Two Down

Same course as last year but it seems like there are many, many more participants. Checking the results afterward showed that there were almost twice the total number of women who completed the race this year.

Pre-race: This year, I've convinced a friend from work to do the triathlon with me. D and I arrive at the site at 6:45 am. D's wave starts at 8:10, mine at 8:15. We find a decent spot in the transition area although it's apparent that we've missed all the really good ones near the exit. So many people! We get our chips and our bodies marked.

8:10 : D is off! Woo! Woo!

8:12 : Getting ready to start. Step in water. Er, sludge. No seriously, the shore was black and very goopy. Think wet, think slimy. The water was opaque. Look to right, look to left. Everyone else's face is slightly disgusted. I'm going swimming in this? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!

8:15 SWIM START : Yes! I'm going swimming in this. Here we go. Goggles on. Goggles fill with water. I'm getting kicked, there are people all around. (Hindsight: My wave was the largest of the race. 174 women. Last year, the field was 78.) I come up for air and swallow water. Don't think about what's in the water! Keep moving. Try to clear goggles while swimming. FAT CHANCE. Getting run into from behind. Argh! All that nice freestyle practice? Fuggedaboutit! About the only thing I can do is breaststroke otherwise I'm running into people and have no idea which direction I'm headed. Must keep going. A couple times I catch a break and do a few strokes of crawl then it's back to breaststroke again. I'm breathing really hard. Much harder than I should be. I try to calm down and keep moving. As I make the second turn and head for the shore, the field suddenly seems to clear up and I don't have anyone in front of me. I freestyle towards the shore, pop out of the water, rip off my goggles and fill my cap with water. I also notice that my watch has lost its waterproof-ness and is now history. I'm a little bummed but I must focus. Now, where was that bike again? Second picnic table, turn right, two rows behind the three mylar balloons. (Apparently, one of our friends who came to watch saw me come out of the water and was screaming my name and shouting encouragement. I didn't hear a thing. Was totally in the zone. Must find bike.)

T1: Take my swim cap of water and empty it into my little plastic bin. Step into bin and rinse off my feet. Feel extremely pleased with my resourcefulness as my feet are now clean(er) and not sandy anymore. OK. Shirt. Check. Shorts. Check. Socks. Check. Shoes. Spray on sunscreen. Little bit of energy gel. Drink too. Get on bike. Get going!

Bike: AWESOME! I love the bike ride this year. I felt strong and steady. I feel like I could ride on and on and on. My little bike computer tells me I'm going at a pretty good clip. I think I have a chance of lowering my time from last year.

T2: Ripped through this one. Dropped off bike. Dropped helmet. Grabbed hat. One sip. Go!

Run: Argh. Not an auspicious start. There was water to be had right away but after I take a drink, it goes down the wrong tube. I try not to choke and keel over. It was only 3 miles but it felt long, long, long. When the final stretch was in sight, I couldn't wait to cross the finish line. Time to lengthen strides. Look for boys. Then two women come blowing by me as they sprinted to the end. Oh well. Maybe next year that will be me.

Cause there will be a next year.

Final time: Three minutes faster than last year. Yipee!

Last Race of the Year

The day dawned cold and clear. Time to head out to Tiburon to catch the ferry to Angel Island and run 12 K. It seemed like such a good idea at the time of sign-up - visit a place we hadn't been before, run as a couple for the first time, run on a trail instead of the pavement. As soon as we left home, I remembered all the things I had forgotten to bring: a hat or a cap, my sunglasses, my wristwatch, sunblock. Bah! Who needs these things? We remembered water and the kids so on we went.

On the way up 880, we ran into not one, not two, but THREE accidents involving a total of six cars. Omen or not? Good thing we had built a cushion into our travel time. We dropped the kids off at my cousin's house, met up with our running friends and caught the ferry. Goals #1, 2, and 3 accomplished. Now all that remained was the run.

Thank goodness we didn't have a really good idea of what the race course was going to be like otherwise I don't think I would have started running in the first place. After a nice flat warm up jog around the picnic area, we started to head uphill. And kept running uphill on switchback, after switchback, after switchback. I kid you not, there must have been at least 10 of these bloody things and every time I looked up all I could see was a stream of runners about 20 or 30 feet above me, running uphill. But, and here's the big but, I didn't feel like I needed to stop running. Once again, I have the Dish to thank because none of the inclines were nearly as steep and evil as the ones on my training runs. M and I had decided early on that we were going to run together the whole way so we just egged each other on, encouraging, pushing. It was a good thing.

The path leveled out and we got an absolutely stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco in the distance - for about 5 seconds. We ran on, not wanting to lose momentum. The trail wound through trees, up and down and around. The ground was moist but not muddy from Tuesday and Thursday's rains. Nice and cushy on the feet. There was a slight breeze and in the sun it felt like it was almost 60 degrees. Not bad for the eighth of December.

We kept track of the distance by time. M would call out "We're starting on our nth minute now, should be about 3/4/whatever miles." At around 60 minutes in, we figured there were about 2 miles or so left and we started heading downhill. The trail looked strangely familiar. Hang on a second, this was what we came up on.

WE RAN UP THIS THING???? No way.

Way.

I felt like I was flying down the last mile. It was awesome. Long strides, I had lots of wind and my legs felt really good. My knees did complain a bit but that faded quickly as we crossed the finish line at exactly the same time. Hooray! We did it!

What a great way to end the 2007 race season. Four events, four shirts, no injuries and many, many wonderful memories.

Time to start planning 2008.