The Chattanooga Meltdown!

The Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon was last weekend. It is a nice venue for families as there were several kid friendly activities within walking distance of the transition area. This is a regional qualifier for the age group national championships that take place in Tuscaloosa, AL this fall and was our "A" race for the year. Since Ann has already qualified, this was Stiv's opportunity to make the cut.

Stiv finished with a great swim and a solid bike and was right on qualifying pace as he started the run... this is where it all started to go terribly wrong. Unfortunately, he must have gone into the race dehydrated because after about a mile, his heart rate was through the roof and his body was overheating which lead to a huge bonk during the run, resulting in a whopping 1:02 10K (and a few minutes in the medical tent at the finish). BTW, Ann had another solid race and finished in 8th place... kick a man when he's down!!

The finish of the bike course has a nice picture of the giant hills that made up the bike course in the background.

The girls were scouting the course the night before the big race. It looks nice out, but it was actually in the mid-90's and humid.

After the kids did a nice job walking a couple miles to dinner, we could not get into Tony's Trattoria so we had to eat at this fancy restaurant next door. Abby had her best manners on display. Nothing like gourmet macaroni and cheese!


Jackson gives the bike exit the A-ok.

Abby loves Jackson's friend Matthew! Maybe this will be a prom picture a decade from now!

Abby and the kids are big fans of cute baby Brennan... he is such a happy little guy.

This waterfall was part of the Tennessee Aquarium. The kids loved walking up and down the stairs and playing in the pool at the bottom. A great way to cool off after a long day at the race.

Catie has her shorts hiked up high trying not to get wet!

Even Abster got into the action...

We did not get any pictures after the race because Stiv was too busy in the Medical tent. So we had to pose for one later in the day.

Abby hoarded the cherry freezie to help cool herself off from the high temps. Below, the sisters hanging out in the fountain. Have you noticed that Catie has her goggles on in an awful lot of the pictures we post???