Kokopelli St. George Tri

Julie and I both competed in the Kokopelli St. George triathlon yesteray at Sand Hollow reservoir. Julie did the sprint, 750meter swim, 20K bike, and 5K run. I did the Olympic version, 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10 K run. I was scheduled to start first at 7:38 and Julie at 8:17. My goal was to beat her across the finish line and I did, but just barely. She did really well. To start, the water was really great, warm & clear, you could see to the bottom! We swam the same course, Olympic-distance athletes doing two laps, I swam without a wet suit for :40. My transition time, or T1, was uber fast! I was on the bike and on my way in less than two minutes. Unfortunately, less than a mile later I was sliding across the asphalt on my leg & elbow at 30MPH! Coming out of T1, it was a long sloping hill, I had a lotta momentum from all my table muscle so I was cruising, and there was a sharp turn, two guys ahead of me doin the same speed... didn't see it coming but we all three went down trying to make the sharp turn. THIS IS WHY BIKERS SHAVE THEIR LEGS!! The cleansing & healing process is brutal, it hurts SO bad! Anyway, I jumped on my bike and sped off. The adrenaline kept the leg & elbow numb, but I'd torn muscles in my left shoulder and to get down on the aero bars hurt, so I took turns on the hoods and on the aero bars. I really killed the bike, there was a steep 6% grade at mile 2 that lasted for a mile. I was so mad about falling down that I was able to really hustle up that hill and all the way thru the bike course. On the bike course alone I was in the top 10 in my division, males 30-34, not including elite athletes. Coming back down that big hill, doing about 35MPH, I saw Julie going up. I was glad cuz I was nervous she might give up on the swim. Another uber fast transition time, less than 2:00, and onto the run. The run was in the sand which REALLY sucked for two reasons. First, your feet sink and your legs already feel like rubber. Second, I swear sand emits more heat than asphalt. I ran the same course as Julie, doing two laps in :56. Not thrilled with my run time, but not really disappointed either, just because of the sand. I crossed the finish line and the pain set in. About 15 minutes later Julie finished with a LOT of noise from her fam!! My total time was 3:01 and Julie's was 2:24 (I think). It was a good time and we're both ready for the next one. Two weeks from yesterday is the St. George marathon, aiming for a finish time of about 3:30.

Ogden Valley Tri

The Ogden Valley Tri was yesterday at Pineview Reservoir. It went pretty good, I'm happy with my results. In my division I was #39 out of about 72 guys, which is a big improvement for me. This was a 'hybrid' tri. In other words, it wasn't a sprint distance, and it wasn't an olmpic distance triathlon. The swim was 1000 meters, the bike was 15 miles, and the run was 4.2 miles. My total time was 1:53:55 and I'm happy with that. My swim was relatively slow, 24:46, bike was fast :45, and my run was fast :37. I'm even more excited for the St. George tri next weekend... I'll be more aggressive in the water and in the transitions. Look for another update next weekend.

LOtoJA

This weekend we supported a friend that competed in the bike race LOtoJA. It starts in Logan, UT and ends in Jackson Hole, WY, 206 miles. Non-stop. Uphill. Regardless of the weather. On a bicycle. CRAZY!!! Anyway, our friend Dwaine took second place in his division and his cousin was first overall, 9:15. Another friend, Tyler, also competed, he finished 11:15. It's such a pretty course, and of course thousands of people do this, so there's lots of support, but why? Just to say you did? This has got to be worse than running a marathon. They all say it's not, but it has to be. I've sat on a bike seat for like 4 hours at a time, I can't imagine 11 hours. I doubt I could walk for the next three days. Anyway, it was fun and Julie finally got to see Jackson Hole.