Burrrrr....Practice Tri

This morning at 7:15 am I was on Treasure Island setting up my transition area. The transition area is where you layout/set up all the gear required for the event. As you can see triathlons require a lot of gear!!! Wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, body glide, towels (2), one water bottle to rinse off your feet, bike, helmet, biking shoes, 2 water bottles for you bike, sunglasses, socks, nutrition, arm & leg warmers, jacket, running shoes, visor. Some people I know like the guy behind me (and Jim), really know how to condense to just the very basics. Me. I somehow brought everything, except the kitchen sink and since I had the room to spread it all out. I did. What the heck, during a "real" event, this isn't an option. Then we are packed like sardines.




[Right] The information/food booth. Staffed by all our coaches and mentors.








[Left] Coach Wayne giving us our instructions for the day.
'Ok team today we're going to....
Swim in the cove 950 yards, bike 12 miles, and run 3 miles. Now you have 7 minutes before we head over to the cove. Not 10 minutes..." Coach Wayne is very good with keeping us on time. I hope to learn this skill set over the course of training.

The team heading down towards the water's edge.

Burrrrr.....the water was extremely cold!!! When I put my face in the water to start the race. It felt like dunking my face in a bucket of ice. But it didn't slow me down. I came in 4th, out of 65 swimmers today. Woo Hoo!!! Now the bike portion was a completely different story. I was soooo slow, everyone was passing me (later on I learned my back brake was rubbing the entire time! call me Lance, but it's true)

Next the run....my feet were still frozen, but I kept moving one foot in front of the other. Finished the run with an ok time of a 10 minute mile.

Here's a different view of the cove I swam in. The swim course was just left of the boats. Now for the story as to how I got this great shot. The Bay Bridge was shut down for about a half-hour due to police activity. A package was found on the bridge near Treasure Island, and it had to be removed. So I made the most of the situation, and for the first time in my life, I walked on the Bay Bridge and took pictures. This is one of them. As is the picture of my car (white w/bike on top, no driver) and the others cars parked on the bridge.



Wow! What a Sunday morning.