Everything is Better Brown: St George Half Ironman / Sam and Janae's Wedding

We figured that on Sam's wedding day and while I was 32 weeks pregnant would be the perfect time to do a Half Ironman Relay as a Derailer reunion. By process of elimination, obviously I would do the 1.2 mile swim because the other two legs would be physically impossible. Fine by me! Swimming is literally the only thing that feels even remotely good right now. Sam would do the 56 mile bike leg, to give him just a little extra time to get to the temple for the wedding. Elle would be our runner for the half marathon, despite her current loathe of all things running right now. It was a crazy feat to squeeze in the morning of the wedding, yet I couldn't see Sam's wedding day going any other way. For me, the race was a lifesaver during this pregnancy to have something to look forward to and that helped me feel "normal" as opposed to all the "bleh" that comes from pregnancy. So, mentally and physically it was so so good for me!

The Monday before the race, Elle broke her toe. So, Sam's brother in law, Mike was our super fast last minute fill-in. Elle was promoted to coach status and our scheduling coordinator making sure that everyone got from the race to a shower to the temple in time. Not an easy task, but she was perfect for the job with perfect execution.

I flew into San Diego Thursday night and the next day, Elle and I drove to St. George. It was the fastest road trip ever in the sense that time flew as we enjoyed talking in the kid-less car. We picked up Sam in Vegas and then headed straight to race check-in in St G. Walking in with my obviously pregnant belly was a quite unusual feeling. I didn't exactly feel hard-core (except during contractions) surrounded by all the other racers. I didn't feel like a hard core triathlete that is, but in a different setting, I did feel like somewhat of a hard core human being. We enjoyed dinner at the condo with Sam and Janae's families and did a few last minute wedding errands. It was great to finally meet Janae. Exhauseted, Sam, Janae, Elle and I headed back to the air B&B to get a little sleep before a big day,

We woke up early and headed to the gas station on the way to the race, hoping to get some breakfast and fuel for the race. Unfortunately the cash registers were closed and despite Sam offering to pay $50 for a Clif bar, we left empty handed. Thank goodness I packed some personal almond butter on my carry on and brought some pre-made kodiak cakes. We met up with Scott and Aly at the race. The day was off to a great start.

Sand Hollow is a beautiful place for a swim. I went in with a realistic expectation of what I thought my time would be based on my "training". I did slightly better that I thought and was happy about that. Out of the 75 or so relay teams, I came out of the water in like 50-55th place and then Sam and Mike killed it on their legs, despite the brutal heat and hills and pulled us up to a 10th place finish. Must have been fun for them to have so many people to pass, thanks to me putting them in such a great position to do so!

The swim itself felt amazing but what I was not prepared for was the short "run" I had to do from the water to the transition area. It left my hips screaming the entire rest of the day.

After Sam took off, Elle, Janae and I had just enough time to head back to the Air B&B to shower than back to T2 to meet Sam after his bike. We were following him on the Ironman App, and thought we missed him, then didn't, then did, and to his dismay never got a picture of him finishing. Then Mike took off in the scorching sun to bring our team home to the finish. Sam ditched us to get ready for his wedding, go figure. I enjoyed the post race athlete food and camaraderie while Elle got Sam and Janae to the right places at the right time. My belly turned a few heads in the "athlete tent" getting the post race food. The generous volunteers were impressed and told me to grab as much food as I would like, to which I gladly obliged to get enough for me and my teammates.

We enjoyed a quick celebration at the finish and then it was off to get ready and head to the wedding. We had just enough time. The temple sealing was beautiful, even with me and Elle's matching "funeral dresses", as Sam would call it. The reception dinner was great to catch up with fellow Derailers (and some Gen 2 'railers) and enjoy the beauty that the red rocks of St George has to offer. Later that night, it was fun to sit and chat with everyone at the Air B&B.

Elle and I drove back to San Diego the next day and loved every minute of conversation. We stopped in Vegas to deliver Sam's pillow and got to chat with Janae's parents, which was great. I flew back to Seattle the next morning and immediately picked the girls up and walked Oaklyn to preschool to start real life again.