28.6 miles

Well, I did it! Today's Triathlon Eugene started at 7:05 a.m. for me and I was happy to have been part of this inaugural event. My wife, son, & I arrived a little after 6:00 a.m. where we found about 150 other racers who were prepping their bikes, clothes and themselves for the early start. The sun was just coming up in the east, revealing light cloud cover. We started the race near 55 degrees and the water temp was about 74. Needless to say, it was warmer in the water than on the shore!

Pre-race jitters

 The short course consisted of a .5 mile swim, a 25 mile bike ride, and a 3.1 mile run. I'd been training for this event since March so I knew what I had coming as far as effort and distances, but having said that I hadn't done all three events in a single day before. I also hadn't practiced my transitions (called T1 and T2), the parts of the race where I would go from swim to bike and from bike to run.

Lining up for the swim start

I started in the back of the pack on the swim and more or less stayed there. The long course racers, who started five minutes before my wave and were swimming twice as far as me, began passing me about halfway through my swim. I was far from being shocked, but maintained my pace and perseverance as best I could.

We're off!

Coming out of the water was fun because I was in a group with what were apparently three popular racers, which made me swim harder to the transition (I was pretending they were cheering for me). The transition zone was crowded but I made relatively quick work of donning my helmet, gloves, sunglasses and shoes after ditching the swim cap and goggles.

Coming in to T1

The road ride was tough, for sure, but I kept my pace (about 18 mph for those keeping track) here too and only let a handful of riders pass me. I felt like I was losing ground to a lot of racers, but it turns out now that I look at the results I actually passed 10 people during the 1.5 hour ride.

Coming in to T2

 Back now at the second transition area and dreading my run (exhaustion was setting in here) I took a break after putting on my running shoes to go give my wife and son a kiss for luck. I shot out of T2 and started out on the run, making a 8:00/mile pace.

Changing at T2

Off for the final leg!

I wrapped up my first triathlon with a final time of 2:12:35 and I've got to say I couldn't be happier with the result. After a nice lunch with my friends who came to cheer me on, the three of us went home for what ended up being a two hour nap! Well deserved I believe!

PS- Thanks a ton to Jamie for taking these photos!

Triathlon Training Update

So I've been really pushing hard to get out running, swimming, and biking during the past few weeks to prep for Triathlon Eugene on August 28th. My friends have been great workout buddies, and I seem to have a partner to go with anytime I want one, which is great for motivation!

The latest adventure involved going with a coworker Thursday afternoon to Fern Ridge Reservoir, located just northwest of Eugene and the location of this month's triathlon. For those of you who came to my wedding, it's the same location where Claire & I were wed.

We didn't know what to expect when we stuck our toes in the water, as Oregon lakes and rivers can vary dramatically depending on location, elevation, and time of year. We were pleasantly surprised to find the water to be very nice, not too cold and not too warm for a great swim. We started out and my wife stayed along the shore for moral support and to measure our distance. We made a bee line for the buoys, which are roughly 150 feet from shore and then turned to swim alongside them from one edge of the swimming area to the other. We made one full lap (down and back) and got out of the water about 35 minutes later, having covered a choppy, current-filled .4 miles and being proud of ourselves for doing the swim. I was especially proud because it was my first open-water swim!

More to come soon. Until then, I'll be training!