Swim, Bike, Run

Finishing an extremely difficult 25 mile ride. I was giggling the whole time. I love to cycle. I made up a lot of time from the swim and was encouraged as I cycled past females who beat me out of the lake.

Here's Abby. Matt Lievre, Demitri Gonos, Jon Furtado, and Abby successfully completed the CIM marathon. We showered our coach, Abby, with thank you gifts. We couldn't have done it without her.

Here I am crossing the finish line. My chip time, or official time, was 4 hours and 37 minutes, only 30 seconds behind Matt. I ran ahead of my group at mile 10 and was on my own until Matt caught up to me at mile 17. Thank goodness. I was hitting the wall, physically, and we both needed moral support.

My friend, Abby Sipes, encouraged me to complete a triathlon in May. Abby has completed many triathlons, including the Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run) and is always looking for a new guinea pig. This past year Abby encouraged me to run the CIM Marathon and Rock -n-Roll marathon as well as my first triathlon, Wildflower in Lake San Antonio, California. Jason trained for CIM but was unable to run. He resumed training in the Spring and successfully completed his first marathon on June 2, 2008.

Here are some snapshots from these grueling events. I'm hooked. The pain is real, the training is long, but the feeling of accomplishment is worth every drop of sweat and muscle cramp. Not to mention the wonderful friendships developed along the journey. Thanks, Abby.