Danielle the tough Mama

I thought that the most fitting way to give a tribute to Danielle on Mother's Day was by letting you experience the sprint triathlon she participated in last weekend. For the last few months she has been running, swimming and biking, usually going to the gym at 5:30 in the morning before the kids wake up. She would kill herself doing weekly mile swims, long hilly bike rides and grueling sprint work not to mention weight training, and of course cleaning up after me and raising two beautiful kids.

The Sprint triathlon consisted of a 500 yard swim (20 lengths) in a lap pool, a 13.2 mile bike ride through rolling hills and a 5k run. It was a lot of hard work, like everything Danielle does, but she really did great! She wanted to describe the event so from here on out Danielle is writing.

Okay, you guys can't see the sign by the pool that says, "Objects in pool and coming out of the pool may appear larger than actual size", never mind the optical illusion. Jared always seems to capture me in my finest moments! That swim was hard because I felt so much pressure to swim faster than practiced because of all these people standing around staring down at the swimmers. AAHHH! The good thing is, is that I swam faster than I have ever swam 10 laps, 11:03 minutes.

When I ran out to my bike in my swimming suit I didn't feel anything, I was numb. It was a little chilly that morning, and I didn't care. My friends asked me if I wore a jacket or if I put warmers on my feet, and the thought never occurred to me. My secret weapon was the extra padding that covers my muscles (some people call if fat) helped insulate and keep me warm. It's all about strategy people.

The bike ride was awesome! I had so much fun at that part of the race. I have grown to really love bike riding. I feel so free when I'm going down hills. Learning how to ride the bike with clips and the shoes that clip in the pedals was a struggle. I remember when I first started training I couldn't make it up a hill that was a mile and half past our house. I had to turn around and go home. I felt like such a failure. I also remember falling off my bike with my feet attached to the pedals and I almost got hit by a car. For the first little while I would get anxiety to ride in with the traffic. But training sure paid off. I finished the biking part of the race, 13.2 miles, in 50:09 minutes. That was my fastest time ever riding that distance. I couldn't have been happier. Janessa and her kids recorded me. The race was right by her house. Her kids were throwing up the night before and that morning, but they still came and watched me. They even made a sign. I was so touched by their support.

And then there's the running. Oh the running. I don't know if any of you have ran after riding a bike, but it is the most unnatural feeling EVER. Never mind the fact that I hate to run. It was by far the hardest part of the race. It was all that I could do not to walk. I hit my back on the ladder in the swimming pool (shocking, I know. Usually I'm so graceful) but my lower back ached with every step I took. I was a little disappointed with my 5K (3.1 or 3.2 miles?) time 32:10 minutes. But that's okay. It could have been worse.

I'm done! I'm done! I was so happy to be done! My total time was 1 hour, 40 minutes and 46 seconds. That includes the transition time as well. I did a triathlon 2 years ago and I beat my old time by 20 minutes. I was very happy.

I entered this race to lose my baby weight. For those who know me, know that I never lost any weight after I had Jade, not even minus what she weighed. Don't ask me how that happens, all I know is that the scale and I weren't friends. I went on vacation to visit my sister in CA to get away from the scale and the rain and just everything. I ate like a pig and didn't really train that much when I was there, and I lost 5 pounds. Go figure. But I have lost 10 pounds since the vacation. Jared asked me if I want to do an Olympic triathlon next which is double the distance of what I did. Since I have about 25 to 30 pounds to go I probably will, but from this experience, I just need to go on more vacations!!!! I'm so grateful for this race. It wasn't easy to train and to actually go through with it, trust me I cried a lot going through this, but I got so much more out of it than weight loss. I have more of a appreciation for my health. I understand more fully the fulfilling feeling of setting goals and achieving them. I also believe in myself more. I have adopted the motto "YES I CAN, YES I CAN" that is what I think of when I want to rest in the middle of a workout. I don't know why this was so emotional for me. I get teary eyed just typing this. This has done wonders for my self-esteem. I'm so thankful for Jared. He would get up with the kids every morning and has been so supportive through this whole thing. It's funny. He has been whispering "yes you can" to me the whole time I was going through this, but now I finally believe it. I love you Jared!!!