Go Team Croshaw!

The Croshaw family added another triathlete to its ranks today! Andy participated in his first kid's triathlon this morning and he did a great job. I should qualify the word "great" a little bit. By "great" I mean that he did everything he was supposed to do and had a lot of fun doing it! But "great" doesn't mean that he did these things very fast... but hey, speed will come with time... maybe! He actually completed the entire thing in under 9 minutes which is respectable. All but 4 of the other children had even MORE respectable times, but we're not going to worry about them! The kid's race started first, followed by the full tri racers. Neither Paul nor I got to watch Andy, but his grandpa was there helping him out! The thing that burns me up the most is that I had PLENTY of time to watch him. Next year if we have the kids do this race again (Canon was starting to make plans of his own!), I'm totally holding back to help them out.


Those who participated in the "full race" started after the kids. They had us line up according to how fast we could swim 400 yards, which put me behind about 2/3rds of the racers. It felt like I stood there FOR-EV-ER before it was finally my turn. Paul was in and out of the water WAY before I even started. During the swim, I actually passed 3 ladies, so I guess I underestimated my abilities a little bit!

The bike portion went well even though it got off to a rocky start. I couldn't find my water bottle (the ONE thing I screwed up with last time) so that took some extra time to get situated before I could get moving. It was a decent course along some busy Orem roads. We had a head wind as we soared downhill, but at least that wind was behind us as we climbed up a moderately difficult hill two times! I got passed by some strong lookin guys, but for the most part, I was the one passing people here and there. The most disheartening thing about the bike was coming back into the transition area and Paul was there all finished with the race! Then as I was just heading out on the run, I heard my friend, Julie, get announced as she finished the race as well. I couldn't help but think, "crap... I still got a 5K to run here!"
This is Paul starting his second lap while I was probably just starting my bike!

The run took me a little while to get used to. In training for the April triathlon, the run was first... so my legs were nice and fresh for that race. But after swimming and biking, my legs felt pretty fatigued as I started the run this morning. I figured I would need to walk a portion of the run, but convinced myself that it WOULDN'T be during the first 1.5 mile lap. But by the time I started the second lap, my legs felt much more stable and I was able to finish it out pretty strong.

Sorry, this is just the face you make after an 86 minute workout!

My final time was 1:26. 8 minutes slower than Julie (she came in at 1:18), and 21 minutes slower than Paul (his time = 1:05)... not that I EVER expect to beat either of these two. They both took 2nd place in their age division... cuz' they're awesome like that!

So, it was a fun morning for my family and me; well, at least some of us! I'm not sure how much Canon & Charlie loved it and I'm sure Paul's parents could've found more exciting things to do this morning! But we sure are grateful for them being willing to come watch us race and watch the little boys for us. Thanks again, Mom & Dad! We love you so much!

If anyone is thinking about dabbling in triathlon, this is a great race to get started with. They have a "novice" race that went half the distance of the full sprint. There was quite a variety of racers out there this morning from old to young, fit to flabby, etc! The more I observe of this sport, the more I realize that just about anybody can do it! They even had a wheelchair participant this year... oooh, I'm sure that dang hill was KILLER for that guy's arms! So, if I can encourage or inspire you, I want to! It really is a fun sport and WAY more fun than just running for 1.5 hours straight! Think about it... really!