Saratoga Springs Triathlon 2011

Yesterday, Bill and I drove over to PowerTri in Lehi to pick up my race packet.  I was feeling really inadequate, since everyone else in the line was SUPER fit!  Fortunately, on the morning of the race, I saw other people with less than perfect bodies and I felt much better!  The packet contained my bib for the run, a pink wrist band for me (which the officials at the store put on me) and a matching wrist band to stick on my bike.  That is to make sure that bikes don't get mixed up or go missing.  No worries with my bike, of course.  I am racing on my really old mountain bike.  No one else there would want to be stuck with it!  There was other stuff in the packet, including final info, but that was pretty much it.  Timing chips were being handed out at check in the morning of the race.

I was so excited and nervous last night that I had a lot of trouble falling asleep!

I woke up this morning at 6:00 am.  That would be early for me on any day of the week, but is super early for a Saturday!  Bill and Will also got up, as they were going to come and cheer me on.  I wanted to get out to Pelican Bay Marina, the start of the race, by 7 am so I could get all set up before the pre-race meeting at 8:15.  There was also the issue of parking.  Although there were some girls at the top of the marina road saying that the parking lot was full, we found that not to be the case and had no trouble finding parking.

I checked in and picked up my timing chip which was water proof and worn around the ankle.  Then I had my number 'tattoo-ed' to my right arm, hand, and calf.  They also 'tattoo-ed' my age onto my left calf, I guess so I wouldn't forget how old I was and which heat I was supposed to be in?  I can sort of understand the reasoning that it would prevent cheating by starting in an earlier heat... if half the runners weren't in wet suits, preventing officials from seeing the age tattoo anyways.

After checking in, I headed over to the transition station to set up my bike and gear.  Only athletes were allowed in (the area was closed in with temporary orange plastic fencing) and there were people at the entrance to verify that the pink wrist bands on athletes and bikes matched each other.  I had watched some YouTube videos about gear arrangements for transitions, so I got everything arranged just as if I knew what I was doing.  I chose what some would consider a bad spot, if speed was the deciding factor.  I was really just looking for a place where I wouldn't feel crowded.  So, I chose an end of a rack next to the sidewalk, rather than a spot close to the center aisle where you could get a quick transition.  Then there was nothing to do but wait.

We walked down to the boat launch... where the race would start... to see the water conditions and where the buoys were placed.  I was kind of relieved to see that they were closer than I had expected!  Erik and I had been swimming much farther out in our practice swims on the lake.  The lake didn't look too bad, from where we were standing.  They had to reposition the buoys before the race began, though, because they were drifting in the wind and current.

Erik arrived not long after that, and we spent some time with him while he got checked in and situated in the transition area.  His family was there to cheer him on, as well.  I also saw a former student and her mom, as well as two of my co-workers.  One was volunteering, the other was cheering on her husband and son in the triathlon.

The pre-race meeting was short and to the point.  He reminded us we were following USAT (USA Triathlon) rules, told us the swim was clockwise so we stayed to the right of the buoys, and explained the group start.  The start of the race was broken down into heats, based on gender and age.  All the timing chips were started at the beginning of the first heat, then each heat started exactly 2 minutes later.  My age group was the fifth and final heat, so my final time at the finish line had to have 10 minutes subtracted from it to be accurate.  My brother, Erik, was in the first heat to go out (men; age 30-39) and like I said, I was in the last heat.  They ended up combining women; age 40 and up with women; age 29 and down because my age group was such a small group.  I think there were only about 10 of us!  At first, when I realized we were such a small group, I was excited because that would mean no crowding at the start of the swim, so I was bummed when they decided to combine the groups.

It was a deep water start, which meant swimming out to the starting 'line' at the end of the dock.  The group that was 'at the starting line' was arranged in the water on the left side of the dock, while the next group of racers swam out next to the right side of the dock to be prepared to get on the starting line quickly, since there were only two minutes between starts.

The water felt cold when I first got in, but it is amazing how quickly you can adjust to that and I no longer even thought of the temperature of the water the rest of the time I was in it.  I did not use a wet suit because I don't own one.  Our combined group was pretty large, and I hung back to the back of the group so I wouldn't get run over.  Next thing I knew, the starting horn had gone off and the race had begun!

My friend, Doug, told me that if I was worried about crowding in the swim, I could just hold off for 5 seconds after the starting gun and then it would be less chaotic.  I fully intended to do that... all the way up until the moment the air horn went off.  Something in me just couldn't hold back!  So I gamely flailed about with everybody else while struggling to find clear water to swim in without hitting or being hit by arms and legs.  It really wasn't too bad.

Half the swim was within the calm marina water.  However, I knew instantly when I had passed the shelter of the jetty.  The swells hit and slowed me down considerably.  I didn't know it at the time, because I was so focused on just fighting through the waves myself, but apparently the waves posed a serious problem for several racers, who had to be helped by the kayaks lining the course.  I did see a couple of people hanging off of kayaks, but Bill said  he saw a lot of that happening.

I wish I could tell you how I did in the swim.  I have no idea what my times in the individual events are, since the race results printer died before my results were printed.  I will say that I felt pretty good about my swim.  I had to rest and do a breast stroke several times and I didn't swallow as much of the lake as I thought I might.  Especially with those waves!  Once I rounded the buoys, the waves were actually helpful and I think I sped up.

After the swim, I had my first transition.  I know I could have gone a lot faster there, but I really just wanted to catch my breath while I put on my bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses.

There is not a lot to say about the bike portion of the race.  It was on gently rolling hills that were not too challenging.  I never had to go below my middle/middle gears on any of it and I stayed in my top gear for most of it.  I passed about 5 people, but was passed by about the same number of people.  I will say that no one with a mountain bike passed me, but I did pass some people on road bikes.  I felt pretty good about that.  My bike training route is 13 miles... first uphill, then down.  I think that helped me prepare a lot.  It was a beautiful course, following the lake shore for 6 miles, then backtracking on itself to return to the marina.

One transition left, then off on the 5K run.  Ah!  Starting the run was the hardest part of the race for me!  I was tired and just didn't want to run 3 miles.  I will admit walking the uphill portions of the run, so I am sure my run time is embarrassing.  The run wound through the neighborhood next to the marina, so the houses and yards were understandably pretty to look at while I was running.  One home owner and his family were out in their driveway with their hose turned on, spraying down any runners who wanted it.  Oh, I wanted it!  It felt so good!

I finally finished the race, with an unofficial time of 1 hour 38 minutes.  I am anxious to see the online postings so I can see my official times on all the segments of the race.  Down at the food station I found my son, Will, helping out!  No one asked him to do it, he just pitched in where he saw a need.  It turns out that the woman in charge of the food station was another parent from my school.  She told me what a wonderful kid Will is.  She hadn't known he was my son or that I was in the race, but that she really impressed with him.  That makes me very happy!

Sorry for such a wordy post, with a lack of pictures.  I forced my camcorder camera on Bill before the start of the race and he is unfamiliar with how it works.  He would have rather used his cell phone camera, then I am sure he would have been more successful at taking pictures.  He thought he had taken tons of pictures, but the still pic button is fickle and none of the shots actually took.  The only other downer to the day was the fact that my daughter, Helena, missed the race.  She is house sitting for my sister, Kirsten, and accidentally overslept and missed it.

Now, will I do another one?

ABSOLUTELY!  I had a ton of fun!

Update:  Official times have been posted!  My total time was 1:40:05.  8 minutes were supposed to be subtracted for the fifth heat, not 10.  Ah well. 

My results were (in minutes:seconds):
swim 15:46.3
first transition 2:36.7
bike 44:49.9
second transition 2:55.8
run 33:56.3

I know these times wouldn't be very impressive for some, but I am happy with them as a base line to start from and plan to do better next time!