I honestly don’t even know where to begin with this blog post. Our lives have taken a very crazy turn in the last week and I am still reeling from the shock. I am excited and overwhelmed for what tomorrow will bring but first lets talk Tri. It’s been more than a week since Jeremy and I put our feet on 
the ground that would become the site of our first Triathlon. It was an absolute whirlwind leading up to it. I volunteered Thursday night stuffing bags and than my entire family volunteered doing athlete registration on Friday. I was informed first that I would be doing a story with KHQ and than later that I would be involved in an article for the CDA Press with the other sponsored athletes. After we volunteered on Friday we headed home and put everything together, and oh man was that a ton of stuff!! Took the required pics and than headed off to bed, or I should say I attempted to head off to bed. You see, I am one of those people that can’t sleep when they
are excited. My husband can of course fall asleep at the drop of a hat which makes it even more irritating when I cannot sleep. *G* After a night with maybe one hour of sleep I climbed out of bed or I guess I should say I crawled out of bed. LOL no seriously even though I hadn’t slept I was rearing to go and after a great breakfast and some coffee I was ready to do it. We loaded our car and headed downtown. Our swim wasn’t to start until 8:05 but I had to be there at 6:30 to do pictures with the other sponsored athlete’s for the CDA Press. Their race of course started much earlier than mine. We found great parking and headed over. Walking up to your first Tri is quite the experience, not only are you super excited but they immediately start writing on you with a marker and funnel you into a chute. I imagine it’s quite a bit like lifestock must feel at times. LOL but seriously the entire process and the volunteers were great, we were marked quickly and found a spot in the racks for our stuff and a ton of it there was.
Learned some great advice and put a bright towel under our bikes, however the woman right next to us put a balloon on our rack which is an awesome idea. I didn’t even have to look for our towels when I came out of the water. We set a few of our things up and than headed over to take pics with the Press and the guys. It went well 
and than I was interviewed by our reporter, she was great!! I have to give a huge thanks to Michaelyn Brooks with the Tri team. I was totally overwhelmed and she literally took me under her wings. She helped us get our entire transition area set up and than escorted us out to get ready for the swim. More pictures, bathroom break, and wet suit on; and than we were ready to go. It was so cool to see all of the smiling faces as we prepared to start a super important event for us. I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to me to have touched so many people with our story and to have that level of support. So the swim started at 8:05 and I should also mention that the CDA Triathlon group was awesome and specifically Scott. The night before we approached them about Jeremy starting with me and using the GOPro to film everything. They were super inspired by my story and changed his start time. So he was right by side as he always has been when we took those first steps in the sand and dove into the water together. What a cool experience and I am happy to report that I didn’t get kicked in the face or kick anyone else!! We also weren’t the last out of the water in our division which also made me overjoyed. As we swam I kept looking over at him and he was breathing at the same time. Our arms were in absolute unison for most of the race and I could see this huge grin on his face. He always has been and always will be my number one cheerleader. We came out of the water holding hands and ran 
up the steps together. There is an absolutely fierce picture of me running into transition and I love it! The swim took us 18 minutes and was 500 yrds total.
We came out of transition in over 7 minutes and let me tell you. Getting sand off your feet and getting them into socks that quickly as well peeling a wetsuit down is not easy. I give serious props to Ironmen and women after experiencing that little trick! LOL so anyway we came out of transition and hit the pavement on our bikes. It was really neat having people cheer us on as we rode down main street. We stopped to talk to the Kroc Center film crew who was there to film me once we hit Lake Shore Drive. They were super awesome and it was quite a trip to see yourself being filmed from a moving vehicle. The bike ride was awesome and we actually went a bit slower as we did videos and took pictures. See this was never about getting a podium spot, it was always about completing this important event. The bike took us 1 hour and 18 minutes and took place next to some of the most amazing scenery, I absolutely love Lake CDA. Transitin from the run took us just over 3 minutes and we were out and running. By then I was pretty tired and my knee was hurting. We ran 3 or 4 minutes and than walked 1 for the entire run. We finished the run in 48 minutes with a total time of 2 hours and 37 minutes. LOL but of course I have to talk about the most important moment of them all, crossing the finish line. We rounded the corner toward Ft.Sherman with our feet falling in unision and we continued running until we saw our children running towards us holding signs. Hugs and tears were given and than we started running toward the finish line with Jacub. As we got closer I saw so many smiling faces, signs, and heard the cheering. It was absolutely amazing to be in that moment!! To have come from 500 lbs where every step hurt and just breathing was difficult, and to have run across the finish line of my first 
Triathlon, was absolutely beoyond description. Not only that but to do it with my best friend at my side was epic. I wouldn’t be here without him, he literally saved my life!
I cried more tears than I could count in that moment and hugged so very many people. It was overwhelming and wonderful. If I missed telling you thank you please know I didn’t mean to. One of the best parts was seeing my little brother who was suffering horrible jet lag from living in London area for 6 weeks and still made it for our race. After we finished and everyone headed off I was surprised to learn that I placed 3rd in my division and age group. How cool is that!!!! We took lots of pictures and eventually headed to get our stuff our of transition, we were literally the last ones out of there and they were breaking the racks down around our stuff. I suppose we were enjoying the moment a bit!! So anyway we drove home and 15 minutes in the door I get a call from KHQ that they will be at my home in 15 minutes to do the story. OMG!!! LOL of course I had just finished a Triathlon and was exhausted and my house was anything but clean. Needless to say we very quickly
cleaned house and got ready. When I started falling asleep on the couch I called them and discovered and emergency had called them away and they forgot to call me. They did call me later and interview me as well as ask for pics. My story was on the 6pm news that day and will eventually be on this blog once I get the transcript. The next morning I woke up to find out that our story had made the front page of the CDA Page and might I say that I looked great. Thanks Meghan for the amazing hair!! Sunday and 
Monday both were crazy busy with prepping for the next bit of news. I will share all of that journey later but right now I have a bed calling my name and a plane to catch in the morning. I am headed to the Dr. Oz show tomorrow in New York city and cannot wait to share this with all of you!!! Wish me luck!
