Chris and Nicholina's Triathlon and Photos!!

Wow, what a difference a year makes! We ran the Blue Lake again in 2005 and way kicked ass on our time - Swim (1/2 mile) 28.22 / Bike (12 miles) 47:02 / Run (5k) 45:14 / OVERALL 2:09:02. That's almost 20 minutes LESS overall than last year, but we did the full 1/2 mile swim this year instead of the 1/4 mile. Yaay. Actually, I didn't improve on the swim at all, but we were down about 10 minutes each on the bike and the run. Awesome!!! I haven't written the full report yet, but I'll post it when I do.

But check out the photo comparison. Nicholina is beautiful as ever! :) I'm down about 30 lbs from last year, but you can't really tell, can ya? Hmmmm - no more baggy shirts, Crispy!!

Next year - UNDER 2 hours!!
Finished 2004!

2004
Finished 2005!

2005

-*-*- Blue Lake 2004 Report -*-*-

WE DID IT!!!! On Saturday, June 5, 2004, Nicholina and I completed our first triathlon. It was the Blue Lake Sprint Tri in Portland, Oregon, and we competed in the "Tri It" version - 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 5K run/walk. The "Tri-It" had a shortened swim compared to the regular tri, which did a 1/2 mile swim.

AND, we didn't even come in last! Yaaaaaaaaaaay! There were two men who placed behind us. And actually, we were ahead of quite a few people after the swim and after the bike, but then we walked the 5K, and most of the folks behind us passed us there.

We're going in!

We got legs...
It was a cool, rainy, typical Pacific NW day - about 65 degrees when we started. We got there nice and early. They marked our legs with our numbers and our ages. We put our stuff in the transition area. Nicholina had a shortie wetsuit to wear, and I had a "skin", which is essentially a full body swimsuit. Not as warm as a wetsuit, but better than bare skin.

We were in the pink swimcap groups - the women in the "tri-it" group - and the pinkies were the last wave to go. They started with the "Elite" group, followed by young males, and working their way on through. Eventually they got to the "Over 55" group, then the newbie guys and finally the newbie women. We were still waiting to start as ALL the elites were out and quite a few from the next two groups. In fact, they announced that the first Elite was already at the bike turnaround before we were even in the water.

Well, we finally got in, the airhorn went off and we took off. Most of us started faster than we really should have and several pinkies were catching their breath before too long. I ended up backstroking with Nicholina doing freestyle and keeping me on course. We went out to an orange buoy, hung a right to a second orange buoy and then came straight in under an arch.
The Pinkies are Off!
The Pinkies are off!

Help? Done with Swimming
Help! I'm under here!! The swim is finished!

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And, if you're feeling inspired, here's the link to the race we did - The Blue Lake Tri-it Novice Triathlon