Race Report: Monte Rio Olympic Triathlon

Monte Rio, TRIATHLON WONDERLAND!

Race Report: Monte Rio Olympic Triathlon aka Will Tri For Wine

Oh hey there! Long time no chat. If you'd like to catch up on my life lately, check out dis last post, because I know it's been a while since I've shown my face around here.

Without further adieu, my first race as a CaLiForNiA GuRL:

Pre-Race:

As of April, I hadn’t planned any races other than Escape from Alcatraz (EFA) and the SF Marathon. However, I had the opportunity to preview the course for the Monte Rio Oly during GGTC’s training camp. Yes, there was some exercise done beyond chugging warm Bud Lights that weekend. The bike and run courses were awesome --- the bike route winds through Sonoma County and then along the coast on Highway 1 while the run course is 99.8% flat and throws some serious shade (the literal sense … its tree-covered pretty much the whole way).  I also figured I should get one race under my belt before EFA so I could at least MINIMALLY reduce the chance of an open water panic attack. Plus a bunch of my new teammates from GGTC were doing it so #bonding. So in my true eager beaver form, I added it to my schedule.

Pre-race wine, pasta, new friends, and a pretty solid photobomb (if you squint)

I drove up Saturday afternoon to Monte Rio/Guerneville area for packet pickup and bike drop-off and managed to snag a spot in the quaintest riverside Air BnB with some GGTC peeps. Even better there was a group going to a carbo-loading dinner at a poppin' poolside pasta place in Guerneville that I joined in on. Side note: it was Sonoma County Pride weekend and where we chose to eat happened to be the center of the festivities. (if I don't find the party tho, the party clearly finds me) You truly haven’t lived until you’ve experienced Pride in the middle-of-no-where wine country. We all wished we weren’t racing and could join in on the fun. Needless to say I slept well that night with all the vino we enjoyed … #wheninromesonoma … and was up and at 'em at the crack of dawn before I knew it!

Race morning:

Transition set-up was a quick n’ easy job and I spent most of the time debating between the sleeveless or long sleeved wetsuit as the water temp was hovering around 68. <<< This is now what I would consider warm because open water swimming in Northern California has truly made me HTFU. I went with the sleeveless option, shimmied it on, and made the trek down the rocky beach into the river!

Swim:

The swim took place in the Russian River and was an upriver, turnaround to downriver U-Shaped route. I had heard a lot of things about what the swim was like in past years, including that a large portion was too shallow to be swimmable (read: was walkable/wadeable) and that the upriver current was CRAY CRAY. Thankfully NorCal said toodles to the drought this winter and there wasn’t too much wading/walking to be done on the course. I also overheard they dammed up another part of the river upstream which made things a bit better current-wise.

The ever-flattering swim exit photo opp

The water temp felt perfect as I treaded water with my age group, but the current was more than noticeable. I tried to shimmy my way to the front as I was feelin’ pretty confident. When the gun went off, the usual washing-machine effect of a swim start was quadrupled by the fact that it was upriver. I felt as if I was thrashing about amongst other arms and legs, but thankfully every time I turned my head to breathe I saw the shoreline slowly moving. I would definitely say that this swim start was distinctively less panicky than others. Not sure if I would attribute that to more races/open water swims under my belt or the fact that I had generally had a more chill demeanor going into this (thanks to the wine from the night before for setting the tone).

I tried to stick towards the shoreline as I heard the current was not as strong there, and made my way upriver and started to see some caps from the men’s group ahead of me as I ticked off the buoys. There was a bit of wading that was unavoidable, but I tried to swim or dolphin dive for the most part to stay in my rhythm. After the turnaround it was a quick swim back towards the start. My goal time was sub-30 minutes, based on a combination of stalking previous race results (yes, I need to better prioritize my time) and picking a number I thought was achievable but not selling myself short.  I felt like I was close to that time as I was finishing up, aand sure enough I tapped dat Garmin at 29:45. The swim definitely felt longer than 1500 meters and was … the total clocked in at around 250 meters long … and I was swimming pretty straight! Takeaway: I’m happy with this swim and my chillaxed demeanor during the start.

(29:45 – 1:33/100yd || Goal: sub 30-mins)

6^th out of 23 in AG

T1: Lonnng run quarter mile-ish run uphill to transition area, but smoothness ripping off the wetsuit and onto the bike!

(3:47)

Bike:

This bike course was the only one I’ve ridden before racing it, and PRO TIP: IT HELPS TO PREVIEW THE COURSE J Duh Madi. I realized about .2 seconds into the bike that my power meter wasn’t connected, rats. Why the crap did I sell a portion of my soul to Garmin and shell out a small pile of gold for this if I wasn’t going to have the race day data?! (it was on mega-sale, but still worth a small pile of gold)

Scenery from the bike course on Highway 1

The first few miles of the ride were mostly flat on smooth as buttah pavement. Bonus points that it wound through fields spotted with cows and vineyards. There were a few miles of hills in the middle, and one big climb, but I did a pretty solid job spinning my way up the hills and picking off a few people. It was during this out and back hilly section that we were on Highway 1 riding along the coast … the views are truly unbelievable and I did my best to soak in the scenery. By the time I got back to the flat stretch the sprint tri participants joined the route, which was the one and only downside of the course. It became very crowded and I had to mind my distance especially in this section as race officials sped by doling out drafting penalties. My recent bike fit proved to be helpful as I was able to hunker down comfortably in aero for some of the straight sections. Still working on my confidence in aero though, but that will come with time. Takeaway: pretty pleased, but as I say after pretty much bike, there is still room for improvement (especially as I keep training with power).

(1:18 - 19.0 avg mph || Goal: 19.0 mph)

4^th out of 23 in AG

T2: Quick change of shoes and off I go!

(1:33)

Run:

I had big plans for this run course. When I did a transition run on the course during GGTC training camp, I ended up PR-ing my 5K time. As I hustled out of transition, I saw my friend Mariella who had made the trip up to cheer for me. She gave me the boost of energy I needed to start my run off strong … and it didn’t hurt she had a puppy in tow ;) I took the first half-mile and the couple of quick turns onto the main stretch of road to find my legs. Although I had goals in mind (namely a 10K PR), I tried to run solely based on RPE and not by pace.

As I continued on the “out” of the “out and back” course, I was surprised to see my watch chiming at the quarter miles with a pace of sub 8:00min/mile. I did try to hold myself back ever so slightly in order to save a bit for the last mile or two. My splits stayed consisted through the turnaround point, and the run flew by as I high fived and thumbed up (not a verb? Now it is!) GGTC teammates I saw on the course. I knew I was on par to PR my 5K and 10K, and probably overall Oly time as well. I buckled down for the last mile or so, and entered the mental pain cave as I pushed myself to as quick of a pace as I could hold.

Around mile 5.9 out of 6.2, a girl passed me and, as I do with every female that passes me, I hone in on the age on the back of their calf (hypercompetitive? Me? Never.) Sh*t. This race didn’t have us write our age on our calves. She looked around my age, and although I had no clue how I was doing within my age group, I’d lost the podium in a finishing sprint before and I wasn’t about to let that happen again. So…. I sprinted my face off for the last .3 miles and left her in my dust!!!!! Jokes…. I tried to pass her on a narrow bridge on the final homestretch, but she took one glance over her shoulder and kicked it into high gear, widening the gap between us. Although I knew I couldn't catch her, I put my head down and huffed and puffed around the bend and up the only true hill of the course to cross the finish line.

(47:54 – 7:44 min/mi pace || Goal: break 10K record – DONEZO!)

Post-race re-hydrating with a full-bodied red

3^rd out of 23 in AG

Post-race:

I finished with warm fuzzies for the solid run and for the PRs. Some of the warm fuzzies were diminished by the fact that I was outsprinted at the tail end of the race -- My spidey sense was right and aforementioned chick was in my age group. However, I managed to take home a 3^rd place AG spot (and bottle o wine!) and shared the podium with a fellow GGTC-er who snagged 1st, Molli! I gave Ms. 2^nd place a fist bump and kudos, and made a mental note to work some more sprints into my run training.

In Kanye’s words, “Imma let you finish (third) , but Beyonce Ms. 2^nd place … had one of the best runs of all time!!!" I get the point Kanye, I’ll aim to be harder, better, faster, and stronger.

All in all, I had a great time getting to know new teammates and had some personal bests along the way. Monte Rio Oly, I’ll be back for your scenery, your flatness, and (hopefully) your wine.

GGTC ROLLS DEEEEEP THO!

Xoxo,
MK