Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon 2012

I was hoping to wait for race photographer's photos but I've waited 5 whole days and you snooze, you lose, so now the photography company misses out on me buying photos.

So!  I had originally planned to race a sprint up in Auburn last weekend but doing a local race instead saved me on travel costs and it meant I got to go back and do a race I haven't done from start to finish (I've done a relay) since 2008.  This was a nice race to do at the end of a rest week - to kick off another big training block and to get an idea of where my fitness is at the moment.  I love this course - Uvas is a beautiful reservoir and I ride these roads all the time and for whatever reason I always love this run - it's hot and a little rolly and done all right alongside the reservoir.  Plus I got to do it with lots of friends, including my agility teacher who was doing the swim as part of an all-agility-handlers relay team!

I got down to Uvas dark and early on Sunday morning and was situated in transition about 5 minutes after it opened.  It turned out I didn't pick the *most* ideal spot as the bike-out was not where I thought it'd be - I was at the bike-in but not bike out, but it worked out alright anyway.  Since I would not be right near the exit, I opted to clip my shoes into the bike and rubber band them in place so that I didn't run through all of transition in my bike shoes.  Then I pretty much just hung out with everyone and chatted until it was time to start the race.

Headed down to the swim start with my agility teacher Tania - I started taking agility classes with her for Max 9 years ago!

Photo by Channan Fosty

Uvas Reservoir at dawn

Photo by Channan Fosty

The lake was 71 degrees and the water felt fantastic when I got in to warm up.  The wave starts went by quickly and before long I was swimming up to the start line and floating around waiting for the horn.  I felt totally relaxed and eager to finally get my first tri of the year going!  The horn blared and we were off!

I kept a nice steady relaxed pace through the swim, just working on reaching long and good body rotation and sighting.  I was able to breathe bilaterally for the first time in a race, thanks to all the work I've been doing with my swim guru Tim.  Before too long, I was making the last turn and heading in to the boat ramp.  The nice part about having fast friends who are doing relays is they are there to cheer for you when you run out!

Swim: 33:30 (0.90 mi)  All my stroke re-work is paying off!

Swim in 2008: 36:39 (for 0.75 mi)

Trying to balance and remove wetsuit at the same time...

Photo by Channan Fosty

(Photo by Tim Chadwick)

And then it was off to ride my bike! (See those shoes already clipped in!)

(Photo by Tim Chadwick)

T1: 1:10

T1 in 2008: 2:17

The 16 mile bike around Uvas and Chesbro reservoirs is a constantly rolling delight - very few flats but lots of up and down.  I ride this route fairly often from home so I was excited to really go hard on it.  Coach wanted me to cover up my power meter and just RACE it, so that's what I did.  It was hard to get my nutrition in because I was pushing just to the edge of nausea but I still took in what I needed on schedule.  I spent most of the ride passing people and was hardly ever passed, that's a first for me!  It was FUN!

Hard hilly fun!

Bike: 52:50 (16 mi, ~18.3 mph which is great for me given all the hills)

Bike in 2008: 55:59

When I got close to transition, I pulled my feet out of my shoes and pedaled in the last stretch to transition.  I did mess things up slightly right as I came into the dismount chute, when I let one of the shoes go and it hit the ground and dragged.  I didn't realize at the time but it actually fell off my bike.  I kept going but thankfully Tania grabbed it for me.

See? There's a shoe missing on one side! (Photo by Tim Chadwick)

T2: 0:29 - YEP, you read that right

T2 in 2008: 1:24

Finally, to my favorite part, the run!  This 5 mile out-and-back course rolls a little, basically all in the direct sun, but I've always enjoyed it.  I took it easier the first mile, then aimed for steady-hard effort and pushed it hard to the end in the last mile - turned out to be a beautiful negative split each mile!

Run: 39:11 (5 mi, 7:50 avg)

Run in 2008: 42:36

Finishing strong! (Photo by Tim Chadwick)

Total Time: 2:07:10 - near a 12 minute PR!

Total Time in 2008: 2:18:56

Last time I raced at Uvas, I came in somewhere in the bottom third of my age group.  This time I was in the top third!  That plus a 12 minute PR just goes to show what all my work with my coach has done! I went right back out after the finish to do a cool down jog and run some of my friends in to the finish.  It was great to finally get the 1st tri of the year under my belt, as the next one will be a 1/2IM in June.  In the meantime, the heavy training continues!!!  

Thanks to my wonderful coach for kicking my ass on a near-daily basis, my awesome ART guy Dr Justin Brink for keeping me from falling apart in between workouts, TrainingPeaks for the chance to represent them out there (discount code on the sidebar!), and my friends for the cheers and photos!