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Vineman was an awesome race. I really enjoyed this course, not only is this course located in Sonoma, Ca. with some the of worlds best wineries, it is also a gorgeous course. The swim is in Guerneville, Ca. in a lake that is so warm that it was in the high 60’s but still USAT legal to wear a wetsuit. The swim is very shallow, so swimming was very interesting, I found myself pulling up dirt with every stroke in some sections of the swim course. For the first time in my life I was glad I didn’t have long arms.
The bike course sent us through the Sonoma County going past many vineyards and wineries, the course had it’s hills so it was not completely flat. It was warm and it was sunny and it was a great race day!
The bike finally led us back to Transition 2 where I had all my run shoes and gear. The run course brought us to our turn around at La Crema Winery. Unfortunately they didn’t have wine to taste but they did have food and water, the run took us on a little tour through a little pond in the backside of the winery and back on the road for a turn around. The run course isn’t completely flat, it had it’s share of some hills but nothing major.
This was a great course for me, a special race particularly because I had done it just shy of 4 months after giving birth to my wonderful baby girl.
The San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island, the name itself sounds cold, very cold. The thought of any swim in the San Francisco Bay sounds freezing cold. Yet in November many triathletes get up early in the morning probably 4 or 5 am to run into this nice cold water. Crazy, yes! And that is why I do this, because I may be crazy or I just may think this is FUN!
The day of the race as I get my transition area prepped, I walk around and check out the area, it was the first time I had arrived at least a few hours early before any race to pick up my race packet and prep. I am usually the one coming an hour before the race and running out to the water barely making the start. It was soo nice to just relax before the race, take my time and not rush! I better take a mental note for future reference!
As I wait for my wave start, women’s 29under, I hear the announcer saying that the water is exactly 47 degrees, which is USAT legal to wear wetsuits. Just about 4 months ago I had swam in 69 degree balmy waters at Vineman. As I wait I see a triathlete coming into transition from the swim who is freezing cold, he had this uncontrollable shake, he was searching for a medical team, someone that can help warm him up before he got on his bike. People ran up to him and took off what they had on and put it on him. As I watched on, I thought, man I’ve swam in northern California ocean waters many times and never saw this before. This scared me! I was freaking out mentally! Luckily, I got out of the scare and went on with positive thoughts!
I went into the water and it was certainly cold but not bad, the wetsuit always helps, thank god for the wetsuits.
After my horrible slow swim it was off to the bike, the bike is a good friend and I feel comfortably strong on the bike! For those of you that plan to race this course, beware, the roads are bad, many potholes and there are sections where there are cobblestones. Technical sections as Tricalifornia describe as ‘technical’ are the many sharp turns and bike traffic. It is a 6 loop course.
The run is a 3 loop course that has a great view of the bay bridge. Unfortunatley, I wasn’t getting excited about the bike or run course.
All in all a great race. As always, gotta improve my swim but am very happy with my bike and run splits. Would I do this race again? Hmmm..ask me again in 5 years!
Life Outside 