30 years and counting at Trievents in Bonelli

Bill Fulton a man with a vision 30 years ago is still a BIG part of the Tri venue

Here is a link to Bill and the History of trievents well worth reading you will be amazed
http://www.xtri.com/features/detail/284-itemId.511712337.html

I have known Bill and his family since 2006 and love being involved in the tri events series at Bonelli. So on April 15th I was there super duper early to put up a booth for POLAR USA and I also had some Hammer gel samples to that I added to the booth.

It was a little nippy in the early hours!!

Getting ready in the transition area

With the help of my friend Ray Mena we soon had the Polar booth set up and then discovered my rear wheel had a flat tire!!! So lucky for me INCYCLE had a booth right next to me and were able to help out with an inner tube and pump! I used the foggle wipes to clear my goggles so they would not fog up and the tri glide spray to help slip into my Aquaman wetsuit!

In transition with Steve Vasquez for our first tri of the season!

This was the cutest! They are so young when they start now!

Here I am with Hammer my mini pin as I listen to Paul Romero go over last minute race instructions.

From here the National Anthem is sung beautifully I may add and the first wave of Elites and men under 39 begin the 500 meter swim, 5 minutes later the green caps go, I have a pink cap and soon it is my turn to enter the lake for a wee swim. I take a hammergel and some water give my mini pin to my friend...
SWIM
5,4,3,2,1, I run into the water press my polar monitor and feel my timing chip slip around my ankle! I groan silently to myself too late to fix the problem I begin to swim and using my right foot secure the chip to my ankle and proceed to swim with my feet crossed for the next 498 meters! I had started way to the right of the mass of women a mistake as I was pushed further right by over zealous females I finally just held my course remaining calm and trying not to panic about the chip issue!

I make the beach lots of people are cheering I stand up the chip is dangling like a bracelet and I jog up the beach to a little bit of carpet and run up the small hill and to my bike, I take off my wetsuit and my chip goes airborne! I start to laugh really what else can I do! I finally get the chip and knot it firmly around my ankle enough time wasted time to ride my bike. I put on my neon yellow Rudy glasses and helmet....time to go

BIKE
The bike is two 7 mile loops around Bonelli park the first loop is catch up as I lost time in the swim and transition...geez you think! I manage to remember to hydrate and hoping to warm up too! I am half way round my first loop and I hear a woosh it is first place male just ripping up the bike portion! at 22 mph he made me feel as I was going 5! I keep on going up a hill down a hill, avoid a pot hole, shout on your left the second loop there was a lot more cycling traffic, we had the sprint tri and the childrens tri all happening too, As I past the drag strip I saw the Inland Infernos out for a run! I played cat and mouse with another woman on the bike and finally made the right turn back to transition lost time here as everyone slowed down to a crawl on the final 500 meters!

RUN
I rack my bike grateful to be done, I take a hammergel quickly put on my fuel belt slipped my numb cold feet in to my new Ravennas and down the hill to the bridge were I meet Karen and she hands me off Hammer my mini pin, we are going for a 5 km run together, we soon began passing other runners, Hammers ears are pinned back he is running full gallop I am laughing I love running with Hammer, my feet are starting to feel the kool n fit I sprayed in them earlier and warming up nicely we get to the turnaround and Hammer looks at me, I stop to give him water and we continue then the unthinkable happens Hammer stops and the athlete I have passed over takes me for the second time but Hammer needs to poop poor thing I let him do what he has to do clean it up... we have 1.2 miles left we start to pass people again and Hammer needs to potty again!! Finally the final surge we leave everything on the line and finish in a respectable 1:24  time and the girl that we kept passing came over to congratulate us and say how much she loved Hammer!

Finishing was great Hammer was happy because he could run despite his tummy problems and I was happy to Tri because I can!

Then I made it back over to the expo area were I helped answer questions on Polar Heart Rate monitors and a few questions also on Hammer Nutrition

Enjoyed meeting this young 12 year old who already had 6 years of experience from San Diego!

Katie Kyme super fast Australian triathlete always nice to see her (I only get to see at the finish as she is too fast for me!)

A proud women with her pink Polar monitor! Way to go!

Run with us came out with a GREAT selection of Brooks running shoes!

Winner of the Polar RS100

A HUGE thank you to Carolyn Wolk who took over orchestrating the Tri Events from her father to keep it in the family. She does a great job getting volunteers and putting on a top notch event with help from her family and friends.

All in all I personally had a great time enjoyed the peanut and jelly sandwiches and Rubios, Ray and Daniel did stellar races. I enjoyed seeing California Triathlon out on the course as cheerleaders and course marshaling and Hammer I found out had been given human food hence his gastric distress on the course and relegated us to 4th place. But we both had a blast! that is what triathlons are all about having fun and meeting new people along the journey.

A personal thanks to photographer  Robin A. Driscoll  www.rdphotoservices.com

Thanks to Aquaman Wetsuits, Hammer Nutrition, Rudy Project USA, Polar USA, Brooks Running, Kool n Fit, Covina Masters Aquatics, Williams Wheels, Cannondale, Serfas USA, Profile- Design and Ocean Potion. and of course Hammer for being a great mini pinscher!