"I'm sorry for dumping the legos down the stairs" Isaac says now. At the time, he admits to thinking "I bet dumping these legos will be fun..."
I survived the Outdoor Leadership Skills portion of the "official" BSA Scoutmaster training this weekend. This was the last hoop I had to jump through to get my official "Trained" patch (and make it easier for our Scout Committee Chair to get our unit re-chartered). Even though it wasn't explicitly stated, I think the whole point of the outdoor training is to make sure we know how to "camp". I helped lash our flag pole (I did a little "cramming" the night before on my knots). I also got to cook the pancakes over the open fire (not my favorite camping style). It was interesting to see the different approaches: some of us had "backpacking" gear, others had "car camping" gear with complete kitchen kits, etc.
The training was at the same time as our district Fall Camporee. My "patrol" of 6 fellow scoutmaster had to participate just like the boys. This is an picture of us trying to figure out how to get 4 "large" adults to all stand on one tiny piece of wood -- ah, team building (we failed). As a group, we toured and "judged" the campsites and activities of the participating troops. If you're really bored, you can see more images here thanks to a member of my patrol who brought a camera.
The PST starts with a 500 yard swim in an outdoor pool. I thought it was a little strange swimming with 3 other people in my lane. We were instructed to "tap" the feet of the swimmer in front when we wanted to pass (with all passing waiting until the closest end of the pool). I found a good pace in the pool and felt great as I entered T1.
After leaving the pool, we rode 9.3 miles on our bikes. The Palouse is known for it's rolling hills. A Palouse triathlon wouldn't be right without hills -- lots of hills. Ricki's spinning classes really paid off for her. She says the bike was her strongest part of the race (doesn't she look great on her bike?). I rode hard (maybe too hard).
The race finishes with a 5K run (3.1 miles). This is when the race started to get painful. Several of the people I passed on the bike caught me on the run. One of the interesting things about Triathlons is your race number is written on your right calf. Your left calf announces your age -- in big, black marker. It's not so bad to have some young 20-year-old pass you by; however, both Ricki and I found it humbling to be passed by people much older than ourselves.
It was great to have Isaac, Ashton, Skyler and Grandma JoLyn cheering us on at several points along the race. Skyler did a great job with the camera and we really appreciate Grandma JoLyn watching the kids so Ricki and I could concentrate on the race. The photo above is Isaac at the finish line borrowing the race director's megaphone. He knew what to say!
I finished in 1:11:32, Ricki in 1:43:41 (about what we expected). Ricki exclaimed, "I am so doing this again next year!" at the end of the race. This is good to hear considering what she said the night before (pre-race jitters). All the gory details for the race times and our age-group finishes are here. Funny story: I bought a cheap Timex "Ironman" watch the night before the race. I took the time to learn how to use the lap counter so I could keep track of each portion of the race. I forgot to start the timer...
Now that the race is over, we both feel the emptiness of not having a goal to keep us training. Sure, we have next year to look forward to; but we need something in the near term. Got an idea for a new goal? Drop us an email or leave a comment.
