Thank you for the birthday wishes. It was a lovely day, and much better than my birthdays tend to be. (Bad birthdays completely my fault. More on that later.) It was a fun day playing hooky with K. and the kids, great lunch, wonderful dinner, relaxing, peaceful… Sigh. I wish it was my birthday again today.
But it isn’t. Back to real life. Back to housework, cooking, training, feeling guilty about how far behind I am in getting back to people that should be gotten back to, and the ever-lengthening todo list.
Here’s a little something that K. put together for my birthday:
Watch Amy swim, bike, and then run, all on the same day
This is not the most flattering thing I’ve ever seen, but I’m sharing it with you anyway. Go ahead, watch it. And then come back.
Ok, the beginning biking part was right after I got the bike. I figured out quickly that riding on the trainer was not for me. That swimming bit in the beginning? I don’t swim like that. I was heading for the dock after my swim. Oh and right after that E. jumped off the dock without his lifejacket on (which is ok because he can swim a bit, enough to save himself) but he scared himself and then we had to effect a rescue. Very dramatic. Of course I was right there in the water, so no worries. K. tells me this was the best swimming shot he had. K., you need to take more shots. Because I know you can do better than that. Actually all of the training stuff was early on. I don’t know why I’m compelled to tell you this because you really don’t care. I suppose I do, though.
The first triathlon was converted to a duathlon (run, bike, run) because of weather concerns and debris in the water. I was bummed! In the end it was probably better because my swim the next week was terrible, but at the time I was bummed. The farthest I had run before this race was 3 miles and on race day I ran 1.5 miles, biked 14-ish miles, and then ran 3 miles. Right after I finished it started raining REALLY hard, then thunder and lightning and they called the whole race off. I was so happy that I was able to finish. But it wasn’t a triathlon.
A second triathlon the next weekend was more of the same. Steady, pouring rain. A quick, awful swim (must work on my swimming!), a slippery, wet bike ride, and a run where the water was frequently up to my ankles, and voila! I’m a triathlete. Oh, and the lake? Was filled with geese poop. Everyone was covered in a thin brown sheen of poop as they left the water. All part of the fun.
The video is all from last summer and it makes me want to get ready for this year. I wish I could just magically be a much better swimmer because it would make everything so much easier, but I’m going to have to work at it. And this summer there is a small brand new triathlon right across the street from my house! And K. is doing it with me, if his shoulder ever gets better! Yay!
Clearly I’m still on a birthday-induced high. That’s a good thing. I’m much more chipper that way.