I went to bed in my tri clothes, even with the timing chip strapped on my ankle. Got up at 4am, brushed teeth, shaved and drove to Nancy Russell’s house where we were picked up by Todd Law. He drove us to Guernville. I realized somewhere along the way that I had forgotten my water bottle (with Perpetuum) in the refrigerator at home. I called Roy Asprer who hadn’t left his house yet, and he kindly offered to make me up a bottle and bring it along. That worked perfectly. Thanks, again, Roy!
I ate my usual banana, and also a Clif bar. I waited through the potty line twice. About 7:30 I got in the water; it felt pretty good to finally get going. There was still a little chill in the air, the marine layer was still hanging around (it finally cleared about 9:30am).
7:34 and the 50+ men were off! I swam the whole way, even though there were a number of places the river was so shallow that my finger tips would scrape the bottom. That was a good reminder to me, though, to keep my elbows up as I follow through with my strokes. I usually start at the back of the pack, but this year I started near the front. I got into a fairly good rhythm, with no major bumps, and finished in 45:30. My watch showed 26 minutes at the turn-around, so the return was considerably faster. Transition was fairly smooth, although I struggled too much getting off my wet suit. And my sunglesses fogged up right away, and didn’t totally clear till I started biking. I took my gloves, and put them on while I was riding. I was debating about even wearing my gloves, since they are difficult to put on over wet hands. But, as I would find out later, wearing the gloves was more than appropriate for this day. I ran up the hill with my bike, and actually beat some others trying to ride up the short incline.
I felt strong on the bike, and was taking all the curves in aero position. One new experience for me on a 70.3–I had to stop to pee. I felt that I had not drunk/ate enough the week before in training, so I wanted to make sure that did not happen today. I wonder if my desire to eat and hydrate properly, that I overdid the drinking. I ate both my packages of clif shot blocks, lots of water from my aero bottle, and about half my bottle with Perpetuum.
Then another new experience–I fell off my bike. Two miles before the finish, a young, oblivious hot-shot empty-head cut me off on the corner, even though I screamed at him to hold back. There were already three of us trying to negotiate the left turn in close proximity. I pulled out of my areos to try an maneuver towards the outside of the corner a bit, but in the process, nicked the back wheel of anohter bike. I was the only one who went down. Several volunteers were there immediately to help me clip out of my left pedal, and check how badly I was hurt. I had visions of the last, and only, time I had fallen off my bike during a triathlon (Treasure Island in 2003). That time I broke my right clavicle. This time I had also fallen on my right side. So I rolled to my left and put the weight on my left arm to get up. I stood up cautiously, tentatively, and luckily I could move all my body parts. Other than dripping blood on my clothes, gloves, bike and the ground, I had no serious injury. With the help of one of the volunteers I checked over my bike. The only impediment to proper operation of the bike was that the speed/cadence sensor on a rear wheel spoke had been knocked out of alignment. After trying in vain to realign it, I finally unscrewed it and put it in my pocket. I clipped back in and rode the last two miles.
Even with the potty break and the fall, I finished the bike ride in 3:11, only 5 minutes off my PR for Vineman.
I spent some time at T2 pouring water over my shoulder, arm and leg, and wiping off the blood, but I felt ok for continuing, and started on the run. And I did run the whole way, with the one exception of the 11th mile, where I just had to walk for a while. I had started drinking some of the coke at the aid stations; I think it may have contributed to a slightly upset stomach. I started feeling better though by mile 12 and picked my pace back up. It was hot on the run, but not as bad as last year, and there was a little breeze blowing. I did take my belt with water bottle, which I think helped, despite the extra weight. I saw Alicia, Andrew, Neil, Roy and Nancy all running on the other side of the road (they were on their way back–all finishing ahead of me, but it gave me extra encouragement to see them on the course). I crossed the finish in a flourish, passing several people in the chute. I clocked 6:35:24, which, as I discovered by checking the records on Monday, is actually a PR for me (this was my 7th Vineman 70.3).
I went to the first aid station, and asked them to take care of my scrapes so they would not get infected. It took a while, but a courteous pre-med student patiently cleaned up and bandaged my wounds. Unfortunately, there was no food left by the time I got done with First Aid.
Thanks so much to the kind volunteers who helped me when I fell, and took care of me at the medical tent. And thanks to Neil, TMF, TriClub Marin and everyone who helped me prepare for this race. And thanks to my friend Leslie, who volunteered for the race, helped me through the finish and to the first aid. It really helped to swim/ride/run the course so many times this year before the race. At the beginning of the race itself, it seemed a bit anti-climactic, but it certainly did not turn out that way!
Trications and Tri50+ 