#2261

That was my number. Yesterday was my first attempt at doing an Olympic triathlon. I chose to do the Jordanelle triathlon. I planned to wake up around 5:15 but because of the lovely wind here in Highland I was up at 4. I stayed in bed until just after 5 and then got up to make sure stuff in the backyard hadn't blown down the street. I was out the door around 6 with all my gear. Did I have everything? Did I have enough? I threw in a sweatshirt and some windbreaker clothes just in case the weather was yucky.

I got up to Francis just after 7 and found the parking lot. I pretty much followed those around me since I didn't have a clue. For this particular tri, you have to park about
3.5 miles from where the event takes place. So I threw my duffle bag on my back and rode down the hill. I checked in, picked up my packet and got body marked. 2261 on the hand, on the shoulder, and then a big O on the left calf (signifying that I was doing the Olympic race) and a big 39 on the right calf.

I found my area in the transition area and set things up. I pinned my number on my running shirt and put another number on my bike. I had plenty of time to walk around and relax. Soon, it was time to head down to the starting point. For this particular tri, the swim is about 1/2 mile away from the transition area. At 9 o'clock, the first wave started (which I was in). There were about 50 or so of us. I honestly couldn't tell. Maybe more. There were very few of us that were not in wetsuits. The water was not cold to me and I thought I would be fine. Well, more or less, the swim was my worst part. I'm usually about a 30-33 minute mile swimmer. Yesterday, for some reason, it took me almost 50 minutes. I'm not sure but it was a LONG freakin time. I wasn't tired, I just couldn't get it going. Maybe I wasn't psyched enough, who knows.

I got out of there, put on my shoes, and ran up to the transition area. I threw on my biking shorts, shirt, gloves, and shoes and headed out. I knew I had some time to make up. There were a number of girls that were a head of me and they went into the water about 10 minutes after I did. Well as bad as I did on the swim, I kicked some butt on the bike. I followed a pretty strong girl for the first 10 miles or so and then I opened it up. It really felt good on the bike. The road had just a slight grade (around 2%) and went for 12 miles or so before turning around. Coming back I was flying. I averaged about 26-27 mph and when I came down the steep hill I increased my top speed to just under 47 mph.

The second transition went pretty well as I stripped off my bike shoes and put on the running shoes. I had to change shirts and shorts. The run (6+ miles) was a combination of trail and road running. There was more hill than I had expected and I had to walk a couple of times on both laps. On the second time around I was just telling myself "hey, you're almost done!". I crossed the finish line in just under 3 hours. This is where I wanted to be. Had I not sucked so bad on the swim I would have had a decent first tri. I think I ended up 156th overall and 10th in my age group. I certainly have lots of room for improvement.

There were lots of fast bikes and well conditioned athletes. Lots of them take it pretty seriously. After the race I loaded up with fruit, drink, muffins, and more fruit. The ride back to the parking lot really sucked big time but it was better than waiting in the LONG line to take the bus. The family (along with Wolf and Grammy) stopped at Granny's in Heber for lunch including their famous shakes. The day finished off with football practice with Jake and then a Court of Honor up at Mutual Dell for JJ and Jake. What a day! I look forward to the next one.