A Bi-athlon, minus the skis and the guns

What do you do when a good athlete friend of yours sponsors and hosts a Free Triathlon? You sign up, of course! There was an obligatory "you-are-my-friend-so-you-can't-say-no" undertone in the invite...so I naturally, not only did I volunteer myself for participation, I also signed up my dear husband. He was thrilled. (!)
Long story short: I did less than an ounce of training. Okay, that's a lie. I did less than HALF an ounce of training! I figure, eh- Swim? I can do that. Bike? I have one. Run? ...honestly, NOT planning on even doing the run!

Last night was crunch time. Crunch time to either back out NOW or go forward with my commitment. Dear hubby it would seem came down with a Man Cold, which he gracefully used as an excuse to back out. Never mind that I too was suffering with what he had...

So, while hubby stayed up late with his friend, I retired to bed early in an effort to get some shut eye before the sun rises.

4:30 am: little baby is awake. So I get up, feed him and then gather my supplies (helmet, bike, h2o, a bagel, my swim gear and camera) and head out the door. The air is warm and the sun is just peeking up over the canyon mountains that surround my back yard. It is beautiful. I don't remember the last time I was awake this early on purpose. I breathe a sigh of gratitude and pull out onto the open road bound for East Canyon State Park. Never been there before. The drive is just beautiful and I pass what must be 100 sporadic road bikers climbing to the top of this mountain. (Sporadic in that they were not all together in a pack...)

The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, to see what he could see...

I get to the race site and begin to finally hype myself into this. I realize that it is early, a little chilly and I don't have a wet suit like everyone around me is putting on. Hmm. I think I may freeze if I get into that water! The race is small. Only about 20 people, so I am not intimidated at all. I'm not going to really race...the fact that I woke up to get here on time is good enough for me!

A leisurely 800 yard swim, a 12 mile mosey on my bike. And sorry, the run is out. Its free, no numbers pinned to our shirts and no water stations- I do what I want!

About that water. Race time is approaching. We are all down on the bank of this lake and I step my feet into the water. Wow. Surprisingly warm! So, one, two, three- I just dunk myself and let out a little squeal to dissipate the intensity of cold all over my body. It worked. I got all the way in again and just started treading water to get/stay warm. I can do this! How is this water SO warm?! What a blessing!
Alright, so the race begins and I just start tracking and swimming toward the orange bouy 400 yards away. Of course everyone is passing me and I just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming. Thank you Dori. It feels good! My arms are fatigued and I can't see a thing in front of me, but I can see the fishermen on the bank being annoyed at us, and a boat of people up ahead anchored down also fishing. And I'm getting closer to the bouy. Finally I make it around the bouy and head back to the start. I keep changing between freestyle, back stroke and breast stroke. I don't even know if that is allowed in a real triathlon, but whatever, I'm swimming. I get into a good groove and just keep swimming. I don't even know how long it took me to finish, but I did and I was proud of myself.

Now onto the bike. Got to dry my feet off, get my shoes on. No rush. Not like in a REAL triathlon...My shorts get stuck getting over my butt and I have to laugh. Helmet on, water with me- off I go. I'm alone on the rocky road. Foot over foot I pedal till the road becomes black and new- fresh, smooth and bright pavement. This makes me want to go faster. So I do. Bikers are passing me on my left over and over and over again. Why can I not keep a steady pace? It has always been my problem with running and biking, and anything really...keeping a consistent pace. Its difficult when you are alone. I'm dead last. I think. Actually there was a father and his son and daughter who are behind me. Okay. Thats cool. I keep moseying along the road. Everyone ahead of me has hit the turn around spot and is waving to me on the way back. Its funny. They say, "YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!" I think, no, you're almost there!

Just keep going. Whatever the pace, just keep moving forward. I like it. While on the bike I think about how this is just how I do life. Not too competitive, not lazy, just a steady, slower (as steady as I can do it) pace with the intent on finishing. That is the race to me. Start it and finish it. Its a race against my own mortal self wanting to not do it and to quit, versus my Higher Self pushing me to do hard things. Everyone has that struggle I think. Do I take the easy way or the hard way that will make me grow and become better? Sigh. Life lessons.

There was one gentleman who swam and biked the Olympic distances in the time that it took me to finish the Sprint distance of swimming and biking. Awesome. That guy is pure awesome. Seriously. I wonder what motivates him to do that? What is his reward? My reward was feeling good about myself for keeping a commitment, even when it would have been easy to back out. My reward was feeling my body work like it was created, and for finishing what I started. It all just felt good. I'm glad I did it.

I finished the 12 mile bike. Phew.

Now, to run or not to run. I had not planned on it from the beginning and I was feeling confident in staying with that decision. So, I stayed with that decision. I've been working on sticking to my guns when I make a choice. Good job Holly. I have not really run in over two years. Its just not my thing. And for those of you who have pushed a baby from your nether-regions, you may have an idea as to why I don't run! Don't judge me. I did however get my picture taken of me pretending to run, just in case I wanted to post in and lie to you all about running. But I'm a better person than that. 

So instead of running, I ate a bagel. And chatted with the others who had already finished their 5K run and took a few pictures and stretched. My body felt good. It was still early. So I hopped in my car and drove home.

And that my friends, was how my morning all went down. Now I'm going to pop some DayQuil and snuggle in with my dear sick husband and watch a movie. Grandma has had the kids all day and they'll be home in a few hours.

Thank you Jamie, it really was a blast!