We Tri!

Philip and I did our first triathlon together! This was my second ever and my first with an open water swim. We were both pretty worried about the swim because the water temperature was 66 degrees, and we didn't have wet suits. As we walked over to the swim start we noticed about 90% of the people had wet suits. Philip reassured me that everything would be fine and I would do great on the swim (I did really well and placed high during my first tri back in October). That made me feel a little better, but Philip is perpetually optimistic, so it didn't make me overly confident. It was certainly chilly, but we both decided we were glad we swam in just our suits, and that it was not as bad as expected. Perhaps standing around in just our suits in the 50 degree early morning weather acclimated us to the cold :).

This was another sprint distance triathlon, so we swam 400 meters in the lake, then rode our bikes on the road for 20K (about 12 miles) and finished with at 5K (3.1 mile) run through the McKinney neighborhoods. Philip finished in 1 hour and 20 minutes and I finished in 1 hour and 41 minutes. We were both surprised to see that we "medaled" in our divisions. I finished 3rd and Philip finished 2nd. However, after seeing the full results Philip's results remained pretty impressive, but mine...not so much! Ha! There were only 4 women in my division and I finished 95th out of 111 competitors. So, not too great. BUT, I was proud of myself for finishing the whole race without ever stopping, and pushing through all the hills. Even Philip, who has done many of these events, said this was a very tough course. I think I was most proud of my bike because I averaged 15 miles an hour even with a lot of climbs. My run however, was pretty slow at about 12.5 minutes per mile, and my swim was 11 minutes (could have been about 8 or 9) possibly because I got pretty off course before the first buoy. I had to really adjust because I am used to swimming in a pool where you can see the line on the bottom to guide you. In this lake I could barely see my own hands through the green water! I stayed on course a lot better between the buoys after that first stretch.



Philip finishing his swim

Here go the girls! I'm the crazy one on the right with no wet suit :)



Philip finishing his bike



My bike finish

Philip running strong through the finish

Me thanking God to safely cross the finish line!





I NEVER thought I would say this, but I really enjoy doing a triathlon and plan on doing at least one or two a year from here on out. The 60 and 70 year old competitors always inspire me and Philip and I would love to compete with our grandchildren cheering us on one day. :) It's exciting for Philip and I to have a activity that we can do together that will also keep us in good physical shape. Philip has been encouraging me to increase and maintain my physical fitness and health ever since we started dating. I know it makes him happy for me to be active and participate with him in a hobby that he loves so much. I'm looking forward to training and racing together again in the future, and even getting our little guys racing soon too! 

**Thanks for all the pictures and for cheering us on and supporting Philip, Allen!**