Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Alta Canyon Triathlon

Jake, dad, me, and Sabrina flexing after finishing the Alta Canyon Triathlon

Last Saturday Sabrina, Jake, my Dad, and I all participated in the Alta Canyon Triathlon in Sandy. We all had a lot of fun and I was impressed with how well everyone did.

We got everything loaded up and made it to the Alta Canyon Rec Center at about 7:00am. We stood in like to get checked in and get our numbers written on our arms and legs and then we got our transition areas set up.

Swim - 400 M
This is an interesting triathlon because the swim in done in a pool instead of a reservoir, lake, or river. Since it would be really crowded and probably really dangerous to start everyone at once in a pool, they have you line up according to how fast you think you are going to swim and start you one at a time. Because the pool was so crowded and people were only started 5 seconds apart, we all passed people who thought they were faster than they really were.

Bike - 9 Miles

A few weeks before the race we rode the course to get familiar with it. It is a two loop course with a big hill going up one side of the loop and a long downhill on the other side. It's a really fun bike course with very little traffic. Sabrina got a new (used) road bike just before the race that she used. She was really able to notice a difference between the mountain bike she had been riding on the training rides.

Run - 5K
The run was also a two loop course and also had a steep hill and long downhill. On both of my loops I saw my dad riding up the hill on his bike. I also saw Jake, who was also running, on my second loop. It was fun to have so many people racing and to see them on the course.

I finished in a time of 1:07:03 which was 4 and a half minutes faster than my time last year. I ended up with second place in my age group and only missed first place by about 18 seconds. My dad, who did awesome on his first triathlon, also got second place in his age group. The swim has always been our strength in my family. Jake was the 6th fastest swimmer overall and I was the 4th fastest. Sabrina, who also did her first full triathlon, also did really well and only came in a few minutes after Jake.

Me, my dad, and our medals


Harrison had a lot of fun with Jod, B, and my mom