Tri and Tri Again - Anatomy of a Triathlon

Warming up beforehand. A little yoga never hurt anyone!

Waiting to go in the water with the elite wave. Jeff is the short guy in the back!

Just swam 400 yards! Whew!

Coming out of the swim, goggles off!

First transition. Out of the swim, put on socks, bike shoes, shirt, while dripping wet!

Can't forget the helmet. It's a USAT rule!

Leaving on the bike, minutes from the swim. See you in 9 miles!

Coming in on the bike. Dismount!

Second transition. Switch from bike shoes to running shoes.

Leaving on the run. 1.6 miles.

Coming in from the run. Don't go right! Follow the cones. Elite class does it twice!

Back in the water! No wetsuit this time. 400 more yards.

Back from the swim! That was fun!

Swim to bike transition. Put the sweaty socks back on!

Heading out for another 9 miles!

Back again! Ready for a run?

YES! Double triathlon completed!

Make it official - cross the finish line!

A well-earned medal!

Jeff completed his first double triathlon today. It was a super sprint tri (shortest distance), which meant 400 yards (1/4 mile) swim, 9 mile bike and 1.6 mile run - twice! The second time around there was no time to put on a wetsuit and of course, he had just completed the first tri and had to muster the energy to do the whole thing over again! He was in the elite class with 27 other crazy men and women who did it twice. Despite having a badly injured hamstring, he pulled it off and got an awesome medal and lots of cool swag (tech shirt, sunglasses, race belt, etc.). Even at almost 41 he's still able to pull of amazing feats of physical strength and endurance (ok, he can't leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he's a superhero to me!). Way to go, Jeff! I loved being your race support and taking photos. You're an inspiration!

The elusive parents.........

There are never many photos of the parents, but I found a few to share. The top one was taken by Hannah of me fishing (I spent most of the time tying new lines for everyone as theirs kept being sacrificed to the bottom of the lake - we lost a lot of tackle!). The next one is Jeff playing "camoflauge" with the kids. Jeff in a funyak (he had to go out in one to entice Rylie, who was scared to try it!) Me washing dishes (KP duty always falls to the mom!) And finally, Jeff in the car top carrier where I found him the morning we were leaving! I thought it was hysterical that he fit in there (and only momentarily considered shutting the lid and locking him in!). Good times...........

Daddy and Me and a Tree

I just liked this photo - and it really shows how big Arlie is getting next to her daddy!

Men and their underpants!

So, last weekend while in Ft. Worth during a break in the meetings, Jeff came up to the hotel room and complained about his undershirt. He said "I hate how it bunches up around my waist when I'm walking, and my shirt is still tucked in." I immediately thought of an image burned into my mind - my dad walking around his room, getting ready for yet another business trip, with his always-present Fruit of the Loom white undershirt tucked into his requisite Fruit of the Loom whitey-tighty underwear! So, I suggested that Jeff do the same. Problem solved! Well, today, on his way to yet another business trip, he said "you know, that undershirt tucked into the underwear trick is the best thing since sliced bread!" He had been dealing with this "problem" for years and wow, his highly intelligent wife came up with an ingenious solution! I said "well, Jeff, you're 40 years old now and you finally learned to dress like a man!" He also said he remembered once when he bought his first suit, the salesman might have mentioned this "trick" but "he used a foreign word or something!" I said "like, 'briefs'?" to which Jeff replied "Yeah! That was the word!" Foreign, indeed.

Jeff's hunting woes!

So, I only have five minutes to post before I head to yoga, but I decided to post a little something on Jeff's misadventures yesterday while hunting! He headed out (alone, save for Shade) and decided to go to a different hunting spot than usual because the usual one was crowded. (Mistake number 1 - always let someone know where you'll be). When he arrived at the new hunting spot, he found a bridge he needed to cross to get to the fields. This bridge inexplicably had several feet of it missing from both sides (the planks were missing), thus making it impassable. So, Jeff, being the avid hunting man (insert manly grunts here) that he is, waded into the water and tried to cross the marsh. Halfway across, he sank up to his knees in mud and muck! Always the true-blue hunter, he managed to throw his gun up on the bridge (Mistake number 2 - save YOURSELF, not the gun!). Finally, after managing to cross the marsh (remember, poor Shade had to fend for himself on this adventure and was slogged in muck up to his haunches at this point), he headed for an area where he might start hunting. No dice. Two other hunters were already there. So, Jeff decided to head to another area he knew. However, upon reaching the end of the trail, he was faced with a creek and no means to cross it. You guessed it, he waded in. (Mistake number 3 - never enter a body of water until you're sure of it's depth). Suddenly he sank to his chest and was forced to grab reeds and weeds from the shore to pull himself out. After recovering from that harrowing adventure, he tried to find the trail. No luck. He bushwhacked through 100 yards of nearly impassable woods, scratching his face and hands, and moving his now nearly 400 lb. body (remember, he was wearing hunting pants and was wet and covered with mud) through this mess. Panicking now, he tried to make a phone call to let me know he might be "late" (meaning he planned to keep going and find his way even if it became dark! Mistake number 4 - never be in the woods after dark!). Lo and behold, his cell phone had succumed to the effects of being submerged and was no longer serviceable. Now, he was on his own, no one knew where he was and he was wet, cold and exhausted (Mistake number 5 - always take food and water, and a light source, with you, in case you are lost in the woods overnight). Finally, he decided to make his way back, found a county road and had to hike a mile, cold and wet, back to his car. Needless to say, he was totally spent when he arrived home, sank into a warm bath (drawn by his perfect hunting wife - hey, I had no birds to cook up, I had to do something!), and downed a glass (or more?) of wine. All that and no birds. I don't get it. I just don't. Mistake number 6 - thinking hunting is "fun". Huh?

Jeff's triathlon - he's a winner!!!

So, Jeff did his first triathlon of the summer this weekend. For those of you who don't know, a triathlon, specifically a sprint triathlon, is a race involving swimming (1/4 or 1/2 mile, depending on the race), biking (usually 12 miles) and running (a 5K)..........one right after the other. Most people couldn't complete ONE of these events, but triathletes do all three in a row. Jeff has done MANY triathlons and trains all the time. But this year he turned the big 4-0 and was lamenting his "oldness" (woe is me, I've gained 20 lbs, I'm old, my knee hurts, my arm hurts, I'm sucking wind when I run). So, the big day arrived on Saturday morning (also, in case you didn't know, these things start at an ungodly hour, this time at 7:30 a.m.!). The swim started pretty much on time and I tried as I always do to pick Jeff out of the crowd, but it's really hard when there are hundreds of swimmers all wearing the same color cap (in this case, the crowd was smaller, but it was no less difficult picking out "my" swimmer). However, I knew his swim wasn't going as well as normal when he was NOT one of the first out of the water. Eventually he did come out, and had a quick transition to the bike. Now, Jeff bikes pretty fast, so I knew I would not be waiting long. By this point, coffee-less and exhausted, I decided to have a quick nap on the grass. I was just drifting off when I heard "bikers in!" meaning some bikers had already made it back - Jeff being one of them! I snapped a few quick photos and he was off on his run (which was a bit slower and more lumbering than normal, but still steady). Not long after that, he was running for the finish! He picked up his medal and came over to me, smiling, but saying how hard it was (the run sucked, etc.). However, when I looked at his overall time, he was still pretty much in the same place he's been the past year or so. So, not bad for an "old guy" right? Well, imagine our surprise when we heard his name called for a trophy! He won second in his age group! Yay! His goal has always been to be competitive in his age group and this was the first year for him to compete in the 40-44 age group. So, props to him for bringing home a win the very first time! 40 is looking up!

Big F-ing Deal! Jeff turns 40!

I got Jeff a card today that said something along the lines of "Fun, Fabulous, Fantastic.........apparently turning 40 is a big f-ing deal!" First, minutes after I woke to greet him and wish him happy birthday, we had the "dog incident" (see last post). That sent Jeff rushing to get dressed and rush to the vet, even before he had seen his presents. Then, when he got back, we did the "present thing" and he went to work. There, they got him a pizza lunch (we also had pizza for dinner at his party!) and a few "happy birthdays". After work, we had a little party with some neighbors. He got lots of wine, cards and an REI gift card. The beer was flowing freely (in iced beer glasses no less - it's real classy around here!) and I noticed later in the evening, Jeff had moved on to Coke and..........something? Rum? Anyway, he got good and pickled and was sleeping it all off by 11. I think he's taking 40 pretty hard. But he says he's "recommitted" to living a healthy life (this after hurting his knee playing soccer, his elbow playing softball, falling off his bike - twice - and finding out his cholesteral is on the high side). You go, Jeff! I say it's about time he joined us 40 (and up) year olds!