Early Season Du

On Saturday morning, I drove down to Lewiston, Idaho, with my wife and our friend, Nate, to compete at my first multisport race of the 2009 season. Upon leaving Spokane, the weather was sunny and mild. As we reached the Lewiston grade, our cheerful smiles turned to frowns as we watched a storm of rain/snow mix unfold. After making the wrong turn (we accidentally headed to the Clarkston indoor aquatic center two weeks too early :), and asking for directions, we made a much later arrival time than we hoped. Instead of finding a parking spot, we stopped the truck right outside the transition area, unloaded our gear, Nat registered us and we racked our bikes. Then began the mad scramble of changing in the truck, sticking race numbers on bikes and bodies, and having the world's shortest warm-up ever.


Run #1: I decided to go out and run my butt off in my flashy Brooks racing flats and ended up leading the first two mile run segment. I entered transition, glad to put on my Rudy Project Syton aero helmet, with a short lead and was out on my bike.

Bike: After leading the bike...for the first mile, my glory day was over. The ride is an out and back 12 miles, all 6 out are uphill with a screaming downhill back half. Roads were wet, rainy and slick, typical spring weather around these parts. Back into transition, now in seventh place after the bike ride, my strategy was to at least hold my own on the run, but hopefully pass a few on my way.

Run #2: After a speedy transition, I found my legs again and set off to get this race over with as quickly as possible. I settled in to my pace for two short miles and managed to pass two competitors on the way to the finish line.

With the last segment out of the way, finishing 5th overall, and winning my age group, I can't really complain about my first duathlon of the 2009 season. :)

Once back to the truck, ready to change out of cold, wet clothes, I noticed my underwear, previously on my body, were now missing. So, I searched the truck twice, and asked my wife about the missing skivvies, to no avail. Again, I inquired as to the whereabouts of my blue underwear, and apparently this finally sparked Nate's memory. He fessed up that my underwear mysteriously ended up in his transition bag, so he tossed 'em out and into the general transition area for the race. Eventually, Nate and I stealth-like meandered into the near-empty t-area to quietly grab my undies, while we noticed a small group of athletes very nearby. Pretty sure no one saw this scene, but who knows.

Overall, my Tri Fusion teammates and I came home with three first place age group awards, and a first place co-ed team award. We celebrated a great day with good pizza and amazing company. Thanks to Erica, Craig, Mark, Nate and Natalie for making this experience worthwhile.

Spring Training?

Sure, spring officially began last Friday, some wee hours into the morning. But IS IT actually spring here in Spokane? How we generally decide:
1) is it raining? was it raining? will it rain?
2) is the grass orange and soggy?
3) do I have the flu or allergies?
4) are the Christmas decorations still on the house?
5) could I start an outdoor ride in clear weather, only to be blown off the side of the road and drenched, all in 5 minutes time?
6) am I constantly checking http://www.weather.com/?
If any of the above questions can be answered "yes" then it is spring in Spokane.

So, Saturday I was planning to ride outside for the second time this season, but when we were scheduled to start our ride, it was already raining. Since my bike is important to me and cost my wife a ton of money, I decided not to take it through the mud and silt for the second weekend in a row. What happens after we begin our 2.5 hour indoor ride? The rain goes away, sunshine comes out and we've missed our meeting time with our triathlon club. Another damn training day inside. We did manage to get outside for our 30 minute transition run and the weather was perfect. Thank you, spring.

Swimming is coming right along, as I'm at the pool with my clubmates at least 3 times/week. It's tough sometimes, but well worth the gains.

That's all for now, but I hope your training is going strong and your first races are all winners.