A Full Day of Racing for the Keebler Family

A lot has been going on the last week or so, and I didn't realize how bad I needed to get back to racing. Today's race was the Texas Tech Rec Sports Triathlon. A fun and fast race that is 400m swim, 12 mile bike, and a 2.5 mile run. If any of you are ever interested in trying out triathlon I can't recommend this race enough. The Tech staff puts on a great race for competitive people, and they even have a shorter distance that is the recreational distance. It is always a good time.

In years past I have seen so many new people trying out triathlon for the first time just for once, and sometimes it has been the first step in a new lifestyle. Then other times I have overheard some of the kids in complete disbelief when there friend showed for the start with no sleep and possibly still drunk. That one made me miss college. Today I heard an older guy mention that he has only swam twice in his life before the race, and that was last week. No matter he was still there this morning to start. I was really glad to have met him this morning.

Today Jerred and I decided to ride to the race, about 45 minutes, then race, and then end it with another 1:45 minute ride home. Needless to say I was good and warmed up for the start. The swim felt ok, but I  was in a bunch of folks at the end and couldn't get around them. Even with that my swim was still on track even a little faster. 

I pushed the bike the first lap, and then tried to keep that pace throughout the four laps. After the first lap I could feel my legs starting to ache, and was really worried that I was pushing it too hard. Near the end of the bike the winds were picking up, but I was still keeping my pace even with legs that were filling like lead.

Going into the run I knew that I had a couple of guys right behind me, and I was going to have to push it as hard as I could. The first half one guy stayed right behind me until the turnaround, and then he made his move. I was able to stay right behind him, but we were pushing a hard pace for me. I wasn't sure if I was going to have anything left to try to go past him again. Near the end of the run is a small hill that I thought was as good as any place to go for it. When I passed him all I heard was, " Oh hell he has some kick left." I was going all out when I passed Susan, and she said, "uhmm you might want to push it he is right behind you." He wasn't at that point, but  she does have a funny way of motivating me. It was a lot of fun even if I was really close to puking at the finish. 

After the race Jerred had talked me into going for a ride before we got back to the house. That turned out to be about an hour and forty five minutes of me trying to hang onto the back wheel of someone a lot better at cycling than me. To say the least I was hurting and am still feeling a long day of good pain. 

We were able to finish off the day with Anna running in a  great race put on by Leigh and Nick Cordes called the Cardinal's Mud Run out at the Spirit Ranch. So it has been a great day of racing for all, and now time to get ready for the week. Another couple of races coming up  and big news, but more on that very soon!

                                                     Anna and her friend Loren running

                                                            Anna in full race mode!

                                                   I think she is going to need a bath!