Race Day!

We left the house at 6am and were welcomed by a beautiful Arizona sunrise the entire drive.

Got our bikes parked.

Met up with Bekah--she's the reason we're all here.

Bekah invited Aubrey to do the Tri with her last Spring, then Aubrey asked me, and Jax joined in too.

My brother Rob came to cheer us on and document the swim for me.

I've been afraid of water my entire life.

I may have mentioned that terrifying swim lesson when I was 10.  We were lined up to go off the high dive and as soon as the instructor turned his back I bolted for the bathroom.

But this day I felt zero fear!

Thanks to days and days spent at the Taylorsville 50 meter outdoor pool and the Murray 25 meter indoor pool, the looks of this one didn't intimidate me one bit.

The weather was perfect.

Overcast and not too hot.

We met with all the athletes (yep, we are athletes) at 6:45 for instruction and the national anthem.

Then we had a very long wait for it to be the pink cap's turn.

Took about an hour before we finally jumped in.

Aubrey kicked our butts.

She got way ahead.

Lets talk about how Jax didn't train.

He just showed up and beat his mama with a backstroke.

(He also got some momentum pulling on the rope 😂😂)

And there's Becky Beck, one of the last out of the pool.

I didn't even care.

Slow and steady finishes the race.

I may have cried a few happy tears as I finished the last lap.

Hard to tell though with my face covered in water.

Jax was waiting for me at the bikes.

We made a quick bathroom stop and were off!

The biking wasn't bad at all.

12 miles=3 times around the city block.

Every time I rode the stationery bike at home I rode 12 miles, so I was used to it.

I wasn't sure how hot it would be, so I soaked my rash guard shirt and although it wasn't terribly hot, it still felt great. Jax stayed with me on the bike and the "run". I told him he could go ahead but there was no way he was catching up with his wife, so he opted to "make sure his mom was okay" 😂😂.

I loved having my shmoo with me.

We ran some of it.

I hardly trained at all for the run and Jax had some pretty bad quad cramps, so we walked a lot.

We booked it to the finish line though.

We did it!! YAY!

Aubrey beat her personal best and she beat us by more than 20 minutes.

And we were all so glad when it was over!

It was so fun reaching such a big goal with my Arizona shmoos!!

And it was especially worth the cool new t-shirt and participation medal.

Would we do it again?

Maybe.

Probably not any time soon though.

I am so grateful to no longer be afraid of the water and I actually enjoy swimming.

Who knew that was possible?

I definitely want to get better and faster too.

Me and Lisa (my adult swim teacher) will work on that next summer.

Jax took everyone including their awesome friends Morgan and Spencer, who watched the boys all morning, to Chick Fil A for a victory lunch.

Then Bobby treated us to a victory dinner, Aubs took one for the team and stayed home with the boys, so we took her some victory takeout.

Such a fun day.

Seriously, so glad it's over 😂😂😂.