Thus begins another triathlon season. I have been looking forward to this day for months now. I did the Powderkeg in March and then I have waiting to start tri season. Sure, I did that running race in April, but what I really like about triathlons is not the individual sports, but the mixture of all three. I have been swimming a little more lately and I was feeling ready. Certainly, once again, my strong event was going to be the bike. When we awoke this morning it was
not to our surprise that it was raining... again. It seems to have been raining for the past month. What is the story with that? I thought they were called APRIL showers. We packed up our gear and picked up Ryan a little after six. In the middle of the rain we arrived in Salem. We checked in and then headed back to get all our gear to set up. It was as we were finishing preparing the bikes that we were told that the bike p
ortion of the race had been canceled and they were currently debating about the swim. This was not good news for me since the run is my worst event. We left our bikes on the car and brought everything else back down to the race site. The swim discussion was a little premature as they hadn't said anything definitive at this point. We were optimistic and we put our wetsuits on. It had been raining throughout the night
and all this morning, but there was no lightning. How were we going to be negatively affected on the swim? They had a few people go in and test the water (just a large pond/small lake thing in the middle of a park) and just as we had expected - fine. In fact, it was nicer than the air outside the water. So we continued to get ready for our Biathlon
(swim-run). We made a friend with a girl that was there with the support of her mother doing her first tri (the girl, not the mom). Ryan was totally digging on her, but was too chicken to ask for her number. I think he was hoping to see her after the race, but he did not experience such luck. I got in the water around 9:15 to warm up. The race was supposed to begin at 9, but things were a little behind. Things felt pretty good. I knew this was not going to be my best race ever, but it wasn't going to be my worst. I was in the first heat. We swam only about 500 meters in this pond/lake thing. The first third of the swi
m was typical for me - I was just really trying to keep my composure with all the bodies in the water and getting hammered left and right by other swimmers. The second third I had got out of the thick of the herd, but a little too far as I kept swimming too far left and had to keep correcting myself. This cost me some
precious time and I ended up swimming much further than I really had to. The final third was strong. I saw the beach and I went hard for it. I swam straight and I felt good about it. This was actually the fastest swim I have ever had in a race. I swam 100yds in 1 min 12 seconds, whereas my previous race best was 1 min 53 seconds. I came out of the water a little disoriented, but not bad. My
transition was not bad considering I was going from swim to run which was totally new for me. It is harder to get my running shoes on when my feet are soaking than it is my biking shoes. Beyond the fact that the bike is my strong point, I also missed this event because it serves as a bit of a buffer for me. I have the ability to go hard while still allowing myself and my body to recover from the swim before I have to run. This was taken from me today (by the way, the road was totally dry by the time we really started running). I had a bit of a sideache when I came out of the water that did not leave me for the entire 5K. I wanted to just go hard and get over it, but it never went away. I believe thi
s slowed me down. My run was a little slower than it has been in the past. I ran 8:40 min/mi. I need to really train and cut that down to below 8 minutes if I want to be competitive - especially in a sprint distance tri. I was passed by a few others, but no one important (namely, Ryan). In fact, I was really surprised to see that I had beat him in the swim. He is a much stronger swimming than I. I suppo
se it does help that I have been swimming lately while he has been on vacation in South America. I finished with just enough time to have a few orange slices and put my pants back on before Ryan crossed. It wasn't much longer before my dear wife, Stacy, came across as well. She has been battling a knee injury since our run in Eden (paradise), so I was stoked to see that she was able to run the whole way. This is the longest she has been
able to run since April. She is in pain this evening, but with a larger sense of pride. I really had a good time today. Triathlons are fun... even when they are only two sports. There were a number of people that bailed after the bike had been canceled and the swim had been shortened. They were mistaken. The rain let up and it was a fun race. I was able to take a few photos before and after the race. Can you tell which ones were taken with the GoPro and which were taken with the Nikon? I am totally looking forward to more of these this summer. I am stoked for the Utah Half! On Tri.
Thus begins another triathlon season. I have been looking forward to this day for months now. I did the Powderkeg in March and then I have waiting to start tri season. Sure, I did that running race in April, but what I really like about triathlons is not the individual sports, but the mixture of all three. I have been swimming a little more lately and I was feeling ready. Certainly, once again, my strong event was going to be the bike. When we awoke this morning it was
not to our surprise that it was raining... again. It seems to have been raining for the past month. What is the story with that? I thought they were called APRIL showers. We packed up our gear and picked up Ryan a little after six. In the middle of the rain we arrived in Salem. We checked in and then headed back to get all our gear to set up. It was as we were finishing preparing the bikes that we were told that the bike p
ortion of the race had been canceled and they were currently debating about the swim. This was not good news for me since the run is my worst event. We left our bikes on the car and brought everything else back down to the race site. The swim discussion was a little premature as they hadn't said anything definitive at this point. We were optimistic and we put our wetsuits on. It had been raining throughout the night 
and all this morning, but there was no lightning. How were we going to be negatively affected on the swim? They had a few people go in and test the water (just a large pond/small lake thing in the middle of a park) and just as we had expected - fine. In fact, it was nicer than the air outside the water. So we continued to get ready for our Biathlon
(swim-run). We made a friend with a girl that was there with the support of her mother doing her first tri (the girl, not the mom). Ryan was totally digging on her, but was too chicken to ask for her number. I think he was hoping to see her after the race, but he did not experience such luck. I got in the water around 9:15 to warm up. The race was supposed to begin at 9, but things were a little behind. Things felt pretty good. I knew this was not going to be my best race ever, but it wasn't going to be my worst. I was in the first heat. We swam only about 500 meters in this pond/lake thing. The first third of the swi
m was typical for me - I was just really trying to keep my composure with all the bodies in the water and getting hammered left and right by other swimmers. The second third I had got out of the thick of the herd, but a little too far as I kept swimming too far left and had to keep correcting myself. This cost me some 
precious time and I ended up swimming much further than I really had to. The final third was strong. I saw the beach and I went hard for it. I swam straight and I felt good about it. This was actually the fastest swim I have ever had in a race. I swam 100yds in 1 min 12 seconds, whereas my previous race best was 1 min 53 seconds. I came out of the water a little disoriented, but not bad. My
transition was not bad considering I was going from swim to run which was totally new for me. It is harder to get my running shoes on when my feet are soaking than it is my biking shoes. Beyond the fact that the bike is my strong point, I also missed this event because it serves as a bit of a buffer for me. I have the ability to go hard while still allowing myself and my body to recover from the swim before I have to run. This was taken from me today (by the way, the road was totally dry by the time we really started running). I had a bit of a sideache when I came out of the water that did not leave me for the entire 5K. I wanted to just go hard and get over it, but it never went away. I believe thi
s slowed me down. My run was a little slower than it has been in the past. I ran 8:40 min/mi. I need to really train and cut that down to below 8 minutes if I want to be competitive - especially in a sprint distance tri. I was passed by a few others, but no one important (namely, Ryan). In fact, I was really surprised to see that I had beat him in the swim. He is a much stronger swimming than I. I suppo
se it does help that I have been swimming lately while he has been on vacation in South America. I finished with just enough time to have a few orange slices and put my pants back on before Ryan crossed. It wasn't much longer before my dear wife, Stacy, came across as well. She has been battling a knee injury since our run in Eden (paradise), so I was stoked to see that she was able to run the whole way. This is the longest she has been 
able to run since April. She is in pain this evening, but with a larger sense of pride. I really had a good time today. Triathlons are fun... even when they are only two sports. There were a number of people that bailed after the bike had been canceled and the swim had been shortened. They were mistaken. The rain let up and it was a fun race. I was able to take a few photos before and after the race. Can you tell which ones were taken with the GoPro and which were taken with the Nikon? I am totally looking forward to more of these this summer. I am stoked for the Utah Half! On Tri.
August 9th is the day where all will be left on the field. Or in other words, Ryan will be Dustin.
ReplyDelete- Anonymous
ryan will beat dustin
ReplyDeleteRyan has always wanted to "be" Dustin.
ReplyDelete