The Burgess Family: Jim's Ironman 7.3 Race

I get a kick out of Jim's ever changing hobbies. He can't stand not diligently working on something, whether that be a time consuming project at work or otherwise. Jeff has been doing races and training for races for a while now and Jim named it his newest project. I have to say I'm pretty proud of him. He started training with Jeff and eating better.

I think the neatest part about the process for me was seeing how much he's enjoyed the time with his brother Jeff. This family never ceases to amaze me. They are all so different and unique, but they all support and love each other so much. Jeff and Jim are especially close and I have always loved the friendship that they have. They are only 14 months apart and they grew up with the same friends in high school. I love that our boys share the same relationship. Connor's world revolves around Jaxon and Jadyn. I'm so thankful for that.

Jim asked why I didn't wear a shirt like the red one....Its pretty funny, but I'm relatively sure I wouldn't have the guts...

Part of the preparation process was doing races and triathalons prior to this one, they weren't nearly as long as this one, but gave him a better idea of the details of the race. How to make the transitions faster and how to pace yourself. You have to keep in mind that before doing this, Jim had never done a single race in his life, his first one was the Cedar City Half Marathon and he only did it on a bet. But when he decided to make the Half Ironman his goal, I think he did 2 triatholons before. The first one was pretty uneventful. I don't think it was very long and the swim was in a pool. The second one however threw him for a loop because it was the first he had done in open water. They had you swim out and tread for like 15 min and he wasn't prepared for everyone crawling all over you, kicking you, splashing everywhere. He said he really thought he was going to drown. I have never seen Jim afraid or panic, so when he says he panicked it must've been bad. Most triathletes will tell you that they've experienced similar things in their races, Jim said if there was anyone that was near him in the Kayacks he would have quit. Thats another thing I have never heard him say, if you know him you know how stubborn he is and for him to say that he almost gave up, well it must've been bad. So you know he wasn't looking forward to the swim in Idaho.

I love this picture because they didn't know I was taking it and they're all analyzing the FREEZING 50 degree water that they are about to swim. Jim's face says it all....oh crap.

..Oh there's Mar with the camera....we're good! We can totally do this.

The workmans came up for the race as well, this is Jason waiting for his heat.

Ahhh the supportive Platt fam. Jim put the fear of the swim in Jared. Poor guy. He did incredibly good. Those Platts are tough suckers. Man can they run.

Jeff was a few minutes ahead of Jim in the swim going to transition to the bike phase.

I knew that Jason was in the heat well after Jeff and Jim, so I was super surprised when I saw him getting his bike out...I thought, geeze he's fast!

This was my favorite part of the entire experience. Jeff is a competitive guy. He was a few minutes ahead of Jim and still waited for him so that they could start the bike together. I don't know if it was the intensity of watching Jim do this, but I seriously almost cried when I saw this.

Yay Jared survived!

Jeff in transition to the run

Jim...

So Bobbi, Cassie, Rachel Ence were watching this guy take his JOLLEY time. He ate a bar...stretched, talked to a few passer bys, stretched some more....I thought what is he doing!! Most of the athletes are taking their shoes off before their bike has even come to a stop to save time. They're putting on shoes with no socks!! Come to find out, he lit up a cigarrette right as he got to transition and got disqualified! It was so funny! I'm guessing he knew he couldn't physically go on and wasn't going to "quit" so figured he'd get thrown out.

So then I saw Jason, wearing a different outfit than he did when he started, I thought how in the WORLD did he go from black and red to yellow and grey?? Ya, it wasn't him!! Face to face I thought the other guy was Jason, come on you have to admit that they have a similar face. So funny.

First pic is Jason, second is who knows...come one, you have to see the similarity...right? I'm so embarressed.

Halfway through the run.

Jeff finishing....I asked him how in WORLD he possibly survived a FULL ironman, this half looked downright impossible. He said laughed and said he had no idea. He said if someone told him at that point that he had to do it all over again he would've punched him in the face. Pretty incredible.

Jared finishing...he's a fast runner. Incredible.

Jim finishing. I stood by this wall waiting for him to come for what felt like forever. I knew he'd finish, but I wasn't going to relax until I saw him and knew he was ok. I have never been so proud of him and what he set out to accomplish. I for sure have a WHOLE new respect for Jeff and him finishing the whole Ironman in St George a little while back. I honestly have no idea how he survived. And I have a whole new respect for Melina who hauled her 3 kids to every single race. This was the first one she couldn't make, she was at a family thing with the Squires. She was texting the whole time making sure he was doing good.