Pac Grove Weekend Recap... Finally!!

Grab a seat, a cold (or hot) beverage and put your feet up... this is going to be a long one :D

Our weekend started on Friday, since Claudia, Rocky, Amy, Lindsay, Phil and I had all taken the day off to drive down to Pac Grove. Claudia and Rocky picked me up at about 9:30 with Starbucks waiting and a packed car, and we headed down the freeway to meet up with Phil, Linds, and Amy. The drive down to Pacific Grove was uneventful and even a little ugly thanks to the gloomy skies. We arrived around noonish and drove straight to the hotel hoping to check in early, which they let us do! The Hyatt in Monterey where we stayed was really nice... it was actually a bunch of buildings lining a golf course and our room was pretty spacious. There were these weird lights though next to the bed and our shower only had half of a glass wall... the other end of the shower was completely open. I found this very weird and obsessed about it all weekend!

After checking in we made our way towards the starting area in Pacific Grove, and along the way made a stop at Carrows for lunch. The starting area was also the "Expo" where Claudia and Amy picked up all their race stuff. We checked out the empty transition area and then met up with some of their teammates who were going for a pre-race dip. Eeek. I don't why they all didn't just call it quits, turn around a go home after taking a look at the water... FILLED with kelp and it looked freezing!!! Amy and Claudia skipped the pre-race dunk so they're wetsuits wouldn't be all wet and icky the next day.

The empty transition area

The swim entry point... all that stuff in the water is the kelp they had to swim through... ikkk!

After we got back to the hotel, Claudia spent some time getting all her race gear organized while the rest of us relaxed :D At 6:00 we walked across the parking lot to the Pasta Party. I've been to many, many pasta parties, some better than others, and I have to say this was one of the best I've been to! The food was really good, the speakers didn't go on and on, and the honoree speaker (in this case the mom of an honoree) was amazing-- by the end of her talk, we were all on our feet singing along to "I Will Survive", led by her amazing daughter! And thankfully the Pasta Party didn't go on too long so after a quick team meeting, and one last gear check, the triathletes could get to bed at a decent time :)

The next morning the alarm went off at o'dark thirty :( Claudia got up and got ready, and I got to lie in bed a little longer since Lindsay and Phil were coming to pick me up after Claudia, Rocky and Amy left. Off our little triathletes went and about a half hour later Phil, Lindsay and I arrived at the start area. We snuck our way into the transition area and quickly found Claudia and Amy. They seemed to be doing well, although you could tell they were nervous :) Since Claudia and Amy's swim wave wasn't until more than an hour after the first wave started, we just hung out chatting with friends who had arrived and watching the men doing their 2 loops in the water.


















Pretty soon it was time for Amy and Claudia to start!!! A quick hug, good luck, and down they went to the water! The girls both looked strong as they came out of the water the first time, ran around the rock and then ran back into the water. Since we wanted to be able to see them come out of the transition area on the way out on the bike, we left the beach as soon as they started their second loop and trekked out to the bike part of the course.






We managed to find a really good spot to cheer them on and made it just in time! Not too long after we parked ourselves, Amy and Claudia came riding out of the transition area. I had made this obnoxiously giant, neon sign so they easily spotted us on the side of the road. Since they were doing 4 loops of the bike course, we got to see them a bunch of times!






After they went out on their last loop, we hightailed it over to the transition area. We figured this would be the best place to see them come in on the bike, and then go out on the run. First Amy came in looking very good, and not far behind her came Claudia, also looking really good. And best of all, they were still smiling so we figured they must be feeling pretty good too! Into the transition area they went with their bikes, and a few minutes later, out they came with their running gear on!




Since the run course ALSO was comprised of multiple (3 loops-- talk about needing mental toughness!!), we parked ourselves along the run course right where they'd be coming in, and then turning around to go back out. There were a lot more people crowded along the run course and since I couldn't see too far down the road, I was afraid I was going to miss them. But thanks to the aforementioned obnoxious sign, they had no problems finding me! The sign even got a shout out from the announcer up in the tower near the finish line. I swear that sign was like a beacon! I was starting to get worried on the run course because it was really starting to warm up (well, warm for Monterey... I still had my long sleeved shirt on and pants!) and I didn't know how the girls would feel in the heat. But each time they came running by us, they didn't look at all like they were struggling.



After they went out on their last loop, we walked closer to the finish shoot so we could see them cross the finish line. Amy came in first, and was closely followed by Claudia... WOO HOO!!! They both did such a fantastic job, and it was so fun being out there to cheer them on! CONGRATS AMY AND CLAUDIA!!!








After chatting with all their fans (us :D) we all headed over to a restaurant around the corner for some lunch. After lunch we headed back to the hotel and hopped straight in the shower! Amy and Claudia were pooped, and so were Rocky and I (hey, spectating is hard!!) so we all ended up nodding off a little. After a short rest, it was time to get up and get ready for the Victory Party, which was also in our hotel. The food was pretty good (although not as good as the night before) and they even had a cake!! There was much celebrating, congratulating and talking about how everyone did. We actually hung out at the Victory party until they kicked us out, and then we made a short visit to the sport's bar next door in the hotel. Finally we headed back to our rooms (after a quick visit to the golf course :), watched the video that Rocky had taken and then conked out!

The next day we slept in a little, then got up and got everything packed up. Rocky, Claudia, Amy and I headed to Cannery Row for some lunch and little shopping :D After that we got in the car for the long drive back to the Bay Area!

I didn't want this post to be TOO long, so there are some things I left out... Claudia and Amy wrote a great weekend and race recap, and have some more pictures posted! To read Amy's recap click here and here. For Claudia's recap go here and here!