THANK YOUs...

and whatnots.

i am so thankful for my support crew:
cory, dylan, wren, mumrah and chuckpaw, heefy, kendl, zeke, matty, trey, miche and lucy, sades, grace, cody, nita, ander, james and finn and various others. thanks for all the support, encouragement, well wishes, and EVERYTHING! i am so lucky to have such an awesome family and set of friends.

thanks especially to the race support crew cory and kids, momma and chuckles, i couldn't have finished without you and i love you guys. i know it was a long day, but we did it. love you!

death race 2009...

VIKINGMAN HALF INRONMAN TRIATHLON
part 4
the finish and awards
6 hours, 36 minutes
2nd place 30-34 age group

second place finish in 30-34 age groupheath and his goofy face

kendl, me, and heath with our trophies

my goal was to finish and to finish in under 8 hours. i knew when i finished that first bike loop that i would make the under 8 hours, it then became can i do it in 6 1/2. well i was a little over, but i finished and i place in my age group. totally unexpected and a very sweet ending to the death race. heath and kendl each placed in their age groups as well.

can't say that i ever want to do this distance again, but i am so glad i did it. i am planning on sticking with sprint and olympic distances. they are a little nicer on the body and mind.

death race 2009...

VIKINGMAN HALF IRONMAN TRIATHLON
part 3
the run
13.1 miles
2 hours 33 minutes

getting out of my soaking wet biking shoes and getting into my running shoes.asking for directions and getting some advice from mr dylan. mile 7 of the runthe finish line and me bawling and laughing and thanking the VIRGIN that it was over!

the run was rough on the ol knees. i had to stop and stretch at miles 3, 6, 8, and 11. i felt good except my knees. the terrain was really muddy and that may have had something to do with it, but overall i felt good. considering what i did before i still ran faster than my first half marathon. i finished the run in 2:33.

death race 2009...

VIKINGMAN HALF IRONMAN TRIATHLON
part 2
the bike
56 miles
3 hours 17 minutes

leaving the swim/bike transitionfirst loop of the bike, 28 miles down, 28 to go!coming into the bike finish! YAY!so happy that i am done with the bike!

the first 28 mile loop of the bike was fantastic ... i was way ahead of schedule and feeling great. my nutrition was good, my hydration was good and my muscles were good. my brother said that he had been eating chex mix on his long rides and suggested that i bring some, i did that as well as some of those peanutbutter cracker sandwhich things. not the nasty orange ones, but the whole wheat ones and they were amazing. i was feeling great and then at about mile 45, i started to struggle, i felt good still but my rpm was crap and i wasnt nearly as fast as the first loop, and i couldn't get my speed up for the life of me. i finished the bike in 3:17 (hours then minutes). i was stoked, it was way faster than my previous long rides and so far i was way ahead of the schedule i had given myself.

death race 2009...

VIKINGMAN HALF IRONMAN TRIATHLON
part 1
the swim
1.2 miles in the snake river
32 minutes

kendl and i at the womens startkendl, heath and i at the swim startjust out of the water and heading to the bike transition

right at the start of the swim, the wind let up a bit and the rain was more just a raining rather than pouring out buckets. the swim was great, it was fast and the water was nice and warm, way warmer than the temp outside. it was really hard swimming straight. i was disoriented twice and hit the bank, but it was good. i got a small hammer punch from a girl in the smallof my back at one point, but other than that no obstacles. i finished the swim somewhere around 31-32 minutes.

pre-race shananigans...

and wetsuits are not forgiving!

good ol' burley... NOT!!! for some reason the weather hates this race. when i watched my brother and his friend do it last year, it was freezing cold, 38 degrees, and it was super windy 35-40 mph. it was horrible, but when he crossed that finish line i decided that i would do it this year. well... all week the weather was beautiful, and sure enough come saturday it was SHITE! it rained like the devil all night friday night and on saturday morning we weren't even sure they would have the race, it was raining so hard, lighting, and the wind was crazy. with about 20 minutes left before the transition area and bike check-in would be closed we got our crap together and got our bodies marked for the race.

hyrum reservoir...

no es bueno. es horrible!!!

here is the maiden voyage of the VORTEX 2. she treated me well... the water wasn't eve cold, but it was gross. i got a little freaked out by its nastiness. here's to hoping no freaking out during the race.

getting into a wetsuit...

is a little like interpretive dance. yikes!

4 days til death race 2009!!!

the chess set...

the boy and the dad had some craft time and made this set. they used an old medicine cabinet for the board and case and then put together all the screws, nuts, bolts, and hardware for the pieces. they used lots of spray paint, primer, and some antiquing solutions to get the final products. pretty cool. dylan was part of the chess club this year at school and loves chess. i am happy, now i dont have to play with cory, i hate chess!

freckles....

on the girl's nose.