![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-1000-003f.jpg\" "\\"SF")
<\/a>SF Hornblower<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
<\/a>Ready to jump<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The Hornblower by Alcatraz<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
<\/a>Coming out of the water<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Swim Exit<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Swim to Bike transition<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
<\/a> <\/p>\n
- <\/a> <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-896-015f-683x1024.jpg\" "\\"Out")
<\/a><\/dt>\n- Out of the saddle<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-826-012f1-1024x682.jpg\" "\\"One")
<\/a>One of the few non-hilly sections<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-320-009f-682x1024.jpg\" "\\"Golden")
<\/a>Golden Gate Bridge in the background on the return trip<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
- It was cool to see the professional athletes biking back (while I was biking out), and running out while I was biking back.\u00a0 I recognized Hunter Kemper in first and Andy Potts in third as well as Jenny Fletcher and a few others.<\/li>\n
- I saw Roya on the return of the bike, and again as I began the run.\u00a0 When I saw her on the run, I made a little detour to kiss her to which the crowd collectively said, “Awwww.”\u00a0 If nothing else, it helped distract me from how uncomfortable I felt thanks to an uncooperative bladder.\u00a0 I did find a little out-house on the course and timed my pee break:\u00a0 45 seconds.\u00a0 Not bad!<\/li>\n
- The first two miles, though totally flat, were slow.\u00a0 My stride length was short and I didn’t feel particularly strong.\u00a0 Shortly thereafter, we had to climb stairs along a cliff, run uphill, run on trails, climb other cliff stairs, then run down a steep hill before arriving at Baker Beach.\u00a0 The sand was black and deep, and while I followed the rest of the athletes to the water’s edge, it was only marginally better in terms of traction.\u00a0 At the turn-around point, I began to find some rhythm.\u00a0 About a half-mile later, we arrived at the infamous Sand Ladder.\u00a0 It features 400 sandy steps up a cliff.\u00a0 I went up two at a time and passed about a dozen people.\u00a0 Couldn’t believe it!\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-435-032f-687x1024.jpg\" "\\"Up")
<\/a>Up the Sand Ladder<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
- At the top of the Sand Ladder, I found myself launching into an aggressive pace.\u00a0 The path was only one person wide, but I managed to skirt the cliff edge and pass people.\u00a0 Descending the various cliff stairs was easy and when I finally got to the final two mile flat stretch, I found myself pouring on the intensity.\u00a0 I saw a few guys ahead of me in my age group, so I made it my strategy to pick off each one, one by one.\u00a0 When I did, I also realized that I wanted to make a statement and not enable them to pace off of me, so I picked up the pace even more.\u00a0 With each small acceleration, I was able to sustain the speed.\u00a0 When I looked back at my pace, I calculated that it was 6:28 per mile for the final two miles!!\u00a0 My fastest pace EVER in a multisport race!!\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-744-021f-1024x680.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>The final miles<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-744-027f-680x1024.jpg\" "\\"Building")
<\/a>Building some speed<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
- As I approached the final straightaway, I had it in my mind to do so with a sprint.\u00a0 As I picked up speed, I saw Roya and her friends rooting for me and gave them my ritualized fist pump (no, not like Jersey Shore).\u00a0 Her pics of me in that stretch are pretty cool as are the ones from the official race photographer.\u00a0 I finished strong and felt great!\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Finish.jpg\" "\\"Going")
<\/a>Going strong<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-019-031f-680x1024.jpg\" "\\"Straightaway")
<\/a>Straightaway run<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-544-032f-682x1024.jpg\" "\\"Sprinting\\"")
<\/a>Sprinting<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n
- In the end, I finished in the 52% percentile, which is to say that 52% of the participants were faster than me.\u00a0 Oh well, guess I’m not that fast after all.\u00a0 The swim clearly put me in this bottom half, but I did get to enjoy the views!\u00a0 Completing this race was never in question for me and frankly, it was more of a celebratory moment than anything else.\u00a0 Finishing my 70th triathlon in such grand style will be a lifelong memory.\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-795-006f-682x1024.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>The Finish!<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-1161-023f-1024x682.jpg\" "\\"Another")
<\/a>Another Finish Shot<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/61242-1003-001f-1024x682.jpg\" "\\"I")
<\/a>I earned this<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gregghgordon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/Swim-to-Bike-Transition-2.jpg\" "\\"My")
<\/a>My greatest supporter<\/p><\/div>\n
After the race, Roya and her friends took me to lunch where we drank a lot and shared a great time.\u00a0 That meal took us to a couple of other places and eventually dinner.\u00a0 Trust me when I say that I slept well that night.\u00a0 Exhaustion and alcohol has a pretty good effect!<\/p>\n
The next day, we headed to Sonoma for yet another amazing day.\u00a0 Perfect weather, beautiful scenery, and great compatibility made for a relaxing day of recovery.\u00a0 The wine helped too!<\/p>\n
A week later, I competed in the Spring Couples Relay.\u00a0 It consists of a male and female team where one party runs 2.2 miles, the other party bikes 12.2 miles, and both parties row around the pond in Central Park.\u00a0 I’ve had lots of different partners in the past, and to be honest, I always look to find the fastest woman I can to run.\u00a0 This year, my buddy Fernando’s friend Carin signed on.\u00a0 She’s a very talented runner who is probably faster than even Fernando!<\/p>\n
- \n
- Carin set out in the run pack and made it back in 6th place.<\/li>\n
- I had my full aero set-up on the bike and went out hard.\u00a0 I passed two competitors, but got smoked by another one.\u00a0 I was at my limit and couldn’t counter his effort and before I knew it, he was gone from my view.\u00a0 Kind of disheartening, but I remember him from years past and remember that he has great cycling prowess.<\/li>\n
- As I dismounted the bike at the transition area, I passed the second of the two athletes and sprinted in bare feet to my bike rack area.\u00a0 I tagged Carin, and told her to start running to the boats as I quickly put on my sneakers.\u00a0 I caught her right at the boats and as soon as we were pushed out, I began rowing.<\/li>\n
- The guy I passed at the dismount line was about 20 seconds behind us but he made up the time quickly.\u00a0 Just before the halfway point of the row section, he passed me.\u00a0 I thought about blocking him a bit, but that would have been poor sportsmanship, so I just tried to row harder… but it was to no avail.<\/li>\n
- We eventually finished in 5th place and seemingly 2nd in our age group.\u00a0 But, another team got penalized for a cycling infraction by riding in the pedestrian path, so the couple that beat us (who was in our age group) got moved up to the 3rd overall position, thus enabling us to get first place plaques in our division.\n
- Out of the saddle<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n