I love the morning; there's nothing better than waking up and getting an early start to the day. But 4:45's a bit on the early side—even for me. So when Saturday morning rolled around, and my bedside alarm startled me out of my deep slumber, I could barely shuffle my way across my room to grab my wetsuit, a pb&j sandwich and my pre-packed backpack to get out the door.
Saturday was the CLIF BAR Team Challenge Triathlon, up in Folsom, California and we had eight relay teams participating in the event. It started at nine which meant that our van had to leave the Berkeley office at 6am sharp. In pure CLIF BAR fashion, we didn't leave the parking lot until 6:30, rolling into the state park with an hour to spare. Let's just say we burned rubber on the freeway.

A quick ¾-mile swim, a 14-mile bike and then a brisk 5-mile run got most of the teams finishing in under 2 hours. Check out Diana, running like the wind—she swam for Cool Chix and ran for an under-the-weather Angie; not only did she sport the LUNA gear but her team had matching olive-green velour sweatsuits and Jackie O. sunglasses…with rinestones (aka Lisa cheering for Diana).

You can't go to a CLIF event without having some delicious eats. After it all ended, we chowed down on some satiating burritos, tortilla chips and guac.

Sure, we started early, but what better way to start the day—even if at 4:45…am.

For more photos from the day, check out flickr.com!


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