San Jorge Triathlon

There's something about a picture of this kid that immediately adds likability to a post. This was taken after a pit stop where he picked out a new Chevron toy car. Actually he picked out the truck with farm animals in the back but in an effort to curb any cowboy tendencies I grabbed the Woody with surfboard on top. He seemed to like it just fine. You may also notice that the DVD player was within reach of his toes. That was a mistake. He likes pushing buttons with his toes.This was my 4th annual St. George Triathlon. It almost didn't happen. The combination of lack of training and the proximity to Beth's due date was making it easy to bail out. The night before we left I got pretty excited as I looked at my times from the years past. Beth decided she would obey the Dr. and stay home which was a drag. Part of the reason the Dr. said she shouldn't go was because if she went into labor in St. George our insurance wouldn't cover it. I was pretty sure he didn't know what he was talking about and confirmed with Altius the next morning that we would be covered. After that Beth was an easy sell (as long as she didn't have wake up early and drag Jack along to watch the race).Check in was both good and bad. The bad part was they reminded me and Casey that we are turning 30 (ugh) this year by tattooing it on our calf. The good part was it gave us an excuse to take a picture of our calf:) Actually the good part was the haircuts. The race has always encouraged participants to buzz their hair. This year they were giving out $5 bills to anyone who took advantage. I asked the girls for a #2, they took a minute to shave off my grown out #4 and handed me a crisp Lincoln. It's fun to be paid for the same haircut you plan to give yourself the next day.We then joined Casey and Ryanne at Olive Garden for some carbo loading.

I don't have any pictures from the actual event. If the website ever puts some up I'll insert them here.

The race itself was wild. The course has changed a little here and there but not much. My times from 2005-07 were 2:40, 2:39, and 2:35. After crunching the numbers (busier with school-add 2 minutes, busier with work-add 1 minute, borrowing dad's "old" bike-subtract 2 minutes, added step in transitions-add 1 minute) I set a target time of 2:37. The added step was checking phone messages to make sure Beth wasn't in labor. I thought about adding a minute for one year older but the winners are traditionally from my age group (30-34) so that was a push.

That all went out the window when I got to Sand Hollow Reservoir. The sun wasn't even up and the wind was consistently blowing with gusts between 20-30 mph. The lake was whipped with white capped wind swells. Say that seven times. And it was unusually cold water, for the first time I regretted the sleeveless wetsuit. At least the violent waters and head winds provided an excuse for a slow time.

As I walked down to the water to warm up I had my fourth "D'oh" moment. The first three were 1. Where's my bike pump? 2 Where's my water bottles and gu? and 3. Where's my sunglasses? #4 was the most disturbing, where's my swim goggles? Luckily the tri community rallied around me and provided me with their spares. It turned out that warming up wouldn't ever happen so I walked back out of the lake to wait for the start. Despite the conditions I remembered why I love these races as soon as my face hit the water. My swim (1.5K or .92 miles) was 33 minutes which was a full 6 minutes slower than my previous worst. The way the course was set up you swim along the lake to the boat ramp which meant the majority was against the wind and swells. I swallowed quite a bit of water but at least the cold temperatures have kept the boats off this spring and it didn't taste too bad. Friends of mine that were racing Sprint distance in later heats said the pontoon rescues boats were coming in with 15+ people per run. That help explains all the DNFs. Apparently it was at this point that the race organizers cancelled the swim portion for the Sprint (I was doing the Olympic). The Sprint Tri was now a Sprint Duathlon. Not to be confused with the alpine sniper event, the Biathlon.

The bike (40K / 25 miles) and run (10K / 6.2 miles) went fine. The desert winds created some interesting sand drifts on the roads that were tricky to navigate. At one point I had to stop and raise the seat on my bike because I failed to tighten it down enough when I raised it that morning. By mile 8 it had lowered several inches and I was now lowriding and burning a part of my quad I'd never used before. My total time was 2:50 which was disappointing but considering the conditions I guess I'll take it. The best part was I felt really good afterwards. Next stop Battle at Midway and then it's onto the inaugural Irvine Stake Tri.

After the race it was lunch (see separate post), relaxing while Jack napped at Kathy and Ruben's (thanks for letting us stay at the casita), and then homeward bound.
The fifth "D'oh" moment happened on the way home. Last year we flirted with $90 fill ups and it looks like $100 is just around the corner.
I'd like to take a moment, swallow my pride and pat Casey on the back. My padowan apprentice has become the master. He's come a long way from this picture taken at St. George two years ago. Yes that's a mountain bike, yes it's a girls bike, and yes it has a kickstand. I taught him humility that summer of 2006. He switched to Sprints the next season and started racking up the podium finishes. This was his first Olympic distance race in while and I took this picture before he picked up his 2nd place plaque. Way to go buddy. When I got to the first transition area and he was already gone I thought to myself "I should make a goal not to get lapped by him on the run". Mission not accomplished. I was at mile 3.05, about to finish my first lap, when Casey comes sprinting by to finish. Casey, I didn't mean what I said as you went by.