Try a Tri 2012 - Spudman Baby!!

 This is me practicing my swim start.  We also went to Walmart and pushed Rachel around in the wheelchair because she had foot issues.                                      

 What a beautiful morning for a triathlon, don't you think?  The 1st transition area was at Scholar Park.  That semi is to carry all of our swim gear to the finish line.  I have never seen so many bikes together like that in all my life.

 Rachel really didn't want to take a pic with us in our wetsuits, but I think we look hot!!!

 This is the 2nd transition area.  This is how we found our gear.  Pretty genius ay?

 After my finish with the kids with the Snake River behind us.

 I sure do love this little baby!  She was so good on this trip!

 Rachel and Me after the finish.

Saying goodbye to Idaho with my two BFFs.  I sure do love these girls!


It all started with this silly idea.  My friend Rachel says, "Let's throw our names into the lottery for the Spudman." It is an Olympic triathalon held every year in the town of my birth, Burley, ID.  It would be fun.  Never in a million years did I think we would get in.  But, we did.  After four months of crazy training, learning to swim from scratch and finding and learning to ride a road bike, I found myself in a rented wetsuit on the shore of the Snake River with 5 minutes left until the start.  I really felt good and was super excited and nervous all in one.  I had been out of my comfort zone so many times in the last few months, what was a few more hours of all new experiences.  The swim was super fast, 1500 meters in 22:22 to be exact.  I was kicked and bumped and splashed just like I was told I would be, but it wasn't so bad.
I knew I would be chasing Rachel the whole time, so when I exited the water and saw her still in the first transition area, I was pumped.  I was about two minutes behind her starting the biking leg of the race.  Our ex-bishop lent me his wicked fast amazing bike and I felt so good during the ride.  It was really fun except I kept worrying that I would get a flat tire and not know how to fix it.  It took Ben and me and long time to change the last one I had and I wasn't confident I could do it on my own.  I think all that kept me from getting a flat tire was Ben's good karma.  He helped another lady who had a flat tire fix hers during the race.  That and a lot of prayers kept me safe on the bike ride.  Ben, the kids, Jennie and Nan all waited at the intersection of 350 E and 600 S for us to ride by.  When I saw my cute little family there waving and saying,"GO MOM!!" I have to say I teared up a little bit!
I felt really good even when we turned onto highway 81 and there was a horrible head wind.  I was still able to keep a good speed and there were some fun rolling hills.  The last hill was the biggest.  I was going as fast as I could when I heard this really strange noise behind me.  It sounded like a bunch of bees.  All of a sudden about a hundred bikes all came whizzing by and I found myself stuck in the middle of a peloton!!  I couldn't go right or left.  I hadn't had enough training to know what to do so I kind of just coasted into the next transition area in the middle of this group.  The bike ride was 25 miles and I finished it in 1:16:42.  Not too bad and I didn't even fall off my bike when I clipped out!

Now to explain the panty picture.  Rachel and I were trying to come up with some way to remember where our running gear was located.  We decided to buy some bright pink "Big Girl Panties" to mark the row our stuff was on.  It was a reminder to put on your big girl panties and finish the race!  It was really funny though because when we went back to pick up our gear there were a bunch of guys on our row.  When we took our panties off the bar they all laughed and said, "so you are the pink panty girls!"  We were like yah, sorry we are probably not what you imagined.  They said they were glad we put them up because it helped them find their gear too!  Pretty funny.  So, I get to the transition area, rack my bike and look down to find my running shoes laying there....double knotted!  ROOKIE MISTAKE!!!  I was so mad at myself that I didn't think about untying them.  I got them on as fast as I could, took a swig of powerade and crammed some sport beans in my face and I was off.  The start of the run was strange.  You ran on the golf course grass through this uphill trail that led to someone's backyard.  Then, you exited the backyard and went around a horseshoe and out over the railroad tracks and finally onto the road.  My legs felt pretty strong so I told myself I was just going to go hard until my legs gave out.  After all, I still hadn't caught up to Rachel!!! A few people looked at me like I was crazy because my pace was pretty fast.  They took us on a canal road and that's where I finally caught up with Rachel.  It was mile 3.  She had found another gimpy friend to chat it up with so I figured she was fine and kept going.  All along the course there were people with their hoses offering to spray you and there were even two water trucks with a shower you could go under.  It was so fun.  A few times when I would pass someone they would say good job or nice work or keep it up.  That was really nice of people.  I tried to say that to one guy that passed me and he ignored me.  Whatever.  I finally reached the last few hundred meters and I was still feeling good.  Tired, but good.  I gingerly made my way back down the wet grassy trail to the finish line.  I had finished it!  One mile swim, 25 mile bike and 6.2 mile run (which I finished in an astonishing for me 50:38!!)

I couldn't have asked for a better first triathlon.  It was sooooo much fun and such a fulfilling experience.  I am grateful for all the support of family and friends.  At this point in my life, now that I've made most of the big decisions and had most of the big moments, I was grateful to have this one.  IT WAS AWESOME!  And I will hopefully be doing it again next year, on my own bike, with my sweet hubby by my side!  Thank you SPUDMAN!