SuperSeal Olympic 2011 Race Report

Pre-Race

I woke up around 4:45 am, ready to go. Put on my DeSoto Forza tri suit that squishes my normally lovely curves into a not-so-attractive sausage shape, threw my bike in the car, ate a couple of mini powdered donuts and then got in the car with Luke and my friend Carrie, who came down to see me race (awesome! Thank you!). We drove from our place to Coronado, maybe a 20 minute trip. The parking lot was already closed, so we parked on a residential street in a nearby neighborhood. It was a bit overcast and there was talk of rain. I set up my transition among a bunch of rack hoarders and I was ready to go. We walked down to the beach and watched the Sprint racers swim.

The swim

This is always my least favorite part of a race. Blah. I've been practicing in the pool and have also done some insanely frigid 46 and 47 degree OWS, so I was well-prepared for the 62 degree water. Everyone else cried but I was overjoyed. Surprisingly, I felt very zen before instead of super nervous, which is how I normally feel. My wave was the second to start. I was ready when the horn went off and ran into the water. I immediately put my head down and started swimming. There was a bit of contact, but it wasn't too bad. EEEEEWWW salt water! I've spent lots of time surfing and snorkeling in salt water, but never straight swimming in it. I felt completely gross by the end of the swim. My sighting was very poor and I zig zagged all over the place, but I still felt calm and relaxed. When I wear my wetsuit, it's almost as if I'm floating on top of the water and hardly kick. I like it but it feels weird. There was one man who kept bumping into me (he was swimming in an even more insane zig zag pattern than I was) and at one point he positioned himself so that when I reached forward with my left arm, I wound up grabbing a bunch of wetsuit-clad man junk. At least I think it was his junk. My hand was firmly between his legs and grabbing stuff and I can't think of anything else it might be. Ooooops! Sorry, dude...and yes, you're welcome. Not everyone gets groped during a race. Then I laughed for the rest of the swim, which made me swallow more water. Worth it! Finally finished the 1500 meter swim after 37 minutes. That is really, really slow. Much slower than I normally swim and I'm normally slow. Probably the extra distance because of my poor sighting.

I was so happy to get out of that f-ing water! Felt fine and not at all exerted. Ran a ways to T1. Had trouble getting my wetsuit off, like always. I sat on the ground and wrestled with it, hoping the man I groped wouldn't recognize me. Got my helmet and bike shoes on, grabbed my bike and took off. Trotted in my bike shoes to the mount line and got on.

The bike

Woo hoo! My favorite part! I love biking. The course was two "loops," really just an out-and-back twice but the start was in the middle along Hwy 75, along the ocean. I hauled ass (for me), averaged almost 20 mph. I only got passed by elites but I passed a whole bunch of folks. So satisfying. I thought lots of nasty thoughts about good swimmers (just kidding, kind of). There were several stupid men who refused to be chicked. When I came up on them I would say "on the left!" As in, get the F over(!) and they would move over more to the left so I couldn't get around them or they would speed up. I had to teach them a lesson. Boom! Around them. Then, just to be extra annoying, I would say, "thank you" in my sweetest, highest-pitched voice....then in my head I followed it up with "you fuck face." That made me smile every time. Finished the bike in 1 hr 14 min. Totally satisfied and happy and I didn't crash at the dismount line. On to T2: quick, took off my helmet, put on my visor, changed into socks and running shoes and put on my race belt. Vroom!!!

The Run

The first few miles were on sand, either packed or not, so that sucked, but the run was fine. I wanted to walk, but stopped being a bitch and ran. I definitely didn't push hard enough, just kind of lollygagged along. I need to push myself harder while running because I wasn't even out of breath at the end. Sprinted to the finish and got my medal with a seal on it. The seal looked like Rudy RuDizzle, the original pig ninja.

Luke and Carrie were waiting for me at the finish line and received sweaty, stinky hugs in return. It was great to see them throughout the race and definitely gave me a huge mental boost. Carrie will be a triathlete soon and I have a not-so-secret plan to turn Luke into a triathlete as well. Then we could go on tri-cations. Fun, huh?!

Finished in 3:00:58. 20 out of 5o in my age group. Firmly Middle of the Pack...but I think if I did some speed work and pushed it I could do pretty well :)

Post-Race

I was very happy to be done, but not nearly as tired as I should be. I waited a bit, then collected my bike and transition stuff and we headed back to the car. I ate the rest of my donuts and drank some gatorade. We dropped Carrie off, I showered (you're welcome, Lukey) and then we went to get some greasy pizza and cheese-covered garlic bread. I also drank lots of root beer...my favorite post-activity drink. Then we went home and napped for a while (well, I tried, I'm not a good sleeper). Then we went to an awesome dessert place in Little Italy and I had bleu cheese with a fig and apple relish and we split strawberry shortcake and a lemon bar and I drank a lovely glass of wine. We went back home and then I had to prep for my interview the next day. Nailed the interview. Got the job. Great weekend.

I forgot to mention that we saw a bunch of dolphins in the ocean when we were leaving the transition area. So neat!!!