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.