Below is the Gritty Spaniard's race report from the Santa Barbara Triathlon. All I know is he is a gamer. Good Job Mr. Ramirez, and I hope Cage hitting you was an accident. ;o)
This was not my first Triathlon. It will most likely be my last. If you have never done one, I recommend you do. They are a lot of fun. In fact, this race report can be a good tool for WHAT NOT TO DO in your triathlon.
My day started with 3 trips to the restroom in the hour before the race. Whew.
I felt really calm before the swim. This is not typical and was troubling for me. I generally have a panic attack on the sand. However, nothing. I started the swim!
I had 2 panic attacks in the water but worked through them after a short stop each time. I had time to talk to one of the life guards on the surf boards while I was out there. He said he was 14. Then I got my groove going until Mike Cage whacked me with his arm as he passed me heading for the final buoy.
I had comical transitions. First, my wetsuit got stuck on my timing chip because I decided to take the wetsuit off in the water. BAD idea. I dragged it out of the water and along the sand up the swim finish shoot until I tripped. Had to sit down in the sand and fight it to get it off my foot. I got a cramp in the process. All the spectators around me were watching me, silent. It was sad…
Could not find my bike in T1 (which was really really sad as there were only a few bikes left in transition anyway as everyone had come and gone). Then came the lame bike split. I guess only riding the TT bike 3 times before an event like this is not the way to train? But I do think I looked really cool in Blingerman’s TT helmet. Not as cool as he looks, but cool enough for me.
Run Transition; Only found my run stuff in T2 because I saw this sorry ass looking pile of sand (which was really my wetsuit) in the middle of the isle.
Started the Run. My race bib flew off on the run when my race belt broke. I finished strong.
I’m sure you now by now, Matt got 2nd. He’s a stud hands down, this was his first triathlon. He was so strong that while we passed each other on the run (he was heading for the finish, I was still heading for the mile 5 turn around), he stopped and turned around and started running with me!. He said he was over this triathlon thing even though it was his first one. He said he was switching to decathlons. I think he has his sports mixed up because I went to one of his training classes and it looks like to me to be more like synchronized swimming than decathlons. See below. Judge for yourself.
Thank you,
Rob Ramirez
My day started with 3 trips to the restroom in the hour before the race. Whew.
I felt really calm before the swim. This is not typical and was troubling for me. I generally have a panic attack on the sand. However, nothing. I started the swim!
I had 2 panic attacks in the water but worked through them after a short stop each time. I had time to talk to one of the life guards on the surf boards while I was out there. He said he was 14. Then I got my groove going until Mike Cage whacked me with his arm as he passed me heading for the final buoy.
I had comical transitions. First, my wetsuit got stuck on my timing chip because I decided to take the wetsuit off in the water. BAD idea. I dragged it out of the water and along the sand up the swim finish shoot until I tripped. Had to sit down in the sand and fight it to get it off my foot. I got a cramp in the process. All the spectators around me were watching me, silent. It was sad…
Could not find my bike in T1 (which was really really sad as there were only a few bikes left in transition anyway as everyone had come and gone). Then came the lame bike split. I guess only riding the TT bike 3 times before an event like this is not the way to train? But I do think I looked really cool in Blingerman’s TT helmet. Not as cool as he looks, but cool enough for me.
Run Transition; Only found my run stuff in T2 because I saw this sorry ass looking pile of sand (which was really my wetsuit) in the middle of the isle.
Started the Run. My race bib flew off on the run when my race belt broke. I finished strong.
I’m sure you now by now, Matt got 2nd. He’s a stud hands down, this was his first triathlon. He was so strong that while we passed each other on the run (he was heading for the finish, I was still heading for the mile 5 turn around), he stopped and turned around and started running with me!. He said he was over this triathlon thing even though it was his first one. He said he was switching to decathlons. I think he has his sports mixed up because I went to one of his training classes and it looks like to me to be more like synchronized swimming than decathlons. See below. Judge for yourself.
Thank you,
Rob Ramirez
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2 comments:
This picture was taken AFTER I finished my Decathlon training.
That's just me hangin' out in the jacuzzi at the YMCA.
Matt
Matt, when were you going to introduce us to your friends?
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