Matt and Leslie Compete in the Inaugural Kuhn's Bros. Log Homes Lewisburg Triathlon

300yd swim, 15 mile bike, 5k run

Leslie's Report (below) | Matt's Report (below) | Photos (below)

Report by Leslie Turchetti

On August 19th, Matt and I traveled up to Lewisburg, PA for the inaugural Kuhn’s Bros. Log Homes Sprint Triathlon.  As we drove north from Harrisburg, we noted the beautiful scenery – and ever-steeper hills as we approached Lewisburg.  The triathlon was staged at the Lewisburg Area Recreation Park, located just a couple miles down the road from Bucknell University.  The Park was really fabulous – it included ball fields, a skating rink, numerous climbing areas, and a first class pool which is where the swim stage of the tri was held.  Many of you may be wondering about having a triathlon swim in a pool, and we were pretty skeptical ourselves, but in the end it turned out to be really well organized by a local timing outfit called Score This.  They had obviously handled triathlons before, and it showed. The bike portion of the tri was held on country roads with little traffic.  All along the route there were beautiful farmhouses, which made me question why I really wanted to live in the city and not in a rehabbed farmhouse out in the middle of somewhere pretty.  The run route brought us through a residential neighborhood not far from the park.  After the race, participants and their families were treated to a free lunch of pizza and fruit, along with free massages.  Racers were also given goodie bags with a t-shirt, a nylon backpack/shoebag, and free energy bars. . . all this for a fee of $40!  That’s less than half what most tris in our area cost.  Following is Matt’s report on this race, his first ever triathlon.  Matt did really well.  He came in first in his age group, first overall in the run, and 8th overall for the entire race.  I was able to come in right around 2 hours, which was my personal goal for the day.  It was a great race – we both enjoyed it very much and plan to be back for next year’s event.

Leslie's Report (above) | Matt's Report (below) | Photos (below)

Report by Matt Palombaro

After taking swim lessons all summer and practicing my stroke religiously all summer (even swimming at 6:30 a.m. in Taiwan while I was there for work), I decided to attempt my first triathlon.  The Kuhn’s Bros. Log Homes Triathlon in Lewisburg, PA proved to be an excellent choice for a person’s first triathlon.  The well organized event featured an excellent race timing service, beautiful scenery, and, since this event was attended by a couple of Wanderers, calamity with near catastrophe.

The morning began with Leslie and I being late getting out the door.  We sped north from her father’s house in Harrisburg into the mountains arriving 20 minutes before the pre-race meeting.  While I checked in and set up my space in the transition area, Leslie listened in on the meeting for me.  The swim portion of the race was held in the community swimming pool and was seeded from fastest swimmer to slowest with one swimmer starting every 30 seconds.  The swim was conducted in a serpentine fashion where you would swim up one lane, back the same lane, and then duck under the rope.  This procedure was repeated until the last lane where you hung a sharp right midway through the final length and swam down a channel that connected the main pool to a smaller pool.  Fortunately I was seeded pretty far back in the pack and had plenty of time to watch the better swimmers navigate the course.  When it was my turn to start, I began at a pace a little faster than I had anticipated due to nervous energy and my concern that the person behind me would pass me and I would cause a logjam in the lane.  I was able to settle into a comfortable pace after about 100 yards and exited the pool feeling pretty good and glad that the swim was behind me.

My first transition was ridiculously slow.  I have to wear socks when I run to prevent blisters so I decided it was best to put them on before the bike leg while I had more energy.  I fumbled with the socks for quite some time and eventually exited the transition area with one of the slowest transition times of the day. 

The bike course was absolutely fantastic.  The course made its way out of the town and into the countryside where we passed farm houses, fields, and pastures with grazing cows.  It reminded me of the Pedal to Preserve charity ride that Leslie and I (along with Petra, Werner, and Amanda) participated in earlier in the summer in Lancaster.  The only difference was that this course was much hillier.  Five miles into the ride I could tell that my legs were not feeling their strongest.  My legs had not fully recovered from the previous week of training.  The distraction of the technical nature of the course (some tight corners, tough climbs, and a two mile section on gravel roads) allowed for me to keep my mind off of my tired legs.  I pulled into the second transition feeling good about my bike ride and confident that I could finish my first triathlon.

The second transition went much more smoothly than the first. It went so smoothly, in fact, that I felt like I had forgotten something in the transition.  I racked my bike, got out of my helmet and bike shoes, clipped on my number belt, slipped on my running shoes, and exited the transition in 38 seconds.

Upon exiting the transition, my legs felt wobbly; a feeling I had expected.  Before the first mile I crossed through an intersection and a car ignored the volunteers who were stopping traffic.  I planted my hand on center of the car’s hood as the car finally came to a stop within a couple inches of my left knee.  It was the closest I had ever been to getting hit.  I continued on and a volunteer at the next intersection who witnessed the incident commented “Nice dodge.”  Someone must have written down my race number because I received a call from the race director the next day checking to make sure I was okay and did not suffer any injuries.  The run felt like it was taking forever and I was beginning to feel a bit queasy towards the end.  Finally I could see the finish ahead of me and I instantly forgot the sick feeling in my stomach, opened up my stride, and finished what will hopefully not be my last triathlon.

After the race, I went straight to the pool and watched Leslie begin her race.  Leslie managed to look stronger as the race went on.  She finished the bike looking more relaxed and riding harder than when she started.  She took off on the run and returned looking better than she looked finishing up the bike.

All in all it was a successful day for us.  Leslie and I enjoyed the race and the setting so much that we have already marked our calendars for next year.  Hopefully this time next year I will arrive with a few more races under my belt, a stronger swim stroke, and some better cycling legs.

Leslie's Report (above) | Matt's Report (above) | Photos (below)

Matt awaits the start of the swimming element of the race.

After the swim, Matt heads for the transfer area ("T1")

Matt at the start of the biking leg of the race.

Leslie (background) gets ready for the bike ride.

Leslie completed the biking course in 68 minutes.

Leslie in the middle of the running leg.

Leslie heads for the finish.

Leslie's Report (above) | Matt's Report (above) | Photos (above)

<- go to the last page  |  old news reports (pre 2008) »  |  current news »