Kirkland Triathlon Race Report

OVL PLACE & TIME DIVPL SWIM T&PL T1 BIKE T&PL T2 RUN T&PL
280/791 1:29:39 14/62 0:12:26 55 2:22 0:46:29 491 1:26 0:26:55 487

I signed up for this race to keep myself motivated to train (at least a bit) through my transition to Seattle. This race was a sprint distance (.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 5k run) and I was looking forward to the shorter distances. Went to packet pickup the day before the race since I am still at the point here that I have to put everything into google maps to see where I’m going. The race took place in what they call “East Seattle” which means on the other side of Lake Washington from where I live, near Microsoft. It only took me about 15 minutes to get there with most of my driving time on two bridges crossing parts of the lake. Things looked good (even a decent t-shirt) and I walked the transition area to get a feel for the venue. It was a good-sized race with about 1200 race numbers out on the racks. Went home, organized my gear and got to sleep early.

Sunday morning came and I headed over to the race site. I was impressively on time, not even getting out of bed until two hours before the race began! I don’t know how many of you have spent time out here in the fall before, but let me explain for those of you who haven’t that it is COLD here already. Air temps were in the mid-40s overnight on Saturday and the dew was thick on the grass which made for a wet and chilly gear setup. There were no lights, but the sky was clear and we had a full moon so it was easy to see. Met a couple of fellow Carleton alums (sporting my alma mater’s name on my sweatshirt) which was cool. The sun came up about 6:30 and with it came the fog. I was in the 2nd wave (of 12) slated to go off at 7:05 a.m. so I headed down to the water about 6:45 as they were closing the transition area. At 7:00 a.m. sharp they announced that there would be a 1/2 hour delay for the fog to burn off. I headed back into transition to put some socks on my cold toes. I didn’t regret having on my full wetsuit on pre-delay as it kept me warm...

My wave went off as scheduled at 7:35 a.m. with an obvious dearth of pushing and shoving and I started thinking that maybe there are some benefits to the laid-back west coast attitude... I felt great in the water probably because I’ve swum more in the past couple of weeks here than I did the whole rest of the summer! Got out of the water and headed into transition. Hit my first technical snafu here- could not for the life of me disentangle my right leg from my wetsuit. Think I sat down too soon and therefore could not make it work! Finally got out and onto the bike course with a SLOW transition time.

Almost ran over a squirrel right out of the gates (I mean, like I closed my eyes and waited for the clunk kind of close) which amused a guy passing me but freaked me out a bit. The course was listed on the race’s website as “moderately hilly.” Now, it’s not that I don’t believe them, but it’s just that I think that I define that term differently than a native Seattlite who is used to constant hills. It was a tough ride for me, although only 12 miles long. The worst part was coming around a corner to the biggest hill of the race, shifting down into my granny gear and having the chain fall off- dooh! I had to stop, clip out entirely, get my hands all greasy putting the chain back on and then tackle the hill from a dead-stop. Fun times. I’m looking forward to improving my climbing and descending skills as I train more around here. Came into transition feeling good after a long descent although I was almost taken out in a crazy domino game of falling cyclists as we dismounted to go into T2.

Grabbed my race belt and headed off for the run. After trying to clip it for several minutes I realized that one end of the clip had fallen off so I ended up tying it around my waist. Funny how sometimes the stuff that’s supposed to save you time ends up biting you in the butt- isn’t it? The run was great. They had a mat to run over a couple hundred yards from the finish so they could announce each competitor’s name as he/she finished. I ended up running my fastest 5k time ever which bodes well for my 1st 1/2 marathon adventure next month!

Since the racers were so spread out with the multiple waves, there were plenty of folks coming in after me as well as heading out on the run as I picked up my gear. I wanted to stick around and try to meet some people, but the cold was getting to me and I ended up forgoing the social event to get home for a hot shower and some tea.

Except for the string of strange technical difficulties, encounters with wildlife and the body marking that still lingers on Wednesday (is this stuff permanent? will the 31 turn to 32 next August or will I be frozen here forever? and yes, I have tried to scrub it off) it was a great race. Full results here: http://results.racecenter.com/2005/kt05.htm Will post a link to the photos once I’ve got it so you can see me representin’ with the DC Tri Club jersey all the way out here on the left coast.