Substitute Coach

Two weekends ago Kevin and I were given the great joy of assisting the highly trained athlete, Hunter, to Beaver Creek, CO to compete in the Xterra Triathlon. You see, Brian was racing up and over a mountain in Beaver, with Heather supporting him. Deb and Trace were having a wedding in the backyard and needed to tend to it.  It was Micall's friend who was getting married so she was using the bridesmaid card. Which literally left Kevin and myself the last on the list to coach Hunter through the triathlon. I'm not sure who was more nervous about it, me, Trace, the actual coach Brian or Kevin. I think Hunter figured it would be fine, and if he sucked it up he could just blame his coaching.
We began our road trip at 5am Friday. Hunter and I slept nearly the entire way there. Seriously. Kevin listened to talk radio and enjoy the peace of a sleeping car. When we arrived, Hunter pre-road the course and Kevin and I stressed about giving splits, being at the transitions, who his competition was, timing him, and communicating it back and forth. We wandered around Beaver Creek and Vail and enjoyed the weather and each other.
Saturday, Kevin woke with Hunter and made sure he ate all the right food at exactly the right time. I was sleeping in a little. We got all the transitions ready, checked him in and took a deep breath. Turns out, Hunter is pretty good at it, and did awesome.

All those years of watching my dad and Brian coach and climb up the course and cheer riders on came out of me and I knew how to do it. I guess I was paying attention some of the time after all. We timed splits, timed transitions, tried to calm our nerves and cheered really loud. Hunter took second place in the 15-19 age category and his friend from Heber, Evan beat him by a minute to qualify for Worlds in Maui this October. Heber was well represented! The Hunt did awesome and we weren't fired from our coaching duties.

After we relaxed and laid poolside, Hunter took second place again. In miniature golf. I personally kicked his butt. And regardless of what he will tell you, I only cheated on a couple of holes, and he cheated as much as I did. Plus, I got a hole in one. Boom.

Thanks Kev, for taking care of us while were there, for being the responsible one and letting us sleep in the car. Maybe we can be supporting coaches in Maui for Worlds?
love love

*** UPDATE*** Brian and Trace decided that Hunter needed to do another Xterra a week later in Bozeman, MT. He won his category and took 8th overall. His fastest triathlon to date. This kid is some sort of an animal.