It's been four years since my last triathlon, but I managed to be one of the lucky 2300 when registration opened and snagged a spot for the 2015 Vineman 70.3. I had a great race, but I have to admit there were some tough times during the run when I was wondering "why do I do this?".
After the brutal season-opening Wildflower I wasn't too keen on another half-Ironman triathlon. The Vineman 70.3 changed everything. What a fun race! I set new personal records in the swim and bike and minimized my losses on the run.
The Wildflower Long Course is well-known as a brutal early-season race: 3500ft elevation on the bike and 2100ft on the run! Crazy. The great thing about doing such a hard race as my first 70.3 mile half-Ironman distance is that I will be faster in every race from now on! With little sleep and much less training time available (thanks Charlie) I knew it was going to be a tough race. It didn't disappoint.
I raced the 2010 Marin County Triathlon on an amazing beautiful morning in China Camp on San Pablo Bay. Last Triathlon of the season! I raced hard, finished third in my age group, and most importantly BEAT MY TIME GOAL FOR THE SEASON!
Bingles had been hyping the Ukiah tri all summer - and geez, it's only a little sprint tri - so we signed up. I raced pretty hard and got on the podium! Third place baby! Yeah yeah, third place among the men between 30-34.
My second Olympic-length triathlon of the season was the Silicon Valley International Triathlon held at San Jose's Lake Almaden. Teammate Bingels and I did the Olympic-length tri on Sunday after his wife Jingels did her first sprint triathlon the day before. I had an okay swim, fast bike, and started the run with stomach cramps. I ended up finishing 11 minutes shy of my 2:30 goal. Bummer dude.
My next race is USA Productions' Olympic length Silicon Valley International Triathlon on June 13. Olympic length courses consist of a 0.93mi swim, 24.9mi bike, and 6.2mi run.
A month before the race I tore my soleus and a week before the race I came down with a pretty nasty head cold. All my preparation was going down the tubes! I pulled it together though and had an awesome race on the Olympic course at the 2010 Avia Wildflower Triathlon!
I did my first triathlon this Sunday. The Sprint Triathon at Pacific Grove. To summarize: I didn't train or prepare well, the water was very very cold, my transition times totally suck, I totally killed the bike section, my transition times really suck, and I run like a total wuss after biking and swimming. Oh, and I placed 17th!!!!!!
