The Nation's Triathlon
It's been quite a while since I've lost any sleep because of nerves before a race. But finally it happened again, and I had one of those nights where it's hard to sleep soundly because your dreams are filled with strange versions of the upcoming day's events. This time, though, it wasn't about ME racing - I was just excited for Rob to be doing his first triathlon.
Either that or I was just anxious about the excruciatingly small digit my alarm clock was set to go off the next morning. When Rob and I publish our rulebook on life, one of the top entries will be that you should never be able to count the hour you are waking up on one hand.
Of course Rob didn't start out with anything easy, and chose an Olympic distance event for his first triathlon. The Nation's Triathlon was a huge event, with over 2,000 participants. It started with a 1.5k swim in the Potomac River, then went onto a 40k bike portion, and ended with a 10k run. I brought my bike with me so that I could strategically cut around the course and pop up like Houdini all over the route to cheer on my man. I was slightly jealous that I was not in it, but it was nice just to watch and cheer for once. Plus, people like me are the reason they have to have helicopters and rescue boats all along the river for the swim portion. Anyway, Rob did GREAT. It turned out to be one of the hottest, most humid days of the year, and he cramped up terribly just a mile into the run...but he still pushed through it and knocked down his first tri. He says he liked the swim and bike, but hated the run. So maybe we'll have to do a relay sometime! He also said it was the hardest thing he's ever done physically. I think the picture of us at the end shows it all, because he was too tired to even stand up for it. That's how you know you put it all out there! Way to go, Rob.
P.S. I should say that the time displayed on his finishing photo isn't his actual finish time! They left in different waves for long after the timer started.