Pleasant Grove Triathlon (reverse sprint) - TriathlonSprint

This was the last discipline in this reverse tri, so I was mighty tired by the time I finally jumped in the pool. But, boy, did the water feel good! It was a bit weird swimming in this pool because it was 50 meters long, but I kinda liked that, too. I certainly didn't make anybody wonder if I was Michael Phelps, but my family had a hard time spotting me so I'm kinda encouraged that I blended in with the other people who looked like they were flailing their arms around in a near-panic :)

I got worried that I didn't listen to the instructinos very well, when I kept swimming head-on into people. But I came to realize that I'm not the only zig-zagging person who swims like he's had a few too many brewskies.

I don't recall passing anyone and I got passed by two, including one girl who kept karate chopping my face with her lethal breast-stroke kick. I slowed down and let her and another girl go by. Gee, aren't I nice!?

My favorite part of the swim was hearing my son yell "Wahoo!" and others cheer my name when I got to the end of the lane a time or two. And I was quite happy I had enough energy left to pull myself out of the pool and burst across the finish line in under 1-1/2 hours! What's that? Oh, yeah...."Wahoo!"

Not forget my goggles in transition -- DUH!!!! And I did that even after I noticed my bro-in-law had done the same thing earlier in the day. DUH!!!! Tack that onto my run and I actually did a 3.2-mile race. DUH!!!

I also need to work on speed or something because I'm just not getting any quicker in the pool. Or maybe I just don't push myself hard enough in there. Considering where I'm coming from, I still consider this a great swim.

T1 was going from run to bike....

I ate a couple of Shot Bloks, glugged water, put my helmet and glasses on and beelined it for the exit. I was sweating like a hog in, well, a hot place where hogs sweat a lot, so I probably should've taken 5 seconds to wipe my face and head off. Maybe I need a small towel for something like that i transition. Or I could always use my neighbor's towel and call it good.

Not much. I ride with my jogging shoes, so I don't have to change anything. I probably could've hustled a bit, but I wanted to get a drink before I hit the road again.

Ugh! This was a 4-mile-plus loop that we did twice, and the first mile of it was Hell Hill. We had to climb about 400 feet in a mile. I got tired driving the course beforehand, so I knew I was in trouble there. The first time through I passed a couple of people and then decided to hit it hard once I got on flat terrain and then really hard when we headed back downhill. I was going like a madman down the hill, even passing a couple of dudes.

I was definitely toward the end of the running pack coming in so most of the competitors were ahead of me -- that is until I became Lance Armstrong in Round 2!!!! Just kidding, but I did pass a bunch of cyclists going up Hell Hill and probably about 20-plus the whole second loop. It was AWESOME! I had a blast on the bike! I especially loved passing people going up the hill and going about 35 MPH down that sucker.

The bike is definitely my best event.

Keep training on hills. I did pass a lot of girls, but I also passed some guys and not all were on mountain bikes, so I felt great about that.

T2 was going from bike to swim ...

This transition was going fine. I took off my running shorts and shirt to intimidate competitors with my "unisex" lilac-and-black tri shorts. If that didn't make 'em scared, my "flabs" certainly did the trick!

So after getting all my stuff settled and only sporting a thin piece of Spandex, I hurried to the pool wondering if onlookers were shocked that a dude of my heftiness was baring his big ole belly to the world. Oh well, I decided to not care. Heck, they might even admire my courage. It does, after all, take a strong man to wear lilac in public and go topless with a buddha belly.

While I was having that inner conversation en route to the pool I noticed somebody's goggles. Then I noticed mine were MIA. DUH!!!! Since I didn't want to look like I had pinkeye in both eyes for the next week or so, I decided I'd better go back and grab 'em. Nice 2-minute delay! Now any shot I had at a podium finish was definitely gone!

It did tick me off that several people who had been passed by me on the bike had now just exacted their revenge by passing me in transition!


Wear goggles the entire race -- run and bike included -- so I wouldn't forget them for the swim. Or get Lasik goggles surgery. Hmmmm.....

This tri began with the run ....

This was slow going here, folks. People along the route probably wondered why the volunteer was waddling to catch up to the pack. But seriously....

I began at the back of the pack and figured I'd pick off runner by runner throughout the race. OK, not really. I was mostly hoping to catch and pass one girl ahead of me and stay ahead of the nice-and-nervous older woman behind me. That wasn't exactly true, either. All I wanted to do was survive this jog -- and not stop or walk while I was at it.

"Running" this whole race was not an easy accomplishment for me. The first uphill stretch just went forever, and I could see people walking up the steepest part of the hill waaaayyy ahead of me. I figured I was toast, but I just kept my chunky legs churning (and burning!). The first mile took me 13 or so minutes, but I jogged the whole thing. I even grabbed a cup of water on the go cuz that's how the cool guys on TV do it.

Most of my race was spent behind a girl who switched between jogging and doing this amazing power walk. Every time she stopped jogging, I thought, "Cool! I can catch and pass her!" Then she kicked it into that super-turbo-charged walk and I had no chance. I finally caught her only to be passed a minute later. I then passed her again (she probably got tired of me running behind her!) down the stretch.

I think I chopped about a minute off of each ensuing mile, and then I spent the last part of the race wondering if I was going to get DQ'd for running on the inside of an orange cone even though I still stayed on the road. I was probably getting delusional at that point in the race, so I picked something odd to fret about.

Though this time was not a PB, I still feel OK about it because of that really tough first mile. I'm proud that I didn't walk, too.

Lose more weight, train more and maybe learn how to do that super-turbo-charged power walk!

Hugs and kisses with family....ate some oranges -- man, were they good -- and some other fruit and a bagel with cream cheese. Celebrated more than I should have for winning a water bottle and keychain! Wahoo! Just felt great that I accomplished another triathlon -- my second in two weeks!

I wish my next wasn't an entire month away!


About 60 pounds of extra flab, weak muscles and evasive goggles.


This was a fun but challenging course. I had a great time doing it with my bro-in-law. I do wish the course would have had a drinking station at Mile 2 as well as the one at Mile 1. I was very thirsty. Overall, though, I have few complaints. I didn't even mind the reverse order -- jumping in the pool at the end was quite refreshing. It would've been even better had I not had to swim 500 meters!

But to quote my son "Wahoo!" I'm a repeat triathlete!