Super Husband Strikes Again

Saturday morning, Justin participated in his first Adventure Race. The race was a triathlon, consisting of kayaking, trekking and mountain biking.

We drove over Friday night and stayed on the local military base, ate pizza at 10pm and went to bed after midnight…not necessarily the best way to gear up for a race. We woke up early and ate Waffle House for breakfast (again, not the best way to start a race).

There were separate staging areas for the bikes and the kayaks, so we got the bike set before heading over to the kayak area and the start of the race. This was his first adventure race and triathlon of any sort, so we were unsure how the transitions would work, so we over-prepared, not sure what to expect.

The race consisted of a 1.5 mile paddle in the kayak, 2 mile run, 10 mile bike ride, 2 mile run and ended with a 1.5 mile paddle. The racers jumped out of their kayaks at the end and ran the final quarter of a mile to the finish line.

He had a great time, and we had a blast watching him. Ask him, and a grin will spread across his face as he tells you all about the race. He is eagerly awaiting his next adventure race. We bought him a racing bike with the thought of triathlons in his future, but now that he’s had his first taste of adventure racing, I’m not sure that he will want to participate in a standard triathlon. He seems to enjoy trees flying by his face and sharp turns around ravines. Our next purchase will be a kayak. Hopefully Santa will bring him one.

Believe it or not, he hadn’t prepared at all for the race. It was his first time really riding his new bike and he’d never used the kayak before that we borrowed from our neighbor. He was just hoping to finish. Now he’s looking to improve upon his time and improve in the standings. He finished fifth in his age group, 18th over all with a time of 2:29. I’m sure that he’ll be practicing before next year.

We’re proud of him and can’t wait to cheer him on at his next race.