Hey all, it's Joni. Paul is in Boston this week and he asked me to blog about the last little while.
Most of my adult life I have had a goal to complete an Olympic triathlon. This might surprise some of you because I didn't dare share it until it was finished for fear of failure/wimping out. I set my sights on the Vernal Dino-tri and trained for a few months. FINALLY I can say I am a real-deal triathlete!!
3 hrs nervous sleep
+
1 mile swim
25 mile bike
6.5 mile run
= Meatloaf, cookies, a NAP, and a deep feeling of satisfaction.
Here are some pics of the journey.
Night before bike set-up at Red Fleet lake. I talked Andrea into doing it too - here we are starting to get really nervous for the first time. 
Two smarties who forgot to bring jackets at 5:30am to catch the race shuttle. BRRRrrrrRRRRR... lesson learned.
Red Fleet (behind us) is a gorgeous lake - to look at. Swimming in it's 65 degree water at 7:00am is, well, shocking. There was no "wading in" either. It was a deep water start, meaning we had to jump off the dock and wait for the start while treading water. Sheeesh. 
We come from a family of triathletes and here we are with our uncle Don. He is an accomplished Iron Man and is in training to to another soon. These are nice little practice drills for him. Me too. .... right. 
Here is our wave headed out for the first of two 1/2 mile laps around the lake.
Catching my breath at the post-swim, pre-bike transition. 
Mile 24 of the bike. Is it just me or do I look like a 3rd grader riding to Grandma's house after school? 
During the entire swim and bike I just kept thinking "Okay, you've been running for 12 years, just get to the run and you will be alright". Have I ever run after a swim and bike? Definitely not. It was a HARD run, but still fun... Yay for rhymes.
Fast forward to the red-faced finish line. 
Only in Vernal would they give out trophies made of rocks. Ha ha, love it!
It felt SO good to cross that one off my list. I'm thinking triathlons might be like having a baby. Here are some similarities.
- A long period of build up and anxiety
- The "what did I get myself into" feeling right before it starts
- The "never again" feeling during
- Total happiness upon completion
- The "well maybe one more" feeling after the pain is gone.
Over all it was a great experience. Not so great? The food poisoning I picked up from a 7-11 taquito on the drive back to Colorado. About 24 hrs after eating it I started feeling sick and next thing I knew I was in the fetal position on my bathroom floor. I had NO idea there were that many liquids in my body, and that they could be expelled with such speed and ferociousness. I really thought I was going to die for a while. Luckily, I had people watching over me (since Paul is in Boston), taking care of Ellie when I was too weak to pick her up. Sounds pretty dramatic, I know. But that's really how it was. I'm feeling 100% better now though. You know you are over it when you can have chili for lunch - and that's what I did today - so don't worry!
Last week we took Ellie to her first baseball game. Rockies vs. Red Sox. I don't have time to upload more pics, but it was a good time! I think Ell made friends with half the people in the stadium!
WOW this blog is loooong. Thanks for sticking it out. Gotta run!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Swim, Bike, Run, Nap
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11 comments:
I am way impressed, my friend. Way to go.
Holy freaking cow Olympic champion!!! You're amazing. Promise me to share all your "secrets" in about 2 weeks. Not that I can promise to tough it out, I am so wimpy. One of my goals however is to run a 1/2 marathon and I really need some heavy duty work/help.
Glen was so excited to know that he would be at the Yankee Stadium while Paul was in Boston at the Red Sox games tonight. Pretty lucky guys. I guess working away from home has it's perks sometimes.
Glad that your feeling better, that does not sound fun. See you soon.
Kendi
I'm so impressed, Joni. That's a marvelous accomplishment at ANY time of your life, and to do a tri within the same year span you had a baby is phenomenal. You're quite the lady!
So, so sorry you got sick afterward. Not good to get food poisoning when your body is in recovery mode, I'm sure. I'm glad you are feeling better now.
Again, congratulations.
We love you all lots.
Always,
Maude/Gram
P. S. The photos are super. Thanks for sharing them!
Very impressive feat.
Well done.
tell paul thanks for telling us that he was in boston....and congrats joni. thats so awesome! dan benshoff recently caught the tri bug. One these days it will be me or Mike ha. Okay so why does that rock your holding say first on it?
Holy Cow Joni!!
Congrats...you look fabulous!
Joni didn't say it, but she got first in the 25-29 age group. I thought she was pretty cool, now where to put that rock?
Jen B. - I promise I thought about calling you guys while in Boston but I didn't have a spare minute, plus we've been so busy lately it came up on us really fast. We need to talk soon.
I vote that Joni blogs more often.
Joni! That is so great! I would like to train for a tri-spint first - I'm glad you had wetsuits for the swim! You do look very carefree on the bike, and so happy you finished such a big goal! That food poisoning sounds totally bad, and I'm glad you had people helping! Ellie looks like a regular Rockies fan!
Love,
Melecia
Congrats!! That is awsome that you both did that. I don't have the guts to do the swim. I am scared of water. Elli is getting so big and super cute. Hope to see you guys soon!! (July 16, 17, and 18th Young Reunion)
We've all been so very busy. I'm glad you got the blog done. We are soooo proud of you. Your determination and hard work really paid off. We had our doubts, but you came through like the champion you are. Thanks for being such an amazing example for our family.
I'm glad we were able to be close during your sickness and that your mom could help. This has been a year of extremes; the blessings out weigh the tough stuff for sure.
Love you.
Mike
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