Granite Bay Triathlon
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September 19th, 2007
This past Sunday I finished my first triathlon – the Granite Bay Sprint Triathlon. They claim that it is the “California’s toughest Sprint triathlon”, but I think that is only because it is slightly longer than a typical sprint tri. My friend Basil, who had done it last year, told me about it and did it again this year with me. After just having ankle surgery back in April, it was good to have a goal to work towards to get back into shape. Being injured and going through physical therapy can be a very discouraging process, but thanks to the great training plan that my brother, Jon, and his fiancee, Nina, put together for me, I was able to slowly work my way back into shape. My ankle felt good and didn’t give me any problems during the race. I guess that means I am officially recovered.
My goal was just to finish the race, but I was very happy and surprised by my results. I even managed to get an award for placing 4th in my division (the website results now show that I got 3rd!). I should probably note that I was competing in the “Clydesdale” division, which is any male who weighs over 200 lbs. This division was actually a lot more competitive than you might think. If I had been competing in my age group, I would have placed 4th (and knocked Basil out of the top 5, I might add).
Overall, it was a great experience. Competing in a triathlon has been a goal of mine for awhile, and now I get to check it off my lifelist. But that doesn’t mean I am done with tri’s, I have a feeling I am just getting started…
Results
| Event | Distance | Time | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swim | .75 miles | 26:52 | 111 |
| Bike | 13 miles | 50:05 | 58 |
| Run | 5 miles | 47:26 | 103 |
| Total | 2:04:23 | 83/178 |
A note on the results: they didn’t break out the transition times from the splits. The water level in the lake was really low this year, so the run from the water up to the bike was probably about .75 miles over some sand and rocky parts in barefeet. According to the monitor on my bike, I finished the ride in 41 minutes so it took me 10 minutes to run up the beach and get onto my bike.
