Sunset Cat

Just a short report, longer to follow!
The race started as a tri but ended up being a du — the swim got cancelled due to the wicked longshore current. Instead, we got to run 1/4 mile thru knee high to waist high surf. No kidding.
You know how triathlon is all about how you [...]

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The Hemet Tinsel Tri was the first tri for which I’ve had absolutely no pre-race jitters — most likely because I knew I wasn’t going to get the shit pounded out of me in the surf. Hah! there was no surf. The swim was a measly 100m in a heated, outdoor pool. More on that [...]

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Wow, what a blast! My slowest 5k ever (just at 1 hr), but a heck of a lot of fun.
The Topanga Turkey Trot was my second trail run event (my first being the inaugural Chesebro half trail/ half road half marathon).
The starting elevation was about 1100 feet at Topanga State Park. It was [...]

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The Solvang Prelude was my first organized bike-only event, with a choice of a metric century, 50 mile or 25 mile courses.
The Santa Ynez Valley is one of my favorite places in California: wineries, golden rolling hills studded with oak trees, twisty scenic roads, good restaurants. Hitting all my high points! and [...]

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The organizers were letting us go in packs. Dave and I waited a little bit after we turned the first corner just in case we’d see Mel. No luck.
A nice downhill starts the course. Besides the fact I was freezing I was pretty happy. Then the climbing started.
I’m ashamed to say [...]

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Hermosa Day at the Beach is about as close to home as you can get for us; the transition zone is less than 2 miles from our house. So it was a no-brainer to do this particular tri, though I’d heard the turns on the bike were a little rough and occasional collisions occured because [...]

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The surf was pretty bad, with some waves easily 7+ feet, and of course, since you start with your wave/group, you don’t get to pick when you go into the water (like you would sensibly if you were on your own). Oh yeah, and it was cold. 62 or 63 degrees.
Dave’s wave (with the pretty [...]

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If you want the knitty-gritty of the actual race, skip to the Race Report. This part includes everything up to actually getting lined up at the swim start.
I had bizarre triathlon related dreams Friday night — i.e., I was so slow that, by the time I was done with the bike they’d closed the course [...]

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