Park City Triathlon

At Thanksgiving I had mentioned to my sister Shannon that I have always wanted to do a triathlon. I don't remember if I said it out loud, but I also thought that it was probably too late, or at least in the very distant future (like when the kids were all gone from the house). At the time I told myself, "I have three kids and I am in terrible shape. I haven't really run since I've had kids, haven't biked since I got my driver's license and haven't gone to swim laps in about 3 years. There is NO WAY I could do a triathlon."


I had pretty much forgotten about it until Shannon called me a few weeks later and said that we were going to do the Park City Triathlon on June 18th. Tanner would be one by then, and it shouldn't be too hot. Plus it gave me plenty of time to train. She told me about a free website where I could get training plans.


I know that running would be the most difficult thing for me, so I started with that. We used the money that my Grandpa gave us for Christmas and bought a treadmill, and I went for it. It took me a long time, but I got to the point that I could run the 3 miles, then I started improving the speed that I could run it in. I picked up swimming again and, thankfully, it came right back. The biking was rough, but I was training with my mountain bike pulling the bike trailer with Tanner and Natalie in it. I soon realized that for the longer distance rides, that was not going to work. But somehow I fit in all the training I needed, and so FINALLY actually registered for the triathlon.

The race course was a tough one. 750 meter swim in Jordanelle Reservoir, then a 12.4 mile bike ride with an 800 ft. elevation change in the first 3 miles. The run was relatively flat. We had a few people tell us in the bathroom the morning of the race that we didn't pick a very good race for our first triathlon, but it was too late, we were committed.

I finished in 1:50:46, 28th woman to finish. My swim went awesome, despite the 58 degree water. I finished out of the water 10th overall with a time of 15:23 (which included taking off my wetsuit), and even beet Shannon. Transition 1 was terrible, and took me almost 5 minutes. Someone had knocked over my shoes, and I had to scramble to find one of my socks. The bike portion went OK and it took me 54:48. Transition 2 went well, but the run was awefull. it took me 34:59. I knew I was going slow when I was passed by a 72 year old man! My knee was killing me and I ended up walking for about 1/2 a mile in the middle. I was so frustrated because I know I could have run faster. But I met my goals and finished in the top ten in my age group. Sometimes I still can't believe that I actually did it. Thanks Shannon for giving me the push!

The "before" picture


Getting in the water (and yes, it was as cold as it looks)

Shannon leaving T1

Me leaving T1



Me riding up the 3 mile hill

Shannon on the home stretch of the run

Me after the finish



The "after" picture

If you want to look at race stats go http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=18271#racetop

My race bib # 319; Shannon's race bib # 313

to look at more pictures go http://www.zazoosh.com/members/viewGallery/4865

Silly Natalie

Looking at pictures of Natalie often reminds me of pictures of myself as a little girl. She always has a big grin, and usually a goofy pose. She also likes to dress up A LOT! She will come upstairs and say, "what do you think?" I usually laugh and take her picture. Here are some of the pictures that I've taken in the past few months.

Super ballerina?

Wearing Hunter's clothes

A little bit of everything

THE pose

Ready for bed, church and a sunny day

A bucket makes a GREAT rain hat

Ninja Natters

Tanner is ONE!

Tanner turned one today. I can't believe how fast he has grown. We kept his party small, just our family, and a little celebration a week early with Grandma and Pop Pop. We had hot dogs, Cheetos and beans and I made him a horse cake. He grinned from ear to ear when we sang to him, but by the time he finished his dinner, opened presents and ate his cake he was done. It was so cute when we gave him his presents, he was thrilled to just climb and sit on it. He did eventually figure out that he could OPEN it and there was a fun toy inside. He got a riding turtle from his brother and sister, an inflatable pool from Mom and Dad, a sleeping bag from from Grandma and Grandpa and a sand and water play table (and some clothes) from Grandma and Pop Pop.
He is a happy, snugly boy. He is now officially weaned, and has been doing great with a sippy.
He isn't a big fan of drinking milk, in fact, he would rather drink water than milk. He loves apple juice and just about ANY food (actually he will eat ANYTHING including dirt,rocks, grass, etc.). His favorite foods are beans, hot dogs, "baby Cheetos" (the Gerber graduate cheese puffs), cheese, yogurt, whipped cream and bananas. He loves to be held and carried around (I think because then he is "safe" from Natalie). He loves the horses and dogs, and can often be found looking out the window at them and banging on the window. He loves the water. He loves to play with Hunter and Natalie (as long as she isn't touching him).

He hates to walk, but can stand unsupported and will often stand up in the middle of the room and say, "Ah" to get your attention. Then he just smiles and calmly sits down. He has started climbing on stuff....which is just LOVELY.

If he is fussy he is usually hungry or thirsty.

He is a pretty good little sleeper, and usually takes one 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap and sleeps about 12 hours at night.

He has a few words that he is saying. His first word was, "Hi" (of course with a wave). He says, night-night, hi, Momma, Dada, Hunter, ball, up, yeah, gram (for Grandma)and some. But he says these on his own terms, and not often on command. He will copy us if we say, "La, La, La" and "Wha, ha, ha, ha" (evil laugh). He does consistantly answer the question, "what does a horse say?" with a raspberry. But we have discovered that is his answer if you replace horse with anything or anyone.

Happy birthday Tanner, Sweet Boy, Tanner-Man, Tanner Manner, Tan-man! We love you lots!

This free picture collage generated with Smilebox

Climbing the stairs, he does great going up,

but not so great on the way down


He loves to help me unload the dishwasher,
so much so, that he helps unload even if I am trying to load

Standing and banging on the back patio door(notice the horses in the background, and how dirty the window is)

Climbing on top of his dinosaur toy to look out the window

Just for fun

Do you think that they are related?

P.S. Can you tell which baby is in each picture?