The Salem Triathlon 2008

Last Saturday was the triathlon. Last year I did the whole tri. This year, I was planning to do a relay race with Andy's sister Betsy, and his mom Joyce. Andy was going to do a relay with his brother Chris and his dad Jeff. Adam and Jen were doing the whole race. That was the plan. Then Chris got an offer to take pictures at the triathlon, so a friend named Mike took his place.

On Friday, we drove down to Salem to go over the course. Andy, Jen and Joyce practiced the bike part. Jeff and I went over the running course. Betsy tried on her wet suit. The kids played at the park, fed the ducks, and Ruby almost fell in the pond. Fun.

So race day came early... and cold and rainy. We packed up all the gear and drove an hour to Salem. As the bikes were being unloaded and prepared for the race, we discovered that we didn't have the right wheels for the bikes (front wheels and back wheels are not interchangeable). After a few moments of panic, the bike portion of the race was cancelled because of the rain. Whew.

The rain was pouring down and the temperature was hovering around 45-ish. Brrr. We made a lean-to with a tarp, a picnic table, two strollers, and a garbage can. We huddled underneath to keep warm and dry. The kids fared best of all. I was shivering.

The race was delayed for almost an hour. In that time, our relay teams changed a bit. Jeff decided that Joyce could run instead of him (she was going to do the bike part for the girls' relay). The race finally started. Mike was swimming for the boys, and Betsy was swimming for the girls. The water was ice-cold and the relay team swimmers started with the elite and under 25 wave.

Betsy had a rough start and had to drop out. So the girls' team was DQ'd. Joyce had me take her place for the run. Mike is an amazing swimmer; he was one of the first swimmers out of the water. He handed off the timing chip, and I took off with Joyce for the run. Because the relay starts with the first wave of racers, I had a great head start. Unfortunately as other waves of athletes completed the swim, they joined in the run, so people were passing me the whole time. Joyce ran with me most of the way. It was very fun.

Andy and Alli were cheering me on towards the end... and I finished strong.

Andy was disappointed that he didn't get to race. Next year.