Herriman Black Ridge Triathlon - Triathlon

I felt great out there. I swam a bit wide of the first buoy but then settled in and really sighted well. I passed up a couple of my friends who were in the wave before me, so that was fun. :) I think this course was a bit less than 500 yards, because I've never swam that fast in my life. But I'll take the time!

Cut the course like some of the other dudes, who turned in three-minute swims!

We had to run on a beach - picture me as Hasselhoff - and then had fun trying to de-sand my feet before putting my socks and cycling shoes on. Props to my buddy Steve, who lamely registered too late to get in the race but who made up for it by helping me out and cheering me and our other friends on!

I should've gotten to transition earlier so I could've put my bike on the east side right by the bike exit because I had to to wheel/carry my bike for a couple of minutes on the sand. Not fun.

A good chunk of this course is what I ride from time to time out here in my town, so that was very cool. The uncool part was that it includes a long, steady climb on an incline/false flat, which leads to a big ugly hill. But then you get to FLYYYYYYYY down for a mile or so at mega-speeds so it's all worth it. The ride back to town is the good kind of a false flat, so that was fun too. I got passed by a dozen or so cyclists but felt pretty good about my bike overall. My computer wasn't working so I just went with the flow, and I actually liked that.

It was fun to see some of my friends out there on the course, even if I got passed by three of them! Di gave me a fist bump, which made me laugh. And Cindi reminded me about In-N-Out - our post-race pig-out spot - as she passed me! I was really happy to see Cindi after not seeing her at all during Ironman because of her swimming mishap.

Lose weight. Ride more.

Was greeted by Steve, who was ringing a pink cowbell. Funny! Took my socks off to get sand out of them, and then Steve and I took off for the 5K.

Not get sand in my socks.

OK, a 40-minute 5K is nothing to brag about. BUT ... I hadn't really run since my Ironman a month ago. In fact, I hadn't run at all until doing a minute at a time for six minutes during a treadmill jaunt the other night. In my mind, I planned on walking most of this 5K because of the lack of running late, and because I hurt my back helping someone move a week ago. But Steve came along for the ride and it sparked me to run much more than I would've. It was really cool of him and we had a good time chatting. He's a great dude. A couple of times he had me run farther than I usually would, but it just went to show that you can do things when you put your mind to it. I probably finished 5-10 minutes quicker because he went with me, so thanks Gator!

Lose weight. Run more than once a month. Not hurt my back helping people move.

I'm glad I did this. I've been struggling mightily to exercise and eat well since my Ironman a month ago, so this was a great activity to get me back in the swing of things. And I just got a kick out of being in my town for a triathlon. Talk about a luxury! All tris should be in my backyard! It was fun to see so many familiar faces doing the race - Cindi, Diana, Tom, Cory and Katie. Good times! It got me excited to do more races and more training! All in all, a very fun event!