Utah Half Ironman

My goal at the beginning of the summer was to compete in some Sprint triathlons, work up to a couple Olympic tri's and then finish off with the Utah Half Ironman.  Well, after checking off the first 2 components I was throwing out the final part of my goal. No way was I going to put myself through that much torture.  Unfortunately for me, I had encouraged some neighbors into doing the race and they held me to it. I am actually SO grateful that they pushed me and helped me train.

Morning of the race, up at 5 am, driving to the Provo Boat Harbor with knots in my stomach and salt pills in my pocket.  I'm hoping the salt pills and some coconut water will help alleviate the cramping I'd had on my 2 Olympic distance races.  Set up transition area, pee 10 times & eat my PB&J.  I'm so stinking nervous that I'm very close to losing my PB&J.  Men start the race, they're cruising along the 1.2 miles of brownish/green Utah Lake water. (Which I later found out was more like 1.4 miles... but who is measuring!??)  It's time for my wave to start the race: females ages 39 and under. Horn blows, I swim, no cramping.  What a relief!!!! My calves are able to kick, my body is buoyant on top of the yucky mucky water and most importantly, my mind is sane.

Out of the water 43 minutes later and onto the bike. My new Raleigh bike. :)  I wasn't as well-prepared for the 56 mile bike ride as I should've been but I am strong nonetheless.  15 minutes in, eat some Clif bar.  !5 minutes later, eat more Clif bar.  And so goes my ride as I pass every person I see, eating my food and drinking as much as I can.  UNTIL about mile 25 when I start to get tired and people start passing me. Why aren't my legs pushing me as hard as they're supposed to!?!  More salt pills and a couple Sport Legs.  More Clif bar and a GU.  None of that helps me go faster but I still feel good, strong and ready for more.

I pull in from the bike and see my family waiting at the harbor. There's the energy I was waiting for!!!!  I am suddenly energized and ready to kick butt.  I hop off the bike, grab my shoes and I'm off.  I ran the first 6.2 miles alone and cruising right along.  Thankfully my brother in law, Eric Anderson, was there to run with me for the last 6.2 or who knows how long it would've taken me?!  We stopped and had water and ice at every single one of the 12 aid stations in the 90 degree heat.  I wasn't expecting to be running at 12 in the afternoon (due to a late race start that morn) so I made the best of it by shoving ice anywhere ice can be shoved.  2 hours later I crossed the finish line and tears started coming. I don't know where they came from because I swear I was dehydrated but I HAD FINISHED!!!

I'm so glad I did it, so glad I didn't cop-out and wait for another year when I could be "more prepared". Final time: 5:40:21.  

Training is more fun than racing!!

 Echo Olympic Triathlon- July 2012

Laura and I are kindred spirits. We like to swim, bike and run, we like to listen to good music and we like to complain when it gets hard.  We are sarcastic and we both like baking & eating treats. I LOVE training with Laura.  (Not to mention we are in different age groups- barely!)  :)

We have done a few triathlons this year, some easier than others.  Our latest adventure was the Echo triathlon, which we signed up for the Olympic distance.  We did the Jordanelle Olympic in June and we both figured this second attempt would be more pleasant.  I made the mistake of choosing a race which fell on the Saturday after YW Girls Camp.  HUGE mistake.  I could NOT fall asleep the previous 3 nights before the race and had to wake up at 4 am on race morning.  I was so tired that Laura had to drive my car to Coalville for the Echo tri.  I kept going in and out...the whole trip up was a blur.  

By the time we biked from the parking lot to the race venue I realized I had left my photo ID in the car. BIG mistake in triathlons.  No one can pick up a packet without photo ID and I did NOT want to ride my bike 2 miles back to my car at 6 am.  After working my magic with the race director (a very nice man), I picked up my packet, got my timing chip and set up my transition area.

Starting off with the swim, it was the most disgusting water I've ever swam in. The mud was so plentiful that when your face was in the water it was honestly BLACK.  The only reprieve came when you turned to breath and could see the cloudy, blue sky.   The water wasn't too cold, very mild actually, and for the first time my wetsuit didn't feel too restrictive.   I set off when the horn blew and swam the first 800 meters with no problems. Middle of the pack, as usual.  As soon as I went around the buoy to swim my second 800 meters, my calves cramped up.  This was awful!!  I had double-charlie-horses in my calves which meant I couldn't use my legs to swim! By this time, Laura had probably exited the water (she's a KILLER swimmer) and most of the other female Olympic swimmers were pulling ahead.  A race volunteer in a kayak asked if I needed to be pulled into her boat but I told her I could kick the cramps out.  I persisted but the cramps did too.  My legs were useless and now days later are still sore from being in a state of contraction for 15 minutes straight.  I finished the swim using only my arms and hobbled onto the beach.  30 minutes after I'd entered the water I was onto the bike portion.

The bike ride was beautiful!  I pulled on my shoes and helmet, got onto the road and immediately started eating a Honey Stinger waffle out of my jersey because the swim left me famished... (probably because we'd been up since 4 am).  It was now about 7:45 and the sun was shining on the nice, green lake we'd just swam in. :) Thank HEAVENS I made it through the swim.  After a week at girls camp I was still very close to the spirit and I believe we are "helped" through hard things that we do.  Whether it's something hard that we are forced to endure (death, illness, emotional/physical hard times) or something that we choose to endure (learning something new, weight loss, competitions, etc) we can call upon our Savior for strength and I know we can be blessed in those times.  I spent the last half of my swim singing 'A Child's Prayer' in my mind and now that I was on the bike I was silently thanking my Heavenly Father for helping me get through it.  A neat thing happened on the bike ride while I was praying.  The LDS Young Women theme came into my head and I could not shake it.  I decided to recite it in my head and it opened my eyes to the values which we, as women, vow to live by.  Faith, Divine Nature, Choice & Accountability, Integrity and Virtue (to name a few).   I decided that even while I'm competing in triathlons or races, I can live by those values and be a representative of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I don't mean to be preachy or self-righteous...I need all the help I can get.  It was a great opportunity for me to draw closer to God.

I finished the 25 mile bike and headed to transition to start the run.  I was tired and out of gas but had to finish.  I kept asking myself why in the world I was doing this on NO sleep but I had to see it through.  (Besides, anyone who knows me knows that after paying $105 there was no way I wasn't going to give it my all.   I'm too cheap.)  The run was a simple 10k, pretty flat course on the Park City Rail Trail.  Easier said than done.  Luckily I got behind a tall, dark Kenyan man (he may have been Jamaican) and he kept a good pace the whole 6.2 miles.  Halfway through the run when my legs were about to give up, I started singing "Come Thou Fount" in my head.  Usually when I'm running I'm listening to Florence + The Machine or Paramore but today I needed help from above (and no iPods are allowed in Tri's.)  I received the help I was looking for and was able to "lean & lift" my way to the finish line.  After being almost the LAST female out of the water, I had passed all but 2 women in my age group through the bike and the run.  I came in 3rd and immediately went to the line for a massage. My calves were shaking and I could barely walk.  I finished in 2:45... not as good as Jordanelle but who's keeping track!?!?

Why do we do these things to ourselves?  To learn who we are and what we can accomplish?  To give ourselves a challenge?  To keep a commitment we made to our training partner?  This race was tough but it strengthened my faith that my Father in Heaven knows me. Will I do another one?  We'll see how much sleep I get. :)

St George Triathlon- May 2012

Snow....FINALLY!!!

We finally had a real snow storm!! Our neighbors invited us to go sledding and the kids LOVED it! I think it was the first time we've ever gone as a family. The highlight was when we went again the following day and brought Bryan with us. He and I started a snowball fight and guess who got hit the hardest with the BIGGEST snowball I've ever thrown?? Isaac. I felt SO bad. Right in his tiny nostrils and big eyes. He even got a bloody nose. You can imagine how awful I felt. Way to go mom. :(

Kimball has been loving the snow and heads out every morning to eat some in his PJ's. We discourage this but he cannot be swayed. Kimball has been doing better...he goes to school without complaining, doesn't hit Ike as often as he used to and he even does his chores. I know, we have low expectations. He is definitely our hardest child but he can be SUCH a SWEETIE!! He always tells me he loves me, gives the best hugs and likes nothing more than to sit and read books or tell stories. He often asks me to tell him the story about when I was eaten by a dragon or when I got lost at Disneyland. (I don't recall either of these experiences but they make for some fun stories.)

This pic makes the boys' hair look SO dark. But I had to capture little Isaac's arm around Daddy. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever!?!? He loves his daddy so much and cries when mommy has to put him to bed. But I love it! I love that Ike gets so happy when Dad gets home and always says things like "Is daddy working in his office mommy?" or "Is daddy home yet mommy?". When it's time for bed he says "Daddy putcha bed". We all know what that means.

Christmas bells are ringing!!

The funnest "friend Christmas party" of the year. :) Aren't these people beautiful?

(It's all in the SMILE.)

Watching my niece Lauren at the Christmas Carol. This year was the best portrayal of the wonderful Dickens tale that we've ever seen.

Kimball: "Hmmmm, I want a shark and a boat." Santa: "You want a shotgun??"

(I got them all straightened out.)

Disneyland 2011!!

Could there be any better place? We were in Disneyland with our great friends and didn't even have to bring our little 2 yr old! The place was empty, there was Christmas music playing and the decorations were up. HEAVEN!

We bribed the kids with toys if they would go on BIG rides with us. I know, I know. It worked and they fell in love with the big rides. Pretty soon Kimball was riding Splash Mtn. with me every second and Anna was in the Haunted Mansion with Bry as much as possible. :)

This is Anna with Russell from UP! after she earned her Senior Wilderness Explorer badge. Darling.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!

Pictures of our yard- my favorite thing about our house!!!

More summer fun...

This summer has been fun to be in our new house but my kids like our backyard so much that they don't want to go anywhere! "Do you guys want to go back to the splash park?", "no... let's just have friends over"... "Do you guys want to go back to the Lindon Pool?", "no... let's just turn on the sprinkler". Needless to say, we have saved money this summer on our activities. (Although I am out of Otter Pops.) Luckily we took pic's when we actually left the house so it looks like we had a SUPER busy summer. :) But truthfully we have been home most every day.

Grandpa Shelline holding Isaac at one of our many BBQ's.

Is that the sweetest boy EVER?!?

Isaac at the splash park... the only time.

"Mom, Cougars don't smile." I guess he's right.

We did leave Utah for about 24 hours to go to Mallory's graduation in Idaho. We loved seeing her graduate and visiting the Lowe family while we were there. Fun times. :)