Spudman Triathlon in Burley, Idaho

That's a finisher medal on a live body. It's exactly what I wanted out of this race, and more than I expected.
I've completed the Spudman Triathlon three times in my previous life as a younger and cooler person (2005, 2006, 2007).

I started it in 2008 as a five-months pregnant person. I had to borrow a wetsuit from my coach because mine didn't fit and I didn't even take a bike or running shoes because I planned to quit after the swim, which I did.



Woah. This picture from Spudman day in 1998 grosses me out, but I kind of love it because I am crazy about Ikey. Still, I looked gross, but I felt fine and surprisingly, I felt like I looked fine.

This year, TB graciously agreed to watch the kids for 24 hours and Coach Scott miraculously got me an entry into this sold-out race. I drove three hours to Burley, desperate for a rest area (none) and suffered a coronary when I had to drive through a really dense dust storm wall caused by a tractor and plow working the fields adjacent to the windy highway. At the race headquarters at the lovely Burley Golf Club, Heidi and Marilyn and I sold tons of triathlon gear at Coach's stand. I ate spaghetti and green beans and potatoes at race headquarters, then set up my bike for the race the next day. I noticed that my pulse would go up every time I looked at that big Snake River. 

I set up my bike stuff in the first transition zone. Note the white cross on the island in the middle of the river? I believe it's a memorial for a man who died during the swim in 1998.

Team Fast Lane checked into our comfortable accommodations at Dr. Geodhart's home and veterinary clinic in nearby Declo and Marilyn made dinner. I went to bed at about 11 am and woke up sometime after that, still in the dark, with my heart pounding, anticipating swimming the next day. I just knew that my heart was going to stop right that minute or that the world was going to run out of air, and I was worried that we were kind of far away from an ER or an ambulance or anything, but I was hopeful that the vet could save me if I was able to summon her before I expired. Eventually, I fell back asleep and woke up to the alarm at 5 am. We all packed up our stuff and headed to the start area to set up our second transition zone with running gear, wiggle into wetsuits, and jump into the river.

Heidi, Coach Scott, Marilyn, Aimee

I talked myself into and out of trying the swim about five times, and  since I found myself in the water when the start bell sounded, I decided not to fight the current and I committed myself to starting and finishing the race. I floated downriver for the first half of the course without putting my face in the water. When it felt like I'd been in the river pretty much long enough, a kayaker yelled out that I was just about half way. Halfway?! This was taking forever! So I put on my super-foggy goggles and swam just fine without hyperventilating or drowning and only running into the shore one time. I was so elated to climb out of the river. The second half of my swim was probably an average pace for a regular swimmer, but the first half was so slow that I was only faster than 6% of the people who finished the race. Most people who spent as much time as me in the water quit the race. I didn't!
I started riding my bike the same time it started raining, and I remembered that I forgot to train on the bike. The last two times I'd ridden my road bike was in the triathlon earlier this month, and in June of last year (and yes, I am including all of my training rides. There were none.) Both of those times, I rode less than 15 miles because they were sprint events. This race had a 40K (25.6 mile) bike course. So the bike was slow and fine and I didn't draft and I didn't crash. 
It started raining in earnest during my run, and I spent the first part of the run trying to remember the last time I ran 10K (6.2 miles) in a race or in training. I really think it must have been five years ago when I did a half-marathon while I was barely pregnant with Isaac.  The run through the sugar beet and corn fields was truly lovely with rain falling on us and a surprisingly large number of soggy locals cheering us on. I was hoping to finish under three hours, but I just missed it at 3:05:02. I sprinted that last tenth of a mile down the grassy hill and I was really blazing fast for just a minute.
I clearly am not "in training", although I am "carbo-loading" year round. What kind of fool travels across state lines for a competitive event in which the first leg causes anticipatory panic attacks, the total completed training miles for the second leg (in the whole previous year) is slightly less than the actual event, and the third event hasn't even been attempted in five years? So I'm foolish, and I felt like it when I checked my results and found that I am about the top of the bottom third of women who completed the race. It's not great, but it's something I can do and I really did enjoy the trip with my team and the actual race was fun too. And really, I was exerting myself for a full 56 minutes longer than the woman who won the race, so that's something. I think I'll train a little more and hopefully get better results. I have a couple more races this year, and I sure hope I haven't timed this precision machine to peak yet this season.

Aimee, Heidi (1st place!), Coach Scott (2nd place!), Marilyn (her first tri!)

Coach Scott treated us to a yummy lunch at The Upper Crust and I drove home in sleepy solitude to my hard-working husband and lovable children. The kids ran up yelling, "Did you win? Did you win?" They seemed satisfied with the finishers' medal on the red, white and blue ribbon and I guess I am too or I would try harder, right?