US Triathlon Nationals

Wow, what a day. It started with us leaving the house at 6:00 am so Brian could participate in a triathlon. This was not any triathlon. Nope, this was the USA Triathlon Nationals. I don't know exactly how registration worked, but somehow it was open for the sprint distance. Brian signed up months ago with grand plans of training and kicking some butt. Needless to say, his training has been close to zero, and this was the only race he's been in this year. He ran to the pool on Friday and swam a few laps. He did an open water swim yesterday along with some yard work. And that, was pretty much it. He wasn't going to do this race. People from all 50 states were represented. It was fast. It's the best of the best. The swim started at Discovery World, and was an in-water start, which he actually really liked. The ride went over the notoriously windy Hoan Bridge, then up Lake Drive. The run was up the lakefront. Brian did it -- but he said he'll never disrespect the sport by going in to something like this untrained again. Regardless, as most triathlons are, it was completely inspiring. To see these people travel from so far to have a chance of completing in the top was amazing. Watching the 15 and 16 year olds completely kill it was awesome (the top woman overall is a 16 year old girl, who came in just over an hour). But even better yet was the older people. Like the 89 year old male or 82 year old woman, who while they are the only ones in their categories, held their own. The 65-69 year old male category alone had 39 people. I think it's absolutely incredible. Yesterday was the Olympic Distance race. I can only imagine how awesome that event must have been too.

Pewaukee Triathlon

The boys and I woke up at 5am to cheer on Brian and my sister, Christie, at this year's Pewaukee Triathlon. It was a perfect day for it -- although, I'm sure the racers who were stopped by the freight train might not have thought so (man, would that tick me off...). Brian and Christie both did great, coming in around 1 hour 30 minutes.

Getting Ready

This is what our porch looked like while Brian was getting ready for his first (and only?) triathlon of the season. Although, that's my bike, not his -- he was fixing it for me.

Xterra

Brian and I set our alarms this morning to 4:45 a.m., and were out of the house by 5:30 to drive to Sheboygan (the boys were at my parent's house). In fact, it was pitch black out when we left, but we did get to see the most amazing sunrise, which almost made it worth it. The reason for our early morning? Brian was competing in an Xterra -- something he has always wanted to do -- and I was there to watch and cheer him on. The Xterra is a triathlon, but it's off-road, meaning you use a mountain bike and trail run.



There were just a little over 100 signed up for the event. It actually made it really nice and laid back compared to other races. There were three waves total. Brian was in one wave, while Chris, Chris's friend Ed, and Brian's co-worker Dave, were all in the other. And then there was a small wave of women. The top woman finished 14th overall, by the way.



The swim looked long to me, but from what everyone said, it was actually really nice. Next came the mountain biking. Brian technically is a very strong rider. Unfortunately, he just hasn't been training like in the past, so I could tell he was hurting. Still, I think it was really fun for him.



And then there was a 4-mile (steep) trail run before the finish. All the guys did great. Chris came in second in his age group! Next came Ed, who hasn't been on a mountain bike for years (in fact, he used one of Brian's). And there was Dave, who this was his second triathlon ever. And Brian finished strong, and gets to say he did something he's always wanted to do. I think he came in 44th overall, which really is pretty great. Congratulations! Too bad we are throwing a party tonight, because all this spectating really makes me want to take a nap.

Pewaukee Triathlon

Brian and my sister competed in the Pewaukee Triathlon today. The boys, Tina and I drove out early this morning to watch. I've done this race the past couple years, but decided not to sign up for anything this summer. I just knew any sort of training would be completely inconsistent, and I didn't want the pressure this year. Of course, Brian works out less than I do and still can go into these races feeling fairly confident. During the swim, two groups of baby ducklings tried crossing where the swimmers were. One group succeeded (second photo down). Can you imagine swimming in a race, sticking your head up for air or to see where you are going, and having a duck floating in front of you? It happened to a couple people. Too funny. H was waiting for Brian near the finish line, and got to run across with him. There were a couple 11 year olds competing this year, which is pretty amazing to me. There was a 79 year old man too! Totally awesome. When we got home, H and I went for a 5K run. I think it was harder than he thought it would be. But it's a start! You never know.

Galena Triathlon

We just got back from our first triathlon of the season -- the Galena Triathlon. Brian, Christie and Ali competed and all came in under two hours, which is extremely impressive on this hilly long sprint course. It was Ali's first triathlon ever, which was really amazing. I still haven't worked up enough guts to do it. We rented a house for a couple nights, and had such a great weekend. The first day was packet pick up, gear drop off, pre-race dinner at home and early to bed. The next day was triathlon and recovery. The kids were all so awesome while we sat in the misting rain and cheered our family and friends on. After the race, we went relaxed at the house, then went into Galena and bummed around a bit, then went to dinner at Fritz & Frites. H, who never naps or wants to sleep, feel asleep on the chair in the restaurant. It was a fun exhausting weekend.

Racine Half Ironman

Brian and I got up bright and early again this weekend for the Racine Half Ironman -- Brian's first Half Ironman ever!
(Bike staging and transition area) This is the first year this event was run by the Ironman organization. Brian and I each did Sprint distances at last year's event, but that was not an option this year, so he decided to just go for it and do the big one. I decided to watch from the side line. I admit -- I was a bit nervous for him. He's been training a little, but nothing like he's done in the past. And a half ironman is quite the event.

(Preparing for the swim) The swim is 1.2 miles in frigid Lake Michigan.

And a very sandy beach finish to even get to the transition area (this is timed as part of the swim). You can see Brian (in the red, way in the back) making his way to his bike.

The bike is a 56 mile course. This was the first athlete to come in. As you can see, he took quite a tumble as he approached the dismount area. I thought all was ok, but unfortunately, I just checked the times, and it looked like he didn't even get to do the run. How sad!

The final leg of the race consists of a 13.1 mile run. By this point in the day, it was blazing hot. Here Craig Alexander, winner of the Racine Half Ironman. He finished with a time of 03:48:56 -- pretty amazing. But then, again, he's kind of on a role -- he's won the Ironman World Championships for two years in a row.

Here comes Brian, who, I'm very happy and proud to report, finished with a time of 6:12:36. I know this was not an easy race for him, and I cannot even fathom the idea of doing this type of event myself. Great job Brian!

Pewaukee Triathlon

Today, I rolled out of bed at 4:15 a.m. to get ready for the Pewaukee Triathlon. It's my second time doing this particular event -- last year it was my first triathlon ever -- which means, it's the first time I've ever done the same event twice. I wasn't going to even look at my time from last year. Too much pressure. But at the last minute, I changed my mind and I'm happy to report that I was 5 minutes faster this year, for a time of 1:41:20. My sister did the race too, and was 6 minutes faster than her time last year -- 1:31:20. We both had really good races. I've got to say, I'm not sure what it is about this particular event, but it just seems like there were a lot of really fit people at this race. Overall, I was 732 out 1199, 185 out of 429 females, 33 out of 67 in my age group. I'm pretty happy to be average, but let me tell you, this is not an easy race! The swim is shorter, but it pretty aggressive (lots of body contact) and the lake itself is very weedy. As for the bike and run, it's really a beautiful route, but hilly. No excuse, but where I live, it's flat. I did improve my bike and run, but would love to start spending more time on a bike. Anyhow, it was a good day. Brian was awesome getting up early with me, helping Christie and me with our bikes, and cheering us on. I really appreciated it.

As for the rest of the weekend, we drove up to Wisconsin on Saturday, dropped off the boys, then took my Dad's Harley to pick up the race packets. We rode our bikes to one of the lakes where we met my parents, the boys, my sister and her kids, and had a beautiful swam. The best thing about the day though, is that Brian took H to his first baseball game. Our friend Jesse was throwing the first pitch at the Brewers game, and we thought it would be a great game for H to see. He had an absolute blast. Makes me tired just thinking about all of this! It was a great weekend.

Naperville Women's Triathlon

Today was my first triathlon of the season -- the Naperville Women's Triathlon which benefited the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. I'm still trying to figure out why I do these things, because they make me a nervous wreck. But I always have fun doing them, and today was no exception. Since the boys are still in Florida, and this is a women's only event, Brian came along and was able to snap a bunch of photos. I'm only featuring a few, because honestly, I've come to the conclusion tri clothes just don't me any justice. At all. I was very happy to be in the same wave as another person I know who is very accomplished in triathlons of all levels. She really helped ease my mind, and make the wait for the start fun. The swim is a .46 mile course in Centennial Beach. The bike was a nice flat 14.2 miles, which is shorter than I've usually done. And the run says it's a 5K, but I think it was actually shortened to a 2.75 mile course. My times were: swim (14:28), transition 1 (3:50), bike (45:29), transition 2 (3:17), run (25:12). Overall, I was 460 out of 1590, and 83 out of 283 in my 40/44 age group. I have a lot of room for improvement, but was very happy with my first race of the season. A big thanks to The Frigs for coming out to support. Next year Penny!

Galena - Triathlon

As I mentioned before, in the Galena Triathlon, the swim to bike transition, and bike to run transition are in different locations. As a spectator, what that means, is basically you pick one or the other to watch at. This is the swim area -- taken during set up. We decided to stay at the second transition.
This is transition 1 -- swim to bike -- also during set up.
This is transition 2 -- the bike to run. Where we hung out.
Here comes Brian on the bike.
And the run. A typical sprint distance is a 5K. This run is a 4.3 mile run. Up and down big hills.
My sister (this is her above, coming in from the bike), asked if it was hard for me to watch the race without participating in it. My answer -- no way. I have done a couple tris myself. And, honestly, I'm signed up for a couple more this year too (yikes). But Galena is major. And I need to be a bit more dedicated to actually train in order to participate in something like this.
This is my sister, Christie, coming up to the finish line. She looks much happier than she did taking off on the run. Both she and Brian did an awesome job. I'm so proud. And inspired.
The knuckleheads think they are pretty great too!