(I added some zazoosh photos, but I should have some better ones soon.)
I finally completed a full triathlon Saturday. Not that I couldn't have completed the previous two - one was canceled and the other was shortened to a swim-run, both because of bad weather. I was starting to believe I was tri-cursed. But yesterday it all came together at the Salem Spring Triathlon.
We arrived around 7:45, got our gear laid out in the transition area, picked up our packets, got our timing chips and numbers and age written on our arms/legs. Scott was in the wave ahead of Matt D. and I. We were casually making our way to the water's edge and suddenly we hear the start countdown, 15, 14, 13... We hustled into the water, put on our goggles then GO.
I always hang back for the swim start. I have no interest in getting beaten up by swinging arms and kicking legs. I'm just in this to finish. I started with the forward crawl, but switched to backstroke after 100 yards. I don't have the swimming fitness and I get less water splashed into my mouth. I had the usual bumping into other swimmers. And I ran into a turn buoy. Otherwise it was just a grind it out ordeal.
I'm in the background - I would hope that's obvious.
Coming out of the water my legs didn't seem to know how to run, but they got going enough for the short jog over to the transition area. It took a while to peel off my wetsuit and get dressed for the bike. My jersey got stuck to my wet back and I struggled to pull it down. The gloves were also a hassle to get on (I won't do gloves again). All this added up to a 5:41 transition time - that ranked 596 out of all 639 racers and the worst time of my 45-49 division.
I trotted my bike over to the exit then got on it and hit the road. Instantly I felt so good to be on the bike. I know the bike. I know how far I can push it. And I felt fast. I passed a lot of other riders. On lap two I passed my neighbor who started in the wave 5 minutes before me. I had a respectable 20.9 mph average. I could have gone faster, but I didn't know how much I need to leave in the tank for the run, better safe than sorry.
I was so fast even a professional photographer couldn't keep me in the frame.
My transition from bike to run was 1:33, which was also slow. But I did remember to double tie my laces (they came untied last time).
I started running at a moderate pace and felt OK. I tried not to run too "springy" since my calves felt tight and I didn't want to risk cramps. Plus a more conservative pace seemed wise. I got passed by better runners, but I caught and passed a few myself. And for only having run once this year, my legs were feeling OK. From all my cycling my aerobic capacity is good which means my running muscles are the limiting factor. I was surprised and happy to to see the 1.5 mile mark - half way. On the downhills I lengthened my stride to go faster with the aid of gravity. I was happy to see the pond and know the run was almost over. I trudged up the last little hill. Since my legs were still feeling OK I kicked in a bit more speed for the final 150 yards. I passed a few runners, one of them a big guy dressed in white and black. With the finish line is sight I picked up the pace another notch. I was surprised when the big guy came by me, but I was almost done and didn't care much. Near the line the announcer said "here comes Chad Lewis followed by Kris". Yes, that Chad Lewis, the formed BYU and pro football player (who now lives in utah valley and is neighbors with 3 guys I work with).
Chad Lewis almost to the finish with me right behind him.
Running to the finish.
After finishing I ate some watermelon, orange and banana slices. I turned around and there was Fisher. It was good to see a friendly face. He said he couldn't find his legs at first on the bike, but they came around and he finished well. I chatted with Scott for a few minutes, he did pretty good. I looked for Matt but he was still out running so I went out to wait and cheer for him. He had a rough run but finished.
Overall I had more fun than I thought I would. having all the gear ready and doing the transitions is kind of a hassle, but it is a worthwhile experience to do three events back to back. I might do a tri or two per year, but I'm so addicted to the bike I don't see myself really getting into triathlons. It was a nice day and good to finally do a full tri.
Overall time 1:31:56.7
Swim 16:25.9 (1:52.8 / 100m pace)
T1 5:41.6
Bike 40:10.1 (20.9 mph average)
T2 2:21.9
Run 27:17.3 (9:05.8 / mile)
Placed 10th out of 18 in my men 45-49 division, 278th out of 639 overall.
Full results
Third Tri's The Charm
Fat Cyclist TriathAlon
Jolene and I had a great time at the Fat Cyclist TriathAlon. (I'm pretty sure the extra "A" was added by Elden to poke a little fun at the many Utahns who say it that way.)
We left home a little later than expected and ran into a parade in Pleasant Grove that slowed us down. We arrived late, but just in time to jump into the group photo and leave with the group for the mountain bike ride.
I've never gone up Hog Hollow, and while it's an old dirt road and not single-track, it has some charm. It's a long climb with a moderate grade. The fast guys went off the front and I rode with Bob and then Mark at a decent pace. Elden had to take a call at the bottom, and sure enough he caught up to me. For a while I thought it was Mark pushing the pace, but then turned to see it was Elden. As Elden passed I gave him a pinch - payback.
At the top we headed east to climb up to Jacob's Ladder. I've done this climb 2-3 times now. There a hillside where three trail split and the rejoin near the top. I decided to be a little daring and took the middle "harder" trail. It worked me a bit, but I made it. The group stopped at "the saddle" so riders could decide if they wanted to continue on to Jacob's Ladder or go down "the chute" to Sliding Rock.
Jolene and I did Jacob's Ladder, but it was more loose and rutted than that last time I rode it. I told Jolene it's was a spicy decent, but she could handle it. But with the worsened condition of the trail, I hoped she wasn't going to be mad at me for my mild opinion of the trail. She made it down OK and had a smile on her face - I was glad. She rode with Lyna, Bob's wife, and they seemed to have fun together.
Ghost Falls was next after Jacob's Ladder. Some took the flowy new trail (cut a few weeks ago), other took the steeper old trail. The shade was welcome as it was a hot day (in the 90s).
Next was Clark's trail and I was finally able to ride it in my middle ring this year. After my success doing it on my road bike on Thursday in that tall gear, it would have been shameful to go back to the small ring. But it still hurt.
At the top we had to climb back up the same way we went to Jacob's Ladder, and I was already feeling pretty smoked. Mark and I decided to just roll easy in the small ring. But we did take the right "hardest" route up the hill. We still had some moxy left.
At the saddle we regrouped and then descended "the chute". Mark and I were a bit nervous about this downhill since Elden noted that every single one of the guys he rides with has crashed on this descent at least once. So we hung off the back so we could go slow. Mark rolled it fine, and he's only been riding mountain bikes for 3 years. I rode it all without putting a foot down, except when I had to stop for a rider in front of me. But it's a treacherous, rutted out, old dirt road and I could see how just one small slip or mistake and you're going down.
At the end of the chute we had a short uphill to Sliding Rock. I was so looking forward to cooling off in the stream here. This was the second event of the triathAlon. There's a natural slide down the granite rock where the stream flows into a pool below. This event was judged so I brought a costume to enhance my performance (does that make me a doper?). On my first slide I buckled at the waist when I hot the water and cracked my tail bone on a rock on the bottom (it's still hurting a day later), so I learned to stay flat. Dug was true to his word and went down head first (several times) and even convinced Elden to do it. Here are some photos of the event:
After the water event, we biked back to Elden's house for brats (bratwurst). Fish is a fantastic cook and he boiled and grilled those brats to perfection. We enjoyed the brats on a slice of Kenny's home/hand-made bread - delicious. Jeff had some tunes going and we all relaxed, ate, talked and enjoyed ourself.
Elden raffled off some goodies and I won a nice Gary Fisher 29er jersey that I gave to Jolene to go with here 29er Gary Fisher Sugar. She later won some Fat Cyclist socks and gave them to me.
Thanks, Elden, for creating and hosting - we had a great time!
Click for More Pictures
Salem Triathlon Becomes (Bad For Me) Biathlon
I'm not superstitious, but the two triathlons I've attended have had bad weather and I'm thinking it's a sign to give up triathlons. The Kokopelli Triathlon last September was canceled because of a powerful thunderstorm. But I thought the Salem Spring Triathlon (what a horrible Flash website!) in June would be weather-safe when I registered for it months ago. But no.
I woke up Saturday around 5 AM and looked outside to see wet ground. I checked the KSL weather website and the radar showed a big mass of rain right over Utah Valley. It was moving, but slowly. My hope was that it would clear in time for the start of the triathlon.
I ate two bowls of Froot Loops (the breakfast of champions!) and finished getting ready. Swim stuff: wetsuit, swim goggles, towel - check. Bike stuff: shorts, FatCyclist jersey, jacket, socks, bike shoes, helmet, gloves, bottles of CarboRocket and water - check. Run stuff: running shoes, shorts - check.
I was doing this Tri with some neighbors. I saw Matt across the street at Wilkey's so I took my bike and stuff over and we loaded up. We picked up Scott and headed to Salem.
It was raining as we drove - not heavy, but a consistent drizzle. And the temperature was only 45. We parked near Salem Pond and took our gear over to the transition area. Then we waited in line for 30 minutes or more for check-in and packet pickup. Got body marked and picked up our timing chips.
All this time we were hearing rumors of changes to the event because of the weather - possibly even cancellation. The organizers made the decision to shorten the swim and cancel the bike - no change to the run. I was not happy they canceled what would surely be my only strong event. At least the swim would be shorter.
Let me pause here to explain my triathlon training (or lack thereof). I ride my bike a lot. That's all. Before the Kokopelli Tri last year I went to the pool exactly once and swam laps for 750 meters to make sure I could do it and not drown. I also ran a slow 5 k loop around the neighborhood to make sure I was capable of running that distance. I had not done any running or swimming since then. My strategy should be clear. I was hoping to just survive the swim and run, but fly on the bike - possibly passing any of my neighbors who finished ahead of me in the swim and giving myself enough of a gap that they couldn't catch me on the run. Perhaps now you better understand my bitter disappointment (that's too mild, I was ticked off) that they canceled the bike. But here I was, I'd paid my money, I might as well do it.
We got cold enough that we got into our wetsuits to stay warmer. This is June?!
The start was pushed back to 9:30. We went to the truck to get warm and load the now-useless bikes (grrr). At 9:15 we headed over to the start. The waves before us started and soon it was our turn.
Matt told me about his first triathlon and how he lined up near the front for the swim start and got beat up by all the swinging arms and kicking legs. So our plan was to hang back and let the water clear a bit before swimming. Kerry was up front and he called us forward, we shook our heads and tried to explain that it wasn't a good idea.
At the start the front swimmers took off and Matt and I waited for the water to open up and give us some space to swim before we swam out. A triathlon swim is chaos. A mass of flailing bodies trying to move in the general direction of the first turn buoy. I started with the forward crawl, but had to stop several times when I ran into someone, or they ran into me, or a wave caused me to suck in water instead of air, or just to take a look around and get my bearings. After 50 yards I gave up and switched to the back stroke. This kept my face out of the water and I breathed in less water. When I was a kid I swam backstroke in races so even though my form is off, it's still a comfortable stroke.
I would still bump into someone, or they me, at times - but it was tolerable. I'd pause every so often to make sure I was headed the right way. I got into a pretty good rhythm where I was breathing heavy but not labored and stroking at a pace I could sustain. Still, a few times I felt a little panic that I was too tired to keep going and would drown. Not a good feeling. But I pushed through these min-panics and kept going.
The first turn buoy came and went pretty easy. The stretch to the turn-around buoy seemed longer, but I made it. It was a little crowded going around it so I swung wide. Now it was the home stretch to the water exit. I plugged along and eventually I looked to the side and saw a few people standing chest deep so I stood up and touched bottom. As I waded toward shore I felt a bit dizzy and my legs felt shaky like it was suddenly unnatural to use them for walking. I'd heard that water in the ears can mess up your equilibrium. Throughout my life I've spent a lot of time in the water and never noticed this effect. But if I do another tri I may use earplugs to see if it helps. But I'm pretty sure it's just an odd effect of swimming hard for so long.
I trotted along the path to the transition area and saw some of "the gals" (wives of my neighbors). They cheered and I waved weekly. They took some photos and I can't wait to see what stage of grim death I looked like. My wife was with my two oldest daughters at a youth conference.
Eric had made it out of the water first and was changing for the run when I got there. I set to work getting out of my wetsuit, but he was gone half a minute later. I had trouble with my shirt (FatCyclist jersey) - I had pinned my number through front and back - duh. Matt helped me with it (thanks man!). I put on my socks and shoes next, but Scott had dressed faster and was already off. It was a slow transition, but I was finally off and running.
I could see Scott up ahead and hoped I could catch him. I did so when he stopped to walk, but he started running again when I caught up to him. Evidently that energy drink he had wasn't sitting to well and he had a nasty stomach ache. We ran together for two block or so then he said his stomach was hurting again and he was going to walk. I kept running - it actually felt more like jogging.
There was a gentle incline for 3-4 blocks and I was amazed how much I could feel it. I loped along trying to keep the pace up but not wanting to burn out on this hill. It was more flat for the next few blocks and I went a bit faster. Then it was downhill and I tried to push the speed, but found it hard to really let loose and I didn't want to slap the feet so hard I'd get shin splints (something that usually afflicts me when I run).
The course jogged a few blocks and then suddenly I could see the pond. It was a big boost to know that I was close to the finish. The course follows a road that goes around the southern tip of the pond. I picked up the pace a bit here, but pulled back when I saw a short but steep hill at the southern tip. I started up it and was amazed at how much of a drag it felt. I thought about walking it, but I had been running the whole way and I wanted to be able to say I at least ran the whole thing. I trudged up the hill and was breathing pretty hard at the top - like when I've done a short climb at a bike race. I motored down the other side of the hill and pushed to keep the pace up for the finish. The finish was on the top of a short grassy knoll. That last little up on the grass hurt, but I chugged on. The cheers from the gals and the crowd, and the encouragements from the announcer on the PA system, helped. I gave one last push to cross the finish strong.
I was handed a water bottle and took some drinks from it. I grabbed one cup of water along the run, but had a hard time drinking it and almost gagged. I gathered some food - orange slices, mini cinnamon rolls, trail mix - and wandered over to the finish to see the other guys come in. I missed Scott while I was grazing, but saw Matt and Kerry come in. I could feel my thigh and calf muscles tightening up. I stretched them a bit - it hurt and I don't think it helped much.
Eric checked the results. He made 12th and I took 14th, out of 22 finishers. Not bad, I guess. According to the results, the swim took me 12 and a half minutes - sure seemed a lot longer. The transition took me 5 minutes - wow, that's slow. And the run took 25 and a half minutes.
We stood around chatting for a while then made a plan to go eat at Cracker Barrel on the way home. I had the meatloaf, yum.
I felt pretty good for the rest of the day. My legs hurt some, but it was tolerable.
Overall it was a good experience. I was bummed about the cancellation of the bike portion. But I was happy to prove I could do the (shortened) swim and run. Even though I seem to be triathlon cursed, I may try another one since I'd like to see how I'd do with all three events. I may try the XTERRA Sport race near Ogden - it sounds like fun to mountain bike and trail run. Maybe it's just my bad luck, but I'm leery of these organized triathlons because it doesn't take much to mess up one event and they cost considerably more than most road or mountain bike races.
Update: My legs (mostly quads and calves) were painfully stiff and sore Sunday and Monday. Going down stairs was the worst and I'd grip the handrail tight and lower myself down each stair. By Tuesday it was mostly gone and Wednesday the soreness was all gone.
Unconventional Triathlon
I inadvertently did a strange triathlon today - cross country skiing, snow stomping, road bike ride.
Event #1 - Cross Country Skiing
DJ picked me up this morning at 7:30 and we headed for American Fork Canyon to ski the Alpine Loop road above the Pine Hollow trail head. The day was clear and not too cold. The snow was excellent - soft yet packed on the snowmobile tracks, powdery off track.
We set off at a good pace as we wanted to get a cardio workout today. It felt good to be cruising on the skis in the cold morning air, taking in the views of the mountains.
At one point I kicked it up a notch and started kick gliding (didn't glide much going uphill). I kept the increased pace for 15+ minutes before I got a side-ache and slowed down.
Near the top I heard voices and called out to a long line of snowshoers moving north along the ridge. Sure enough it was Stan and the Utah Velo Club on the return portion of their loop that took them up Pine Hollow then down into Deer Creek South Fork, back up to the ridge then back down Pine Hollow - pretty long hike on snowshoes!
We made it to the top in around 1.5 hours. Pretty deep snow at the Alpine Loop summit.
After having a bite to eat, we headed south uphill to see if we could find the weather Timpanogos Divide weather station. Out in the deep, fresh snow, it's a lot harder going. We took turns breaking trail and found the weather station within 20 minutes. Here I am following DJ.
And here's DJ out in the powder.
We had a good time (and laughed a lot) coming down. Cross country skis always feel unstable to me going downhill. I almost went down a few times, but somehow stayed up. DJ had some good falls. He said it was a weird sensation - the snow is so soft you can hardly feel it and it slows you down so slowly you wonder if you've stopped moving. His description sounded so intriguing, I considered crashing on purpose just for fun.
Back on the packed road, the going was less tricky, but I had to pole or kick most of the way (my waxless skis drag some going down). DJ coasted better with his skis once he removed the grip wax. While the moguls created by the snowmobiles are mostly annoying, I put them to good use by pumping on them (I'd crouch then stand up fast once my feet crossed over the top of the mogul - this propelled me forward). It was a nice cruise down the road back to the car and somewhere along the way I snapped this last shot of Timp.
Event #2 - Snow Stomping
After the ski, I went home and my wife and I went over to Lambert Park to help tromp down the snow on the Frozen Hog race course. The snow is really deep this year and without some compaction of the snow, it might be a long hike-a-bike through the snow race. In 3 hours we got a good chunk of trail stomped then came home.
Event #3 - Road Bike
With 1.5 hours of daylight remaining and 40+ degree air, I decided I had to get out on the bike, even though I was pretty tired by now. I layered on the clothing and headed out on the road bike. I went out 8th North then down University Avenue. It felt so good to be cranking the pedals again. I then took a little back-road route to 8th East to return home. I could tell my strength is down some, but all-in-all I did OK and had a good little ride: 13 miles, 45 minutes, 360 feet of climbing, 17.2 mph avg, 29.7 mph max.
Try-athlon
I tried to do my first triathlon (Kokopelli Triathlon) today, but it was cancelled due to weather.
On Thursday the weather forecast was looking grim - heavy rain for St. George, and pretty much all of Utah. But when I got up this morning at 6:00 am the ground was dry. I drove out to Sand Hollow with my wife and headed to the staging/transition area. The water was warm (last report was 75 degrees) and I considered going without the wetsuit, but I put it on and it wasn't too restrictive so I kept it on. The sunrise was nice and I was getting excited to go. They started the first group of intermediate distance swimmers at 7:30 (was supposed to be 7:00) and then they started the first group of short distance swimmers around 8:00. But then the storm front hit bringing strong winds and rain. Evidently the water safety people were concerned about their ability to monitor and help swimmers in the chopy water with the wind blowing the boats around, so the race director made the call to cancel the event. My mind was set on this race and it took a while for it to sink in that it was over before it began. I was disappointed. But slowly packed up my gear and headed back to the car. My wife was suportive and disappointed as well.
I'll probably try to do a Triathlon again, but probably not until next year. I'm still a bit annoyed that they didn't postpone to see if the weather would improve. And I'm not happy about spending $90 for no race. In general this is yet another instance in support of my growing dislike of organized events. When it's just me, and maybe a few buddies, we can usually do a fairly fun plan B even if plan A doesn't work. But with these events it's all or nothing, go or no-go. Sure, I like the comraderie, competition and palpable energy of events with 100s of participants, but I'm leaning more and more to the low-key, small rides for the convenience and purity (i.e. just ride, no other fluff).
