Paragliding off of Duck Hill

I had my first real paraglide flight on Saturday.  I flew off Duck hill in Washoe Valley around 11AM and flew for about 3 minutes to the LZ across East Lake Blvd. The picture is of Aaron flying earlier in the morning.  After a few flights at Mound House training hill, Ray, our instructor, gave me the ok to fly at Duck so we headed over there in time for Aaron and I to each get a flight. 
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XTERRA Ogden

I raced in my first XTERRA regional championship last weekend at Snowbasin, Utah. I set out this season to qualify for the XTERRA National Championship in Incline Village this Fall, which requires earning enough points in 3 races to be in the top 8 in my age group (25-29) and region (South West).
Swim:

Wetsuits were prohibitted for the pros since the water was 71, but since I freeze easier than I overheat I decided to wear my Orca S1. It was cool to line up right behind the pros. I had dreams of going out fast to get right on the feet of one of them that were quickly shattered at the horn for the mass start blew and there were suddenly tons of people on all sides of me. The way everyone fanned out along the beach at the start and then all headed straight for the first bouy made for lots of collisions. I was constantly bumping into people well into the second lap.
Bike:

Even though I'm much more of a climber than a downhiller, I was a little nervous about all the climbing on the bike. But I really enjoyed the bike course. The climb to the base of snowbasin was long but not all that steep (especially compared to the initial climb for XTERRA Tahoe City) and I was able to pass quite a few people until I finally settled behind a kid in the 15-19 age group. Looking back on it, I probably should have passed him and picked it up a bit, but at the time I felt like he was riding a good pace and I didn't want to bonk like I did in Tahoe City. After a few brutal sections at the ski resort, there was a long fun section of mostly downhill.
Run:

I chugged a bottle of Perpetuem and some gatorade at T2. Leaving transition my stomach felt too full but I wanted to make sure I had enough fuel for the 10k run with over 1000ft of climbing. After the first hill I got into a pretty good rythm and even tried to stay with a few female pros as they came flying by. As they slowly pulled away I tried to keep up a strong pace and prepare for the climb ahead. My watch said 6700 and I remember reading or hearing that the run went all the way up to 7600ft. I passed one guy around mile 2 who said, "Hey, you passed me at the same spot in Tahoe City". When the trail switched to fire road and started to gently climb I figured we this must be the beginning of the big climb. To my surprise I got to a spot where my watch said 7000ft just as one of the volunteers notified me that it was all downhill the rest of the way. Sure enough, I was at the finish line in several minutes with my watch reading 4.74 miles. It was a welcome surprise at the time but I probably would have raced better had I known ahead of time.
I quickly said hi to a few friends and then headed back to Nephi, UT for Megan's grandma's 80th birthday party.
I may have moved up to 7th place in points for my division, but I doubt that will hold up until Oct 5th. Standings
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