Giving it a Tri

This past weekend, Ryan and I took the girls out to Ocean Shores so Ryan and his brother could participate in a triathlon, (Olympic length). I love the excitement before a race. Neither Ryan nor I sleep very well the night before--because he has to get up early and I always feel like I should be the back up alarm should the battery powered one fail. But, he usually gets up right on time, (thanks to the batteries in the real alarm clock), and I stir enough to kiss him goodbye and tell him to have fun before he heads out the door. It all happened the same way this time--except a few minutes later, our girls woke up. So, the boys loaded the bikes into the car, instead of biking the short-ish distance to the starting line like they had planned, and I loaded the kids and we drove them to the park.

When the girls and I returned about 2 hours later, the boys had finished the swimming leg of the race and were over half way done with the biking leg. My inlaws came out for the day to watch Ryan and Heath--when they returned from the bike route turn around, they told me about the parts of the race I had missed out on. After the girls had played on the playground for a while, we took them to the sidelines--completely UNcrowded sidelines--and watched so we could cheer for the boys when they approached the bike/run transition area. I enjoyed being there to offer whatever support I could, even if it was just yelling, "YAY!!! Good job!!!"

The girls were actually glad when daddy and Uncle Heath were out of sight again because they got to get back to the business of playing on the playground. Whitney learned to scale the 6 foot high climbing wall by herself while they were gone. (I stood behind her, without touching, just in case. After a while, I gave up.) The boys made it back to the finish line with a time of 3:28--and crossed at basically the same time. What an accomplishment! I love being there when Ryan finishes a race. After so many races, I know the questions to ask, (Do you need ibuprofen? Do you need chocolate milk? etc.), and it makes me feel like I can somehow share in the post-race fun. When I asked Ryan his thoughts on a triathlon versus a marathon, he said it was a completely different beast. With a marathon, you just keep doing the same thing over and over and over. With a tri, you get to change up the muscles you're using, so it affects your stamina and body differently.

I have to say, this race was certainly the least crowded event I've ever been to. Usually, the sidelines are packed with observers--but since the race was so small, (less than 50 people), I guess there weren't as many adoring fans hanging out. It probably didn't help that the weather was cool and overcast that day, although that was a bonus for the race participants. Overall, Ryan had a good time and is even considering participating in a sprint-length tri in August.