Have you ever wanted to do something really, really badly, even though it’s an intimidating challenge and makes you the kind of nervous where you think you may lose your lunch even though you didn’t eat anything?
I’ve had this exact feeling about triathlons ever since I moved to Austin a year ago. There were a few ‘obstacles’ I needed to overcome [...buy a bicycle... learn how to swim...shake off that back injury...] and I didn’t want to do this by myself, so I started out by taking baby steps. I volunteered at the CapTex tri, took a swim class with Stacie, ran [my last] half marathon with Meagan, and shortly after that bought my hybrid bike and started to train.
I’m so glad that I did this triathlon. I enjoyed every step of the race and I loved how friendly the participants were to each other, shouting out words of encouragement while passing each other by. I can’t thank the homeless man who sat on 6th & Congress enough for his incessant cheering. He must have clapped his hands together for two straight hours. There was even a paraplegic participant who was unbelievably inspiring to see at the very end of the run course, right when I needed motivation the most.
The slideshow below features my awesome friends and I at the triathlon. Great job to Amber, a fierce competitor and super helpful ‘team mom’; to Stacie, now an avid swimmer who plans on placing in a future tri; to David and Kane, who set and achieved lofty goals and temporarily said no to beers; to Dan, who trained 110% every time; to Amanda, who enthusiastically set the bar high for all of us. Big thanks to our supporters who sat in the heat on race day: Meagan (who also played photographer), Erica, Darlene, Zachary, Jonathan, Danielle, Zeke, Milad, Brandy, Jenna, Milly, and Bogey. See you all at the next one in Kerrville!
I felt this way when I decided to do the Full marathon-kind of sick by the idea the whole time but proud to move towards a big goal.
B and I had such a great time at the race-the eye candy was great! I think y’all inspired me to go for doing this next year…
That’s a HUGE feat, J! Will be cheering you on for your race. It’s in January, right? Thanks again for coming. You’ll have to do it w/ us next year.
T.
T, I am soo proud of you!!
Thanks, Mead!
soon you’ll be an Ironman!…
We’ll see about that, Joey!
T.
Respond to every call that excites your spirit, indeed!!! And when you do, the rewards are endless!
These are fabulous pics and I LOVE the swim, bike, run sign!…You Go, T!