Done & Done!

I did it!  I finished!  I'm officially an Iron Nut!  WooHooo!!  And it wasn't as horrible as I expected.  I mean, it was rough, don't get me wrong.  But there was no throwing up, no passing out, no crying and even very little walking on the run!

The swim went pretty well although between the traffic in the water, the cramps in my feet, and the different pool, I was one minute longer than I expected.  I started swimming and thought that I was probably pushing it a little too hard too early in the water.  But then I decided that the swim was the only part that I was going to be good at so by golly I was gonna push it!  I placed 3rd in the swim overall, out of 29.  That helped my total time a lot because my bike and run were pretty slow.  I think the bike took me an hour and 40 minutes and the run about 33 minutes.  My total time was 2 hours and 10 minutes.

I finished first in my age group, though Shar and I were the only two in our age group.  And I would have gladly taken either spot!  Shar had to stop twice on the bike and put her chain back on.  Thank goodness that didn't happen to me..... 'cause I don't know how to put a chain back on.  True story.  I thought the bike route Would.NEVER.End!  It was pretty darn tough and I was getting passed left and right by folks on nice road bikes while I poked along on my mountain bike.  Most of them gave me nice words of encouragement while passing me.  :)  I loved it.  I needed it!

Super-duper athlete Kevin of course finished way ahead of any of us and he ran the last half of my run with me.  Which was a HUGE help!  I ran faster and harder when he ran with me.  I had to stop at the beginning of my run and stretch my calves.  They were cramping up really bad.  But luckily once I stretched them, I was O.K. again.  I finished the race, and much to my surprise, I was alive!

Dr. Ann came in on the bike and Kevin ran with her (as he did with Shar and I).  On Ann's last lap we all ran with her and she was BOOKING it!  Shar and I could hardly keep up!  But the best part was that we all had a really good time I think!  I really enjoyed it! I'm so glad I did this.  Dr. Ann, Shar and I have already been talking about what's next.  Though I think we'll leave the Iron Man distances to our super-duper athlete.  This distance was just right for me I think.

Here's some fuzzy pictures my dear coach, cheerleader, and Greatest.Daddy.Ever took.

That's the transition area where you rack your bike and transition from swim to bike and from bike to run.

Here we are!  About to begin our quest to become Iron Nuts!

I think that blurb in the third lane is supposed to be me.

And that's me in the water.

That's me transitioning from the swim to the bike!

And me riding off, starting the bike route.

That's Kevin heading off on the bike route.

And Dr. Ann beginning the bike route.

That's me transitioning from the bike to the run.  Bike racked, helmet off, visor on, Run!

My first lap of the run.  That was tough.

And here I am coming to the finish!  (Kevin is on the left where he had been running with me.  AFTER he finished his whole race already.)

I finished!!

Thanks loves for your support, kind thoughts and prayers!  You're awesome.  We did it!!

Punt

It was hours before I was to take an exam in a notoriously hard class in college. My brother was in the same class and we studied together for that exam. My brother shut his notebook, stood up and said, "Well sister. What do you do when it's 4th and long?" I starred at him trying to relate the chemistry of animal nutrition to football. "You drop back and punt the hell out of it," he said. Point taken.

It's time to punt folks! Time for studying, training and planning is over. Tomorrow we punt! Ohhhh, I hope it's a long, beautiful, high punt that lands just inside the 1 yard line. That would be lovely. But at this point, I'll be happy with a 20-yard punt. Just enough to keep me in the game.

I could have trained longer, harder, and faster for this Tri. But for my first one, it's jusssst satisfying enough that I trained at all. Plus I'm getting less and less competitive as I get older. I long more to enjoy the process and the high from a sense of accomplishment than I do to set PRs. But even tomorrow I'm gonna set a PR! Even if only cause its my first Tri. ;) Super-duper-athlete Kevin keeps reminding me that the slower I am in this Tri, the more I'll improve on my time next time.

Tomorrow is scary, especially after driving the bike course today, but I'm as ready as I can be. And I found out today when I picked up my packet that it's a small crowd participating. Just 29 individuals and 2 teams. That made it seem less daunting. But that also means the fewer people that I have a chance to pass. But thats ok! Im just tickled to be competing in my first triathlon and to have some great friends to do it with.

There looked like some Serious Iron Nuts picking up their packets today. Like, bad mamajamas. Legs of steel. 0% body fat. Bulging biceps. All serious iron nuts. I consider myself more of a PeaNut. Just crazy enough to try it. :)

Thanks for reading, praying and supporting loves! I'll let you know how it goes!

Hugs!