A Beautiful Day

Posted by Marvin

A Beautiful Day! There was just no other way to describe it!

Nov. 8th 2008, San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island.
1-Mile Swim, 25-Mile Bike, 6-Mile Run

This was the last race of the year, my "A" race that I trained extra hard for. It was such an awesome day, that I was wishing I could go right back to the beginning and play it back again, kind of like when you have a favorite movie that you watch over and over again, trying to memorize the lines.

The day went something like this...


3:30AM

Beep...beep...beep... I hit the alarm, finally annoyed at its constant nagging. I had already been awake at 3:00 anyway...just laying there preparing my mind for what was to come in the next few hours. "Good morning Jo!" I say, as I hop out of bed...a gentle reminder to her that breakfast is but 15 minutes away. I quickly get my compression top and sweatpants on as I prepare our breakfast in the microwave.

















Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal, a slice of toast with honey peanut butter, and a cup of coffee...it is the breakfast of champions, which Jo and I eat almost religiously every morning. 250 calories...just the right amount to fuel me for the next 3 hours without overfilling the tank. Don't worry, that bottle of Crown is the "break in case of emergency" bottle. :)


Jo and I like to be prepared whenever possible, and for this day it would be no different. Everything was loaded into the car the night before. Some of my key equipment that I used for this day:

Felt F75 Racing Bike

Ironman Instinct Full Body Wetsuit

BlueSeventy Skull Cap

Pearl Izumi Vagabond Shoes

Speedo AirSeal XR Mirrored Goggles


4:45AM

Vroom! We are out the door! Fired up! Ready to go! Jo is such a trooper...to give me time for mental rest, she drove the Tundra. Rain was in the forecast, but thanks to The Man upstairs...we were given reprieve. We only had to deal with a light fog, which would eventually burn off just in time for the race. 35 minutes later, we arrive at our destination, Treasure Island.



5:30AM

Woo-Hoo! We're here, and none too soon. The parking for the event was about a 15 minute walk away through some sparsely lit streets. Thankfully, we brought along our trusty headlamps from REI. Not the coolest looking things, but boy they sure do leave your hands free to gather and setup all your equipment, and THAT is cool. ;) So we gathered everything into a wheeled cart and made our way out to check-in at race registration.



6:00AM

Check! As in...checked-in, official, locked-and-loaded, lllllets get ready to rumbllllllllllleeeee! Can you tell I'm excited? :) Got my eco-friendly "goodie" bag, which includes among other odds and ends:

White latex swim cap (color specific to 35-39 age group)
RFID Timing Chip (Used to accurately capture my time on the course)
Copy of Triathlete Magazine (WooHoo! This is $5 at the newsstand!)
15% Coupon for Sports Basement (Shopping anyone?)


At this point, Jo and I spent the next hour setting up all of my equipment in advance of the transition stages, getting my race # and age marked up, and then proceeded to the race start area.




7:00AM

Suited Up. The first wave is getting ready to start at 7:15. My own age group does not start until 7:45...so I take this opportunity to don my wetsuit and other essentials, and then ham it up with my mother-in-law Daisy, my cousin Tom, and of course my cheerleader, teammate, and incredible wife Jo !!!



I really enjoy this part of the race. It is the one opportunity that I have to calm my nerves, get rid of the butterflies, and really try to slow my heart rate down. The last thing you want before a race is to have an elevated heart rate. It can spell doom later in the race in the form of "dead" legs and energy-sapping fatigue. Good thing that I have world-class support to make sure I relax and have fun! ;)


7:30AM

Calm Before The Storm. This is the point at which I calmly entered the nice 58 degree water, and allowed myself to acclimate to it. While it does feel quite chilly, the wetsuit and skullcap eventually did their job of warming up the thin layer of water suspended in them which insulates my body from the teeth-chatter-inducing cold of the Bay water.

Click The Picture for VIDEO.




7:45AM

We're off! Chaotic does not begin to describe a wave start in triathlon. Often referred to as the "washing machine", picture yourself trying to swim as fast as you can while being splashed, kicked, and pulled in a writhing medusa of limbs...all the while attempting to swim in a straight line so as not to lengthen the overall distance that you must negotiate between the buoys.

Click The Picture for VIDEO.



I sprinted for a good 75 yards before calming myself down and getting into a rhythm. This is crucial, as I must manage my energy to swim the two 750 meter laps round the buoys. To give you an idea of how far that is, imagine swimming 16 times back and forth across a football field. Undaunted by this challenge, I found solace and energy in the tremendous outpouring of support from our family and friends that day.

As I rounded the buoy the first time, I looked up and saw them...Jo, Alex, Mom, Dad, Tom, Thomas, Venus, Dawn, Dave...and that was only half the crew, the others...Sandy, Jenny, Kristine, Paul, Nikki, Sydney, Karthik...were at the entrance to the transition are as I exited the swim! Thanks for the motivation everyone!

Click The Picture To See Some of My World-Class Supporters! ;)




Roughly 30 minutes later, I say goodbye to the chilly waters of Treasure Island, and make my way to the transition area, where my trusty race horse awaits me. Average swim speed: 2mins/100yds
Click The Picture for VIDEO.




8:20AM

Hi-Ho Silver...Away! Hahaha....this is my favorite sport within the triathlon. It is the most exhilarating part of the race, both for it's challenge, but primarily for its speed.


Oh yeah, the danger factor also drives the rush of adrenaline that one experiences with the bike portion of the race. The feeling is so addicting, that I am almost embarrassed to admit that this year alone I've spent nearly 1,300 miles on my bike. Yes, I LOVE this part of the race!!!



Click The Picture to See More of My Favorite Part of The Race.



I was so ecstatic about having a World Class support crew. As much as they did to support me that day, it was such an awesome and uplifting experience to see them each time I came around on the bike. Normally in our past races, Jo and I would barely be seen for about 2 minutes and then we would disappear for an hour or so while we went out and did our bike thing. But at Treasure island, I had the pleasure of seeing my family and friends every 15 minutes as the bike route is a 6-lap loop around the island.
And if you saw the kind of support I had that day...you can understand why I almost would wish every race was a looped circuit with many laps !!!

Click The Picture To See More of My World-Class Supporters! ;)



Thanks for the amazing support everyone! I TOTALLY LOVED THE AWESOME SIGNS !!! :)

1 hour and 20 minutes later...I pull into the transition area to throw on my Saucony Progrids for the final stages of this awesome race! Average bike speed: 19.89 mph


9:40AM

Run Forrest, Run! LOL...The home stretch...almost there. Having swam a mile and biked 25....I have but 6.2 miles to run and I'm home free! I quickly exit the transition area after dismounting from my bike. As a matter of fact, I was in such a rush that I nearly forgot to take my helmet off! hahahaha. I DID forget to remove my red compression top, but after my first lap I handed it off to my awesome support crew and was in my blue tri-top for the rest of the race.

Click The Picture to See Highlights of The Run.



Unlike at my previous olympic-distance triathlon in Folsom earlier this year, I felt much more of a spring in my step here at Treasure Island.


















Could it have been the beautiful 70-degree air temperature that day? Or maybe I was in much better physical fitness than last time?

While both of these were certainly contributing factors, I truly believe that the biggest determinant was my mental fitness that day. Your mind can push you to truly great heights when you don't allow it to limit you.

And you know what was the biggest mental boost that day? The incredible love and support of my amazing wife, family and friends who came out to cheer me on. If they could only feel the energy they gave me with every ecstatic cheer they exclaimed when I came around, it can only be described as the ultimate high. Even Red Bull can't match the wings that you all gave me that day...THANKS EVERYONE !!! Avg Min/Mile: 8:50

Click The Picture To See The Complete Cast of My World-Class Supporters! ;)





Click The Picture To See The Finish Line Video Captured by Tom!




The next few hours after the race, we jammed on over to the Pyramid Alehouse Brewery and Restaurant, because there's nothing like bar food and a great microbrew to celebrate both a 36th birthday, and an amazing day at the races!

We also took a moment that weekend to recognize a couple of our top supporters for their unwavering support of our races. Mom and Dad have never missed a single Team Marv.n.Jo event, and have earned the title of #1 Fans!

And of course, we could not have had such a banner year in triathlon without our top teammates in tow. Thanks Venus and Dawn for being our #1 teammates. You two rock!

And finally, to cap off an already excellent birthday weekend, Jo's brothers graciously hosted us on my actual birthday for some great eats and equally great conversation. Thanks a bunch Sandy and Jenny for having us over for a little birthday dinner, and thank you Alex and Ida for the Lance Armstrong book...I'm halfway done with it!




















Until our next post...the adventure continues... ;-)


P.S. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who contributed images and videos to make this story possible:

Alex, Tom , Dave, Dawn, Venus