She ROX Triathlon, Tempe

I did it!  I completed my first ever triathlon!  For any of you that have wanted to do one, but you're afraid that you can't...just do it!  It is so awesome, and it's great to have something to train and work towards.  I really think ANYONE can do a triathlon!

This was a sprint triathlon so it was a 750m swim, 13.5 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run.  My goal going into the race was to finish under 2 hours and I finished in 1:39:13.3!  I finished 10th in my age division out of 58, and 98th overall.  I couldn't be more happy.  I'm just proud of myself for doing it!  But I couldn't have done it without Tyler and all of his support!  Thank you babe for always being willing watch the kids so I could get in an extra run, bike or swim if I couldn't wake up at 5:15 a.m.!  

Can you see me swimming?  The swim was a little harder than I thought.  Open water is definitely different then swimming in a lap pool that is only 14m long.  My time was 18:21.6

The biking portion was my favorite!  My dad would have been proud!  I used Tyler's mountain bike and put hybrid tires on it.  I was pounding it out every second of the way!  The hardest part of this leg was not having any water.  About 1 min. into my ride I took a drink and when I was putting my bottle back in its spot it flipped out of my hand and off into the road.  Blast!  So for the next hour (until I got to water station #1 on the run) I didn't have any water.  And folks...the weather was HOT, HOT, HOT!!!  My time was 46:51.2  

I don't have any pictures of me on the run, but it's probably a good thing because you would wet your pants laughing at how dead I looked. :-)  So to continue with my water story...When I finally got to the water station where there were volunteers holding out water cups.  I hurried and grabbed the first cup and while pouring it into my mouth and letting it splash all over my face/body I realized that it was Gatorade!  So now my throat was burning even more, my face was covered in stickiness, and my stomach was starting to ache from the sugar (I don't drink Gatorade when I normally workout).  But everyone passing me was very supportive, and I pushed thru. :-)  My time was 30:49.6

Thank you babe for all of your love and support!  Thank you for wrestling the kids for 2 hrs. in the heat so you could take pictures of me!  I couldn't have done it without you!  

Tyler would look up where I had biked or ran on Google Earth for me all of the time.  He drove the bike course for me so I could see where I would be going.  He helped me get his bike ready for the race with my hybrid tires.  He just always puts up with my crazy ideas and my crazy hobbies! :-)

Me and Linnlee

Thank you Linnlee  for motivating me to do this!  She always called me asking if I wanted to go on bike rides, swim, or run with her.  It is so much better working out with someone else, and she was always pushing me to do better!  She also kept me up to date on everything I needed to know for the race.  I would have been so lost without her!  She is my soul sister, and I would be one lonely person without her!

Me, Linnlee, Alexis, Mary, Maren

 Cooper and Kaid