The 2007 Santa Cruz Sentinel Triathlon

The short version

My girlfriend kicked my ass in our first triathlon together, and won our side bet that involved a Fenton's Black and Tan ice cream sundae.

The long version

There actually almost wasn't a long version. The first rain of the season fell on Saturday morning, making Highway 17 extra slick. Slick enough for a car in front of me to spin out in a curve, Slick enough for my brakes to lock, sending my truck sliding into the center divide. Somehow, we escaped without a scratch - only the tires and hubcaps rubbed on the concrete divider! We made it the rest of the way to Santa Cruz without incident, picked up our packets, and headed to our hotel for the evening.

My swim wave was scheduled to start at 8:05 while Lisa's was at 8:15, effectively giving me a 10 minute head start into the water. We figured she'd be about 10 minutes faster than me in the swim, putting us into the T1 transition area around the same time. Unfortunately, the race looked a little uncertain at that point, as Lisa's leg was still bothering her after our motorcycle ride a week earlier, making her unsure as to whether she could finish the race. She figured she'd do the swim, and play the rest by ear.

Before long, the horn sounded, and I was off in the cold Monterey Bay water, on a mission to swim around the wharf as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, the swim took me 5 minutes longer than I had hoped, as I emerged from the water at the 40 minute mark. As I reached the transition area, Lisa was nowhere to be found - I guessed that she had a 5 minute head start on me on the bike course. I pulled my wetsuit off, threw my gear on, and was on my way.

Swim - 0.9 miles

Mike: 41:25 swim + 4:44 T1
Lisa: 26.35 swim + 5:13 T1

I got a little carried away at the start of the bike leg, passing dozens of people in the first few miles. After about 10 minutes, I checked my Garmin to see an average speed of almost 24 mph, with a heart rate of 188 bpm - not good. I clicked down a few notches to avoid certain self destruction, averaging just over 21 mph to the turn-around point in Davenport, just over 12 miles from the start.

I saw Lisa ahead of me at around Mile 14, and made sure to build up some speed to make the pass just that much more "special". Out of the seat, mashing on the pedals, I yelled out "GO BABE" as I zipped past. But with a light headwind, I struggled to hold the same pace on the return trip. I brought it home in conservation mode, mustering up just enough energy to charge past a few more groups just before the transition area. I knew it was a bad idea from a strategy standpoint, but I couldn't help myself - soon after dismounting, I parked my bike and was off on the run.

Bike - 24.8 mi

Mike: 1:11:45 (20.7 mph avg) + 1:39 T2
Lisa: 1:17:32 (19.1 mph avg) + 1:51 T2

I focused on keeping my run as effortless as possible, holding a 9:30 / mile pace for the first couple of miles. I figured I was only 2-3 minutes ahead of Lisa into the transition area, and was pretty much doomed to lose our little bet barring some sort of catastrophe.

By mile 2, I looked back to see her just a few steps behind, giggling as she tried to sneak up on me. We ran together for a few seconds, but I knew it wasn't going to happen. I guessed she was doing an 8:30 / mile pace, which was was at least 1:00 / mile faster than what I could manage. My best recorded pace in a 10K was 8:49 minutes / mile - and that was without a bike or a swim preceding it.

I clicked into conservation mode as she pulled away, as my pace floated just below 10:00 minutes / mile. I thought about speeding up to keep her in sight, but my legs weren't having it. I didn't feel like my run pace was horrendously slow, but I remember passing only one person on the course the whole time - and he was walking. Before the event, I figured my size was holding me back from excelling on the run, but runners of all shapes and sizes seemed to lumber past me during the race. It didn't bother me, but it did give me something to think about.

After an hour of running along six miles of scenic Santa Cruz coastline, I made it back to the transition area and crossed the line.

Run - 6.2 miles

Mike: 1:01:58 (9:59 / mile avg)
Lisa: 0:52:56 (8:32 / mile avg)

I found Lisa shortly after handing in my timing chip, and proceeded to bump into a number of other people. Old Team in Training teammates, fellow Golden Gate Triathlon Club members, even my neighbor - I didn't even know she was into those sorts of events!

Even though I got my ass kicked by over 15 minutes, I had a fantastic time. I was stoked at being able to hold over 20 mph on the bike leg, keeping my run under 10:00 / mile, and just being out such a beautiful course. Lisa was stoked to not only finish the race, but to be able to run faster and farther than she had in years. It didn't have the epic feel of the Half Ironman events that I've entered, but I can easily say it was the one of most fun events I've done yet.

That being said, I'm looking forward to the next one. But if we're putting another ice cream sundae on the line, I'm demanding a 10 minute handicap :)

Total Time

Mike: 3:01:21 (78th in age group, 629th overall)
Lisa: 2:44:07 (15th in age group, 393rd overall)

Some images:

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