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I completed my second triathlon of the season a few days ago and Jessie took some pictures, so I thought I would do a quick post with how I did and a couple photos.

The first of the season for me (and for a lot of people) was the Strawberry Fields Tri in my hometown of Ventura, CA (actually, Oxnard, but it’s basically the same) – I mentioned that one in my last post. It was basically a duathlon (run and bike), since they cancelled the 400yd swim due to unbelievably strong currents.

In that race, I finished with the following time table :

	Distance	Rank	Pctile	Time	Pace

This past Sunday, I ran in the UVAS Triathlon in Morgan Hill. It was longer, though still short of Olympic distance – 3/4mi swim, 16mi bike, 5mi run.

I think I’m getting in better shape, because this one actually didn’t hurt as much as the Strawberry fields, even though a) I had to swim, b) it’s longer, c) the bike was NOT flat. Actually, there was a mile long honkin hill around mile 11 that was just killer. I saw people walking their bikes up it.

Here’s how I did in Morgan Hill :

	Distance	Rank	Pctile	Time	Pace

So I did another triathlon in Pleasanton this weekend – on Sunday, actually. I did better than the last one, but my dumb bike tire popped again. I think my bike may well be allergic to the finish line, because it was an 18 mile bike ride, and the tire died around mile 17. Since it takes me about 20 minutes to change a tire and far less to jog a mile, I just jogged my bike in. So here you have this dumb picture of me crossing the bike finish while not actually riding my bike.

What a doofus. Other than that, it was fun – next time I’m thinking of trying an international distance course.

That’s assuming I can get my bike to work for the whole course. Also, in case you’re wondering – no, I hadn’t ridden the bike since the last triathlon.

The website seems to be holding up pretty well – I just got my first batch of voter file data, so I’ll be injecting that and we’ll be off and running with a targeted voter list. Who wants a precinct?

Scott

I just got back from the Pleasanton Tri-For-Fun Triathalon. It is a 400 yard swim, 11 mile bike and 3.1 mile (5K) run. Wow – for someone who a) hasn’t done a triathalon in probably 8 years, and b) hasn’t swum (swimmed? swam? – probably swam…) 1 yard in several months, I was doing pretty well, I thought.

This is how much thought I put into this race – I got interested around the time Jessica did her lake swim – it seemed like fun. I was actually both a distance swimmer and cross country runner in high school (though that is about the last time I have done either of those distances), and I guess most Triathaletes don’t come from a swim background, which gives me a bit of a lead. Whereas biking is generally easiest for most – I am much stronger in the other two events.

Case in point – I sign up for the Triathalon on Tuesday. Wednesday I realize that I in fact have no bike. I don’t even have a mountain bike. I came to this realization oddly while training on the stationary bike in the gym, and thinking that I can’t actually compete on one of those. So, Friday (yesterday – the day before the actual race), I walk into the Dublin Cyclery Bike Shop, to purchase a bike. Which, by the way – is just a great shop. Everyone was really friendly and helpful and the guy didn’t even look at me oddly when I told him what I needed the bike for. No “perhaps you should have owned a bike before you registered for the race” looks anywhere to be found.

So, for the guy who has now owned a bike (and I don’t mean this bike, I mean a bike…) for less than 24 hours, who figured out how to shift gears last night before he went to bed, I can’t tell you what a thrill it was, and how thoroughly prepared I was for it, when the front tire of my bike went flat about 9 miles into the 11 mile bike leg. Also, how much fun it is to walk a bike back to the finish line. Luckily, I didn’t have to walk all 2-3 miles, since the course was designed so I was at the opposite side of the park and could just cut through it. So, my time doesn’t really count. However, I did end up coming in behind people I had been riding with (as I passed several of them on the run), so if anything, my time is probably a little slower than I might have had (Though, not everyone else had a nice leisurely walk to rest up a bit in the middle). At any rate, it was good fun, good exercise, and a time to beat in the August one. After I learn how to fix a bike.

If the pictures aren’t too embarrassing, I might post some later.

Back to working on the campaign software and materials!