Saturday, July 12, 2008

Xango Echo Triathlon

Distance/Times: Swim 750 M, Bike 20K (12.4 miles), Run 5K (3.1 miles)
Cathi - Total: 1:42:10.95, Swim: 15:41, Bike: 54:26, Run: 26:09
Gords - Just the swim (Relay): 11:28

Details:
Roceil watched the kids for us so Cathi and I could check in the Best Western in Coalville, UT. We went over and got Cathi's packet and did the triathlon walk through. The guide told us of the transition and paths to take which made our experience more comfortable. It was very well organized and laid out. There were lots of signs to make the participants morons if they messed up. And if they still couldn't see the big signs there were lots of volunteers to point the proper direction.

In the morning we got up at 4:45 am and got ready to ride over. We biked over from the hotel which was probably only 2 miles. It was very cold and when we got there the rest of Team Tomax arrived within 30 minutes and we got our packet, timing chip and visited until our start time at 7:50 (for Cathi) and 8:00 (for me).

When I got in the water I noticed that it was hardly muddy and that the water wasn't that cold. They started us and I swam quite easily to the first marker which was easy to see. I rotated my head out of the water every 6 strokes or so and I was usually right on course, so no major lopsidedness going on. When I rounded the first corner I was what I felt like first place for my wave. I was now hitting women who were from the wave before mine. I even ran right into a very slow moving woman and instead of climbing over here, I stopped cold and went around her. I said "Sorry" and started my forward movement back up.

When I rounded the second marker I headed for the get out point. It was right in line with the sun so I couldn't see the marker or the beach at all, just a huge sun. I was noticing the direction of the other swimmers when breathing to the side and saw that they were going parallel to me so I just went with that hoping that it was the right way and that the whole other group was going the right way. That was a good strategy even though I was paranoid that everyone else was doing the same thing and going the wrong way.

But not before long I could see the shadow of trees which meant I was nearing the finish. I was too far to the right as I started running into reeds so I veered left and swam another 25 yards or so before hitting the bottom and running out. I heard the beep as I crossed the sensor pad with my left ankle's timing chip. As I ran up the slope on the green turf I saw Cathi and said "Good Job Cathi!" I found my shoes and hurried to slip them on and run to the transition area which was about 200 yards. I think I was the first team relay swimmer out of the water. Jason was pleased and hurried to get the timing chip on and took off. My time in the swim was 11:28. I was aiming for 11:30 so I met my goal. I was disappointed that I did the relay. I had plenty of energy left and wished I could have done the bike and run.

I saw Cathi start her bike portion and waited for Jason to arrive so Heather could go. I didn't use my stop watch at all so I didn't know how we were doing during the race.

I saw Heather start off and then as she finished. I then saw Cathi finish.
Team Tomax came in first place in the coed sprint relay division. We did it. Great job team. And great job Cathi!


Here are the results of the Coed Division:

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