Powell 3 Triathlon Challenge (a.k.a. first serious tri ever)

                                                                                                                                                                     Lake Powell, sun, sand, and an amazing race, what more can someone ask for?
We decided to start doing triathlons pretty late into the season, so we could only get one race in before the end of the season came, but man we chose a great one! The Powell 3 Triathlon Challenge is a great way to close a race season.It is in early October right around fall break so it is not only a fun race but kind of a mini vacation.We decided to start doing triathlons pretty late into the season, so we could only get one race in before the end of the season came, but man we chose a great one! The Powell 3 Triathlon Challenge is a great way to close a race season.It is in early October right around fall break so it is not only a fun race but kind of a mini vacation.

Here's the breakdown, this tri is put on by On Hill Events which is an awesome racing company here in Utah and they did a great job organizing the race. Now the only down fall that I feel this race has would be that they do not give finisher medals. I was a little bummed by this since we paid a $95 entry fee, so I felt like they could have done finisher medals but what do I know? Besides that though the race was amazing! The race begins at the State line marina, we stayed at the Lake Powell Resort so we were literally 1 minute away from the start line which was awesome because we woke up got a great spot on the bike rack and then got to just chill for like an hour and a half before the race started. Disclaimer: the swim begins at the bottom of the boat ramp so after the swim you have to run up the boat ramp which doesn't seem that bad but this ramp is like Satan's playground it sucks!

swim start 

Kassia coming out of the water in 7th place 

It is 400 yards of straight up hill and when I say straight I mean like almost vertical OMG seriously the worst. If you have never done a triathlon before then you won't quite understand how it feels to come from the water straight into a run towards T1, basically most people feel dizzy and a little disoriented. Well imagine that feeling and looking up at this huge ramp of death...... ya not a great feeling haha. After the run up the ramp you head straight to the transition area to start your next leg, now I made the mistake of not having my cycling shoes unvelcroed; a small mistake but it ate up precious seconds in my transition. Another tip is to make sure to grab your sunglasses, I know you are thinking "well duh" but in the heat of the race you tend to forget. Oh and definitely make sure you get your helmet on and going the right direction because it is a little embarrassing to make that mistake. The bike course for this race is a good one because you have some pretty good climbs around mile 4-6 but the course makes up for it with an awesome down hill into the transition area. The course was also super well marked and they had policemen and volunteers everywhere to help direct traffic, so it was hard to make a wrong turn.
Now to the run, I personally love out and back runs they are awesome for me mentally, there is just something about knowing the half way point. The run really was my weakest leg but I managed to push hard and finish 1st in my age group and 9th overall! That was just awesome but what was even more exciting was that winning this race qualified me for the Age Group National Championships in Milwaukee!!!! I cannot wait to go in August!

Running to the finish and you better believe I passed that guy!

The only bummer from this race is that Brady was unable to race due to a sickness. He has had this sore throat problem for awhile and the week of the race it got really bad, he could barely swallow and had no energy at all. He had the transition area all set up with his gear but about 45 minutes before the race he realized that he just felt like crap and it wouldn't be worth it to make his sickness get worse. It was a tough decision for him since this was the only race we did this season but it was the right one. Ya it was crappy we lost $95 but the most important thing is to listen to your body!
To sum this up, I loved this race. The course was challenging but still fun and I wasn't so crazy sore/ tired that I couldn't enjoy the beach later in the day. This race is a relatively small race but it is super fun and it's a great starting point for a lot of triathletes. For more information on the Powell 3 Triathlon Challenge click here. If you have any questions that I haven't covered feel free to leave a comment and we'll get back to you as quick as we can!