This past weekend, we drove up to Burley, Idaho so I could compete in the 30th Spudman Triathlon. I have competed in two Olympic triathlons, ( 1 mile swim, 40K bike ride, and 10K run) both of which were the Spudman. In 2012 and 2013. This year I signed up wanting to prove to myself that I could do it again after having my third kid.
And even though I have done this before, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say I was still a little nervous. I was nervous because I did not train for this. I didn't swim once! I only rode my bike maybe 10 miles leading up to this race, so that was my primary reason for being nervous!
The night before the race I have to go check in and set up my bike and running equipment at the two different locations. It was quite impressive to see the amount of bikes that were there.
( about 2,000 people were signed up to compete this year )
We went and had dinner at Perkins and then we took the kids back to the hotel to swim, and I stayed to rest in the room, so I could Naomi down for the night.
The morning of the race I woke up at 5AM, which let's be honest, I didn't sleep all that well. I never do the night before any race. My mind wonders, and I always think about the "what if's."
At 5:
At 5:45 am, I met up with my life long friend, Stacie Stevens Anderson for breakfast. After we ate, we drove up to the starting line to get ready for the event. Her parents had camped at the starting line, which is what most of the people attending the triathlon do. ( I just don't like to camp the night before a race and with three little kids)
At 5:45 am, I met up with my life long friend, Stacie Stevens Anderson for breakfast. After we ate, we drove up to the starting line to get ready for the event. Her parents had camped at the starting line, which is what most of the people attending the triathlon do. ( I just don't like to camp the night before a race and with three little kids)
The triathlon starts 1 mile up the snake river. There are 6 waves (starting times), so we are spaced out. I was assigned to wave 2, which started at 7:10 am. There are about 200-300 people per wave. Stacie and I were in the same wave, which was great.
It took me about 1/2 hour to swim the 1 mile down the river, after which I ran to my bike, pulled off my wet suit and put on my running socks and running shoes. I grabbed my helmet and my bike gloves and took off to complete the 25 mile bike ride.
At around mile 3, I was greeted by Tim and my three kiddos. It was so great seeing them hold up poster signs and seeing the excitement on their faces as I rode right past them. It gave me chills as I saw my biggest cheerleaders.....when I got to mile 5, I went to grab my water bottle from my bike, and as I went to put the water bottle back into the holder, it fell. And I ran over it with my bike tires, which caused my bike unaligned. My bike was now making some kid of weird noise. I pulled over to make sure I didn't have a flat tire, which I didn't..but my frame was bent, which was causing the weird sound. I wasn't willing to quit. I would press forward and continue the remaining 20 miles with the bent frame and creaking noise. I was not able to go as fast as I would have liked, but I finished and as I was rode into the next part of the triathlon, I saw my kids on the fence and Tim holding Naomi as they cheered me on. I got tears in my eyes and knew I was almost done....I ONLY had 6 miles to run.
At this point, I had no water...my lips were very dry and I was so glad to get off that bike. I took off my riding gloves, grabbed my running belt and off I went....the first 2 miles were brutal. My thighs hurt from the bike, and there were moments were I wanted to just stop running...but I didn't I pressed forward and by the time I hit 4 miles......I was still running. I had even passed some of the people that had passed me on the bike...which was super motivating for me to keep going!
The last mile seem to go on forever, but I pushed through and made a strong finish. I ran in as I heard my name being announced and saw my kids with a bouquet of flowers...it was so rewarding! I had just proved to myself that I could do it again!
It was a proud moment...in the end I hope I'm an example to my kids...showing them to press forward, work towards goals and make those goals a reality!
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| The night before at check in |
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| Stacie and I the morning of the race |
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| The sunrise the morning of the race |
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| Gorgeous view of the snake river |
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| The bikes lined up ready for the transition |
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| At the starting line ( 10 min before race time) |
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| The swim. This was our wave. wave 2 headed out for the swim |
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