It's Official, We're Doing the Nation's Triathlon!

So, let's recap the last year or so of my life ...

I ran the Denver Half Marathon with Team in Training in October 2009.  For the full story/blog on that endeavor, check out my last blog at http://262milemarathon.blogspot.com/.  It was a phenomenal experience and my plan was to continue training with the Team and participate in the Nashville Country Music Marathon in April 2010.  I was "blessed" with shin splints after my half marathon and realized that I couldn't work through that pain anymore so I stopped training and didn't do the full marathon.  Took a few more months and decided that since I couldn't run full time, I was going to try a triathlon.  It just seemed like the perfect time in my life to do another endurance event (had the same feelings as I had when I signed up with TNT the first time).  I signed up for the Nation's Triathlon in September 2010.  I was so excited to get back into training and do a race close to home - couldn't wait to have more friends and family waiting for me at the finish line!  However, it was too good to be true - I soon learned that my wonderful shin splints had turned into some pretty significant stress fractures and was told I couldn't do the race.  I was devastated after leaving the doctor’s office so I called my mom.  Her response was "I know that you're upset and disappointed but I'm glad you're not doing it this year.  I really wanted to do it with you but knew I wasn't going to be ready this year.  Let's do it next year!"

Fast forward 6 months or so and here we are ... mom and I are officially registered for the Nation's Triathlon on September 11, 2011 in Washington, DC.  It's an Olympic distance race - go big or go home, right?!  We're looking at a 1.5k (.9mile) swim through the Potomac River, a 40k (24.8mile) bike and a 10k (6.2mile) run through the streets of historic Washington DC.  We've hired a coach (my former coach from TNT) to put together a plan for us but for the most part, we'll be training on our own - still debating if either of us are going to join Team in Training this time around, despite how much we both want to.

Here enters all of the crazy emotions.  We're both so excited to take on this challenge and to do it together.  I'm looking forward to all of the crazy stories that we're going to have as 2 beginners train together (but 2,000 miles apart!).  And more importantly, I can't wait to cross the finish line with my mom by my side.  I'm already so proud of her for taking on this challenge with me - I can't imagine what I'm going to feel like in 5 months when we finish!

So, here we are.  Training starts this week - and by this week, our plan started 2 weeks ago but I've been on the road for 2 straight weeks running basketball tournaments and that's enough of an "endurance" activity for me.  Look forward to lots of ridiculous stories and my training experiences along the way.  It's go time!