Tri-ing, Cheering, and Running

This weekend Josh and I got just over 24 hours alone together when we went on a road trip to Burley, Idaho so Josh could compete in the Spudman Triathlon. This is an Olympic Distance triathlon, and the swim is in the Snake River which is pretty cool. Josh did it last year but traveled by himself, so I was excited to get to go cheer for him!

Josh's mom and sister were awesome and volunteered to come spend the night with the kids. We took off on Friday afternoon, and as soon as we got there we went to packet pick up and then Josh set up his bike and other stuff in "T1" and his shoes and other stuff in "T2".

Lots of bikes!!!

 We had some friends that were down there for the race too that we hung out with, and we had a nice night (especially once it cooled off a bit!)

To save money we decided to just sleep in the van, which they let you do parked on the golf course where the race starts and finishes. Josh's mom brought us a tent, so we ended up sleeping in the tent next to the van. I can NOT remember the last time I slept in a tent. It was fun! I had run 16 miles that morning so I was ready to sleep.

I was really sleeping. Josh took the pic. :)

Since we were literally a couple hundred feet away from the starting line in our tent, Josh was able to take his time in the morning. I snuck out at about 5:45am so I could get a run in before the race started. I did eight recovery miles and it was really nice to run somewhere new and to be around the excitement of everything getting ready for the triathlon. I saw the sun rise over the Snake River and it was beautiful!

I got back in time to see our friends take off for their swim start, and then Josh finished getting ready and we headed back to the river front (he was in the last wave).

Josh, ready to swim!

I watched Josh's swim wave take off, and then worked my way to wait just past T1 so I could see him at the beginning of the bike.

Swim start in the beautiful Snake River

I cheered for Josh (and gave him the sunglasses he forgot to set out in the transition area) and then I worked my way to where I could see him at the end of the bike section. I saw our friends go by who started in earlier waves and cheered for them, and then saw Josh come by. He was making good time but he said that his tire had been flat for the last three miles!

I cheered for him as he took off on the run, and then worked my way to the finish line area. I cheered for our friends and lots of other people. This finish line was GREAT. The last stretch into the finish line was a big downhill on grass. EVERY finish line should have a big downhill on grass. Everyone looked like a rockstar coming down that hill into the finish. :)

Josh finishing strong!

Josh finished in about 2:37 and looked strong the whole way. He really enjoyed it! I had lots of fun being there to support him and I was super proud. :)

After collecting his bike and wet bag, and then packing up the van, we headed to a nice lunch with our friends and then we were on our way home.

It was lots of fun and and very inspiring to watch the triathlon. Despite Josh's hopes and plans, I have to say that as fun and impressive as it was, it did NOT at all make we want to ride a bike or try a tri. In fact, standing at the bottom of the hill/corner I was at, watching the bikes come flying down and then turning just reinforced that I am a total chicken and a one-trick pony, so I will be sticking to my running, thankyouverymuch.

Speaking of running, my awesome husband was my "support crew" for the last half of my long run on Friday morning, and he got some video. Here is a clip. This is about mile 11 and I was running at a 6:40 pace.

 Hope everyone had a great weekend. Today we went to church, are celebrating my Nathan's 16th birthday, and are watching lots of the Olympics (yay!).

More soon!