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!

Newborn + Outdoor Lovers = Backyard Camping Trial

So my wife and I had a discussion the other day about our newborn son, Anson. To say the two of us enjoy the outdoors is an understatement, for sure, so when the topic of Anson's ability to go camping came up, we knew we needed to figure out a plan to get him outdoors for his first overnight camping trip- and soon.

We decided that although we're both good planners and we've yet to have a "bad" camping experience, or maybe because of those things, we needed to do a dry-run with the little one before heading out 50 miles from home only to find that it just wouldn't work. We settled on a spot very familiar to us and one that would lend itself to trial and error; our backyard!

One night after work I rushed home, picked up all the landmines from Jake & Graham that had accumulated in the grass, mowed the lawn short, and got the camping gear ready. I have a pretty good system in place for gathering camping gear, so after the yardwork was done I made quick work of setting up our campsite. We didn't need much; a tent, sleeping pads and bags, flashlights, our normal pillows from inside (just like car camping!), and the dog beds. After about 30 minutes or so the camp was ready for business, and just in time too as the sun was quickly setting. We tried our best to simulate the real camping experience we'd soon have with Anson by setting a few rules:

1- Anson cannot go inside the house until at least 7 a.m.
2- Neither parent can go inside the house to do anything but retrieve forgotten items (like extra clothes or water) or use the restroom.
3- The dogs must stay outside until 7 a.m. also, but they should be vigorously exercised before getting in the tent.
4- If these rules are broken, the camping trip will be considered a failure and we will not go camping until a backyard overnight is successfully completed.

Knowing what we had at stake, Claire & I prepared for the night by thinking about how to do things a little differently in a tent than we'd been doing in our home for the previous two months. For starters, breast feeding wouldn't be as easy because Claire would be doing it with a headlamp on. Secondly, she wouldn't have the luxury of having a headboard to lean against while sitting up with Anson, either. For both Claire & I there was the lack of separation between the little one and the dogs, and finally there was the dilemma of clothing for Anson. How do you ensure that a baby stays warm enough on a camping trip?

That question was answered soon enough by this superb find at a local thrift store:

As you can see it's far too big. We paid $4 for it. No one complained.

After making sure we had everything; diapers, diaper covers, wipes, extra rags for spit-up, extra cothes for all, water bottles, camera, and all the above-mentioned items, we headed out the door of our house and into the wild expanse of our backyard. A quick four seconds later (BEST HIKE EVER!) we arrived at camp and plodded into the tent.

The dogs found their side of the sleeping area and Claire & I laid Anson between us on the other side. He looked quite a bit like Ralphie from A Christmas Story in his little snow suit but not one of us in that tent cared, so long as he was sleeping. I'm happy to report that Anson did splendidly in his temporary bedroom and by 8 a.m. the next morning he'd only awaken twice to feed, and both times slept again quickly thereafter. Our campground became noisier and nosier as the sun rose, bringing with it the hustle and bustle of the neighborhood getting off to work and school. We didn't mind too much, though- we'd survived together in the tent and could now celebrate our successful camping trip!

Now the next question...where will we take Anson for his first real camping trip? Any ideas? I'd love to hear them. Write a comment below and leave a suggestion!

About me

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here's the quick and dirty on me, "Have you enjoyed the outdoors today?". My name is Andy and I'm in my late-20's. I have a beautiful partner of 4+ years named Claire and we share a home in Oregon's scenic and mild Willamette Valley. We have two yellow labs, Graham (3 years) and Jake (2) and a cat (?), but I forget his name*.


I enjoy the outdoors nearly as much as I enjoy being married and that's something that's obvious once you get to know me. In talking with folks that I meet or know one of the primary things I tend to do is to find out their level of outdoor activity and make that a centerpiece for conversation. This isn't to say that I don't know lots of people who don't enjoy the outdoors as much as I do, but the simple fact that we live on Earth means that we are inherently tied to the natural world. As a general rule, the more people appreciate this fact, the easier it is for me to communicate with them.


The hobbies I engage in are relatively all the same, in that they involve two of life's great pleasures; beer and exercise. Here's my list in particular order:


Beer: camping, playing board games, cooking/baking, SNOB (Supporter of Native Oregon Beer)


Exercise: running (preferably trail), hiking, sport climbing (both indoors and outdoors), backcountry hiking, canoeing, snowshoeing, photography (a stretch for being in the "exercise" category I know)


I understand that diversity is a very important part of our evolution and economy and therefore I am a supporter of just about any (legal) idea or belief that keeps people different or allows the underdog to succeed. Examples of this include the idea that Wal-Mart is not a business that I support if at all possible (simply because it is the largest retailer on the planet and they don't need any of my money) and that racial minorities are far and away more culturally important than many of us realize. The fact that when many of us were born there were 6,000 languages being used on this planet and now there are fewer than half of that remaining indicates to me that our loss of diversity is happening at an alarming rate. See this video for an excellent explanation of this problem by National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis: www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures.html


This is really just a scattered run-down on how I view myself. My posts will be a much more accurate depiction of who I really am, as the content starts to paint a picture that reflects my own thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. Stay tuned for more!


*The cat is Claire's and I really don't care for him. He's mean to me and he pukes a lot. Enough said.