The race was absolutely incredible. I honestly couldn't have asked for things to go any better than they did. I completed the race in 3 hours and 26 minutes and the swim alone in 34 minutes. I was hoping for a 4 hour finish and a 45-50 minute swim, so I'm incredibly pleased with the time. The weather was 'epic', as described by the locals and race committee, with not a cloud in the sky and no wind.
At 8:04 am I took a flying leap out of the boat (with one hand holding my goggles in place) and the fun began. The swim was really technical since you have the visible current pulling the water out of the Bay at that time in the morning, so we had to focus on a landmark that wasn't any where close to the swim finish. And if we did focus on the swim finish, we would most likely end up a couple miles further down the shore (most likely around the Golden Gate Bridge). I stayed w/ Gary Emich's swim advice the day prior (thank you Gary) w/ a focus on Sutro Tower (the city's tallest landmark) at my 1 o'clock the entire time and I ended up right at the finish line. As I was swimming, it seem like there was no way I would end up at the finish but I knew not to even question Gary's advice as he's the gent who's done this swim 520x, the world record holder and has done it all 520x without a wet suit.
The swim was the most enjoyable part of the whole race. Funny how that works when this specific swim was one of my biggest fears in life just three months ago.
The bike and run both went well. I lost 11 of my 22 gears 1/2 way through the bike I don't think it hampered the performance at all. If anything, it made me work harder and maybe shaved off a minute or two of my bike.
I had five incredible cheerleaders along the sidelines that were able to spot me at each transition and cheer, let alone settle my nerves on the two days prior leading up to the race, so a huge thanks to them.
Thanks to everyone for your support, good lucks, training swims, training advice and donations to LAF (we raised $2,800!!...exceeding my goal of $2,500). It all helped me conquer that huge swim fear of mine and as cheesy as it sounds, I now honestly look at the water between Alcatraz and San Francisco as a place with a great memory and I can only hope to win another lottery slot for the race next year.
1 comment:
Congrats! I was google searching any blogs about the race. I was a volunteer (in neon shirts) at the water station at mile 3/5 on the run. We cheered for you all passing on the bike as well as on the run. We were proud of every participant!!!
It was definitely a great day to race in SF!
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