The 2nd Annual Santa Fe Triathlon was this weekend at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center. The cost of the tri increased $5 over last year's (early registration) fee (from $50 to $55), but since I enjoyed the race last year, I decided to go for it again. As far as I saw, Tina, Kim Katco, myself, and one guy I didn't know but was in uniform (sorry, Mister) represented the Triatomics.
The day promised to be a scorcher, with no clouds and a predicted 90+ degree high. Fortunately, the organizers mitigated this by starting the race at 6:30am. I'm not much of a morning person, but I did appreciate being done long before the temperature really climbed.
Around 280 people showed to race, and as usual, it was a squeeze to find a place to rack the bike (it didn't help that I was a bit late after a quick run-in with the SF policia -- who knew that if the light turns red while you're under it, that counts as running the light?). Parking is at the nearby fairgrounds, so it's a couple-minute walk with your stuff... not a big deal.
This sprint tri is a run-bike-swim. The run start was moved a bit this year to start on the street instead of in the parking lot. This was nice, since there was no squeezing to wind around/through the parking lot exit. They extended the run near the end to make up the difference. The first 3/4-ish miles is on Rodeo, part of which is blocked off from traffic for the runners, heading downhill toward's Sam's club. There was plenty of room to pass, which was important since it was a bulk start, and I passed a bunch of folks before I found people going at a good pace. Then the route cuts onto trail (some paved, some hard-packed dirt - all easy and decently wide), and it's a winding, very low-grade uphill back up to the GCCC. This year they had timing clocks at miles 1, 2 and the end, so you could track your mile-by-mile pace. I enjoyed this and was psyched at my 7:20 first mile. Of course, that was downhill. There was an oddly placed water station just after the 1st mile - it was supposed to be at 1.5mi, but oh well. The run ends with a quick uphill to get around the GCCC - I came in just under my my goal time and moved on to the bike.
The bike is an out-and-back, heading south on Richards, past the SF community college, west/SW on Avenida del Sur, and then east on A Van Nu Po. It's rolling terrain with very little traffic, the latter due to both the early start and the fantastic support this race provides. Although technically an open course, they have a load of cops and volunteers to help with the various intersections and 2 roundabouts. Excepting one section of glass, the road(s) were in good condition with little debris. With some wind and the rollers (and most likely my effort on the run), though, I had trouble maintaining the speed I'd hoped for on the ride and missed my goal time for that event. I believe they changed the end of the bike route to make it less of a jumble at the parking lot entrance/exit, which was nice, though it's possible it was like that last year and I just don't remember.
The T1 and T2 times are not separated at this race and are rolled into the bike time (as far as I can tell, based on my own timing). Also, the transitions are a bit longer than some other races. The transition area is a bit long in length, and there is a downhill run to the pool which, in barefeet especially, adds a little time. Anyhow, I got by bike racked and ran down to the pool.
The pool area was warm, but the water felt OK. Last year some folks complained that the water temp was too warm, but I thought it was fine both years. The lanes are nice and wide -- 3 people can swim abreast without too much irritation, and that's saying something coming from me, who is still trying to get comfortable with that many people in the water around me. This makes it nice since I did actually pass some people, so I could get in the middle of the lane on occasion and still leave room on the left for the others who were still passing me like mad. Excepting an early-on foot cramp, the swim was pretty standard for me, and I popped out and ran to the outside finish.
The after-race events included decent food (fruit, drinks, and bagels with cream cheese, jam, or lunch meats & cheese) and a free massage booth. I didn't hang around for the massage this year, though I did last year and it was great -- just get your name on the list early! The end-of-race area doesn't have many places to sit and is mostly in the sun, so it's not really conducive for hanging out, unless you really want to stay for the awards ceremony.
Overall, I beat my last year's time by a few minutes, shaving off time mostly in the run and a little in the swim, but losing a smidge in the bike/transitions. I like this race because it's local; it starts early; it's extremely well-supported and well-organized; the course is very well-marked, fun, & has little traffic; and they provide good food and massage at the end. Swag bags are standard, with a water bottle, cotton T-shirt, and a few ads/samples. Although maybe a bit pricey for a sprint distance, I do think they try to give you your money's worth.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Swim/Cycle Series #4: Heron Lake
Where: Heron Lake
What: Open water swim (~1 hr.) + Bike (~2 hr.)
When: Sunday, Jul. 26
Time: 8 a.m.
Optional: camp out Saturday
Since Cochiti was so bloody hot last weekend and started out with dubious air quality, I propose changing venues and heading up to Heron. We'll aim for a Sunday morning swim/ride, as well as a Sat ride for those that show up early. We may be there Fri p.m., so give me a heads up if you want to meet for a ride. T-mobile service will invariably be spotty.
Lake Heron is ~90 miles north on the 84.
Here's the campground map: (I believe campsites were $8/night, cash only)
And estimated water temp.
Rachael's excellent report from last year's Heron trip.
Unless there is a better suggestion, the east side of Willow Creek seemed like a good set of campsites and swim start point. More details to come on carpool location/time. I recall a substantial distance from supplies/beer, so definitely stock up.
Good luck to all of the participants this weekend! Santa Fe, Mountain Man, Vineman!!!!
What: Open water swim (~1 hr.) + Bike (~2 hr.)
When: Sunday, Jul. 26
Time: 8 a.m.
Optional: camp out Saturday
Since Cochiti was so bloody hot last weekend and started out with dubious air quality, I propose changing venues and heading up to Heron. We'll aim for a Sunday morning swim/ride, as well as a Sat ride for those that show up early. We may be there Fri p.m., so give me a heads up if you want to meet for a ride. T-mobile service will invariably be spotty.
Lake Heron is ~90 miles north on the 84.
Here's the campground map: (I believe campsites were $8/night, cash only)
And estimated water temp.
Rachael's excellent report from last year's Heron trip.
Unless there is a better suggestion, the east side of Willow Creek seemed like a good set of campsites and swim start point. More details to come on carpool location/time. I recall a substantial distance from supplies/beer, so definitely stock up.
Good luck to all of the participants this weekend! Santa Fe, Mountain Man, Vineman!!!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Cochiti Swim/Cycle Series #3 -> this Sunday
For those of you not participating in the Tour, we'll gather at Sullivan @ 7 am to do a brick at Cochiti this Sunday, the 12th. Based on the forecast, it should be a warm one. See you there.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Dirt Tri Race Report
Dirt tri in Albuquerque was this Sunday! We were lucky to have Clay's godparents watching Mila which meant no crazy early wake up for her and plenty of time to ourselves pre-race. Happens so rarely now I didnt know what to do with it!
Another huge plus was that Clay is quite into off-road tris this summer and wanted to fit in at least 3 to get a USAT ranking in off-road. Sounds easy to us 'road tri' people, but off-road tris arent as easy to come by, which means more travel and consequently more stress scheduling each with the whole family. Plus, my mtn biking is in serious need of work so I cant really participate in most off -road tris with Clay which does take the family fun out of it. Hence the ideal dirt tri - near by and simple enough for even Dina's mtn bike skills AND a babysitter to allow us both to do it - WOHOO!
On to the race - it was on the grounds of the Albq Academy private school. I've never been at one and this one is nicer than most university grounds I've experienced - wow! Since this is all fenced off, its well protected from any traffic - great for any first timers and kids in particular!
The start was interesting, 100yard mass dash to bikes layed out near the mount line. Well, ok, for some of us, not so much a 'dash' as a limpy jog in your bike shoes through lumpy grass, slippery cement and sandy dirt. Dont think I care for this start, but definitely interesting to try. Once I got to the bikes I realized I wasnt sure exactly where I layed mine down- seemed to be the case for some others too as they were running from bike to bike looking! Thank goodness for the bright red sides on my bike seat!
Anyway, off on the bike which started with a few hundred yards of pavement - ech! hate pavement with mtn bike tires! Anyway, I started biking like I'm used to in a tri and wondering what the heck the others are doing dawdling. Not that I'm that fast at all, but the biking style and general feeling was nothing like a road tri. Guess those off-road people are different. No one was even trying to breathe hard - I slowed down to make sure I wasnt missing something. Then I figured that who cares and passed as many people as I could before we got on the 'dirt'.... and then my fear of sand and any other such unreliable surfaces to bike on kicked in nicely! After a few slippery moments and freak outs due to people all around me (!) it all got better. The first bit is mostly a gradual up which I'm perfectly happy with and I was still passing people.
Do note, this is the world's easiest off-road event. Any dramatization is due solely to the fact that I have a panic attack just thinking of any descent on even slightly sandy or gravely surface and it is further compounded with having people all around me with all the passing and avoiding! I can barely avoid bushes - moving people are a lot harder! :)
Anyway, biking uphill was nice and I realized that despite having mtn biked less than 10 times in the past 4 years and only 5 of them on this bike this is quite fun and the bike felt great! Thanks to Paul Graham Outfitters for my awesome Stumpjumper! Also, thanks to me for thinking to lock out the shocks - they were so not necessary and the bouncing was really annoying on the warm up. Anyway, the uphill ended as they all do and the downhill started (again, here is some Dina-dramatization: SANDY DOWNHILL! WITH TURNS AT BOTTOM! MASSIVE PANIC! PEOPLE COMING UP BEHIND ME AS I START BREAKING UNCONTROLLABLY! Wow, total fiasco! I all but let go of the steering assuming I'm about to seriously eat it in the bushes and I was trying to figure out which would be softer and then it all worked out - I guess 'letting the bike go" was the thing to do - YEAH! Amazingly I stayed up fine, although I was seriously hyperventilating and my hands were numb from the elbows down from squeezing so hard. Due to all this panic, the downhills were actually a lot more aerobically taxing for me than any uphills!
Then before the next downhill I calmed down enough to realize that these dirt bike wierdos really work the downhill! LIKE CRAZY! Good for them, but then it makes you wonder even more when they barely make it up the next hill, no matter how gentle and easy it may be - What The Heck?! Is it some unofficial off-road thing to not work at all on anything that's against gravity?! This strange difference in approach (and my breaking on the downhills which DID get better towards the end! :) resulted in HUGE yo-yoing between me about 25 people.
Once I got over the surprises the whole thing was a lot of fun! I didnt fall, but in a few really deep arroyos ended up having to dismount in the deeper sand pits. Not too bad. Finishign the bike was on the same pavement stretch and as I turned onto it Clay was already running on it (that means he is finishing his run!). He cheered for me (yay! :). Anyway, I biked into the transition wondering if I can do the run due to painfully strained muscle from the SnD earlier that week. I figured I was going to walk the run, so why rush - I waited for Clay to run into T2 and head into the pool with a ridiculous lead! WoHOO!
I started the run but letting everyone pass me and then realized that running isnt hurting as much as it was earlier! So I sped up and ended up passing some people back - not too bad when you were expecting to have to walk! :) Anyway, ran the rest of the run fine if very slowly, even tried to draft off a 9-year-old boy half the size of my right leg in a bad headwind. As you can imagine it was very helpful to me and gives you the idea of my overall speed and location in the race pack! :) Finally got to T2. Pretty fun so far!
Stripped down to the swimsuit - no small feat with being all sticky! and headed into the pool. Got to pass loads of people before I finished - with the swim last it's always a fun race for me! And Laury and Clay cheered for me - super YAY!
Great stuff. Called to check on Mila, she was all good, so we had to wait for awards (frikin Clay and his doing well! :) But then the total bummer part came. They decided to DQ Clay because he took a wrong turn on the course mainly due to the fact that he was so far ahead volunteers didnt make it to that intersection yet and so no one directed him. That bites. Really. Couldnt believe what a good sport Clay was about the whole thing. Said he understood and tried to make Patrick feel better about having to deliver bad news and then thanked him again for a great event. Didnt complain once even after we left and it was just me and him. Gotta love him! :))))) I was REALLY bummed but since he was being so cool and positive I figured I'd better hold my whining in. Plus, we dont have to stick around for awards now so we can go get Mila sooner. Gotta focus on the positive! :)
Now Clay doesnt have three off-road tris and the next one he can do overlaps with Socorro which is closer, we both can do and love to support! So he will likely stick to doing Socorro instead. ARGH!
In view of this I was thinking that things (events etc) are always aimed at the middle of the pack. You cant help that. So now I realize when someone is reviewing an event is important to know hwere they were in the race - front? middle? last? I'm usually middle and from that perspective this Dirt Tri was very racer friendly and well organized. However, I've been completely DFL before - xc ski race marathon. I was just starting the second half of it when they packed away all aid stations - every single one and later realized it and left a cup and a GU out for me in the snow at the last few - I was almost crying the whole last 3 miles. Then when I finished the finishline was already put away and the race dir was saying "that's all for the bbq and the raffle, thanks for coming, everyone!" You can imagine my race review wouldnt have been most positive even though I know I was crazy slow by all 'middle of pack' expectations.
I also got lucky to lead a race once - ok, not in real time, but it was a TT start with swim first and I was well by myself through most of the swim. Aside from the excitement it was also a royal pain - when I tried to turn the last bouy the kayaker volunteer grabbed on to my suit and wouldnt let me turn to shore thinking I have to do another lap because they didnt realize I was leading. That was a fun little fight. Then on the bike I had no one to follow and lets just say course marking shouldnt EVER be commented on by people who have a few dozen other racers to follow. I had to turn around twice because the volunteers (and more frighteningly: police and traffic control!) apparently dont get their stuff together until the first few racers get them ready by getting lost (hopefully just lost and not getting hit by cars!). Lovely! While I did enjoy the lead car (it was late, but did finally arrive and lead me in on the way back) I certainly had a whole lot more respect for anyone leading the race - its downright dangerous for them! This is another reason I'm such a controlling b*tch when it comes to directing/organizing lead car/police stuff on Atomic Man race day!
Anyway, based on that, it still really bums me out the Dirt Tri went with the DQ. Again, more kudos to my fantastic husband who complimented the race the whole time and still is - what a great sport and a great role model for Mila!
...And I do highly recommend the event, particularly as your first off-road - lots of fun both the course and afterwards (they had sub sandwiches and homemade cookies and a live band for awards!). And for those who get nervous about the crowds in the pool - this is your race - no crowds! They use two pools so people only have to do each lane once and this isnt a huge race, a combination which makes for clean easy passing/getting passed without much clustering or stress.
Another huge plus was that Clay is quite into off-road tris this summer and wanted to fit in at least 3 to get a USAT ranking in off-road. Sounds easy to us 'road tri' people, but off-road tris arent as easy to come by, which means more travel and consequently more stress scheduling each with the whole family. Plus, my mtn biking is in serious need of work so I cant really participate in most off -road tris with Clay which does take the family fun out of it. Hence the ideal dirt tri - near by and simple enough for even Dina's mtn bike skills AND a babysitter to allow us both to do it - WOHOO!
On to the race - it was on the grounds of the Albq Academy private school. I've never been at one and this one is nicer than most university grounds I've experienced - wow! Since this is all fenced off, its well protected from any traffic - great for any first timers and kids in particular!
The start was interesting, 100yard mass dash to bikes layed out near the mount line. Well, ok, for some of us, not so much a 'dash' as a limpy jog in your bike shoes through lumpy grass, slippery cement and sandy dirt. Dont think I care for this start, but definitely interesting to try. Once I got to the bikes I realized I wasnt sure exactly where I layed mine down- seemed to be the case for some others too as they were running from bike to bike looking! Thank goodness for the bright red sides on my bike seat!
Anyway, off on the bike which started with a few hundred yards of pavement - ech! hate pavement with mtn bike tires! Anyway, I started biking like I'm used to in a tri and wondering what the heck the others are doing dawdling. Not that I'm that fast at all, but the biking style and general feeling was nothing like a road tri. Guess those off-road people are different. No one was even trying to breathe hard - I slowed down to make sure I wasnt missing something. Then I figured that who cares and passed as many people as I could before we got on the 'dirt'.... and then my fear of sand and any other such unreliable surfaces to bike on kicked in nicely! After a few slippery moments and freak outs due to people all around me (!) it all got better. The first bit is mostly a gradual up which I'm perfectly happy with and I was still passing people.
Do note, this is the world's easiest off-road event. Any dramatization is due solely to the fact that I have a panic attack just thinking of any descent on even slightly sandy or gravely surface and it is further compounded with having people all around me with all the passing and avoiding! I can barely avoid bushes - moving people are a lot harder! :)
Anyway, biking uphill was nice and I realized that despite having mtn biked less than 10 times in the past 4 years and only 5 of them on this bike this is quite fun and the bike felt great! Thanks to Paul Graham Outfitters for my awesome Stumpjumper! Also, thanks to me for thinking to lock out the shocks - they were so not necessary and the bouncing was really annoying on the warm up. Anyway, the uphill ended as they all do and the downhill started (again, here is some Dina-dramatization: SANDY DOWNHILL! WITH TURNS AT BOTTOM! MASSIVE PANIC! PEOPLE COMING UP BEHIND ME AS I START BREAKING UNCONTROLLABLY! Wow, total fiasco! I all but let go of the steering assuming I'm about to seriously eat it in the bushes and I was trying to figure out which would be softer and then it all worked out - I guess 'letting the bike go" was the thing to do - YEAH! Amazingly I stayed up fine, although I was seriously hyperventilating and my hands were numb from the elbows down from squeezing so hard. Due to all this panic, the downhills were actually a lot more aerobically taxing for me than any uphills!
Then before the next downhill I calmed down enough to realize that these dirt bike wierdos really work the downhill! LIKE CRAZY! Good for them, but then it makes you wonder even more when they barely make it up the next hill, no matter how gentle and easy it may be - What The Heck?! Is it some unofficial off-road thing to not work at all on anything that's against gravity?! This strange difference in approach (and my breaking on the downhills which DID get better towards the end! :) resulted in HUGE yo-yoing between me about 25 people.
Once I got over the surprises the whole thing was a lot of fun! I didnt fall, but in a few really deep arroyos ended up having to dismount in the deeper sand pits. Not too bad. Finishign the bike was on the same pavement stretch and as I turned onto it Clay was already running on it (that means he is finishing his run!). He cheered for me (yay! :). Anyway, I biked into the transition wondering if I can do the run due to painfully strained muscle from the SnD earlier that week. I figured I was going to walk the run, so why rush - I waited for Clay to run into T2 and head into the pool with a ridiculous lead! WoHOO!
I started the run but letting everyone pass me and then realized that running isnt hurting as much as it was earlier! So I sped up and ended up passing some people back - not too bad when you were expecting to have to walk! :) Anyway, ran the rest of the run fine if very slowly, even tried to draft off a 9-year-old boy half the size of my right leg in a bad headwind. As you can imagine it was very helpful to me and gives you the idea of my overall speed and location in the race pack! :) Finally got to T2. Pretty fun so far!
Stripped down to the swimsuit - no small feat with being all sticky! and headed into the pool. Got to pass loads of people before I finished - with the swim last it's always a fun race for me! And Laury and Clay cheered for me - super YAY!
Great stuff. Called to check on Mila, she was all good, so we had to wait for awards (frikin Clay and his doing well! :) But then the total bummer part came. They decided to DQ Clay because he took a wrong turn on the course mainly due to the fact that he was so far ahead volunteers didnt make it to that intersection yet and so no one directed him. That bites. Really. Couldnt believe what a good sport Clay was about the whole thing. Said he understood and tried to make Patrick feel better about having to deliver bad news and then thanked him again for a great event. Didnt complain once even after we left and it was just me and him. Gotta love him! :))))) I was REALLY bummed but since he was being so cool and positive I figured I'd better hold my whining in. Plus, we dont have to stick around for awards now so we can go get Mila sooner. Gotta focus on the positive! :)
Now Clay doesnt have three off-road tris and the next one he can do overlaps with Socorro which is closer, we both can do and love to support! So he will likely stick to doing Socorro instead. ARGH!
In view of this I was thinking that things (events etc) are always aimed at the middle of the pack. You cant help that. So now I realize when someone is reviewing an event is important to know hwere they were in the race - front? middle? last? I'm usually middle and from that perspective this Dirt Tri was very racer friendly and well organized. However, I've been completely DFL before - xc ski race marathon. I was just starting the second half of it when they packed away all aid stations - every single one and later realized it and left a cup and a GU out for me in the snow at the last few - I was almost crying the whole last 3 miles. Then when I finished the finishline was already put away and the race dir was saying "that's all for the bbq and the raffle, thanks for coming, everyone!" You can imagine my race review wouldnt have been most positive even though I know I was crazy slow by all 'middle of pack' expectations.
I also got lucky to lead a race once - ok, not in real time, but it was a TT start with swim first and I was well by myself through most of the swim. Aside from the excitement it was also a royal pain - when I tried to turn the last bouy the kayaker volunteer grabbed on to my suit and wouldnt let me turn to shore thinking I have to do another lap because they didnt realize I was leading. That was a fun little fight. Then on the bike I had no one to follow and lets just say course marking shouldnt EVER be commented on by people who have a few dozen other racers to follow. I had to turn around twice because the volunteers (and more frighteningly: police and traffic control!) apparently dont get their stuff together until the first few racers get them ready by getting lost (hopefully just lost and not getting hit by cars!). Lovely! While I did enjoy the lead car (it was late, but did finally arrive and lead me in on the way back) I certainly had a whole lot more respect for anyone leading the race - its downright dangerous for them! This is another reason I'm such a controlling b*tch when it comes to directing/organizing lead car/police stuff on Atomic Man race day!
Anyway, based on that, it still really bums me out the Dirt Tri went with the DQ. Again, more kudos to my fantastic husband who complimented the race the whole time and still is - what a great sport and a great role model for Mila!
...And I do highly recommend the event, particularly as your first off-road - lots of fun both the course and afterwards (they had sub sandwiches and homemade cookies and a live band for awards!). And for those who get nervous about the crowds in the pool - this is your race - no crowds! They use two pools so people only have to do each lane once and this isnt a huge race, a combination which makes for clean easy passing/getting passed without much clustering or stress.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Swim/Cycle Series Episode #2
Despite a less than desirable forecast, the day started off alright. Air temps ~70, probably the same for the water, overcast. The water level dropped significantly from last week.
(L to R: Max Light, Ben Davis, Bill Bearden, Bill Geist, Kim Meyer, Liz Miller, Peter Song, Paul Graham)
After a 2700 meter swim (thanks to Taraka for the kayak chaperone), we mounted the bikes for a long ride. The inclement weather caught up to us, however, and we finished a ~30 mile ride nicely wet. Al round good time, judging from the smiles. Thanks for coming everyone! Tentative repeat on July 12th.
Thanks Jian for the pictures!
(L to R: Max Light, Ben Davis, Bill Bearden, Bill Geist, Kim Meyer, Liz Miller, Peter Song, Paul Graham)After a 2700 meter swim (thanks to Taraka for the kayak chaperone), we mounted the bikes for a long ride. The inclement weather caught up to us, however, and we finished a ~30 mile ride nicely wet. Al round good time, judging from the smiles. Thanks for coming everyone! Tentative repeat on July 12th.
Thanks Jian for the pictures!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Carpool to Mtn Man?
Looking for anyone that is going (or wants to go) to Mtn Man in Flagstaff. Would like to carpool. Please contact Ben @ 310-4835 or trimainiac@gmail.com
Swim/Cycle Series, episode #1
I think everyone had a good time last Sunday at Cochiti. The weather was excellent, the water quite nice (67-68 if I heard Tina correctly), and *I* missed the dogs.
Thanks to Bill for the use of his kayak and Taraka for chaperoning the swim.
For those of you not going to the Buff this weekend, we'll gather at Sullivan Field this Sunday @ 7 am for another round. This time a few of us will be swimming longer (~1 hr) and going for a longer ride. Hopefully the weather will hold.
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