Sacramento International Triathlon

Well, I was very tired when I got home yesterday (imagine that), so I thought I'd wait to write about the big day when I had a chance to rest up. And of course, I had to go through the pictures.

Lee and I went up to Sacramento Saturday night to check in and get our race packets. We didn't want to have to deal with standing in line the morning of the race. We figured we'd have enough to worry about. So after we got all our stuff, we had a nice (but not very healthy) dinner at Macaroni Grill. I went to bed a little later that I wanted to, but luckily I didn't have anxiety dreams so I slept ok. We woke up about 5:15, got ready and arrived at the course at 6:30 with plenty of time to set up our transition areas. We had an entire area of the bike racks blocked off for our team, which made it very convenient. With 500+ people there, the last thing I wanted was to be swallowed up by a pack of strangers. Plus, it was fun to get a chance to chat with our teammates before we started.

When it was time to begin, everyone went down to the water which was about 1/4 mile from the transition area. We paddled around for a few minutes before the gun went off. What a difference from the bay! The water was about 70 degrees. Like a bath! The Super Sprint heat started at 8:00 followed by the Sprint at 8:10 and the Olympic at 8:20. I was worried that the Sprint group might catch up to us if we hadn't finished our 400m swim fast enough. But, I didn't have to worry because I finished in 8 minutes!

The swim went by really quickly. Looking out at the water, the buoys looked so far away. But when I was actually swimming, it was cake! I was run into a couple times, but I didn't even get kicked in the face. Which I can't say for other people since my feet occasionally connected with an arm or head. Woops!

Getting out of the water, the entire path back to the transition area was gravel, so most people (the sane ones at least) brought flip flops to walk back up in. That was interesting, trying to run/walk fast in wet flip flops. Luckily, we weren't in any hurry.

In fact, we weren't in a hurry at all during the entire transition from the swim to the bike. Lee and I and a couple girls on our team, took our dear sweet time. Looking back, that probably wasn't the BEST thing to do, but we wanted to make sure we didn't forget anything. We wanted to feel comfortable before heading out on our bikes. And we were.

The entire 8 mile ride went smoothly. It was completely flat, with the exception of a slight incline of an overpass. Just a couple things I wasn't too happy about; First, the course ended up being TOTALLY different from the map we were given. So, I was very confused and started freaking out at one point. But, I just stuck with my strategy of following whatever everyone else did, and it worked out fine! Secondly, in the 8 mile ride, I counted 6 smooshed animals on the side of the road. It wasn't pretty. At the beginning of the ride, there was the thick fragrance of skunk in the air. I figured out why a few minutes later. Poor flat skunk.
Next was the run. Oh the run. I totally forgot to put on my hat before I left the transition area. DANG! My whole balance was thrown off. I had trained with a hat, so without it, I had to compensate for the reduced ounces. Can you tell I'm making excuses?? I definitely feel like I could have done better on the running. I would run for as long as my legs and lungs could stand it, then I'd walk for a few minutes. I averaged about a 13 minute mile, which I was hoping to do more like 11 minutes. But that's ok, that will just be something to work on for next time.

The running course was quite interesting. Being that we were at the Port of Sacramento, there were piles of rocks, big rigs, dump trucks and those Caterpillar things everyone. Apparently, they didn't think it was necessary to move them out of the way for the triathlon. Or maybe, the race organizers thought it would be fun to build the track around them. Whatever the case, it was a little odd.

The best part of the race was my cheering section. During each transition, I had Mom, Dad, Carolyn, Kim, Kathryn and Maggie (Kathryn's dog) cheering me on. They were a hit with the rest of the athletes too. They stood at the finish line and cheered EVERYONE on as they came across. The announcer was very impressed. Then, when it was my turn to come in, they brought the house down! I finished the race in 1:20:22.8 and that was good enough for 112th place. I thought it would take like two hours, so I'm happy!
Here are my stats:
Swim: Time 8:16.3 Ranking: 85
Bike: Time 44:26.4 Ranking: 108
Run: Time 27:40.0 Ranking 121
This definitely gives me a starting point to work to improve.

Lee came in a few minutes later and after her came a few more of our friends on the team. It was a lot of fun being able to cheer them on. Overall, it was a great day. Loads of fun and I WILL be doing another one. In fact, were planning on doing the Mermaid Triathlon in Fremont June 3rd with a couple other gals on the team. This could be the start of a very long, very fun, very challenging hobby.

So, I guess this means the end of my blog. I've enjoyed sharing my wacky stories with my friends and family and I hope you've enjoyed reading them. It's definitely been an adventure. Thanks for participating! For more pictures, you can go to: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=mlpayne12&aid=576460762400030865&pid=&wtok=AtsLc9xYMveWJ2wU3eTyFw--&ts=1177997270&.src=ph