Why get up at 5:00 am on a Sunday? Why sign up for a Half Ironman? These were not the questions my mom and dad and their friends were asking themselves last Sunday. It appeared to me that the motto of doing half of something wasn't really what they were about, the only thing that was "half" was that none of them had enough desire and energy to do a full Half Ironman. Half of a full - did I loose any of you mathematicians yet? Well, to complete the confusion add seven kids, six adults, two teams, four cars, different schedules, 95 degrees Fahrenheit....What can I say - we made half a day of it - everyone gave all they had - and none of the back-up plans had to be activated.
It all started with THE SWIM:
For some of the Team members this was the most complicated part of the day. I am not sure whether it was for the part of the Team that was still tugged into bed, getting their rest before battling two baby dinosaurs to make it out to the race field, two other members getting their bikes ready, one member circled-in by five kids, or actually the two members doing the swimming? For sure it was a very beautiful way to break into the day and get the race fever flowing in everyone's veins!
Once the swimmers got out of the water, and the bikers were well on their way, the preparations of setting up base camp for the day for the kids were quite challenging since we included the kids in the decision making process. Anyone having tried to reason with a 4 or 7 year old, might be able to imagine what it is like to reason with five kids ranging from the ages of 4 to 8. To say the least we were quite proud of our results when by democracy we decided to stay close to the race course, and actually preferred this over going to a beach on a nearby area of the Lake.
As the temperature started to rise and the sun started to beat down on the riders out on the course, the final preparations started for the runners. And than it was time! The first rider came in, and the final leg of the course could finally start.
All that training and running finally to be put to the test! Fortunately there was a slight breeze running through our hair as we started battling the two loop running course through the woods. It was so hot! It was so hot. It was just hot, hot and hot. So many competitors frustrated and left walking on a course that had been meant for running. For those of us running in a relay, what kept on running through my head was: That's you! That's you during the second lap! That's you walking because you burned all your energy - but fortunately that never happened and all of us were able to finish smiling!
The only thing left to do was to fall back into the lake and watch the kids running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water, running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water, running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water, running up the ramp, running down the dock, jumping into the water....running, running, running...several participants were still running as we were leaving...our minds revolving around what to do next time? What was for sure was the dinner date the following night to raise a few beers (or water) to our lips and smile and talk about all the sensations we had felt during the course of this quite amazing day.
Get out there when you can!
