Triathlon

Bruce, John (Bruce's brother) and I competed in the Kokopelli Triathlon in St. George, UT on September 18, 2010. Here is our tale.

Scott applying a bungee cord to the stroller. When we took it out of the car a piece was broken, so Scott used a bungee to reassemble it.

Bruce, Rachel, and John before the swim. Bruce and John had wetsuits to increase their buoyancy. I considered using one, but was undecided, so when we couldn't find the third one I just swam in my suit. The water temperature was great!

Rachel running from the water to the transition area to get ready for the bike ride.


Bruce finishing the 20 mile bike ride.

Rachel finishing the bike portion.

Rachel about to cross the finish line.

Bruce approaching the finish line. Look carefully and you might be able to see his vomit on the road a few paces back. Sick!

Finished!

We left Provo a little late and arrived in St. George Friday evening. We checked in for the race, stopped at the hotel, and then went for an 8PM dinner at the Pizza Factory. After dinner we went swimming in the hotel pool. Hailey loved the pool and wanted to "swim" on her stomach all around the pool. She's pretty cute.
The next morning we were awake shortly after 6AM, had breakfast, inflated the bike tires, and drove to the race. We parked our car a few miles away and all piled into Scott and Lisa's car to enter the State Park. John's bike was in the car which meant there were only 3 comfortable, 4 possible seats in the car, and since the race was in a State Park and they required the normal entrance fee we wanted to minimize the number of cars we drove into the park. So, I sat in the back of the car (no seat) and John, Bruce and Hailey squished on the back seat for the short drive from our car to the race.
When we got Hailey's stroller out of the car, a piece was broken so Scott maneuvered a bungee cord around the stroller to hold it together while we gathered our equipment.
At the start of the race we were nervous and felt a bit our of place surrounded by hundreds of serious athletes, being amateur ourselves. The race was structured with different start times based on age and gender, so Bruce and John started 10-20 min before me. We swam .9 miles, ran to a the transition area where our bikes were, geared up and biked 20 miles, dropped off the bike in transition area, and finished with a 6 mile run. When Bruce got on his bike he realized that he had a flat tire, so he had to run back through the transition area and go to a service trailer to get it fixed. The whole ordeal cost him 15-20 min. In addition to the bike trouble, on the last 1/4 mile of the run, when he had reached the top of the hill and was within sight of the finish line he threw up, not once, but twice. I would have walked in, but he kept going and finished in about 3 hours. John an I also finished in about 3 hours.
Special thanks to Scott and Lisa who watched Hailey and took pictures!

Real Girls Mow Lawns

To celebrate Labor Day, we trained for our triathlon with a 20 mile bike ride followed by a 6 mile run. Then I canned tomatoes and made salsa with Lisa Sommerfeldt while Bruce, Scott, and John prepared the roof of the shed for shingles. Bruce did some studying, and Hailey napped, ate, and played outside. While we were outside she discovered the toy car. She can open and close the doors and can push the whole car by pushing the door. She is so proud of herself when she pushes it.

She also discovered another toy: a lawn mower. It wasn't weighted so it would tip over, but she could push it when she was holding on to something else. It was pretty cute! Hailey and I both mow lawn- I mow real ones, she mows fake ones because after all, Real Girls Mow Lawns!