2013 Auburn Triathlon

This Sunday was the Auburn International Triathlon.

This is a great race venue, and I love this course.  At this race, the swim-bike transition (T1) is several miles away from the bike-run transition (T2).  It adds a logistical component that adds to the excitement.  As the results show, everything went well for me at this race.

The 1.5 kilometer swim is at Rattlesnake Bar at Folsom Lake.  The swim course was changed slightly from last year.  I am not sure why, but it didn't make a difference to me.  I got hooked onto the swim leaders through the first buoy, then I dropped off their pace a bit and finished on my own between the leaders and the main pack.  I figured I was 7th or 8th out of the water; and I was pretty sure I was the first or second guy from my age group - it's a bit hard to tell ages in full wetsuits, caps, and goggles.  Long run up the boat ramp to T1, quick change, and off on the bike.

This 40 kilometer bike course is hard and very scenic.  It is mostly on rural roads around Auburn, with scenery featuring lake views, oak woodlands, and pine forests.  It also features lots of climbing.  We climbed from 466 feet elevation at the lake to 1,660 feet elevation at the bike turnaround, and finish at 1,300 feet elevation.  I got passed by one person in my age group somewhere during the first third of the course.  At the bike turn around, I looked at the gap to the riders behind me and realized that I was having a good ride.  Entering T2 at Railhead Park in Auburn, I figured that I was the 16th male; and second or third in my age group.  I was starting to believe that I could podium.

I had a very fast transition and was off on the 10 kilometer run.  I know this run course very well, and I knew that I could run an 8:00/mile pace for the first 7k.  I wasn't sure about the last 3k.  Like the bike course, the run course is also very fun.  It is a down and up course that goes down into the American River Canyon and back out.  It is entirely closed to vehicles with a good mix of trails, gravel roads, and pavement.  I ran hard and really had to push myself to finish the last 3k.  After the run I was fairly certain I was the 18th overall male and second or third in my age group.

A picture is worth a thousand words (almost):

I finished second place of seven in the 40-44 year old age group and 20 of 94 (including women and relays).  I was originally awarded third place as shown in the photo, but later they realized that the first place finisher had raced in the wrong age group and moved him up a bracket; bumping me up to second place.  For my efforts I received a finishers medal, a "winner's" pint glass, and a handshake from the guy that beat me by 22 minutes(!).

Splits:

Swim - 0:23:25 (~1:25/100) (right at my threshold pace!)
T1      - 0:02:36 (long run from water)
Bike  - 1:35:27 (~15.6 mph) (hills!)
T2      - 0:00:53 (fast!)
Run   - 0:52:32 (~8:28 m/mi)
Total - 2:54:54