Scoggins Triathlon

The Scoggins Valley Triathlon race went amazingly well. I was not able to train a lot for the race, so I didn't have my hopes set to high for my performance.
I got off work from the Outdoor Store at 2pm and I left Ashland around 3pm which allowed me to be in Newberg by 7:30pm. The morning of the event I woke up at 5:30 am. I had my cup of coffee and began preparing for the race. I was hoping to be able to eat a bagel before I left my parents home, but I had no appitiete for food and grabbed another cup of coffee for the drive to the race site. The temperature was pleasant at the lake and I quickly made my way to the transition area where I was body marked with my age and race number. Once in the transition area I set up my transition area and met up with my dad, Bob, and my Uncle, Greg, who were also competing.
They were competing in the Olympic distance Triathlon so their start was 20 minutes before mine. I did not start to get nervous until they started their swim, because at that point I was already in my wet suit and knew their was no turning back.

The Swim - 800 meters
One of my favorite legs of a Triathlon is the swim. It is the first leg, so you are surrounded by your competitors and there is a lot of physical contact. As a swimmer you are get kicked, smacked, or someone is swimming over the top of you. It is also the leg that I did the least training in and I payed for it. After rounding the first buoy the sun was in my eyes and spotting the second buoy was dam near impossible. I managed to track a descent line to the second buoy, but only to be faced with another obstacle with the sun afterwards. I had been breathing on my right side and when I came around the second buoy the sun was shinning down on my right side, so every time I took a breath I was completely blinded. I was not able to spot the third buoy because of this. Therefore, switch to breathing on my left side and this eliminated the problem of being blinded but gave me a nasty case of vertigo. I rally thought that I was going to vomit during the swim, but by the time I rounded the third and final buoy I knew that I was going to finish the swim without loosing to much energy and time, so I dug deep and finished strong. I finished the swim in 13:35 (27th overall) and my average heart rate was 163 bets per minute.

Transition #1
The beach were the swim finish was to the transition area was a long ways, but my T1 was a solid 2:26.

The Bike - 13.1 miles
Cycling is the leg that I was the least concerned about going into the race. I knew that I had done a concederable amount of cycling and I knew my power on the uphills would be solid, which would allow me to gain time back on my competitors. I was passed three times on the bike. The first guy flew passed me and I never saw him again. The second and third guys never got out of my sight. Four mile into the bike leg there is a big hill approximatly one mile long and gains almost 1000 feet. It is a hill that puts some hurt on competitors. I was able to catch both guys by the top of the climb, and one of the guys I never saw again but the other guy and I played leap frog for the rest of the bike leg. In Triathlons you are not allowed to draft, so we never drafted each other but he would pass me on the down hills and I would pass him on the uphills.
I finished the bike leg in 38:04 averaging 20.41 miles per hour and had an average heart rate of 173 bets per minute. The bike time/pace was 15th fastest overall.

Transition #2
I had another solid transition with a time of 0:48.

The Run - 3.1 miles
The running leg has been, traditionally, my achilles heel but I don't feel that was the case this race. I did not have an exceptional run but I didn't have a horrible run either. The first mile was definitely painful. My cadence was still really high from the bike and my heart rate was threw the roof. I tried to not worry about my pace or heart rate too much and just let my body settle down. I felt pretty solid once I was a mile or so in and then the last mile I felt really good and picked my pace up. I was only passed four or five times and caught all but two of the competitors that passed me. One of the guys that I didn't catch was the same guy who I had been playing leap frog with during the bike.
I finished the run in a blistering 25:48 (59th best time overall) which is an 8:18 minute per mile pace.

Post Race
Immediately following the race my brother held a barbecue at his house to celebrate the finishing of the race. We grilled up some burgers (vegetarian of course) as well as some corn on the cob. Since my brother new that I had some serious recovering to do and that I had to drive back down to Ashland he bought me the only recovery meal items that truly gets it done. We had Buffalo Bleu, Jamaican Jerk, and New York Cheddar Kettle Chips! The Kettle Chips were truly a life safer and powered me all the way back down to Ashland, and to a quick recovery.

Thank you Kettle Foods!

After Thoughts
I knew going into the race if I finished with a time under 1:45:00 I would be happy with my performance. My expectations were destroyed when I finished with an overall time of 1:20:42. My time was good enough for 18th overall out of 172 competitors which puts me in right at the top 10% of the competitors. I cannot believe how well I did with how little I was able to train after the wedding and honeymoon.
The race has definitely inspired me to peruse my goal of completing two half-iron man triathlons next summer in preparation to secure a spot in the Kona Ironman Triathlon in two years.

P.S. I would like to thank Cullen (aka the guy who yelled "shit") for being my cheer leading section due to the fact that my wife could not.

Travis (Cheddar Beer) Caldwell