Another try

Yesterday I gave it another try to qualify for the USAT age group nationals held here in Oregon in September. This was an odd distance triathlon; a 300 yard swim, 9 mile bike, and an 8 mile run. Obviously it favors a good runner. I was very nervous about this race because we have had absolutely no summer so far and this race was held on the back side of Mount Hood (translation snow runoff=very cold water). With a borrowed wetsuit (mine hasn't come yet) and my friend Shauna we left at 5 am. We headed up to Mt. Hood and took the Hwy and took us to the triathlon and 1/2 mile on the Hwy had to turn around. There was 2 ft of snow in the middle of the road. There was no way through this way. We had to drive down the other side of the mountain and take an alternate route. At this point we were very nervous that we weren't going to make it on time but we did. The weather was gorgeous and the scenery even more so.

We got our bikes and running gear set up and immediately put on our wetsuits. Then it was time to start. Ran into the lake and started swimming. The first minute I was breathless from the cold. It took a minute to be able to slow my breathing down to a comfortable rhythm. I got to the buoy with no problem. At the turnaround point I started panicking a little bit. I think because of the cold. I finished the swim in 6:48. I had a hard time running up the boat ramp. I was a little dizzy and light headed. My transition time was 2:05. It was nice and warm and I had no problem being warm on the bike. It was a beautiful bike ride with some rolling hills. Nothing too bad at all. It was so pretty. The meadow that were green and the trees and seeing Mt. Hood so close in the background. I finished the bike in 33:03. My second transition was 1:06. I downed a gu and headed out on the run. It followed the bike course for most of the way. The first mile I was thinking I don't really want to run. But then I got into my groove and had a so loved the run. I kept thinking "I love this" running feels so good. I enjoyed the peacefulness and the scenery. It was great. We deviated from the bike course at a very difficult hill. It was a hard climb and then at the top of the hill we ran on a gravel road for 1 1/2 miles which is also difficult to do. I was glad when we got back to the pavement. I finished the run in 1 hour 2:54. I was very happy with that. My total time was 1 hour 45:58. This was the time by my watch and not the official clock time. I don't know what that was yet.

I took second place among all the women. I'm sorry to say that I didn't qualify again. The winning woman happened to be in my age group and she beat me by about 13 minutes. Nevertheless this was a great race. I will definitely do this race next year. It was a beautiful setting with lots of fun people to race with. It was a very small race maybe 35 racers total. Afterward they fed us hamburgers and it was a lot of fun to talk to a lot of different people who enjoy the same things that you do.