Kirkland Triathlon

This was a city triathlon, so it was scheduled to start at 7:00 a.m. instead of 9:00 a.m. like my other tris this season. This was also a sprint, so the distances were 0.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run (these were the advertised distances; some sprints are 20K bike 5K run). My friend Francesca signed up a few days beforehand so we met after setting up our transition zones and waited for the start together. The race began about 15 minutes late, and my wave was 5 minutes before hers so we wished each other luck and I went to the holding area when they called my wave.

The swim was OK, but I was blocked by some slower swimmers and breaststrokers. I think my best strategy at sprint tris is to seed myself towards the front, but to the side, so the good swimmers will take the straight line to the buoy and I'll have a bit of space to work with. This course was in Lake Washington and shaped like three sides of a rectangle. The water felt cold and first and after the first turn I finally settled into a rhythm and finished up. I brought a thermos with some hot water to drink, and I had a sip as I was a bit chilly from the swim.

The bike course is hilly, featuring two good climbs and several sustained grades. On the other hand, the last two miles are downhill back into the transition zone! It was rainy leading up to the event, so the roads were wet, but fortunately it didn't rain during the event itself. Due to the wet roads I had to take it a little bit easy around some corners.

About 4 miles into the course, Francesca pulled alongside me and said hi! We rode close by until a hill near my house, when I was able to pass a large number of people. However, I'm pretty sure they all got me back as around mile 8 Francesca came up behind me and whizzed by again. I followed her (in a non-drafting sense!) all the way back to transition and we switched to the run and started off together.

The run was mostly flat with a slight grade to run up in both directions. I set off as fast as I could manage, limited by side stitches. It was a simple out-and-back and I pushed as hard as possible for the last half mile, so I know I am grimacing in my race photo. After finishing I wandered up to an open spot and cheered Francesca when she ran by a few minutes later.

Times are up: I did 1:38:22, and Francesca did even better at 1:37:22.

Me and Francesca

Here we are, packing up after the event. My bike is laying on the ground on the left.

Francesca Loves the Bike Start

Francesca, at the scene of the start of her dominating race leg!