Memphis In May Triathlon Weekend

This past Saturday morning my parents picked up Brynn around nine in the morning and Ryan and I headed off to Memphis for a quick getaway.  He and his buddies had their annual "Memphis in May" triathlon on Sunday.   We got up to Memphis around noon, and met up with Jason and Sarah, and Pam and Rick.  We did some fun shopping and then that evening a BUNCH of us (like 25 people...all triathlon people from the Cape area) ate at Macaroni Grill before their big race.  

That Sunday we were up bright and early to cheer them on.  It was a GORGEOUS day and the weather couldn't have been nicer (although I did get a nice little burn on my shoulders).  This triathlon is called an "Olympic Distance" (this is the distance the Olympic triathletes compete in at the Olympics).  They swim 1.5 K, bike 40 K, and run a 10K.  (In American terms that means they swim almost a mile, bike about 25 miles, and then run 6 miles).   

Getting ready before the race...

A little brotherly love..helping each other get in their wet-suits!

Me and Iron-Man (don't those wet-suits look like super-hero costumes or something?)

In line to start...

There are HUNDREDS of racers, so they all line up in bib number order and jump in the lake every three seconds...it literally takes an hour or so for everyone to start.  So some of Ryan's training buddies were ahead of him at the start, and some were behind him.

They had to swim almost a mile in this lake...crazy!
And I kept thinking "what a crazy job for this girl...she literally had to sit there and take a picture every
three seconds that a racer jumped in the water.  I kept worrying her stool would tip over!"

I always think the "transitions" are so fun to watch.  They run out of that water while ripping their wet-suits off, throw on their bike helmet and sunglasses, and run their bike out onto the road.  Then they like try to jump on their bike and slip their feet in the bike shoes while they are starting to go...it's crazy!

Uncle Jason finishing...

Ryan finishing...WOOHOO!

I think Ryan said he finished like one minute and forty seconds behind Jason, and he was really proud of himself!  =)  He is usually in a good mood after his races anyway, but he felt like he did a really good job, so that was fun!  He finished ninth in his age division, which was pretty awesome considering how many  athletes there were.  When he saw that he kept saying "wow, is that a typo?"  HA!  And Jason finished FIRST out of all the "Clydesdales" (all the "big boys!"  HA!)  GOOD JOB BANDERMANN BOYS!

Little Charli and Brynn both stayed home with grandparents, but Ansley came along to watch.

Okay...I HAD TO (just HAD TO) take this next picture because I was cracking up.  Sometimes I HATE what Ryan wears to these races...you guys know how much I hate triathlon "outfits."  But seriously...look at the guy in the background.  I made Ryan stand there and pretend to pose because I didn't want everyone to know I was taking a picture of this guy, but SERIOUSLY...I think I'll stop making fun of Ryan's clothes from now on, and just be thankful he doesn't want to wear something like this.

What does his wife or girlfriend think of this?  GROSS!
And if for some absolutely crazy reason this guy ever sees this on my blog...
"I'm sorry, I just don't really like your choice of Speedo...but whatever works for you."  

Some of the guys....Blake, John, Alex, Ryan, and Jason

And what did my husband do after the race?  He was so gross and sweaty, and it was really hot outside.  The race is all around this huge Harrah's Casino Resort so there are multiple hotels and casinos around.  He just decided to jump in the pool right there...I wanted to apologize to all the kids swimming in there and tell the parents "sorry my husband just totally contaminated the pool, you might want to get your kids out!"  HA!

We got back around four that Sunday afternoon, picked up Brynn, and headed off to Ryan's cousins graduation party.  We had a LOT of fun sitting outside, eating lots of yummy food, and watching and helping play with the kids.  FUN WEEKEND!