The whistle blew for our group and we were off!!!
SWIM:
I decided to stay in the back since I didn't wanna be crowded and kicked as I read in triathlon blogs. I told myself, I wasn't gonna push it and treat this as a regular work-out.
Started swimming at a very slow pace. I notice, I wasn't swimming straight. Turning the first buoy (100 yards out) was not that hard but to the next one was a journey! Since I couldn't swim straight, I was getting off course and the lifeguards on surfboards had to tell me to get back on course more than once. At first I saw white swimming caps around me, which was my group. But soon enough, I was seeing blue caps, which means the next group caught up to me already! Without losing composure, I continued swimming. Soon enough, I was seeing white caps again. But after a while I realized, it was the group after the next that caught up to me already! :-(
Still zig-zagging through the course, I did manage to finish, wanting to hug every buoy I pass. Took me 53 mins to finish the swim part.
T1:
There were some bikes left when I got there. A bit discouraging but who cares.
Taking off my wetsuit and putting on my bike gear took me the longest time (which honestly, I didn't care much; I needed the rest). Drank some lemonade and got on my way.
BIKE:
Started really slow as I was advised: that I shouldn't push it and that I will pick up speed without even noticing it as I warm up. That morning was a bit cold and breezy, as I was still a bit dripping from the swim.
I dreaded mile 7 as there was where I had to catch my breath last week. So I really paced myself. After passing the dreaded point, I gained some confidence that I can finish the rest of the course.
I remember some guys and tons of women of all age, shapes and sizes just passing me. :-( First old guys, then fat guys with old bikes, then women in great shape, women in not so great shape, then old women, grandmas even. My pride was putting more weight on the bike than the oversized water-bottle we were given for the race! And so I decided at that point on, I cannot do this, but I'm still gonna finish it.
The next challenge was the curved uphill canyon on mile 15. I went up that hill with about 5 women. I took it slow and there was a point where I had to pass one of them...on the right, which was a no-no! But I could not slow down nor shift to the left; it was too late, so I just asked permission to do so, and she was so pissed! I just apologized and went on my way. (she did pass me on the downhill, by the way. :-()
I surprised myself going through that hill without stopping which gained me more confidence. Now it was the way back to camp. If you're gonna do this race remember one name Toro Canyon Road! Imagine doing that mile 7 hill in reverse with lesser energy. I passed 2 guys (woohoo!) on this hill climb. The organizers had cheerers near the top because they know this is make or break (some had to walk their bikes, I was determined to ride it: and I did! :-)
The downhill was fun, but I think I pushed too much trying to pass people so near the end of the bike ride, a 100-ft short hill killed me; I felt lactic acid saturating my quads! It hurt. So approaching the transition area, I was telling myself, "You must be kidding! I still have to run 10 miles?"
Then my mantra kicked in: "You cannot do this but you will finish it." I was 10 miles away from accomplishing one of my dreams. So off to T2.
T2:
T2 was quick. Take off the helmet and gloves and switch to the running shoes. A quick drink and off I go. (Just a note: I really don't understand the big deal about making the transitions quick! Man, you'll need all the rest you can get to catch your breath and rest your body!)
RUN:
Pain!!! Lactic acid made my legs feel like wood running. I read in blogs that it should go away after a mile or so. But it didn't!!! It remained during the entire run. Not a lot of people were cheering along the route since we were at the tail end. I was probably going less than 10 miles an hour accepting all the water and Gatorade offered at every mile; first to drink, then later just to pour on my head to cool off since it was almost noon. On the first hill, I met David on his way back already to the finish line cheering me on. I didn't want to stop running, however slow, but at mile 4, the pain was so intense, I was cramping already and so I had to start walking. But I was determined to finish and at that point, I knew it was just a matter of time. I walked-ran at that point every .2 miles or so. The people I was cheering on going towards the halfway point were the very same ones passing and encouraging me the last 5 miles of the run. :-( As much as my legs were hurting, I felt my ego was suffering more! I wanted to shout at one point: "Is there anybody else who hasn't passed me?"
On mile 8, a cute girl encouraged me to keep running and so pride ignored the pain and started jogging with her. After about five minutes of chatting, I had to start slowing down and eventually walk again eating the dust of her tracks.
On mile 10, I figured, I will just save enough energy to run for the cameras (ha-ha!). And so I did.
When that robot camera flashed, extra adrenaline kicked in that boosted me to the finish line.
.98 miles swimming
33.5 miles biking
10 miles running/walking
900 registrants
770 participants
721 finishers
50 did not finish
9 were disqualified
I was the 707th finisher. It wasn't a glorious finish, but with God's help: I finished! That's all that matters (to me at least!) :-)
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Race Day!!!
Woke up around 4:00. Still scared.
Waited till like 5:00 to get ready. Packed my bike and gear in my friends car and headed out to the starting line, which was about 15 mi. away, around 5:45. We prayed before leaving the motel (just to be sure, ya know!).
Near the set-up area, my fears were lessened with the many people there. They were very friendly and encouraging. The seasoned athletes assured me and gave me tips. One thing consistent with what they said was: relax and enjoy your first one.
I saw David and came over to wish me good luck. I started laying out my gear, a final trip to the men's room, and I put on my wetsuit. It was getting close to 7:00, the start of the race, so we headed out for the beach. I saw someone popping in a gel shot, so I did the same. And once I drank water, I never realized how thirsty I was that morning (stress probably?). One of the veterans told me to get in the water to get used to it. Dang, it was cold!!! (high 50's to low 60's).
We started lining up according to age groups. There were about 5 groups starting from the elite athletes on the front line to the all-women's group in the back, with alternate white and blue cap for each group (note this as well for my next blog). Was trying to talk to people to get my nervousness out. We were the third group so my friend took some pictures and videos while waiting. And then it was our group's turn. This is it!!!
Waited till like 5:00 to get ready. Packed my bike and gear in my friends car and headed out to the starting line, which was about 15 mi. away, around 5:45. We prayed before leaving the motel (just to be sure, ya know!).
Near the set-up area, my fears were lessened with the many people there. They were very friendly and encouraging. The seasoned athletes assured me and gave me tips. One thing consistent with what they said was: relax and enjoy your first one.
I saw David and came over to wish me good luck. I started laying out my gear, a final trip to the men's room, and I put on my wetsuit. It was getting close to 7:00, the start of the race, so we headed out for the beach. I saw someone popping in a gel shot, so I did the same. And once I drank water, I never realized how thirsty I was that morning (stress probably?). One of the veterans told me to get in the water to get used to it. Dang, it was cold!!! (high 50's to low 60's).
We started lining up according to age groups. There were about 5 groups starting from the elite athletes on the front line to the all-women's group in the back, with alternate white and blue cap for each group (note this as well for my next blog). Was trying to talk to people to get my nervousness out. We were the third group so my friend took some pictures and videos while waiting. And then it was our group's turn. This is it!!!
Week of the race
Since I max'd out the week before, I was debating on doing nothing or tapering that week since I was really tired. Opted to just do nothing! (gulp!) It was a big risk, but I know I'll learn from this mistake in the future.
Took Thursday and Friday off to prepare. I thought of nothing but the race the whole week. Even took time off the meetings because of it. I told myself, I'll have more time to focus on recovery after the race.
THURSDAY:
Decided to go to a local beach to do a mini dry-run. Did like a 100-yard swim (the waves were kicking my butt, so I quit fighting it!). Did like a 5-mile bike ride, and a 2-mi. run. Now I felt more confident doing SOMETHING at least.
Packed my stuff that night and went to bed still thinking...
FRIDAY:
Headed out around 9 AM and went to get my packet. Got there and saw booths set up with tri gears. I was a bit intimidated yet excited being introduced to the culture. Met a quiet guy by the registration stairs waiting for it to open. Come to find out it was his first triathlon as well. His name is David, a chemist from San Diego. We almost had the same amount of training and the same age. And we were both scared!
After getting our packets, we decided to go through the bike route in my car since he said he hasn't ridden it yet. He checked out the map while I drove.
We had butterflies in our stomachs going through the hills. And remember the canyon my friend commented on? (check last blog) HE WAS RIGHT!!! It was the other way...uphill on a curve! I was sweating cold at that point.
Dropping him off in his car, I checked-in to the motel asking myself if I could actually do this.
Instead of worrying, I just prepared my gear lay-out for the transition on the motel floor. Took a short bike ride to stretch and then grabbed a burger meal for dinner.
Lost a lot of sleep just worrying that night. Prayed like I haven't done in a while. Woke up at 2:00 in the morning and just talked to my friend about my worries.
Took Thursday and Friday off to prepare. I thought of nothing but the race the whole week. Even took time off the meetings because of it. I told myself, I'll have more time to focus on recovery after the race.
THURSDAY:
Decided to go to a local beach to do a mini dry-run. Did like a 100-yard swim (the waves were kicking my butt, so I quit fighting it!). Did like a 5-mile bike ride, and a 2-mi. run. Now I felt more confident doing SOMETHING at least.
Packed my stuff that night and went to bed still thinking...
FRIDAY:
Headed out around 9 AM and went to get my packet. Got there and saw booths set up with tri gears. I was a bit intimidated yet excited being introduced to the culture. Met a quiet guy by the registration stairs waiting for it to open. Come to find out it was his first triathlon as well. His name is David, a chemist from San Diego. We almost had the same amount of training and the same age. And we were both scared!
After getting our packets, we decided to go through the bike route in my car since he said he hasn't ridden it yet. He checked out the map while I drove.
We had butterflies in our stomachs going through the hills. And remember the canyon my friend commented on? (check last blog) HE WAS RIGHT!!! It was the other way...uphill on a curve! I was sweating cold at that point.
Dropping him off in his car, I checked-in to the motel asking myself if I could actually do this.
Instead of worrying, I just prepared my gear lay-out for the transition on the motel floor. Took a short bike ride to stretch and then grabbed a burger meal for dinner.
Lost a lot of sleep just worrying that night. Prayed like I haven't done in a while. Woke up at 2:00 in the morning and just talked to my friend about my worries.
2 weeks before the race
It's supposes to be the start of taper in training but since I lost training time because of the accident (and did not training enough to begin with), I decided to max out on each of the disciplines that week.
Swim:
Did a 50 x 50 yds. swim in the pool on Monday
Run:
Did a 13 mi. run on Wednesday.
Bike:
Went to Sta. Barbara (where the race was gonna be at) that Saturday to do the whole bike course. I went with a friend who has some experience in biking.
On mile 6 to 7, was one of the toughest hills of the course. It was a gradual 500-ft climb. Since most of my training was on flat, I really had a hard time getting to the top. Near the top I had to stop and lay flat on the curb to catch my breath. At that point, I was already second-thoughts in doing the race. I WAS ONLY ON MILE 7, there's 27 more miles to go!!!
My friend just encouraged me to go slow and don't push it. And he was right. I just took it slow the rest of the way and finished it.
Mile 16 to 17 was another 500 foot climb but more gradual and so it was more manageable. The downhill ride was curvy and tricky . My friend commented "Thank God this part of the course is as it is. Had it been the other way going up, it would be a lot tougher!" (remember this for it will have bearing on my next blog!)
Had lunch and headed home.
Swim:
Did a 50 x 50 yds. swim in the pool on Monday
Run:
Did a 13 mi. run on Wednesday.
Bike:
Went to Sta. Barbara (where the race was gonna be at) that Saturday to do the whole bike course. I went with a friend who has some experience in biking.
On mile 6 to 7, was one of the toughest hills of the course. It was a gradual 500-ft climb. Since most of my training was on flat, I really had a hard time getting to the top. Near the top I had to stop and lay flat on the curb to catch my breath. At that point, I was already second-thoughts in doing the race. I WAS ONLY ON MILE 7, there's 27 more miles to go!!!
My friend just encouraged me to go slow and don't push it. And he was right. I just took it slow the rest of the way and finished it.
Mile 16 to 17 was another 500 foot climb but more gradual and so it was more manageable. The downhill ride was curvy and tricky . My friend commented "Thank God this part of the course is as it is. Had it been the other way going up, it would be a lot tougher!" (remember this for it will have bearing on my next blog!)
Had lunch and headed home.
3 weeks before the race
Lost some time in training since I got a bike accident the other week. A car almost hit me, I lost control trying to avoid it, ate the pavement scratching my left shoulder, elbow, and knees. The bike was a little scratched up, but OK.
On the Saturday of this week, decided to go to Sta. Barbara with a friend to do a mini dry run of the race. I wanted to do a short distance of all the events in one morning just to see how it would feel.
The swim:
Got there around 8:00 in the morning. The water was in the low 60's. Luckily I found a small group of people doing a swim workout. Some of them were doing the Sprint the weekend of the race.
Put on my wetsuit and did like a 400-yd. swim with my buddy on the shore dragging the bikes to measure the distance on the bike computer/odometer.
The bike:
We were suppose to go with a group doing the actual route, but got lost because we were behind, so just managed to do a 17 mi.-ride around the area.
The run:
Did a 6-mi. run after the biking.
I felt good but hungry!!! Grabbed a burger meal and went home.
On the Saturday of this week, decided to go to Sta. Barbara with a friend to do a mini dry run of the race. I wanted to do a short distance of all the events in one morning just to see how it would feel.
The swim:
Got there around 8:00 in the morning. The water was in the low 60's. Luckily I found a small group of people doing a swim workout. Some of them were doing the Sprint the weekend of the race.
Put on my wetsuit and did like a 400-yd. swim with my buddy on the shore dragging the bikes to measure the distance on the bike computer/odometer.
The bike:
We were suppose to go with a group doing the actual route, but got lost because we were behind, so just managed to do a 17 mi.-ride around the area.
The run:
Did a 6-mi. run after the biking.
I felt good but hungry!!! Grabbed a burger meal and went home.
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