Last week I competed in my first triathlon. Dave Koenig, Jon VanNoy and I went up to Fort Collins for the Xterra Lory off road triathlon.
Jon and I waiting for the swim start.
It started off with a half mile swim in beautiful Horsetooth reservoir. I finished the swim in 21:13, slightly off my goal of sub 20 minutes.
After the swim there was a 12.2 mile mountain bike course. It was two laps of single track riding and by that time the sun was beating down. I finished in 1 hour 22 minutes and was pretty wiped out by that time.
The last stage was a 4.8 mile trail run. When I say trail run what I really mean is straight up a mountain run. The first half was switch backs with some major elevation gain, and that wiped me out completely. I ended up walking a fair amount of the up but was able to run the second half. It was extremely hot by that time and I was completely exhausted - notice the fatigue/anguish on my face. The run/walk took 1 hour 7 minutes.
The finish line was the fun portion, with a giant slip-n-slide that ended up in a pool of water. I garnered up some energy and sprinted to the finish, cruising across the water and splashing down in the pool.
I ended up soaking wet, but it felt good after being beat down by the sun. My finish time was 3 hours 6 minutes - not quite what I was aiming for, but it was my first triathlon and a good starting point. The overall experience was a blast and there was a nice sense of accomplishment. I think I'll make this a yearly goal and maybe even add a few more in.
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