The first 1/2 mile was great.This was the short part between T1 and the start of the actual trail we were riding. I thought hey, this might be fun after all but that thought was short lived. After the trail started it would be 6 miles until we got a break from going uphill. This was really the first time I had ever gone mountain biking on a trail before so I didn’t know what to expect. Pretty much it was rugged uphill biking, always trying to stay on the bike instead of falling or even worse getting off to walk.

The first 6 miles I had my fair share of spills. The first came at about mile 4 when a lady tried to pass me and 2 others on a skinny section. She wasn’t going fast enough on the uphill and I caught her back tire. I fell and the other lady behind me almost went over. This was the first of many to come. Most of the falls were because of poor traction. The rental bike had almost no traction left which made it really tough. The clip in pedals that I so thankfully borrowed turned out to hurt me. Mostly I couldn’t click out in time when falling and because of that I wasn’t able to brace my falls with anything but my forearms. 3/4 of the falls weren’t bad because I would fall into the grass or into a tree but about 3 or 4 really caused some pain. All of the bridges over the streams were really slippery so I tried to take it easy over them. For the first half of the bike I rode over them without to many problems but after falling on one and almost going over the side I decided to click out and walk over the rest.It was really depressing getting to mile 6, I had thought I was somewhere around mile 10 when I saw the marker. But shortly thereafter it was downhill for 2 miles.

The 2 mile downhill portion was awesome. My hands were burning from the vibrations but it was a nice break from the continuous uphill battle but once at the bottom the realization set in that we once again had to bike up yet another 4 miles just to get to the run portion of the race. It started to rain a couple minutes later which is when things started getting really bad for me. Any time there were rocks on the trail I would spin out and fall over. This started happening every couple of minutes. At one point I biffed it hard into a pretty large rock on my right leg and knee. I sat there on the side a the trail for a couple of minutes grimacing in pain physically and emotionally defeated. I sucked it up and got back on the bike to only fall more and more on the trails. I decided to click off at any site of rocks on the trail but because of all the mud now in my shoes and on the pedals that was a challenge in itself. The last 4 miles I probably walked half the way. I kept thinking that I still had the run to do. I physically wanted to get to T2 and give up but I knew I would never forgive myself for it. The sad thing is it comforted me to see other people were having the same problems I was having. A lot of the bikers around me were having a tough time staying upright on their bikes. At one point around mile 11 I didn’t see anyone for a while and I had thought that I was actually the last person left on the course. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. I finally made it into T2 (transition 2) and got to see Tammy and the kids. I was so dang happy to be done with that evil bike course.

The transition went really well and I was off for the last leg of the race. The run started pretty tough with a steep incline up one of the skiing runs at Snowbasin. No one was running up that hill so I took it as time to walk and recover a bit. I was starting to feel a little loopy so I took another gu shot(nasty energy goowy stuff) and started running the course. Mile 1 was a blur. Not to many people around me on the course. I did have the oldest guy participating around me. He was 68 and I barely beat him by about 30 seconds. Pretty big stud that guy is. He motivated me all throughout the run. Mile 2 I was able to enjoy the scenery and walk a little bit more. I caught up to a girl that had passed me on the bike an hour beforehand. Mile 3 was all downhill. My knee was killing from the rock incident so the the expected relief of the downhill run just wasn’t there. I could finally see the finish line and about 100 meters away and I felt like crying. I was able to hold it in and finish the race with a smile.

Wow! I was actually able to finish the race. What a roller coaster ride physically and emotionally. So many times on the bike I felt like giving up. That was truly one of the hardest things I have ever done. I felt like I had got in a major brawl and got beat up pretty badly. I am so thankful that Tammy, the kids and my Mom and Dave were there. Dave ended up coming in 40 minutes before me. He tore up the bike course. Dave was already talking about doing the race next year but I was just happy to have it over with. Tammy is such an awesome wife. Her being at my races really helps me a ton. She is due with the baby in two weeks but was still there running around with the kids cheering me on. I really appreciate her love and support. I can’t wait to have her participating with me in these races!

I got an email last Friday from the TimpTriClub about participating in the first Annual ULTOT 7000. Before I explain what it is I will first say that when I got the email and read it I though hey, my wife is be out of town in the morning for girls camp so It would be fun to do something with the TimpTriClub and try this out. Looking back at it now I don’t think fun was the right word.

The first annual ULTOT 7000 stands for “Utah Lake to the Top of Timp” and the 7000 is the feet that you actually climb during the whole thing. It started with a 1 mile swim in Utah Lake at the American Fork boat harbor and then a long bike ride up the Alpine Loop to the Timpanooke trail head and then a hike from the trail head to the top of Timpanogos Mountain. Sounds fun enough, right? Let me preface it with that I only completed the swim and barely eeked out the bike so I can’t be counted in with the dedicated (crazy) people who actually did the whole thing. I was able to get my buddy Paul and Danny to come along with me because of how “fun” it sounded. To not be in the heat all day the swim started at 5:30 am so I woke up at 4:00 got all prepared and went and picked up both Paul and Danny. When we arrived at 5:15 we were the only ones there and thought that we were at the wrong place. After hitting a concrete barrier with my bumper, almost backing into a sewer ditch and following a newspaper delivery girl because we though she was part of the club we went back to the first place we started and there was a ton of people there. I never realized that the mosquitoes were so dang bad in the morning by the lake. We probably got Nile fever just waiting to start the swim.

The water was perfect, well at least the temperature was. Utah Lake still smells (and tastes) like poo. The swim wasn’t anything crazy, for me at least. Danny was puking and Paul created a new swim stoke just to able to finish. This was their first time swimming in the open water so they did pretty well considering. After swimming the mile I ran back to the car to see that almost everyone was ready to leave. Either the club only did 1 lap (half mile) or I am a really slow swimmer. I would like to think it was the first.

A couple of the pack stayed back for the rest of us slow pokes and we started the bike. I should have thought it was a sign when after only 1 minute on the bike my tire blew. Thankfully the people that were with me stopped and helped me fix my flat. This was my first flat on the new bike. We then proceeded to bike up into American Fork Canyon. I was feeling pretty weak all the way up. That sad thing was that the mountain bikers were passing me. I must be pretty slow to have mountain bikers passing me when I’m on my super-duper road bike. The road just kept going and going, steeper and steeper at every corner. The worst thing to do is ask how much further it is up the hill; the answer will always be a disappointment. After what seemed to be hours of climbing up and up an up on the road., my legs burning like crazy, I decided to dismount and walk to get some rest. This helped but jacked up my clip-ins. One of my screws came loose and the next time I clipped in I couldn’t get my shoe off the pedal again.

I finally made it up the hill and found Paul after some searching. He had been up there looking for me for an hour or so. I decided to forgo the 6 hour hike up to the top of Timp. I was pretty wasted as-is and I wanted to be able to see Tammy as she was just getting back from girls camp as a leader. All in all I had some good hill training and most importantly I learned not to trust the ultra crazy athletes when they say they are going to do a “fun” 12 hour workout.

That’s me in the Black with Mount Timpanogos Behind Me

It would be only 12 more hours until the race, race time: 9:00am. I had almost everything I thought I would need. I had my bike, my race packet, race number and my clothing all ready for the morning. The only thing I needed next would be to get some sleep but that seemed to never happen.

Finally around 1:00am I was able to slip into my normal pre-event sleep. I say normal pre-event sleep because every time I have something important the next day I always dream about sleeping in and missing the event. When I went to the state football championships in both my junior and senior years I had the dream that I had slept in all day and missed it. Same with the night before my wedding and my mission. Every time without fail I have the same dream, so It was no surprise when I woke up at 6:00 am worried that I had missed the whole thing.

We got to the race at about 8:00 and I got my bike all ready in the transition area and my cool numbers on my arms and calves. I have always thought the marking looked pretty sweet after first seeing a triathlon race on TV. Tammy , the kids, Mom, Dave, Kelly and Alexa were all there to cheer me on. I was so nervous I thought I was going to puke. After lining up at the start I realized that I had put down a pretty fast time and was in the front of the pack. Because it was still cold in Utah, the swim part of the race was held in an indoor pool. The race numbers were distributed based on the swim time you listed and those with the lowest numbers started first.

I started pretty well and felt great until lap #4 of 6. I started getting tired and my arms were burning but I kept going strong because I didn’t want to look stupid in front of my family. At the end of the 6 laps I hopped out of the pool and felt like jello. My whole body was wasted. Obviously I hadn’t worked out hard enough to prepare for the race. As I ran to the transition area I was second guessing my reasoning for entering the race. I slowly changed into biking shorts and gear and was off.

The first half of the bike went well. No major problems except for the crazy burning of my legs on the minature hills. On the second lap around the 7 mile course my chain came off. I struggled for about 2 minutes trying to get it on not realizing how easy it is to put on a road bike chain as compared to a normal bike. At the end of the bike I was feeling decent but pretty unexcited for the run.

I took my good old time on the run leg of the race. I didn’t really care about my time anymore, all I cared about was finishing. After 1:26:42 I had finished the race. YOOHOO! It felt so good to finish that race. Even though I beat my goal by almost 3 1/2 minutes I didn’t really care. I had finished what I started and I felt great. The best part about the race was the family support. It really did help having them there cheering me on. I really appreciate them for taking time from their Saturday to come see me. This was a great start to what is going to be a long endeavor. To see my exact race results go to Milliseconds Results

After not being able to workout for a whole week because of a bruised rib from playing ice hockey I got back to training for the triathlon. I woke up early in the morning and swam laps at Golds Gym. Holy cow, after about 4 laps in the25 meter Olympic pool my arms felt like pasta noodles. I had no idea how hard swimming would be. I have had 4 shoulder surgeries also so I bet that didn’t help either. I decided after the swim that I really needed to focus on my swimming. Almost every day thereafter I would swim on my lunch break. It would amaze me to see the people that were swimming 60 – 70 laps in the pool at a time when I could barely swim 10 – 20 laps. All was needing to swim for the first triathlon was 12 laps in a 50 meter pool (300m) and I would be fine. This scared me pretty bad but I kept training and sooner than later it seemed to get easier.

February 28th I decided that I was going to do a triathlon. My wife thought I was crazy but when has she not though that? Because I hadn’t been working out much and because I needed something to get me back into shape I just decided it was time for me to take up triathlons. I had always wanted to do a triathlon. When I was a kid I would run in 5k’s and 10k’s with my Mom and would do decent for a little whipper snapper but I never ran anything more than that. As I signed up that day for my first triathlon my goal was to be able to get into shape, finish the race and not completely die.

The first race I signed up for was the TimpTriClub Triathlon on March 24th, 2007. The breakdown was this: swim 300 meters, Bike 11.7 miles and run 3.1 miles. This is a short distance triathlon that is called a sprint triathlon. I think it’s funny that a race that can take 1:30 hours can be called a sprint. The only part of the race that really worried me was the swim. I had never really swam laps before and I never learned correct form. Even so I trained the best I could. On my first training session to get me prepared for the race I decided to bike 11.7 miles on a stationary bike and to run 3.1 miles on a treadmill. I was able to finish both in about an hour and twenty two minutes and I felt pretty proud of myself being able to do that after not working out for a good amount of time. I decided my goal would be an hour and thirty minutes for the first race.