Last Saturday, Bobby raced in his very first sprint triathlon. Keep in mind he decided to do this ONE MONTH before the event, and got his bike then, and his wetsuit oh…three days prior to the race. (Drove me NUTS since I am such a planned out person!) Anyway, The race was in our neighborhood, which made life easy for us. Bobby got up and walked down to the lake to check in and brought down his bike. Then he came back up to the house for breakfast and the rest of his gear. I got down there a few minutes before the start and finally found him right before the swim. It was quite difficult to find him when everyone looks like a seal.
They lined people up in order that they registered, so Bobby was number 221 out of about 300 maybe. I was SO nervous for him because he had only done one open water swim and it wasn’t even in his new wetsuit. He made his way down the boardwalk and it was finally his turn.
He took off into the cold water (it was a chilly morning for us!) and I tried to keep up with him in the sea of orange swim caps. I followed him down the boardwalk and yelled encouragement which I am sure he couldn’t hear.
I lost him when he got way far away by the turn, so I headed back to the entry/exit point and waited for him to come back. he ran out of the water and towards T1
Transition time (which he NEVER practiced and took longer than expected oops.)
He finally got on the bike and was off for 17 miles in the country.
As I waited for him to come back, I spotted a guy RUNNING down the hill carrying his bike. Poor guy! But what determination!
I finally spotted Bobby heading towards me
Back into transition he went and got ready to run.
I ran to catch him up at the next street but wasn’t fast enough, oops.
So I cut a corner out in front of our house and waited. This next photo is funny because Bobby is actually pointing at our house..like he wanted to go into it and stop racing. Haha.
I headed to the house, grabbed the dogs, and then waited with a neighbor near the finish line.
Here comes Bobby!
He did it!
The after party was great. They had sandwiches, iced tea from raisin’ canes, fruit, and sno-cones! All free. I MAY have had two…
We hung around and chatted for awhile and the girls had plenty of kids wanting to pet them. Overall, Bobby had a really good time and says he wants to do another tri. He learned a lot in that first race, what to do and not do, and definitely needs to work on his transition times and his swim. He has no desire to do an ironman, but enjoyed the three sports together in one race. We will see what he signs up for next!
*PLEASE vote for my mom in the fit over 40 contest (Kathy Bridges) all you have to do is go here and check the box by her name, that’s it! So easy. Would really appreciate it! She deserves it!
QOTD: Do you tri? Do you want to?
How cool! Congrats to Bobby! Triathalons are serious business – I can hear the pride in your tone in your post. 🙂
Yay Bobby!! I LOVE TRIs — such a fun time! Glad he enjoyed it!! Fun time being so close to your house! 🙂
Congrats to Bobby! Triathlons are so stressful to spectate!
That’s so awesome! Yay Bobby!! Those snowcones are small so it was ok to have two! ;0)
Congrats Bobby!!! I think it’s awesome this event was held in your neighborhood!!! No tri for me…I am a horrible swimmer lol!
That is so awesome! I really really want to do a sprint tri, but I’m not a strong enough swimmer as it is. I’m working on it, though!
that’s so awesome! I’m not the best swimmer so I think I’ll stick with running
Tri’s look like so much fun, I think I want to train and do one, some day! I imagine swimming is a lot more pleasant in the hot, humid summer than running is!
great job to him. traithletes amaze me because they conquer 3 sports all at once. i actually think i’d like a triathlon…if i just loved running a little more 🙂
Congrats, Bobby!! That’s awesome!
Thanks everyone.
Kudos to your hubby for taking on a triathlon! My swimming skills aren’t that great, so I don’t think I’ll ever do one of those, but I think it would be fun to do a duathlon.
I just voted for your mom, Kathy. What an inspiration for us all!
thank you!
Before the rest of my comment, I need to get my ritual for when I discover a new triathlete out of the way: ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
There. It must be awesome to have a race so close to the house; I love the idea of having a comfortable breakfast AFTER setting up transition. It’s nice to read about somebody having a calm, laid-back attitude toward their first tri… so many people let their nerves almost ruin the experience. Tri rookies, take note!
It was so nice having his first be in our neighborhood!
Congrats to Bobby!
I voted for your Sweet Mom!
thank you!
Congrats Bobby!
Heather, today I nominated you as a “Very Inspiring Blogger”. Please check it out here:
http://www.diaryofaneverydaygirl.blogspot.ca/2013/04/very-inspiring-blogger.html
I have been reading your blog for a long time and always find your posts interesting & inspiring. True kind-of embarrassing fact: I love your blog so much, I went back and began from your first post and read until I “caught up”. Thanks for inspiring people like me to lead a healthier lifestyle. Keep up the great work!!
thank you so much! That’s a lot of posts you read lol!
um, yeah…no desire to ever do a tri. We did our first tri relay last weekend though, and I PR’d the 5k, which was awesome. Mike also had swim issues but rocked the bike. He swam in a wetsuit for the first time too, and thinks that’s part of what messed him up!
Congratulations Bobby! So brave to do all that at the last minute! I am doing my first tri in June, it’s a bit different because the water part is kayaking (which I love to do). 6 miles kayaking, 5.5 mile run, 18 mile bike-I’m so nervous, especially since I’m dealing with an ITB injury and haven’t been able to train properly. I had a finish time set, but now I just want to finish standing up-ha!
Can we vote more than once for your mom?
You will do great! You can vote once per IP address! (So home computer and work computer etc
That is awesome!
I did my first sprint tri last year and got hooked. I did two more including one Olympic. That was tough but amazing.
thats awesome!
That’s so awesome!! Congrats to Bobby! It totally would have driven me nuts with regard to the planning too haha. I’ve done one triathlon and it was so much fun. The transitions were a bit nerve wracking for me but it was a great experience.