Saturday October 8, 2011
Last year before we found out I was expecting Ashlee, my sister-in-law, Lisa, signed me and her up for a Sprint Triathlon. I was excited about it and even got a co-worker to sign up to do it as well. I started doing some training, mostly just running and then found out that we were expecting our Ashlee Elizabeth. Being that I would be far along in my pregnancy I could not participate but was able to carry over my registration to the next year. So that takes us to present day. I was able to convince Chris to run the Tri with us as well. Chris got excited about it and found out about a Sprint Tri hosted by a DO student from Touro. This Tri is call the PHAST standing for Promoting Health and Service Tri. At each transition you do something for the Ronald McDonald House. (Side note: My first real contact I had with the Ronald McDonald House was when Ethan was 7 months old and in the hospital. We had been there overnight. I was exhausted and so drained. There for two groups that came and helped bring a smile to a very scared mothers face. The first group was the Ronald McDonald house. They brought me and my mother a sack lunch. It had a diet coke, bologna sandwich, chips and a treat in it. I hate Bologna and I'm not a diet coke fan, but I was so grateful for those people that smiled and were so considerate of me and my little world. Since then I have formed a deep appreciation for the Ronald McDonald house, those that volunteer there and those that help support it!.. Side note over!) We decided to sign up for it so we could have a trial run before our major one. Little did we know this was the week before the Pumpkinman... Ahh, but we didn't back out and I'm glad we didn't.
We started at an aquatic center in Henderson. The weather that whole week had been quite cold and Saturday morning was no exception. I took before pictures must to Chris's dismay.
My Stud Muffin. Excited and a little nervous.
Crazy me.
Crazy me. The Tri starts in the water where we swam 500 Meters. I have been swimming with my friend about two times a week in the early morning. The first time I went I felt like I was gonna die. Each time I continued to struggle but felt more and more confident. I even went out to the lake and did a long swim, which I literally felt like I was gonna die. Chris wasn't able to get any swimming in and he felt it. Chris and I were some of the last people to get in the water. They split us up into three different groups. Under 10 minutes, 10-20 minutes and over 20. We happily went to the over 20 line and the back of it as well. The swim felt pretty good to me and I actually finished in 13 minutes. Chris did well also and perfected the back stroked for sure!
Next comes a 12. something bike ride. I had kinda been thinking "how hard can the bike be?" Well it was a tough ride. There were a lot of ups and downs both ways. My thighs burned so bad at one point I almost thought I'd see flames when I looked down. But then a flat part came and the burn went away quick! Chris and I passed around the half way point. I was so proud of us... Does that sound vain? It does but we were actually doing something we had been working towards for a while. It felt great to have a small sense of accomplishment. After the bike I was ready to be done, but we still had to run our 5K. So I got off the bike, put on my running shoes, colored a lunch bag for the Ronald McDonald house and then started the run.
The run was a tough course. The entire first half was all uphill. The night before we had picked up our packets and driven the run course. In the car it didn't seem that bad, but after swimming and biking it was almost impossible. But needless to say I ran it, and I ran it the whole time. My knee started hurting pretty bad, an all too familiar pain that I hadn't felt since before Ashlee was born... It was horribly bad, but it didn't feel much better to slow down, so I didn't. Chris and I passed again about the halfway mark and he said I looked like a gimp... Running in pain can't be expected to be pretty, right? So I finished the race at 1:56:31.... and Chris was right behind me at 2:07:47. Luckily I was able to get the camera and get some pictures of Chris when he came in. So much fun!!!
This is me a little after the race. I had to go grab the camera...
Here is Chris way close to the finish line!! I was telling him to sprint it in since he was so close... I don't know if he could have sprinted if he tried, he was exhausted!
He's almost there!!!
And here we are right after Chris finished. I must tell you how happy I was to finish and see Chris finish. It felt great and I started looking forward to our next race and also started stressing about it too!!!
I borrowed my Brother-in-Law's bike for this race and the one coming up and wanted to get a picture of me with the bike. So here it is! During the race I remember thinking, "what the heck am I doing this for?" And after the race I remember thinking, "I wonder how many of these I can find locally to do?" Amazing what catching your breath and a since of pride can do to your thinking!! We both look very much forward to next year's PHAST Tri!
Swim, Ride, Run and Serve..... Sounds good to me!!!
