Here's to our Vikingman!!

We went down to Burley this weekend for Aaron to do the Vikingman Triathlon (Olympic Distance - 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run). His brother, Jeff, has done them for the past few years and talked Aaron into doing it this year. He's been training over the last few months (and lost a bunch of weight while he was at it), so he felt like he was ready and excited to give it a try.

I had been watching the weather all week, and things were not looking too promising. On our drive down on Friday, it was windy, pouring rain, and, at one point, hailing really hard. We all crossed our fingers that it wouldn't be so bad for the race on Saturday. I was so worried about it, but Aaron was determined to do it no matter what. It turned out to be a little windy and drizzly for most of the time he was racing. It was really the best chunk of weather we had the whole weekend.

Aaron's parents came up to watch the guys race and hang out with all of us. We had a good time visiting with them and with Jeff, Nicole and Alexis. I was glad to have some company while waiting and watching at the event.

Aaron had a great time and did really well. He got first in his age group (and even got a cool trophy) and 16th overall. His big downfall was the bike, he said, because his seat was too low and he was trying to figure out how to adjust all the gears. Yes, most people would have done all that before the day of the race. Not Aaron! He bought this bike a couple weeks ago on Craigslist, got it tuned up, rode it around the block a couple times, and called it good. I kept telling him he needed to go on at least one bike ride before the triathlon (he had just been training on the spin bikes at the gym), but he insisted that he'd be fine. Well, he was fine and made it through, but it might have been a bit easier had he listened to me. There, did I rub it in enough??

So, here comes the pictures and video....and there's a lot! (I didn't get a whole lot of video because Gary was recording on his camera as well. But as it turns out, he hadn't actually pushed the record button when he thought he had. Yes, this happened several times. Operator error, as Gary said!)

I thought I was taking a picture here, but my camera was set on video. So it the shortest video ever, but you can see him coming in from his swim to the transition area.

We were able to get really close and see him at the transition area. This is really all we were able to watch (besides the ending), but it was still super exciting. I was so proud of him!

Always a smile!

I know you're all jealous of the tight shorts!



Aaron taking a deep breath as he was about to start the biking part.

Off he goes! At one point toward the end of the bike ride, his butt was cramping up so bad, he couldn't move his legs. He had to slow down and just fall over on his side. He couldn't even get his shoes out of the clips. After a little stretch his got back on and finished. What a stud!

It was a cool, drizzly day, but we stayed warm and snuggly. Elsie had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here's Aaron coming in on his bike. I forgot I was videoing and started cheering and watching him...so, needless to say, it's not the best picture.

Getting ready for the run.

Ready for the last leg of the race.

Elsie snuggled on Grandma as we waited for Aaron at the finish line. She was getting so tired, but she was so excited to see Daddy when he finished.

Here he comes!!

Still had the energy to be dorky!

He's done!

He went straight for the watermelon.

We were so proud and in awe of of him. He didn't even seem tired or worn out. There was even a tiny, and I mean tiny, part of me that thought I should do it next year. That lasted about 2 seconds.

Aaron, with his trophy, and his brother Jeff. Jeff did the Half-Triathlon. Crazy!!