from behind me smacked me right in the face, knocking off my goggles, thank god they ended up around my neck. The waves started in the middle of the swim, but it wasn't terrible, until it happened AGAIN! Had ANOTHER person smack me on the face and pull my goggles off! I have never had the happen once, let alone twice, in a race! The tower seemed so far away...finally I saw the red roofed building we were supposed to look for. A kayaker appeared ahead of me and I got worried I was off course, but he just reiterated to me to go straight ahead. Finally saw people, and was so thankful to reach shore!! What would you do differently?: strap on goggles tighter!!  Transition 1
Comments: What a crazy transition! up to the bag area, where I tried to get my wetsuit off but my hands weren't working! Melissa was there yelling at me to hurry. I finally go the suit off and my sneakers on, but running fast wasn't going to happen. I was still in shock I think. :) What would you do differently?: nothing! it was an odd transition!  Bike
Comments: A LOT hillier than I thought! Turns out Melissa and I were way off on our attempt to drive the course. To give you an idea of how rough the first half was, I did it in 52 min and then the second half in 25 min! Lots of long long long hills and false flats. Plus by the cliff house and ocean there was strong wind. But absolutely gorgeous. Like stop your bike gorgeous. I just rode along, more like a bike ride than a race, taking it all in. Highlight was seeing Andy Potts go blowing by and seeing Bison (yes Bison!!) in a field in Golden Gate Park. What would you do differently?: bike more hills, but my knees don't like that. Transition 2
Comments: Long way to run from getting off the bike, a big maze, so I just took it slow. I'm in no rush. Grabbed my camera. Was determined to have fun. What would you do differently?: Nothing, couldn't change position of bike rack!  Run
Comments: My legs felt DEAD for about the first 4 miles. I was actually very concerned that I couldn't do this. I took a gel and had Cytomax at every stop. Came to a set of stairs and thought, hey, this isn't bad! Just walked up while others were running down (those darn fast people). I took pictures the whole time, even of Melissa taking a picture of me, and of Russell and Lubin whom I saw on the course. Finally at the top of the trail (this long single tracked trail that was really "rooty" and rocky, not easy to run on, we got to be on road, down hill, and my legs got to open up. A trail down to the beach, where I had to take a picture. I had never seen the Pacific Ocean, and it was spectacular. This guy heard me say that, and offered to take my picture. As he put it, winning the race wasn't looking like an option anymore. :) Then a mile run on the beach, and then the dreaded Sand Ladder. Really interesting. Just logs on a huge sand dune. I found a fun group to "run" the steps with. Then a woman that was an Elite blew by us running up the steps. Awesome. Apparently she had a bad bike and got caught way behind, but she was awesome to watch on the steps. I met up with a really nice girl named Laurie from LA to run the rest of the course with. She was a rider growing up and she had been having IT band issues, and we had lots of fun just chatting taking it easy. Of course she outsprinted me at the chute, but I didn't really care. I was trying to find Melissa and wanted to give her a hug then run through by myself. What would you do differently?: Run lots of hilly trails, and run steps at a stadium! Post race
Warm down: nothing. we went sightseeing after walking home and getting showers! What limited your ability to perform faster: injuries and bad genetics. :) Plus my goal was to soak it all in. Mission accomplished. Event comments: I just loved this race. Hardest race ever (ok, non-IM). Definitely harder than the 3 HIMs I have done!! But absolutely gorgeous. Well worth the expensive race fee. Profile Album Last updated: 2008-01-10 12:00 AM
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Got to San Francisco Friday at 11:30 pm PST...2:30 am my body clock. Was STARVING. Melissa was there early (thank god) and picked me up, then we found a KFC that was open. whoo hoo!
Saturday consisted of race day prep. Made yummy belgian waffles, got to race expo, did some shopping, got ART done on my calf (almost made me cry!), got a sweatshirt at the souvenir store, and registered. Met up with Lubin and Russell, both of whom I swim with at Masters and sat with them at the meeting. Pretty laid back race, I must say. No wristband, no written instructions! I was pretty panicked about the swim. Nothing like being told, just swim to the tower, you'll end up in the right place.
Got home, put bike together, went back to race expo to get my bike looked over, We tried to drive the course but got hopelessly lost. We gave up then went to dinner with Lubin and Russell. Got to bed early, but got woken up since our hotel was ridiculously loud and a whole group from a wedding returned at 11pm. ugh.
Up at 4:15, walked to transition (only 4 blocks from hotel), got set up and said good bye to Melissa, got on the bus at 5:15. Got bodymarked and met some nice people from VA beach. Lubin and Russell finally showed up. Its basically hurry up and wait. Put on wetsuits, then onto the boat, where we got separated. I ended up meeting two guys from San Fran, one of which had done the race 6 times prior. They were fun and made me much more relaxed, and helped to point out where I would be swimming to. Then the horn went off, and the pros were off.