Soggy Triathlon

Swim. Bike. Run!

So yesterday was the Salem Spring Triathlon. It was the second year that I have been to that race. Not as a participant, mind you. Heavens, no. I was a spectator both times. Kristina is the one that likes to do this kind of thing. Last year was her first year, and she enjoyed herself so much she wanted to do it again this year. I've thought about doing a triathlon myself, but then I remembered that I don't like to run and I'm not a very good swimmer. Maybe I could do just the bike part and have someone else do the other two parts. But then... it's not much of a triathlon, is it?






Here's Kristina before the race started. It was about 7:00 am, and the rain was coming down. It had been raining for about three hours at this point, and it showed no sign of letting up. Oh... and it was pretty chilly. Do you see that murky green pond in the background? That's where the swim part of the race took place.

This is Kristina with Brittany. She teaches first grade at one of the schools Kristina worked at this last year. Still raining.

Here's Kristina in the transition area. She has her official Salem Tri silver/gray swim cap and her wetsuit on in preparation for the swim. Good thing, too, because... go back up and look at the picture of the green pond. You can also see the cool road bike we rented for this race. Sadly, by this time, the race officials had cancelled the bike portion of the race. Since part of the bike course was in a canyon, they felt that it was too dangerous to have 600 people riding in the rain down a canyon. Something about wet brakes making it very difficult to stop or slow down. Too bad, because Kristina had a really cool bike that she was excited to use.

Here's Kristina's heat, getting ready for the swim to start at about 10:00 am. At this point, the rain had mostly stopped, but it was still kinda chilly, especially when the wind would blow. Oddly enough, the water felt warmer than the outside air, so racers generally didn't mind being in there... even though the water is green. Here's a fun game: look at the above picture and see if you can find Kristina. It's kind of a Where's Waldo sort of thing. Enjoy!

Here's the women 35 and under starting the swim. See Kristina in there?

Here's Kristina, swimming to the end of the 500 meters (because of the weather, they shortened the swim course from 800 meters).

Kristina is finished with the swim at this point and is running to the transition area.

Still running to the transition area.

Here she is in the transition area. On a normal Salem Spring Triathlon, she'd be getting all set to ride her bike about 12 miles. Not this day.

She's off on the run! They kept the running portion at 5k.

Here she is, coming back from the 5k, headed towards the final few feet to the finish line. See how happy she is? That's because she knows she's almost done. Okay... actually we staged this picture because when she was actually coming back from the run, I pushed the button on the camera too late, and all I got was her leg as she passed me by. This pic was taken about a half hour after she crossed the finish line. Here's the real picture as she was finishing the race:

There weren't as many people at the race this year because of the weather, and because they cancelled the bike portion. Of the approximately 600 people that signed up, only about 400 actually did the race.

Here's Kristina with her bike after the race. Look at those clouds up against the mountains. When they moved a few minutes later, they revealed snow pretty low in the hills.

They write on your arms and legs your race number and your age. You also have a race number that you pin to yourself and one that you stick to your bike. I guess they write them on your arms and legs so that if they pull you out of the pond they can identify you.

So Kristina said it was a fun race, even though they cancelled the bike part. Last year there were three of our friends from our last ward there who were also racing. This year, only one of them raced. The other two took their wives on an Alaskan cruise. They still paid their money for the race to get their shirts, though. Hmm...

This last picture is of a sign we saw as we were driving home from Salem. Salem is just south of Spanish Fork, and as we entered Spanish Fork, we saw this:

"Home of Pride And Progress!" I really thought this was funny. I know when I think of progress, Spanish Fork is the first town that comes to mind.