I have never had so much fun in an exercise situation. I never once thought, "Why am I doing this?" (Okay, I thought it ONCE when I was standing on the shore in the cold September fog, waiting for the starting gun to go off...)
The fog was incredible. Almost calming. They had to delay the start by 10 minutes because you couldn't see the buoys. I stayed up all night stressing about how cold the swim was going to be. In actuality, it was about five degrees warmer in the water than it was standing on the sand.
I think my only disappointment of the whole day was that I didn't push myself on the swim. I was so cautious out there, mostly because I didn't want to panic.
Look at me checking every step. I was sure I was going to fall running up the beach.
Man that's an attractive getup.
Once I got on the bike, I threw caution to the wind. I never once hit the brakes until I was turning the last steep hill into transition. I picked off bikers left and right that had passed me on the swim, especially on the uphills. I looked down at my bike computer at one point and saw 30mph! 30 miles per hour! I had never before ALLOWED myself to travel that fast on a bike. I remember thinking around mile five on the bike "Maybe I should pace myself a little, what if I don't have anything left for the run?" I thought to myself, "What would Patrick do?" The answer came easily: "Go. All. Out." So I did, and I didn't regret it.
Pro: I was smiling in just about every single picture taken of me. It's obvious I'm having a blast. Con: I still look ridiculous in a bike helmet.
This is straight off the bike. My legs are shaky, but I was super excited to be so close to the end. I had just yelled at Patrick "Do I have everything?" Transition (the time in between the swim, bike, and run) seemed too easy. All the books that I had been reading really made a big deal out of people forgetting things in transition. I was sure I had forgotten something as I was running out.
The only negative on the run? My shoes made a squishy sound the WHOLE time. I wasn't wearing socks, and I'm not sure if this was the reason why they squished so much. I couldn't sneak up and pass people because they always knew I was coming, and usually sped up. I listened closely to other people's shoes and never heard one other person squishing. I was totally annoyed at my beautiful flower shoes.
This is the end. It was a huge downhill finish, which was good for the ego.
The end. I was so pumped. I'm still on a high.
"The family that tris together, stays together!" -Kim Jenkins
The best part of the whole day was sharing it with my family. My husband, kids, and dad were just around almost every corner. They gave me an extra special lift. Looking at this picture gives me a twinge of guilt because I have seen very few of Patrick's races due to my weekend schedule. I wish I could give him the boost at his races that he gave me.
It's also fun to race with friends.
Navigating the whole triathlon world is a lot less scary when there's two of you.
Patrick is excited that I'm excited. "I'm going to make you fast."
He wants to get me one of those crazy helmets. Maybe it will look cooler than the one I have now...
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