Tri photos

So the photos are in from the weekend....I totally love this picture of me on the bike. I was just as happy as I looked :)

And I felt just like that when I crossed the line...:)

But wait - I'm pretty sure my hat was green...other than that I can totally see how the photographer got us two mixed up...

Swim, Bike and Run like a Mother...

Today was Mother's Day in the states and Lu and I did the Women's Danskin Super Sprint Triathlon!

The only triathlon I've ever done had a pool swim so my goal was to do one in open water. For this event they had a Sprint (0.5m swim, 12m bike and 3m run) and a Super Sprint (0.25m swim, 8m bike and 2m run) so we opted for the shorter distance since the swim seemed a bit more achievable for our first time in the dreaded open water. To train for the event, we have been working out about 4 times a week and each Sunday we've managed to get out of bed at the break of dawn to do a swim, bike and run at the pool in Celebration to practice all three together. We've worked really hard but were still really nervous.

We got up at 5am to get over to Clermont in time to do all of the transistion set-up. We loved the body mark-up and in particular the sign calling us 'athletes':)

Don't let the smiles fool you - once we were ready to go - we wanted to cry...

Look at beautiful Lake Minneola - I didn't expect it to be just like the beach!

We were the second wave with a 7:19 start time...

Here goes...

The Swim...I am amazed to say that my swim was so much better than I expected! I started at the back and stayed wide of the turn points and didn't get kicked or pushed at all. I felt strong and was able to beat a couple of swimmers in the first wave too! The Bike...it was so beautiful biking all the way around the lake although it was hilly in places. I was really pleased with how it went and it was so much more comfortable now that I've been biking regularly (and have a gel seat :)). It was also really nice to get so much support from the other ladies on the course. Everyone was cheering everyone else the whole time:). The Run...I was dreading the run the whole time I was on the bike. I had worked really hard and my Negative Nelly brain started to make me question if my legs would be able to run at all when I got done. When I got started out with the run I saw so many people were walking and was really tempted but pushed through and just ran as best as I could!

The ending was phenomenal. The spectators were just the best and we got a flower, a goodie bag, a great tech shirt and a gorgeous medal too!

Mike bought me a 'bad ass' biking shirt for Mother's Day - I love it!!

Maddy came to support me for Mother's Day too which made the whole thing extra special :)

I came in 10th out of 27 in my age category which was awesome! Lu came second in hers and won a free entry for next year! Go Lu!!!!! My results looked like this:

Yeah!!! But regardless of the times, I felt strong and healthy and happy. And ready to take on the full Sprint distance and an open water swim next time :)