Upcoming Lake San Antonio Half Ironman Weekend

This Friday, I will be driving down to Lake San Antonio (in Monterey county) with my old marathon running buddy Danette. The San Francisco Bay Area IronTeam and the Spring Triathlon team has a three day training weekend there. This Saturday, I will be doing a half Ironman (swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles. And I think that the Spring Team will be doing an Olympic Distance triathlon.

My friend Claire, sensing my anxiety, sent me this e-mail giving me a heads up of what to expect at Lake San Antonio:

This weekend is going to be such a milestone for you and honestly, a TON of fun. I am very bummed Matt and I are missing training weekend this year, because it is always such an amazing weekend.

The lake is much warmer than anything you have probably swum in this winter in this area. The worst part about the swim is getting in - you jump off the dock. The drop from the dock is very short -- it's not the height that's an issue, more the just dropping in as opposed to walking in. I'd say the dock is about 2 feet above the water. You just jump in feet first and go - and then there is space once you are in, to just tread water for a bit to get your bearings and adjust to the water and whatnot. When everyone is going in together, a moving line forms, so you can't take your time and everyone just goes commando style. I'd recommend jumping in once for practice before you do it with your whole team.

It will probably be foggy in the morning, but you are never too far from shore and there is a lot of support along the way. Expect twigs and other random floating things. I wasn't expecting all the stuff in the water the first time and it totally freaked me out. If's just twigs and grass and other harmless stuff.

The ride is stunning and actually, up until about 42 miles or so, it's not that challenging. Seriously! There is a false summit at nasty grade so it is not over until you've summited twice. After nasty grade it feels like you are done, but you actually have quite a bit left, including some pretty tough rolling up hills and some very long and pretty steep down hills - exhilerating, even if you ride your breaks down them! You will definitely be doing a lot of breaking the last 10 miles of the ride! Fortunately, as far as steep downhills go, they are the best kind because there aren't many turns, you can see the entire downhill out in front of you so you see how long it is, how steep, where it turns, any cars coming, etc.

The run is my favorite half marathon ever. Once you make it out of the trails, around mile 5 it gets much easier. So even though the beginning makes you think you are in for one hell of a long and tough run, just remember, around mile five, when you clear the woods and over look the meadow, it is soooo much easier for the remainder of the way. After that, there is really only one hill -- the pit -- but it's a 1 mile steady and not too steep climb and there's no reason to do anything more than a trot or even a walk, on your way up it. After the top of the pit -- go as hard as you can because the end is right there. You are going to be awesome. Have fun!