Provo Tri and Business Trips

Ok - business trips and triathlons really don't mix very well.  Last year, I had to go to Orlando for a P&RO Solutions convention and I came back on Friday only to race the Provo tri the next day and I just absolutely bonked on it.  I knew 100 yards into that swim that I was going to be in big trouble and indeed I finished the tri but I was coming in towards the very end of the pack.  Not a big ego booster.

This year, I had the same business trip to Orlando right before the Provo tri.  I booked my flight, though, so I would come home on Thursday (instead of Friday like last year) and I was determined to get more sleep while I was in Orlando (last year was a mad house and I slept probably 8 hours total across 4 days).  I did sleep more this year (although I still had some long nights).

To add to all the fun, my entire family came up from Nevada and Arizona.  Jeff and Julie, of course, were competing but also Russ and almost his whole family and most of Jeff's family were competing as well.  We all went out to dinner on Friday night at the Spaghetti Factory and I got to bed at a decent time.

Saturday felt good, too.  I was really excited to be competing so I could show the Provo tri that I could indeed compete in it.  The course changed from last year and the swim started in deep water so we swam out and treaded water while we waited for the gun to go off.  I decided to start just behind the front line of swimmers and I think that was my first big mistake.  As soon as the gun went off, I was kicked, butted, and abused in so many ways that all my energy was taken up just trying to survive.  I couldn't put 10 strokes together without getting pummeled from some direction or other.  When I finally got to the turn around buoy, I was so tired I wasn't sure what was going on.  At that point, I headed out to the fringe and started swimming.  From that point forward, I was able to finish the swim without too much trouble except that I was tired coming out.

I got to the transition area and sure enough, Jeff, Julie, Cody, Brent, and Trevor were all gone ahead of me.  That made me mad.  I got changed, got on my bike and took off.  I was feeling sick by this time, too - just like last year.  I really wanted to throw up.  But, I was able to keep a very quick pace on the bike and unlike last year, I was able to pass up a lot of people on the bike ride.  I quickly passed up Brent and on the second loop I passed up Trevor.  In the end, I averaged right at 21.5 mph which is a nice little clip.

But, I was shot at that point.  I knew my run was going to suck.  And, indeed it did.  Trevor caught me pretty quick on the run and that was the last I saw of him.  I couldn't keep any kind of pace at all.  I was so happy when I fell across the finish line (not literally but it felt like it) and disappointed that I such a bad race.  One interesting note on the run portion - I passed up this guy who was HUGE.  And I mean fat.  Not that I want to be disparaging to the poor racer (I am always impressed with anyone who takes on a triathlon) but since the race started with everyone at the same time, I had to wonder how fast this guy swam and biked and I didn't catch him on either of those events?  That was one of the events during the race that made me scratch my head right then and there.

My next triathlon isn't until September.  But, I am signed up for the Tour De Donut (21 mile bike ride with donut breaks every 7 miles - each donut takes off 3 minutes of time) here in Utah and I am also going to be running the Provo River Half Marathon on August 9.  So, I am getting prepared for those races now.