Findley Lake Triathlon

This race was kind of a last minute decision since I haven't raced in three weeks and wanted to get some race pace training in. So, since I hadn't done this race in many years and I remember it having a trail run, I thought I'd give it a go. When I got there I was talking to a few folks and they said that the only thing that hasn't changed since I did it before was the swim. The run was technical and a little longer and they lengthened the bike to 16.5 miles instead of the traditional sprint distance of 12, I said excellent.

They had a mass start men's swim and there were alot of us so I had to get out front quick if I wanted a fast swim. I took a line closest to the buoys and pretty much swam without getting bashed around. I rounded the turn and had a fast swim back and exited the water in 4th position. Transition went well and I was out on the bike and 2nd on the road until three guys came flying by like they were being chased  by the State Highway Patrol. I felt pretty good on the bike though and stayed right on my threshold level the entire ride but wasn't even attempting to try to stay with or catch those guys at any time. T2 was fast and I was soon on the trail and I could see Steve Parris ahead of me, who just happens to be in my age group. We were going back and forth on the bike for about six miles and into transition prior to the run too. I caught Steve in a technical section of the trail just over the dam and managed to put about :30 on him and that's the way it stayed for him and I as far as our race went. A couple of young guns passed me later into the 3.5 mile run which I wasn't concerned about since those guys are great runners and also in they're 20's. Pete Finnerty who I have raced with before passed me like I was standing still on one of the most technical sections of the course, he yelled some words of encouragement and was out of sight within seconds, he ended up finishing 3rd. overall, just goes to show ya that you ride for show and run for dough....!

This was a great race on a great course and the trail run was 99% on the park's mountain bike trails. There were lots of roots, some short steep up's and down's, wooden bridges, wooden steps etc, it was a great run, not nearly as fast as running on the road but more fun as trail runs most always are.

There were some fast guys that showed up and some good competitive racing. I ended up winning my age group and finishing 7th overall. I accomplished what I wanted to do and that was to get a good training race in to keep the high end fitness up for some up coming races.

Shout out to everyone racing the Tour of the Valley this weekend, sounds like some intense racing going on, stay safe everyone.