She Swims, She Bikes, She Runs...She Rocks!

Ok, ok, so let me start out by saying this: I HAVE NEVER HAD SO MUCH FUN IN MY LIFE!!! Seriously. The triathlon was so much freakin' fun; you've GOT to do one! I mean, I love running marathons, but this was a whole new level of fun; I guess because you've got tons of gear you need, quick changes to make and three different events to get through.

The swim was by far the most intimidating part. No joke, I wanted to pee my pants waiting for my color wave to go. There's this HUGE expanse of a lake and you're supposed to swim around these buoys, the furthest which you can't even see from shore! Seriously scary. My heart was ready to beat out of my chest as the time was counting down. A loud horn and then there's this mass of running women, diving, splashing, kicking; I got hit a few times and I hit other women a couple of times as well, but once I got away from the pack and into a rhythm, it was totally cool. And I felt pretty dang awesome once I realized I was passing two color waves ahead of mine. :0) Time to swim 1/2 a mile: 21 minutes.

Once you get out of the water, you sprint to your bike, wash your feet, throw on your shoes and helmet and take off with your bike. It's chaos! But, crazy fun chaos! The biking was great. At first I was stuck behind a few slower cyclists and I wasn't sure what to do. So, I eventually yelled a very hesitant "pass?" and low and behold the cyclists moved to the right. Sweet! The 12 miles went by pretty quick and I had way too much fun going 26 mph on the downhills. Time to bike 12 miles: 45 minutes.

The run was the last event. I dropped off my bike and took off. And let me tell you, that first mile was the longest mile of my life. No lie. I could have sworn I had already run 5. After that, though, I got a second wind and really felt great the last two miles. And it's so fun to see all these women, different shapes, different ages all cheering each other on and challenging themselves in such a way. It was really, really cool to be a part of and witness that. There was a quote that Sandra and I saw written on a bag at the expo that read "When was the last time you did something for the first time." I thought about it as I saw friends, sisters, mothers, daughters helping each other, cheering for each other. There's just something so satisfying about taking on a challenge for the first time and making it...You just feel like you can do anything. There were women there ages 18 to 78 all demanding greatness from their bodies and what an inspiration it was so see it...

Anyway, the last mile came on quick and the spectators were cheering and I finished with a huge smile on my face. It was seriously AWESOME! I felt like a rock star! Time to run 3.1 miles: 32 minutes. So there it is. Total time to swim, bike and run along with transition times: 1 hr. 44 minutes. Not too shabby for a lady who had a kid 4 months ago, right?

Anyway, like I said earlier, I have never had so much fun! Here are a couple of pics after the finish. None during. Wally overslept and missed my entire swim and then had to sprint back to the cabin during the event once he realized the bottle of milk he had turned into cottage cheese. Oh well.

Hey Sandra! Don't our arms look totally ripped in this pic? :0)

Anyway, all I got to say now is, "Sign me up for the next one!" :0)