San Fran Race Report

Or,

How I Ended Up in Kenya 45 Hours Later

As I mentioned previously the San Francisco Triathlon at Treasure Island was a pretty good race for me. Yes, my run wasn’t nearly as it dominant as it has been throughout the year, and I know my ninth place finish might not look like anything special. However, I managed to do something I haven’t done all year and that is why it was such a great result to have heading into the off season – I made the front pack on the bike!

Race Start – 12 PM PST

On the pontoon. Pictures are courtesy of Steve Sexton using my camera.

Before the horn.

The race started and the water was something stupid like 55 degrees. I started on the right with Brian Fleischmann and Ethan. Ethan led to the first buoy with Brian and me in tow. Brian took over the pace making soon thereafter and strung our pack out into a long line for the rest of the swim. At the time I didn’t know that a huge gap separated my group from the main field.

Race Start + 0:18:53

Exiting the swim.

As I exited the water I found myself at the back of a very select front pack of nine athletes – it was a who’s who of American swimmers: Brian Fleischmann, John Dahlz, Dave Kuendig, Ben Collins, Victor Plata, Joe Umphenour, Ethan, me, and some dude from New Zealand or Canada or something. This is dangerous territory for me – I have been in the back of the front swim pack many times this year and my record isn’t very good for making the front bike pack: five for ten. 50% is pretty bad, and what’s more is that the times I did miss the front pack were when it mattered most – World Cups, World University Games, and US Elite Nationals to name a few. So I blazed through T1 and hammered at the start of the bike, eventually solidifying myself into a very select front pack of seven athletes about one minute up on the second pack.

The front pack.

We stayed away the whole time with only Matt Reed and Matt Chrabot bridging up to us. Cries of “The Matts are coming! The Matts are coming!” eminated from our pack for the first two laps – once they caught us the pace picked up as they attacked and counterattacked, effectively making my life miserable for about 40 minutes.

Francisco Serrano and Michael Raelert leading the second pack in.

Race Start + 01:22:10

Once out onto the run course I felt the effects of getting worked by such a small, volatile bike pack. Four athletes passed me from the second pack – hey, that’s normally what I have to do!

Victor Plata is hurrrting, but he won.

Race Start + 01:57:01

I held on for a solid ninth place finish. It was nice to accomplish something I haven’t done all year long, plus I made more money in one day than I ever have in triathlon with an eighth place overall finish in the TriCalifornia series and my ninth place race finish. Sweet! After all, this is my job.

Race Start + 07:55:00

I’m on the runway at SFO about to take off for Orlando. I do not recommend trying to fly out on the same day as a race. Between waiting for awards, getting back to the hotel, and packing everything, I was hard pressed to get to the airport on time.

Race Start + 22:24:00

I’m on the runway in Orlando – taking off again. I arrived in Orlando that morning at six AM and had about a seven hour layover. I took a one hour nap – my only sleep since before the race and the only sleep I would get for a long time. Next stop – Detroit.

Race Start + 33:30:00

Somewhere over the North Atlantic. As you might imagine, I’m quite sore from the race at this point. Two hours to Amsterdam and 12 hours to go.

Race Start + 059:30:00

After arriving in Nairobi the night before, getting six hours of much needed sleep and driving five hours out of Nairobi into the Kenyan highlands I found myself in Southwest Kenya on the Maasai Mara Game Reserve with my roommate from college, Ashish, who met me in Nairobi (he was coming from Thailand). After the safari we stayed with his family who lives in Nairobi.

Safari day one: it’s getting stormy on the Maasai land.

The Great Rift Valley – this is near where the fast runners come from.

Snapping some photos of some hippos.

A big old lion.

Giraffes!

We bribed a park worker at the Nairobi zoo to let us into the Cheetah cage.

Ashish and me at the giraffe park in Nairobi.