Triathlon Day

Michael completed his first-ever triathlon a few weeks ago. I wish I could say it had been me, but the fact of the matter is that I’m in horrible shape, and Michael is in great shape. So much so that he did the darn thing without even training for it, whereas if I did that, I would probably die.

He was up super early on triathlon morning and headed to the race site. Nora, Vivienne, my mom and I followed a few hours later, aiming to get there by the time he came out of the water from completing the swimming portion. We were late—got on the road later than planned, then parked in the wrong place at first—so we missed him during the first transition, but we were there and ready for when he returned from the cycling.

While we waited, we had Nora work on a sign for her daddy.Vivienne was content just to empty the markers container, fill it back up again, empty it again, and so on. She does that with everything these days—including my purse if she can get her hands on it!

After a little while, we finally spotted Michael coming down the way.While he was in Transition 2, we were able to cross over so we were there when he took off for his run. And then we were right at the finish line when he came back.Michael was definitely happy to be done! It was “only” a sprint triathlon—so a 750-meter swim, a 16.1-mile bike, and a 3.1-mile run. He’ll be the first to say that his time was not great, but given that he didn’t even freakin’ train? I’m still pretty impressed. And Nora was proud of her daddy, even though she told him afterward, “Next time, I want you to win!” :) It was my first time ever attending a race like this, and it was actually really inspiring. As soon as he was done, Michael was already talking about going back to do it again next year—he plans to train next time!—and who knows? Maybe it’s something I’ll be disciplined enough to train for some day, too.

I’m still working on figuring out what kind of exercise is going to fit into my life with my full-time job and commitment to my family. I have yet to find a good solution that doesn’t involve me compromising in areas I don’t want to compromise. It’s tough. Now that Vivienne is about to be a year old, and my job is more flexible than my past one, I’m hoping that I will be able to start something soon. I’m considering CrossFit—Michael does it and loves it, as do some of my friends—but the schedule is still a little problematic. And it’s kind of expensive! :(

Anyway, I digress.

After the triathlon, we ended up at a restaurant on the lake to eat lunch. It was such a beautiful day, so it was a perfect afternoon for it—and a great way for Michael to celebrate his accomplishment.

Overall, a great summer day with our family’s triathlete! :)