Silicon Valley International Triathlon

Last Sunday was my first triathlon of the season. It should of been my second but April's tri became a duathlon after the water quality test of Almaden Lake Park failed. The SVIT swim was also supposed to be held at Almaden Lake but the race organizers were informed early that the water would not pass inspection so they changed the swim to Uvas reservoir which made it a point to point race. I have to give a lot of credit to USAProductions for making this race run so efficiently despite the change in venue.

Dave also signed up for this race. We had both raced here last year and we were looking forward to racing in our 'backyard'. We both set some goals for ourselves. We wanted to push a little harder and we wanted to see where we are fitness wise. Since it was a point to point race, we had to drop off our bikes at T1 and then drop off a bag of T2 run stuff on Saturday afternoon so race morning we just had to take a bus from the finish at Almaden Lake Park over to the race start at Uvas. It was kind of nice knowing we had packed everything we needed so race morning we just had to get up, eat and drive 10 min for the bus :)

We got to the race start about an hour and a half before our waves went off. We set up our T1, walked around to check out the water, went to the bathroom before the lines were too long and then just hung out. The announcer mentioned that the water temp was 71 degrees (20 degrees warmer then the air temp!) which made me really happy.

The Swim:
My goal for the swim was to stay relaxed, keep my stroke even and consistent and not get worked up if there was a lot of contact. The comfortable water temp helped a lot to stay relaxed. My wave wasn't very big (they combined 50 and up so there were only 24 racers) and the start line was wide so it was a really comfortable start. I tried to draft a little bit but most of the time I just swam and swam and swam. My sighting was pretty good for a change and I think I swam a pretty straight line from buoy to buoy.
2011: 42:16
2012:39:08

T1:
We had to bag everything in T1 before we left on the bike so our bag could be transported to the finish so I really thought ahead about how to minimize my time and get out of there. I brought my tri bag and just tied the plastic T1 bag (with my # on it) they gave us to it so I would have more room to stuff my wetsuit in. I think getting my rolled up socks on took the longest. I haven't tried to go sockless yet. Maybe I'll try that during training to see how it feels.
2011:3:16
2012:2:22

The Bike:
The change in the bike course made it a little bit more challenging. It had several smaller hills compared to one big hill from last years course. Hills are not my strong point. Overall it was a good ride. I still need a lot of work on the bike. Stronger legs would help a lot!
2011:1:29:30
2012:1:36:56

T2:
We had dropped our T2 bags under the rack with our numbers. By the time I got there, my bag was in the same place but the rack was full of bikes. I had to do a little back and forth but it wasn't too bad.
2011:2:52
2012:2:11

The Run:
My run has been stronger this year but it always seems in a race, by the time I get to running, I start pooping out. The first half of the run I was staying under 10:00 min miles but the second half I started slowing down. I took a couple of walk breaks and argued with myself ;) Even though I've been a runner longer then I've been a swimmer/cyclist, I still find running my hardest sport.
2011:1:02:54
2012:1:02:15

Finish time:
2011:
3:20:48
Age Group 9/11
Gender 139/193
Overall 468/550

2012:
3:22:52
Age Group 6/10
Gender 110/157
Overall 385/468



A couple of minutes slower than last year but I think if the bike was on the same course I might of been a little faster there. Who knows really? I was really happy with this race. I moved up in my age group and I was productive the rest of the day instead of taking an afternoon nap :) No pictures from this race since I kept my phone locked in the car so I will have to include a cute picture of my favorite dog!