Last weekend was the
XTerra Sport Triathlon in beautiful Ogden Utah. Ok, Ogden isn't really beautiful. In fact if the state of Utah were somebody's body, Ogden would be the area in the small of the back where sweat accumulates and the butt begins. No offense to anyone from Ogden of course. It's just a good thing the tri was actually held at
Pineview Reservoir and
Snowbasin (which are close to Ogden).
This is my second Tri. The first one was back in May in St. George and was really fun. This one kicked my butt. Having been sick and immobile for almost the entire month of June and having the baby in July put me behind in my training, so I wasn't in the best shape to begin with. On top of that I was a little sick come race day and ended up puking a third of the way through the bike course.
The puke was blue.
With little white things in it.
PowerAde tastes the same on the way out.
(Quick sidenote: did you know that Shakespeare was the one who came up with the term "puking"? It's true. We owe so much to the Bard.)
So after
I Called Ralph on the Big White Phone I felt a little better, but decided I would just finish the bike ride and call it quits. I took it easy and hung out in the back of the pack (the very back) and after a tortuous 13 mile climb finally made it to the run transition area. After resting 5 or 10 minutes I thought I could finish the 3 mile run so I went for it. I walked on the hills (whoever designed this course is a sick, sick person -- almost the entire thing was uphill) and ran on the even parts and was able to finish. Last in my age group, but I finished all the same.
So I wouldn't call my experience at this triathlon fun, but I'm definitely glad I did it. It's kind of a bummer to train and plan on something like this for months only to get sick that day, but there's also something great about overcoming obstacles and achieving a goal despite unforeseen difficulties. And they give you free popsicles at the end.
Baby's first triathlon. I hope she does them when she grows up. I'd rather have a sporty tom-boy than a cheerleader type.
The finish line. I did the first one in 1:55. This one took 2:55 for roughly the same distance.
I think it's great when kids feed dogs from the table.
I saw this Hummer in the parking lot and had to get a picture of it, as it is possibly the only Hummer I have ever seen that actually had some dirt on it. My Toyota Corolla probably sees more off-road action than most Hummers.
Amy and Baby.
2 comments:
When I lived in Ogden, I went to pineview ALL the time. I love it there. I think Ogden is pretty in lots of places. Up by Weber State campus is pretty. The only thing is most of the neighborhoods are ghetto. Good job on your triathatlon. I'm not a runner at all. I have a new goal to run all the way around the bay ny my house by the end of Oct. It's about 2 miles and I'm about halfway there. I have to walk the second half. I'm not even that fat anymore but I'm just not a good runner. I think I've had pneumonia too many times.
That's a cool 7 tat there. I wish I'd known you were up in the general vicinity of Northern Utah recently, we're long overdue for another Mickel Taikai.
I agree with you on Ogden, it's a dive. I had to do exit polling up there back in 2002, and for a moment I thought I had stumbled into Watts by mistake. My only question is how you get from sweaty pre-crack Ogden to actual butt crack Delta, UT. Utah's anatomy is all screwed up!
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