an Other Moment--mileage total 809

Yesterday my nephew Ryan and I headed north to race the Loveland Lake to Lake Oly Distance Triathlon. This event for me was less about racing a Tri as I had not done one since 2008 but more about spending the day with Ryan and see if he could podium in his AG in his first Oly.

We rolled out of my sister Macey's house at 4:30am and drove the hour to Loveland. We efficiently retrieved our packets and went in to transition to set-up our gear. The morning was wonderful with slightly overcast skies and moderate temps (with projected temps to reach the 90s in the afternoon).

In the Parking Lot and Race Ready

This race had 723 athletes show-up and is also a qualifier for USAT Age Group Nationals. The course is challenging but not too extreme with some steady climbing on a 30 mile bike leg with long descents.

Transition Prep

Ryan is training for the Under 19 national championship in San Diego later in the Summer and it is a sprint distance event and uses ITU rules. He is also a collegiate runner where 5Ks are his strength. With this in mind an Oly is twice as long as he usually goes for any of the three events so he was a bit concerned prior to the race on how he would handle the distance. While in the car we talked about his strength as a runner and to not overdo it on the bike as going 30 miles was long for him and then a 10k afterwards would be a challenge.

15 Min to Swim Start

 Well.....................needless to say when you have an engine and some talent none of the above really was that big of a deal. Ryan had a great performance where he won his AG but better yet he was 18th OVERALL and had the second fastest run split of 35:47......a 5:46 pace and the guy that beat him is a professional and a former collegiate runner (http://www.justindaerr.com/index.html). Needless to day a great race day for a guy that said "I never felt like I was in a rhythm all day" and he ends up in the top twenty!

Post-race Pavilion

Post Race Snack--one of the best I have had at any Tri

Ryan with his first place mug

Ryan and the other podium guys

In the small world category I ran in to Robin Waterwoman whom I met on RtR. She is also a super triathlete and she won her AG handily! Great race Robin.

JOCMO: Not really a cycling moment for me but a great day with my nephew. As the years go by it will have been my "sage advice" that led to his victory.