It's been a while...

WOW…where in the world shall I start? It has been so long since I have updated my blog and so much has happened. I guess I’ll start with the Triathlon.


 As you probably know I was training for the Tri for the Cure that is held in Denver in August every year. I had one goal and that was to finish the triathlon in 2 hours or less. I must admit that I trained pretty hard for this, but because when I began my quest for pink I was in the WORST shape of my life, I knew I had to set a somewhat realistic goal. I had somehow allowed myself to gain over 50 lbs and become about as unhealthy as I could get. So, you can only imagine how much “fun” I was having during the beginning of my training. However, I had a goal and come hell or high water I was going to achieve it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go at it alone and was fortunate to have so many people cheering me on as I embarked on this journey. Not to mention my faith in God…without that I would have been toast the first week.

So, August 2 comes and my sister, sister-in-law and I are all at the event getting excited. I am feeling really good about the swim, as I am normally a pretty strong swimmer. As they sounded the horn for our wave to begin it took me a bit to get my rhythm. Just as I was finding my pace another swimmer decides to pass between me and the swimmer on my right. Now, please know that swimming in a triathlon is already like giving100 other people full permission to beat you senseless, while you are blindly kicking and stroking your way through a forever changing obstacle course. In fact, a friend of mine who is an Iron Man tri-athlete sent me this very funny video that basically describes the swim portion perfectly, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM. Anyway, as this other swimmer barreled her way between the person to my right and me I swam left to get out of her way (mind you, had she just been paying a bit more attention she would have seen that the space between me and the swimmer on my right was way too narrow for someone to pass, yet to my left was WIDE open…I’m not bitter, though). As I am doing this the swimmer who was clearly not paying attention also swims left and just as she gets ahead of me and just as I am turning my head to take a breath she kicks me in the face causing me to inhale half of the reservoir and the entire funk that is in it. I of course completely lose my breath and at first I can’t even cough. I had to stop for a moment and prop myself up on one of the floaters until I could cough out some of the water and breathe. I would guess I probably stopped swimming for a good 30 seconds to a minute, maybe even longer.

Once done with the swim I managed to get through the bike and run without any major setbacks. Well, except for the fact that I was coughing water periodically throughout the race. All in all it was a great experience and while I didn’t finish in under the 2 hour goal I had set for myself (my time was actually 2:01:00…1 minute over my goal), I am cutting myself some slack, as I fully blame the chick who kicked me for my one minutes delay. That’s right, I don’t think I should take ANY responsibility for my time, as I am sure that had I not been kicked I wouldn’t have had to stop, nor would I have been slowed down by the water I was coughing up during the whole race (and was STILL coughing up the next day) and therefore, would probably have actually won the entire race. Ok maybe not, but hey…if it makes a girl feel better to say that then that’s what I’m gonna tell myself. It’s not like YOU were out there swimming, cycling and running your little butt off. :)

I am now training for a half marathon that I will be running in December. I haven’t set a time goal yet, as I want to get a better grasp of what my average pace in the cooler temps will be before I do that. I can tell you this, though, I never thought I would be a person who would even consider running a half marathon much less actually signing up and training for one. I always said, “I’m not an endurance athlete…I am strong and can lift tons of weight but I can’t run to save my life.” Well, I guess I proved myself wrong on that one. As I have said before, I have always loved challenging my body and pushing it to see how far I could make it go. However, in the past that meant I would only “push it” in the little comfort zone of lies I told myself. Which kinda meant I wasn’t really “pushing it” at all. I mean sure I would increase weight and max out when I was leg pressing, but I KNEW I was good at that. THIS that I am doing now is the true meaning of “pushing it” for me. When I began running I began on a treadmill and could only run for 2 minutes before I had to stop and walk. It seemed like it took months before I could run an entire mile. I actually remember how excited I was when I ran that first FULL mile. Now here I am getting ready for another 6 mile run tomorrow. 6 MILES…I never thought I would run 6 miles without stopping. I also never thought I would enjoy running 6 miles without stopping, but I can finally say that I do. I ENJOY running! Who knew?

Next stop…maybe Cowtown half marathon in Feb. and then CapTexTri in May where my sister-in-law (and hopefully my sister) and I will participate in another triathlon. This time, for me it will be an Olympic distance. Gotta love it!