Three Generation Triathlon Triumph

I finished, I did it. Yesterday was the Leavenworth triathlon and I did it. I had a few tears as I crossed the finish line, with my mom by my side. It was quite a challenge. Only six weeks of training ( interrupted by the fact that I have six children and work part time ). I guess I did the best I could, but I suI surere wish I could have done better.

We started the day bright and early, leaving the house at 6:00 a.m., all loaded up, and ready to go. We were only on the road for a mile when I realized I forgot my ID. If the spirit ever whispered to me, I'll tell ya, this was the time. The triathlon was on the army base and there is no way I would have been able to get past the gates without my ID, I am so grateful that came to me while we were still close to home.

We had a beautiful ride to the base and a long wait at the gates. We finally got through, grabbed our gear and headed to the transition area to set up. We then went into the gym to pick up our packets, which were very disappointing, no goodies at all. What can you expect from the army ?

We were marked and lined up by our estimated swim time-- needless to say, I was towards the back of the line. It was fun to see how many friends were there, about 15-20 from our stake, including the 1st counselor in the stake presidency ( he looks a little different in his tri-shorts-- that's all I'm saying-- I guess we all did ).

We finally got to the pool area, once we crossed the mat, the clock started ticking. I was pleased with how easy the swim was, I shaved off about 45 seconds from my last training swim. We swam serpentine style, which may have broken the monotony of the swim for me. I don't know, just wish everything else had been as easy.

I ran bare footed to the transition area -- kind of painful on the rocky asphalt. I dried off, waited for my mom and we took off. This is where it all went downhill-- uphill actually, literally, ALL uphill!! We rode up hill after stinkin' hill, and finally had to walk. We were probably at mile 2 when we started to wonder if the hills would ever end... they didn't. I have never seen a course that was uphill both ways. We finally got to the 6.4 mile mark/turn around area and were faced with more hills. The most difficult hill took us FORVER just to walk up. We were winded just walking the darn thing. It was one long, steep, difficult hill-- both physically and mentally. The guy in the truck picking up all of the signs telling us we were the last two didn't help much. either. I was getting pretty depressed, my biggest fear of being last had come true.

We trudged on, biked most of the way back, until we were maybe 1/4 mile away from the transition area when my chain came off. Ahhhh-- such rotten timing. We decided it would take just as long to fix it as to walk in, so we walked our bikes in and took off for the run.

Our legs were burned out from all of the hills, so we ran the first block and called it good. We walked quickly, while choking down a power bar and some water. It was a nice course around the barricks, etc. We passed several friends on their way back to the finish line, and knew we would be dead last. So, we just kept telling each other how awesome we were.

The last half mile, we walked in with the kids try-atlon racers. We saw Mikenzie and cheered her on-- that was fun. She crossed the finish line before we did-- which she mentioned more than once. We ran the last little bit, so we would look good in the pictures. I did almost cry at the end-- it was very emotional to finish such a physically difficult challenge.




Jeremy did great finishing in 1:49, he was one minute shy of taking third in his age group-- which is killing him. " If only.... " yeah, I know how it feels buddy.

Mikenzie had a wonderful time in the kids try-athlon and received a finishers medal ( it wasn't a timed race ). I almost asked for one to see if it would make me feel better-- nah, better not.

We stayed long enough after the race for my mom to get a first place medal for her age group, yeah she was the only one in her age group-- but hey she has a medal. We drove straight to the hotel my parents were staying in and hit the hot tub, what a way to end the day.





We also went to Maggie Moos last night as a final reward. It is an expensive tradition my mom keeps up when she comes to visit. So, calorie wise, I think I may have broken even yesterday.

I will admit, it is really hard being dead last. My time was even worse than my mom's even though we finished together. The clock was ticking while I waited for her, so it counted against my race time for three minutes. I am a bit depressed today-- but will move on, train on, and be proud. I already have the next race picked out, I have some goals and look forward to the challenge. I am grateful for a body that can work so hard and do so well.

Be grateful!!