I returned to Aptos for the third year in a row for the 32nd Sandman and was once again thrilled to toe the line.
After some upheaval in my day job the week prior, a wedding in Lake Tahoe the day before, and general stress around equipment, cars, and commuting, I was not sure how this race would go at all.
The Russian River is an amazing place. The past two winters, while California struggled in a long drought, rainstorms upstream turned Guerneville (former home of the swim start for the Vineman) and Monte Rio into Atlantis – that is, they were momentarily underwater. These towns are used to the river overflowing its banks, however, and are resilient. Monte Rio was quiet as ever (though overrun by a bunch of triathletes) as I prepped for my second Olympic distance race.
Continue reading “Back to the Russian River: Monte Rio Olympic Triathlon”
My equipment is falling into place, my training seems solid, and I should be able to rest until next weekend. Oakland Triathlon Festival, here we come.
Nerv-cited.
Rolling & dismounting. 
Quick note: anything ‘rock’ related was fair game for jokes this weekend. Detour on 101? Rock Road. Instagram topic? Dwayne Johnson. Looming geological feature which Mom and I spent hours reading about on Wikipedia? Morro Rock (it is actually super cool). Really – all we talked about this weekend was ‘rock’ in all its forms. Except when Mom (aka the super-sherpa) found a Great Blue Heron and was very sad she missed a picture and then was super-ecstatic when he was there a few minutes later.
Date: November 9, 2015 | Location: Morro Bay, CA
Weather: Cool, clear skies, 60-70 degrees (except for the 58 degree water)
Race: Sprint | Age Group: 20-29
Results: Division – 2/14; Overall – 36; Women – 7/44
| Location | Distance | Pace | Chip Time | Place (W/Div]) |
| Swim | 750 m (0:12:11) | 1:37/100 m | 12:11 | 1/1 |
| T1 | (1:21 min) | 13:32 | 1/1 | |
| Bike | 20.5 km (0:38:48 min) | 19.8 mph | 52:20 | 6/2 |
| T2 | (1:09 min) | 53:29 | 4/1 | |
| Run | 5.4 km (0:39:46)* | 10:44 min/mile | 1:33:17 | 23/6 |
| Finish | (1:33:17 min) | 1:33:17 | 7/2 |
Well, a team from OTC decided it would be super fun to compete in the mixed team relay (it was super fun!) and try our hand against a bunch of college kids (this was not as fun!). The four of us arrived plenty early for the event to discover that we were really the only ones not directly connected to the Cal Triathlon team. Whoops. The Bearathlon was a great event!
The mixed team relay event is a really cool way to race. If you geek out over triathlon like some of us do, you can watch sweet videos recapping the elite races.
Every athlete races a full, but mini, triathlon. The order is typically woman/man/woman/man. At the Bearathlon, scheduling actually made more sense to have the first male leg go first, so that messed with our plans a little bit. I was originally going to lead off, because my swim is strong enough that I probably (hopefully) wouldn’t fall too far behind in the mile run. With our plan out the window, we entered the race just hoping to have fun and go as fast as we could.
Sprint triathlons are just that – you’re moving pretty fast for a fairly long period of time but not so long that you’re not, you know, sprinting. This was a super sprint. I could NOT stand up straight during the run, because I was trying to move fast and my body was not ready for it!
Cal put on a great little triathlon. I saw a friend (who won his event, easily) I used to coach with, which was a nice treat, and met Kaori, the Race Director for Morro Bay. I had no traffic issues, and since the race was so short there was no need for support on the course. It was super fun, priced very well, and a great experience!
Today OTC previewed the Oakland Triathlon Festival Bike Course!
Basic course overview:
Continue reading “Oakland Triathlon Festival – Bike Preview”
I have been really distracted since the Sandman. I was working on a run foundation all last week, hitting a solid two-mile loop for five days, but this week has been negligible at best. I swam hard on Sunday, and haven’t done much of anything else (active, at least) since. I have been diving deep into other exciting things, but unfortunately that precluded my race preparation.
What does this mean? This weekend: all Oakland, all the time.
Continue reading “Oakland Triathlon Festival – Preview to the Preview”
Today I went BONKERS.
Unfortunately, not in a good way. Right now, I’m using ‘bonk’ as a general term. Technically, I’m not sure what happened on my bike other than under-nutrition. My run was poor due to overwhelmingly strong side stitches. Just a rough day in general.
Date: August 2, 2015 | Location: Aptos, CA
Weather: Cool, overcast, 64 degrees
Race: Modified Sprint | Age Group: 20-24
Results: Division – 1/4; Overall – 5/40
| Location | Distance | Pace | Estimated Time | Place (O’all/Div) |
| Swim | 0.75 mile (15:00) | not sure! | 15:00 | 1/1 |
| T1 | – | 16:00 | 1/1 | |
| Bike | 13 mile (0:46.00) | 17 mph | 1:02.00 | 2/1 |
| T2 | – | 1:03.00 | 2/1 | |
| Run | 4 mile (0:40.00) | 10:00 min / mile | 1:43.02 | 5/not sure |
| Finish | (1:43.02 min) | – | 1:43.02 | 5/1 |
Today was a bike day – I had to be at work at 7 am, so I missed the group ride I was hoping to join. Instead, I rode up the local grade to Grizzly Peak as a last training ride before the Sandman. Fortunately for me (and other local competitors), Tunnel has almost the same grade profile as the Sandman Triathlon.
Unfortunately this week has been super busy! But I’ve been training and attempting to mini-taper. Can’t wait for next week!
