Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Race Type: Run
Distance: 5K
Participants: 229
Overall Place: 4th
Age Group Place: 1st
Time: 21:12
The race was located at a golf course and was a charity event to raise money for cancer research. The turnout was good, there were plenty of snacks, and the course was full of turns and rollers. My legs were tired from doing a brick workout consisting of a 40 mile bike and 10 mile run the day before. The 1st place finisher was far ahead of me but I chased the 2nd and 3rd place for most of the race. I just didn't have it in me to push it for the last mile to take over 3rd.
The finish was nice. I received a medal and a plaque. The 3rd place finishers wife was nice enough to take a picture of me and email it out.
Location: Ogden, Utah
Race Type: Triathlon
Distance: 1000 meter swim, 15.4 mile bike, 4 mile run
Participants: 234
Overall Place: 67th
Age Group Place: 15th
Time: 1:45:23. Swim: 26:11, Trans1: 3:01, Bike: 40:53, Trans2: 2:10, Run: 22:03
I traveled to Eden, Utah to attend this race with by bike. My goal was to have fun and visit a friend that I haven't seen in years. This was his first triathlon and we agreed that if he would sign up I would make the trip.
The weather when I arrived on Friday was rainy off and on. On Saturday morning the rain cleared up a few hours before the race. The event was put on by TriUtah and was in the 8th year running. The transition area was well laid out with rack assignments. I was unlucky in that I a middle rack with a position on the far end.
The swim was in Pineview Reservoir. I found a person with a Garmin 910XT at the end and she clocked it at 1150 meters. The water temp was great for my sleeveless wetsuit and there were only a few waves when one of the lifeguards would come by with a skidoo. I hadn't been training a lot on my swimming so I was definitely slow.
The swim to transition was tough as I had to run up a very steep hill that was wet mud from previous participants. I ended up walking most of it. This tired my out for the transition and I ended up with the slowest time to date.
The bike course was a single loop with minimal turns. That said, I took a left too fast when trying to pass another person and ended up going off the course, into the rocks, and onto a sidewalk. I was able to recover without losing any time and minimal speed. Overall, I was happy with the ride and averaged 22.6mph. The bike to run transition was uneventful.
The run consisted of ~1.5 miles of road and ~2.5 miles of single track. I felt weak the entire time. I'm thinking that the elevation (5000 feet) was taking its tole on me. I had gone for a run the previous day and my heart rate was elevated for the speed I was going. Needless to say, my run was slower than I expected but it was fun to run the single track and have trees for shade. We don't get much of that in Arizona.
Overall, this was a fun race with a great friend. I hope to make it an annual event.
