My first triathlon was supposed to be five years ago today. I was signed up for the super sprint distance at the CapTex triathlon in Austin. However, five years ago yesterday my best friend's mom died. Kelly and I were sitting on her couch in Austin that Sunday morning, being lazy after celebrating her 21st birthday the night before. I got a phone call that I will never forget - Mike telling me his mom had just passed away. I was in utter shock. She had ovarian cancer, but had been doing fine. She had even gone to her youngest daughter's high school graduation the night before. Still in shock and disbelief, Kelly and I packed up our things and headed to Beaumont to be with Mike. On my way out of town, I picked up my CapTex race packet, but informed them I would not be there to race. It is funny how May 24, 25, and 26 are so vivid in my mind each year they roll around. May 24 is Kelly's birthday and my sister's anniversary, May 25th is the day Mike's mom died, and May 26th was supposed to be my first triathlon.
I did end up doing my first triathlon, just two weeks later. I did the Danskin Women's Tri in Austin. The finisher's medal said something along the lines of "The woman who finishes the race is not the same woman who started the race." That is so very true. I was never the same after crossing the finish line that day. I was on top of the world (even though I had to get off and walk my bike up 1 or 2 hills!) and thought I could do anything after that. Little did I know though what the next 5 years would bring. Also, had you told me it would take five years to finally do this:
I'm not sure what I would have said. After approximately 5 years (minus 2 weeks) I finally placed at a triathlon. I got 3rd place in my age group Saturday in the Combat Sprint Tri in Texas City. Hopefully there is more hardware to come, but that surely isn't why I started triathlons to begin with and isn't why I still do them today.
I did end up doing my first triathlon, just two weeks later. I did the Danskin Women's Tri in Austin. The finisher's medal said something along the lines of "The woman who finishes the race is not the same woman who started the race." That is so very true. I was never the same after crossing the finish line that day. I was on top of the world (even though I had to get off and walk my bike up 1 or 2 hills!) and thought I could do anything after that. Little did I know though what the next 5 years would bring. Also, had you told me it would take five years to finally do this:
I'm not sure what I would have said. After approximately 5 years (minus 2 weeks) I finally placed at a triathlon. I got 3rd place in my age group Saturday in the Combat Sprint Tri in Texas City. Hopefully there is more hardware to come, but that surely isn't why I started triathlons to begin with and isn't why I still do them today.The race was a 300yd pool swim, 15 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I took 6 minutes off my time from last year, which is exactly what I was hoping to do. Last year I placed 7th in my age group. My run still sucks, and it seems it sucks worse and worse as I'm getting better and better at the bike! I guess you can't have it all.
Several other HRTC'ers placed as well. Matt got 3rd in his age group, Cameron got first, and Holly got 2nd:
More super speedy club members at the race:
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