Race 9: Silicon Valley Olympic Triathlon

Date: June 21 2009
Distance: 1.25k Swim, 40k Bike Ride, 10k Run

Last year I was at Almaden lake for the Silicon Valley Mountain Bike Triathlon, but this year I decided to up the stakes a little bit and go for my second Olympic distance race. The swim was a little shorter than the traditional race distance at 1.25 kilometers due to the size of the Almaden lake. The race started deep water just like last year, and not feeling like I was able to keep in the pack for this distance I allowed the more adventitious and competitive athletes go first, and followed steadily behind.

The swim was difficult for me. I was having a tough time keeping straight between each turn buoy, or even sighting them. I think at least once a lifeguard had to paddle out to me and set me back on course. Eventually I found my way to the water exit, and transitioned to the bike.

The 40k bike ride is one of the flattest, fastest courses I have ever raced on. There is only 1 hill that takes about 2 minutes to climb half way though the course, and then a downhill ride back to the race start. The ride was fairly uneventful as I kept a steady pace though the whole thing. After finishing my ride, I was well on my way to a sub 3 hour time which was my goal of the race.

The run was yet another flat and fast course though the park, and once again I kept a strong steady pace though what I thought was supposed to be a 10k run, but somewhere along the line someone messed up a measurement or two, which forced everyone to run an extra 2 kilometers. This was a interesting surprise, but I persevered though and finished in 2 hours, 59 minutes and 57 seconds. 3 seconds under my goal time! It's easy to say that I was very pleased with the result, and looked forward to doing more Olympic distance races later in the year.

Links:

Website: http://www.usaproductions.org/events/triathlon-series/tri-svot
Official Results: http://www.usaproductions.org/media/SVODT2009.pdf