Conference Grounds "Camping" 2012

Well we didn't exactly "camp" because we were in the luxurious cottages, but we did spend the week at the Conference Grounds Campground with the Veldhofs.  

The kids loved running around in front of the cottages.  Chase, William, and Jack were in constant motion as usual.

 

Mostly due to Rob and Adam we won the sand sculpture competition with a giant Aslan.  

 

Evie and Samantha wearing Erin's hand-made outfits.

Ice cream and/or pop sickles every day.

 

 

Nice Sunsets.

Lots of fun.

 

 

 

Long 4th of July Wekend

It was a rare 5 day weekend with almost the entire Elenbaas clan at the cottage for the 4th.  We survived the heat and enjoyed a lot of time in the water and boat.

William and Jack LOVED the boat.  At the sound of the word, they'd both start repeating it and getting mad if we didn't go for a ride.

 

Jack is a wild boy.  He ran full speed into the water about 1,000 times.  He loved jumping off the raft with me; laughing the whole time, even as we hit the water hard.  

William didn't want to miss out on the excitement.  He was more nervous (normal of course) but had fun.

 

 

Family jump!

 

Evelyn is a little fish.  She swims well on her own and jumps off the raft with gusto.  Sadly, she swam so much she has her first case of "swimmers ear."

 

William has a happy grin on his face every second on the boat.

Jack can't keep up with William's boat enthusiasm.

 

 

 

Pickerel Lake Triathlon 2012

It was another fantastic year for the Pickerel Lake Triathlon.  After 2 years of minimal training and Paul winning, I kicked it into gear and put forth a strong effort.  

Paul's stated goal has been to beat my record time of 1:21:35 and I figured he'd be close.  I kept my training on the down-low so no one expected me to challenge Paul.  That was exactly the way I wanted it.

It was a hot race morning with a slight breeze.  We had a little chop on the swim but not much.  Abbie dominated the field.

The bike was treacherous, but we didn't have any mishaps.  It was a dry June so there were a lot of soft sandy spots which wreak havoc on road bikes.  There was also more traffic on the roads.  Bike times were definitely slower (avg of 2:20 slower than last year) but no one crashed.

The run is the backbone of the race.  With high temperatures this year it was going to be tougher than normal.  

I was in first after the bike but figured it wasn't by much (turns out it was 2.5 minutes).  As I started running I felt weak and slow and expected Paul to catch me at any time.  I was sure I heard footsteps on several occasions.  As the run went on I think I picked up speed, although every step felt labored.  With 1.5 miles left I snuck a peak behind me and Paul was nowhere in sight.  With half a mile left I took one last look and still didn't see him.  I knew I was home free.

It felt great to win again!  I set a new PLT best time at 1:20:41.  Abbie VanHarn set a new swimming record at 8:23 and a new overall women's record at 1:35:50

Our fan support was great as always.  William and Jack enjoyed the host of people willing to hold time (a rare treat). 

  

 

 

Other notables:

• Molly and Sam were the youngest relay team ever at 12 years old
• Paul, Jason, Steve, and I maintained our streak by completing the race all 8 years
• Compared to last year 5 people improved and 10 had longer race times
• Abbie VanHarn improved her time by 20 minutes.  Lydia Soper improved her time by 15 minutes.
• There were 9 first-time participants but only 1 first time solo finisher (Debbie)