2015 Delta Triathlon

Delta, Utah had its second annual Ready, Set, Tri, a super sprint length triathlon, in September. For adults, the swim was 300m, the bike was about 6 miles, and the run was 1.5 miles. For the kids, the swim was 100 yd, bike 1.5 miles, and run 0.25 miles.

I did the triathlon last year but got lost on the bike and didn't finish so I could watch Desert Boy do his first triathlon. He was so happy doing it, so I thought it would be fun to sign up the whole family. Fortunately this year the race organizers waited to have the kids compete so that adults could compete first and then watch their children.

I jumped in the pool when it was my time (we were seeded by times we submitted), and then I was off. The bike route was different this year and had pink arrows spray painted, which made it much easier to follow than signs that had folded over, obscuring the arrows (like last year). I enjoyed the swim and bike, but the run was not fun. That is always a difficult transition for me.

I finished the bike just in time to let my husband use it. The road bike is a lot faster than a mountain bike, so he was glad to see me. I had recovered enough to get a photo of him coming back into the transition area.

Before long it was time for the kids. They had 14 sign up, so they divided them into two groups. Desert Boy was with the first group and did a great job swimming the whole 100 yards with a mixture of backstroke and front crawl. Then he ran out with my husband supervising his transitions.

I stayed with Desert Girl as she did her first triathlon. She did back float kick and doggy paddle with a life jacket. She was slow. Very slow. But she did a 100 yards.

Her transition took awhile because she insisted on putting on leggings. Those are not easy to put on when you're dripping water! Finally she got going and I rode the 1.5 miles with her.

I told my husband he would have the privilege of being her buddy for the 1/4 mile run. He wasn't too thrilled, but he did it. And Desert Girl finished! She was the very last person to finish, which she wasn't happy about, but we kept telling her how good it was that she finished.

Desert Girl was still unhappy about being last until they did the awards and she won a coupon for some breadsticks and a drink. She was the only one to get the breadsticks coupon, so she was feeling special. We went and redeemed them right away, and had a great lunch together. 

I love these small races where the emphasis is on having fun. (Although I have to say there was quite a lot more competition than last year. Last year I was the only one to bring separate biking and running shoes and this year there were quite a few people who did that.) We took an after photo with our matching t-shirts. When I saw how it came out, I thought we probably should have done it as a before photo!

The racing season is slowing down. We'll do a turkey trot race (it's a great way to start Thanksgiving!), but don't have anything else planned for this year. Maybe an obstacle course race for next year!