June lake triathlon is a beautiful event situated 25 minutes north of mammoth and 20 minutes south of Lee Vining where 120 hits 395. The swim is a nice lap around the south end of the lake at 7500’, followed by a great bike ride on the June Lake Loop and lastly a hike up 1000’ over the 10k run to finish back on the beach.

I took the swim on too hard and ended up having to do some chilled out back stroke for the first quarter mile until I could get my heart rate under control... Lesson #1 - when at altitude, ease into the swim! Still finished in 31 minutes so not my worst.

The bike was epic-ly amazing! I cruised at over 20 mph even with 1300 ft of climbing. The Shiv once again proved what a powerful tool it is.

The run however was deadly. I don’t think I’ve ever run a 10k so slow. I should have probably gone easier on the bike, I should have probably drank more fluids because it was super hot, but any way about it I was not ready to hike at altitude in the super tough conditions. Total race time was 2:53 - a new PR for slow, but that was largely due to the run with a hint of altitude and heat.

They always say you’ll be faster next time... but it will be tough to ever get used to this course. Fortunately it is the most beautiful race to date, so I bet once Violet can do the kids race we’ll be back!