Cal Poly Triathlon

I competed in the Cal Poly Triathlon on Saturday, April 4. This is a recap of that race.

Cal Poly was my first race, and to make it even better, it was close to home! I grew up 30 minutes away from Lopez Lake and I've been there a few times in years past, so it was awesome to return for my first ever triathlon.

Pre-Race: This being my first triathlon, I didn't quite know how to warm up. Decided to jog around between the transition area, swim start, and campsite to get a feel for the course and grab the rest of the stuff I needed for transition. Saw my parents right before the race (they came to watch) and snapped some pictures with my mom before immersing myself in the water and taking a warmup swim.


Swim: This is the part I was most worried about going into raceday. The lake was a lot more temperate than I was expecting, which was nice. Saw my way to the back of the pack for the start and tried to keep a steady pace, keep an eye on the buoys, and not stress out that pretty much the entire girls field was passing me by the end even though I had a 5 minute head start. Felt pretty dang good for myself when I got back to shore and the swim was all done.


Transition 1: Got out of the water and ran down the sandy dirt trail to the transition area. I'm Gonna Be (that songs that goes "and I would walk 500 miles") was blasting from the speakers, so I was rocking out as I took off my wetsuit and prepped myself for the bike. Probably would've been a faster transition if they were playing something else.

Bike: Beautiful ride! I made up for the slow swim by passing some riders on the first uphill, and cruised by the lake trying to focus on the race and not the view. Enjoyed the long downhill, passed some familiar places (i.e., the site of one of my high school cross country races), and powered (well, at least it felt like I was powering) up the big uphill on the way back. Cruised back into the camp area, feeling all cool for having competed in my first bike "race."


Transition 2: Forgot to grab my new race belt. Stressed about it most of the run, but turns out it didn't matter.

Run: Coming from a running background, a triathlon run was a new experience. Instead of being the main event, now the 5k is just the thing tagged on to the end of the race. Again, a gorgeous course with plenty of sun. Had to turn down 20 people offering me gatorade and water. Had some energy going into the last few hundred meters, so I did as close as I could to a sprint to the finish, to much cheering from the team. Gave my dad a hi-five right after I crossed the finish line, then joined the team to cheer in everybody else.

Adjusting to college life

I went running through the redwood grove in the arboretum this morning. I like running through this neck of the woods--it reminds me of Big Sur and Yosemite. Anyway, as I was running I passed by tour groups of potential UC Davis students and their parents.

In these two weeks I've done many of the things I'll be doing for the next few years at UCD. I've been sleeping in my new bed for fourteen nights and I've gone to my first few Ultimate practices. I've started all my classes, met everyone on my floor, studied and done homework. I've played plenty of frisbee and made plenty of phone calls home. I've even done my laundry and I'm starting to get tired of the DC food.


But despite all this--and the strange sensation I get sometimes that I've always been here--I still feel very new here. And that is, of course, a very natural feeling because I am very new here. But it is strange to consider that there is an entire class of high school seniors (a class I am very tied to, at least at my own alma mater) thinking seriously about their futures and applying to colleges just like I was a year ago. I haven't yet removed all my move-in day boxes and they're already poking around my new home!

But so goes college life. Everything moves fast here.

In the spirit of trying to make Davis my own and to begin to feel at home here I've been taking the opportunities that come try new things (within reason, of course) and to explore this area. I attended my first opera (free tickets!) courtesy of Dame Kiri te Kanawa and the Mondavi Center, and tonight I'll see the Shaolin Warriors. I've done rock climbing and the ARC and played raquetball, and I've been doing some running around town, and I'm getting involved in activities around Segundo North.

On a different note, the land here is very different from Nipomo. When I run through through the flat, tree-covered streets, I almost feel like I'm running through Kansas City. My California has rolling hills and great oak trees and the ocean; this California has endless flatlands and farms and great rivers. But this is all part of the experience. It's good for me to live in a place like this--it only makes me appreciate Nipomo and the Central Coast all the more.

And not that I have too much time to miss the hills and the ocean and my home. I've got work to do! And every minute I spend writing this is another minute I'm not studying for chemistry...