The drive to Steamboat seemed to take forever. Maybe that's because my hips were compressed in between 2 car seats in the back, or maybe it's because I spent 2 hours opening and closing a toy for Ava to keep her happy. We had a picnic in Silverthorne and visited the library for a short break, and on we went as it was getting a little stormy.
We arrived at our campsite, Stagecoach State Park, confused. There was 2 inches of hail everywhere, making it look white like snow. Storm after storm came through, and we sat in the car waiting it out in between setting up camp. Our tent (a very kind gift from a friend, but not the most water proof tent in the world), was taking on water. By the time we put Ava to bed, our pillows and bags were quite wet.
As Ava was having a hard time going to sleep, I (M) pushed the group to bail on camping and get a hotel room. I did not want to deal with a very wet tent and two wet, cold kids in the middle of the night while prepping for a race.
So we left the campsite and drove into Steamboat Springs (about a 30 min drive) and got a hotel. We put the girls down, and then took turns in the glorious hot tub. The rest of the night was decent, and we woke up with Ava and Rachel at about 5:30am as usual.
Sat June 28
The sun was out in the morning, and we enjoyed a nice hotel breakfast. A and M stayed in the hotel to rest while J, R and Pops went to Fish Creek Falls for a little hike.
We dropped Pops off at a birding walk near the campsite and then I went for a practice swim on the course. It was 10am and the water was cold and choppy. My ears froze, and it was hard to keep my head under water. Supposedly the temperature was 62F, but it felt much colder to me. The yellow buoy (the turn) seemed VERY far away, and I only swam out to the orange buoy and back. I didn't feel very good about the swim and the intimidating distance.
We had to go back into town for lunch and race packet pick up. That was a busy process but thankfully next to a playground. Also, we got a free pair of sweet socks and a nice technical t-shirt.
We met friend Julie, doing the race also, and her husband and Dad.
We got back to the campsite so Jason could run and Pops could nap. It was hot and windy. I went with Julie and drove the bike course. This was very scary for me. The course was described as 'rolling hills', and that it was. But there was a lot of twisty turns, sharp corners, gravel and debris on the side, no shoulder, and some bigger hills than I expected. Thankfully, the scenery was gorgeous and I hoped that would help me out. One downhill + gravel + turn really made me nervous, but we were able to talk to the course director and he assured us that they would clean up the gravel on race morning.
I got back to the campsite, made dinner, fed the kids, got all my stuff ready, put it in Julie's car, and hit the sack. I noticed that either side of my thighs were bruised from the ride in the car between the two car seats!
Shortly after the rugby boys went to sleep, Ava woke up. She slept on me for a couple hours, then I passed her on to Jason at about 3:30am, hoping I could get a little more sleep. That move was a bad idea, since it took her a while to settle. She woke Rachel up, so I took Rachel to the bathroom. Rachel got really excited about watching all the stars in the sky, which was super fun.
It wasn't long before it was time for me to get up, nurse Ava, get dressed for the race, and get out of the tent. It was 33 degrees. It was hard to get out of the tent. I wished we had gone for the hotel and that I had gone for my own room where I might have had more warmth and more sleep.
But this was the big day. My first half ironman.
...to be continued...
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