1 hour & 28 minutes!

Our tri team...looking fit!

My first triathlon...my future triathlete!!

So I have to start with the practice swim in Lake Woodlands last Saturday...as my close friends know, we were given a chance to get into the water (the nasty lake water) and see what it's like to swim open water. Well, after 3 strokes where I landed on top of someone and took down a route 66 drink of the lake water, I throw my dark blue goggles on my head and breast stroked the entire course. I was convinced I was sick from the water the next morning when I woke to a sore throat. A day later I realized, oh no, it was from holding my head out of the water and breast stroking. So the past few days it's been a build up of anxiety! And terror creeping in about the water leg of the course. But, give God the glory because today was a different story!

In order to put 1,000 competitors into the water, you go in 3 minute waves. They line you up by age group that is color coordinated to your swim cap. Imagine bald heads (swim caps on), form fitting attire, arms crossed in prayer position, eyes wide with nerves/fright, huddled in groups, taking little steps forward...to me, it looked like the lines to the concentration camps-and that is how it felt-I was freaked about finding my coffin out there and so was everyone else! But, by God's grace I was able to find my 'spot' knock around a few people, remembered that it is a contact sport (dude the water polo people would be awesome at this) and relax enough to swim...and that's what I did. As I can out of the water, I heard Sarah call my name! Awesome to get out at the same time, cause in the water anything can happen! 500 meter swim done...

The bike...EASY...minus my gu (energy pack) falling off at mile 4. The phrase I kept repeating the whole morning was 'geez these people are serious.' Well that came out on the bike. People had aero-dynamic helmets and were speeding past me going 100 miles an hour (not really). Sarah and I were riding at 18.8 mile pace...which is not bad. A comic relief half way through the bike was when we came up on a mom that looked like she was on her little son's bike (not kidding-it was a youth looking bike and she was working HARD and going no where). Having no hills and a spin class a week made this leg a breeze. 15 miles done...

Run...this is my groove...this is what I do. Smooth and nice. And it was the greatest part...because this is where you saw all the people that had come out to support you. My engineer dad did awesome and parked the whole family in a spot where we got to see them twice. What a boost!! 3.2 miles and DONE!!

It was so fun to do it with Sarah & Becky. What an accomplishment by them! Seriously! Both of them have a baby under a year old. Congrats!