One Down

The short version:

My hoped-for completion time: 2:00 at the most, anything less than 1:45 would be gravy

My unofficial completion time (based on my stopwatch): 1:22:50

My official completion time: 1:22:14

HOORAY!

And now, the gory details, for anyone who cares to read on:

Woke up at 5:30 am. Still on East Coast time, so this was not a problem. Headed out in the dark to Pleasanton. Travel time: 30 mins. No sweat. Found a parking spot. Found a spot in the transition area.

Now what? OK, need race number, timing chip, body marking.
Check, check, check. Arrange stuff in transition area. Look around. Hmmm, lots of people looking professional. Lots of body glide being applied. Many wetsuits. Did I mention that there was steam coming off the lake water in the morning air?

Swim:
Slower than I thought I'd swim but I didn't drown! Ended up doing a mix of freestyle and breaststroke. Didn't get kicked in the face. Goggles didn't leak. Remembered to fill up my swimcap with water for washing off feet at T1. Not fast but not the slowest in my wave either. All in all, not bad.

T1:
Man, it takes a long time to put on stuff. Forgot to put on sports bra. Remembered when I was almost ready to get my bike. Decided to forgo wearing one. Sometimes it's good to just be a B. Squeezed out about half a serving of one of those energy gel packets. EEEEEEEEWWWWW! Quick, get some water to wash that down with! OK, extricate bike from rack and let's go, go, go.

Bike:
I'd remembered to rack my bike in a pretty low gear so I made it up the hill out of the park no problem. Loved the bike ride. My legs felt good, not tired and my bike was a dream to ride. I passed a few people, a few people passed me. No cars to worry about as the course was well policed. Floated up the single hill that there was to climb. Before I knew it, I was back at the transition area. My watch read just over 50 mins. That meant that if I had a decent run, I'd totally come in under an hour and a half.

T2:
Remove helmet, put on cap, drink, force some more of that gel down and go, go, go.

Run:
Oh, man, got to pee. Never mind - mind over matter, you can hold it for 3 miles. Just run.
Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Ack! Rock in heel, must stop. Dig out rock. Start running again. HILL!!! Walk up hill, there's no shame in that! Now run. Just run.

It felt awfully slow but I guess I was making progress. I passed some, and got passed by others. Just a little more, just a little further. Just keep running. Just keep breathing. Water station. Get water. Get water down wrong tube. Cough, cough. Just keep going. I need to finish this.

There it is, the finish line! Time to put on the afterburners.

The WHAT??

Hey, it's the whole gang, waiting for me and cheering! Woo-hoo!

I did it. (And, then, I finally found the bathroom.)