Scott Tinley’s Triathlon October 3, 2015
I
decided to do one last Triathlon this season before shifting gears into my 18
week Marathon training plan for Surf City.
Two weeks ago was Tahoe 70.3 and I was bit by the racing bug to do one
last tri this season. This weekend’s
event calendar presented two long course options, Silverman or Scott Tinsley’s
and I opted to race locally at Tinley’s.
I took
the day off on Friday and after sending the kids off to school I packed for the
road trip. The combination of packing
triathlon gear plus camping gear can be a bit overwhelming but through
experience I have learned to go as minimalistic as possible. I raided the fridge, threw together an ice chest for the road trip and headed out.
After
arriving at Lake Lopez, I checked in, set up camp and went for a short ride to
preview the course. The bike course is absolutely
stunning. The start is similar to
Wildflower where right out of the water is a climb from the lake bed then after
leaving the lake the course looks similar to Vineman where you ride through
some beautiful vineyards. Possibly my
top criteria for choosing future events will be a stunning bike course and this
is quite possibly one of the best.
After
the bike course preview, I sat down in my outdoor recliner chair and fell
asleep for a nap. I woke up from my nap and
to my surprise, I was surrounded by deer.
A mother and her 3 kids. They
just sat down right next to me only an arms distance away. It was very peaceful and I just opened up my
book and read while in the company of nature.
Part of racing is an acute focus on the present and looking right in the
deer’s eyes I can appreciate the animal instinct where their attention is
hypersensitive to their surroundings. I
strive for that same animal instinct on the bike when trying to stay aero or on
the run feeling the slightest change in my heart race on a sunny hill. It’s very meditating to observe nature and
appreciate the natural animal instinct I probably seek myself when checking out
from societies comforts to race.
That
night, I made a fire and ate a P&J sandwich and beet juice mix I prepared
at home. I settled into my REI tent on a
very cozy aerobed. Totally stoked on
just how simple life can be if you make it that way. Race morning I ate two yogurts, a banana and orange juice and was ready to roll.
The 6
am morning DJ I can hear from the campsite gets me pumped to race. After laying out my transition, I head off to
the lake for the start. 3, 2, 1 and we
are off. The swim consisted of 3 laps on
a half mile course. For the first two
laps, I was neck and neck with another competitor when the craziest thing
happened. Going into my 3rd
lap I arrived at exactly the same time as the International swim start and
literally was the pace guy right in front of the mass wave start. I did a quick siting to look behind and all I
could see is a herd of swimmers & massive splashes so I braced myself to
expect to be overtaken by the front of the pack. I can imagine the announcer saying to the
collegiate swimmers racing the international tri from Cal Poly, Santa Barbara,
Stanford, Berkeley, etc. “go get him”! When
the first guys came through, I pick up on some feet and was able to draft that
third lap around the course.
Exiting
the swim is quite the climb to T1 and my oxygen deprived heart rate spike. I’ll have to rehearse this for training next
year, practice running a hill repeat after swimming. T1 almost feels like slow motion while you
get your senses back from the vertical swimming position in water to the
horizontal position while catching your breath and changing out of the
wetsuit. I am getting good at transition
because I know it has to be scripted as a hat trick because it is difficult to
make decisions in a somewhat disoriented state.
Playing
on the bike course was spectacular.
There were 3 guys in particular that I raced head to head with through
the day. 3 bottles of tailwind along
with 3 diluted gels in my hydro flask was the perfect nutrition. Picture racing next to vineyards with oak
trees cresting the road to provide shade from the Central California sun. I fell in love with this bike course to say
the least.
The
run was awesome. I had observed a competitor
during the turn around on the bike who was my targeted to catch. I did not catch him on the bike, he was in
fact a better swimmer and cyclist than me.
But I know it’s all 3 sports coming together so I had it in me to run
strong and set out of T2 to catch him. I
think it was about mile 3 when I passed him and recognized by his calf he was
the top guy in my age group I had just passed for the 1st place AG
position. This inspired me greatly to
feel the competition neck and neck and especially on the run.
The
run course consisted of 2 loops at 4.5 miles each. The run felt just like Wildflower with hills,
trails, campgrounds, downhills, etc. The
weather got pretty hot too but this is what I am used to so I just dumped water
on my head at every aid station to keep cool.
I changed it up this time and did not carry a water bottle but used the
on course aid stations and actually liked the natural running gate using my
arms without the burden of carrying something.
It was very cute, many families from the campsites had kids everywhere
at the aid stations passing out water and I had fun giving them positive vibes,
high fives and thank you to these awesome little dudes. This event is very much about families and I
like supporting a family oriented event.
In one section of the course, kids were flying overhead on a zip line
while their parents hung out on a sunny deck drinking beer & rocking out to
some classic tunes while they cheered on the race.
I
finished the race 4:50, 1st place age group and 5th
overall. This was a great event & I
look forward to coming back to next year.
