Seafair Sprint Triathlon

Saturday morning I went through my pre-race workouts. Karen, Lee and I went up to Seattle to pick up our race packet. As always traffic seems to be a key theme when trying to go either north or south from Lakewood. We picked up our packets and looked around the expo. I decided to switch into the elite wave. Lee liked the idea and did the same. Especially since they were willing to give him his favorite number 51. I went back to look at the start list and saw a lot of fast names. I decided to switch back to age group. The real question would be, "Would I regret it?"

Afterward we went to Speedy Reedy to pick up a few items and off to lunch for some Thai food.

I usually don't sleep well the night before any race. My brain is working overtime. I got a great night of sleep. I woke up just before my alarm 3:35am. Woo Hoo!!! I ate breakfast, cleaned up, and headed out the door.

The highlight of the drive up was seeing 6 cop cars with guns drawn and a person on their knees with their hands in the air.

We arrived at the race site at 5:15am. We parked about 200 meters away. I definitely recommend getting there early. Especially since I heard there were 2000 athletes registered.

It makes transitions so much faster when you are the first one to the rack. I set everything up and headed out for a bike. I decided to ride most of the course since this was my first time doing the race. I was surprised to see that we ride up the same short steep hill that we ran for Seattle Rock n' Roll Half. I felt like there was a lot of cross wind on Lake Washington and I-90. I racked my bike and headed out for a quick short run since time was running out. I grabbed the wetsuit and headed to the water.



My goal for the race was to be under 1:03(11:00 swim, 30:.30 bike, 19:00 run). This is me with my serious face. Some call this Funstomper!!!



SWIM
My wave started fourth. I felt strong in my Xterra Vendetta. A few people started with me. I dropped them before the first turn. I start to catch several of the swimmers in the earlier heat. At one point I felt my hand on some one's butt. Needless to say, don't do crack!!! Once I reached the shore I stood up and started running (maybe a little bit early). 11:07.

BIKE
I was in T-1 for just over a minute. I was glad to cut 2 inches off the legs. The wetsuit came right off. I grabbed the bike and headed out. I went to put my left foot in the shoe while on the bike and pulled the strap out. Two races in a row. I am getting pretty good at a refeeding the strap back through. I need to stop pulling so hard! I passed a lot of people. At times it was frustrating because some riders thought they owned the entire lane. I loved the guys who tried to catch a draft off me. It was entertaining. I passed Karen with just over a mile to go. 30:33.

RUN
I was in T-2 for less than a minute. I racked my bike, put my Newtons on, grabbed my race number, and was off. Right before we started the swim Karen mentioned there was a hill on the run. I thought no big deal. Right? I felt good on the run until I got to the hill. I understand the concept of a relatively flat course. It means there will be a little up and down. This was a lot up. Once I crested, I was able to get back into a rhythm after a bit. I came flying down the hill and knew there was less than a mile to go. I pushed hard all the way to the end. 18:52.

I achieved my goal. 1:02.36. I won my age group and placed 8th overall. The race felt much better than Blue Lake last month. It almost felt too easy. I know I can sustain this pace for an Olympic Tri. I'll have to wait and see. Next time I will stay in the elite wave, less chaos (goonie-goo-goos to pass). Great job to Karen (1st in her age group) and Lee (16th overall).

Here we are standing with our team sponsor.