Boise 70.3

Last year Jeremy had a taste of racing triathlons that turned into a new-found passion.  In a fury of enthusiasm he registered for the Boise 1/2 Ironman.  It is a race that is a 1.2 mile swim in Lucky Peak Reservoir, 56 miles of biking around Boise, and 13.1 miles of running up and down the river.  He had been seriously training since January and as the race came closer and closer, his training just intensified until he was routinely gone for two hours a day running, swimming or biking.  He has always been a strong biker, so the bike wasn't too much of a concern.  He knew he had made it 13 miles on foot at least once, and knowing that he could crawl across the finish line if the time came was a comfort.  His biggest worry was the swim.  He had been swimming consistently for a year trying to get stronger and he has become so much better.  Unfortunately, he could do nothing about the cold water temperatures or how he sometimes feels constricted in his wet suit.  We just both hoped that his training was enough and that he would do well.

We arrived in Boise a day early so that Jeremy could get situated without feeling stressed.

Cowbell kids

Making signs for Daddy

While he picked up his bib, checked out the run course, and took a quick nap, the rest of his support crew spent the afternoon at the library reading in a nice air conditioned building.  Because he was nervous about his wet suit we decided to spend the evening at the reservoir so he could float, warm up, and get comfortable.  The kids played in the sand and splashed in the water.  The water was definitely cold, but it was still a nice break from spending all day in the car.

Kelton checking out sand for the first time

Sandball fights

Wading out to the whale spout fountain

Quick family pic on the "beach"

The race didn't start until noon, which gave us all plenty of time to get ready and to worry.  Jeremy left on the first bus up to the reservoir, and we managed to make it down to the park in time for the last bus.  By the time we got up there, Jeremy had his transition area completely set up and was already bored from waiting so long.  I helped him get all zipped up, gave him a quick kiss for luck and prepared to hold my breath for the next six hours.

Kelton giving his dad some last minute tips

I think that it is more nerve-wracking being a spectator than the athlete.  I watched the sea of blue caps make their way to the water and start out on their swim.  I couldn't spot him specifically, but I had a general idea of where he was in the water.  

In past triathlons he has been one of the last men out of his waves.  As blue caps starting coming through transition I started watching the clock.  I expected him to come through around 41 min.  My stomach was a flurry of butterflies starting around the 38th min.  Each blue cap that came up out of the water made my heart beat a little bit faster.  At 42 min I saw Jeremy coming up the ramp.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief at seeing him come up about half way through the blue caps.  Not only that, but he was smiling!  I didn't anticipate that but I had hoped for it.  I ran back up the hill to rally the cheering squad and then dashed along the transition area cheering and snapping photos.  

He had a bit of bad luck in the transition area with his shirt and fuel getting tangled in each other, but managed to get it taken care of well enough and then was off on the bike.  I knew we wouldn't get to see him on the bike so we all settled down and awaited the shuttles to take us back down to the park.

It was a hot place to wait with very little shade.  Kelton fell asleep in the stroller, and the girls even gave up teasing each other long enough to take a quick break in the shade.  

As we waited I spotted another woman with a sling and matching scar across her collar bone.  We chatted and I learned that she too was supposed to be doing this race with her husband, but because of a fall and very similar break to mine, she was stuck along the sidelines cheering.  It was nice to talk with her as she knew exactly how I felt and I was able to give her an idea of when she would be back in the saddle.

It took us two and a half hours from the time Jeremy left transition one to make it to transition two because of road closures and traffic.  We had time for all the kids to take a potty break, refill our water bottles, and settle down along the side of the run course, but we didn't have to wait long.  I tried to capture Jeremy at the end of the bike course as he made the switch to his running shoes, but he was too fast for me and I caught him already 1/2 mile into his run.  He was still smiling and said that the bike went well, even if it was hilly and windy, and that he needed to learn how to juggle all his water bottles.  He also discovered that his Garmin was dead, which was a total bummer to learn before a half marathon.  The run was a two loop run so we stayed put after his first loop since that was much simpler with kids than trying to find another shady, comfortable spot on the run course.  The kids really got into their cowbells, and even learned how much fun it is to give high-fives to the runners as they passed.  

Playing the waiting game

The girls came up with their sign slogans all by themselves and were so proud of them.

Jeremy didn't have access to his pace, but I could watch him on the athlete tracker and saw that he was slowing down considerably.  When he came by that second time he told me that at that point he was just happy to be moving and wasn't sure he could go much faster.  That second loop seemed to take ages.  I kept looking at the clock and getting more and more worried that he was going to take up their offer of crawling across the finish line.  While we were waiting, we watched Apollo Ohno cross the finish line.  That was pretty cool because it isn't every day that you get to see an Olympian.  His quote was "That was a lot harder than I thought it would be."  He also said that he had a whole new respect for triathletes.  

The minutes kept passing and I was still anxious.  I thought that if I moved farther up the course it would make Jeremy appear faster.  Finally I saw him coming up the last rise and was thrilled that he was almost done.  His legs looked exhausted, but it didn't matter anymore.  We gave him one last final cheer before he crossed the finish line and went to meet him out of the chute.  Jeremy's quote was, "That was a lot harder than I thought!"  Funny, where had we heard that before?  

Family photo at the finish line.

He couldn't decided if he wanted ice chips because the heat had been so bad, or a heat blanket because he started shivering.  After his body temperature came under control we began the walk through the park to pick up all his gear from the transition areas.  By then the kids were as exhausted as Jeremy and it was a very sleepiy procession back to the hotel and then off to dinner.  I was very impressed Jeremy was still up and moving.  But more than anything, I was super proud that he finished and did really well.  His time was 5:49:59.  (Splits: swim 42:14, T1 5:32, bike 2:50:15, T2 4:09, run 2:07:49).   

And for Leesa, seeing her son achieve his goal was the best birthday present she could have asked for that day.

Ya, I am super proud of my husband.

Let's Play a Game

This is a game I'd like to call, Where's Kelton?  

We found him in the bathroom cabinets.

Somehow he climbed up on the top shelf of this table.

In the oven drawer.

Unrolling, and eating, an entire roll of toilet paper.

Hunting for toys under his sister's bed.

He would rather sit in the rocks and throw them than sit on the soft grass.

And when we're not watching he tries to escape from his high chair.  

The question is, where will we find him next?

Garden of the Gods

On our way home from our camping adventure we stopped at Garden of the Gods.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea about checking it out since summer has begun and it was very crowded.  Miraculously we found a parking spot next to a popular trail that led to most of the highlights in the park.  

The girls were thrilled that they could climb on most of the rocks.  They scampered...

clung...

shimmied...

and scooted their way to the top of as many rocks as possible.  

Jeremy and I were regretting that we couldn't join the dozens of other rock climbers on the routes in the park.  We had no idea it was such a popular place.  

 Towards the end of our walk the girls started getting a little tired.  They thought that daddy could carry them the rest of the way to the car.  It lasted about five minutes.  

 What a beautiful place!

Blue Mountain Campground

We took advantage of the beginning of summer by going camping!  When I had told the girls we were going camping for our Zion Ragnar race, they were very disappointed that it wasn't "real" camping.  So when they found out that we were actually sleeping in a tent this weekend, they were very excited.  We booked a site on late notice so our options were very limited.  We found a campground near Colorado Springs called Blue Mountain.  The national park service website described it as a "primitive and quiet," but what is primitive exactly?  Apparently it's the type of campground I grew up with; water pump, porta-potties, fire pits, and no rotten tent pads.  I ended up loving the campground.  Our tent site was on the outer edge of the loop and backed up to some wonderful woods for the girls to explore.  There were big rocks for climbing, and little enough undergrowth that the girls could always see our tent.  

Setting up camp with a crawling baby was tricky.  Kelton is teething right now and feeling pretty miserable as a general rule so I had to unload the car one-handed and help set up the tent while warding off a clinging kid.  I did feel bad for the guy.  We tried to set up camp in a hurry because it looked like it was going to rain.  There were thunder clouds moving in and we just hoped they would hold back long enough to get settled.  As it turned out, they held off long enough for us to go on a short hike up to a look-out of 11 Mile Canyon, make it back home, and eat dinner before the deluge started.  It was 7:00 when the rain really started coming down so we all settled into the tent to get ready for bed.  I was a little nervous about the kids falling asleep while we were all still in the tent, but it turned out that the rain made some excellent white noise that lulled them to sleep instantly.  

The next morning the rain had stopped but we had to air out almost everything while the sun was shining.  We played a lot of games of horseshoes.  Cambrie became pretty good during our trip and she threw ringers as often as I did.  

Kelton was just dying to get on the ground and go exploring, but because of the mud we had to hold him most of the morning.  Whenever we set him down in the tent he was all smiles because he finally had free reign to go wherever he wanted.  

That afternoon we were met with another rain storm.  We all piled in the tent to play games, tell stories, and wrestle until it let up.  Three hours later we were finally free to go back outside and tried to get out as many wiggles as possible.  

The thunder made the girls nervous.

We found a dam and some fisherman on a walk, Jeremy and the girls built a house for Spotty, and the girls and I went exploring through the woods looking for interesting stuff.  Earlier Jeremy had found an owl pellet for the girls.  I didn't find anything that cool but we still had a good time.  

Around the campfire that evening the girls wanted to tell scary stories.  Their stories had us all giggling because they were spooky stories about a witch who liked gobbling up daddy.  No matter what daddy did he could never escape the witch who thought he tasted yummy.   

S'mores were super popular...obviously.  Each kid look had their own enjoyment while roasting marshmallows.  McKenzie was happy to be warm, but often forgot about her marshmallow and set it on fire. 

 

Cambrie had a marshmallow beard and had no clue it was there.  

Kelton hung out in his little high chair most of the evening and alternated between eating dirt and eating a hot cocoa cup.  

Sadly, it was time to go the next morning.  There was some really cool fog surrounding the campground that the girls wanted to check out to see how mystical it was.  

And Kelton's favorite toy of the trip were the tent poles.  Somehow he made a mess out of nothing as those poles were in a straight little pile before he got ahold of them.  It was such a great little trip and the girls are already wanting to know when our next camping trip will be.  Hopefully it will be a dry one wherever we end up!