Race Report – Stanford Treeathlon
Morning of the Stanford Treeathlon, I woke up at 5:00 AM and had a cup of coffee to myself. I sat there thinking about last year’s race season: the highs, the lows, the in-betweens, the crashes, the victories and the soreness. I then thought about this year’s race season: the short, the retro, the escape, the wedding and then a slew of 70.3’s. As my first coffee kicked in, I was getting excited.
The course was set in Redwood City, just over an hour away. I had the honor of bringing an additional bike (The Muscle) for an old friend from Western Michigan University who would be racing, Jason Weeby!
After athlete check-in, I went to transition to setup and saw a good old friend. Penni from Finish Line Productions was right in the middle of the action making sure all of the t’s were crossed and I’s were dotted. Major kudos to @FinishLineProductions !!!!!
Sara and I walked 6/10’s of a mile over to the swim start. We were lucky to experience the college school cheers as the collegiate athletes entered the water. Since the swim was in a harbor in the San Francisco Bay…mirkiness ensued.
Got a good SCTA pic with Gunnar Roll prior to the swim. Figured I’d see him again on the swim as he passed me, but he was so fast I couldn’t get a good lock!
Swim: 12:37.0 (500 meters) – BOOM! My swim was off. Zone 5 right off the gun until the first buoy. I got this, no problem. I’m in the front pack. Draft this guy. Okay he’s too fast…draft that guy. Wait, am I in the front pack? My arms are tired…oh geez! Okay, the swim is done…wait, I now have a half mile run back to transition…barefoot! Ugh!
T1: 1:08.7 – Watched a video with Andy Potts and learned how to properly disrobe my wetsuit…it worked! Grabbed my bike and ran out of transition…not before I said hi to Penni again.
Bike: 32:56.9 (20k; 12.4 miles) – Three loops. Lolly pop style. All I know is that I don’t have the same legs as the end of last year when I could push my big ring a bit hard. My legs hurt and my derailleur was a bit off. A few tight turns and the road bumps made eating the chomps a bit gooey (get it? Yeah…nvm).
“Dondis!!!!!!” That’s right, fellow LAXer’s. A WMU lacrosse reunion in California as Mr. Jason Weeby rocked the Stanford Treeathlon!
Another familiar face, but I didn’t recognize him with the helmet on. Major props out to Josh Olmeda!
T2: 41.9 – Unlocked my shoes and hammered the pedals to the turn. Hopped over the bike to one side and in the midst of my dismount saw Johan yelling at me to have one foot down before the dismount line. I jumped off the bike into a full sprint. My shoes are a bit dangly so they kept hitting the ground so I had to hold my back tire off the ground a bit. Helmet off, Zoot tri shoes on, grab the race belt and off we go!!!
Run: 22:33.7 (5k; 3.1 miles) – An out and back without a view except the runners that are in pain, but will finish before you. I was in a manageable pain until the turn around and then I was passed by an athlete with “30” on his left calf. My Age Group! Okay…stay on his heels, we got this. I’ll just sprint past him at the finish. Wait…no way. Is he running 6:15’s? That’s fine. I can do this. (2 minutes later). I think my lungs are going to explode!!!! Hey! There’s Sara. Wow, I really do love her!
Sprint time of 1:09:58.2 – A successful race to kick off the season! I sometimes I feel that these shorter distances are made for me as I’m a sprinter, not necessarily a long-haul type of guy.
