WE DID IT!!!

I can't believe it, we really did it. Saturday my best friend Amy and I competed in the Las Vegas triathlon. I got 455th place. I know that sounds horrible but there were 900 competitors in all, and I was just so happy to finish it.

Here we are getting ready for the big race. Amy's father-in-law got us wet suits to wear and boy was I glad to have one. The water was ice cold. brrr...

They had us in age groups. Amy is younger than me and since I'm the big 3-0 I had to wait 3 minutes after her to go. It was fun to get to watch her start.

Here is my group running into the water. You can't tell but I'm in the center of the group. The swim was 600 Meters and my time was 36:26. When I got out of the water and was running to the transition area, there was Ryan waiting for me and cheering me on. It was so great to see him. It's like it gave me a burst of energy to see how supportive of me he is. Thanks hun!


Then on to the bikes. It was a circle course with 2 really big hills. We had to do it twice. The second time around my bike wouldn't shift into gear. I had to pull off to the side and luckily some guy was able to un-jam the chain for me. I was bummed that it happened but grateful that he was there and able to help me get back up and running. My bike time was 56;14

I saw Ryan right as I was starting my run. Again it was so nice to see him and hear his words of encouragement. (I love husbands). Now here was the really frusterating part. I was running my little heart out and going down this really really steep hill when this crabby old man on a golf cart came up to me and said "what are you doing, are you giving up" at this point I'm sweating like a pig and trying my hardest so I said "No... I thought I was doing good" to which he said "you're way off course, you should be over there and you need to get off my golf course" I was so stunned at how rude he was and said "ok, sorry, but the sign pointed this way" So I turned around and RAN up the steep him. He drove up ahead of me and I saw him stop 6 or 7 other ladies as well. When I finally got back up the steep hill he was arguing with another lady and she had him turn the sign so it was a little more clear. When I finally got back on the course I came to the real hill that I was supposed to run and boy was I beat. The guy had made me so mad though that I wasn't about to slow down in a way it pushed me harder. I'm sure I would have other wize walked part of it (so thank you grumpy old man for helping me run faster than I ever have before) but when your running up hill it doesn't seem all that fast. Needless to say my run time was a lot worse than I had hoped for. When I ran it at home I've been able to do it in 40 mins. But my 3.1 mile run for the race was 56:14. I wonder what it would have been with out my detour. Oh well. I'm still happy with it.

FINALLY, the finish line. I MADE it. What an amazing feeling! It was incredible, I still can't believe we did it, I kept thinking that with each stroke, spin or step about how much closer I was to reaching my goal to better health. I really loved training for this and plan on keeping up a good work out routine.

Thank you Amy for doing this with me. Thank you Ryan and Tom for being so supportive and such great "cheerleaders" and Tom for great picture taking. Thanks Christy for taking care of the kids for us along with Lauralee and Carolee for showing them such a fun time. It was so great to get to see everybody again. And thanks to everyone who called and emailed and left comments on the blog wishing me good luck. It really helped a lot and I really appreciate it. I'm so grateful to have such supportive friends and family. Golly you'd think I just won an emmy or something huh. LOL but I really do appreciate all of you and your support.