Dada's Half Ironman and Arizona!

Kevin had signed us up to do a swim/run duathlon in June. It got canceled due to low water levels in the lake so he decided that meant that he should do a half ironman instead (crazy logic right?). He borrowed his cousin Mason's bike and started riding with Russell and their friend Michael Toms and eventually bought his own bike once he decided it was something he wanted to pursue. Kevin searched for the latest race that he could (that didn't conflict with any of the weddings we attended) and that was within a drive-able distance in order to have a little time to train and ended up deciding on one on October 20 in Tempe, Arizona. It just so happens that my mom has two sisters that live in Arizona, one of whom lives about 15 minutes from the race location! We decided to make a road trip out of it and my mom came with us.

We left Thursday around 4:30 and drove to San Bernadino to spend the night. Clarita was a trooper and handled the five hour trip like a pro. It helped that she had La Abuelita next to her in the car to play with. We spent the night at a hotel (which Clara thought was pretty fun) and headed out early the next morning. The trip to Phoenix was a little rougher and Clarita had one screaming fit when she got tired of being in her car seat. We stopped and let her out for a few minutes and she was ready to go again.

Hotels are fun

We got to Phoenix around 1:00 and Clara was very happy to arrive and get out of her car seat. She was excited to see Aunt Beth again and to meet Uncle Pat. My cousin, Jennifer, just had a little girl, Zianne, on September 21 so they came over and we got to meet each other’s babies and catch up. Clara was fascinated with Baby Z and stared at her in wonder.

Free at last!

Swings are fun!

So are slides!

Baby Swap!

On Saturday, Clarita and I went with Kevin to set everything up for the race and she thought that it was super fun because there were people everywhere! My Auntie Anne drove down from Prescott and Clara got lots of snuggles from her when we got home. Clara also really loved my aunt and uncle’s dog, Snoopy! She especially loved when Snoopy chased his toys or jumped in the air.

Snoopy!

Watching Snoopy

Auntie Anne

Sunday was the half ironman which consisted of a 1.2 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike ride and finished with a half marathon (13.1 miles). I personally would only ever want to do one of those things at a time (actually not the bike ever) and think that Kevin is crazy! Kevin did well as we knew that he would. He completed the swim in 31:22 and was third or fourth out in his wave of over 90 people. He knew that biking was his weak point and he had not had a good ride in a while as we had been gone/busy the past few weekends. He went slower than he would have liked on the bike, 3:17:20, and was tired when he finished. Then came the run… It was pretty hot (the high was supposed to be 90) and the sun was so much stronger than it is at home. The run was along a man made lake (aka canal) and entirely in the sun on a cement/dirt path. It looked miserable to me especially since the five minutes I stood in the sun baked me. Kevin ran it in 1:53:56 which was impressive to me as that was just a little slower than I ran my first half marathon without having done anything else first.

Kevin is somewhere in those blue hats...

End of the swim

Transition to the bike

Taking a picture of a moving object while holding a baby is difficult!

End of the bike

Still smiling!

Finished!!!!!

Clarita was a trooper the entire day. We left at 5:00 AM and didn't get back until 3:00 PM. She watched all of the people and played with her toys while we waited for Kevin to pass us on the bike. All of the courses were loops, the bike three loops and the run two. Clara and I happened to choose a position on the bike course where they went out and turned around and came back on the same road. That meant that we got to see Kevin six times! That kept us busy and entertained! Clarita fell asleep right before Kevin finished the bike and slept for a little over two hours. That made my life pretty boring and I wished that I had brought a book. She woke up right as Kevin passed us on his last lap of the run. I had obviously not paid attention when Kevin explained the course to me and thought that the run was three laps. Luckily I second guessed myself (I knew that Kevin couldn't be that slow) and moved to a different location on the run that was right before the finish. As Kevin ran by I asked him if he had another lap left and when he said no I freaked out because I realized it was unlikely that we were going to make it to the finish before him. I hurriedly put Clarita into her stroller and ran the quarter mile to the finish. I got situated on a little hill with the perfect photo opportunity just as I got a text message saying that Kevin had finished the race. We were very sad that we didn't see his finish, but excited at how easy running with the Bob was. I imagine that it would be even easier if it didn't have a giant diaper bag attached to the handle bars and tons of toys underneath. My mom and my aunts had come to the beginning of the race and then left for church and they got back right after Kevin finished as well. Poor Kevin, he even pushed hard and passed a guy right at the end just to make me proud (that’s my favorite thing to do because then everyone cheers for you). All in all it was a very successful day and Kevin is already talking about his next half ironman!

Watching the swim

Playing during the bike

Where's Dada?

Feeding herself to sleep

Out!

Half Iron Man Dada!

After the race we headed back to my aunt and uncle’s house and relaxed a little before the big family dinner. My Uncle Karl happened to be in Phoenix for work so he came over as well as my cousin Jennifer, her husband Micah, his mother-in-law Cheri, and Baby Z, and Auntie Anne. It was a great mini family reunion filled with great food and laughter! Clara charmed everyone with her smiles and laughs and Baby Z was as precious as can be! We had a great time complete with tons of pictures, and I am glad that Clara got to spend so much time with her relatives. My mom has a huge family with six siblings, but they all live very spread out and none in California so we don’t get to spend much time with them. I’m hoping that we will be able to get together more often now that they are all mostly retired.

Petersens minus three

We headed home around 7:30 AM Monday morning and made a breakfast stop at Cracker Barrel since no trip to Arizona is complete without a trip to Cracker Barrel. It was Clarita’s first time there and she loved it of course. She even ate some grits which she also loved. We stopped two other times and Clara ate, got her diaper changed, and got to play a little. She was soooo good on the way home it was unbelievable! I expected the trip to be a nightmare as we weren't breaking it up and she is so active. She did great sleeping for an hour or so at a time, waking up and playing with La Abuelita, and then wiggling all around when we stopped. We finally got home at 5:30 PM and Clarita was very happy to be free of her car seat!

Cracker Barrel

Yummy grits (and an awesome baby mullet)

Cracker barrel has the best rocking chairs