Rock Cliff Triathlon

This past Saturday, on the 22nd, I did my first Olympic distance triathlon up at Jordanelle as part of the Rock Cliff Triathlon.  An Olympic Triathlon, for this race, is 1500 meters swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run.  I initially signed up for it just after finishing Ragnar, because I had just found out that I would not be able to do the Echo Lake Triathlon due to having to go to Youth Conference and representing the bishopric there.  I was pretty sad to have to drop out of that one, so I told myself I had to get an Olympic in before doing the Utah Half in August.  I needed some prep.  It was good that I did.  I learned so much from this triathlon!!!  It was so different from the Sprint distance tri I did a couple years ago at Pineview reservoir in Huntsville.  Although I did not get the results I expected from myself,  I took away from this one many positives, negatives and potential learning experiences.  They always say you learn more from defeats than from victories.  Well, this was no different for me.

I finished at 3 hours and 4 minutes.  For me, that was horrible!  I was expecting to be around the 2 hours 30-40 minute timeframe.  I did not do nearly as good as I thought I would.  And, I realized why.  Before the race, I did not sleep well all week.  With work being busy and my church assignments pretty numerous, I entered on little sleep.  So, 1st rule: get a good amount of sleep.  Don't go into a race sleepy and tired! 

2nd rule: Eat well.  For Ragnar, which was held the week prior, I had eaten a lot beforehand...and a lot of carb loading.  I even went to a buffet the day before.  This time, nothing!  I had no nutrients to back up the electrolyte and salt release. 

3rd rule: Be prepared early and don't procrastinate pre-race prep.  I waited until the night before to get ready for the race.  I finished work at around 6:00 Friday night.  I then had to go to the store for packet pick up and to buy a triathlon outfit.  After I got home, I realized my bike's rim was bent.  The last time I went out riding, I got 2 (that's right...2, not just 1) flats.  From that, I found out my rim was bent at around 7:00 pm.  So, I was stressing out thinking I was going to have to withdraw and again be disappointed in not being able to participate in this tri.  However, I am blessed to have a twin brother who is the same size as me and loves to do triathlon as well.  So, I drove up to meet him at about midnight to borrow his $9,500 bike.  Wow, I did not feel comfortable borrowing that expensive of a bike.  It's a beautiful bike, but I was nervous if anything were to happen to it.  So, I not only wasted all my energy beforehand going up to meet him, but I also cut into some valuable sleep time...not good!  I entered the race on about 3 hours of sleep because I had to get up at 4:00 to get ready to leave.  And because I borrowed his bike, I left my gu packets (energy pills) with my bike and thus did not have that for the race.

4th rule:  Leave early.  I arrived to the starting line minutes before it was to begin.  I had to fix a flat tire on Don's bike just beforehand, which took me nearly 40 minutes to fix because the valve stem had broken off.  Figures, just as I borrow his $9500 bike, I break something...typical of me.  I had no pre-race prep time to get my stations prepared for transitions between swim to bike and bike to run.  As a result, I wasted nearly 8 minutes during the race in the transitions.  I would have at least finished under 3 hours if it wasn't for that silly mistake.

5th rule:  Use medicine for the swim.  Open water swimming is SOOO different from the pool.  I've always been an okay swimmer in the pool, but open water is a different story.   I have a super bad equilibrium balancing problem in my head and water accentuates this dizziness problem with me.  The motion of breathing in water makes me very sick.  It's the same thing that occurred to me in Cabo San Lucas where I learned to puke under water with a respirator.  That sensation was so weird, escpecially when hundreds of fish swarmed my face going for that food that I had just vomited.  At Lake Powell a couple years ago when we went with Darin and Sunny, I got sick on the boat with no waves.  Open water is rough on me.  So, yes, I puked at the 1000 meter mark.  Because of that, I had to rest with the lifeguard for nearly 5 minutes to get my equilibrium back in balance.  I did, however, learn that I could still do well on the swim doing backstroke instead of the freestyle.  I did much better after doing that.  I got my balance back even though I did throw up again in the transition station after finishing the swim and into starting the bike.  All the puking I did zapped all my energy for the bike and run.  In fact, I ended on the run doing a 9-minute mile pace.  Compare that to my usual 7-minute pace and I've added about another 13 minutes to my time...puking = energy zapping.  Thus, no good!  Don taught me afterwards about a product he uses which is called "Lightheaded" that you can buy at any nutrition store.  It's like a dramamine that doesn't make you drowsy or tired.

6th rule:  At least look good if you can't perform good (ha...lol).  Man, did I look like a stud on Don's $9500 bike and in my new tri clothes.  Those jammers sure accentuate those nice skinny legs of mine!  The bike was uphill in a head wind.  Energy level...zilch!!  And, I did not take any food.  My bike time was only at 16 mph, where I usually average around 18 to 21 mph depending on the course.

I finished the race 40th out of 51 Olympic racers...not good for me.  In fact, when I finished, I learned what acute hyponatremia is.  That's right, I was administered medical attention.  I never thought that would happen to me.  I pretty much collapsed afterwards.  From lack of nutrition and depletion of what little energy I had, my salt levels were so depleted.  Two wonderful people helped me out.  This is a funny story

I met Jared and Kelly Jones.  Jared administered fluids to me and got me well rested while his wife, Kelly who is a massage therapist, massaged my legs and feet to try and get blood flowing back to my heart and head.  While the medical attention was being administered, the conversation turned to where we lived.  We told each other that we were from Lehi and this naturally trended to whereabouts in Lehi.  They told me their approximate address with street coordinates.  As I pondered for a second, it dawned on me that they were in my ward.  Our boundaries had just changed 2 weeks ago because of the ward split, and they were 1 of 6 new families from a new street added to our ward.  That was pretty comical as they found out that I was a counselor in the bishopric.  They had a good laugh.  What are the odds of meeting someone like that at a random event.  And, to make the matters even a little more crazy...he finished 3rd in his tri category with his wife finishing 2nd in her category.  They responded by saying, "well, it looks like we found our training partner.  It was neat to see them at church the next day in a different setting.

Despite these tough lessons, I am so glad these miscues occurred to me.  I should be able to learn from these mistakes and do better next time.  It's fun to go through misery to hopefully someday enjoy a thrilling moment.  We'll see what the future brings.  Or, maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Young Big Jake

These are just a few of my favorite pictures of Jake when he was little

Jake was born August 22, 2002

I love those big eyes and chubby cheeks.  This is when we started calling him "Big Jake"

At Jungle Jim's for Brad's birthday. 

Jake's just like me...love's the cake and get's messy with it, too

I love him staring up into my eyes

Jake fell at Grandma and Grandpa Merrill's and got scraped up

Christmas with his brother

So photogenic

Vegas

Halloween

Mr. Stud!

Little Miss Ava

I just found some cute pictures of my little princess

"Mr. Vampire"

Brad has the funniest personality.  He is always up to something mischievous.  This picture was taken last year after the "Twilight" movie.  He thought it would be cool to be a vampire along with his cousins.  I'd say he did a pretty good job

Wasatch Back Ragnar 2012

This year marked doing the Ragnar Relay race for a second year in a row.  We did a 12 man team with 6 of them being guys and 6 girls.  The total race mileage was 198 miles.  Why can't the race coordinators just add a couple more miles just to be able to say 200? C'mon!  The guys shown here are many of those with whom I run frequently, or our running group.  The race is divided into 36 legs in which each runner is supposed to do 3.  Most everyone's breakdown of mileage is between 15 to 21.  My legs added up to 20, which were broken down into 7.25, 5.5 and 7.25 legs.  Next year, we're already signed up to do an Ultra team, which is a team of 6 runners instead of 12.  Double the miles, double the fun!

Me - Joey Orton - Taylor - Jake Carlile - Nate Younger - Tim Flinders

I only knew 2 of the girls on the team.  Kim Schoepke is in the rear leaft back next to Tim.  Becky flinders is with the crutches.  She broke her femur bone half way through her second leg.  Amazingly, she was able to finish that leg before bowing out of her third and final leg

At this point of the race, it was approaching 100 degrees and we were nearing the end.  Nate, the shirtless male phenom with the cap on, was finishing his leg and handing off to me going into my final leg.  My final leg was a 7.25 mile stroll down a mountain road that declined 1800 feet in elevation.  Other guys on the team had taken their shirts off during the race.  Tim had just completed his final leg just before Nate going up "The Ragnar Hill," which is the hill I did last year.  We kept squirting guns of water at him in an effort to keep him cool.  In doing so, he was so wet that his shirt was adding a lot of weight so he shed the shirt.  Although, I think he did it in an effort to show off his manly physique.  After that, I think all of us were stripping down

So, this is the result of running a steep decline...blisters!  Tim was giving me a hard time while getting the medical attention so he had to take this picture.  He couldn't believe "mr. cool" had to get medical help

Our team name was "Hurts So Good."  While running Ragnar, we mark the number of "kills" which is the # of people you pass while running on the van.  All the guys did great adding up to around 450 kills.  I had the most with 58 kills on my first leg, 28 on the second and 19 on the final leg.  The hardest leg was the first one during which I killed 58 people.  My first leg had a net elevation gain of 1800 feet over 7.25 miles.  That was brutal.  The second leg was a 5.5 mile flat sprint around a reservoir in which I averaged a 6:58 pace per mile.

A funny moment occurred when the guys in the van were getting kind of sentimental talking about how this kind of a race is a great sense of accomplishment for many people.  Nate said, "for some people, this marks a great sense of accomplishment in their lives, being able to complete a race like this."  I responded with a sly remark, "yeah, and for the rest of us, these people are just road kill."

So, why do people do this kind of a race??  It's all for the sticker that goes on the car.  There's something about being able to have that sticker on your car that just shouts, "I'm cool!"

Ethan's handiwork

Ethan and I went home teaching the other day over to the Fenton's house and afterwards I let him drive to get some practice in.  Well, here's the result of that practice.  Looks like we'll need a new garage door.  It was so funny because he had come to a complete stop at the middle of the driveway and then started inching his way closer to the garage door.  In fact, I was about ready to get out when he came to his initial stop, but then he kept going.  I was confused as to what he was doing and he kept pressing the gas instead of the brakes.  I was in disbelief as the big crash roared through the house and as Nichole and the rest of the gang came rushing out to see what had just happened.  Poor Ethan, he felt so bad afterwards.  All he could do was laugh in shock and gaze in wonder.

This incident reminded me of kind of the same thing I did when I was a little kid.  While on a family vacation in Nags Head, North Carolina and visiting the beach there, our family went to one of the go-cart race tracks.  I think I was about 12 or 13 at the time.  I was having a blast on the go carts until I came to the end of the race.  Upon entering the completion of the turns, the worker flagged me in only to see me whiz by him.  As I was coming into the end and passing the flagger up, I kept pressing on the gas instead of the brakes and went right through their gate. (haven't all of us done this at some point?)  I remember the workers being so mad at me for destroying their fence and possible damage to the go-cart, but because I was so young, they didn't do anything to me.  Hmm, it just dawned on me that maybe they charged my dad for the damage.  Well, if they did, I am now paying it back as I get to pay for a new door because of Ethan. (or maybe I should take it out of his allowance, or as Ethan would say, "what allowance?") 

Nature calls

Sometimes when I am working up in these cabins up in and around Park City, I'll stop in the river and just relax for a little bit.  I started walking in the river wanting to just lay down in it but the water was freezing.  It was definitely snow melt off.  I could only last about a minute.  So, I just layed down by the river and took a nap for a half hour and then enjoyed the peace of being in the middle of nowhere.  This is part of the Weber river in the Weber Canyon up in Oakley

I was driving in the Wolf Creek subdivision east of Heber, and I saw a big herd of elk.  I just thought it was neat, so I stopped and took a few pictures.  I swear I need to take a good camera with me to work as opposed to the phone camera.  I think I counted around 35 to 40 elk in this herd.  Pretty cool!  I love the sounds they make, too.  Every time I tried to get close they would run off.

This isn't something you see too often in the United States.  I took this picture of these few sheep in the road after I had already driven through roughly 100 sheep before these last stragglers up the road.  I literally had to stop and swerve around these sheep.  I thought I was in Jerusalem for a minute.

Bishopric

I was called into the bishopric of the North Lake 1st Ward back in September of 2009.  The Bishop is Matt Killpack (middle) and Steve Bunker is the 1st Counselor (left).  I love these men and they have become great and wonderful friends.  Before being called in as the 2nd Counselor, I was serving as the Scoutmaster and the 11-year old scout leader, both in the same ward.  In about June or July of the same year, I was made a High Priest by the then bishop, Doug Webb.  When Bishop Webb called me into his office he asked me if I knew why I was there to meet with him.  I told him that I had no idea and thought maybe he was changing my current calling.  He then let me know that I was to be made a High Priest.  I was shocked and then proceeded to tell him all the reasons why I shouldn't be "promoted" in the Melchizedek Priesthood.  I remember telling him that high priests were usually older for one and they usually don't struggle with things like home teaching every month and reading their scriptures every day among other things.   He then plainly told me, "you're right, Br. Ralph.  High priests don't struggle with the things you just mentioned, so go, do and become what the Lord has called you to be.  I have seen you work with other people and the service you render in your callings, and I know you'll

make a fine high priest."  So, with that, I accepted.

A couple months later, Bishop Webb announced during Sacrament meeting that the ward was to be split the following Sunday.  Well, I was at work up in Park City working in The Colony subdivision when I received a call from Nichole letting me know that the Stake Presidency called and left a message and that they wanted to see me that night.  Instantly, my heart sank.  I knew the split was occurring the following Sunday and just kept thinking, "no way. not me. impossible."  I was nervous the whole hour long drive home.  I knew a change was coming for me, but was I ready for what that change would be or what it was going to be.  I walked into President  Randy Lefler's office with Nichole by my side (and where she has been through this whole time).  He made some small talk and then proceeded to say, "there has been a new bishop called in your ward and he has asked that you be his second counselor."  I was pretty emotionless not knowing the extent of what this call would mean for me and my family.  All the thoughts of how to organize my time, am I worthy of this call, there are so many other men so much better and capable of doing this job than I am that flooded my emotions.  I was overcome.  I have always felt I was a good person who always tried to serve others and just love everyone around me, but I have never viewed myself as a "leader," especially spiritually speaking.  I have always been a doer and someone who gets in there to get something done, not someone to teach.  To this day, after two and a half years, I still struggle with getting up in front of others and teaching and conducting meetings although I feel I have gotten better and a little more natural at it.  The one thing I have to offer is my testimony of the gospel and who I am.  And, that sustains me.

Today they split our ward.  We lost probably about 40% of our membership number.  We were at 786 before the split.  I was informed two weeks ago where the new boundaries were going to be, but upon being told, I was told it was an "approximate" boundary, so I wasn't 100% positive.   In the subsequent week or so, I came to find out where the new boundaries were going to be.  In church today, because I knew where the boundaries were going to be while no one else did, all I could think about was who would not be here anymore.  I was visualizing everyone while reviewing each family's status.  I was left sad and excited at the same time while thinking of all those who were leaving for the other ward.  Our bishopric remained intact while a new ward was created from part of ours.  Luckily, Steve, Matt and myself all live within our current new boundaries so no change was needed.  I do love this gospel with all my heart.  It truly has made me a better person, has humbled me, and I do feel I have been able to help others and lift others.  I know it is through service when we are giving of ourselves that we truly receive back.

The last week or so

Our next door neighbors, The Baca's, have puppies every couple of years .  They have pure bred labrador's and are the cutest dogs.  Labs are probably my favorite breed.  Well, yesterday, they let the kids come and take a look at them.  So, here's the note that Jake made afterwards.  He first left it with Nichole and then he comes to me with it later on and says, "Dad, what do you think about my note?"  He wants another dog...so cute!  He asks, "Can I have a dogy? Please"

.Last Saturday was a "fun" day as opposed to yesterday which was a "work" day.  We went to Seven Peaks.  This picture was kind of lame, but since I had to have some type of proof we were there, here it is.  It was the only picture taken while there.  In fact, here, we were packing up getting ready to leave.  Nichole, Jake and Eli didn't come.  So anyway, Brad and Ava had shown up earlier to Seven Peaks having come with Rachel, Nichole's sister and her kids, the cousins.  I got there as fast as I could after the baptisms earlier in the morning.  I ended up going to 2 baptism sessions in the morning because one of the children being baptized wanted to get baptized with her cousins at a different church.  I didn't get out of the sessions until 12:00ish and the kids were in no way going to wait for me.  So, after going home from the baptisms and picking up Ethan, we met up with Brad and Ava there.  When I got there, Ava just had to go on the big green tube slide with me.  She had gone on it earlier with Aunt Rachel before I showed up and was originally scared out of her mind.  But, after going down, she loved it.  She was so cute telling me all about it and that I needed to do it with her.  So naturally, that was the first thing we did upon showing up. We had a blast going down, screaming and yelling and laughing, until we hit the water where she just about freaked out from the rush of water into her face and mouth and nose.  But, even after that, she wanted to get back up there and do it again.  That's my girl!  But, on our way back to the line, she got sidetracked and wanted to find her cousins.  After finding the cousins, we ended up going to the wave pool and hung out there for a while.  Brad and Ethan hung out mainly with their cousins in the wave pool.

Yesterday was a "work" Saturday as opposed to the "fun" Saturday prior.  I was in my "Commander Brat" mode.  I had gotten home around 9:00ish after my typical Saturday morning tri training.  After being sick all week with bronchitis, sinus infection and head congestion, I didn't get much in.  I wanted to do an olympic distance tri, but after my mile swim, I just felt I had too much crap in the system.  So, I only did about 20 miles on the bike and a 4 mile run.  I think I really just wanted to get home and get to work on the destroyed house which was preoccupying my mind.  I'll admit it, I'm kind of anal when it comes to the house being clean, which I'm sure Nichole could attest to.  It just drives me crazy when things get cluttered.  So, I went on my cleaning spree which went from the time I got home until 10:00ish at night when we went to bed, stopping only for a little break for dinner in which we went to Chuck-a-Rama.  Or, as the kids like to refer to it, "Chuck-a-Grandma" or "Chuck-a-Poop."  It's kind of like the time when Brad said, "Hmmmm, it smells like food...maybe it's poop."  What kid, in their right mind, would say poop smells like food?  Seriously Brad!?  Wow, $65 to go there now for the whole family.  Don't they know we should get VIP passes since that's where Nichole and I met?!  I mean, seriously!

So, back to the cleaning spree.  I was able to, with the help of my little minnions, declutter the whole house.  We did all the laundry, got rid of our ugly green sectional in the tv room which I have hated for years, cleaned all the carpets (talk about nasty), cleaned all the bedrooms including the office, reorganized part of the food storage (talk about old and outdated...I mean, I think it's probably safe to throw cans out with an expiration date of '04), cleaned out the garage and reorganized the furniture.  Heck, the kids even were able to have a little yard sale.  Brad's been hankering to have a yard sale, and he finally did it.  They sold their Play Station 2 and some of their games.  They got $15.  The great thing is that they even set up the canopy out front to keep the sun off the electronics.  Granted, they didn't stake the canopy down, so it broke when the wind picked it up and blew it off to the side yard and into the back.  Oh well, $15 earned as opposed to losing a $200 canopy...priceless!  At least they won't remember the canopy breaking.  They'll just remember the $15 gained for selling the PS2.  So, it took all day to get the house to where I felt more comfortable about it.  Even Ethan called me "Adrian Monk."  He thinks I'm OCD.  He was making fun of me while going to Chuck-a-Grandma.  I was just so thankful the whole family chipped in.  Late at night, after working all day, they even helped make a chain as we put all the cans of food storage away.  Ethan and Nichole were at the shelves while the rest of us were handing things into them.  Even Eli chipped in with his cute and adorable smiles and sighs cheering us on.

Through the years...part 2

Once, there were 2...

Engagement announcement

March 11, 1995

home after the honeymoon

2000

2002

2005

2009

2012

Then, there were 7

Laughin' Eli

It's fun when Eli is happy and lauging

Provo Canyon hike

Nichole is so cute.  She is such a good mom.  She decided to take the kids up Provo Canyon on a hike while I was at work.  Ethan was still in school.  His school got out a week later than Brad's and Jake's, so he missed out.  Brad and Jake went to a public charter this year, Lakeview Academy, so their calendar year was a little different from Ethan's Willow Creek

Brad brought a friend, Mitchell.  Utah has some of the best scenery with the mountains and its canyons

They made it all the way to the abandoned cars.  Way to go guys!

Nichole loves to go on hikes in nature, and she's instilling that love of nature on her kids.  We've hiked a few trails together including American Fork canyon and others.  A fun hike is Stuart Falls, even though we haven't done that one in a while.  I still remember many moons ago when we did that hike with her sister Elena and Rick...so fun!  I'm sure Elena remembers it, seeing how she was like 9 months pregnant with Morgan.  And now, Morgan just graduated from high school yesterday.  Wow.  Time really flies