Sea World

Taylor, Jenny and Nene came in for a visit the weekend of June 18-19. I was looking forward to this visit, as the girls hadn't seen each other since Easter, and KT was barely walking then, so this was going to get interesting!

These girls had so much fun together! On Friday night, we watched some TV (probably Mickey Mouse if I had to guess....) - then on Saturday, we braved Sea World. Wow - that was crazy, let me tell you. 104 degrees, need I say more.

sweet cousins sharing the couch and watching THE mouse

headed in to Sea World

Taylor and her Mama

NeNe and her littlest granddaughters

NeNe, KT and Taylor

checking out the fish at Sea World

they looked so cute standing in front of the gigantic aquarium

dolphins!!

Elmo and the rest of the Sesame Street Gang!

alas, sleep trumps Elmo....

Danksin Tri - June 5, 2011

I did it!

I successfully completed my first mini-sprint-call-it-what-you-want triathlon!!! This past Sunday, June 5th, I competed in the Danskin Triathlon series in beautiful Austin, Texas. I am so effing proud of myself. I'm sorry, for those of you with sensitive ears, but I don't know how else to describe it other than that. I am so FRICKIN' proud of myself!!! Can I just yell that out loud?? Okay, then. You get the picture! :)

I have not trained as hard or as serious for anything else in my life over the past 13 years. I was an athlete during high school, but since then, I've never seriously pursued any competition other than an occasional intramural game in college. But, I did train for this. Seriously. I practiced swimming, I routinely ran, I even practiced brick workouts. I even did a "mini-mini-mini" triathlon the weekend before this triathlon. Where is the Colleen you knew? And what have I done with her? Hopefully I've reformed her for the better. She was entirely too self-indulgent.

I am proud of myself, because 1 year ago, at this time, I was probably 30 pounds heavier than I am now. Pregnancy did an absolute number on this body, combine that with a caesarean section birth and we've got ourselves an absolute mess. But, so what, right? Cause I'm working on it. So I have bumps, and some lumps, but I'm WORKING ON IT. I'm hoping to drop another 30 lbs to be at my ideal weight. And get this...when I decide to have another kiddo? I'm going to continue to run during pregnancy. So many doctors are FOR this, but we give ourselves entirely too much leeway during pregnancy to do "bad" or "cheat". No more, I say!

I want to thank my husband - I tear up writing this, because he has been such an awesome support system for me. Many nights he came home to watch KT and cook dinner so I could go do my workout. He helped scoot me out the door on those nights I was wavering, wondering if I should even bother working out. He helped me get all my gear together, researched things for me, got my bike adjusted, and put up with all my crazy mood swings in between. He's totally awesome. Hands down, he and KT are the reason I'm doing all of this. So thank you, Jeff - Love you so much.

Plus, the man took some amazing photos while we raced. He was everywhere. During every stage. He killed it! :)

Sunrise on Walter E. Long Lake

My awesome husband. So lucky to have him!

Setup at my transition area. Next time must remember to check for ant beds. I have 6 bites on my leg as I realized there were ants in my area during one of my transitions. Also, must work on organization! :)

My training buddy (and coworker), Stacey! This woman rocks and is a total inspiration!

Annah, my prenatal yoga buddy! Another inspiration! :)

Stacey, myself and Annah displaying our numbers!

It's a popular event! There were a lot of participants - over 1,000!

Had some issues with my cap. Thanks, Stacey for helping! ha!

We're ready - let's do this already!!!

Danskin did an awesome job getting us motivated!

And we're off! Swim was awesome. Totally not as bad as I thought. Maybe doing an open water swim the weekend before helped out!

Out of the water and headed into my first transition! What a face. Yowza! I felt really good about my time - even if I didn't know what it was at this point.

My fans! KT, Dad (Grumps) and Mom (Grammy). My cousin Sarah was there as well! Thanks for coming Sarita! And thanks M&D for helping us with KT.

Coming in from my bike. I felt really good about my time here. Only 3 people passed me the entire bike ride. Hills were killer - but doable!

Headed in for my last transition!

Had to put on some tunes. I would of never survived!

And I'm off. Most difficult part for me was the run. I think I just didn't have any legs left in me. I was beat. It was hot, hot, hot and the hills on the run got the best of me. I don't like to walk on any run, but I allowed myself on this one and I think that got the better of me. Next time, work on improving this leg.

Almost to the finish line!!

Raaaaaar!!! We did it!!!!

Celebrate!

5K's (and tri's) for KT :)

Family shot!

My official times were:
Swim (800m) 00:24:25
Bike (12miles) 00:45:47
Run (5k) 00:38:18
Total 01:58:34


I placed 35th out of 133 participants in my Mixed Age group.
I finished 557 out of 1038 participants overall!

Official scoreboard. Spent too long in my transition! doh!

For my first tri, I am quite proud of those results!

I'm ready for another one - I can honestly, truly say that. I would love for more friends to do this with me. It's such an awesome event. Inspiring. Motivating. So much camaraderie between all the women. Well run. And it's fun to share this with friends. I'm glad I had some with me. But anyone out there who wants to train for something like this, let me know. I'll do it with you!