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

Salt Lake Marathon Bike Tour

On Saturday I rode in the Salt Lake Marathon Bike Tour with my friend Jonathan. It wasn't really a race, just a ride, but it was a lot of fun. They announced that there were about 1,500 people who had registered as of the night before and that there were probably many more by the time the ride started.

We were towards the back of the crowd and it took about a minute after they announced the start before we could even start moving. There were all types of people doing the ride. Everyone from professionals to novices. There were all kinds of bikes too: road bike, mountain bikes, recumbent and tandem bikes. It was pretty well organized and the police had all of the roads closed off so we never had to stop. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and we only saw a couple wrecks.

At the end of the ride we checked our bikes in with the "valet" so we could get some post ride food. I was surprised to see 7-Eleven there handing out hot dogs and taquitos...pretty weird. I was hoping that they would have Coke Slurpees too, but I was disappointed to find out that they didn't.

After we had had our fill of free food, we picked up our bikes and rode Trax back up the the U where we started. It was a really fun ride and I am hoping to do it again next year...maybe with Harrison being pulled in a trailer.

Also...

I woke up at 5:00 am on Saturday morning and threw my bike in the truck. When I started it up it sounded as if the muffler had fallen off, it was LOUD! I had heard on the radio that people were stealing catalytic converters and recycling the metal in them. Sure enough, some idiot crawled under my truck and sawed off my catalytic converter. The guy I talked to at the shop said that it happens all the time and that they get about 3 cases of the same thing a week. I'm not really sure what you can do to protect yourself...take the bus I guess.