caloso

Icebreaker Tri at Granite Bay, Calif. (0.5 mile swim, 13 mile bike, 4 mile run)

This was the first tri of the year for me. Over the winter, I thought I might give up the multi-sport life to focus more on bike racing, but I changed my mind when I spent week with the family in Kauai in March. I was off the bike for the week but ran and swam every day and remembered how fun those things were too. So I decided a couple of days before the race to do it. I hadn't done any focused training, just thought that maybe my base fitness could get me through.

Setup: The morning dawned cool and windy but clear. On the bottom I’d wear my PI tri shorts but up top? I decided to bring a longsleeved shirt, a shortsleeved shirt, and a singlet and decide when I got there. I ate my standard pre-race breakfast of oatmeal, honey, dried fruit, and skim milk. I drank a big cup of coffee and brought a banana for the car ride.

There was a long line of cars at the entrance to the Granite Bay State Beach at Folsom Lake, all waiting to pay a $7 parking fee. Seven dollars?!? Next time, I’ll park at the mini-mall a mile down the road and ride my bike in.

After gathering my number, swimcap, and shirt (very nice synthetic number), I unracked my bike and looked for a spot in transition. I realized that I’d forgotten to bring my bucket so I wasn’t going to have anything to sit on while changing my shoes. After tumbling into the grass during T1 in the last race, you’d think I’d remember that part. But oh well,

I had a bit of time so I took an easy warm up ride of one loop of the bike. Then I went to body-marking and struggled into my wetsuit (was it really this tight last fall?), and walked down to the beach. The lake is really low, so the run up from the water to the transition was probably 150 meters. I got into the water to acclimate to the water (wow! was that cold!) and wait for my wave.

Swim:

I was slow, but steady. Rather than try to be fast, I focused on reaching, breathing, and finding a good rhythm. The first leg took off into the sun and I couldn’t see the buoy but since there was no chance I’d be in the lead, I just hoped my fellow 35-44 year old brethren would stay on course. Out around the first buoy, the lake seemed to get choppier. Not quite whitecaps, but close. I swallowed some water but tried to remain calm by reminding myself that just a few weeks ago I was swimming in the surf in Kauai and this was nothing. As it strung out, I focused on keeping my body long and smooth.

To the beach, and now to run up the long, long beach. I clicked my watch when I finally got to the transition: 22:18. How much of that was on the run? Maybe 2 minutes, no chip timing in this race so I can’t be sure.

T1:

Found my bike, managed to get off the wetsuit without falling down. Decided to forego the socks, put on my bike shoes, shirt, helmet, sunglasses.

Bike:

2 laps of a 6.5 mile out and back. I tried to stay in the aerobars as much as possible on the flats, but the course was so winding and had a number of short climbs. I probably would have been better off just leaving off the aerobars. I noticed a number of “serious” racers on tri-specific bikes with disc wheels. I think they would have been a bigger hazard than benefit, but who knows?

Tried to spin a higher cadence than last year and riding the fixed gear all winter has definitely helped with that. The only time I got on the 12t cog was on a flat with a tailwind, and I was pushing 27mph. Of course, after the U-turn to go back out on lap 2, it was right into the teeth of the wind and I was lucky to get it over 17. Time on the bike 40:02; total time 1:02:20.

T2:

Cruised into transition—this race allowed riding in the transition area—and racked my bike. Decided to forego socks again, and immediately regretted it when I got a small sharp pebble in my right shoe before I even left transition.

Run:

The run was flat for the first 1/3 mile and then it ducked into the woods to follow a steep up-and-down MTB trail. It had rained the day before, but luckily no mud. I tried to keep the feet turning over even though it felt like I was running in quicksand. This is what I get for not doing any brick workouts!

More up and down, and then a supersteep up. I had to walk it. But apparently I wasn’t the only one. I looked at my watch and decided I wasn’t going to make my 1:35:00 target, but if I could make up a little time on the downslope, I might break 1:40:00.

Got into a cruise mode, took a cup of sportsdrink with a mile to go. I’d been told there would be Clif shots on the course but there were none. Well, never mind, it’s only a mile. Kept turning the feet over and kind of zoned out but eventually realized that there was someone behind me. We entered a path about 300 m from the finish and I decided to see if there was enough in the legs for a sprint. Alas, there was not. My follower shot past me and all I could do was fall in behind him, hoping that he’d slow. He didn’t. And unfortunately he was in my age-group so I lost a spot in the rankings.

But I crossed in 1:38:13 (35:52 for the run). Good enough for 13th out of 44 in my age group and 84th out of 352. Not great, but not too shabby either.

All in all, a very fine way to spend a weekend morning. It was a well-run event. I would definitely recommend it.

Psydotek

Great report and the time is pretty good espically with a 4 mile run.

RoboCheme

Way to go, Chris!! Next year - another age group = even higher placing!!