As the Timberman Triathlon Festival approached, we all seemed to have some trouble generating enthusiasm. Shawn was worried about her knee, Josh was worried about the bike, Jake wanted to stay home and enjoy his birthday, and John was feeling under-trained and under motivate – all reasonable objections. Yet we’d signed up so off we went!
And a good thing too! ‘Cuz we ended up having a lot of fun! We got to meet up with lots of friends from Trifury and from KickRunners and even made some new friends too!
Friday night we made the drive, had some dinner and bought groceries before checking into the Misty Harbor where we’d stayed last year as well. We chilled and were all out by 9:00 PM anticipating the early wakeup.
The Saturday morning alarm jarred us from our sleep and we were into action! Arriving early at the park, we had prime parking thanks to John’s volunteer status. While Shawn and Josh got checked in and set up in transition, John was headed for the waterfront where he was assigned to kayak duty shortly after the first turn buoy where he could secretly keep an eye on Shawn and Josh as they swam by!
Shawn and Josh both had GREAT races! In Joshua’s first “adult” triathlon, he showed great confidence and skill! He swam the 1/3 mile with little difficulty, looking strong the whole way. The bike, probably the longest ride of his life, was handled like a pro. And finally, on the run, though he says he had to walk a bit in the middle, he was looking strong and brought it home!
Shawn entered the race fearing the worst from her knee which was still recovering from her spring surgery. She had a good confident swim and a happy bike and set out on the run knowing she might just have to walk it. Fortunately for her, the knee behaved better than expected and she had a good run and a fun race all around!
We spent the rest of Saturday enjoying the lake, registering John for Sunday’s race, and seeing a bit of Laconia. On Saturday night, we found a bar-side table and watched the Red Sox beating up the Yankees before another early retirement.
Sunday morning was another early call for John. He headed to the race at 4:30 AM while the rest of the family would sleep in a bit and then follow on their bikes a bit later. John had a relaxed swim and a fun bike before deciding to pack it in on the run and enjoy the day – you can can read the gory details of his race here.
Jake was number one cheerleader throughout the weekend!! He took pictures, presented mom with flowers at the finish, and was an all around good sport. Next year, maybe we’ll get him out there!
We showered up and headed home Sunday evening, a bit tired and burnt out, for a brief celebration of Jacob’s birthday which would see a full celebration the following weekend. In the end, we were all glad we went and had a lot of fun!
sounds like a great weekend! that’s great that shawn’s knee didn’t bother her, and that jake had such a great first “adult” race! and hey, no biggy about yours! i read your other report and i think it speaks a lot about how much FUN you had! that’s what matters most.