This is a hard course. And the weather is always an extreme factor. This year was on par. Temps were 85F. Fortunately, no winds.

For the overview here’s the numbers, then you can jump down to see the pics. For those that want the gory details and blow-by-blow, see below the line. Thanks to Scott, Deanna, and Steve for the Race Pics. We had a great post-race party at Alvin’s rental house. It was very comfy and homey. Amy, Jaime, Gregg and I stayed with Alvin at the house.

Congrats to all the finishers! Well Done. Please share your ride reports too!

Here’s the blow-by-blow report.

4:30am. Lynda swings by the rental house and picks us up. Sprinter van gets a sweet parking spot on the corner by the Finish Line.

4:45am. Drop off nutrition at T2 for the run. Parking lot in Town Center. One block from Finish Line. I have a panic attack, cuz I go the rack with my label number, and my stuff isn’t there. This spot also isn’t where I remember dropping off my Run Bag yesterday. Yikes. Lynda and Amy saw me frantically running around looking at bags. Amy found my bag hanging in the spot left it. I just had a huge brain fart yesterday. Whew! I had to find my bag, cuz my shoes, shirt, cooling towel, running bottle, and hat were in there. Anyway, added nutrition (snacks, powders, pills, no liquids, cuz it will bake all day until the Run).

5:15am ish. Board the shuttle bus, right outside T2. 25 minute bus ride 20+ miles to Hurricane, UT, at Sand Hollow Reservoir. It’s still pitch black when we get out of the bus. Clean Transition setup means that the T1 has a couple staging areas. At Swim In, you walk to the racks and pick up your Bike Bag. There is a Changing Area, with sets of folding chairs to change into your bike gear. Then, you drop off the Bike Bag to the volunteers and run to your bike. There is no transition stuff at the bike racks. So, in the morning, we loaded our bike computer and put all the nutrition on the bike. Pump up the tires. Then, load up the Bike Bag with other clothing. The take home story here, is you have to plan each Bag wisely. No mistakes. This race, I did pretty good. I only forgot a white cycling jersey at home. I had a black one with me, but I thought that would be too hot on a hot bike day. I also had a vest in the Bike Bag in case it was still chilly after the swim. Special thanks to Alvin, for letting me borrow his white PTC jersey. Perfect. I borrowed Lynda’s bike pump and pumped up my tires. I chose to swim bare chested under the wetsuit. Then, put on a PTC cycling jersey for the bike, then switch to a light PTC running shirt for the Run.

I took a couple Potty breaks at the swim start / T1 and I was ready to go. Tummy was cooperating. Good news.

6:40am. I slicked up with Body Glide and squeezed into my wetsuit. Dropped off morning bag. Morning bag will be delivered to Town Center, next to T2, later. Put my sweat shirt and pants away. Kept on throw away flip flops on my feet. While I was shimmying in my wetsuit, a friend recognized me and said ‘hi’. A former PTC member, who still follows me on Strava (sorry, forgot your name, buddy). He did good on recognizing me, cuz I was half way in my wetsuit and I wasn’t wearing any PTC gear. Woah. Fans!

6:45am. Pro Athletes start.

7am. Age groupers start. Everyone is lined up by their self seeded swim time. Signs for Under 25 mins. 25-30 minutes. 30-33 minutes. 33-35 min. 35-37 min. This is where I stood. Rolling swim start. 4 athletes at a time, every 5 seconds. Your start time is at the departure gate. Loud beeper every 5 seconds.

Swim: 7:45am ish. I started the Swim. Swim was fine. It was cold water. But, not icy cold. I didn’t jostle with anyone this time. My swim was pretty straight too. Not too many wiggles. I was astonished at my Strava map was straight. 40 minutes was okay. I only took one coughing break. It seemed a little choppy after the 1st turn. I took a gulp of water and had to re-set myself.

T1. Wetsuit strippers were great. I had the timing chip on my right ankle and thought it was stuck inside my wetsuit for a second. I jogged over to the Bike Bag rack and took my bag. I sat down next to Amy, who was on her way out. I heard Scott yelling at Amy on her way. He took my pic.  I sat down, dumped out the bag and looked at everything. I worked from the Head down. It was nice to be able to sit and put on my socks and bike shoes. The cycling jersey was a little troublesome on a wet body, but not too bad. The pockets convenience made up for it.

Bike: Garmin didn’t start until a little outside the first turn, missed about 1/4 mile distance. Course is rollers. I felt fine for the 1st half. I hit some fast downhills. Top speed 43.8 mph. I was feeling pretty good until the Snow Canyon. That just got tough. Alvin passed me just before rolling up to Snow Canyon. I took a potty break and Lynda passed me there. At the top of Snow Canyon, I had to walk it a little bit. When I turned the corner, I got an unusual groin cramp, way up high on my left side. I had to breath in /out hoo/haw and keep pedaling to get through it. On the way down to town, there was fun fast descents. As I was making the last turn, I saw Lynda on the run.

T2: Ditched the bike. Shed the Jersey and put on a light PTC running shirt. I slid on a pair of shorts with pockets over my tri shorts.

Run: I didn’t have any energy left after the run. Zero. It was a walk fest. There were very few people behind me. It was heating up too. I had a full hat and filled it with ice at every aid station. I had a hand water bottle and filled it with ice and water. My gut and butt were barely hanging on. I had one potty stop, not much pee, but what kinda scared me was that I would get really really cold. I was afraid my body was gonna really shut down, so I ran out of there and kept moving. It was slow and steady back to the finish line.

Finish: Deanna saw me after the finish line. Pic. I stumbled over toward the bag pick ups and T2. I ran into Steve and Lorie and their friend Gail. I dropped off a few things and went directly to get my Morning Bag, Bike Bag, Run Bag, and Bike. I knew if I stopped and chatted, I would sit and not ever get up again. I got a strong watch strap tan. Tan lines at the strap holes!

Lynda, Leanne were at Awards and Roll Down.

Post-Party. That fun. Hawaiian BBQ, salads, Apple and Blueberry Pie a la mode! drinks. There were lots of fun stories about each persons race and when we saw each other. Best times together! I slept great that night.