So glad I Tri-ed!

To Tri or not to Tri? That has been the question since April! I had intended and trained (as much as I could) to participate in the Austin Danskin Triathlon in June with a group of ten friends from Lago Vista and had backed out for a better offer (among other reasons)! After seeing the pictures and hearing the stories from the Danskin I was very bummed that I didn't do it. However, the better offer was my cousin Kristen encouraging us (I mean telling us) to do the Tri-Waco triathlon the day after my cousin Kenda's wedding (7/25). How perfect would it be for the four of us to do our first triathlon together with all our family cheering us on? It was!!

We set off at 5:15am with "Team KM" aka Kenda/Mark written on our arms - since they just got married and because Kenda and Mark are big outdoor enthusiasts and probably our biggest advocates! I think Kenda was slightly disappointed that she had to go off on her honeymoon and couldn't do the tri with us (just kidding Mark)! We had other motivational things written on our hands (like "you are 1 bad ass hot mamma") and tried to act like we knew what we were doing when we set our stuff up in the transition area! Kristen always makes me laugh when she says that when she swims it looks like she is having a seizure - but maybe that is the case, because that is the only leg that I had a better time than her in! :-) Oh wait, maybe my times weren't as good because I was in the old lady bracket with the slowest bike in the world! No really... training with three kids is no easy task and I was really just determined and proud of myself to finish it - and I did!

A few days before I did my own mini 1/2 sprint tri and it took me 1.5 hours, so I figured on Sunday it would take me 3 hours. It didn't. I finished in 1 hour and 54 minutes! The swim was my first open water swim and I am pretty sure that I looked like I was having a seizure! On the bike ride I was passed by hundreds of competitors with street bikes - I think my aerodynamic mountain bike might have slowed me down on what seemed like an up-hill-both-ways 12 miles!  Not discouraging though - I was having a great ride!  And my run - not being my strongest, and my least favorite - was a better than expected 12 minute average per mile! Kaleb rocked the race coming in 76th place (also on a mountain bike - so I guess I can't use that as an excuse :-)). Keegan was not to far behind him and Kristen did an amazing job too!  Fun, memorable times!!

It really was SO much fun and it was so wonderful to have so much family there to cheer us on! Watch out next year Tri-Waco!

Thanks to my amazing support system that allowed and helped me train and encouraged me to participate:  Curtis, Tammy, Amber, Stacie, Kim A., Kim P., and more recently Mom and Sharon!