Seaside Sprint Tri

This past Sunday I was able to participate in a brand new local triathlon - the Seaside Sprint Triathlon. Set on the same closed course as the Park City Olympic Distance Triathlon, I knew this course would be flat and fast!

There were lots of TTers participating and watching including Ed, Cornelia, Kim, Whitney, Justin, CK, Steve, and the entire Masarek family! I always like participating in local races because it's nice to see lots of familiar, friendly faces especially during the race.

The swim start was interesting - it was especially low tide so the first 25 yards started with a run through wet sand then another 25 yards of running through ankle deep water. At that point, I was able to do a few dolphin dives and start swimming. I was also relieved that I didn't have any altercations with mating horseshoe crabs. At the turn buoy I could tell that there was a current going in the opposite direction (good for strong swimmers :)) and was able to build up a lead. By the second turn buoy I caught up to the majority of the men's 40+ wave and some of the men's 39 and under stragglers. As I headed into shore I was amazed at the amount of men wading through hip deep water while I swam past them. Keep swimming people - you swim faster than you wade! Some had even started taking their wetsuits off and still had over 100 yards to go till hitting the beach. About 10 yards to shore my hands started hitting the sandy bottom and at that point I quickly exited the water and ran up the beach into transition.

I was able to get through T1 quickly and headed out on the bike. The two loop, out-and-back course is flat and I started hammering right away in order to build my lead. At the turn-around I was able to see how far back the next woman was, it looked to be about 4 minutes. At that point I knew that as long as I didn't blow up I should be able to maintain a lead.

On the run I felt OK considering my lack of run training since the bike crash and kept up a steady tempo through the turn around. With about a mile to go I eased up a bit (at that point Ed passed me on the run and asked if I was OK - "yes...you just run faster than me") and was able to high-five Steve and Cornelia who were heading out to the turn around. At the finish I saw the clock and knew I had beaten my goal time of sub 1 hr! Yay!

I highly recommend this race to anyone who is looking for a good first time tri or an early season sprint race. Special shout out to Jared Masarek who won his AG in his first tri even though he had to run the last mile of the bike because of a flat! Also, Kim -2nd in AG, Steve -3rd in AG! Way to go!