Issaquah Sprint Tri 2010

After what seems like weeks of rain, the sun shined on the Issaquah Tri. Held at lake Sammamish State Park the course and transition areas were saturated and pretty much a mud bowl. Everywhere you needed to go, it was deep mud and it made for an interesting day.

Waiting for the start, standing at the edge of a very cold lake, I wondered how the day would go. We waited in waves, a delayed start giving us plenty of time to think. Just before my wave was called for the swim start I decided to take a quick warm-up swim. I waded into the lake, it was cold, and as I started out my stroke ducking my head into the water, the cold ran through the top of my wetsuit and literally froze my spine. My reaction, "what am I doing here?" There wasn't time to change my mind, my wave was called and in minutes signaled to start. There were 50 men and women in my wave, the second to last to start, and there was room on the side to start out slowly. Because of the cold I swam with my head up and sighting the first turn. It was so cold that it took quite a few minutes to settle in. On the long side of the course and the final turn I got it smoothed out. I felt pretty good and passed a few swimmers. It was difficult to see, the water was murky, so when you came up on someone, it was as ink in the water was slightly disturbed and then it disappears. Reaching shore I had trouble getting my footing so I walked up the ramp and then jogged a bit to the transition. I was cold through, been in the water less than 12 minutes, shivering a bit and my mouth had the usual hypodermic droop. Several members of the Monroe Y Tri Club who had come out to encourage us, two were near my bike in the rack and talked to me as I tried to get out of the wetsuit and into my bike gear. This was the longest time I was in the transition, too long.

The transition exit was deep mud and running through it clogged my wheels. All the time I was on the bike it made strange noises probably due to the extra mud stuck in just about every space. The bike leg went well. Though I couldn't zip up my shirt with one hand so it was a little breezy. Parts of the course were sunny and others were in shade, but for the most part everything went well. I passed a few people as i rode through the course. There were a couple of hills, not too steep, but hills so i used all my low gears and many of the high gears on the other side. I never shifted up to the big ring, instead I used the downhills for rest. On one downhill I broke 30 mph with a little help. Normally I would back off but I was pumped and felt solid so I hammered on. It was exhilarating. I made a good change in T-2 and got out on the run course without too much trouble, with the exception that my feet were numb and my legs were wobbly.

I shortened up my stride and knew that somewhere in the next 3 miles my stride would come back. The run course was like a steeple=chase, some good footing hard top or dirt, mud holes, deep muddy grass, slippery pallet bridges, two creek crossings over moss covered wet wood. My splits improved as I proceeded with the run and I passed a few runners. Also some of the people I passed on the bike eventually passed me on the run.

At the end of the run I was excited hearing the names of runners as they approached the finish arch. Down the chute I came. The announcer instead of calling out my name requested the medical team to the podium, and then I was through the finish. accepting water, finishers' medal, and the good wishes of friends and family, which was plenty of reward for me. I was not so tired as I was exhilarated. I had completed my first official triathlon with no problems and was completely in the moment.

Now that it is over I realize this is an important first step and I hope that it will keep me motivated to continue training hard. I know I can get out of transitions in less time. My swim and run were faster than I expected and the bike was about what I expected.

Official results: 1:50.06 767/837 overall 8/11 age group

swim 11:34, T1 7:35, bike 56:40, T2 4:00, run 30:16

A hui hou, see you on the road.