Run, Bike, Swim

Two weekends ago we had a typical Pull family adventure. A typical Pull family adventure usually involves more time/money than we anticipate, waaaay more disasters than we could dream up on our own, and lots and lots of fun, too.

For this adventure we set off to Smith Mountain Lake in Huddleston, Virginia (1 hour south of Lynchburg, VA and about 4.5 hours from our house) so Joe could participate in his first ever sprint triathalon. Our good friend, Andrew, is a veteran to this race and convinced Joe that he, too, should compete in the race. The race consisted of a .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 5K run.

We left Maryland around 4 PM on Friday afternoon and arrived at our hotel for the evening at 11:15PM. Did I mention that the race is only 4.5 hours from our house? After hitting a bit of rush hour traffic, stopping to pick up Joe's wetsuit for the race, grabbing some dinner, stopping to go potty after Theia peed in her carseat, and having Aliyah puke in the car, we were a bit later than we anticipated. Around midnight the lights went out and all were asleep moments later.

After a long night on a very uncomfortable bed, the alarm went off at 6AM and the fun began anew. After showering (boy did Aliyah need it!), dressing, and enjoying the hotel's continental breakfast, we were on our way to the race by 7:20AM. We arrived at the race, dropped Joe off with all of his gear and headed to park the van. The only available parking at this point was about 1.5 hilly miles from the start line. About halfway through getting everything we owned out of the van and loading it onto the double stroller, Joe called to say he had forgotten his contacts. We continued loading the stroller down and headed toward the start line to meet him with his contacts. Feeling the tick of the clock with every slow step Xandra took, I piled her onto the already weighed down stroller and proceeded to run, in flip-flops, pushing a double stroller, with three kids loaded inside, to the start line. Partway up the final hill (I was walking by now), I caught sight of a parked ambulance and breathed a sigh of relief knowing that if I passed out now, they would help me.

As we made our way to the start line with just a minute or two to spare, I realized we were going to have to abandon ship. The starting line was on a beach. The beach was full of sand. It is not physically possible to push a double stroller, loaded with all your personal belongings and three small children through sand. We abandoned the stroller (literally left it with all our stuff and walked far away from it), heard lots and lots of whining about sand in shoes, approached the starting line all the while yelling "Joe" into a crowd of swim-capped sardines hoping that our Joe would surface. Thankfully, Joe heard/saw the spectacle that was his family and came running for his contacts. Just as he got the first contact out of the case and into his hand, the air horn blew for the race to begin. I'm not sure if the crooked swimming that ensued was because he was blind or because he's just that easily lost. Honestly, I have no idea how straight or crooked his swimming was, as all you can see is an army of blue hatted seals in the water. Joe later told me that his swimming was crooked, that's the only reason I know to poke fun at him. Why does he tell me these things?

We played in the sand a bit after watching the first two waves of swimmers start and then made our way over to the first transition area. Our friend Andrew is a strong swimmer and so, as expected, we saw him emerge from the water about four minutes before Joe.

Andrew is the guy in the back with the long-sleeved wetsuit.

Joe didn't have much to say when he came by. I later found out it was because he didn't even see us there. We're hard to miss, you know. Three little kids, double stroller, crazy screaming woman, camera out...but I guess if you don't have contacts or glasses, then all bets are off. I was just glad to see he wasn't out swimming lost in the middle of the lake!

The girls' favorite part of the race was the lull between this transition and seeing the guys on the bikes. We hung out on the beach and they enjoyed the sand (now that their shoes were off).

Aliyah, of course, hung out in the stroller. I kept her happy with snacks galore, which I would later regret, but it sure did make for a happy girl in the moment.

The bikes were too fast to snap a picture, but we cheered loudly when Andrew came through and a few minutes later when he came running by I announced to him that there was no way Joe would catch him now! Joe was a full 5 minutes behind Andrew after getting off of the bike. A 5K is only a 3.1 mile run. It's hard to make up that much time in that little mileage.

By this time Xandra was really getting into cheering for the runners and bikers. She would yell, wave and stick her hand out for high fives. Aliyah was content to be held and Theia was happy to sit in the stroller and munch snacks.

When Joe came running by my comment to him was that he was 5 minutes behind Andrew and he'd better kick it in gear. I got some funny looks and comments from those around us that claimed I wasn't very encouraging. I thought it was the most encouraging thing I could say, given that my husband is a very competitive man who hates to lose. Unfortunately, at this point I had given up all hope that Joe would beat Andrew. I also began to realize that he wasn't going to beat his goal of 1 hour, 30 minutes on time either. Can you imagine my surprise when 25 minutes later I saw this:

that's Joe, and then this:

that's Andrew well behind Joe, who has already passed to go to the finish line!

In the last minute or two of the race, Joe pulled ahead of Andrew to finish about 30 seconds in front of him!

It was a fun morning of competition between two friends. I think they will repeat it sometime in July at another triathalon a bit closer to home. Maybe then Andrew will be able to turn that frown upside down!

For winning, Joe received two things: $1.00 and eternal glory.

After playing in a park waiting for the guys to recuperate, we set off for home. On the way Aliyah again puked in the car, Theia again peed in her carseat, and no one napped. Despite all of that unexpected smelly fun, the girls were happy most of the way home. We stopped for some Pizza Hut, took it to a local park for an impromptu picnic, and enjoyed a happy, quiet meal with the girls eating and playing about us. We were both too lazy and tired to walk back to the car for the camera, but you can use your imagination.

We arrived home at bedtime, unpacked the kids and car, removed all of the carseats, started a really gross load of laundry (definitely top five in the "gross loads of laundry category"), and headed to bed. A fun and memorable weekend of Pull family adventures. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I have requested we keep it a bit closer to home next time!