And the Season Has Begun...

AKA: Desert Tri Race Report

After a few long but very fun months of base training I decided it was time to get back in the swing of things with a little race. Was not too sure how good of an idea it would be in the end as I was coming off a very tough block of training and the weather reports were calling for rain... again! None-the-less I headed out to Palm Desert with Andrea and Eddie for a fun weekend.

Couldn't really find it in me to get all excited for this race. It's still pretty early in the year, and I have done no race prep thus far, just base. Excited to see how the arms and legs would respond.

Twenty minutes before my wave went off, I went down to the lake to get in a little warm-up swim. Turned to Andrea to zip up the wetsuit, and... the zipper breaks. I ripped off the wetsuit to take a look and realize it is very broken. I had remembered seeing Wetsuitrental.com in the expo area, so I took a chance and ran over. I pled my case to the girl working there as she was putting the wetsuits away. Luckily she was super cool and nice and set about finding me something to wear. Found a wetsuit that was OK, a little big, but had to work. I am very indebted to Wetsuitrental.com!!! Thanks for allowing me to race.

So I got back down to the lake with about five minutes before my wave went off. I ran full charge into the water, not my usual tip-toeing in and try to warm up as fast as possible.

The start was a beach start, but no true corral, so everyone was spread out along the shore. I took up a position that I thought would give me a nice line to the first buoy and off we went. Swim was pretty uneventful. I really think all the swimming I have been doing this winter is paying off; if not in speed, then in confidence in the water. It seems I have not forgotten how to site either!

Once out of the water I had to struggle to get off the borrowed wetsuit, and hopped onto Speed Racer. We have only been reunited for two rides, so I was not sure how it would go. That coupled by the fact that rain started to fall about five minutes in made for not the most ideal racing conditions.The good news was the course was pretty much a big rectangle, so nothing technical to crash on. The bad news was my legs do not like being cold, so I had a really hard time getting my cadence where it should have been. Rode conservative, but had a good bike none-the-less.


T2 was a bit of a mess for me. As I approached the dismount line on the bike, I loosened my shoe straps and tried to slip out my feet. They wouldn't come out! Seems being soaked with rain makes the quick dismount impossible. So into T2 I ran carrying my shoes. Threw on the running shoes and headed out. But something not right... Were my shoes on? Were they on the right feet? Had to stop dead in my tracks to check it out. Sure enough my shoes were on correctly, but my feet were so frozen I couldn't tell.


The run was pretty uneventful as well. Between frozen feet, frozen legs and running on uneven terrain, I didn't feel it was my best effort. Just tried to give it all I had on that day and enjoy my favorite part of the race. Felt better as I continued to warm up on the run, and the 10K flew by.

Felt like I had a solid race; just where I should be right now. Tried out some things and found out what I need to work on in the coming months. Can't wait for my first real race of the season... Wildflower!