Torture Tri...

I am blogging this at almost 10:30... and have been up since about 5:00. I have swam 5oo meters, biked 18, ran 3, drove just over 200 miles, done 3 loads of laundry and given 4 baths! All in all, it was a pretty fantastic day. Chad had decided late last week that he wanted to try and open water swim triathlon. I was game, as I knew sitting on the sidelines was not for me. I have been very apprehensive about open water swims for several reasons, mainly the distance. So far my tri's have been anywhere from 250 meters (5 laps) to 400 meters (8 laps). Of which, I had no problems with. I have always enjoyed swimming and while I am not fantastic, I can certainly get it done. So when this tri, at 500 meters, became open it was 'do-able'. The only problem was that it was rated as 'hilly'... and it was almost 18 miles. So far the longest bike I have done has been just over 12 miles. What a difference!

Anyways, Pops and Nana graciously agreed to watch the kiddos so we could torture ourselves. :) It was quite the different tri. You start in waves based on age and sex. There were 75 women 35 and under starting in my wave. You basically run toward the water as fast as you can. You get kicked, shoved, stepped on... whatever it takes. I kinda stood back and watched, as I didn't need to be in the front of the pack. I quickly learned that the green water I was swimming in made it very difficult to see where you were going! Although I didn't have any problem with the distance it was very different in 'open water'. Chad seemed to enjoy the change and was certainly willing to try it again... regardless of the fact that he HAD to wear a swim cap :) So cute, btw! The bike was rated as hilly, and boy was it ever! In fact towards mile 13 someone went off the opposite side of the road and down and embankment. EMS 'extracted' him on a backboard! Quite an event. I even saw someone either just starting or just finishing (the very hilly) run who had passed out and was lying in the middle of the road! These people are a bit too hard core for us! I did enjoy the bike, I never felt like I wasn't able to finish. Now the run.... a different story. My legs were very tired and while the first mile felt great, miles 2 and 3 didn't go as well. Chad and I both finished. Obviously slower times than we liked, but it was definitely an accompliment.

The shore we left from

End of swim...

The best part of the race!!!!

Might I mention that I am super lucky that not only does Chad encourage and support me but he wants to participate. I love that we have events like this to do together. Even if he is a little more competitive than I am :)

I only have one more 'scheduled' event right now... end of September. But I am

sure by tomorrow evening we will both have one scheduled sooner! Too funny!