I survived

I officially survived my first tri-athlon!  Whoo hoo!  I'm so thankful that I was able to do it, especially with everything that has been going on the last 2 months with Mr. Steady's back.  Training was really tricky since he could be left home with all 3 kiddos unless everyone was sleeping (no lifting restriction...)  But he said a few weeks ago, that hands down I needed to try to keep up with my training and that he fully supported me doing the race, the logistics were just a little more complicated. 

The training process was actually really fun.  It provided great excuses to see friends at 6am (how often do you do that), to meet at the pool.  It provided great times of worship as I rode my bike at the crack of dawn listening to praise music.  It provided a goal to work towards and therefore self discipline.  The funny unexpected benefit, is that it helped me desire to be more active with my kids.  I was the mom running around at the park and the mom who actually got my hair wet at the pool when we went to play.  I like this new change, hope I can keep it up : )

For the Tri I had a slew of wonderful people to participate with...
My bro and his friend Katie- they came out from Denver and did the full Sprint
My college roommates- Kathy & Jenn
My dear friend Dena
My friend Amy from church
7 of us in all, which made it really fun to setup our transition areas together, then to cheer each other on along the way!

As for the actual Tri

 I loved getting to race with these awesome girls, even though most of them left me in the dust on the swim!

I do not recommend an ocean swim for your first Tri!  It was intense!  Waves were chest-high, and the waves just kept coming and coming!  I'm so thankful that I survived!

 I now wish I would have pushed myself more on the run and bike... especially since my swim was so slow!  But I was struggling to catch my breath the whole time!

Getting to do the tri with my big bro will be forever a special memory for me! 

My favorite memory of the day was when H, joined me for the last 50 yards of my run!  

Too bad this sweet buddy has some serious speed and was sprinting, I had to ask him to slow down so I could keep up : )

I felt so supported and loved by my man!  He got up at the crack of dawn and rallied the 2 big kids, made signs for me, took a whole slew of pictures, cheered me on along the course.  Oh, how I love this man!  I could have never taken this on without his support!!