San Francisco, California
It was a great day for this race. The water was 60 degrees. Last time I swam it was 55 degrees. Let me tell you that 5 degrees makes a big difference. It was sunny for the swim. The water was much choppier than last time making for a rough swim. Sighting was difficult because of the swell, but I hit the beach at Crissy Field just right. Last time I had to swim parallel to the beach for quite some time. My swim time was slower, but they say you really can’t compare Alcatraz swim times. Each day is different. Different currents, different conditions make Meaningful comparison impossible.
Unlike last time I did this swim, I had to run 7 miles after I got out of the water. I struggled to find my run legs today. At a little over a mile we hit this staircase that really tightened my calves up. It is quite an elevation gain in a short distance. Once I got up to the bridge I found myself continually praying that my right leg would loosen up so I could run normally. I stopped for a few seconds twice to try to release the cramping with no success. I crossed the entire bridge in pain, but once I hit the aid station at the turn around I stopped to drink a cup of water and after that 3 second stop I ran pain free an normal for the rest of the run. In fact, my Garmin watch had my mile average at over 11 minutes per mile at the turn around and I was able to run that average down to a 9:09 mile average by the finish. The bridge was shrouded in clouds and made for a cool run. This has got to be the greatest Aquathlon ever! The finisher medal was awesome. It had a run swim side and a run side to the medal. I thought that was clever.
This is the path we follow during the swim, The current pulls us towards the bridge which you can’t see the bridge in this picture because it is shrouded in clouds, which is typical in my experience.
Windsor, California
Swim
Although it did seem a little shallow in spot when I had given it a test run a couple of days before, on race day the number of waves before me had churned up the river and I couldn’t see the bottom and never encountered it except at the turnaround. I had no problems with depth. It has to be one of the safest swims on the circuit. At the race meeting, they said if you get in trouble . . . Just stand up! It was pretty funny. It was one of the least crowded best swims I have had in a 70.3. In fact I set a new personal record for the 1.2 mile swim. There were 17 or 18 waves. They spaced them out pretty good. My wave was the very last, which meant that my race started about 2 hours after the pros. The 40-44 men’s division would also have to face the most heat later in the day as we were not starting until 8:38 A.M. That was ok with me. I have decided that I do better than most in the heat despite my size. I had the best spot in the whole transition at T1. I had gotten up at 4:45 a.m. and set up my spot. I then walked back to the hotel and slept for a little while. I have never been able to do that. My transition was slow because I made a few mistakes, but I was happy with my swim. Even though I ended up with a personal record, I didn’t feel like I had swum that hard. I led my heat for about the first 400 yards, so I knew I was swimming pretty well.
On a sad note, there was a female athlete who died during the swim. She died from a heart attack. Her teenage daughter was there observing the race and she had other family members competing in the race.
Bike
I liked the bike ride despite the fact that it is not a good ride for me. It is not a good ride for me because it takes place on rough road with pot holes and constant rolling elevation changes with continual gear changes. There are very few flats and I can’t get in a rhythm, which is my strength. It is a beautiful ride though. The race is well named. You see a heck of a lot of vineyards. You actually spend very little time in the sun which is nice. You ride in the shade through tunnels of trees. This can make spotting the pot holes very difficult. When I ride this course again, I am going to do it with clear glasses. I almost crashed, or at least pinch flatted when I hit this giant pot hole. It was deep and about the size of large pizza. The problem was I was riding in the sun and then went into shade and couldn’t make the eye adjustment to see the pot hole. There is one mean hill at about 45 miles into the ride. I came in just over three Hours
Run
Transition 2 was located at Windsor High School. The finish and expo also are located there. Even though they send us off last, the race director gave us 40-44 year old guys the best spot in both transitions. When I headed out to the run I knew I had had a good swim, and I knew that I had just turned in a 3 hour bike. Adding in some slow transitions gave me 2 hours and 15 minutes to run the half marathon and still break 6 hours. I figured I need to keep my average at about 10 minute miles.
I would struggle to keep that average for the entire run. It was a battle against time for me. I would run hard to bring my average down only to see it plummet on hills, and there were many, many hills. The hills were not huge or steep, but constant. I fought and I fought with my average going back and forth. I stayed up on my nutrition. It was hot, but not Hawaii or Buffalo Springs hot. The aid stations did not have as much ice as I am used to though which led to higher body temperatures for me. The ice I stuff down my chest and carry in the back pocket of my tri suit really do make a difference. I ran strong through a portion of the course that circles a vineyard. It was hot and many people seemed to be struggling. Hills and more hills kept carving into my average, not to mention I was beginning to tire. I started pushing hard when I hit 10 miles. With about 2 and half miles to go, I realized I wasn’t going to make it. With about 2 miles to go this young woman passed me and something told me to just stay with her. I stopped thinking about the pain and just ran at her heals. Somehow running faster became easier. I followed her. I told myself, just stay with her and you will make it. After a bit she must have heard me laboring behind her and she side- stepped as if to let me pass and turned around slightly. I told her I was burnt and was pacing off her. She was an excellent choice. I managed to stay with her and crossed the finish line in 05:58:40. It took my 7 attempts, but I finally did it. I hope Mark, our number 5 was able to look down during that 5th hour of this run. I gave it all I had. The 5th hour was everything it was supposed to be in this race, but I held strong. I always dedicate the 5th hour to Mark. I know that my suffering is nothing compared to the 5th hour of his race. I can only hope to have the strength and courage to finish as strong as my brother finished. This one was for you Mark. You would have loved racing this one with me. I miss you.
I used Tri Team Transport to ship my bike for this race and was very happy with them.
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