The beginning. . .

My husband has been after me to start a blog for years. I have more time now than I have in years so I guess the time is finally right. In the words of Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music," I should "Start at the very beginning" because it's " a very good place to start." The beginning is when I was about 12 years old. I was talking to my older brother, Ryan.  He's four years older than me and I have always admired him. Anyway, Ryan told me about this crazy race in Hawaii. You swam a few miles then biked over a hundred miles and finished the race with a marathon. Ryan told me then that some day he was going to do that race. I thought he was crazy but that conversation stuck in my head. Fast forward several years. It's May of 2005. I'm married and have four kids. It's Ryan's birthday and he's telling me about a triathlon in a nearby town. I probably ought to add that at this point in my life, I'm not really active. Anyway, the distances in this tri were a 200 yard swim, 5 mile bike, and a mile and a half run. I remember thinking, "I can do that."  The tri was in seven days and I hadn't trained. I discussed it with my husband and we decided I should do it. I can look back and laugh. Back then I could side stroke and dog paddle. Not that it mattered because I could touch the bottom of the pool the whole time. It was one of the hardest bike rides I've ever done. Really though, my only comparison was rides as a kid. The run wound around town and you could see the finish at nearly every corner. I ran the intersections and as much of the blocks as I could but I wasn't a runner back then and consequently earned myself shin splints. Crossing that finishline changed my life. At the time I had no idea just how much it would change my life. I was so proud of myself for accomplishing my goal. To this day, that medal means so much to me. That day my inner athlete was awakened, the inner athlete I never knew existed.

At later dates, I will try to give you more of my background so you can better understand who I am and why I do what I do. Thanks for being with me and I hope you come back soon.