Let me first start off by saying that the whole weekend was great. Adam and I and my parents drove up to Austin on Friday to start our Labor Day weekend a little early. We were soon met by my brother who came in town as well to hang out. It was soo nice to get away. We stayed at a nice house near the lake with great rolling hill views. Which were perfect for a glass or wine or cup of coffee depending on the time of day. We brought all our our own food, so we did a lot of cooking, had some great meals, and took some beautiful bike rides around sun set. I must say there is nothing more relaxing then waking up without an alarm clock, and walking out to a deck with cool air and a hot cup of coffee. I want to go back already.
Saturday after our naps we went to a great local winery called Flat Creek Estate. It was very relaxing and we had some appetizers and looked over the valley. That afternoon, due to my fear of falling off my bike going uphill, dad, Adam and I practiced hills around the place we were staying for about an hour. It definitely helped me feel more comfortable in the fact that there was a slighter chance of me falling. On Sunday we went into Austin to go to the expo for the triathlon. I would advise anyone out there who has bike-envy to not attend one of these events. You can buy EVERYTHING at those expos, it’s crazy. I never knew there were so many different types of Cliff Bars and GU packs. After we checked in, got our numbers, and were officially signed up for the race we walked our bikes down to the transition area to check everything in. Things became quite real at this point. Rows and rows and rows of bikes hanging on metal poles. All kinds of bikes, road bikes, tri bikes, mountain bikes, bikes that cost more than 2 of my cars easily. And since it was a cool 100 degrees, we decided to go have a picnic down at Barton Springs.

We sat on a picnic table across from the diving board and cracked up laughing as people dove into the water. Great spot for people watching. It actually wasn’t too terribly hot in the shade and turned out to be a very nice picnic. After deeply regretting that we did not have our bathing suits we returned to the house and decided to hop in the pool at the place we were staying, and it was good. Sunday night we had my mom’s amazing spaghettini dinner to give us lots of energy the next morning. I contemplated taking a bottle of Tylenol PM’s to knock myself out so I could sleep, but opted out and just sat outside and listened to music after dinner. Eventually, Adam and I fell asleep, and around 4am decided that I could not sleep anymore and so our day began.
We left the house around 5 to ensure that we arrived at the event area with enough time to set up our transition stuff, and get written on, and all that fun stuff. I have never been so nervous in my life. Chris decided to wake up early with us as documented the whole thing. When you walk into the transition area, they have to write your bib numbers all over you because obviously you don’t wear them in the water. On the back of your calf they write your age. The conversation with my marker guy went something like this:
Guy: “Bib number?”
Me: “1241″
(Guy writes on legs and arms and motions for me to turn around to write age on my calf)
Guy: “Age?”
Me: without hesitation “28″
(Guy writes 28)
(I hear to my write Adam tell his marker guy “27″)
Me talking to Chris: “Does my calf say 28? I think I just told that guy 28, I’m not 28, I’m 27, I just turned 27″
Chris: (laughing hysterically)
Me talking to guy: “Um, I’m 27 not 28″
Guy: “You don’t know how old you are?”
Me: “Apparently not this morning”
Guy: “Well, I can cross it out with this huge marker, or you can be 28″
Me: “28 it is”
(I walk away feeling not so bright, and horribly old since Adam is walking in front of me with 27 written on his leg, dangit!)
I’m 28:

Right before I become horribly embarassed that I’m 28:

After quickly setting up our stations and getting ready, Chris and I played a quick game of “guess the person’s age before they walk by.” Apparently I am the worst person at telling how old someone is – defintiley was off by at least 7 years each time. Maybe they forgot how old they were too. Probably not. It was starting to get exciting once the sun came up, everyone was there, ready to go, numbers on, eating the last bits of their breakfast. Our start time was 8:55, so we had a while to soak things in. I have never seen so many in shape 40+ year olds in my life. We took a few group shots before the race:
The whole group (L to R): Lauren, Hayden, Jesse, Lamar, David, Adam and I:

Just the boys with goggles:

Adam posed for a TYR/Speedo ad (totally kidding):

Right before the swim:

Our biggest fans, complete with matching jerseys and homemade sign, aren’t they cute?:

The boys went first into the swim. Lauren and I followed 30 min after. I thought I was going to have a panic attack in the water. The horn blew and we took off. Swimming in open water with 45 other people around you is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I consider myself to be a decent swimmer, but ended up doing breaststroke half the time just to avoid feet in the stomach and arms hitting my head, very strange. Getting out of the water we ran to our bikes and hopped on. Well, maybe not hopped on right away. I took my time
almost 8 minuites, but hey there’s always next year, right? My gloves were inside out and I couldn’t get my feet clean. After a quick swig of water I was off on bike, ready to tackle the hills (btw, running in bike shoes is a lot harder and more akward than it looks):


The bike was tough, but I felt good. Heading up the main hill that lasted at least a mile, I felt confident, and did not fall (can I get a hallelujah!?) Heading back into transition I did not want to run, I was tired and knew the run would be tough. The transition was much quicker this time, I think I cut it down to 3 min or so, still not lightening speed, but again there’s always next year. A nice guy even came over to hold an umbrella over my head while I changed shoes, which was so nice considering it was like 11:30 at this point and so so hot. And then I was off on the run. My legs have never felt heavier, ever! Heavy enough that I totally ate it like 100 yards out of the transition area. That’s right, I didn’t fall on the bike, but I did fall on the run. Perfect. No worries though, I was cracking up laughing at myself until I remembered that I had 3 miles to run and then things weren’t so funny. I made it though and crossing the finish line was great!


And then I was done. After getting over the fear that I might have a mild heart attack from stopping, not really – just a tad hard to breath, I was able to celebrate with everyone and see how their races went. Adam’s went amazing, he accomplished all of his goals and did SO well, especially in the swim which was his biggest concern. We were all so excited to have finished and finished well. There has been talk next year of my dad, Chris, and even Stacey and her soon-to-be-hubby Jeff joining the fun. We can’t wait!!