This race report is the tale of two sisters. I hemmed and
hawed over whether or not to do this race two weeks following IRONMAN Vineman.
I was afraid of getting a cramp during the swim or being too tired on the ride
or run. Ultimately, because my club was doing the race, I decided to sign up. I
figured I would do my best and just try to relax and have fun with my Central
Valley Triathlon Club teammates.
My younger sister woke up on race morning and thought “Yeah,
I think I’ll go do that race today.” Mind you, she hasn’t even been doing any
kind of triathlon training except for riding her bike to work and maybe some
running. I don’t think she has been swimming at all, unless you count going to
Wake Island Waterpark. Obviously, she is the daring one in the family.
Pre-Race
I decided to start my day the same way I did before Vineman…avocado
on toast with some coffee followed by chia fresca about an hour before race
start. I got up before my alarm and fixed my breakfast and filled the bladder
on my bike with ice water and a couple of Nuun tablets. Everything seemed ready
to go, so I went back to my room to eat and watch TV. As I sat there eating, I
couldn’t figure out why my breakfast tasted so weird. The only change I had
made was to use an English muffin in lieu of sour dough bread.
I finished the muffin but decided I was still a little
hungry, so I went back to the kitchen to toast another muffin. This time, I
decided to just put strawberry jam on it because something must be up with the
avocado. As I grabbed the package, I noticed a label on the right side that
said “Oatmeal and Cinnamon Flavor”. Ugh! No wonder it tasted like crap! I
grabbed the package because it said double protein or something like that, I
didn’t see the flavor. Who make’s flavored English muffins? (You can tell I don’t
buy these often LOL).
Swim
As my sister and I walked to the swim start, one of the race
official let us know that there was a problem with the GPS when they set up the
course, so they moved the start farther out. I swam over to the new start and my
sis walked with her man on the shore. The start was delayed a few minutes but eventually
the first wave of men took off.
Trisha’s man was in the next wave and she was a nervous wreck. She was worried that an injury her guy got at Wake Island was going to make it hard for him to swim. As the orange caps moved farther away from the shore, I told her not to worry because he was wearing a wetsuit and at the very least could float. She on the other had was not wearing a wetsuit.
Trisha’s man was in the next wave and she was a nervous wreck. She was worried that an injury her guy got at Wake Island was going to make it hard for him to swim. As the orange caps moved farther away from the shore, I told her not to worry because he was wearing a wetsuit and at the very least could float. She on the other had was not wearing a wetsuit.
 |
| Who is the crazy chick without a wet suit? |
“Where is your wetsuit?” I asked her, quite perplexed
because I could not imagine not having my neoprene safety blanket. “I couldn’t
find it” was her answer. So, not only does she wake up and decide to do a
triathlon she hadn’t trained for, but she was going to do the swim sans
wetsuit! She is so much braver than I am! LOL
Finally it was our turn to line up. We opted for the second
row because we didn’t want to get run over by faster swimmers. When the buzzer
sounded, we dove in, and that was the last I saw of her until the bike course.
I quickly found myself battling for position and having to fight my way through
a group of swimmers. Eventually things calmed down and I found some open water. All in all, the swim felt good.
T1
All I can say is that it is a long way from the water to transition. I heard different distances tossed about, but I think it was at least a 1/4 mile. The good news it that they covered up the larger rocks that usually dotted the beach with patches of sand.
Bike
As I headed out of T1, I could feel the fatigue in my legs. Although I felt relatively good after finishing IRONMAN Vineman just two weeks prior, once I started pedaling, I knew I wasn't 100%. The first loop went OK and I kept my eye out for my Central Valley Triathlon team mates. However, I was more concerned with seeing my sister and knowing that she got out of the lake OK (not that I doubted she would, I just wanted that peace of mind).
On the second loop, I was really starting to feel the fatigue in my legs, but I kept on pedaling. The course is fairly technical, so I just tried to ride the best I could and not crash. About half way into the second loop, I did a quick down-shift and dropped my chain. I slowed and tried to get the chain back on while moving. I was missing something during this process and ended up pulling over to manually put the chain back on.
It seemed to take forever! +James passed me going the other direction and asked if I was able to get it back on, I muttered "No!" under my breath because the last thing I wanted James to do was mess up his own race. He has played the knight on shining armor on plenty of occasions to damsels in distress, I didn't want him doing that for me. Eventually I was able to pry the chain out and get it back where it needed to go. I was mad that it took so long, but I knew that there was nothing I could do about that now except to finish my race as planned.
As I neared the end of the bike, I finally saw my crazy sister (ok, that's it...that's her new nickname...MCS "My Crazy Sister"). So anyway, I see MCS and her man and they are riding side by side apparently having the time of their lives. Me on the other hand, I was pissed off about my chain and trying to coax and bit of energy out of my legs. Ugh! I waved and them and pedaled on towards transition.
T2
For some unknown reason, I unclipped my left foot first as I coasted to the dismount line. I'm not sure why I did this, but I quickly realized that I was off balance and had to really concentrate in order not to lean over to my right side as I would have normally done. Thankfully, I was able to dismount my bike without falling over.
Run
My goal for the run was to get through it with as little as walking as possible. I tried not to focus on other runners as they passed me and reminded myself to run my own race. Actually, for a trail run, it went fairly well. Only in some of the really steep sections did I end up walking. At about mile four the trail back in comes within yards of the trail headed out. I saw a woman on her way out (probably mile 2 for her), turn and start to head back to the finish ahead of me. Before fully merging on the trail to the finish line, she turned and spotted me. She quickly made a 180 and headed back out on the course. I was blown away that she could have actually been trying to cheat.
Post Race
The award process seemed to jump all over the place. I was fairly certain that my age group was going to be a while, so I collected my gear and loaded it into the truck. Eventually, they neared my age group and I knew that I had placed 2nd in my age group. I wandered over to the water jugs to get another drink because I was still feeling extremely thirsty. All of a sudden I hear MCS yell "Tracy!" I rush over to the podium thinking that she was calling me because I was missing my award. Nope, not it at all. She was calling me because she had placed 2nd in her age group!!! Way to go MCS!!!
After everyone had collected their awards and packed up their stuff, we decided to grab some lunch in Folsom. As sat around eating and chatting, I mentioned that I was considering IRONMAN Cozumel in 2017 for my 50th b-day. MCS says "I'm there!" I asked "Will you race it with me?" MCS answered, "I'll do the half." I sadly informed her that there was no half at that time, only a full. "I'm not doing a full," she says, "but I'm there!" What can I say...I love my crazy sister. Maybe she'll wake up in Cozumel in 2017 and feel like racing!
#endureandenjoy #pearlizumitrichampion #tbfracing
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| Crazy girl with no wetsuit done |
 |
| Another swim done |
T1
All I can say is that it is a long way from the water to transition. I heard different distances tossed about, but I think it was at least a 1/4 mile. The good news it that they covered up the larger rocks that usually dotted the beach with patches of sand.
 |
| Swim - Run - Bike - Run |
As I headed out of T1, I could feel the fatigue in my legs. Although I felt relatively good after finishing IRONMAN Vineman just two weeks prior, once I started pedaling, I knew I wasn't 100%. The first loop went OK and I kept my eye out for my Central Valley Triathlon team mates. However, I was more concerned with seeing my sister and knowing that she got out of the lake OK (not that I doubted she would, I just wanted that peace of mind).
On the second loop, I was really starting to feel the fatigue in my legs, but I kept on pedaling. The course is fairly technical, so I just tried to ride the best I could and not crash. About half way into the second loop, I did a quick down-shift and dropped my chain. I slowed and tried to get the chain back on while moving. I was missing something during this process and ended up pulling over to manually put the chain back on.
 |
| I feel like I'm on safari |
As I neared the end of the bike, I finally saw my crazy sister (ok, that's it...that's her new nickname...MCS "My Crazy Sister"). So anyway, I see MCS and her man and they are riding side by side apparently having the time of their lives. Me on the other hand, I was pissed off about my chain and trying to coax and bit of energy out of my legs. Ugh! I waved and them and pedaled on towards transition.
T2
For some unknown reason, I unclipped my left foot first as I coasted to the dismount line. I'm not sure why I did this, but I quickly realized that I was off balance and had to really concentrate in order not to lean over to my right side as I would have normally done. Thankfully, I was able to dismount my bike without falling over.
 |
| Still upright! |
Run
My goal for the run was to get through it with as little as walking as possible. I tried not to focus on other runners as they passed me and reminded myself to run my own race. Actually, for a trail run, it went fairly well. Only in some of the really steep sections did I end up walking. At about mile four the trail back in comes within yards of the trail headed out. I saw a woman on her way out (probably mile 2 for her), turn and start to head back to the finish ahead of me. Before fully merging on the trail to the finish line, she turned and spotted me. She quickly made a 180 and headed back out on the course. I was blown away that she could have actually been trying to cheat.
 |
| Done! |
 |
| MCS finishing! |
Post Race
The award process seemed to jump all over the place. I was fairly certain that my age group was going to be a while, so I collected my gear and loaded it into the truck. Eventually, they neared my age group and I knew that I had placed 2nd in my age group. I wandered over to the water jugs to get another drink because I was still feeling extremely thirsty. All of a sudden I hear MCS yell "Tracy!" I rush over to the podium thinking that she was calling me because I was missing my award. Nope, not it at all. She was calling me because she had placed 2nd in her age group!!! Way to go MCS!!!
 |
| "Who does No. 2 work for?" ~ Austin Powers |
After everyone had collected their awards and packed up their stuff, we decided to grab some lunch in Folsom. As sat around eating and chatting, I mentioned that I was considering IRONMAN Cozumel in 2017 for my 50th b-day. MCS says "I'm there!" I asked "Will you race it with me?" MCS answered, "I'll do the half." I sadly informed her that there was no half at that time, only a full. "I'm not doing a full," she says, "but I'm there!" What can I say...I love my crazy sister. Maybe she'll wake up in Cozumel in 2017 and feel like racing!
#endureandenjoy #pearlizumitrichampion #tbfracing
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