UCI Zot Trot Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Swam very well, happy with my new stroke, still have much room for improvement, but felt good.

Remember my goggles, although I borrowed a lovely pink pair from a USC coed who was very nice.

Okay, this is where it got weird. We were all crammed onto these insufficiently numerous bike racks. I laid out my towel with my bike shoes and helmet ready to go. I had run with my gloves on because it was chilly. So I finish the run, get to my spot, and my shoes are gone, vanished. And my goggles are not where I left them. someone had sabotaged my transition zone, or so I thought, I called over an official and he told me he saw a guy having difficulty getting his shoes on. I told him that's because they were my shoes. I look a few spaces over and there are a pair of nearly identical Forte shoes. He's mistakenly taken mine. Okay, he rode off, so we have the same kind of pedal clips, and the must have fit a little. so I put on his shoes, a size and a half too big, and do the bike in the other guys shoes.

From now on I'm marking all my equipment with red paint or marker to avoid the same kind of thing in the future.

There was no indication on any of the race website about how gruelling this bike course was going to be. For some it might have been no big deal, but for me it was tough.

Ride wearing my own shoes

went fine, saw the guy coming in and said "Dude, we switched shoes!" he was a little embarrassed, but I told him not to worry about it. It was kind of comical that we completed the ride in each other's shoes.

more hill work had I known

No warning that the run course was a cross-country 5k, with large gravel, dirt, mud, slick grass, tough hills, and some holes and a bit of ankle danger. More than one person twisted an ankle, one guy had his all wrapped up. I ran my first mile in 8 minutes, which was awesome, then came the hill, and that was that timewise.

I just wish I'd known the course better.

I talked to the guy I switched shoes with and we had a laugh about it. His name was Mike and he and his wife and their friends did the Hemet race that I did too.

My transitions were a comedy of errors, but this was a tough-ass race. No personal bests were going to be set with the hills on this thing. very happy I swam well.