Tater's Spudman

Picture of the Spudman on the Snake River with the sunrise.

Well, it's done. Yesterday was the 2008 Spudman and I'm feeling good because (1) it was a really fun event; (2) I did much better than I expected; and (3) it's done - and that means my training is done.

For those who aren't familiar with the event, the Spudman is a triathlon held in Burley, Idaho (about 3+ hours north of SLC). It's an olympic triathlon - which means it's a full mile swim, followed by a 25 mile bike ride, and finally capped by a 10K run. It's popular because it's fun and well-organized in a beautiful setting (along the Snake River) - but let's not fool ourselves. It's also really popular because it's a little easier than most triathlons because the swim is in the Snake - and the Snake has a decent current to push along swimmers.

There was a horrible tragedy that took place in the sixth heat. Apparently a 60-year old man cried out for help about a hundred yards into his swim and went under. They couldn't get to him fast enough, and he drowned. They held up the swim for about 40 minutes as they searched for his body, which they eventually found. I feel so bad for him and his family. I hope they find out what happened.

It seemed that most were experienced, having competed in this race, another triathlon, or at least some sprint (half) triathlons. But I hadn't done any triathlons before, so I was nervous because of the uncertainty of what to expect. Because of that, my goal was to finish the race in under three hours. I would have been happy just to finish, but a decent time would have made it that much more rewarding. But I did considerably better than I expected - finishing in 2:30:39 - which was about the top third for my age group (results: http://milliseconds.com/ResultsDisplay.php)

Some things I learned from the experience:

1. It takes a lot of time and energy to prep for these types of races. If I hadn't registered and paid back in January, I'm sure I wouldn't have had the discipline to plan and train for it. But that's not always enough, because it's so easy to get caught up on other things or even just relax. For me, I needed that extra push to help me run when I didn't feel like running. That's why I'm happy I had my close friend, Mark, with whom I registered and who lives nearby, so he helped motivate me. In fact, he was a big source of motivation. Not only did he do this triathlon this year, but he also did the Salt Lake Marathon and the Ragnar Relay Race. Any one of these things could be considered a life-time achivement for some and he's done all of these things within three months. I'm also thankful for my wife, who has always supported everything I've done, and funny enough, I'm thankful for my dog, Quique, who would anxiously follow me after work and stomp her foot at me until I took her running. My only question is how to get out of her guilt trips now that I don't need to run.

2. Like anything, these types of events are so much more enjoyable with friends. I already talked about Mark (bulldogsbunch author). He always makes events so much more fun, and that was the case with this trip. And we had more friends up there with us - some of whom I hadn't seen in eight or nine years (below is a picture of me with some friends, right before our swim. From L to R: me, Dave, Ryan, Amber and Chris, and Mark). From my observations, I'd say 90% of the participants were from Utah, so we ran into quite a few other friends and familiar faces (I was proud to see so many people sporting their U of U gear).

3. Swimming is hard. I know that the swimming leg on the Spudman is super easy compared to other triathlons, but it was still my weakest stage and I could have significantly improved my time had I been capable of swimming better. It's definitely something I need to improve my training on for for the next race. Between that and my bathroom break, I should have shaved another four or five minutes off my time.

4. The Spudman organizers did a great job. As I said before, this is a popular event and fills up fast. When I signed up and saw that so many of my friends couldn't get in, I wondered why they didn't allow more participants. Now I know why. They did a great job of having enough food, water, fruit (the best fruit after the race that I've ever had) and shirts. But there are only so many people who can volunteer and only so many places to stay. We camped out at a great park right across from the T1 area where we parked our bike. But the organizers did a fantastic job, and with this tragic event, I hope it doesn't affect things too much in a negative way. I don't think they need to reduce the number of participants, nor expand the field. Kudos to the Burley Lion's Club for putting on such a great event.

Hard to Let Go

Dustin's brother Steve, his wife Savanna, our sweet nephew Bo and our very first niece, Mia are off to Oregon. Dustin's bro left last week and Savanna will be off this week (once she has somewhat recovered from having a baby. She is a rockstar!) Dustin and I have such mixed emotions about this. We are so excited for them to start anew and experience new things, but selfishly we want them to be close so that we can hang out with them and spend time with our nephew and niece. I know that Dustin has tried to be really strong for his brother, but I know it's hard for him to see his little brother go. We went to say our good-byes to Steve on Wednesday night since he is the first of the fam to head out. I am stealing a picture that Savanna took and that's on her blog (Savanna, please don't sue me for copyright infringement... :)

We have bonded so much with our sweet nephew, Bo over the past year. He is at such a fun age and he apparently loves his Uncle Dustin and Aunt Jamie. Could you leave that sweet face??? And then there is Mia whom we were able to meet 10 days ago (when she was born) and now she's going to leave us too! But I have to remember that I grew up with most of my aunts and uncles in a different state and I only saw them once or twice a year and yet we still were so close, so I am sure it will be the same thing. I just had to vent for a few minutes because after seeing Savanna's blog it just made me tear up a little to know that they are leaving. I guess this just means a yearly trip to Oregon! We are so excited for you Steve, Savanna, Bo and Mia, but we sure are going to miss you!!!

Trying to train

OK, so I'm trying to train for the triathlon, which is in two weeks. Here's my break-down of how I'm doing, and my main concerns:

Running: I don't love running, but a 10K is about my limit, and I think I'll be alright. My only concern right now is my IT band pains. It first hit me on the cruise after running on the tread mill, and when I got off at one of the ports, I felt this sharp pain on the side of my knee. I couldn't walk up and down. I found out that it wasn't really a knee injury, but the IT band, which is actually just a group of fibers running along the side of your thigh. So, I've gotten some insoles to help, I'm trying to stretch well with each work out - but I'm nervous, because they're still kind of hurting.

Swimming: And as much as I thought I hated running - it doesn't compare with how much I dislike swimming. I just suck at it. The ironic thing is that my wife is a swimming pro. She grew up racing, playing water polo, and competing in synchronized swimming. She's done work outs where she swam 10,000 yards- which I can't even imagine. So, Jamie's been trying to give me swimming lessons, with the kickboard and everything. I can't say that it's not just a bit humiliating. A friend of mine began training for a tri, and he went to the pool with a camcorder and asked the lifeguard to film him while he swam. So - at least I feel fortunate enough to have an in-house trainer.


Cycling: The bike training is going much better. I love being on the bike and I've been trying to push myself more so that I can make up some time after completing the mile swim in two hours (hopefully, I'm joking. I'm hoping I can do it in 45 minutes). I rode about 110 miles in the past 8 days, and today I did a bit less than 50. The ride itself wasn't too bad - but I had absolutely no energy in the last hour. I felt myself shaking while I was pedaling. I think I'm hypoglycemic - I need to eat before big work outs. I fainted one time at the gym when I attempted an early morning work-out without eating first. But I need to eat just to hang out - or else I get the hungry Tate syndrome where I hate everything and everybody. Those who know me can tell when I need to grab a bite, and after nearly six years, Jamie's learning to deal with hungry Tate reasonably well.
Anyway - I just wanted to show how the website works that I wrote about last time (it's pretty cool, huh?). This was my ride today:



I'm really looking forward to (1) the triathlon itself; and (2) being done with the triathlon. I'll do a nice post right afterwards, if I can move.

Cabin Fever

I love holidays! Sure - there's the obvious reasons: it's another day off from work to do your own thing. But I've always loved spending time with friends and family during the holidays throughout the year.

For us, the timing was right. We needed a 4th of July since the 4th of June, and we were looking forward to an extra day to chill and not worry too much about all of the peripheral 'stuff' that's usually taking so much of our time and energy.

Wednesday my brother and sister-in-law had their second child - our first niece. Her name is Mia, and like her brother, she's a big baby and so adorable. They're moving out this next week to Oregon - and even though I'm really excited for them and for their career move, I'm pretty bummed that they're leaving. We love hanging out with them and I'm going to miss having him around to hang out with and his family to spend time with.

Thursday we felt like we had to go catch a flick, since there are so many good ones out right now. So we went to Iron Man - and we both really liked it. Surprisingly - Robert Downey Jr was a great super hero - at least a great Tony Stark. We're curious as to who else has seen it and if you liked it - so feel free to comment what you thought about that flick, or if there's another one you recommend.

Friday morning, I started the morning going on a bike ride. The Spud Man Triathlon is coming up soon - and I'm seriously think I might die. I'll be alright for the cycling part - but I only get to get on the bike if I get out of the water alive - which I'm thinking is about a 50/50 chance. Since I wasn't going to be able to train this weekend up at our cabin - I went on a longer ride (about 35 miles) up along Wasatch Blvd, Bonneville Shoreline, and up Emigration Canyon. If you haven't seen it, there's a cool website out there called http://www.mapmyride.com/. You can map out your job or bike ride or hike using google maps to see what distance it was. And it keeps your profile so you can share with friends if you're training with them, etc.

After my ride, we packed up and went down to our new cabin. The folks found a great deal on a big plot of land in Sanpete County about a year and a half ago. They were originally planning on just getting a trailer so we could have a place to stay the night, keep ATVs, go boating, etc. But just like kids, they just kept more excited, adding more and more, and the result is a beautiful log cabin nestled in a little cove overlooking a reservoir and the Manti Temple.

Last weekend, we went up to help move in furniture, etc. This weekend, we officially decided to break it in by having the whole family stay a few nights up there. We had all of the brothers and sisters and nephews there (except for our sister in-law and newborn niece) and of course, the dogs came. Jamie provided us with some great eats.

We were able to hit a rodeo, play a round of golf (Pallisades State Park is about 15 minutes away), play on the lake, hike, and just hang out. The picture above is the view from our front porch. The view is incredible. Now we just need a boat because this lake has nobody on it. We would have had great skiing conditions all day. But until then, we have to find other entertainment around the water. Fishing is no good there (it's mostly full of carp, though there's a lake with some great fishing about ten minutes away), so we spent our time there throwing sticks in and letting our dog swim and fetch over, and over and over again.

We're really excited to have this cabin. It's going to be a great place to get away - just two hours away. We're excited to add to it - like getting some ATVs down the road, water toys, and cabin furnishings. It's going to be a great retreat for us. So, even though we didn't go to a 'firework show' or have a barbeque, hanging with the fam at the cabin was a great way to spend the 4th - enjoying the types of freedoms provided to us by the Constitution and the vision of the Founding Fathers.