The waiting is the hardest part

[bluegoose]

Sweet! I just looked at the training program and it looks like you need about 3 1/2 hours on the bike the weekend of the Tour de CUF. We should be able to cover the 97 miles in about that much time, don't you think?

[PaloAltoCougar]

Sweet! I just looked at the training program and it looks like you need about 3 1/2 hours on the bike the weekend of the Tour de CUF. We should be able to cover the 97 miles in about that much time, don't you think?

Perhaps if we slow it down a bit.... With Lebowski out (<sniff>), I suppose we can dial it back.

[BigPiney]

4 weeks done and half way through week 5. This weekend I am doing the olympic distance in the St George Tri, but I am just going to train right up to it. The most exciting part is that I will be a 1/4 of the way done with my training after the race.

So far no injuries, though the last week I really haven't been feeling it. Just not that excited to get out there, so I skipped the 75 minutes I was supposed to do on the trainer last night. I am not falling too far off the wagon though, as I plan on doing 1 hour 45 today on the road.

My wife is going to the sprint version of the race this weekend, so good luck to her. The bike portion is very hilly . 830 ft of elevation in only 12 miles is rough. Mine is 20 miles and only adds another 200 ft of gain. If I can make it through the swim in an ok time then I have a good chance of my goal time of 2:30:00 (beating Arch's time from 3 years ago).

[Coach McGuirk]

4 weeks done and half way through week 5. This weekend I am doing the olympic distance in the St George Tri, but I am just going to train right up to it. The most exciting part is that I will be a 1/4 of the way done with my training after the race.

So far no injuries, though the last week I really haven't been feeling it. Just not that excited to get out there, so I skipped the 75 minutes I was supposed to do on the trainer last night. I am not falling too far off the wagon though, as I plan on doing 1 hour 45 today on the road.

My wife is going to the sprint version of the race this weekend, so good luck to her. The bike portion is very hilly . 830 ft of elevation in only 12 miles is rough. Mine is 20 miles and only adds another 200 ft of gain. If I can make it through the swim in an ok time then I have a good chance of my goal time of 2:30:00 (beating Arch's time from 3 years ago).

I've done that tri. The real elevation gain is in one steep ass hill between mile 5 and 6. A real killer. Be careful on the descent as it is steep and a cow guard at the bottom.

The swim has always been really rough and I do believe they have a 50%-50% track record of the swim getting cancelled due to conditions.

The run is through the desert for the most part. a really tough hill between mile two and three, which you will have to hit twice on the Olympic.


I am signed up for the salem spring sprint and the provo tri olympic that I will use to test my fitness leading up to the biggie.

[BigPiney]

I've done that tri. The real elevation gain is in one steep ass hill between mile 5 and 6. A real killer. Be careful on the descent as it is steep and a cow guard at the bottom.

The swim has always been really rough and I do believe they have a 50%-50% track record of the swim getting cancelled due to conditions.

The run is through the desert for the most part. a really tough hill between mile two and three, which you will have to hit twice on the Olympic.


I am signed up for the salem spring sprint and the provo tri olympic that I will use to test my fitness leading up to the biggie.

This will be my 3rd time at this race I think. Each time they have done the swim when I have been there. If they don't I will be super pissed. BBSC did a shitty job putting on the race in 2007, last time I was there, so this is their last chance to do better. They are starting the swim over an hour later this year, I think in part to make sure they can get good conditions. First wave goes out at 8:30, and my wife does't start till 9:50??????? We figure we may be in transition at the same time. Me finishing the bike and her the swim.

The run in all on the road now, which sucks, but should be way easier than those dirt hills. It parallels the bike course.

[BigPiney]

I survived and actually did better than I could have imagined.

I was scared I was going to have something happen like SeaChicken, when starting Thursday night I started having the runs. I usually get prerace nerves that result in a cleaning out of the bowels on race morning, but 2 days before, this is trouble. This did continue till race morning but really didn't affect me at all except make me a bit concerned.

Race morning was nice. Transition didn't open till 7 and my race wasn't till 8:40, so the set up was relaxed and mostly consisted of helping my wife, brother, and father-in-law get ready as this was the first traithlon for each of them.

Swim: The water was 63 and freezing. I did not warm up as it was just too cold. Open water start. I got in the water about 7 minutes before my start and tread water till it was time to go. There were a lot of us in my group, with a bunch that headed out way too fast. I tried to keep my pace slow to start out and it seemed to work. I was probably around 10th around the first buoy and just kept going at my pace. I got in behind a guy that was going nicely so I followed. By the time I passed the second buoy, I was feeling comfortable int he water and kept going. Turned the corner at the 3rd buoy and headed out for the second lap. Unfortunately the wave behind us started 10 minutes behind us and I had to fight through a lot of slower swimmers from this wave. On the home stretch, after passing the second buoy for the second time, my right calf started to cramp. It did this a few times and as long I was able to keep my foot flexed a bit it kept it under control, but I sure was glad that I only had 150 meters to go at this point. Came out of the water in 5th in my wave with a swim just under 23 minutes. Pretty sure that this was not a mile, cause I am not THAT fast. 14th fastest overall

T1: I sucked at transition. I really need to work on this. 3 mintes.

Bike. My feet were completely numb from the swim and never warmed up during the ride. This is where I need to improve the most. I only caught up to one guy on the ride and passed him right at the end, reeling in his 3 minute head start. I on the other hand got passed by a bunch of people, all of them on tri bikes. The big hill was tough, but I actually made up a bit of time on people on the hills, I just need to better my speed on the flats. Bike time was 1:04:03 for 20 miles and 1060 ft elevation gain. Not fast. 96th fastest out 350, UGH.

T2: not bad, ate a gu. I was disoriented and not sure where to the run exit was. Need to remember to check on those things before hand.

Run: I kicked this things ass. Set my eyes on the people in front of me and reeled them in. By now it was getting hot and I was breathing hard already, so I made sure to keep checking my pace on my Garmin. I started out fast and tried to keep it right around 7 min/mile but kept fining myself creeping up towards 6:40. The best thing about triathlon is that they write on you and mark your age on your calf so I look ahead and see if someone was in my age group or my race distance and knew that I had to pass them. One by one I picked them off. I was hot and tired but I was enjoying just blowing by people. There were some slight hills on this thing with 300 ft of gain over the race which seemed to slow a lot of people down. My garmin measured at 6.45 miles. I was so ready to be done at 6.2. Grabbed water at every aid station, mainly to take and sip and dump the rest on my head, and only slowed a bit. Passed probably 10 or more people and no one passed me. Run time: 45:00 15th fastest

Overall I was more than pleased with my race. Got 1st in my agegroup and 25th overall. Got beat by 2 women who were way tougher than I will ever be. Good experience to move forward for the rest of my training and the summer.

The rest of my family that participated all finished, though they admit the cold water and the open water swim was a lot more difficult than they imagined, even though they did the sprint version. My brother the clydesdale, did not train near enough and after leading for the first half of the swim ran out of gas for the rest of the race and finished in just under 2 hours. My FIL performed admirably and wasn't last. And last but not least, my wife was 3rd in her agegourp and 9th overall among women out of 157, in her first Tri (1:30:00). She is not a swimmer at all, so that was SLOW, and the bike she did on a mountain bike with slicks, but she had the fastest run time among women, so we both came home with hardware. Need ot get her swimming lessons.

The race medal was also cool, it has a hole in it and also is made to serve as a bottle opener. Almost made me want to crack open a cold one.

[Coach McGuirk]

Nice report BP. Just confirmation of your beastliness.

[bluegoose]

Great report Piney. Almost makes me want to train for a triathlon. So they allow those arm floaties on the swimming portion?

[BigPiney]

Great report Piney. Almost makes me want to train for a triathlon. So they allow those arm floaties on the swimming portion?

That is what the wetsuit is. In the time before the race where we had to tread water, I really didn't have to work at all to stay afloat, just kind of bob along.

[Coach McGuirk]

stupid stupid setback. I ran our garbage to the street this evening and did so hastily because of the rain. I was running at a very good trot when I hit the driveway to garage floor transition. Uh oh. I hit hard. So far my back is as stiff as hell, pain breathing, hip and ass sore, and I am pretty sure my right wrist is sprained. I am hoping for a very short time off, but I am thinking it is going to be a week or 10 days before I can pick up where I have left off. boo.

[BigPiney]

stupid stupid setback. I ran our garbage to the street this evening and did so hastily because of the rain. I was running at a very good trot when I hit the driveway to garage floor transition. Uh oh. I hit hard. So far my back is as stiff as hell, pain breathing, hip and ass sore, and I am pretty sure my right wrist is sprained. I am hoping for a very short time off, but I am thinking it is going to be a week or 10 days before I can pick up where I have left off. boo.

Oh man, that sucks. I thought rule one was no getting hurt or injured. Good luck to getting back to where you were.

[SteelBlue]

Very cool Piney. Keep this up and maybe you could make a living doing this stuff.

[Coach McGuirk]

I think I got lucky. I am feeling pretty good. Going to start training again in the morning.

[bluegoose]

Okay, now I'm getting pissed. Here we are 4 weeks after Bigpineys half ironman and still no race report.