1st and 2nd

From Christy: So I did my first triathlon this weekend. It was in a charming town called Granville. The best part was I actually had fun doing it, which was a pleasant surprise. My race was a 400 m swim, 20 K bike, and a short 5k run (or quick walk in my case). My internal motivators included singing Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" in my head over and over again (especially on the big hills on the bike ride), channeling my inner Lance Armstrong via the liveSTRONG bracelet, and not letting Reza catch me on the run. (His triathlon was 2 times as long as mine, and he beat me on the bike.) My mom came to watch us, and it was great to have her there.

Before the swim

Reza's Transition Area (How awesome, a tree!)


Reza coming out of the swim running. (the water was warm, pushing 80 degrees, few swam with wetsuits)


Me coming out of the swim grateful I didn't drown, and grateful the water was warm.


Finishing with a smile.


I got second in my age group!


Focused to the finish!


Rez got 1st in his age group!

From Reza: The Killers "Hot Fuss" was on repeat at the finish Area, great album. It provided for a killer soundtrack for the day (pun intended). As far as races go, this was one of my favorites. It was a low key, "lets just go have fun, and race" feel to it. I loved my swim/bike transition, with the bike racks full, I found a tree to rest my bike on. The bike course winded through corn and soy bean fields, spotted with idyllic farm houses. At one point a farm dog came out and tried to chase me. It had lots of short, steep climbs, which suited me well. I was not passed at all on the bike. The run was on a paved running trail, along a small river/creek. On the run, I was caught by a mature man at least in his 60's. We ran together for a moment. He passed me, and finished before me. I would later talk to him, he said he is too old for Ironmans. That made me feel better about myself. I would definitely come back next year and race this race!

**SPUDMAN**

(the snake river at the end of the swim)

My adventure began having dinner with my former roommates (Clinton, Mark, Yasser and Lance with his wifey Megan. We had dinner at Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana. I found the pizza to be tasty and the portions to be plentiful.

The Pinnacle Apex of the trip was to compete in the Burley Spduman Triathlon for the second consecutive year. I improved my times in all three disciplines and overall time from last year. I finished solidly in the top 20% of my division.

I was not alone in this 1500++ other triathletes competed in this event, along with two of my closest friends-Nic and Natalie Hudson. We traveled, camped, and did Spudman together. For their thoughts on the weekend please use the link off to the side to their blog.

(where we camped at the marina, Nic and Natile sitting off to the side)



(transition 1)