My friends Tammy and Hidee took over the Rigby Lake Triathlon and had to cancel in 2020. They had worked really hard to make it a success this year and I was free that day so I was going to help them. I asked if she would prefer I volunteer on the course or sign up to race. She said either would be good. I was planning to volunteer but decided to check with Kylee first. She said "yes!" She wanted to do it with me. Though she hadn't been training at all, she wasn't worried... She had been to the lake with us a couple times this summer, but not a lot. She came swimming in the pool with me once. She runs a lot with soccer. And she went for a little bike ride on my old bike to make sure it would work, but that was literally less than a week before the race.
I was not nervous this time because I knew I would be hanging out with Kylee and not trying to win any awards, and it was only a Sprint. Kylee was a little nervous but not bad. I think it helps that she's a strong swimmer, most people get stressed about the swim. She loves swimming. I was a little stressed about her swimming though! It's a lake! She's my baby! So I was happy that we were right by each other for the majority of the race. Every time I looked to my right to take a breath, I saw her. Until we passed the first buoy and I could not swim in a straight line anymore. I blame that as the reason she got ahead of me, but she finished 20 seconds before me.
(The photographers on the course got a lot of good pictures!)
The bike. I started out at a decent pace, and was pleasantly surprised when Kylee was staying right behind me. We chatted a little bit here and there, but mostly she stayed behind me. I'm not sure if she was drafting off me, probably not because she wasn't that close. But about halfway through she started falling behind. I slowed a little but she didn't catch up. I could still see her until we hit the hill, then I lost her. I kept looking at every corner to try and find her. At one point Takara passed me (she was doing her second lap because she did the Olympic race) and told me "don't worry, she's just back there a little". Takara knows Kylee from cross country. The only thing I worried about was her turning with the Olympic people for a second lap on accident. I didn't think she would, but I was too far ahead for her to see me so I worried. Also there's always a chance she could crash, or get a flat tire or chain fall off... So I slowed way down at the end and took my time dismounting off my bike. She still wasn't coming, so I started to slowly change shoes, knowing she wouldn't have to change her shoes. And she finally showed up, telling me how much she does not like the bike! Haha.
The run was hard! We took off fast, or at least it felt fast, but when I looked at my watch I realized I hadn't started it so I was glad I checked. I feel like we were running a decent pace, maybe 8:30, for the first half. Kylee wanted a walk break and so I slowed down a bit but I didn't want to walk. She caught up to me and we kept up a decent pace. She said if she wasn't with me she would be walking a lot more or not going as fast. All that, and of course at the end she said she was going to spring ahead of me. I told her she better not! I said there's a photographer at the end and it would be fun to have a pic of us finishing together. She said, "well you better sprint with me then." *eyeroll* x3!!! That little turd. She finished 3 seconds ahead of me. After I waited over a minute for her off the bike. And carried her through the run. At least she got a bad pic at the end, lol.
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