WX Ences: Joe's First Triathlon...

Joe coming to his big finish at the end of the race.

This past weekend Phil, Maggi and I took the kids down to St. George to watch Joe compete in his first Triathlon Sprint.

We didn't get to bed until late (after 11pm) and had to be up by 6:20am to get to the Triathlon on time. Sadly, the wind was pretty bad and the whole thing was delayed over an hour because they kept going back and forth on whether or not they would hold the swimming portion of the Triathlon. I really felt like I missed out on that extra hr of sleep!

Anyhow, they decided to cancel the swimming portion because the water was too choppy and they were concerned the swimmers wouldn't be able to hold their course in the water. They substituted the 1/2 mile swim with a 5K (just over 3 mile) run and the race became a 5K run, 20K bike, 5K run. Since Joe has been spending most of his time at home training for the swim and the bike portion he was really sad about giving up this part of the race. All of the running he's been doing has been in AZ, which has a much lower elevation and I think it put him at a bit of a disadvantage (especially since the run would have been a lot easier if he'd been training for it at home were the elevation is so much higher)!

Joe coming into transition from the bike portion, he did the very best on this part (and trained very hard for it).

Joe leaving transition and beginning his second 5K. He said he couldn't feel his legs at this point.

Joe coming down the home stretch.

Joe's time was 1hr and 45 min, he placed 27th out of 50 in his division. Both of his brothers competed with him and I think they both did a really great job. Erik came in 7th out of 33 in his division and was ten minutes ahead of Joe. I think Joe said he was 70 something overall (out of 300+ people who competed). Which I think is awesome for a first time tri-athlete. Joe's oldest brother Mike competed as well and since he got put in as Bishop of his ward shortly after they decided to compete in the Triathlon, his training was EXTREMELY limited by his duties as bishop. He finished the race though and came in under three hours (which had been his goal to come in under). I was happy he beat the goal he'd set for himself and I'm sure he will only get better if he competes again, I think they all would improve their times a lot (especially if they got the chance to swim instead of getting an extra run). Mike placed 48th out of 55 in his division.

Over all it was a really great experience and a lot of fun to watch and cheer on each of the competitors. You had to admire each of the individuals who competed and their determination to overcome all odds. I was really impressed with everyone, even the ones who had problems with their bikes or took falls along the way, they were all out their giving it everything they had. It was neat to see so many people spending their weekend doing a hard thing and working to accomplish their goals.