Golden State Super Sprint Triathlon Race Report

Today was my second sprint or actually super sprint triathlon.  It was a real short race.

I started the day with a 4 a.m. wake up call.  The race was in Sacramento, which is about 2 hours from my house.  I had to pick up one of my good friends who was coming along to root me on, and to identify the body should my swim go a poorly as the first one.  My wife suggesting marking my identifying info on my chest with a sharpie.  I told her they would number me, and they had my info, so they would be able to take care of that.

When we arrived on site at 7:00, it was a steamy 44 degrees outside and we had 13 mile per hour winds, with gusts to 23 miles per hour.  By the 8:30 a.m. race time, the temp had gone up 49 degrees.  Luckily the water was a whole degree warmer than the air temp. 

It must have looked pretty funny to the people in cars driving over the bridge.  There were over 100 people in wetsuits doing jumping jacks on the beach trying to stay warm.  I can't believe the number of people there without wetsuits.  Let me tell you the shortie wetsuit I had on was not enough.  Next year I will have a full-length wetsuit, I guarantee.

So after my last or first sprint, where I started out strong on the swim only to finish last, I decided I would take this one nice and slow.  I wouldn't panic, and I would just calmly swim across the river.  The race announcer starts the race, we go running into the river, and I sink in mud up to my knees.  I had to fight to get free, and keep going.  It was such a gross gooey mess out there.  When I finally got into water that was deep enough to swim in, I took off.  I was doing great right up to that point.  My plan was working and I was feeling good.  Then came the shock of putting my face in the water.  Tha****er was so freaking cold, that it took my breath away, and I never really did regain it.  I could not put my face in tha****er.  Every time I did, I lost my breath.  I ended up swimming the river crossing in a manner that was half free style, half doggie paddle, just to keep my face out of the water.

I finally stagger out of the water, and there is a flight of wooden stairs dug into the side of the river bank, you have to climb them to get out, and then there is a 150 yard or so run to the transition area.  So basically on my hands and knees, I managed to climb up the riverbank and make it to my bike.  At this point, I am so cold, that I can't work the snap on my helmet, or my race belt.  I managed to get some socks on and my shoes and then proceeded to pull the laces out of the quick lock on my shoes, I ended up having to tie my shoes instead of just cinching them down and going.  I never would have been able to re-thread them with my fingers functioning as they were.

The bike ride was good,  Well it was better than good, I think it's my strongest event, I managed to reel in and pass several people and only got passed by 2 people, so I consider that a success.  The only problem with the bike ride, is the added wind chill from creating your own breeze.  Surprisingly I didn't notice the wind so much as a deterrent, it didn't seem to slow me down except on one uphill section.  What it did manage to do was take my feet and hands from merely being cold and useless, and progressed them to the point of being useless and painful.

The ride portion completed, and on to the run.  Well the run has got to be my worst event.  You might ask how that can be after hearing of my swimming exploits.  Well at least on the swim, I kept going full out, as hard as I could for the entire distance.  On the run, my feet were so cold and painful, that I truly couldn't feel them, unless you count the pins and needles, I'm getting frostbite feeling.  I actually thought I was going to fall a couple times, just because of the way my foot came down and I couldn't tell how they were landing.  I only made it a couple hundred yards before I had to stop and walk.  I wasn't that tired, but I was a snot producing machine at this point, and that made breathing and keeping myself calm a bit of a task.  I finally started to feel my feet a bit and after being passed by everyone and their brother.  This includes being caught by the faster women who started 5 minutes behind the men, I finally managed to beat and berate myself into running the rest of the race.

This was much better than the first triathlon, I finished in the middle of the pack, and there were actually still people at the finish line cheering for the runners.  My first race, I was at the back of the pack, and almost everyone had left the finish line by the time I got there.  While I finished in the middle of the pack, I was dead last in the Clydesdale division; I came in 6 out of 6, and over a minute behind the next guy.  I know that just finishing is an accomplishment, but I'm super competitive, and that just isn't good enough.  I have until next April to train before they have their next sprint triathlon.  So I have 6 months to fixate and brood about what happened today.

The ride home was no breeze either.  We stopped for lunch, and something didn't agree with me, I had some severe intestinal discomfort after lunch.  I would have called it dumping, but I didn't break out in the cold sweats like I have with all the other dumping incidents I have experienced.  It's a good thing I had my friend along, we switch drivers, and he drove the remainder of the way home.  About all I could do when I got home was crash into bed and ride out the stomach cramping.

The race results aren't up on their site yet, I'll update when they do.

Scott

Scott,

Great race report.  You took me back to my cold spring sprint tri.  I'm right there with you on the cold and how it takes your breath away (as well as any sensory functioning in your hands and feet).  I don't think I felt my feet the whole way on that one (if you recall I fell twice trying to get out of the lake). 

The other thing you can't explain to someone is how it feels to run when you can't feel your feet and you're already fatigued from thoe other 2 things you just finished doing.

I know you don't feel very good about how you did today, but you did do much better than the first. I also think it helped to do the race you recently did.  The more the body does something, the less you have to think about it.  My race I couldn't feel my feet, I just had to trust that the body knew what it was doing and just go for it.

I think it takes a while to really get into the swing of things, and each one gets a little easier.  I'm actually kind of excited to do the first one I did again next April because now I know what it's like and that I can conquer the course.

Great job completing this tri!!!  I'm happy that you did it and were able to finish in the middle of the pack.  Just keep plugging away at it any you'll be an old hand in no time!

Linn

Good Job Scott!   Way to go on another finish. Sounds like it was pretty intense, but worth the drive, the cold, and the puking! Well you have a good amount of time to train for next year. Rock on and congrats on a 2nd tri under the belt! I have another tri on 10/26 and am looking forward to that. When I go back home to So Cal in December there is an event in December, an Olympic, with an ocean swim....That should be fun. Anyways, good job and great report.

 

-Dan

Great report Scott!   I promise you'll improve with each passing race.

Lemme offer you a suggestion for your next race.  Don't sign up for the clyde division.   For some reason they always start you in the LAST wave and you'd be surprised about the athletic ability of some of the over 200 pound guys!  It took me around 5 races to figure that one out before one of the guys in my tri club advised me to avoid the clyde waves.  You'll place much better as an age grouper and you may even get lucky like I did this weekend and get put in the female category and actually place!  :)

Best of luck in your off season! 

Chad

How close are you to Vegas?   I'm flying out this week to race the Halfmax / Pumpkinman on Saturday.   If you are close come on out and hang out with me and my old lady.  Heh, she'll need some company while I'm out "enjoying the course" for much longer than the other participants.  

Hey we had an olypic medalist compete in the longer version of our triathlon this weekend
Olympic bronze medalist Susan Williams.  She medaled in 2004.  Oh by the way she won the womens overall at this race.

Scott

Are you by any chance near the desoto warehouse?

I LOVE MY DESOTO WETSUIT!!!!

It's a 2 piece. I wear a "3" on top and "5" on the bottom. Try to find 2 different sizes in a one piece. Just sayin!

It looks like they are in San Diego, so unfortunately not close.  Probably approaching 600 miles or so from my house.