The Best Sound: Luray Triathlon

This past weekend was the third annual Luray Triathlon (international and sprint distances). For the first time in a long time I was a spectator rather than a participant. (Scott decided way back when that I shouldn't compete due to the pregnancy; though I initially thought I'd be able to, I realized on a training ride that not participating was a smart move.)

I had a great time cheering on Scott and our friends, though I was a bit jealous of Nanette and Amelia; after all, I was training with them up until the race, so part of me wanted to jump right in. (Let me clarify the training: when I learned that I was pregnant, I stopped running, but I kept biking and swimming since I had been prior to becoming pregnant. I never actually completed any "bricks" -- combo of swim/bike or bike/run-- since that would've been too much for me to handle.)

Everyone did really well, besting their times from last year (or in JT and Nanette's case, setting the bar high for those of us who want to try again next year). Scott wasn't sure he'd be able to beat his 2:00 from last year, but he crushed it, finishing in 1:45. Cheering for him was probably the best part of watching, especially since I didn't see him at all last year once the race started.

The biggest challenge facing us spectators was locating everyone. We had a general idea of when we might see them, but we still had to find them in the midst of the crowd. Then, if they didn't appear when we expected them to, we'd get a bit nervous (did they crash? was the most asked question). Plus, we didn't know what everyone was wearing. Well, I knew what Scott and Amelia were wearing because I saw them transition to the bike, but as for the other three, it was a shot in the dark (though I was pretty sure I knew what colors JT and Nanette were wearing). Take Jason for instance. All of us thought he was wearing either a white or a black shirt for the bike portion, so that's what we looked for. No wonder Barbara (Amelia's mom) and I missed Jason as he blew by us on the bike; we were so focused on men in white shirts that we didn't even notice Jason in his bright red shirt until he was right in front of us (which, by that time, was too late to snap a picture). But wait, it gets better. Barbara and I figured we'd snap some photos of Jason beginning the run since we missed him on the bike. Of course, we kept an eye out for a red shirt. Seems logical, right? Well, Jason mixed it up on us yet again. This time, he wore a tan shirt. Maybe he didn't want us to take his picture. Hmmmm...

The reactions were the best. Scott stuck his tongue out at us (me, his parents, Amelia's mom, baby Connor, JT's sister, baby Katie, Henry and Nina). Nanette always had a smile on her face. Always. JT kicked it into hyper-drive at the end, sprinting past a few racers in front of him. Jason looked angry (maybe he was just trying to look intimidating) as he finished the bike portion. And Amelia gave me the death glare as I was rooting her on to the finish. (She claims I was screaming, but I don't know what she's talking about. I just wanted her to finish strong. Can I help it if in the midst of encouraging her my volume well exceeded conversational levels?)

Below are a few pics from the race.

Packet pick-up: Amelia, baby Connor, Jason, and Scott. Yes, my husband is purposely avoiding the camera.

At least Scott took a nice photo with his parents (Roger and Mel) before the race. Notice the skull shirt: Scott thought wearing it would intimidate the competition (no, I don't think he was serious).