This was the weekend of awesomeness!
The reason I put a '13 after this post's title is because I know for sure that we will be back!
First things first: There was a lot of racing going on! D'uh! This is why we came after all... Everyone Most of us had a blast competing and whoever wasn't racing, was putting their cheerleading and/or photography skills to work. Weather conditions were ideal!
Saturday morning: The olympic distance race
Karen totally rocked her AG with a phenomenal performance!
I had a ton of fun and loved having so many cheerleaders!
(Race report is in the works...)
Saturday afternoon: The kids run-bike-run
Max surprised us all with his super gutsy race! He unexpectedly announced Friday afternoon that he wanted to race after all and so we signed him up for his first race. Not even 5 yet, he raced with a lot of kids that were older than him but was able to hold his own. It was fun to see his determined little personality. The kid took off like a bat out of hell. He was totally into it and more focused than I have ever seen him. Until halfway through the second run when he asked Karl to carry him to the finish... He toughed it out though and was one proud little (3rd place) finisher!
Noah was a tough cookie. He decided to race despite his recently stitched up hand. (More on that later.) It was great for him to have his good friend and soccer buddy, Sam, right next to him for most of the race. These kids got quite the workout! It took them about 45 minutes to complete the challenging runs and hilly bike. So proud of them!
Sunday morning: The off-road triathlon
Tyson, my awesome lane mate at Masters, had a fantastic race despite a few mechanical issues right before the race and in T1. He might claim that he died on the run but he put together a very solid effort!
Karl, the hubster, had a great day as well! Having swum twice in the last year, I was just glad he made it out of the water alive (and not even close to last place)! He is an excellent mountain biker and put his skills to good work on a borrowed Diamond Back.
And then there was T2. I took about 6 pictures of the guy while he was hanging out in there. I mean, do you know of anyone else who takes the time to unscrew his water bottle, drink a bunch, and screw it tight again? I didn't think so...
I am pretty much the best cheerleader ever! Especially when it comes to my own husband. We missed the swim start, of course. That was way too early! But we did see him come off the bike. After a few nice cheers, I said something like: "Well, this is going to be one slow T2!" To which he replied: "Thanks for the encouraging words." And I said: "Well, dude, this is a race!" He later told me that all he wants to hear during a race is: Good job! Keep it up! Looking great! Which is exactly NOT what I like to hear. We got some work to do...
And then he took off on the run. Like a speed demon. He is a runner after all! Oh, and did I mention that we missed his finish? Again? Somebody had to go to the bathroom right then and it was not me. Try again, honey. Next time we will be there, I promise!
Camping with kids is always an adventure! Especially with two wild boys. We arrived Friday afternoon and I set out to pre-ride the course while the boys explored Fool Hollow Lake. Which, by the way, is awesome! We all met up at on the other side of the lake for packet pick-up and my pre-race meeting. I left to ride back to our campsite while Karl stayed to get Max registered for the race. In the meantime Noah was climbing trees, as usual, but this time the branch he was standing on broke and he fell. He sliced his hand open on another branch and it was pretty bad. When I got Karl's call to inform me what happened and that we needed to go to the hospital, I was pissed! I somewhat calmed down on my drive over there and when I saw in how much pain Noah was, I realized that we did indeed need to take care of this. Poor kid! Luckily, Karl volunteered to take him, so we just threw some of our camping gear out of the car and they took off.
We were super blessed to have great friends with us that helped Max and me to set up the tent, have dinner, and get my race stuff ready for the next morning. John and Nancy with their super nice dogs also made sure Max didn't have too much time to miss his brother and feel sad. On top of that, Nancy crawled into our tent and told Max bedtime stories. That little boy was in heaven! Thank you!
They also happened to be the best cheerleaders and race photographers one could ask for. Who else brings an authentic Swiss cowbell to a race? That thing was huge and heavy and was not to be missed!
We also flew the European flag, thanks to John! I felt right at home!
After 5 hours at the emergency room, Noah was nicely cleaned up and stitched up. They barely made it back into the campground before the gates closed at 10pm. Which was a good thing because most of our camping gear was still in the trunk, including sleeping bags and it was getting quite chilly... By the time we were all settled and ready to go to sleep it was 11pm. Not the ideal bedtime the night before a race but I was grateful that everything turned out well in the end. Everyone was safe and sound in our little tent! I definitely made the right decision by signing up for the short-course race rather than the half-iron race. I had a feeling that family camping plus a 5-hour race would not be a good combination. This way I only felt a tiny bit stressed but knew that I can always pull off a 2+ hour race just fine.
These kids are great little campers! Partly because they are so used to it. They almost sleep better and longer in our tent than they do at home. Here they are still asleep at 6:30 with the sun up and shining on our tent.
The part that John was probably most excited about was his little big margarita maker that runs on battery. Even I was impressed! Unfortunately, more than half of our campers don't drink alcohol which means it wasn't quite as fun as it could've been. He did make a slushie for the kids and they loved it!
Saturday night we had the Skelton Family over at out campsite and the kids had blast! 6 wild boys and 1 cute girl always make for a lot of fun. So glad they came!
Our campsite was gorgeous! I swam in the lake two more times with John (and Nancy) after the race and it was heaven! I love open water swimming but there really aren't any great lakes around Flagstaff. Me thinks I need to come back here for a training camp!
The weekend went by way too fast! Thank you, everyone, for coming and making this such a great trip! We will be back next year for sure! I do have to admit though that I am always happy when we are back home, cleaned up, and I (mostly) know where to find things.
PS: Noah is going to the doctor today and hopefully will get his stitches out. Just in time for our next adventure: a camping trip to the beach. We are excited!
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