Pacific Crest Festival
June 27-28, 2009
Bend, OR
I have competed in back to back races before but like this week end. The only venue comparable to this one is the Triple T in Ohio. That one may be even tougher. Done the Chicago Triple Challenge and have done Back to back sprint Duathlon and Triathlons.
I have some friends up in Bend, OR and they wanted me to come up an visit and race with them. Was not able to do it last year but this year fit into my race and work schedule. Bend, OR is a great part of the country. Crisp, clean air, and still small. The economy has hit it hard otherwise i would think about moving up there for all the outdoor activities available, fishing, mtb, road biking, canoeing and winter recreation.
Back to the races. The logistics are a little rough. The bike is a point to point course, but it give opportunity to drive most of the bike course. The swim was one of my best experiences, crisp & cool water about 60 degrees, perfect. I was expecting the bike course to be a little tough from the course notes but it ended up being not bad. the road surfaces are very fast, except for the fist 7 miles or so. The scenery is wonderful, god's country here, lakes, forest, lava fields, Mt Bachelor. I went along pretty good on the half marathon but i was conciously saving a little energy for the next days event, an olympic distance triathlon. The run was also great, meandering on the bike paths thru the low fields and river and vacation homes. Even a glider flying and landing right there. This is my favorite Half IM course (a 58 mile bike leg) I have ever done.
That evening i wore my Zoot compressionRx tights to help with the recover and they must have worked because the next day I was ready to rock and roll. Was a bit relaxed on the swim again great conditions. The road surface for the bike course this time find of sucked, very rough but was able to manage over 20 mph. THe scenery was still beautiful. Back at Sunriver for T2 and the run. The run course was pretty tough. It seamed like it was constantly up hill. THat is a grade of 2 to 3%. I reeled a few competitors and moved into 3rd place with less than one mile to go.
I plan on being back next year to do the double again.