Mission Bay Triathlon

On Sunday I participated in the Mission Bay Triathlon. This triathlon has a lot of history in the sport of triathlon, and it also has a lot of personal history for me. The very first triathlon took place in Mission Bay at Fiesta Island on September 25, 1974, and consisted of a 6 mile run followed by a 5 mile bicycle ride, and then a 500 meter swim. The cost to enter that race was $1! Soon after that, the sport of triathlon took off, became very popular, and is still growing!

I participated in my very first triathlon on October 5, 2003, at Mission Bay. I have it written in my race book as the "Jamba Juice Triathlon." I didn't have a wetsuit for the race, so I borrowed one to use. As I was putting the wetsuit on near the start, the zipper broke! I had to run back to the transition area to drop off the wetsuit and run back to the start. I swam in the chilly water without a wetsuit, and I remember laughing about the broken wetsuit while I was swimming!

I've done that particular tri 8 times since then, and hopefully I can participate in 8 more! It's a popular race for beginners, and I heard that Sunday's race had about 400 more racers than last year.

My race went well. I felt like I had gained a little fitness since my last tri in the summer, but I am still far from what I was (or ever will be) since before I had my knee surgery.

Next race up is the Silver Strand 10-miler. The training will be a test to see how my knees hold up since this will be the furthest I have run since.