6.21.2008

Medical Lake Trailblazer: Past

Trailblazer has become one of my favorite races. The race is located only 15 minutes from my house and you get to ride in the back of a truck to the swim start. What could be better than that?

In 2006 I signed up for this race with my two cousins who got me involved in the sport of triathlon. My only goal of that race was to beat my cousin Jason. Well that didn’t happen but he hasn’t been back since. My first year it took me 1:13+ to finish the race. My swim was just over 9:00 and I don’t even want to know what my other splits were. Since it was only my second race I really didn’t have anything to compare it too but it was fun and I couldn’t wait until the next year to race it again.

So it is now 2007 and I had just recently joined the club Tri-Fusion. I think I may have been a member for only a month so I really didn’t know anybody. It was awesome to see all of them out there cheering each other on and wearing such cool gear. I knew at that moment that the club was special and it was going to be a fun ride once I got to know everybody.
Once again I jumped in the back of the truck with the goal of beating last year’s time. Unfortunately my cousin wasn’t racing so I didn’t get to redeem myself. I think the swim was around 6:30 so there was definite improvement there. This was the first time I had swum in a full body wetsuit and halfway through I though my chest as going to explode. It wetsuit seemed so tight and I could really never get a good breathe. I was completely anaerobic and was so happy to hit the other side.

Then there was the fun of T1. This was my race where I decided it was be a good idea to put on my jersey after the swim. Well a tight bike jersey on a wet body doesn’t really work well and I ended up coming out of T1 with my jersey half on and completely frustrated. 10 seconds later......
Still not completly on or zipped up.... but off I go.
I look back at it now and just laugh at how much I didn’t know. I don’t remember much about the bike but I believe I ran somewhere around a 7:02/mile. I was rather pleased with the better performances and finished with a time of 1:06:20. The improvement was definitely noticeable and once again had a great time.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

This is some EXCELLENT camera work. Who could have taken such rich, detailed photographs?

Michael W. Bergquist said...

Hey there Steve. I'm not sure if this was last year's race or this years at the very end. It was fun cheering, but tough to watch. It's my favorite sprint, coast to coast. I just wish they'd list the distances correctly, throw in split timing and have results. On the other hand, it's low key, high quality racing and 50 feet from home.

Ali Ty Stitt said...

I love this post...cause it sounds like me this year for what was your race last year. lol :) Let's hope that i can improve as good as you did...
I'm excited for you that your improvements have come from all the hard work and dedication. Payed of you say? and a great team of support. Fun Race! one of my faves so far too! :) Ali

Tiffany said...

This is hysterical to me. The thought of you, "Mr. Set Crazy Goals for Yourself and Then Get Mad if You Don't Achieve Them" taking the time to put on a bike jersey in T1 is freaking hilarious!!! You sure have come a long way! Can't wait to read this year's race report!