What an amazing weekend we had together. Kim signed up for a three-day triathlon in New Hampshire (appropriately called the Black Fly Tri). The event(s) consisted of a Friday night time trial (4 mile sprint on bike), a Saturday morning 'international' distance triathlon (0.5 mile swim, 20 mile bike, 5 mile run), and a Sunday morning 'sprint' triathlon (0.25 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 3 mile run). Though it took an insanely long time to drive up to Waterville Valley Ski area (northern New Hampshire--about 4.5 hours away from New Haven), we arrived mid-Friday afternoon and had a couple of hours to bum around before Kim's first race. It was a great set-up--we rented a two bedroom condo in the ski village, so we had plenty of room to spread out and the kids loved having their own bedroom with bunk beds. The 'village' was cool in that the hotel was right next to the pond where the race start was, and where the swim took place. The village also had all kinds of restaurants, some coffee shops, a small grocery store, and a toy/book shop, so there was no need to drive the car anywhere all weekend. It was heaven. We could also rent canoes, kayaks, and paddle boats, and on Friday night when Kim was out racing, I took the girls out for a paddle boat ride, and we had a great time together.
Kim did so well on all three events that she placed third overall in her age group. For that, she got a jug of maple syrup! She has always been a great triathlete, and despite taking a few years off for kids, she has returned in excellent form. I am totally proud of her--she's an amazing athlete.
As for the rest of us, we had a great weekend, too. Saturday was my birthday, so Kim arranged for the kids to attend a short day camp for a few hours in the morning while she was competing, so I headed out to the mountain trails for a run. I ran for about two hours up and around the ski slopes on Saturday, and then looped back around to join Kim in the final miles of her running leg of the triathlon. Though I didn't anticipate running today, I was able to head out for another hour or so, and had an amazing run on some cross-country ski trails. After these two days of running, I'm feeling much more confident in terms of being able to do another ultramarathon in September, though I still have a lot of work to do to get here.
The cool thing about our weekend at Waterville Valley was that there
were tons of families there, and lots of parents were there competing
in the triathlons while their kids cheered them on. The kids loved the atmosphere, and I think its a good and healthy thing to expose them to. We got to spend a couple of hours on Saturday was my dear friend Kris and her cool kids, who live just an hour north of the race. We also met a couple of cool lesbian families who were also there competing in the triathlon, and one of the families lives just a few miles up the road from us here. I'm hoping we can get together with them, and their kids, sometime soon.
It was a really incredible birthday weekend-probably the best on record, as far as I can remember (of course, I'm 39 now, so who knows how my memory is holding up)...
Kim and the girls before before her Saturday triathlon:
Maisie and Ella in the paddle boats:
Running in the New Hampshire mountains. I did a ton of climbing and got some really gorgeous views.