2014 ACTIVEx Solana Beach Triathlon

August 2, 2014

3 months ago, I signed up for the ACTIVEx Solana Beach Triathlon through my work via Charity Challenge to raise money for Kids in the Game. It’s kind of crazy how fast the 3 months went by. In hindsight, I should have documented more here about the training and experience. I did put a lot of notes in my Endomondo on each workout, so if you’re interested, add me as a friend. I started writing and realized there was a whole lot I wanted to write about my training, so I moved it to a separate post if you’re interested on how I trained for the triathlon and all the things I learned.

Race Info

Race: ACTIVEx Solana Beach Triathlon

Day: Sunday, July 27, 2014

Time: Wave 5 | 7:30am Start

Swim: 1/4 Mile

Bike: 9 Miles

Run: 5K

Pre-Race

Got my stuff all set up in transition. Photo from Fontaine

I spent the day or two before trying to get everything I had ready and packed. It was hard to stuff everything into a single backpack! I was also pretty paranoid about forgetting things so I kept double checking.

I tried to get to bed early the night before but couldn’t really fall asleep for awhile. We were aiming to leave the house by 4:30am to get to transition by 5am. Thank you to Fontaine for waking up super early to drive me!! I woke up around 4am and got ready. All I was thinking about having for breakfast was a banana. That seemed like the only “safe” option though I was still debating on whether or not I should actually eat it. I don’t usually eat breakfast. I only drink 2 cups of coffee. I didn’t want to drink coffee before the race since that would probably upset my stomach. I decided that if I were to eat the banana, I should eat it sooner rather than later just in case something went awry.

We arrived at Fletcher Cove plenty early and got an awesome parking spot right next to the transition. Transition didn’t open until 5:30am so we hung out for a bit, walked around a tiny bit around the transition area to eye where I had to go. Chatted with Kim and Kathy briefly.

It wasn’t long before transition opened and I snagged an awesome end spot for transition! I kept seeing guys rack their bikes next to mine and was getting confused. Then I realized that I had happened to rack my bike on a tiny wave 5 section that was right next to wave 4 which was a bunch of guys. The other wave 5 sections were actually in the next row. Score for me since I was one row closer to the bike out. I set up my bike and transition area and took a walk around. I then realized that the direction I had intended to grab my bike and go out was not the optimal way since there were those parking things on the ground blocking the way. I had to switch my bike the other way. I walked around a bit to get an idea of bike in and bike out and then run out.

My awesome end spot at T1. Photo from ACTIVEx

Next I went out to check out the swell. Sweet, there was barely anything and the surf was so far back you had to run a ways before actually starting to swim. These were all bonus things for a newbie like me. They were excellent swimming conditions for a first triathlon with a surf entry/exit. Although this would mean that I couldn’t really catch a wave in. On my way back to transition, I spotted Lin and Paul!

I got back to transition and figured I should use the restroom one last time. I was so nervous I felt like I had to keep using the bathroom. I probably went 4-5 times before the race started, no joke. Then I grabbed my wetsuit, swim cap, and goggles and headed to the lawn for our ACTIVEx photo. It was awesome that there was so much ACTIVE representation. And then I spotted Jasen!

Double cap so you don’t lose goggles. Photo from ACTIVEx

Ready to Warm Up – Photo from ACTIVEx

Shortly after that, I headed down to the shore to watch the earlier waves take off. I also wanted to at least get into the water and swim a little bit so I could get used to it and get a little warmed up. After that, the first wave was already coming out of the water so I went over to cheer right before the transition ramp. Time was ticking and I was getting more and more nervous. I tried to find folks I know to talk to and did a little bit of that. Then I decided I should go back in the water some more. Once I got back I saw Fontaine, Lin, Jasen, and Paul hanging out as my wave was starting soon. I went over and talked to them a little bit and took some pictures. I was getting super nervous. I figured I should then start lining up and saw Shayna as I went to get ready.

A few weeks prior to the race, I decided to browse the results of last years race to get an idea of how people performed and to set a general goal for myself. Based on that, I decided that I wanted to complete the swim in under 15 minutes, T1 under 5 minutes, Bike under 40 minutes, T2 under 2 minutes, and lastly the Run under 35 minutes. Hitting those times exactly would put me at 1 hour 37 minutes but really I wanted to hit under 1:30. That was my mentality entering the race other than try to finish and don’t eat it or drown.

The Swim

Swim start!

I can’t believe how quickly we started once we started getting lined up. One of my concerns was getting kicked or being swam over. I did not want that to happen. I noticed that our wave actually seemed small and that we all fit in a straight line at the start all next to each other. I was so nervous. Next thing I know, it was 30 seconds to go and we were off!

You’re supposed to run or sprint into the water and start dolphin diving to move quickly and get pass the break. I jogged as I didn’t want to waste my energy running in. I took maybe only a dolphin dive or two and started swimming. I don’t like dolphin diving. As soon as I started swimming I already knew that I had already been exerting myself too much. I wasn’t used to this running in thing and then swimming even though I practiced it and didn’t really run in. I could feel myself getting winded and really told myself to slow down. On the way to the first buoy, it felt long. I didn’t elect for a swim buddy but as I reached the first buoy, I realized there were a couple swim buddies nearby. This made me think that I must have reached the back, I was wondering if I was last in our wave or not. I actually ended up with a swim buddy the rest of the swim. It was pretty nice as the guy was super encouraging telling me how far I had to go and that I was doing good. I tried to keep my head down and just swim but I had to stop several times to catch my breath and get a good look at where I was going. The swim was not fun, I was thinking about how hard it was and wondering if I was even going to make it all the way around the second buoy and to shore. Finally after the 2nd buoy, I made the turn towards shore and my swim buddy told me, just swim straight! Haha. It felt like a long time to swim back to the shore. I tried to catch a baby wave but failed. I kept trying to eye where we were supposed to exit the water and run up. Finally, I made it close enough to stand up so my swim buddy was like, “you can stand now if you want”. I definitely did! In hindsight, I should have swam further in cause it was difficult to move through the water on foot. My swim buddy gave me a high five and I was off. Running out the sand I saw my cheering crew which was awesome and high fived another few ACTIVE folks. Then up the dreaded ramp I went “jogging”. I realized that my jogging was really like walking so I just walked and tried to catch my breath as I started to remove my wetsuit. At the top of the ramp I followed these cones and these people were all just standing on the steps and in the way. It made me question if I was going the right way since no one was in front me. A girl caught up to me and I made it to T1.

This is the I’m tired and that was difficult look. Photo from Paul

Starting to remove my wetsuit! Photo from ACTIVEx

T1

I felt my heart beating really fast so I took a moment to just stand there. I wiped my face down and tried to take off my wetsuit. It came off fairly easy. Whew! Then I put on my sunglasses and helmet immediately. I took a squirt of Skratch and was deciding if and how I should remove some sand from my feet and between my toes. I ended up saying screw it and just put my socks and shoes on. Took another sip of Skratch and off I went. We had to run a little bit to get to the mount line and I saw the cheering crew again as I took off. 🙂

The Bike

Off on the bike. Photo from Fontaine

Despite all the practice I had putting my foot into the toe cages, I totally struggled a bit to get my second foot in. It didn’t take that long but it wasn’t the first try. Off I went, south on Highway 101. This was a double loop bike course. I quickly shifted to the large cog so I could get some speed. I passed a few people and it wasn’t long before I hit the first U-turn. You had to turn slow but I made it! Then we went off the other direction and had to do another weird U-turn thing on a smaller side street. There I saw the cheering crew and yelled towards them haha. Off I went down the hill towards Las Olas. Going down means coming up on the way back. I wanted to make sure I shifted into the right gears sooner rather than later so I wouldn’t be screwed. The hill wasn’t too bad and I made it. I kept getting passed by some people that were super fast! It was cool to see other ACTIVE people as we yelled good job to each other across the way. All in all, the bike wasn’t so bad. I think since they were loops, it felt shorter than just riding one way forever. At one point I ran over something and it made a noise and I got scared that my tire would go flat. If that happened, it’s pretty much game over since the race is so short. I think I also only drank twice. On the way downhill towards the U-turn again I changed my gears too early and was spinning like crazy. Lorraine passed by and was like are your gears okay?! I yelled yeah, I’m good all while thinking I shouldn’t have done that so soon. Not too long after that I saw the cheering crew again which meant that I was a short turn to transition! The dismount line actually came a lot sooner than I thought and I had to quickly get my foot out of the toe cages and slow down quite a bit. I got off and started running my bike in. But the problem was that I was on the right side of my bike and I don’t really know how to run with my bike on that side haha! I am usually to the left of the bike! However, I get off on the right. I know weird. Is that weird? Anyway, I had to awkwardly run in that way. I also checked my watch a few times on the bike to make sure I made it back under 55 minutes so I would have enough time to run.

T2

Transition was fairly quick here. I pretty much had to rack the bike and grab my race belt and hat.

The Run

Near the finish! Photo from ACTIVEx

They had some electrolytes and water right out of T2 so I grabbed some. It was really sweet. Bleh. Then I caught the cheering crew right as I turned out for the run again. I once again felt myself going faster than I could handle so i slowed down drastically. At this point I was feeling pretty tired and thought to myself that I didn’t think I would ever do one of these again. It was hard. Haha. The run was also 2 loops. There were a ton of ACTIVE people around. It was really fun to constantly see people in ACTIVEx gear. It’s like an instant connection, people just cheer for you if you’re wearing one and you cheer for anyone else wearing one. I saw Juliana a couple times and cheered her on. I also saw Heather, Michael, Tommy, Christy, Kristen, and Lorraine on the run and cheered for them. As I was running, many people were just blowing by me! I was just trotting along but I didn’t feel like my legs or lungs could handle going faster. After the first loop I just kept telling myself, one more and then the finish is right there!! The second loop actually came by a lot faster than I thought. Once I made the turn out of another weird U-turn, I saw the finish line. From there, I made a break for it! I passed by Brooke and Nicole and they gave me high fives. Then I passed by the cheering crew and raised my arms up for the finish line. Haha!! Might as well, right??? =P

Post-Race

I was tired and sweaty!!! But I was happy and relieved. AND I beat my goal of 1:30.

Swim: 12:40

T1: 4:37

Bike: 35:46

T2: 1:19

Run: 33:11

Total: 1:27:35.3

I just really wanted water. I was really thirsty since I realized I didn’t actually drink that much. I also knew I should eat something but I didn’t really want to eat food. I ate a banana and got a slice of pizza for Lin. Then we went to hang out where the cheering crew was and just hung out for a bit. Took some more pictures and then it started to lightning and thunder. We decided I should probably go get my stuff since there were a few raindrops. And then BAM, it just started pouring!!!! What the heck?! I guess we do need water. I went to change into dry clothes but it pretty much got drenched immediately. I went to quickly grab my bike and pack my bag and load it into Fontaine’s car. It was crazy how quickly it started pouring. Luckily, it happened AFTER we were done although there were still a few people out there finishing the run! Dang, that’s hardcore. We went over and had a hearty meal at Beach Grass Cafe and then home I went to do laundry and pass out.

More Post-Race Thoughts

I’m really glad I did this triathlon. In fact, I think everyone should do one, at least once!! It’s totally doable and it’s not easy but you will feel accomplished. Much respect to the triathletes out there. The sprint itself was a challenge, I can’t imagine doing anything longer. Sometimes life is about taking the plunge and getting out of your comfort zone to challenge yourself and to try something new. I was scared coming into this for a lot of reasons. But I overcame and there is a strong feeling of victory as I completed the race.

Thank you to Arch, Mike, and ACTIVEx for all the training and support. I couldn’t have done this without you guys walking me through this and encouraging me along the way. Thank you for all the training sessions and answering all the questions the newbies have. Thank you for showing us that WE CAN.

Thank you to Fontaine for always being so inspirational. If it weren’t for you doing triathlons, I probably wouldn’t have even given a thought to doing this. Seeing your amazing journey from when you first started to how far you’ve come now is really amazing. Thank you for all the tips about triathlons, my bike, wetsuits, and everything! Thanks for your support and for taking cool pictures!

Thank you to my family for supporting me from afar. I didn’t even know you guys would think about coming to watch me. I guess this means I have to do another so you can actually make it with more notice? =P Thank you to my brother for giving me swimming tips and being so positive about my journey.

Thank you to Lin, Fontaine (again), Paul, Shayna, KK, Yings, and Jasen for waking up early and braving the parking lots and people to come watch me and cheer for me. I’m thankful for your encouragement and support!

Thank you to Marisa for dealing with me putting all my wetsuit and swim stuff all over the place. Haha. Thank you for supporting me!

Thank you to the friends I’ve met through ACTIVEx! Thank you Juliana for staying with me through the hardest workout ever (Arch’s Brick Workout) and just encouraging me. Thank you to all the experienced triathletes being so helpful and excited!

Thank you to all my other friends who have supported me through Kids in the Game or just asked about my triathlon training or encouraged me. You can do it too. Whatever you’re afraid of, whatever you don’t have time for, you can overcome it if you want to. You really can.

Whew! It’s been crazy, fun, and challenging. Now I get to decide if I want to sign up for another, Mission Bay Triathlon in October. I probably will. I just haven’t yet.

You know what else is awesome, I think my knee is a lot better since I started training for the triathlon. Just a few days ago as I walked down the stairs, I thought, oh it feels ok. That’s weird. And I was afraid to think it felt ok because I couldn’t really believe that anymore. Even though it stopped hurting mostly, I was still limping a lot before and on occasion it would still hurt or feel really unstable. But it’s a lot better!! Hopefully it stays that way.

That was long, I know. I’m still fundracing for Kids in the Game until October. I am so grateful to have been able to participate in sports as a kid and through my adult life. If you have to and feel so inclined, you can help more kids get in the game so that they can have a healthy childhood. $30 gets 1 kid in the game for a season. Donate here.