Mission Bay Tri Race Recap
3:30am and the alarm goes off. Ugh! If you’ve been reading my race recaps or following me on IG stories, you know I’m not a morning person. But I signed up for this and here we are! Luckily, I packed everything up the night before, so all I really need to do is wake up, handle my morning routine, throw on my clothes and dip out! Even though I’ve been doing this a long time, I still get a little frazzled and forgetful in getting my gear together. Luckily, I got my Race Day Ready Checklist to make sure I don’t forget anything. Shameless, but mad helpful plug! Wifey and I are out the door an hour later.
We pull up to the parking lot and it’s jamming with other athletes unloading their gear, ready to throw down. It’s a mix of game faces and smiles as we all head toward transition and run into familiar faces here and there. By now it’s about 5:30am and I got tons of time before my wave starts (7:10am). I find my wave, rack my bike where I want it and drop my bag. I choose a spot at the end of a rack next to the fence. It’ll make it easy for me to find it as I’m running out of the water and getting ready to hop on the bike.
With an hour to go before transition closes, it’s mix of running into my tribuds, bathroom breaks, chatting with wifey and setting up my gear for the race. Cycling shoes set up front; helmet on my aerobars; running shoes, shades and race bib sitting behind them ready for the run. Closing time is near so I get my swim gear on. Slather on the Body Glide on my calves, forearms and neck. Slide on my wetsuit with my socks on, so the toenails don’t get snagged inside. Strap the timing chip around my ankle and head out with my goggles and swim cap.
I chat it up a bit with wifey and friends before I get my head in the game, stretch and warm up and get a few strokes in the water to test the water temp out and get the butterflies out. I haven’t raced this distance since 2019 and while I’ve done the distance in practice and this isn’t my first rodeo, the swim still gets me a bit nervous. Swim your race, find your groove, you got this.
There’s a bit of small talk as all the elders watch the younger waves start their race. It’s a horseshoe swim route – swim towards the far yellow buoy, turn right, head straight, turn right at the second buoy and head back towards shore. Finally, our wave is up! Goggles on, breath it out, wish good luck to some folks around me and say quick prayer like I usually do. Three, two, one, go! We start off from the beach so we’re wading into the water finding that right time to dive in and actually swim. As usual, I let a fishes head out first. I’m a back-middle of the pack swimmer, so there’s no need to head out with the pack getting kicked, punched and swam over. My swim goal is to find my rhythm, stay comfortable throughout, finish with a bit of a kick if I’m feeling it.
The swim feels good from the jump! The body doesn’t feel tight, mentally I’m calm and I find a good breathing pattern. Even at the back there’s still a bit of jockeying around, kicking and grabbing as we all find our lanes, which is expected. I don’t let that bother me as I head out towards the first buoy. I round the first buoy and head down the straightaway. The sunrise is blinding as I pop my head up to sight along the way. I follow the packs’ bubbles around me underwater knowing the buoys are straight ahead following the sun. I get to the next buoy and like a dummy start heading toward shore. I see a paddle boarder guide and at some point she tells me that I’m going the wrong way! Somehow I forgot about that second buoy on that back stretch and turned too soon! The hell?!?! Quickly I re-direct like Google Maps and head toward the other buoy. I’m mad at myself but shake it off fast. No use bitching about it now. Just get back on track.
Not long after I regroup with the other swimmers, I hear folks yelling for help. I catch up and see folks waving for help and a guy holding up another swimmer. She seems panicked and is crying. I stop to help them yell for help. Paddle boarders and a guy on a jet ski quickly pull up. I’m not sure what happened. Maybe she got kicked and it threw her off her game, had a panic attack, or somehow got hurt. She said she still wanted to finish. Luckily, she’s got a wetsuit on which makes it very, very difficult to sink in the water, plus with all the folks around, I know she’s in good hands. So I swim on to finish my race. I shake it off and compartmentalize the event. It’s reminder to respect the water and to be aware of your surroundings and abilities.
Finally, I hit the corner buoy and can finally start heading back to shore. I’m still feeling good and in a groove despite all the calamity. I’m passing up others from my own wave and other waves, which is always a good feeling. I swim until I can touch the sand with my hands, stand up and wade out the water.
Unzip the suit from the back, peel off the swim cap and goggles in left hand and hold them while I pull off the left sleeve with my right hand. They both stay in the sleeve as I peel off the other sleeve and have the my wetsuit around my waist as I head toward my rack. Pull the suit down my calves stomp out of the legs and peel it off my ankles. Rinse the sand off my feet, the saltwater out my mouth and pull on my socks. Unvelcro my cycling shoes (oops! Should’ve done that before!) and pull them on. Unrack my bike and I knock my helmet off in the process. Ugh! The visor popped off so I reattach it. Finally, helmet on, connect the chin strap and start running out of transition towards the bike mount line. Click clack, click clack, passing up people along the way. I reach the mount line out of transition and hop on the bike, take off and clip into the pedals.
The bike portion is two laps around Mission Bay and Fiesta Island. It’s all flat save for some inclines up and over a bridge and an on/exit ramp loop. It’s similar to another race the same race company puts on so I feel comfortable with it all. There’s a couple of hairpin turns that I love riding in and out of fast in the beginning before I hit a long straightaway towards Fiesta Island. I do my best to drop down into my aerobars. As usual, I don’t practice enough staying in aero position for extended amounts of time, so I’ll drop into them for a few minutes, pop back up and back down again. As my watch pings off my 5mi lap times, I’m impressed with myself! I’m zipping around that first lap fast! First five miles in 14:55, second five miles in 14:40. I’m hoping I’m not going too fast and will bonk on that second lap. I shake it off and tell myself to go for it! Each five miles, I’m grabbing a sip of water since it’s right on pace with my usual hydration schedule.
I hit the on/exit ramp, drop into my hardest gear and aero position and hammer hard as I drop into the main artery road of Mission Bay. I’m speeding around others and push hard on the short flat section and do my best to stay in aero and let the momentum carry me up the exit ramp back to the transition. The legs burn with lactic acid climbing up that short incline. I hit the turnaround for the second lap, dip and dive and out of the hairpins and hit the straightaway again. I check my watch and realize it’s time for a gel. I’m not one to down the whole thing in one shot so I down it in sections and wash it down with water. The watch pings the third five miler at 16:00, which is fine because of the food break. I hit the back side of Fiesta and do a better job of hammering down that straightaway, handling the descent on the south end (which I didn’t do as well the first time) and tackling the turns exiting the island to the straightaway back to race start. The legs are burning a bit and I know I’m gonna pay the price a bit on the run. “It’s okay, it’s only 5.5 miles. You got this.” One more time on the on/exit ramp and before I know it, I’m grabbing one last sip of water before I head toward the bike dismount line and into T2.
I clip out of the pedals, and bob and weave around other athletes back to my rack. Unclip my helmet along the way, but keep it on per tri rules. I pop my bike back onto the rack, take off the helmet, pop on my racebelt and shades, switch shoes, take a sip of water and I’m zooming out of transition in 1:23.
The first half mile or mile after the bike portion are always goofy! Somewhat wobbly, somewhat limping, somewhere between new born dear and one too many! Just like I thought on the bike, I’m gonna hurt on this run. My left hammy is feeling meh. I’m hoping it goes away, but I know that if I really try to get a long full stride in, it’s gonna go. I’m worried about it initially, but then I remind myself that I’ve been here before – adjust the stride and work through it. I also gotta pee! Can I hold it? Nah. So about three quarters into the run, I stop and hit the head.
With business handled I take off with the left hammy feeling better. First mile ticks off just under 8 minutes. The run is two laps around with the bay on one side and the boardwalk to the beach on the other. By now the right hammy is feeling wonky. The stride shortens a bit, I land more on my heel than my forefoot and keep it moving. By the time I get to the south end of the boardwalk, the legs feel better, but they still send me the message to not go crazy. I listen. Second mile ticks off at 7:20. Ok, not bad, but not where I prefer to be. Finally, I turn onto the grass area to finish the first lap. Up and over the hump we go. The hammys don’t like it for some reason. Once back on the sidewalk, they quiet down and mile three comes in at 7:16. Two and a half miles left and I’m doing the running math in head. About twenty minutes left! You got this!
Headed into mile four, I know I need a gel. Like a dummy, I didn’t pack one on my tri kit, so I grab one at an aid station and use it. I don’t need much, but I feel like I’ll crash and burn if I don’t. Mile four ticks off at 7:23. “Aight homie, let’s not back slide. You got ten minutes left in you! Don’t fall apart now.” I pick up the pace a bit as I near the boardwalk one last time. My legs don’t feel too happy about it, but by now, I tell them, “Fuck you, it’s time to work!” I zip past the beach volleyball courts and beachgoers walking the boardwalk, passing up the other athletes. Some us give each other props and kudos along the way. “Keep going!” “You got this!” “Almost there!” “Nice work!” Chasing people down is a nice confidence boost. The run is where I usually shine, so I let that carry me as mile five comes in at 7:14.
I have my next target set on this guy in front of me who’s moving at a nice clip! I give chase, catch up behind him and draft off him for a bit. We’re moving! Finally I know it’s time to go! I pass him up and run my race. Turn right back onto the grass and over the hump. Legs don’t complain this time. I’m feeling good aerobically, legs are calling, but I ignore them. Just a bit more! Pass the second loop marker and head straight toward the finish line chute. I cross that finish line finally with the announcers calling my name out! Chaining day! A new medal around my chest, triathlon triple crown complete!
It’s been nearly twenty years since I did my first triathlon – Treasure Island Tri. I was inspired by watching triathlon coverage on TV of a 65 year old nun doing one. If she can do it, why can’t I? I had no idea what I was doing as I started training for it, but loved the challenge. It ended up being a one and done thing at the time. Bar hopping and partying was a lot easier. It wouldn’t be until 2010 that I decided to try it out again. This time with a different attitude; different mindset. I wanted to do Mission Bay to celebrate that anniversary, to see if I’m any faster than I was back then and to rededicate myself to doing longer distance tris.
We can do hard things. We can come back and try something again and have better results. Keep going. Don’t stop.
