Camping and Triathlon in Loveland Colorado July 21-23

Last summer, I had said that I would never do a triathlon again.  I had some negativity about the sport that made it like a job for me.  Sports are supposed to be fun and I didn't want to continue with something that wasn't bringing me joy.  I hung up my bike last August and didn't ride it for 10 months.  

Then I received an invitation to do a triathlon for free, got into the lottery for Alcatraz Triathlon, and had a few different race organizers reach out to me to do their race.  I could have just ignored all of it but I strongly believe in Karma and I felt like this was a sign for me to try out triathlons again.

In my household, it is nearly impossible for me to find a weekend where somebody doesn't have an event going on.  Carly has been having swim meets nearly every weekend and I always volunteer and cheer at her meets.  

On July 22nd, Carly had All Stars.  In order to get through to AllStars – you need to come in the top 12 in your event at Divisionals. – but this means the top 12 of all swimmers swimming that event in all Divisions.  Unfortunately, this was also the same day that I was to compete in my triathlon.  

The triathlon that I was competing in was nearly 2 hours away so I reserved a campsite nearby in Loveland and took Connor with me, which was perfect.  Lloyd and the girls stayed back home so Carly could compete and Camilla could lifeguard.

Lonetree Reservoir is located just south of Loveland, CO.  500 acres of OPEN WATER, nestled on the west side of the Heron Lakes subdivision and TPC Colorado. Great water, beautiful views and quick access to the transition area.  With a slightly longer bike than your traditional Sprint, this event caters perfectly to those who enjoy spending time biking, especially through our beautiful Colorado Foothills.  Biking is my worst event in the triathlon.  

My legs are strong but I don't handle the bike well and I get scared when I go too fast.  Thankfully, I had plenty of time to practice going downhill fast when we camped in Breckenridge.  I also had time to practice running a lot of miles since we just moved to a house where our backyard is a runners paradise.  Still, I did not believe I had any chance of making it onto the podium in this race.  I just wanted to go out there and have fun.

Connor and I left on Friday morning.  We stopped at the library and got some good books to read during downtime and my sweet boy bought me a Starbucks for the drive up.  I reserved a campsite at Riverview RV park.  The campsites were small but the location was absolutely perfect.  

Our site sat on the Big Thompson River, nestled between Fort Collins, Estes Park, and Loveland.  It was the cutest little campground with showers, live music, games, and a store.  My triathlon was only a 10 minute drive from the campsite.  

Unfortunately, our first night was not great.  We went to bed around 10 and everyone camping around us was drinking and being super loud until 2am.  Connor and I didn't sleep more than a few hours.  But we got up and went to the triathlon in the morning, anyway.  I had just enough time to set up my stuff in transition and do a quick swim warm up.  I had grabbed my old wetsuit with holes on accident but the water was a warm 72 degrees so it was fine.  

The swim went great.  I was totally relaxed by using techniques to calm myself.  I think my open water swim fear is completely gone by now.  Ironically, the bike was my favorite part.  There was a lot of rolling hills with beautiful views of the mountains.  

I actually looked down and saw that I was biking at a whopping 35 mph going down those hills which is huge for me when I usually have fear.  I still got passed by a few people.  However, when I started the run, I flew by everyone that passed me on the bike.  When I crossed the finish line, I knew I had made the podium.  It took a while to get results so Connor and I ate some breakfast burritos until I found out that I had gotten 2nd place.

After the triathlon, Connor and I went back to the campsite and took a 3 hour nap.  Then, we went down to Loveland lake to swim with Lola and found the cutest little ice cream shop.  Connor got the biggest banana split that I had ever seen at a place called Dairy Delite in Loveland.

We then went to a place called Dam Store so I could get a new wall hanging for our house.  We got to climb the lookout tower to see the Dam and Big Thompson Canyon.

The rest of our time was spent around the campfire, reading, and looking for frogs, mushrooms, playing in the river.  Our campground had an 80s band playing good music and thankfully people were quiet for us to go to bed and get a good nights sleep.

Lola got away with getting 2 hot dogs, 2 hamburgers, ice cream and sleeping with my giant sloth that I bought in Loveland.  Loveland is a beautiful city that has so much outdoor recreation.  There are lakes and reservoirs everywhere, with lots of wide bike lanes for cyclists.  I think this may be one of my favorite cities in Colorado.

Before we went home, we stopped at a cute little place called Epic Egg and got some yummy food.  While we were there, Connor found a nasty beetle crawling around in his shoe.