The venue is hosted in a park like setting at a place called "West End Beach" at Donner lake. Great place to bring a family and do a triathlon at the same time. Playground,  picnic tables, boat rentals and lifeguards on site to help keep an eye on the little ones.

I arrived at the venue about 6:20am and walked into the transition area. It was a bit strange not having my bike.  I've never done a duathlon. They had 4 rows about 100ft long labeled by bib numbers. The turn out was very small. I found my row and set up my gear. The air temperature was a bit cool, around 66 degrees.  So I put in my wetsuit and started walking to the water about 6:45.

Looking over the water was almost like looking at the ocean when the fog rolled in the night before, but instead of fog it was smoke. The sun was orange in the sky.  I knew there would be smoke but was hoping it wouldn't settle like it had. I jumped in the water and it felt warmer in the water than outside. After doing a few laps I felt pretty confident with my breathing and form. The smoke didn't seem to bother me and the elevation seemed manageable. I've done this venue before.  I did the Olympic tri and the elevation made the swim very challenging.  With this experience I told myself over and over slow and steady. Take your time and keep your breathing under control.

The race director called us all over to the starting area. The group of people participating the half was only 19. The race director told us the course and then told us that the current air quality is around 150. Which means it's unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The race started at 7:04am. l positioned myself towards the back of the group. Told myself again slow and steady. I waded in about thigh high and dove in. Apparently I didn't do what I kept telling myself. After 300 yards (maybe) I was out of breath. I started doing the breast stroke. That helped a little. After a few minutes, I tried again to freestyle. Made it a little ways and flopped on my back.  By the time I made it to the first bouy I was panting and couldn't recover. I had so many thoughts racing through my head. I was thinking of quitting.

Then, after rounding the first bouy, I sucked in water. I've done this a few times.... I've never sucked in water and had to vomit. It was very unpleasant and almost put me in a panic. I raised my hand (first time ever) for the lifeguard. As she made her way to me I couldn't stop coughing. I grabbed her board and continued to cough. She asked the one question that I was already thinking, "Are you quitting?" First response was, "I don't know," She then said to take all the time I needed. The thought of quitting seemed so nice. To be able to catch my breath on land and leave. Looking at my watch I was about 25 minutes into the swim. I couldn't quit with so little time done,  but I knew if I made it further I couldn't quit cause I already made it that far. I told her thank you and let go of the board. 

It was a battle through the whole swim. Freestyle, side stroke, some altered back stroke and back to freestyle. Looking around I had 2 other swimmers near me going through the same struggle. I finally reach the beach close to the arch. The one time I wish the camera guy was missing to not catch my exhausted look as I exit the water. I put on a smile and walked out of the water feeling almost defeated. Swim took me 53:11.

Transition was probably the longest I've had. Stava puts it at 5 minutes and 38 seconds. I needed as much time as I could get to recover and get my breathing back to normal. 

As I started running out of the transition area I opened a mint rxbar. I've had these a few times and thought it was a good idea. I only made it a mile and ate only half of it. Couldn't finish it since it felt like I was eating leather. The other half runner caught up to me. He was diabetic and forgot his nutrition at home in San Francisco. I gave him an extra gel that I had and we ran together for a little bit. He eventually took off after the first Aide Station. After 40 minutes of running, I felt comfortable with my pace of 11:30 minute mile. As I ran around Donner lake, I looked out over the water and the smoke was not clearing out but was in fact settling in. By the time I finished the air quality was bordering 160. It was difficult to take a full deep breath without coughing. The run took me 2:41:44.

I finished last with a total time of 3:40:35. This event has now surpassed Folsom for being the most difficult for me. I hope following years it gets easier with more training for elevation and the hope that there isn't a fire near by.  Two years ago the swim was very difficult but the other sports were not too bad. I'll be looking forward to the newly re-paved road on this event. The view is amazing and I was a bit disappointed I didn't get to see it this year. Probably wouldn't have seen much due to smoke though. Until next year Donner!

Swim, Bike, Run & Smile

Sponsors:

This month we want to highlight our sponsor.

Under the Sun Events has been managing and timing the very best races in Northern California, Southern Oregon and Western Nevada since 2007.

Jeff and Jenni Merrell are avid runners with a passion for the sport and a drive to keep Under the Sun Events growing and moving forward. Prior to taking over the company in 2020 they had been participants in many races that UTSE managed.  they saw what Under the Sun provided to the running community and did not want to see that go away when Julie and Nikki decided they wanted to pursue other passions.  They were excited to continue providing the best management options and timing services for race directors, while bringing their own ideas for taking UTSE to the next level.

Jeff is a long-time runner who brings his project management skills to this new arena.  Jenni is a duathlete who brings her skills as a CPA.  Both are passionate about the sport and love seeing the joy and determination on the faces of the participants as they cross the finish line.

Nikki and Julie built UTSE as a place where you knew you would find experts who treated your race like their own. You will discover that they are carrying on their legacy. They are known for being friendly, responsive, and fully dedicated to making your event an amazing experience for everyone.

Jeff is a Certified Race Director with the Road Runners Club of America, a Racejoy Certified Timer, a RaceDay Certified Timer and is also certified by RunSignUp, a key partner in all their events.

Here is a link to their current calendar: https://www.underthesunevents.org/calendar/

Strava Competition/Athlete of the Month:

We will be holding a monthly contest for members only. We will utilize the Strava data in helping to pick the Athlete of the Month. The time frame will be from the 1^st day of the month until midnight of the last day of the month. You will have to send in your completed training log to https://www.strava.com/clubs/ChicoTriClub by the 2^nd of the next month.

May’s winner is CORI DENNHARDT congratulations!

June’s winner is DAN SPENCER congratulations!

Training:

Swims: One Mile open water swim has returned. Friday morning swim workout at One Mile/Sycamore pool.....meet between 6:30-7 am and swim for an hour or for as long or short as you want. Don't forgot to not leave any valuables unattended.

In Motion pool is open.

The River Road TTs:   

This is a no-cost no-prize barely-organized race series, put on by the one and only Dr. Eric Ayars truly in memory of Rodney, who is apparently dead or something because nobody's seen him at a bike event for years now. 😏 They will be held on the first Thursday of the month until October or so.

The course is a nearly-flat out-and-back beginning where 5th Street becomes River Road as it leaves town heading west. Sign-ups begin at 5:30 PM (ish) and riders will be started at 1-minute intervals beginning at 6:01 PM.

The rules:

(1) Helmet required. The road is open to traffic; assume all the drivers are homicidal maniacs talking on cellphones.

(2) No drafting, as defined by USAT rules: If you come within three bike-lengths of someone, pass them on the left within 25 seconds. If you get passed, drop back to more than 3 bike lengths behind them before attempting to re-pass them. Nobody is enforcing this rule, though: it just comes down to this being a race between you and the clock so keep other people out of it.

(3) Attempting to bribe the timer by bringing a dog treat for Suki is allowed.

(4) Times will be posted on the Chico Triathlon Club website when he gets around to it.

Thank you, Eric Ayars, for hosting the TTs.

Rides:

The Friday Rides:

Email Shawn Hughes at amigohughes@gmail.com if you are interested in receiving notices of ride date and times.

Runs: 

The Saturday Beginner LSD is at 9:00 A.M. It is a slower paced beginner run going for up to 60 minutes. Meet at the 5-Mile Recreation Area near the bathrooms. There is also an LSD run on Saturday’s meeting at the 5-mile bathrooms at 8:00 AM. The Monday Night Run meets at Wildwood Park near the bathrooms at 6:00 P.M. bring headlamps. The run is posted on Facebook weekly.

CTC Track Workout:

Every Thursday except for the TT Thursday we will meet at a track (to be decided). We will meet at 5:45 PM. Updates to the track location and any other info are made on the Facebook page.

Uniform/kits:

The store has closed.

Black Butte Tri/DU:

Race date is September 18, 2021. Registration is open NOW!!! Please note we will limit the number of participants this year and it appears that we are going to sale out any day now.

Race Results:

This is a shout out to anybody who has participated in a recent race. We would love to hear from you. Please send me any information on a race you have participated in.

This could be as simple as your name and the name of the event, your results or a race report outlining your personal experience.

Hope to see you soon,  

Shawn Hughes   CTC President

Tammie and I were planning a summer road trip to Salt Lake City to visit our son, and I naturally consulted TriFind to see if we might choose a weekend that included a local race. July 10^th and the Echo Triathlon fit the bill. The race offered Olympic and Sprint distances and was USAT sanctioned; we both signed up for the Olympic.

The race venue is Echo Lake which is about 45 minutes east of Salt Lake and sits at an elevation of 5500 feet. It was put on by TriUtah and was very well organized. The elevation meant it would be cooler, which was welcome news in the middle of this western heat wave. It also meant racing at altitude, which I normally tolerate pretty well.

Like most lakes these days, the water level was much lower than normal, maybe 20 feet down from the last time the race happened in 2019. This made for a long-ish trail run up to T1 but also made for something much more challenging: Mud. I’ve seen a lot in 33 years of racing but never have experienced a swim like this one. From the rolling start arch to the edge of the water was maybe 30 feet of ankle deep, squishy mud. But that was just the appetizer. From there you had to “run” all the way out to the first buoy before the water was deep enough to start swimming. The mud under the water was much softer so instead of ankle deep it was more like mid-calf deep. The aerobic toll from this was dramatic and I quickly felt the altitude and was nearly hyperventilating. After finally reaching water deep enough to swim, I had to just relax and slow my stroke down and take it easy for a while to get my breathing under control. It was a two-loop swim and while you didn’t have to fully exit the water between loops, there was another long section of mud-running before being able to swim the second loop. On the way back in the water was about knee to thigh deep for quite a while and I kept trying to swim but my hands just kept dragging through the mud. Then I finally got the idea to try backstroke and it actually worked great since you need much less water. I couldn’t sight but there were a couple of people behind me “running” in and I just watched their faces and was able to navigate straight in to the swim finish. My time for the swim was 26:07 (Strava says 1:28 per 100 yards) which was first in my age group and 16^th in a field of 155.

With that adventure complete it was on to the bike which was thankfully uneventful. The course was out and back and mostly climbed at maybe 1 to 2% to the turnaround which meant a fast return. It was pretty scenic and paralleled I-80. But I never look at scenery during a race so it didn’t really matter to me. I had to keep the effort down to keep my breathing under control but my legs felt great the entire ride. I finished in 1:09:20 (21.6 mph), first in my age group and 20^th overall.

I felt pretty good starting the run which was on a mostly gravel rail-trail and was remarkably flat considering we were in the mountains. It was out and back and climbed very gently up to the turnaround. I stayed pretty steady the entire time and finished in 46:52 (7:33 per mile), first in my age group and 33^rd overall. There were only nine ancient fossils in my age group and I was pleased to win the category by about 8 minutes. Tammie had some stiff competition and finished 4^th in her age group. The event was professionally produced, well organized, and I would definitely do a TriUtah race again given the opportunity.