The Showdown at Sundown Sprint Tri is a
Vineman event held at McNears Beach near San Rafael. The swim (400 y) is in San Pablo Bay, the bike (9 miles) follows a rolling, winding road through China Camp State Park, and the run (3 miles) is mostly along a flat stretch of road in San Rafael. It is held at 5:00 pm, hence the Sundown reference. It was a really well-organized and fun event, and it was so nice not having to wake up at 4:00 am! The course was tougher than it sounds though and it thoroughly kicked my ass.
We left our place out in the east bay about 1:00 and it took about an hour to get there. We were among the very first to arrive, which meant we got sweet transition spots and had lots of time to lounge around the beach area and relax. My mom is in town visiting from Montana and came up with us to cheer us on. We checked in, set up our transition area, and then just hung out for a couple hours. We walked around and scoped out the bike and run entrances/exits and they were gnarly. The beach where the swim and transitions were is a couple hundred feet lower than the land above it where the bike and run courses were. Therefore, there was a STEEP hill you hit immediately on the bike. There is a series of stairs and steep dirt trails leaving on the run. At least we knew so we could be in the right gear and mentally prepared. There was a pre-race meeting at 4:15 which lasted 20 minutes our so. That left us just enough time to don our wetsuits and get in a warm up swim. I took a couple hits of my inhaler and we headed to the beach. The water was advertised as 71 degrees but felt chilly at first. And of course it was salt water, which is gross tasting. Other than that, I felt really comfortable in the water and not nervous at all. I was ready to race!
The swim
There were 3 waves- the team division, all men, all women. I watched the first two waves go off and then lined up toward the back of the ladies wave. The gun went off and we ran into the water. I realized right away that I made a mistake seeding myself in the very back. I was passing people! And it wasn't easy. The swim course is a half moon shape so you were always turning a little. I finally found some open water but I was rather towards the outside of the curve. I suppose I ended up swimming a little extra but it was worth it to get into a groove. Before I knew it I could see the beach again and I ran out of the water. I hit the lap button on my watch and was psyched to see 6:xx. Under 7 minutes! Smokin! I ran up a few feet and stopped to remove my wetsuit. I find it comes of sooo much easier if I do it right away rather than at the transition area. I had some trouble, you know how it is when you come out of the water, but I got it. I passed the timing mat into T1 with an official swim split of 7:50.
T1
Threw down my wetsuit, swim cap, goggles and nose clip. Put my socks and bike shoes on, helmet and sunglasses on. Somehow in this process I took off my watch. WTF? Suddenly I just saw it lying there on my towel. Shit! I tried to put it back on but my brain was not cooperating, so I threw it back down. Grabbed my bike and ran out. Official T1 time: 1:39
The bike
I knew the hill was coming, I was in my easiest gear, and I had "Think UP" going through my head. Seriously, this thing was vertical. Of course there were people struggling but I just stood up and hammered. This was a bike path too so there wasn't much room to pass or maneuver. I heard a crash behind me, and thought "sucks to be them." After the steep hill, you make a sharp right and have a gradual hill on a bike path. Finally, we got out to the roads and I just went for it. My heart was racing from the hill and the excitement. The course was pretty rolling and winding. There was a headwind at times, too. It was not an easy bike course! I passed a couple people and a few passed me, but not a lot. I stood up on several of the steeper climbs and passed people that way. I found it was easier than pedaling in an easy gear, plus you got up it faster (I'm sure this is obvious to veteran triathletes, but it was a revelation to me!). I passed a few male stragglers from the wave before me. One girl passed me and said "pretty bike!" haha. We girls encouraged each other a lot the whole day too. :) I love how female athletes treat each other! I did see Zach and he was flying. He appeared to be near the front of the pack. I was so thirsty so I managed to drink a few times from my bottle, even though I don't do that much in practice. Turns out, when you are working hard, your mouth is dry and tastes like salt water, you figure it out. The downhills were a little scary at times, but I maintained my focus and control. I hit 26 or so I think, fast for me. I was getting pretty wore out from all the climbing and my heart was pounding. I had a slight side cramp too, which worried me. There was a downhill then a sharp left turn as we got back to the beach, then we made our way back down the bike path. NOT the steep part though, they make you dismount and walk your bike down. That wasn't comfortable, I tell you. Steep downhill walk holding onto your bike, in bike shoes with shaky legs, yikes. I should have taken off my shoes, but oh well. I got to the bottom and saw my mom right before I turned into transition area. Official bike split: 36:34 (15 MPH)
T2: Racked the bike, helmet off. Changed shoes (easy laces rock!) and threw visor on. I saw my watch again, so I grabbed it and my race belt. Ran out of transition waving to mom on the way. I lapped my watch as I left so I would know my run time. Official T2 time: 1:24
The run
As I mentioned, you have to climb again up from sea level. This time it involves stairs. A lot of them. With steep dirt trail connecting the sections of stairs. My heart was already pounding and that side cramp was lingering, so I walked this steep section. I noted on my watch that I walked for nearly 2 minutes. That's gonna kill my run time! Finally I reached the top and started jogging up a slight hill. Ugh. It finally flattened out but my side was aching and I was feeling tired. I tried to loosen up and relax but it just never happened. I started passing people right away, even though I felt like a snail. After a few minutes, a girl passed me. Drat! It's ok though, she would be the only one the whole run! I saw Zach again, and we high-fived. He still looked strong and he was ahead of a lot of people. I was happy to see the turn around point, and I grabbed a cup of water there. I drank as I ran and poured the rest over my head. I think I picked up the pace a little on the way back, but there were no mile markers to confirm this. My side ache went away but I had a new problem: I couldn't freaking breathe. Well, I could, but let's just say people knew when I was going to pass them. I was wheezing real loud. It sucked. I might have had the energy to run faster but I couldn't get the air. I don't think I've had such a hard time breathing before. I kept passing people (guys and gals) and some were encouraging me. I could still see the girl who passed me but I couldn't catch up. Of course there had to be another long hill right at the end so I wheezed my way up it. Ugh. Finally I could hear the announcer and I wound my way down the driveway into the beach area. The grassy lawn with the finish chute came into view and I spotted Zach. He yelled at me "Go Jen!" and then told me to catch the guy ahead of me. His daughter jumped in to run through the finish chute with him, but I have no shame and blew by them both. Whoo hoo!!!! Official run split: 24:29 (8:10 average pace).
Finish time: 1:11:48
I was so spent, I nearly collapsed! I wandered around and found my mom and mauled her with a salty, sweaty hug. Zach found us too and we congratulated each other. He said he had a great race and we broke it all down. We both had a good feeling about Zach's finish so we stuck around for awards. It was a beautiful evening on the beach and with all the excitement I didn't want to leave anyway! Finally they printed out the top finishers and Zach went to take a look. Sure enough, he walks over holding up 3 fingers. He got third place in his Age Group! He points at me and holds up 5 fingers. No way!! I got 5th in mine!! It was cool cause they didn't put up all the results, only the top 5 in each division, so it was neat to see my name. They started announcing awards and they gave out bottles of wine to the top 3 in each division. It is a bottle of La Crema 2004 Pinot noir in a neat Vineman souvenir box. Zach also won in the unofficial "Biggest Tattoo Division" haha. The announcer said that as he ran through the finish and also when he got his award. Hilarious. We watched the rest of the awards and then made our way to the car. It was getting dark and cool by this time, it was weird. We drove home in the dark and had a celebratory burger and beers for dinner in Danville. It was definitely a different kind of race- usually when we finish we go out for breakfast! :) It was a great day. I learned a lot (don't start so far back in the swim, use the inhaler in T2, just for a couple of examples) and I know I'll do better next time. It was very awesome to have my mom there watching. Here's some of the pictures she took of the day. Thanks for reading! Go check out
Zach's race report for his details and finish times. :)
Official Results: 5th/29 Age Group (F 20-29)
18th/98 Females
75th/211 Overall
(also, not that it matters, but by clicking through the individual female results, I think I had the 9th fastest run time of women!)
Results link
athleteslounge.com (if that doesn't work, I'm bib #225)
Picking up our numbers early in the afternoon:
Setting up transition next to my new friend Kendra. I like this picture cause my arms look ripped. :D
Pretty bike! :P
There's the swim course. This is the exit.
The swim. This is Zach's wave finishing and my wave beginning. We zoomed in and that is actually Zach right in the foreground there (that tattoo is so helpful):
Zach entering T1:
Zach in T2:
Zach heading out on the run:
Just came down the steep hill, heading into T2:
Leaving T2:
Zach finishing:
Finishers:
Best mom ever:
Award presentation:
3rd Place in AG! (And biggest tattoo division winner!)
