Fall starts with a true tri finish

After a small blogging hiatus I’m back. I’m now done with tri season– or am I? To keep from falling into triathlon world withdrawal like I did last year around this time, I’m ready to incorporate some non-tri exercise fun and other activities into my life. But before I wander down that new road, here’s my experience of completing the Nautica Malibu Tri Classic. I finished just under my goal time of 2:15 at 2:14:17.

Overall it was a great experience for me. The best part is remembering that SEVEN years ago I woke up at an unspeakable hour to voluntEAR at this very event. I helped corral the triathletes and as a bonus I got to gawk at a certain celebrity all I wanted– Let’s just call him… Mulder.  I also remember looking at all of the racers running into the Pacific Ocean like loonies on a crazy mission and watching in bemused amazement bemazement, thinking I’d never do something like that. I couldn’t observe the bike portion from where I was volunteering but I saw runners finish the third leg, crossing the finish line in triumph.

This year I got to be on the other side of that finish line. I left my house at 3:30 AM. Just after 5:00 AM I arrived at Zuma Beach after receiving multiple phone calls warning me of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) early morning shut down— from people awake at that hour and so thoughtful about checking on my whereabouts to make sure I would arrive okay.

I arrived and made the nearly 1 mile trek to the transition area with my gear and bike where I met up with my teammates and supporters. The beach was eventually packed with people and we paused for the national anthem sung by Sheena Easton. I saw other celebrities but didn’t know who most were as I don’t watch much tv, but I did recognize Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) from NBC’s The Office. Who knew they did triathlons?

The start of the race went swimmingly thanks to the tri team practices held most weekends this summer. Wish I had a more decent swim visual to share, but the official photo I have as proof of a great post swim to transition came out with me photo-bombed out of my only swim photo by a guy’s arm. Lovely. Well, at least it was a great swim! My best official one yet at 22 minutes 37 seconds. Perfect water temperature, perfect wave conditions, and no water unexpectedly inhaled. The majority of my other photos are from my bike leg.

The photos are no longer showing up, but my favorite bike photo was likely taken near the entrance of the parking lot 1.3 miles into my 1 hour and 04 minute spin up and down the rolling hills of PCH. I may look relatively comfy here, but last year when I tried clipless pedals for the first time, just sitting on a bike with a seat higher than the handlebars was scary. My feet can’t reach the ground from the seated position. And my shoes are clipped into the bike pedals. I’m used to riding this way now so it’s more fun than scary.

Know what else is fun? A photo of me levitating across the finish line. My run was slower than normal but not unexpected as I used most of my legs’ energy reserves to power up the hills on the bike. I did the tired leg shuffle for at least the first mile, knowing I could run it faster had I slowed down on my bike, but I still finished right on my base pace of 10 min/ mile for a 4 mile run so I’m happy about my overall time.

Again, a huge thanks to all the good people who supported me this summer in this endeavor, financially, personally, and virtually. You all rock!

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