Baldwin Park Triathlon

I did it! My second sprint triathlon is done and done!

For a moment this morning I was scared it wasn’t going to happen.

I way underestimated how much time it would take me to get to the triathlon site as well as how much time I needed to set up once I was there. I learned a very important lesson: make sure to arrive at the site at least 1 hour pre-triathlon for all future events. Lesson learned!

I woke up at 5:45 (the race started at 7:00!) and quickly shoved an arnold’s thin with almond butter and fresh berries into my mouth.

Derek and I then bolted to Baldwin Park where I quickly grabbed my packet and headed to set up the transition area.

I only had about 10 minutes before the first wave was set to start and the guy with the bull horn kept yelling at me to hurry up! Talk about stress!

Luckily I was in the FOURTH wave so once we got to the water I had a moment to chill and relax.

The best part of any triathlon is being marked up. Every person I passed – or any person who passed me – I automatically checked their leg for race and age to see if they were direct competition. I think being marked up should be a requirement for every race event!

I lined up with the other pink caps and watched the first three waves of males take off.

Before I knew it, it was our turn to head into the water.

The water was disgusting! It was bath water warm and full of seaweed. Yuck!

After a 30 second countdown the whistle blew and a few dozen pink heads took off.

I started off feeling confident in the water, but once the whistle blew all of that confidence evaporated.

I was kicked immediately in both my right and left shoulder and I could feel people grabbing at my legs. All of a sudden I was claustrophobic and I knew I needed to get out of the crowd. Seaweed plus what felt like a million other girls trying to get past me was not a good combination. I held back, caught my breath and gave the pack a 30 second head start before taking off with the thinned out pack in the back.

Giving the other girls a head start was the best decision I could have made during the race. I felt much better in the back and no longer fearing the wrath of the other swimmers gave me a chance to relax. I was now swimming this race on my terms.

I pulled through the .75 kilometer swim by taking it a buoy at a time. Once I hit the first buoy I gave myself a mental pat on the back for being a third of the way done. One I made it to the second buoy I gave myself another pat for being two thirds. All of a sudden I could see the blue flags and it was time for the first transition!

Swim distance = .75 km Official time = 15:57

Thank god the swim is the first part of triathlons, I think I would drown if it was last!

Run to Transition Time = 00:05

I tried to keep it simple during transition.

I laid my socks out next to my shoes and decided to tackle putting those on first. Then I grabbed the Garmin ( Derek let me borrow his for the race), number belt, and helmet. I debated putting the shirt on I had brought, but decided putting a dry shirt over my wet body would take way to much effort.

First transition time = 02:24

I felt fast as soon as I got on the bike, but others were much faster.

The bike course consisted of 5 loops around Lake Baldwin, which means when I was taking off on my first lap many of the males were on their 3rd or 4th! I hugged the right side of the road and let the speed demons pass me without any fight.

I stuck to my guns and instead of worrying about the really fast males passed me, I concentrated on my form and my own abilities. This was a race with myself, no one else.

Having to do five laps of a course I know like the back of my hand may not be the most exciting part of the race, but at least it gave me a chance to ride by family of spectators along the course.

Hi Family!

Bye Family!

The funny part is when I first took off on the bike I didn’t know we were suppose to do 5 loops of the lake. It wasn’t until the 3rd lap that I heard someone yell something about it being 5 laps. Perhaps if I wasn’t let I would have picked up on that important piece of info before hand. Oh well.

At the end of my fifth lap I entered the transition area.

Bike Distance = 13.4 mile Time = 49:11

The second transition was easy. All I did was put my bike up, throw the helmet off, and took off!

Second transition time = 00:28

I love how they save my favorite part of any triathlon for last – the run!

The run is where I’m strong and the run was where I knew I would make up some ground. All I had to do was 2.7 miles. 2.7 miles? That’s nothing. I had this in the bag!

My goal was to maintain 8:00 min/ miles and I am happy to say I stayed right around that range. I planned to finish strong and that I did. I had no problem letting my competition pass me in the swim or on the bike, but the run Heck no! The run was all mine!

I started checking legs and seeking out any females with the ages 25-29 on their leg. These ladies were my direct competition and if I was secretly planning to place in my age group (I was) these ladies had to go down. I found my first girl with a 26 and passed her with ease. I found the second girl with a 27 on her leg, but she put up a little fight. I believe the words ‘oh, hell no’ escaped from her lips (said in a joking spirited voice of course ) as I ran by.

No one passed me on the run, but I did manage to pass quite a few runners. I felt awesome. The 2.7 miles flew by, I could have easily done 10 more!

I finished the run strong with a smile on my face.

Run Distance = 2.7 miles Time = 21:11 <— the fastest run time in my age group!

Official Finish Time = 1:29:29

3rd Place Female in 25 – 29 Age Group!

Considering the bike portion of the race was a full mile longer than my first triathlon I more than smashed my time goal!!! I was a happy girl this morning!

Two sprint triathlons down! Now it’s time to start thinking about that olympic distance and then perhaps a half ironman?

Lots of thanks to my trio of spectators!

Derek, Dad, and Maddie!

Maddie was a super cheerer! She always jumped for joy when I rode by.

We skipped the awards ceremony – of course now that I know I actually earned an award I’m kicking myself for that – and headed to my FAVORITE breakfast spot to celebrate.

Briar Patch has hands down the BEST pancakes out there, but since I just had pancakes yesterday I decided to order the Pear and Gorgonzola Egg White omelet with fresh fruit and dry wheat toast.

The pear and gorgonzola omelet was ummm… interesting. These flavors work well together in salad form, but their not quite omelet material.

Maddie had a BIG morning of spectating and could barely keep her eyes open at breakfast!

“Take me home. I need sleep!”

I need sleep too!

Another day, another race, another personal victory.

Rock on!