Preston Biathlon

Last year at the rodeo, we saw lots of runners and bikers. Dustin and I discovered it was a biathlon. We decided it would be lots of fun to run it together this year. Jamie, Levi, Ben, Tyson, Ashley, Dustin, Connie, Bailey, Stetson and I all participated. Paulette bought us all matching shirts to wear in Grandma's memory. I wasn't really worried about training too hard for this race. I had been riding my bike a little bit here and there and thought that the course was going to be flat so it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I ran my 5k in 29:38 and set out on my 14 mile bike ride. Much to my surprise, the course was ANYTHING but flat. I'm talking some BIG hills. I struggled. A lot. I really think I could have gotten off my bike and walked up the hill faster than I was riding. However, my pride wouldn't allow me to do that. At one point, I started feeling nauseous and thought I was going to die in the bushes. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to breathe through it, and almost went off the road. I quickly decided that wasn't a great idea and focused on just getting through the race. Once again, Ashley came to my rescue. She caught up to me kept me company for the rest of the ride. It was a lot easier to finish with a friend! I ended up finishing in 1:45. Not too impressive. I was hoping for under 2 hours, but the winner finished in just under an hour. An HOUR!!! Regardless of my results, it was a fun experience participating with such an awesome bunch of people. I now know what I need to train for next year. And maybe a new bike wouldn't hurt. My $30 mountain bike just didn't cut it ;/ 

 Here we are, all ready to go!

Me and my running buddy, Connie



Post race photo.  Feeling a little disappointed at this point.

Dustin, Connie, Stetson, Ben, Levi, Jamie, Tyson, Ashley, Bailey and Steff

My favorite part of the race? The fans, of course. We ran by grandma's house twice and rode by it once. I was so excited to have the family cheering all of us on and adored the signs they had made. It was great to feel loved! 

I can officially say that I accomplished something hard.