Trek Tri Twenty Ten

Of course, my photos are out of order. Of course, I don't have any from the race, as they're on my mom and dad's camera. I'll get those up soon enough.

First, I must say that all women should do triathlons with their girlfriends and declare a women's weekend. Second, I must say that right after this race I registered for the Omaha Tri, which is an Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6 mile run) and already I'm kinda crapping myself. My parents have declared that they would come and watch, and I love when they come watch, but I think for the first time I do this distance I need to do it myself so as not to disappoint them. Not that they'd be disappointed, but I'd feel like I let them down if I suck it. And on this note, I have to give props to mom and dad. All my friends envy me because of how cute and supportive they are. I'm proud because everyone around me can see how proud they are of me. So, there that is.

Third, because I must get it out of the way, I have to admit upfront this was not my best race. I disappointed Sally Edwards and myself by not meeting my goal time of 1 hr. 30 minutes, but I have lots of GREAT excuses. Like a wardrobe malfunction on the bike leg. And not feeling well during the run. And watching my heart rate reach a max pace of 205 beats per minute. But those are excuses. Next time....I WILL do better. Although, to be fair to myself, I didn't do too badly, as I placed somewheres in the top 20%.

This is Leslie. Catch her gig at www.momontherocks.com. This is the sign by the lake we swam in. Ironically, it was a beautiful lake to swim in. Except I went crooked and got whistled at to veer right. My mom was watching and intuitively knew it was me and was going to take a picture of the asshole in the green cap who went the wrong way (me) but she didn't. Mother's intuition..... :-) Okay, so this is me and my peeps meeting Sally Edwards. Who is Sally Edwards? Uh, only like a Triathlon GURU!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Edwards She's done 16 Ironmans. And over 150 Triathlons in general. I can learn something from her, I swear.

Okay, I LOVE this girl. She and I have been online dating for awhile, and we both have boys around the same ages who are pretty much the same personalities. She's a childhood friend of Leslie's (who, by way of explanation is Julianne's bestie in Omaha, who picked me up in the library breastfeeding over 5 years ago. It's complicated, but it all works out). Allison, Yallison, Runner Chick. Her first Tri...She banged it out with a FANTASTIC time, and completed a 25 minute 5 k. She inspires me to do better next time. She's funny, smart, and knows the definition of the word NIBS. She's the kind of persone everyone wants to know, and those of us that do have the privelige are lucky.

This is JulzHolla posing in her cap. She picked me up at the library. And then she moved away. But we've stayed in touched and visited her and then she visited me and now she's a hot tri chick. With hot tri accessories. She's an inspiration.

Soooo...we're girls. And we made a weekend of this tri thingy. Everyone met at my house on Friday. Saturday we went up to Pleasant Prairie and stayed in a hotel and went to a very inspirational seminar and out to lunch and we hung out at our hotel and gave each other tatoos with Sharpies. Leslie looks like she's done this before, though, doesn't she?

This is one of Julz's tats. I love it. I want one on my shoulder. But not a real one, because I'm a wuss. And I don't want a real tatoo ever because it's there forever, and I'm too flaky for something to be around forever. Except my husband and kids. Because I kinda like them, so I wouldn't mind if they stayed around for a while.

This is everyone in transition. We got to talking to this one girl about how she put gels on her bike. The smartest thing ever. This girl put tape on her bike upside down, or sticky side up and stuck some energy gels on it. I am definitely going to have to copy that idea for the Omaha Tri. But she recommended using Gorilla tape, or someting like that and not masking tape. So I will have to ask my dad about his tape supply and know how.

And while I'm here talking about this, I must say this is partly why I do these women Tri's. You talk to people. You get ideas. You learn things. And you also learn to shut people down when you ask about their bike seats and they refer to things like "chafing" and 'callusses' on their lady bits. I'm just saying.

This is Julz on Friday at my house. She wore an awesome black and gold shirt. She's a good friend, a great mom, and a huge inspiration. She also was one of the younger girls on our trip (she's 10 months younger than me) and made us take note. She's a hot mama. With some sweet club moves.

This is the gang. Ashley (who really was the young un at age 24), me, Les, Juz, and Yallison. These ladies are awesome. I love all of them.

This is the girls first arriving. Les took a picture of me taking a picture of her.

I hope I get pics from my mom soon, so as I can tell you all about my wardrobe malfunction and how I felt (and according to Yallison) didn't look so good at the end. My personal issues with my OWN time aside, women's weekends are the bomb. Tri women's weekends just can't be beat. And neither can my friends, and my familial support crew. I suppose I should publicly thank My Hubby for taking care of the kids and just letting me do my thing.

I really do have a great family. And a great support crew. I am so lucky. So, so lucky.