Back in the saddle

After I had my third baby 18 months ago, I put some thought into how I was going to go about getting back in shape. I had a couple of friends who had done triathlons, and I thought that at this point in my life, I could use the challenge, and would love to do something competitive again.
I brought it up to Dan, who looked at me like he didnt believe it would actually happen, which only made me more determined to do it.

I didnt know how to swim, which was my first problem, and I had someone make the comment that I could never do a triathlon because of it, which again, only made me more determined.

So long story short, I put my heart and soul into training. Going into it, I thought it would be hard. It would suck, but I would make myself do it...what I had no way of knowing was that it would not be anything like that. I had no way of knowing that I would fall in love with it- that I would crave it- that it would become a big part of my life, and something I couldnt wait to do more of!

I competed in my first one when Jaxon was about 7 months old, and I won my division, which was a huge surprise to me. The season here ends early so I only got to do the one before the snow flew. The plan was that this year, I would move up fom sprint distance to Olympic distance ,and I would compete all season. But there was one more surprise- I was pregnant a couple of months later!

So here we are. This season, it has been hard to see my friends, the ones I train with, out there without me. But now I have my beautiful baby, which is even better :) My husband is doing a relay (the run portion) with a couple of my friends in the Spudman Triahlon, the first Olympic one I had planned. I wont be ready to do it since it's in a couple of weeks, but Ill be there cheering him on.

But all is not lost...I am really aiming to get in at least one this year. My most pressing goal would be to do Rush again, the one I did last year, but it's in a month, and my baby is 2 weeks old, so it all depends. Im also talking with Heather about traveling to Vegas in October to do Pumpkinman. That gives me enough time.

But what Im really excited about is that I feel GREAT and Im ready to start my training again, although Im sure Ill be starting off slowly. I'm saving running for a little further down the road due to the impact, but biking and swimming- Im all over that! And I can't wait! I truly hope that my body is as healed as it feels and that it doesn't tell me I have to back off and wait a bit longer. Im hoping to go for my first ride tonight. How I have missed my bike. My bike is my other child. It even sleeps in my closet- not in a garage or heaven forbid, outdoors. It deserves better than that.

Let's hope I can fit in my wetsuit :)

Anyway, so here are a few pics of my triathlon adventures last year, since Im feeling nostalgic (and no blog is complete without pictures). Those of you that have known me longer than that may have seen these before, but here they are again.

Ill be posting updates of my training and progress throughout the season. Here's to being back in the saddle again :)