I wasn’t supposed to be doing triathlons this year. And I
definitely hadn’t planned on coming back to Donner until next year. But as fate
would have it, the universe placed me in a position to be able to get a little
revenge on the course that taught me about what determination was back in 2015.
And how when we aren’t physically able to do something, our brain kicks in and
gives us that mental push. When I did the Donner Olympic three years ago, I had
signed up on a whim. I thought since I was swimming as cross training for my
marathon, it was a slam dunk to do an Olympic triathlon. I mean, I was swimming
2000 yards twice a week in the pool and had cycled exactly twice, 20 miles at a
time on flat road. Made sense, right? This is how irrational I am – my only
other triathlon had been in 2013 and was a sprint. I hadn’t done once since.
But I like to do stupid things from time to time so I hit “register”. How bad could
it be? Then I spoke with a coworker who had done this race in the past. Her
eyes got wide and she said to me, “you know that bike course is a killer,
right?”. My heart dropped into my stomach. She was a very experienced cyclist who
loved to ride hills. If she thought it was tough, I was probably going to die. Well,
I didn’t die and you can read my race report a few pages back on my blog ;-)
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| Saturday before the start of the sprint w/hubby, a newbie triathlete |
Back to the present year….I had hurt my foot in December at
work and just as my foot was feeling better, I injured my knee rock climbing. The
entire first six months of the year was shot in terms of what I had planned,
running-wise; I was doing a LOT of swimming and cycling while my foot was
rehabbing. I could swim and cycle without any issues but running was another
story. So, I decided to register for Big Blue Adventure's Donner Lake triathlon and originally was going to do the
aquabike – this race had been haunting me for three years and I knew I needed
to get back on the mountain for a little redemption. I wasn’t trained for the
swim and I definitely wasn’t trained for the run; my only goal was to best my
bike time from 2015 (which wouldn’t be very hard; I am embarrassed to say what
my time was that year….lol). Having done Coeur d’Alene 70.3 and thoroughly enjoying
the hilly bike course there, I was ready to challenge myself at Donner. The
icing on the cake is that my husband decided the Donner sprint would be his
first triathlon. He’s not a triathlete and has always been in the gym, throwing
around heavy weights. So I was thrilled when he decided this was his year to find
out why I liked this triathlon gig. So I was able to support him at his race on
Saturday, where he placed 2nd in the Clydesdale division and then I
was able to race on Sunday with him supporting me.
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| The most fun I've had in the swim at a triathlon |
We were having fires in the area and I was worried about the
air quality but it was a beautiful day for the sprint and I was hoping for the
same on Sunday. It looked good out when we started the swim. I have to say…this
was the best swim I’ve ever had. Not time-wise (I swam WAY off course and did
an extra few hundred yards….lol). But I felt great and never had any anxiety. I
have huge open water anxiety and it’s taken me a very long time to even be able
to swim in something other than a pool. I was super relaxed and chill for the
swim which set up me up for a good time on the bike, mentally. As I headed out
of T1 and towards the road that would take me up 1000ft in the first few miles,
I was grinning like a fool. Three years ago, I was so anxious and not enjoying
myself at all – that’s what not training at all for an extremely challenging triathlon
like Donner will do to you mentally. But this year was so different. I threw it
in my easy gear and just spun my way up the mountain. I didn’t kill myself
going up the hill and ended up hitting the summit about 20 minutes faster than
three years ago.
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| On my way up the mountain, feeling good! |
Then came the fun part – hauling ass down towards Kingsvale
and Soda Springs. In no time at all, I was at the turn around. Donner is truly a
gorgeous course and there is very minimal traffic on the open part of the
course (they close Donner Pass road for the race). I was having a great time
taking in the trees and fresh air that I didn’t even mind all the climbing back
to the summit. It’s funny because you would think the first few miles going up
Donner Pass from the lake are the toughest but I really think it’s the back end
of that course. It’s a sleeper; you don’t realize what a grind it is until you
are past the turn around and heading back towards the lake. Once I hit the
summit, it was time to fly. This is what I had been waiting for – I’ve been
working on my descending skills for a while now and today was a chance to open
it up and have a little fun. Before I knew it, I was at the foot down stop –
they have you come to a complete stop at the bottom of the mountain and put a
foot down. This is for safety purposes as the road you cross is open to traffic
and most riders are coming down that hill at a high rate of speed. My top speed down the mountain was around 40mph and I actually got into the top 20-25 on Strava in that segment (big deal for this back of the packer girl!). I remember
passing my husband and laughing while telling him I killed the bike course (I
think I beat my 2015 time by over 20 minutes).
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| The most fun you can have with your clothes on ;-) |
The run at Donner is great! It’s a lap around Donner Lake
which is really pretty. It’s mostly flat except for the backside which has one
monster hill then a few rolling hills. I was very familiar with the run course
as I had done a few laps around it while training for my first marathon. The hardest part
is running through the campground where folks are BBQ’ing and lounging around
in the water – so tempting to stop and join them! The smoke from area fires had
started to creep in by that time and it was affecting my breathing a little not
to mention I had to walk most of the run because of my knee and foot. But I had
already prepared myself for that so I was in no hurry. I had a few runners pass
me and compliment me on my bike descent down the hill. That was nice to hear –
I’m a fairly new cyclist and have worked hard at getting comfortable on the
bike. As I came into the finish, I was so happy to see that I took 17 minutes
off my previous time. Even better was how I felt. When I did Donner last time,
I was totally wrecked and crushed. It was the hardest race I had ever done,
marathon and 50k included. So coming back and feeling as good as I did was my
ultimate goal. Especially since I wasn’t trained for open water swimming and I
had to walk the run portion.
Post race, it was time for food and drink. I don’t drink so
hubby got my free beer which he was happy about….lol. Everyone kind of hangs
out at the beach on the grass and enjoys the beautiful Sierra sun. I always
tell everyone if you are looking for a challenging triathlon in an amazing
location, you can’t go wrong with Donner. It’s a terrific destination race; I
just happen to be lucky enough to be local. I've raced quite a few events with Big Blue Adventures and have never been disappointed. Whether it was a trail run, a triathlon or a road race....Big Blue's races are some of my most favorites.
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