The Flailing Arms

I have the ability to laugh at myself frequently so I thought I'd share some photos so you can get a good laugh too. This is me completing my first triathlon on Saturday. What an experience! It was hard, but it felt great to accomplish it. For the entire week before I did it, I was so nervous that I just kept thinking, "What in the world am I doing? This is crazy!" But I did it, and I'm already talking about when I do it again. I think I'm hooked. It was what they call a sprint tri, so the distances were all managable. It was a 300 yd swim, 15 mile bike and 3 mile run.

I decided I would train for one in January when a friend talked me into joining a triathon club at the YMCA. The only hold back for me was that I had to learn to swim. I used to be able to swim a little, but the first time I got into the pool and swallowed a gallon of water and got another gallon up my nose, I wasn't so sure I wanted to do this. It was definitely intimidating, but I learned to swim and now I actually enjoy it. So I already knew I looked funny when I ran, but it isn't until I actually saw the photos I realized the extent of my flailing.

Take a look at my face in this one. I look like I'm going to either cry or throw up. I don't think I could decide which would be more helpful. So I have to add one more cute picture, and it's cute because of the people with me. It was so motivating to see my family waiting for me! Clint and the girls (Josh had a swim meet) came with me and they were so fun! I got to see them after the swim, a few times on the bike and at the very end. When I saw them up ahead, it was like another burst of energy hit, and I knew I could make it to them. I'm not going to share the pictures on the bike because I'm getting passed in most of them. Kayla made me feel a lot better about that after the race with something she said. Clint was driving the girls to find me on the bike ride and they kept going and going past where they thought I'd be when they spotted me. That was before the wind hit me head on, and I quit moving. So Kayla said, "Mom, when you were riding your bike at first you totally smoked us, but then we smoked you!" I asked her later if she had fun, and she said with a scowl on her face, "No, you were the one that got to do all the fun stuff- go swimming and ride your bike and race. We just had to wait." I love it!