Last year, we had a number of the Beal cousins sign up for the St. George Triathlon. This year I signed up again. Diane just had the baby, so she didn’t participate this year. When it came time for the Triathlon, we had about 3 things going on last weekend (5/10/2008). This meant that I took Royce and Byron with me on a trip to St. George.
We had a good time. The wind was blowing when we arrived on Friday night. I was hoping it would calm down, but it didn’t. The next morning was cold. As you can see in the pictures, Royce and Byron had blankets and jackets on. There was a strong headwind for the swim. The water was also cooler than it was last year, probably around 62 deg F. We met my Uncle John and Aunt Florence Beal, who was there with my cousin, Michelle Beal. I had already gone into the water to “warm up”. I decided to try to find Michelle and found her right before they cancelled the Sprint swimming. They had been pulling Olympic distance participants out of the water since they were have a very hard time. Here are the pictures.
I did pretty good on the bike and run. It felt better than last year’s portions. I believe that time may have been slower. The wind a strong through the bike ride. Luckily on the big hill it was behind me going down, so I was able to get up to 52 mph. That was exciting and a little scary. I forgot to take my inhaler before starting the run. It was a little tough, but I finally caught my 2nd breath after going up the sand hill. That was nasty! Up on the mesa, it felt easier to run. I believe I placed 16th in the Clydesdale (sp?) division (those over 200 lbs). Now Royce wants to participate! It was a blast.
-Bill
