#10 - Do a triathlon

It's official. I am a triathlete. Not that I wasn't before because Adam and I did the Sprint Triathlon at Callaway last year... but now, I'm a real triathlete :) Sunday morning, I complete my first Triathlon (that didn't have any adjectives defining it) It was a great experience and this post will share some of that experience with you.

First off, if you have never done a triathlon before, it has three parts usually in this order: swim, bike, run. The triathlon I completed had a 1k swim, 30k bike, and 8k run. If you don't speak kilometers 1k = .62 miles, I'll let you do the math. The sprint triathlon at Callaway is 1/4 mile swim, 9 mile bike, and a two mile run.

I signed up for this triathlon about two months ago. During that time, I had already committed to training for my second half marathon, so I figured what's a little extra exercise. My sweet husband bought me a new bike in mid July, so I quickly started racking on the bike miles while running on the training schedule I have for the half marathon. Here's the fun part... I really don't have anywhere to train for the swimming. I went to a pool to train two or three times and swam laps for about 15 minutes (def should have committed more time to that)

So here's how the triathlon went. Woke up around 5:45. Packed up all the gear...there's a lot of stuff to remember for triathlon (another reason I just run - here's what you need for running: clothes and shoes) Here's what you need for a triathlon: swim - a swimsuit (I chose a suit that had shorts and a shirt so I wouldn't have to add shorts while wet), goggles, the swim cap (you get this when you pick up your packet), bike: a bike, socks and shoes, water bottle, helmet, run: shoes ( I changed them from the bike to the run - everything is wet) and a shirt (I added the shirt for the bib number - its not a must) extras: towels, water, GPS watch. So that's 13 things! Reminder you need 2 for running...

Here's a little pre-tri picture in the transition area. You can't really get the feel for what the area is like from this picture, but I'm including for pre-race fun.

After I set all of the things up in the transition area, I headed over to get body markings. Here's what body markings are: The one on my shoulder is my race number. The one on my left leg is my age. Here's my opinion on the left one - that is pure motivation for everyone else who passed this 25 year old. I have full respect for all of you :)

Then I headed to the swim start. Here's the before the swim and the after the swim

Yes I look exhausted.. I was exhausted. I was no where prepared for the swim portion of this and I was just thankful to be out of the water and headed to the bike portion! The bike was fun and challenging. It was a beautiful day and Callaway is a beautiful setting for this event. Here's some bike photos:

And finally after nearly 19 miles of biking, my favorite part - the run. It took me about half a mile to get my legs under me, but once I did, I was as comfortable as I am on any run. I don't run fast, but I do run steady. Once I'm in my pace and could run for a good while. While on the run, I went into "motivator" mode. I tend to do this on runs. I told one group of guys at the last water station that I believe God made me to motivate athletes not to be an athlete. I do thank God for giving me strength and endurance to finish the race though!
Here's some run photos. Most of these are towards the end.

And here's the finish line smile photo: My final times was 2:28:23. The swim was 22:20. The first transition was 4:10. The bike was 1:04:00. The second transition was 2:57, and the run time was 54:59. I had a great time. Not planning another anytime soon, but I'll never say never.

#15 - Start and keep a journal.

Its been over a month now since I blogged...I'm already a blog slacker, but I have been focused on working the 30 before 30 not writing about it...and training for a triathlon and half marathon (soon to be marked off this list!) Well except for this one, because "writing about it" was goal number 15.

On July 1st, I bought a blank journal. It's been a fun process so far. It's really more about tracking my day, my feelings, crazy things that happen. It's a way to document things that happen. The past two years have been amazing. Now is the best time for me to start this process because so many changes are happening that I want to remember and cherish forever...More about that later.

My mother-in-law is way better at this than I am (although I've never seen her journals just the discussions about them make me know she is WAY better) She keeps quite a few different journals. I assume she has journals for herself. She has journals for her children, and she begins a new journal for each grandchild. What a gift to them later - to have her words and feelings wrapped up in a sweet book for them to cherish.

So... with this same inspiration, I began a journal. During this month, I've written about runs, my husband, my relationship with God (more on this one in another post), the events of the day, crazy happenings (I wrote 3 pages about an incident at TIC - yet another story to share). It was really great to write while I took a hiatus from facebook. Some of us may be under the impression facebook is our personal journal... I encourage you to keep those separate :)

I also started another type of journal. I started tracking calories... I know everyone has their own opinions about weight, portions, tracking calories, diets, etc. I wanted to track calories to drop a few extra pounds I had put on since the wedding. Being honest, I had put the extra pounds on because of sweets and a lack of dedication to running (or any exercise for that matter)... which inevitably means my calorie intake was way more than it should have been... Long story - short, I have been tracking for 2 months now and have lost 6 pounds. I'm below where I was for the wedding now, look and feel better, recommitted to exercise programs, and gained some muscles. The daily commitment to track is great. I strongly recommend it if you are looking to lose a few pounds and learn what you are actually putting into your body. I am more aware of portion control, calories in foods, and the amount of work it takes to lose those extra pounds. With all those great things said, I feel I have learned enough to stop the daily tracking and end my journey with myfitnesspal.com, but feel free to contact me if you have questions about it. It is a great tool, but the person making the choices and doing the work make the change happen!

Honestly, I could never really cross off this goal, but I have to give it a completed status at some point. I'll keep up the journal and hope to follow my sweet mother-in-law's inspiration to begin new journals for new additions in the future. Give it a try. You may just learn a little something about yourself or at minimum document some really cool moments in your life.

Adam's "Bucket List"

It's only fair that I share my sweet husbands bucket list. It surprises me how much ours are different but yet the same. Guys are simple. It's not a bad thing either. See females overanalyze everything! Trust me. Everything has some twisted meaning to us, but guys are simple. They don't look for the hidden meaning. If they say something, that's usually what the mean and intend to do... Enough of that. Here's the list as he wrote it. I'll let him elaborate if he so chooses :)

1. Learn to dance with my wife (insert happy face - and it's on my list too. Dance lessons here we come)
2. Learn to fly a plane.
3. Race a sports car.
4. Ride the 10 largest roller coasters.
5. See the Grand Canyon.
6. Go to Israel.
7. See the Golden Gate Bridge.
8. Meet Jimmy Johnson.
9. Donate a large sum of money (he quantified that as over $5000) to a charity or organization.
10. Own a beach house or condo.
11. Drive a Lamborghini or Ferrari.
12. Be a renowned expert wheel repair man.
13. Create enough passive income so I don't have to work.
14. Have kids.
15. Have a pool.
16. Own a home.
17. Own a professional football.

Well that is it. His bucket list. I support each and every one and can't wait to see him fulfill them.

Yes, I am officially a blogger... but a focused blogger. Adam (my sweet, handsome, caring husband) and I decided to create our "bucket lists" (bucket lists are things you want to do before you "kick the bucket" aka die)and after 45 minutes and 75 things, I had to narrow mine down a bit. So instead of creating a "bucket list", I decided to create a "30 things to do before I turn 30" list. I'm 25 now. 30 is almost 5 years away. Kind of a 5 year plan. So this blog is devoted to sharing, inspiring, and holding myself accountable for this list before November 26, 2016.

My list contains 6 categories: Faith, Family, Fitness, For Me, For Others, and Fun. They're not seperated into catergories but they fall into one of the areas below and are in the same order as the areas below. Here's a brief description of each.

Faith - things I want to do to enhance my relationship with God.
Family - things involving my relationships with family
Fitness - Goals I have to accomplish involving running or fitness in general
For Me - these are personal goals for growth in my life
For Others - these are all about giving back and serving others
Fun - well that's pretty much self explanatory

So now that you have an idea why I've created the blog. I'll take some time to elaborate on things during future blogs... why is it on there? what does that mean for my life? Until then, enjoy the list (It's in a tab at the top of the page). Feel free to share. Follow the progress and Say a prayer!

Once I get comfortable with this website I'll spruce it up a bit :)