2009 Silverlake Tri - 400m / 10 mi / 5 K - Race Report

So here I am sporting my new team jersey. BAM is Bay Area Multisport. Not sure how I like the 2 piece gig. There are pluses and minuses to 1 vs. 2. The debate is neverending I think. LOL

I took time the night before to prep everything for race day, like a good little triathlete, so I could maximize my sleep. Transition opened at 5:30 am and I had not been there before. I think I need a Garmin. :)

There was scattered rain in the forecast, but the only way the event was going to be canceled, was if there was lightening.

Got up, got dressed, took meds, made breakfast and loaded the car. Said my "see you laters" to Darren and Cass and promptly left, leaving my breakfast behind! Doh!

I found the site, super nice! See that pic at the top! Suffice it to say this tri is definitely a do-again. :) I got myself situated and ran a little, stretch a little, and chatted a bit -- you know, just to warm-up.

I was not sure what to race, age group or Athena. I chose Athena, only because I did age group last time and figured, why not? Evidently I'm in a tough class, so I'm better registering for Athena. If you notice, I was number 5 -- usually a number reserved for the "elite" athletes!

The water was nice and warm. My swim was okay, except for getting kicked in the head by someone who it seemed swam backstroke the entire way! My adrenalin was up at the start, so breathing was hard. By the time I made it halfway I calmed down and had my rhythm going. I finished the 400 m swim in just over 13 minutes.

I quickly transitioned to the bike. I actually RAN out of the wanter and RAN out of the transition with my bike. I was super surprised because it usually takes me a while to get my legs back. the 10 mile ride took me about 35 minutes -- I don't have exact time, but my stuff said 37 minutes for the ride and that made for a 16.1 mph. Nice ride too... no hills, through a real pretty subdivision and great ride support. I was enjoying the fact I was passing riders...

At some point during the race it did rain, because when I came back in from the bike, my running shoes were a little soggy -- that was annoying. I didn't have anything but a couple sprinkles during the ride, so it surprised me my stuff was so wet.

Then the run... transition to run was pretty good. Remember, I had no breakfast at all, so by now I was feeling it. I was glad I had made a bottle of Cytomax. I don't usually do it because I'm told by several sources that sprint tri athletes carb load too much. I have enough "energy" on my body (fat), so there's really no need for carb loading or extra calories outside of breakfast and a light snack 40 minutes before the start.

My run was okay... did walk run intervals, but never let myself walk more than 60 steps and never let my heart rate go below 155. My average heart rate was 161, my max was 180. I think I finished my run in about 35 minutes, if my math is right. :) So that puts me somewhere between an 11 - 12 minute pace.

So before I left I saw some of the results: I finished number 5 in the Athena class and there were 10 in my class. I don't know what my overall position is yet. but I was in the bottom third somewhere, I bet, looking at last year's results using my finish time to gauge.

Here's some pictures -- they are scary, so browse at your own risk. No one looks good in their uglies!