The Inaugural Post

After months of avidly reading my fellow TRIgirls' posts and a little bit of research on how one actually goes about blogging, I decided it was time to jump in and give the blogging thing a try. For me, my fellow TRIgirl bloggers have been a source of inspiration, lots of laughs and good training tips, an update on news in my friends' lives and a new way for me to connect with other triathletes who share my passion for this challenging but so rewarding sport. I hope I can now reciprocate...give others a laugh or a new tip I've learned, maybe inspire another or share my efforts to balance my growing desire to get better at this sport with spending time (outside of workouts) with my wonderful husband Bart and playful lab Lulu and with the eternally busy work monster.

So a little about me and how I got here....

A running buddy of mine and I joke that we are "adult-onset atheletes." Sure growing up I swam on the swim team, danced and watched my father coach wrestling and football, but I never really had a real passion for competing in sports. Instead, my passion was music and I spent my time training and singing in local and regional groups and performing on the stage.

So six years ago, when my college friend who also lived in Richmond suggested that a marathon sounded like a fun thing to do, I laughed and said, your crazy. But, I went along and soon became an "adult-onset athelete." I ran my first 10 miles that year, my first half and full marathons the next, and grew to realize that despite never participating in many athletic competitions as a youth, there were tons of fun and challenging events I could enter as an adult. I also learned that running and competing made me feel sharper and stronger both physically and mentally.

Two years ago I met my now husband through tennis (another sport I decided to try). Bart, a once avid triathlete and CAT 3 cyclist, shared his love of this sport and cycling with me by way of old racing stories and his 4 plus bicycles even before I was brave enough to get on a bike. His enthusiasm helped spark my interest when TG SanDee told me all about this amazing group of women in town she met and started training with to do her first ever triathlon. They seemed to train hard, but also knew when to have fun and just share a cup a coffe or better yet, a glass of wine. It sounded interesting and as an added extra I thought it perhaps might make those wedded bliss extra pounds drop away, and so I signed up. For my first anniversary, I even got a shiny new lavender TREK to aid me in my adventure.

Despite the fun of training with TRIgirls, I really wasn't hooked until June 3, 2007 when I crossed the finish line of my first sprint tri with a huge smile on my face despite the torrential rain conditions. The race exceeded any of my expectations. Since then its been another sprint, an Olympic, and no looking back.

And now . . . I'm looking forward to pushing myself harder, learning new things about myself and my limits, sharing this process with my loving and supportive husband who has also gotten back into a sport he loves, and experiencing all the things good and bad of triahlon training with my fellow TGs, coaches and tri-friends.