End of the Season Mexican Style

The hail while running yesterday was a solid reminder that winter is approaching quickly around these parts.  So the good weather last Saturday for the final triathlon of the season was that much more welcome.  For the last tri of the year I registered for the unique Burrito Union triathlon (http://www.burritounion10hrtri.com/).  This event has many different option from individual 5 hour to 3 person 10 hour versions.  I signed up for the individual 5 hour category.  We would be competing on a 600 meter swim/14 mile bike/3 mile run course and repeating until the clok hit 5 hours.  In the days leading up to this race I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get in and out of a wetsuit quickly while sweaty. 

For everyone who has raced before, think of how long it takes you to get into your wetsuit prior to the race and all of the tricks you use.  Now add a bunch of sweat, and oh yeah, try this right at the finish line of a sprint tri...  To try to make this step as easy as possible I also had to figure out how to not just take my wetsuit off quickly, but also not leave it in an inside out lump with the breakaway zipper still engaged. 

So, basically I really iced to fact that I am a slow swimmer (this would be why I was putting the wetsuit on for every swim...  that and the cold water).  I passed so many people on the bike and run throughout the first lap of the course.  The bike course was a simple out and back on pretty decent roads.  The fact that the park where we swam/transitioned was at the top of a nice hill so the bike was seven miles of downhill followed by the return trip of seven miles uphill, well that was just a fun benefit!  The run was on very well shaded trails.  A little bit of slippery mud was not a big deal until the third or fourth lap.  Overall it was a wonderful course. 

Now anytime I race for more than 2 hours, there is usually something that surprises me during the race.  For this race, I assumed that would have something to do with transitions as I would be doing that a whole lot more, and in new ways.  For this race, my "issue" to deal with would be more of a gostrointestinal issue.  When I was out on the second run, I started feeling like I needed to use the restroom and not to take a leak.  I wasn't sure if it was really a sh#t coming, but I was figuring I did not want to bet on a fart with more than 2 hours of racing still to come.  Luckily the transition area had a nice little bathhouse with real toilets.  The location was actually in between the finish line and my transition spot so I did not add extra time with my detour.  Of course, wearing my racing onesie made the effort take a little longer than normal.  Once I got on the crapper, all I had to do was fart...  So I wasted a little extra time for a fart...  Better safe than sorry.

Once I got back to racing things continued on like normal.  The third swim was quite a challenge.  Not sure why, but it was tough.  At this point it was pretty obvious the race would be four full circuits of the course.  Once onto the fourth lap, the swim went well this time.  Maybe because I knew I did not need to do it again.  It also felt nice to just peel the wetsuit like normal and get through t1 in a more normal time.  The second half of the bike was feeling a little slow, and the run...  Well, it went a little slower than I would have liked. 

All in all, I was happy with the overall effort I had.  I captured first in my age division and had a good time.  Sitting around after it was fun to watch the 10 hour individuals and teams still coming in and out of transition.  Maybe next time I will try the 10 hour version, maybe as a team too.  I would suggest this race for anybody looking for a unique event to finish your season off.  Get a few friends together and relax while racing, or go solo and see what you can do for 5 or 10 hours. 

Sprite with the handcrafted bowl for 1st in my age division.