TRI

Every year we always look forward to the Ft. Leavenworth sprint triathlon. I don't know why I look forward to these events so much, because I'm usually pretty miserable during the races. I think it must be like labor, its really no fun during the event, but afterwords you forget how hard it was and end up doing it again. It really was so much fun. My good pals did it with me, along with my pops. He is 53 years old and only trained for about one in a half weeks. Kind of crazy Sid!

So just a quick synopsis of the race. First you swim 200 meters in a pool. They have you jump in 10 seconds apart from each other (there are timing chips involved so you know your time exactly). The swim for me was good. The guy in front of me was a backstroker. I tried to pass him up, but he was so long. I couldn't lose to a backstroker.

So after you swim, you run half naked to your bike. You have to put your shirt, socks, shoes, helmet, etc on and then ya just start pedaling with all of your might. The bike is the longest event in a tri. It was about 13 miles. I LOVED it. I felt so dang free! That is until the darn hills. They were never ending towards the end. And the crappy thing about it was that I accidently dropped my water bottle on mile 3 of the bike, and I didn't stop to pick it up, so I was feeling a little bit dry at the end. As I was finishing the bike, I saw my mom walking up the street with my girls. That was pretty cool for me.

After the bike, you have to change from your bike shoes to your running shoes. By this time, my legs felt like jello. But I had to start running. The first mile was miserable. I swear it took forever to get to. But after I saw that one mile marker, I caught my second wind and I decided to just book it and be done.

Finishing felt so spectacular. What a relief!

I think the reason I do these races is because I need to feel like I'm something besides a mom. I know a lot of women have side jobs, or do awesome crafts, or bake etc. I think this type of thing defines me as me, not me as a mom or a wife. Get it? Got it. Good.

Here are the pics to prove it.

This one is of all the girlies in my neighborhood who did it. No, I'm not sucking in. I promise. (I had to, look at all the hotties I'm standing next to.)

So you know at the end of movies that are based on a true story, they show a picture of the real person and you read a little fact about them. Well I'm going to do that right here on my blog with the gang. Just imagine really sentimental music in the background.

This was Sarah's first triathlon. She finished 6th in her age division. Her dog had puppies two nights before and so she was running on no sleep. She currently resides in Olathe Kansas as of 2011 and lives with her daughter, Evelyn and husband, Jim. (Oh and all those new puppies).

This was Milli's 2nd triathlon. She took 3rd in her age division. She definitely needs to work on her bike time and transitions. Her husband Travis had to miss the race, this was the first race he missed. They are still married as of 2011 with two daughters.

This was Rachel Kanooth's 3rd triathlon. She finished 4th in her age division. She enjoyed the taste of Milli's dust for most of the race. She and her husband, Leif, are currently in the process of moving to Tampa Florida so Leif can do a medical residency. Boo! We will miss Rachel's spunky spirit (see below)!

Jesse Washburn (the man sitting next to kim) has finished so many races, we can't even document them here. He was the ring leader for this triathlon, as he tried to convert many people to endure this race. Jesse unfortunately took a wrong turn on the bike and didn't place this year. This is the first year he has not placed. Maybe he shouldn't go so fast on his bike and next time the traffic controller will be able to wave him in the right direction. Poor Jesse! He is making his wife and kids move with him to Rapid City, South Dakota to do a dumb medical residency.

Kim Washburn has also done quite a few triathlons. She finished #1 in her age group. She is a very good biker, and Milli will miss going out on rides together. She is a good wife and follows her husband to crazy places like South Dakota. They will be residing there with their 2 girls for 3 years.

This was Jana Johnson's first triathlon. She not only ran a great race, but she was Milli's hair stylist before the race. Along with intense training, Jana enjoys Quicktrip runs, watching old films and playing strategic board games. She is the best friend a gal can have!

This was Sid's first triathlon. He finished 7th in his age category. He currently resides in Draper, UT. His goal in life is to never run a full marathon.

Tammy was the babysitter/photographer. Little do a lot of people know is that Tammy could have done this sprint triathlon, and beat a lot of people, but she refused to do it due to the 4 lap swim.

Later that day, the group got back together and had a BBQ bash. The athletes felt that since they accomplished such a feat, they could eat whatever they wanted. The truth is though, that realistically they all really only worked out for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, mostly in anaerobic respiration, thus burning muscle, not fat. But don't tell them that.