Xterra 2010

Once again, The Wieber family attended The 4th Annual McCall Xterra triathlon. And, although I have been a participant every year since the beginning, this year I got to sit it out. And I have to admit, I wasn't all that disappointed. I got to bundle up in comfy clothes, grab a coffee, chase kids, and cheer on the team. In fact, the most strenuous part of the whole race trip, for me, was a very loud and chaotic trip to the ladies room with 4 giggly little girls who woke up before the rooster crows, and who loved operating the hand dryer in an amazingly echo-y room. On second thought, I think it might have been a better choice to sign up for the race. I'm still weighing that one out.

We were completely blessed to stay in a beautiful cabin a mile or two away from Ponderosa Park, the race location. This completely blew away our previous expectation of camping the night before the race. Thank you Hill's for including us in your plans! We had an awesome time with their family and enjoyed an awesome dinner together.

This race in particular is a very tough triathlon and the number of participants remains rather small each year due to it's challenging course. The challenge of it makes it all the more fun. See, I can say that because I sat this one out, remember? :O) Instead of racing the whole thing this year, Brian put together a team and I must say, he chose well. Kristin was the swimmer and she totally kicked butt! (oh, is this a family blog? Did I just say butt?) Tulug was the runner, and coming back from his service in the Turkish Army the day before and driving himself and his 5 year old little girl 3 hours to get to the race while suffering from jet lag and arriving 20 minutes after the race started, he also did well. He is Brian's arch nemesis in the triathlon world and Brian has been caught, sitting in Tulug's desk chair at work, typing out the following words: "I know Brian is faster than me." OR something to that effect. The fact that Tulug agreed to be on his team shows an amazing amount of forgiveness on Tulug's part.

Here is the racer and his girls. Reese gives a toast:

Who gave Reese coffee? Here we are with Jason and Kristin's kids and everyone is still waking up, except Reese. Is this a little peek into the future? Do we have a Wieber child who will break the rule of "no getting up before 9am?" My heart feels faint.

If you've never watched a triathlon race, you need to. Just to watch the swimmers take their first leap into the water. It's emotional for me to see the racers, with hours of practice logged, jumping in together, using all their God-given strength to get to the front. I tell you, it gets me every time.

Go Kristin!

We take advantage of the in-between minutes to take a few photos (while Kristin is working hard):

Brian accidentally takes a whiff of his shoes:

He's not happy that I made that comment. But really, let's face it--those bike shoes are 12 years old. He loves those shoes like a baby loves his binky.

Kristin was one of the first women to come in. Way to go! She was nothing short of amazing.

And...he's off!

And this is Brian coming back in. Now, I know I make this race seem super short and easy by posting a picture of his return right after his departure, but trust me--this is one hard mountain bike leg.

Brian grits his teeth to finish off well.

Tulug grabs the timer and takes off.

Holland gives Daddy a congratulatory hug.

Liv gets silly.

And it's Tulug, comin' back in.

Great job team Sharhinoma! (ShaRhinoMA = Kristin the Shark, Brian the Rhino, Tulug the Puma--doesn't that give you the best picture of Brian? A rhino, crashing through the trees of Ponderosa? Love that image. :o) They got 3rd place for their co-ed relay team.

The Wieber's cool off at the McCall waterfront after the race.

Even though a storm was imminent,

we managed to have a little bit of fun before the rain started.

Liv Wieber is always, always silly. That's a promise.

The girls crash all the way home. They were completely exhausted!

Another fun Exterra, year. :o)