TRIATHLON COMPLETE!

I would first like to say I am proud to have done this, proud of the other girls I did it with and excited about the new friendships I made!

I was REALLY tired before I even left. I was up several nights with different kids, I also did not sleep well before the race because I was nervous about the hills and being away from the kids and just everything so that made the race harder, they started later than they orgiinally said and I was really frustrated with that because it is AUGUST and we needed to get in there and get it done before being in the heat of the day!

The pool section I felt pretty good about, I passed a couple people and I got passed once. I did have a little incident that while passing someone who appeared to not be moving decided to move just as I was passing her and she splashed water right in my mouth as I was in haling and that was not fun, but it was right at the end so I just saved the choking until I got out of the pool while I was moving to the transition area.

Also the hills were just rough! Really tough! In fact, when you come out of the pool and get dressed for the bike, you make a right out of the Y, you dont even have time to get going before you are going up the biggest hill in the entire race. I did not even make it up a quarter of the way and then I had to walk my bike up the hill. There were 2 other big hills, but not as big as that one, those I made it up about half way and then had to get off and walk my bike up them. The breeze sure was nice on the way down though!

The bike trail was a 4 mile loop that you had to do 2ce. So, the good news is you knew what you were in for, the bad news is... you knew what you were in for! I wish I would have taken a little longer at the transistion to catch my breath so that I was not already out of breath trying to get up that first hill, but I still was not in shape for hills that big!!

I also had swallowed some water and so I threw up a little on my way up, so that was fun! Also while in the pool, someone had knocked my water bottle over and since I had not put the lid on right it leaked and so I only had half a bottle of water for the entire bike ride- luckily on the second loop I asked a volunteer for her water, and literally took it right out of her hand and drank it!

I walked most of the trail but wanted to run in so I ran about the last quarter mile and with about 2 tenths of a mile left, my friend cara met me and was cheering me on and even ran beside me for a minute until we crossed the bridge and then I crossed the finish line!

I also did not plan on the emotions, part of it was because I was so tired, I am always more emotional when I am tired, but I did not know I was going to cry so much. I cried during the national anthom. I was like, wow, they play the national anthem for REAL athletes and this time it is for me.. so I cried. I cried when this volunteer guy was cheering on while I was way down the hill and then when I got my bike he cheered even louder for me and was so awesome. I cried when I was walking because there was a person in a wheelchair cheering others including me on, and I cried when I saw Cara cheering for me because I was so happy she finished, I was even more happier that I was about to be finished and then I cried after my shower for whatever reason! I was just an emotional wreck. Once I got some sleep, I was done crying.

I did not finish in the time that I set for myself, but I only missed it by 5 minutes and I always say, being late 5 minutes is not anything to sweat about, so I am not going to worry about it. I did complete it and was the last one in my group, but I also have more kids and younger kids then the rest.

I will say I feel like I am in a triathlon every day with these crazy kids, but at least now I have a real one to compare it to! Sometimes we are going up one of those hills and I am struggling to make it and sometimes we just relax and feel the breeze as we go down hill!

ONE week left!!!

Well, this is my last week until my Triatholon. Am I ready, well that is a trick question!! I am kind of ready for it. I am excited and nervous about so many things! I think I can accomplish all three things, unless the bike route is on some crazy hills or someone takes me out when they crash!


I have been working pretty hard all summer though, I did not train as much as I would have liked to in NY. The Y had this tiny pool that was not condusive to swimming laps and the bike my uncle was going to let me borrow never surfaced and my walking kind of died out because of the stupid, pesky bugs up there that attack you! I did do a little bit up there but also because my kids caused me to get so little sleep each night, it was a bit hard to just get thru each day!


I thought I would work out harder when I got back, which i did the first week, but the second weekmy kids all passed around a stomach bug that kept us from going to the y all week and my bike had a flat tire. So now it is 6 days away and I have to step it up a few notches to get me back in this race and feeling good about it. I already worked out this morning and plan on going every day this week in order to get myself as ready as I can for this event next weekend.


I knew this was going to be hard to do with 3 small children, things always come up and keep me from doing what I would like or need to do and sometimes I regret signing up because of the conplete lack of control over my time. I barely had time to go to the bathroom BEFORE I signed up for this and I had let a lot of things go like cleaning my house and such except for the necessities (which change on a weekly basis) so since I have been training, it has gotten even worse. But on the other hand, one of the other things that I constantly let go of with each kid that I have is ME.


I don't take care of myself the way I used and though I have not ever been a high maintenance type of girl, I did take care of myself, now showering is about all I can get done- most of the time someone pulls me out of the shower before I am done, so I often have had shampoo or conditioner still in my hair, sometime I would forget one of those things all together, putting on deoderant or lotion afterwards is a luxury I sometimes just dont get anymore! As each one gets older I get a little pieces of me back, and though I think I may have jumped the gun and started a little too early for this, I needed to know that I could still do something on my own. This race is about a healthy ME, getting my body back and getting my strength back- both of which I need to handle THEM!


If I can keep everyone in my family healthy for a few more days and at least get in some more workouts, I should be able to tackle this thing with the confidence I had before I went to NY. Right now, my confidence is down due to my lack of training and nerves, but I can get it back in a few days of hard training and maybe a few moments of prayer!!


The next time I write in this blog, I will have completed a triathlon or I will be in the hospital!

NY Trip

This summer I went to way upstate NY where my family has some cabins, one of which is a log cabin. I have loved this area my whole life and have always dreamed of bringing my kids here one day!

We had a great time, but boy was it a lot of work!! The cabin is small for 7 people, it does not have air conditioning and only one queen (for my parents) and 2 twin beds! It was hot, the air mattress kept giving me vertigo and the kids went to bed late and were up early every day!

Other than though, the kids were great and really loved clear lake, the cabins and all the fun stuff we did. We went out on the boat with Uncle Glen, we went to parks and playgrounds, we went over the Thousand Island bridge and spent some days just hanging out at the cabin. I got to see my favorite Aunt and Uncle quite a bit, as well as my cousin Marty and his wife, some friends that I have had for years and years and also had some time to reflect on some memories.
It was a completely different trip up there though with 3 kids than my trips past! I used to go up here for complete fun and have zero responsibility other than my one project that helped the cabins. I also used to go out every night with some locals and met lots of people with boats and boated up adn down the river all the time wint out a care of what time it was.

This year, I had 3 kids to take care of, keep from drowning and away from the many other hazzards up there, it was a little crazy, but we still managed to have some fun and see family. If I only had a nanny to bring with me on vacation so I could have fun with the kids all day and then go out at night while the nanny got the kids ready for bed!

Oh well, next year every one will be a little bit older so hopefully it will be a little bit easier!