Deschutes Dash 2008

This weekend...back to Bend. This time so I could do anther Triathlon, and Sean could do a Duathlon.

Big differences?

1st -it was only about 86 degrees this time compared to 102 3 weeks ago.

2nd - the swim was down current. At Pacific Crest, it took me 40 minutes to swim .9 miles. This time, a mere 19 minutes.

3rd - 95% of all the other participants were true tri- or duathletes. These folks were fast, ripped and had all the right gear.

But we had a blast. The bike portion started with a grueling 12.5 mile climb. It was long and steady. Not too steep, but enough that everyone was crawling up the mountain at a very slow pace. Since it was an out-and-back bike ride...eventually we got to turn around and come back down. Sean topped out at 40.8 mph on the descent. I hit 41.8 mph :) Now that was fun! Especially since I was now passing people left and right.

By the time I got back to the bike transition, Sean had just finished his run. He finished the 25 mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run in 2 hours, 13 minutes. A fantastic time for his first event.

Running is the hardest thing for me and the elevation is also tough at 4500 ft. I had hoped to complete the entire race in 3 hours, 10 minutes...but on the run, I had to stop and walk a few times so the whole event took me 3 hours and 15 minutes. Not bad considering my last endeavor was 3 hours and 53 minutes. Even if the swim had taken 40 minutes this time, I still would have had a better time than last time.

I am so excited that Sean is doing these events with me now. It makes the day more fun.

Not sure what's next for us...but we'll let you know.