A TRI-ing experience

(yes, I made him a shirt that says "my mom tri's")

I decided to take up triathlons again. If you've followed my blog for a few years, you may remember that after my running phase I started to get into tri-ing. I did a couple sprint distances, then I started graduate school and then had Luke, so now I'm finally in a place where I want to start training again. As many of my mom friends can attest, it is HARD to make time for exercise. I set my alarm for 5am everyday so I can squeeze in a short workout, but I consistently hit the snooze button for 30-45 minutes before I HAVE to get in the shower. With that option out, I try to do stuff after Luke goes to sleep, but by 8pm there are dishes to be done, laundry to be folded, and toys to pick up - and let's face it, I'd be in bed by 9pm every night if I could! Justin and I were trying to take turns going to the pool, but they recently started closing it early, which makes that impossible! And we cancelled our gym membership a couple of years ago to save money. Suffice it to say, working out is hard and I need something to motivate me. I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to do a triathlon relay with my Aunt. Originally it was supposed to be Justin in the swim, Aunt Pat on the bike, and me in the run. Justin ended up being scheduled for work that day, so I agreed to do the swim and the run. I am by no means "in shape" right now, but I figured I could do both events - even if I wasn't very fast. I usually swim about 3/4 of a mile in a workout and had just done a mile+ a few days before, so I was pretty confident that I could do 1/2 mile open water swim with no problems. When I arrived at the recreation area and watched them set out the buoys, I quickly remembered that a 1/2 mile in open water looks very different than 33 laps in the swimming pool. Halfway to the first buoy I thought I might die. Or have to get pulled in by one of the kayaks. Fortunately, by the time I hit the first buoy I was over the proverbial wall and  able to push through to the finish and run through the transition. (I was so thankful I didn't have to do the bike portion this time around!) The run was good for the first two miles, not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but manageable. By the time I got through the turnaround and was heading back to the finish I was hot, tired, and my legs were chafing, so I decided to suck it up and do a little run/walk combo to finish out.

(pre-race)

Overall, we weren't last, which was my goal! My aunt pushed through and did an amazing job on the bike in her first competitive bike event! And in the end, there were several people behind us, so YAY!

(post race)

My co-workers have all decided they want to get in shape, so now everyone is training for the See Jane Tri triathlon on September 25th. Six of them are planning to form two relay teams and two of us are going to do the whole event. We're all excited and it's fun sharing stories of our training! Here's to better health and fitness for all!