Adventure

These photos of Henry were taken about thirty minutes after the scheduled start of the Kokopelli triathlon at Sand Hollow reservoir near St. George, Utah. About 30 minutes after these photos were taken a massive storm front hit and the race had to be canceled. My age group never got started. I was supposed to start at 7:30, I was in the water warming up for quite awhile waiting for them to start the race. I had swam about 400 meters just warming up. The waves were pretty fierce! At about 8:30 the storm hit with hail, wind, rain and waves! The wind blew the finish line down! We were all pulled out of the water and the race was canceled. What a bummer! In the first photo, to the right of Henry’s head you can see one of the big triangle buoys that marks part of the swim course.

The Scofield Triathlon was held on August 11th. Scofield reservoir is about 90 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, tucked away high in the mountains about halfway between Spanish Fork and Price. It is actually quite near Huntington Canyon where the coal mine collapsed on the miners this past summer. It is the highest elevation triathlon in the United States at 8000 feet above sea level. Believe me, I was feeling it! There was no air! I was sucking wind. Despite the lack of oxygen I did very well and ended up with a personal record! It was such a fun event. They had a big barbecue with a live band after the race. It was a big party.

I also did the Alta Canyon Rec Center triathlon on September 4th. It was held at a local rec center, and was a outdoor pool swim. It was really a fun event put on by Sandy City and Alta Canyon.

Monique and I have competed in a couple triathlons since the summer started. The first was the Utah Summer Games (USG) on June 16th. The USG is part of the Trifecta series in St. George, so we are familiar with the course. We had a great time, and both improved our times over the Kokopelli triathlon held on the same course last fall. It’s a bugger of a bike ride. Last Saturday (July 14) was the Xango Echo triathlon at Echo reservoir. It is an excellent event, well organized and very popular. There were almost 1000 athletes participating this year! It is a great course, and Mo and I both improved our personal best times. Next up for Mo is a tri held at one of our local rec centers, and I am competing in the highest elevation tri in the U.S.A. at Scofield reservoir on August 11. Then both of us are competing again in the Kokopelli in September.

Both Mo and I competed so neither of us were free to take photographs of the event. Luckily there was a professional photographer at the race taking pictures of every racer. What a great race! Kokopelli is the third part of the Trifecta series in St. George, Utah. It was held on September 23rd 2006. Sand Hollow resevoir was fantastic to swim in. The water was almost cold enough for mandatory wetsuits, but right at race time the water temperature crept up to 65 degrees and allowed racers the choice. Although I think you would have to be crazy not to wear a wetsuit. Wetsuits are a huge advantage. They increase floatation, decrease drag, and keep you warm. You can swim faster more comfortably without working as hard, why wouldn’t you want to wear one? The water in the resevoir was crystal clear, I could see all the way to the bottom, It was a great swim! The bike portion in the TRI, which is the same for the St. George Tri and the Utah Summer Games Tri, sucks! The sprint distance is 14 miles, from the transition area there is a 2 to 3% false flat for approximately three and a half miles. Then there is a hill that is a mile long with a 10% grade lovingly called the Beast. Then you continue the false flats for an additional two and a half miles to the turning point. You then get to turn around and and ride down what you rode up. Fun, right? Wrong. This area is not called Hurricane for nothing. You fight a head wind all the way home. The run portion is 3.2 miles of the bike route. A out and back type of route from the transition area. This was painful for me, as you can see from the picture, because I am running downhill at the end. This is a great triathlon, Mo and I are registered for the Utah Summer Games Tri, and have plans to compete in the St. George and Kokopelli Triathlons. All three make up the St. George Trifecta.

Jaren and I will be competing in the Utah Summer Games Triathlon in June and would like all of you to come see us compete in St. George! It is the weekend of June 16th. I will submit more details as I get them. We want to see all of you competing next year!