It has been a good summer. There has been some training, some racing, a little bit of climbing, some dog training, etc. Today marked the end of the 2008 triathlon season for Stacy, Ryan, and I. I feel it ended in a good way. We left SLC last night as soon as we were all done with work. In an effort to avoid the traffic in Utah County, we decided we would eat before getting on the road. We stopped at Johnny Carino's in Sandy for some pasta. Much like our experience at last year's end of seaso
n tri, our night-before dining experience was less than stellar. Our service was slow, the food was just alright, our server forgot to bring us a few things we asked for, it was loud, and more. We left as soon as we could to avoid the grumpiness that was overcoming Ryan and Stacy already (just like last year). We then began the trek to Spring City a little later than we had hoped. Upon reaching San Pete County, Ryan was pulled over and given a ticket for speeding in Fountain Green. He was in the process of slowing down from a 60ish speed limit to a quick 45 then quickly again to 35. He was clocked
going 48 just past the 35 sign. Really? Give me a break. He was obviously slowing down. The speed changed so quickly there that it would be hard not to be speeding at some point. Whatever. We then finished the drive into Spring City, greeted Stacy's parents as they were cleaning the place for an upcoming Historical Society visit, then got ready for bed. It was a little later than we would have liked to be getting to bed since we had to wake up at 4:30 the followi
ng morning. I slept like a log. After the local kids shut up, it was just silent down there. We got ready fairly quick upon waking up and got on our way to Yuba. It was about an hour from Spring City and we wanted to be there by around 6. We got a little lost on the drive and ended up driving all the way out to I-15 then back in towards the lake. But we still had plenty of time to prepare for the race. We set up our transition stations, signed in, and prepared mentally. The race started at 7:45 (a little later than they were planning). The water was nice - smooth and a good temperature. My swims have been getting stronger and stronger as time has gone on. Today was no exception. I had the best swim of my career. I do not have that time as the they had issues with the timing chips, but I can tell you that I honestly know that it was the best swim because of how smooth everything went. I did run into Ryan about 1/3 of the way through the swim. He reached forward and have me a little bum squeeze. I was impressed that he could tell it was me. I pulled ahead of him not far beyond that. After a strong swim, I came out of the water ready for a solid bike. My transition was decent and I was on my way. It was not far in before I realized that I had a lot of energy and should be pushing myself. So I did. I am not the fastest biker in the world, but I am not too bad at climbing hills. I think it is the skier in me that has built up those muscles. I passed a few people on the bike and was only passed by those that obviously were super bikers that are poor swimmers. The first half of the bike never seemed to end. It was all uphill and every time you would think you were going to turn around soon, you would come upon another long hill to climb. Eventually we did reach the turn around point and a little while later I saw Ryan headed the other way. This was the first time I saw how far ahead of him I was. The competitive side of me just wanted to know what was necessary to beat him - he did beat me in the Half and I had to redeem myself. Soon after we had our final real climb on the bike followed by a long downhill. This was a nice break. I finished the bike strong, made a quick transition to the run, and began on my way. I was surprised to feel relatively strong at the beginning of the run. I didn't want to burn myself out, so I paced myself, but at a little faster pace than I had in previous races. There were two turn around/out-n-back sections on the run at which I saw Ryan. I never did see Stacy on the run, but that was because she was out on an out-n-back when we would have crossed. I had just enough left in me at the end of the run to go a little harder for the last half mile. It was a good race. Perhaps training is overrated. Perhaps I do better when I just take the month off and relax before a race. I doubt that, but it did seem to work for me today. Ryan finished just minutes behind me and Stacy finished a little while later. They had difficulties with the timing so I don't know exactly how well I did, but it felt good and it was a good end to the tri season. It was just enough to get me excited to do it again next year. But for now I will do some climbing and get ready for the ski season!!! On Tri.
I am the venture scout leader in my ward (boys 16-18). At my first meeting with the stake venture leaders I was asked what I do for a living. I told them I do marketing for a rock climbing company and their very next question was whether I would be willing to take the boys climbing some time. I said I would be happy to and we planned it for this evening. Last week I gave a little presentation on climbing and went of some safety and gear basics. I tried to stress the importance of coming ear
ly tonight since we have very limited daylight at this time of year. I went up with Stacy, Jer, and Jer's friend, Calvin around 5. We met up at Dogwood in Big Cottonwood Canyon and began to get ready to have the boys meet us. I was hoping we were going to be the first after work group up there and we would be able to set up a few ropes and stake out our territory for the evening. This was not the case. We arrived to find several other groups and even more on their way. We were able, however, to still
kind of take claim on the far left area of the first section of the wall. I led three climbs and we set up the top ropes. They were a 5.7, a 5.8, and a 5.9. Each were fun climbs and I figured the boys would enjoy them. We were met by Mike as time went on and we all climbed and waited for the boys. It wasn't until just before 7 that th
e first group showed up... and it was only one boy with two leaders. This boy got the best deal. He got to climb all three routes and the one leader that wanted to climb got on two routes as well. The last group of boys didn't stroll in until around 7:30-7:40 making it difficult to get much climbing in since i
t gets dark at 8. We were able to get them on rock and each of them got the chance to climb one route. I suppose they just didn't get the hint when I told them to come early as it gets dark. Oh, well. I think they had fun and they may have just got enough that the sport will interest them in the future. I had a good time since I was able to climb three routes. I liked the 5.9. If I make it back to Dogwood anytime soon, I will certainly be climbing that route again. On Rock.
