Pumpkinman - Race Day!

Pumpkinman

Lake Mead/Boulder City 

October 15, 2011

1500 meter swim - 24 mile bike - 6.2 mile run

SUPER STARS!!!

Me, Brooke, Becca, Laurel

We have been training for this race since May.

Becca and I - ready to go!

I am so blessed!!!  My dad came down from SLC for the race.  I just realized that I never got a picture of him...I really wish I had a picture with him.  He helped so much.  He drove me to the house Becca was staying at so Jim could stay at the hotel with the kids rather than get to the race over an hour before start time.  He also took pictures.  He is amazing!!!  I love my dad!!! 

Getting T1 (transition 1) ready

Me, Laurel, Becca, and Brooke

These ladies rock!  

Laurel, Brooke, and I waiting for the "purple caps" turn. We were the last group to start.

I'm trying to stay relaxed.  The water really freaks me out.

Almost done!  

To me swimming is a constant struggle.  I am never swimming the right direction, I'm always out of breath, I'm always on the verge of panic, but each time I finish I feel amazing because I know I did something that to me is really hard.

So excited to move onto the next stage...

Becca - this girl is a rock star!!!

This is a picture of Brooke.  She is in the front....I'm the middle person in the group behind her (in the pink shirt).  

Laurel - I love this lady!

Feeling pretty good...the big hill is coming.

#653

The bike course was a tough course, but I was really happy because I passed 53 people on my bike.  It was mostly uphill and the last 4-5 miles were steep.

I was so happy when I pulled into T2.  My legs were pretty fried because I pushed it really hard on the bike.  I had a lot of ground to make up since I was like the last one out of the lake.  As I was leaving T2, Brooke and Laurel came in.  

My run was not going well.  Brooke caught up with me and she helped me a ton!  My back and legs were cramping up.  I was feeling discouraged and she just was there and she encouraged me, kept me going.  So I'm totally tearing up thinking about it...Brooke, you are my hero!  Thank you for your help!  

Once we hit the 3 mile mark I had my legs back.  I was feeling really good.  With about 2 miles left I decided to push it....a decision I'm still regretting.  I wish I would have finished with Brooke, helped her like she helped me.  I'm a loser - as Brooke would say, "lame."

The finish line is in sight.

My biggest fans - Tommy, Sammy, Sarah, and Austin.  

Their cheers helped me so much.  After I finished the swim, they were cheering me on and it helped me to run quickly through the transition.  Then on the bike just when my legs were feeling it they start cheering - "Go Mom!  Go Mom!"  Totally gave me a burst of energy.

Me & Brooke

We ended up taking 1st & 2nd in the under 40 Athena Division.

Our times...

Laurel took 1st place in the over 40 Athena Division

Photo Op! 

So after all the awards were handed out we decided we needed to get some pictures on the podium. 

Brooke, me, and Laurel.

We decided to let Becca join in on the podium fun.  She smoked all of us with a time of 3:08, which was good enough for 5th place in her division.  She needs to gain 10 or 20 more pounds to race with us Athenas (150+ lbs).  I've been wanting to lose 10 pounds for a couple of years (seems to be an impossible feat...I mean how much more can I exercise?!?!? and let's face it, the my eating probably won't change).  Besides I'm rethinking that...if I lost 10 pounds I would have to race in Becca's division.  I think I will be happy just losing 5 pounds.  LOL

Brooke, Me, Laurel, and Becca.

\

Jenny Roberts #653

My splits
Overall:  236 out of 364

Female:  64 out of 125

Athena under 40 Division:  1 out of 5

30-24 Female Division:  8 out of 16*

1500 meter swim - 40:28 (Personal Best)

T1 - 2:42

24.8 mile bike - 1:43:10, 14.4 mph

T2 - 1:57

6.2 mile run - 59:22, 9:35 mile pace 

TOTAL - 3:27:07

*If I had raced in the 30-34 division, I probably would have taken 8th.

Extremely pleased with my swim time.  Way better than I thought I did.  Very happy with my bike, especially for being the first time I have competed on the bike for a long distance. My run was not very good, but I wasn't feeling very good at the beginning.  For my first Olympic Triathlon, I'm very happy. I have lots to work on. Triathlons are definitely a different beast.  In my opinion "race day" was more difficult than a marathon, but training was a lot more fun because there is more variety. I'm looking forward to the next race....hmmmm, any suggestions? 

Lake Mead/Vegas Trip

October 13-14, 2011

On Thursday, we drove to Lake Mead so I could try out my wet suit in the lake before the Pumpkinman Triathlon on Saturday.

I felt pretty good, but I still have trouble swimming straight.

Sammy and Austin wanted to swim out far, but I told them they had to be able to touch the bottom since we didn't have life jackets. They probably would have been fine, but better safe than sorry.

Tommy was looking for any type of animal...he is still recovering from his oral surgery earlier in the week when he had two of his molars extracted.

Sarah seemed to have the best time just playing on the edge, talking to herself in her own little world.  It was super cute.

For dinner Thursday night we went to Lotus Chinese Restaurant in Henderson, NV.  It was actually pretty good.  We like to try to find hole-in-the-wall restaurants and I think this one was a success.  I was super pleased because as we walked in the restaurant we were sat next to the only only people there at that time (several more came in afterwards).  So I'm a little worried that they sat us right next to this other couple, one because we have four active kids and, two, it is always a little worrisome when nobody is in a restaurant   

Well after we got settled and they took our order, the couple next to us commented on how "well behaved" our children were.  LOL   At first I was speechless and wasn't sure how to respond since nobody has every said that about my children before.  I almost glanced behind me to see if they were talking to someone else.  It was really cool though, because the kids heard the comment and they were super good the whole time.

Although I had to laugh when I saw Sarah doing this...not exactly "well behaved" but super cute.

We had the whole day Friday to kind of hang out, so first we went on a chocolate tour at Ethel M. Chocolates (Mars Company).

Then we stop at the Las Vegas sign for a little photo op.  I have wanted to do this every time I drive by the sign and finally it happened.

The whole family.

We drove down "the strip."  The kids liked looking at all the buildings at the end of the strip we came to our next destination - the "Pawn Stars" pawn shop. 

This was very interesting.  Almost more like a museum than a pawn shop.  We left just as they were about to  film a segment.  They asked for every to be quiet and act normal, and I just thought that was too much for us to handle.  LOL. 

After that we went to the Las Vegas Temple.  The kids ran around and played on the grass.  It was a beautiful day. 

My dad came down from SLC for the triathlon, so after that we met up with him.  The kids swam in the hotel pool, we went to lunch, and then I met up with Brooke to pick up my race packet.  Becca coordinated with some friends who live in Boulder City for us to have a pre-race dinner/swim party at their house.  The backyard was a kid's dreamland - pool, slide, swing set, trampoline.  The kids played hard.  Becca, Brooke, Laurel and I carb loaded.  It was a wonderful evening.

The Hornets

Austin is playing flag football this fall.  So far, I've only seen half of one of his games because I'm coaching Sammy's games.  He played some stellar defense.

His buddy, Jake, intercepted the ball and ran it all they way back to the other end...woohoo!

Another buddy, Caden, played QB and I thought this was a cool picture.  Looking forward to seeing a few more games in the upcoming weeks (I hope).

The Kings

The Kings

Top - me, Natalie, Connor, Antonio, Liam, Coach Zane

Bottom - Sammy, Luke, Ava, Devin, Zachary

Coach Zane and I are coaching basketball again this fall.  Zane has totally picked up my slack this season and already covered for me a couple of games.  Thank you!!!

Sammy is doing awesome!  He is working super hard.  He practices his dribbling all the time around the house.

This is a picture of him right after he made a basket.  Woohoo!

Luke Sprint Triathlon - BBQ - Dbacks

September 25, 2011

(still catching up...)

Luke Sprint Triathlon

400 meter swim - 14 mile bike - 3.1 mile run

(Becca, me, Brooke, Laurel)

As part of our training for the Pumpkinman in October, a few of us participated in the Luke Sprint Triathlon. It was a super fun race and it was a good race to practice transitions, etc.

My swim felt pretty good (for me).  Swimming is by far my weakest event.  My biking felt awesome.  I passed quite a few people on my bike.  My run was very strong.

Total time:  1:17:23 

So after the triathlon, I had to rush off to coach Sammy's basketball game.  I didn't think I was in the top 3 so I figured there was no reason to stick around.  Turns out I took 2nd place in the Female under 40 division.  Becca took 1st place with a time of around 1:13:00 - she is smoking fast.  Laurel took 1st place in the Female over 40 division.  It was a good day for our group. 

After all the morning craziness of triathlons and youth sports, we met up for a BBQ/swim party at the Bickham's.  

Me & Becca with Aaron (Becca's hubby) and Brooke in the background. They are giving thumbs down because they didn't place, but they both did really good...I think Brooke took 4th. 

Me with the cool desk clock I won.  Too bad it didn't come with a battery.  

All the kiddos at the Bickham's pool.  

The busy day continues...

After the BBQ, we joined the Vetter's and Laurel's family at a Diamonbacks game.  

Logan with his "Hit It Here" sign.

Syd and Sarah

Jim

Sarah, Austin, Sammy, Collin, Tommy, Logan, Maylee, Sydnee, and Max

We had a great time!  The was a delay in the 7th inning because the lights went out, but we stayed through the end - The Diamondbacks won!

I love it when the Vetter's come to visit.  Let's do it again soon!

We Believe...

(More catch up)

One of our family goals for 2011 was to memorize all 13 Articles of Faith.  Back in June, Tommy and Austin finished memorizing all 13!  Sammy has most of them memorized completely, but he is still working on a few words here and there.

Over the summer we challenged Tommy and Austin to read the whole Book of Mormon all by themselves.  It came down to the wire, but both of them completed it before school started.

As a reward for these tasks, we took the kids to Jump Street on Labor Day.

Sarah had a great time.

Sammy loved the mazes.

Tommy jumped, jumped, and jumped!

I never got a picture of Austin because he was happily running around from one jumping area to the next.  The kids all had a great time. 

I'm so proud of Tommy and Austin for reading the Book of Mormon and forming their own testimony.